Wrath found himself cut up. Blood dripped down his face, his knuckle wraps were so frozen they were stuck to his skin and his clothes were half burnt off, revealing the pale skin of a winter-born native. A diagonal scar ran down his chest, one that rose up his shoulder and down to his hip. It was an old scar that was healed with both natural regeneration and magic, but it was bleeding again.

Gray stood firm, his face equally bloodied and one of his arms strangely limp, as if it had been broken with a strong kick. His other arm carried his blade which continuously sparked with mana.

It was a stalemate between the two. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Regardless, it didn’t matter now. Cinni had already escaped with Treachery in tow, and the moment of truth came soon with an laboratory wide warning.

“Warning! The anti-alchemic seals have been lifted!” the lab’s security system had announced. “Warning! The anti-mana seals have been lifted!”

“Anti mana?” Gray muttered, and Wrath smiled.

“The anti mana seals are used to block out magic from outside. That also meant magic from inside the seal couldn’t leave.” and Wrath pulled out a little jar. Inside was a white feather that floated around in its prison, fluttering about as if it were still attached to its bird.

“So that’s how it is, huh? It looks like Cinni’s gone and escaped,” Gray said, and Wrath nodded.

“She’s made her way out, and with that, it’s about time I made my departure.”

Wrath took his hand, then smashed the ice sculpture that was Sloth before grasping her shoulder. With the bottle raised high, he took one last glance at Gray.

“It was fun, sparring with you again. When we meet again, I hope we can come to a decisive conclusion.”

“The next time we meet, I’ll make sure to end things,” Gray answered, his expression completely stoic, as if he couldn’t feel his broken arm hang beside him. “I’ll put a stop to this. If not for me, then for Luca.”

“You’re still holding onto Luca’s memory, aren’t you?”

“I won’t let him be forgotten. Even if the Empire forgets him, even if the Imperial army forgets him and even if his own child forgets him — being the last person to carry his memory, I won’t let him die.”

Wrath’s smile vanished. He instead frowned.

“I wish you the best of luck.” and with that, Wrath smashed the potion. It activated a teleportation spell. Like a messenger pigeon, he returned to the spot where the spell ‘roosted’ alongside Sloth who he so graciously rescued.

Gray knew there was no tracking him, and thus he went ahead to find Isabelle trapped by a pair of melting living-metal knights. With Treachery gone, they lost their source of mana and began to deconstruct, freeing Isabelle from their grasp. One look at her expression was all Gray needed to know. Cinni had escaped and disabled the anti mana seals, allowing the EDS to escape via warp magic.

The laboratory was virtually abandoned. That was until they stepped into a room and found Boris. Accompanying him was Pride.

Pride was bogged down by a thousand leeches, all of which wriggled away, growing fat on his mana infused blood. Pride had fallen to his knees and the only thing keeping him from collapsing was a hand he used to prop up his towering body.

“Mister Gray!” Boris cried. “I did it! I defeated this monster!”

“You didn’t defeat nothing,” Pride answered, scornfully. “I’m simply resting for a brief moment. Once I’ve regained my energy, I’ll smash you to a pulp.”

Gray patted Boris on the back, then approached Pride with his mageblade by his side.

“The mana barrier has been lifted. Why don’t you go and warp away? I’m sure Cinni and the other eight deadly sins are waiting for you right now.”

“The EDS can bite me. I’m not their muleboy and I’m not Cinni’s enforcer. I do what I want, when I want.”

Boris, hearing that, stepped up to the plate with a mocking grin. “And what makes you think you could stand up to me? I beat you, fair and square.”

Pride’s pride was harmed. Pride took his big hands, then grasped the leeches — crushing them in his palms before standing up straight, as if his strength had returned all at once in an adrenaline pumping shot. Hurting Pride’s pride meant no holds barred.

Pride was quick. With a single hand, he grabbed Boris by the scruff of his clothes and raised him high up. He looked into Boris’ face, only to find an expression of utter fear. Just where did the cocky bastard go? he wanted to ask, but he had the restraint to hold that back.

“You’re a funny little man, you are. You know, I could kill you real easily,” Pride said with a smirk. “I could take my two hands and rip you apart, or I could drag you across the floor like cheese to a grater. Maybe, or maybe, I’ll stick you with a thousand leeches and leave you drier than a thrall. How about that? Is that to your liking?”

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“I’d… really rather not,” Boris asked, begging for his life, hanging like a kitten grabbed by their mother. “How about you put me down? We could make peace and amends, you and I.”

Pride responded by letting out a scoff before throwing Boris aside. Then, he pulled out a bottle with that familiar feather inside.

“Leaving so soon?” Gray asked, standing up to the titan. “What are you going to do? Go crawling back to the EDS? How are you going to explain to Cinni that you couldn’t even beat an ordinary swordsman like Boris here? Are you really planning on going back with that loss on your belt?”

“I’m not planning on going back anywhere,” Pride answered, donning his pork pie hat once more. “I’m my own man — a free individual. I go where I wish, do what I want and accept the consequences as they come. Now that Cinni’s abandoned the lab, I’m free from my contract of guarding this place 24/7.”

“Then how about I make you a deal?” Gray asked. “You give me that warp spell and in return, when I arrest Cinni and the other deadly sins, I’ll leave you alone. How about it?”

Pride paused, looked at the spell, then placed it back into a little cubby hole in his wardrobe-esque coat. His eyes flickered a red like a smoldering, burnt-out campfire before turning to leave.

“Go and find her yourself. I don’t wanna get involved in your marital disputes, old man.”

With that, Pride walked on and away, leaving the three unable to do anything but watch as the titan left through the hole he made in the wall. Curiously, he left his hammer behind which Boris went ahead and took for himself. It was awfully heavy, but still somewhat usable.

“Should we chase after him?” Boris asked.

“Forget it. Pride is no longer involved in all this,” Gray answered. “He was prideful enough not to go all out on you, Boris. Cross him again and you’ll see just what he’s so proud of.”

The two men turned to take another path. Isabelle, however, stayed for a moment to watch as Pride left. She stuck her hand out and fired off a little salamander, one that clung onto the back of Pride’s coat in total secrecy.

Light enveloped them, and when it dissipated, Cinni found herself warped halfway across the world. With her briefcase in hand, she let out a lengthy sigh. She stood atop a cliff staring off towards the sea, the boundary that kept the world trapped on the tiny continent. The swirling ocean filled her with a strange sensation. It was so calm that staring off, it felt like the world had been frozen in time.

Of course, that was impossible since the blank slate sat inside her briefcase, its secrets waiting to be revealed. A ladder extended off the side of the cliff where Wrath and Sloth climbed down. They worked together, reaching the bottom where a hidden entrance sat. The two of them input a password into a machine, allowing the doors to open up.

Treachery brought Cinni down using wind magic, guiding her and the briefcase gently down to her new stronghold. She was graceful, flying down while seated atop a cloud. Entering the new facility, the EDS locked the doors behind themselves before moving on ahead.

They had entered a tunnel, and with the light of Treachery’s fire magic, she led the group all the way down to the end where an elevator laid. Through that path, they rose up into the inside of an abandoned stronghold. The group had gathered on the top floor of that abandoned ruins — what could only be described as an overground dungeon.

Cinni stood, staring out through the windows of the fort, down to the broken outer walls, collapsed sentry towers and the unkempt grass that filled the courtyard.

“Welcome to Fort Summers. From now on, this will be the vault where the slate will be kept,” Treachery explained. “This fort, despite being run down, has already been refurbished. It’s been surrounded by an anti mana barrier to prevent people from warping in, anti alchemy seals to protect against alchemists and mounted machine guns for defense. As far as we’re concerned, no one is getting in. You’re free to continue your scientific experimentation with the slate.”

Cinni looked around, then noticed a perfect spot. In the middle of the top floor sat a throne, one that was a bit dusty but good enough for her. She took a seat and sat, her arms rested and her head tilted to the side with her chin held against her closed fist. She was like a ruler or her own abandoned fortress, a feeling that invoked a smirk.

“Well, it’s good to be on top,” she let out, and with the snap of her fingers followed orders. “Wrath! Go and gather the other deadly sins! Sloth! Take over Pride’s old position of security officer!”

The two left to do their own jobs. Wrath went ahead to the rooftop where messenger pigeons were kept, while Sloth dragged a chair down the stairs, presumably to sleep on duty. While the two left, Treachery approached Cinni, her expression cold and unchanging.

“Boss? Aren’t you going to give me orders?”

“Oh, you,” Cinni muttered. “Why don’t you go ahead and help Wrath with the pigeons? If I remembered correctly, you were quite fond of animals and fodder monsters, weren’t you? I’m sure you’ll enjoy playing with the birds.”

“You want me to help Wrath, who is fully capable of taking care of his orders himself? The Cinni I know would never do something so inefficient.”

“Hoh? What are you suggesting?” Cinni asked, leaning in to peek at Treachery’s face. The child, however, remained utterly steadfast — completely unafraid.

“I’m suggesting that you don’t trust me.”

“And what proof do you have towards that?”

Treachery’s answer was to pull out a revolver and shoot Cinni in the head, only for the gun to not fire. The bullet was there and the hammer did hit the firing pin of the cartridge, but for whatever reason, the shot didn’t go off.

Cinni wasn’t afraid. She didn’t even flinch at the sight of the gun. She simply scoffed, then pushed the gun down as if it were an eyesore.

“You didn’t know, did you? I still have Seti’s protection. So long as I have the decree of a gun free zone, no guns in a radius around me can be fired, nor could guns outside of that range fire at me,” Cinni asked, and Treachery’s response was utter silence and stillness, followed by cold words.

“Perhaps I didn’t know that you had Seti’s protection. Perhaps I did shoot with the intention of killing you. However, there’s a chance that I knew, and thus, I fired, knowing you wouldn’t die.”

“Interesting. Very interesting,” Cinni said. “I didn’t share the fact that I had Seti’s protection. None of the other EDS know that. That means you were shooting to kill, living up to your name, or that you somehow knew. If that’s the case, then that means the slate is...”

Before Cinni could finish her statement and question Treachery, Treachery went ahead and saluted her boss before turning to go help Wrath, as Cinni ordered.

Cinni was left, seated in the position of king of her own castle. All she could do was smirk at the thought of playing cat and mouse with Luca’s mischievous child — Cinni’s perfect test subject. A truthful answer out of Treachery could mean answering the truth of her work, and knowing that, Cinni decided to play along.