"When will you learn to stop messing around with any pair of breasts you come across?!" Elma chastised as she dragged her partner, Chayse, and their prisoner, Thelo, around the castle. She ignored the glances and whispers from the military and nobles within the vicinity. As far as she was concerned, embarrassing both men in front of an audience was a decent form of punishment.

There were many things the Huntress couldn't stand. One of the top things on her list were distractions when out on missions. Elma always found herself keeping her keen eyes on Chayse all the time.

The man couldn't stay focused. Whenever he found the time to fool around, he'd take advantage of the situation. Consequences be damned.

If not for his skills, Elma would've left the man out on his ass all those years ago.

"B-But! It was Runa! I wanted to thank her for helping us!" Chayse defended his actions as he desperately tried to free his ear from Elma's firm grasp. His face turned to beat red as he noticed others pointing and laughing at the scene.

"I don't care! No distractions when on a mission!" Elma continued with her scoldings.

"I got it! I got it! Let go!" Chayse pleaded.

The temptation to drag her partner all the way to their destination crossed Elma's mind. The mere thought of the shame and humiliation it would bring to Chayse brought a smile to her face. Unfortunately, their goal wasn't a place where they could fool around.

Against her better judgment, she released her hold on Chayse. The Hunter quickly backed away and caressed his throbbing ear.

"I seriously got captured by your two?" Thelo complained. He spent a bit of time with his captors, and their ridiculous antics took their toll on him. He didn't care where they brought him anymore. As long as he could get away from the duo, he'd be satisfied.

"That's enough out of you," Elma tugged on Thelo's chains. The Exousia gritted his teeth and winced when his restraints tightened.

The group proceeded further into the castle. They stopped in front of two armed guards. Once they showed proper identification, the guards stood aside and slammed the butt of their spears on the floor.

The walls behind them split open, revealing a large elevator. The group entered the elevator and descended.

"Why are we going down?" Thelo questioned. "I thought we were going to meet the council."

"They're busy dealing with other matters," Elma answered. "For now, we're taking you directly to Tartarus."

"We’ve got a special cell just for you." Chayse teased him.

Soon enough, they reached their destination—Tartarus. An underground, cavernous prison which held the kingdom's most dangerous criminals. Unlike most prisons, once sent there; release was impossible. Criminals sent there were sentenced to life; enduring torture depending on their crimes. Either that or immediate execution.

The cries and wails of despair from the prisoners carried through the constant breeze that blew throughout the cavern. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears. The jailers in charge of the torture continued with their duties without hesitancy or remorse. Being a jailer in Tartarus wasn’t for the faint of heart. If the criminals showed no remorse for the crimes they committed, why would the jailers do the same when doing their jobs?

In Elma's eyes, every criminal in prison deserved everything that came to them. She glanced over to Thelo and gauged his expression. His face was as pale as a ghost. His body trembled uncontrollably. Like many prisoners before him, they’d act confident, but then once brought to the prison, their demeanor would change drastically.

"Is it bad that I’m used to coming to this place?" Chayse stepped out from the elevator and into the cavern. Several meters ahead of him spawned Varvara. The Hunter acted quickly and shot them down.

It was a natural occurrence for the Varvara to spawn within the prison. After all, the place practically consisted of negative emotions. It caused a lot of trouble in the past, but, security had severely improved over the years.

Chayse continued to protect Elma and Thelo until they reached a secret door, known only to members of their organization. Elma pushed open the door and entered.

"Caz! We're here!" Elma called out. Up ahead lied a small station with large computer monitors hung on the wall. In front of the station was a disheveled and unshaven man that sat in a chair. His legs protruded out right next to his face as he continued to type on the keyboard in front of him, ignoring the presence of the group.

"Hey, Caz!" Chayse called out to him next. But, the man refused to acknowledge them.

"Caz," Elma marched over to the chair, then kicked it, "get your lazy ass outta that chair!"

The chair spun around uncontrollably. Caz yelled out until he was thrown from it, hitting the ground with a thud.

"What the hell was that for? I heard you guys the first time around, damn it." He looked up at the Huntress with eyes of that of a dead fish.

"Answer quicker next time," suggested Chayse, "also, your greetings still need some work."

"Right, MY greetings need work," Caz rolled his eyes and looked over to Thelo. “so, you’re the one that caused all that trouble in Pandora? Word of advice…cooperate. It’ll make things easier for you."

"What? And end up their whipping boy like you?!" Thelo countered. The man made his intentions to cooperate very clear from the beginning. Nothing could change his mind.

"Rude," Caz adjusted the subjugation collar around his neck.

"Is the Director around?" Elma inquired.

"Not yet. She's still dealing with some issues on the surface."

"Guess we'll stick this guy in a cell for now." Chayse took the chain from Elma and dragged Thelo out of the room, ignoring the Exousia's constant complaints.

Once they were out of earshot, a sigh escaped from Elma. "That's one problem dealt with for now,"

"Still got about a mountain more," Caz reminded the Huntress, ruining her brief moment of relief. Afterward, the man returned to the comfort of his chair.

Elma rummaged through her quiver and grabbed a specific covered in plastic. The tip colored in blood. She walked over to Caz and placed it next to him.

"Brought back a blood sample from our fight with Maur. Try and see if you can find some information on him with that," She demanded. "Perhaps he has some connection to this country, like a family or something."

Caz stared blankly at the arrow. "What are you planning on doing if he does happen to have a family?"

"What do you care? That’s not like you."

"I don’t care. I’m just curious," Caz answered, “after all, you’ve made it clear that you don’t mind doing anything that you deem is necessary to protect this kingdom. Does that make sense?"

"Relax. I’m not going to go after Maur's family. If they don’t have anything to do with this, that is." Elma assured him. However, the thought had crossed her mind. If going after the man's family brought him out of hiding; she wouldn't hesitate to do it.

The bastard drove a knife in her stomach. She swore to repay the favor.

"I'll do what I can. It'll take some time before I can get any results. Does that make sense?" Caz picked up the arrow and inspected it.

"Hurry. We don't know how much time we have until the Acolytes strike again," Elma crossed her arms and paced around the room. Time was of the essence. She couldn't afford to stand around and do nothing while the bastards continued to plot the destruction of Soteria. "Have you requested for the Director to speak with the council yet?"

Caz shook his head and set the arrow down. "She didn't answer her Milo. So, I left a message instead. If I had to guess, I'd say that the council's preoccupied lately. Does that make sense?"

Elma stopped pacing. "What's got them so busy? What's more important than protecting their people and country?"

"Probably themselves. Does that make sense?"

Elma grinded her teeth and continued with her irritable pacing.

The country’s council infuriated her beyond belief. Those bags of bones weren’t fit to lead themselves, let alone the country. What did they know about running a country if they never left the damn castle? They always spoke about how they acted in the interest of the people, but that was a blatant lie in her eyes. All they cared about was their reputation—which already wasn’t worth much.

Elma wanted them gone.

The country would only fall into ruin if they continued to rule it with their half-hearted intentions. Someone else had to take affirmative action. Someone more deserving. An image of the Director immediately came to the woman's mind.

She was the only one deserving enough to rule the kingdom. With her in charge, the Acolytes would’ve been taken care of on day one. But, she wouldn’t allow herself to usurp from the council. At least not through matters of force. She didn’t want to repeat history.

Caz sensed Elma's frustration and set it upon himself to appease her. He hated being around the Huntress whenever she was angry. He couldn't understand how Chayse managed to survive so long with that woman as his partner.

Caz's fingers glided across the keyboard. Eventually, he brought up video footage directly linked to the audience hall. There, he and Elma saw Kyros and his group speaking with the council.

"Guess they're dealing that Kyros guy," Caz pointed out. He pulled up multiple tabs of information on the military man in a matter of seconds. "Guy's under suspicion of being a potential traitor."

Elma forced Caz out from the chair and shoved the arrow in his hand. "Who cares about that? Acolytes come first. Get to the lab and get the blood tested."

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" He reluctantly left the room and headed towards the lab. Elma followed closely behind him, ensuring that he wouldn't try and slack off somewhere.

Along the way, they came along Chayse and had him come along.

Eventually, the group reached the lab. Caz placed the blood sample into a tube that connected to a large monitor. He pressed a series of buttons on the keypad and watched as the screen flashed through multiple images at a blinding speed.

"Think it'll find a match?" asked Chayse.

"No clue. We need to hope that things go our way," Elma replied. "But while we wait, we should pay the Lambros Corporation a visit."

"Why?"

"I remember hearing that the company have been developing artificial Vitalis,"

"What's that got to do with this?"

"Use your head between your shoulders for once," Elma poked Chayse's forehead and continued with her explanation. "Maur used that strange orb to turn people into monsters, right? Well, I doubt that he had the resources to make that himself."

"Suspecting the Lambros Corporation, are you?" Caz smirked. "I'd tread lightly if I were you. They've got big influence. You better have sufficient evidence to accuse them."

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"I'm not accusing them of anything," Elma corrected. "I'm just gonna point out the coincidence between the situations. There are only two companies in the world that could create artificial Vitalis."

"Maybe we should think this through some more, Elma," Chayse pleaded. "I don't think we can accuse the Lambros Corporation without having the weight of the country come crashing down on us. Even if we have the backing of the Director--"

"You afraid, Chayse?" Elma suddenly asked. Her sharp gaze pierced through his very being. But, even with her glance, the man stood his ground.

"I'm concerned. The Lambros Corporation has helped bring prosperity and wealth to Soteria." Chayse stated.

"They also nearly brought it to ruin when they helped the Last King take over," Elma retorted.

Silence immediately befell the room. 

It was common knowledge that the Lambros Corporation had a shady past during the dark period in the country’s history. The people would never forget the damage they had done. However, it was also known that the company had tried to remedy their past mistakes. They had been responsible for the creation of many of the world’s most influential technological innovations in the world. One could hardly find anything in the world that didn’t have the logo of the corporation on them.

It wouldn’t have surprise Elma to learn of them inventing artificial Vitalis. However, if they were responsible for the creation of those orbs, then it would be a different story. What would the corporation gain from creating orbs that could turn people into Varvara? Why would such a thought even cross their minds in the first place?

Since they didn’t have any other leads, Chayse and Elma left Tartarus and made their way to the headquarters of the corporation in Soteria City. They entered the building and were immediately greeted by the receptionist. Chayse chose to speak first, going way off topic by flirting with her. It wasn’t until Elma pulled him away from the desk that they managed to get anywhere in the building.

Elma stated their business and the employees guided them to the central office. They were led by two women, a short one in a white suit, and a tall one in a red suit. Their names were Amarantha and Malvasia. Once inside the office, the Hunters situated themselves on the couch. The other two remained near the desk on the other side of the room.

No matter how much she tried, Elma couldn't settle down while the employees were around. Every fiber of her being warned her to be on guard. The employees of the corporation moved about and performed their respective duties effortlessly. However, it seemed like there was no life in them. Their silver eyes lacked any warmth.

Chayse, on the other hand, felt nothing amiss. He sat there and made flirtatious gestures toward Malvasia. All of them got dismissed and ignored.

"Hope you don't mind waiting. Rodi's busy." Amarantha told her guests. She took a seat on the large chair behind the wooden desk. Her head barely poked over it.

"It's no problem. It's our fault coming here without warning." Elma said.

"So, whaddya gentlemen want from Rodi?" Amarantha playfully spun around in the chair repeatedly.

"Gentlemen?" Elma asked.

Amarantha stopped spinning in the chair. The little girl's eyes fell to Elma's chest. "You're male, ain'tcha?"

Elma rested her hands on her knees and squeezed. "No!" She hastily answered.

"You sure?" Amarantha tilted her head to the side, giving Elma another once over. "Pretty sure you're a man."

The little girl brought her hand up to her chin with a thoughtful expression. Before she could say anything else, they were alerted to the door that opened behind them. Two people entered the room, the third president of the Lambros Corporation, Roditis Lambros, and a woman with glasses that carried a clipboard, his secretary, Retsina. The faces of Amarantha and Malvasia brightened at the sight of their boss.

"Forgive me for my tardiness. Business." Roditis walked over to his desk. Amarantha got off the chair and allowed the owner to take a seat, only for her to take a position on his lap afterward.

A short, sharp noise alerted Elma's attention over to Retsina. Cracks had appeared on the corners of her clipboard where her hands resided. Strangely, no hint of negative emotions showed on her face.

"It’s okay. It’s our fault for showing up out of the blue without prior notice." Elma told him.

Roditis accepted the answer with an affirmative nod of his head. He placed his hand on Amarantha’s head then rubbed it gently as he said, "So, how may I help you two today? Why the sudden visit?"

"You hear about the terrorist attacks?" Chayse's carefree vanished. He straightened his posture on the couch and his tone stern.

"Yes, I have. I do not believe there is a single person in this country that has not heard about them," answered Roditis.

"Before we go on any further, how much do you know about the terrorists?" Elma added.

"About as much as the council." He answered.

Afterward, the Retsina took over for him. "We know they arrived in the country around a month ago, since then multiple areas have been attacked. Only one town has fallen. There are only three terrorists, two of them are human while the third is a Beastia. They have technology that allows them to turn people into Varvara. Two out of the three of them are believed to be Exousia. Lastly, we have confirmed that a member of the terrorists is an offspring of the Last King."

Elma closed her eyes and processed the information given to her. She figured that the Lambros Corporation had such extensive knowledge. People believed that the corporation had the second most power and influence in the country under the council. In fact, it was thought that the company secretly ran the kingdom from the shadows by manipulating the council.

It irked Elma how much power they held. But, there was no denying how influential they were. They had their hands in nearly every type of business in the country.

"Awesome. We don’t have to waste time updating you." Chayse didn’t seem too affected by their knowledge. He quickly accepted it and made himself comfortable on their couch again.

"The two of you only came here to discuss the Acolytes?" inquired Roditis.

"It’s more than just that. We also wanted to talk to you about your artificial Vitalis creation project," Elma said.

"That is not due to be completed until a few more months from now." Retsina said.

"What do the Acolytes have to do with our project?" Roditis asked.

"What kind of artificial Vitalis have you created?" Elma answered his question with one of her own.

"We are not at liberty to release that information to you," Retsina quickly answered while adjusting her glasses, "please do not take it personally, but you two are mere hunters. We cannot run the risk of you two releasing such vital information at your leisure."

"Hold on, Retsina," Roditis called out to her, "perhaps it would not be such a bad idea to answer them. This is a grave situation after all. We should cooperate to the best of our abilities."

"But, Sir Roditis…"

"That is my decision."

"…Yes, sir."

"We have created several Vitalis. They are still in their testing stages, however. Members of our Science Department and Weapons Development Department are working on them as we speak." Roditis wholeheartedly revealed to the Hunters. His voice carried great pride.

"Would any of them by any chance have the power to turn people into Varvara?" Chayse finally asked the question.

Silence.

"…Excuse me?"

"You heard him. Would any of them have the power to turn people into Varvara?" Elma harshly repeated the question as she leaned forward. She glared at him and gauged his expression. What bothered her was that it never changed. 

Roditis showed no hint of confusion nor genuine surprise to the question. It was as if he had expected them to ask him.

"What an absurd question. Of course not." Retsina answered for him.

"Such a device would be impossible to create," Roditis followed up with a statement of his own, "how would one even go about inventing such a thing? Why would someone even think of making a device like that? The Varvara are the eternal enemies of humanity. I have assured that the Lambros Corporation seeks to assist humanity as repentance for the cruel acts the previous presidents have caused to the world."

"How could you two even come to the assumption that Sir Roditis would ever invent such a vile piece of technology?"

"Now, now, Retsina, settle down. My family was responsible for allowing the dark period to last as long as it did. It is perfectly fine for them to suspect me."

"No, it isn’t Rodi! You had nothing to do with this!" exclaimed Amarantha.

"Not. Wrong." Malvasia said.

"The fault lies with the hunters," Retsina set her sights on Chayse and Elma, "they are simply grasping at straws. They do not have any concrete leads to the Acolytes, so they are going after anyone to save what little credibility they have in Soteria."

"That’s not true," Chayse immediately moved on the defense, "we only came here because the Acolytes used orbs which resembled Vitalis. Everyone knows that Vitalis that turn people into Varvara don't exist. Or rather, they shouldn’t."

"Vitalis like that are unnatural. Which means that they can only be artificial. And as far as we’re concerned, you’re one of the only corporations in the world that can make it possible." Elma added.

"I am flattered that you have come to that conclusion all on your own. However, I assure you that we are not in the business of creating such disastrous product." Roditis said.

"Really? Because your company’s history says otherwise."

Despite Elma's sharp response; Roditis chuckled. "Forgive me; it was a poor choice of words."

"If you two are about done wasting our precious time. You should leave the building now. We are very pressed for time here." said Retsina.

"Why in such a hurry to kick us out?" Elma called her out.

"You seem to be hard of hearing. I said that we are very busy. We have wasted enough time talking with you."

Silence filled the room, as well as an intense pressure as the Secretary and the Huntress glared at each other. Elma felt tempted to put an arrow right between her eyes at that moment, but, Chayse had decided to move things along before it could get to that point.

"If you wouldn’t mind. How about you take us to your lab or production room? It would certainly clear you of suspicion." He said.

Retsina opened her mouth to most likely refuse the suggestion, but she was interrupted by Roditis as he said, "Sure. That is no problem."

Both Retsina and Elma expressed their shock at how easily the man had accepted the suggestion. There was no hesitation from him. Elma's feelings of uneasiness only increased the longer she spent time with him. Either the man truly was innocent, or he was a damn good liar.

"Take us there," The Huntress ordered.

"Very well." He nodded then looked at the girl that remained happily on his lap. "Amarantha, would you mind getting up so that I can escort our guests?"

A hum of displeasure came from the short girl as she looked on with a conflicted expression. However, she soon obeyed him and got off, allowing him to stand to his feet. And with that, Roditis led the Hunters to the experimentation lab.

It was a standard lab. They entered the large room and found multiple sections of the place separated by large glass windows. Through the glass windows were people wearing protective suits as they experimented with the artificial Vitalis. None of them looked like the ones that the Acolytes used. 

However, Elma still wasn’t convinced.

"Are there any more experiment labs that you could be hiding from us?" Elma wondered.

"Of course, there are more labs. However, this is the only lab that we are conducting the experiments for the artificial Vitalis. After all, they are still not due to be completed for a few more years." answered Roditis.

Elma clicked her tongue and looked around the lab some more. There just had to be something that she missed. That man was hiding something. She just had to find it no matter what.

"Okay, let’s just say that you’re not the one that created those Varvara Vitalis,” Chayse said, “is it possible that the Acolytes infiltrated your company and stole blueprints to your project?"

For once, Roditis’ calm expression shifted into a complicated one. He brought his hand up to his chin and contemplated the idea. Elma for one didn’t think it was out of the equation. However, Roditis seemed to have thought the opposite.

"Impossible. The security of the company is top notch. Not just anyone could get through our defenses." He proudly claimed. Although in Elma's eyes—he boasted. "Also, I have received no word from my personal guards about any intruders."

"So, that only leaves the option of the Acolytes having other methods of creating that Vitalis," Chayse concluded.

His words worried Elma.

If the Lambros Corporation weren’t responsible for the creating of the Varvara Vitalis, then the thought of how the Acolytes got their hands on that technology frightened her even more.

"Damn it…" Elma silently cursed to herself. She believed that coming to the corporation would answer all her questions. But instead, she had tons of more to ask.

"I am sorry that I could not be of more use to you. However, if you do not mind me giving you a point in another direction…" Chayse and Elma turned our heads towards Roditis. "The Acolytes are fanatic worshippers of the goddess, Jaya. It is their sworn duty to uphold their faith and spread their beliefs through any means necessary."

"What are you getting at?" Elma asked.

"I am saying that it is possible that the Acolytes will be attacking the church next." He answered. His eyes beamed with confidence. "In times of despair, most religious people turn to their gods for guidance and salvation. Although it is unfortunate to say, this may be one of those times. After all, the attacks across the country continue to grow fiercer."

"No doubt people would look towards the church and military for assurance." Chayse agreed.

"Precisely. I believe that the Acolytes will choose the church as their next target as a means for more propaganda for their goddess."

"How long have you had such an inference?" Elma pointed out.

"Quite some time. I have brought the conjecture up in a meeting with your council earlier. They said they would consider looking into it. However, I have not received word if they have properly investigated the idea."

"If it’s them, I doubt they’d spend their resources protecting a church rather than the castle," said Chayse.

"I don’t see what they’d gain by attacking a church. Sure, they’d preach about the superiority of their goddess compared to ours. But, it’s still insane when you factor in the people that they’ve killed." Elma added. "There’s more to these attacks. I remember Maur mentioning that they wanted to overrun the country with Varvara and set up the stage for their mother’s return."

"Overrunning a country with Varvara would be difficult. However, it is not like it has not happened before." Roditis told them.

"It won’t happen," Elma assured him, "the moment they move in for an attack in Soteria city, we’ll be ready to take them down."

"But, that still leaves the question as to where they’ll attack first. The church and the castle both seem like good points of attack." Chayse informed the group.

"The castle would do the most damage. After all, the council and the military are right next to each other. Should both fall to the Acolytes, the country is doomed." Elma revealed.

Chayse’s eyebrows furrowed once he heard the grim statement. "Then again, attacking the church would be a good start for them. It’s not that defended and the people there rarely know how to use their Praus for protection."

"It’s not like we can’t protect both places, Chayse. We can leave the castle to the military while you and I protect the church." Elma told him.

"Okay…but, which one?"

"Maur mentioned Shura quite a bit during our fight against him. I have a feeling the Church of Shura will be their next target. We’ll guard that one."

"How troublesome. I miss the days when we simply had to kill Varvara or monsters out in the Gardens of Eden." He loudly complained as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Quit complaining. If you didn’t want to work hard, then you shouldn’t have followed me here."

"And let you hog all the fame and fortune? No way!"

"If you two are through. I think we should take this conversation elsewhere. I do not wish to distract the testers." said Roditis.

"It’s fine. We’re done here. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to indulge us on our investigation." Chayse replied. Afterward, the Hunters were escorted out of the building by the president himself.

Although Elma left the building with more questions than answers, she at least had a clue as to where to head next. It never even crossed her mind that the Acolytes would target a church. She couldn’t see what they would possibly gain from pulling such a stunt. But, she didn’t think too much on the matter. 

The Acolytes were crazed and radical worshippers of Jaya. Their irrational methods didn’t have to make sense to her—only to them.

No matter what they had planned. Chayse and Elma swore to make sure that their plans failed.