“Wh-what are you doing?” Otto cried out, “Put your swords down.”

He was still talking quietly, afraid of setting off alarms. As it was, the alarms of the fort weren’t going off, and in fact, no one down there was acting like they were triggered. I couldn’t hear any rapid movements or yells. It was possible that Shao and Lydia had silenced the scout before he did anything, but that didn’t explain why these guys were remaining silent and keeping low. It was then that I realized this wasn’t treason, it was mutiny!

“Once we got out of sight of the city, we planned to cut your throat and be done with you!” The leading soldier spat. “Then, you had to go invite some amateur party of some wimpy noble and disrupt our plans.”

“Y-you’re betraying Aberis?” He spoke in disbelief, still not getting it.

“No!” He shook his head. “We’re saving it!”

“My brother…”

“Once you’re dead, we’ll happily save your brother. We’ll say you died in the attempt. We know your father won’t resurrect you, but you’ll still go down dying to save a better man than you. That’s better than the dog’s death you deserve!

“You’re an incompetent fool! You don’t know the first thing about leading troops! You’ve leaked intel to the enemy, cost the lives of countless brothers, and even led to the capture of our general! How could we ever follow a screw up like you?”

“…” Completely caught off guard, Otto shook, not knowing what to say.

Deep down, he had to have been thinking many of the same things himself. Perhaps, he just thought the men under him were so well trained that they’d ignore his transgressions. Maybe he thought that at some level they respected him just for his title. However, any of those thoughts had been stripped away at that moment.

“Where do we fall in this?” I asked calmly.

“You’re just an idiot noble from the west who showed up at the wrong time!”

“If you kill me, I’ll just reincarnate in the Capitol.”

He sneered. “I know. That’s why we’ll hand you over to them. They can torture you and give your women over to their armies to play with. When we get back, we’ll inform them of your betrayal. You’ll be branded treasonous. In fact, how about you were the one who stabbed Tibult in the back? You two have a history, and that tigerkin was a former slave of his! Yes… it’s all too believable. Perhaps your presence has made this even easier for us.”

The other men chuckled too. As for me, I let out a long drawn out sigh and closed my eyes.

“Since that’s how you feel,” My eyes snapped open. “Then I won’t have to be gentle! Girls!”

Boom!

I grabbed onto the grass tightly. The ground shook as Terra slammed her foot into the earth. Her foot was now embedded about a foot under her. Miki reached out and grabbed her hand.

“What are you doing?’ The men with the swords on her neck shouted as their balance was slightly disrupted.

“Bracing myself!” She declared.

Of course, I had relayed my orders to the girls the second they drew the swords on us. The conversation had just been buying time for them to get ready.

Celeste winked and then disappeared. She had been remaining in her human form the entire trip here, so the guards were caught off guard when their blades at her throat were suddenly pressed against nothing. Their fairy flew up into the sky like a shooting star in reverse. Her shout, however, was not quiet.

“Tempest Gale!”

A massive wind struck the party. As soon as the men with their swords left Terra, she threw out her hand the direction the wind was going. “Earth Wall!”

A wall rose from the ground, the Tempest Gale slamming into it with a resounding boom. Moments later, nine guards were carried along, slamming into it like insects hitting a windshield. They didn’t burst, but that was likely only because of the protection of their armor. Terra maintained her balance as Miki clung to her. I ended up sliding back, clawing at the ground. I had reached out and grabbed Otto, keeping him from being carried away too.

The wind felt like it lasted for a minute, but it had to be less than ten seconds. When it was done, there were nine unconscious men lying in a pile next to a crumbling wall.