[b][i]Lancer + Rider + Assassin of Black versus Rider + Assassin of Purple[/i][/b]

What did the Philosopher Kings believe, and how was that relevant to this current conflict?

The first article of their belief was that Mystery must be preserved through offensive action - By keeping the masses ignorant and curtailing their advancement, their understanding. If it meant sending the [i]Santa Maria[/i], the flying ship and Noble Phantasm of Rider of Purple, to rain down a fine mist composed of [i]smallpox serum[/i] across towns and villages south of Patras, in order to weaken the population's belief in the achievements of science once the disease had incubated and broken out, it was a small price to pay to establish the natural hierarchy of Magecraft users over Mortals.

And that leads us to the second article of their belief: That Hierarchy is the pathway to reaching the Root, and that Tyranny and the crushing of one's inferiors by sacrificing them to supernatural symbols of cosmic oppression, was how one slowly crawled their way up the cosmic food chain and fused with the Root, which is the 'Ultimate Tyrant' due to being highest on the metaphysical pyramid. And so upon sighting Lancer of Black making his way south, Rider of Purple, with a voice like thunder, shouted from his ship:

"Servant of Yggdmillenia, Anastasios of the Philosopher Kings bids you heed these words - We have sown the smallpox plague in the villages south of your Headquarters, a precursor of future calamities thrown at this decadent world we live in. We do this to teach those ungifted with supernatural power, those complacent sheep who nevertheless demand rule over the world, that their place is to be slaves to those who are gifted with rulership. For Kingship and Tyranny are the same steps up the ladder of Ascension, so says Anastasios Palaiologos, he who crawls up the top of the Pyramid of Steel and Skulls."

He then continued, "Now you have a choice - Fly up to where we are, fight us where we are strong, and thus be taught your place as well, or alert your Master Darnic to our actions and thus force him to spend valuable resources healing those we have infected, and risking the secrecy of Magecraft itself. Or do [i]both[/i] and risk utter failure!"

As the flying ship moved to soar above Lancer and Assassin of Black, one can see the silhouettes of a crew, a crew not of humans, but of Oni Mixed-Bloods and Vampires, loading the vessel's cannons to fire when ready, and a small, light, female figure giving commands to them...

[@SSW][@Yukitamas][@HiddenBlue]