"Keep following them, they got Sheep!"

"Y'think we dun' haff Eyes 'r somethin'!?" Nerys shot back.

"They turned another corner!" Hats yelled.

The Gods were leading us towards them knowingly, indicating they wanted us to catch up. Still, they've gotten faster as time went on, and by now it's gotten pretty difficult just to not lose track of them. Just where the Hell are Elegy and Sab...!

"Eh?!" I jolted, "They're not here!"

"Up above!" Hats pointed, "They're climbing up that building!"

Selzion, who was still busy with keeping Sheep unconscious, stopped once he reached the top of the building. Hanging off the ledge, he stared down at us with a disinterested expression. Looking down on us, he muttered something too quiet to hear, then got dragged away by Prylos.

"Wot' ye' sae ta' meh, bassta'd!?"

"Nerys, quit yelling and climb the damned building already!" I ordered, "Hats!"

"Got it! One boost coming right up!" He nodded, reading himself up against the wall without missing a beat, "Hup!"

Without fault, I grabbed hold of a hanging ladder bolted to the side of the building. I have no clue how those Two managed to reach such a high up ladder themselves, but at least I could follow them up here too. After me was Nerys, who apart from some light fumbles pretty much made it up safely as well.

"Gimme your hand!" I reached out to lift Hats as well.

"Ye' crazeh?" Nerys stopped me, "T'ain' nevah gon' werk. He be too fatty, ye'd jus' be tossin' yerself off the ledge, lass."

"Hrm..."

Y'know Nerys, you're not really being of much help here. Hats is pretty large when compared to us, but it might even be possible if you stopped making up excuses and helped me lift him up.

"She's right." Hats surprisingly agreed, "You two follow after them across the rooftops, I'll be following from the ground in case they think of jumping!"

"But-! ...Tch!" I turned around, "Come on then, they're just up ahead."

"Aye aye, lassie!"

Just Nerys and me left. Gonna be honest, I was hoping for Hats' help more than hers, but beggars can't be choosers, I guess. The Gods were already hopping from one rooftop to the next, and since we took the time to discuss strategy with Hats, we were kind of far behind.

"Don't let them out of your sight!" I yelled, "Oop-!"

"Gotcha'!" She pulled me up by the wrist, "Y'knoe lassie, lookin' at where ya' goin' is also important."

"N-Noted..."

Turns out, just staring directly at your targets instead of your footing in such a dangerous place as a rooftop most usually means you'll end up slipping. Gods, had it not been for Nerys just now, I would've fell all the way to the ground level. I know I said I'd rather be with Hats, but not if it means I'd be down there.

"Just what the Hell are they doing?" I grunted, "How is this in any way going to help bring Vastoria back, dammit!"

"Ye' still on about dat?" Nerys raised an Eyebrow, "Lass, they be worryin' about evrythin' bot the girl."

"Yeah, I can tell that much..." I glared at them in the distance, "But why are they hurting Sheep, then?"

"We'll hafta' catchem' n' foind out." She nodded before speeding up, "Nau c'mon! Dun' miss dis next jomp!"

With such a long run-up, she practically cleared the gap two times over. That's a pirate for you, I'll bet she learned that from years of jumping from one ship to the other. As for me, I'm not too confident I could beat her, but I should be able to reach the other side just fine.

"Long run-up, amass speed, and...!" I buckled my knees, "Ack!"

The jump was too late, so I ended up slipping off the ledge of the roof. I had the proper speed, but without any upwards momentum to let me clear the gap, even Nerys couldn't reach me from where she was. This time there were no more do-overs, I fell straight down to the bottom.

"...Gotcha!" A boyish voice announced.

"What the-!? Hats!" I gasped in surprise once he caught me with the one arm.

"Why do you look surprised?" He asked, "I said I was gonna be below you, didn't I?"

I mean, yeah, but if I'm being completely honest I thought that meant you were hauling ass to cut Them off. I mean, it was nice of you to catch me from my fall, but it's not like I'd get hurt either way.

"Migu, you okay?" He got self-conscious, "You've kind of been staring at me for a long time now."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"You're surprisingly reliable, kid."

He stared blankly at me before muttering meekly, "Okay, I'm gonna put you down now..."

Welp, guess I got my wish eventually. I do feel bad about leaving Nerys on her own though, but that's just how it is. As for the bright side, at least now I can properly stop the Gods with Hats, if we play our cards right. After all, running on the ground layer is much easier and faster than parkouring from rooftop to rooftop.

"Hey, slow down!" Hats requested.

"Tell that to them, not me!" I glanced back with a smile, "Now come on, it's only a matter of time before they gang up on Nerys now that she's alone! We gotta stop that from happening!"

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***

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"Th' lass fell." Nerys muttered to herself as she bolted from one rooftop to the next, "Shaem."

In such a high octane situation, Nerys reasoned it's only natural to mess up once or twice. When nerves get to weak people, they tend to crack under the pressure.

"Bot' Cap'n Nerys ain't wunna dem!" She yelled, "Oii! Euwes Twos can expecc an' ahh whoopin' tha' secun' Oi've reach'd yus!"

The Gods, upon hearing this, did in fact turn around to humor her. Their legs kept the distance between them equal and unchanging, however.

"Nerys Edris..." Selz glared heavily at her, "Yes, the seafarer."

"She's not gonna catch up to us before we...?" Pry fretted.

"Hush, Pry. That information is unnecessary to share." Selz turned to look at the reader, "Their lips are loose, so they may yet warn the Wildcard..."

"Wot' yus tolkin' about!?" Nerys hollered, "Oi! Quit yer' ronnin' n' tell meh!"

"She's persistent." Pry chuckled, "Almost makes you wanna root for her."

"I would rather we root for our own victory." Selz shrugged, "Though, such would be redundant. After all, ours is assured."

No matter how fast she ran, she could not close the distance between them. If she sped up, they sped up, and if she slowed down, they remained sped up still. Despite lugging around a huge unconscious archangel, they were running without a single bead of sweat dropping. Though, Nerys caught notice of something important.

"Aye, ye' cannae go too fass when jompin'!" She smirked, "At's me chance!"

Indeed, the distance between the rooftops was large, but the actual roofs weren't all too big. In other words, if the Gods jumped with the speed they had accumulated, they'd end up overshooting and missing the next roof, thus dropping down to where Hats and Migu were. On the other hand, Nerys had absolutely no drawbacks to overshooting, 'cause that would mean lunging full speed at the Two and thus catching them.

"Wait, wasn't she supposed to be the dumb one?!" Pry panicked, "How come she figured out the complex math and physics all in her head!?"

"Pry, another lesson in human psychology." Selz explained, "Humans don't actually have to calculate such intricacies when it comes to praxis. Instead, their subconscious does the math for them, allowing them to reach the same proper conclusion through sheer logic alone."

"What? That's cheating!"

She was making quick work of closing the gap between them, and with this latest trick up her sleeve she managed to find herself within just a few short hops of catching up to them. Coupled with the fact they were carrying a heavy Sheep between them, the Gods had figured running wouldn't be enough to shake her off their tails.

"Pry!"

"On it!"

With but a single call-out and a nod, the Two achieved mutual understanding just like that. Immediately, they both let go of Sheep as they split apart, dazing Nerys in a shroud of confusion. No matter how quick her reactions were, she simply could not prepare for the possibility of her objectives splitting into three before her very Eyes.

"Ngh! Not gunna werk!" She shook it off, lunging at Sheep without any form of hesitation, "Gottem!"

"Now!" Pry screamed.

From both sides, Nerys was attacked by the Gods of Meditation and Knowledge. Once more, her choices were forcibly limited either to defending herself or keeping her hold on Sheep steady. Unsurprisingly, she chose the more reckless approach.

"Open ahp, ye' damn piece a' Mutton!"

Prying open his wings, Nerys found herself within the protection of his embrace. Inside she found the unconscious Vastoria, as well as a few of their walkie-talkies.

"Inaff ta' werk widd." She figured, rushing to activate all the walkie talkies at once.

The closed off space within Sheep's winged embrace caused the sound of all the devices' static into an endless feedback loop. The irritant screeching of the devices kept accumulating until it had amassed a nigh deafening volume. The Gods outside, however, could not hear this happening at all.

"She got inside, what do we do now!?" Pry frowned.

"Tch, what else?" Selz begrudgingly sat down, "We can't do "the plan" with her inside, so until she willingly leaves, all we can do is wait."

Meanwhile, inside Sheep, Nerys was barely holding out. The horrible sound of the static endlessly amplifying made her head feel like it was being torn apart, but she had to endure it until the time was right. After a while, she felt like the frequencies that were being reached were almost too high to even hear anymore, however this was merely her brain playing tricks on her.

She squealed in pain, "Gahhh, can't... tekkit... any... more!"

"Just... a bit..." She held out, "...More!

In the very next moment, an eruption occurred. The two unassuming Gods staking out in front of the ball of wings were blasted with the loudest sound they had ever heard. The sound was so loud, in fact, that it somehow managed to give all the Heavenly Beings nearby a sense of pain in their ears despite their invincibility.

In other words, the sound of the feedback loop was so loud that even angels could feel pained from it, so the Gods that were currently nothing more than mortal humans had it a thousand times rougher. They dropped to the ground immediately, with Nerys peeking out only when the feedback had settled down.

"...Gotchus." She grinned smugly, "Har har! This foin land'll remembah th' naem a' the fair cap'n who bestid tha' Two Gods! Across th' endless see a' clouds, Nerys Edris shall rein supreem!"

Alas, her victory was ruined by the blokes downstairs.

"Nerys! What's going on up there!?" Migu yelled.

"Is it safe to come up!?" Hats added.

"Gah. Ruinin' me victry..." She pouted, "Aye! C'mon ahp!"

With the threat of the Gods now temporarily dealt with, the trio was safe to converge where Nerys was waiting for them. After this, she figured, it would be best to try and tie the Gods up and then wait for Sheep to naturally wake up. Or at least, this was her assumption.

"Huh? What happened to them?" Migu raised an Eyebrow at the sight of the two Gods lying motionlessly on the rooftop.

"Th' sound a' th' devoice." Nerys explained proudly, "Made 'em drop loik flois, eet did."

Migu approached the two bodies, feeling a sense of anxiety well up within her with each passing step. Carefully, she ducked to inspect their conditions, only to be met with the scariest sight of her afterlife.

"N-Nerys...!" Her heart sank, "They're not breathing!