The Ace

The guards of Fort M48 were...lacking. It wasn't that they were weak necessarily just...not as strong as people Roko had fought before. It was one thing to not be as strong as Alder or Alec but...to not be as strong as even Joseph, the less impressive of the twin combat butlers from Oarbine Mansion? That's not a high bar is it? These are high class guards in service to a corrupt government. Surely they would be at least as strong as a trained combat butler? Surely. Roko couldn't have become THAT strong could he? As Roko had a small existential crisis over his growing strength, Momo was practically dancing around the guards, picking them off as if she was playing with them.

"These guys are surprisingly weak for guards of an opulent city." Momo said openly.

"They're hired more for the image than for the training." Azimuth said as she dodged away from the attacking guards, tagging them in the shoulder with her crossbow bolts and dropping them with slight difficulties, "There's quite a few of them but we could usually overpower them one on one."

"Unfortunately you're all a bit out of practice." Roko replied, "So I'll say it'll be a toss up on whenever or not this operation succeeds."

"I tried to rally them." Azimuth scowled, "But everyone was busy starting families."

"I mean, at least we know if love can bloom on the battlefield." Momo chuckled.

"But they weren't on the battlefield." Roko growled.

"Sir! We have a wounded!"

Roko turned around as a trio of rebels quickly ran over, one of them carrying the wounded on his shoulder as the other kept watch around for sudden attacks. Just like Roko had instructed.

"Good work." Roko said as he punched a guard in the face, knocking him out without even looking, "Retreat back to the base, get your wounds treated and wait for our return."

The rebels nodded and quickly scrambled back down the sewer passage, hurrying home.

"You know, it just occurred to me." Momo said as she whacked another guard with the flat of her blade, "What if they fake their injuries so they can go home early?"

"Then I kill them myself." Roko growled.

"I'm...sure they'd never do that." Azimuth said with a notable pause.

"You damned Earthbounds! You never learn!"

A more decorated officer approached them as the guards now took a more cautious tactic of surrounding the three.

"I'll have to tidy up some of the old jail cells once we get our hands on you." The officer sneered with misplaced confidence.

"Really speaks a lot to how useless you all are when you don't even bother to keep your cells orderly, Captain Alphard." Roko said.

"You...I've never seen you before." Alphard frowned, "How do you know my name?"

"Get this." Momo grinned, "My buddy Roko here has a special power!"

"Yeah, it's called reading your badges."

"Oh. Yeah I guess you could do that too." Momo said sheepishly.

"I don't care how you got my name!"

"You asked though." Roko muttered.

"In the end, my job is to capture all of you and once I do, I'll present your heads to Regent Sirius personally!"

"I didn't know you knew the Regent so personally." Azimuth rolled her eyes.

"You stay out of this, Azimuth! I won't hold back against you no matter how much we may have cared about each other in the past!"

"Ooo, a little bit of history between you two?" Momo said, interested.

"We worked together for a bit in the Earhbounds but when the leadership changed to a more...unpleasant leader, BRIEFLY I might add, he switched sides and started working for Muldingirmus." Azimuth sighed.

"Is that it?" Momo teased, "It sounds like there might've been something more between you two."

"Hm? Not really? We worked together for a bit. That was it."

"We were partners!" Alphard announced, "Together in the throes of passion!"

"We did fight together." Azimuth shrugged.

"I'm starting to see the picture here." Momo chuckled.

"Regardless!" Alphard cleared his throat, "No matter what kind of history we had together, I have made my decision and shall stand by it no matter what!"

"If only you had so much integrity in The Earthbounds." Azimuth scowled.

At his order, Alphard had his guards close in on the three of them. Azimuth raised her crossbow in defense while Momo and Roko watched, unimpressed by their situation.

"So how do you want to handle this, Roko?" Momo asked curiously.

"Take care of Azimuth and our escape route." Roko sighed, "I'll handle Alphard."

"Watch out." Azimuth called, "I know just how strong he is."

"I do too..." Roko muttered as he stepped towards the grinning captain.

Alphard Luxnight

Level: 69

Strength: 59

Dexterity: 22

Constitution: 55

Intelligence: 19

Wisdom: 20

Charisma: 34

Spells: Equip: Dagger, Wind, Curse

An interesting skillset to be sure. Curse was not a spell most humans would learn but Roko has experience with it so he wasn't worried about it. The interesting part was the equip spell. It was not a spell that Roko's come across before but he has read about it back in his studies in Granreveria. It was a spell that summons a magical construct of a weapon for you to wield. This comes with many unique properties and advantages that Roko's spells wouldn't be able to read into until he uses it. Maybe it won't come to that but at least he's aware. More importantly, his stats were...on par with Rune who was basically the only person he scanned back in the Oarbine Mansion besides Distol himself. So this captain was at least as good as Rune. At least in stats per level. But analyze…

Alphard Luxnight

HP: 100%

MP:100%

Attack: 105

Defense: 72

An above average warrior with above average equipment. There are no discernible weaknesses in his condition nor his equipment. A little overweight.

Roko scowled. He knew analyze wasn't going to be helpful against a fair opponent but this was kind of the first time he's faced an opponent with no jarring weaknesses. At the very least, his spell wasn't warning him of any particular abilities either so it really was as fair a fight as he could get.

"What's wrong son? Feeling nervous against the might of Alphard of the Starry Skies?!"

"You know, you could stand to lose a few pounds."

"Wha- how dare you! I cannot believe- who are you to- why I oughta-"

While the completely disarmed Alphard continued to struggle to commit to a sentence, Roko struck, drawing his sword in a quick slash at the man's head. Alphard's arm raised and blocked the sword with its armor, the captain now sneering at his attempt at an attack. In response, Alphard reached for his own sword but Roko launched a forward kick, not at Alphard's stomach but at his arm, kicking against the butt of the sword as he tried draw it, blocking him from doing so. Alphard looked down at this maneuver in shock, as if it was something he'd never seen before. Roko drew his sword back and swung it around into a jab at the guardsman's head. Alphard quickly stumbled back before the attack can hit him, finally fully drawing his sword to defend himself as he glared at Roko.

"Funny looking fighting style you got there." Alphard scowled.

"Not really a fighting style, just whatever comes to mind." Roko muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said you're pretty fast for a fat man!"

"Oh you cheeky kid..." Alphard growled, "I'll show you what it means to be an adult!"

Alphard swung down at Roko. Roko raised his sword and blocked the attack and once the attack was stopped, Roko slammed the guard of his sword against the side of Alphard's sword, throwing his arm off to the side as Roko stepped forward to slice at Alphard's head. The head guard ducked, narrowly avoiding Roko's attack. He flipped his sword around and tried to make a low swing at Roko's legs. Roko's foot lifted and slammed down on the flat of Alphard's sword, pinning it to the ground and stopping it in its tracks. Just as soon as sword was stopped, Roko stepped off it, shifting his weight to his backfoot as he grabbed Alphard's head and kneed him in the face. Alphard quickly scrambled away to gain some distance from Roko whole clutching his face.

"You...you're no ordinary rebel are you?" Alphard scowled.

"And what gave that away?"

"The way you're so calm in combat. Walking right into combat without batting an eye."

"That was a rhetorical question." Roko rolled his eyes.

"Cracking jokes as well." Alphard frowned, "You're not from this city are you?"

"So what if I'm not?" Roko replied.

"Figures the rebellion would ask for outside help." Alphard scoffed, "Where are you from?"

"Would you believe me if I said 'from another world'?"

"Still not taking me seriously are you?"

"I'm being so honest right now."

"Mock me while you can!" Alphard scowled, "I'll show you the pride of a Guard Captain of Muldingirmus!"

Alphard raised his sword and ran at Roko. Roko sighed and drew his sword across the front of his body, swinging upward against the captain's downward swing. A flash and a clash later, the captain's sword clattered onto the stone ground not far from him. The captain stood there, frozen in shock as Roko leveled his sword at the captain's throat,

"So was that the Pride of a Guard Captain or the Cowardice of a Rebel Defector?" Roko asked.

"You mouthy little..." Alphard scowled as he slowly raised his hands in surrender.

"If you're done barking then take a seat."

Alphard slowly began to turn his body around as if to yield but once he thought Roko couldn't see his face anymore, the guard captain smirked,

"Equip!"

A spectral knife appeared in Alphard's hand and he swiped away at Roko's sword. Having fully anticipated this, Roko simply hopped back, withdrawing his sword as he dodged Alphard's deflection. Without stopping, Alphard pulled both his arms inward, summoning eight knives in between his fingers and threw them at Roko. Roko parried most of the knives, letting the rest sail past him as he stood unfazed by Alphard's surprise attack. Not that Alphard seemed to notice.

"Surprised ya didn't I?" Alphard gloated as he summoned another knife into his hand, "This is a spell I've taken great lengths to learn! With this, I am never without a weapon!"

"Mhm."

"...Wait, did you know?" Alphard frowned, "How'd you know?!"

"Ah...well...probably read it in a report or something."

"I only learned this spell after I left The Earthbounds! And I've never shown it off to anyone!"

"Must've came to me in a dream or something then." Roko shrugged.

"Nevermind." Alphard scowled, regaining his composure, "It doesn't matter what you know! You still won't be able to beat me! Wind!"

A wall of wind whipped up around Roko limiting his movements and somewhat hampering his line of sight. Even with these conditions, Roko could see Alphard summoning more daggers and throwing them into the spiraling winds. These daggers coasted along the storm winds until they were inevitably flicked inward to attack Roko at difficult directions. At least it would be difficult if Roko had not tagged every knife with analyze map, allowing him to easily keep trace of the knives' movements. Not that he really needed to as Alphard's mana was already running low with this stunt and he could only manage to fire two, maybe three daggers at a time which Roko could easily defend against. Once it became clear that this tactic was also proving to be ineffective, Alphard threw one more volley into the winds, carrying them before pooling his strength together to launch them all at the same time in towards Roko. Roko had to twist his body in somewhat awkward directions to avoid all the knives from hitting him but he managed to escape the attack just fine. What he couldn't defend against was the final knife that Alphard had thrown upwards, arcing through the sky before plummeting down and stabbing into Roko's shoulder. Roko's armor prevented most of the dagger from penetrating him. At best he'd have a small scratch on his shoulder when he got back. But the problem was the miasma leaking out from this illusory dagger, latching onto his body and...causing him a mild headache.

"Hahaha! Take that!" Alphard boasted as he let down his mini-tornado, "Now that I've tagged you with my most powerful spell, there's no hope for you left!"

"..."

"Trying to act cool? I know you must be in excruciating pain on the inside! Many have fallen to the unbearable pain my dark magic has put them under! I've forced entire confessions from people with this spell! Soon you will be begging for mercy!"

Roko reached up and quietly removed the dagger from his shoulder.

"Ha! Get rid of the knife if you want, my spell has already taken root in your body! There's no escape! You're doomed! I-"

"Think fast."

Roko interrupted Alphard's gloating as he threw the cursed knife back at him, sinking it deep into his shoulder before he could even realize what was going on and in no time, the guard captain sunk to his knees as he clutched his head.

"Augh! This is it! This is when I had the worst migraine of my life! How are you still standing?!"

"If this is the limit of your curse spell, then you've disappointed demons everywhere." Roko scoffed, "The last time I ran into this spell, I was faced with the phantom experience of my flesh being burned off from my entire body. This headache is nothing compared to that."

"Flesh...burning?" Alphard grimaced, "What are you talking about?"

"Curse is a spell that shares experiences of pain. The worse experiences you've lived through, the more pain you can inflict onto others. Though I was kind of the reason that demon got his flesh burned off to begin with."

"What...are...you?" Alphard gasped as he fell to the ground, consciousness hanging on by a thread.

"You know you can just turn off the spell right?!" Roko snapped, "It's YOUR spell!"

In short time, they had tied up all the guards on the floor and rounded them up. The reports for the capture of the fort were coming in with signs of their success showing clearly in their faces. The only thing left was to collect all the guards together and kick them out.

"This went really smoothly!" One of rebels remarked as they shoved one of the captured guards down next to their fellow captured guards.

"Walk, you bastard." Another rebel said, pushing another captive forward.

"I can't believe we were all captured." One of the guards bemoaned.

"Don't be." Alphard said, "We fought honorably. It was the rebel's cowardly use of an ambush and sheer power that caused our defeat."

"Alphard, YOU took part in ambushes back when you were in The Earthbounds." Azimuth frowned.

"Don't talk about our intimate moments openly like that!"

"They KNOW about the operations." Azimuth said, confused, "They have them on record. It's not like I'm revealing anything new."

"I'll take the sheer power comment though." Momo grinned, "Not that I did much this time."

"Wow, they really got you all captured."

A new voice drew everyone's gazes to the doorway. Where a tall female warrior was standing there, one arm leaning against the doorway as she looked back at everyone with mild amusement.

"Who's that?" Roko frowned.

"L-Lady Kajou!" The guards all cried out, a sudden burst of hope in their voices.

"Hm?" Momo looked back at the guards, "Should we know her?"

"You mean you don't know her?!" Azimuth cried.

"Let me check." Momo turned around, "Roko?"

"Don't recognize her." Roko crossed his arms.

"What do you mean?!" Azimuth hissed, "You went through our operational records didn't you?!"

"Only a little bit of it." Roko replied, "Mostly early stuff. Why?"

"Even in the early days." Azimuth moaned, "You should know her! I thought you knew!"

"Can you just explain it instead of fussing over it?" Roko snapped.

"There are many reasons why we haven't made any progress but there is one good reason why this rebellion will never succeed." Azimuth scowled, "And that's The Five Planetary Stars. Five foreign warriors that that bastard Sirius hired to protect him. Kajou Seiza is one of them. In fact, she alone has stone walled multiple operations of ours. And we haven't even seen the other four!"

…

"So are they planets or stars?" Roko asked.

"Never mind that, we have to leave!" The rebel soldiers cried as several of them were already escaping through the sewer hole again, "She's going to wipe us all out!"

"Roko?" Momo turned to Roko again.

"I mean, I know you're already doing your best to hold back." Roko sighed.

"Thanks Roko! You're the best! Hey you!"

"Oh hey, you guys done talking?" Kajou said as she looked up, "I've just been releasing the captain here."

"My thanks, Lady Kajou." Alphard grimaced as he rubbed his freed wrists.

"You're welcome. Now start untying all your men." Kajou said as she stood up, "I'll hold them back."