"Oryah!"

Following the rather odd war cry, midriff-woman lunged at me with her cutlass. Before it could connect, I deftly leaned out of the way of the strike and focused on her other hand. Instead of following through with the initial attack, she moved past me and did a pirouette that left her back completely open, after which her right arm swept back, she struck a dramatic pose, and aimed her oversized pistol… at the spot where I stood a second ago.

"Too many unnecessary movements," I grumbled as I planted the butt end of Teeny between her straddled legs and swept her right foot out of under her with a smooth motion. Since Barriers only reacted to magic and sudden impact forces, using soft force like that allowed me to bypass her defences, and her posture crumbled like a water tower built on quicksand.

She didn't give up yet, and even as she was falling to the ground, she frantically tried to adjust her posture and aim at me. My danger sense didn't give a single warning though, so I ignored her attempt and used the opportunity to exhale out a dramatic groan, just in time for her to hit the ground with an undignified yelp.

Momentarily dazed, she remained prone for a few long seconds, which meant I could take my sweet time to position the blunt end of my spear over her and lightly tap it against her exposed stomach. Still lying on the ground, she stared at the spot where Teeny landed on her, followed by a bitter glance at me.

"You need to pay better attention to your footing," I told her as I pulled my weapon back. "Your outfit also requires re-evaluation. It leaves too much of your vital areas exposed for no reason."

"It's for the sake of mobility," she told me while gracelessly rising to her feet.

"It's an exchange only worth a damn if you that mobility allows you to avoid everything that would otherwise kill you. Can you?" Instead a reply, she wordlessly averted her eyes. "I thought so. Think about what I just said."

"I… will."

She gave me something resembling a salute and walked off, and even before I could say 'Next!', armour-man stepped into the ring to be my next challenger.

"Please instruct me, sir!" he proclaimed and, following a small light show, parts of his gauntlets peeled off and transformed into a sword and a shield, respectively. Would you look at that? I knew a whole lot of Knights, and yet the first time I met someone with a sword-and-board setup, it was a Celestial of all things.

Anyhow, his gear looked rather flimsy, just like most Celestial arms, reminding me of wireframe sculptures composed mostly of thin air, with only a few strands of metal giving them definition. As always, first impressions were not necessarily reliable; despite their outward appearance, the mana thrumming between those metallic pieces was quite solid, acting like a sort of force field able to stop impacts as well as cut like any blade. Impressive as they were in that regard, at the end of the day, the lack of a solid structure meant they were extra-vulnerable to my phantom limbs; a single poke could turn them into a pile of scrap metal on the floor, which meant I had to be extra-careful around them.

…

But then again, Jaakobah did mention that Polemos was supposed to be able to command Celestial weapons with a stern glare, so maybe I was just being too cautious. Anyhow, armour-guy took up a defensive stance, and it earned him some praise… though not from me.

"[Look out, young knight! That man is a fierce warrior!]"

"You only say that because he looks like one of the Knights," I whispered back to the sword hanging on my waist, and flourished the spear in my left hand. "Please focus on healing my arm and leave the commentary to me."

"[Observation: The opponent uses a shield. Preparing for protracted combat.]"

Ignoring the two weapons muttering in my head, I focused my attention on armour-guy, and he definitely looked more impressive than the previous contestants. Since my right hand was still a little clumsy, I was using my shape-shifting weapon as a short spear, with my left hand doing the majority of the work. A sword might've been more fitting in this situation, but I was way too used to wielding a spear while training, so I stuck with the familiar for the time being, even if it was a little unwieldy from time to time.

Not that I actually needed to pay too much attention, as these guys weren't exactly powerhouses. If I had to make a comparison, they were roughly on the level of the Fauns. Not Brang, but more like Pip or Rabom. In fact, ignoring their fancy equipment, their skills might've been a little lacking even, especially when compared to our friendly ram-men.

I was curious if the same applied to this guy as well. He was taking his sweet time, so I gestured for him to come at me with my free hand. I didn't need to do it twice, and after a short beat, the man's whole body shone with ethereal light. In the blink of an eye, he accelerated to a full dash and charged at me with his shield held out in front of him. Since he was coming at me in a straight line, it was remarkably easy to just step out of the way, yet to my surprise, he didn't pass by me.

Planting his feet hard enough to make the floor shake under mine, armour-guy came to an abrupt halt and swung his sword at me horizontally. He mustn't have had enough time to aim properly, as the strike completely whiffed, yet he didn't panic, and he followed through with another swing while guarding his upper body and head with his shield.

It was a strange combination; he was trying to stick close to me and keep me under pressure, yet at the same time he was also keeping his guard up, never fully committing to offence. If nothing else, I had to give it to him that his stance and technique were better than average. Not quite on the level of Brang, but better than a random Faun. Somewhere around Duncan's level, I reckoned?

Was my sense for an 'average' combatant being skewed by my environment, I wondered as I avoided another strike aimed at me, followed by a shield bash that was so obviously telegraphed, I could've easily dodged it even without the help of my danger sense. There was no reason to parry either, as due to armour-guy's divided attention between offence and defence, his attacks were too conservative and half-hearted to pose any real danger to me, and I soon settled into a relaxed routine with him.

Maybe due to that, only about a minute into the duel, I found myself slipping into an old habit I developed during my time training with Brang, and before I knew it, my mind wandered into Far Sight.

It was most likely because he was on my mind, but my vision automatically gravitated towards the old Faun, and I found him in his usual spot behind the counter in the base's lounge section, though not in the usual company.

"Rinne still can't believe Leonard-dono would do something so reckless without telling Rinne about it!" a certain highly visible ninja complained aloud, nearly upending the half-empty cocktail glass in her hand in the process. "Rinne really thought Leonard-dono was kidnapped and worried for nothing!"

"Worrying is pointless. Blackcloak, kidnapped? Impossible," the elderly Faun stated in a sagely manner and handed a pair of alcohol-free mocktails to the other girls sitting on the bar stools. Or at the very least I sincerely hoped they didn't have any liquor in them, otherwise, I'd have to give him an earful he won't soon forget.

"That's right. There's no way Leo can be held somewhere without his consent," Snowy agreed with the ex-general and took the glass.

"Why is that obvious?" my other sister, and the recipient of the last drink, fumed and drank about half of it in one go.

"It's… just how Leo operates."

My Abyssal sister's response sounded both guarded and frantic at the same time. She was probably late to realize that, unlike the rest of the people present, Penny alone didn't already know about my Phasing ability.

"Uuu… I'm still sooo mad! If he was safe, he should've at least contacted us to tell us about it!"

 "He did tell Judy-sama and Elly-sama!" a new voice entered the fray as a tiny fox head emerged from Rinne's shadow, causing my knightly sister to yelp and almost fall off her stool.

"D-D-Don't just come out of nowhere like that! You nearly made me spill my drink!"

The foxy miko giggled and, with a 'yip' sound, she dove back into the shadows. It was only at this point that I belatedly realized that the three of them being in the secret base like this was fairly weird. It was a school day, so shouldn't they be in Blue Cherry High, instead of sitting around like that in their casual clothes? At least, as much as Mountain Girl's pantsuit counted as 'casual', I meant?

"And why can't we tell Uncle Percy about it? He was the most worried out of all of us," Penny continued to grumble, and Brang's ears swivelled apprehensively in the background.

"Blackloak's orders. Must follow. Must have meaning."

"I know, it's just…" She didn't finish that sentence, but instead she emptied her glass and put it on the counter. "Please give me another one."

While I would've liked to watch whatever shenanigans this little group was up to, since I was reminded of him, I figured I might as well use the opportunity to check on Sir Percival. No sooner than I thought that, my vision shifted, momentarily revealing the armoured man I was ostensibly fighting putting his four wings on dramatic display before my point of view snapped over to…

"… reporting in. Is everything proceeding as planned?"

Oh? Oooh. Was my timing great or what?

Once my metaphorical eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, I beheld the old bastard, his outlines hidden by a freaking cloak of all things, talking to a fist-sized glowing orb inside a room with all the shutters and curtains closed. I had no idea where he found a private spot like this in the Dracis mansion, but I was too fascinated by the thingie in front of him to care much about the small details.

Over the crystal ball, set on a small, padded square box, floated a semi-transparent projection of a similarly cowled head. It was blue, and blurry, and it even had freaking scan lines! How delightfully retro-futuristic.

"So he was taken in by the Reformists first? My, my. Interservice rivalry in the Directorate is still going strong, isn't it?"

Wait. I didn't hear an answer to the first question, which meant if there was one, only Percival could receive it. This wouldn't have been the first time I had to piece together a conversation using only one side, but I had a hunch this one was too important for half-measures like that. He was willing to make contact while in the middle of 'enemy territory', so to speak, so I would've bet my spleen that whatever they were talking about had to be significant enough to warrant the risk of discovery.

It didn't take me long to figure out how to work around this, so I quickly cycled through all the Celestial directors I recently marked, aaand… Jackpot.

"… concern yourself over such details," said Director Mensah, wearing a stupid hood and sitting all alone in a tiny room, no larger than a utility closet. "Whether it is us or Tsephanyah who vouches for him, so long as the Orthodoxy aren't in control of him, it serves our purposes."

I could see Percival's mouth moving, so I hastily switched back.

"… to pay close attention to the boy. He's a born manipulator."

Switching again, and… uh, this was getting a little disorienting…

"… sound rather proud of that."

"… course I do. A teacher always takes pride in a student doing well." I automatically switched my point of view over to the Celestial's side, only to hurriedly come back to his side when I noticed he was still talking. "… too well, in fact. It boggles the mind how he managed to plant the seeds of loyalty in everyone around him, and I still can't figure out just what kind of leverage he used to strong-arm the Feilongs into supporting him, even after they learned of his affiliation with the late Brotherhood. It absolutely boggles the mind, I say."

This time, I moved my vision in time and caught the director on the other side stifling a groan.

"That is of little concern to me; unless you're trying to tell me that you're unable to accomplish your task, that is."

"Oh, don't worry, director," Percival responded in the company of a fake chuckle, and this time I heard all of it. I was getting better at this. "I'll find the cracks sooner or later. You can leave everything over here to me; you should focus on keeping the kid under control."

"I have already assigned one of my best and most trustworthy subordinates to keep a close eye on him. He's more than capable to subdue him if necessary."

"I wonder about tha—"

"I yield!"

My impromptu spying operation came to an abrupt and unforeseen halt when armour-guy bellowed out and fell to one knee in front of me. To say I wasn't startled by this development would've been a lie, and to be honest, I was also quite irritated, as the two conspirators still didn't say anything actually useful to me yet.

"Come again? I was distracted for a moment."

"I said I yield, sir. It is obvious I don't measure up to your standards, sir."

To be fair, from what I recalled, he was easily the most impressive combatant out of the seven I'd fought so far, but telling that to the heaving man, with flaccid wings on the ground that reminded me of wilted flower petals, might've been misunderstood as taunting him.

"Sir? May I have a question, sir?" Armour-guy called out to me, still sounding laboured, and I nodded by reflex. "Over time, you gradually increased the pace of the fight. I was too late to realize I was drawn in, but by that time, I could no longer keep up and was forced to exhaust myself. It was this mistake that allowed you to defeat me without raising your spear even once. Was this the lesson you wanted to impart upon me, sir?"

I hadn't even the foggiest of ideas about what he was talking about, but I was never too proud to refuse undue credit (at least as long as it didn't cause me more trouble than it was worth), so I pretended to be impressed and let out a thoughtful hum.

"Your ability to rationally observe the situation is remarkable. There might be hope for you yet."

The guy's face lit up like I just gave him the greatest praise he ever received in his entire life, to the point I could tell that even through the helmet hiding half his mug. Anyhow, I wanted to get back to Percival and Mensah, so I ignored the guy and turned to the rest.

"Let's take a small break, shall we?" I said, followed by an absent-minded, "Who's going to be the next in line after that?"

"With all due respect, O Lord Archon," wetsuit-guy stepped forth and showed both of his palms to me. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that testing us like this is meaningless."

I was just a little bit displeased by how he was holding things up, so I raised a brow at him and uttered, "Meaningless, you say?"

"Y-Yes," he faltered, for just a second, but stood his ground. "It is obvious that we, simple Cherubim, cannot stand up to your majestic power alone, but we are never meant to fight by our lonesome."

"That's right," one of the Celestials who remained silent until now, let's call him uniform-dude, supported his colleague's argument with a shaky voice. "If a strong enemy would threaten your life, O Archon, it is our collective duty to protect you, and so we would fight together."

"That may be, but how are you going to demonstrate that. Do all of you want to fight me at once?"

I threw that out because it sounded stupid, yet all of them looked like they were waiting for me to say that.

"Yes!" midriff-woman, already recovered from her earlier embarrassing defeat, exclaimed with her hands on her hips. "You said that only this Bel of the Abyss would be able to threaten you, so if we could match you together, wouldn't that mean we could also fight this Abyssal too?"

"Or at the very least hamper him," another new voice, this one wearing angular blue armour pieces over a high-tech black spandex full body suit, both covered in glowing blue lines  (temporary designation: sci-fi-guy) came to the forefront, but despite his outfit and his spiky blond hair making him look striking, he shrunk back right after that.

As much as I wanted to argue, each passing second meant I was missing out on more information, so I scoffed and turned my back on them with a dismissive, "Sure. Let's do that after the break," and walked away. Mike's father looked like he was about to come over to my side, but I waved for him to leave me alone and, after finding a nice wall to lean against, I closed my eyes and returned to Sir Percival's side.

"… at this time. If you need me to talk to him, you know where to find me."

By this time, switching to the other side came automatically to me.

"That will not be necessary. You should focus on your task. A war on the soil of our ancestral land would be most inconvenient right now."

"Yes, yes, I know. Appease the Magi, foster conflicts within the organization, encourage the forming of factions as they arise, and pit them against each other to keep everyone busy. This isn't my first rodeo, you know? Trust me."

"True, but this assignment might be the most important task of your entire life, agent. Treat it with the care and attention it deserves."

"Sure, sure. If you care that much, then hurry up and send Leonard back as soon as possible. I could use his help."

Oh? Did I hear that right?

"Don't make me repeat myself. He's still in the process of adapting to his memories. Once he's ready, you'll know."

"Then I leave him in your care until the time is right," Percival relented, but the eyes barely visible under his spooky hood told me he was getting suspicious of the man on the other side. "Just remember: don't let him loose, or you'll regret it."

"I assure you, everything is, and remains, under control. Until the next scheduled contact, I wish you luck, and may Deus be with you."

"Same to you, director. Same to you."

That was apparently the end of the strange holographic call, and Percival hurriedly put his crystal ball away. Ultimately, I didn't learn much, but there were at least two new things that intrigued me to no end. First, Sir Percival was apparently unaware of the whole Polemos-thing, and was still under the mistaken impression that I was here to get my amnesia 'cured', something on which the leader of the Unorthodox faction wasn't keen to correct him. Secondly, while he was playing nice with Mensah, he obviously caught on to the fact that he wasn't given the whole truth and was left suspicious.

Wondering how I could use this to my advantage, I was still deep in thought when I was approached by the Seraphic Safeguard commander, closely followed by the hodgepodge squad of Celestial guards.

"Lord Archon? Are you sure about this?"

Opening one eye, I glanced at the bearded man's worried face and shrugged.

"If nothing else, it should be quicker than testing them one by one."

"Yes, that's true, but…"

"Sir Archon, sir! We have made our preparations!" armour-guy used the silence in the wake of Kane's words, much to his chagrin.

"I don't remember giving you permission to speak yet, optio."

"Sir, my apologies, sir!" armour-dude responded briskly, his voice lacking even a hint of remorse.

"Let's just get this over with." Lurching forward to detach myself from the wall, I walked over to the spot where we were sparring just a few minutes ago, and the rest followed after me like a bunch of not-particularly-cute ducklings. Facing them, I planted the blunt end of Teeny by my side and levelled a dispassionate gaze at the group. "Ready when you are."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Armour-man was apparently elected as the leader of the group while I wasn't looking, as with just a single glance serving as the signal, he caused the group to spread out and retrieve their weapons, opening the curtains on the final round of this impromptu 'training session'.