Cid pov
Today we start our big operation in which we wipe out the Fenrir branch of the Diablo cult and rescue the hostage that is in their clutches. What causes problems, however, is that Eta has disappeared. A fight was reported, but when we got there we only felt remnants of Eta's magic, which means that she fought against someone and ultimately lost, which is why she was kidnapped. We've already started looking for her, but haven't been able to find her yet. We hope that we might find her with one of the Diablo cults. So the mission started in the evening, all members of Shadow Garden were there and that night they destroyed many hideouts and cultists, but no trace of Eta. However, I found the hostage and one of the masterminds, we fought a bit before I destroyed him with my atomic magic. The mission was a success and for the first time people heard of our names, but we couldn't be happy because a team member was missing. That changed, however, when my sister came up to me and told me she had a lead to find Eta. We followed her to an abandoned building on the outskirts of town where we found Eta chained up and unconscious in the basement. We freed her from the chains and checked her condition. She seemed to be fine. She wasn't injured, but she had pale skin and blood-red cracks all over her body. But that didn't matter now. We took her to our headquarters where we tried to heal her and waited until she woke up. These cracks wouldn't go away. She had probably been experimented on. We can only hope that it didn't affect her mind.
Emma pov
When the news came that Eta was missing, I knew that another champion had appeared and was there to weaken us and gradually make us more defenseless. What he didn't expect, however, was that I could use the points I had collected to track down Eta. When we arrived at the location, I found it strange that there were no guards or traps, but when we found Eto, I knew from her status why she was the only one there because the kidnappers had already finished with her.
Status Name Eta Lloyd Wright
Race Elf
Age 15
Status Alive (Corrupted)
That was bad. Together with her appearance, I was reminded of a very special person who also had similar markings. Now everything fit together. The knight that my brother had seen, the bands that teleported her, and now the appearance and corruption of Eta. Our opponent was none other than Artoria Alter, the corrupted version of Artoria Pendragon. If I remembered correctly, she was ultra strong and destructive, but we're not weak either, which is why she's trying to weaken us first before she delivers the decisive blow. Now the only question is whether Eta is still herself or someone else. I have to talk to my brother in the meantime and see if we can work out countermeasures. The best thing would be for us to stay close to each other so the incident doesn't happen again.
Artoria pov
When my subordinates finally came back they brought one of the 7 Shadows to Eta. I was satisfied and praised her. "You did well. Tell me how did she fare against you?" Eto: "My lady, we were much stronger than her but her suit allowed her to heal herself the whole time, which caused a significant delay until we exhausted her." "Good to know Hinami, I want you to organize a meeting with the 12 Knights of Rounds for me, I don't care how it is, it just has to take place tomorrow, let them choose the place, then they'll feel safer." "As you wish, I'll be on my way." Now I came to Eta, the people of this world are much more resilient thanks to magic than in the previous ones. In the event of real corruption, these normal people still died a cruel fate, but I was able to find out something interesting. If I let a person swallow just one drop, there is no great increase in strength or anything else, but they will be loyal to you until death. Let's see if that also applies to people with a stronger will. I opened her mouth and let a drop fall in. It seemed as if she was fighting back, but in the end she succumbed, causing her skin to turn paler and red cracks to form. In these drops I also gave her the instructions to behave as before and to wait for my signal, as this business was done. "Eto, take her to the place on the edge of the city, let's see if she is found or has to free herself. When a couple of offenders both came back, I knew that they had also fulfilled their missions. "Lady, you will receive her tomorrow at the back entrance of the town hall. The meeting will be around midnight." "Very good, and Eto, I assume you have also completed your task?" "Yes, Miss." "Well then we have nothing to do until tomorrow. You can go outside and have fun if you want." "Thank you, Miss, I'm already hungry." "Huh, but Hinami, we don't need any more food." "Oh man, sometimes I wonder where you hit your head, Eto." "Come on, stop arguing and get going." They both bow before leaving. The next day, around evening, I set off for the meeting. When I arrived at the back entrance of the town hall, a butler was already waiting for me. He was surprised by my appearance but kept his professional demeanor and asked me to follow him. I nodded to him and followed him into the building, deep into a basement where 12 people were waiting for me at a round table. They looked at me either grimly or neutrally, well, anyway. "Who are you exactly and why did you want to talk to us?" "Who I am is irrelevant, but you can call me Artoria. Our goals are much more important. You want to revive the demon Diabolos and achieve immortality, but the Shadow Garden is increasingly dismantling your organization. They are also a bit of a thorn in my side and I want to make them disappear one way or another.""And how exactly do you plan to do that? Do you want to explain to us what your plan is?" "Nelson, stay calm but he's right, I'd really like to know too." Fenrir spoke up. "It's quite simple, I could probably take on all of them with great effort, but why should I take such a big risk to fight them all at once when I could just take them out one by one with a little support." Mordred: "So they want resources and workers from us so they can eliminate this threat?" "Yes, that's right, I don't care what you do with your organization. You keep a good balance between killing and manipulation, so I don't care as long as there is no mass extinction." Loki: "Well, we are willing to help them get rid of the Shadow Garden, but we require that they announce their operations to us in advance." "That's doable. When the time comes, I'll send a subordinate to inform them of further plans, so until then." So I set off again and so that they didn't get any wrong ideas, I had to show some of my strength at the end so that they didn't think I was easy prey. All in all, it went very well. Now we just have to capture or kill as many members as we can on their next mission and then my showdown with the siblings will take place. After observing for a while, I could tell that they are almost never far away from each other, which is why I've given up trying to take them out separately. Now with a traitor in their ranks, we have the absolute advantage against them, so what are you going to do, ask or beg Reincanator? I'm already excited.
Emma pov
A few days passed in which nothing remarkable happened and the assassinations continued as usual. Today was also the day that Eta woke up from her sleep, however she apparently had no memories of the incident, only that she had fought against masked people. She behaved completely normally and showed no personality changes, which made me breathe a sigh of relief and she was able to recover quickly. We were also at school in class at the time, only I knew that a major attack was imminent today and as if on cue, a barrier had been erected to destroy magic. Cid and I looked each other in the eye for a moment but turned away again when they finally broke into our room. Cid did his thing and let himself be hit by the sword, while I was led into the hall with the other students. There we waited for the right moment and when the barrier finally dissolved, the glass roof broke and revealed many Shadow Garden members together with Shadow. When everyone was distracted I quickly transformed and fought with them against these terrorists until a fire broke out so as soon as we killed the last one we went back to the roof. We were just waiting for Cid to kill the boss behind this attack when I saw her, and not only me, all the Shadow Garden members present saw her this time a knight with a visor looking down at us from the adjacent building. I had no more doubts her armor might have looked different but the lower half of her face and her visor looked exactly like in my memories. When I felt her magic increasing I knew we had to get out of the way because not everyone was as strong as Alpha and me. "Get out of the way now." Everyone jumped off the building just in time because the next moment a black and red beam hit the roof and completely destroyed the burning building. Alpha and I weren't slow though and fired our own attacks at her which hit her head on but when the dust settled she had disappeared. Shadow arrived right after but we couldn't find any sign of her and as more and more knights arrived we decided to retreat. I knew that a clash was imminent so I told Cid to call all seven shadows again with Delta and the others we had a much better chance after I saw that.
Artoria pov
When I attacked them I expected a little more than a counterattack, but then again everyone survived my weakened attack. Slowly but surely it was time the decision would be made at the tournament in the Holy City as far as I know only the seven shadows and Shadow with the Reinkanator go there so it is the perfect place to get everything done. "Eto go to the town hall and tell them to quietly gather as many strong people as possible at the tournament because that is where I will meet the Shadow Garden." "As you wish, if I may ask, Miss, what will our role in all this be?" "Well you will concentrate on the seven shadows and help the cult defeat them but don't forget to bring Delta to me alive anything else will be punished." They bowed and continued their work. I have to admit this will definitely be an interesting battle even though I know I will win.