"Lilith! Lilith!", Yuno hugged her.

Lass turned around, looking at them both. "What the...her powers are at a whole new extreme.", he gazed at Ikarisa, "It's like... it never happened? That's amazing..."

Yuno kept tightening his grip around Lilith, almost as if he felt that she was going to go away from him again. His tears gradually turned into a smile, he looked over at Ikarisa.

"Despite being who we are and just tiny compared to you. Thank you, goddess. Thank you so much! I...I wouldn't be able to take anything on without her!"

"Size has nothing to do with this. I know how much she means to you. Because she means that much to me as well. Lilith is my Guardian.", Ikarisa said, "However, it's not the normal Guardian relationship, as we are not exactly...connected, in a way."

"That...wouldn't surprise me. She always used to tell me some of her weird stories from outside Kaci, how she travelled the world with someone. And no matter how much I'd get hurt, she'd use her powers to heal me. Just like you.", Yuno said.

"Well yes but...it's complicated.", Ikarisa exhaled heavily, "Whew. That took a bit more out of me than I thought. But anyway, we can't stay here for long. We need to break everyone out and get moving quickly. Considering all the ruckus, they may have realized that it's more than just a regular prisoner uproar."

Lass turned his back on the other prisoners and moved towards his friends' cell.

"Risa is right, we need to get outta here as fast as possible. We already made as much noise as we could, and I doubt that it'll pass as prisoner bickering for long."

"Right.", Yuno picked Lilith up. "I'll carry her."

"Not so fast, big guy.", Anya said, "Risa over here, has a huge plan. Go ahead, Risa!"

"I promised I'll help whenever and however I can...hear me out. When they perform the ritual with the moon thing like the other Hyrusas told me, they'll try to gather and shoot whatever Obsulyte signature they have to convert me into one of them by turning me into a host. And all that energy will be amplified with a prism they will set up over-ground! So I'm sure of it...I can try and fight back the prism, and light everything up!"

"But goddess, that's way too risky! What about you?!", Yuno said.

"I will have to agree with this flying menace here. It's way riskier than what we did back in Reingard, you're going to actively try to take the pain, not bring it closer. If we coordinate a better attack, we can probably try to brake the prism and face them at the forest path's choke point during a retreat..."

"You won't be able to break it in time. I don't need to run any tests to tell you this big guy. That prism is exactly the same as what Gygas had worn the day he...well he essentially became a monster. I managed to get and have my way around things and got a hold of that thing. I don't know what that rock was, but it's very distinguishable and extraordinarily hard. More so than Damascus metals made with extra hard materials...you can probably break it, but the timing will be...well impossible.", Anya said.

"We are still not about to let the goddess engage in such reckless behavior!"

"Wait, who are you? Are you with Lass?", Ikarisa asked.

"Long story short, I am basically the new Guardian and all that. Now, what are you gonna do?"

"Oh, it's the little Hyrusa again!", Anya remembered Yuno's face.

"Excuse me, what?"

"Oh, I-uh...never-mind! Heheh..."

"Wait a minute...those legs...and that tail. You're the sword thief?!"

"Oh drop it already, I was gonna take the freaking sword sooner or later!", Lass stepped in, "Risa, there's no way you're doing this. We'll save everyone with something else."

"Lass, I'm sorry but there's no other way. Even if you get me out I won't come...my mind's set!"

"I've got backup!", Anya smiled, "I managed to loosen up the chains of everyone in here. When Risa lights everything up, we'll all help!"

"What do you think?", Yuno turned to Lass.

"Hmph...I heavily dislike this."

"I'll get back in the cell. When the assault happens, I want to help too! I had a few days of battle training with Yuno...I can do this!", Lilith said.

"Alright fine. I get it, we'll go with that. I'm warning you, however, if things don't go the way they were supposed to, I'm cutting this plan short.", Lass said, "I also have another idea. If the prism is so hard as Anya said, then it probably is made to hold against really energy-intense situations. If I intervene right when Risa starts to fight back, I should be able to finish the prism off. After all, I suspect insane energy concentration at that point."

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"Yeap, we can do that! Let's get the plan into motion!"

Lass and Yuno then proceeded to get out of the hole in the ground, stealthily passing through Shadower soldiers by disguising their aura like one of theirs thanks to Lass. They then swiftly got into position and waited till sundown. And as soon as the first dim rays of moonlight started to appear, everything was ready to go into motion.

"Lass, there she is! She's being brought up in the platform!"

"Alright, let's do this."

Ikarisa was forced to kneel and the full moon happened. They pinned Ikarisa down at the pedestal and began their ritual, looking up at the prism. The amount of raw energy that went on to Ikarisa was severe, as Lass began to doubt the plan midway and was ready to raise his blade preemptively. But then she did it. Using both her own strength and that of the Key Of The Gate, Ikarisa redirected all of the energy back into the prism. Lass then, now knowing that there was a chance of success in her words, swiftly jumped in, creating a lance from his abilities and hurdling it directly onto the prism. The entire camp was engulfed in flames, as multiple rays of light launched left and right, each causing a massive explosion on impact with the ground and killing a huge chunk of the Shadowers' numbers. The prisoners then rushed above ground after the barrage was over, starting to run towards the woods while also defending against what few forces the Shadowers managed to scramble back together to pursue them.

"Can't say I'm not glad that my half-assed science worked.", Lass landed down.

"Everyone, there's our opening! Go, go, go!", Anya yelled at the prisoners.

With that, the last of the prisoners came rushing out and began to run away from the Shadowers and that's when Lass jumped in as well. With what little weapons they had, those who were proficient in battle along with Lilith and Yuno fended fearlessly against the Shadowers who appeared to still scramble their forces together. As Anya helped Ikarisa get off the pedestal and realized that this did more to her body than what they thought, Lass told Yuno to split up with him and get himself and everyone back to the village so that they could recover. A minor argument broke out, almost silent as it was engulfed by the screeches of the monsters, coupled with the war cries of the defending parties, before they eventually backed out exactly like Lass requested, him holding the line behind them as much as he could.

Lass struggled, "I can't run and fight dammit. There's too many of them and they're crushing onto me like one peaceful mutated mass!"

"Pin yourself into position then. Fend them off and make space between them and the escaping party.", Mellistar suggested.

Following his advice, Lass began to slow down progressively so as to not alert the others that checked behind them to check on him. After finally being able to disconnect from their field of view, he turned around and began defending his position. Despite his training, which was lacklustre in the grand scheme of things, he began having to back down gradually, giving in to the onslaught of the monster hoard.

"Hnnh!", he launched a series of 3 ranged slashes, killing one Shadower with each one, "Barely alive here!"

He began getting more and more accustomed to his powers, trying to fight back. Realizing that there was an opening, he quickly dashed forward to the right and the left twice, landing two heavy slashes with his giant sword and taking a number of Shadowers down. Just then, a Shadower jumped at him from above, having a clear opening on Lass's back and attempting to stab him with what looked to be an Obsulyte fused sword. Before he could say a word, like clockwork, his body reacted before him. As soon as the sword made contact with his skin, just barely touching the surface, a loud metal sound echoed throughout the area, as Lass seemed to momentarily disappear from view. The Shadower was frozen in place completely, having time around him slowed down, before eventually coming to a halt. As soon as time stood still around them, Lass reappeared and launched a devastating counterattack, completely annihilating his target as a bright, massive red slash appeared between him and the Shadower. All of that happened in what looked like mere milliseconds, as Lass then reset to his fighting stance, before realizing what had just happened, but still standing there in disbelief.

"Holy shit. Ok, yeah, that's badass no doubt.", he looked back at the incoming hoard, "Ghyak! Dammit!"

Realizing his body had softened up after the influx of power that went through it after his last move, Lass found himself in mortal danger, pinned down by a Shadower that desperately tried to go for his head, as he was barely able to hold him back by putting his sword between them. Feeling his strength going away bit by bit, his hope started to rapidly fade out.

"Have you got any resemblance of pride left in you, or should I just play the 'get out of jail free card' yet again? Because you of course aren't doing it properly.", Mellistar sarcastically said.

"Screw you.", Lass answered back, panting as he fought against the Shadower.

As he gazed a bit underneath him, he saw more and more Shadowers heading right for them, realizing that his options were getting more and more limited by the second.

"God dammit, fine. Your go."

"Ah, finally, play time.", Mellistar happily said.

Lass's eyes turned red as his struggle faded away, and Mellistar started taking over again to protect them both. Recovering his strength and adapting to the elevated Obsulyte levels, Mellistar made a singular punch and come into contact with the Shadower having him pinned to the ground, sending the monster flying extremely high into the air, with parts of its body dismembered from the force of the blow. Using one hand, he pushed against the ground as he leaned backwards, recovering back up and cracking his fists while twisting his wrists a little bit afterwards, turning around to face the hoard of monsters coming their way.

"My, oh my, me...surely there's quite the number of insects I need to squash. Hmm...let's start with you then!", Mellistar menacingly approached the monsters.

Mellistar grabbed a nearby Shadower at inhuman speeds by the face. He smiled with utmost joy as he tightened his grip more and more. The monster's face was unable to fend off against the agonizing pressure and gave in, as it shattered itself into pieces, blood and bones splashing all over the area.

"Shit.", Mellistar realized what had just been done, "I...this one had a host recently?", he paused briefly as he realized Lass was also watching, trying to play it off as normal right after, "Oh well...", he closed in and smelled his bloody hand, "I have a lot more cleaning to do. Who dies next?", he pointed his blade at the Shadowers, letting off a menacing smile.