(Day of the Mission)
Artoria was on horseback, riding Dun Stallion. It was nighttime, or more accurately, very early morning. The sun hadn't risen yet, and it was nowhere near sunrise. Artoria was riding forward, everyone else behind her. Hinata and her saints were following her, Souei was moving through the trees so quietly and stealthily, you'd miss his presence from the slightest distraction. As for Gobta, Masayuki, and Suphia, they were trying their best, and that's all that mattered.
"We're about to cross the border. Getting everything ready, and assume they'll detect us before we can get to our preferred strike distance. And remember, if it really comes down to it, just hold out for as long as you can until I can arrive." Artoria said in a low voice, but everyone heard it. They knew the plan and what not to do. Artoria had drilled it into them as much as she could. Go in fast, with intent to kill, act like your life is on the line, no such thing as fighting dirty or without honor, and absolutely no monologing or quips in the middle of the fight.
As Arotira was riding, she looked down at the map Soeui had drawn of where the meeting of Cerberus was going to take place. It wasn't completely accurate, but what mattered was that they had a general idea. She noted the suspected secret tunnel that led away from the meeting palace.
'It's always a secret tunnel, ' she thought to herself. With Damrada, Vega, and Misha occupied, Yuuki will use this tunnel to escape, and she'll be there waiting.
'Dun Stallion, you know what to do, right? I'll place you near the exit of the tunnel so things can go more smoothly,' Artoria said to Dun Stallion. Yes, even Dun Stallion was going to get involved a little bit.
'Of course, master. Don't worry, it's nothing a hoof can't solve.' Artoria smirked. It almost brought back some "pleasant" memories from her old life.
For now, everything went according to plan. They crossed the border with no problems. They were officially in Eastern Empire territory. From here on out, things were serious. One thing they had to do was quickly identify their target when they went in. They knew who they were fighting, but they didn't know where they would be; they just knew it was a meeting room setting. Luckily, some of the stuff they had allowed them to speed up their thinking for a brief amount of time, far beyond most skills, to perceive the world more slowly.
They kept going, getting closer. It was a good thing it was relatively close to the border of the Tempest, not like Cerberus would care about border politics and who crossed what, which could lead to a diplomatic crisis.
/\\//\\//\
(A few hours later.)
"There's a group coming. Seems we've been found out."
/\\//\\//\
"They've sensed us. Go in. Now." Artoria said as she sped up, commanding Dun Stallion to go at full sprint.
Everyone behind her used their magic, combined with some of the equipment, to power themselves up as much as they could before the fight. Like a blur, and only leaving a trail of light, they seemingly vanished from the spot as they went forward.
"And away they go." Artoria said as she stayed behind, but was still going at full sprint. She could see the meeting place. It was very simple. It amounted to basically a hut that tried to blend in with the surrounding forest. She was going to make sure Yuuki was captured first before she went to help out if it was necessary, which she most likely would have to.
Artoria rode around the hut. She could hear intense fighting going on, but she needed to get to the exit of the secret tunnel and wait for Yuuki there. She rode to where the exit was. She couldn't see a hatch or anything like that, but she knew that would be the case. It would be disguised to blend in with the environment.
It didn't matter to her, she could just sense it, which is what she did.
'Alright, Dun Stallion, stay hidden behind this tree. You'll know what to do.' Artoria said as she got off Dun Stallion and then walked to the opposite side of where he was. The exit to the secret tunnel was in the middle of her and Dun Stallion.
'Now I just have to wait. I'll need to hide my presence as well. Don't want him getting suspicious. The only thing he's going to sense is the typical nature. Trees and some of the wildlife.
/\\//\\//\
Hinata was having a hard time. A very hard time. Before this fight, she thought Artoria was exaggerating Damrada's strength, but she found out very quickly that wasn't the case. As soon as she and her saints barged into the hut, Damrada was already in front of her, attacking her with hand-to-hand combat.
For the slightest moment, it caught her off-guard, but very, very, quickly she learned once again how even the shortest and tiniest moment in a fight could be.
Luckily for her, she wasn't fighting alone. She had to give credit to Artoria. What seemed like overkill at first wasn't the case now. Hinata had taken a "vanguard" position when fighting Damrada. The rest with her were more support or supplementary fighters. Sure, it was a five vs one, but when too many people attack the same target, it becomes too "cluttered" and harder to efficiently coordinate every attack, and the risk of friendly fire increases.
At most, three people could fight at once, but that didn't mean the other two were useless. Every little thing counted.
"You're far from home, Hinata Sakaguchi. What are you and all your saints doing here?" Damrada said while facing off against Hinata, Arnaud, and Saare, all in their elemental armaments.
They didn't say a single word as they kept attacking. Hinata, with her lightning-quick rapier attack, Arnoud, with his own sword attacks clad in elemental magic, and Saare, with his own sword covered in aura, as they fought. Glenda stood back, opting for ranged attacks rather than close range. She actually had the magic and skills necessary to make it viable. Garde, also part of this fight, stayed back to focus on range. If needed, he could substitute in if things got too out of hand.
"We're quiet aren't we?" Damrada said as he was constantly dodging and deflecting attacks. He just needed one tiny moment to counter-attack, but those occasional shots that came out from portals by Glenda in his blind spots would always take away attention.
A shot from a portal came from behind, positioned very close behind his head, as a bullet came flying out. 'How annoying. I need to take care of her first.' He dodged the bullet and stomped on the floor, sending a shockwave that briefly made Hianta, Saare, and Arnaud pause, but that was all he needed. With a flash, he appeared in front of Glenda, fist pulled back and infused with magic, ready to strike her down, but at the last moment, a red spear came flying in, a trail of fire behind it, aimed right at him.
Damrada grunted in annoyance as he grabbed the spear before it could hit him, but before he could use it himself, the spear turned into fire and went back to its owner. Garde. He threw it again, buying time for Glenda to reposition and for Hinata, Saare, and Arnaud to resume their attack.
They were going to be here for a while.
/\\//\\//\
Gobta and Suphia didn't know what to make of the scene in front of them. Misha was seated with Masayuki while sweet-talking and flirting with him. It was weird. As soon as they got in here, for some reason, Misha started acting like a girl in love. And Masayuki, not knowing how to handle the situation, was left at her mercy
"I know we're not supposed to talk, but didn't Lady Pendragon give you permission to smack us on the head if we got distracted?" Gobta said to a Suphia who was confused on what to do.
"Well, yeah, but…it's more like Misha was distracted by Masayuki than Masayuki was distracted by her. I mean, look at him, he's squirming around like a worm, but Misha finds that…cute or whatever." Suphia said. She was technically following orders.
"But we're supposed to kill her." Gobta said.
"Yeah. Wait, we are! We've been deceived by her and we didn't know it!" Suphia ran to Misha and Masayuki. Misha quickly got up and retreated. Masayuki, none the wiser, was met with a fist to his head by Suphia. "Masayuki, do something! We're already going to be in so much trouble, after Artoria knows how we've acted!"
Misha decided to run away while they were distracted, but as soon as she turned, she was met with a large wolf that was in the middle of leaping towards her, jaws open, intent on taking a bite out of her.
Misha barely moved out of the way, but not without some damage. The wolf turned its head to Misha's shoulder and drew blood. It was a gash on her shoulder.
"Yeah! God job, buddy!" Gobta said in excitement.
"Stop talking and kill her!" Suphia shouted as she started rushing to Misha.
"Oh, right."
/\\//\\//\
Dark hands seemed to come from the floor that snatched every one-time use item before Vega could get to them. Although Artoria said the items would lose all their worth after being consumed, he wasn't going to risk it. And it made a very good distraction and temptation for Vega. His eyes would dart anytime he saw any of them, and when that happened, the saints would always get multiple hits in.
But one thing he realized was why Artoria placed him in the group that would fight Vega. He had powerful abilities. For a second, he had doubts about if it was Vega that was stronger, but he dismissed them and focused on the mission instead. There was no point in worrying. Well, maybe a little bit.
Especially, with whatever Vega would try to summon at times. He could feel him try to summon things, but he'd try to prevent it whenever possible.
"What is this guy? He's supposed to be the second strongest?"
"I don't know what's happening, but some of my items have been used for what seems like no reason. Some of it is my life-saving stuff, and some of it is my dispel equipment. He hasn't landed a fatal hit on either of us, but it seems out lives have been saved more than once."
This was going to be a very troublesome fight.
/\\//\\//\
Yuuki was long gone. He was making his way through a tunnel. He was going to distance himself from the large fight happening in the background before running away. Those three would figure it out somehow. It wasn't his problem, and if something did happen, he could always start again, though it would set him back a lot. And that's already happened too much for his liking.
First, it was Clayman, then it was Laplace and the failure to get the Holy Ark, and then it was Maribel Rozzo. He had plans to get her unique skill, but it failed. He couldn't even locate her body to try to salvage anything, even if it was a Hail Mary attempt at that point.
As he got to the exit, he made sure to stop and make sure he wasn't being followed. Once he was sure, he slowly opened the hatch. He looked around to see if there was anything unusual. Then, he used his sensing abilities to see if there was anything. All he could see and sense was the natural wildlife and nature. He got out and started moving quickly, but cautiously.
He quickly went into the woods, passing a few trees.
"When is something going to go-" Yuuki muttered to himself, but he was very quickly interrupted when he suddenly felt a force on his body that launched him backwards multiple feet through the air before hitting the ground. He could feel it in his chest and on his mouth, an intense pressure, he could've sworn he went blind for a second.
As he was lying on the ground, he heard footsteps behind him along with a low whistle. "Nice kick, Dun Stallion. Beautiful and powerful." From where he was, he saw a face looking down at him. "You got him a bit on the jaw as well, but 'a bit', is a lot coming from a horse like you, Dun Stallion. I'd say he has it worse than when it happened to me."
He heard the sound of a horse walking and noticed it came from behind a tree. He only noticed the horse move its head up and down.
"Yeah, I've been kicked by a horse, Dun Stallion. There's a reason I'm in this world. And no, I don't hate horses because of it. It was just a freak accident." She only looked back down at him after she finished what he assumed was a thought conversation with the horse. "So, Yuuki, it seems we've met, but I have to go help the others out a bit before I deal with you, and no, your anti-skill won't help here."
He saw her summon a lance, before it turned to rope. He could watch as she tied his legs and arms together before tying the rope to the saddle of her horse.
"I'll be back, Yuuki."
That was all he heard before she left, leaving him tied up and unable to move. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't break free. Something like this should be a skill, so why wasn't his anti-skill working?