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Chapter 82: The Deceiver
Deep within the castle, in the corridor leading directly to the throne room.
"What the hell is going on!? And why are there so few guards left inside the castle!?"
Daphne Lauros screamed, her voice echoing down the hall. As the commander of the Apollo Familia, and a Level 2 adventurer bearing the alias Laurus Fuga, she was typically calm, but the sheer absurdity of the situation was fraying her nerves.
"L-Luan said he had direct orders from Captain Hyakinthos to sortie the men outside!"
"What!? He gave no such order! If he did, I would have been the first to hear about it!"
As the commander, any tactical instruction from Hyakinthos was meant to pass through her first. The moment she heard the guard's report, alarm bells began ringing in her head.
Don't tell me... Did Luan betray us!? Before Daphne could fully process the implications, another guard came sprinting down the hallway, dropping to one knee before her. She glared at him, barely keeping her anger in check.
"R-Report, Commander!"
"What is it this time!?"
"T-The weapons and potions! They're all gone!!"
"Excuse me!? What do you mean 'gone'!?"
"The enemy Elf has been tearing through our ranks! The men needed healing, so I ran back to the storage room to grab potions, but the entire armory was empty! Everything is gone! We can't resupply anyone!"
Is this Luan's doing too!? There was simply no way the Hestia Familia could have mapped out their storage rooms and stolen everything under their noses. The only logical explanation was an inside job. Someone who knew the exact layout.
However, the reality was entirely different. Tsuna, operating under his flawless illusion, had sauntered into the armories and used the Disintegration property of his Storm Flames to reduce every single weapon and potion to ash. It left no trace, made no sound, and required no heavy lifting.
But how!? Even if they sent a small strike force, stealing that much equipment requires time and manpower! The War Game was scheduled to last for three days, meaning they had stockpiled a massive amount of supplies. Destroying or hauling it all away without being noticed should have been physically impossible, especially since the game had barely just started. No one could have emptied those rooms so quickly without triggering an alarm.
"Cassandra is in the throne room. Go tell her what happened and bring her here immediately. Tell Hyakinthos it was on my orders; he won't argue."
Pushing the impossible mystery aside, Daphne immediately pivoted to damage control.
"Commander Daphne! The enemy is here! Two humans... A red-haired man with a greatsword, and the Little Rookie himself!"
"I'll hold them here," Daphne ordered, drawing her weapon. "You, go get Cassandra and inform the Captain. We are going to crush Bell Cranel right here, right now."
"Understood! May the gods grant you victory!"
The guard nodded sharply and bolted up the spiraling stairs toward the throne room.
.....
The Throne Room.
"Lord Hyakinthos! A report!"
"What is all this racket?"
The guard burst through the heavy doors, gasping for breath. Sitting arrogantly upon the grand throne was a human man adorned with various accessories, his brown hair immaculately styled. This was Hyakinthos Clio, the Level 3 Captain of the Apollo Familia, known as Phoebus Apollo. He was the very man who had mercilessly beaten Bell during their initial assault.
"Bell Cranel has breached the inner castle!"
"What did you just say!? What in the world have you imbeciles been doing!?"
Hyakinthos shot up from his throne, his furious aura pressing heavily onto the trembling guard.
"P-Please forgive us! But Commander Daphne is currently intercepting him in the corridor! That is not the main issue!"
"There is more!?"
"Somehow, our entire stockpile of weapons and potions has vanished!"
"What!?"
J-Just like my prophetic dream... Standing quietly near the throne, Cassandra Ilion gasped, the cryptic poetry of her recent vision suddenly making terrifying sense.
"Our forces are taking heavy casualties from the enemy Elf! Without weapons or healing, the fifty men outside are going to be completely wiped out!"
"Fifty men!? You sent fifty men after a single target!?"
"Y-Yes! Luan came running, saying you had ordered fifty men to sortie, so they moved out immediately..."
"I issued no such order to Luan!"
"Wha—..."
The guard froze, the color draining from his face as the horrible truth dawned on him.
"A-Are you saying... Luan betrayed us!?"
"T-Then the missing weapons and potions... That was his doing as well!?"
"Damn that rat...! To receive Lord Apollo's boundless love and repay it with treason! Unforgivable!!"
"W-What should we do, sir!?"
"I have a mountain of punishments waiting for him, but we are in the middle of a War Game! He is a secondary concern! Send a runner to inform everyone of his betrayal immediately!"
"Y-Yes, sir! Also, Commander Daphne requested that I bring Lady Cassandra down to the front lines to provide healing..."
"Do as you wish. Just know that I will not tolerate another failure. Do you understand me?"
"Sir!!"
Given permission, the guard ushered Cassandra out of the throne room, hurrying down the stairs toward Ryuu's battlefield.
"I am so sorry, Lady Cassandra. This is all because of our incompetence."
"N-No, it's fine... But is it really true? About the weapons and potions disappearing?"
"It is. I have no idea how they pulled it off, but..."
"T-Then it's true... 'The Sky turned to mist shall devour the hoard and the steel...'"
"Excuse me?"
The guard blinked as Cassandra absentmindedly murmured a line from her prophecy.
"S-Sorry! I shouldn't be talking about my dreams at a time like this..."
"My mistake. I let my guard down. I was keeping an eye on you since you're their healer, but I didn't expect a prophecy."
"...Huh?"
Cassandra stopped, her eyes widening. The guard's tone of voice and manner of speaking had completely changed in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, the man was engulfed in a brilliant azure flame. As the fire dissipated, Tsuna stood in his place, his eyes calm and calculating.
"To think you were the one I needed to be the most wary of."
"W-Who are—!?"
Before Cassandra could scream, Tsuna moved in a blur, driving a precise, gentle strike into her abdomen. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed, unconscious before she even hit the ground.
I didn't expect someone in this world to have the gift of foresight... Tsuna caught her gently. Her ability reminded him of Yuni, the boss of the Giglio Nero Familia and the former Arcobaleno Sky Boss. While Yuni lacked combat power, her abilities as a shaman allowed her to see into the future. It was a dangerous variable to leave unchecked.
Laying Cassandra down gently, Tsuna began his descent. The staircase leading up to the throne room was now littered with the unconscious bodies of the elite guards Hyakinthos had stationed there. Catching them completely off guard as they assumed he was merely a messenger, Tsuna had incapacitated them all with swift, silent strikes before they could even react.
Hearing footsteps rushing up the stairs toward him, Tsuna immediately dropped into a combat stance, his flames flaring.
"Tsuna!"
"Bell."
Tsuna immediately relaxed, lowering his fists.
"I knew you were moving with Welf, but I'm glad you made it through safely."
"Yeah. Welf is holding off Commander Daphne in the corridor right now."
"I see... Hyakinthos is currently alone in the throne room with a few remaining guards. As you can see, I've neutralized their healer. Now all that's left is for you to follow the plan and take him down."
"Thank you. I'm going."
Bell nodded with fierce determination, rushing past Tsuna and taking the stairs two at a time toward the throne room.
"Alright, onto the next phase..."
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