"Then that's what we do," Rodrigo said. "Hold the line. Buy us time."
The battle ragedfor what felt like hours. Rodrigo left the walls and moved between sectors, coordinating defenses, plugging gaps, and making tactical decisions that could determine whether they lived or died. Vincenzo's professional soldiers were good, but they weren't prepared for the compound's fortifications or the lethality of the defenders.
Giana kept her promise and alerted him to any new threat before it descended on him.
Dario held the east like a man possessed, acting like a rallying point for their loyal men, his booming voice cutting through the noise to direct attacks and coordinate movements.
Frederica fought beside him, her guns singing death with every shot, her movements so fluid and precise that even mid-battle, Rodrigo caught glimpses of Dario watching her with something that might have been admiration.
Silas commanded the west with quiet efficiency, his experience showing in every tactical decision. Athena and Kon left Altun to handle Serapis and became a two-person wrecking crew, moving between hotspots wherever the fighting was fiercest, leaving bodies in their wake.
Through it all, thegulwaited at the perimeter, silent and patient, their dead eyes gleaming in the growing light.
An hour passed. The magical assault weakened first with the green flames flickering, the shadows retreating, the whispers fading to nothing. Altun had done it. The sanctified ground held.
With their magical support failing, the conventional attackers began to lose heart. Giana used the moment and sent a message across all the enemies' comms announcing that Vincenzo didn't have the money to honor their payments. The coordinated assault devolved into desperate pushes and hasty retreats. By the time the sun fully rose over the Tuscan hills, the ones who could still flee were gone.
Thegulremained.
"They're not following them," Leo reported, his voice exhausted but relieved. "The surviving attackers are falling back beyond the tree line, but thegulare still there. Just standing there and watching."
"They can wait," Altun said weakly. She was seated on a stone bench, Julian hovering protectively beside her. "Serapis won't waste energy maintaining them indefinitely. Once he retreats to recover, they'll collapse."
"And he'll be back," Rodrigo said flatly.
"Yes." Altun met his eyes, and she looked more pissed off than he had ever seen her. "This wasn't a serious attempt to take the compound. It felt more like a test to annoy us and see how we defended it, or…" Altun broke off mid-sentence and was suddenly on her feet and running.
"What the fuck?" Dario asked.
"Follow her!" Rodrigo called, but Julian was already racing after her. They found her down in the holding cells, swearing loudly in Turkish. Rodrigo gagged as the smell of burned flesh hit him. Luca, Conti, the men who had attacked him on the road, as well as the handless torturer, were all dead. They were curledup in odd kneeling positions, their eyes and mouths open in silent screams.
Rodrigo's body broke out into a cold sweat. "What the hell is this?"
"This is why Serapis sent a siege to distract us," Altun growled. "They all knew something that they shouldn't."
"Ew, that's some creepy fucking shit," Athena said, looking into Luca's silently screaming mouth. She poked at his cheek, and his body crumbled into ash. She squeaked in surprise and said, "I didn't do it!
Kon picked her up and lifted her out of the ash around her so she didn't walk through it. "You just had to touch it," he said in mock disapproval.
"Hey, Dario, I'll give you fifty euros if you eat some of the ash," Frederica said, making Dario dry heave. She cackled in glee.
"If they all knew something that Serapis wanted them dead for, then we have to find out what it was," Dario said finally, his face still a little green.
Rodrigo nodded grimly. "Then we need to find the old bastard and get to him before he tries to take us out again."
Rodrigo left them in the cells and went to inspect the battered but still-standing compound. They had survived a battle, but they hadn't won the war. Not until Vincenzo and Serapis were dead.
His comms crackled, "Rodrigo?" Giana's voice, steady despite everything. "Leo says the attack is over. Is everyone okay?"
The tension in his chest eased slightly at the sound of her voice.Alive. She's alive.
"There is some weird shit in the cells, but our casualties are light, all things considered," he replied.
"Then get back here. We need to talk about what comes next. We haven't had eyes on Vincenzo, but I'm onto it. Maybe if we find him, we find Serapis."
What comes next. Rodrigo looked toward the perimeter, where thegulstill stood their silent vigil, and thought of Serapis. Their enemy, whom they had thought dead, was now not only alive again but was in possession of more powerful artifacts than the Edgeworths had found in his Russian base.
What came next would be a fight unlike anything they had faced before, but as he made his way back toward the villa, toward Giana, Rodrigo found that the prospect didn't fill him with dread.
