«rp» Fate's Eye [7/7] ~arc 3~

"So.. we're going in together, or..?"

 

Estelle nodded. "Luckily, we have been getting ready beforehand. We should be getting our warriors together. But things are much earlier than we had predicted....."

"Alright, Lady. Leave that to me." Fourier stood up, then grinned while showing his fangs. "We'll get things ready to leave by tomorrow morning."

Estelle nodded. "I will leave that to you. Fenri, you as well."

"Alright~!" Fenri replied and trotted after her brother as he left the room.

"Angela, Siegfried, Knight Carol..... I would like to discuss more in detail about how we will commence our attacks. Our opponents are...."

"The White Whale, for one." Siegfried said, seating himself as Estelle gestured him to. "One of the three great witchfiends that had lived on for 400 years."

".....but not all. «Gluttony» of the Witch's Order, Rey Beelzebub Farrenveitos is going to be there, calling the monster out." Angela said and looked towards Carol.

"Farrenveitos's «Authority» turns living humans into witchfiends through physical contact, and she is able to command them to her will. We must expect a whole arsenal of lesser witchfiends against us in Fleur."

"Then evacuation of the townspeople must become our highest priority. As for members who can fight against these two monsters...."

 

*slight tilt of my head in awknowlence.*
Apart from that, I'll stay silent.

I think you already went in. xd

 

@SansWolf

Andrei retreated as the men came rushing in again. They were too fast—soon he was covered with cuts on numerous points on his body. He couldn't defeat them if this went on.

"There's no choice, huh....."

The men were close-combat fighters, but had not made any moves hinting at any use of magic.

Then.....

Andrei focused into his legs and jumped back. He crossed his hands behind his back——and concentrated, activating his Divine Protection. The man at the front bent low and tried to behead Andrei.

"Ruargh......!?"

Suddenly, shapes shot from behind Andrei and in front of him, blocking the oncoming sword.

Four large chunks of flesh—each shaped like giant fingers—floated around Andrei, one of them having caught their sword with its cushion-like surface. The finger quickly covered around the sword and pulled it away from the shocked man's grasp.

"Hnh!" Andrei kicked forward towards the unarmed man, and pulling one of the 'fingers' to his now-empty right arm and forming it back, he touched the man's shoulder.

"Guaaaarr——!!" The man's entire body went rigid, and his cry got cut half-way. He fell down to the ground with a loud thud.

***

Earth pillars shot up as the ground cracked and shook—the field was completely in Jand's favour.

The swordsman was faring well against the giant in such a situation. But it seemed that he had no chance of victory from the start.

The ground cracked at the timings the man landed on the floor, and after a dozen times, finally caught one of his boots.

"Ughh!"

An earth pillar shot from the side, catching the man on his side square. As he staggered sideways, twisting his face in pain, more earth pillars hit him from the sides without hesitation, knocking the man all over the place. Soon, he was no longer moving few meters away.

 

"I can do it. My Divine Blessings can give me an edge on the combat against the Sin. I'm also able to keep my distance by flying above her." Say, more confident than I expected to.

 

Kk

 

@TheStormLizard

Affrice narrowed her eyes, and Kayde couldn't help but feel as if he was feeling the sight of a predator in a hunt.

"A~lright. Let us have our discussion, hm~?"

***

Affrice sat with the knight Lucian and Ramadel by her side, facing Kayde, Rathius and James over the table, with Isaac and Gren sitting at its side.

Kayde, with Rathius and James supporting the story, told Affrice about their findings in the battle against the Sphinx underground, and how the White Whale and «Gluttony» was supposed to attack the merchant town of Fleur, where one of the Ordo Trading Company's large warehouses were. How they were requiring help from as many people as possible against the two massive threats on the town.

Affrice had been listening carefully until now. Lucian had not changed an expression, while the young boy, Ramadel, looked shocked by the story.

"So..... long story short." The woman said, leaning forward, crossing her hands together. "The White Whale and «Gluttony» of the Witch Cult will appear in Fleur, seeking to destroy it. You want me and my camp to supply you with fighting power in order to kill those two threats..... is that right~?"

Kayde nodded. "Please, Lady Affrice. We need as much help as possible."

Affrice seemed to think a little, then looked at Gren who was listening quietly until now.

"And you, Gren Walker? How do you benefit from this?"

"My goal is more on «Gluttony». She's killed many of my comrades in the Uprising.... I want revenge."

"Hm." Affrice sighed shortly. ".......and the Royal Magics Advisor, Margrave Mathers and Lady Alice, a spirit artist, won't join the fight?"

".........yes. Lady Alice aside, Lady Roswaal didn't agree to support the cause."

Affrice looked up—and Kayde sucked in his breath from the woman's cold gaze.

"I agree with the Margrave, for once." She said coldly. "When the White Whale destroys the city, we would forget of its existence, and that our warehouse ever existed, as well. No matter if your story is true or not.... there will be nothing from our camp."

 

"Didn't think you would. You merchants are all the same."

 

Estelle nodded. "Unlike my wind magic «Hundred-Man Slash», your arrow attacks won't affect the White Whale as much; you should be against «Gluttony»..... and Knight Carol, you as well."

"I shall be on the White Whale." Siegfried said. "And so should Knight Fourier."

".....but the witchfiend is a massive flying whale, right? I understand Fourier, but how would you attack it?" Angela asked the old man—who slowly nodded.

"I will jump on it."

"What's crazy is, he can." Carol sighed. "If we put someone who is as strong as a «Sword Saint» on the Whale, we should have a great advantage."

"O-okay...." Angela couldn't shake the uneasiness, because the White Whale was supposed to have killed the former «Sword Saint». But she didn't mention it because Siegfried was there.

Carol faced Estelle. "From our camp, the weredragon Rathius and yeti James should be on the White Whale, as their attacks are large-scale and long scale."

"Yes. And our magic squadron will......."

And like that, they discussed on their plans———

***

As they walked out of the Belstain mansion to the outside, Angela saw more and more carriages around the enormous yard. Many of them seemed to be supplies, and Angela saws stacks of weapons and magic stones. There were many people as well, many of them seemed like seasoned fighters. Angela noticed that many were far from young—some going as far as being old men like Siegfried.

"Those who have lost their loved ones to the White Whale." Carol said, stepping next to Angela.

Estelle turned in front of them. "I will be attending to things now. Please stand by for now." She said to Carol. "You as well Angela. Siegfried, you come with me."

"As you say." Siegfried bowed, then the two of them walked away.

Carol turned to Angela. "So, Angela. Would you like to train with your sword? Fighting against a Sin, who is full of irregulars, not being able to fight in closed combat might be life-taking."

The two of them walked over to a section in the yard where there were no carriages. Carol stepped back and drew her borrowed sword (as her old one broke against Sphinx), and smiled towards Angela. "You can come with your wind magic as well?"

________________________________

@SansWolf @3DSMate
You guys didn't reply, but I'll continue because you won't be able to catch up with others.

*****

Andrei had quickly incapacitated the three men, while Jand had taken care of the bearded man with his earth magic.

Jand looked down at Andrei, standing over the men he had 'frozen' with his fleshcrafting abilities.

".....a Divine Protection?"

"Something like that." Andrei said, bringing out a rope from his carriage and starting to tie the five of them up. He understood that the giant was friendly.

As the traffickers were tied up and secured in Jand's earth prison for the time being, they moved onto their carriages.

"......as expected." Andrei muttered as he looked into one of them. Eight children, wearing ragged clothes, were tied around and left in the carriage. Their eyes widened in fear as they saw Andrei.

"....calm down. I'm here to free you." Andrei said, starting to unchain and untie the children.

There were 29 children from four of the carriages, all of them in a similar condition of hunger and fatigue, but none seemed to be on the verge of deaths or injured. The traffickers had been careful not to hurt their 'merchandise'. At first they were terrified of Jand's appearance, but calmed down afterwards.

".....the last carriage." Jand said as he and Andrei walked over to the carriage at the back, which seemed buffer than the others. As Jand forced open the back doors and they looked inside......

A stench of blood and sweat filled the air——the two of them immediately tensed.

The inside was too dark—Jand broke half of the roof so that they could see inside.

A single young girl was lying on the middle of the carriage.

The girl's pale skin, as far as they could see, were filled with scars—bitten, burnt, peeled, cut, stabbed–it was painful to just watch the girl's skin. She had extremely long brown hair, her clothes only a piece of ragged cloth, her entire body full of grime.

She was restrained with thick chains around her body on many layers, and their ends were connected to the carriage walls on many places. Blood covered the floor on which the girl lay.

".....!!"

The girl's eyes widened in horror as she saw the two of them in the sudden light.

"........please.... help me......" She rasped, her mouth barely making any sounds. It seemed like she was on a verge of death.

 

"Uhm, sure, but go easy on me, yes?" Chuckle nervously and draw my sword, getting on stance.

 

Sorry about that.

"Don't worry. I can help you. Though it might not be pleasant. Can you tell me who you are?" Andrei says in a friendly voice as he tries to cut the chains apart with modified bones.

 

My eyes sharpen as I move my gaze over to you.
"How dare he compare her to all the others..."
I lean forward slightly to make it easier to explode out of the chair towards you if neccessary.

 

(Hey, we all just met. Let's not do anything stupid.)

 

Unsure what to say, Jand steps to the side watching the traffickers.

 

@TheStormLizard

There was an increased tension in the meeting room as Affrice looked coldly upon them all.

Kayde felt the inside of his mouth go dry. "Y-you will abandon your own people.....?"

"It merely seems to me that there are more demerits than merits in your offer."

"You....." Rathius growled quietly.

Kayde leaned forward, stopping Rathius with a hand. "Then what would it take for you to support us?"

"If you can provide enough merits for us." Affrice said, cocking her head to one side.

"......a witchfiend that had been shaking the world for 400 years. We've finally got a lead against it; I think there are enough reasons to take some risks to hunt it down...."

"That is something I will decide for myself. Furthermore, we do not know if this information is true. It might be a trap laid by the Witch Cult in order to kill King Candidate camps. Following it without thinking is——"

"It will happen!!" Kayde raised his voice. "You are a King Candidate, aren't you!? Aren't you supposed to be protecting the country and its people!?"

Affrice looked taken aback. Rathius and James nodded, supporting Kayde.

The woman sighed, then looked towards Lucian, her knight, who shrugged lightly in response.

".........alright. However, I would like to set some condition in exchange for my support." Affrice said, looking back at the three of them.

"You.... Rathius Tinzel and James Bourbon. I have heard about your fighting powers. ———leave the Alice Camp and join my group. That will be my condition."

Something that came into Kayde's mind was, that's it?

"What.... is your goal?"

"My goal~?" Affrice smiled—an evil grin. "The Alice Camp is an enemy in the Royal Election, right? It is rational to weaken the enemy as much as possible."

Kayde was at a loss for his words. Slowly, anger started boiling in him.

 

:T

What do I know about King Candidates actually? >.<

 

"Of course........hnh!!"

Carol kicked forward, swinging her sword in an uppercut towards Angela. The seraph lifted her short sword in response, and the two blades intersected. A shock went through Angela's arms.

The knight took a step back, then jabbed her sword. Angela flapped her wings hard and she retreated, and at the same time generating enough wind to stop Carol's movement for a split second.

"El Fula!" The blast of wind shot at Carol, but the knight had cut the magic in the air before it could hit her. The shock still knocked her back.

"Fula! El Fula! El Fula——!!" Carol shot her basic wind spells repeatedly at Carol, which the knight responded by cutting the spells or dodging.

Carol was being pushed back——then she suddenly kicked forward, taking one of the wind blasts right on without cutting it apart.

"Hngh!" The knight let out a short cry before charging forward, blood dripping from the side of her mouth.

"Wha—!" Angela tried to retreat, but Carol charging in was faster. Their swords crashed into each other again, and this time it was Angela getting knocked back hard.

The seraph managed to create an explosion of wind in front of her, and Carol was blown away. She shielded the shock with her wings herself.

They each got up a few meters away.

"Not bad, Angela. It's impressive how you incorporate your magic in your spells." She said as she readied herself to charge in once more.

________________________________

You should know the basic ideas. Five King Candidates that were chosen by the Dragon's prophecy. The Royal Election will take two years in which each candidate gets support from as many people as possible, and the overall voting will happen two years later throughout the entire Kingdom.

Info about every candidate is public to an extent. It should be a basic info everyone knows about; it's the Royal Elections, after all.

Just a background info if you want to know.

 

Can I assume I know all the info listed in background info?
Or is Affrice being a King Canidate news to me?

 

Oh, you should've known that. Everyone knows who the Candidates are inside most cities and towns.

________________________________

The girl was trembling as Andrei cut the chains apart. Andrei noticed that the blood on the floor had been dried up, and there was seemingly no open wounds on the girl's body.

"Can you tell me who you are?" Andrei asked in a friendly voice towards the girl, who was now free of chains.

"......my name.... is Rey........" The girl muttered, still shivering.

Andrei frowned. ".....alright, Rey. Why were you chained like that....?"

"...I don't know..... why am I........" Rey burrowed her face into her knees, crying.

"It's okay. You're safe now...."

***

After asking a few questions, they understood a few things. Apparently they were children kidnapped from the Capital of Arcuntar Kingdom, when the city was attacked by the Sphinx. (Andrei already knew of this event, as he's an information broker and all, so he explained to Jand)

They were taken away during when all the confusion and battle was going on inside the Capital. Andrei forced a few information out from the traffickers that they were merely hired by a blonde man who paid them to bring the children to Fleur, then smuggle them to the Vorkir Empire.

 

Kill it with fire

________________________________

Charge at her when she charges at me, then attempt to do an uppercut at her sword to push it upwards and do a blast of wind to knock her back without cutting anything