The sun was already well up and throwing flat white light across the ocean’s surface in a wide, unbroken sheet while the waves hit the base’s coastal rock in the steady, indifferent rhythm they had been keeping up for longer than the base had been there, each one rolling in and breaking and pulling back, being replaced by the next before the sound of the previous one had fully finished.

Inside the room, the balcony was open to all of it.

Team Laps stood in a line behind the sofa, backs straight, shoulders squared, prepared to receive whatever came next without visible reaction.

Irhaal was at the far left with her silver hair pulled back.

Gorran filled the right end of the line in the way Gorran filled most spaces he occupied, which was entirely and with structural authority.

Naf stood between them, almost comically short in stature compared to everyone in the room

Naya stood nearest to Gorran with her hands folded at her front.

While Luke sat on the sofa facing Lady Strelitzia, with his hands on his knees and his back not touching the rest.

Lady Strelitzia looked at the line once, and then at Luke, and then she began.

"The mission is level-black," she said. "Nobody outside this room knows you are going, and nobody on Fugen land can know you are there. Fugen does not tolerate Pantheon influence on its territory."

The line nodded once in unison.

"Your first objective. According to our contact in the capital, there is a possible Entropy presence in Shinkotsu. With Amaterasu’s Crusader dead, their threat ahead of the Night of the Red Moon is significant and may go largely unchecked. Your objective is to confirm the scope of that presence and disable whatever threat they represent before the night arrives. I am not expecting eradication... just disability."

"Understood," Luke said. "What is their predicted strength?"

"Unknown. The situation is still developing, and the information reaching us has been limited." She set her cup down. "... Our local support is Kisho Hikaru. On paper, he is a self-made businessman, but we made him. He will assist you on the ground. His mine, the Hollow Cinder Mine, was the site of the attack that first confirmed Entropy’s presence in Shinkotsu. That attack was thwarted, which is how the matter reached Fugen’s top brass at all."

"Do we know why they targeted the mine?" Luke asked. "Were they aware of his connection to us?"

"That is for you to establish on the ground," she replied. "As for who thwarted the attack, that brings us to your second objective."

She paused for a beat, giving everyone a once-over before continuing-

"The man who neutralized the Entropy operation at the mine is the same man who extracted B-41 and X-97 from the containment. And who currently holds the Boomstick."

Naf’s eyes moved briefly to Luke’s hands, where they rested clenched on his knees hard enough to turn white.

His jaw was set, and his eyes had narrowed as he had leaned forward by a fraction that his posture training would have corrected if any part of him was currently paying attention to his posture training.

"I’ll get the Boomstick back..." he said, quietly, through gritted teeth and with a completeness of intention that left no room for discussion. "I swear it."

"The Boomstick is lost, Luke," Lady Strelitzia said.

"But-"

"It is lost... Luke," She repeated, staring unblinkingly in his eye, "Lady Sera has withdrawn our authorization. That Divine Armament belongs to him now, by her own decision."

The quiet that followed had a texture of its own.

Luke’s head hung low in resignation, but his fists did not loosen as he said, "Understood."

"Your second objective is to identify whether he is the Destined Hero," she continued. "If he is the Demon God, eliminate him by any means necessary."

Irhaal raised her hand.

Lady Strelitzia looked at her.

"Director," Irhaal said. "He shares a Familiar Bond with B-41. His elimination would cost us the asset."

"Indeed," Lady Strelitzia said, but there was a fraction of a tremor in her voice, gone before anyone could notice, "The loss would be... tremendous. But it is a price I am willing to pay."

"Understood," Irhaal nodded, lowering her hand.

"Your third objective is contingent on the positive outcome of the second. If he is the Destined Hero, you are to open diplomatic channels and extract him, B-41, and X-97."

Itable between them. The liquid inside each one was black with white specks as though stars across the night sky.

"Use these," she said, setting them in a row. "A single dose will sustain unconsciousness for a minimum of fourteen hours. Extract them. Verbena will handle the rest."

Luke looked at the vials for a moment with an expression that made it clear he had been hoping for something with an edge rather than a needle.

"Your fourth objective," she continued. "You will assist Fugen in the defense against the upcoming Night of the Red Moon. Whatever form that takes on the ground, it falls within your discretion."

Nods down the line replied to her while she continued.

"Throughout this entire operation, your affiliation with Pantheon must remain unknown. Our contact is under heavy scrutiny following the mine attack, and the information he has been able to forward has been limited because of it. Once you are on the ground, there will be no backup and no communication channel back to us. You will assess and act without oversight."

Luke straightened slightly. "Completely on our own?"

"You have spent considerable time expressing the desire to execute operations according to your own judgment without institutional interference," Lady Strelitzia said, looking at him. "Now you have it. Show me what you can do with it."

Luke held her gaze for a moment, and then he nodded, and that single nod accepted both the assignment and the expectations that came with it.

"Once you are on the ground, establish cover. Register as adventurers or find an equivalent. Kisho Hikaru will assist you. How and what you do is up to your individual discretion." She looked at the line. "You will each be issued spoofing rings to mask your mana frequencies, affinities, and circuits."

Her eyes then moved to Luke.

"You will additionally receive a Mask of Stolen Visage. Many know your face on account of you being my disciple."

"Understood," Luke said.

She raised her hand once, and the space around it came apart again, and from the tears in the air dropped multiple large black cases, each one sending tremors through the floor as they fell out of the ruptured space.

Except for the single wooden mask and a plain bracelet, she set on the table in front of Luke.

The mask looked like rough-carved timber, unmarked and unfinished, the kind of object that accumulated no second glances. The same went for the bracelet as well, just a bland chain of silver with a small emerald.

Following a nod from Lady Strelitzia, the others moved toward their assigned cases.

Gorran opened his first and lifted out a shield that was thinner than his previous one yet heavier, alongside a halberd whose head was etched in a script that did not belong to any currently spoken language.

Irhaal withdrew a staff in three sections that collapsed into each other with a precision that suggested that the tolerances involved were not mechanical. Each section had a different material that was visibly distinct and meant to be combined.

Naya lifted a set of priestess robes that were layered in enchantment work dense enough that the fabric moved slightly differently than normal fabric should, as though the weight of what was woven into it had transcended it above the realms of clothing or even armor.

Naf put on a custom helm designed specifically for his Esper skill. It held no slots for eyes, nose, or mouth, focused instead solely on making his already terrifying ability many times stronger and providing protection from external interferences.

Lady Strelitzia watched them gear up and said, "One thing to carry with you."

She waited until every hand had stilled.

"The mask of the Stolen Visage and the spoofing rings are relics sourced from Chronos Protocol, purchased by our founder. If that man is the Destined Hero, he will see through them. Account for this."

She let that sit for a moment before-

"Luke," she added, pushing the bracelet the remaining distance across the table toward him. "The Axe of the Void’s Edge has been sent ahead to Kisho’s estate. This bonds you to it. Briefing dismissed, prepare for deployment."

Luke picked up the bracelet, turning it around between his fingers. He knew exactly what the Axe of the Void’s Edge was, and how powerful it was, and how to use it.

So did everyone else in the room.

Pressing his thumb to its surface, a single drop of blood welled up and sank into the metal, doing so without a sound.

And as he clasped it around his wrists, feeling himself connected to the axe sitting thousands of kilometres away, far south, Team Laps formed up without being told to, falling into a loose cluster with hands joined with each other’s and touching Luke’s back.

And just as Luke was about to activate the enchantment-

"Luke," Lady Strelitzia called out. "Try not to lose this one."

A beat, and a nod followed before-

"I won’t. I promise."

She gave a single nod, and Luke activated the enchantment.

And the very next second, Team Laps vanished from where they stood.

The air did not move, nor did the ambient mana, and even the light shining through the open balcony did not waver.

Team Laps simply was not there anymore as though they never were. They were already at Shinkotsu.

Lady Strelitzia looked at the empty space where they had been standing for a moment before slowly exhaling through her nose.

And just as she did-

-Knock-Knock 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

A knock came at the door.

"Enter."

The door opened, and the department heads filed in, six of them with expressions that carried the specific combination of professional composure and poorly concealed anxiety that accompanied unannounced visits from the Director.

She took one look at them and arrived at the conclusion that this was going to take considerably longer than she wanted it to.

[Might as well see what can be done about transferring Doctor Solenne to Cardella.]