Black String of Fate

"Don't jump to conclusions, Arkham. I said I would not assist with this matter, that is because my combat power is lacking. I'm not giving up on this quest, you know what I desire out of this. Ain't no way I'll let this golden opportunity slide."

Arkham smiled after hearing that answer. He gave a provocative look to Xavier and asked, Continue your adventure at m|v-l'e m,p| y- r

"Oh? And how will you contribute without your manpower? You're not exactly known for your smarts, are you?"

"Oh, just see. As long as it's anything related to combat, I'm the biggest genius out there."

Xavier then pulled out a map of the town, one that he asked for from the steward on his way. He took out a pen and began speaking.

"Look, this is where we are, and…

*scribble*

This is where Cass suspects our enemies lie in wait. Looking at this, we do not really need to create elaborate plans. For me, it always overcomplicates things, and the multiple variables involved make room for error. We aren't the weaker party, so we can easily be a little flexible, for example, here…"

Xavier began explaining his plan, and Arkham, who assumed Xavier to be the reckless, plan-less, type, was surprised at his strategic acumen.

Despite everything, he had still led an almost successful revolution, so it was a given that he would possess basic strategy skills.

************

In a crowded street, a girl who hid herself with a black hood quickly paced forward, not meeting eye-to-eye with anyone. She was headed towards a teleportation circle, but the way she walked, it was obvious that she was in an extreme hurry. Even the people cleared the way after seeing her speedily bump into anyone on the way.

Soon she reached the public teleportation circle, but instead of entering, she stopped in her tracks. She slowly and hesitantly took two steps back, as if backing away from something dreadful, and turned around and ran the other way.

Near the teleportation circle, a man wearing a cloak emerged out of the shadows with an annoyed look visible on his half-hidden face. He exclaimed in anger,

"How could she see me? I was sure that I was perfectly hidden. Does the princess have some special Innate Gift?

Damn, this won't do. I need to inform others and chase her. It looks like she went towards the west side teleportation circle, let's alert the guy stationed over there…"

The man started running after the girl after crushing a talisman, but it was difficult to find her in such a crowded place. He sighed with frustration and carefully went over to the west side while keeping an eye out for her.

Cass, who was successfully out of sight of the man, sighed in relief.

'Gosh, trying to pretend to be scared of something I can't even see is difficult. Well, now that the north side teleportation circle guy should be chasing me right now, I should begin the plan and get the west side on my tail too.'

Cass, now once again, dashed towards the west side, and quickly backed off after reaching there. The north side and the west side men met up and gave another chase, but it was difficult since they were also just Experts just like her. Though they were Crafted Experts, they somehow couldn't beat that Advanced Expert girl in swiftness.

Their job was to hold her down until their Master-rank employer came and finished the job. But… It looked like it was going to be more difficult than they thought.'

Cass went around and picked up tails from the south, east, and central teleportation sites, as well as five local inns and the 2 main gates of the town. She ran and ran, barely escaping the sight of the pursuers every time. She was extremely skilled in hiding, being the reason as to why she was able to survive the pursuit of a Master till now.

Soon, she ran into an open area with no one around, and immediately, 13 men surrounded her from all directions. 12 were the tails she had picked up from all around the town, and one was a differently dressed individual who gave off a fearsome presence.

"You gave us quite a long chase, princess. First that forest, now this town? It was just annoying, it wasn't ever enough to get rid of us."

The Master rank individual had also arrived at the scene. He had already contacted the other two, and they'd be reaching here in a few hours.

Cassandra looked at the men surrounding her, and, to their unexpected surprise, smiled.

...They really fell for his simple bait plan. How? Was it because they did not expect to be lured at all?

I see, these bastards never imagined that they could be prey for somebody in this chase, they never imagined that I could have a stronger ally than them on my side. Xavier… that kid is not good at making elaborate plans, but he knows 'enemies' well, so it works better than anything else.

What an interesting kid.'

While Cass was smiling, the master started having a bad feeling in his gut, a feeling that he had been lured into a trap. He hurriedly looked around, straining his senses to find anything,

"Ho? You have good intuition. Too bad such a talent will meet its end here."

Out of nowhere, a voice rang out throughout the empty space, and when the men looked at the source, they found a man standing on a building roof with his hands folded, his features indistinguishable due to him standing directly in front of the sun.

He jumped down and landed directly in front of Cassandra, and took out his humongous sword for the world to see.

"T-The Blood Titan? What is The Blood Titan doing here?"

The master called out in utter shock, as Arkham laughed and replied,

"Oh, that's a nickname I haven't heard in a long, long time. Well, I shall live up to it once again."