The queen cried out as she dropped from the sky and began to rapidly fall to the ground below. The most common All-Mother light powers were the gate to the Underworld, but it was always a one-way trip, with only Himvel possessing the real way out, as his light could take him anywhere. Under normal circumstances, she would never have used her ability to send herself to the lands below, but Rage had been about to kill her, so what choice did she have?
Of course, now that she was seemingly falling to her death, she was starting to quickly regret her choices.
Just when she thought she was going to splatter, something appeared beneath her and broke her fall. It was extremely soft and fluffy, full of cotton, and it felt like landing on a pillow. The queen blinked and then looked at the large stuffed teddy bear, which now hugged her.
"Looks like I managed to catch her, just in time." Off to the side, Laerton let out a sigh of relief.
"Good." Myth hummed and then cracked his knuckles. "Now we can kill her ourselves."
The queen's face paled when she saw the two captains glaring at her. Behind Captain Laerton, Pock looked around at the strange place the four of them had all landed in. It was another city, though a very crappy-looking one, that seemed to be built in an underground cavern or something. It was also extremely cold, and tons of wide-eyed Licht-Fulk all stared at them in shock and awe.
"W-Wait." The queen sputtered and tried to get out of the bear's embrace, but its paws wrapped around her, the thread humming with Laerton's magic.
The blonde woman gave a grin and placed her hand on the handle of her katana. "Wait? Now, why would I do that?"
"I-I'm the queen! You can't do this!"
"Your title means nothing." Myth spat out. "Your kind are nothing but monsters. You forged a fake identity. I am a real noble, born to a house of higher standing than your entire family combined. You have made moves against me and my kingdom. By all accounts, I have every right to kill you, and should your people throw a hissy fit, the entirety of the Esteria kingdom will wipe your kind away, great beast and all."
"Easy now, Myth." Laerton held her hand out in front of the captain. "As much as I also hate her, we should at least figure out where we are first and what the hell is going on."
Myth's glare only grew. "She was working with that horse-looking bastard. He fit the same description Sera and Snow gave. I'm sure of it; that is the monster who destroyed a city and stole away one of my Squires." Myth reached out and grabbed the queen by the front of her robes and hoisted her into the air. "Now, give me one reason why I shouldn't snap her neck here and now."
The queen gasped and grabbed at the hand that held onto her. "W-Wait, wait! L-Look around you. This place is the secret of Enforcer City. This is where we throw our prisoners and where Himvel collects his folks. I-If you want out of this place, you'll need me!"
"She's not lying," Pock spoke up. "I've been trying to create a portal out of here, but it isn't working. We're seemingly stuck."
"Great," Laerton sighed. "Just fucking great."
"Y-Yeah!" The queen laughed. "That's right! Y-You do need me! I'm important, understand! S-So how about showing me the respect I am owed?"
"That you're owed?" Myth growled.
"You're on a timer now." The queen grinned. Her smile then faded when Laerton sliced into her cheek with a lightning-fast strike.
Laerton's gaze was cold. "Why don't you explain? Otherwise, I might take a limb or two off. Not enough to kill you, but enough to make sure you don't try anything."
"Y-You wouldn't." The queen sneered.
"Myth. Let me see her hand-"
"O-Okay! W-Wait! I-I have something you need to know! I-I'll talk."
"Good girl."
"R-Rage! Himvel told me all about him. He's some sick monster from a world that no longer exists. They say he used to be a god, or at least he was close to becoming one. Understand? Our plan had been simple and beautiful. I would send you two here, and he'd use his kitsune pet to impersonate the two of you. That pet of his can clone and shapeshift, so she'd pass herself off as both of you and gain control over your two groups. We'd then convince Pantheon that the Phoenix Flight guild went insane, and with my forces, plus Pantheon, they'd wipe the Phoenix Flight guild completely out. This battle would not only weaken the Phoenix Flight guild but the Pantheon one as well. The remaining members of your guild would then be used as a bargaining chip to get the one called Davi to use his power on our core and free us. Rage would then come in and wipe him and everyone else out, who would be far too weak from all the fighting. With the barrier gone, my people will be able to leave, and we can then hide in other dungeons and escape to the other side of the world. Your kingdom wouldn't even know that you're all dead before it is too late."
"I'm guessing that the plan isn't going the way you wanted, considering you're down here?" Myth snorted.
The queen's scowl grew. "No. That fucking, Himvel betrayed me. This place is where he stores Licht-Fulk, who either committed a crime and won't be missed or whose DNA has the highest chance of turning into a future elf. He's paranoid and always doing all he can to bring the elves back. I thought he wanted what was best for the Licht-Fulk, but he doesn't. He just wants what is best for the elves. Rage tried to kill me and is now going to take my place. That's why I'll work with you guys now. We can take him out and get my power back, then pretend like this whole thing never happened!"
Laerton frowned as she heard the explanation. "So, let me get this straight, your plan hinged on Davi being able to seal the core with the great beast in it, and then you wanted your savior dead?"
"He can seal it. I'm sure he can." The queen nodded. "Haru spoke of a being. Someone who would finish what she started."
"Why not just ask Davi to seal it for you?" Laerton growled. "Why go through all this trouble?"
"He would never seal it willingly-"
"You fucking idiot! Yes, he would have. Literally, all you had to do was ask for his help, and he'd have done it without a second thought."
The queen's look shifted slightly. "Y-You're lying. Your kind are selfish and arrogant. Of course, we had to set up a situation where we could force him to seal it. A-And even if he had done it freely, without the core, our kind would have lost the protection, and you or the other nations would have killed us."
"I can't speak about the other nations," Myth began. "But I can say that you likely could have gotten Davi to seal the core and then either gone into hiding through other dungeons or simply tried to broker peace with the King. After all, your kind possesses the All-Mother's light, a very useful magical tool. We've wanted to get it to work outside of the dungeon since the Enforcer games started, but we haven't figured it out. You guys agreeing to work with the King and mass-produce working artifacts would have likely been enough to gain his support and protection."
Laerton hummed. "This entire thing could have been avoided. It is almost funny. You were so convinced humans hated you that you hated them right back and didn't even think of asking a human for cooperation. Davi would have sealed it for you, I promise you that, and as Myth said, you could have struck a deal and become part of the kingdom and been safe. Instead, you created this convoluted mess of a plan to get Davi to do something for you and lost control of it, and now a terrible monster is up above pretending to be me, Myth, and several of our guildmates, and they want to wipe out my squad."
"W-Well, when you put it like that-"
Laerton swung her blade, and the Licht-Fulk who had been watching all turned away in horror as the snow-covered ground was stained red. The queen screamed as her right arm was hacked off right at the elbow.
Myth dropped her out of shock and turned to Laerton, whose cold look only grew. The woman sheathed her blade and turned around. "Pock, stop her bleeding. Make sure she doesn't die."
It took Pock a second, but he soon crouched down next to the sobbing Licht-Fulk, whose outfit was rapidly turning red. He used his magic to zip up the wound and stop the bleeding.
"What the fuck was that for?" Myth hissed quietly as he gave Laerton the side-eye. "You took her arm off?"
"I got mad," Laerton shrugged. "I did tell her I would, though."
"I-I thought we were just going to scare her?"
"She might have gotten my guildmates killed for such a stupid reason." Laerton's eyes held no warmth. "She's lucky I didn't take her head off. Your own guildmates might be dead as well."
"T-They're not dead. Not yet." The queen spat.
"What?" Laerton glanced back at her.
"T-They were going to do it on the third game day." The queen explained. "T-There's still time. D-During the third game, of the third day, they were going to stage something and make it look like the Phoenix Flight guild went insane. Posing as you two, they'd start the infighting and whittle both sides down. Rage knows you'll escape this place. I-It was always set up to tire and stall you all out, rather than keep you here."
"And how exactly do we get out?" Laerton demanded.
"I think I can help with that." Laerton's eyes widened when she heard the voice, and she turned, finding Davi and Mel had arrived. The raven-haired man nodded toward it. "Captain, it looks like you made it down here-" Laerton flickered over and slammed the hilt of her sword into Davi's gut, causing him to gasp and fall to his knees. "W-What the fuck was that for?"
"That's for being replaced by a shapeshifter," Laerton announced.
"W-What?"
"I assume you were attacked by a horse-like monster?" Myth asked. "Well, he replaced you and was pretending to be you for a full day."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. We knew something was wrong but were unsure what." Myth hummed. "We've since learned that you were sent here and that monster is planning something foul."
"We don't have time to sit around," Laerton stated. "We should find the exit and get back to the surface. Davi, can you lead the way?"
Davi stood back up, still rubbing his gut. "Well, sadly, I can't until tomorrow."
"What? Why not?"
"Himvel won't appear until then," Mel explained. "And until he is beaten, we can't escape from this place." She then told them everything that she knew and about the fight Davi agreed to.
"That sucks…" The captain sighed. Laerton then told Davi everything he missed.
"Things aren't looking good, that's for sure." Davi crouched down next to the queen and looked her injury over. He brought out a bottle of water from his vault and helped her drink it. "We can probably reattach the limb since the cut was so clean. Captain, do you mind?"
Laerton frowned and looked like she wanted to retort but eventually sighed. "Whatever." She used her thread magic, and both she and Davi began to reattach the limb, Davi using a form of his vault spell to create shadowy limbs that kept it steady.
"Why?" The queen asked, seemingly stunned.
"You were in pain?" Davi shrugged. "Besides, I talked to your daughter, and she told me everything. Don't worry, I'll deal with the demon."
"See." Laerton slapped Davi upside the head, much to his annoyance. "Literally everything could have been avoided. For fuck's sake, just ask next time, okay?"
"It seems like the queen wasn't lying." Pock rubbed his chin and glanced toward the now one-armed queen. "Tomorrow is when their plan starts. While we're stuck down here, they're going to try to weaken our squads. This totally blows. It means we're going to have to finish the fight as quickly as we can and hurry back to the surface, and they're definitely going to try and stall us out as long as they can."
"Not to worry." Myth suddenly smirked. "I think we'll be just fine."
"What do you mean?" Laerton gave him an odd look. "Something you're hiding."
"As a matter of fact, I am." Myth folded his arms and glared down at the shaking queen, who was slowly gaining control of her reattached limb. "See, I thought that maybe there would be some tricks you guys might try to pull, so I took a precaution."
Laerton snorted. "Oh. I get it. So that's what you did."
"What'd he do?"
"Let's just say, the queen's plan already fell apart." Myth chuckled. "That Rage guy won't get far."
Davi frowned but shrugged. "Okay. We still have to deal with Himvel, though. He and I are going to duel at dawn, so until then, we're stuck here."
"Then I guess you'd better be ready for it," Laerton stated. "We'll all jump him. Got it?"
"I can't one-v-one him?"
"No!"
"Damn." Davi rubbed the back of his neck. "I feel bad, but also not really. Himvel is kind of a joke. We'll beat him and escape this place."
The queen looked up at him and shifted slightly. "W-Wait," she looked conflicted for a moment. "I-I know something."
"Yeah?"
"The thing is, the guy you're going to fight… He isn't Himvel. The real Himvel is somewhere else. The one called High-"
"I called it!" Davi threw his hands into the air. "I fucking knew it! God, I'm so smart!"
"She's wrong." Mel's words nearly snapped Davi out of his funk.
"Huh?"
Mel frowned and stared down at the queen. "High isn't Himvel. Himvel is an elf. High's a Licht-Fulk."
"I hate to tell you it, but it's the truth." The queen spat out. "The being calling himself High is Himvel the hero."
"No." Mel shook her head and growled. "That's not true."
"And how can you be so sure?"
Mel stepped forward, and her glare grew. "High is my brother."
***
Olivia groaned and opened her eyes, staring up at the roof above. "What?"
"She's alive!" Ghost cheered.
"Of course I'm alive." Olivia winced and sat up. "Where am I?" She glanced around, confused. "I'm back at the hotel?"
She was on the carpeted floor of the common room, and for some reason, almost all of her guildmates were around her. Ragna, Sieg, Mama Herta, Falco, Clause, Greenie, Ghost, Merlin, and Gormay were all giving her worried looks. Next to her, Ken was unconscious, covered in bandages, with a floating Yujin begging her to wake up as he used various healing spells.
Suddenly, memories of the battle with High came flooding back, and her eyes widened. "Oh crap! That's right! That weird High guy? He totally jacked us up? How did I get back here?"
"Vlad carried you back," Ragna said softly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah? Vlad?" Olivia raised an eyebrow and looked past the group. Sure enough, Vlad was back, hunched over in a corner playing on a handheld device. "Cool?"
"Olem's missing," Falco began. "Some guy showed up, and he left with him, so we had no healers. Yujin managed to get you patched up, though, and Ken is stable now."
"I should have been there," Sieg winced. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah! You should have!" Ghost began to whack him over the head rapidly. "We almost lost Liv! I like her!"
"N-No, it's not your fault." Olivia shook her head. "I got captured. Ken managed to save me." Olivia smiled and glanced at the sleeping red-haired girl. "She's awesome."
"By the way," Merlin piped up. "Was Davi with you?"
"No? Why would he be?" Olivia asked.
"You had his sword." Mama Herta explained.
"Storymaker?" Olivia blinked and then glanced down at her hand. Sure enough, her fingers were wrapped around the handle. "Oh. Huh. I guess I picked it up? That's weird." She laughed slightly and raised the sword up. "I'll have to remember to give it to Davi when he shows back up-"
The sword suddenly ignited with a flash of white light that had her seeing stars! The light filled the room, bouncing off the walls and causing everyone to yelp. When it did die down, she had to rapidly blink her eyes to get them to see again.
"W-What was that?"
"Holy shit." Clause stared at the sword in shock. "I think you just bonded to it."
Olivia felt her stomach drop. "What! No, no, no, that's not possible." She shook her head. "It's Davi's sword, not mine."
"Well, Davi does have a dark core," Ragna muttered. "He can't bond with it, but blood magic is a light core, so…"
"No, that's not right." Olivia dropped the blade. "Davi loves this sword. I-I can't be- It isn't mine, it belongs to him."
"If you don't want it, I'll take it." Gormay offered. Everyone shot him a dirty look at that comment. "What? Davi isn't even here. I want a cool item."
Clause gently picked up the blade and dusted it off. "I'll hold onto it and make sure Davi gets it back. Bonding with it doesn't matter unless you actually use it and intend to. It'll be fine."
"I hope so." Olivia bit her lip. She somehow felt like she just did something awful. As if taking up the sword was like cheating on Davi or something. She eyed the blade. "Yeah, make sure he gets his sword back." She had a twisted feeling in her gut that she shouldn't use that sword. Something about what High said made her not want to trust it.
"Can you walk us through everything that happened?" Sieg asked.
"Yeah? I guess." Olivia nodded and was about to speak, but before she could, the door opened. Everyone turned, but there was no one there. At least, no one they could see. The door closed on its own, and they all heard the sound of footsteps.
"Oh boy," a voice called out, and then the air shimmered as Whisper turned her invisibility off, a sly smirk on her face. "I have some juicy stuff to tell you all."
Myth's trump card. Whisper had seen everything that Rage did and intended to do, including the speech the queen gave, all while being invisible.
The bad guys weren't quite as sneaky as they thought they were.