Thanks to Zion and Ernest clearing the building, they were able to release signal flares allowing a small unit of Soldiers to accompany and support them, meanwhile a handful are led by Elysia to provide support fire while catching the attention of the Starkads via the Gawain.
"Not bad for a bunch of Kids," The Leader of the Soldiers assigned to be their aide for the mission, a man in his thrities named Troy Miller who was noted to be the go to for all things Svadraugr.
"I mean some of us grew up in dealing with these things anyways," Shinobu said with a grin as she gave Troy a handshake.
"So same as plan as before? Just go house to house and establish small posts?" Troy said peeking out of the window as a handful of his troops armed with rifles with bayonets started to fight back the Svadraugr and Yotuns.
"That's right," Shinobu said climbing up the stairs leaving him with Mark, Zion and Ernest, who were busy taking turns cutting down a Yotun that wandered in.
“Where is she going?” Troy asked as the trio finished off the Yotun with relative ease thanks to their coordination and teamwork.
“Shock and Awe,” Mark replied walking towards Troy, before Troy could question a flash of lightning and was followed by an explosion of electricity accompanied with a mighty BOOM! causing all four present to look out to find that Shinobu had electrocuted the Svadraugr outside and cleared a path for them to make a run for the next building over.
“That’s our signal!” Mark told to Zion and Ernest who all nodded and started to sprint towards the next building with Mark decapitating a Svadaugr with Rhongomiant, Ernest slamming his shield against a nearby Yotun who was sliced in half thanks to Zion and his Lancleot. Eventually they made their way towards another building where it was already in the middle of being cleared out by Shinobu and a handful of Soldiers with their Bayonets.
“Hey don’t leave us out on the fun!” Zion grinned as he split Lancelot in two and started cutting down on a handful of Yotuns. Perhaps out of all the Camelot Arms the Mordred and the Lancelot are the best weapons to the entire situation, with the former being fitted electricity that can take down multiple targets at once while the Lancelot can cut through any material whichever side he uses.
“Try to keep up then!” Shinobu grinned underneath her helmet as she continued to balst her way through the horde of Svadraugr and Yotuns. Mark smiled underneath his helmet as he continued to slice his way using his spear, he decided to just keep the effort at a minimum and let Shinobu and Zion carry the operation as they were after all the most effective fighters in the situation.
“Jeez if that keeps up we’ll get left behind,” Ernest chuckled as he used the blade of his shield to cut his way through the horde as well.
The four of them stopped as they stared at the monster looming over them, it was a Starkad and this one was combined with at least a dozen Svadraugr fused towards it. Mark swallowed Hard as he raised his spear but before he can throw Rhongomiant a beam of golden light blasted the Starkad incinerating the ‘core’ of the abomination that is the Starkad. That was the good news, the Starkad is killed by the bad news is that when a Starkad is dismantled they would still have to deal with the Svadraugr.
“Sorry!” Elysia said through the communications as they all huddled around and prepared to fight them.
“More fun for us!” Shinobu and Zion said in sync as they took turns taking down as many Svadraugr all the while Mark, Troy and Ernest just stood there and watch the two powerhouses take down as many Svadraugrs.
“Should we even be here?” Mark asked jokingly causing the two men by his side to chuckle. Sure they were weary at first upon arrival but the moment they were able to gain their footing and establish a small outpost it was clear that they were here to stay.
The more I think about it, Mark thought as he impaled a Svadraugr with his spear and continued to push their way through the next building. Where the first one was an abandoned military bunker this one is a desolate library with most of the books still intact, this made Mark very tempted to stop and start reading but he shook his head as we walked past it.
This is basically a siege. Mark’s thoughts continued as they continued to push their way towards insides of the building and started clearing their way through a set of stairs that were leading up to the main building where the GRAIL is last seen. Mark stretched his arm, realizing that he was getting tired due to being younger Mark switched back to the Caliburn and continued to hack and slash his way through the stairs while occasionally using Pridwen to protect himself form any form of attacks.
As he was about to reach the top of the stairs, he was ambushed by a yotun as it roared at him. Mark just grinned as he swapped it to Rhongomiant and impaled the spear at it leaving it jammed by the wall of the third and final building which appears to be an administrative building wall.
"Almost there," Mark commented as the they eventually made their way towards the administrative building. He wasn't going to bury his emotions, he was excited to see the grail and what it is capable of. He was excited of being able to use it for himself as the moment that he had heard of what the GRAIL is capable of, his own greed is starting to get the best of him and make a beeline for it.
Even if it meant betraying those that had put their faith in him.
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[The Second Advent]
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The building on where the GRAIL is placed is filled with moss and spores forcing Mark and the others to put on Gas masks or else they would end up inhaling the spores and getting infected. One Agent from the Hashira Enterprise met an unfortunate fate as he was ill informed of such things.
"Careful not to get the mask damaged understand?" Troy said as they entered the building. Once more Mark pressed a handful of buttons on the hilt and once more they were a different combination causing Rhongomiant to shrink turning into a trench Knife.
This was Carnwennan, the trench knife form of Arthur. Despite it's form being labled as a Trench Knife, it was designed for both stabbing and slicing making it more of a Dagger Knife than a Trench Knife. And Mark was once more proficient with the weapon as in his younger days a Knife was his go to weapon, even more so as he was notably smaller compared to his peers.
Using the Carnwennan's size and Mark's relatively smaller frame he blazed through the hall stabbing the heads of any Svadraugr that would stand up and make a move onto them.
"Are you really just a normal twleve year old?" Troy said with a chuckle as he aimed his gun and shot down a handful more Svadraugr while Ernest, armed with a pistol, fired alongside him. Meanwhile Shinobu and Zion have already started clearing their way to the upper floors.
Realizing this Mark started sprinting towards the upper floors much to the surprise of everyone. Truth be told taking down Svadraugr are easy targets once you realize their weak spots are the heads, all one has to do is to decapitate or destroy the head and they're nothing but a pile of dead meat. Howrver Mark in his attempt to take down as many Svadraugr as quickly as possible he would end up being overpowered by a larger Svadraugr pinning him to the wall in a tight grip.
"Curses!" Mark said in a low voice but as he was about to figure out how to get out of the grip the Svadraugr was immediately decapitated spraying its blood on Mark's mask causing him and the corpse to fall to the ground. He looked up to find Shinobu smiling at him underneath her mask and offering her hand at him.
"Thanks, it appears I bit off more than I could chew." Mark chuckled as he got up and wiped the blood off his gas mask.
"I noticed, come one I think I found the GRAIL." She told him, Mark felt his heart sank as this meant that he'll have to find a way to steal it from her. The Camelot Arms appear to run on a biometric scan on whoever finds it first, if she managed to get her hands on it then this meant that the scanner authorized her as the sole owner of the GRAIL.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
She's bigger and stronger than me, Mark thought as he gripped Arthur Carnwennan tightly as he pondered stabbing her in the back and feeding her to the Svadraugr. He shook his head realizing his excuse will never hold any ground if he gets caught by anyone. So Mark decided to just let her have it, besides it wasn't the first time he used someone as a puppet.
Eventually the two of them made their way to the main office where they saw the corpses of the previous ones that attempted to retrieve the GRAIL only yo met their eventually demise by being ripped to pieces by the horde. Mark frowned at the grim sight as they were obviously just pawns by Professor Sara, this raised a question within him on whether or not he is a pawn of her gambit.
After all both he and Sara wanted the GRAIL for different purposes.
"Seeing the dead doesn't get any easier." Shinobu whispered clasping her hands together in some form of prayer to honor the dead as Mark walked towards her and did the same thing surprising her in the process. He wasn't a spiritual man but it was the least he can do as fellow pawns.
"Come on, let's go grab the GRAIL and get out of here." Mark said turning to towards the GRAIl which was placed on an office table next to a man with a gaping hole in the back of his head.
Mark eyes landed on the GRAIL and smiled, it wasn't a simple magical cup as the legends he had heard about it but rather a massive chalice with a pair of handles that contained a holographic panel on what to do with the self replicating nanomachine it holds.
So that is the GRAIL, looks more like a massive jar if you ask me but Neogeans have their semantics I guess. Mark thought as he walked towards the Nanomachine and touched the side. Upon closer inspection the nanomachines appear to be swarming like it has a mind of it's own. I wonder if I mix it with Arthur, what will happen.
"Hello there," Mark smile tapping the side causing Shinobu to flinch and reach for him, gesturing him to move away.
"Relax I'M just testing it's durability." Mark replied as he walked towards the GRAIL and opened it's control panel. "According to Sugimoto the GRAIL is basically capable of deconstructing matter like in her words 'a swarm' wanna see what this can do?"
Shinobu paused, that sounded too good to be true after all but then the sounds of their teammates can still be heard fighting the Svadraugr and Yotuns inside. The building shook causing the two move out of the room with Mark carrying the GRAIL the whole time but as they were about to make their way towards the main lobby from a set of overlooking balcony they were met with a horrific sight as to their suprise a massive Starkad had breached the administrative building with a unified roar and started rampaging and taking out a handful of agents in the process. But before any of them can react, another Starkad entered the building and started rampaging as well.
"I'll buy you some time and try to activate the GRAIL," Shinobu said jumping out of the balcony as her Mordred crackled with electricity as she slammed it to the ground shocking the adjacent Svadraugr while unleashing electrical slashes unto a nearby Starkad.
Mark set down the GRAIL once more opening the control panel, using the same hacking techniques he used during his time in the Northern Vault he was slowly activating the nanomachines.
Twenty five percent--!
Slam!
He looked back to find Ernest with Galahad damaged from the punch he got from a Starkad made out of entirely of Yotuns knocking him out in the process.
Fifty percent--!
Snap! Crash!
The same Starkad-Yotun hybrid broke Lancelot into four pieces and threw Zion to the side sending him flying to a nearby glass window rendering him unconscious.
Seventy five percent--!
Thud!
Troy slammed by the Starkad-Yotun hybrid on a nearby table causing other Agents to open fire while they try to revive their unconscious ally. All the while holding Shinobu and was about to crush her in it's grip who continued to struggle.
One Hundred!
Mark grabbed the GRAIL and aimed the opening at the Starkad-Yotun and unleashed the Nanomachines. This caused the Starkad-Yotun to let out a collective roar of pain as nanomachines began to devour it like a swarm causing it to Drop Shinobu and forcing her to run to Mark's side as the GRAIL was emptied as the swarm of nanomachines continue to devour the Svadraugr.
"Are you okay," Mark said with the GRAIL in hand and offered the other to Shinobu.
"Is it over?" She asked as they watched the as the swarm grew larger and larger while the Soldiers began to cheer at the swarm of nanomachines.
"I think so."
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[The Second Advent]
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The hall erupted in cheers as five young men and women were gathered in a hall, they were Mark and his team which earned the nickname of Knights due to their affinity to the Camelot Arms. And they were celebrating the success of the GRAIL retrieval and the reclamation of Camp Hideyoshi because as it turns out the area where the GRAIL was at was a former Hashira Enterprise site known as Camp Hideyoshi where they were testing the GRAIL and it's ability to construct buildings.
And so there they were back in Vault Honshu celebrating the success, even better was the fact that thanks to the Combat armor that was provided there were little casualties. Sure a handful had died but their deaths were made all the more worth it now that they have the self replicating technology of the GRAIL.
"I can't believe we survived that!" Zion slurred slightly drunk as he was the only one among the five of them to be allowed to drink. Which drew the envy of Mark as he overheard that the liquor they were drinking was over two centuries and Mark was quite a lover of the drink.
"Yeah yeah you said that thrice now." Ernest said earning a giggle from the two girls while Mark was just eyeing his drink.
"But it's true though," Zion said taking a swig of his drink. "All we got were some bruises after all."
"That's the beauty of the Mk IV Combat Armor," behind them walked Troy who was holding a glass of the same drink as well. Without the helmet and balaclava covering his face, Troy is a handsome man in his thrities with brown hair with a full beard and blue eyes.
"We couldn't have done it without you and your men Mr. Miller," Mark said taking a swig of his cola.
"Says the hero that managed to take down the Starkad-Yotun!" Zion shouted with a laugh.
"I didn't kill it, it was the GRAIL who wiped them out." Mark said with a shrug earning a giggle from Elysia who gave him a hug and buried his face in her massive chest. She had always been the bustier one between her and Shinobu, though that's not to say she was lacking in that department.
"Oh you're so hunmble Mark we all know you're our Ace in the hole!" Elysia said holding him in place despite his struggles. Due to his teenage hormones he couldn't help but feel his face turn bright red from the softness of her chest, but that feeling is replaced with fear as he felt Shinobu's piercing glare at Elysia.
"Shinobu catch!" Elysia said shoving Mark towards Shinobu's direction causing him to fall on top of her with once more catching a faceful of her breast while another hand grabbing the other.
"Hey Mark I didn't know you were that aggressive!" Ernest said with a cackle while Zion was on the floor laughing with Elysia. Normally he'd probably get a slap from her as is the case with Zion or Ernest but as he got up expecting a reprimand instead he got a flustered Shinobu.
"Sorry about that," Mark said with somewhat embarrassed look on his face.
"No it's fine." She said sheepishly.
What's with this situation, this is something out of those novels that Miriam reads. Mark said as the two of them awkwardly went back to their seats. Eventually they heard the sound of Professor Sara clearing her throat and to find Sara with the GRAIL next to her.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" She said with a smile. "Thanks to the efforts of the Knights, we were able to Recover the GRAIL!"
"Yeah!" Everyone present cheered. Eventually Troy stood up and winked at the five of them.
"Permission to speak!"
"Permission granted!" They all said and laughed with Troy himself laughing as well.
"I would like to have them become a Mobile Task Force." Troy said causing everyone to cheer in agreement. Mobile Task Force? Mark thought as he remembered reading a file about them. Mobile Task Forces are Hashira Enterprise's elite agents, where they are sent to the worst places in Neogea often trying to find as many Vaults while trying to recover as many of the relics as possible.
But we're outsiders. Mark thought about it but Zion, who appeared to have sobered up, stood up to speak.
"We appreciate the offer but I think you should ask our leader! Mark Dirus!" Zion said causing Mark to look at him in surprise.
"Since when did I became the leader?!" Mark asked in confusion.
"This whole operation was your idea in the first place." Elysia said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"You managed to organise the entire mission too." Ernest said laughing like Mark had just asked a stupid question.
"Not to mention you had the highest kill count of Svadraugr too." Zion chuckled as he took a swig of his drink.
"And you reactivated the GRAIL." Shinobu smiled at him.
"Seriously?" Mark said feeling his face heat up with his embarrassment due to his actions. He was supposed to be as subtle as possible but instead he ended up pulling all of this.
"Fine I accept being your leader!" Mark said closing his eyes and rubbing his eyelids earning a teasing cheer from everyone present. "And I accept the offer of becoming an MTF unit."
"Then perhaps a fitting name would be appropriate." Merlin smiled, this time it was genuine unlike the uncanny smile that he had. "Perhaps that unit would be best called as Knights."
"Knights huh, alright then we'll call ourselves Knights!" Mark said grabbing Zion's glass and took a deep sip, this caused everyone present to let out a cheer.
The drink was surprisingly great.