Chapter 55: A Fiend

Arriving at a pretty normal looking building. The teens raised a brow. "Isn't this place just a normal office building?" Kouki wasn't convinced.

"Yeah, it looks pretty normal." Natsume agreed and Tobio thought that they hadn't learned a single thing.

"Normal huh? Foolishness indeed. Are you even using your mental faculties? Who will build a secret base that stands out?" Vali scoffed and they looked sheepish from her words.

"Ohh, yeah... We just didn't expect an evil organization to have a mundane looking base." Kouki scratched his head.

"You buffoon, you watch too much TV. Why oh why would they want to build a noticeable base of operations? I would like to see the hamster that is running inside of your head." Vali was getting annoyed.

"You watch too much anime and TV too." Ise quipped and she snorted.

They then started going at each other. The teens thought that it would be like a cute kids fight. But when their fists hit each other's faces. A shockwave exploded.

"Hah, what should I do with you guys? As punishment for revealing our positions, you will be handing out contracts for a month." Mordred punished them and they immediately groveled on the ground.

"Master! Please! We can't do that for a month! We'll die of boredom!" The duo were suddenly in sync and he snorted.

"You do not listen, Mo-chan just got punished. Actions have consequences." Mordred glared at them and they shut up. Getting depressed that they have to hand out contracts again.

"Aren't they a bit too childish?" Arthur raised a brow and he squeaked after the two glared at him sharply.

"It's because they think that this will be a pretty easy mission. These two aren't normally like this. I guess this will be a learning experience for you guys. That's not what to copy." Mordred pointed at them.

"Kekeke, aren't you guys supposed to be our seniors?" Mo-chan grinned at them, taunting the heavenly dragons.

"Kuu! I'll kick your ass later." Ise squinted her eyes. While Vali plotted, thinking of poisoning her with Albion's venom later.

"You brought these unto yourselves." Ddraig sighed and Albion was also down due to Vali acting like a chuuni.

"They're coming." Mordred sighed and the others prepared for battle.

Golems like earlier appeared in droves and Mordred gestured for Ise and Vali to take a back seat.

"Mo-chan, don't interfere unless it gets dangerous. They don't have much battle experience. You have plenty already." Mordred ordered her and she nodded.

As a knight, it was also her duty to help them develop their skills. Even if she wanted to relieve some stress by cutting things.

"Everyone, in formation!" Siegfried shouted as he was the current leader of their group. Being the oldest one with the most training.

"Le Fay, on the rear guard with Lint. Freed, cover the middle. We'll be at the vanguard." Arthur added as he was voted to be their vice leader.

"Un, have this! Mid Vur Shaan." Le Fay shouted and they suddenly felt that they have more agility.

"Hmm, I guess that she has managed to learn it. Le Fay is truly a mage that can reach Merlin's level." Mordred nodded in satisfaction.

Le Fay wanted to learn primordial magic. But it was simply too difficult. Even Merlin who paved the way for magicians to use spells couldn't do it.

So Mordred devised another way for her to copy their magic. By creating a mystic language that imitates a dragon's magic that bends the world to their will.

"Such Grah Dun." Le Fay shouted once again and their swords were imbued by wind. Making their weapons far sharper.

"Yol Toor Shul!" Le Fay roared and a torrent of flames appeared in front of her.

The golems immediately formed a wall and a blue barrier blocked the flames. "Whoa... Is she some kind of dragon or something?" Tobio was in awe and the other two were shocked.

"She's using the language of dragons. It's like an offshoot of primordial magic. But instead of using pure will and mana to cast spells, it bends the world to cast spells because of the mystic language." Mordred shrugged.

"Cool... Can we learn that?" Kouki was excited and Mordred shook his head.

"Well, are you a genius that can memorize how that spell works? Le Fay is still basically using human magic. The shouts just let her chant it much easier like a shortcut." Mordred crushed his dreams.

"Ohhh! So we can use it then?" Ise got excited. Vali then looked at her like she was an idiot.

"You can just think of it happening and a spell will be realized, that's our system of magic you buffoon." Vali snorted.

"Hmph, you absolute fool! You dare act like a chuuni. But you do not have the soul of one. It is much cooler to shout out your attacks." Ise argued.

"Gah! T-that's true..." Vali kneeled in defeat and Ise smirked at having one over her rival.

"Why are they arguing about shouting out their attacks? Well, Ise is right. That's much cooler." Mo-chan agreed with the brunette.

Arthur and Siegfried were making quick work of the golems. Freed and Lint were looking around for threats. While Le Fay bombarded the back line with magic.

Thu'um uses up tons of mental strength and Le Fay will lose consciousness if she uses it too much. So she mixes it up with more mundane magic.

But her calculations were still prodigal, so fireballs were raining down on the golems.

"Hmm, these kids are pretty good." Mo-chan observed and she was actually getting entertained with how they fought.

"Is that so? I guess with our limited training, they have achieved great results." Mordred puffed his chest in pride.

"Yeah, these kids would wreak havoc in Camelot if they tried to invade us. They can defeat some of us when we are alive. But as heroic spirits, they would be lacking." Mo-chan shared her insights.

"I see, then I guess getting at your level would be a good baseline." Mordred started planning an edge against the other factions.

Thu'um is one, but it was incredibly hard to learn. And mages with Le Fay's genius aren't exactly a dime a dozen.

Jeanne can potentially use blade blacksmith to arm them with holy swords. But that won't solve the problem that humans are lacking in the magic department.

"Wait a minute... Can you teach people how to use that mana reinforcement you used before using Primordial magic?" Mordred asked Mo-chan.

"Sure, it's pretty easy you know? Just gotta tweak the amount." Mo-chan shrugged. "Or they'll experience muscle tears or worse, explode."

"That's enough, there is a huge problem with the magical races here anyways. They rely too much on magic." Mordred's eyes glowed as he thought up a countermeasure against magic.

Arthur and Siegfried then cleaned up the golems with Le Fay's help. But the entrance of the facility lit up as the magic power from the destroyed golems got siphoned to it.

"Le Fay, you can destroy that." Mordred analyzed it and she also did so.

"Yes, Mordred-sama! Fus... Ro Dah!" She roared and a shockwave came out of her mouth. It crashed against the building and the barrier shattered.

The metal doors buckled and they prepared for a counter attack.

The sword wielders held on to their blade tightly and they heard scuttling noises.

All at once, different kinds of monsters poured out of the door. Being controlled by brainwashed students that got implanted with artificial sacred gears.

"Freed! Lint! Go to the middle guard and don't let any of them reach Le Fay!" Siegfried ordered as the two vanguards began slashing at the horde of enemies.

"I guess we need to step in huh?" Jeanne formed two swords with blade blacksmith and another appeared in front of Irina.

"Let's go." Xenovia unsealed Durandal and the church trio swooped in to help Arthur and Siegfried who were leaking enemies to Lint and Freed.

"Amazing... What are these kids eating? Some kind of supersoldier cereal or something?" Natsume saw the girls move and they were like a blur. Reaching high class strength.

"Remember, don't harm the high schoolers." Mordred reminded them.

"We have to do something too, these are our school mates." Tobio looked at Natsume and Kouki.

They nodded and ordered their sacred gears to go in as well. Except Kouki who formed a lance on his hand with his cat.

The teenagers and X-People made quick work of the artificial sacred gears. And Tobio's desire to help his school mates even unlocked a skill of his sacred gear.

"Woah, you can do that boy?" Tobio was surprised as the puppy's sword on its forehead became sharper. And tendrils of shadows wriggled around, tossing the unconscious victims towards Vali and Ise.

"I already told you what your sacred gear can do, don't be forgetful Tobio. It just might cost you your life." Mordred reminded him with crossed arms.

"S-sorry boss." Tobio sheepishly scratched his head and they cleaned up the area. Thankfully, the artificial sacred gears dematerialize or there'll be tons of gore on the ground.

"Whew, that was a good work out." Jeanne wiped some sweat on her brow and gave a thumbs up to the team.

"We need to investigate further." Arthur looked at the dark hallway of the entrance.

Everybody nodded and they started walking inside the building so they could intercept the ones responsible for the mess.

"Freeze! Don't move or we'll kill you!" Lint immediately shouted as they saw scientists and researchers.

"They're just a bunch of kids, attack!" One idiot shouted and he was immediately bisected by Jeanne.

She could see some memories of Joan of arc, so the blonde didn't hesitate at all.

"Move and you're next." Jeanne warned them and everybody gulped.

And while they were exploring the facility. Someone suddenly appeared in front of them. "Sae!? Is that you?" Tobio saw his childhood friend.

"They got her." Le Fay commented as Sae's head was muddled with magical energy. And being the most sensitive in the team, she noticed it immediately.

"No way... Sae! Come here!" Tobio shouted, but the girl just had blank eyes and he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Hmph, let's have a deal... I am Himejima Hanezu." A guy in a suit appeared and he stood behind Sae.

"What in the... You! Give Sae back!" Tobio glared at him.

"Calm down Tobio, we won't get anywhere if you just charge in." Natsume held his shoulder and Kouki shook his head.

"Tch, so be it." Tobio glared daggers at him. "Well met, Tobio Ikuse. Or most appropriately, Tobio Himejima." Hanezu looked at him intently.

"Do you know grandma? Who the hell are you?" Tobio wasn't sure if he just shared his grandmother's maiden name.

"Ahhh, your grandmother didn't even tell you about the five principal clans huh? That she was a part of it." Hanezu chuckled with amusement.

"What do you want anyway, spit it out." Kouki demanded and he laughed.

"Sacred gears that could match the divine beasts. The four fiends, sound familiar?" Hanezu smirked at them.

"The four fiends were hidden in your school. But we couldn't kidnap you one by one. So we used the trip as the perfect opportunity. Alas, not all plans go well." Hanezu sighed.

"You weren't a part of the trip and we had to make do with artificial sacred gear users. After all, someone from Grigori gave us a gift. How to make them. Along with one of the wizards of Oz that researched independent type sacred gears." Hanezu smiled.

A lion then appeared and everyone felt that it was a solid high class.

"The cowardly Leo huh?" Le Fay knew it from her extensive reading.

"Why do all this?" Tobio was confused. "We were exiled from the clan. Members of the Utsusemi agency are cast aways. Just because we do not have the necessary proficiency with our clan's powers." Hanezu snarled.

"Tobio, I already told you. Stop being redundant, their master plan is to rebel against the five principal clans." Mordred rolled his eyes at their useless standoff.

"Nothing matters in front of the enemy, it's either kill or be killed. That's the rule of the world, unless you need to capture them. But he is pretty much useless, you don't need to capture him." Mordred pointed at Hanezu and he frowned.

"Don't move, Mordred Pendragon. If you do, I'll kill this girl." Hanezu pointed a staff at her throat and Mordred noticed something unusual on her.

"I see, then you want Tobio or his friends to take care of you? So be it, I can just kill you with a snap of my fingers anyways." Mordred shrugged and Hanezu started sweating.

Because he knows that was true. Mordred is suppressing himself, but he's still radiating the aura of an ultimate class. He could blow up Kyoto with a flick of his wrist if he wanted to.

"Thank you." Hanezu appreciated his cooperation. He needed to see Tobio's strength, a possessor of a Longinus that is a Himejima. Which won't sit well with the principal clans.

And in turn, he will be in conflict against them. "Come, Tobio. Save your friend, or do you lack the courage to do so?"

"Boy, no... I need a name for you. Jin! Slash him apart." Tobio ordered his puppy and it ran at Hanezu with intent to kill him.

Sae's lion breathed fire on the puppy though and it was blocking its way. It snarled and was ready for a scrap.

"Jin! Use that and defeat that lion!" Tobio shouted and his puppy howled.

"Isn't this exciting? It's like a shounen manga!" Ise watched intently while eating popcorn.

"Umu, fighting threats against your childhood friend that you love unconsciously. What a cheesy turn of events." Vali sat down with Ise who took out a couch and some snacks.

"Guys... A teenage boy is trying his best to save his childhood friend here..." Natsume deadpanned at them.

"Well, you can't deny that it's like a shounen manga." Ise shrugged and they couldn't refute that.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.