(A few days later)
Fire. Fire chased him relentlessly. Fire of all shapes and sizes chased him. It was one thing to be told how dangerous this mission could be, but experiencing it was something else. He was running as fast as he could back to Tempest. He should've known not to get too close. Now, he's being chased. He'd gone through most of his potions, and unfortunately, almost anyone he summoned was used simply as a distraction.
"I got too overconfident. This isn't Falmuth." Soeui mumbled ot himself as he made his way across trees, using them for cover. Whenever he concealed himself with a tree, he always made a clone or summoned to distract the one chasing him. Little things on the fly keep him alive. And all the potions.
"Almost there. Goddess save me." Souei mumbled. And as if hearing his prayers, a beam of light shot down from above, casting a barrier between him and the violent fire chasing him. The fire clashed against the barrier, splashing outwards.
Souei only saw this for a split second before he took off again. He could think about it later.
/\\//\\//\
'About time he showed up. And he could just sent a prayer like that sooner.' Artoria thought to herself as she stood at the entrance to the town, waiting for Souei to arrive. It didn't take long to see a blue shadow come from the trees.
"Goddess. I'm back." Soeui said as he bowed.
"Welcome back, Souei. Nice prayer by the way. Talk about a literal deus ex machina. Anyway, rest for a bit, then join me. I need you to present your info, and then you'll go out another mission."
"So soon?" Souei was not looking forward to being sent out so soon, just after coming back. But if it was important to her, then things could be put aside.
"Yeah. You missed some things. Benimaru has a wife now. And it turns out, his wife is Hakurou's daughter."
"Really?" Souei was a little surprised. That is certainly gossip that would go around. But he quickly left it. That wasn't his thing.
"Yup. Take a few hours rest, take some time to catch up, and then I'll brief on other things."
/\\//\\//\
"Hey, Shuna, should I go on a mission?" Artoria, who was casually devouring food prepared by Shuna, asked.
'Yes, you should. You need to go out more." Shuna said instantly, taking Artoari a bit by surprise at her suddenness. It even made her stop eating for a second. Truly an impressive feat.
"What? But I do go out."
"Well, I could use a break." Shuna said with a small smile.
'A break? A break from what?" Artoria was a little confused. What could Shuna use a break from? Let's see, she got up in the morning and would feel…amorous, leading to a late morning. Then she would eat breakfast. Then she went out for whatever work, if any, needed to be done, leaving Shuna to do whatever, if they had no plans together. Then she'd come back, eat some more, and then head to bed with Shuna while also being in an amorous mood.
Was it how much food Shuna had to make every day for her? What else could she be doing that she could take a break from? Artorialooked at Shuna and noticed how she was looking at her. It wasn't an expression of her being fed up with her, or anything negative. It was…like she was telling her to think a bit more.
Then it clicked. It's not the food. If anything, Shuna seemed content to do that. It's their morning and night activities. "Oh. I see. I'll go then."
/\\//\\//\
(Rimuru's office)
"Yes! FInally! I'm done!" Rimuru shouted in his office, raising his hands as if freed from chains.
"You are? Do you have the next volume of this?" Veldora, who was nearby, interrupted his joy by holding up a manga.
Rimuru clicked his tongue before responding to Veldora, "I gave you that two days ago! How did you finish so fast?"
"So, it that a yes?"
"Me too! I need the next volume of this one!" Ramiris, also in the room, spoke up.
"Ramiris? Aren't you supposed to be working on the labyrinth we came up with?"
"That was finished ages ago. It's been done."
Rimuru sighed. "What will I do with you two. How would people react to seeing a True Dragon and the Queen of Spirits like this?" Rimuru reluctantly started making the next volumes of manga for them, only feeding their addiction.
"By the way, Rimuru, I felt a weird presence earlier," Veldora said while reading another manga.
Rimuru was a little concerned about this. If Veldora called it weird, this had to be something serious. "Is it anything we should be worried about if you call it weird?"
"Nah, it was familiar, shouldn't be a problem. If it was different, then maybe."
"If you say so." Rimuru didn't think much of it. Veldoar had lived for who knows how long. It'd be weird if he detected a presence that wasn't familiar to him after living such a long life.
/\\//\\//\
(Briefing room)
Hinata, her saints, Masayuki, Gobta, Suphia, and Soeui were in the briefing room waiting for Artoria. There was some slight tension between Hinata's saints and Gobata and Suphia. But Hinata made sure to control them and make sure things didn't get out of hand. They didn't have to wait long as she came in, fully dressed in her armor except for her helmet, her sword hanging by her waist, and her lance on her back. Everyone in the room could feel the power radiating from her sword and lance.
"Good news, everyone. I'll be joining you for this mission. Rejoice."
"What convinced you?" Masayuki said, with visible relief and joy in his voice.
"Shuna made a good argument. Anyway, hush your mouths. Souei, come up and tell everyone what you and your team learned about Cerberus. And what you yourself learned about the Eastern Empire, if anything. That's not me doubting your skills, Soeui, it's me trying to be realistic. You coming back alive is considered a success to me." Artoria said in a serious tone that had most people in the room a little intimidated. They quickly straightened up and paid attention. The only one who wasn't as affected was Hinata.
Soeui went up to the board and started filling in many details about Yuuki, Misha, Damrada, and Vega. He also drew connections between them and the Eastern Empire. By the time he finished, the board looked like something a conspiracy theorist would have.
"Good, Soeui. Does anyone here have anything they want to add?" Everyone looked around to see if anyone did, except for Artoria. Her eyes were focused on one person. Glenda. Glenda could feel her gaze, and she fidgeted slightly. Artoria might as well have been telling her to say something, but she let it go. She was basically a pawn for the Rossos, and they were dead thanks to Diablo.
"Well, if no one had anything to add, make sure to study this. If we accomplish our objective, Misha, Damrada, and Vega will be killed. Yuuki, on the other hand, I want captured alive."
"What about any intelligence we could get from the other three?" Hinata said.
"What they know will also be known by Yuuki, and he'll have more things to say. And, I can use him to attract some other people who need to be taken care of."
"What will you do to him?" Hinata said.
"Nothing much. Just some enhanced interogation techniques." Artoria said casually. Not saying the word that meant what "enhanced interrogation techniques" meant.
"Is a simple interrogation going to be enough?" Hinata was skeptical. Interrogation would not easily give them the information Yuuki has.
"They're enhanced for a reason. Anyway, I want y'all to study this thoroughly. In the meantime, I'm going to let y'all know what I expect from you. First, we're going to pick our targets. Second, we're going fast and teaming up. I don't want anyone fighting on their own. Third, no monologing or any quips. If I hear any of you stop mid-fight to talk, you'll be punished. I want y'all fighting to kill and to act like your life is on the line. Nothing less. Is that understood?" Everyone just nodded in agreement. These were reasonable expectations from them. "Good. This mission will take place in two days. We'll pick our targets now. Soeui, according to your intel, Cerberus will be having a meeting around that time, correct?"
"Yes. As for what it's about, I'm not one hundred percent certain, but if I had to guess from the bits and pieces I picked up, it's about Tempest. Mostly about you." Soeui responded.
"It's also in the Eastern Empire correct?"
"Yes, but it's away from any major population centers. It's isolated."
Artoria chuckled to herself in disbelief at what Soei was saying. Not because she didn't believe in Soeui, but because of how poorly Cerberus, mainly Yuuki, was setting this up. "Of course it is. I wouldn't expect anything less from a wannabe cartoon villain. What an idiot. Does he not know about hidden in plain sight? If it were me, I'd hold the meeting right in the capital of the Eastern Empire. It would complicate everything about infiltrating and make it almost impossible to do so. His cockiness and arrogance will be his downfall. Alright, who wants who?" Artoria turned to see what target everyone wanted.
"Uh, can you just assign it to us? That Damrada and Vega guy look very strong. And I trust your judgement on this." Masayuki said.
"They are strong, but be grateful we're fighting them at the time we are now. Especially Vega. Any later, and he'll become a much bigger problem. Just don't let him eat you or your stuff." Artoria said and paused at the ned to let the implication get into their heads.
"That sounds freaky." Gobta said.
"Well, Gobta, Masayuki, Suphia, you can take on Misha. She's the easiest of the three to handle. As long as you can resist a pretty woman, you'll be fine. Suphia, you have permission to smack Gobta and Masayuki on the head if they get distracted. Soeui, make a servant or some to accompany them."
"Understood, my lady." Souei said.
"Alright, this is where things get a bit harder. Right now, Damrada is the most dangerous. Hinata, you'll be on the team fighting Damrada. Take your strongest saints against him. The rest will fight Vega while accompanied by Soeui. Soeui, you make as many servants as possible to also fight."
"What will you do, Artoria?" Hinata said.
"I'll capture Yuuki. He has one annoying little skill, but it's no problem for me. In theory, at least. My weapons and skills seem to be separate and do not operate as it should in this world. To make it easy to understand, there are levels to Ultimate Skills and God-Grade Equipment. Not everything is made equal. The only reason it's called that is because it's the highest something can go and trying to it's best to try to fit in. Well, technically, there is stuff above it, but I'm not going to go into detail about why it doesn't matter. If all else fails, I don't even need magic." Artoria went on a little ramble as if letting her thoughts out.
"What are you talking about?" Hinata said, trying to understand what she was talking about.
"Don't worry about it. It was just me thinking out loud. Anyway, any questions about this?"
"Uh, yeah, why not bring a lot more people? Isn't there a bunch of Kijin and some more onis here?" One of the saints with Hinata said.
"Yes, but they're focused on other things. And I also don't want things to get too destructive, because then it can attract attention. I could bring Shion, but her attacks are way too destructive for the scale and scope of this mission. This is a sort of stealth mission, kind of. Only at the beginning, to get a surprise attack and the initiative. Shion, quite frankly, would take that away."
"Maybe harsh, but true." Souei said softly as he agreed with Artoria.
"Alright, then I guess that's it. Hinata, you'll be the squad leader for taking on Damrada. Soeui, you'll be the squad leader for the team taking on Vega. And, Suphia, you'll be the squad leader for the team taking on Misha. Alright dismissed."
"Wait, does this operation have a name? You gave a name when we fought Clayman." Gobta said, remembering what the operation name for the war with Clayman was.
"Huh. Oh, uh." Artoria thought for a moment before coming up with something random. "I'll call it…Operation: Foxtrot Uniform. There, that should be good,"
"What does that mean? That just sounds like two random words." Gobta said out loud as he looked around to see if anyone understood, but everyone just shrugged as they didn't know either.