“So, what do you think about the situation, now that you have had over a week to think about everything that happened up until now?” These were the words that ripped Daphne out of her thoughts.

  She looked around and saw that most of the people had their hands down, with only two people having theirs up. Hermione was expected. That girl believed books were always correct and would definitely just cite a book verbatim and think it would be enough. She just didn’t understand that magic wasn’t like that.

  Using books worked just fine in lessons and exams, but when it came to higher magic, it was just in the way. She would actually be better off not knowing magic at all than knowing the content of the books and all of those laws. Then again, that was the whole purpose of the education system.

  The purebloods learned this truth in their homes, and the Muggleborn with high critical thinking skills found it out easily as well. It was only those Muggleborn who believed their ways to be inherently superior to the magical ones who didn’t learn this. The entire system was made to weed them out and make sure none of those fanatics got into the position of Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Mcgonnagall or Minister Fudge.

  The funny thing was that a lot of the books actually mentioned this, too, if subtly. It showed the girl’s stupidity that she didn’t get it. She knew all the words by heart, but couldn’t even realise that every book alluded to this. She knew for a fact that the Potter boy had understood it, so had Finch-Fletchley. Hell, even those annoying Creevey fanboys understood it. They had all, just like Hermione, grown up with Muggles, and none of them had even read the books with a similar intensity as Hermione. In fact, Daphne sometimes suspected Hermione never actually understood the books and just learned them by heart instead. It would explain a lot. For example, in Po—

  “Yes, Miss Dunbar?” Her internal monologue-turned-rant was interrupted by her teacher.

  “It seems quite advantageous for the attackers. They are prepared for a long fight and didn’t give their opponent any time to prepare. They entered this fight on their terms and are obviously very powerful and highly experienced. On top of that, they heavily outnumber their opponent. I think they will win this in a war of attrition.”

  “Hmm… Sound reasoning,” Daphne thought she heard a sliver of the disagreement she also felt in their teachers’ voice. “In the last lesson, we talked about possible strategies. Do you have any more strategies you would recommend for them?”

  Daphne finally decided to raise her hand. She’d been so lost in her rant and contemplating Fay’s words that she’d completely forgotten to share what she’d seen! And luckily for her: “Please share your ideas with us, Ms Greengrass.”

  “I honestly think the best thing they could do is fall back. I think their situation is far from good. If you just look at the way they have been holding themselves since the very beginning, you can see that almost all of them are very fearful. Most of the Elves look like the only thing preventing them from having a panic attack is their rage. Almost all the smaller groups seem like they would start running as soon as something goes even just slightly wrong, and the Black Block gives me a very bad feeling. It seems like they are preparing to backstab their teammates. Only the Reapers are confident, or they have the resolve to fight to the death, and have accepted it, I don’t know.”

  She took a deep breath.

  “Then again, I could be wrong about the Black Block. The people there are obviously far more experienced than all of us students put together, so I find it highly unlikely they didn’t realise the shifty behaviour of the Black Block. It might actually be part of the plan. Still, I honestly doubt they have a chance. If I am right, once the backstab happens, they will all be massacred.”

  “Sounds reasonable, Miss Greengrass. You focused more on the people than the situation. Quite the intelligent approach, considering how little you know about the preparations they have made, the power levels of both sides, and the risk of betrayal we talked about last time. It’s also good that you know how inexperienced you are. The worst strategist is one who believes him or herself infallible.”

  Their teacher turned back to the class, “Now we have two blatantly different opinions on the situation. Will we get a third one as well? No? Alright. Both of your analyses were sound, even if one was quite late,” She levelled her gaze at Daphne. “Good work. Now, I want to say that there is no right or wrong with analysis. There is only bad reasoning. Still, I want to say that in situations with as little information as we have here, I personally prefer analysing people rather than the small part of the situation we know. Especially if such a difference in experience exists. But that’s more because I am completely and utterly hopeless as a backseat strategist, than because it's a bad approach. Now let’s get back to the memory and see how it actually goes.”

  Falling back once again, Mizuki began asking herself how it’d come to this. They had already lost, and they all knew it. She and her fellow Reapers were completely and utterly sure the Black Block was preparing to backstab the Alliance. Everyone except for them, the Black Block and the Elves was already preparing to run as soon as a singular mistake was made, after all they were only here to be able to say they participated in the final fight. They didn’t care about the fact that every raid had mistakes. No, they were too concerned with their lives and the present to see that, if this raid failed, they, their entire families and all of their friends would either be killed or enslaved.

  Even though almost half of them were ready to run at any time, and one-sixth was probably preparing to backstab them, they still had to try. Even if over half of them were either sabotaging them or conserving their mana to be able to run, they had to fight. Even if just to show Cal that he wasn’t able to do whatever he wanted. They had t—

  There it was! A gap! She jumped over the heads of the Knights and channelled all of her power into her wakizashi and her body — strengthening it to prepare for what she was about to do. A Hidari Kessa Giri (left diagonal downwards cut) followed up by a Migi Joho Giri (right diagonal upwards cut) and a tsuke (stab). She did it all in the span of less than half a millisecond, before jumping backwards, with a Knight immediately jumping in front of her. And right on time, because he made contact with a lightning strike, before he even landed properly, throwing him back a few meters.

  Breathing heavily from the exertion, she once again rested, while waiting for another opportunity.

  Regret flooded her mind. Why had it come to this? He’d been such a nice guy, but as soon as he didn’t get what he wanted, he became this. Why hadn’t she killed him when she’d first seen him? She’d felt something was off about him. That smile was too perfect, the emotions too well-controlled. She should have known. Why hadn’t she nipped the threat in the bud when she still could? Now he had surpassed her, had surpassed even her master and all the other Reapers.

  ‘If only I knew where her Excellency is. She would be able to stop this immediately. But after she faked her death, she didn’t even tell master her location, much less me. With no way to find her and tell her about him, she might not even realise the danger the world is in until we’ve already lost. He’s about t—’

  “Shit!”

  Fay gasped at the sight that graced her eyes. A spell had broken through, and with it panic had broken out. The memory had stopped before the spell even hit anyone, but she could still see multiple people not even trying to protect the mages, who would be hit by the spell, instead opting to run away, while they were on the other end of the room. It was obvious they had been ready to run at any time.

  ‘It seems Daphne was right. They are losing, after all. Was she also right about the backstab?’

  The only ones not running were the members of the three major factions (The Elves, the Reapers and the Black Block). The rest had moved faster than the entire fight before, and some were even halfway through the room already. ‘So it was impossible after all.’

  Their teacher’s voice ripped all the students out of their considerations, “What happened here? Did anyone see what happened?”

  Fay doubted anyone did, but she was proven wrong when she saw Daphne’s hand in the air.

  ‘She is somehow really good at this. Maybe her Grandfather taught her.’

  She, like every pureblood, knew about the legendary Arcturus Greengrass, who had stood against Grindelwald in multiple duels, coming out alive every time. What was even more impressive was that he was far more skilled as a strategist than as a duellist. So skilled in fact, that he led the entire war against Grindelwald and even planned the strike with Dumbledore that ended the war, just before finally retiring at age 110, having somehow survived even to the present day.

  “This man,” Daphne began, pointing at a member of the Black Block, while saying, “cast a slowing spell at a Knight, causing the spell to fly past him. Seems I was right. Though I wonder…”

  “You wonder why they didn’t predict it, even though you could?” Their teacher completed.

  “Yes.”

  “Technically, there are two possible reasons, but the second one was the actual one in this case.

  Option 1: They didn’t realise it, because it is always different when on the field as compared to the outside perspective.

  Option 2: They actually suspected it as well, but were so desperate, they had to risk it.”

  “They knew?”

  “Yep. They did. Well, they suspected someone would backstab them. Not who it would be.” Their teacher confirmed, before asking, “Now, how do you think this will go from here? Are there any backup plans? Yes, Ms Dunbar?”

  “This might go really badly. That spell was really subtle. None of us, except Daphne, saw it after all. If they don’t realise who backstabbed them, it would be even worse than it already seems. Especially since the Black Block is one of the three groups that aren’t running. Add to that the death of quite a few of the mages, which this attack will cause, and they are completely and utterly doomed. Even if they have a backup plan, I doubt they suspected what is now effectively a third of their fighting force to backstab them. There is no way to win this if they don’t get any reinforcements.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Good analysis. Do any of you disagree?” Seeing heads shake, she continued, “Good. Now let’s continue the memory and see how it actually goes.”

  Like many others, Daphne had gasped the moment the knight failed, and while she’d suspected the attack would come, she hadn’t expected it to be that subtle. She wholly agreed with Fay’s analysis. That was dangerous. This fight was lost. The attack had failed. Now they would find out just how bad the consequences were.

  The spell raced towards the mages. It contained enough power to make her hair stand on end, even though she was only watching a memory. The mages were officially dea—

  A shadow appeared right in front of the spell. A giant explosion rocked the place, but it didn’t reach the mages. Someone had sacrificed themselves to stop the spell, teleporting their body in the way, keeping the slight chance of winning they had alive, at the cost of their life. Such a sacrifice was to be respec—

  A woman stood in the fading smoke of the explosion, a sword that looked suspiciously like their teachers’ held in front of her. Her black hair and eyes, combined with her black clothes, which carried the Reaper emblem, made her look like a goddess of death. She emitted a sense of elegance and power.

  “Hello, Caleyboy.” She said to the Ashen Harvester. “You’ve gotten quite aggressive, haven’t you? I have to admit I liked you better when you were busy flattering me.”

  “Mizuki.” A dark smile crossed the Ashen Harvester’s lips. “You finally showed yourself. I will rip you apart and feast on your remains.”

  “I mean, I know you always desired my body, but do you really want to kill me to get it?” A smile reminiscent of the one on the now-identified Calean’s face crossed her lips. “You are still as bad at planning as ever.”

  “Hahahaha!” A crazed laugh rang out. “Do you really think anyone here can stop me? I have surpassed everyone in this world, and all the great masters are dead. Even then, a third of those left is a traitor! Do you honestly think you have a chance?!”

  “Revealing all of his plans to his enemies.” Their teacher shook her head. “How stupid.”

  “You guys deal with the traitors,” Mizuki shouted, “I’ll hold him back.”

  “You? Hold me back? With what strength? You are WEAK!!!” He seemed even more crazed than before. “You shall DIE!!!” He screamed the last word while moving so fast it looked like he teleported. His fist, emitting inhuman amounts of power, shot towards Mizuki’s face. Now Daphne was sure she was dea—

  Power gushed out of the woman’s body. Its potency made Daphne shudder. That woman still had another trick up her sleeve! She’d hidden her power all along!

  “It’s sacrificial!” Fay’s voice rang out. “Look at the faces of her comrades!” The Reapers’ faces were filled with sadness, while the woman’s was filled with resolve. It seemed she’d sacrificed herself after all.

  It was at this moment that a silver moon appeared behind the woman. Her hair and eyes started turning silver. The same shade of silver as the moon behind her!

  “She’s called Mizuki (beautiful moon) for a reason.” Their teacher explained.

  Her silver domain spread out around them, caging her in with Cal. She couldn’t let him interfere with the fight against the traitors, so she would hold him back.

  “It’s been a while, Caleyboy? How have you been?” She had to stall as much as possible.

  “Mizuki.” He growled. “You are not going to win this. I am almighty.”

  “We will see about that.”

  “Yes, we will. You will see when I kill you. I will make you regret betraying me.”

  “Betraying?!” Even she was surprised at the vitriol in her voice. “You mean when I didn’t support you when you killed a royal family just because they refused to hand over their daughter against their will?! You even went as far as killing newborns! All because their daughter refused to marry you, and their family didn’t force her to. I would never support something like that, and you know it.”

  “You understand nothing! She was supposed to be mine!”

  “No, she wasn’t. You didn’t even love her, and we both know it. You aren’t as weak as you once were. You don’t need to hide behind excuses any more. It was good at preventing the other countries from interfering because they thought you would keep it to one country. You destroyed the empire already. It changes nothing now.”

  “Hahahaha!” His laughter would’ve sent shivers down her spine if she hadn’t known him. “You saw through me! When did you find out?”

  “From the beginning. It was quite obvious. You aren’t nearly as good an actor as you like to think.”

  “Then why didn’t you stop me? I’m curious.”

  “I had hope. It was a mistake, and I regret it, but I hoped I was wrong. It was only after the massacre that I understood I was right.” She shook her head. “Sadly, it was too late, and the other countries didn’t believe me fast enough to save the Empire. Falling back afterwards and doing nothing was a good move. It made them all relax.”

  “Thank you. I’m quite proud of it myself.” His smile grew even more grotesque. “It was nice talking to you. But I think this is where it ends.”

  After saying that, he threw a fireball, quickly followed by a lightning net all around it. The fireball in and of itself was weak, but once she dodged, she would be hit by the nets, and considering the speed of the nets, she wouldn’t be able to do anyth—

  He leaned backwards so fast he lost his balance. A silver flash passed just over his falling head. It was her sword! He began sweating. That had made him feel actual danger! He was sure of it! That sword could kill or at least heavily injure him!

  He used the falling force to propel himself backwards.

  “What kind of sabre is that — Ahhh, it’s Ultimus Somnus, the wakizashi of Azarynth Veyloran herself. This might just become troublesome after all.”

  “Oh, trust me, it will.” She lowered her sabre to her side. An untrained mind would think she was careless. Hell, even a trained person would think that! But he had once seen Azarynth fight.

  She also held her sabre like that. Loosely by her side, her feet standing like a normal person walking. It looked stupid. Like an untrained idiot who forgot she was even carrying a sword, or couldn’t carry its weight while raising it. But the moment she was attacked, the sword would dash to block, using the impact to stop the blade, tip pointing towards its opponent. After that, she would just have to push it forward, and the opponent would have to perform a really awkward dodge, unless they fancied a cut throat.

  It was almost impossible to counter if one didn’t expect it. Hell, even if one did expect it, it was still damn near impossible to defend against. So, knowing that, he was a whole lot more careful than with any of his past opponents. They would have certainly been shocked to see him shuffling backwards, keeping his distance from his opponent, not even bothering with attacking out of fear of creating an opening.

  His opponent didn’t attack either. She could already feel the strain her strengthening put on her body. Luckily, it only damaged her body whenever she used it, so she might just have a chance to survive using this spell if she managed to buy herself enough time by stalling and bluffing.

  “It’s been a while since our last fight. I see you still haven’t gained any confidence in your abilities. Are you only cocky against weaklings? Is that why you waited until the Fallen One died before starting this whole thing? All that confidence is only on the surface? You still run away whenever we fight, eh?”

  The provocation was obvious, but it did what she intended with it. “So that’s it! That’s why you are so strong suddenly! You used a sacrificial spell! And here I was thinking you’d hidden your power all along! You will have to attack me here, and you know it. Every sacrificial spell grows weaker with time. So what are you waiting for? Go fast! HAHAHA!”

  As soon as she began moving, he jumped backwards. Only to blush with embarrassment when she sat down in a seiza. Her blade back in its sheath, hands on her legs and eyes closed. She just started meditating! In the middle of a fight!

  “That’s the problem with you, Caley. Always so impatient. You don’t have the patience and discipline needed to wait. It’s why you will never reach the level of the Fallen One. Discipline and a peaceful mind are the core to resonance with the world. Those were her words. ‘True power is only shown in a disciplined mind.’ Those were the words of Hisaya. Everyone at that level mentioned peace and discipline, because that is the truth, and it is also why you will never reach their level. I mean, look at you. You can’t even defeat a regular Hatamoto like me.”

  He didn’t even deign to answer, and instead reigned in his anger and sat down across from her. Similarly, using his mana sense to sense his surroundings, while meditating with his eyes closed, to recover mana, resolute to wait her out.

  It was only half an hour later that he realised she was not growing weaker. On the contrary, her strength seemed to have subtly increased. This was a never-before-seen thing! A sacrificial spell that wasn’t dependent on time! This was dangerous, after all.

  Without saying anything, he subtly gathered mana, which took him over a minute due to him having to hide it from her eyes, before suddenly.

  “Lēohtgā— Ahhh!” Screaming in pain as he began his cast. Something had interfered with his mana! It was almost as if he had been poi— A silver flash flew right towards his head! He rolled backwards, barely managing to stand up out of the roll.

  Still in shock over the surprise attack, he promptly lost his newly found balance, as he once again had to jump backwards, somehow getting his foot caught on something he was sure hadn’t existed just a few seconds ago.

  “F?rbolla!”

  He used the explosive power of his own spell to propel himself backwards, barely avoiding another slash. Now, he had a chance to counter! “Morganes Rīperwyr— Arghh!“ In his excitement, he had managed to forget the poison! But why had the fireb—

  Gāres Blētsung!

  The strengthening spell worked! His speed had increased enough for him to be able to keep up with her speed! He pulled his scythe out of his subspace. It seemed it would come down to this, as all of his powerful offensive spells had caused him pain. He took his stance. Scythe behind his back, hand forward, with his left foot forward.

  Suddenly, the memory stopped. Daphne and all of her classmates were understandably enraged.

  “Sorry about this,” Their teacher began, seeing all of their glares, “The lesson time actually ended fifteen minutes ago. I didn’t want to end it on a cliffhanger and would’ve given you more time tomorrow, before the lesson, in return for the longer lesson today, but my reminder just went off. I have something I need to do. Once again, sorry. The next lesson will end fifteen minutes earlier than usual, alright? The memory is not going to be that long, so it should fit in terms of time. Homework is an analysis of what tricks you saw that make it possible for weaker opponents to match, or even defeat, a stronger opponent. No length requirements.”

  After so abruptly leaving the classroom, Azarynth appeared in a forest. Surrounded by trees that seemed to blot out the light and mist that made it difficult to even see one’s own hands, she could truly feel the forest’s oppressive atmosphere. Undeterred by said oppressiveness, she walked forward, feeling wards in the forest. Wards that were, curiously enough, not targeted at keeping visitors out, unless one counted a singular Muggle-Repelling ward, of course. No, these wards were targeted at keeping someone, or something, in. Something powerful and dark, very dark.

  As she walked further into the forest, the atmosphere deteriorated even further. Any normal person would have left the forest already. Hell, even most trained warriors would have already left this place, never to come back. But Azarynth knew what, or rather who, she was here for. And that someone was far more dangerous than some mist and bad visibility.

  There it was. Right in front of her stood the entrance to a cave, its dark interior not inspiring anyone’s confidence in managing to safely exit it after entering. Still, she entered it. Walking down dark, oppressive tunnels. This continued for over five minutes, with no visibility existing in the slightest, as the wards made casting a lighting spell in this place next to impossible.

  It was only at the very end of the path that she once again had access to light. And there it was. At the very bottom of the mountain. An even more oppressive-looking room. The dim torchlight might’ve made it possible to see something, but the shadows certainly didn’t make the place more inviting. Nonetheless, Azarynth entered, her hand on the hilt of her wakizashi.

  There she was. In the middle of the room.

  “And what might you be looking for here?”

  Was a woman chained to a wall.

  "Morgan le Fay."