Kazeki and Aoi rounded the giant to greet everyone, Kazeki waving while Aoi opted for a polite bow. Since Itsuki was the only one they didn't know, Yakeru took the time to introduce him.

Kateshi walked up to his mentor. Although many would consider Itsuki tall and muscular, Kateshi had still one-upped him in height. Kateshi outstretched his hand towards the man, triggering flashbacks of when Yakeru first met the brute. He could still feel the bone-crushing pain from shaking his hand for the first time.

"I don't think you should..." Yakeru was about to warn him, worried for his mentor. However, as soon as Itsuki accepted his gesture, his veins bulged and muscles flexed as if his body focused its strength on his hand to keep it from shattering.

"It is an honor to meet you!" Kateshi's pearly white teeth shone through his grin, again, oblivious to how hard he was squeezing.

"Right back at you big guy," Itsuki smirked. If he was in pain, he did a phenomenal job at hiding it.

Minutes after everyone finished their introductions, a voice crackled to life across the entire encampment, grabbing everyone's attention.

["Hello? Is this thing on?"] A mysterious voice confirmed as he became more clear. ["Ah. Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you all to today's Clan Skirmish!"]

The encampment erupted into a roar.

["As you all know, the chosen battleground will be the Abandoned City of Terv where the two opposing sides will engage in a fierce battle to see who will come out on top! However, since the Fiends outnumber their opponents by a great margin, a new rule will be put in place for this occasion."] The boisterous voice informed. ["Kane Yamato, the leader of the Fiends and prodigy of the Yamato House, will play the role of king. If Kane is defeated or surrenders, it will be an immediate loss for the Fiends."]

Yakeru glanced over at Kane across the encampment. He was leaning back in a chair, casually speaking with one of his lackeys as if the rules were irrelevant to him. The voice continued.

["The match will have a time limit of 24 hours. During this time, contestants are prohibited from using elixirs of any kind. If neither side can best the other within the allotted time, the winners will be decided based on performance. In the event of an emergency, there is a Sentinel on standby. Contestants, you have 30 minutes left to prepare!"]

The voice cut out as the crowded encampment grew more lively in anticipation. Yakeru turned back to his table to discuss the task at hand.

"Let's go over our plan." He declared as Kateshi's group sat themselves at the long table.

Kateshi's group started by sharing their roles, strengths, and weaknesses with Itsuki while he did the same. Itsuki and Kateshi had similar builds and fighting styles, the only difference being Itsuki would implement more strategy in his battles.

After revealing what they specialized in they moved on to how they would actually go about fighting the Fiends. The most obvious disadvantage they had was their meager numbers, something Yakeru had been concerned about from the beginning. Although his mentor had molded him into a stronger combatant, he pondered if it would've been wiser to build up his team rather than spend the majority of his time chasing a fox.

Another problem would be the major players on the Fiends' side.

"Kenji, you mentioned you were here first to scout the competition. Did you notice anything useful?" Yakeru asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I caught a glimpse of someone with a slightly different insignia on their outfit. The other clan members seemed to treat him with more respect so I'm assuming they're important in some way."

"He's probably a veteran," Itsuki deduced. "Clan members of higher ranks get better treatment."

"Good to know." Yakeru cupped his chin, remembering the strange woman from earlier. "Maya—I think her name was—had a different insignia too so she's probably stronger than most of their team."

As he recalled more details about their brief interaction, he realized something he hadn't paid too much attention to before.

"...Do any of you remember what her conduit was?" He asked before everyone present shook their heads in response.

Anyone could easily determine what kind of ranger a person was based on the type of conduit they had. Unless she was concealing it in her blazer, there was no indication of whether she was a warrior type or a conjurer. They already didn't know much about her but this revelation only made her potentially more dangerous.

"How about we focus on what we do know? Their numbers and, of course, Kane." Kenji suggested. He glanced over at Yakeru for a brief moment. "It's obvious that Kane is a skilled fighter and he knows it, which, in turn, fuels his ego. He wants us to know that he's above everyone else, he can't help it. So I'm willing to bet that he'll hunker down in the most luxurious building he can find. But since he's the...king..." Kenji uttered distastefully.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"We only have to target him." Yakeru finished.

"But how would we get to him?" Kazeki asked. "It's not like his personal army would just let us waltz right up to him."

"I say we smash through their defenses and cripple their forces and morale!" Kateshi declared with utmost confidence.

"That won't go down the way you think it will, you big ape."

Kenji cupped his chin in thought. Of course, attempting to bulldoze through their defenses would put them in a bad position. However...

"Maybe Kateshi's onto something," Kenji said before he explained. "If we caused enough of a commotion, more Fiends would be drawn to us."

"But would that not further worsen our predicament?" Aoi worried.

"Not if it's a decoy." Kenji looked over to Kateshi. "What do you say?"

"If I am to draw attention to myself, so be it!" Kateshi accepted his role with a blinding grin as if he didn't already hog attention naturally.

"With that said, I think it'll be a good idea to have Aoi there with him since he's taking the brunt," Itsuki suggested.

"Good idea. I'll be there for support as well." Kenji volunteered. "Now for the second and third teams. Yakeru and Itsuki will be on Team 2 and Fuyumi and Kazeki on Team 3. Your teams will be responsible for hunting Kane."

"How would we manage that?" Fuyumi questioned.

"Once we identify the most exotic building, your teams will infiltrate it from opposite sides and overwhelm him."

"And how would we coordinate the attack?" Fuyumi brought up.

"That's a good point," Kazeki agreed. "We don't have access to communication artifacts like what capital guards and Sentinels have."

Kenji looked down, searching for a solution for this overlooked aspect of the plan. He was silent for a few seconds before his eyes lit up.

"The tracker talismans. Teams 2 and 3 can use them as a way to keep tabs on each other. If the talismans glow at a steady rate, that would mean both teams are moving parallel to each other at the same pace."

Yakeru watched as Kenji laid out their plan of attack. He couldn't help but admire his friend's ability to effortlessly devise a strategy on the fly. He could practically see the cogs turning in his head as he relayed the plan and proposed solutions to mitigate flaws.

The basic premise was for team 1 to play decoy, drawing as much attention as possible, while teams 2 and 3 hunted the main target. However, the plan hinged on an improbable factor.

"Yakeru? Is something the matter?" Aoi asked, her head tilted.

Yakeru had been tapping his finger on the wooden table in deep thought as everyone looked at him curiously.

"Kane's lieutenants are bugging me." He admitted. "We can't assume they're dumb enough to leave their 'king' by his lonesome. We might be able to use the city's sewer system to bypass them though."

Fuyumi and Aoi shuddered slightly when the sewers were mentioned.

"That's why I suggest Itsuki and Fuyumi accompany you for good measure," Kenji assured. "And as for the sewers, we don't know its layout so it might end up leading you away from the target. Besides, you'd probably pass out from the high concentration of hydrogen sulfide down there or worse..."

Yakeru wasn't completely convinced. The fact that they had no information on what Kane's higher-ups were capable of left him apprehensive. The plan relied on no setbacks but this was probably the best shot they had.

*****

"If we send out patrols to create a perimeter in Terv, we'll have a tactical advantage over them." A tall dark-haired man with a gold reaper on his chest proposed as Kane absentmindedly stared at the tent's ceiling while leaning back in his decorative chair.

"Yep."

"Once we're able to identify their position, we might be able to swarm them."

"Mhm."

The man's brow twitched. "Master Kane, if it's not too much to ask, I'd like your input."

Kane glanced over at the commoners' side. They were still spitballing futile ideas to one another as if this contest hadn't already been decided.

"Do as you'd like, Marcus," Kane responded indifferently.

It was at times like these that Marcus wondered why he joined the Fiends to begin with. The well-toned man took his job as second in command more seriously than Kane did as leader. He'd terminated his contract with the Saberclaw Clan after the Fiends offered better pay and a higher position. For the two years he'd known Kane, he debated with himself whether or not he'd made an impulsive decision to join his ranks.

The arrogant brat only cared about growing his numbers with a few talents here and there. There were some skillful rangers that would've actually been beneficial for the longevity of the clan had they joined but Kane shot them down with little hesitation or plausible explanation. It became so consistent that Marcus couldn't help but question if Kane was deliberately choosing those weaker than him so he would remain at the top.

This enabled the Fiends' rapid growth since it was easier to recruit weaker rangers who were desperate to be affiliated with the top clan. Marcus found it embarrassing that Kane would stoop so low, flaunting his clan like some trophy without any regard for quality.

"I don't care what sort of plan you cook up. Just make sure that commoner swordsman gets to me." Kane ordered.

"Master Kane, I don't think it's wise to allow the enemy to-"

"You know, I could've just outright taken his possessions after our last bout. No one would've stopped me." Kane smirked, practically broadcasting his supposed superiority. "But I decided against it. The reason I agreed to this little game is because I came to the conclusion that not everyone is familiar with me. He wouldn't have defied me otherwise so I plan to change that. And..."

He turned to his second in command, his arrogant smirk growing wider in anticipation.

"It'll be fun putting that commoner in his place a second time for the entire world to see."

Marcus narrowed his eyes but before he could respond, a booming voice crackled across the encampment.

["Contestants, your time is up! You know what that means..."]

Kane got up from his seat and cracked his neck as he strutted outside. Marcus followed behind him, later joined by Maya and the rest of their sea of clan members.

Yakeru and his team rose to their feet as they saw guards deploying spherical artifacts toward the decaying remnants of Terv. Moments later, four more identical artifacts floated into the air over the encampment before a holographic screen flickered between them, showing a birdseye view of the ruined city.

Cheers resounded through the encampment as both parties began making their way to the city shrouded in a veil of mist. Through the crowd, Yakeru spotted his sister cheering him on.

As they made their way down the cliff's steep slope, he found Kane to his left who had a haughty smile on his face, contrasted by the subtle hostility in Yakeru's eyes.

'So this is it.' Yakeru breathed.

["Ladies and gentlemen,"] the voice exclaimed. ["Let the Clan Skirmish begin!"]