"Just as I thought! As long as we have this woman, the Sphinxes won't attack us!"
Looking at the Sphinxes staring at them through the swirling sandstorm but making no move to approach, Hassan of the Hundred Personas felt her confidence soar.
Behind Hundred Personas stood nine cloaked figures, one of whom was carrying a bound and visibly unconscious woman over their shoulder.
Clearly, this was the woman Hundred Personas claimed would make the Sphinxes hesitate to act.
"Let's go, quickly! We're taking this woman straight back to the territory of the People of the Mountains!"
Having confirmed the woman's utility, Hundred Personas didn't hesitate, immediately ordering her subordinates to prepare for an escape.
Hearing Hundred Personas' command, the group didn't move. Instead, they stared nervously straight ahead.
Because Hundred Personas had been observing the Sphinxes behind them this entire time and hadn't looked forward, a subordinate standing closest to her finally couldn't hold back anymore.
Poking Hundred Personas in the side, the subordinate spoke up cautiously:
"Um... Lord Hundred Personas, straight ahead..."
Straight ahead?
Hundred Personas frowned, hurriedly turning her head to look directly in front of them.
Only to see a figure holding a flag standing on the sandy ground, staring right at them.
Takumi surveyed the group in front of him, his gaze lingering slightly longer on a certain woman with what looked like rabbit ears on her head, before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
At least I wasn't too late this time...
Takumi then spoke up:
"People of the Mountains, abducting that bound woman serves absolutely no purpose for you. If you would, could I ask you to let her go?"
Although Takumi didn't quite understand why they had abducted Nitocris, he was certain of one thing: abducting her not only served no purpose, but it would also trigger unknown, adverse consequences.
Hearing Takumi's polite and courteous words, Hundred Personas didn't relax in the slightest. Instead, her frown deepened.
"And who might you be? A subordinate of the Sun King?"
It wasn't surprising that Hundred Personas reacted this way. As Assassins, they were inherently more suspicious than most. When an unknown entity like Takumi—someone they had never even heard of—suddenly popped up and told them to hand over their hard-won "spoils of war," who wouldn't be suspicious?
Sensing Hundred Personas' vigilance, Takumi had no better options. He opted for the direct approach:
"I am a Master from Chaldea. My actions here are... well, let's just say they are for the sake of saving this era."
As he spoke, Takumi revealed the Command Spells on his body to prove his identity.
"A Master?"
Seeing the glowing Command Spells, Hundred Personas' furrowed brow relaxed slightly, but her innate wariness remained firmly intact.
"Even if you are a Master, there's no way we're letting this woman go just because you asked nicely!"
Hundred Personas remained completely unmoved.
Takumi sighed helplessly. His [Heart of Fire] only passively broadcasted his state of mind and emotions, allowing others to quickly understand the kind of person he was. It wasn't a brainwashing tool. If it were, why would he ever need to fight? He could just stand there and everyone would magically become his friend.
Not to mention the person standing in front of him was Hundred Personas, someone with literal psychological fragmentation.
"I apologize, but I cannot allow you to take her away. Please forgive my rudeness."
Casting them an apologetic look, Takumi's figure instantly materialized directly in front of Hundred Personas. His free, steel prosthetic hand reached out to grab her wrist.
Beneath the skull mask, Hundred Personas' face drained of color in sheer terror. Operating almost entirely on instinct, her legs tensed to the absolute limit, preparing to leap away and escape Takumi's "demonic clutches."
Bam!
She had just begun to launch herself into the air when she suddenly realized Takumi's seemingly slow steel hand had blurred. In a flash, it locked onto her wrist in a vice grip and slammed her back onto the ground before her feet had even fully left it.
Hundred Personas' mind went entirely blank. For a split second, she genuinely thought she was going to die. But when she finally registered what was happening, she realized she was unharmed. Takumi had merely pinned both of her hands behind her back with a single hand.
Even though it was only one hand, to Hundred Personas, it felt as if an entire mountain had been dropped on top of her. Not only was she completely immobilized, but even drawing breath had become a struggle.
Refusing to concede defeat, Hundred Personas struggled violently a few times. Realizing it was utterly futile, she steeled her resolve. With a flick of her wrist, she pulled several small throwing knives from seemingly nowhere. With a sharp snap of her fingers, she launched the blades directly at Takumi.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
It was as if the knives had struck indestructible steel. Although they hit their mark perfectly, they failed to leave even a scratch on Takumi, bounding off his completely undamaged clothes.
Hundred Personas broke into a cold sweat, but she had no intention of stopping. With another flick of her wrist, she produced a sleep-inducing smoke bomb and hurled it straight at Takumi's face.
Takumi didn't dodge or evade, simply letting it detonate right in front of him.
Poof!
With a soft pop, a cloud of emerald-green gas burst outward, completely enveloping Takumi's head.
Hmph! Even Servants fall prey to this sleeping gas. Just be a good boy and collapse!
A smug smile spread across Hundred Personas' face. She was practically ready to pop the champagne.
After all, this was the exact same sleeping gas that had knocked out Nitocris; its quality was absolutely guaranteed.
But clearly, Hundred Personas had popped the champagne too early. Takumi didn't even flinch. The flag in his hand merely pulsed with a faint glow, and a burst of golden light instantly dispersed the thick gas, revealing his completely unfazed face.
Hundred Personas: "..."
His [Determination of Steel] and [Tiger, Burning Bright] already provided Takumi with a high degree of resistance to various abnormal status effects. Coupled with the fact that [Mon Coeur] reflected his state of mind, it naturally possessed the function of repelling and defending against status ailments.
As a result, as long as Takumi casually activated his Noble Phantasm, he was essentially immune to abnormal status effects like toxins.
If someone genuinely wanted to use poison to take Takumi down, it would have to be a toxin potent enough to inflict lethal agony upon the Gods themselves.
Where are my teammates?! Teammates! A little help here, teammates!
Realizing she was completely powerless against Takumi, Hundred Personas finally remembered she had backup. She frantically turned her head to look at her subordinates.
Only then did she realize, in a moment of dawning horror, that her subordinates had somehow been tied up like fuzzy caterpillars by glowing ropes at some point during the exchange, and were currently staring back at her with pleading eyes.
—Takumi had casually immobilized them using Runes.
Hundred Personas fell even more silent.
"I yield! I yield, alright?! You can take that woman with you!"
Hundred Personas turned her head to the side and grumbled out the words, finally throwing in the towel.
She had no choice but to yield; the gap in combat power was absurdly massive. Hundred Personas genuinely doubted whether she could even break his defense if Takumi just stood there and let her attack.
"That's wonderful."
Takumi breathed a sigh of relief. He had been hoping not to make the atmosphere too tense.