The morning sun had brought an end to the long night. And the atmosphere of Orario had greatly changed. Throughout the backstreets of the city, adventurers of various Familia's were on the move. Delivering supplies and taking up pre-planned positions.
In the Northwest of Orario, in district six, the Astrea and Ganesha Familias had gathered to for an operation to attack a suspected Evilus base.
"Everybody is in position, captain." Said Kaguya as she stood by Alise.
"Understood" Alise replied. "Do you think the enemy has spotted us?"
"If they have, they aren't showing it. Though there is a good chance that they are not aware of us since Merlin had captured that spy before they could relay crucial information".
Alise nodded, despite how troublesome Merlin is, she couldn't deny how helpful she has been. And speaking of Merlin, Alise looked up at a nearby building. Merlin sat at the edge, dangling her legs while Ais stood still behind her teacher, her hand rested on her sword hilt, ready to draw at any moment.
Merlin glanced down and locked eyes with Alise. Merlin waved at her, then had a bright idea. She clapped her hands together and a mug of ale appeared in her before her. She took it and downed the whole mug before letting out a sigh of satisfaction.
All the good feelings that Alise had for Merlin in the moment were now gone. Who the hell drinks before a major military operation?! Is she even taking this seriously?!
Alise shifted her gaze away and toward the building in front of her. A large warehouse that once belonged to a wealthy merchant before it was abandoned and fell into disrepair.
...
Meanwhile, over in district five, the Freya Familia had taken positions near another warehouse.
"Are you sure about this sirs?" An underling asked his superiors Allen and Ottar. "You don't want Hegni, Hedin or the Gullivers going in with you?"
"We don't need no elves or prum slowing us down." Allen Answered. "This pig can take them down even with one arm missing." He said as he referred to the current captain of the Freya Familia.
The pig in question, spoke up. "Hedin is acting commander of the reserves. If anything goes wrong, do as he says."
"Yes sir! Good hunting to the both of you!" The subordinate said before leaving to his post. All around them, Familia members finished preparing their positions. Ottar gazed at the building. Only a few more minutes until the start of the Great Feud.
...
In district, the Loki Familia was finishing up their own preparations. And the timer to begin the assault counted down from minutes to seconds.
Everyone was still and quiet, the only sound heard was the ticking of a pocket watch, counting down the seconds.
Merlin stood up from her position and opened the bag she had brought and poured out its contents. hundreds of small golf sized marbles came out along with a strange object that started to float by Merlin's side. Ais tilted her head, wondering what her teacher was up to.
Summoning her staff, she raised all of the marbles into the air before sending them off in different directions, scattering them throughout the city. Leaving only the floating device by her side.
"Teacher?" Ais asked curiously. She was well aware of Merlin's capabilities since she lived with her, sometimes peeking inside Merlin's workshop she had in the basement where she would always hear her laughing like some maniac. She assumed it was just another one of her toys she created for fun... but knowing Merlin, it probably had a dozen deadly uses.
"Don't worry too much about it. It's just something I made for fun!" Merlin said cheerfully, yet that only made Ais begin to worry.
~Ding~
"It's time" Finn gave the order to begin the attack. The Loki Familia were the first to move, as they would be the ones who would initiate the attack.
"Time to get to work Ais. Go and join the others in the frontal assault, I'll be providing support from the back."
Ais nodded and just as she was about to jump down, Merlin stopped her and began to speak.
"Ais." Her tone became serious. "So far, I've only trained you to kill monsters, not humans, a mistake on my part. So, you might hesitate when dealing a killing blow, but I want you to remember the words I'm about to say." Words that should be told to a soldier, not a child.
"The enemies you're about to face are not deserving of mercy. They will lie, they will plead, they will fake weakness to strike when your guard is down. They will use their own comrades as shields."
"The people you're about to face? The absolute worst of humanity" Merlin continued. "They threw away their humanity the moment they joined Evilus. They're not worthy of mercy. Not your hesitation, not your sympathy. Nothing. They are not humans but monsters wearing human skin."
"If you expect them to act like people, you'll die. Because when humans let go of their conscience, they become something worse than any monster you'll ever face in the Dungeon."
"These monsters have chosen their path. They embraced cruelty, chaos, and power at the expense of everything else. They are not confused. They are not redeemable. And they are not worthy of your mercy. They chose to be who they are."
A long silence passed between them.
Merlin let out a sigh, then raised a hand to rub Ais's hair, her voice became softer. "If you truly cannot bring yourself to kill, then immediately return to my side, understand?"
"...Understood, teacher..." she finally said, her voice soft but steady.
Merlin nodded, her expression unreadable. Then, just as quickly as the seriousness had come, it vanished. She gave Ais a cheeky smile and a wink.
"Now get down there and kick some ass! I'll be watching so make me proud!"
Ais nodded then jumped off the edge to join up with the Astrea and Ganesha Familia who were ready to charge in, using the element of surprise to throw off their enemy and deal a decapitating strike.
Merlin remained on the roof as she watched everything below her with a cute smile on her face.
"It's show time."