A familiar hawk flew across the moonlit sky, warning Jay of the battle soon to come. He watched Corinne fly first towards the monolith, perching on one of its vines as her head morphed into a human and she spoke with the hidden team Scorpion.

Jay shook Marko awake beside him. Depending on how fast the directorate convoy moved, they might still have hours to wait or they could only have minutes.

Corinne nodded at the wall of stone before flying towards Kestrel's hiding spot. She landed in the tangle of branches above Jay before dropping to the dirt as a human once more.

"Good news?" asked Marko, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Jay shook his head and sighed at the young gladiator, not comprehending how he could be so relaxed.

"They're on their way, but the procession isn't particularly fast. It's slightly larger than we expected, maybe twenty people," said Corinne. "They probably won't reach here before dawn."

"Did you catch a glimpse of the Sawblade?" asked Jack. Unlike Marko, Kestrel's captain had been anxiously awaiting Corinne's return. Even after all his battle experience, he seemed almost as nervous as Jay was.

Corinne shook her head. "I think they're keeping it hidden. There's a cart with a large sheet covering its top in the middle of the column. I'd bet the Sawblade's there, although I didn't get the chance to see it. I'll head out again in an hour for another update."

Marko leaned back against the tree he'd been sleeping against, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "I guess that's that then. All we can do now is wait."

—

Jay woke up Marko again an hour before dawn, partly to make sure his fellow gladiator was ready to fight, but more so because he was infuriated at how easily he slept.

His sadistic caution proved useful, however. After Corinne returned from her final scouting mission, she confirmed that the Directorate convoy was ahead of schedule and marching with pace towards the monolith.

They had a short while until the convoy arrived. Jay spent his time meditating, closing off his world to any outside influence as he soothed his mind. This wasn't the first large-scale fight Jay had been involved in and it certainly wouldn't be he last. So what if he was beginning to doubt the alliance. That doubt couldn't help him fight. He needed to remove it.

Several silent minutes went by. Jay's nervousness remained, even as he clung onto Ping and let the swishing whispers of the swaying branches above him wash over his thoughts.

If removing it won't work, how about ignoring it?

As Jay's mind's eye filled itself with potential scenarios of the battle ahead, he slowly began to relax. None of his contingency plans were likely to play out, but the act of making them calmed him anyway. It wasn't that he was doing something useful, but it felt like he was—and that was almost enough.

Better a useless tactician than a helpless foot-soldier. At least in Jay's eyes.

Jack tugged on Jay's arm, ordering him into his final position and reminding him of the battle at hand.

Jay rose.

The time for doubt was over.

—

Despite Corinne's claims, the convoy moved slowly on its approach towards the monolith. Jay listened to their footsteps with the help of Eye of the storm, they weren't cautiously scanning the whole forest but they didn't seem to be rushing through either.

As the enhanced footsteps grew louder, Jay mapped out his future battlefield one last time. Jack crouched beside him, temples sweating even through the early-morning chill. He stared forward, eyes scanning the road running across their vision before the monolith. The path looked completely undisturbed, and Jay truly had to commend Yagao's skill and precision. If he hadn't known about the hidden pits strewn across their soon-to-be battlefield, there was a good change he wouldn't have even noticed them.

Beside Jay and his captain sat the other half of Kestrel, both eagerly awaiting the battle. Marko had both his daggers out and showed none of the tiredness from before.

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At least someone got a good night's sleep…

Corinne had half-transformed already, although she saved some of the flashier mutations for once the battle was underway. Her arms had almost doubled in girth, and had a scaly hide running up to each shoulder. Thick, hairy legs sat folded, pressing into the dirt beneath her, storing energy and preparing to leap forward.

Jays eyes moved onto the monolith, searching for a second before finding the veneer of stone that team Scorpion hid behind. Obviously he'd seen Yagao in combat before, but Jay wondered what the other two members fought like.

Based on their first exchange. Jay reckoned Carla was around his level, potentially a little stronger. Although she wasn't as fast as Jay, her toughness would likely make up for it. Her Harmony involved hardening parts of her body into a carbon fibre-like substance that shrugged off most blows but kept her light enough to move around.

Felix was even more of an enigma, and had only answered Jay's questions about his Harmony once Yagao explicitly ordered him to. It revolved around keeping objects in place, and forming stasis bubbles that resisted the movement of anything inside them. Jay recalled something similar in one of his final few fights before the advancement tournament. His opponent had used the ability through his armour however, and Jay wondered how Felix would channel the technique offensively.

The rumbling of oncoming footsteps told Jay he'd find out soon.

He tapped Jack's shoulder, silently warning him of the approaching group, and made a silent hand signal towards team Scorpion.

The footsteps grew louder.

The rolling of wagon wheels joined them.

Jay let his mind wander before the Directorate convoy was truly upon them. The Sawblade was the whole reason they were attacking tonight, yet Jay didn't even know what it was. Sure, he knew it was useful for cutting down trees and presumably cutting down people too, but tons of things were good at that, Jay included.

What made this one worth fighting for? Did Samira want to seize it for their own use?

Jay knew there was a reason. He had faith in Samira's pragmatism, if not her honesty, but that almost seemed to make it worse.

The pounding footsteps merged with the rattling wheels. Closer, but not close enough.

Jay wasn't opposed to fighting without a reason—most of the time the fight itself was a good enough reason—but fighting for an unknown reason irked him. Could he really put his life on the line for someone without even knowing their true aims?

The Directorate convoy crept into Jay's vision and he once more had to ignore the nagging doubts lest they cloud his judgement. Nothing had gone wrong yet, but this wasn't the kind of fight that Jay could enter half-distracted.

The vanguard emerged from the waning treeline, advancing towards the monolith while scanning both its flanks. Each member disguised their face with the hooded rubber mokos worn throughout Hisoka and Jay could barely tell them apart.

He spotted one hold his glance on the monolith for slightly longer than the others, earmarking him as a potential gladiator before moving onto the rest of the procession. The covered cart rolled forward, its wheels glowing gently in the dim blue haze of not-yet-morning, propelled without a horse or engine in sight. Another hooded figure sat atop the canvas covering the cart, his hands glowing too as they grasped the cart beneath him.

Does he control the Sawblade, or is he just the driver?

As the procession crept closer to Yagao's mines, the vanguard began to slow.

Their heads fanned side to side, scanning the barren earth with renewed fervour.

Have we been spotted?

In their discussions over a hiding spot, Jay had pushed for ones further from the monolith, however both Jack and Marko favoured closer locations. It made sense at the time, considering that neither of them could close the distance as fast as Jay could, but he was beginning to regret his deference now.

Jay snuck a glance down at Jack. Kestrel's captain stared intently at the convoy. Since he would signal the attack, he had to be sure he was making the right decision.

The other Directorate forces caught up to the vanguard, the cart stopping just behind them and all the other hooded guards forming a circle around it. Most kept scanning the sparse treeline while a few exceptions still gazed up at the monolith.

Shit, they're preparing for an ambush!

Jay looked back at his captain. In about ten seconds, they'd lose any element of surprise they still had.

Jack gritted his teeth, still staring at the Directorate forces.

"NOW!" he screamed.

Jay shot forward, tearing away from his teammates as he rushed into battle. Although Kestrel was a squad designed to hit hard and hit fast, none of the other members could hold a candle to Jay in the initial exchange of a fight. Jay was at his most useful in the opening seconds, and he wouldn't let Kestrel stifle his biggest advantage.

With electricity streaming through his legs and his feet kicking up clouds of dust behind him, Jay had already cleared most of his distance by the time he heard Corinne leap behind him.

Only one Directorate guard managed to raise his sword in time.

He'd be the first to die.

Jay slipped beneath a meagre thrust while flailing an overhand right at his opponent. It connected cleanly against the man's jaw, but the combination wasn't over. Jay swept the guard's base away while he still reeled from the punch, grabbing the man's moko before he completely fell to the floor. Instead of grappling with his opponent, Jay clutched onto the rubbery cloak and flung him into the air.

Although he'd broken past the Directorate's defence already, Jay's opening salvo was nothing more than the jab that split apart the guard. The defenceless man rose upwards, meeting his end after a disc of electrified iron caved in his skull. Ping whirled mid-air, flinging off the dead man's blood before dropping to Jay's side as he raised his fists.

Jay hoped Kestrel and Scorpion's follow up would come soon, however.

Because even with one opponent out of the way, that still left nineteen pairs of eyes locked on Jay and ready to fight.

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