Time for some more action!

Chapter 57 – The Battle of Arianrhod, Part 2 (Lone Moon)

Cleobulus scowled as she claimed another victim with a well-placed arrow within the corridors of Arianrhod. She had no qualms with killing Baron Dominic's men, but this was the sixth guard she and Kronya had been forced to silence. With each one they killed, the risk of setting off an alarm increased.

The soldier, who had taken Cleobulus's arrow to his head, toppled over, but Kronya Blinked next to him and caught the man before he hit the ground, which would've made a lot of noise from his heavy armor. Slowly, the Nightblade lowered the soldier to the ground.

"Aww, too late for me to see the life drain from his eyes," Kronya said in disappointment.

"We're not here to satisfy your libido, Rissa," said Cleobulus. "We've still got a job to do."

"Don't tell me you don't enjoy killing these beasts, 'Val'. I remember that grin you had when you killed the woman whose skin you're wearing."

Knowing she couldn't deny it, Cleobulus said, "She was a good hunt. First beast to avoid me for that long in centuries."

"Didn't matter in the end, though, did it?"

"No, it didn't. I take it you didn't have nearly as much trouble getting your current look."

"Nope. Had to kill that stupid girl's entire family before I could replace her, though. Now that was a fun little massacre."

"I take it the stand-ins are still working?"

"Yep. These fools don't suspect a thing about the Gideons."

Cleobulus would've been more critical about Kronya's chatter at the moment, but a quick scan through her enhanced eyes showed no one else was in the immediate vicinity. The walls of Arianrhod were difficult to peer through, likely due to the materials of its walls, so they couldn't see incoming threats as easily. So far, they hadn't allowed any of their victims to raise an alarm, but they had to hide the bodies each time, slowing their progress. This was also compounded by the need to sabotage Arianrhod's traps, each which took the Arcus at least a couple of minutes to ensure someone wouldn't easily reactivate them.

Cleobulus kept watch as Kronya dragged their latest kill into a nearby empty room, stowing the corpse beneath a bed. It wasn't the most ideal spot, but they'd be long gone before anyone discovered the body.

As Kronya emerged from the room and the two continued to sneak through the corridors, the Nightblade said, "Tell me something, Cleo. Why'd you take the Magistra's side against the Agastya?"

"Because he's an asshole," answered Cleobulus. "That's reason enough."

"Come on, now. That can't be your only reason."

"And what about you?"

"Uh, duh?! He told Solon to sacrifice me for the Forbidden Spell!"

"You failed to beat the Fell Star when that happened."

Growling, Kronya said, "Don't remind me. But I doubt you could beat that bitch."

"Either way, you know the Agastya has no tolerance for failure."

Smirking, the Nightblade said, "That's one of the reasons I like working for Bias. She's not nearly as strict as the Agastya."

"Don't go thinking that means you get to be incompetent. You're still expected to complete your missions."

"That so? Didn't you miss that mockingbird that one time?"

"I didn't miss. He took one of my arrows to his chest and only survived thanks to his Relic. In any event, he failed to warn the Church about Entei's attack before it was too late. That mission was a success."

"Is that how you look at it?"

"Enough talk. Let's keep moving. We're almost to our main objective."

Kronya decided to leave it at that, slightly annoyed that Cleobulus had to be so mission focused. The Nightblade wanted to find more victims, but their job came first.

The two made another turn and saw light coming from an exit ahead. Looking through her enhanced eyes, Cleobulus saw what the two had been searching for: the storehouses of Arianrhod.

Outside them, however, were no less than fifteen House Dominic soldiers.

"Objective sighted. Let's get this done."

Giggling, Kronya said, "Time to wash my blade with blood."

…

Baron Dominic knew something was amiss. Cornelia's attack was, at best, half-hearted, sending only about 2,000 men to attack his defensive line. She would never breach the fortress if she only sent an equal number of troops to meet his own.

Peering through a spyglass, Averill saw Cornelia sitting in a chair as she watched the battle unfold. She was looking back at him, as though she could see him watching her.

Averill frowned as Cornelia smiled at him.

"These dogs are no match for us, milord!" said one of Averill's officers. "Look at them run!"

Averill lowered his spyglass to watch as the Dukedom's soldiers fled from Arianrhod's walls. Seven Onagers and three siege towers were in ruins, with hundreds of dead and wounded upon the battlefield. Few of the Dukedom's men stopped to recover their wounded. In all, about 600 Dukedom casualties had convinced them to back off.

"That's right, you cowards! Run back to your whore!" shouted one of House Dominic's men, followed by cheers of victory from the others.

After giving his men a moment to celebrate, Averill shouted, "Well done, men! But I doubt the duchess is finished with us. Rearm the defenses and make sure we're ready to give her another welcoming gift."

The soldiers rapidly went to work reloading the fortress's artillery and preparing the defenses for the Dukedom's next assault. Averill, meanwhile, watched Cornelia with unease. He knew she was a schemer, and that she would not resort to such basic tactics without some trick up her sleeve.

For a moment, he considered Shez and her mercenaries. They had been more than willing to accept the job from him, but their leader was nowhere to be seen, and he wasn't sure how much he could trust her. They were driven by money, after all, and Cornelia had no shortage of wealth. Yet the mercenaries had done well so far in the battle, accounting for at least thirty enemy dead and another ninety wounded.

Still, that did not speak for Shez herself.

Then, he heard an officer shout to him, "Milord! Smoke from the fortress!"

With dread, Averill turned to see plumes of smoke rising from the center of Arianrhod.

Too late, he realized the duchess's plan.

…

Shez knew she was lost again. She'd always had a terrible sense of direction, and usually left navigation to one of her men. Unfortunately, despite how many people were in Arianrhod, none of them had time to guide her with the battle going on. She could've just followed them, but she knew she'd probably end up on the wrong side of the fortress.

There was also the matter of Arianrhod's traps. While she could see them easily enough, she didn't dare go through them. This limited where she could go, making it even more difficult to find her way back to her men.

She knew she'd never hear the end of this by the time she got back to her company. Her total lack of direction was a joke among her men by this point.

But as she took another turn, she smelled something that alarmed her: smoke. Lots of it.

Knowing something had to be wrong, Shez dashed in the direction of the smoke, arriving outside a set of storehouses in the center of Arianrhod. To her shock, fifteen men assigned to guard the storehouses had been slaughtered. Five had arrows sticking out of their bodies, while the other nine had been killed by blade wounds. Only one was alive, but with his throat cut open, he only gurgled for a few seconds before he too joined his comrades in death. A nearby alarm bell had been severed from its post and lay on the ground, preventing its use.

"What the hell…?" Shez said as she drew her twin blades.

The mercenary then looked at the storehouses. Two were already in flames, while smoke was starting to billow out of two more. Only the fifth and final storehouse had been untouched.

After a few seconds, Shez saw two women come out of the storehouses, one from each. The first was a brown-haired woman wearing a green bustier, green cloak, and black pants, and carried a bow and arrows. The other was a grey-haired knife fighter with a black and red ensemble that gave her unhindered mobility. The grey one's blade was slick with blood. Neither were people she recognized.

"Hey, you two!" Shez shouted, catching the attention of the two disguised Agarthans.

"Ooh, another one lining up to die," said Rissa. "Mind if I take this, Val?"

"Make it quick," said Valeska as she rushed toward the last warehouse.

"Wait!" Shez shouted as she rushed at Valeska, knowing the archer planned to destroy the last storehouse.

But as the mercenary moved, Rissa dashed like quicksilver at her, forcing Shez to parry the Nightblade's strike. Shez countered with her own lightning speed, but Rissa dodged the strike and leapt back.

"Ooh, you're quick," Rissa cooed. "Let's see what you've got."

Kronya knew she could end this in an instant by using her Blink power to surprise Shez, but she had been ordered to avoid using it unless required. Who knew if someone else would show up and see her using it? In any event, despite Shez's speed, Kronya knew she wouldn't be a match for her.

"Bring it on, bitch," Shez snarled.

"Gladly!"

Rissa rushed at Shez, who readied herself to intercept the head-on attack. But, seeing the Nightblade gazing slightly to her left, Shez realized her intent and whirled to her right as Rissa dashed to the side before making a lunge at Shez. Shez blocked and deflected three viper-like strikes from Rissa before countering with two strikes of her own, both which missed their mark. Not giving Rissa a chance to recover, Shez rushed forward and began swinging her two blades like lightning at the Nightblade. Surprised, Rissa dodged and weaved through the strikes, with one almost taking off one of her grey hairs.

"Too slow!" Rissa shouted as she countered another strike, looking to stab Shez in the gut.

Shez, surprised at Rissa's speed, barely brought her left blade in to deflect the strike. But Rissa's blade still found flesh as it delivered a cut to Shez's left side. The mercenary hissed at this, but it was merely a flesh wound.

Laughing sadistically, Rissa said, "That's right, bleed for me!"

Rissa then leapt back in a whirl, sending a trio of throwing knives at Shez. Shez slashed two out of the air and dodged the third, and then rushed at Rissa. The two clashed for several more seconds, with neither able to gain the upper hand due to their respective speed.

Dodging away from another pair of slashes from Shez, Rissa readied another knife volley and flung it at Shez, who leapt over the strike with her blades ready.

"Hope you're read– AAGH!"

Shez let out a scream as an arrow struck her in midair just below her collarbone, the impact blowing her away. The mercenary crashed to the ground near the fourth storehouse, which was starting to burn.

Surprised, Rissa swung around and hissed, "HEY! She was mine!"

"You've had your fun," Valeska said dispassionately. "Time to go."

Rissa wanted to protest, but she heard distant footsteps and realized they were about to have a lot of company. Snarling, she turned back to Shez as the mercenary painfully tried to get back up.

Then, with a smirk, Rissa drew two more throwing knives and flung them at Shez's legs. The mercenary screamed as the knives pierced through her shins, leaving her unable to stand while she was perilously close to the raging fires of the storehouses.

"Stick around for a while," Rissa said with a laugh.

"W-Wait! Get back here!" shouted Shez as she tried to pull one of the knives out of her legs.

Just as Rissa was thinking to throw a knife into Shez's head, the two Agarthans heard Baron Dominic shout, "Seize them!"

The two whipped around to see Averill and thirty soldiers rushing onto the scene. Rissa scowled as she and Valeska broke into a run, dashing toward the northeast as twenty men gave chase. The other ten immediately scrambled to find water to try and put out the flames.

Shez, who lay on the ground near the fourth burning storehouse, looked up to see one of the support beams was about to come down on her. The creaking, burning bar of wood could give at any moment.

It was to her surprise, then, that Simon rushed in and grabbed Shez by her arms. "I've got you!" Simon said frantically as he tried to pull her away from the flames, but his struggles made it clear he wasn't very strong.

Still, he managed to drag Shez away from the storehouse just as the support beam gave way, crashing where Shez had been seconds earlier.

"Shit…!" Shez hissed painfully. "Thanks, Simon."

Simon, who was coughing on the smoke, did not reply.

"Get those fires out!" shouted Baron Dominic. "Hurry!"

More House Dominic soldiers scrambled onto the scene as Averill continued to bark out orders, but he knew it would take a miracle to stop these flames.

Averill looked at Shez as Simon tried to help get the throwing knives out of her legs. He mused he had been wrong about her if she had fought against two of Cornelia's top vassals. The sight of Rissa and Valeska left Baron Dominic in a quiet rage, realizing he had been played by Cornelia like a fiddle.

Hoping his men would catch the saboteurs, Averill rushed to aid his men in fighting the storehouse fires.

That's not good…

These two villainesses are tricky to write because we're given so little about the Agarthans other than them being evil assholes. I really do wish Kronya could've gotten more time in both games, other than just being a fanservice assassin who was over-advertised in the original. In terms of why Cleobulus serves Cornelia, though, I'll try to elaborate more on it later.

As for Shez, sorry if you expected her to win against these two, but without Arval helping her she isn't nearly as strong as she is in Three Hopes. Plus I gotta give the bad guys their victories or they don't seem like credible threats.

We'll continue the battle for Arianrhod in the next chapter. I just hope my head can take it; chronic tension headaches are back. Ugh…