「…Magic! We're dealing with a mage! Watch yourselves!」

The bear's growl and a rush of footsteps come from the nearby hallway. With his back against one of the windows, the wolf-masked man shakes his head and recovers from his daze.

Combined with the bear's warning, an odd, inexplicable, and almost supernatural urge to check for danger in another direction washes over him. The wolf takes a quick peek over his shoulder.

CLANG!…

Once again at the last possible second, he moves his bastard dagger in the way of the masked woman's weapon, just before she is able to plunge its tip into his neck from a high stab. Her hand is momentarily thrown aside, and the growling wolf is sent stumbling towards the fat king, and the men who stayed behind.

「She's here!?」「How!?」

The two owls exclaim, swiveling around. The fat man on the floor begins panicking and crawling away on his back when he accidentally gains a split-second eye contact with Stripe.

「Hiiiii!… Assassin! Actual assassin!…」

The king squeals in terror, sweating profusely. The fox standing in the doorway beside him has his attention split between the sniveling king crawling past him like a slug, and the rest of the terrified royal family inside the room. He exits, slamming the door shut behind himself, and placing himself behind the two owls with his weapon at the ready.

Stripe enters a dual-wielding fighting stance with her two daggers, glaring at the wolf and the rest of the cloaked men behind him.

「Nnghh… Fox! Guard the king!」

After a short, pained groan, the wolf shouts a quick command over his shoulder.

「Got it…」

The fox-masked man replies, and stops the king's crawl by stomping down his boot on his fat-padded stomach.

「Ooofff!…」

He recoils, nearly folding up from the impact.

「…Don't go anywhere, fatso.」

The fox says with a disdain-filled voice, and turns his metal face back to the threat as he pulls his foot off the king and takes a combat stance.

「Hnn!… Hnnn!… Don't let her kill meeeee!…」

The king begs, clumsily flopping down onto his large stomach, and clutching onto the fox man's ankle, panting and whimpering in fear.

Fwip!

Without a warning, the masked woman flicks her dagger towards the wolf. He swiftly leans out of the way, the flying blade carves his cloak some more, and sails onward right between the owls.

Clink!

With plenty of time to react, the fox deflects the blade with his bastard dagger.

…Clank!… Clank. Clank… Clank…

It drops to the floor, bouncing a few times off the marble. The fox then returns his attention back to the woman, who is already attacking the captain again.

Clang!

She slashes at his vitals and he deflects again, this time with ease, being able to see it coming.

Thump!

「Ungh!」

The wolf man grunts when the woman unexpectedly palm strikes him straight in his face, without even recovering from her slash. The blow is far from powerful, but its abruptness compensates for the lack of force. He is sent stumbling backwards another few steps, and the two owls menace her with dagger points.

「Wha-!?」

Entirely focused on her dagger in hand, one of the owls barely evades a thrust aimed at his throat from the one in her other hand. He's forced to backpedal to just in front of the fox.

At the same time, still reeling from the palm strike, the wolf notices the woman raise her primary hand. The owl on his side is struggling to get into position where he'd have enough space to parry, and the wolf himself is unprepared.

Thwap!

「Nrrrghhh!」

The wolf man lets out another pained grunt through his concealed teeth when Stripe bears her curving dagger's edge down onto his shoulder. Thanks to the combined effort of the two trying to deflect it and the wolf doing his best to evade, she very narrowly misses his throat. The cloak around the slash slowly darkens and shifts from green to red. Stripe pulls her arm back, glaring at the space between the man's mask and chest, preparing to plunge her dagger into it.

…Thwomp-thwomp-thwomp-thwomp!…

Just before she can deliver another attack, Stripe's pursuers return from the adjacent hallway. The large, bear-masked man's green cloak flies upward, revealing his dark, fur-padded leather armor slung with many pouches and an assortment of miscellaneous equipment hanging off his belt. Holding a blade too long to be a dagger and too short to be a sword in his other hand, she recognizes the telltale shape of a crossbow pointed at her.

FWAP-Crash!

On a reflex, Stripe jumps backwards. A crossbow bolt sails past her face and smashes through the window next to her. The men try to flank and surround Stripe again.

「Shit!… Wolf, you good!?」

The large man curses out, jerking his head in visible frustration. Putting his hand crossbow away, the bear runs in front of the wolf and the two owls.

「Nnghh… Could have been worse.」

Clutching onto his shoulder, the wolf replies in a calm tone as blood slowly begins to trickle from underneath his mask.

「Get that fat fuck and the guys out of here, I'll keep her busy!」

The bear man nods at the fat king clutching onto the fox's leg, then waves his hand to the bull and points at Stripe, rushing towards her.

「…Dance with me, lady!」

Clang!… Clang! Clang!

The bear shouts as he swipes his weapon down at her. Stripe briefly considers the idea of thrusting her dagger into his armpit, but with his longer arm, weapon and apparent disregard for danger, she quickly abandons that idea and jumps back, blocking his blow. She is sent flying backwards a few steps from the sheer force of impact.

「Fox, get him up! We're leaving! Sergeant, novice, scout ahead! Go! Cat, you too!」

The growling wolf quickly begins barking out commands, first to the fox, then to the owls, then to the cat who's apparently briefly intent on joining the bull and the bear.

「…What are you hiding your face for!? You must be real pretty under that mask! I like shy women!」

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Giving her not a single second of reprieve, the bear continues delivering large, sweeping, forceful blows. Stripe has no choice but to constantly backpedal, ignoring everything he shouts at her. The moment she appears to have a chance to deliver a strike of her own, the bull quickly rushes in for a quick thrust from behind the bear. She clenches her teeth in frustration as the cloaked men drag away the fat king in the background of the two in her way.

Clang!…

After blocking another blow, she turns to run the other way.

「Sergeant, after her!…」

Thump-thump-thump-thump!

The bear sics the bull onto the woman and moves out of the way, allowing him to chase her with loud, heavy stomps. The bear, himself, takes a few steps back and looks around himself.

《Sergeant?… Isn't that a military rank?… Deserters? Traitors?…》

Gauging the distance to her pursuer over her shoulder, Stripe narrows her golden eyes as she thinks, before slinking behind a turn in the hallway. The bull slides to a stop, and continues after her.

…Fwap!…

While looking around, the bear hears a sound down the hall directly behind himself. When he turns his gaze there, he sees the woman staring at him from a considerable distance.

「Not this time! I won't let you!…」

The bear notices the woman sprint at him, and he does the same in an effort to block her path.

Crack! Crack!… Krunk!…

She slides to a stop near the shattered window, quickly knocks the shards remaining in the frame, then hops over to the outside. The bear's head perks up in surprise, and he runs up to it.

「Captain, she disappeared again!-」「I know!」

The bull's voice shouts from down the hall, and the bear shouts back before leaning out the window.

Clutching onto a ledge below with her free hand, Stripe looks up and sees a cloak-covered metal bear staring down at her. She bounces herself off the marble wall, and with a forceful kick, shatters the window a floor below. A second dagger emerges from the one in her hand, and with just her thumb and finger's tip, she flicks it inside through a small gap in the broken glass.

Clink… Clink… Fwap!

「Shit!… Bull, let's go!」

The woman disappears from the ledge again, and the bear waves his arm for the bull to follow while dashing for the stairs down.

「Tsk… Different strategy! Surround her! Block off all the hallways she can escape through!-」

Frustrated to see the apparently omnipresent woman already there when he and the rest arrive, the wolf starts pointing his weapon hand in all directions and barking orders again.

「No! That won't work! It's her dagger! She'll reappear at her dagger! Just get the fat fuck to the autowagons!」

The bear shouts, cutting in as he stomps down the stairs down to everyone else along with the bull. He rushes out ahead while the team fans out in front of the stairs, blocking her way.

「Tsk…」

Stripe quietly clicks her tongue, and her golden eyes dart around while her dagger duplicates.

「Hey, fatty… If you don't want to die, do as I say… Get to the palace doors and wait.」

The fox grabs onto the fat man's expensive robe, twisting its soft textile in his gloved hand, and pulls him closer to his mask. The fat on the king's face jiggles as he nods his head. The fox lets go.

「…Is that a good idea?」

A cat asks, watching the king wheeze and pant while to make his way down alone.

「This is our best bet. If it's as Bear says, she can't be everywhere at once. We only need one of us there at the door when it's time, and to not let her get to him.」

The wolf shakes his head, briefly glancing at the cat behind him. Stripe quickly slinks behind a corner out of their view.

「Running again!?-」

「Bear, wait!-」

The large, bear-masked man chases after Stripe. The wolf raises his hand towards him, but the bear rushes to the corner faster than he can shout.

Clangggg!

「Ngggyahh… Clever…」

The bear jumps, narrowly parrying and evading a sudden thrust aimed at his throat from just beyond the corner. The corner of his metal mask is gouged, the cloak on its side is slashed, and there's blood dripping down to his shoulder, leaving red spatters on the dark green.

「…You're vicious! I like that! Thought you were turning tail again!」

The bear masked man nods in approval, wagging his bastard dagger's point at her while keeping himself just out of her reach. The bull rushes in to his side to support him.

「You alright, captain?」

「Just a scratch…」

The bull asks in a calm voice, and the bear nods back while keeping his eyes on Stripe. She lunges forward.

Clang! Clang-clang-clang!

With a two on one duel, Stripe manages to keep both the bull and the bear on the defensive, though she can't gain a considerable purchase despite, or perhaps because of their now cautious fighting.

In middle of the melee, she flicks a dagger between them both, aiming at the wolf blocking the stairs.

Clanggg!… Clang… Clank…

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He blocks it, sending the dagger whirling upwards. The cat grabs it and quickly throws it away back near her. It bounces against the wall beneath the windows behind her.

「How does she have so many daggers!?」

The cat shouts in a frustrated tone.

Clank!… Clank!…

「It looks like she can copy them somehow.」

The wolf replies as the dagger whirls around its axis in the air then drops to the ground, still spinning.

Fwap!

In a flash of violet light and short-lived sparks, Stripe reappears roughly where the dagger was bouncing on the floor.

「Heh… Now you're out of options, aren't ya!?」

With a shout, the large bear man decides to return onto the offensive once again along with the bull.

Clang… Clang-clang!… Clang-clang-clang-clang!… Clang-clang!…

「Bear, don't get overzealous!」

The wolf shouts an ignored warning as the flurry of incessant strikes continues flying towards Stripe. She's forced to both block and evade at the same time, narrowly sidestepping out of the blades' way. She is quickly pushed back into one of the hallways, unable to even take a second to recover from the forceful strikes that propel her back a few paces at a time.

Crrreak!-SLAM!

「Hhhhhhraagh!…」

She swings one of the doors open in the way of the bear, but he quickly slams it shut with an equally rapid kick. The door frame is badly cracked and splintered from the force.

「…Ha ha ha! What's the matter!? Your magic dagger's no good!?」

Clang! Clang! Clang!…

The bear shouts, taunting Stripe.

Clanggggg!

Some anger seeps into an unusually forceful blow, and Stripe is sent flying back a few steps more than before.

Crrreak-thud!

She takes the opportunity to throw another door open and slip inside, slamming it shut behind herself.

「Now she's fucked!…」

The bear declares and rushes up to the door with the bull, who prepares to thrust his dagger inside the moment it opens. They nod at each other, and the bear throws the door open.

Crrrrrreaaaaaak… Thud!

The door slams onto the wall outside, and the two cloaked men rush in. Their heads swivel around as they look around the empty room. The bear nods his head at the bed.

THUD!

They walk up and flip it aside. Dust. They check the cabinet. Empty.

The bear begins pacing around the room in confusion, unable to locate the woman. They quickly step out and rush back to the stairs.

「Hey! She disappeared again! Is she there!?」

The bear shouts, then slides back in front of the stairs. The rest of the masked men stare at the two, then glance at each other.

「I thought you were fighting her with her second dagger gone?」

The growling wolf says, quickly glancing at the cat beside him.

「We were! She slipped into one of the rooms, and then she's fucking gone!…」

Fwwwooooooommmm…

The bear throws his arms up. A draft blows across the hall, fluttering his green cloak. With a tilted head, he looks down as the cloth flutters to the side.

He looks at the shattered window behind himself, then down at his cloak again. Tracing the wind current with his eyes, he looks far down the hallway on the side.

「Shit…」

The bear utters out under his breath when he sees a shattered window on the far end.

「…We've been had! She fucking got us! Get the fuck down to the doors!」

He shouts, rushing for the stairs. The cloaked men jump out of his, and the bull's way, then quickly join them.

Thwump-thwump-thwump-thwump!…

「…Aaaaaaaiiiiiieeeeeeee! Nooooooo! Don't kill meeeeee!…」

The fat king's muffled scream of terror comes from the palace entryway as the masked men rush towards it, gear clattering against their armor, boots stomping on the marble floor.

「Fuckin' shit!… Don't tell me!…」

The bear and the bull speed up, charging towards the double doors.

THUD-crack!

They slam their broad shoulders into the doors, smashing them open with a burst of splinters. Wrestling with the kneeling king a few paces away from the door, the masked woman turns her golden gaze towards the men rushing towards her. She yanks onto his collar and pulls him up.

「Now hooold it there!…」

「Hiiiiii!…」

She shouts as she slips her dagger between the fat man's chin folds. He lets out another terrified squeal as he freezes up, though also sweating profusely and furiously shaking.

「…One more step, and we're going to see if noble blood really is blue!」

Stripe adds, glaring at the men encircling her. They glance at each other, keeping a consistent distance from her.

「Noooooooo! It's red like everyone else's, I assure you!-」

「Shut up, fatass! Be quiet or you'll look like a pig at a market stall!」

The king lets out another whimper, jiggling his cheeks as he shakes his head. Stripe quickly shuts him down with another threat, causing him to gain a nervous, tight-lipped grimace.

「…If you're not here to kill him, what is your objective!?」

The bear-masked man shouts, constantly exchanging glances with the rest of the cloaked men.

「Hah!… Wouldn't you like to know!?…」

Stripe scoffs while keeping constant watch of the men encircling her.

「…I'm the one asking questions here! Who are you, who do you serve, and why do you want this fatass!?」

She shouts a question back, pressing her blade harder into the king's plump neck. He lets out a terrified squeal through his pig-like nose.

「…We're not answering any of those.」

The wolf bluntly replies, staring at Stripe with a still, focused gaze.

「…Huh!? Get me angry and see what happens! Tell me who you are, or I'll turn this pig into ham!」

Narrowing her golden eyes, Stripe tilts her head. She forces the king's head back, exposing his round throat more.

「That's a good idea, isn't it?…」

The bear asks with a loud voice, bringing her attention to himself.

「Huh?…」

「…Go ahead. I don't know if it occurred to you yet, but we want him alive. Kill him, and we have no more reason to stay back.」

The large man shrugs his shoulders, not quite taunting, neither threatening Stripe, speaking with a blunt tone as if he was just stating his mind.

「Tsk…」

She clicks her tongue, and looks around herself again. The men remain standing where they are, though they appear to be ready to leap in the moment she drops her guard.

「What do you intend to do with him, then? Ransom? How much? We'll buy him off.」

The wolf asks, nodding his head up at her. He quickly glances at the palace soldiers manning the walls. None seem to have noticed the commotion outside the palace doors yet.

「Hah!… As if I care about your worthless money! That's not what I'm doing it for!… If you want this pig to live, better do as I say!…」

「P- Please do as she says!…」

Stripe scoffs, shouting back at the wolf. The fat king in her grasp quickly nods his head, agreeing with her.

「…For starters, tell your men to open the gate and let me pass!」

She nods her head at the gate to the city, then quickly peeks all around herself again.

「…Your men?」

The bear echoes her words, then glances at the wolf. They look at each other for a brief moment of silence.

「…We can't do that.」

The wolf bluntly replies.

「Huuuh!? You think I'm messing around!? I'll spill his guts right here if it's the last thing I'll ever do, damn it! I said open the gate!」「Noooo, I want my guts inside!…」

Frustrated, Stripe stomps her foot, pointing her dagger at the growling wolf as she screams at him.

「I said we can't. They're not our men-」

The wolf explains, but the bear raises his hand, stopping him.

「…You want to get out of here, right? We can't open the gate, but how about we move out of the way for you? What are you going to do with him after?」

The large man asks, bargaining with the masked woman.

「Heh… I'll deliver him to the invaders' commander!… If not unharmed, then his head will suffice! Now get out of my way! My patience is running thin!」

Stripe scoffs again, and the heads of the masked man collectively jump up. All of them exchange quick, silent glances.

「The invaders' com-?…」

The bear utters out, sounding almost in shock. He quickly shakes his lightly damaged metal face, then looks at the wolf beside him.

「…Listen! For now, we're going to move out of the way! What are you planning to do after that? Do you have a way out?」

The bear holds his hand up towards her, then waves his fingers side to side for the men behind Stripe to disperse and let her through. She begins to back away, dragging the king along.

「I'll use the same way as I got in…」

She replies, and drops a duplicate dagger into her hand. She continues towards the wall while flowing the mana into the copy dagger.

Fwip!

With a quick flick of her arm, she lets go of the king for only a second to throw the dagger high over the wall. It flies in an arc, then disappears over the top somewhere.

Pat!

She grabs onto the king's shoulder tight, and her eyes narrow with visible glee in them.

「I can't believe he was right…」

She grumbles, briefly glancing aside.

《Please let it work, please let it work, please let it work, please let it work!…》

「…You're not bad for bandits, but your hearts are weak! You stand no chance against someone motivated by duty!」

Stripe declares in a large voice, pointing her dagger's finger at the wolf and the bear.

「…Better start praying we don't end up on a rooftop, fatass.」

「That can happen!?」

Fwip.

Stripe whispers to the fat man, and his eyes quickly widen in panic before they both abruptly disappear with a quiet noise of moving air. The masked men exchange confused glances.

「…Did we just fight against ourselves?」

The cat asks in a sighful, disappointed voice.

「…Never mind who it was, we'll figure that out later. Bull, set the demolition IEDs up. We're going to find them and ensure they get to the commander safely.」

The wolf shakes his head, sheathes his bastard dagger, then points two of his fingers at the palace wall.

「Uh-huh…」

The bull nods, jogging up to the wall with a large IED in hand while the rest of the team moves away…