Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit
Chapter 192: Lead-Up(Part 1)

Chapter 192: Chapter 192: Lead-Up(Part 1)

"Alright, as the leading squad of the Order, it’s imperative that we win this contest. So, in the lead up to it, we’re going to need to train hard," Declared Jules, as she began stretching.

It was the next day, the 6th of May, 1920. Jules was determined to win the training exercise, so she’d decided to hold training sessions with her squad members who would be participating in the exercise.

It was her, Siele, Tilda, Akila, Kia and Hart. The six of them had split into two groups of three, the first consisting of Jules, Tilda and Hart, with the other three in the second group.

"Sounds good, this should be fun," Smiled Akila eagerly, stretching his arms up.

"So, I take it you and I will defend our respective flags while the others fight it out?" Siele asked her.

"Yes, that’s the idea. Of course, this training room is much smaller than the location we plan to hold the exercise in will be, but that’s fine. Now, then, let’s take our places and get started, shall we?" Suggested Jules.

The two groups then split up, heading to either end of the training room, where flags had been set up by the walls.

Siele stood ahead of one of them, while Jules took her place in front of the other one.

"So, what’s our strategy here, Commander? Do we just rush in?" Inquired Tilda, as she swung her scythe across a couple of times.

"If you can get the Vice-Commander away from the flag, I can teleport straight to it and grab it," Pointed out Hart.

"Pretty sure they’ll be expecting that, though."

"Perhaps, but it’s the most effective way to utilize our forces. The other team will probably send Akila to capture our flag while Kia defends Siele," Reasoned Jules objectively.

"Hm...wait, I’ve got an idea," Responded Hart, a gleam in his eyes.

On the other side of the room...

"I’ll rush in, phase past them and grab the flag. The soles of my feet are probably going to take a good bit of damage, but they have no way of stopping me, so that’ll be the fastest way to get the win. Vice-Commander, you should prepare yourself for Hart, he’ll definitely try to teleport to the flag," Surmised Akila thoughtfully.

"Sure, let’s go with that. And it’s fine if we fail, the purpose of this training is to improve our teamwork. And if our tactics fail, we’ll have to think about how to change it up to be more effective, that’s how we’ll make the most of this training," Nodded Siele.

"So, um, that means I have to fight Tilda, right?" Chimed in Kia.

"Mhm, keep her occupied while I try to get past Jules and grab the flag. Now, then...let’s get started," Grinned Akila, drawing out his blades with a look of anticipation on his face.

As both teams readied themselves to begin, Akila made the first move, racing forward, before Tilda did the same. Kia swiftly followed Akila’s lead, who slowed his pace slightly to let her pass him.

Kia leapt forward as she closed in on Tilda, a sharp clang ringing out as Tilda blocked the swing of Kia’s dual blades with the handle of her scythe.

"Hm? Strange, Hart isn’t making a move yet, what are they upto? No matter, I’ll just phase past both of them!" Akila thought to himself, picking up the pace.

As he began to close in on them, Hart finally made his move, teleporting out of sight as Jules whipped her sword across and unleashed a roaring wave of flames.

Akila winced as the flames engulfed him, phasing through most of his body but burning the bottom of his feet, before he gritted his teeth, doing his best to ignore the pain.

"Come on, that the best you can do?!" Exclaimed Kia gleefully, attacking Tilda with relentless, fierce strikes, as Tilda barely managed to block them with her scythe.

Tilda quickly raised her scythe and tilted her head back as Kia drive one of her blades up, Tilda narrowly deflecting the strike with the handle of her weapon.

"Woah, easy there, we aren’t trying to kill each other, you know. As always, the contrast when you start fighting compared to how you normally are is mind-blowing. However...," Smiled Tilda, swiftly springing back as Hart teleported behind her, grabbing her shoulders before the two of them disappeared from sight, Tilda’s eyes widening right as a cry of pain rang out, as Jules drove her sword down, plunging the blade through Akila’s right foot and pinning it to the floor.

At the same time, Tilda and Hart reappeared above Siele, who quickly raised his blades up defensively as Tilda swung her scythe down, before he leapt away as fast as he could as she phased it through his defense.

"No!" He exclaimed as Hart swiftly teleported towards the flag, firing out a rapid blast of water as Hart grabbed the flag and teleported away right in the nick of time.

Akila turned his right foot fully intangible and began to leap through Jules towards the flag, but it was too late.

"Alright, we won!" Grinned Hart triumphantly.

"Well, that didn’t go as planned," Sighed Akila, before wincing in pain.

"That was a clever move, I didn’t think both of you would target me," Remarked Siele with a wry smile.

"I knew I couldn’t get past you by myself, especially since you would’ve been expecting me to teleport straight at the flag, so I figured I’d stand a better shot if I wasn’t alone," Grinned Hart, as he high-five Tilda.

"Nicely done, your plan went perfectly," She smiled in response.

"Thanks!"

"Alright, that was a good first round, let’s do it again. You should get healed first, Akila, your feet must be badly damaged," Remarked Jules, as Akila limped around with a grimace.

"Y-Yeah, my skin’s been pretty thoroughly charred, that’s gonna leave a mark."

Meanwhile, in Sapphire City...

"That wasn’t good enough, you guys. Come on, it’s three against four, your team should have the advantage," Sighed Rione with a shake of his head, before adding, "Not to mention, all four of you wield Relic Armaments, while my team only has one."

"Yeah, but you’re way more powerful than we are, Captain, we can’t get close to your flag without getting blasted by lightning," Responded Wein with a wry smile.

"What he said. I was really excited about trying out my new weapon and clashing against yours with it, but I couldn’t get anywhere near close enough," Sighed Aria Beryl, Wein’s cousin and the new owner of the axe Relic Armament, Labrys.

She was in her late-twenties, with medium-length red hair with the right side shaved off and was combed off to the left, light blue eyes, a brown complexion, and she was quite tall, with a strong, muscular build and a busty figure.

"Yeah, what she said. Plus, I’m still getting used to this spear...I want to get better at using it as quickly as possible, I feel like I’m disgracing Captain Fyre’s memory at my current level with it," Sighed Dox Sordes, the new owner of the spear Relic Armament Gungnir.

He was a Commoner with Noble blood, in his early-thirties with short, curly dark orange hair, light yellow eyes, a fair complexion, and he was about the same height as Aria, with an agile build.

He’d previously been a member of the Second Squad when Fyre was the Captain, before being shifted to the First Squad during the reshuffle.

"My arrows hardly made a difference against you, Captain, you just deflected all of them with ease," Chimed in Quila Edge, the wielder of the bow Relic Armament Hawkeye, and considered to be the best Archer in the nation.

She was in her early-thirties too, with short black hair combed off to the left, dark pink eyes, a light brown complexion, and she was about average height, with a slender, petite figure.

"Hey, at least you guys have Relic Armaments," Frowned Diar Malachite saltily.

Another former member of the Second Squad, as well as Tilda’s older brother, he had medium-length, straight black hair tied up in a short, tight ponytail, his eyes were a gradient mix of blue and black, he had a light brown complexion, and he was a bit taller than Aria and Dox, with a large, muscular frame.

"I mean, you’re a Brawler, so you wouldn’t use a weapon anyway. Well, there are those Relic Armament gauntlets, but I doubt the Second Squad’s Vice-Captain has any plans of giving them up," Responded Dox wryly.

"It would be nice to have a cool, unique weapon like the rest of you," Sighed Lloyd Howlite wistfully, the Knight Akila had fought and injured when he was being tricked by Alphonse Plore.

He was in his early-thirties, with thick, curly black hair styled in long dreadlocks, his eyes were a gradient mix of purple and blue, he had a dark complexion, and he was the tallest of the ground, with a slender, agile build.

"Come on, that’s enough complaining. Take some time to plan out a better strategy and let’s go again. Even though our squad possesses the largest number of Relic Armaments and has the most Knights ranked at First-Class and above, the other squads think we’re the weakest. So, let’s work hard and prove them wrong!" Declared Rione with a huff, still pretty irked by the meeting yesterday...