Chapter 149 - Alacrity

(On the way towards the ruins of where the Emperor told them the Sword of Alacrity would be located in, everyone was already here.)

"Faust, I would like to introduce you to the young core of the Six Blades." The Serpent Summoner said as he showed Faust Keisuke of the Primal Hounds to the trio.

Each one of them greeted him and said hello, and shook his hand. But when it came to Yin's turn in shaking the S Rank Earth Slayer's palms, Faust Keisuke was taken aback and pulled his hand out instinctively. 

They all asked him what was wrong. "N-Nothing. Do not mind me, my hand just got cold for some reason. Now, if you will excuse me, I will go back to the person who recruited me, the Basilisk Slayer." He said that last line with such pride, as he should, after all, even if Artorias only invited him for the sake of having someone to invite, it was still an honor to be recruited by the number one ranked Slayer.

Kai Xin wanted to catch up with the other members of the Six Blades while the journey was still far away from their exact location. He brought Hector Incendium with him, who had the same look of seriousness and poise that he always wore ever since.

"What's up, guys?" Kai Xin said with a smile. Zachary immediately greeted him with several questions as to how to better use his affinity in combat, as it was really different to ask the advice of someone who shared the same element as you did. "How do I expend my Anima concentration without getting exhausted just as easily?" Zach asked the happy go lucky S Rank Fire Slayer. "Oh, about that, I think Hector can answer those questions himself, so you are better off asking him!" In reality, Hector could, but Zach just wanted to dodge the responsibility of answering the questions of his pupil.

He then went on to the Commander and the Serpent Summoner and caught up with them. "So, we are fighting 'him' eh? Tch. This is going to turn sour really quick if we are not careful." Kai said with a click from his tongue.

"I know what I must do. But what if he does not show up?" Luken turned towards Gavin to ask him the question and best case scenario in this situation.

If the Reaper really did not finish decoding the book and the whereabouts of the sword that is capable of tearing through the Red Barriers, then it would be beneficial to all of them.

In reality, if he was not on the helm of this, they would not even send this many Slayers on a single mission. The sheer amount of them was overwhelming, and if something were to terribly happen to them, the Slayer Corps would take the largest hit ever. Nearly most of their top ten Slayers in the rankings dying would cripple mankind so much.

"Deep inside, I kind of hope that Adam has gone rusty and his deduction skills will not be up to par as it was several years ago. It is not that I am scared of fighting him, over the course of a few months after we had seen him again, I've already made up my mind to fight him with everything I've got. I just worry for the others who are not that experienced with fighting someone in the scale of Adam Rosa's power." The Serpent Summoner said as he shook his head.

The Commander placed his arm on his shoulders and nodded his head, assuring him that no matter what happens, they will always have Yin and the other's back. "Kill the traitor, and protect the others. It is going to be a hard day of work for us oldies. Heh." The Commander said with a chuckle.

"Hey, do not clump me in with you fossils, at this rate, you can actually qualify to be a member of the High Council!" Kai joked. 

The young trio were all silent, it was not that they did not like Hector, they just did not know what to say to him, he looked like he was always on guard and had a no-nonsense approach to every little thing in life. In short, he was very intimidating as a person.

"S-So, do you know the answer to my question for Kai earlier?" Zachary said to him. "Yes. I do. Do you wish to have my answer instead of Kai's?" he replied back with his wide circled eyes in deep focus.

As Zach and Hector struck up an untimely friendship, Yin and Suna were observing the prodigal Slayer that is Hector Incendium. "Do you think I can take him on, Yin?" Suna asked Yin as her competitive nature kicked in. She was studying the A-Rank Slayer with her eyes staring daggers at him. "Definitely, Suna!" Yin, as clueless as he was, was in full support of his friend. 

Hector definitely felt that Suna and Yin were staring at him. "Is there something wrong with your two other teammates? I could not help but notice that they have been gazing at me, for some reason which I cannot comprehend." He said while scratching the back of his head. "Nah. Do not worry about it, these guys are weirdoes." Kai said to him as they both went on with their conversation, it was more of Zach asking him for tips regarding Fire affinity and different ways to make it much more effective in combat.

"You do not seem very enthusiastic about any of this, Fen." The Basilisk Slayer said to the Allcaster, Fen Kaori. "I rarely get excited nor enthusiastic about anything at all, Artorias, you should know that yourself already." He retorted back with a deadpan manner. "But how about you, Art, are you sure you are ready to clash swords with your best friend?" 

"Everyone here is adamant in taking the traitorous SSS Rank Reaper's head, I am no different to them. Our goals are all in unison. Well, it is not like I am in charge of this mission entirely, the Emperor entrusted the formation and everything else to the Serpent Summoner, my brother." A look of annoyance invaded the Basilisk Slayer's face as he said that.

"What seems to be the matter, did you want to do it yourself? You rarely even ever work with other Slayers, do not tell me you think yourself as a better leader than either Luken or Gavin." Fen said back. "Yeah, you might be right, but this time, we actually have a chance to kill Adam, and I am all in for that chance, Fen. I will have him explain to me why he became such a detestable fucking monster, I want to hear it straight out of his mouth." The Basilisk Slayer gripped the hilt of his sword so much that veins started to pop out of his temple. "Ease up, we are still a long ways away from where he could potentially be." The Allcaster said to him.

This mission was all betting that they would not encounter the Reaper at all. But the Basilisk Slayer, someone who used to see Adam as his best friend, wanted the opposite, in fact. He wanted to shove his great sword straight into his fallen friend's heart, but not before he could hear the answer as to why he did what he did.

"Was it a mistake to save him from the peril he was in when we were twelve years old? Should I have not let emotions get in the way of my mission and proceeded with killing him back then?" Artorias Khalil thought to himself as he walked with the Allcaster. 

Amara was up above the sky, trying to scout out enemies that would potentially be hiding where they would cross towards. The Emerald Dragon was their eyes up in the skies. She could just send a telepathic message to Artorias if she ever found something of note, that was how deep their bond and connection was.

"I heard about what had happened in your last mission, Specter." Ignis Silva said to Vale Ashford. "What of it?" Vale replied back with an annoyed expression. "Calm down, I am not here to agitate you or anything, I am just striking up a casual conversation with a fellow S rank Slayer." Ignis Silva told the Specter with a grin. 

"Cut that shit out, Ignis, tell me what you really wanted to say." Vale replied back with a fatigued sigh. "It is about that boy, Zachary Lancaster, I wish to recruit him to the Inferno Garden. I believe that his talents are being wasted on the Six blades, as there is not even any other Fire Slayer there other than himself. I can make him much stronger, I will immolate his blue azure flames much brighter than he could ever know would be possible.." The leader of the Inferno Garden said with a malicious grin.