Chapter 93 - Operation Phoenix's Curtains Close

Isabelle was waiting from the area where they had first departed from.

The High Council's Overseer had her arms crossed before waving at the Slayers after seeing them.

Her enthusiasm was cut short after she had noticed that Ignis Silva had been carrying someone on his shoulders. 

Isabelle's eyes were aghast and mortified as she noticed the body was moving up and down with no force or life whatsoever.

It was a Slayer's dead body.

She immediately ran and approached Ignis, she had pulled the dark pitch black robes from the dead Slayer's face.

"L-Let her down! I can still heal her!"

She said.

Ignis shook his head ever so slightly. Indicating that it was far too late for any healing techniques and skills to be done on the woman. 

Even back then, it still would not have made a difference. The way that the others found her body was truly horrific, her skin had turned pale, the blood that was lost wasn't mendable with any kind of healing, no matter how high class it may have been.

"Enough, Isabelle. She is gone."

Ignis said with an emotionless look on his face.

"How the hell did twenty S Rank Slayers manage to lose even a single member?!"

She protested and demanded to know.

Hector raised his hand, showing courtesy and respect as though he was still in a meeting.

The eyes were now glued onto him.

"Madam, if I may?" Hector asked. Isabelle nodded. "We have encountered a new variant or breed of Angels. They possess excellent speed and dexterity, they seem to arm themselves with the same scale and rotation of weapons that normal Angels tend to use. However, they are flightless."

Isabelle's brows moved upwards.

"The new breed of Angels are basically normal ones without wings. That is about it. We were lucky to even make it out of the battle as the victors, this lady's loss of life is indeed tragic, yet it is not something we should dwell on. We are Slayers. Curse your own powerlessness."

He said as he turned his head and looked at the Slayers behind hm.

This had sent them into a frenzy.

"How dare you! Who the hell do you even think you are?!"

"Shut your damn mouth or I will cut your throat open, worm."

"Big words for an A Rank Slayer. You should not even be here in the first place, know your damn worth, you twerp."

Hector Incendium was fully prepared for the insults hurled at him to let it slide off, but this latter one's words was what triggered him the most.

The A Rank Slayer's brows met and he finally began to show his emotions for the first time.

"I am the meek A Rank Slayer, totally unqualified. Sent to the battlefield in the most important mission of our kind to date. Yet take a long hard look at yourselves, back there, I saw some of you hesitate. You were held back by the fear, was it the fear of fighting the unknown? Was it the fear of your own powerlessness? What was it? Help me to recollect." Hector's black pupils were painted with rage, as his tongue was unsheathed and not held back. "I might be weak, but I killed as many of those creatures as the second in command of the Primal Hounds. If I am weak, then what does that say about your so called 'strength'?"

Hector said.

Luken and Gavin did not speak a word.

Perhaps deep down they knew that Hector was the real deal.

Faust just looked down to the ground. Sure, what Hector said about him killing as many Wingless Angels as he did was a compliment, but Faust Keisuke was still disappointed at himself and at how close Hector Incendium's combat capabilities were at this stage of his rank.

"Allow me to rephrase my words, as I am not quite good at using it. She was powerless against the inevitability of death. She was not powerless against the creatures, she fought till she dropped. Her heart and soul rose up and will forever be immortalized as a Slayer."

Hector ended it at that, coupled with a bow of respect.

Ignis Silva walked towards the entrance.

"Good work, everyone. Operation Phoenix members at the time of departure, twenty-seven. Operation Phoenix members as of now, twenty-six. That is all, you are dismissed."

He said.

Hector followed him soon shortly after.

"Sir, you still have her body with you."

The rookie said.

"I am taking her remains back to her family myself. This is the least I could do. Try to find out about her, check the logbooks and databases."

Hector nodded and the two vanished into the night, back towards Niflheim.

The rest of the Slayers followed shortly after.

All of them wanted nothing more right now than to be back at home.

They walked by Isabelle who had been startled by seeing the dead Slayer's body. It had reminded her of her own brother. Even after months, the pain of the 'Tragedy At The Outer Gates' still loomed in her heart.

Just as Luken and Gavin walked right past her, she said something to them.

"What was I supposed to do back then? Gavin? Luken?!"

Her harrowing words sent chills down their spines.

"Honestly, Isabelle, I do not know. I just hope your position within the High Council's lapdogs give you the warmth that your brother gave to you back then."

Luken said as he shrugged his shoulders.

After some distance was put in between Isabelle and them, Gavin tapped Luken's shoulders.

"That was too much, even for her."

"I know what I said."

Just as they were at a literal crossroad, the other one leading to the south and the other lead to the west, Faust bid them goodbye.

"I'm headed here." He said as he pointed to the sign with the western place. "It has been an honor fighting alongside you two, till we meet again!"

Faust's smile was still ever so bright.

Faust Keisuke waved them farewell.

"Say, Gavin, who do you think would win if they ever fought three on one, our rookies at home, or Faust?"

Luken asked while keeping a finger at his chin, thinking long and hard about the scenario he presented himself.

"That is an easy question, Faust Keisuke would win, of course. He isn't the second in command for a top organization for no reason. He is crass and childish yet he remains grounded with his actions and never flaunts his strength. He is a good kid."

"Heh. I thought as much as well."

Luken said with a smirk.

"Then what about Suna and Hector? I am sure they would have to go toe to toe against each other in the Slayer Tournament soon. It is fast approaching, we should teach her how to fight against that monster of a Slayer."

The Commander hopped around, he was not hiding the fact that he was excited to see his young, budding rookies once again.

"Well, as we have said to her during the trip back from the Grand Castle, she should still forfeit her matches whenever she gets seeded against Hector. That kid is no joke. I was observing the way he was fighting the Wingless Angels, and if I could describe it in the least amount of words that I can, it would be – 'chaotic yet controlled.'" Gavin picked up his grimoire which had fallen from his breast pocket. "Anyway, that kid has also got a skewed sense of morality, as expected of Ignis Silva's cohorts."

Both of them walked onwards until they spotted a carriage.

The carriages were specially catering to Slayers who had come back from long missions and were awaiting transportation services.

"Where to?"

Asked the coachman in a drunken yet soft voice.

"Err. Just take us to the town before Cisco, coachman."

Luken said.

"Very well! Hang on tight, sirs."

The coachman said as he pulled on his steed to accelerate forwards.

Niflheim coated with snow was not a sight unfamiliar to the residents. It was a common occurrence, in fat. Nearly half of the year was of Niflheim being covered in thick white snow.

The Commander looked out through the window as fractals upon fractals of snow fell down from the sky above down to the ground.

"How long do you think we will arrive to the hideout, Gavin?"

"Are you serious? Why do you have to ask me that every damn time we come back from the outside or from any mission whatsoever?"

Gavin responded with a huge sigh.

"Come on now, we just eviscerated those hives, man! Why can't you loosen up a bit? We should have just summoned Ryoko and rode her huge, scaly, dragon back towards our hideout!"

Luken suggested with a wide playful grin etched on his face.

Gavin did not respond, instead, the Serpent Summoner merely fixed his gaze at him.

His green, disappointed orbs stared at Luken's very soul.

"Luken." Gavin sighed once more.. "The next time I summon Ryoko, I'll have her gobble you up whole."