As the final minutes ticked down before the assault Rean found himself sitting in Valimar idly petting a half-heartedly protesting Celine while pondering the events of the previous evening. As expected, Class VII had been in unanimous agreement that Jusis' father needed to be arrested, but actually being able to follow through on that would have been nigh impossible as was. Fortunately they had a lot of help for the task, including from one very surprising source.
Rufus Albarea. The eldest son of the Albarea family had contacted them the previous evening to disavow the actions of his father and proclaim that the rest of the Noble Alliance had no intention of intervening should the Courageous choose to take action. Perhaps it was naive of Rean to trust in the words of so dangerous a foe, but as a fellow noble he couldn't help but hold onto the belief that not all of the nobility was willing to support such an atrocity, even if allowing justice meant weakening their position militarily.
With the news that the opposition stationed in Heimdallr and Trista had no intention of moving out General Craig was quick to prepare the entire 4th Armored Division for an assault towards the Verdant City. The bulk of the Kreuzen Provincial Army would be arrayed against them, but Elliot's dad boisterously proclaimed that no number of soldats would be enough to stop them. At this point in the war Rean was almost inclined to believe him.
But the army wouldn't be attacking on its own. Captain Claire was going to circle around the city and attack from the south with the RMP forces she had available. While they lacked the heavy weaponry needed to truly threaten the city they were some of the most elite soldiers in Erebonia and couldn't be ignored by the enemy commander.
The idea was that by attacking the city from two different sides at the same time the enemy leaders would panic and all but empty out Aurochs Fort in an attempt to reinforce the city, paving the way for the Courageous to swoop in and arrest the Duke with minimal conflict. Doing so would hopefully be enough for the provincial army to stand down, thus freeing the rest of Eastern Erebonia from the grasp of the Alliance.
While Class VII had worked with the Imperial Army in the past that had mostly been opportunism at its finest. This was the first time they would be actively participating in a joint military operation. Perhaps that ran counter to their goal of remaining an independent force working apart from the government, but in this case the ends certainly justified the means.
"We're coming up on Aurochs Fort momentarily!" The loud voice of Captain Towa shook him from his thoughts. Celine made what sounded suspiciously like a whine when he pulled his hand away, but he had to be ready for battle. Outside his Divine Knight the rest of Class VII milled about. Once he secured the landing area Emma would use her magic to teleport the others to the ground where they would storm the fort.
The moment passed quickly and the reinforced structure that made up the Kreuzen province's most secure building came into view. Princess Alfin called upon the remaining defenders to surrender, but unfortunately none of them were honorable enough to take her up on that offer. That was his cue to act.
As soon as Valimar touched down he quickly assessed the situation. There were three Drakkhens present. All of them were turning their weapons upon him.
But they were far too slow.
While he couldn't use his Eight Leaves techniques with a blade like this a a lot of the fundamental principles still held true. Utilizing Valimar's great speed he was upon them in an instant. In what could best be described as a bastardized Gale his Divine Knight sliced through the three mechs, cutting them down in a single heartbeat.
Following the plan the rest of Class VII soon appeared in a flash of Emma's magic. "Wow." Alisa exclaimed loud enough for him to hear. "Reinforcing it with Zemurian Ore really did make a huge difference!" Rean could only nod his head inside of the cockpit. Sure he was confident enough in his abilities as an Awakener to know that simple Drakkhens weren't much of a match for him anymore, but never before had he been able to vanquish them with such ease.
"Their defenses are weak! Now's our chance to rush inside!"
"Don't get ahead of yourselves, now." A familiar voice interrupted just as they were about to follow through on Jusis' command. Rean could only watch in guarded concern as a wholly unknown soldat emerged from the fort and began flying towards him. It was a slender design, even smaller than the standard issue Drakkhen. That said, he had a sinking suspicion that this machine was a lot more dangerous.
The fact it was moving at such high speeds gave him an inkling of its capabilities.
"Hello, beautiful children of Class VII. It looks like our time to fight has come once again."
Hearing the voice a second time confirmed the enemy pilot to Rean. "Scarlet? Scarlet, is that you?"
Instructor Sara grunted in annoyance. "Not a fan of you suddenly showing up. Oh, well. I still owe you for managing to escape from us back at Garrelia Fortress."
Her words caused the terrorist to laugh. "I suppose so. But for what it's worth, I just don't care. I don't care about our past encounters, I don't care about the Noble Alliance, and I don't care about what happens to this country." Her words reminded Rean of many things. Of Vulcan during their past encounter and of his earlier conversation with Scarlet aboard the Pantagruel. These were the words of someone who had given up.
Something which she confirmed. "I have no reason to want to cling to life. C punished the man who stole everything from me just to put a railway through my homeland by putting a bullet in his heart. That was all I lived for, and now it's done. Right now, I'm nothing but a walking corpse, searching for a place to die. That's why I've come to see you, ashen prince. You're the perfect opponent for me to fall in battle against."
The Ashen Awakener let out a shuddering breath. He knew his chance for redemption from Vulcan's fight would be coming, but to think it was so soon. "Everyone, go on ahead. I'll catch up once I finish here."
"Are you sure?"
Laura's concern was appreciated, but unneeded. "She's going into this fight expecting to lose. There's no way she can win like that." What was unsaid was that she was going into this fight expecting to die and the real challenge was for him to prevent exactly that from happening.
"Alright. You heard the man!" Their instructor called out. "We'll be waiting to hear the good news once you're done!
There was silence as he watched his friends charge into the fortress. Scarlet didn't attempt to intervene, but given her only goal in this battle it was understandable. It was only after they had vacated the area that Scarlet turned her focus back onto him. "This Kestrel Soldat was designed for pure speed, and I'm going to be pushing it past its limits and flying it straight to hell, where V and G await. But there's always room for more passengers on the trip!"
"If it's a fight you want, I can grant you that much! But I'm not going to make the same mistake twice! I won't let anyone else so easily choose to die!"
"Ahahaha! If you think you can stop me, go right ahead and try, Ashen Awakener!"
He had had no reason to doubt Scarlet when she said her Kestrel was built for speed, but even still he found himself caught completely flatfooted when the smaller machine closed the gap between them in a flash. It was even quicker than Crow's Divine Knight!
Knowing he wouldn't be able to form a guard in time Rean elected to rely on Valimar's durability to tank the hit, paving the way for his own counter. The feeling of Scarlet's blade raking his shoulder was an unpleasant one, but not so much that he regretted his decision. Seizing the moment he swung out-
And connected with nothing but air.
The Kestrel had already managed to put distance between the two in the time it took for him to swing and naturally she wasn't one to let such an opening pass. Even as he hurried to correct himself from the missed attack she was already back inside his guard, this time landing a ringing blow to Valimar's chest.
It was painfully clear that she was too quick for him to attack without a plan. Hurriedly he backed up, trying to put some distance between the two while he thought of how best to approach the fight. In a way it reminded him of his fights against Fie.
Scarlet made no move to pursue, but instead seemed to content to swing her blade despite being far out of range. That was when he realized the mistake he made. Like Fie she had a very dangerous ranged option available to her as that sword was just like the one she used at Garrelia Fortress.
He was just able to raise an arm to ward off the now rapidly approaching segmented blade, wincing as the deadly weapon wrapped around his outstretched limb. His attempts at slicing through the whip-like weapon were thwarted as his opponent recalled the weapon in the nick of time.
"C'mon. Are you really going to lose to a soldat?"
Even as he remained fixated upon his foe he rolled his eyes at Celine's words. "Yeah, yeah. I wasn't expecting her to be so agile. And that weapon..."
"Hmm..." He could feel the feline's gaze upon him. "So you think you'll do better now? Got a plan?"
A plan? Not really. But at least he was confident he knew what Scarlet could do now. As long as he remained calm and focused he was sure an opening would present itself.
Once again the Kestrel came charging at him, but this time he was more prepared. The enemy machine was still his superior in terms of speed, but now that he was ready he found himself following its movements with greater ease. He just needed to be right on his timing...
There! Valimar's flaming slash failed to connect, but it would have been had Scarlet not hastily thrown on the brakes, killing all momentum in an effort to escape his attack. The two machines recovered at about the same time, but it was Rean who tried to press the advantage as he closed with the Kestrel. He was confident that any sort of solid hit would end the battle – even a full body tackle from Valimar would probably suffice.
The terrorist must have understood that fact too as she immediately disengaged before finding herself on the defensive. Once again she sent her templar sword flying at him, but he was able to bat away the steel missile with his own blade at the last second. Scarlet didn't seem very fazed as she retracted the weapon, but seeing the action gave Rean pause.
That could work
The last time he fought against Scarlet in a mech he defeated her using his Morning Moon technique. He wasn't sure if using the fifth form again would be effective given how much more powerful she was now, but she would at least be wary of the move. And if she responded like that...
As he expected, the second he shifted stances the Kestrel's movements immediately halted. Scarlet definitely recognized the stance. After a brief hesitation she chose to reengage, but as focused as he was now he could read her attack as the feint it was. She wanted him to spring his attack prematurely and if he wanted to win with this move he needed to not bite.
Again and again the Kestrel came at him, but each time he refrained from attacking. There were a few instances when he thought she was about to commit and prepared to swing, but the ILF commander backed off at the last second. In essence this had become a game of chicken, but with giant robots.
He let out his breath when Scarlet blinked first, once again putting a respectful distance between the two machines. He knew what was coming even before she let loose with her blade. Everything came down to his timing-
The blade neared Valimar's cockpit. Doing something that no blade user would ever willingly do he allowed his weapon to fall from his grasp. Now with both hands free he reached up and snagged Scarlet's sword out of the air.
Were this a battle on foot the maneuver would be impossible as the sharp blade would have sliced through his hands with ease, but Valimar was made of sterner stuff. Still, the move wasn't without cost as his hands were hurting badly and many a warning light began flashing in his cockpit, causing Celine to howl in annoyance. It was all a price he was willing to pay.
Scarlet must have been too stunned by the move as she didn't immediately drop her weapon to save her Kestrel. This suited Rean just fine. Using all of Valimar's strength he tugged on the captured weapon, causing her and her light machine to lose its balance. She finally tried to release her weapon then, but there was too much forward momentum and the Kestrel careened to the ground in front of him.
He considered picking up his sword, but already Scarlet was moving swiftly to get back on her feet. Whatever he wanted to do needed to be done now. That just left one obvious course of action.
"Raaaagh!" With a cry he sent Valimar's armored foot forward, feeling no little satisfaction as steel caved in before him.
The force of the blow sent Scarlet rolling away, but to his surprise the Kestrel staggered back onto its feet. Retrieving his blade he prepared for the fight to continue, but it was soon apparent to him that it wasn't needed as the Kestrel began sparking dangerously. It was a painful reminder of days prior.
George's warning that it was about to explode was wholly unneeded, but this time Valimar's pilot refused to back off. He had already allowed Vulcan to die. He was not doing the same with Scarlet!
Rean was no engineer, but from experience knew he only had a couple seconds before the explosion. Placing his faith in Valimar he darted forward, Zemurian Ore blade at the ready. It only took a single slice for the deadly sharp weapon to cut through the machine, separating the cockpit half from the engine. Grabbing the Kestrel's half that wasn't about to blow he leapt away just as the rest of the machine exploded.
After dismounting his Divine Knight he checked in on the terrorist. Unsurprisingly she was displeased that he had stopped her suicide attempt, but passed out shortly after. The swordsman let out a sigh. "I'm glad I made it in time..."
"Heh. Same here."
Eyes wide in surprise Rean spun around. Sure enough, perched atop a nearby hill was Crow inside Ordine. Normally such a sight would fill him with dread, but for some reason he had a feeling that this was not a dangerous encounter. "How long have you been there?"
"Aww, How cute." Angelica teased through the Courageous. "Did you come because you were all worried about your friend?"
His rival let out a sheepish laugh, once again reminding Rean that there was a friend inside that deadly machine. "You got me. Still, I wasn't expecting you to try a bet with stakes quite that high. Did you even stop to think for one second about what would happen if you got caught in that explosion?"
Had he? He wasn't sure if Crow saw his shrug or not. "Dunno, actually. Probably not. I just wanted to fulfill a promise I made to myself. And this is nothing if I want to beat you, right?"
"Heh. Fair enough. Well, thanks." The words were simple, but the gratitude behind them seemed genuine. "Oh, and reinforcing your weapon with Zemurian Ore's not a bad idea. Just know that you're gonna need to do more than reinforce some old sword to match up to Ordine. So, you know. Keep working your way through those trials."
In all honesty he wasn't surprised to find out that Crow knew what they were doing. And it wasn't as if he had any intention of stopping the trials either. But he accepted the words for what they were.
After that Crow turned his attention towards the Courageous and his old second year friends, but that was their conversation and Rean did his best to tune them out. He had already gotten his chance to chat with Crow aboard the Pantagruel so he allowed Towa, George, and Angelica this moment.
Once Ordine and its pilot departed the Ymir native returned his focus to the mission at hand. The others already had a huge head start on him so he needed to hurry. He trusted them all to look after themselves, of course, but this was the headquarters of an enemy army. Better to be safe than sorry.
"Huh?" He wasn't sure what to expect as he entered Aurochs Fort, but the sight of his instructor kneeling on the ground looking like she had seen better days while a blank-faced Fie stood at her side was definitely not it.
"Sup, Rean? Everything turn out good?"
"Uh... Yeah." He answered lamely. "So what happened here?"
The silver-haired girl glanced down at their teacher. "Sara did something dumb."
"Hey!" Naturally the older woman fumed. "I already told you I'm fine! You don't need to stand around here guarding me like I'm some sort of helpless kitten!"
"Not guarding you. Was waiting for Rean." Her counter was quick and calm, but Rean understood the girl enough to know when she was lying. The relationship she shared with Instructor Sara was odd – he could never imagine such disrespectful attitude with his own sibling – but it was still cute.
"Hmph." The Purple Lightning slowly got back to her feet. "Now that you're done playing with your robot we should hurry and catch up with the others."
The two students nodded in agreement and soon enough they were running through the deserted halls together. During the run he told them about his battle with Scarlet and surprise encounter with Crow, and from Fie he learned about their Instructor's fight against her old jaeger comrades. Although the fortress was foreign to him, the signs of battle made their path clear. Hopefully the others were still alright.
"Hyaaaah!" With a roar Laura swung her sword with all he might, digging deep into the powerful Zephyranthes archaism that led the opposing patrol against them. The armored machine tried to stagger back away from her crippling blade, but doing so left it completely exposed to Gaius and his spear, something which the Nord warrior was all too happy to take advantage of. As the large enemy deactivated she couldn't help but notice one of the unengaged Phalanx models preparing to fire a missile at the two of them. "Machias!"
"On it!" Having left Rean, Fie, and Instructor Sara behind meant they were down some of Class VII's heaviest hitters, but that just allowed the others to step up in their place. As far as she knew shotguns were a very imprecise weapon, but the class vice-president's round was expertly fired as it slammed into the exposed missile, creating a chain explosion that completely obliterated the archaism.
Around them her classmates were all faring well in their individual battles. The archaism assault had been plentiful, but against Class VII's superior coordination their numbers meant little. Millium ordered her combat shell to barrel into a trio of machines, instantly obliterating one while Alisa used the distraction to snipe the others. Emma and Elliot were proving their mettle as they cast one art after another in an unstoppable chain of destruction. As for Jusis...
She had always respected him as a practitioner of court fencing, of course, but never had she seen him fighting like this. It was as if he fought with a singular focus, going from one enemy to the next, dispatching them with a brilliant combination of precise thrusts and well-timed arts. A few minor cuts and burns marred his body, but the noble seemed to ignore them completely as he threw himself into battle over and over.
As the last machine succumbed to a water attack from Elliot all eyes turned to the blonde noble. Not only was he contributing with his combat skills, but his knowledge of the fortress they were assaulting was invaluable. "Our destination is further this way, but..." He didn't say anything, but the sight of a locked door barring their way made his hesitation obvious. "I believe if we double back there should be a ventilation system in one of the side rooms that will allow us to slip ahead."
The Arseid practitioner couldn't help but sweatdrop nervously. "...I am honestly starting to believe there is some truth in Fie's story about vents, and that worries me."
"Haha... Maybe so, but I'm just glad there's a way for us to move forward."
"I know, but I'm just so sick of all these vents!" Alisa whined in response to Emma's statement. The way the heiress awkwardly tried straightening out her skirt made it obvious what part of the vents she hated so much. That Millium began giggling without remorse while Elliot and Machias glanced away nervously only added to her discomfort.
Although Laura was a little less worried about her modesty, even she couldn't help but find vent travel to be discomforting. For her it was more a feeling of helplessness. Should an enemy discover them while they were trapped in such a confined area they would be utterly helpless. At times like this she envied Fie – her smaller stature and compact weapons gave her a massive advantage in such a place.
Still, it wasn't as if they had much choice. Thus far their vent luck had held up and with any luck it would continue to do so. With Millium taking lead – just how did Airgetlam follow her? - the majority of Class VII found the vent Jusis spoke of and began their crawl.
As the silent crawl continued she couldn't help but think back to those they had left behind. She was confident in Rean's ability as a pilot, of course, but never had she encountered enemies with such a fervent desire to die before. All she could do was believe that Rean's desire to protect life was more powerful than Scarlet's desire to die.
And while she already knew about Instructor Sara's jaeger past, it shamed her that she had never before considered the plight of the North Ambrians. That their despair and helplessness was so powerful as to lead them down such a bloody path... Even if their actions were still completely inexcusable she could only pray that conditions in the salt-ravaged country would improve to the point where such formations like the Northern Jaegers wouldn't be needed in the future.
The light at the end of the tunnel revealed their exit to be near at hand. Already Millium was scurrying out the exit and much to her relief it sounded like the coast was clear. Eventually her turn arrived and she once again felt the comfort of standing on her own two feet as she assessed their surroundings.
The room they were now in appeared to be an armory of sorts. The myriad weapons stacked around were of little interest to her, but from what she could recall of the layout of the base the stairway leading to the command center wasn't all that far away, something which Jusis was quick to confirm.
Some Kreuzen soldiers tried to form a final line of defense in front of the stairway, but they were no match for the eight students and soon the way was clear. Ascending the flight of stairs left them in front of the final door. "There's something extraordinary dangerous behind that door!" Emma's warning – while appreciated – was wholly unneeded as even Laura could feel something wholly amiss ahead of them. Still, after receiving determined nods from the others she opened the door and crossed the threshold.
Duke Helmut Albarea was there, as expected, but despite being their target he was the one she was least interested in. That honor belonged to the two Ouroboros agents present in the room. Duvalie the Swift would have been a formidable enough opponent on her own – especially as she seemed wholly fixated on the Arseid with a vicious grin on her face – but the presence of McBurn bode poorly for them. Based on what she had seen from their prior encounter he was an opponent on the same level as her father.
"Long time no see... Huh? Where'd the Purple Lightning and ashen kid go?"
He seemed rather disappointed. It reminded her of their first encounter when the enforcer up and left because he was bored. Perhaps a little truthfulness would be handy right here? "They're downstairs. Sorry to say that they will not be participating in the battle." Her words caused him to let out a tired sigh. Hopefully his fickle nature would strike again...
...And for once she found herself hoping that her missing classmates would be slow in their arrival.
"Ugh..." The cornered duke looked between them with angry eyes. "How did you even make it here?! What does that terrorist and those jaegers think they're dong?!"
"The terrorist was defeated and the Northern Jaegers withdrew from this fortress not long ago." Technically Jusis had no idea about the outcome of the battle outside, but like she was choosing to place his belief in Rean. "The Noble Alliance has completely turned its back on you. You have nowhere left to run, Father. Please, surrender with good grace."
The disgraced man's eyes were filled with so much vitriol that a lesser man would have taken a step back when they settled upon them, but Jusis was not such an individual. "How dare you speak that way to me?! Who do you think I am?! I am the head of the House Albarea! The ruler of the Kreuzen province and one of the Four Great Houses!"
Behind her she could hear Machias muttering some obscenities as his old personality briefly returned and the Arseid found herself in complete agreement. The man before them represented everything wrong with the nobility. That such an individual was in charge of the lives of hundreds of thousands of people was a terrible joke. "Your status does nothing to excuse your actions! No amount of power can grant you the freedom to raze your own lands!"
"Do you feel nothing for the suffering you caused the innocent people of Celdic?"
"Silence! The people in that pitiful excuse of a town willingly sat back and accepted an enemy force squatting in my territory! This country's future is as a nation ruled by the nobility – and those shameless fools have no place in it! How is that beyond your comprehension?!"
It was only when her knuckles started to ache did Laura realize her grip on her weapon was far too tight. With a deep breath she managed to relax – but only slightly. Seeing the destruction at Celdic had been horrid enough, but hearing his man completely disregard their livelihoods and even blame them for the atrocity...
It was only the knowledge that this was Jusis' battle that stayed her blade. "Father..." Her friend must have expected that kind of reaction from his kin, but one didn't need an ARCUS link to tell just how badly the callous words hurt.
"I think the time for talking has passed. Let us put an end to this." The blue-haired girl knew there were two flaws to her plan.
And one of them stepped forward with a cocky grin on her face. "Oh? Aren't we overconfident? Do you honestly think it will be that simple?" Duvalie challenged. "Lord Rufus may have chosen to abandon his father, but until we're told it is no longer necessary, we will fulfill the mission we have been given. I suggest you abandon all hope of victory... for we will be your opponents!"
"Nah, I'm good." It took everything Laura had to not exhale audibly, lest she draw McBurn's ire. While normally she was willing to entertain all challengers no matter the skill, there was something about the strange man that made her wary. It was like a primal terror seeded deep inside her body that emerged in his presence. Right now she was more than willing to let him walk away.
"E-E-EXCUSE ME?!" Were the situation not so tense she would have laughed at Duvalie's reaction.
The dangerous enforcer let out a bored shrug. "Some of these kids seem interesting, but neither the Purple Lightning nor the Ashen Awakener are here. You can take this one on your own. See ya."
Everyone stared as the man vanished into flame. The relief among her classmates was palpable as even the air in the room suddenly felt lighter and cooler.
Naturally that relief did not spread to the other Ouroboros member as Duvalie stomped her foot petulantly. "He is unbelievable!" She screamed out. "This is why I hate working with him!"
"There is no dishonor in retreating after your partner abandoned you."
The Arseid thought her suggestion of a ceasefire to be a sound one, but the Stahlritter only started laughing madly. "So you think you can make a fool out of me, do you? Come forth, Vanguard F3 – Sleipnir!"
"Archaisms?!" The two machines that appeared were unlike anything she had ever seen before. Highly armored and sporting powerful weapons ensured that they would not be easy foes to best.
Still, at the end of the day she would gladly fight any number of archaisms over McBurn.
"We may have fought before, but that was a mere taste of what I'm truly capable of. Come at me with all that you have. I am the head knight of the Stahlritter, Duvalie the Swift... and I shall defeat every one of you!"
Laura noticed that she was glaring directly at her when she issued that challenge. Very well. Challenge accepted. "We'll see about that!"
The Swift opened with a direct charge towards her fellow swordswoman, something which Laura had been anticipating. Placing her larger blade between herself and her foe was an effective way of canceling out the attack as Duvalie had to divert her movements. With her focus directed squarely on her opponent she could only make out her classmates engaging the two archaisms from her peripheral vision.
"Haaah!" Once again Duvalie launched her assault and this time she was only able to parry the strike of the speedy opponent. "Hah! You're weak without the jaeger around!" She taunted.
Despite the dangerous situation Laura couldn't help but narrow her eyes in anger. "The jaeger has a name. It's Fie. You would do well to remember it."
"Doesn't matter!" Her opponent howled as she began a relentless barrage of strikes that forced the Arseid back. "Without her you are nothing! Just a coward who can't hope to prevail on her own!"
"Heh." Not even the swift assault was enough to stop her from finding the humor in that statement. "I won't disagree that my bonds give me strength, but you are a fool if you think I am weak just because neither she nor the others are fighting next to me at this very moment. So long as they remain inside my heart I will continue to draw upon their strength! And that strength is what allows me to prevail!"
Finally discovering an opening in Duvalie's relentless attack Laura launched her own counteroffensive. Although her mighty swing failed to connect, it was enough to place distance between the two. Taking the moment she decided to take a page from Fie's book. "...One would think the head knight of a knightly order would understand the value of trusted comrades."
Said knight stomped her foot angrily as the taunt struck home. "Of course I know that! We even have our own special formation-" She cut herself off as she took a few deep breaths, something which struck Laura as odd. "...I don't need to explain myself to an impertinent whelp like yourself. I simply need to cut you down where you stand!"
Once again the Ouroboros agent charged, this time covering her blade in ice as she advanced. It was a more dangerous attack... and yet it wasn't. Laura couldn't help but notice her charge was a little slower than the last one, enabling her to forego parrying the dangerous blade in lieu of simply dodging.
...It kinda looked like Duvalie was getting tired.
That made no sense to the greatsword user. Sure the fight had been going on at a high intensity level, but it had only been a few minutes at most. She was only just starting to feel winded and Duvalie was both an older and more experienced warrior.
Her assault was still very dangerous, but now that Laura had witnessed this seeming weakness she couldn't help but want to explore it further. Feigning weakness wasn't normally a tactic the straightforward warrior embraced, but making it seem like she was only barely hanging on only goaded Duvalie into pressing further. And the more she pressed the slower she became.
...And it was starting to look like her opponent was favoring one side over the other. Could she possibly be favoring an injury from a prior battle? But it had only been a a little over a week since they last fought and she had seemed fine then. Just what had the Stahlritter knight been up to in recent days?
It might be dishonorable, but if Duvalie was going into battle with such an obvious weakness then Laura would have to be a fool to ignore it. Having been the aggressor for much of the fight the knight was slow to react when forced on the defensive. In haste she raised her shield to protect against the powerful overhead swing coming her way.
Except that was just a feint. Stopping the movement of her heavy blade just short of her opponent was easier said than done, but for someone who one day aspired to surpass a living legend it was a simple task. In a single fluid move she shifted the angle of her weapon, moving the edge of her blade away from her opponent – but her pommel closer. Quicker than Duvalie could respond she thrust the blunt end of her weapon directly into her exposed side.
"Argh!" Normally such an attack – while painful – wouldn't be enough to deal serious damage to a seasoned fighter. Maybe a nasty bruise at worst. But her gambit had paid off as Duvalie staggered back clutching her side while tears welled in her eyes. Maybe one day she would find out who got her in that very same spot so she could offer up her thanks for making this battle a cinch.
While exploiting a previous injury was something she was willing to do, assaulting a downed foe was not. Instead she held back as the knight slowly recovered from the wound. Perhaps it was foolish of her, but the time wasted was not in vain as one explosion followed almost immediately by another alerted her to the destruction of the archaisms. Even were she not injured Duvalie would struggle to fend off eight members of Class VII at once.
...A number which expanded even further when the door opened up and in entered Rean, Fie, and Instructor Sara.
Duvalie glared hatefully at the newcomers, but not even her pride could blind her to the truth as she growled powerlessly. "First I disgrace myself in Crossbell, and now here... How am I to face my illustrious lord who told me to serve as witness here now?!"
Crossbell? Did the knight have a role in the chaos taking place in their smaller neighbor? Laura shook her head. Those were thoughts for another time. With Duvalie vanquished Jusis stepped forth. "You've nowhere left to run, Father."
"H-How dare you, Jusis?!" The disgraced duke looked around frantically before his eyes settled on his only remaining ally. "And you, girl! What do you think you're doing?! You will protect me!"
That demand was enough for Duvalie to turn her angered glare from her to the arrogant noble. "G-Girl...? Hmph. You seem to have greatly misconstrued my reason for being here. The mission assigned to me was to come and watch this fortress fall. No one ever said anything about protecting you."
"What...?" Duke Albarea seemed to shrink as realization settled in. "'Watch this fortress fall'?! You thought to abandon me the moment you arrived?!"
"Very much so. Those were Duke Cayenne and Lord Rufus' orders, you see." The Stahlritter taunted. "Besides, my lord would never forgive the odious crimes you have committed... and quite frankly, neither can I. You should be weeping with gratitude I haven't taken my sword to you myself."
As she observed the knight teleport away Laura couldn't help but feel relief. Despite being an enemy she couldn't help but respect the fellow practitioner of the blade. To hear that she too found the Duke's actions reprehensible and only stuck around because of her desire to cross blades... It was good to know that respect wasn't misplaced.
Now if only the older woman wasn't so angry all the time. Or surprisingly immature.
With Duvalie gone all that was remaining in the room was the entirety of Class VII and one very lonely Duke Albarea. Everyone knew what was to come next, but given how distasteful it was there was reluctance to act. That ended when Machias gave his rival a gentle shove towards his father.
Despite the pressure that must have been weighing him down in that moment Jusis stood tall and regal in that moment. "Father... No. Your grace Duke Helmut Albarea. You are hereby under arrest of suspicion of arson and property damage in Celdic, as well as causing harm to the people of Kreuzen. Please, do not attempt to resist."
The duke had no fight left in him at that point, and it was a silent procession back to the Courageous. After securing the criminal Towa and Princess Alfin took charge of spreading the news to the battling forces around the city, but they assured Class VII they could handle it on their own.
Thus the ten tired students and one very tired instructor found themselves gathered in the kitchen to relax. Given the things they had accomplished the mood in the room was bright and conversation was free. It was hard to say what effect this victory would have on the war moving forward, but it would definitely be a positive one.
The light conversation ceased when Jusis stood and cleared his throat. "Now that this frivolous distraction has been dealt with, let us return to matters of greater importance."
Laura blinked. Just what matter would be so important as to make the arrest of his father seem like a frivolous distraction? She was about to open her mouth to ask that when she realized the blonde noble was staring directly at her. No, wait. He was staring at the table she was currently sharing with Fie and Rean.
And now everyone was staring at them. Oh.
"Really?" Fie groused. "Aren't you all tired? Do we really gotta do this now?"
"We wouldn't be so tired if you hadn't kept up up all night!"
"I-It was hard to get what we heard out of our minds."
"Honestly. You humans are all so disgusting."
"Did you guys really have to do t-t-that!?"
"Aww, look at you being all shy about it, Alisa. It's called sex. Or you can say they banged or fucked or went at it like creepy sheep or whatever."
"Instructor!"
This was all far too embarrassing! A part of Laura desperately wanted to seek out the nearest hole and hide in it. Or maybe she would simply die of shame.
And yet despite herself she couldn't help but giggle. Only in Class VII could they do what they just did and simply brush it off in lieu of teasing each other for their past mistakes. It was humiliating, but this was Class VII and she wouldn't change it for the world.
"C'mon! At least tell us how it happened! I wanna hear all the spicy details!"
...Never mind. They were all far too embarrassing. Time to seek out that hole to die in.