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The Rho Aias?
Now that was something useful.
In the original work, Emiya had used this Noble Phantasm to block Cú Chulainn's(Lancer) Gáe Bolg, and in FGO it had even stopped Jeanne's ultimate Noble Phantasm La Grondement Du Haine
Rod had always lacked solid defensive options, this shield helped cover that weakness nicely.
After all, anything labeled a "Sacred Gear of Destruction" carried some serious weight.
All in all, the reward this time was solid, and surprisingly easy to get.
"What are you thinking about?"
Walburga's face suddenly popped up in front of Rod.
"Just thinking about what's ahead. I'm guessing you're planning a clash with the Five Great Clans, right? Gotta prep properly for the upcoming battle."
Rod kept a straight face as he replied.
"Oooh, is that so~?"
Still in her usual chipper tone, Walburga sniffed the air near him but didn't press further. Then she spun around and skipped ahead, hands clasped behind her back.
"Say, I've always been curious, if you guys call yourselves the Hero Faction and are supposed to be descendants of ancient heroes, then why are you getting involved in all of this?"
"I mean, by normal standards, we're basically terrorists, attacking the Five Great Clans, kidnapping civilians and all that."
Rod almost applauded. She had basically just voiced his exact inner thoughts.
Even as an outsider, Rod couldn't wrap his head around why the Hero Faction got involved in this kind of stuff.
Weren't they supposed to be restoring the legacy of heroes, displaying valor, courage, and noble deeds in the modern era? But looking at their record in the original work…
They'd joined forces with the Fallen Ring to cause chaos across mythological factions worldwide, kidnapped the powerful yokai Yasaka from Tokyo to use her magic to summon Great Red, and even cooperated with the underworld god Hades to attack the protagonist's DxD team.
Sure, they eventually saw the error of their ways, but only after getting their faces smashed in and losing their Sacred Gears.
"So if you're heroes," Walburga continued, "shouldn't you be our enemies?"
"Fair point. But as you know, the founder of the Hero Faction is Cao Cao. I only joined later."
Rod shrugged.
"He tells me to do something, I do it."
If Jeanne were here, she'd be choking on her drink.
If you ever actually listened to orders, that'd be a miracle.
"Cao Cao, huh… I've heard of that name. Historians don't usually call him a hero, they call him a 'warlord.'"
Walburga gave a slow nod.
A "warlord", a powerful, ambitious figure. The kind of man who would do anything to reach his goals.
"Rod, why not leave the Hero Faction and join us in the Night of the Witches?"
"…?"
The sudden invitation threw Rod off.
He couldn't even remember Walburga making much of an appearance in the source material.
"Not interested."
Rod shook his head.
"That's a shame."
Seeing his firm attitude, Walburga didn't push it further.
...
Rod made an excuse to step away for a bit and returned to the hotel, where he asked Asia to remain there a while longer.
Since they were in Tokyo, Rod was fairly confident in the local safety.
After all, he knew exactly where all the major threats were.
The witches from the Wizards of Oz, the defector Satanael from the God-Child Watchers, and the local group the Hollow Cicada were all teaming up to target the Five Great Clans.
Which meant, for now, Asia was probably safer than ever.
As for what happened next, Rod didn't particularly care.
He then sent all his findings to Griselda.
After listening, Griselda fell into a brief silence.
"The God-Child Watcher leadership teaming up with witches to take on the Five Great Clans… What the hell are they thinking?"
"The witches want to revive the Three Great Beasts of Oz. The Watchers are trying to reverse-engineer Sacred Gears. And the Hollow Cicada? They probably just want revenge. Most of them are people who were expelled or persecuted by the clans for lacking talent."
Rod explained calmly.
"I don't care much about the Hollow Cicada, but Rod… do you think you can stop the witches and Watchers?"
"You want me to help the Five Great Clans?"
"No. Our relationship with them isn't exactly friendly either. Just stop the enemy from succeeding. As for the rest, do what you like."
Griselda's tone was grave.
The current situation was chaotic, but as far as she was concerned, if the fallen angels wanted something, it was her job to stop them.
Rod's system immediately issued two mission prompts:
[Mission: Kyoto Turmoil]
[Reward: +10 Church Reputation, Item – Glasses of Superman]
[Equipment: Glasses of Superman (Wear these and nobody will recognize you. Seriously.）]
...
[Griselda has issued a new mission]
[Mission: Stop the Abyssfall]
[Objective: Prevent the Abyssfall from accomplishing their goal, whatever it is]
[Reward: +20 Church Reputation, Random Reward ×1]
"Don't push yourself too hard. This might be more than you can handle alone. If things go south, just get out of there," Griselda warned.
"Got it."
Rod agreed without hesitation.
So long as there were rewards to claim, he was game.
As for failing?
Sorry, but a man doesn't say "I can't."
With new missions accepted, Rod finished arranging things for Asia and returned to the witches' hideout.
"Where'd you go?" Walburga asked when he reappeared.
"Stocking up before the war."
Rod patted his holstered handgun, brushing the question aside.
"Regular firearms won't do much against the Five Great Clans. Their elite members especially, bullets won't even scratch them," Walburga warned.
"That's fine. As long as it can cause a little chaos."
Rod pulled a rocket launcher from behind his back.
Everyone in the room fell into momentary silence.
They didn't know where he pulled it from, but… yeah, that would definitely work.
"When's the operation?" Rod asked.
Seeing how pumped he looked, Walburga hesitated.
She'd met many warriors in her time as Augusta's top disciple, but Rod was on another level.
She didn't quite understand.
Were all Hero Faction members war junkies like this guy?
"Midnight. We'll launch an attack on the Five Great Clans' Inner Sanctuary. My master Augusta has also reached out to local yokai, they'll start the offensive, and we'll follow up by targeting the clan elites."
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