Reiss Outskirts. Three days since the arrival of D-7 to Henwales.

“Ma’am. This noble you asked us to observe. We cannot find the right man. We already dispatched one of our men to the town the other day, but no one fitted the description you gave us.”

Chatter filled the radio before a woman’s voice replied between the static.

“Nothing? What about Reiss’ status?”

The team leader sighed. “It’s still a riot. The two districts are fighting amongst each other, but we can’t pinpoint the cause. As I’ve said, the riots started in the morning, but the damages soon escalated. We had to bail out discreetly.”

“It’s okay. Just be careful: You’re up against Vassals. You may have the will to fight them, but they’ll easily topple you with their abilities.”

“I understand, ma’am. We’ll be careful.”

“Good. I’ll patch this up to D-7. Report to me if necessary.”

“Yes.”

Shutting down the collapsible radio tower they placed, Reserve Op B-5 proceeded to their station, situated on a cliff overlooking the city of Reiss in the distance.

One of the ops stood at the side of their team leader. They positioned by a canopy at the edge of the cliff, looking at the vast hills and prairie lands of Reiss.

“Look at it. The riots became more severe; the city itself is like a campfire in the middle of the prairie.”

He was right. Smoke built up like a pillar from inside the city walls. They were quite a few miles away, and of higher altitude, but the smoke that engulfed much of the city can be seen in all directions.

“Vassals, huh. They can even control an entire town to their desire. They’re that dangerous.” The team leader dismissed.

The sound of rustling and footsteps grew loud behind their backs.

“Coro! We found something!”

The two looked behind them and saw two of their members, tired from trekking.

“Hm?” Coro, the team leader, nodded.

“There’s an abandoned structure a few klicks from here. Our sensors say a high concentration of tonal disturbance in the area, so we figured we might take a look.”

“Figures. That must be where that man controls Reiss?”

“It’s too far away.”

“But we don’t have much to search. We already scoured the vicinity yesterday, and there were no signs of Vassals anywhere.” One of the women commented, tracing her sniper’s edges.

After a few moments of considering what to do, Coro eventually decided.

“I guess we don’t have any other choice. Let’s investigate, and bail out of there right away.”

“Right!”

After getting the necessary equipment and leaving their tents and vehicle on the cliff, they went, their two female members guiding the rest. Much of their trek was uneventful, and after almost half an hour of climbing the steep rock formations, they eventually came across a creek. The sound of flowing water muffled their footsteps, but it won’t do much at this time of the day.

It was daytime, but as they approached closer, the atmosphere seemed to thicken, and their vision became slightly off as if a small layer of fog enveloped the place. Trees dotted much of the land they walked on, but they were evenly spaced, giving much room to walk, but little cover to hide.

“This is it. If we follow this…”

“Wait.” One of the men held her back. “This is all too suspicious. There might be traps out here. Best be careful.”

The five eased in on the small gap and followed the flow of the gurgling water.

“Can we set up the tower? We must relay this back to command.” One suggested, carrying the big portable radio tower with him. Its height forced the man to duck with his head leaning forwards when moving to avoid tangling the equipment to the branches.

“There’s a small spacing here. We’ll set it up; the others will secure the perimeter.”

As the two set up the radio, the others spread out evenly. After crouching a few distances away from the tower, one saw the looming, abandoned building they wanted to investigate. There was a path in front of them, leading to a descending roadway, possibly this secluded area’s main entrance. As they looked around, they realized that the area is surrounded by rockfaces that stood tall, their height almost doubling the building’s broken roof, with which the latter was tall all on its own. Another op followed the creek to an angle. The building was somewhat embedded to the rockface; it’s one side hugging it tightly, and upon further inspection, saw that a portion, likely a walkway, was built onto the cliff itself.

“Boss. Is it just me, or is that building is kind of… maintained, despite its dilapidated state?”

“Hmm… Now that I look at it…” Coro scanned the front of the building. Grand doors stood tall at the entrance. Most of the brickworks already had holes, but some were noticeably patched up. Keenly observing, however, he saw a detail that made his stomach churn.

He slowly crossed the creek, and mostly kept to the shade. He went for the small ‘garden’ in front of the building, slowly crouching to not trip or get noticed. His camouflage worked well, but once he stepped out to the open, it might be over.

As he neared the garden, Coro looked at the flowers. All had many petals, and their colors were an assortment of shades of pink, orange, and yellow.

“Chrysanthemum… Hey. Look at this.” The other two came to his side and saw as their leader ran his bare fingers to the soil.

“It’s wet. As if someone watered this recently. There was no rain since yesterday.”

“So…” The woman shuddered. “Is there someone… living here?”

“Likely.”

“Shit, boss. We need to get out of here. Relay to command, now!”

“Yeah. Let’s—” Before he could finish his sentence, he heard a blood-curdling scream from the direction of the radio tower the others set up.

“Quickly! We must notify command!”

“Oh? Notify who?” They heard an eerie voice, akin to that of a childlike one. They looked at the general direction of the source, and saw a silhouette of a small figure, crouching like an owl on a tree branch.

“Run, everyone!” He yelled and made a break for the tower.

“Ahh~ Trespassers. Always running when they get caught.” She leaped and came out of view. The three were already panting, but suddenly, a huge gust of wind exploded in front of them almost instantaneously. Pellets of stone chipped their armor like shrapnel, but luckily, their camos were durable enough to stop the projectiles from reaching their skin.

“Hello, everyone~” The girl stopped them in their tracks and brandished a pistol, pointing at the three.

“You done good there, Shear?”

No response. For a second, she glanced at her back, and at the distance, saw his companion struggling to keep the two operatives at bay.

“Tch. Wha—Gah!” She was distracted. The three took the time to run past her by smacking her in the head with one of the woman’s sniper stock. This concussed her, making her fall to the ground.

“Shit… You…” She cursed as she ate the dried leaves on the ground, but still had the power to shoot a stumbling leg.

The bullet was precise and instantaneous. At the same time that she pulled the trigger, blood gushed out of the woman’s Achilles as she tumbled and squirmed in pain. The girl slowly stood up.

“Sierra! Coro! Don’t leave… me!” She frantically called to the leader and the other woman as she tried to crawl. The two hurriedly grabbed her and immediately ran.

“Shit… No one will die here, damn it!” Coro cursed as he carried the woman piggyback. “Come, Li!”

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“Sierra! Cover my rear!”

“Hm!” She nodded and readied her pistol. She turned to find their assailant, but she was already gone.

As the small tower came into view, they saw their two colleagues, struggling to fight against a tall man, clad in a slim, monotonous white military-like suit, its round collar hiding most of his neck. He assumed a stance as the wind coalesced and pressurized on the hilt of his blade.

“Fuck… We need to run…” One said, grasping what was left of his left arm. Blood dripped out from his dismembered hand, but the adrenaline made his endurance keep pumping.

“Relay the message, quick!”

“It’s already on, damn it!”

“Retreat, then!”

All of them ran to the creek as Coro held the radio in his arms.

“Ma’am?! Secretary?! Are you there?”

Static cut them off from command.

“Shit! We’ll need to get out of this area! Just a little more…”

One of them threw a concussion grenade. Shear saw the small object fly out of one’s hands and immediately intercepted with his charged ability. He cut the concussion grenade clean in half, but the resulting explosion made him fumble a few steps back.

Right as the team entered the small gap, the pressurized blade of wind cut through the rocks above them, destroying the small entrance, and ironically, giving the team ample time to retreat, as they already had passed the gap by that time.

The two mercenaries were left on the other side.

“What the fuck, Shear?!” Leva groaned, tucking her green bonnet to her short hair, letting much of it out above her ears and her back.

“Tch. I was clumsy.” Shear held a monotonous response.

“Ahh, you! Now we have to run around this small gap?!” She trampled the ground around her like a child.

Unfazed with Leva’s childish demeanor, Shear looked up.

“Come. There’s a quick way out of here. Let’s chase them.”

----------------------------------------

“Shit… We’re bleeding bad…”

“Hang on, Ace! Damn it!” Coro cursed as he pressured Ace’s dismembered hand to stop the bleeding.

“Those were Vassals… we don’t have a chance against them…” Li also had the same case on her leg. It was bleeding badly and needed more attention than just bandages.

“Prep the vehicle. We need to get away from here as fast as we can.”

Sierra quickly revved up the small vehicle they had. It had the appearance of a light camouflaged and heavily armored Humvee. They decided to leave the tower and the tents, as there was no time.

“Is everyone good?!”

“Yeah… We’re going to make it… right, Coro?” Coro held Li’s hand as she lied down with Ace.

“Yes, Li. We will.”

“Boss. There they are.” The other man pointed at the window, seeing the two silhouettes of their assailants.

“They’re quick…” Sierra stammered as she tried to arrange her glasses, tending to the two at the back.

“Hit it, Trapper!”

Trapper, the man who drove their vehicle, immediately accelerated back to the road.

They were left by the two for a while. But as the road neared their view, sounds of gunfire erupted from the back.

“T-They’re tearing through the back!” Sierra ducked to avoid the line of fire. Suddenly, an ear-piercing ring shook their vehicle, as if a huge gust of wind tugged them from all sides.

“Just get to the road, Trapper. We just need to get to the road.” Coro tried to calmly assure Trapper, but he was shuddering intensely from the shock.

“Boss. They cut Ace’s hand clean… That tall guy. I’m… I’m scared for all of us—”

“Snap out of it!” He yelled at Trapper to vent out his own fear. “We’re just a recon squad. We’re not equipped for fighting Vassals.”

“We’re just human, so we need to run,” Sierra exclaimed beneath the rumbling engine that was working it’s hardest to accelerate. “Coro. No matter what, we need to go back. To Henwales.”

Coro hurriedly looked at the side mirrors and sighed relief.

“Looks like they’re not giving chase. Trapper—”

To his horror, Trapper had his head lodged on a warped wood that came out of nowhere.

Half of his head that faced the window of the door was morbidly destroyed.

“T-Trapper…”

He had no time. The vehicle was already veering away from the road and straight to the forests.

Sierra screamed in terror as the vehicle was sent flying through the trees. Fortunately, countermeasures were automatically activated, and they were saved from the concussion. The shock, however, doubled by their injuries, made Ace and Li unconscious. The engine burned from the impact, forcing Sierra and Coro to carry their injured comrades.

“Was that another ability? Coro… We’ll be dead if we don’t…” Sierra was about to break down as she carried Li on her back.

“Don’t. I’ve already sent a distress signal back to command. We’ll get away from here. Don’t worry.” He tried his best to calm her down, but even Coro was afraid. What Sierra said only amplified his fear.

“But… We’re hours away from help…” She whimpered. They looked at the pillar of smoke in the distance. Reiss.

“it’ll be... delayed! Hours will be spent to help, they won’t be able to! The Vassals are fast, and—"

“We cannot walk that far. We’re sitting ducks here, Sierra.” Coro propped up Ace on a tree trunk.

Accepting her distress, Sierra ceased her rambling. “Shit… I never expected this to happen.”

“It was my fault, Coro I should’ve just… Fuck…” She slumped her head as she cried. One of their colleagues got his head smashed, and the other two are on the brink of death. A few meters from them lies their vehicle, upturned and smashed to bits. Trapper’s lifeless, dismembered body dangled on the driver’s seat, which made Sierra sick.

“Vassals… They have it all too easy, huh.” Coro nonchalantly said, raising his arms to catch the rays of the sun pushing through the tall canopies of the forest.

“Some save us, yet others only exist to kill. I guess it’s the way of this world, isn’t it?”

“Curiosity kills the cat, doesn’t it?”

Someone answered him. He jolted his head to look at Sierra, but she had the same confused and scared face.

Suddenly, a hooded woman, body concealed in her clothing, approached them. The trees seemed to be under her command, as the roots on which Ace and Li were sitting slowly swallowed them.

“You…” Filled with an abrupt rage, Coro held his pistol and sword against Woodcarver.

“You killed Trapper… You people… hurt my colleagues…”

Woodcarver scoffed. “I had my fair share of that.”

This served to agitate him more. “You Vassals are lunatics! You only kill!”

“Tch. Kill? So, do you, ‘common man.’ We’re just more prominent to your eyes because… how do I put it?” She pondered for a bit.

“Because we’re too extreme in killing?”

“Shut up!” Coro stammered, his body shuddering hard as if he was freezing. Sierra had to embrace him tightly from the back.

“Coro… we’ll all die… please… Don’t…” She sobbed on his back weakly. Ace and Li were held unconscious by the tree, but it has not laid a finger on their lives yet.

Woodcarver sighed. “We’ve hurt you. It’s a given that you’re mad. If someone hurt my allies, then I too, am expected to feel anger such as yours.”

She approached menacingly, threatening the two.

“If revenge is what you want… if ‘payback’ is what you need, then go on… shoot.”

Coro held his ground, the weapon still pointed to Woodcarver’s head.

“Coro…”

“Hmph… Are you weak? I was amused that you dared to trespass our home, but this? Are you strong enough to pull that trigger?”

“Fuck… Just… DIE!” He yelled as he pulled the trigger.

“CORO!”

The gunfire permeated their ears. After a while, the rumbling cacophony ceased.

When he opened his eyes, Woodcarver was still there in front of him. He was confused. He thought the bullet connected to her head. He took a few seconds to collect his thoughts, but he dreaded himself when he heard a giggling voice from the distance.

Woodcarver sighed. “Guess I bought much time.”

“Eheh~ I might’ve… Missed… a bit.” Leva and Shear walked ominously from behind Woodcarver. Her little stomps on the dirt were uneasingly heavy for Coro's ears.

He noticed a numbing pain. Looking at his right hand; the pistol was not there. Coro was dazed, but it did not take long for him to register, and what he saw made him wail.

The pistol was truly not there. But what replaced was his hand, irreparably mangled. The caliber might have been destructive, as the bones on his fingers were detached from each other, displaying a grotesque image that made Coro squeamish.

“Ugh. Your hand now looks like a crumpled vegetable. Sorry…” Leva sarcastically remarked, looking down on the man in anguish, crumpled into a fetal position as he bit his lips from the sheer pain. Behind her, Shear carried the portable radio tower Coro’s team used.

“Hmm… Is this a contest to see who’s the most morbid?” Shear touched his chin as he looked at the dangling body in the vehicle and at Coro.

“It isn’t. Shut up, Shear.” Both girls said in unison.

“Ah. Right.”

“Coro! No, no… We’re going to die here…” Cried Sierra, seeing Coro’s pitiful state.

“Not going to lie, I feel that wound. I’m also not… good with pain.’ Woodcarver said, but she only watched the groveling man groan from his injury.

“Please… We’ll answer you anything! Just please, don’t kill my friends!” She pleaded, prostrating herself to them, eating the mud to her face as she sobbed.

“Aww~ should we spare them, red-hair?” Leva dusted off her bonnet.

“I can seek permission from the lady to… accommodate these trespassers.” She kneeled and lifted Sierra’s messed face.

“If they are able to open their mouths.” Woodcarver smirked menacingly, making Sierra freeze in horror.”

“Please…”

“Alright, you’re now like a child. Stop pleading like one.”

Meanwhile, Leva and Shear messed with the radio tower. She tapped the box repeatedly, and it eventually turned to static.

“B-5… You sent a distress call. What happened? We’re dispatching D-7 now—”

“Hai haii~” Leva squealed at the radio.

“… Who is this?”

“Your people are trespassing, ma’am! We just need to punish them real quick, okay? Oh, and maybe even squish the information out of them like a pulp?” She droned on, unfazed, trying to intimidate whoever was on the other line.

“Trespassing?”

Woodcarver grabbed the radio from Leva’s hands.

“You sent a recon team. Don’t play dumb.”

“So, you are with that noble, then. And by extension, that Void Vassal, yes?”

“It would be the opposite. The former is just our disposable accomplice.”

“Disposable? Big words.”

“Oi, oi! Give me the radio!” Leva jumped up and down at Woodcarver’s view. Annoyed, she threw it to her.

“Say, our lady needs something from you, Vassal United. Comply, or these poor people will be disposed of what’s left of them.” She demanded, but the way Leva talked only ushered confusion from Ayane.

“… I can’t believe a kid beat them to a pulp.”

“I’M NOT A KID!” Leva growled, and punched the radio straight into the dirt, rendering it useless. Her resulting tantrum abruptly cut off the line.

“Seriously, Leva. That attitude of yours will only hinder our operations.” Shear remarked as he cleaned his blade.

“It reeks in here. Let’s carry what’s left of these people and let the lady decide.”

“Mhmm,” Leva grunted.

Sierra huddled Coro tightly as the three approached.

“Are you… going to kill us?”

“Hmm… We’ll see. If she’s in the mood, and you’re willing to speak, then… I’d say there will be a good chance you’ll all be sent back alive, one way or the other.” Woodcarver leaned and grabbed Sierra’s sniper. She inspected it first before readying the stock against the weak woman.

“But first, just sleep tight.”

…

“Shit.” Ayane slammed her desk. Collecting her senses, she quickly contacted D-7. A confirmation beep sounded, and their line was on.

“Captain van Rosa. B-5’s—”

“We know. We’re moving out now. Tch. They should’ve kept to themselves.”

“I’m sorry, captain.”

“No. You did the best you could. They are young, Ayane, but they’re brave people. I’ll save them. I’ll try to.”

“I’ll do what I can to help. Best of luck to your group, van Rosa.”

Fein closed off the comms. He was clearly serious, and so did the secretary, who could do nothing but sit on her desk inside the offices, trying to grasp any strings that can help D-7, if anything at all. The situation at Reiss is also another threat that needs to be expelled, but is there enough time to quench the flames and save their fellow officers at the same time?

Ayane boggled her mind, as the lives of the reserve ops she sent bore heavy weight on her.

If only I could get out of this room, and brave the world again, I might’ve been of help.