Lika sits inside of the caverns with a group of men shoving Jenna into the same room. They shove closed the door as Glyn appears, staring down at them from a hole in the door. Lika glares at him with a rage as Glyn smiles, waving at the pair before shoving the hole shut. He turns to Tisha and Mila as the two look back at him.

“Are you sure leaving them alive is a good idea?” Tisha asks.

“Especially with that Subjugation spell,” Mila adds.

Glyn laughs. “Trust me. Jenna will be out for a while. She’s going to be tasting the backlash to that spell for days, if not weeks. Not to mention the taste she got of my curse. Besides, I’ve already taken out their pieces. They’ll be a lot weaker without them.”

Tisha stares at him. “It’s unusual for a curse like yours to be so potent. Who cursed your family, exactly?”

Glyn turns away. “No idea. Just some old fart who was probably mad at my folks or whatever. It’s none of my business how this mess started. I just have to put up with it.”

“Don’t overexert yourself,” Mila says.

“Oh, trust me, I won’t.” Glyn nods. “Let’s go check on Pepper. Hopefully, she’s not suffering too much.”

The trio moves through the caverns towards a large room with Zanrit standing guard outside. He opens the door and they enter into a lavish room where Pepper sits on a bed surrounded by old men at her bedside.

“Are you okay Lady Pepper?”

“Need anything? Water, fruit, medicine!?”

Pepper laughs. “Medicine for mortals won’t work on me sadly. But I thank you for the offer.”

Ricard rolls his eyes, standing in the back of the room. “Seriously. She was attacking us not even an hour ago.”

“She didn’t have control over her own body then. Cut her some slack.” Glyn says.

“Fine. But I don’t have to like it.”

“Anyway, back to those Magic Tools?”

“Right. They're still in good shape. We can only use them once or twice, though, before they go poof. We only had Mythril shards to make them, anyway.”

“Right. Considering we have everyone out of the way now, aside from the Queen, we can use them to blow a hole in Fenwick’s barrier.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Ricard nods. “And then we can assault that damned manor of his.”

Pepper stares at the two. “If you’re planning an assault, be warned. Fenwick isn’t defenseless. There are still close to a hundred mercenaries guarding the grounds. And he’s still a skilled swordsman in his own right, enhanced by the power of the King Piece.”

“The King Piece can enhance to?” Mila asks.

“Yeah. The Pieces give a boost to one's internal Mana. Sadly, such a thing doesn’t work for me considering my curse and all that. So, I’ll be the weakest one no matter what.”

Tisha sighs. “Either way, he’s vulnerable now. Even with all his mercenaries, we can get him and end him once and for all. Unless someone is opposed to killing him, too.”

“We don’t have to kill him. Once his King Piece is destroyed, the Shadows will force him and his forces off of the island and back to the mainland.” Glyn explains.

Mila nods. “Convenient.”

“It’s really for safety. Most of the people in this game are heirs to some major houses and they don’t want to take the chances of them dying. There’s no rule against killing, but I imagine it’s highly frowned upon.”

“So, how do we beat him?”

“Easy. I just have to steal his King Piece. Either losing in battle or surrounding should do the trick.”

“It’s that easy?” Mila asks.

“The trick is getting to him in the first place. Normally a King wouldn’t be in the field like me.”

“That makes you an odd one,” Tisha says. “But I guess that’s why I agree with you.”

“Anyway. How long until you resistance guys will be ready?”

Ricard looks to the old men who rise from Pepper’s bedside. “We’ve been waiting for a moment like this for the past month. We’ll be ready in a few hours to heal our wounded and gather the able-bodied from across the island.”

“Even at our best, most are just simple men or youths, not warriors. So don’t expect much from us when it comes to a big battle.”

Ricard shakes his head and his tail stands up. “Come on, would you guys be satisfied letting some outsiders do all the work!?”

The others lower their tails and shake their heads. “Sorry. But we’ve been down for so long, we did not need warriors until he appeared.”

“Yeah, monsters aren’t too frequent here, so we needed only a handful of warriors at a time,” Ricard says.

Glyn nods. “Fine. We can multitask. If we end the fight fast enough, then the mercs should stand down, anyway.”

“So, the plan is to break the barrio and then run in and beat up Fenwick!” Mila yells out.

“Yup. A nice simple plan.”

Pepper laughs, standing up from her bed. “You make it sound so simple.”

“It is really? We’ve still got a wave of mercs to get through and you said yourself that Fenwick is no slouch.”

Pepper nods. “That’s why I’ll come with you.”

“Are you sure? Your contract….”

“I am still within the rights of my contract with him. As long as I don’t directly fight against him, I’ll be safe.”

“Fine, if you want to fight, then come with us and let’s beat his ass together.”

Pepper stands and smiles, bowing to Glyn. “Alright. I will fight by your side.”

Meanwhile sitting in his manor, Fenwick nods, holding his hand to his chest as he extracts the King Piece. He laughs, holding it in his hands as he senses it pulsing with power. He stares out of the windows of his study into the distance, waiting. In the courtyard below, a group of mercenaries gather, waiting for the battle to come.

“I know you’re on your way, Glyn. I may be cornered, but I promise I won’t make this easy for you. Come, Glyn Mattox! Let me show you why I’m the heir to House Fenwick!” He yells at the top of his lungs.