"God, my back hurts." Lass stretched.

"I mean, full-scale fall onto a pile of sharp bones is gonna do that to you. To be honest the fact, you're alive is even a miracle." Anya shrugged.

"Yeah, no kidding. After enduring this fall and your fat ass as a finisher landing on top of me, I'm questioning whether that plot armor you're plugging in all the time is above and beyond is to blame, or the fact I'm as full of Obsulyte as an Obsulyte user can get."

"Did you just call me fat?!"

"Seriously? That's all you got from this?! Look around, mutt! We're stuck down here without a way of getting out! A pile of bodies is what we landed on, and were lucky to center the fall too! We could've gotten slaughtered like livestock down here!"

Anya exhaled, calming down, "Alright. I'm still sober enough to think somewhat straight but...we should be able to find an exit from here. Judging off this trap, it was probably meant to be manually cleaned and remove all those dead bodies they left hanging on a pile here when they became ones themselves. Which means that there should be an entrance and an exit. Assuming that there's no second guaranteed kill trap."

"What even is a second guaranteed kill trap? Why wouldn't they just place like a thousand soldiers here instead? They really thought of just hiding precious shit without having any guards around, just to camouflage it further?"

"But that's the route they chose. So, since we failed that funny little identity checkup above, it probably means that we will have to start looking for a way out before we find out of something like a self-destruct being active here. Screw it, if you can't guard your stuff, just blow your stuff up to not let anyone else have it, right?"

"So this pit straight to hell wasn't a good enough death trap. Just add more possible death traps. How did they honestly build this shit without anyone realizing?"

"The same way Galateans destroyed their bridges every night and rebuilt them every morning under the dictatorship of a neighboring nation, being slaves in the morning and rebels by night."

"Couldn't make it work with plan (A), idiots figured plans (B) to (Z) next." he angrily said, dusting himself off.

"I mean it did its job, yes, but again, there's a metric ton of creatures and beings, plus intelligent demi-humans in Riza that can fly. So I guess this means that because the back door closed and there was no way out, people who could fly softly descended here. And they must have definitely accounted for those who were able to do that, given how I can still see red lights up top, probably because that's a warning system only able to be deactivated by someone with authority. Which means...probably gonna have to play a little bit of tag and run one last time."

"You're seriously treating this as a game? What am I saying, you're drunk enough to think and speak, but didn't raise a single eyebrow on the dead bodies behind you. Funny how the way you drink only leaves the most annoying assets you've got available, but not the other way around." Lass folded his arms.

Just then, a large metal clinging sound was heard echoing in the spike-filled room, a bunch of lights illuminating a metal floor leading to another room, faintly being able to see what looked like a rocky interior of a cave.

"I'm not, but if the long, light-filled corridor behind you tells me anything, it's probably that there's a room specifically designed to deal with the people who had the means to survive the initial fall. And given how this most likely will go, somebody managed to shove a final 'tall man' at the end of that corridor. Plus, it's just skeletons. Creepy, yeah, but I've seen some really messed up shit in the KoK tournaments I've been in. Let me tell ya, Victorian's take their warrior's pride to the next level in there. Well, anyway, it's a fun time." Anya took out her chainsaw sword and rested it on her shoulders.

"Whatever, I'm fine with kicking whatever bloody trap that bastard made in there either wa-". Lass reached behind his waist. "Oh...oh right." he facepalmed.

Anya and Lass looked up to see a faint spark coming from the perturbing light of the top floor, realizing that Lass's sword was still pinned to the angle of the openable floor and hole wall, supporting them before their fall.

"Hand to hand it is for you."

"You wish. I can't dwell on the sword being up there...for now, we have to keep going. I'll treat this as an opportunity to train with weapon summons as Yuno taught me a little bit. First, we trace this path for the exit, deactivate everything, and beamline back for the sword when we can reach someone like Yuno to get it. I knew we should've just blasted the locked doors open instead of this, now there's zero chance of getting that thing without help. God...screw it. One task at a time. Let's go."

"Alrighty then." Anya moved along, "In we go."

The two of them then started walking along the long dusty path to the end, where a final trap was sure to wait. The pathing was, again, recently built, running on electricity based on a sophisticated system plugged inside pockets of energy-giving Obsulyte ores, support beams built around it to hold off the weight of the surrounding hard rocks. Almost serene, for once there was a temporary stop to the constant traps they fell into multiple times.

Anya looked at Lass still being as angry as ever, "You know...I didn't mean it."

"What do you mean, mutt?"

"To get you angry like this...I tend to get a lot of people angry like that. I just really love these little adventures that happen from time to time. But really, all I wanted was to have a little bit of fun. Both here and in Kaci, even though my entire body was screaming at me not to go in those woods again."

"We really gave time for alcohol to boil her system..." Lass whispered as he took a long breath, exhaling afterwards, "Look...I wasn't as mad as I was worried, ok?"

"What?"

"You brought us into a literal death trap where one wrong step could end the both of us. For what, I don't know, since it's a literal waste of time and the choice of not sleeping might affect us when the adrenaline rush is over. All I want to do at this point is return us both back safely. It hurts, you know. Worrying all the time that I might lose another person that tried to get close to me with trips and everything. Sometimes when all I think is that, my brain feels like slipping out of my head."

"Next time, I should probably leave both you and Yuno to have some guy time instead."

"Not that I'd deny that it's much needed, but still. I don't want to be on edge all the time. Hell, I dragged myself into a war here. A war that I really don't fit in anyways. And the expectations that both Thaddeus and everyone else has on me in this war are astronomical. I still have zero idea what they expect us to do at the grand scheme of things."

"Hey, don't worry. When war breaks out, the first thing they seek will always be us, it's kind of...natural? Disturbingly natural, that is. Anyone like us, who is able to take arms only to die for a few square meters of land. But say...had we not gotten ourselves in this mess, not right now, but the whole thing about countries alliance and everything, what would you do?"

"Get away from you." Lass sarcastically said.

"Alright, seriously though."

Lass briefly thought for a moment, "Hmm...I guess pick up courses in a college or university again, and try to actually finish it this time. I'll be honest, I never actually gave it any effort back then, because it seemed so boring. My movies got the best of me when it came to my expectations for it...it was a total letdown. First few semesters, with all the easy shit, I'd get sky-high grades. Afterwards...well, no effort, plus harder studies made it so that grades would plummet. And let me tell you, it's not a pretty feeling seeing anything at 50 or 60 out of 100. God forbid bellow 50."

"I mean, have you thought that it's perhaps not for you?"

"What am I to do? Hell, I'm lucky Dad had already set up a business for me to inherit before he died, otherwise, I don't know where I would've been. Even then, despite all the reading of books, the chess games I played against the hardest difficulty all the time and with all the shit I've been doing with you lately...I feel like an absolute moron, choosing brawns or stupidity over brains."

"Hey, maybe I'll help you this time around. I know a couple of tricks around the system and also, I know that even in universities, teachers' salaries are low."

"What does that have to do-oh? No, thanks. I'd rather do it normally."

"Hey, that's cool too. Just listing options, as always."

"How about you?"

"I have zero idea. I'm honestly stuck in a dead-end job until my dad lets me take over. Even then, I ain't got no plans...seriously. Nothing at all."

"With the amount of cash you'll get, all doors will be open though?"

"Eh, what good is an open door that you can't open yourself? Sounds clunky. I'll keep suffering from success until I find something...though...I'm still afraid of many things. Most of those being of what I really want to do."

"Who's stopping you?"

Anya was momentarily silent, "Myself...my..."

"Anya?" Lass sensed fear within her.

"Anyways. Let's keep going, and afterwards, we can read a book or something instead of trying to get ourselves killed." she avoided the conversation.

Lass sighed and ignored it for now, not pressuring further with her state of the moment, "I just wish that I'd be as smart or have knowledge the same as you, sometimes. At least when you're not drunk enough to corner us into a place where we'd get killed.

"Alright, I'll admit it a little bit, the drinking was my bad."

"Yeah, damn straight you're bad. You need to cut down on the drinking."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I would if I could, but it feels too damn good!"

"You're impossible sometimes, I swear."

"Big guy, for real. It is one of the only ways to get free for this kinda job."

"Dying is also getting free."

Anya sighed, "I started drinking young anyway, helped calm the nerves."

"Business I suppose...and everything else you told me?"

"Yeah, mostly that, but other things as well. Maybe I'll tell you about it another time, when I'm more sober to do so. Ain't gonna get everything out of me, even like this, big guy. Another thing was that I wanted to 'be an adult' and I ended up convincing an old friend of mine to help me sneak drinks out. It was supposed to be a one-time, badass moment thing, but as it all moved on and situations became more stressful, I found myself doing it more and more."

"Coming out of someone so carefree looking, that's a miracle to hear."

Anya chuckled, "C'mon big guy, we both know you're wrong there. As we both know people ain't what they look or act most of the time. Hence why I really like you! Cold and unapproachable but warm and cuddly on the inside, my kind of type! Many things made me being able to scope people out, profession, and personal life but...it's more of a gift than a curse the way I see it. Helps me avoid unnecessary pain in the process. And like what you are to me, many other people feel exactly the same for others. We're not something special or out of the ordinary, just how many guys and gals are out there doing and feeling the exact same way right now? Truth also is that if it wasn't you, eventually, statistically speaking, I'd click with another person that felt that way. Everyone writes their own story, right? A normal story of someone's life, like ours. Well, normal at the very, very, very core, if we exclude the throwing around boulders and shit, military operations and all that, but at least we will have something more to show than some corporate 50-page bio talking about where someone drag assed for the past 20 years of working. Plus, another good thing for you specifically is that your buttons are easier than most to press anyway."

"How can you be so sure?"

"So about that kiss, I wanted to see with Ikarisa-", Anya got stopped by Lass.

"Oh shut it, mutt."

"See what I mean?" Anya smugged, "Like I told you in the big city. It's easy to judge the outside, but you most likely will never get to know what's going on deeper inside unless you approach someone!"

"But I really do mean it. Circumstances and what they show aside I...I just don't feel it with Risa. Is she cute? Yes. Is she kind and understanding? Also yes. Those are objective truths, but at the end of the day, I'm more than happy that she's just that. A friend. I don't know why, but throughout most of my life, all I wanted was that."

"The physical or mental part of that?"

"Bit of both. But again, I can't justify going for it when I can't properly explain it. Have you...have you ever had that for someone, enough to explain it?"

"That I did but...she's probably long gone by now. War it war, what can you do? The same way you talked about your parents, I guess we all fell on rough times. Explain it though, I can't, since I haven't explored it. I really, really wanted to back then, but I couldn't bring myself to do what half the school was curious about. Nowadays, it's more of a J-card as a total joke...and I wouldn't rush it, you know. Granted, I'd definitely try to hook you up with someone, but the way I see it, you need to get your shit together first before getting serious."

"Wow, you're actually talking about something that makes sense? Something I can bring myself to agree with you on? How did that happen?"

Anya giggled, "Hey, I knew you'd eventually click to me as I did to you. It was quite awkward I had to play the initiation card all the time up until now. Made it actually look desperate, somewhat at least."

"On a side note, are you talking out of heart and boredom or is this drunk speech? Just confirming."

"A little bit of both, Gardardian vodka hits like a meteor colliding with a planet."

"At least you're somewhat sensible."

"Seriously though, I'd like to get to know more about you big guy. I get to know you, but not a lot about you, if that makes any sense."

"What is there to say? We've said it all back at the restaurant."

"Did we though? There were a hella lot of cliffhangers and unsatisfying answers. Like, where you're from, what your childhood was like and all that."

"Straight from the Insinian suburbs, very edge where nothing happens, ever. As for what I did, my life is consisted of the most boring things ever, just normal everyday things before I got myself into this mess. However, I seriously feel hazy sometimes, trying to remember all the way back to some certain interesting events. It's almost as if they were drowned out by all the boredom and days passing by."

"Hmm. so...amnesia? Or long-term memory loss?"

"How about 'I struggle to remember', instead of just self-diagnosing some piss-off conditions we don't know about? Pretty sure my dad would've told me something that important if it happened and try to snap my memories back."

"So were you beat until a blackout to not remember?"

"I'll beat you in a second."

"Kidding, kidding! But kinda sucks you can't really remember."

"I can try but it will be meaningless. Even if I remember, what will it be? I went from point A to B, but now I remembered I went from B to C. Just...boring."

"Something my big sister, Maria, always used to tell me is that there's really nothing meaningless in this world. It only matters as to what meaning you choose to give a certain something or someone. And I can tell you give meaning to most things. Now, whether that's from something personal or not, or maybe even the fact that you craved it and never had it, meh, I don't care. It's math, so long as the end result is correct, I barely give a shit about how you got there. And math was forced to be my strong suit if I didn't want my store to crash and burn within the initial 6 months."

"What about you then? That means a lot to you?"

"Well, my family. A big ass family that is. They all mean a lot to me, and we truly bonded after Mom was gone, so..."

"Does your dad mean a lot too?"

A short pause came from Anya as she sighed and looked forward, her eyes somewhat wandering away between the floor and the light up ahead, instilling further into them as she was reminded of recent events. Still, not letting loose of her smug and relaxed personality, while still under the influence, she shrugs it off quickly before returning her eyes back to Lass.

Anya chuckled, "It's a bit insensitive to say that given how recent this is. I...I don't want to talk about it. Hypocritically enough, I'm asking you to say things that you don't remember to get to know you but am blocking you from getting to know me. Some wounds cut deep though, but I'll surely talk to you about that, someday. That I promise."

"Oh...damn, sorry."

"You and Risa sure don't know a lot about social interaction I'll give you that much, though this queue was on me this time. But it's fine. Yeah, he does mean a lot to me. But the main issue I've had for the longest time is that I have too much meaning to him and his words to be able to give meaning to myself. Even now, when he tells me that I did a good job, knowing he's like you when it comes to pleasing, I still get excited. One day we will get back, that's a given. There's nothing stronger than family. But until then, I have to find the meaning of my own. You should honestly do the same big guy!"

"Huh? A meaning...a meaning. Yeah, I guess I should. Though for now, I think I've found a good enough meaning. We'll check back on that later."

"Hehe, we'll see about that! Anyhow...welcome to the final stage of this sickening game!" she stepped inside the room as the long corridor ended.

Waiting for them, was a mix of beautiful and horrifying mix of an image, just waiting to be discovered. A massive cavern opening with a supported entrance at the other side, filled to the brim with crystalized rocks around the ceiling and walls. The crystals appeared blank and without color, yet being illuminated by each other when perfectly reflecting what little light they came into contact with, they appeared to possess all the colors of the rainbow. Their glow was subtle, despite the reflected light, it was as if they trapped the light within the cavern, bouncing it back and forth to stay bright. In front of them, a massive pile of black rocks was seen right below the cone-shaped ceiling of the cavern, being so dark that it indeed appeared as if it was forcefully swallowing the light inside the room. Around it, like veins, a bunch of bright red lines were scattered everywhere, like pipes directing energy flow, signifying that it was very well a massive Obsulyte ore pile, feeding off light itself as it recycled and produced even its own energy. All around the room, a bunch of bodies, with decayed flesh and some just skeletons were found, adding to the uncertainty of the room's ambiance of both serenity and terror combined. They both drew their breath harder, for their own different reasons from the beauty and horror of the sight, before realizing the abnormality of having a somewhat open space before them without an actual flow of air, or even a single instance of humidity despite the area they were in and adding further mysteriousness and complexity in their circumstances.

"Wow...this is beautiful." Anya gazed around, ignoring the bodies as she pinned her eyes on the ceiling up above.

"No dead people around for this drunk to see. Not at all." Mellistar sarcastically said.

"Yeah, the bodies of the dead really add to the feng shui of the place." Lass went up close to a skeleton and pointed at the wings, "Here's that flight ability we were talking about. Didn't get him far now did it? What's in for us?"

The skeleton dissolved in Lass's hand as he went to touch it, not to mere dust, but almost stopped existing all together, almost as if it was merely cosmetic and held by nothing more than the stillness of the elements around it.

"What the hell?" he shook his hand to get the dust off, "Weird...didn't even turn into a pile of dust, just...disappeared?"

"Whatever this room is, the Obsulyte surge is immaculate. These Obsulyte users' bodies weren't just left here, they got their entire material self-separated from their bodies. I feel like I can even have my own, physical body here. Careful, whatever this place is, the surge can actively mess with your power levels, back and forth." Mellistar echoed.

"So, you're telling me that these guys got literally matter sucked out of them? That...at least compared to what images we saw in Delpha, there's no blood. But... an uncanny sight to see."

"The ore in the middle is unlike anything I've experienced. It's not just an Obsulyte ore, it's almost...alive. It feeds off something else and other victims as it approaches them." Mellistar focused on the rock pile.

"The hell? I know about Enmities and now those Shadowers...but rocks? Obsuyte can make rocks alive?"

"There's a very good reason that beings like us call it the Life Dew. This thing can actively keep alive, make or take lives with just one pure drop. And whatever that thing is, it wants more. Don't move out at the exit. The skeletons of its victims are gathered over there, meaning that it's very well aware of you being here. Your power, I can feel it...it's eating away at you. Like a predator, if it sees its prey going away, it might choose the nuclear option of killing it right away, like the other's here."

"So we just fight the damn thing while staying inside its radius?" Lass talked out loud.

"The best option for avoiding instant death. Be wary." Mellistar warned him.

Anya overhead Lass talking to Mellistar, "Oh, so it indeed is alive and wants a fight? Sure!" she began yelling and smacking the rock pile "Hey, come out, bozo! Obsulyte ore or not, move it! We don't have all night!"

"Drunken idiot! Lass, phantom weapons, now!" Mellistar yelled at Lass.

"What the hell are you doing, mutt?!" Lass created a phantom replica of his sword.

"Provoking the big rock pile to face us in an attempt to lure it out of its docile state, by sacrificing the element of surprise, which in this case is the only thing we had going for us. Now come out!"

"Shut up!" he grabbed Anya by the neck of her shirt, yanking her backwards, "Moments ago, mere moments ago, you were sane! What kind of bullshit back-and-forth mood swings are those?! Why did I lose the stupid ass card game? God, I swear, next time I'm cheating to get my way, as I should've done long ago!"

Anya's provoking did not go to waste, as the entire room soon began to shake. The trembles forced the rest of the skeletons to fade away, leaving behind the beauty of the room to remain, before coming to a sudden stop. It was almost as if it was a massive, swift cleanup of garbage that was no longer of use to the being that inhabited the cavern, instead now being awoken by the loud noise and need for satiation.

"You're so incredibly stupid, I can't even begin to imagine what to do with you after we're done! Screw getting some of your knowledge I said earlier, if that's what you use your head for, I want none of it!" he kept scolding Anya.

"Relax. See, we're fine!", Anya climbed on top of the rocks and crystals, completely avoiding Lass's grab as she tried to make a point "Come on! Bring it! We are gonna win-Waah!"

Anya was knocked down to the ground as the rocks she was standing on began to rise up. Bit by bit, limbs started to also emerge from the ground, as countless weapons were pinned onto the monster's rock body. The crystals of celling began to also drop down as they too got pinned inside the monster's limbs and body, hardening the surface and giving it a dim glow. Eventually, with all of the massive beast's limbs driven out of the ground where it slept, the ground was forced into collapsing back to its flattened form by it. What stood before them now was a massive 10-meter-tall beast glazed with pure, hardened crystals on its body that further stabilized the rusted and wavering weapons that were already plucked in it. With no roars, no rattling as it possessed nothing but two big, glowing red eyes but no other facial features, it was as quick to rise up, as it was to lock its eyes on both Anya and Lass. Its body was completely blackened to the point where light could not reflect in any area that wasn't specifically covered with the crystal that it merged with when falling from above, the only source of brightness coming from its glowing veins that began to light even brighter as they increased the Obsulyte energy flow throughout its body.