Chapter 18: Storm the Castle!

"He's late…"

Akafuyu sighed as she took a sip of Klauss's signature coffee.

"Hmm, he might have lost his way. After all, he is getting old."

A knock came in as soon as Klauss said it.

"Ah, speaking of the devil. Come in, My Mistress has been waiting for you."

The door opened slowly, revealing a man in his mid 40's wearing a western shirt with fasteners and a vaquero design accent, fashioned like an old west cowboy. He took off his cowboy hat revealing his ochre colored hair partnered with his sharp eyes.

"You're late. What's your excuse?" Akafuyu questioned him with an impassive tone.

The old man scratches the back of his head as he chuckles from Akafuyu's expression. "Hehe, I'm sorry I've lost my way. It's been a long time since I've visited after all."

"Oh, see I'm right." Klauss applauded himself.

Akafuyu's impassiveness turned into a doubtful expression, her brows raised and her face frowned. "For a cowboy you sure have a substandard sense of direction."

"Ahahah…well I just thought that cowboys are cool, I'm not really one myself." The old man then hung his hat and sat down. Klauss then served him an ordinary coffee for formality purposes.

"Now then, Akafuyu-chan. To what this old bones owe this pleasure of an invitation." His lax attitude went away for a second as he is now talking about business.

Akafuyu presented him a scroll, containing a request for the dismissal and apprehension of the ninth Herald's colleague: Yoshu, due to being involved in a rebellion outside of the ninth's jurisdiction.

Akafuyu explained it to him in simple terms. He then commented: "Ah so this is the reason why I'm the one in-charge of this. Kirisame is a hard man to keep track of due to his usual business activities."

Klauss nodded. "With your tracking skills and the convenient power of your mask, it would be easy for you to deliver it."

"Eeeh, you're giving me too much credit."

"Rather a humble remark for someone who was once feared as the masked vaquero and one of the remnants of Kaihō, Mr. Tokisada."

Kaihō-sha. Once a feared organization that dared challenge the rule of the Ten Heralds. They are composed of twelve members, each holding a mask of Jewel rank. Tokisada was their tracker.

But alas, challenging the Heralds is like asking to be wiped away. The Kaihō-sha was not evil to begin with. People just started to look for a change as the world would not always be stuck by the rule of thumb. In this case, said rule of thumb was the Heralds who reigned for a thousand years already.

When their leader died, all the other surviving members scattered across the lands. Some of them were left unheard and as for the old man Tokisada, he began to work for Akafuyu as an independent member as he admires how much she changed.

"Aww man, that was a thing in the past. Look I've never hurt those who did not deserve it right?" Tokisada chuckled.

"I know. That's why you're pardoned." Akafuyu commented.

Tokisada then opened his eyes a bit more, showing a serious expression. "How urgent is this that you need me to deliver it, Akafuyu-chan?"

"We need it to reach Lord Kirisame before the day ends. I believe we'll settle it with the Scythes soon, we can't afford for Yoshu to run and get away with this."

Klauss handed the scroll over to Tokisada.

"Scythes, huh. You believe your members will win today?" Tokisada asked.

"Yes." Akafuyu gave a quick and confident answer.

Tokisada smiled and bowed his head lightly. He then proceeds to walk towards the door as he picks up his hat and wears it.

"Well then, since this is a rush order I better be quick about it. Don't worry, this will reach him today." Tokisada confidently announced.

Akafuyu nodded with a smile. She knows that Tokisada is pairing her confidence with his, and that when he means business, he will surely get the job done. With that, Tokisada left the vicinity.

"He didn't drink the coffee…" Klauss sadly remarked.

— — —

Commander Gwyn's group will soon reach their destination. As they were about to step into the enemy territory, Gwyn halted their advance and gave hand signals.

They are to split into three teams, with Gwyn moving out by himself assisted by his trusted aide, Prelati, who volunteered to come.

Kiyoto, Chizue, and Fudo assisted by a small number of members will go around to take the backside of the manor.

Johan and Yamato on the other hand will be assisted by a substantial number of members as they will go for a direct frontal assault.

With this formation, the [Swords] moved out keeping in their mind that the [Scythes] would most probably be aware of their presence already. This mindset will help them be more vigilant as they move.

Kiyoto's team moved quickly to investigate around the large manor. Johan and his team didn't waste a single second and charged through, but then as expected, they were met with a resistance from the [Scythes].

Along with the said resistance are two officers that anyone can tell that they are one since their uniforms are unlike the others. To add, they have masks of different quality.

"Jetto! It's time to let out some steam. Quite literally!"

Jetto, one of the [Scythes]'s officers, equipped his mask. It is a full face mask that has a distinct grayish color, it has nails for its horns. A steampunk design so to speak.

He puts both of his hands forward and in a matter of seconds, a wrecking ball of compressed smoke was formed. He then hurls it towards the grouped up [Swords] members causing them to get scattered, which also affected some of their own.

"As I always said, it's not steam Kabuki. It's smoke, s-m-o-k-e, those are two different things."

Kabuki is also one of the [Scythes]'s officers. Equipped in his head is an ornament that looks like a feathered crown out of a festival, composed of different varieties of colors.

"Shut up! They're the same in form, you moron!"

After their small banter, the two retreated as if nothing happened. Johan and Yamato noticed this, though before they chased in pursuit, the two helped the others get back on their feet.

"Why fall back after that?" Yamato wondered, aiming the question at Johan.

"They can't risk being out in the open, they're one of the key assets with regards to battle after all–"

As soon as the two [Scythes] officers disappeared in sight, a batch of numerous reinforcements stormed the front, surrounding the [Swords] who were already inside the grounds.

"-and there's that. Seems like they really planned this. The officers will most likely attack once again after a certain amount of time passes." Johan stated his thoughts.

"Then–"

"I'll give chase. You assist our members here and make sure to minimize our injured."

Yamato paused for a second. As far as he can see it, Johan is serious and he can handle himself just fine. Knowing this, he didn't dare stop him, though as an ally he still relayed his concerns.

"You can count on me here. Be careful Johan." Yamato then joined the on-going battle, taking on a sizable number of enemies by himself.

"Hah. Finally said my name straight without retracting." Johan then marches towards the direction where Kabuki and Jetto retreated.

Meanwhile, Kiyoto's group got in without any incidents, which also in turn makes them wonder. After all, the [Scythes] were expecting an assault, but they left their backdoor wide open for them to infiltrate.

Once inside, they didn't expect what they just witnessed. The manor has a modern yet vintage design outside, but the inside looks like a castle or a dungeon of some kind.

Fudo whistled silently. "Whoa, didn't expect that Yoshu has a very unique taste in terms of house design." She gave her comment while poking every artifact she can get her fingers on.

"Yeah…this looks very different from what you were expecting after seeing the layout of the manor outside."

What they're worried the most right now is if they got attacked by a wide ranged assault type of masked fighter, since the space they are in right now is quite narrow to move with.

As if answering their most undesirable thought, someone who is capable of the aforementioned attack appears in front of them, standing from an elevated platform. Heinrich, the unrefined butler.

"Shoot." said Fudo after seeing him.

"Aaah. How fortunate for me to have you be part of this poor group! Time for–"

Fudo interrupted his speech. "Hey hey, come on, you do know that what you guys doing are-" she then noticed Heinrich's bandaged arm. "Shoot, the arm's not personal okay? I mean, you're trying to disassemble me back then."

She's not trying to be savage. Fudo is just that kind of a smooth talker.

"Enough of you!!" Heinrich unrefinedly (what) waves his only functionable hand towards the group, resulting for a violent gust of wind to blow.

"Here he comes!" Kiyoto exclaimed.

Fudo swiftly takes out her cudgels after equipping her mask. To match the intensity of the gust, Fudo also spins violently and she does it like it's a normal thing to do. Looks like she's been training to move like this for a while.

"Like the wind!" She exclaimed.

With that, the wind got nullified which in turn made Heinrich angrier.

"You show off!"

"Hey, it's a necessary show off!"

After their abrupt exchange, a group of [Scythes] members blocked the path towards Heinrich.

"Let's see how many more of that performance you can do!"

"Aww man." Fudo scratched the back of her head. Finally using some of her brain cells, Fudo instructed something to Kiyoto: "Kiyoto, I'll do some ceiling and wall walking since I'm that dude's priority, you guys go and take care of the men in the ground.

"What?" Kiyoto asked in confusion.

Having no time for a more diverse explanation, Fudo launched herself up and stepped at the ceiling as if landing on the floor. "I'll have you know I have many more tricks up my sleeve to surprise you!"

As expected, Heinrich focused on her. Gritting his teeth, he launched a continuous round of gusts towards the position of Fudo.

She evaded his attacks by changing courses, from the ceiling to the wall and to the other side of the wall and back to the ceiling again. As if a spider hanging onto dear life.

Not wasting this chance, Kiyoto and the others charged forward and battled it out with the [Scythes]'s ground forces.

Meanwhile, in a secluded spot not that far from the manor. A certain someone awaits the conclusion of the battle. She opened her eyes as she heard two footsteps approaching her.

"Hmm. I certainly thought that I'm being discreet here."

Gwyn and Prelati showed themselves in front of her. The woman's poisonous gaze met Gwyn's tempered eyes.

The battle is just starting.