- Somewhere in the woods on the hill, Beyond Comertora City walls -

- 2 days later -

- 1920hrs, local time -

“Eighteen… Twenty-two… Point to assault team, drone scan indicates that there are thirty-four guards on the lookout of the mansion, four at the main gate and 2 at the main entrance. Are you sure you’re going in with that sort of plan in the first phase?”

Point currently sitting on top of the treeline as the lookout of the raid team, assisted by a deployable drone flying overhead. His position is around 1.2 kilometres away from the mansion, calmly aiming at one of the unsuspected guards on top of the walls. They conducted a recon a day ago, mapped the entire area and even scanned the internals of the mansion. And to their expectations, it also has a catacomb with a similar construct.

Their plan includes three phases, distraction & infill, seek and destroy, and of course exfiltration. Their main objective is the same, destroying the catacombs. However, with the additional objective of assassinating the queen, Jaeger decided that they’d split up once they were inside, which was denied by Coyote since he didn’t want anyone in the team to suddenly face such a creature if it did manifest inside the mansion, alone. Jaeger compromised and agreed with Coyote, and they put the assassination as their priority first since it’s pretty much the easiest one. Luckily for them, the queen was spotted on the balcony yesterday enjoying a cup of tea which means their target is present. Additionally, they’ll put an explosive at the entrance of the catacombs if they are surrounded and proceed to egress from the place to make sure nobody will use the passage for some time until they can find another way in to put it down once and for all.

“It’s quite crude, I know. But at least we’ll have 50% of the guards rushed to the scene away from the mansion.” Jaeger replied through the radio, Point could hear some rustling of the branches that they walked through.

“It’s not just crude mate, you’re going to involve the whole city! I swear to god if I found out we have civilian casualties, I’ll report this straight to the higher-ups at HQ”

“Oi, you sounded as if you’re my superior”

“Regardless of that and if we’re mercs or not, the distraction plan itself is a bit…”

Point could hear Jaeger sighing through his mic. he has a point, Jaeger’s distraction plan involves an “unexpected” explosion on the east side of the city, slightly far away from the mansion. The explosion isn’t deadly, but what’s concerning is that Jaeger uses white phosphorus to incite arson in that area which is the slums as it might cause some fatal injuries to unsuspecting people around. “Fine then, we’ll infil without the distraction if it disturbs your morality. Coyote, 60K, plan B, we’re going in from the back entrance. Alpha 1-1 out”

As Jaeger cut off his radio call, Point could see them through his scope moving below the swamps beside the mansion, avoiding detection. Slowly but surely, they finally reached the back side of the mansion where the lake water flowed inside into the man-made pond inside the perimeter. Their infiltration was smooth, unexpected to Jaeger as he thought the number of guards indicated that the mansion was heavily defended but no, the security was too lax. Even he can see one of the Archer guards on top of the wall sleeping beside his bow and lantern on a chair. But suddenly…

BOOM!!

“sh*t!! What was that!?” shouted Coyote through his mic. Point's eyes grew wide as he saw in the direction of a massive fume of smoke coming from the east side of the city.

“1-1! Did you detonate the damn charge?!”

“My ass! I already put the detonator inside my bag! How in the world I would detonate it if I’m not even holding the detonator!? Something must’ve happened there”

“Fair point” Point looked down through his sniper scope again, he saw a half of the mansion guards mobilize alongside the stationed knights toward the explosion site. “1-1, I saw a lot of knights heading towards the explosion as well”

“told you I was right to create a distraction, you know how dangerous a fantasy knight is right?”

“yeah right, but we can still shoot those p**sies dead though.”

“… let's cut the chatter and proceed with the op, Point, neutralize any guards that might see us”

Jaeger glances behind his back, nodding to the two that the area in front of them is clear. The three then slowly walk out from the shallow area of the pond and slowly make their way to the side entrance by hiding between the walls and bushes. “stop, patrol in the front” halted Point through the radio. Seconds later, several cracking sounds in the air were heard and the guards in their vicinity dropped down, including the ones on top of the wall as the corpse dropped down right beside 60K. “Sweet dreams mate.”

“any more patrols?” Jaeger asks as he scans the area and activates his NV visor. “Negative, you’re cleared to move. I’ll clear out the remaining guards.”

“copy. That was a great shot honestly, especially when you’re just using an RSASS with that range”

“Compliment me later sir, I still need to take a lot of these bloody p**sies out”

Jaeger and the team continued their infiltration. Sneaking slowly until they reached the window on the side of the garden. 60K pulled out his crowbar and forcibly opened the window, vaulted hastily inside. As they were inside and closed the window back, they quickly stacked up near the door leading to the main hallway. “1-1 to Eagle, we’re inside, shoot anything that tries to get in or out. Armed or not”

“Copy, stay frosty mate.”

“You bet.”

Jaeger took point and slowly opened the door. The hallway was eerily empty as they walked out of the room in a formation, not even a single candle or any form of lighting was present. They then proceed to walk down the corridor while 60K guard their six. Soon enough, they reached the lobby of the mansion, where there was a massive yet elegant staircase that split into two, leading toward both the east and west sides of the mansion’s upper floor. The team swiftly took the stairs and headed to the west part, as per information of yesterday’s recon, heading towards the Queen’s chamber.

Turning around a corner, they suddenly saw two patrol guards. With precise fire and swiftness, Jaeger shot them both while 60K killed the one that was tailing the two guards with several knife stabs and a shot from his suppressed pistol. “Clear, keep moving” he stated, checking his mags and as they took several shots more at the corpses, making sure they were dead.

“Eagle, we’re approaching the queen’s room, any changes from outside the mansion?” questioned Jaeger as he peeked a corner, checking whether it was clear or not. On the other side, Point was rather busy on his targets.

“1-1, the knights are already back and found out one of the dead guards. I assume they brought reinforcements from the City’s main army since their numbers increased. Permission to engage”

“Try to hold them back as much as you can. 1-1 out”

Point smirked as he got his permission granted, glancing back at the massive gun case behind him. “Looks like I can try this thing out, hehehe…” he chuckled evilly and went to another vantage point, opened the bag and deployed the bipod of the weapon, which is the OSV—96 sniper rifle, chambered in 12.7x108mm with 5 round capacity. Looking through the scope that he already adjusted, he aimed for that one person seemingly to be the leader of the group of knights.

“good evening miss knight… You have my regards from my high explosive rounds~”

BOOM!!

The deafening boom from the sniper echoed throughout the forest and the bullet flew down the barrel into the air. The gas that came out from the end of the muzzle break kicked out a lot of dirt sideways, creating a dust cloud of dirt. Point whistled as it was quite an experience for him, he never shot calibres bigger than a Lapua magnum and yet, with his earned money from being a mercenary, he’s now firing a rifle that could even penetrate armoured vehicles. Looking through his scope, he can see the tracer of the bullet as it flies down to its target, until…

“What the-“ In disbelief, he saw the knights erect a luminescent barrier in a mere second before the bullet hit and nearly shattered it. Point then emptied the magazine of the rifle and It’s a good thing the second round shattered the shield, though, due to his aggressive shooting, he missed his target, which was the knight captain, and hit the surrounding knights instead. Looking through the scope at the carnage he caused, he can see the female knight looking like she’s wailing and crying at one of her men that he shot from afar, looking around to find the assailant.

“bloody hell… I think I just destroyed a relationship” he muttered, slightly guilty.

Back in the mansion, Jaeger and his team slowly walk their way toward the designated room while clearing the guards along the way. though, they suddenly bumped into a couple of maids as they turned right at a corner. The Maids yelped and were shushed by Jaeger. “Both of you, get out of this mansion if you don’t want to die. Now!”

The couple of Maids who were having teary eyes nodded and quickly ran away. Jaeger sighed in relief. “Glad you didn’t shoot ‘em, boss. That aside, they’re quite hot haha! Girls from other planets sure are blessed aren’t they?” 60k remarked with a chuckle.

Coyote rolled his eyes. “Dude, can you not talk with your d**k once in a while?”

“Hey! I got a point you know!”

Their small chat was interrupted when Jaeger suddenly swung his gun towards them. “Duck down!” he exclaimed. Both of them didn’t think twice and just did what he said. Jaeger then quickly shoots the approaching attacker, which is the maids from earlier. They were wielding daggers, and running at inhuman speeds on the walls.

“sh*t! They’re armed! Screw the no civilian involved RoE! Assume anything inside this mansion is hostile, got that? also, change of plans. 60K, place the charge on the entrance. Coyote, on me. We’re going to finish this Op fast”

Both Coyote and 60k answered, “Roger” and “Right-o!” simultaneously as they split their ways and went towards where they were supposed to complete their mission. In their respective ways, they kept going and kept shooting any hostiles they met, causing quite a ruckus inside.

Though, as the commotion starts to rise. In a certain large room filled with elegant decorations, a woman yawned in her bed as if she didn’t have a single strand of clothing with her. She wiped her eyes, looking outside the window, having the dim blue moonlight mixed with the bright red from the flame from the explosion site shone in. Starring with a disinterested look, she then glanced towards the figure in the shadows, as he put up his clothes.

“Your Holiness?”

“They’re here,” he said calmly as he buttoned up the last button on his clothing. Tilting her head in confusion, she asks him. “Who’s this they you’re referring to?”

“It’s the heretics, but I assume it’s not their army from the way they work.” He then turned around, fixing his robe. “I’m going back to the central church, you know what to do”

“Of course Your Holiness~ I’ll do my role as your Queen” As she said that, a bright blue magic sigil appeared and the man was teleported away. The women stood up and stood near the window, looking down at the chaos in the courtyard of the mansion. “Oh my, they created quite a fuss down there. Is this part of your plan, honey?”

As she glanced at her shoulder, looking at the same dark part of the room. The aforementioned person walked out of the shadow and deactivated his stealth magic, looking rather angered and stern at her. The woman giggled as she fixed her golden hair that got tangled into each other. “My, My, you look quite cute when you’re furious.”

“So this is the real you huh? betraying your husband and this kingdom… and what about Luna and Lillia!? They’ll be more than just upset seeing her mother do something like this!”

The woman laughed at King Kievan, “Hahaha ~ oh geez Van, you’re quite hilarious~ them? Upset? They should be proud as they’ll have their mother will become the new God’s partner, and I’ll be the queen of this new order!” her expression changed into someone twisted. “ahh~ I can’t wait. So? Are you here to assassinate me?”

“I was planning to after finding out every piece of evidence, but someone I know will do it.”

“Hmm ~ I see you saw It through your skills huh? say, is it sir Hero Kurogane?”

Kievan smirked. “Oh, not him. It’s the person that’s inside this mansion causing this chaos”

“That’s quite the joke you got there Van~”

“Am I joking though?”

Suddenly, the door creaked slightly and something was tossed inside. Several bright flashes and loud banging came from the object blanketed the dark room and blinded the two. During that time, two men with modern weaponry and equipment kicked the door open and shot the women dead with their rifles with several suppressed gunfire. “1-1 to Alpha flight, Chess Piece is down. I repeat. Chess Piece is neutralized. Report this back to HQ. 1-1 out.” Exclaimed the man as he put a couple more bullets in her head, and more blood spilling out.

“holy s**t Jaeger, that’s brutal. You could’ve just shot her once ya know?” remarked his friend who was aiming his gun at Kievan. “You got to make sure your target is dead you know? I don’t want to make the same mistake that I made back then”

“That aside, what about this guy? Plus, we still need to clear out the killer maids”

Jaeger turns around and looks straight at Kievan, having a small smile below his balaclava. “No need, he’s not our enemy. For now at least”

“So we meet again Sir Wolfenford, Glad you seem fine” the King of the Holy Kingdom greeted him even when he was still at gunpoint. “Though, you might need to use your tool again. Looks like she has awakened her powers”

“What?”

All of a sudden, the two mercenaries were blown away from the room, flying out far enough from the mansion that now has a massive hole on one of the sides. Inside, the dead woman from earlier is now standing with no damage from the shots that were dealt to her anywhere visible whatsoever. Oddly enough, she didn’t attack King Kievan who was now slightly teary as he saw his wife become something otherworldly terrifying. “I’m sorry for not spending more time with you Claudia…”

The former Queen who’s now grown several extra black tendrils from her back spoke to him in a deep coarse voice, “You should’ve… now look what I am” and stared at him with her bright crimson eyes with a dead-looking stare. She then wailed as something painful happened and held onto her head. The next thing he knew, she transformed into a giant creature something similar to a tree, yet with dark tendrils swinging here and there and shrieked in an awful voice. From afar, Jaeger who just just regained consciousness, looked in horror as he saw it.

“F**k… This ain’t good”