The Last Dainv

The group hid behind a cluster of thick bushes behind a tree just away from the sightlines of the checkpoint they were eyeing.

Gale and everyone else were just southeast of the checkpoint, the others beside him in a line. About fifty metres away was the checkpoint he had identified as having the least amount of guards. Only three United Knights held down this section of the blockade.

Through the gaps in the foliage, Gale could see them clearly.

The three men were in their 'tactical knight armour', as Lily called them. It was a mix of modern tactical gear with parts being plate armour worn on their shins, chest, and bracers. Each of them held a rifle on their shoulders, but that was mostly for show for the civilians. On their backs were their maces.

Gale had expected these guards to be lazying around at this current hour past midnight, yet each of their eyes constantly scanned the vicinity for threats or oddities. Even as they yawned, the knights took turns to do so. Kyle called this the UK specialty: tactical yawning.

"This checkpoint is the least guarded," Gale whispered. "They're tired, I think. They're doing that weird yawn pattern."

Erin continuously adjusted her tactical vest strapped over her body over her usual lab coat like dress. On her face was some semblance of emotion that was something similar to annoyance. She vehemently opposed the idea of taking off her ethereal dress which now poked out from her tactical gear.

"This gear has no purpose for the current mission on my person," Erin said. "The material provides no meaningful contribution to protection against any signatures past Resonant. Any harm to my form would be deemed meaningless as well. Additionally, it serves as mere distraction."

"It's mission uniform. It's standard," Rachel said.

"The 'desert camouflage' does not fit the current forest environment we are operating in. We stand out rather than blend in. This is tactically counterproductive."

"Just get used to it," Lily said. "The rift we're going to is Class 4, and it's also not a leisure rift. There have been six outbreaks in the past two years alone."

Gale turned to look at her. "Six? Why so many?"

"No one can find the core," Lily said. "The rift's been open for years now. Teams go in, clear out the monsters, come back out. But no one can find the core, so things just keep growing inside until the core initializes a break."

"That's why it's under constant surveillance," Rachel added. "But this blockade doesn't look like it's keeping things out of the rift. It looks more like they're trying to keep things inside the city."

Erin spoke up again. "This equipment is unnecessary. I do not require 'tactical gear' to function. Damage to my physical form is merely a signal transmitted to the brain. Simply manipulating my body to halt its death spiral from damage is far more effective than wearing this... ugly apparatus."

Rachel sighed. "Since when did you care about whether something is pretty or ugly? Stop complaining."

"I will not."

"My body operates on principles that transcend your mundane understanding of injury and protection. Wrapping it in these garments serves no practical purpose other than to make me appear as one of you."

"That's part of the point," Rachel said through her gritted teeth.

"Why do you care about the aesthetic anyway? Hadn't pegged you for the fashionable type," Kyle said.

"My dress is a homage to my goddess. It represents her grace and her teachings. This tactical gear you have forced upon me sullies its appearance. It is an affront."

"Then why are you still wearing the dress underneath?!" Rachel almost shouted. "If you care so much about not sullying it, why didn't you just take it off before putting on the tactical gear?!"

Erin stared at her. "I refuse to remove it."

Rachel shook her head, knowing full well that saying any more about her simple statement would just make this into a spiralling argument where she already lost.

As expected of the floating bluey's unfathomable logic, Gale nodded.

"Woman's got devotion," Clyde said.

Gale focused on the mission ahead. The knights were right there, ripe for the taking. He hadn't gotten any origin grains since the Kair rift. These were easy targets, all three being Late-Attuned.

"Can I kill them?" he asked.

Rachel turned her head towards him. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because we're not here to start a war. The United Knights are annoying, but they're not our enemies. If we kill their people, this is going to be bigger than this thing they're doing locally already."

"Next thing you know, Ann Family is getting sanctions and paperwork being filed against them," Kyle snickered.

"Then what do we do?" Gale asked.

"Try your best to just knock them out," Rachel said firmly.

That was one way, but knocking out people was harder than killing them. No Origin Grain gained either. Stupid United Knights. But alas, the light of the city said no killing, and the dark hunter complies.

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"Giant bambam hammer it is," Gale said.

"Everyone ready?" Lily asked. "I'll cast EMP sigil and silence sigil at the same time. Kyle, Rachel, Gale, you're on for knock out duty."

Rachel nodded, tightening her knuckle guards. "Ready."

Gale materialized Erebus in the form of a giant hammer. The hammer part was bigger than his own head. Although it looked heavy, to him, it still had the same weight as Erebus in sword form.

"Ready," Gale said.

Kyle drew his dagger. "Ready."

Lily whispered under her breath.

Two sigils formed at her fingertips, glowing a dim blue that was barely visible in the darkness. She flicked her wrist and sent them flying toward the checkpoint.

Gale moved.

Rachel and Kyle moved with him.

The three of them followed close behind the sigils, silently sprinting through the forest floor.

The silence sigil reached the guards first.

It expanded into an invisible bubble that encompassed the entire checkpoint area. All sounds vanished within the bubble that the sigil had formed. For a split second, the guards pulled on their radio receivers to talk.

Then the EMP sigil hit.

A pulse of energy rippled outward, disrupting anything electronic within range. The faint glow of the knights' communication devices flickered and died.

But they were already too slow to react. Their programming to report first and act later had become their flaw.

Gale reached the guard on the left first. The giant hammer came down in a wide arc, connecting with the side of the knight's helmet with a satisfying thunk or bonk. The man crumpled instantly, his body going limp before he even hit the ground.

Rachel took the middle guard. Her fist shot forward, catching him square on the chin. The impact snapped his head back, followed up with a palm strike to the chest that sent him onto the floor.

Kyle appeared behind the guard on the right. One moment he was running beside Gale, the next he was behind the knight as he blinked to his dagger. One simple punch to the back and the man dropped like a ragdoll.

All three guards were down in less than 2 seconds.

Lowering his hammer, Gale turned back towards the bushes where the others were still hiding. Waving his hand, he signed to Lily that it was clear.

Lily, Clyde, and Erin emerged from the foliage a moment later, joining the rest of them. The silence and EMP sigils were already dissipating, the bubble shrinking and fading until the normal sounds of the forest returned.

"Nice work," Lily said.

She knelt beside one of the unconscious knights and started patting him down, checking his pockets and pouches.

"What are you doing?" Gale asked.

"Looking for documents or intel," Lily said as she felt something in the knight's side pockets. "Got it."

"I thought everyone used phones and tablets for documents these days," Gale said.

"Not the Knights," Kyle said.

"Unfortunately not the Knights," Rachel sighed.

Lily unfolded the paper and read its contents. A smirk formed on her lips that seemed to be both resignation and amusement.

"What is it?" Gale asked.

"Debriefing document," Lily said. "This is the only stupid weakness of the United Knights. Too bureaucratic. They document everything on paper because they don't trust digital systems, and then they make their soldiers carry those documents around like it's the 1800s."

"That's the only good thing about dealing with them," Clyde said. "Rob one guy, get the whole operation's playbook."

Lily started reading aloud. "Debriefing for Operation Caged Swords. All units are to maintain perimeter security around designated sectors. Intelligence reports indicate that a Jiuling sect is conducting unregistered operations within Guatemala. All Jiuling operatives encountered are to be detained and transported to point Alpha-Foxtrot 31 for processing."

She paused, then continued.

"All civilian and non-civilian traffic attempting to exit the perimeter after 2300 hours is to be considered unpermitted and subject to detainment. Lethal force is authorized only in cases of confirmed hostile engagement."

"Where's Alpha-Foxtrot 31?" Gale asked.

"No idea," Lily said. "Documentation never includes actual location details. Just codenames and designations. Standard security practice." She folded the paper and tucked it into her own pocket. "Doesn't matter anyway. We're not here for whatever the Knights and the Jiuling are fighting about. We're here for the rift."

Kyle groaned. "Guatemala all over again."

Clyde laughed lightly. "You think this Jiuling sect will like Twinkies this time?"

"If you do that again," Lily said, "I'm kicking you out of the squad."

"What? I'm just asking!"

Rachel stepped between them, turning to Gale. "Any other signs of threats in the area?"

Gale extended his tendrils outward again, sweeping the surrounding forest for signatures. The three unconscious knights were dim spots at his feet. Beyond them, the forest was mostly empty, other than the circle that had encased the city.

Two signatures approached from the east. Both were Early-Attuned stage. They moved at a steady pace that looked like a rigid march from his tendrils. A patrol route, maybe.

"Two more Knights heading this way," Gale said. "They'll reach this checkpoint in about three minutes. We should head to the rift now."

"Agreed." Lily pointed northwest. "The rift enclosure is that direction. About two kilometres through dense jungle."

"Lead the way," Rachel said.

Gale took point. Moving through the jungle, his tendrils stretched out, capturing every movement and animal within. Passing through a small creek and leaping over a river, they ducked and weaved over vines and massive trees that blocked their way. Ferns and bushes grew in dense clusters that they simply pushed through.

At this point, everyone was dead silent during their travel.

The only sounds were the brisk pace of their jog.

Tendrils caught onto the signatures of two knights coming up ahead of them. Gale led them away by taking the route that the knights had already passed.

After 8 more minutes, they reached their destination. A fence stood in their way, covered in all sorts of warning signs.

It was chain-link, about 7 metres tall, topped with barbed wire. Every few metres, a sign was attached to the metal links. Government warnings in Spanish, most of them faded and weathered from exposure to the elements.

The symbols said everything that Gale needed to understand what they meant.

Biohazard, high voltage, construction zone, keep out, and the whole list of warning signs he learned in grade 7.

Beyond the fence was the feeling of the open rift and its triangular form.

"Should we go to the entry point?" Gale asked. "You know, like polite people."

"Wouldn't count on it. If the United Knights have this place locked down, they're not letting anyone get through the entrance," Kyle said.

"Might as well just sneak in," Clyde said.

"I hate the fact I agree with these guys right now," Lily said.

"Same..." Rachel muttered.

"Make haste, children. We must hurry and attain the materials," Erin said.

But as the whole group was about to jump over the fence, clashes of steel echoed and rang throughout the surroundings. From inside the fence, Gale and the others saw figures blurring and fighting against each other.

From his tendrils, he saw multiple Jiuling operatives fighting with a couple of knights. The Jiuling wore a different uniform than the one Gale saw from the summit.

"Blood Blade Sect, fuckin' hell, eh," Kyle said.

"They're one of the lower sects in the Jiuling, not counted among the 9 major sects. They focus mostly on blood arts, covering their blades in red Qi that prevents their enemies from healing," Rachel said, preemptively explaining to Gale.

"That's also why no one likes them," Clyde said. "This rift run is looking to be more complicated."

"Are we getting paid for this?" Kyle asked.

"Idiot, ask Ollie," Lily said.

"Oh shit, forgot for a moment this was Ollie's operation," Clyde said.

"Incorrect. This is my operation," Erin said. "Regardless of the political implications, we must make haste."

Gale changed the form of Erebus to a halberd. "If those Jiuling guys go after us, can I kill them?"

"Sure, why not," Rachel said. "Just don't try to kill the ones in knight armour."