I waited in the underground electrical room, clutching my golden sword necklace.

It didn't take long. A few minutes passed. Then, the tip of a blade sank through from above the ceiling. It sailed across the white plaster in a flash of steel, leaving a gash in its path. The lights flickered, and flakes of paint rained down.

I shook with excitement and grinned.

A second and third slash in the ceiling created a three-sided triangle, about the width of a person. With a thump, the triangle crashed down in a shower of sparks and dust. Down with it came an unmistakable figure. Slate-gray hair down to her waist, and steel-blue armor with golden trims. A greatsword adorned with gold. A cape of deep, bloody red. Sylvie, the Knight of Anomalies.

"What?" she asked me. "You wanna fight?"

She strode slowly towards me, her chin cocked and her sword-tip dragging against the ground. Her glare was condescending and irritated.

"Just wanted your attention," I responded. I tried to keep my voice calm. I knew there was no equality to be found between us. But I still had to keep up the pretense of it, for my own benefit.

"Bounty Hall lass," Sylvie said to me. "I'll let you piss me off this once. What you want?"

Ahah. So she didn't decide to splatter me across the floor the moment we met. That had been my first major concern with this plan.

"Knight of Anomalies," I said. "What will you do at the end of the world?"

With a tug, Sylvie swung her sword in an upward arc and rested its flat against her pauldron.

"You cheeky little…" she said. "You really want in, don't ya? You wanna play with the big boys and girls?"

"Heh." I returned a smug smile. "I'm already in. This world will fall by my hand."

"Bull," Sylvie spat.

"Does it bother you?" I asked. "That in eleven days, this world will be gone?"

Each of the Legends had already beaten the game. They had a chance to return, but didn't, because something kept them here. Alice wanted the game. Doublerift wanted change. As for Sylvie, I surmised she just wanted to fight.

"Is what it is," Sylvie dismissed.

"Your swordsmanship will soon be for naught," I reminded her. "Once we return home, none of who you are now will matter. Tell me. What deal did Doublerift make to placate you?"

Her dark blue eyes glinted, burning like the sting of ice.

"You got one thing right," she told me. "And one thing wrong."

I stepped aside towards an office chair by the wall, and I sat down and crossed my legs. "Enlighten me."

"Doublerift did make a deal with me," Sylvie said. "But I will not be going back with you."

Did Doublerift intend for her to stay here? That couldn't be possible, not if this world would be destroyed as he planned.

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"So, the deal," I began. "Let's talk about that first. Is the deal for you to stay out of the fight with Alice?"

Sylvie planted her greatsword into the ground.

"Is that a guess?" she asked.

"If he got you to fight alongside him, I doubt he'd be asking for my help."

"There's more to it. The bargain is this: I get to fight Dionysus, and he gets to handle everything else."

Dionysus. That was the last of the Legends. The only one I had never met, and an utter wildcard to me.

"Doublerift never mentioned Dionysus," I told her.

Not many people know about Dionysus' loyalties, Sylvie explained. Alice relied on him as her closest ally, and her secret trump card. Doublerift pretended to hold no knowledge on the subject, to give the appearance that he was misgauging Alice's forces, and to thus lure her into a false sense of security.

"Just in case there are spies in his ranks," Sylvie said.

"And he's counting on you to deal with Dionysus for him."

"Doublerift is giving me a chance to fight another Legend one on one. Otherwise I'd never get to duel any of them alone, not at full power."

"And what about after the fight?" I asked. "You said you won't be going back home."

"I'll be going back home. Just not with you."

I narrowed my eyes. Did she mean…

She grinned. "Where do you think I'm from? The answer is neither here, nor there, but elsewhere entirely."

"And where is that?" I questioned.

"You would not know of it, even if I said its name. What is it to you, where I go afterwards?"

I considered the possibilities.

"You are right," I said. "It does not concern me, as long as you leave, but I will propose you another deal. If you survive your fight with Dionysus, I want you to ensure all the surviving Legends return to Earth."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do I get in return?"

I knew something felt off about her, back when I scanned her with Eye of Odin. Something that set her apart from myself, Doublerift, and every other person around here. Even though I found her in Platinum, she didn't have a single electronic device on her body.

Plus, the deal she had with Doublerift felt way too one-sided. Would she really be willing to give up the sword forever, just for a single duel with Dionysus? Of course, the assumption there was that she'd no longer be fighting once she returned home.

"What's the technology like where you're from?" I asked Sylvie. "Do your people still fight with swords?"

She scoffed. "I thought you had no interest in my home?"

"Nonetheless, entertain me, and I will make your time worth it. Do you have guns?"

"No," she answered.

"Electronics?" I asked.

"We don't need them."

…No need for electronics?

"What's stronger there, swords or magic?" I probed. I had no idea if they even had magic. But let's see how she'd answer.

"In a fight? Nothing beats cold steel."

Heh. I found it hard to believe. But that more or less confirmed my suspicions. Somehow, Sylvie came from a different universe entirely. A fantasy world, where someone like her would fit right in. To think there were other worlds, besides this one and Earth…

…Though if there were two universes, a third existing shouldn't have come as an utter surprise.

I gathered my composure. My work here wasn't done yet.

"Here's my offer," I said. "Rid all Legends from this world. Before you leave, I will show you something you've never seen. Something stronger than either swords or magic."

"I know your technology, Earthling. Your guns and radar."

I laughed.

"Oh no," I said. "I'm talking about something else entirely. Something strong enough to kill Alice."

I reached into my pouch and pulled out a small metal canister. I twisted open the lid and showed its contents to Sylvie.

Inside was a fine, black powder.

"Explosives?" Sylvie said.

"Nothing that simple."

"What is it?" she asked.

I screwed the lid back on, then stored it away. "Help me, Sylvie. And I will show you fear in a handful of dust."