Before moving on ahead, the group had a short conversation about their plan once they encountered Gepard. Sunny passed Bronya's letter over to Serval during this process.
After a couple of minutes that consisted of formulating, considering, and debunking plans, they eventually settled for a simple, yet effective plan of action.
"And you're completely sure that he won't get too hurt, right?"
Sunny paused at Serval's question.
"A couple bones might break, but that's his area of expertise, right? It's not like he'll die or anything. Besides, there won't be any fight as long as you succeed in convincing him."
She sighed, but didn't voice any more complaints.
Meanwhile, Sunny's shadow was scanning the area around Gepard. There were a few Silvermane Guards around, but they didn't seem prepared to engage in combat. Instead, they were off to the side as Gepard stood in the way to the Fragmentum. Sunny's attention was particularly drawn to an excessively short one, causing him to wonder if the Silvermane Guards took in children.
He must have ordered them to stay out of the fight. After all, they had no place in a battle between Awakened.
However, this brought up another problem. How was Gepard supposed to face four Awakened — along with an Ascended, if Serval fought as well? She might not have a combat-related Aspect, but her physical strength certainly should have exceeded that of Gepard's.
Sunny mindlessly surveyed the area around, but couldn't find anything out of place. He didn't believe that Gepard was stupid enough to fight a losing battle — one that might end alongside his life if something went wrong. Despite that, he couldn't find anything that denoted another Awakened to assist him.
Even with the strangeness of the situation, they proceeded onwards.
After a while, the blonde man came into view. He glanced over them, his gaze landing on Serval.
"Serval... it really is you."
Sunny blinked.
'How dramatic…'
She said in a hurried tone:
"Wait, Gepard! Listen to me—"
He paid her no attention as he interrupted her.
"When the sentry reported to me, I thought there must have been a misunderstanding. The enemy alarm had to be unrelated to your entry into the restricted zone — perhaps the intruders had taken you hostage. And yet..."
A heavy sigh escaped him.
"Step away from the intruders, Serval. Walk over slowly and stand behind me. You're different from them."
She grimaced at his ultimatum. As expected, any convincing wasn't going to be very effective.
"I'm sorry... we have an understanding. I stand with them."
Gepard stayed silent, but his form grew tenser. Serval continued:
"Give me a few minutes, just a few. I'll explain every—"
"Enough, Serval!"
His sudden shout halted her words.
"Have you forgotten where we are? We Landaus ought to know this place better than anywhere... The outer reaches of the front line against the Fragmentum, Belobog's most strategic protective fortess. Every Silvermane Guard here, every person here, is ready to sacrifice themselves, ready to spill their blood for Belobog at a moment's notice... Yet here you are leading fugitives into the restricted zone, attacking my Silvermane comrades-in-arms, hijacking the energy hub... Are you really worthy of the Landau name?"
She pinched the ridge of her nose in frustration.
"Why do you think I've come here? We've found a way to dispel the Eternal Freeze, to seal the Fragmentum. It might be the only lifeline this world has left!"
He furrowed his brows in both confusion and anger.
"If that were true, why wouldn't you report to Madam Cocolia? Why would you sneak into the restricted zone and create chaos!?"
Serval sighed.
"You don't understand. The one preventing us from getting close to the truth... is Cocolia herself."
Gepard registered her words. As Sunny watched the confrontation between siblings as an unburdened spectator, he thought that this was a good opportunity to sway the blonde man.
However, he simply shook his head in disappointment, completely unmoved. His gaze broadened to the rest of them.
"...You have all seen the Supreme Guardian person. Do you think you can act as you please because she didn't recognize your version of events!?"
Serval quickly interjected.
"Listen to me, Gepard! The origin and spread of the Fragmentum is linked to the Stellaron. The meteorite in the Architects' records, it's—"
Unbothered, he interrupted her once more.
"I know about the Stellaron. It's exactly what the fugitives behind you are seeking. But the Madam Guardian has already revealed the truth to me! These people have ulterior motives, Serval. They want to steal this treasure from the Architects."
Sunny deadpanned.
'…What the fuck?'
…He admitted that it was a good story to use a method of control over the Silvermane Guards, but from Sunny's own perspective, it might have been the most ridiculous idea he had ever heard. Out of all the things that the Architects might have, why would they want the one thing that is an active threat to them?
If he really wanted to steal something, there was always Cocolia's—
Sunny blinked. Maybe he shouldn't continue that line of thought. Rectifying himself, he came up with a more tame thought.
If he really wanted to steal something, then he'd rather take the property of a random civilian. At least their stuff wouldn't try to actively kill him.
Meanwhile, Gepard continued:
"The Madam Guardian has warned me before that you were indulging in fantasy, that you'd been exposed to forbidden knowledge, and that you would bring destruction down upon Belobog... I believe you, Serval, I believe you think you're acting with loyalty to the people! It's just..."
He paused, sighing. He snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, Sunny felt himself grow lethargic. His eyes widened as he became weak and fragile. It was like his Rank had been sent down to Dormant. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the others were facing a similar conundrum.
Staying calm, he quickly checked all his capabilities. He could instinctively feel that the only thing that changed was his physical capabilities. He could still use his Aspect Abilities, his Attributes still operated as they should, and he could still summon his Memories.
The Dormant Rank ranged from mundane humans to Sleepers. As such, the difference between the two wasn't too stark. A Sleeper with a fully saturated Soul Core barely surpassed the physical capabilities of the strongest of normal people. Of course, this excluded any augmentations from their Aspect.
"Guards, formation! Arrest these people. We could be inundated with Fragmentum monsters at any moment, we have no time to waste on them!"
…Which meant that they were vulnerable to the mundane guards.
The moment that Sunny felt the sudden feeling of weakness, he immediately recalled March and Dan Heng's previous scuffle against the Silvermane Guards. Among their enemies was a petite woman…
As a dozen of guards approached them, Sunny's eyes swiveled across. He focused on the shortest one present — who was even shorter than Sparkle. The Silvermane Guard froze once his gaze landed on them.
'Found you.'
Sunny dove into the shadows, using Shadow Step to instantaneously get behind the guard. Augmenting himself with all three of his shadows, he reappeared with a baseball bat in his hands as he was already positioned to swing it. Due to his weakened state, he didn't have to worry about using too much strength.
Once he saw the back of the enemy, he swung with devestating force — at least, it should have been. Instead, it was quite lacking compared to what he was normally able to do. However, it would definitely be enough to get the job done.
Unfortunately, the Silvermane Guard dodged his blow; after all, Sunny wasn't at the strength he was normally at. As they rolled away at speeds that he could barely keep track of due to his senses being dulled, he watched as they grappled onto the mangled helmet on their head.
Although they managed to dodge, Sunny's bat had made contact with the helmet. Even though he was much weaker than usual, due to the powers of Destruction, it had torn through the steel that made up the helmet.
Tearing the warped piece of metal of their head, the perpetrator of the weakening effect was revealed.
She had bright blue eyes and long indigo hair that fell neatly around her face. Her hair was cut straight across just below her chin, with soft fringe bangs resting on her forehead. Two strands of hair, one on each side, hung loosely and were held in place by simple silver pins.
She wore a pair of round glasses. However, they were littered with cracks, and the frame was barely holding together. With a scowl, she took it off and tossed it to the ground.
"Pela?!"
Serval's sudden shout distracted Sunny for a moment. Didn't she say that name when she was talking to Gepard in the workshop?
Focusing, Sunny sent out one of his shadows. At the same time, a figure that was encased in dark, stone-like armor crawled out of the shadow, a broadsword and shield held within her hands.
Saint broke out of her slumber as she joined the battle.
Pela's eyes flashed with azure light. Based on the connection that Sunny shared with his Shadow, he understood that her Rank had been decreased by one. Originally an Ascended Demon, she was now back to being an Awakened Demon.
…That was only an estimate. Although Sunny was completely sure that he had reached the level of a Dormant being, Saint seemed to be stuck between the Awakened and Ascended Ranks. To be precise, it seemed that rather than reducing the Ranks of others, Pela's Aspext simply weakened them directly. The easiest way to compare was to use the Ranks as a reference.
Even though Saint was now weakened, Sunny couldn't help but grin. If she was only demoted to being less than an Ascended, then that meant that the same could be said for Serval. They still had two fighters that were more powerful than the average Awakened… well, Serval wasn't really a combatant, but his point still stands!
The Happy shadow augmented Saint, multiplying her strength by two.
The moment Saint had been summoned, everyone excluding Serval attempted to sprint past Gepard and Pela. Seele used her Aspect to flutter around, creating swaths of illusory butterflies. She circled around the two of them, impairing their vision.
Once the illusory butterflies disappeared, they were already gone. All that remained was Saint and Serval. Gepard gazed back, but he could only see the retreating backs of the four Awakened.
They had retreated.
From the beginning, the plan had been to use Saint as a distraction so that the rest of them could run past. However, that was reliant on her Ascendent Strength. Using his shadow, Sunny formulated dark words on the concrete in front of Serval while Seele was distracting Gepard and Pela in their bid to run away.
Using his shadow, he was able to convey information without verbally speaking. This allowed them to fluidly communicate without exposing anything to anyone else.
To put it simply, the original plan consisted of: summoning Saint, using Seele's butterflies as cover, run away, let Saint handle the rest. The only changes was to have Serval assist Saint as the only person who could match the strength of an Awakened after being weakened.
Although Serval was a non-combatant, Sunny deduced that the same could be said for Pela. If she was able to hold her own in a fight, then she wouldn't have tried to hide herself under the Silvermane Guard uniform.
Which meant that a quasi-Ascended Demon and a quasi-Ascended human were going to face two Awakened humans.