Mordred had been drowned in work, sitting in her office, reviewing documents and signing them. The weapons produce by her company were very popular, so popular that they couldn't keep up with demand which led her to expand the factory. She gave her goods to weapon stores for them to sell to hunter, and she sold in bulk to villages or towns. Of course, she did research into these villages and towns using her underground network that Violet and Slate made during their gang days.
Mordred avoided selling to suspicious entities, she didn't want her weapons to fall in the hands of bandits, gangs or the white fang. She knew they would eventually get their hands on her weapons with how much she was selling but she wanted to prevent it for as long as possible, after all, it would be more difficult fighting these groups in the future if they had her weapons. Another thing is that she avoided selling to Atlas or to any organization related to or in Atlas. It was obvious that they wanted to recreate her weapons due to how effective it is against grimm and people. She needed to build up her power quickly for the inevitable arms race against Atlas when they start recreating their own versions with bullets that use gunpowder instead of dust.
Her mercenary teams have also been performing quite well. While there was some conflict between teams that was sparked because they had differing favorite colors, no one died or was injured so that was good enough for Mordred. In some of the villages that her mercenary teams were dispatched, she began the construction of outposts, to establish a permanent presence.
There was so much unused land throughout Vale. This was because of the grimm, no town or village had the manpower to protect large areas of land, and the Kingdom didn't have a military to do it either. The kingdom didn't care if you claimed land for yourself. You could just walk into free land and say, yeah, I want to build a house here and farm. The Kingdom won't care, as long as you pay taxes.
After building up her forces, she wanted to start getting into the agriculture business. Then when she has lots of money, she wants to build a dedicated base on one of the uninhabited islands near the mainland Vale.
Mordred signed another document. It was for the purchase of a warehouse near the factory. This warehouse will be converted into an Research and Development lab for new weapons and equipment. She wanted to diversify her products as well as start getting into combat vehicles for her own forces.
Mordred sighed and stopped working. She spun around in her chair. It had been two months since she returned and all she did was work. She wanted to start preparing for when canon started.
'Hmmm, how should I deal with Cinder?' This was a question Mordred had for a while now. She had two options before her. One is to kill Cinder when she first confronts Ruby. Mordred had her subordinates search for information of Cinder, but they found nothing other than a few people have put bounties on her head. She knows Cinder's presence will guaranteed to be where Ruby is once canon starts, she just needs to wait nearby and strike at the perfect chance.
Then there is option two. Wait until Cinder has the full power of the Fall Maiden. This plan is riskier since Vale will be thrown into chaos from a joint invasion of White Fang and grimm. Cinder will also be more difficult to take down. But the plan has an advantage. If she kills Cinder early, Mordred will only get half of the Fall Maiden powers, and if she wanted the other half, she would need to get through the old wizard, Ozpin. But if Cinder has the full powers, then while everything is in chaos, she goes in quickly kills Cinder, get the power, then leave and no one will know she was there.
'Well, I still have time to decide' Mordred pushed her plans to the side. She got up and stretched her body. She wanted some sleep. She walked over to another room connected to her office. It was a bedroom for when she didn't feel like returning home. She kicked off her shoes and jumped on the bed, messing up the business suit she wore.
She pressed her face into the pillow. 'It has been a while since I last had a nightmare, it feels kinda weird waking up refreshed since I was so used to getting them almost every other night. Though now I get weird dreams of a sword in stone, and I don't need to ask why I'm getting them, only why now?'
[Report: New mission is now available for the host]
Oh? Its been awhile since I got a mission, though I haven't really gone anywhere to trigger a mission. Anyway tell me the details."
[Mission: Face your greatest fear]
[Rewards]
-System update
[Accept/Decline]
"That's it?"
[Affirmative]
"So how exactly do I face my greatest fear?"
[You will be transported to a separate location for the mission]
Mordred began thinking of her fears, trying to figure out which one is the greatest. 'Spiders? Roaches? Flying roaches? The IRS? Am I going to have to fight IRS agents?'
She shook her head and took out her scroll, she made a quick phone call to let her subordinates know that she will be out for awhile. Once the phone call ended, she clicked accept. A bright blue portal opened up in front of her, Mordred materialized the Incursio armor and walked in.
...
The transportation was brief, the next second, Mordred found herself in front of a vast flower field, filled with hundreds of different types of flowers, some she had never seen before.
'Flowers? Is this my fear?' She joked in her head.
~Clank~Clank~
Behind her was the sudden sound of footsteps, with heavy armor. For some reason Mordred froze, she couldn't bring herself to turn around, a feeling that she had never experienced before filled her heart.
The steps got closer and finally she managed to turn her body. When she saw the figure before her, she held her breath and her eyes widened in fear. Fear for someone she had never met before, a fear that felt like it was buried deep within her soul, only now resurfacing.
And along with that fear was something else that resurfaced... hatred and rage... loneliness... and another part of her that was dormant.
"F-Father?!"
Standing before her was a person clad in dark-indigo and black plated armor. They wore no helmet, revealing their face. Pale skin, pale golden hair and golden eyes.
No one made a move, only silence existed between them.
'Why did I call her father? Do I have some of Mordred's memories or personality?'
Mordred could only think, as she did not have the confidence of facing the alter version of Artoria Lancer, yet she felt like calling out to them.
Then Artoria made the first move, raise her arm forward, it glowed for a second before an oppressive feeling washed over Mordred, she could barely resist the urge to kneel.
Artoria had manifested the Holy Lance, Rhongomyniad. But it was corrupted, its appearance was demonic. She pointed it at Mordred, and beam shot out from its tip. Mordred only had a split second to dodge. She threw herself to the right with all her might and managed to barely avoid the attack.
As tempted as she was to look at the damage that attack caused, she couldn't afford to look away.
Mordred brought out Neuntote. A halberd like weapon that comes with the Incursio armor. She didn't like using this weapon but had no choice as her sword could not exchange blows with the Holy Lance. Neuntote was the strongest weapon she had that had any hope of exchanging blows, even if that hope was very little.
'Ava! Start world travel now!'
[Affirmative]
[Warning: World Travel initiating]
[Warning: Spacial interference detected. World Travel will begin in 60 seconds. Random location will be used for the safety of the host]
'A minute! I won't last the next 10 seconds!'
Mordred quickly brought up her weapon to block an attack. She poured all her mana into mana burst in an effort to match Artoria's strength. Yet, it was futile, just a single blow managed to damage Neuntote extensively.
That split second of panic from her weapon's damage gave Artoria an opening. She planted her fist into Mordred gut and sent her flying. The distance was great, leaving a train of destruction as she crashed into the ground.
The difference is strength was too great. Her armor was heavily damaged, she had to resist the urge to scream out and cry in pain. She could even feel Incursio roaring in pain. She got up to her feet and saw Artoria casually walking over, not a hint of expression on her face. Mordred knew that she was holding back, she had no doubts that Artoria could erase her existence easily.
If she couldn't defend herself, then she would run as fast as she could to buy time for the teleportation. So, she dematerialized her weapon and poured all her mana into her body to run.
Just a few more seconds and she will be safe, is what she kept telling herself. Mordred looked back in time to see a beam of light chasing her. She quickly started moving erratically in order to dodge the multiple beams of light being sent.
Mordred's heart raced as the beams of light tore through the air, the sound of their high-pitched whine echoing in her ears. She could feel the presence of Artoria growing closer despite being so far, the oppressive weight of her power almost suffocating. Another beam narrowly missed her leg, leaving a scorching mark on the ground where she had been just.
Then she tripped, thinking she would surely die, a portal opened up under her, taking her away to a random destination.
...
Now, Mordred laid on her back on a sandy beach. From what she could tell, she was on a small island who knows where. Mordred didn't know whether she could be considered lucky or not, someone like Artoria Lancer would easily bury her six feet under, she could only guess that Artoria was holding back. Exhausted with almost dying, she decided to sleep. She couldn't care anymore about the possibility of there being creatures that live on the island that could eat her. Right now, she just wanted rest. And so she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
[Warning: Beginning system update]