"Trying to get through that barrier can wait," you say. "There's still a bunch of those masked men fighting the people on the north side of the room, and I'm still kind of concerned about whatever made that crashing sound when we started over here to get you."
"Very well," Gerhard replies, bowing. "Let's not waste any more time then."

With that settled, the four of you run over to the southeast corner of the room where the rest of your friends are. As you run, you glance over to the north side of the room... the main door's been completely broken through. That must have been the source of the sudden crash from before, though you're still not sure what exactly caused it.

As you finally pass through the Sanctuary's boundary and reach your friends, you breathe a sigh of relief. It looks like things have been pretty quiet over here since you left, and everyone's still here in one piece...

"...huh?" you stammer as you realize that there are two more people over here than there were when you left. "Andreas? Elena?"
"It's nice to see that you're also among the living," Andreas says with a weak smile.
"They busted in here just as you guys were leaving," Nicolette says. "Welcome back, Gerhard."
"I thank you for the assistance," Gerhard replies. "And since I see that the little Princess is also here, I take it that the only one of the targeted royals thus left unaccounted for is the youngest?"

Shit... he's right.

>[1/2]

>>30341749
>[2/2]

"The last time I saw Chiara, she was being held by Mother," Luciana replies. "And Nother left the room together with Father, Uncle Gregory and King Thierri..."
"Don't worry, there's no way in hell that my old man would let anything happen to them," Nicolette says.
"I suppose so," she sighs. "But there's still the matter of that barrier that's blocking the way that they came from, not to mention the other assassins who are flooding the northern part of this hall. It's only a matter of time before they refocus their attention on us..."


>got any battle plans?

>>30341767
We should look into splitting into mobile fight units. Guards for the royalty and murder hobos to clean the room.
>maybe 1st?

>>30341767
Sylvie/Rana tag team punch

>>30341767
Have Rana focus on breaking down the barrier.

>>30341767

We need a group to protect Rana as she attempts to break the barrier and another to protect the royalty.

>>30341767
We could probably break out through the barrier, but that doesn't solve the issue of a pile of assassins still in this room that would then be able to flank us from behind.

Clear this room while they're still focused on things that aren't us, regroup with whoever's left after we're done, figure out in advance what path the big guns went down so we can regroup, and once we figure out combat groups and/or defensive formations with whoever we've got on our side after clearing the room, then we can bust the seal and storm the rest of the castle.

>>30341767
We need a mobile scout to check the boundries of the barrier. If it is something we can easily navigate around to link back up with the kings, it would make things easier. If that is not practicable, let's exfil back towards the castle or if Luciana has a good defensable redoubt, we can head there instead.

>>30341767
Leave a few guards behind and then push out after remaining assassins. Not sure if sanctuary would block for people who enter it later, but Elena is small enough she could use someone who is protected and larger than her as a barrier, so they ought to all be safe. Main issue now is to make sure other people in room aren't killed.

>>30341767
Way I see it, we should definitely hit the assassins who are still attacking those other guests. Pincer maneuver them and take them out while they are busy.

Rana (and maybe 1 other person) needs to get that barrier down

Some are still going to need to stick with the royals as we finish up the room. Once the other guests are secured and (hopefully) the door is down, we can link back up with the kings and Greg

>>30341767
>>30341749
Also, wait, why do we have to break through the barrier at all again?

>"They busted in here just as you guys were leaving,
Andreas just sort of popped through a window or another door or through a wall like a magical Kool-Aid man, so I don't know why we aren't trying exits other than the barred door.

Unless it's a matter of castle floor plan and we NEED to go through that way.

>>30341857

To be more specific I think us, Reya, and Nicolette should cover Rana. While Karel, Andreas, and Gerhard protect the royalty. Sylvie can join either team.

>>30341913
>Also, wait, why do we have to break through the barrier at all again?

This. I'm a bit confused.

>>30342092
Aren't all the royals behind that barrier or something?

>>30341767
Can we check to make sure that the royalty from Kinsen aren't dead or going to die? That would be pretty bad.

>writing

>>30341767
go through the gorramn walls

Are we really going to just leave Monique on his own? He's the only battle capable person on that side of the room.

>>30342171
The walls have extensive overlapping self-repair and durability wards build into them. We can't go through the gorramn walls.

I'm curious why, from an in-universe standpoint, it's always Reinhold who ends up making the decisions.

>>30342241
I hope not. Save the kitsune, save the world and all that.

>>30342250
He's probably the one who would know the most about this sort of thing, having been in the army.

>>30342281
But there are several there right now who were in the army

I also agree that we should ask Gerhard or Andreas since they seem to know what the fuck they are doing

>>30342241
I'd hate to stir up a shitstorm, but do you think monique and rana would be able to take down the barrier? Ones a dragon and the other is on dragon levels by sword proxy?

>>30342302
We're not even sure hitting the barrier is what would destroy it

There's probably some kind of weird barrier magic at work

>>30342314
Again, Sealed king would probably be able to get through it eventually. At least it would actually make the "Knight" Useful.

>>30342314
Hitting things always works anon, you just need to hit harder.

>>30342250
...that's it. he might be lacking in the obvious super powers the other around have, but he DOES have one power that it appears no one realizes, he has the subtle power of influence over others when normally they might dismiss him off hand. the standard MC power it seems, other I'm drawing a blank here

>>30342250
Well, this is niccolette and sylvana's first ever lethal combat situation, Reya and Rana are mercs, not soldiers, Monique is off getting murdered by half dragons, the others are princess's, Naoto is having an identity crisis, Gerhard is too old for this shit, and andreas is too busy rolling 20's to notice.

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>>30342401
>Naoto is having an identity

>"Hey, that guy looks vaguely familiar"
>"... No, not buff enough"
>"...!"


Plausible?

"But before we do anything else," Nicolette says, "are you guys alright? I mean, you fought off a lot of those masked bastards back there, and Gerhard was by himself for a while."
"There is no need to concern yourself with my safety, Miss Nicolette," Gerhard replies. "While I did get hit a few times, it's amounted to nothing more than a few scratches," he says as he takes off his tattered gloves and tosses them aside. "I am much sturdier than I look."
"Same here, I'm good to go," you nod.
"Yeah... pretty much," Karel says, cutting you a sharp glance.

Of course she's still pissed at you.

"I'm a tough girl," Rana says with a tired laugh. "I'll be just fine!"
"Um, your arms..." Marianne mumbles as she points at the three or so knives that are still embedded in Rana's arms.

Ouch, that looks even more painful now that she's reverted them back to their normal human state.

"Oh yeah," Rana says with a nervous laugh.
"God damn it, I knew I should've went instead of you..." Reya mutters, rolling his eyes.


>[1/?]

>>30342607
>Of course she's still pissed at you.
SHE fell on top of US. If anything we should be pissed at her, nearly invoking mah trauma at a time when it could have proved fatal. Also, of the two girls who's peaches we've squeezed in the past month, neither have been our girlfriends.

>>30342607
>Of course she's still pissed at you.

I told you guys

I fucking told you

She's going to hold this against us forever because women are petty like that.

>>30342607
>Of course she's still pissed at you.

Hidden mechanic: any plot progression depletes Reinhold's relationship stats.

>>30342674
naah, once the situation calms down we'll all laugh it off

>>30342674
maybe it's also cuz of the botched clay spread we hit her with?

>>30342674
women aren't petty. Unless Karel's PMSing hardcore, we'll be fine. If she is, just stay out of her way and she'll deal with this 'assassination' issue and probably kill Reinhold too

>>30342648
No no you don't understand

because of whacky harem logic, Reinhold is at fault for every random event in the universe, because he is the protagonist.

It's the same as if he walked into his unlocked room and Karel was standing there naked, of course it would be his fault, Anime son.

We just have to tell her that Adrien would be proud and she'll cry into our arms.

>>30342741
Reinhold could have just grabbed he waist in order to help her up, he is at least partially at fault.

>>30342804
When she's flung into us and we didn't know he was a she?

Yeah, I'm sure that's really on our mind when assassins are licking at us with their knives.

>>30342741

Oh right. Suddenly Karel getting so pissed during the duel seems less out of place.

she likes Reinhold

>>30342607

Wincing in pain, Rana yanks the metal blades out of her arms one by one.

"Happy now?" Rana asks as she holds up her knife-free forearms up for all to see. Thing is, they're also bleeding pretty heavily.
"...let me take care of that for you," Sylvie says, pulling the dragon girl aside to cast a healing spell to patch up her arms.

Yeah, you can see why Reya worries about her.

"Sorry about my sister, she's kind of lacking in common sense sometimes," Reya says, shaking his head. "So what's the battle plan? We gonna try and help out those guys on the other side of the room?"


>[2/?]

>>30342839
That's probably true but you guys pissed away best end already.

>>30342839
we just unlocked a secret route with Karel, she's going a bit Tsundere for now.

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>>30342674
It's kind of funny how the prince's girl of his dreams is right there besides him and he doesn't even know it. Tragic.

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>>30342876
No doubt about it.

I think that the Nicomelon peeking incident proved that Reinhold can go momentarily braindead in the name of fanservice/making people hate him for just a little while. Relax.

>>30342882

How can she be Tsundere if she started out gushing over us?

>>30342674
If she decides to be a cunt about it, we'll just tell her these two useful pieces of information:

1. We frankly don't give a damn about her gender as long as she stabs assassins good and doesn't let royalty get kidnapped, which (as of the typing of this comment) she's done admirably.

2. We thought she was a guy, and putting your hands on man-chest isn't inappropriate or lewd at all. And Reinhold should know, being the resident expert in all things lewd.

Then, assuming she isn't spazzing out for some other less obvious reason, everything should be fine once she calms down.

>>30341767
>Nother

Don't start spinning your wheels over Karel being mad. She's just being huffy, there's no need (or reason) to make this into a thing. We'll cross this bridge when we get to it, let's focus on getting out of this mess without any casualties first.

>>30342954
>>30342988
She probably just needs time to sort her feelings out.

>>30342988
this.
i guess anyone would react like that if someone learned a secret about you that can get you fired during a stressful situation

>>30342870

"There's both that and the matter of finding Gregory and the others," Andreas says. "They left through that doorway that's blocked off, right?"
"Yeah," you nod.
"Is Papa gonna be okay?" Elena asks, tugging on Andreas's sleeve. "He'll be able to beat those masked guys and the bad guards, right?"
"I'm sure he will, Elena," he pats her on the head. "Now try and keep your brother from freaking out, okay?"
"'kay..."

As Elena runs off to "reassure" Emilio, you, Andreas, Nicolette, Reya, Takamaru and Luciana get back to the task at hand.

"You think we could use the door you came through to reach them?" you ask.
"No idea, I had to fight off a bunch of those masked guys along the way here so there might be even more back there... and the last guy I killed was a freaking Devil Child."
"They have those guys too!?" Nicolette gasps. "God damn it..."

>[3/?]

Aw, man. There's no way this is JUST a kidnapping plot, is there?

>>30343258
My question is: how the fuck are all of them attacking this one place at one time?

>>30343276
Marconetti sure is a shitty country with a shitty ruler. Hundred or so assasins are inside the castle at the same time and nobody was aware of it till they attacked.

>>30343258

The intruders are actually the anti-Luciana brigade. They want to set Reinhold up with Karel.

>>30343276

Ninjas. No explanation needed.

>>30343276
They infiltrated the royal guard.

>>30343318
This isn't the castle, it's an unconnected audience hall.

>>30343258
That's what we've been debating for the last few threads, all we can come up with is that it might be a plot by the older siblings if it's not just a kidnap for ransom dealio.

>>30343359
But there's still

-soldiers
-butlers
-maids
-other guards
-city guard

that they would have to get through

So either the ENTIRE COUNTRY OF MARCONETTI DECIDED "NOPE THATS IT, OLD MAN GOTTA GO" or there's a teleport spell somewhere we're not aware of.

>>30343322
That would explain the apparent lack of skill...

>>30343399

It doesn't make much sense for the older siblings to do it. By definition, they take priority over the younguns. And simply hating Lisette is a bit weak of a motivation.

>>30343428

It's called "stealth with an helping of infiltration".

>>30343428
Celistino is a sexist, paronoid traditionalist who covets magical power and has places political strength over familial happiness.Not out of place in a mediaeval setting, but neither were assassination either.

>>30343453
thirty to forty people getting into what's supposed to be a heavily guarded facility isn't a stealth raid, it's a flash mob.

Rolled 11

>>30343467
you say traditionist like it's a bad thing. Also, he very clearly has his limits for the "Politics over Happiness" shit; he had no idea that the whole marriage shit was that bad an idea.

>>30343219
>[4/4]

"It matters not," Takamaru says. "Regardless of whatever they may be, we'll defeat them all the same."
"I guess..." Nicolette mumbles.
"So it's a choice between trying to break through the barrier or taking the way that Andreas came in here," you say.
"Not to mention dealing with the rest of the assassins," Reya says. "We should probably try to take at least one of them alive to find out more about whatever plot this is."
"We've attempted that in the past but I suppose it would be worth another try," Luciana says.


>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins
>suggest that you ignore the blocked doorway and try to go through the door that Andreas broke through, taking care of the assassins in your path
>[OTHER]
>(regardless of what you do, someone will be staying back to hold the fort just in case)

>>30343476
Well the Royal Guard who are supposed to be guarding this place turned out to be traitors, and by extension we have no idea how many of the other staff they've flipped, bribed, or tricked into helping them, which wouldn't be hard since I'd bet when a Royal Guard says jump, most people ask "how high?" without giving it much thought.

>>30343258

Oh hell no, it's way too specific.

If they just wanted ransom money they could have gone after any number of nobles with less men and more quietly. If they wanted a royal, Luci alone would suffice. If there was no pressure, they'd just wait til we went home.

But for this, they'd have had to infiltrate the royal guard heavily, have HUNDREDS of people and get them armed and equipped properly, time it all well, and to top it all off sprinkle in with their normal men all kinds of crazy bullshit.

Someone wants these four specifically and for reasons that go beyond money, and they want them NOW. They want it enough to train and arm possibly hundreds of men and risk them fighting some of the craziest badasses in the world.

>>30343543
>>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins

>>30343543
>>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins

>>30343543
>>suggest that you ignore the blocked doorway and try to go through the door that Andreas broke through, taking care of the assassins in your path

We'll be way more effective as a single large, diverse group than splitting ourselves up.

>>30343543
>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins

>>30343543
Err, Go save monique and get his opinion on this. Taking the sealed king entirely out of the equation, as border guard captain, he might have expirience with foreign threats like this. Also save fluffy tail, neetbro and shota.

>>30343543
>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins

>>30343583
We'll have an even larger and more powerful group if we get Monique and the Kinsen royalty to help us out.

>>30343543
>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins
we just pretty much cleaned the way between here and the barrier, so at least it will be easy reaching there.
Also we should go help other groups, as we save people, assasins numbers will decrease and we gain new fighting power so after the first group it should become easy.

>>30343608

I guess I'm supporting this.

Turns out the Kinsen couple is behind it all.

>>30343543
>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins

Deal with the problems in front of us before we go sprinting off elsewhere. There are still people in this room that need saving, some of whom will also be helpful in future fights.

>>30343543
>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins

>>30343543
>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins

>>30343543
>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins
Should definitely make sure that the Kinsen royalty are not going to die.

>>30343543
>suggest that one group tries to break down the barrier while the other takes on the rest of the assassins

Send Rana or Mister Cannonball Wing to break the barrier.

>>30343692
Why not send both?

>>30343543
>collect the other patrons and then stay in the sanctuary until Gregory fucks everything up

>>30343543
Rescue remaining people first and foremost. If anyone can be spared for other tasks then take those tasks on as a secondary mission.

>writing

>>30343632
Going with this

Don't leave Monique hanging over there

>>30343715
That would be fun. Everyone sitting around and relaxing in the sanctuary with assasins surrounding it... until suddenly assasins turn into a bloody fog.

>>30343811
That's what I figured. I wonder if there is a magic spell for popcorn and lawn chairs?

>>30343715
This sounds like a lot of fun. Do eet!

>>30343715
I can't help but feel there is something we aren't seeing that would make that a bad idea.

Something about this entire situation just feels OFF, ya know? They had to have known that at least one of the bodyguards (or any of the other magic-capable people in this room) would be packing the ability to pop Sanctuary, and the only real X-factor on our side was Gerhard, and yet they've so far failed miserably to actually inflict any meaningful damage on us, or prevent any of their targets from entering the Sanctuary. And yet, they've apparently planned this out well enough to be able to separate us from the Kings and Gregory long enough for all this shit to go down

They either woefully underestimated the combat strength of our group (which would surprise me, since none of us make a big secret about our capabilities), or they've got some kind of contingency in place that would make us all having a tea party inside the bubble shield an untenable idea, or they've got a second objective completely unrelated to kidnapping the royal kids.

"Let's split up," you say. "One group stays back here just in case someone tries to attack the royals, one tries to bust down that barrier and the last heads to the northern part of the hall to help out the people who are fighting the rest of the assassins."
"It's a sound plan," Luciana nods. "But who will go where?"
"I can try and Meteo Wing my way through the barrier, I guess," Andreas says. "I could always use some help though."
"I will stay here to fend off anyone who approaches the Sanctuary," Takamaru says.
"I guess I'll try and help out with the assassins then," you say.

It's around this time that Rana comes back, her arms as good as new thanks to Sylvie.

"Deciding on what to do next?" she asks.
"Pretty much," you reply.
"You mind coming with me to try and break through the barrier?" Andreas asks.
"Fine with me, it sounds like a nice change of pace!"


>[1/?]

>>30343974
Honestly, I'm worried you might be right. I suggested it anyways, because it seems like the sensible option, but this whole mess stinks really bad.

The thing is, they put this together in a day. They decided this was the opportunity they were going to throw all their resources at, including at least a fair portion of their infiltration elements (assuredly with the understanding that any who were not revealed in the attempt would be found swiftly afterwards), got dozens/hundreds of expensive and powerful if not altogether competent mercenaries, and are openly declaring war on a country if whoever their sponsor is comes to light. And they decided to do this in a day. Were they planning this for a long time and just waiting for an opportunity, and Granache is the spoiler? Were they desperate as all hell and this is them going all in? We just don't know, and that's wierding me out.

Their infiltration efforts are way too impressive for a plan like this not to have been thought through, but it seems like grabbassery right now.

>>30344016
>[2/2]

"I'll stay here and keep guard like I have been," Nicolette says.
"As will I," Gerhard says, having popped up behind you. "Though it shames me to admit it, I need a bit of time to catch my breath after that skirmish."
"I guess I'll pass the baton onto you, then..." Reya says. "Looks like I'm freed up to back up one of the away teams."
"...same here," Sylvie says, peeking out from behind Rana.


>take Sylvie with you
>take Reya with you

>>30344122
>>take Reya with you

>>30344052

...unless this was a plan to make Celestino and his court look weak.

Without foreign mercenaries and neighboring warriors they'd have taken this easily, and they could have at any moment. However, by attacking NOW their forces get slaughtered, but largely by foreigners. The ones doing the heavy damage are us from Granche, or Takamaru from the east, or some other foreigner. Locals like Karel are placing almost dead last for damage inflected and we all can see it. I mean they attacked before, but they only went after LUCIANA, the only one with a distinctly foreign guard.

So enter whoever stands to gain from this. They accuse the old man of being soft, try to get him ousted, then put someone else on the line. Likley a higher born son or daughter who'll play ball, if it isn't one of them already.

These guys are WAY too eager to launch into certain death attacks to just be mercenaries and they give up info and claim they don't know too easily the one time they got interrogated to be telling the whole truth. But if they're local men and women, as the royal guard certainly is anyway, they'll be willing to die for this, because they know their deaths will change the country to match their political ideals. It's the kind of thing all kinds of radicals through history have died for in similar ways, like the Sicarii and Assassins.

>>30344122
>take Reya with you

Drama in combat is a bad

>>30344122
>Take Sylvie with you
We need our white mage!

>>30344122
>take Reya with you

>>30344122
>>take Sylvie with you

>>30344122
>take Reya with you

Sorry Syl, but Reya is a trained adventurer. He gets paid to do this crap.

>>30344122
>>take Reya with you

>>30344133
>take Reya

>>30344122
>take Reya with you

Sylvie and Nico are a team right?

>>30344168

Wrong post mate.

>>30344122
>take Sylvie with you

We could use some magical support against the assassins.

>>30344122
>take Sylvie with you

She needs this more than alone time with Luciana in the bubble of Sanctuary.

>>30344122
My heart says Sylvie but my tactical knowledge says Raya, because Sylvie works best with Nico

>>30344122
>>take Reya with you

>writing

>>30344133
Hmmm... they could also be being told they will succeed and that there are other pieces in play, even if this is the extent of the attack, which would explain their confidence.

That said, Andreas has the highest body count right now, by I think 2, and if this was the case, I'd have expected more buildup. Like leaks to the public from the "Castle Staff" that these attacks have been taking place, and a much better crowd for this particular attack. As it stands, there are a few nobles here, but they are currently being protected by a knight of Marconetti, albeit a fairly recent one (Is monique here, I keep forgetting?) whose lineage goes back a long way in Marconnetti.

Disregard that second part if I misplaced it, but the moral is I like your theory, but I don't feel like there's been enough spin on this to make this a PR based coup. It could still be one by someone out of touch, but if it is they aren't playing properly.

The infiltration of the Royal Guard had to be hard, given the notoriously (and justifiably) paranoid Celestino, so it makes sense that these are probably locals, but did he know he was hiring half dragons and devil children? I want to know if there's impersonation magic or shapechanger/shapechanging spells. You'd only have to replace a couple of key people with the more exact duplicates, you could start hiring new guards afterwards and just fudge the background checks.

As to the certain death attacks, this does seem like they're fanatical about this whole thing, so I'm buying some sort of "cause" but we can't discount the fact that they are half-dragons and devil children, who it has already been established tend to think of themselves as immortal.

We need to know more about who would benefit from deposing Celestino within the country, because we have far too many obvious suspects outside it.

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>>30344122

I'm wondering if Sylvie wouldn't have better luck in trying to break the barrier than Andreas, In fact breaking through her by ramming it with himself sounds awfully stupid.

>>30344340
>breaking through her
... meant breaking through IT, the barrier, not breaking through any female person

>>30344333
>Is monique here
Yes, he's currently holding them off as far as we know, he's one of the people we should be relieving with this next fight.

>but did he know he was hiring half dragons and devil children?
I'm going to hazard a guess and say that those people were brought in from outside by the corrupt guards, rather than being guards themselves.

Why is Archelon especially slow tonight?

>>30344368
Glad I was right about Monique.

I'll give you that that's likely, but it's been unclear so far and I'm interested to find out afterwards how many of the current assassins where let in the back door and how many were here in disguise.

>>30344385
20~ minutes per post is pretty normal, actually.

>>30344385
Are you new? He's going pretty fast. I'm barely getting game time in tonight.

>>30344333

Given how scheming and activistic in foreign policy Celestino is, list of his potential enemies is bound to be rather long.

>>30344437
Yeah, he's probably got foreign enemies out the ass. But who's the local help for these guys?

>>30344122
>take Sylvie with you

We can still trust her and she has great utility.
Also Reya doesn't do as well against multiple oppenents Sylvie's magic can.

"You mind coming with me, Reya?" you ask.
"No problem," he replies with a nod.
"I guess that means that I'll be punching the barrier with Rana, then..." Sylvie mumbles.
"C'mon, it'll be fun!" Rana chirps. "Two hot girls, punching stuff together..."
"Yeah, sure."

Now that your plan is set, it's time to put it to action! After making sure that Marianne knows what you're up to, you and Reya race off towards the northern part of the room... and then you notice someone else running alongside you.

"Karel?" you say, looking to the side. "You're not staying back?"
"Like I told Emilio before, it's safer to get rid of these guys before they can go on the offensive. You got a problem with me being here?" she asks.
"Not at all."

While Karel's clearly still pissed at you, you're pretty relieved that she's still willing to back you up. As the three of you run to the northern part of the room, you remember that the assassins seem to be divided between two groups- Monique's brother and some people who you don't know to the left, and Monique himself to the right.


>help Matthias first
>help Monique first

>>30344542
>>help Monique first

>>30344542
>help Monique first
He's more useful in a fight than the others. Probably.

>>30344471

Well, Celestino seems more like a kind of ruler that would inspire awe and fear than actual loyalty (like, say, Thierri) so I suppose they simply paid off the guard grunts and maybe exploited grudges Marconetti's notoriously dickish nobility might have had against him and his loyalists.

Still, getting this amount of above-average assasins into the city is quite a feat.

>>30344542
Tough choice, does Matthias actually HAVE any combat skills or is he talking really strongly at the assassins right now?

Because I think going after Matthias may cause a hostage situation if we don't have the additional firepower with Monique

>>30344542
>help Monique first

>>30344542
>help Matthias first
Monique has his sword.

>>30344542
>help Matthias first

Since that's the direction Monique is fighting towards anyway

>>30344542
Help Matthias, Monique has a sealed king and can likely hold his own for a time while we save his brother.

>>30344542

Let's pick up Monique first, he'll help us dispatch the guys fighting the non-asian royalty with greater ease.

>>30344542
>help Matthias first

>>30344566

I think it's the royals who are doing the fighting.

>>30344542

What's her fucking problem? Does she assume we're snobbing her or something?

Anyway,

>help Matthias first

I really want Monique's help, but an hostage situation is too risky.

>>30344542
>>help Monique first

>>30344542
>help Matthias first
Monique is a fighter and have a Sealed King he can hold himself a little longer

>>30344566
Mattias has been stated to be the only one who can shut down Monique and DickBrother, which may or may not indicate combat potential.

>>30344560
Yeah, I could see grudges or bribes for one or two small attacks, but this has gone on too long, been too sustained, and is too large in scope to be anything that small and petty. There has to be a cause of some kind, even if it's just extreme revenge, and while I'm sure a lot of people don't like Celestino, there can't be that many willing to risk this much.

>>30344542
>>help Matthias first
if monique dies some people will get upset, if kinsen royalty dies a whole lot of people will get very.. very upset.

>>30344542
Monique first, he's surrounded and probably outnumbered

>>30344542
>help Matthias first

>>30344133
Makes sense. Though I highly doubt the peons we've be murdering knows the actual plan. More likely than not they have been misled.
They are also throwing way too much onto the table to be making a political statement such as making Celestino look weak. From the way things are going, the whole thing with kidnapping Luci and the assassins currently after the heirs are probably just distractions.
If that is the case, they probably want someone dead, and since Celestino, Therri, and all of the older (and more important, succession-wise) heirs like Giancarlo are not here, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole incident was aimed at them.

With so many half-dragons and devil children being used as mere mooks, they probably have something up their sleeve that they'd think would be more than a match for Celestino, Therri, and Co.

With them gone, everything would be up in the air.

>>30344542
>Monique battles his way through all the assassins singlehandly, eliciting oohs and aahs from the various nobles he's protecting.
>Leaping wing charge to help his brother
>Get's there to find us stabbing the last assassin
>Mattias "Did you see this Rienhold guy fight? He's pretty badass."
>Grudge reborn

And that's why I vote Matthias

Rolled 3

REV UP THOSE 20s, BOYS

Cause I sure am ready to skewer some assassins!

>>30344542
Matthias First

>>30344607

Maybe we'll need to wait for the comic to discover that it was all a sideplot of another story.

>>30344622

One thing sure, he'll murder us if anything happen to his brother.

>>30344542
>help Matthias first
Gotta prioritize the non-combatants

File: 1392800599922.png-(418 KB, 1280x720, It was ME, DIO!.png)

418 KB PNG

>>30344622
DID YOU SEE WHO RESCUED YOUR BROTHER MONIQUE?

IT WAS ME DI-er-REINHOLD!

I like chai.


>writing

Rolled 17

>>30344586
>What's her fucking problem? Does she assume we're snobbing her or something?

Embarrassment

Rolling for cute blushing tsundere antics regarding this.

>>30344664

Who?

>Poeple wanting to save Monique when there is foreign royal family there.
If we try for Monique, and the royals get hurt which they probably will the same people will bitch nonstop.

>>30344688
I think Matthias won anyway

I think people who wanted to save Monique were apologists who wanted to try and repair BROLATIONSHIPS

>>30344680
It's Vietnamese for "tea." Or Vietnamese Tea.

>>30344701

Which is stupid because he would find a way to turn it against us somehow.

>"Why aren't you helping the royalties?"
>"Here to steal the spotlight? Think I can't handle myself?"

>>30344701
I don't get why people would choose to go for Monique. I think saving his bro would get the same amount of BROLATIONSHIP points as helping him out.

>>30344718
god why is everyone so moody during an assassin attack

>>30344732

For Monique bitchy whines would be an improvement.

>>30344639
With literally an army of half-dragons swarming the place, I wouldn't be surprised if it was an extremist dragon sub-faction trying to carve out some territory before the sealed kings start unsealing one by one. OR to collect the sealed kings and keep them from gathering energy so they can never become unsealed, allowing the dragons free reign over the known world.

>History books tells a story of elementals, dragons, and humans
>Young dragon Rana tells a vaguely conflicting story about humans and dragons
>Volker killed by dragons in search of a sealed king
>The hornet's nest being stirred up right after Monique reveals his new waifu

>>30344720
I can see the logic in freeing up the big guns first and thus snowballing the remaining fights in our favor. Of course if we take too long doing it someone from the squishier Kinsen party might get ganked, but there is a decent rationale behind it at least.

>>30344732
I know right? Just stop whining and murder assassins. Takamura and Andreas know what's up.

>>30344748
>>Young dragon Rana tells a vaguely conflicting story about humans and dragons
what story is that?

>The hornet's nest being stirred up right after Monique reveals his new waifu
they have been trying for almost a month now.

>>30344777
That dragons found humans and thought they were dragons gone feral, took them in, taught them their ways, then found out they were... Different.
She made no mention of how dragons were wrecking human's shit until the elementals took notice and slapped their shit.

The previous attempts were half-hearted attempts to kidnap Luci. What is happening now is something else completely, and Luci is clearly not the center of it anymore.

So what's changed? Why did Celestino, Therri, and Co. leave us?

I suspect they were trying to draw the heat off of us, and the barrier may be to stop us from following them.

Maybe Archelon has no idea what he's doing.

I still trust you, Arch.

Seeing as how Monique has a Sealed King, he's probably able to handle himself. But you're -pretty- sure that his brother doesn't, not to mention the people he's with. They've done pretty well to have been able to fend these assassins off for as long as they have, but you're still worried for their safety.

Running ahead of the others, you move to the left and ready your sword, driving it into the back of an unsuspecting assassin. Following your lead, both Karel and Reya do the same.

Sadly, the three of you are only able to take care of one assassin each before they notice that you're there... and they seem a lot more frantic than the ones who swarmed Gerhard were.


>roll 1d20

Rolled 15

>>30344870

Rolled 6

>>30344870
We'll never get to be friends with Monique, will we?

Rolled 7

>>30344870

Rolled 6

>>30344870

Looove!

>>30344873
>>30344880
>>30344883
Reinluck continues as normal, then.

>>30344840

>Knowing unflattering bits of history of your species
>Telling unflattering bits of history of your species

seriously?

Rolled 19

>>30344870

>>30344840
I'm glad someone else picked up on that.

So who's lieing? I'm guessing Dragons.

>>30344840
There are slight changes to centuries, millenias old epics depending on the person who tells them? What a shock!

>>30344894
Knowing her, I find it very likely she was never taught this piece of history at all.
Since this setting is rather weeb, and example would be how the Japanese leave out all the 'sketchy' stuff in their education.

>>30344923
You never read any historical epic poems or novels, seen different historic plays, watch different historical documanteries? They dont need to be lying.

>>30344935
Considering that's how the Japs got away with WW2, it occurs to me that this strengthens the Dragon conspiracy theory.

>>30344959
I get where you keep going with this, but there are literally people (elementals) who were there and are still around, and Dragons A. Already had an established society with effective history and B. are only about a generation or two removed from the story.

Most of the time these changes take place over dozens or hundreds of generations, it doesn't work as well if you can still ask Grandpa about it.

Someone is lying.

>>30344542
>"I guess that means that I'll be punching the barrier with Rana, then..." Sylvie mumbles.

Does she finally wants us around again or is she simply uneasy?

>>30344873
>>30344880
>>30344883
Jesus fucking christ, why are we, master swordsman and victor of the Royal Swordsmanship Tournament, Such utter garbage?

>>30345038
Because our success in combat is decided by three d20s.

>>30345038
>15
>Utter Garbage
Pick one. We are at the very least being effective right now.

>>30345038
Because our competency is tied to a random number generator.

And even then we're still above-average if we can solo half-and-full devil children as if it was nothing.

>>30345038
In what world is 15 bad?

Why are people getting upset at rolling a 15?

15 is almost always above the DC unless we're doing something ridiculously hard.

>>30345038
Orphans seem to have a lot of good luck. I'm sure we had good rolls once upon a time.
I swear one of the girls around us is draining our luck.

>>30345063
Yeah

Karel

>>30345038
>15
>utter garbage
WUT?

>>30345038
Why are you insisting every goddamn thread that Reinholds competency alters the outcome of a RNG?

>>30345084

Reinhold ruins everything and is the worst human being in his universe, haven't you heard?

>>30345063
>>30345038
God fucking... Reinhold is useless people are here again and it seems they retarded as ever.

>>30345068
I think we're doing better now after getting a good feel of her.

>>30345092
It was within our grasp the whole time.

>>30345092

You could say that Reinhold is hooked on a feeling.

OOGA CHAKA OOGA OOGA OOGA CHAKA

>>30345104
>>30345092
But now I think we really got a good hold of the situation

>>30344840
was luci ever the centre? all we know is that attacks happened on her and she kept them to herself. they could have been doing the same to others - if the king was being attacked he wouldn't necessarily tell us about it.

>>30345091
I'm not saying he's useless at all. I'm just saying that we've had a ridiculous amount of bad rolls for a while now. Maybe not exactly ridiculous, but you have to admit there's been a fair amount.

>>30345119
>>30345092

He just needed a firm grip of what was happening

>>30345119
Our handle of the situation could be better still, however.

>>30345119
>hold
>Reinhold

AAAAARRRRCCCHHHH!

>>30345130
>>30345135

It could have slipped through our fingers otherwise

>>30345126
as someone who thinks 15 is a bad roll on d20, you'll never find a quest where rolls are not comletely god fucking awful.

>>30345135
We're still a little short handed on it

Maybe someone can help us come to grips with it.

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"Haaa!" you shout, swinging your sword at the nearest assassin. With no room to evade, he's forced to block your sword with his knife, straining to hold it back.

That's odd, the rest of these guys were definitely stronger than you. What, is this one tired or something?

You pull your sword away from his knife, sending the assassin stumbling forward... and push him right back with a hard kick to the stomach. As he reels back in pain, you drive your sword through his neck and put him out of his misery.

Excluding the one you just killed, there seem to be ten of these guys left- a outer row of five assassins who are trying to fight off you, Karel and Reya, and the inner row that's occupied with fighting Monique's brother and his associates. That leaves two for Karel and Reya each and one for you...

>[1/?]

>>30345169
I'm glad we don't need a hand with this one.

>>30345182
She might, however.

>>30345212
I think we've already given her enough of those.

>>30345212
>>30345219
Well we are quite the handyman

>>30345219
She's obviously still flustered though. She needs to get a hold of herself.

>inb4 Andrea

>>30345169
>[2/2]

Twirling the knife in his hand with a flourish, an assassin lunges at you. With a loud clash of metal on metal, you deflect his blade... and the rest of him as well. The surprised assassin lets out a loud scream as he's sent flying to the left, crashing right into one of the assassins that Karel was fighting.

Nodding in acknowledgement to you, Karel focuses her attention on her opponent who's still standing as you run your sword through the two downed assassins. With this, the inner row's been opened up for you to attack... but there are still three left on the outer layer who are fighting Karel and Reya.


>take the opportunity to break on through
>assist your friends first

>>30345315
>>take the opportunity to break on through

>>30345315
>>assist your friends first

>>30345315
>assist your friends first

Enough suicidal overconfidence for now.

>>30345315
>take the opportunity to break on through
I think Karel and Reya can handle themselves, these guys aren't even dragony-devil-children or whatever.

>>30345315
>>take the opportunity to break on through

>>30345315
>take the opportunity to break on through

Karel and Reya can handle themselves, let's break their formation.

>>30345315
>>take the opportunity to break on through

>>30345315
>assist your friends first

>>30345315
>assist your friends first
clean up nice and clean

>>30345315
>take the opportunity to break on through
These guys are probably just the shit tier guards who went turncoat, not some fancy ass devil children. Karel and Reya Can deal with them fine.

>>30345315
>take the opportunity to break on through
We seem to have butchered them just fine, and both Karel and Reya are near our skill level. Lets take some pressure off the VIPs.

>>30345315
>take the opportunity to break through
These guys are shit tier, let the other badasses handle them.

>>30345315
>take the opportunity to break on through

I realize that we got 5 threads and a half dedicated to fightan.

Where do we go after the Blue Brothers & co are rescued?

>writing

>>30345372
Personally i'd ask Setsuranka whether she has any magic that could help with the barrier if Sylvie and Rana haven't got it down by the time we wrap up here.

>>30345372
To the sanctuary.

>>30345315

>assist your friends first

No rush. The royals lasted for three threads now, they will survive a little longer.

>>30345377

That is also a good idea, although I think between Rana and Sylvie that will already have been taken care of.

>inb4 they break the barrier so hard that they tear reality a new one and demons from netherworld start pouring in

Maybe the Assassins are really here for Saber?

>>30345403
They're trying to wipe out Nicolas's bloodline for killing their patriarch.

>>30345403

That would make no sense. It's not like she's a king in disguise or something.

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Karel and Reya can handle themselves, you don't need to help. Probably. And considering that the assassin directly in front of you actually HAS HIS BACK TURNED TO YOU, now's your chance. Muttering the incantation for Holy Shine under your breath just in case, you rush in and run your sword through the assassin's heart, pushing his corpse ahead of you as you finally break through their final line.

Doing a quick scan of the area, you see Monique's brother using what looks like five floating ornamental swords to defend a large man and a little girl who are huddled behind him... what kind of spell is that? And directly between them and the assassins is... OH GOD SHE'S COMING RIGHT AT YOU!


>roll 1d20

Rolled 20

>>30345484

Rolled 1

>>30345484

Rolled 15

>>30345484
OH GOD NO

>>30345488
>>30345489
>>30345491
WHAT

>>30345488
>>30345489
>>30345491
Eeh.

>>30345489
>>30345488
Classic Reinhold.

I don't like classic Reinhold.

>>30345488
>>30345489
>>30345491
Ok Arch, your move. What happens now?

Aside from me not rolling anymore for the rest of the night

>>30345488
>>30345489
Oh fuck me, this has happened both times I've rolled a 20 in this quest.

>>30345488
>>30345489
>>30345491
The 15 supports the 20, so it's a crit succeed, right?

>>30345488
>>30345489
>>30345491
Well. It's Pretty good.

>>30345488
>>30345489
>>30345491
We crit pass if the dc was 15 or lower, we crit fail if it was 16 or higher.

>>30345484
We should get Matthias to teach us that spell.

>>30345512
>we crit fail if it was 16 or higher.

I thought that would be a regular succeed and a regular fail

>>30345512
We have a 20, it's going to at least be a success, I'm pretty sure the 1 doesn't override the 20. It might be a crit success depending on if 15 beats the DC or not.

>>30345516
I am thinking its a spell related to music somehow. Making the sword dance.

File: 1392807215423.jpg-(163 KB, 1266x703, VergilSwords.jpg)

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>>30345484

>Doing a quick scan of the area, you see Monique's brother using what looks like five floating ornamental swords to defend a large man and a little girl who are huddled behind him... what kind of spell is that?

..I get it now

He fights like Vergil

He's Vergil. That's why he's called Brother Blue.

Monique fights like Dante and he fights like Vergil, that's why Monique was doing backflips and shit during the duel.

Why didn't I notice this before?

>>30345526
This is correct I believe.

There was never an example given on what would happen with an opposing 1 and 20 mechanically, but it was implied that a 20 was a success no matter what (because while it's still possible to succeed even with a 1, under no scenario was a 20 shown to somehow fail) and our one or two instances of 1vs20 have all resulted in what appeared to be success as far as I could tell.

tl:dr, if we roll a 20 we're some degree of good no matter what.

Rolled 11

>>30345552
Aw man, now my fifteen just feels irrelevant. I was all proud for probably exceeding the threshold for success and driving us to a crit, and everything.

>>30345565
You should still be proud, a likely crit success is even better than just a success.

>>30345565
Never be disappointed in a fifteen. We may have won without you, but we are going to Kick Ass with you.

>>30345565
It could still put us into crit territory, I was just pointing out that 1vs20 doesn't actually turn into some kind of horrible coin-toss between crit success and crit fail. At least I don't think it does.

>>30345484

It's the empress, right?

Let's not kill the empress. Or queen. Whatever.

File: 1392807615350.jpg-(130 KB, 850x601, sample_6c846f97fe42ad7d43(...).jpg)

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Though you're sure that she'd be quite stunning in any other situation, this woman's glowing eyes and unnaturally long, snarling mouth that shows a pair of pointed fangs renders her absolutely horrifying... not to mention the odd pair of ears on her head and the several tails that are streaming behind her.

Just as you prepare to invoke Holy Shine to keep her from mauling you with her long, pointed claws that would put Rana's to shame, she breaks off to your side, racing past past you and running her talons right through the eyeholes of a nearby assassin's mask.

Thank God she seems to be an ally.


>[1/?]

>>30345606
Oh thank god, we avoided a friendly fire fluffy tail mauling. That would have been an embarrassing way to get taken out of the battle.

>>30345606
never threaten the fluffies' family.

>>30345606
Nobody puts fluffy in the corner

I can't wait for someone to be unable to enter the sanctuary

shadowruns everywhere

>>30345606
Can we please pet her tail. I dont care assasins or not. I've waiting for this chance since i've seen 'kit...' in this quest.

>>30345169
>"Haaa!" you shout, swinging your sword at the nearest assassin.

Archelon, just dropping in to provide some hopefully helpful advice. You really need to stop doing this. It's a classical mistake which I just keep seeing, and it kind of grates on me.

Evoke the actual sound that I am hearing, don't tell me about it. Basically, quotation marks do not play nicely with action sequences.

I'm trying not to sound patronising, so I apologise if I came off that way. I've been told I'm not great at constructive criticism.

>>30345606

Reinhold's nightmares are gonna get even more interesting.

>>30345632
Mathias will probably the safest and happiest man in this world once he catches them all.

>>30345648
Yeah, this is a legitimate criticism. It has been bugging me for a while too but never stated it.

>>30345648
>>30345662
Understood.

You an pretty cool bro OP. I gotta duck out early tonight guys, you got this.

>>30345648

You. I like you.

>>30345718

He's probably not up for much more anyway.

File: 1392808850128.jpg-(89 KB, 800x600, die_bolg.jpg)

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>>30345038
Because cause and effect are reversed when Reinhold is involved. His quality of character directly influences the quality of his rolls. Such is the Fate of a protagonist worse than Makoto from School Days.

>>30345544
So we will never be the Dante to Monique's Vergil. Because Monique is already the Dante to another's Vergil.

>>30345606

"Don't worry about me, defend the others!" she shouts.
"Got it!" you yell back as you race towards an assassin who's trying to charge Monique's brother.

Just as it looks like Monique's brother is within range of the assassin's knife, two of the flying swords dart in front of him to block the attack. Undeterred, the masked man readies his knife and stabs down on one of the swords as hard as he can. With a sound akin to shattering glass, the sword shatters into pieces and dissolves into nothingness. Batting the other one away, he comes in for the kill.

Good thing you've just finished the incantation for Tailwind.

Zooming in from the side, you hold out your sword and race past the assassin just as he's lunging at Monique's brother. Skidding to a halt a few yards past them, you look back just in time to see the masked man's top and bottom halves separate entirely, gushing out blood as they lifelessly fall to the ground.


>[2/?]

>>30345789
Jesus christ, Reinhold.

>>30345789
Hey, this part is actually pretty good

Reinhold's actually being kind of a badass.

>>30345789
>>30345865
>Matthias will invite us to fluffy tails land as a thanks for helping him

>>30345789
I'm seeing definite improvement here.

Keep at it, Arch.

>>30345789
>[3/3]

"Th... thanks..." Monique's brother says, breathing heavily as he wills his remaining four swords to his side.
"Don't mention it," you reply.

You killed two assassins, the fox-woman's just finished another in addition to the one she's already killed... and it looks like both Reya and Karel have finished off their opponents as well. In all, there are two assassins left in this particular group... and they know that they're horribly outnumbered at this point. Backing away from you, both of them make a mad dash for the doorway that Andreas broke open.

You quickly reach for the last of your backup daggers to throw at them, but Monique's brother seems to have things covered, sending two of his swords racing towards the fleeing intruders...

...and skewering them both.

With the men who they'd been fighting all this time finally dealt with, both the fox-woman and Matthias breath a sigh of relief. Seeing as how it wasn't exactly easy for you to take care of this situation, you're pretty damned sure that it was even rougher on them.


>see if they're doing alright
>no time for that, time to help out Monique
>[OTHER]

>>30345965
>no time for that, time to help out Monique

>>30345965
>see if they're doing alright
If they're hurt we can offer limited healing, right?

Monique can handle himself.

He's a knight.

>>30345965
>no time for that, time to help out Monique

>>30345898
5th DLC+++

>>30345965
>no time for that, time to help out Monique

Just a "you're alright?".

Also, four swords?

>>30345965
>Tell them we've set up a sanctuary on the princesses, then rush to Moniques aid

>>30345965
>see if they're doing alright

>>30345965
>no time for that, time to help out Monique

Tell them there's a Sanctuary, bid them well. Then Tailwind our way over to Monique and get to killing.

>>30345996
>>30346008

Changing my vote to this rather than >>30345993

>>30345965
>no time for that, time to help out Monique

>>30345789
>Zooming in from the side, you hold out your sword and race past the assassin just as he's lunging at Monique's brother. Skidding to a halt a few yards past them, you look back just in time to see the masked man's top and bottom halves separate entirely, gushing out blood as they lifelessly fall to the ground.
That's BADASS.

>>30345965
>no time for that, time to help out Monique

Inform them of the Sanctuary bubble before we run off, that should only take a second.

>>30345965
>no time for that, time to help out Monique

>>30345965
>[OTHER]
Pet the tails! PET THEM NOW!

>>30346038
Do you want to die?

>>30346043
We just saved them. if we cant get away with it now, we never can. just say you couldn't help it since it seemed so soft and beautiful. it'll be fine~

>>30346021
chan chan bara
chanbaraaaaaaa


>writing

>>30346055
>chan chan bara
>chanbaraaaaaaa
now it is stuck in my mind. my day is fucked.

>>30346052
>>30346038
You're worse than the fuckstick that suggested cutting off Kyouko's clothes in Magia.

I'm pretty sure the (un)lucky kinsen king is going to have to deal with a very agitated, very pent up fluffy tails thanks to the battle fever.

someone might get a younger sibling if things get out of hand

>>30346077
Is it so bad thaat i want to pet fluffy tails? Who doesn't want to pet fluffy tails? Has humanity fallen that far?

>>30346103

Wanting and doing are different.

Fox waifus exist to be worshipped from afar. A bit like /u/ girls.

Looks like everyone here is fine, so next up is saving Monique.

"There's a safe area on the other side of the room," you say, pointing to where you set up the Sanctuary around Luciana. "Head over there, we'll do the same once we've taken care of the rest of these guys."
"Thank you," the large Eastern man says, nodding to you. "I was getting kind of worried there."
"As was I," the fox woman says. "Sadaharu, Masaharu, Matthias? Let's do as he said."

With that, the three Easterners start towards the Sanctuary... but Matthias stops himself.

"What's wrong?" the woman asks.
"...I'll catch up with you later," Matthias says. "Monique's my little brother, I'm going to try and help him first."
"I'd do the same in your place... good luck and stay safe."
"Thanks, Akemi," he replies.

As the three Easterners run across the room, you turn to the northwest part of the room past the doorway, which is still filled with those masked men.

"Back me up, I'm going to rush in first," you say.
"Gotcha," Reya replies.
"Okay," Karel nods.

After taking a deep breath, you crouch down and take off running.

"Howling winds, gather beneath my feet and guide me on my journey," you chant. "Tailwind!"