Mikoto opened her eyes with a violent exhale, sitting up quickly as her gaze darted around her new surroundings. She was in a bedroom in her Familia home, one that she shared with Chigusa and Asuka. Early morning sunshine beamed through the window, settling on the bedspread in a way that was entirely too cheerful considering what’d happened last night. There was an Ouka shaped hole in the wall where he’d come flying in, and another one near the door where he’d charged back into the hallway. It might’ve seemed silly of him not to use the door, but she knew that going through the wall was a part of his plan to take the enemy off guard. Wincing, Mikoto rubbed her stiff back and sides, muscles cramping from her sudden sitting up movement. The cuts were gone, likely from a healing potion they’d fed her in her sleep, and the poison had left her system as well. The soreness in her muscles was likely just a lingering effect from the poison rampaging through her system and her exertions despite said rampaging. It was nothing a little rest couldn’t cure, but Mikoto didn’t want rest right now.

  She got out of bed and leapt down the stairs to the kitchen, letting out a grateful breath to see her Familia sitting around the circular dining table. The adventurers looked as worn down as Mikoto felt, but all of them were clearly alive and none seemed to have taken permanent injuries. The kitchen around them was totally trashed, but it was something they could replace without much difficulty. Takemikazuchi was the first to greet her, his eyes twinkling with happiness to see his ‘child’ awake and up: “Mikoto! Perfect timing. We were just talking over how to get Hestia back.”

  Mikoto felt a thrill of fear when she heard that it was Adama’s divinity who’d been kidnapped. She bowed low, shame welling up alongside the fear as she responded: “My apologies. I let them get away.”

  The prompted a chorus of denials, with Ouka being the most prominent in his protest: “The fault lies with all of us. You were the one who was closest to succeeding!”

  Take shook his head: “Even I was prevented from interfering. You have nothing for which to apologize.”

  She raised her head, looking at her Lord in some confusion: “Forgiveness Lord, but how were you prevented?”

  Takemikazuchi looked pristine in comparison to his adventurer subordinates. Mikoto couldn’t imaging that the enemy had a warrior that could measure up to her master. The divinity in question simply shook his head: “Remember that my physical abilities are little more than that of a mortal. They sent a dozen Level 1 assassins to ambush me. Killing them all took time.”

  At that point, Asuka piped up: “I was at fault as well. Chigusa and I were losing our fight before the Lord came in to save us. I passed out just as he got there, but at least Chigusa managed to run after you.”

  Take waved his hand in dismissal: “There is no need to further litigate the past. What’s done is done. Let’s start thinking about the future. Please, Mikoto, sit down.”

  She did as ordered, taking a seat at the table and looking at the map on top of it. It was a map of Orario, with numerous locations marked with black Xs. Takemikazuchi restarted the briefing for Mikoto’s benefit: “The Xs represent Sehkmet Familia assets throughout the city. I, alongside our shadowy friend, have been tracking them down over the past few months for an occasion just like this one. Hestia has likely been taken to one of these facilities.”

  A while ago, a hooded figure had appeared on their Familia’s doorstep. It had told them that it’d learned that Sekhmet Familia was responsible for the poisoning of the divinities. It’d offered its aid in the effort to defeat them, and Take had accepted, but Mikoto hadn’t seen much of the figure afterward. It looked like their shadowy friend had been very useful. Mikoto’s eyes scanned the board thoughtfully as she observed: “There seem to be a lot of them. Does the enemy outnumber us so badly?”

  Take nodded: “We only saw a fraction of their forces last night. We could try to attack one facility, and would certainly defeat its forces, yet Hestia likely wouldn’t be there. If the others saw that, they would move to take her out of the city, if they haven’t already. Alternatively, they could attack us directly, which would almost certainly result in deaths on our side.”

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  “Then what can we do if we can’t attack them?”, Chigusa questioned, distressed about the odds stacked against them. Take just smiled gently at her: “Who said we can’t attack them? Of course we can. We just need to be smart about things. In war, one must always look to stack the deck in ones favor before the fight even begins.”

  Ouka leaned forward, eager now that their master was getting to the heart of the issue: “You have a plan, Lord?”

  Take’s grin grew a touch wider: “I have a plan and something better than a plan. I have a friend. A friend who just got back from an expedition to the Dungeon.”

  Ouka frowned softly: “Forgiveness, Lord, but how could one more person be enough to ‘stack the deck in our favor’? In order to handle this problem, we would have to search and destroy these facilities in a single night to ensure they do not get away. And it will have to be as soon as possible, to keep them from moving the Lady Hestia out of the city.”

  Take was already nodding again before Ouka even finished his sentence: “Indeed, we need to do exactly that, Ouka. But I think you’re underestimating just how much help a single sword can be…”

  …

  Adama and the others ran though the canyons at a brisk pace, eager to find their quarry as soon as possible. While this haste might alert many of the local monsters, that was a price they were willing to pay for speed. It was best to give their hidden stalkers as little time as possible to plan out an attack. This strategy involved them in several more skirmishes, but it paid off pretty quickly. Adama felt a great heat at the edges of his perception, and he quietly ordered: “Slow down. We’re close.”

  The party’s pace slowed to a crawl as they crept through this final stretch. The heat steadily grew even worse, and the weaker members needed to drink another Fire Resistance potion, but it wasn’t long before they peered around another corner and caught sight of their long-awaited target.

  The Sun Dragon was a sight to behold. Its scales blazed with yellowish white light, their heat and color reminiscent of the sun at noon. It was larger than the Plague dragon, its body wider than four large boulders standing side-to-side and taller than a four-story house. It was the largest beast Adama had ever seen, in this life at least, and from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail it likely eclipsed 35 meters. On the scale of Cradle, it wasn’t much to write home about, but Adama’s body felt an instinctive thrill of fear in response to gazing at a beast so beyond its ordinary experience. Adama suppressed that fear ruthlessly but still made a note of it. It helped reinforce the need for caution. This thing was a Level 5 menace, and its capacity for intimidation couldn’t be underestimated either.

  The Sun Dragon lay curled up in the middle of a massive, circular clearing that the Valley opened into, the creature apparently deep in dreamland. Its nostrils expelled long gouts of white flame as it sighed in its sleep, smoke curling up to the heavens. The adventures watched it for a short period before turning back. After going out of the creature’s earshot, they got into a huddle and Adama laid out the plan: “Emi, prep your buff magic. Once you cast it, focus just on defending this group and conserving your resources.”

  Emi nodded and he continued: “Lilli, you’ll open the fight with our remaining contingencies. Use everything. We need to kill this thing fast.”

  She confirmed and Adama finished his speech: “As for you elves, stay on the lookout for the assassins. They’re still lurking out there somewhere and I’ll need your help to keep them off my back if they decide to interfere with this fight. Leave the dragon to me.”

  Valar’s eyes flashed with worry at that, his trust in the swordsman not quite as rock solid as the girls’. He spoke: “Are you sure about that, Master Adama? We could-“

  “You’re out of freezing arrows so there’s not much you can do for me.”, Adama interrupted coldly, stating the facts plainly before softening his tone a bit, “I appreciate the concern, but have a little faith.”

  That got everyone nodding to Adama’s satisfaction. He finished the meeting with a few final words: “We’re in the home stretch. Stay sharp.”

  With that, their huddle broke up and they walked back to the clearing. As Adama had ordered, it was Lilli who opened the fight. She drew out a litany of potions, colored varying degrees of violet or black, and threw them in a steady barrage at the sleeping dragon. They looked tiny next to the great beast, and they shattered easily against its head, like Lilli was doing little more than throwing eggs at the mighty predator. Even if it looked insignificant, the monster immediately began to stir as the first potion hit its head. An eye, glowing a bright ruby red, quickly snapped open as the beast realized what was happening, but it was too late. Lilli had already thrown all her potions, showering the monster in their effects.

  Debuff potions were a tried-and-true metric for taking on opponents that eclipsed you in strength. Naaza had prepared quite a few for their group in anticipation of their battle against the Sun Dragon, and Adama had added to their stockpile as best as he could once she’d been incapacitated. The beast was normally an upper Level 5 threat, but these potions should bring that threat to more manageable levels. Still dangerous for Adama alone, but enough that this wasn’t a suicide mission.

  Emi began her chanting, the elves watching her back as she did, as Adama dashed out into the clearing. The dragon stood to full height in a flash, breath kindling in its throat as it prepared to torch this new threat. The swordsman drew his ivory blade, eyes glinting with resolve as he let loose a Rippling Sword.

  With this as its preamble, the battle began.