[Guild Mission] Karakuri City Tower Invasion! "Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

"Master Zeno, I..." A voice protested from a dark corner in Zeno's office. The candlelight flickering revealed scars merging with wrinkles on an old monk's face.

"Enough!" Zeno's voice echoed through the entire second floor of the guildhall as his fist slammed down on the desk and nearly broke it in half. He kept it there and raised his head to meet Master Zhao's eyes with bloodred anger.

"We both know who and what you were before joining the monastery here. Lying to me is pointless, Zhao. If you're going to keep up the lies and tell me you do not know anything about this terrorist, I will beat it out of you myself. Too many innocents have died over this and it was the one promise we had sworn to hold above all else. No more innocent casualties at our hands. Especially within these walls!"

Zeno's voice swept from his throat to Zhao's ears and almost tore him apart. But the monk remained persistent. "Zeno, I swear they have the wrong person!" The monk said, raising his hands as if he wanted to hold Zeno back from doing something rash. He felt tiny in his chair, with the Guildmaster towering over him. Everything about the monk hinted at a weak and fragile nature. Everything about him was wrong.

Zeno knew this man was responsible for two guild wars and the destruction of an entire valley of villages here in the mountains. A powerful mage to say the least. Zhao had a similar background story as Zeno, but Zeno suspected the old Guildmaster of Carnage was not looking for redemption.

"If you had no idea what these men were after you would have already surrendered yourself hours ago and Rarik, Beth and Delphius would still be alive! But no, I had to come seek you out myself, find you cowering behind magically locked doors, and drag you all the way here. You know you're guilty of whatever they're accusing you of and you know what they will do to you. That's why you're still here and not out there. You coward!" Zeno said as he moved closer to Zhao, his aura ready to skin the old monk alive.

Then, Zhao's face twisted, it changed... The wrinkles started to twitch, the scars became even uglier somehow, his jaws clench and his vile eyes met Zeno's unflinchingly.
"You're every bit the monster I am, Zeno. You bloody hypocrite. Hell, you're worse! And you dare to stand there and judge me?"

The words had only left Zhao's throat for a moment and Zeno's fist had already met Zhao's nose. The chair toppled over and Zhao crashed against the wall. With a flick of Zeno's hand, a card shot out at the wall. Within the blink of an eye, a portal opened and Zhao was sucked in.
All that remained after it closed was the upside-down chair.

Zeno repositioned it properly and looked at the time.
No more calls since ten minutes ago... Perhaps we can make it there in time to prevent the next wave of killing...

And where the hell is Kiba? He should have been here by now.

Kiba had made his way to Zeno's office on the second floor, Annoyed because he had been interrupted by some guard who tracked mud into the Library. He stopped outside the door and heard Zeno yelling at someone name Zhao, a name unknown to him, the yelling died down after a minute or so. Kiba had a few bones to pick with Zeno at the moment so this was the perfect time to broach them. He heard the Zhao man call Zeno a hypocrite, which caused Kiba to smile slightly, *Hypocrite indeed.* Kiba thought to himself, he listened for more words but heard none so he knocked.

"Zeno... you called for me." Kiba was trying to be calm as possible, He wanted to hurt the man for what he had done to Kyll. "May i come in?" Kiba did not wait for a answer, he turned the nob on the door and pulled it open. Kiba saw the room was empty as he stepped in and closed the door. Kiba narrows his eyes as he regards the Eclipse soul Guild master. This man had used soul destroyer on Kyll, he was suppose to be her friend, or at least someone she looked up to. "What did you need." Kiba spoke though his teeth, trying not to leap out and hit the man, although it was clear he was not happy. Kiba looked around at this point, mainly to find the other man, Zhao, but no one else was in the room. *Wonder were he got off to* Kiba frowns at the thought of not knowing what this was about, and the fact he had not had time to mop up the mud, which meant it would be tracked all across the library instead of just the entryway. Kiba turned his attention back to Zeno adjusting his book bag as he did, the book bag that currently held all of the book telling the truth about Zeno, Kyll and Soul Destroyer.

"There you are." Zeno said calmly as he turned only his head to Kiba. There was a perfect facade over his face, flawlessly hiding the fact that he had been arguing with someone mere seconds ago. Kiba's visage on the other hand, was not as good at suppressing underlying emotions. Or so it seemed at least.

"What are you so upset about, is it the Towers?" Zeno asked as he opened up the wardrobe in the far left corner of the office. It was a rather small office for a Guildmaster, nothing to brag about. Just a desk with cabinets, a bookcase with filled shelves, a wardrobe in the corner and a map of Earthland on the wall. A plain boring office, but of course this was just a front for visitors. Zeno's real base of operations was not here.

Zeno reached out into the wardrobe and pulled out a large copper ring, its diameter large enough to encompass an incredibly fat man with still space to fill. Zeno held the ring above his head and dropped it. As he passed through the falling ring, his clothes were magically turned pitch-black. He pulled his hood over his head and offered the ring to Kiba, then he realized it might kill him, and smirked as he put the ring back in the wardrobe.

"We need to hurry."

Kiba watched Zeno as he did his ring trick, Kiba raised a eyebrow when he offered it to him. *Not now Kiba* Kiki said to him. Kiba clicked his tongue and spun on his heel, and walks out of the office. Kiki was right now was not the right time, but it was going to be brought up later. Kiba walks quickly to the main hall, the guard who had tracked mud into his Library was waiting for them. "You go mop up the mud now." the man starts to retort. "Now!" the man looks at Zeno for help. Kiba walked past him out of the building, not really caring what happened really. He only wished to keep her safe and he would to the best of his power. She held the key to his family's past, which meant she was important to his future as well. He walked out the doors and to the small post the guards had set up.

One of the guard approached Kiba, "Sir Thank you for coming." The guard motioned for Kiba to follow and started explaining, Kiba listened as he explained about the enemy's. Kiba frowned getting in with out getting seen would be a issue. And their numbers were also concerning, the lack of a total count was problematic. The guard set out a floor plan for the tower, the only easy way in was over the roofs. Kiba looked over the map again, it was still clear that any approach for the most part would be hard. Kiba looked around the area at the many guards, most doing something. Kiba looked to the horizon, it would be dusk soon, a perfect time for a attack.

"For now stall them I'll strike when the sun touches the ground." Kiba pointed at a entrance near the base of the tower, one that would likely be lightly guarded. "I'll enter from here." Kiba frowns, if he screwed up they would kill hostages.

Something seemed off about Kiba as he left Zeno's office. He didn't even wait for his guildmaster to lead the way. His body language hinted at Zeno's presence actually annoying him, but Zeno couldn't put his finger on it yet. Though he would, in due time, which was not now at all.

His black cape trailed behind him from his shoulder as he caught up with Kiba and the guards that had set up camp in the Eclipse Soul Guildhall. This place was now the safest compound in the entire city. But the invaders had also managed to take over towers right by the bridge to the gate tower. Their cannons were aimed at the gate and the main tower. This made it very hard to go in and out of the guildhall unnoticed, especially to assault the towers.

Nevertheless, Zeno did not consider these towers that much of an issue. He had already done an investigative scouting mission around the towers before to know it was a distraction. The most they would find on the inside would be archers and perhaps some guards. The heavier squads were deeper into the city center.

As Kiba explained to the guard where he would enter the tower, Zeno interjected.
"Hmm, if you do that.. You'll have to be very very fast."

His posture made him look way too relaxed for the situation they were in. As if he was about to go out on a casual stroll.
"Once you enter through that spot, it's going to get difficult to hide on the inside. These guard towers do not have much furniture. It's well-lit corriders and open, round rooms. Sound echoes easily from one floor to the next. And if they're watching these towers with spying glasses, they will notice the missing sentries and archers." Zeno explained as he looked up to watch the colors in the sky change with the setting sun.

He then looked at the puzzled guard and Kiba, then pointed to the left. Across the courtyard, Karakuri guards were changing outfits and dressing up as bandits.
"We've used the resources at our disposal to imitate the outfits of this band of outlaws. The moment we strike, both towers either have to be hit in rapid succesion or even simultaneously. Each guard that holds a position visible from the outside, will have to be replaced by one of ours." He explained, then approached Kiba.

"Fluidity is key. We have to be like water and flow through each tower without losing momentum. Do you want to lead your own squad of Karakuri guards, or follow my lead?"