For now, two of the most powerful heroes in the Hero Faction were simply killing time, waiting for their time to deploy and defeat their erstwhile enemy.
"My...seems our meddler has some new fans, hm?"
Both heroes turned around to see Siegfried walk towards them, a rare playful smirk adorning his face.
"Oh~? You seem to be in an awfully good mood. Something good happen?" the female hero wondered aloud, curious.
The handsome descendant of the original Siegfried only smirked wider. "It turns out that I'll be joining you in your little expedition. I'm surprisingly anxious to get started...it's been a long while since I've faced a worthy opponent. It's a shame that he isn't a swordsman."
Heracles looked surprised at this admission, but his growing grin belayed any evidence of his disapproval with the idea. "I see! Then we shall all occupy the battle together! I pity Uzumaki then...unless he's as powerful as the rumors claim he is...there's no way he can get out of this alive!"
Siegfried grunted in affirmation, he agreed, there was no logical way for their adversary to get out of this one.
"Hey Sieg-kun...speaking of mysterious figures...do you know anything about the weird guy that hangs out with Cao Cao?" Jeanne whispered to the silver-haired hero, big blue eyes shining with excitement at some juicy info.
The swordsman twitched slightly at the nickname, but tanked through it regardless. "...Unfortunately, not much. The man's as much a mystery as he was when we first met...I just don't know what to think about him. Cao Cao won't say anything about him either, maybe he might be more willing to talk if we destroy the Japanese branch of the Hero Tribe..."
Heracles raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Why the hell would you say that?"
Siegfried eyed the burly hero. "Because the last time he was so forthright with information about his past was when we obliterated the Chinese Hero Tribe. Whether we admit it or not, that armored...person...is a part of Cao Cao's past."
"Ohh...makes sense." Jeanne wondered childishly. "Still, he kinda gives me the creeps."
Both men couldn't agree more.
As the trio of heroes continued their talks, another individual walked towards them with anticipation, intent on sharing the news...
It was starting.
"It should almost be here by now...looks like we will finally have an easier time of getting to Kyoto. It's about damn time!" Maria complained, relieved that they wouldn't walk anymore.
Yuki couldn't help but agree, the taxi that they called up in Kyoto should be moving to them now, cutting down the time they would have taken significantly.
All while making sure that they didn't use any supernatural methods to get there, they didn't want to needlessly antagonize the yokai after all.
So hopefully they will be able to explain the situation to the yokai leader, giving Naruto some leeway and ending this little crisis before it could further get out of hand.
She was actually a little hopeful, maybe she wouldn't have to deal with that hero-trained warrior again...
But as she kept moving forward in the hopes of catching their taxi, her hopes were quickly beginning to fade.
"...It's here." Maria whispered besides her, glancing around nervously.
Fog.
"Maria." the hero spoke out with authority. "How far away is the taxi?"
The succubus quickly scrambled her own phone out, scanning the time to better find out where-
"It should be right here..." she mumbled out, eyes scanning the dense fog to see if there was a motorized vehicle in their somewhere.
Both females tried to look through the fog to see if they could find their ride, hoping that it would reach them before their enemies did.
After a moment of silence, the duo saw twin lights break through the mist, catching their attention.
"That's it! It has to be!" the succubus cried, charging forward towards the lights.
Yuki followed shortly after, a bad feeling crawling up the back of her spine.
She had this feeling before, when the last time that this fog appeared, except if anything...it was worse this time.
With that worrying thought present in her mind, the hero kept moving, eventually moving close enough to see the form of the car. As well as the taxi driver, who was glancing around, thoroughly confused.
"Hey-!"
As the succubus tried to call out the driver's attention, the fog surrounded the motorized vehicle from view, thickening to the point that the lights seemingly couldn't pierce through it.
Nevertheless, Maria kept moving forward, remembering where the general direction of the car should be.
She then reached it, causing her to stop in her tracks as she stared at the empty ground.
Gone. It was gone.
"...Where did it go...?" Yuki asked quietly, eyes scanning around as she caught up with the loli.
The car disappeared right in front of their eyes, vanishing into thin air as if it was never really there.
Yuki had no doubt now; the fog definitely had something to do with this.
The fog conveniently appeared when that armored being first attacked them, then it disappeared along with the fog...and now this.
They were interconnected somehow, maybe some sort of teleportation...?
She couldn't ponder the issue further, as a new sound entered her ears, one that immediately made her bad feeling get worse.
The scrape of metal against concrete...
The duo quickly closed the distance between each other, with Maria bringing her fists up and Yuki materializing her katana. Ready for whoever was coming from the fog.
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