The beautiful evening sky was illuminated by the fmes of the burning capital. It was quite a sight to behold. He had gotten the military on his side, so things were going quite smoothly for him. I watched everything unfold from atop the rooftop of a particurly tall house with my [Long Sight] skill. It's like a movie! I joked about it, but I was undeniably feeling tense, as I knew they'd be arriving any moment from now, and my expectations weren't disappointed.

  Before long, I saw a Berserker wreaking havoc in the city, destroying buildings and killing soldiers left and right. He killed in an exceedingly savage way that instilled fear in his opponents, making even the soldiers hesitate, but I'd prepared a [Precision Strike+] variant for special cases like him.

  "[Precision Strike+: Arrow Rain]." It basically multiplied the accuracy and raw damage of [Precision Strike+] by a factor of the number of arrows I used, so even if I couldn't kill him with one, the others would definitely end his life, Berserk state or not. Surprisingly, he tanked three hits before exploding into a shower of blood. That's... impressive.

  From there, I pnned to shoot down all the fliers I could before making my dramatic entrance on the stage, but I would soon come to find out that the enemy had other pns. I suddenly started feeling chills run down my spine. When I turned back, the reason for that became clear. There was a massive fist of solidified va heading my way, so I jumped down from the rooftop to avoid it, only to be suddenly transported away as soon as I nded.

  "I was certain I hit something," an old man said. He had a full head of grey hair, bck eyes, and wore the traditional Sage robe with dignity. If I saw him anywhere but here, I'd think he was nothing but a retired military personnel with his st, peaceful days ahead of him, but no, it could never be that simple. He had coated his arms with va and was maniputing it freely, even in his gesticutions. That entailed such a high degree of fire magic mastery that I didn't even want to think about it.

  "You're getting old, Feyrune," The woman who stood right next to him replied. Her long bck hair, purple eyes, and noble bearing were stunning, but the two rapiers she held in each hand stole the show for me.

  Isis' words came back to me loud and clear, "You'd do well to stay away from the Emperor and any woman you see with two rapiers equipped." I don't know what transpired between them, but it's safe to assume that she's on the Emperor's level, and knowing what we went through... I smiled as I dismissed the possibility of a successful mission. I just need to figure out how I'll come out of this alive, I thought to myself, my eyes moving from one elite to another, as I was completely surrounded.

  "Are you wondering how you got here?" The woman asked me directly. "That woman over there is our trap specialist, and deciding we could learn a thing or two from you guys, she figured out how to set teleportation traps and mastered the art! Isn't she brilliant?"

  "Oh, Anneliese, stop it," The woman said, her cheeks slightly flushed. They weren't even taking me seriously.

  "But really though, this is disappointing," Anneliese compined. "When the Goddess said there would be resistance, I didn't think she would mean a puny Sniper all by herself. Oh, well. I guess I can enjoy watching you die," her words were as sharp as knives, piercing my heart before the battle even began.

  "You'd do well not to underestimate me," I said, trying my best to keep my legs from shaking as I Recssed into a Swordmaster and drew my Mythril katana.

  "Are you dumb? You won't be able to use that."

  "She's trying to buy time," The old man expined.

  "Oh, I see," Her features livened up like she had just received a revetion from on high before they suddenly darkened as she ordered, "Kill her," in a ft tone of voice with the most merciless look I'd ever seen from anyone in both of my lives.

  Her goons acted fast. Gdiators, Warriors, Champions, and Dragon Knights all descended upon me at once, but I'd already activated [Bde Dance] moments prior. The feel of using it was difficult to describe in words. It was as if I was suddenly underwater with my bde acting as the guide through the vast, ever-shifting currents. It would move up, and a Gdiator would meet his end, move to the side and take another foe down effortlessly. I was light. I was free. It was an eborate dance, one that I got lost in as more and more of my enemies fell.

  "She's putting up more of a fight than I thought," The old man commented from the sides, but the look on the woman's face was priceless. Ha! You were wrong about me! I rejoiced internally.

  "This has to be mistake. She shouldn't be able to use a sword like that. Let me fight her myself." As soon as she said that, everyone remaining retreated to give her the honor of a one-on-one. Why this was, I couldn't say for sure, but my guess was that her strength truly shone when she fought solo. I had about twenty seconds left, so I pnned to exchange a few blows with her before retreating. She seems like a leader of Cerberus, so it'd be great if I could kill her here and now, I thought to myself as I let the sword guide me once more.

  She was exceedingly deft in the way she handled two of her rapiers, effortlessly deflecting or blocking all the guaranteed crits I threw her way. Eventually, she started putting me on the defensive as the bde focused more on evading than dishing out attacks. Perhaps it was because my senses were heightened, but I could intuitively gauge the weight that each thrust of her rapier carried. A direct hit meant certain death. How utterly absurd...

  I felt like I'd gotten a good grasp of her strength, but what was even stranger was my suspicion that throughout our exchange, she seemed to be growing stronger. Yeah, this isn't a fight I can win... not as I am now, I thought to myself as I retreated from the heated exchange, ready to make a run for it with the st five seconds I had.

  "I was seriously trying to kill you, and you managed to st a whole fifteen seconds against me. What's your name?" She asked with an intense fire burning in her eyes, but I didn't have the time to worry about honor or how I'd look if I suddenly made a run for it. Fortunately for me, however, the ground opened up beneath my feet and swallowed me up before I could even answer or run away. Thank you, Lord Behemoth, was all I could think on my way back to the castle.