"Are the fights already over?" Jeanne emerged from the thick fog, looking incredulous as she saw Cyd motioning her to leave.
The guidance from the Lord allowed her to locate the ongoing battles between heroic spirits quickly. However, these skirmishes were happening too quickly. Mordred had just finished fighting Jack, then dealt with Frankenstein, and was finally taken down by Chiron. Atalanta, recognizing Chiron as her opponent, had halted her attacks. The masters' battles were even more decisive: Medusa quickly overpowered Fiore, and Kairi ended the fight without lethal force.
When Jeanne arrived, she found a disheveled Mordred searching for her dropped snack bag among a few broken walls.
"Aren't heroic spirit battles supposed to be fast?" Cyd pointed at the damaged walls. "At least the damage was minimal."
"Fast doesn't mean good!" Mordred retorted, pouting as she approached Cyd with her retrieved snack bag. "And what's up with your teacher? Why is an archer so good at close combat?"
"Hunting for food, close combat for self-defense," Cyd shrugged. Even the gentlest of centaurs, Chiron, occasionally did brutal things in his self-defense training. Given Cyd's immortal body, Chiron had used him to demonstrate various techniques, often leading to Cyd being pinned to the ground. Cyd once used these techniques against a bear, instinctively executing the full set of moves Chiron had taught him, resulting in the bear's death halfway through.
"Next time, I'll defeat him for sure," Mordred grumbled, biting into her snack.
"I'm relieved that just a handful of walls were broken," Jeanne sighed in relief. She couldn't forget the devastation caused by Achilles and Siegfried's battle, nearly leveling the area. A similar fight in this city would be catastrophic.
"But Assassin should understand our intentions now," Cyd glanced at the broken walls. "The fog only covered the streets without harming civilians."
"Next, they'll head to Trifas and..." Jeanne lowered her gaze. "Attack the homunculi there."
"Do you sympathize with them?" Cyd raised an eyebrow.
"They are living beings in this world," Jeanne clenched her fists. "Being born to die... it's unfair."
"Unfair?" Cyd flicked Jeanne's forehead. "They're just creations of the Black Faction, made with the turn of a knob. They don't even know who they are—just moving flesh, not even considered human. Your sympathy is due to their human appearance. Would you feel the same if they looked like beasts? Think about it."
"No matter how many times I think about it, my answer is the same," Jeanne held her forehead, glaring at Cyd.
Atalanta, meanwhile, scoffed at Jeanne's ideals. Survival of the fittest was her truth. If one couldn't survive without help, they might as well be dead unless they were children.
Mordred, swinging her legs while munching on her snack, was uninterested in the clash of ideologies. Her mind was on finding the next heroic spirit to fight. The battle with Chiron was frustrating, and the one with Frankenstein was too easy.
Mordred suddenly realized, "Where did the broken wall go?"
"Here... Ouch!"
Caules winced from the pain at the back of his head, trying to sit up, but a cold hand pressed him back down.
"Berserker?" He squinted, unable to see clearly without his glasses, but he recognized the shape of her face and hair. He was resting on Frankenstein's lap.
Blushing, Caules could feel the warmth through her skirt and instinctively tried to get up, only to be shoved back down by her firm grip.
"Ugh... Sorry."
"Ugh," Frankenstein grunted, seemingly satisfied.
"Where's my sister?" Caules glanced around, confirming from the blurred shapes that he was in his room.
"Ugh! Ugh!" Frankenstein gestured wildly.
"Berserker, I can't see very well," Caules admitted.
Frankenstein leaned closer, her face nearly touching his.
"Too close! Too close!" Caules blushed harder.
The door opened with a creak, and Fiore, in her wheelchair, was pushed in by Chiron.
"What are you two doing...?" Fiore was stunned. She had left Caules on the bed, and now he was on Berserker's lap.
"Master, maybe we should leave," Chiron suggested, trying to pull Fiore back, but she clung to the doorframe.
Chiron sighed, realizing he had no choice but to push Fiore inside.
"Caules, what are you doing?" Fiore huffed, "I know you've been watching things online, but this is too much!"
"I—" Caules started but was silenced by Frankenstein's arm pressing against his mouth.
"Ugh!"
"I'm his sister!" Fiore snapped.
"Ugh!"
"Berserker wants to protect Caules and doesn't want us near him," Chiron explained, scratching his face. "It's best to leave them be."
"Berserker, I'm his sister. I won't hurt him," Fiore tried a gentler tone.
"Ugh..." Frankenstein hesitated, then released Caules but kept a firm grip on his shoulders.
"Sister..." Caules felt awkward.
"As long as you're okay," Fiore sighed in relief. "Thank you for tonight."
"Just doing my duty," Caules shook his head.
"Ugh," Frankenstein pouted.
"A lot was going on tonight. Get some rest," Fiore said, understanding Frankenstein's protectiveness given the night's events.
"Ugh..." Frankenstein leaned closer to Caules, still worried about his vision.
"Back off!" Fiore fumed mechanical limbs extending from her wheelchair.