---

Their teamwork was bad at the beginning, but Vali was grateful that Argus and Sarah were able to follow-up on his relentless hammering at the woman and the clown. The red-haired mage moved fast on his feet, impressing the sniper with his efficient use of bombs to corner the duo in separating from each other-- the pair's cooperative strategies was a huge detriment to Vali's efforts in taking them out before. Then, as the woman blasted the clown from her side, Sara's celestial spirit, Scorpio, sent him flying further with horrible injuries with a devastating column of sand. Now, what was once a formidable trio of bandits had been reduced to an injured woman and an overconfident speedster. The sniper smirked at the notion that these rogues rolled too high, and they lost the draw. They moved their pieces carelessly, too proud to see the deceptive strength hidden beneath the exteriors of Dragon Heart's mages. Now, only the King and the Queen remained. Damian's status still stabbed at Vali's mind, but he couldn't waver, not now-- not when the tides were turning.

Vali would have celebrated this success, but his doom came upon him in the form of a gigantic sphere of coiling crimson flames. The orb slammed against his general direction, propelling a devastating torrent of fire to lick at the ground. The marksman stumbled to his feet, the hasty embers clinging to the illusory cloak. He was able to tumble down a small watering creek where the farmers often fetched their pails of water, and he was able to extinguish the flames on the Argus' loaned equipment to him. However, Vali severely underestimated the intensity of the flames which razed the grounds before him, leaving scorched blotches of black earth-- he hissed at the burns on his left arm which failed to dodge in time. His flesh now turned a furious red, causing the marksman to try to soothe it with water. He shed off the cloak, casting it aside as he lathered his burns with water.

"Marksman here," Vali spoke into the ring, sending his voice to his teammates. "Sara was able to put the clown out of commission. The woman, on the other hand, is injured thanks to Argus' bombs. She won't be able to fight anytime soon, which leaves us with the speedster. Excellent work, team. Although, there is a bandit medic lurking somewhere in the battlefield." Vali paused as he looked up at the sky. "I know what you're thinking, but I refuse to attack him. I also suggest you guys do the same. Attacking a medic is a crime. Remember that."

Vali withheld his location to avoid his enemies discovering where he currently was. However, with his left arm and left leg sustaining severe burns, he doubted he could move too much. The speedster was definitely his greatest threat; Jean specialized in close combat, something that Vali disdained with his own fighting style. He could only pray that his allies keep Jean busy until he could fight once more.

"Argus, finish the woman if you can. Sara and Trix, support Damian. Make sure he's safe. Sara, if you have a spirit who can lock down the speedster's feet or movement, that would be great. Once Sara locks Jean in place, Trix, put a hammer in his skull."

The sniper finished relaying his strategy to them as he tore a piece of his shirt which he soaked in the cool waters. He set about treating his burn wounds as he prayed for the best.

"Vega, be polite. She may not look like much, but any guildmaster could probably bend you in half. Either way, we shouldn't go antagonizing random people we just met." He wasn't all too worried about a dark mage, but since this seemed like the first meeting he'd be having with a new guild, he should try and forge a proper relationship. Either way, he delivered a kick to Vega's chair, breaking the leg and knocking him right over.

"I apologize for my companion. He has a debilitating disease that forces him to be rude and intolerable around others. The only cure is that he should keep his mouth shut." Muko said, bowing to the guildmaster. "We are from Dragon Heart, and have heard of your plight. We felt we should come and help you remove the dark mage causing trouble in town. We stopped by here, as we knew you would be more than able to fill us in on the history of these attacks." He was more than happy that there wasn't a crowd, but at the very least it meant they knew exactly who to ask. Honestly, this felt too easy.

After all, what kind of mission was this? The guild looked like a copy of the one in Dragonheart, in fact, the interior could very well be a one for one. Was there a lazy contractor? He had to admit, it wasn't that high up in his line of thought. Maybe once they found out what was going on, they'd have something to stand on.

---

Annalyse thought about the information which Ceri had gathered. If there were a group of them having some sort of a meeting then it was likely the stronger ones and the leaders were in that room. "I feel like what Flavia suggested would be best with who is here. Miss Illedrith, would it be possible for you to hide us and Ceri's smoke? Because if so we'd be able to easily sneak around and take the weaker members out one by one. After that, I really have no clue what to do against the people in that meeting room."

@Hitman@Aeolian@MarsAdept

---

Glory met Lorn's eyes very briefly. His heart magic didn't mesh so well with her mechanical coldness, so all Glory could get out of him was a nod. Still, it was all she needed to see that he was starting to creep towards the metal door at the end of the room. Glory understood his intention and, with Victoria being pinned down by fireballs, Glory had her first target to keep the attention of everyone held... Until Tiger made himself known.

Leaving Victoria to handle the guard on her own, Glory turned her attention to Tiger. He was giving a small speech laden with threats and boasting. Glory would've rolled her eyes if it weren't for the unbridled rage she was feeling. Assessing the situation, Glory logically assumed that defeating Tiger would lead to the subsequent defeat of the other guards present. 'Remove the head and the body will die', as had been so frequently put.

Deciding to act in surprise, Glory launched herself from the rubble pile while Tiger was mid-sentence. Her left arm was drawn back for another punch and Overdrive was still active. To give herself another boost of speed, Glory drew her arm back just a bit further and activated her left arm's [Elbow Jet] to boost her speed to insane levels. Just as Glory was within earshot and punching distance, she whispered one thing to Tiger as a form of intimidation. "You talk too much."

With that, Glory would be propelling her arm forward into Tiger's chest at high speed with enough force to shatter reinforced metal walls with ease. Tiger would be in for a world of hurt if he didn't have some plan to block the punch or move out of the way in time. Such was the power of Glory using her abilities and magic in tandem. Hopefully this fight wouldn't take long, as maintaining Overdrive took up a lot of mana. Glory could fight just fine without mana, but fighting with spells at the ready was much more pleasant than fighting without.

"This is the Sniper of Dragon Heart,"

"Tend to your wounded and mourn for your loss after the battle, lest you join their ranks and they lose any chance of survival. But,"

"If you insist on helping your fallen friends on the field, then, I will watch over you, because I am Dragon Heart. And, I know what it means for others to fade before your eyes."

"But, know this," Vali continued through the ring. "If you get in between my allies and me, I will not hesitate to put a bullet through you. The law dictates that your task is only to retrieve your allies. Nothing more."

---

Pox was not going to be intimidated, nor was he going to be denied his life's calling because of the motions of fools.

"Thank goodness you're here Dragon Heart!" Pox knew not where the voice came from, but used that knowledge as a way to mean he wasn't going to need to hide as he had done before. He seemed to be absolutely thrilled at the news. He was interrupted as the voice ordered him on what to do, and then threatened him.

But then the words continued and Pox stamped his feet casting his fists in the air. "What are you threatening me for!? I'm Apothecary Pox! I'm the one who hired you you ingrate!" He knew the guild policy and it certainly wasn't going to be attacking the one that hired you. "And I'm not going to have corpses in this town! I dont care whose side its on! Im to tend to this village! It's your bloody fault to have the battle this close to civilians!" he shouted to the sniper over the battle, and he lost track of the battle as things got worse.

The battle intensified and it made Pox dive for cover, he needed to get away from this place, see what happens.

Pox however was stealthy when he needed to be, and the battle made it pretty easy to figure out where everyone was at this point. For instance, getting into the cornfield, he managed to get to the otherside of the battle, and even to sneak up on the sniper who snuck up on him, who seemed to have gotten a little burned up.

While he was giving the orders, he would already feel his wounds glowing and the blood soothing away. Pox had been casting his spells, healing the 'proposed' enemy. Mask to mask, it was a little odd but Pox was true to his word. "That includes you and your guild. Thank you very much." He said, a bit indignant, as he cast his magic, staying low , on his knees, still trying to keep his head down.

Now that his allies were now given a power boost, it was time to strike. As Damian prepared for close combat, his adversaries manage to deal the first blow, the only signal that was given to him were the chants that the mages shouted before casting their spells.

“Metal moss!”

Damian thrusted his blade into the earth causing moss to grow at a rapid pace, enveloping the wizard in a protective barrier. The moss then went went through a transformation in appearance, going from a pine green color into a gunmetal gray. Along with the color change, the moss also grew stiff further reinforcing the wizards barrier. Damian was able to withstand the spells that had were casted on him, the flames scorched his barrier cooking the wizard inside a bit while the rocks thrashed violently against his barrier, wearing his defenses down nicely for Jean.

The swordsman pierced Damian’s defenses with ease, with a few slices he completely opened up his barrier. Unfortunately for Damian he wasn’t even done yet as his flurry continued, Damian managed to pull his sword from the ground and deflect one of the strikes in time but before he could try to react on it Jean was already into his last two strikes which licked the boys torso nicely. Damian wasn’t prepared for the foes attack’s to completely annihalate his defenses. Damian quickly back peddled out of range of Jeans sword, he’d take advantage of the smoke that surrounded him from the previous attack’s and mend his wounds a bit. Noticing a dead tree nearby, Damian made a quick move for it quickly merging with the plant and completely masking his presence on the battlefield.

While Damian lurked in the shadows of the battlefield the wizard quietly allowed his arc of trees to work it’s way and revive the dead roots of tree he had been residing in. Since a deep network of roots was already in place, it was much easier to use a network that was already in place as opposed to creating an entirely new once. Damian was preparing a ring to isolate Jean while his allies dealt with the other two bandits.

Simultaneously he watched as Vali rained hell on the trio, taking advantage of their least mobile member. Argus also took advantage of the situation and went on the offensive quickly switching targets and dealing heaving damage onto the rock lady who decided push away the clown as an attempt to save them. The man smirked as his allies moved on with the impromptu plan of divide and conquer.

Jean praised the group for managing to take out his partners, as the man spoke he moved onto phase two of isolation. Trees, a whole lot of them , sprouted from the ground and formed a large ring around him quickly surrounding Jean. Damian who had been hiding , emerged from his hiding spot and jumped back into the fray. His shirt had been sliced cleanly acrossed his chest, two nice slashes across his chest that was bleeding showed proof of that.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be alright.”

The wizard said as he twirled his blade as he approached the outside of the ring of trees. Damian lightly fiddled with his sword, the look on his face serious as he phased through one of the trees that trapped Jean. The wizard entered the ring with a chip on his shoulder as he stared his foe down.

“That was a nice little surprise attack you tried to pull back there but I think you may have underestimated me a bit.”

---

The angry crimson shade of his arm and legs vanishing stayed the sniper's hand as he felt the medic approach him from behind. To be honest, for this person to have crept this close to him without Vali noticing surprised the marksman as he feigned nonchalance, chalking it up to his injuries being too severe to have noticed the bandit come close.

"It would help to send a picture of you on the job listing," Vali retorted with a roll of his eyes as he softly glided his finger over the dissipating burn marks. "And, also, not wearing the bandit's colors would help me not to shoot you down. Or, not healing the bandits in the first place."

The marksman stood up as he toted his rifle on his shoulder, his left hand sifting through his satchel to count how many bullets he had left. With this extended skirmish, Vali noted that he could not help out any longer-- at least, offensively. He could still probably shoot healing bullets or utility shots, but to expend his remaining energies on powerful attacks like the piercing or exploding bullets was out of the question. At this point, his strategies had already given them an upper hand. Vali doubted his help was needed any longer. Instead, he chose to continue interacting with their contractor, Pox. It was amazing how many similarities they had: they were both healers, they both were bandits (or at least, one used to be one), and they both donned masks. The marksman could sense the mysteries hiding beneath the soulless irises of the bird mask, and while his guard remained raised, the lad could not help but also feel a sense of connection with Pox-- at least, due to their preference to save as many lives as possible.

"You not only risked your neck by crawling around a bloody battlefield, but you also have no means of a long-range ability to heal your comrades." Vali remarked with a scoff. "Not the sharpest syringe in the cabinet, are you, Pox? Then again, to stand so gracefully for me to blow your head off should have been clue number one, in retrospect. You did not think this through, and for a medic, not thinking can end more lives than saving them."

The sounds of Damian's trees joining the battle eased the sniper, confident with the idea that at least their greatest powerhouse had emerged at last. He could at least rest easy, for now. He turned his attention back to Pox, loading five bullets into his rifle before approaching the medic.

"But, I do apologize." Vali bowed his head towards his fellow medic. "Attacking a medic has no honor. Words are but a reflection of the speaker, and I do hope you understand that my words were a reflection of my fear. I feared having to choose between my allies and my principles. As medics, we always pledge to do no harm to our patients, but where do we draw the line knowing that our patient may kill our brothers and sisters? These bandits broke the rules. They are scum."

Vali's sharp eyes turned in the direction of one of the village's buildings, spotting one of the surviving bandits peeking his head through the windows in an effort to see the ongoing skirmish. He gestured to Pox, signaling how easy it could have been for him to take out that peeping bandit.

"You asked us to help you in curing a disease in your town, and these bandits just destroyed your cure. I understand the weight of principles, Pox, but," Vali raised his rifle, scoping in on the bandit. "The wails will follow in the steps of these men who left many a widow in their wake. What's one evil life if it will save hundreds of innocents?"

His finger itched upon the trigger, but Vali eased his grip before bringing down his sniper. The sounds of battle resumed once more as the marksman had one more question to ask the medic, and his answer would affect the lad's next few actions. Valishin held up a bullet before it began to glow, continuously fading between green and yellow.

"The bandits we are facing now are powerful. If my allies and your bandits were all on the brink of death, who would you save first? Assuming I'm all out of healing bullets, whose life would you anchor? My brothers and sisters of Dragon Heart or these bandits you call your own?" Vali gripped the bullet before pointing it in the direction of the fight. "I know my principles and my choice. Now, what about you, doc?"

---

Mis chuckled at Flavia's attempts to avoid insulting her senior, but she'd hit the nail on the head.

"No need to be so careful with your words around me, Flav; I'm not quite so petty to be mad about something like that! Not only that, but I agree with you. If it was just a fistfight I could probably clear these goons by myself, but since we know there's a Dark Guild involved it's best if we take this slowly."

Hearing Anna's suggestion, Mis shook her head briefly before replying.

"While I can use my mirrors to replicate what's behind them in order to gain 'invisibility', I can't yet make it work well except from in one direction, and I haven't yet mastered it on the move. I can remove us from view behind a mirror, but there'll be a blur at the edges of the mirror where the images don't line up perfectly while we're in motion, which is much more noticeable than you'd imagine."

Looking up at the building for a moment, she then grinned before turning back to the group.

"But it occurs to me that they're all inside, and their windows will be reflective, so I can take control of a few of them and remove us out of those. It won't help us if they come outside, or if they're looking through a window I don't control, but it's better than nothing. Under the cover of that, perhaps we can move up to the house itself and then look for a way in?"