We all stared as Griffith made his way down the hill with his mercenary party in tow. Casca, Judeau, Pippin, Corkus, and even young Rickert were following right behind him along with some other no-name mercenaries.

"Hey, hey, hey, aren't you guys the Owls? Tall blonde with a beard and an axe as big as its wielder, a silver-haired beauty that moves like a flash, a blonde beauty with eyes that can see for miles, a silver-haired man wielding two blades like a storm, an ebony beauty, and a kid with a giant sword. That's the Owls, isn't it Judeau?" said Corkus as he rubbed his chin looking us up and down.

"You could've just mentioned the owl on their shoulder instead of that long-winded description." said Judeau before they started bickering.

"Enough." said Casca.

Meanwhile, Griffith was staring right at Guts, as if the rest of us weren't even there.

'Seems like fate is stronger than I thought. Even with Ciri and I's fame being more than Guts', Griffith is still drawn to him.'

"Do you guys need something? If not we'd really like to be on our way. People to see, jobs to complete. You know how it is." I said.

"Tch, you think you're some big shot or something. The only reason you're more famous than us is that you fight in a group of six. If you were in a mercenary band like ours, you'd be cannon fodder." said Corkus.

"Hoh? Those are big words coming from so no-name wannabe merc?" said Uzui with a smirk.

"What'd you say, you bastard? You want to fight?"

"Gladly. That is if your owner will let you off your leash." he said pointing at Griffith.

"You son of a b-"

"Enough, Corkus." said Griffith, whose voice was more captivating than I imagined a man's voice could be.

"Haha. Your owner said no." said Uzui, taunting him.

"Alright, alright. Settle down, Uzui. I think you're going to make him pop a blood vessel." I said with a grin, seeing Corkus get so angry his face almost turned purple.

"Griffith." he said introducing himself.

"Darius. Griffith, leader of the Band of the Hawk? I've heard some stories about your band's efficacy."

"How did you know we were from the Band of the Hawk?" asked Casca, looking at me with narrowed eyes.

"Griffith is an unusual name, first off, and the only person that looks like that is him. It wasn't hard to put two and two together." I explained.

"I'm flattered but my fame can't be compared to the Owls. Everyone knows about your group of six's success rate. What is it, 100%?"

"Just about."

"Fascinating. I wonder though, what is it you seek?" he asked.

"Seek? A challenge, I suppose."

"Then I have a proposal for you. If it's a challenge you seek, I would be glad to offer it to you." he said with a slight smile.

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"But?"

"But, if you lose, all six of you will join the Band of the Hawk."

"What?!" said his friends.

"Griffith, why are you inviting them? We don't even know them?" asked Casca.

"Trust me. I believe, no I know, if they join us, my dream will be accomplished." he said intensely staring at us.

"You have a lot of confidence that you'll beat us." I said.

"I find it hard to work under any other assumption."

"Okay. If you beat any one of us, we'll join the Band of the Hawk. But let's up the stakes a little."

"How so?"

"Duel to the death. People tend to fight harder when their life is on the line."

"What?!" said his group.

"Griffith, don't! They're crazy!" said Casca, hoping to stop Griffith.

"Don't you believe in me, Casca?" he asked her.

"You know I do, but they're famous for a reason." she countered.

"Don't worry, I won't die before my dream comes true." he said before walking to the side, blade drawn.

"That dream of yours, for you to lay down your life for it, I'm curious as to what it is?" I asked.

"You'll know once you join." he said, to which I smiled.

"Guts." I said, looking at him.

"Mm." he said nodding, which also affirmed what he would do. Seeing him walk to Griffith, I slightly tensed up, ready for whatever was going to happen next. I then opened the DGC and sent a message in the chat.

Matt: Everyone be prepared for whatever may happen. If the God Hand appears, return to your world and Guts use your voucher, don't beat around the bush. We can fight another day. And Guts, if you're going to kill him here, don't overwhelm him from the start. That may cause the God Hand to appear before you finish him.

Guts: Got it.

After sending that message, I put all my focus on the duel at hand.

"The Black Swordsman Guts, I've heard much about you." said Griffith, sword at the ready.

"Mm." was all Guts said before he got into his stance.

The two stared at each other for a few moments before Guts went towards Griffith, opening with a straightforward downward swing.

Griffith, not removing his eyes from Guts' form, sidestepped to the left before slashing diagonally at Guts' right shoulder. Seeing this, Guts changed his sword's trajectory from a downward swing to a hack right at Griffiths's side.

Giving up the attack, Griffith jumped over the blade, landing on the ground before starting a flurry of attacks that Guts used his sword to block. Unable to find an opening, Griffith went for a heavy attack at Guts' hand that Guts' was about to block before Griffith feinted and went for his throat.

Guts rushed toward Griffith, causing him to back up and give up on the feint, before Guts swung full force, faster than before clearly having used more of his real strength.

Just as it seemed like Griffith was about to die, Guts' sword moved off its intended path.

"Interesting." said a new voice before everything around became dark and stopped moving. Taking a look around, it was clear we had been transported somewhere.

'Shit.' I thought before I looked up and saw a giant hand reaching into the sky with four figures, one on each finger.

"You six are outside of fate's machinations. You almost went against fate and ruined our plans. And as fascinating as that may be, unfortunately, you must all die. We already have one nuisance outside of our machinations, we can't let six more run around." said Void.

Matt: Now! Leave!

[Returning member to homeworld]

The next thing I saw was the familiar scenery of my hotel room, exactly the same as the day I left it. I took a moment to catch my breath and stop my mind from reeling at the fact that we almost died. Fine, I messaged everyone to make sure we all got out okay.

Matt: Is everyone okay?

Everyone: We're good.

Matt: Phew, good. That was too close for comfort.

Ciri: Agreed.

Uzui: But now we have another problem. Guts left his world, so that means his world is frozen. When his five years are up, he's going to be right in the middle of whatever we left.

Matt: Unfortunately, that is true. But five years is a long time. We should go on multiple missions during that time, and our four worlds are more in sync, time-wise, so those five years should be nearly five years for all of us.

Yoruichi: I agree. In five years, most of the events of my world's story should be over with, and I'll be much stronger by then.

Amelia: By the way, what world did you go to Guts?

Guts: Uzui's. He's told me about the demons that live in his world and they sound like good battle practice. I don't want my skills to get rusty.

Uzui: Hahaha! With you here, things won't be so boring anymore.

Matt: Good choice. Well, I'm sure we all miss our own worlds after being away for so long, so let's end things here and catch up tomorrow or whenever.

Everyone: Later.

'Phew. Good thing I got my mind palace, or I'd be hard-pressed to remember what I was doing before I left. I don't have anything important coming up, but I'll think about that stuff tomorrow. I want to shower and sleep in modern commodities.'