Withered bones and dilapidated skulls were bestrewn across the dungeon's first few floors. Many of the traps were seemingly already activated or downright destroyed. Victus got on one knee, examining one of the skulls. He knew of this type of undead, "Draugr." He looked around at the other bodies on the ground, thinking aloud, "Luckily, Magni already took care of 'em."

Suddenly, one of the bodies flinched, causing Vick to drop the skull in his hand. He stood as more draugr rose to their feet, groaning in the way that zombies typically do. Their rotting flesh was partly stone and twig, and their faces were mutilated into an unrecognizable horror.

"Well, most of them," Victus snapped his fingers, "Lilith!"

Out from the ring on his pinky finger, a pink swirl flew around him, forming into the salacious demoness. She stretched in the air, flapping her wings, "Darling~! You're so cruel, tricking and locking me up like that.." The draugr surrounding them slowly approached.

"Can you charm 'em?" He cut to the chase.

"Mm," she blew a kiss at one of the draugr, sending a pink metaphysical heart into its face. The heart shattered, ineffective. "Guess not. Maybe because they're demonic, like me?"

"Well this was fruitless," Victus kicked a draugr that got too close, sending it into the wall with a satisfying splat. "Got any other tricks?"

"Why, of course, dear~!" She waved her hands around in an esoteric fashion, causing bright blue pentagrams to form under all the zombies. "Eis," Lily muttered, instantly freezing every target. They all stopped moving, then broke apart into bits of frozen flesh and stone. She landed beside Victus, wearing a face that expressed her desire for his praise.

"Impressive," he admitted. She beamed. A rumbling followed, causing bits of debris to fall off of the walls and from the ceiling. "That quake came from below. Magni's probably still here."

"Mhm," she nodded. "Shall I continue to accompany you, darling?"

"Yeah, just don't waste all our mana, alright? And try to keep up," he started running towards the next floor. She flew with a slight gust of wind behind her, quickly catching up to him.

"I'll fly my fastest for you, darling~!" She grinned. He couldn't help but chuckle in return.

Meanwhile, a carriage arrived at a medical facility in Eircrest. Vackerie stepped out, helping Davon into the building. After the doctors took him away for treatment, they told her to leave since she wasn't part of his family. Once outside, a woman's voice called out to her from behind.

"A friend of Vick's, I presume?" She was standing up against the wall, twiddling with a jagged dagger. Her finger sparked against the tip, electrifying yellow for a brief moment.

"Wh-Who are you?" Vackerie looked worried, but she didn't reach for the staff on her back. "You know Victus? 'Cause if you do, then he's never talked about you.."

"Why would he?" Fang stepped towards her, sheathing her dagger. "I'm a criminal, after all. Part of his criminal history."

"..What do you want?"

"Let's just say I've been recruited for a very important task that involves a certain, witless elf boy." Fang put her arm around her, "And you're gonna help me."

"Wh-Why me..?" Vackerie sounded afraid.

"You two are friends, no?" She let her go, walking in front of her. "I'm livid after the last time we met, 'cause I went ahead and realized I don't wanna kill him. I want to-"

"You wanted to kill him before?!" Vackerie backed away, finally taking out her staff. She gripped it firmly, her glasses slipping down her nose as she tilted her head and glared. "You seem dangerous. Actually, I remember now, he did talk about a girl with a scar and a tattoo just like yours. He said she was the leader of those bandits back in Kamren, and that she was crazy and evil, and all she ever cared about was..Well, he didn't really know what you cared about. But he said you'd probably try and hurt us to get to him!"

Fang was surprised by her sudden confidence. Surprised and interested. She grinned, "Vackerie S. Mockett. You're a long way from home, aren't you?"

"Wh-What..? How do you know that?"

"Your father, Neptune S. Mockett, is King of the Cephalonoids. A couple years ago, he revealed your race to the general population. Do you know why?"

Vackerie remained silent, but it was clear that she was bothered.

"His daughter went missing. Said she ran away, poor thing. You see, princess, I make it a point of mine to find girls like you. Rich and wealthy runaways, who want a taste of the real world." Fang charged up electricity in her palm, "But girls like you should be careful..You just might end up biting off more than you can chew!"

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A blast of powerful lightning was sent forwards at Vack, who blocked it with her staff, absorbing most of the attack. Gritting her sharp teeth, she deflected back what she couldn't hold, to no avail. The many passersby screamed in fear and dispersed, crying out, "Someone call the guards!" Fang stood there as the smoke cleared, unfazed.

"See?"

"What do you want?!" Vack shouted, further tightening her grip on her staff, despite how it shocked her hand. It seemed she had a natural resistance to electrical attacks due to her aquatic race.

Fang stepped towards her again, this time much more menacingly. She unsheathed her jagged dagger as a doctor ran out of the nearby building, "What's going on here?!" He shouted. "Somebody needs to call the royal guard! You can't-"

She immediately stabbed him once he was within range, and he fell to the ground, bleeding out.

"Y-You really are crazy..!" Vackerie stepped back once again, debating if she should run while she still had the chance. Davon was still in the building, she needed to draw their fight away from it. "..Vick was right. You said you didn't wanna kill him, but I don't know what you wanna do!"

Fang grinned, "You're right. After he dove into that icy lake to save that girl, I realized I wanna do more than just kill him. I wanna kill everything he loves first, right in front of him. And then, when he's lost everything..No, when girls like you, who once had everything lose everything, along with their life, hahaha!" She got into a laughing fit, bending forwards, "Hah.." She looked up, her eyes empty of any guilt or worry. "I'll finish it."

Victus heard an explosion from above, skidding to a stop. He looked up, "That was definitely from the city. I can hear people running and screaming."

"Are you gonna go help?" Lilith hovered in front of him.

"I have Magni's scent. He isn't far, but.."

"It's up to you, darling. I'll follow wherever you go."

Victus thought it over as the ground rumbled below him, "I sent a carriage for the others yesterday, so they're probably in the city by now. Whatever it is, I'm sure Vack can handle it. She's a great spellcaster."

Lilith smiled, "So we keep going?"

"Yeah. Let's move," he continued his venture.

Vackerie was thrown back against the wall, gasping in pain. At least they'd created some distance between them and the medical building. She quickly held up her staff to block Fang's downward slash, the two weapons sparking on collision. Due to its shape, the jagged blade stuck onto the staff, "Only S-Rank adventurers know where he is, and I'm an S-Rank adventurer! Even if you get away, you'll never find him unless I take you!"

"You're an S-Rank psychopath!" Vack spat ink into her eyes, prying her dagger away. While she was stunned, the cephalonoid smacked her across the face with the ends of her staff, bashing her in the stomach and charging up flames at the crystallized end of her staff. "I didn't wanna do this, but..!" She rose the flaming end high into the air and slammed it downwards toward Fang's head.

"..But what?" Fang caught the flaming crystal with her hand, glaring at her with ink-covered eyes. "You're a coward!" She electrified her hand, crushing the crystal with ease, depleting Vackerie of her magic source. Quickly, she reached over and ripped her dagger out of Vack's staff, slashing at her again. "Makes sense, since you've been around that idiotic group of his!"

Vackerie still held her staff, dodging and blocking where she could. If it wasn't for her arm, she likely would've been fatally stabbed, but that didn't keep her from getting cut in other places. Her arms bled purple blood, "They're not idiots!" She cried out, tears in her eyes. "My whole life, I was treated like an item! A prize you win to become king!"

Fang sweep-kicked her, knocking her onto her back. She immediately thrust her blade downward, but Vackerie rolled out of the way just in time to get her knife stuck into the mud. Vackerie immediately sprung at her from below, tackling her to the ground. She held her staff against her neck, while Fang pushed it back with all her might.

"But they didn't! They saved me, for no reason! When I joined their guild, they treated me like family!"

"They..don't care..about you..!" Fang kicked her in the stomach, finally pushing her off. She rolled to her feet, dagger in hand. "You're just another one of Vick's charity cases!"

"Charity case?!" Vack was hunched over as they slowly circled each other. "I don't need any charity. I needed a friend, and they were there for me." She thought back to how they fought the toad, played games, and how Victus saved her from falling off of the ship. "They were always there for me!"

"Shut up!" She slashed at her again, angry and predictable. Vackerie stepped aside and swept her off her feet with her staff, quickly stepping on her hand that held the dagger.

"Victus said that the Mastria doesn't kill. It's the number one rule," Vackerie spun her staff around, revealing the sharp end the broken crystal had created. "But after everything you said, I'm going to have to make an exception.."

"Do it then!"

Vackerie hesitated, slowly lifting her staff, ready to plunge the sharp end into Fang's chest. Suddenly, the tip of an arrow stuck out from her left shoulder, stained with violet. She winced, staggering as she fell to the side, still conscious. Breathing heavily, she looked at the bloody arrow, lightly touching it. The shock caused her to cough up some ink.

"Arrest them!" A guard with a bow commanded, pointing at them.

"Damn it," Fang quickly scrambled to her feet and dashed away with immense speed, leaving Vackerie to get arrested. She could barely stand to be cuffed, the arrow still stuck in her shoulder. As she was dragged away, she looked off into the distance, wondering if her friends would come to her aid once again.

"I'm sorry, Vick. I tried.."

Magni stood in front of a large, circular device. It looked ancient, dusty and covered in cobwebs. Taking out his hammer, he zapped the side of the mechanism, causing it to spin and twirl as some carts on a nearby chain began moving. He took out his amulet, "I shall be useless no longer, father. Loki and my brother have gone far enough."

With a mighty leap, he entered the portal, just as Victus entered the large room. "Woah, that must be it. Quick, we've gotta hurry."

"Yessir!" Lilith grabbed his hand and flew up to one of the moving carts, swinging him inside. She grabbed the handle on its side and swung the cart side to side. "Yahoo~!"

"Stop that!" Vick shouted from inside.

"But it's fun!" They slowly entered the bright light that was a portal to Asgard, fading away. Once they were on the other side, the mechanism stopped moving and the portal closed.