Liberi Reader

It's so strange, Doctor. We definitely shook off the Sarkaz warriors from before...

Closure, are our communications being traced?

Not a chance, Amiya, I guarantee it! I set up triple-layer encryption on our transmitters! If they had the tech for that, then Theresis would've breached the landship a hundred times over by now!

...Doctor, I believe Closure.

They must be using some other method then.

Miss Amiya, we're a stone's throw from the rendezvous point!

As long as we link up with Team 6, we can get in contact with the subterranean support unit. Once we're underground, the Sarkaz pursuing us will be out of luck.

No, don't go that way.

Huh? Why... wait, what? Miss Siege, what are you doing here?

Weren't you under...

......

Team 6 is...

Team 6 is what? Why do you look so... erk, Miss Indra, have you seen all that blood on your hands?!

Your soldiers, they... all gave their lives.

Th-That can't be right! Team 6 is still ahead of us, how could they have run into the Sarkaz?

We don't have time to analyze how.

Doctor, it wasn't the Sarkaz force pursuing us that killed Team 6's soldiers.

You mean...

The enemy they faced had terrifying Originium Arts... It was more of a massacre than a battle. Hardly any of them had even drawn their weapons.

You sure it was Originium Arts?

I don't believe that!

I saw this red bug thing tear the soldiers' chests apart. Vina, you saw it too! That was a genuine monster!

......

...So the perpetrator is no ordinary Sarkaz.

We have to change course. Mr. Feist, are there any other routes we can take?

Yes. But we don't have any support waiting on it. If we run into Sarkaz forces...

We'll be in for another hard fight.

Find cover!

Horn, what the hell is this?!

What did that Sarkaz throw at us, a bomb? None of us even saw it—

...Originium Arts.

Eyes up!

I... I just saw something red flash by in midair!

Retreat!

It's like a thunderbolt or something! That's Originium Arts?!

These... abominable devils!

Still won't come out?

Your war, your battle, your fight, it can't be this game of runabout you're playing, can it White Wolf?

Five aerial blood streaks at once?

Horn, we have no chance of—

No.

No matter how strong the Arts... he's only one person.

What did Victoria do in the past, to prevail over the Sarkaz again and again?

You mean...

How many bolts do we have left?

Cover me.

Yes, sir!

A pitiful act of defiance—

Now... is our chance.

Counting on an Arts bombardment to make your escape?

I'll give you a rude awakening.

—!

What I said still stands. So long as my soldiers remain here, I will not flee.

Not bad after all, White Wolf. I see you have the bravado to reverse course and charge me.

Such a shame then...

––Rrgh!

Whoever told you that a Sarkaz depends solely on Arts in a fight?

Even wielding no more than a sword—I can still defeat every last one of you.

Beating me... may not be so difficult...

But making me fall will... not be so easy.

How very brave of you.

It's thanks to that valor of yours that I can end this battle that much quicker—

These Arts are unfamiliar...

Vigilance!

...A dagger from thin air?

No, not from thin air...

You react very fast.

I'm afraid I'd have one more hole in my chest otherwise.

Target found! Take aim!

What the hell? They vanished again?

Th-They're too fast! I can't land a shot!

Shields up, up! Quick! Shit, are they able to blink?

Blink? No such Arts could be cast without leaving even a trace!

Or is this... a diversion?

Don't let them fool you! All men, cast precision aside! Attack at once!

So long as the enemy is still in front of us, they have no escape!

Have we... hit them?

General, there's no body.

But the ground is shot to hell... Where can they still be hiding?

......

General, behind you!

Show yourself, and your life is mine!

Really?

Manfred, you put it very well, but unfortunately... you were only half right.

Half?

Sarkaz do not depend solely on Arts to fight—

—but in no world do Sarkaz wield swords alone.

...Nobody move, and nobody panic.

The dagger is his staff. These are Arts, and nothing more than Arts.

You're very calm-headed. Good... you've saved your men's lives.

However...

Rgh!

The ground's... nearing my stomach...

My sword...

With your swordsmanship, blocking my attacks would be a simple task.

But the more you struggle, the quicker the ground swallows you.

Is this how you want to go... this self-destruction?

Urgh... *cough* *cough*...

General—

No one come near!

Or, you could cease all movements, same as your men.

You want me to wait as you run my heart through?

It'd be tough, killing you.

*cough* *cough*... *pant*...

I see now. You're not actually here to take my life.

I never imagined that outside of Ascalon, Rhodes Island would have yet another apex Sarkaz assassin.

I'm no assassin.

Unless it's called for, I have zero desire to harm any Sarkaz at all.

But here you are, abetting our enemies!

Are these Victorians... your enemies?

What I see is a group of bruised, weary warriors, on the soil of their own home, struggling painfully just to live.

You and Theresis, on the other hand, are turning the Sarkaz into the enemy of all.

I had entertained having a talk with your people, if I had the chance.

It's a sorry thing, that we should first meet on the battlefield—

—Rhodes Island Elite Operator.

......

He's gone again? Ngh—the ground's back to normal!

A hair's breadth.

I was on the cusp of capturing him. His Arts are all too exceptional... He can induce hallucinations without influencing our nervous systems.

There are marks of energy transformation on the ground. Could it be...?

General, they're all gone! Those Victoria soldiers, I mean—

Keh... He would visit me and stall for time, just to extricate those half-dead soldiers one by one?

Are... Are we pursuing them, then?

Do you think we can?

I may have called it a hair's breadth, but against a Caster of that level, a hair's breadth is tantamount to guaranteed failure.

Dammit! We were set to clean out all the rebel forces by today! Now a mercenary's gone traitor AND some mystery Caster's held us back!

It's Rhodes Island... This is all because of Rhodes Island.

We missed our chance to round them up in their entirety, but their losses can't be light, can they?

They had their chance to hide in the dark, but now they've been driven front and center. For them, revealing their forces is already a colossal tactical defeat.

An assassin, an expert spacial illusionist Caster, and the as-yet unseen Banshee... How many cards does Rhodes Island still have up their sleeve?

General, what are your plans?

...Let us go. Before we deal with Rhodes Island, we first need to put the discontented clown in its place.

This should be far enough for now.

...Is this outside of the factory district?

You... cut open space with your dagger?

Don't always trust your senses. Tricking your eyes is much easier than influencing space.

You've...

You've rescued me, and not just once. My eyes might not show me the truest answers, but my senses never lie.

Just who are you?

Misery. I'm Misery of Rhodes Island.

Rhodes Island?

I'm sorry...

You'll get a chance to hear a full explanation from Bagpipe in due time.

Bagpipe?

She's a coworker at this point.

Not to mention... the last friend my best friend ever made.

Sounds like I've been quite a bit out of the loop.

But before I lose myself to the joy that Bagpipe made it out, allow me to once again thank you and Rhodes Island.

Let's get out of here first. Chances are we'll be meeting again soon enough.

Manfred's almost worked out the truth of my Originium Arts. He could be coming after us any moment now.

...No. I imagine he'll be busy with something else right now.

You mean Dublinn.

County Hillock's Mandragora... There's no way she's leaving this factory now.

......

Are you giving yourself grief for not being able to personally avenge your comrades?

I... I'm just lamenting.

Myself for standing here, regretting that I missed the opportunity to kill her...

Or her, for being long since beyond saving.

That's odd. This is what you agreed with them, right? Why aren't they here to back us up?

I—argh!

What the hell is it—?

Sarkaz! It's Sarkaz! We have to run—

...Were we spotted?

No. Not like this. 'Spy', we have to go—

Only ten meters to that sliding door there, right? Just ten meters, and we're right out, and...

A... Alright, let's run...

Just like we used to, you pulling me. We only had to run fast enough that those noble kids couldn't catch us...

Grotesques! Get down, block them!

Bastards! Can't even rely on you in a time like this?

Mandragora...

What? Didn't I tell you to stay quiet for now?

I can't keep walking. You go.

What...? Can't you see? I've been doing all this just to...

To save me? Or to gain favor with the Leader?

Is there a difference? What are you talking about? We're just five meters away, our people are right outside!

They're gone.

What?

Mandragora... The Leader... she's long since abandoned us...

'Spy'!

Bastard, bastard—stones, go! Skewer them, impale every one of those Sarkaz!

You'll be alright, 'Spy', it's just an arrow, we're three meters away, even if I have to carry you—

...Just go.

I...

If you can make it out...

Don't... Don't head for the Leader.

...Did you just die?

Who said you could die so easily...? I...

Cillian, Cillian... you bloody disgrace! I'm not letting you die here, you stand up for me, stand up!

No need to work yourself up.

You won't live much longer either, Mandragora. You and your old Taran friend will meet again before you know it.

......

Ha... hahahaha!

Manfred, you cost me another eleven lives.

You don't know the half... you don't know anything of what it took to kill that many Sarkaz.

...This is exactly why you must die here.

Perfect... drop yourselves right in my lap.

I'll crush every one of you into paste, no prisoners.