Alexander and Gabriel nearly crashed into the ground. Still, just inches from it, they suddenly halted, remaining in the air just to be released and let down.

Alexander fell face-first into the dirt. As he does.

"Get up," Gabriel said, swallowed his saliva.

Alexander spat out a sigh, still on the ground. "We haven't even been here for an hour," he said, his tone shifting to anger. "So why... Why the hell-"

"Alexander, you gotta get up," Gabriel repeated. "Now."

He slowly looked up. An armored warrior stood before Alexander, with a blade in his hand.

"Oh, God."

Alexander quickly jumped up and dashed back. The knight slammed his blade down, crashing into the ground and cracking it with vicious power.

He began to look around. Alexander and Gabriel appeared before a massive marvelous palace. Standing before them were dozens of armored soldiers, completely covered in the same silver plate armor, glistening in the sun. They each were carrying swords or spears and shields, armed, all ready to fight.

"This is not good," Gabriel muttered, grabbing hold of the holy sword on his belt.

"Well, I'm glad we can finally agree on something," Alexander said with a dry smile, unsheathing his own sword.

They both inched back as the countless knights began their approach. For a moment, their backs were pressed against each other.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Alexander asked, twirling a bronze blade in his hand.

"Fight like hell?"

"I was gonna say climb up the trees so they can't catch us. But, y'know what? I like the sound of that."

Gabriel placed his hand on Excalibur's azure hilt. "Get ready," he mumbled, his eyes fixated on the warriors before them.

"Go!" Gabriel shouted. A vertical arc of water shot out from the silver blade, slamming into the knights at the front. He dashed forth, jumping upward, before cleaving the sword down at the knights.

From there, they started.

They dashed into the ranks, slashing and cleaving with their blades.

With speed and precision, they broke through the formations. They swung their weapons with everything they had. One slip-up... and they could both die.

They had no time to think. Not about what was going on, nor even about the other Virtues. They only had to fight. Win. Live.

Alexander cut and cleaved at the armored soldiers with his thin bronze blade. Sparks flew as steel rapidly slashed against steel.

Even so, a pole of metal was slammed into Alexander's gut.

Saliva spewed as he coughed. He gripped his chest, just above the wound, struggling to breathe as he fell to his knees. Even so, he continued to slash.

He continued to cut against the armored attackers.

Still... Again... Nothing had happened. Even as he slashed against their ankles, he was barely cutting through.

Alexander stared at his blade. Of course, swords can't go through armor. Much less a sword of that quality, against armor this thick.

And so...

"The weak points!" Gabriel reminded him.

That was all Alexander needed to hear. He smiled to himself. How could he forget?

Alexander quickly rammed his blade into the side of the armor's knee. With that, he slammed the side of his fist into the knight's head, and pressed onward.

His blade clashed against armor, shields, and other weapons.

And not just that, but Alexander kicked and punched into their chests. He wasn't done yet.

Just as one knight raised his blade to the sky... Alexander looked up at him, clenching his fist and circulating pure energy around it.

He drove his magic-dense fist into the armor. His fist connected and the armor cracked. It crumpled under the force of the hit, leaving nothing but spread fissures and the inch-deep indentation of Alexander's fist.

The knight collapsed to the ground immediately.

'Jesus Christ,' Alexander thought, staring at his steaming fist. '...Did I- Did I just kill him?!'

Alexander paused. The sound of impact. Both from Alexander's fist and from when he hit the ground. It was an empty thud.

He turned to Gabriel.

At the same time, Excalibur's silver blade passed through a knight's neck.

The helmet rolled on the ground. 'What the hell did I just do?! Did I kill him?!' Gabriel thought, his eyes widening. He stared at the armor as it stood upright. No blood on his blade, no flesh in the helmet, and no body within the armor. 'These...'

They both noticed at the same time. The suits of armor were hollow.

'These aren't people,' Alexander told himself.

'They're puppets!' Gabriel thought with a smile.

For a moment, their eyes met from across the sea of silver armor. They smiled. "We can go all out!" they shouted in unison.

Alexander, now brimming with zeal and energy, clenched not just his jaw, but his fists. He tossed his blade to the side and fought on.

No matter what, the knights would simply get back up. Even with torn limbs and separated armor, they simply reconnected and continued their fight.

Just like the very first curse they had fought, this would be an endless uphill battle.

Gabriel grit his teeth.

They were too far away from a source of water for him to properly attack with water magic.

His wind wasn't strong enough to take on dozens of armored enemies at a time. All he could do now was rely on Excalibur.

Even so... Alexander smiled.

"Gabriel," he said, his voice reaching Gabriel from behind the endless armor. "You gotta get out the way."

His grin widened. "If you don't, you'll just end up as collateral damage."

'Huh?'

Gabriel understood. He quickly dashed away to the side. With that, Alexander slammed his foot into the ground.

It burst, exploded with cracks and crevices.

It shook, trembling and quaking.

It fell, the ground crashing down into itself.

All that was left was a rising cloud of dust and dirt as Alexander stood, staring at the massive crevice in the ground. Trees to the side had fallen over. And now, the earth slowly continued to sway under Alexander's foot.

Not an ounce of silver armor was shining, not behind and below dust and earth itself.

Never had he used Earth-Shaking to this extent. This was what the power was truly capable of.

"Gabriel!" he called. "You okay?" he asked into the cloud of dust. "Don't tell me he didn't get away in time."

Alexander spat out a sigh, only to begin coughing from the dust.

"Would've been better if you had given me another few seconds," Gabriel muttered, jumping down from the side of a tree. His white shirt had grown darker, practically stained under the earthen mist.

Alexander smiled. "Well, at least, that took care of it. Hopefully."

They both turned to the grand palace to their side. "This is probably the king's doing, huh?" Gabriel asked, sheathing Excalibur.

Alexander nodded.

"What do you say we beat the crap out of him before he beats the crap out of us?" Gabriel asked.

"...Smart plan."

"I know, right?"

At least a dozen meters in height, the palace doors were the only thing standing between them and their next opponent. They were built of carved silver, chiseled into the image of a grand tree. Not just the trunk and the branches, but its roots as well.

Its roots were spread evenly, just like the branches.

Gabriel understood what it meant. The tree and its roots were mirrored, reflecting perfectly unto each other. He smiled. 'As above, so below, huh?'

He slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. "You ready?" he asked Alexander.

"What kind of magic was that? That was impressive!" a voice asked.

Gabriel and Alexander spun to the sound. There was no one there.

"Oh, come on, you guys can't move faster than that?" the same voice said.

The voice continued talking and cackling, just as Alexander and Gabriel kept spinning and turning to wherever the voice came from.

That same voice cleared its throat. "Over here," a man said, waving as he exited the nearby forest. "Nice to meet both of you. I'm Yulius Vasily."

They stared at the man. He was tall and skinny, dressed in a dark blue tunic and black pants and boots, just like Erling's. Over that, he wore a green cape with blue fur trim at his collar. His eyes were a startling shade of pale blue. His skin was pale and his face covered in stubble, just as his head was covered with shaggy brown hair.

"Hi," he said. "I'm the King of Vanaheim."

Gabriel didn't lower his sword. Nor did Alexander lower his fists.

"Yeah, that's fair," he said, letting out a dejected breath.

He continued walking towards them, waving his hands around. Stones and rocks, shards of steel and metal, and chunks of armor all floated up from the crack in the ground.

Alexander and Gabriel rushed towards him. Gabriel's sword was pressed right next to Yulius' neck, just as Alexander's palm was glowing with pale blue light, aimed at the side of his head.

"Don't move," Gabriel commanded.

Yulius' eyes turned to Gabriel. "Nice sword," he said, his voice nonchalant as if there wasn't a meter-long blade right beside his throat. "I'm not gonna attack you again."

"I apologize for the rough invitation," Yulius said with a smile. "But as Erling told you... There are some things that must be done for the sake of peace."

Yulius turned to Alexander. "Wait, are you planning on shooting me with pure magic energy?" he asked.

Alexander simply stared at him, his palm still glowing.

"I'll take that as a yes," the king said, chuckling. "You see," he continued. "The moment you entered this realm... I had set my sights on you two. Forgive me."

The king continued and walked toward, without regard for the fact that the duo could attack him at once.

"I said don't move!" Gabriel shouted as Yulius moved past them.

Alexander furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at Yulius. He lowered his arms, calling off the attacks and spells he had planned.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

And so, Yulius set down the dozens of stones that were raised in the sky and separated them from the contorted, crumpled, and crack chunks of armor.

"Gravity magic. I'll explain in a bit," he said, his arms still crossed behind him. "Just follow me."

Yulius kept moving, leading them closer to the palace. He pressed his hand against the grand door. With that, he snapped his fingers. And from there, the palace doors opened.

- - 10 Minutes Earlier - -

Anastasia clapped her hands. The booming sound of her clap echoed.

And with it, dozens of Connections appeared around Erling. Not just Erling, but Connections appeared around the other Virtues.

They surrounded nearly every inch of space that was around Erling. And Connections are nothing more than magical constructs... And so...

There wasn't a way for Erling to sense oncoming attacks.

"Now!" Anastasia called out.

Bursts and rays of lights, bolts of lightning, balls of flames, and explosions all burst through the Connections, all crashing down onto Erling.

Even under immense pressure, even under the ongoing and oncoming maelstrom of magic attacks... Erling couldn't keep himself from smiling.

Dozens of spells flung out at him. Within that space of Connections, all that remained was the dense, gargantuan amount of magic energy.

"God, I hope we didn't actually kill him," Anastasia muttered, lowering her arms and letting out an exasperated sigh. Too many Connections. She had used far too many.

The Connections all disappeared, one by one.

The sight that stood there was a mass of steam, rising into the air from the continual point of impact.

'Don't tell me he's still standing...'

He was.

Erling simply stood there, still floating, almost completely unscathed. A few scorch marks and scrapes were scattered around his body. And so, he glared down at the Virtues.

"You, too, huh?" he muttered, staring at Anastasia. "Seems you're all special... And so... Let me show you a glimpse of the difference between our levels."

Erling raised his hand to the sky. The clouds in the surrounding sky began to float to their location, swirling and connecting into one. All above Erling.

With the contiguous cloud forming above them, all the Virtues could do was stare in shock.

'Wait a minute...' Leonard thought. 'How the hell are we supposed to fight that?!'

Lumiel swallowed her saliva and clenched her jaw as she stared upward at the looming mass of darkness. "This is... not good."

"You see," Erling's booming voice continued. "Humans cannot hope to match the vast energy found in nature."

Anastasia stared at the surging, flowing mass of electricity within the dark cloud. It could demolish the entire area, with the Virtues along with it. "Fuck."

And right before, Erling brought down his arm... His eyes widened. He spat out a sigh.

Erling disappeared and reappeared behind Anastasia and the others. He quickly knelt down before them, his knees and hands atop the tree leaves.

"I apologize, virtuous ones of Midgard," he spoke, dropping his head as well. "I... We compelled you to fight in order to assess your levels of magic energy and overall power."

"Huh?" the Virtues collectively muttered.

"Yes," he continued, his head still drooped over. "The King devised this plan. In order to test if you were capable of carrying out this mission, of course. Both individually and as a group. That's why we separated you. Alexander Lane and Gabriel Archibald, the anomalies were separated first. And they have already completed their aspect of the test, just as you have with yours."

"Huh?" they repeated in unison.

"Please, come with me. I will take you to the palace, as I was supposed to."

The grand leaf that they were originally floating on began to hover once again, bursting past the trees it had fallen onto.

Anastasia stared at it. "I'm not getting back on that thing," she said.

Lumiel turned to her. "You're getting on," she ordered her.

After nearly a minute of whispered arguing, Anastasia swallowed her dry saliva and climbed onto the leaf. "If we die, I'm cursing you specifically, Lumiel."

"Fair enough," Lumiel said with a smile. "Sorry I can't be as reassuring as Alexander."

Anastasia clenched her jaw and turned away.

"Oh, don't be like that," Lumiel laughed as they were led towards the castle.

By the time the Virtues arrived, Alexander and Gabriel were already seated, talking to a man with unkempt hair and wrinkled robes.

"Yeah, that's the thing," the man said to them. Gabriel and Alexander were seated before him as the man rambled on, standing and pacing around the room. That disheveled-looking man was Yulius, king of the realm.

"Gravity's complicated to use. So what I basically have to do is give each piece of armor its own gravitational field. From there, I manipulate it to move along the armor. So it's about two dozens pieces of armor per soldier. And I used about three dozen soldiers, So... You do the math."

Gabriel and Alexander both paused, going on and trying to figure out how many pieces of armor that was.

"Shit," Gabriel mumbled to himself, just as Alexander started counting on his fingers.

"So a dozen's twelve, right?" Gabriel asked.

Alexander nodded as squinted, still multiplying numbers in his head.

Again, Gabriel was the only one talking. "So if it's three dozen and two dozen... You just multiply the three and the two, right? So it's six dozen."

Yulius and Alexander stared at Gabriel in shock and silence.

"Wow, you're just actually an idiot, huh?" Alexander said.

"Shut it, Demon-Born."

Yulius smiled. "Y'know, you don't actually have to do the math. That's just an expression," he began. "Either way, it's a whole lot of gravity manipulation. It's fun, but it can give me a headache sometimes."

Erling cleared his throat. "My king. I've brought the rest of the Virtues."

"Perfect. Thank you, Erling," the king said as Erling took a bow.

Alexander smiled at the other Virtues. They were all unscathed for the most part.

However, before he could say something nice, Gabriel interrupted. "You guys took way too long."

He stood up and stared at them. "Alexander and I held off three dozen enemies. You guys only had to take on Erling, right? Kinda disappointing."

Leonard was quick to laugh. "You talk about disappointment as if we didn't just see you fail to do basic math."

"Hey, that was far from basic," Gabriel responded. "I'd like to see you try it."

"It's 864, dumbass."

The other Virtues stared at Leonard.

"Wait, I think he's right," Giovanna mumbled.

Yulius interrupted the conversation. "Virtues of Midgard... We have to talk. Please, come with me."

And with that, he led them across the palace.

They exited the entrance hall and entered a vast courtyard. Among the field of grass, dozens of bushes and shrubs aligned across the edge. That same field of grass spread across almost a hundred meters. Small hills and fountains of ivory and gold were scattered across the grand field. And past that... Well, past that was just a connected addition to the palace.

And that wasn't all.

The sun brought down the shadows of the countless spires and tiled domes. White marble statues surrounded the gardens while they bloomed with flowering plants and trees of all colors, and the walkways were paved with bricks of pale stone and decorated with columns.

"Uh... Yulius," Alexander said, still fixated on the architecture. "How old is this palace?"

Yulius laughed. "Probably about a dozen millennia. Why?"

"Nothing, just... Human architecture is kind of similar. Well, from three thousand or so years ago."

Again, the king laughed. "Exactly right. I remodeled the palace once I became king. I've always been infatuated with human architecture. Especially those Roman guys from a couple of millennia ago. They really knew what they were doing."

"Other than that, we got some gothic stuff," he said, pointing at the spires and turrets. "The rena- How do you pronounce it? Renaissance? Well, whatever."

From there, he led them into a grand room arranged with chairs, bookshelves, wooden tables, and desks. At the room's end was a pair of glass doors, opened and leading to a stone balcony. Silk drapes floated along with the entering wind.

"Welcome to the Vanaheim Command Center."

"That's just what I call it," Yulius said with a smile. "But it's practically just a room."

And so, the king clapped his hands and turned back to them. "So... which one of you is the leader? I should talk to them first."

Gabriel stepped forward. "I am. I'm the leader."

The others stared at him in confusion.

"Uh... Who made you the leader?" Leonard asked.

"Well, I don't see any of you stepping up for it. Besides, I'm an Archibald. Plus like four other things that make me better than each of you."

Yulius interrupted. "Wait, you're an Archibald? Like you're actually related to Charles Archibald?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, he's my uncle."

"Oh, that's crazy," the king laughed. "I've fought him before. He was tough. One of the few people who has beaten me. Well, one of two."

He smiled to himself. "Man, that was only fifteen years ago, huh?"

Lumiel remained silent. She didn't care enough to interject with the fact that she was also related to Charles Archibald. But rather, she just stood there and thought about how strong the king was.

Only two people had beaten him and Charles was one of them. Considering what Alexander and Gabriel had just told the other Virtues, and what Yulius himself said about his gravity magic, Yulius was well past your average High-Grade.

This type of thought would usually fill one with pride, with the singular fact that Archibald is the strongest being something to celebrate. Still, all Lumiel felt was fear. After all, how could she reach those levels of power? How could she even survive against the High-Grades of the Golden Dawn?

All she did was clenched her jaw and stand in silence as the others carried on their conversation.

Gabriel remembered his uncle's words. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask. Why is it called the God Crystal?"

"Ah," Yulius said. "Yeah, so basically... Gods don't use magic. They use sorcery. The only difference between the two is that sorcery is innate. You're born with it. I'm sure you already know that. But anyway... The general idea is that the gods will utile the power of the crystal against the Worldly beings. Y'know, the ones of the nine realms. It's simple math. Take magic away, and only use sorcery. Kind of a terrifying part of the prophecy of tribulation."

"And what if it happens? Like the gods using their power against the realms?"

He rubbed his stubbled chin. "It might not even happen. But considering what those golden bastards did, it might. No way of knowing. All I know is I'm the king of this realm. If someone wants to hurt my people, they'll have to answer to me first," he said, glaring at the sun as he leaned on the railing.

"Y'know, Alexander has sorcery, too," Anastasia said.

Alexander nodded. "Yep. Resistance to fire and poison," he affirmed. "And Earth-Shaking. That was the earthquake I made earlier. I'm pretty awesome, huh?"

Gabriel cleared his throat and interrupted. "Wait, but if your power extends over the realm, can't you just... handle the God Crystal on your own?"

"No can do, kid." Yulius let out a sigh. "It's Anti-Magic. To put it basically... My magic does extend across the realm. But because of the God Crystal, my magic gets canceled through that area."

He shook his head and grumbled. "Nope. That explanation doesn't make sense."

Yulius walked over to the table inside the room. He grabbed a sheet of paper and drew a circle on it. Inside the circle, he drew a singular dot.

"Okay, listen," he said as the Virtues walked over. "The paper is Vanaheim. The dot is the God Crystal. And the circle is the radius of imperfect Anti-Magic. Basically... If you're outside the circle, you can't use magic towards the inside. My magic won't work from here. So I have to go inside. But if you're inside the circle, magic can't reach the outside."

He cleared his throat. "Thankfully... the Anti-Magic is imperfect. So magic is still a thing. So all we have to do is get people inside the radius and destroy the crystal. That's you guys. If I go in, I would be putting the entire realm at risk. What's more, as time passes, the radius is gonna increase. Be wary of that."

Alexander stared at Yulius. He had explained like they were children. But for someone of Yulius' age, maybe that seemed reasonable.

"So..." Anastasia said. "Can you just teleport us to right outside the radius? Just to make it quick."

"No being born of Vanaheim can use spatial magic. Well... no Worldly beings for that matter. Only humans can. Magic can be born from desire itself. That's why humans have the most variety of magic. You dig into concepts and objects and create magic from them. I've seen it. Swords. Carbon. Even poison. Vanaheim only uses magic found in nature. The natural elements, if you will. So... No spatial magic," he said, walking towards the door.

He continued speaking even with his back turned to them. "Unless you can manipulate space you haven't seen or felt before, spatial magic won't work in this case."

Yulius went on talking, "Please, follow me. Charles Archibald knew that. Still... He sent the Virtues. You. He probably could handle this himself. But he chose not to. That just means he trusts you. So... Follow me."

Again, he led them across beautiful corridors with painted walls and polished floors.

Standing before a pair of massive golden doors, he paused. The Virtues stopped behind him as well.

"Y'know..." he began. "Not everyone is supposed to enter here. It's supposed to be heavily restricted, with only very few granted access." He slowly turned to the Virtues, his blue eyes turning stale.

"But whatever," he said, a grin growing on his face. "I'm King."

And so, he pressed his hands against the doors of gold and they swung open.

The Royal Armory. "That's what it's called," Yulius said. "Boring name, frankly. But it fits."

Alexander gazed at the marveling sight of his pure gold surroundings. Endless rows of armor and weapons stood before them.

An assortment of practically every conceivable weapon was held in racks arranged in rows and columns. Every variation of weaponry and armor was laid out in dozens of colors and uncountable numbers stretching from the room's start to end.

Liam simply ran around the armor with joy painted on his face.

"Take whatever you need," the king said. "If you are to destroy the God Crystal, you'll likely encounter people that want to take it for themselves. You must be prepared for combat. So... Take anything."

Liam was already holding half a dozen golden knives. He cleared his throat and forced his smile off. He nodded at the king. "Thanks," he said, his voice stale as usual.

As for the weapon that caught Anastasia's gaze... was a hammer of gold with a long, dull grey handle. Compared to the other countless weapons in the same room, this one seemed... a bit ordinary, compared to the dozens of colorful and idyllic swords and spears. And yet, it was the first thing Anastasia reached for.

"A war hammer?" Alexander asked her as she reached for it.

She coiled her hands around it and lifted it. "Yeah," she said, staring at it in her hands. "It's awesome. Swords can't usually cut through armor. So instead of cutting and slashing at armor, people decided it would be smarter to just... break what's underneath." Anastasia smiled. "Pretty badass, huh?" she asked.

"I just hope it's a shifter," Anastasia muttered. "Wouldn't want to carry this thing the whole time."

For a second, the hammer glistened, before quickly shrinking. The handle shortened, becoming small enough to hold with a single hand, with the hammer itself condensing drastically. With that, she smiled.

"Well, isn't that perfect?"

Leonard picked up a black wooden bow. "Y'know, I've always wanted a bow and arrow," he said. "I wanna get really good at it, too," he continued with a smile.

"Nope," Giovanna said. "I don't trust you with a ranged weapon. You'd either hurt yourself or one of us."

Leonard sighed. He pressed an arrow against the bow and drew the string. "Yeah, fair enough," he said, shutting one of his eyes as he aimed at a nearby wall. "This takes a lot more effort than I thought."

"Nope," Giovanna repeated, grabbing his wrist and lowering the bow he held.

At the same time, Anastasia placed the shrunken hammer into a leather pouch. "Guess that's it," she said, tying the pouch across her belt and tightening to her hip.

"Nothing else?" Alexander asked, his eyes fixed on the two blades he held in his hands. One was a dull grey and the other a flashy silver. He slowly lowered and raised his hands, judging their weight as he processed their usefulness.

"What do you mean?" Anastasia responded, finding and sitting down in a seat in the armory's corner.

"Well, you're only taking the hammer. It'd be reasonable to take something else." Alexander gently set down the flashy silver blade and sheathed the dull one onto his hip.

She stared at the compressed war hammer. "Not really," she said, smiling at Alexander. "I mean, it's not like I need anything else. I'm more of a magic combatant. Plus I still have my wand," she said, pulling out the wooden wand from the back of her belt.

The wand was nearly a foot long and made of a strange azure wood, held together with bands of gold all across the length. The only other notable quality was the silver tip.

Alexander had wondered why she needed a wand, to begin with. It wasn't like she was always using it. She only used it in a few situations. So...

Anastasia stared at Alexander for a second and smiled. "Y'know, lightning magic is difficult to control."

She traced her fingers across it. "Plus with my level of magic energy, it's even harder. So having a wand helps with that," she said, her eyes fixated on it as she twirled it between her fingers.

"I see..." Alexander muttered. "Well," he said, his voice now energetic. "You're still a great magician with your level of energy. Having two affinities is something to be proud of, anyway."

She smiled at that. "Life would definitely be easier with your kind of magic, though."

"Yeah, but still..." Alexander said. "You don't get injured all that much. Meanwhile, I got my arms broken just two weeks ago." Alexander paused. "...Damn, I just get hurt a lot, huh?"

"You just realized that now?" Anastasia said as she laughed.

He chuckled in return, just as he shoved nearly a dozen sheathed daggers into his bag.

Liam plopped a dark silver shield on Alexander's head. "Take it," Liam said.

Alexander groaned as rubbed his head in pain.

"You're gonna need it," Liam said.

Alexander sighed as he accepted the shield. It was light. Insanely, unnecessarily light. He pushed up his sleeve from his forearm and strapped the shield to it.

The shield was a perfect circle of dark metal. Alexander traced his finger across the edge, before slamming his empty fist into it.

Nothing had happened, not even a slight thud onto the shield. 'Well, that's surprisingly sturdy.' He turned to Liam. Was Liam actually... being kind?

Alexander couldn't help but smile at that. He turned to the other Virtues. They were all ready.

And with that, the Virtues departed.