"Err..." Gawain scratched the back of his head, sporting a confident smile that reassured the more hesitant bit of his forces, "I must say, it is a surprise for Sir Aston to request my assistance!"

As a fellow knight, as someone who didn't fail their King, and as someone whose loyalty was so resolute he chose to become an object of fear, Gareth believed that Aston was undoubtedly an admirable knight, deserving of the highest respect.

"But do not misunderstand, I look forward to working together!"

The Knight of the Sun gave Aston a toothy grin accompanied by a thumbs up, conveying fully the honesty of a knight that others may have found a little too lacking in guile.

"It is good to be brimming with confidence, one would think you didn't just kill your lifelong comrades a few days ago." Aston responded enigmatically, treading a little too relaxedly through the sand.

His words however, were like a punch to the gut for Gawain who physically stuttered before releasing a dejected sigh, "That... I request you not bring it up. It weighs heavily on my heart, believe me but I... do not wish to fail my King once again."

"...Sorry." Aston averted his gaze, apologising truthfully.

Not everyone was as detached and dull about doing heinous things as he was.

"Not to worry!" Gawain bumped his fist on his chest, "Working twice as hard will suffice!"

Though he said that, even Tristan who'd chosen not to join the conversation could recognise that the man wasn't offended. How could he be?

If not out of admiration, then Gawain would refuse to take offence out of sheer gratitude for the man who'd taught his sister, looked after her when he couldn't and desperately tried to prevent her tragic fate.

"I certainly will..." The Knight of Atrocity chuckled, "Unfortunately, that won't leave much time for co-..." Aston stopped halfway, suddenly alarmed.

He quickly looked in several different directions before staring intently at Tristan, "Did you notice?"

"Indeed."

"Did you gentlemen acquire this skill through night after night spent peeking through that little crack in mother dear's door?" The Knight of Atrocity addressed seemingly nothing, "Or are you meant to be a distraction?"

Understanding his words, Gawain drew Excalibur Galatine, "The Mountain village?"

The reflection of the very Sun above them gleamed with power, distorting the sight of most through sheer heat.

At the same time, Tristan strengthened his grip on Failnaught and inhaled deeply, holding up his hand, ready to tug at the bow's chords at a moment's notice, "Should I?"

Since the task had been given to Aston, they were to move according to what he deemed optimal.

The knight in question held up a hand and shook his head, "For a village allegedly comprised of assassins, these gentlemen seem a little too well trained." He spoke with a voice laced with sarcasm, "It might be a ploy at grasping our capabilities."

Misinformation was among the greatest weapons in the arsenal of any commander worth his salt, it was plain unwise to reveal their hand without knowing everything there was to know about the enemy.

"But of course, we are not mentally challenged enough to rev-... nevermind."

Which was why the Lancer deadpanned at a Gawain that was avoiding his gaze, looking around as if he hadn't just revealed the nature of his power to an only seemingly incompetent foe.

"Wait, I have an idea..."

*

Hassan of the Hundred Faces cautiously observed the contingent led by high-tier servants as well as the few of her own personas she'd sent to draw out the enemy while also trying to read the lips of said servants.

Originally a person with dozens of wholly different alleged personalities, as a servant, she could quite literally manifest as nearly a hundred different people thanks to the nature of her noble phantasm.

She'd sent forth the idiots who were impatient glory hounds that had no respect for orders.

She put a finger to her forehead, finding it to be therapeutic even if she couldn't feel it through the white skull mask concealing her face, "What is wrong with these people?"

One just kept saying sorrowful things, one was goofing off all the while the taller of the three threw around jabs disguised as concern.

The Presence Concealment (Her own being extremely high ranked) granted to all servants of the assassin class made certain she wouldn't be discovered unless she encountered an enemy with a very specialised skill set.

The momentary, and somewhat unprofessional, urge to sigh at the antics of supposed heroes of legend and forcing it aside was what made the events that took place over the course of the next few moments significantly more shocking than they should have been.

One moment she saw the taller knight throw a spear to the blonde-haired one and the next, a massive shockwave rocked the very Earth beneath her as a scorching blaze burnt her foolish personas to ash and tore open a path in the sand, melting some of it near the point of impact.

Moving aside her purple hair, Hundred Faces looked at the spectacle with wide eyes, "This is… absurd."

Not even for high-ranked servants, was each single one of them capable of such wanton destruction?

The assassin shook her head and decided that she would follow along in silence, this warranted further investigation, a much more comprehensive one.

Checking if her presence concealment was functioning properly, she began following the contingent that had already started moving as if one of their commanders hadn't just done something no human had the right to do.

They'd appeared in this land along with their esteemed leader for some purpose, the way these people had slaughtered people on the run showed the making of oppressive tyrants.

In that case, it was necessary to have the necessary intel to deal with them appropriately for whatever purpose necessary when the time came.

Left unattended, they could become a greater threat than they already were.

*

"Sir Aston, were you always so swift?" Tristan curiously addressed his peer, "Nevermind that, were you able to identify the enemy?"

The Knight in question gave a small nod, "Skeleton masks, I fear we might be dealing with children."

"... I just killed children?"

The two promptly ignored Gawain who was looking over his shoulder, "... For the King." He clenched his fist and stared to the sky for guidance with gritted teeth.

Tristan stared at the Saber in complete awe, holding a hand over his mouth to hide his expression, "Are you going to..." His answer was the Knight of Atrocity shaking his head with a close eyed smile.

Well, at least he seemed to be enjoying the situation.

"I will be departing here."

Tristan gave a small bow with his hand over his chest before changing directions, "I'd hoped for more information regarding our unwelcome guests but it can wait. I trust you can deal with them accordingly when the time comes."

It didn't matter whether one hated or admired Aston, his ability to adapt accordingly simply couldn't be denied.

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