Botched Assault
Espoo, Finland,
Edelfelt Compounds, Westend,
In and out.
Cloaked in darkness, a raven haired woman stared down the scope of her rifle, her gaze narrowed as she breathed in and out to stabilise herself.
Here she was, and from here she would move.
Taking up a position in one of the numerous watch towers around the Edelfelt compounds, the model of her weapon was unnaturally concealed and her pale hands were covered by gloves and yet, one could easily make out the cross around her neck.
With one more deep exhale, she slowly brought her finger closer to the trigger, her target was a heretic.
One man who'd bent the rules of nature too far and destroyed a city in his madness.. but no, that wasn't all. He'd gone ahead and destroyed a Holy Grail, a symbol of their God and his boundless power.
It was only natural then that they, as his faithful servants, rid the world of such evil.
Just as she was about to take the shot however, her target turned his head in her direction, startling her and successfully throwing her off.
Was it a coincidence?
But then how was he sitting there so calmly as elemental fury and curses were flung all around him? The Mage's Association didn't take kindly to being intruded upon and now that their cover was gone, the Conservative Executors faced the unfiltered might of individuals carrying centuries of research and power on their persons.
Still, writing it off as a fluke, she once more took aim, only for Roman Trambelio to smile in her direction and place down his drink before slowly waving his hand at her....
H..He fucking knew, didn't he?
The raven haired Executor instantly jumped to her feet, if her position was compromised than so was the position of all her companions with similar armaments... They knew the initial assault was doomed to be brought to a complete halt at best and as such, sniper units were there to catch the haughty magi off-guard.
"My.. it seems my master was right to instruct me here."
An unfeeling gaze that sent shivers down her back, startling her again..only this time there was no opportunity to collect herself as the speaker impaled her through the heart with what she could only hope was a sword before all faded to black.
A series of strange noises, similar to missiles, resounded in the dead silence before several of the Edelfelt towers erupted in flames, blown apart by explosions that shook the landscape.
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"Hmm, how barbaric."
Unfazed and completely calm, Roman gracefully cut his steak using a knife before putting a piece in his mouth, observing the chaos ensuing around him.
There was no way the Church wouldn't come for him after the stunts he pulled, it was just a matter of when. After that, it was just a matter of cross-referencing their previous operations to map out the possible methods they would use and coming up with effective counters for each.
The Magician yawned, drinking his wine and glancing towards Lorelei.
Truly, she was deserving of her moniker.
The Church Executors didn't stand a chance, the Queen ripped through their ranks, leaving behind gory displays of violence and the magi gathered here... well, they were the furthest thing from subpar.
His own branch family members had taken down a fair number of operatives, abandoning their disgraced egos in favour of calculated engagements.
"Hmmm?"
A random Executor fell near his feet and the Magician stared down, his eye glowing crimson in excitement. The man drew in a sharp breath before kicking at the ground and putting distance between them, in either of his hands were long blades similar to crosses... How come he got stuck with the worst goddamn opponent?!
Seeing his annoyance, Roman raised a hand and sighed, "Relax..." He looked around at the fighting, "I'm not like these uneducated savages that only let go of their egos when someone fucks them over." He waved his hand dismissively, slightly smiling, "I don't like fighting or physical conflict."
The Magician leaned forward, smiling widely, both hands under his chin, "What are you gonna do Executioner? Couldn't be something as dumb as attacking right? Right?"
It was blatant that he was still playing around and his attitude pissed off his opponent, the Executioner raised his blades, leaning back a bit, "Get ready."
"Huh... a shame." Roman Trambelio only shrugged before snapping his fingers, tilting his head ever so slightly to avoid a random beam of fire from hitting him, "Who the fuck was that? Aim your shots towards your wife."
Him snapping his fingers estranged the Executioner who still put up his guard even though nothing came.
"HAAhahahahaha!"
And then she did.
The ground rumbled and quaked, stopping all conflict momentarily as every combatant tried to adjust themselves... Before they could though, the entire Eastern wall cracked and then was blown away completely, throwing debris at everyone.
"HMM, I'd heard the Church was an upright group but uhm, yeah, I get it."
A woman's voice, the tone giving away clear excitement.
"To stand against my Master is an act Bishamonten deems evil so, prepare yourselves!"
Brilliant flames swept through the Executors, scorching man and woman to death leaving behind nothing but ash and the strong nauseating stench of seared flesh.
"Eh?" The grey haired woman tilted her head in complete confusion, the one tuft of black swaying strangely, "T-That easily?" Weren't the armies of God supposed to be among the strongest? How come a greeting killed them all?! Nagao Kagetora felt cheated... A feeling akin to being blue balled was what the War God was experiencing...
"Good job." Roman gave her a thumbs up as he stood up, ignoring the stupefied magi... They were really going to need to brush up on their skill if they were going to be of any use other than looking pretty. The one eyed Magician fixed his coat, his crimson eye returning to it's original golden colour.
"If you say so.." Kagetora nodded slowly, still unsure.... She'd been itching for a battle that pushed her to the limits after getting reincarnated.
"How's the body?"
"Better than my original if I'm being truthful." The War God nodded thoughtfully with a hand on her chin, they'd been reincarnated by Roman some time earlier and it was easier than one would think. He'd simply tampered with the artificial souls generated by the summoning ritual and 'filled in the gaps' before binding them to Einzbern homunculus bodies.
Of course it did take away their ability to take on spiritual forms seeing as living breathing individuals couldn't exactly do that.
"Umm, can you two please not have a casual conversation in the middle of.... this?" Tamamo no Mae sighed with a hand on her forehead, pointing at their surroundings.... As in dead bodies and magi ready to fight at the drop of a hat.
"Oh ja... they'll die inside remembering how they're sad fucks." Roman nodded sagely, but then directed his attention to Lorelei who'd been staring at him all this time..
The Queen narrowed her gaze, "Did you know this would happen? Is that why I was brought along?" Lorelei Bartholomei did not like being fooled, she'd thought it was merely a ploy to show influence and entertained his request in light of their new, flimsy at best, alliance.
"Wha... Coincidences can be scary, you know." Roman Trambelio put on a harmless smile, "How could I have predicted they'd have the self-control needed to leave Timmy alone to come for lil ol' me? What do you think I am?" He put a hand on his cheek, closing his eye.
"That said," The Magician twirled his cane, "Do you wanna tag along for a bit of ..uhm, retaliation?" He smiled widely, eye still closed.. There was still a chance the Church would try to apologise and back out now that they'd failed and that'd ultimately end up ruining his strategy here.
"Coincidence huh..." Lorelei spoke in an unamused tone, walking up to him with both hands behind her back and staring into his eye, trying to probe for answers... His goal couldn't possibly be something as outrageous as magi unification right?... "Very well, let us move before Karmagliph catches wind." No doubt the passive cowardly trash would try to avoid conflict and attempt to stop them..
Though the thing was, Aristocratic or Democratic, neither faction was one to take an unwarranted sudden attempt at their top brass and do nothing about it... That was something the Neutral pussies would do.
"Haha, that insecure prick." Roman walked away, twirling his cane around, "I take it no one has any more objections to my station?" He would simply remove them... Fortunately or unfortunately, his tactic worked, facing an attack and a possible war truly did create some semblance of unity.
Coupled with his achievements and power, the Democrats accepted him as their leader without any oppression.
"For Go-"
An Executor kicked open the door only to freeze in his spot when more than a hundred gazes landed on him in an instant..
"Ooh a nice chance to test a spell." Roman clapped his hands together once before swiping one of them, "Avadakafuckyamum."
And the executor fell dead.
"Lord Roman, my estates have been attacked.." Marisbury calmly reported his own situation, having just received a call from his security, "They've taken all the research pertaining to the Grail." He was calm, far too calm..in other words, the patient Marisbury was angered, "Your proposition to have copies created was impeccable... I thank you." ... The Lord of the Department of Astromancy found himself startled by the existence that was Roman Trambelio... He'd originally intended for copies to be made later down the line but his benefactor had insisted they do it first... Now Marisbury saw why.
"Heartless, you come with me."
Nodding emotionlessly, the crimson haired Kurou Adashino followed after Roman... Understanding that Roman's proposition to him was one he could most certainly follow through with.
And with that, the Lords of the Departments of Policies, General Fundamentals, and Modern Magecraft Theory left for an already prepared private jet belonging to Roman leaving the Democrats to recollect and consolidate.
A war was coming and not a small scale one.
An attack on the heads of both the Democrats and Aristocrats was an attack on 2/3 of the Mage's Association... For a war to not happen following that was impossible.
...Well, not like the war had ever stopped, the flimsy ceasefire pact between the Magi and the Church was, as many had predicted, falling apart in under a decade from it's creation... Perhaps it was so because both Leaders from then had been replaced by more ambitious, powerful and hot-blooded individuals.
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