A somewhat short man with hair as dark as the deepest night and eyes as green as a youthful forest sits upon the tiles of a roof. His forearms are resting on his knees. His hands hang idly, waving slowly as shrubs to a gentle breeze.

A plump man is standing one step behind while rubbing his badly shaved chin. The two are quietly observing a battle between two fierce warriors down in the avenue.

The first is a vertically challenged woman by anyone's standards, her hairs are somber as shadows and tied by a blood-red ribbon. She wears a black chain-mail with links no bigger than the nail of her pinky finger.

Her left arm is concealed by a supple sleeve-glove which doesn't hinder her in the least from wildly slashing with her Lisilese liangi. The mask she bears upon her face is cracked and its engravings are encrusted by dried blood.

The woman she faces is tall with snowy hair underneath her helmet, she wears a white and light blue tunic over the shining plate armor protecting her. Her weapon of choice is an arming sword which she wields with efficacy and precision to parry her opponent's furious blows.

There to the north of the women on the avenue is a fleeing officer while to the south are over a dozen soldiers from a Noble's household troops who don't dare interfere with this duel of experts for fear of losing their lives.

“This E.Vil is a mystery.” The man sitting upon the roof murmurs.

“It often is for those who have embraced good!” His chubby companion responds with a bombastic voice.

A sigh escapes the first's lips but he doesn't respond as he is focused on the fight. The woman designated as evil swirls forth while rotating to deliver three quick consecutive slashes with her double-bladed swordstaff.

The first slaps her opponent's sword up and to the right while the second smashes it to the left, it works because the woman with pure white hair had to resist having her arm thrown in one direction and couldn't adjust in time to the switch.

Yet, she slams her palm into the threatening liangi's handle to blow the third slash away as if she had seen it coming all along and counters with a backhanded swing of her own. The masked woman bends backward and dodges by a hair's breadth.

“Honorary Duchess Lance's skill in combat rivals that of her mother at the same age.” The man standing on the roof remarks loudly.

“She surpasses Vikiana without a doubt.” The other whispers with a wistful tone. “Elizabeth Vil won't obtain an easy victory tonight.”

“Evil is full of bad tricks!” His companion exclaims, causing the other to wince. “Let us not underestimate her or disaster shall befall us.”

Oddly enough, their exchanges and presence on the roof remains unnoticed by all parties present despite these two's complete lack of discretion. There are most certainly arrays of constructs at work yet no golden glow can be discerned in their surroundings.

The evil woman suddenly kicks her opponent's armored chest, causing her to stagger, and uses the foothold to back-flip away only to immediately rush back in with a thrust she launches from a very low stance.

Lady Lance reflexively swings her sword in an arc to parry the blow to her right side only for it to serve Vil's purposes as she goes along with the movement to swivel around on one leg to strike out with her aft-blade.

The Noble manages to block by raising her left forearm but the exchange forces her into a hasty retreat so as to avoid follow-up blows. She eventually buys space and time with a sweeping kick, threatening to hit Elizabeth in the jaw with her greaves.

The duel continues for a while as the pair on the roof observes but new arrivals in the form of a dozen Exemplars in full plate armor and on horseback causes the battle to stall.

“They were not truly fighting.” The slightly short man notes.

“They may have been more aware of their surroundings than they let on!” His hefty associate exclaims.

“One of them was, the other merely enjoyed the moment and is now furious.”

“What keen eyes you have, my Emperor!”

“I applaud the effort but this Duke's persona disturbs me.” The green-eyed Emperor speaks up as he throws a glimpse over his shoulder. “I have difficulty believing that you fooled the entire Royal Court of Mirus with such a larger than life personality, especially considering his house's name.”

“Duke Calmwater is a burst of fresh air for these schemers, his frankness is disarming and he is so incapable of hiding secrets that none would suspect him of deceit.” The image of the plump man explains while shivering until it fades to reveal a cute woman with a round face. “In fact, they very much enjoy using him to play harmless pranks on others. I believe they would band in his defense were one of my 'relatives' to scheme for the title.”

“Haven't they usurped most of your subjects?” Rasaec asks.

“That is but a fact of life in that Kingdom's cruel politics and not truly considered as an attack.” Aisha explains. “It is quite amusing that the same wouldn't hold if 'my' treacherous cousins and nephews attempted to steal from the Duke's purse.”

“Speaking of, how much support have you given the Hospitaliers?” The Emperor questions.

“... I may not be able to throw as lavish soirees as I have the habit to for the few years to come.” The Shade replies nervously.

“So much?” Rasaec asks.

“You said I could do as I wish with the Duchy as long as it causes turmoil, my Emperor.” She quickly justifies.

“You can, I am merely surprised.” The slightly short man says with a smile.

Rasaec turns back to the scene and falls silent. The twelve Exemplars fan out to block Elizabeth Vil's way towards Roskal's third in command who is the captive of two squads of Hospitaliers ahead on the avenue.

The Emperor gazes further and spots two more squads of soldiers beholden to Duchess Roskal advancing towards their officer. He is not alone in noticing as Elizabeth Vil does as well and it causes her to relax her posture a touch as she throws a weighty glance to Leomi Lance.

“A hunt inside a trap within an ambush.” The woman speaks up without bothering to lower the volume of her voice or of the insane chuckle that follows.

“Elizabeth Vil, your presence on Telnur's battlefield is required.” An Exemplar proclaims. “Agree to follow us, to fight, and your crimes will be swept clean.”

“I don't suppose you'll let me have a go at him first, Kitten?” E.Vil questions her ex-lover, completely ignoring the proposal.

“I'm afraid I require the man in one piece rather than several.” Lance responds with a cold tone which fools all but the Emperor and his Shade.

These highest temple guards beholden to the Emperor before all else draw their weapons. They then adjust their postures on their mounts to communicate to the warhorses they must prepare to charge. The animals lower their heads and shift their weight to their hind-legs.

“Peer onto these great servants, at least half disagree about interfering with Elizabeth Vil's revenge against Roskal but they will do their duty because they understand the importance of it and that of the Order's word when it is given.” Rasaec says with a deep voice. “Communicate my pride to them through the Grand Master.”

“I will... if they make it through the night.” Aisha whispers the second part of her answer.

“Hm.” Rasaec ponders quickly because both sides are preparing to engage into battle. “Prevent it.” He orders as he rises to his feet to leave.

“Was the plan not to introduce yourself tonight, my Emperor?” The Shade asks.

“That is a wild woman whose home was taken from her and has not felt the lasting safety since.” Her Emperor denies with a sharp shake of his head. “Approaching now would be beyond unwise, it would set Elizabeth Vil against me in perpetuity.”

“Why?” The Spy questions, failing to reserve her curiosity.

“Because she would read the fact I've been observing from the sidelines in the circumstances. It would be taken as deceit and birth lasting suspicion, which I cannot brook if I am to have a talk with her.” The Emperor explains. “Revealing this to her later would be wise.” He absently adds.

“I half-expected Elizabeth to spot us with her uncanny instincts, my Emperor.” Aisha murmurs as she forcefully reins in her curiosity.

“These things only go so far.” Rasaec denies as he begins walking on thin air towards his Palace. “Instinct is no supernatural ability. It is a conclusion drawn from the amalgamation of information from all six senses, the last being granted by the Lake, and as a consequence it is rendered in a vague almost unexplainable manner.”

Aisha bows towards her Emperor's back as he strolls away in the distant sky, unseen by all eyes. The Shade feels her heart tighten as it warms up from the blessing of being given so much of His personal time, even though she felt He was both melancholic and detached.

--- --- ---

“If you wish to put a leash on me, have the guts to do it yourself!” Elizabeth bellows.

Lance winces as her jay flashes at the Exemplars. She isn't worried her fiancee will lose, although she doesn't think victory is among the possible outcomes.

Her issue is E.Vil's tense disposition which can only aggravate her health and it hurts her to witness this. Her first impulse is to jump in and collar her love, slam her flat on the ground to drag her to a specialist but she does not.

Leomi has enough self-control and understanding of her love that pressure or forceful handling on this matter will only push her further away from healing so she pauses to devise a plan to help her mad jay instead.

Elizabeth crashes headlong into the first warhorse of three that charge at her. Amazingly enough, the impact causes the heavy animal carrying a human in full plate armor to buckle and drop on its side while she merely stops dead in her tracks.

The fall causes a second horse to stop short which leaves only one immediate threat that Liz deals with by swinging her liangi's handle at its head, knocking it out cold.

Of the three Exemplars thus stumped, the first's leg is stuck underneath his mount while the last managed to jump onto Elizabeth who smacks his lance and then him with a reverse strike of her liangi's flat aft-blade.

The temple guard flies a few meters back to crash on the street while the nine Exemplars charge at staggered timings. She advances a step forward while pivoting on her left heel while releasing her right hand's hold on the weapon.

Elizabeth spins, causing the liangi to slide down her left as she swings it in a wide circle around herself that slaps aside a half-dozen cavalry lances. The Exemplars try to work together to pin her down but fail as they're too clumsy atop their horses.

Lance watches her lover dance around these deadly warriors with pride in her chest, causing her to delay a touch longer than she should as the Exemplars hop off their mounts to engage her jay with their swords.

Elizabeth tries her best to keep them away but her liangi is failing to cut through their armors despite severing through their defensive constructs, all she manages is to leave a deep gash in an Exemplar's breastplate.

E.Vil notices, at the same time as her fiancee, that scratches appear on the other temple guards' armors at the very same location of her cut. Liz immediately concludes she's facing a sympathetic construct but, although she is surrounded by blades, she doesn't worry too much because she has a way to break this.

Lance, on the other hand, knows more so she panics a bit and shapes a lance construct that she propels at her lover fully confident she'll be able to turn the attack to her advantage.

It stuns and surprises Liz to detect the silver projectile flashing towards her back. Smiling, she reaches for it and spectacularly breaks her fiancee's link with fifty portions.

Then, E.Vil detonates the construct at the center of the Exemplars. Dozens of explosive needles fly out and shower the temple guards, blowing ten away. She swiftly makes use of her excess flow before they realize she barely needed any energy to do what she just did and uses it to redirect the impact of their falls.

She turns the kinetic force against the Exemplars to break their sympathetic construct like she did for the University's defensive runic array but immediately encounters an issue as it doesn't work.

The voice of her sister resounds in Liz' mind. The University's runes formed a singular sympathetic construct that couldn't deal with the feedback of kinetic force so it was easy.

These Exemplars each maintain their own so it isn't that the same method won't work but that it cannot since the twelve constructs are constantly shifting and spreading the burden.

How about a powerful attack? No, the best option is to avoid taking risks because they came prepared. Just as her sister advises, three Exemplars move in on Elizabeth Vil whilst the fourth steps between the two fiancees to serve as a warning against interference.

E.Vil, despite Jessica's advice and her awareness that these fighters are experts in their fields, has trouble restraining herself from engaging in exhilarating close combat.

She takes a low stance, leans down and charges at the three Exemplars in a single seamless fluid motion. Two slash out with their swords while the last launches a thrust.

Elizabeth, unsatisfied with the idea of being on the defensive, brings down her fore-blade in an overhead blow to slice through the first sword while also shifting on her left leg's heel to swirl and strike out at the second swinging sword.

She manages to deviate both weapons with these rapid moves but fails to cut through the steel, resulting in an imbalance that causes her to receive the thrust in her mid-section.

“Uhrha!” She growls as the point of the Exemplar's sword slams into her Vuskyt chain-mail and throws her stumbling backward.

The weapon failed to overcome her specialized defensive construct but she couldn't absorb the blow either. The three Exemplars shift away with quick footwork to reveal four others already charging at her.

She snorts and shifts the anchor of her left arm from her body to the pavement. As they approach, she controls her left arm with her flow to slash out with strength defying even a Rykz Queen's.

Three of the Exemplars move to block the blow so as to give the fourth an opening to strike but, unexpected to them, they completely fail to even slow the weapon which results in their companion receiving the full brunt of her attack on his flank.

The Exemplar is blown away into a wall on the other side of the avenue and drops with a mangled breastplate while the rest receive mere dents in theirs. Elizabeth instantly concludes there is a limit to the sympathetic construct's capacity to redirect damage, either inherent or there by design.

It is a safety so that all aren't incapacitated by a massive blow, your blade didn't sever the armor so the construct didn't fail. With this attack, the Exemplars grow much more careful and choose to encircle her while one of them helps their incapacitated comrade.

The pavement under Elizabeth's feet is cracked so she moves forth a few steps to stand on stable ground. As her opponents prepare to resume the fight, she suddenly flashes forth and slips through their entire group to land thirty meters behind them, near Roskal's third officer.

The Exemplars fail to react in their surprise as they hadn't expected her to disengage from a battle. E.Vil smirks at their naivety, she's proved her strength a long time ago so feels no need to do so again at the detriment of her objectives.

Besides, she sees such a battle as one won by flow rather than skill since she is outnumbered. The victor would be those with the most energy to spend and she doesn't wish for Lance to have to openly intervene to help her.

In fact, it amuses her how people see the berserker in her but overlook she is no mindless fool to be drawn into an unfavorable engagement. If she was, she would have died long ago on Izla Meria.

She flashes forth once more to land amidst the Hospitaliers and seize her target's neck with her left hand while blasting away his two guards. They try to stop her but find the ground trembling with each step they attempt to take, failing to advance more than half a meter.

“No, please!” The terrified officer yelps. “It wasn't my idea!”

“I care none for whatever scheme you've planned for tonight.” E.Vil responds coolly. “Where is Roskal?”

“I don't know!” He exclaims.

Elizabeth hears movements approaching so she lifts the man and launches herself up to a three-story building's roof from where she dangles the officer over the void.

As the man screams in panic at his situation, she flicks her liangi into his stomach which oddly causes him to fall silent as he gazes down on the weapon planted in his belly.

“Where is Roskal?” She asks once more while slowly twisting the blade, causing much dark blood to pour out.

“Aarrhrraah!” The officer suddenly screams his lungs out in agony.

Elizabeth waits a moment for an answer but the man's gaze merely flips around as he crazily looks for a way to escape. She concludes the officer truly has no answer and thus prepares to release him.

As she was focusing to open her left hand, Lance lands on the roof along with a small but strong woman bearing messy black hair and two recognizable scars on her face, including a fresh scorched cut to her right side.

Damn Aisha, messing with me, I'm a good five or six centimeters taller! Jessica shifts the liangi aggressively as a result of her anger, skewering the officer and causing him to pass out.

“Are you truly going to do battle against us now? Mere breaths after our friend took her last?” The fake Jessica questions with a sad air.

A touch too whiny but she hit the anguish just right. I'm not whiny at all. Right... Liz smiles behind her mask and pulls the liangi out of the officer's stomach without any care for his health only to release her grip.

Lance hurriedly hurls herself down to catch the man before he splatters on the pavement while the Shade remains as she is, unconcerned with his fate. E.Vil doesn't even spare a glance to the result, she flicks around and leaves before the slow Exemplars catch up.

She makes her way to her next target using Kruzser's roofs as footholds between her long leaps, feeling that this is safer and more reliable than flying. But not as freeing. Her sister remarks.