---

...

...

...

*beeeeeeeeep*

"Recording log..."

"Week 1"
"Thursday"
"0750 hrs."
"Almeda Border Fort 7"
"Almeda Kingdom Border"

...

...

...

Arriving at the Knight Fort, two caravans go inside the fort with some of the awaiting knights lined up in formation to meet with the guests inside the caravans. As the caravans stopped, six nobles dressed in red vests and coats, exit out of the caravan. The knights salute them with rigid attention. The nobles observe the area and were disgusted by the filthy fort covered with mud and dust.

"Yuck! What the fuck is this place?" an ugly tall noble closed his nose.

"Haha. Pathetic! Is this where the mighty Almeda Knights are stationed?" another noble with a fat belly bulging out of his coat, said.

"Argh. Come on! I don't want to stay in this fucking shit-place! Let's go inside the captain's office. I think he's waiting for us now there." another noble said to his fellow nobles. Along the way, they constantly avoid in disgust dirty paths and areas, while the knights that were watching them, curse their infuriating appearances and acts.

...

...

The nobles arrive at the office of the knight captain who is in charge of the knight fort. The knight captain welcomes them inside the room, taking their seats. As he sits on a comfy chair seemingly arranged by the knight captain himself in a hurry, a noble flicks up his finger and a shadow appeared behind him, making a portal for a strange black-cloaked man. The cloaked man stands behind the noble who flicked his fingers and seemingly said whispers something close to the noble's ear.

"I-I see. I assume you've finally found your new "package", Count Damillo? " the knight captain said with an eerie smile. As the cloaked man finishes his report to the count, the count smiles and laughs loudly.

"HAHAHA! Nice....."

"Do I continue observing her?" the cloaked man said to Count Damillo. Count Damillo is a gray-haired man in his 50s, with a goatee mustache.

"Hahaha. You do that. Keep us in touch and make sure that she is in fine shape before we go there."

"Understood." the cloaked man said as he vanishes back into the shadows. The other nobles, with smug expressions all over their faces, drool as they imagine and plan their perverted schemes into their new "package".

"Hehe. I can't wait to cut off her both legs and fuck with them!" a noble wickedly cheered.

"Now now. Let's be fair. Don't get the feet. I will make better use of them." another noble cheered. 

"Come to think of it, you already have your way with her before right? The mother of a single daughter named..hmm. What was her daughter's name again?" a noble asked Count Damillo. The Count stands up and looks out the window, licking his lips.

"..Felicia Rodburg. And her mother is out there, oblivious of her own wretched fate. Oh, I waited for this chance to get my vengeance on them! After this, her daughter will be the next on the list...." the Count said in a malicious voice and smiled, and the nobles cheer while the knight captain prepare their plan for their departure towards Felicia's mother.

...

...

...

Meanwhile, back in Fruchiel's Cathedral...

Harvey wakes up lying on a camping stretcher on the top balcony of the Cathedral with his alarm ringing on his watch. he turns off his alarm and adjusts his vests and gears.

"Urgh. I think it's been two days since I've been wearing this outfit. I need to get the water shower ready." Harvey complained to himself. He looks down the balcony and sees numerous areas of land finally cleared by the hardworking units from the Baker and Able Company. They also start constructing cemented buildings and structures from the countless construction supplies and materials, together with a few construction vehicles, spawned by Harvey through his Military Development System earlier.

"If I'm not mistaken, Able One-One said, that location will be the Hospital." Harvey said to himself while looking at an open space.

"While over there, will be the Armory and Shooting Range." he said, looking to an early construction site ongoing in the location.

"And the Airstrip and Airbase will be....in this big open space." Harvey, walking to the right side of the balcony overlooking an open stretch area the size of approximately 2.5 hectares.

"Damn. Those guys are really something else. I'm now quite afraid and guilty about their loyalty. Makes me feel kinda bad leaving all the labor at them." he sighed, walking out of the balcony.

"Well, they still insisted, so I got no choice." he followed as he walks down the stairs.

...

...

As he heads down the main hall with the big statue of Razhiel in the front center, he sees the five beast-humans in the doorway. He then greets them as they approach him.

"HEYY! HOW ARE YOU GUYS HANGING OUT?" Harvey screamed, and his voice echoes across the main hall.

"Wha-What?! Ssshh! Keep your voice down, Sir Harvey!" Ferma loudly whispered. The five beast-humans finally approach Harvey with the big statue behind him.

"Oh. Sorry about that. How are you guys doing?"

"We're good to see you fine and well after the ruckus last night, Sir Harvey. We're just here to pay respects to our holiness again." Plaire and the rest kneeled and bowed in front of the marble statue. Harvey looks behind him, and sees the huge statue, with some of the parts beginning to deteriorate and covered with green molds and vines.

"I see...."

Harvey then looks around the empty hall. He sees many broken long benches, tattered curtains, cracked walls, broken furniture, etc.

"Hm..." Harvey poses a thinking pose as he continues to look around.

"What's the matter, Sir Harvey?" Desmond looked up at him in wonder.

"Oh. Nothing. Sorry to disturb you guys. I'm just thinking about this place." Harvey replied.

"It's alright. What's on your mind, Sir?" Desmond followed.

"Well, I'm just thinking. While you guys wait for our reply to your alliance invitation, you can stay here in this hall, instead of the tents outside where the loud and messy constructions are currently ongoing."

The five beast-humans are surprised and stand up.

"Yo-You sure? Sir Harvey?" Wilma gasped.

"It's a privilege to be in here the gracious hall! Thank you, Sir Harvey!" Ferma cheered.

"Aight. Take your time guys. Fruchiel - I mean, Razhiel will be here shortly. She also conducts her daily prayers in this hall every morning. See ya guys later." Harvey bid farewell to the five beast-humans. 

"Take care, Sir Harvey." Desmond also followed as he and the others resume their prayers in front of Razhiel statue. Harvey goes outside of the hall to meet with the eleven female prisoner slaves that were rescued at the bandit's lair yesterday.

...

...

Going inside the living room or the medical room, only two peasants remained on their beds, while the others completely healed and made way for the injured female prisoner slaves. They are also helping some of the units outside with construction and hunting - including Isabella, Glenn, and Herman.

At its doorway, he was greeted by two units from the Able Company.

"Morning, Sir Harvey." the two units greeted and saluted casually. Harvey quickly salutes back and went inside the room. In each cubicle, some of the injured female prisoners are still sleeping, some were very tired due to the intensive medical operations done on them by the operators from the FOXTROTS Group. A FOXTROTS Operator comes outside of a cubicle after he is done checking up on a female human patient who has her left foot amputated due to its degrading muscle tissues. Harvey approaches the operator and greets him as well.

"Sir Harvey. Good morning." the operator casually saluted Harvey.

"How's it going? Everything's alright now?" 

 "Erh, just a quite, Sir Harvey. I'm afraid we're still struggling to do medical operations on some other patients who didn't have any similar anatomy to a human person. For now, we've just made their blood flow and breathing stable. " the FOXTROT Operator sighed as he looks at his notepad.

"Hm. I see."

But then, his hud notifies him again through his mind.

 

*beeeeeep!*

"Curative Knowledge Absence..."
"DETECTED"

*beeeeeep!*

"Recommendation:..."
"Establish Counter Affix"

 

"What? This again? I thought we are done with thi- wait..." Harvey suddenly noticed something. 

"Does it mean that I can also use the Greater Key?" 

Harvey opens his hud to check about it. And sure enough, with the Lesser Key Of Sollom activated, the hidden functions of his Greater Key Of Sollom also get activated.

"Uh..huh. So, what do I do?" he asked himself as he browse through his hud looking for a manual of some kind.

 

*beeeeeep!*

"Establish Counter Affix on designated Spawns"

 

"Spawns?" he then looks at the FOXTROT Operator and goes through his hud again to select the chosen spawns.

"FOXTROTS, FOXTROTS....Ah, here we go. Stand still." Harvey said to the operator who obliges and waits. Harvey selects the FOXTROTS Group in his hud, and a new option appears as he confirms the group.

 

*beeeeeep!*

"Designated Spawns: FOXTROTS Group."
"..."

*beeeeeep!*

"FOXTROTS Group: Available for Counter Affix."
"PROCEED?"

 

Harvey confirms and proceeds. With that, all of the FOXTROT Operators, excluding Harvey because he isn't a spawned unit, shine in white light as the hud systems automatically establish counter-affix to them.

"Whoa...." the FOXTROT Operator in front of Harvey looked at his hands in awe.

After just seconds, it was finished and Harvey's hud notifies him again.

 

*beeeeeep!*

"FOXTROTS Group: Integrate Counter Affix..."
"SUCCESSFUL"

 

But Harvey becomes confused again as to what is this all about. He doesn't know what really happened after he established the counter affix to the FOXTROTS Group spawns. His hud also doesn't say the full information and functions of both the Lesser and Greater Key.

"Huh. What now? I can't even find the details of the keys in this damn hud." Harvey complained as he scrolls through his hud again hoping to find some explanation. But the operator suddenly interrupts him.

"Sir Harvey. Thank you. I think that we can now help the other patients."

"Hm?"

Suddenly at the doorways, Harvey was greeted by the rest of the FOXTROT Operators. The operators salute Harvey in gratitude, and inside the room, they don back their medical gear and clothes to resume their medical operations on the other female patients, in full confidence. 

"Huh? It looks like they've suddenly know what they will gonna do about those other patients for some reason." Harvey thought and looks back at his hud.

"Must've been because of the counter affix?" he wondered. Again, his hud notifies him through his mind.

 

*beeeeeep!*

"Counter Affix: Greater Key Of Sollom"
"Information:..."

"The Greater Key Of Sollom is a compilation of sacred texts and scriptures of the Archangels, which specializes in Holy Magic."

"This version of the Greater Key, however, is modified and made for you specifically."

 

"I...see. So, Holy Magic. Should've seen that coming. Wait, so does that mean that the FOXTROTS spawns can now use Holy Magic?" Harvey followed.

 

 *beeeeeep!*

"Affirmative"
"However, Integration of Affix and Counter Affix is done by Array Estimation."
"Spawns with Integrated Affix and Counter Affix will just receive ONE FUNCTION from the Affix or Counter Affix depending on the affix itself and their pre-existing or existing role/s."

 

"Ah. Now I get it. When the spawn group is for example, in the mechanical and maintenance role, the counter affix will integrate "fixing" magic? And in this case, the medical roles of the FOXTROTS Operators equals "healing" magic. Correct?" Harvey asked.

 

*beeeeeep!*

"Affirmative."
"Designate: FOXTROTS Group"
"Function: Knowledge of Caduceus"
"Function Origin: Rafael's Library / Greater Key Of Sollom
"Function Information:..."

"Knowledge of Caduceus is one of the collections of transcripts inside Rafael's Library, which is a part of Holy Scriptures of the Greater Key Of Sollom. This grand array of knowledge came from Rafael's right-hand - Angel Caduceus, who is tasked to detail all of the living creatures in various worlds."

"Upon learning, the user/s will have the overall anatomical and biological information of any living creature, and any medical operation/magic will be ten times more efficient."

 

*beeeeeep!*

"Sidenote: The term "fixing" magic, which is in the realm of Natural Magic, can only be conducted to certain spawns if the user of this Greater Key Of Sollom has also the Nature Book - Greater Index Of Vollom, which specialize in Natural Magic."

 

"Okay okay. So, they now have the Knowledge of Caduceus, and look like they know what to do. Thanks for the complete explanation." his hud then closed.

"Now, where was I? Oh yeah, right. Might as well help my guys before I take my breakfast." Harvey then proceeds to assist his group with their medical operations with his ability.

...

...

Meanwhile, outside of the Cathedral...

Wearing a green hoodie and pants that the FOXTROTS gave to her, Felicia woke up early and decides to exercise and train herself, brandishing a wooden sword made by one of the units for her. On each strike she makes, it is followed by a strong wind gush, almost cutting off the grasses on the ground.

"*pant* Hayah! Hmph!" 

She then takes a breather wiping the sweat on her face.

"*pant* Still..not..enough!*pant*"

"Oh?! Someone is practicing a sword!" when someone noticed her. Felicia looks behind her and it's none other than Herman who just finished exercising. Also donning a hoodie and a caro pants, In his hand, is also a wooden sword just like Felicia is using.

"Hahaha! It looks like you are pretty good in combat!"

"We-Well. I'm a former knight." 

"Ohh? How nice! Mind if we spar a little bit?" Herman, as he suddenly poses in a defensive position with his wooden sword.

"A-Are you sure, mister..."

"Hehe. My name's Herman. Come. Let's play." he smiled with determination. 

"Hmh. If you insist." Felicia chuckled, then takes a moment to gather her breathing. With a couple of deep breaths, she goes for the fast attack, striking Herman's sword.

"Hm. Nice strike! But..." Herman looked at the bottom of her sword, sliding his sword to the handle.

"YAHH!" 

Felicia quickly notices his attack on the handle of her sword and dashes back. This time, Herman makes a dash attack toward Felicia and a sharp clash ensues. Felicia's attacks are almost too fast for the naked eye to comprehend and they're almost making a wind vortex to their surroundings almost cutting away all the grasses. 

"SHE'S FAST! ARE YOU A NATURAL MAGIC USER?!" Herman shouted as he takes on Felicia's strikes. 

A Series of jump attacks, dash moves, and intense strikes continued further on when suddenly, Herman feels his defenses weakening. He struggles to stand and defend all of her attack combos.

"ARRGH! T-TOO FAST! WAI-WAIT!"

*CLANG!*

Herman's sword flies away from him as Felicia lands the tip of her wooden sword on his neck.

"*pant**pant* Looks like I won..." she chuckled while panting heavily.

"Ye-Yeah. You win. Hehe..." Herman awkwardly chuckled as well. But all of the sudden, Felicia's sword broke down into pieces.

"*pant* Hehehe. Juuuust kidding!" Felicia, as she sat down on the ground, was very tired. Herman looks at the broken wooden sword and realizes the reason.

"I-It seems that you've put too much strength on the sword, huh?"

"*pant**pant* Haha. Yeah. I still can't control properly the handling of swords. It is the reason why I lost to the bandits...."

"What? What do you mean?" he sat down close to her. 

Felicia then retells her story again about the ambush by the Jackal and his group of bandits.

...

...

"I-I see. Glad that you girls are rescued out of there." 

"Thanks. But..." Felicia then stood up.

"...I still have a long way to go..."

"Heh. You oughta be."

"Oh? A new face? Good morning, you two!" Isabella suddenly greeted them, also wearing the same outfit as hers but with an additional black baseball cap.

"Go-Good morning as well. I'm Felicia. Nice to meet you." she bowed to her.

"Haha, no need for the formalities! You can call me Isabella."

"Where's Glenn by the way? Isn't he with you?" Herman looked around.

"Uhm. You see, he's right over there..." Isabella pointed behind a corner of a tent in the distance. They see Glenn with his hoodie cap on, peeking out at them seemingly avoiding someone.

"Hm? What's the matter with that boy?" Herman asked.

"Haha. Well, you see..." Isabella then proceeds to whisper at them.

...

"BWAHAHAHA!" Herman laughed loudly.

"Re-Really?" Felicia with an awkward smile.

"Ye-Yeah. Sorry about that." Isabella also awkwardly smiled.

"BWAHAHA! That boy doesn't change at all! Always have a looker for cute women! HAHAHA!"

"Hehe. Calm down, Herman." said Isabella.

"Hahaha. I'm going to get that lad and introduce him to you. Wait for us..." Herman stood up and walks toward where Glenn is hiding. While the two women are watching Herman and Glenn arguing in the distance, they're surprised when Herman suddenly drags Glenn.

"NO! GET OFF OF ME!" Glenn screamed as he tries to struggle the grasps Herman. But Herman's muscular build and appearance overwhelm Glenn, while the big man is just putting a big smile on his face.

"Hehehe. Don't be shy!" Herman with an eerie smile while Glenn continues to struggle and escape. But all of that is nothing to Herman as he easily presented the shy man to Felicia.

Glenn stands in her front, feeling very awkward and shy.

"Uh-Uhm. Go-Good morning. I'm Felicia." she bowed at him.

"N-No- I mean. Wa-Wait, I'm sorr- ah, that's not it. Go-Good day- I mean good morning!" Glenn continued stuttering which made Isabella and Herman facepalm.

"Ta-Take it easy. It's alright." Felicia gently smiled. 

"Urgh. I-I'm really sorry...."

"Well, this bachelor is still very shy and awkward since the beginning. But he's a good lad." Herman patted Glenn's back.

"Haha. Indeed he is." Isabella added. 

Up on the staircase leading to the entrance of the Cathedral, a unit from the Able Company shouts at them.

"Heeeey! You four out there! Breakfast is here! Come on in!"

"Alright! I'm feeling hungry as heck! Let's go!" Herman led the way. Isabella follows, making Felicia and Glenn in the rear. Suffice it to say, Glenn takes his distance away from Felicia because of his shyness. Felicia notices this and understands it with a gentle smile.

...

...

Inside the now-renovated kitchen diner, all of the fully healed peasants and female captives, enjoy their improved breakfast, which is done by the designated cooks from the Able Company with the help of the hunting group with Isabella earlier. All of them still can't get over the delicious dishes that the units cooked. 

"Let's dine it! They really cooked my deer game fast." said Isabella.

"Haha! How many did you hunt?" asked Herman as they sit down by a round table.

"Let's see. I caught about two, while the rest of the hunting group got five in separate areas."

"Nice! Oh, the dishes are here!" as a unit put their dishes on the table. They pray for a moment and take their breakfast.

...

"Come to think of it, where is Sir Harvey?" Felicia looked around.

"Hm. I don't know. Probably with his men in the living room." said Herman while eating.

"Oh. Don't worry. They are resuming treating the other patients. When I checked with Sir Harvey over there, he was in a weird blue face mask and blue elastic gloves with the other "doctors". He told me that they will be done before three o'clock." said Isabella.

"I-I see." Felicia, looking down at her plate, slightly feeling anxious. Glenn notices her and tries to cheer he up.

"D-Don't worry, miss Felicia. I'm sure the patients will be alright."

"Oh. Thank you." she replied with a gentle smile.

With that, they continue having their breakfast with Herman telling funny stories along the way.

...

...

...

Meanwhile, at the cottage where Felicia's mother is residing...

As her mother is currently doing laundry while waiting for her daughter, she notices strange knocking noises outside of her house. At first, she thought that it must've been the wind. But, the knocks continued further on. She then decides to stop her laundry to take a look outside. As she opens the door, however, she sees nothing but the forest. Upon knowing that no one is outside, she closes the door to go back to her laundry. But as soon as she turns back, four mysterious people clad in black cloaks are facing her. In utter shock, she tries to scream, but one of them quickly casts sleeping magic into her, making her fall asleep very quickly. As she lays down on the wooden floor, they tie her up on her hands and feet. They also put a cloth on her mouth to keep her quiet just in case she woke up.

"All done." one of them said to another man.

"Good. Let's wait for the nobles. Go and scout the forest."

"Understood." the other three vanishes in an instant, leaving the last man inside the cottage with the asleep mother.

As the last cloaked man approaches her, he uncloaks, revealing a familiar individual. He is one of the mysterious men who tried to subdue Felicia along with her boyfriend in the past. Eventually, he is the only one who manages to escape from the hands of the knights. This time, he is also going to get his revenge on Felicia through her mother.

...

...

...

An hour has passed. Back at the Cathedral...

After taking a break and breakfast, Harvey and his FOXTROTS Group finally completed their medical operations toward the injured female captives. They leave the sleeping patients in the medical room to further recover and head toward the lower basement where Harvey's room is located.

Down there, Harvey then discusses their new operation as per Felicia's request.

"But before that..." he opened his hud to summon yet another SFOD Group. As he scrolls and picks his choice, the hud announces.

 

*click!*

"Spawn Function Detected!..."
"Confirm: "20 Infantry Units for: 10 Souls" ? "
"Confirm: "20 Special Forces for: 20 Souls" ? "

*click!*

*click!*

 

As all of the new units spawn in, Harvey designates them.

"Designate ten infantry units, integrate Able Company. Ten infantry units, also integrate into Baker Company. So that means, there are fifty units from each company from now on."

"Moving on. Hehe, now come's the fun part...." Harvey smiled.

"Designate twenty special forces: DELTAS One to Twenty!"

 

*beeeeep!*

"Naming Accomplished!"

"Now available for Affix/Counter Affix Integration." 

 

"Neat. New units from the companies, go outside and help what you can." he ordered the new additional units of the two companies. With them now gone, Harvey goes back to his SFs.

"Hm? Ah, yeah. Right. I can now also use the Lesser Key. Hm. Let's see..."

 

*beeeeeep!*

"Designated Spawns: DELTAS Group."
"..."

*beeeeeep!*

"DELTAS Group: Available for Affix."
"PROCEED?"

 

"Hoho! Why yes!"

 

*beeeeeep!*

"DELTAS Group: Integrate Affix..."
"..."

*beeeeeep!*

"SUCCESSFUL"

 

"Alright! What do the goons have this time?" Harvey asked the hud.

 

*beeeeeep!*

"Designate: DELTAS Group"
"Function: Diaboli Cornibus"
"Function Origin: Belongings of Valefar / Lesser Key Of Sollom
"Function Information:..."

"Diaboli Cornibus, or in translation, "Diablo's Horns", is the original pair of red horns of the Demon Lord Diablo. One of his subordinates, Demon Valefar, an infamous demon thief, manages to stole Diablo's original horns. Because of this, however, he was punished and killed, only after he successfully sealed and attached the original Diablo horns into a spear, hoping to use them against the Demon Lord in the future."

"Upon learning, the user/s will have the ability to instantly steal any magic attributes, rendering the victim magic-less, and use the stolen magic for a brief time."

 

"Oh...shit. This is some wacky stuff. Too bad the functions don't apply to me." Harvey was in awe. After that, he proceeds to arm themselves in the Armory nearby.

In his chosen loadouts, he chose the same woodland camos, and weapons of suppressed CAR15s and M1911s. 

But this time, they won't be using any NODs as the operation will take place during daylight. So they don bonnie hats with olive-drab balaclavas.

...

After they are done wearing their loadouts, Harvey proceeds to discuss their operation.

"...callsign "Operation Hidden Ark"." he added as he presents a map of the forest and the location of Felicia's mother, that Felicia made earlier for them.

...

"Aight. I already briefed the Recon Support Four and two FOXTROTS that I chose earlier about this operation last night. The recon team is now en route to Site Montclaire. They will provide early recon for us on the status of the site and the package. S-O-Ps and R-O-Es are the same. But just by one target."

"HOTEL One will be the overall lead of the whole operation, while me and other two FOXTROTS will provide medical assistance." 

Harvey then looks at the twenty DELTAS Group.

"Fifteen DELTAS will be the "tip of the spear", while the rest five will be on standby with Recon Support Four. " Harvey smiled menacingly. At the same time, all of them, yes, all of them including Harvey, emit menacing auras. With their dark goggles and black balaclavas covering their faces, you can already notice the operators of the DELTAS Group making cold glares at the map.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Understood, Sir..." the DELTAS oblige.

...

...

...

---

Soul Energy :

[ Level 1 ]

+ Lesser Key Of Sollom

 

Soul Count :

[ 19 ]

 

Spawn Count:

[ 160 ]

= 100 Infantry Units (+20)

= 50 Special Forces (+20)

---

---

UPCOMING NEXT CHAPTER:

Chapter 16 - A Mistake by Revenge