"That's adorable...don't worry, we can talk all about it when we're done. I've read plenty of guides on how to make a date go smoothly for research purposes. And, women are tricky. I cannot say for sure, since this outer shell is really only made to look female, but I'll do my best to assist you. For now, yes, the mission takes importance." "Oh thank goodness," Dimitri breathed a sigh of relief as Auriola added that last bit.
Anything to delay talking about how spectacularly he failed with that one night stand, he could appreciate. Right now, though, he too should concentrate on the mission.
Now that he thought, Dimitri
did send a swarm of bats to scout out the entire town prior to their conversation; with each one hovering around the outside of each building looking in. Not the most effective way to gain information, but certainly more subtle than homing the entire swarm on just the old library. On top of that, it covered the off-chance that Prelati would not be
there at the library any more. Perhaps this time, Dimitri could actually spot the target before...
"Target found." ...perhaps not. The vampire could only shake his head.
"You beat me every time," he stated, before putting on his game face,
"Alright, then; let's go."...
About half-way into their sprint towards the old library, the bat that had previously stationed itself there returned to Dimitri, and perched itself on its shoulder. There, it was able to show him what it had saw; the first thing he noted being Prelati's new body.
"Wait, hold on... I strictly remember Prelati being male," Dimitri said, perplexity evident in his voice, before turning to Auriola,
"Was that not what we were informed?"There was additional, more important information that the bat relayed. Prelati had also managed to amass an army of autonomous suits of armor, all of various sizes. Most were about the size one would expect, but there were also some very small suits, and even one whose size the library was barely able to contain. It was likely Prelati made this army in response to having been discovered, in which case Dimitri and Auriola would be in for a fight the second they got there. Information obtained, Dimitri turned to the bat on his shoulder.
"Go now; contact Ixveria and let her know we've engaged the enemy," he instructed as he ran.
Sure enough, the bat took off, flying back to base.
...
Dimitri and Auriola managed to make it to the old library, and would already be staring down the brigade of armor suits. Hakuryu had also been there already by the looks of it, which as of this moment was probably a good thing; they needed all the help they could get.
"I've got this overbearing one," Dimitri informed the others,
"Auriola, Haku, can I trust you two to cover for me?"A simple nod of the head would've sufficed as an answer, but in any case, the fight was on. Dimitri looked up at the gargantuan suit of armor. He was easily the tallest of the three peerage members that were present, yet this autonomous suit that he was challenging was even able to dwarf
him of all people. But he wasn't afraid; after all, the bigger they were, the harder they fell.
Dimitri began by gathering the swarm of bats that he summoned earlier, and having them converge at attack the giant suit's head and shoulder area. Their strikes wouldn't inflict much damage, especially not to a being that size, but it'd be more than enough to serve as a distraction. Then, while the suit would be futilely swatting away at the bats, Dimitri charged straight for one of its legs, and aimed his shoulder and Shadow Blinked just as he was closing in, his body turning corporeal again right when said shoulder would make contact. The idea was that, between his superhuman strength and the sheer speed his body was travelling at through the effects of the Shadow Blink, Dimitri would crash into the suit's leg with enough force to trip it over, where it would be infinitely more vulnerable.
