Power Overwhelming

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As the pair moved towards the grand array, Lavender couldn’t help but feel excited. She had met other Kensei like her over her numerous lives, but few had the skill her current opponent possessed. It was a shame this ‘Karna’ didn’t dedicate herself to the sword, but perhaps that was a kind of strength as well? Her style had certainly developed in interesting directions. It wasn't often you could face someone who had almost as much skill with the blade that Lavender had, but also possessed almost a limitless range of skills and abilities in other fields as well. Honing yourself against someone with such range was great for improvement.

‘Who names an Oni Lavender anyway?’ She thought to herself idly for the millionth time. It was a nervous tick of hers. Of course, she would never admit to herself that she was nervous, but that didn’t mean the nervousness didn’t exist. To say she was unhappy with her given name though, would be an understatement. Hence masking her nervousness with anger directed at the name.

Her nervousness and excitement were both easy to understand. She knew Karna, or Wrath as she was also known, had plenty in store to show. From what she understood, the girl had basically stumbled from one situation to another where she either had to suppress her true abilities for secrecy, or she had been forced to fight opponents significantly higher ranked than her. Neither situation was conducive for anything but trying to survive. Now though, her opponent was finally being allowed to fully blossom and come to her own. And Lavender was eager to see what that produced. Those possibilities were the main reason she was part of this team after all.

The magic of the array took a hold of them, and they were deposited in the middle of a barren field, surrounded by varied terrain on all sides. The array was meant for training purposes, so of course most of the common terrains were represented. If you went far enough, you could find more exotic terrains, like lava fields, underwater battlefields, poisonous swamps, and plenty of other hazardous terrains and climates. "This will be fine, yeah?" She asked gesturing at the field around them. She didn't feel like playing tag in a forest.

"Suits me just fine," Karna responded.

The girl pulled out a large hammer from divines only knew where, which made Lavender frown a bit. A hammer was a weapon that had its place, but against a Kensei like her? That didn’t seem like a great idea. Not much opportunity for displaying skill. Karna wasn’t finished though. A pair of colorful wings appeared on her back, while her skin turned distinctly metallic. Lavender had seen her use Aura abilities before, though only in limited fashion, so she wasn’t too shocked by the wings, although she was still a bit mystified as wings as large as those would be unwieldy. In a fight as mobile as theirs usually was, they would be a hindrance.

“Are you ready?” Karna asked with her eyes closed.

“Always.” She responded confidently.

As soon as her words were out, the girl opened her eyes and Lavender felt a power invading her very being. ‘A basilisk!’ Her mind realized in an instant. The deadly power of a basilisk’s gaze was enough to bring even the most powerful low, and this wasn’t the power of a normal basilisk. She wasn’t instantly killed thanks to her resistance to such kind of effects, granted by her Oni heritage and her cultivation, but it did cause her to freeze for a brief moment as she had to fight the effects. And that moment was crucial in this case.

Almost faster than her eyes could follow, Karna was in front of her, swinging that hammer of hers with speed that should be impossible for such a large and heavy weapon. She managed to lift her sword in an attempt at blocking, but she knew it was useless. She was proven right as their weapons came together. War hammers might not be the most skill-intensive weapons, but they made up for it with blunt force. There was no way a simple stationary sword would be able to block a hammer in full swing.

Still, it shocked her as her block was brushed aside like it wasn’t even there, and the power behind the hammer almost broke her wrists as she held on to her sword to slow the swing down, unsuccessfully. Then it felt like her entire world had broken. She somewhat recognized that she was flying through the air before crashing into the side of a mountain. Those mountains had been pretty far away. The force behind the blow had been powerful enough to annihilate an entire city, something she was keenly aware of as almost every bone in her body was shattered, and her organs ruptured. Even if that hadn’t been the case, she still wouldn’t have been able to move as the power of lightning coursed through her body, paralyzing her entirely. It seemed the hammer was more than met the eye.

She was completely unable to move as an enormous dragon stepped up to her and opened its maw, preparing to send a breath attack at her from point-blank range. The attack was interrupted though, as the voice of a third person was heard. “I think that’s about enough Wrath. I don’t think the array can take the force of your full breath.” Envy floated next to the dragon that swallowed the breath weapon to Lavender’s secret relief. She wasn’t sure what would happen if she died inside the array just as it was broken. Not her area of expertise. It likely wouldn’t be too good though.

“Fair enough. I suppose I got a little excited as well.” The dragon admitted with a voice that still managed to sound refined and graceful.

“I know. I’m feeling a little bit suffocated as well. Holding back against other trainees has caused all of us to pile up a lot of stress. Let’s hope our first mission will give us the chance to let loose.” Envy commiserated. When had she even entered the array? Lavender was usually able to sense anyone approaching.

“Here’s to hoping.” The dragon finished before turning back into a Godling. It was a bit of a relief when the array was shut down and the pain went away. Still, Lavender was already figuring out ways to counter what she’d just been subjected to. Just the fact that she’d been surprised was a big reason it had ended so quickly, and now she knew what to expect. At least some of what to expect. And that basilisk gaze would be the first thing she needed to figure a counter to.

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“So, you managed to wrangle yourself as our handler?” Karna asked Marius. The man was the one they were meeting to get the details on their first mission.

“For now. There’s something odd going on even within House Titannica, so I thought it was better if I take on this role for now. It’ll give me a chance to get to the bottom of things. Or at least gain a better picture.” Marius had noticed odd political maneuvering in the house of the titans. That wasn’t uncommon in itself. The fact that he was being kept out of the loop was. Information was his specialty. That and solving problems. And the presence of the princess created plenty of those.

“I hope you have a proper mission for us.” Envy grunted. “I don’t think I could tolerate a milk run at this point.”

“You’ll have to excuse her. The training has left all of us more than a little frustrated.” Valor made excuses for his ally, while also managing to highlight the fact that he wouldn’t be too pleased either if the mission was boring.

"Well, I'm not sure, to be honest. Usually, new teams are given simple assignments, which would likely leave you unsatisfied. However, this one is a little complicated. We aren't sure what to expect exactly. I think it was sent to you as a sort of test as well. It's not something you can just bludgeon your way through." Marius frowned a bit. It was the sort of mission he was usually given in fact.

“I don’t know. We can bludgeon pretty hard." Envy only half-joked, which brought a small smile from everyone.

“Well, there’s a good chance that at least some bludgeoning will be involved. Your mission is an investigative one. Are you aware of the city Aquarius?”

“One of the Zodiac cities? The one where a lot of aquatic or water adjacent races live.” Karna guessed. That’s what it had been the last time she was in this universe. The Zodiac cities were not among the largest or most powerful, but they were old and famous for their wealth and resources.

“That’s the one. People have started to go missing in the city. Now normally this would be a problem for the local forces to deal with, but there’s a large number of outsiders among the victims. Larger than you’d expect if the acts were random.” Marius prefaced the situation.

“As in someone tried to eliminate agents of outside powers and tried to mask it by killing some locals as well?” Hope jumped to the obvious implication.

"Yes and no. That could be the reason, but not all the outsiders, in this case, were agents of other powers. In fact, it's rather difficult to even determine how these people were selected. There are tourists, merchants, people that had moved into the city and now live there, people visiting family, and yes, agents of other powers. I’d say the selection is almost random, except for the oddity of outsiders being overrepresented.” Marius had a bad feeling about the whole thing. “As a result, any outsiders are understandably wary while in the city. We also can’t ignore this, as the local powers don’t seem to be making any progress.”

“Hence the Host being sent to investigate it. Send a newbie team to not draw too much attention.” Hope added.

“That’s the theory at least. I would recommend going in wearing your official garb, though going undercover while inside the city might not be a bad idea. The local powers will not give you as much trouble if you’re entering as official members of the Host but information might be hard to come by. That said, things are a little strained with the city at the moment.” This was just one of the reasons Marius was feeling apprehensive.

“Why?” Valor asked bluntly.

“Well…several new Deities have arisen from the city in the last couple of decades. Only one of them has become a True God, but they’re still effectively creating a new faction of sorts. That’s not forbidden of course, but the established players aren’t exactly fond of new competition. Especially since some of those established parties think the number of new Deities is a little sketchy.”

“And what’s your opinion on that matter?” Hope questioned.

"It is a little odd, but not odd enough to really raise eyebrows. It can easily be explained by a crop of talented people reaching the maturity of their power. Here's the thing that worries me though. At least a couple of those people that have gone missing were sent there by the beforementioned established parties to make sure there was no foul play. Now, this might just be a coincidence, but…”

“But it also might be that they found something hinky.” Hope finished for him.

“What’s that saying you're fond of quoting Wrath?” Envy looked towards her.

“I believe in coincidences. Coincidences happen every day. But I don’t trust coincidences.” Karna quoted with a smile of her own.

“That’s the one. Good one that. One that I have also adopted.” Envy nodded.

“Something to keep in mind.” Marius also nodded. “However, I would advise against focusing on that possibility too heavily. Many other such agents are still alive and well. And going in spells blazing, accusing the new Deities of murdering people would be a quick way to end any cooperation from the local powers. Even if the Deities are somehow guilty, I seriously doubt all the other local powers are, and they could be very useful. Unless antagonized. So, tread lightly around that possibility. Yes, keep it in mind, but find some solid proof first before you take any steps towards making accusations.”

“There’s also another possibility that’s related. It could very well be that there is something going on with the way the new Gods have become what they are, and that could be the reason these agents died, but it might not be those Deities behind this. Someone might be trying to protect them. Or it could be that someone completely unrelated took advantage of these disappearances to get rid of some nosy people.” Valor suggested.

“All good theories, but we can’t really determine anything from here. We need to actually do some investigating.” Karna chuckled. “I assume we’re leaving right away?”

“Yes. Something else to keep in mind. You are fully authorized to defend yourself against any and all aggression, and the Host has broad punishment power when it comes to dealing with criminals. However, if you do find out that there’s something politically inconvenient going on, especially involving gods, then you are to inform us immediately. We will handle the punishment side in a way that won’t create too much backlash. We can’t have new members of the Host going off and killing gods without authorization, even if you’re capable and they deserve it.” Marius made sure to underline this point. He could see this particular team creating problems of that nature.

“Does that mean we’re also limited in how much force we can use in self-defense?” Valor wanted to confirm.

“No. If someone attacks you, you’re free to respond with lethal force, although we’d prefer if you simply subdued them. Makes it possible to question them later. That said, there’s a line. You can’t go and pick a fight in order to justify self-defense. The line is blurry and often misused, but you shouldn't have a problem with it, as long as you make sure to act in a reasonable fashion. No desecrating temples or marching into court to mock them to their faces. That’s not your job.” While Marius suspected that this team might be trouble, he was confident it would be a different kind of trouble.

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After being deployed by one of the Host’s specialized portals that allowed quick teleportation to almost anywhere, with the downside that they’d have to get back the slow way, their arrival at Aquarius didn’t take more than an hour. They could’ve been deployed right next to the city, but the Host usually observed certain rules of politeness, at least as long as they weren’t actually assaulting the city. One of those rules was that they’d give the officials of the city a bit of time to prepare.

The city of Aquarius itself was gorgeous. It was one of the more beautiful cities they’d seen in fact. As the name implied, the city was largely dominated by water. It was situated on the coast and off the coast, and half of the city was built into the shallows and scattered islands located at the valley estuary of several large rivers converging to meet the ocean. The buildings were mostly made of white sandstone, giving the city a clean and pristine look. This look was reinforced by the wide streets and numerous plazas and plant-filled promenades that ran through the city. Even those areas that would normally be called alleys and back streets were spacious and dotted with trees and gardens. In addition to normal streets, canals and run-offs from the rivers ran through the entire city, and these canals were even more filled with traffic as the city was favored by aquatic species. Many of the canals were elevated so that anyone traveling along would be able to observe shop windows and the wares of the various hawkers. Part of the city was submerged, and several taller buildings rose from the shallows to come above water.

The city was almost perfectly circular in shape. The part of the city that was on solid ground was surrounded by a white wall that was more decorative than designed to withstand a siege, and both the wall and the city beyond were dotted by identical towers at perfectly equal intervals. “What are those towers?” Envy asked the question they were all wondering as they flew closer.

Karna allowed her senses to brush one of the towers. "It seems they're water towers."

“Why though? It’s not like they’re lacking fresh water. Why store it in so many towers?” Hope questioned.

“I think we’ll ask about that too once we meet with our informant.” Wisdom commented. “I believe they might be part of a magical formation though. The construction is too purposeful to be anything else. Maybe a defensive measure?”

"Maybe," Karna muttered while looking at the towers. Something about them was tickling her instincts. "Let's see if we can find this informant. Or at least get into the city first." They had been given a list of people they could contact for further details on both the city and the victims, as well as any news that might have occurred after Marius had gotten his information.

Entering the city didn’t cause any trouble as the uniform of the Host was a universal pass to almost any place in the Divine Planes. Preventing the passage of the Host would’ve been seen as highly suspicious. Some private holdings of the major houses of course were different. The group quickly noted that the inhabitants of the city truly were for the most part those that at least tended to flock near sources of water, even if they weren’t fully aquatic. Any water-related species you could think of could be found in the city. They’d even seen a rather large octopus just outside the city while they’d flown in.

Locating the combined place of business and abode of their informant wasn’t too difficult, as the city was easy to navigate, and the people were more than happy to give them directions. However, once they arrived, they found the place empty. It didn’t look like their informant was absent on business either, as the place had been cleared. All the items of worth had been taken along, and there were signs that whoever had lived here had left in a hurry.

“Well now. This isn’t a very good sign.” Valor pointed out the obvious.