Chapter 25: Episode 23

Disclaimer: I don't own Nasuverse or any other franchise that can be found in this fanfiction.

Words Count: 4972

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You can read up to 10 Episodes in advanced plus my other fic: Ars Goetia– Antichrist here.

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I woke up to the sounds of birds and the whistling of winds– Winter had come fast and sudden with naught but a slight decrease in temperature in the last few days, then came the snows, white and pure, blanketing the entire courtyard of the joined house. Now, I'd be the first to admit I wasn't good with cold weather, never had the strength of mind to shake off the beckoning of the warm, warm bed, but I had things to do, equipment to prepare and plans to be put in motion. Thus, in spite of my reluctance, I forced myself upwards, jumping out the bed with quick movements so as to not be tempted.

The room I was in wasn't mine, not in the slightest. It was a free room that was reserved for the newest member of their Bakugou's team, which was why it had been temporarily given to me. Turned out, Bakugou's team was quite small, with its number of members currently amounting to a measly three people: Bakugou himself, Shibata Eri who was the mean-mouthed, glassed girl I had met earlier and Okamoto Chika– The plain-looking brown haired, bubbly girl, whom I was sure would die soon to give Bakugou his power-ups. I wasn't kidding, the flags were gigantic in this one…

I went to brush up and get ready for the day, I didn't have anything planned for the moment, but it wouldn't hurt to know what these three were capable of. If I were to guess, Bakugou's specialty lied with, surprise surprise, explosion. Eri looked and felt like a swordswoman, while Okamoto… I wasn't sure, she gave me the vibe of a team's mascot? Although I would be surprised if that's all she was to be, Sasaki didn't seem the type to waste resources on useless people.

Watching Bakugou and his team interract was… Interesting to say the least. It's like witnessing a car-crash in person, or seeing a house burning down for the very first time. Sure, you knew it was a terrible, terrible thing, but you just couldn't quite resist being captivated by the sight. "Sure, Bakugou, let's charge in the middle of their base and blow everything up, it's not like we are outnumbered one-to-ten or anything." Dear Lord, what did I just stumble into. "Does it matter how many there are?! They are weaklings–!" In all fairness, he wasn't wrong.

Ragnarok was based on the principal: 'Quantity trumps quality.'

Although, I supposed that's more of a side-effect than the actual principal. "Even an anthill can bring down an elephant if they are numerous enough, you fool!" My gaze shot at Shibata, then at Bakugou whose angry veins were starting to show. Meanwhile, Okamoto approached cautiously, her form shivering in fright as she tried her best to defuse the situation to little effect. "G‐ Guys, let's calmly talk this out, m'kay?" The poor girl seemingly shrunk as two pairs of baleful eyes settled on her. "I- I- Nevermind…" And so the pair went back to fighting again.

Now, I might be tripping balls here, but I had a feeling this dysfunctionality was basically the norm for their group, which, as a former social work major, I really couldn't approve. Why Sasaki, the man who had shown to be decently intelligent, would put these three in one group was baffling to me. Well, I supposed I could see his thought-process somewhat, Okamoto was the glue that would hold them together, Shibata the voice of rationality and Bakugou– The explosive hothead would serve as the group's frontline.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out as intended. Okamoto Chika was too spineless to truly hold them all together, Shibata Eri lacked the charisma to reign in their most impulsive member, and Bakugou was… Well, he's Bakugou, he was never going to be reasonable. Thankfully, I had plenty of experience breaking up fights. "Jesus Christ you two, just kiss already!" That definitely got their attention as both spun towards me, cheeks flushed and painted. "The Hell did you just say, shitty Magus?!" – "I do not appreciate what you are insinuating, Leo-dono."

"Look, look…" I rolled my eyes. "I get it, guy likes girl, girl likes guy, both are too shy to show it so they repress their feelings and play pretend that they hate each other, but truth is they're in love, seen it a billion times, was part of it too, now if you two are done, can we get back to the serious stuffs–" I fell on the empty chair with a loud thud, sight trained on the map that had been spread before us. "Like scheming our enemies' demise, or planning how to infiltrate their strongholds?" I got another grunt of dissatisfaction and an outraged shout from Shibata and Bakugou respectively

They sat down at least… "As I was saying, we can't just jump into the fold and expect to get out unscathed. Wannabes or not, they outnumber us by the dozens, it will be wiser to pick the straggler off, deal with as many as possible without sounding the alarm." That was a sound plan, so what was the problem here? I raised an eyebrow at Bakugou, who grumbled at my presence in the table. "I don't know why we should tell this shitty Magus anything, he's fucking annoying–" How this guy got such a huge fanbase back in my old life, I'd never know.

"But if you must know…" He sent me a condescending look. "We have already probed their defense before your arrival, it's protected by magical barrier–" I interrupted sharply. "They are called Bounded Fields, but go on."

Bakugou threw me a dirty glare as though daring me to do it again and stressed. "Magical barrier, there's no point in being stealthy, we might as well take them by surprise and murder as many as we can. I propose we send a fuel tank truck at their base and blow the fucker up, she disagreed because she is a damned coward." That seemed like a decent plan at least, create chaos so they didn't have the time to compose themselves, which would leave them vulnerable to our assault, but… "Why can't we do both?" I questioned.

It's rather simple in my opinions: Our group had four people, we could split into two separate teams– The first that would pick off those that strayed from their groups, while the other waited for their signal. "We can whittle their number more efficiently that way." Bakugou slammed his cup angrily, his black wife-beater top crinkling with every motion he made. "Because, you dumb little shit, we don't know how to break magical barriers…" His voice got progressively smaller as the sentence went on, seeming to have finally realized what my presence signified. I chuckled. "Who is the dumb one now, you stupid shithead?"

Bakugou jumped at the insult, hair standing like cat whose tail had been stepped on. "The fuck did you call me, you little fucker?!" I stared him square in the eyes, legs crossing as I leaned on my wrist, patronizingly. "Shit. Head. What are you going to do about it?" Bakugou looked to ready to blow things up when Okamoto stepped in, a small wire held in hand– Wire that swiftly shot at the angry blonde to restrain him. "You!" His sight turned from me to Okamoto, the poor girl was trembling and shivering, but to her credit, she managed to keep still underneath his gaze.

"Katsuki-chan! W- We are not a- allowed to antagonize Leo-san, it's Sasaki-sama's orders." Bakugou snarled in response. "He is the one that antagonized me!" Shibata added helpfully, shrugging as she dug in her breakfast. "Only because you were being rude."

"Shut the Hell up, Shit-bata!" We were getting nowhere with this. "Alright, alright… That's enough, let's just focus on the plan, and Bakugou Katsuki–" I scowled. "If you don't have anything to offer other than insults, then keep your mouth shut. Now then," I turned my attention to the two girls. "A formal introduction is much needed, I'm Leonis Magnum, or Magnum Leonis, but you can refer to me as Leo, I'm not exactly a fan of my last name. I'm a Magus who mostly focuses on close-quarter-combat–" I paused to let the information sink in.

"But I do have Spells that can be useful at long range… You two?" Shibata, being the more confident of the two, started talking first. "Shibata Eri, my specialty is with the sword, in battle I rely on my speed to outmatch the enemies, I've also been trained to participate in infiltration missions, it's nice to meet you, Leo-dono." Next up was Okamoto. "Uhmm, I'm Okamoto Chika, I like dogs and just cute pets in general. Oh! And I'm good with the wires! It's not a conventional weapon, but the Art has been with my House for generations." Done with her introduction, Okamoto tugged her wire, causing the thin string to tighten around Bakugou's neck.

'I like this girl.' She profusely apologized when she heard the blonde's choked curses. "And this is Bakugou Katsuki–" Shibata gestured at the tied up boy. "His personality might not the best," That's one Hell of an understatement right there. "But he makes up for it with his Martial prowess. His Art is external in nature and allows him to create miniature balls of Ki that explode on impact. He's also very durable, as you can see..." She flung Bakugou's plate at the string holding said blonde, the poor object was split in two, shattering as it collided with the wall.

So Bakugou had kept his famous durability and his ability to create explosion, but without sweats? Thank Gods for that, I had thought I'd have to deal with an extra-sweaty teenager for the next month, which would have been profoundly disgusting. "So Bakugou is the frontline, Okamoto is the support and you(Shibata) serve as the group's rogue and scout then?" There was a round of affirmation as I rested against my chair. "So Shibata-san and I will take out the stragglers, this–" I pointed at Bakugou, who had finally been let down by Okamoto, the urge to call him 'shithead' rising in me.

"Irritation and Okamoto-san can appropriate a fuel tank truck. We will cut off their escape route from behind and close in on them, while you two attack from the front." I looked up at the group. "Do you guys have any objection?" There wasn't one, unless you counted Bakugou's shout of "Who died and made you the leader!", but it's Bakugou, who cared. "We have a plan then, any idea why Sasaki wants us to attack at night?" – "These strongholds, bases or whatever, they aren't just Ragnarok's transaction points, it's where they permanently station most of their troops as well, save more money that way, meaning…"

I crossed my arms. "Meaning their members often spend the night there, got it." It made sense, I doubted the Magus would want to waste his or her resources on a bunch of pawns, especially since from their pattern, their targets after Kiyoshi would be bigger and better organizations. I still had no idea what they were trying to achieve, but it didn't matter either way. The Magus had to answer for their transgression. "Very well." I stood from my seat. "I will be in my room if you guys, except Bakugou, need anything." I was ready to leave when Okamoto tugged on my shirt.

"Do- Do you want to eat with us?" Right, they were having breakfast, weren't they? Or rather, lunch. What? I spent the entire night on the roads! Of course I slept in, couldn't fight anyone tired as shit. We didn't have anything planned today anyways. "I suppose?" I was forced back into my seat amidst Bakugou's groans and the chattering of the two girls. Not going to lie, the meal was quite delicious overall. Apparently, Shibata made it. Wouldn't have guessed that, she just didn't seem the type. Their lunch and my breakfast passed with little trouble and, dare I say, was even enjoyable.

Mostly because Bakugou kept his mouth shut. 'Hopefully, this won't change…' I sent a discreet look at the blonde, who was shoving foods down his throat like a starving dog. 'Though with him around, I doubt it.'

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"What? What happened?!" She screamed into the phone, voice blazing with anger as she took in the news. "How exactly did those two fuck that up?! I gave them permission to bring as many as they want, and their targets are an aging priest, some prissy blonde tramp and a child who, might I add, should have been bloody unconscious!" She took in rapid breaths that barely, just barely managed to calm her temper. "How did those fuck that up? Explain, now!"

"– Well… There are no survivors, so we can't be too sure, but from our observation of the bodies alone, their tag-alongs all appear to have been stabbed by some weapons thrown at great speed, the wounds are clean, although a few look like they have been bisected or crushed to paste. Eiji-sama likely has his head stomped on, while Shiichiro's torso is just… Gone." She rested her head on her hand, taking a drag of cigarettes that burnt her lungs and left her already bloodshot eyes two shades darker. "Those useless fucking bastards!"

"– Should- Should we send more, sir?" She crumbled the piece of cigarette in her hand, feeling the heat searing the skin of her palm as she slumped wearily into her seat. "No, we can't waste anymore on that, and if they could deal with those two idiots, there's no doubt in my mind anyone we send will just be dead-meat. We might have an abundance of them, but no reason to waste manpower. In fact, leave the vicinity immediately, do not dawdle there any longer than strictly necessary, I don't want you all caught." Done with her orders, she quickly knocked down a glass of whisky.

"– The- The thing is, boss; they have already found us–" She nearly spat out the drink she had taken. "– Or the priest did, but he doesn't seem to mind our presence? Even let us take away the bodies… He did tell us to be quick about it though."

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That, that left her speechless. Now, Annette Le Blanc would consider herself well-composed person, but even Saints had a limit to their patience, let alone her. "I'm surrounded by idiots! Get the fuck out of there, you bloody fools and don't go back to Shibuya either! Lay low in the other, smaller cities you bunch of dimwits!" She cut off the call and flung the cheap phone inside the fireplace. She knew there were certain risks to taking in idiots to do her bidding, but this was too much. Words couldn't even describe the incompetency of her subordinates.

"What's wrong, sister?"

Annette massaged her head. "I just received words that the idiots we sent to get the Tohsaka girl have all been killed." Her brother– Andre Le Blanc smirked at that, taking a seat by her side with his legs sprawled lazily on her very beautiful and very expensive mahogany table. She threw him a scathing glare, to which he merely chuckled. "Told ya', these subordinates of yours are useless, should have sent me instead, would have gotten the job done in hours at worst." This, this was precisely why she didn't want to involve her brother.

The man was too, how did the kids these days put it? Ah yes, too cocky for his own good. Don't get it twisted, Andre was powerful. In fact, he was supposed to be the heir before he forfeited the title to her, citing 'he didn't want to bother with politics', which understandably irritated their parents, especially since he had always been the more talented when it came to Magecraft. Still, in spite of his reasons, Annette knew he had done it in hope she would not be sold like a broodmare for her parents' ambitions.

The Le Blanc had been a prominent House in France once upon a time, until their eventual invitation to the Clock Tower and successive relocation to England. Their ancestors had thought this would open up new opportunities to the Le Blanc… They were wrong. Their specialty had always been weaving illusions, it's even recorded that their distant ancestors had been able to kill people by convincing their bodies to shut down on their own, but their Craft was looked down on by most of their peers, coupled with the destruction of their Crest during the relocation as a result of being attacked by their enemies, House Le Blanc was on its last legs.

A prominent noble House reduced to a minor one with little to no influence in the Tower whatsoever– Their ancestors would be rolling in their graves. "I still don't get why we have to bother with Martial Arts of all things, it's useless for Mages, lil' sis." So they all said, but with their former Craft weakened to the point of near uselessness, she had to do something to elevate their position, and with all attempts to regain their lost glory having failed, what better way was there than achieving the impossible?

Besides, she had a feeling if her research proved fruitful, it would be the key to creating a method that would allow their House to make Artificial Circuits. Even if this failed, surely she could put the knowledge she had learnt to good use?

"Nevermind that, brother. Please notify our subordinates to increase their patrols, it's only a matter of time before Magnum makes his move, I don't want us to be caught off guard by his attack." Her brother shot up from his seat, bowing exaggeratedly as he backed out of her office. "Very well then, milady! I shall do it at once." He left, his long coat fluttering amidst the winds. He had told her many times to keep her windows shut in winter, to pay attention to her health more, but Annette liked the biting cold, it kept her grounded to reality when her expectations and optimism rose to the surface.

It's good to be optimistic sometimes, but it's not good to let herself carried away, that's the lesson she had learnt much earlier in life when she realized her parents were negotiating her marriage for more political influence. Annette wasn't dumb, being a noble, even a minor one had its perks, yet it also came with responsibilities that were expected of someone of her station, and leveraging her marital status was but one within many, what she couldn't stand was her to-be betrothed– A man thrice her age with half-a-foot into the Underworld.

He didn't have an heir, having been a member of the Neutralist, the man was too busy with his Craft to ever bother with one. Annette had no doubt her parents had thought they could take advantage this and appropriated the Crest upon the Magus' death. It's a stupid thing to do, even stupider because they hadn't taken into account the major differences of his Craft and theirs, which would have likely led their either her or her brother's death should they attempt to assimilate the Crest. Although, she supposed that plan was already the height of her parents' intelligence.

How they gave birth to someone as talented as her brother, Annette would never know. "Hhhmmm…" Annette let out another sigh, and she could just feel her face growing another crease from the stress. "How do I deal with Magnum." Her fingers tapped in a rhythmic pattern. Annette wasn't a bad person, at least she didn't think so. Even the attack on the Tohsaka girl was merely a deterrence of sort, but what she hadn't taken into account was the fervor of youth. Any normal First-Gen would have ceased all dealings in his situation, but Leonis Magnum was a child.

She should have expected him to react the way he did. Though in all fairness, Annette had spent her entire life interacting with the more pragmatic bunch of Mages, she couldn't fathom why a First-Gen would risk his life for someone who wasn't family unless there was ample rewards involved. It just didn't make sense to her, since according to her spies and informants, the Tohsaka had been on a decline after the late Lord's death. "What a pain." Regardless, the why no longer mattered, what did matter was how to deal with the child… She had no trouble murdering the kid, but if he did kill Regul, he wouldn't be an easy target.

Regul Black– The former, unofficial Clock Tower's Lord Of Plague, Aka. The Mad Puppeteer. Although wasn't really high on the food chain, he was known to be a decent threat even before his… Transformation, thanks to the countless abominations and illnesses-related curses contained in his Family Crest. Annette didn't think her brother would have lost should they face each other, but it would have been a hard-fought battle for sure. To kill said Apostle with just two members, that would have been a challenge.

A challenge that this First-Gen Magus had dealt with almost entirely on his own if Glascheit's words were to be believed.

Apparently, he also destroyed all of Regul's research, but Annette didn't buy it. While disgusting and a loathsome practice, she couldn't deny the prowess of the infamous House Black's Craft, it would have been far too tempting for a First-Gen to just resist and throw away. Coupled with what he already had, she had no doubt Magnum had taken the Crest for his own use. Just because he couldn't implant it into himself, did not mean he couldn't find better use for the Crest itself. The knowledge inside would have been more than enough to catapult his understandings of Bio-Craft and Curse to the point he could create weaker version of Black's Spells.

Thankfully, Annette had had the foresight to prepare in case Regul ever turned his sight on them despite their agreement. Indeed, they had been the reason why Regul decided to take up residence in Japan, she had made a deal with him to spy on the Clock Tower's movements, and in return, he would aid them should they need it. It had been a calculated risk, using his presence to mask their venture from the ever-watchful gaze of the Barthomeloi, but it had paid off, until now that was. It didn't surprise her that the fool was dead– Powerful as he might have been, Regul Black had always had an over-inflated ego.

It was only a matter of time before it led to his demise. Although she had hoped– Expected him to last a while longer, he wasn't too big a loss to her plans to take over the Martial World of Japan. If anything, this might even be in her favor, seeing as she no longer had to worry about a potential threat to her conquest. Yes, they were allies, but their alliance had been hanging from a thread, she didn't doubt Regul would have betrayed them the second they dropped their guard. It's why she had spent a fortune to seize the more powerful of the Church's Artifacts.

Weapons and tools that would have proven useful when he chose to betray them, weapons and tools that could be put to good use once Magnum came… But, that would have to be left for later, now she had more urgent matters to tend to such as ordering her subordinates to tighten their security, set up a contingency plan should their defenses fall and, just in case, prepare an escape route for her and her brother to leave the country. The conquest of Japan had been extremely taxing to their already unstable finance. Still, her brother's life and hers were more important, money she could always make back, but they only had one life.

"So many things to do…" Annette sighed, reaching for her phone.

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I had returned to my room after lunch while the group remained to… Play, I guessed? I meant, I was sort of, kind of anti-social and it felt awkward to intrude in their moments, despite the invitation from Okamoto. Besides, I had stuffs to prepare for tomorrow anyways, like my gun for example. I'd have to check again to make sure nothing was wrong, but you could never be too careful, right? I took out my piece from the bag I had cobbled together in a hurry. I had wanted to brush it up with a bit of enchantments before taking it to battle, though I supposed this would have to suffice for the moment.

What I cared more about was the knife– It's just a tactical knife given to me by Sasaki, it would be important since I couldn't efficiently sneak around with my rapier. Enchanting it shouldn't be too much of a problem thanks to the simplistic design and I had time anyways, might as well make it even deadlier than it already was.

Thus, I got to work. I always brought my carving tools with me in case I needed them. I was thinking of an Enchantment that could cause the blood to dilute, like a virus of sort, but that's too hard to do, especially with my limited time, so I saved the idea and decided on something easier, like a basic [Sharpness] or [Durability] one, which should be more than enough to deal with a bunch of enhanced thugs. I carefully removed my tools from their packaging, sharpening the surgical blade with the piece of whetstone I carried with me. Yes, I carried whetstone, sue me.

Next, I poured my Mana into the blade, without this step, even if I somehow managed to carve into damascus steel, the runes would not work. Enchanting was a delicate process, even simpler method like the one I was using, it required total concentration and focus. And it's not just about tracing the lines either, you had to do so while manipulating your Mana perfectly, or the materials themselves could be ruined. With the lightest touch, I dragged the blade across the knife, paying no mind to the dancing sparks before my eyes. Not a day passed and I didn't feel grateful for [Mana Manipulation].

Without it, I would have never been able to use this method of Enchanting.

There were, of course, other methods that worked much better than Rune Carving, but Rin didn't know all the steps, the only reason why she was able to teach me Rune Carving was because her Family had used this very method to help their jewels contain Mana more efficiently. Another issue that might arise was from the materials themselves, the better quality, the more Enchantments could be put onto something. Now, you could put Enchantments on the lesser stuffs, but never something powerful lest the Enchanting process went awry and blew up in your face.

Embarrassingly enough, I had had a taste once or twice, which was why I wanted Kiyoshi to supply me with weapons to be enchanted. Their stuffs were just of better quality than the cheap shits I could get from the local stores.

But, that's not all. You also had to be mindful of what Enchantments to put on. I had found there were certain materials that worked exceptionally well with some items, yet were basically a walking time-bomb with others. No idea why, though Rin said it was theorized to be related to the Akashic Records. Since the Dawn of Time, Humanity had had always put attributes and ideas to objects and animals. Basically, the Norse believed ravens were sacred since they were Odin's pets, and thus the species itself became sacred. Owls were Athena's chosen animal, so they represented Knowledge and Intelligence.

That's how Nasuverse operated, the Mind was a powerful thing here and conceptual ideas could be given form should the feelings behind them were strong enough. Same went for objects, Damascus steel was considered the zenith of steel work and the true method to create them had been lost to time, but the term Damascus itself held power, power that was transferred upon modern objects such as this 'Damascus' knife. It was nowhere near as good as the real thing of course, even now I could barely fit two weak Enchantments on this thing, but it was better than the normal kitchen knives I had practiced on.

Those bent and broke the second I was done carving the first Rune… Thankfully, I had had ample time to practice and get better since those weeks. Although there were a few close-calls thanks the screeching blonde downstairs, it didn't take long for me to finish with the knife, having imprinted the act into my muscles after so many Enchantments. I brought the blade to eye-level. It wasn't pretty, if anything, it was uglier than anything I'd have chosen as a weapon, but beggars couldn't be choosers. I tested the thing, swinging it a few times to get more comfortable with it.

"This is… Decent." Not my best creation, I admitted. The Enchantments could have been so much stronger if not for Bakugou screaming like his parents had just been gutted in front of him. At this Level, it could barely cut into good steels, but it shouldn't be a problem: Martial Arts didn't wear armor, and I wasn't about to stab them in the armored parts anyways. "Hmmm, perhaps I could work on my gun next?" No, no! That way led to ruin, guns were too complicated, too many parts to take into account, a single mistake could have the thing blowing up in my hands.

"Guess it's back research then…"

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