Chapter 74:

  Spirit and Mind

  (Elizabeth's POV)

  After a quick rest, Oliver and his team were ready to move again. Stel and Anders applied what healing they could, though Viggo's arm had to be put into a sling.

  "Doing alright, Viggo?" Noel asked, pyfully nudging you, "Arm isn't gonna fall off, is it?"

  "My arm's fine," he told her, gncing at her amusingly before retorting with a smirk, "Are all your insides still intact?"

  "Yep!" she patted her sides where the worst of the gashes were, "All accounted for thanks to Stel and Anders."

  It was good to see them joking, despite the circumstances. However, everyone was well aware of the change in atmosphere. After they had descended the stairs by the fountain, the cathedral branched off into a maze of rooms and hallways. Yet, they found nothing.

  With each step, sconces fred to life to light their path, illuminating the luxurious and imposing architecture. Tapestries of crimson embroidered with gold hung from the walls. There were no pictures anywhere. Just elegant furnishings that filled the gaps between the engaged columns of the walls. There were benches and alien looking ferns in fanciful pnters, and the occasional gilded cabinet, but not a single living, or dead, creature.

  It was just them and their softened footsteps upon the hallway rug. Oliver led the way while Elizabeth hung back. She knew what was coming, and as much as she wished to warn them...they had to learn. If all they were capable of was defeating Viktor and Victoria, then they still had a long way to go. Not that she would let them die here, but she wasn't going to hold their hand.

  "Alright..." Leon held up a hand, causing everyone to stop as he looked down one of the hallways at a cross-section, "I swear...we've passed this same hallways five times now."

  Kennith, his knives held casually at his sides, gnced at the path Oliver pointed out to everyone, his brow furrowed in thought. While he did so, Oliver looked past them at Elizabeth with a knowing gaze before turning his attention to the others. Oliver had known about the illusion for a while now, but wanted to showcase his teams perception.

  "So, it wasn't just me then..." he muttered, staring intently at one of the tapestries, "Everything looks so damn simir. There's no paintings or other discernable marks. Just..."

  "Just tapestries and unimportant furnishings," Mira finished thoughts as she peered down the other way, "Which is why I marked one of them...look."

  She pointed to one of the cabinets near where the hallways meet. Upon its surface was one simple, yet purposefully made, nick on its otherwise fwless surface.

  "I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong, but..." Mira looked back at everyone with a serious, hardened expression, "They got us."

  "Sir, you knew about this, didn't you?" Aria tilted her head towards Oliver, and all eyes suddenly locked in on him, "How long were you going to wait before you told us?"

  Elizabeth smirked, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall. Oliver was suddenly beset by the rest of his teams accusatory gres. Balking under the weight of their judgement, he tried to appease them, but it did serve him right. She didn't have time to py games, even if he wanted to prove his team to her.

  "I just wanted Miss Falcrest to see your abilities," Oliver attempted to dissuade their ire with the truth, and a bit of fttery, "I'm proud of all of you, you know. I knew you would figure it out, so-"

  "Pappa..." Evy loomed over her father, cracking her knuckles, "Miss Falcrest said we don't have time, and I want to finish this sooner rather than ter..."

  "N-Now, now...darling, my precious daughter..." Oliver suddenly appeared quite small as he looked up at her with a mix of fear and appeasement, but it was no use.

  Evy put her father in a headlock and began to berate him.

  "For being the Raven Sage, it wasn't wise to upset Evy..." Leif mumbled, throwing his hands up as Oliver tried to reach out for help, "You're on your own, Sir..."

  The look of betrayal in Oliver's eyes was priceless, with Evy's eyes darkening in devilish delight to have her father at her mercy. While Evy took care of her father, the rest of them turned to the task at hand.

  "So, what do we do?" Viggo inquired, looking at Stel and Anders, "Are you guys able to pierce it?"

  "I'm not sure..." Stel tilted her head as she pced a hand firmly on the wall and closed her eyes, "It feels...real, and yet I do sense a very subtle magic ced throughout this pce."

  "Yeah, same here," Anders was looking around as if he saw something no one else did, "It's different from the ambient power of this pce. It's ced within it rather elegantly..."

  "It's no wonder we didn't sense it before," Stel took a deep breath and opened her eyes, taking a step back, "I hate to admit it, but it's rather well done. They hid the effect within what was already natural."

  "Agreed," Anders nodded and looked at Stel; when they locked eyes, he smiled, "Shall we?"

  "Might as well give it a try," she returned his smile and the two of them raised their staves towards each other.

  The moment the staves touched, an energy was released. The energy from Anders was a soft electric blue while Stel's was a soft, delicate green. As they began to channel, a wind gusted through the intersection of hallways, and upon it came the sweet scent of rot as well as a voice.

  "Ah, trying to escape?" it was feminine and serene, like honey wrapped in velvet, "I'm afraid I can't allow that."

  The eerie silence that had fallen over the cathedral finally broke as the sound of shuffling and scratching could be heard from all directions. Anders and Stel remained where they were, concentrated upon their spell.

  "You gotta take care of that," Anders told everyone, "We're a bit busy."

  "So needy," Viggo said sarcastically as he hefted his spear to the ready position, "Asking so much of a man with one arm."

  "You're lucky you still have it," Anders retorted with a smirk.

  "Thanks for that," Viggo said with a chuckle as he took position facing one of the hallways.

  As things were getting serious now, Oliver and Evy ended their small feud to ready themselves as well. Oliver took one hallway himself, raising his staff and other hand to focus. Evy took up another by herself while Kennith and Mira stood with Leif at the third. Viggo and Noel stood together once more at the final hallway. Meanwhile, Leon and Aria took position by Stel and Anders as sentinels, bows drawn and at the ready.

  Elizabeth, for her part, remained the passive observer. It would be easy to help them, but then they wouldn't learn. If things turned bad, however, she would help them. For now, she watched and waited.

  The halls thrummed with anticipation. The scratching and shuffling grew faster and louder as everything began to tremble ever so slightly. The hordes were approaching.

  "Uhm, not wanting to rush you, but..." Kennith gnced back at Anders and Stel, "How long will this take?"

  "As long as it needs," Stel replied sharply, trying not to lose her focus, "You've heard about the Gordian Knot, yes? Well, we're trying to untangle it."

  "Can't you just cut it like the stories?" Mira asked and Stel scoffed.

  "Yeah, sure..." Stel replied dryly, "If you want this entire pce to explode like a pressure cooker. Now, stop distracting us."

  "Right, sorry..." Mira and Kennith apologized together.

  Elizabeth noted that Stel wasn't wrong, but she wasn't quite right. The part she was correct about is that if you handled this illusion wrong, it would backfire on you. Like a taught rope suddenly cut, that force was enough to destroy everything in the vicinity. Elizabeth absently rubbed just below her neck, remembering the unpleasant feeling of being destroyed by such a backsh.

  She was ashamed to admit it, but it had taken her several attempts to get through this pce in the past. This was one where she had tried to brute force it, but had not been...precise enough. Mira was right in that you could cut this illusion, but you had to do so correctly.

  Beyond that, a powerful enough dispel or an even stronger willpower was needed. This was the first time Elizabeth had actually seen someone try to completely unravel the spell. To be honest, as impatient as Elizabeth was, she was also quite taken by this choice...for it was something that Lucas used to do when up against magic. You could say that it was his expertise.

  She reminisced for a moment, his excited face coming back to her. He had just dispelled a sigil that had been protecting a hidden door that they had found. He was so proud of his achievement because it was the hardest piece of magic that he was able to dispel via this method. He had never been strong in magic, but he was creative and had a penchant for aligning himself with it. This made him uniquely adept at turning spells against themselves despite his ck of magic.

  With a tender smile, Elizabeth returned to the present, focused on the fight at hand. The hordes were getting closer now, their glowing red eyes in the dark now visible, and soon their wretched, twisted bodies.

  "What the fuck..." Viggo muttered, taken aback by their appearances, "Are those...Rot Kin?"

  He wasn't far from the truth, but they were a little...different. Unlike their rotting brothers and sisters outside, these particur Kin of Rot were completely whole. Their flesh wasn't falling from the bone, but instead twisted and pulled taught across their bodies. It was like someone had melted them and shaped them into what they were now, and it wouldn't be far from the truth.

  "My puppets are here to py," that velvety sweet voice echoed through the halls once more, "Do entertain my Marionettes. They've not had anyone to py with in a long time."

  Marionettes. Crafted flesh. They were created by one person. The Vampire Lord, Vivienne, Progenitor of the Mind. These erratically moving creations were husks of their former selves, controlled by Vivienne from afar. They were simple puppets.

  Moving faster now, the Marionettes lunged forward at the first opportunity, but not before everyone made their moves. Leon and Aria unleashed several arrows that pierced and downed those in the front, causing them to fall underfoot of the rest who simply barreled over them.

  Viggo postured himself, getting into a low stance as his spear began to glow heavily with a dark green aura. In a single thrust, a spear of energy pierced through the ranks of Marionettes down his hallway, following by several blue energy waves from Noel's great sword.

  At the same time, Kennith and Mira threw their knives into the ranks of Marionettes bearing down on them, with Leif backing them up as he threw one of his axes that tore into the creatures. It wasn't lost, however, as it came back to his hand, tearing through more of the Marionettes on its return.

  Evy positioned herself, fists at the ready as golden energy collected around them. Taking a deep breath, she centered herself before suddenly punching forward and unleashing a shockwave that dismantled many of the Marionettes to the point that the ones behind them had to now scramble over to continue, only to be hit by another golden shockwave.

  Oliver's staff glowed with runes dancing in the air, and with a single utterance of the word [Revoke], a bst of energy was emitted from his staff that disintegrated all Marionettes halfway down the hall, giving him ample time to set up other wards that he held in pce. A barrier like a bubble before it was blown stretched the span of the hallway, and each Marionette that touched it was completely destroyed.

  As the fight continued, no Marionette ever got close to any of them...save Leif and Noel who had thrown themselves into the fray, but was a blender of death for the Marionettes. However, this wasn't a matter overcoming their numbers...for there would be no end to them. Something that they all quickly began to realize.

  "Hey! Is it just me, or are they not stopping?" Leif asked as the pile of Marionette corpses exploded out as a new wave burst forth.

  "No...not just you," Oliver called, his brow furrowed, "Damn it, alright, everyone to the center!"

  Called back by their leader, they all made openings in order to return, and as they did, Oliver called forth the power inside of himself, eyes glowing as he sent out several [Revoke]'s down all of the hallways. Like before, a shimmering barrier like a bubble before it is blown was set in pce, and for the moment...they could breath.

  "Couldn't have done that before?" Viggo joked, leaning back against the wall as Noel joined him, resting against each other.

  "Heh, I trusted in your abilities," Oliver replied with a smirk, "Besides, I didn't know they were never-ending before. Is everyone alright?"

  "Yeah, we're good, just a little tired..." Aria admitted, sweat beading her brow, "How long were we even fighting for?"

  "Well..." Oliver gnced at the floating notification that everyone could see, "A bit too long."

  ---

  >NOTICE: You've entered the Progenitor's Cathedral.

  >You've decided your fate.

  >Clear Condition: Defeat the Vampire Lords.

  >Failure will have the Moor flood the world.

  >Time Remaining: 2 days, 5 hours, and 15 minutes.

  ---

  Elizabeth agreed that it was taking longer than was needed, but so long as they found a way out of this, it would go faster after.

  "Anders, Stel..." Elizabeth called, speaking for the first time in a while, "I do not wish to rush you, but what is your progress?"

  "This fucker is tricky..." Anders replied, sounding almost impressed but also annoyed, "Stel's a great help, but..."

  "It'll take too long," Stel admitted with frustration, "However, there is a solution..."

  "Yeah, and what's that?" Kennith asked, warily gncing down the hallway at the Marionette's throwing themselves to their deaths, "How long will those hold, by the way?"

  "Long enough...I hope," Oliver replied with a half-smile.

  "Reassuring as always, boss," Kennith chuckled with a shake of his head, "Gd it's not me that's out there."

  "Oh, then you'll love this, Ken," Anders gnced at the man with a glint of mischief in his eyes, "We need you to go out there."

  Kennith's expression fell, looking at Anders with a deadpan gaze.

  "You being serious?" he asked, to which Stel nodded.

  "Sure am," she said with a slight smirk, "It'll take too long to unravel everything to get all of us out, but to get one or two people...well..."

  "Ha!" Mira ughed, nudging him, "Good luck."

  "You're going, too," Stel told her, much to Mira's dismay.

  "Sucks to suck!" Kennith returned the ugh, causing Mira to gre at him.

  "I did say one or two, and well..." Stel looked between the both of them, "There's two of you, and your expertise is needed."

  The dawning of realization upon the both of them was priceless as they resigned themselves to their fate.

  "...We gotta kill her, huh?" Kennith asked and Anders nodded.

  "One way to get rid of a spell..." Anders told him, "Is to kill the caster of it."

  "Why do we have to go?" Mira pouted, crossing her arms, "Why not Evy or Oliver? He's the one who didn't warn us of the illusion in the first pce!"

  "I said I was sorry!" Oliver excimed, "Besides, you two are the right choice for this."

  "I hate that you're right..." Kennith sighed and looked towards Stel and Anders, "Alright, tell us what to do."

  Anders and Stel raise a single hand out towards the same direction, their energy reaching out and as if pulling the stitching from a piece of fabric, within the air they opened a seam within the reality of this illusion.

  "Move silently, swiftly," Stel was beginning to appear fatigued, with Anders not looking much better, "Find her and kill her quick. Don't let the fight drag out."

  "Yeah, yeah..." Kennith waved dismissively as he made his way towards the opening, "You all owe me a drink after this!"

  "Double for me!" Mira shouted as she followed behind him.

  As the two of them stepped through, the seam was immediately mended. Stel and Anders colpsed afterwards, completely exhausted.

  "Sorry..." Anders apologized, "We tried, but...damn, that shit was intricate."

  "Still, it was impressive we did that much," Stel slugged Anders arm pyfully, "You did good."

  "You too."

  With that, all they had to do now was wait.

  -----

  (Elizabeth's POV, A While Later)

  "How are you holding up?" Elizabeth inquired of Oliver.

  He was currently sitting upon a chair that Anders had conjured for him, a bit of sweat was beading his brow, but he gave a smile.

  "Oh, I'm just fine," he answered with a bit of a ugh, "Persistent bastards, though."

  He gnced over at one of the barriers where the Marionettes were still bashing themselves against. It took effort to continuously hold such defensive measures, but being one of the few SS-Rank in the world, Oliver was capable of holding out. Even so, it did put a bit of strain on him.

  "You need stop these games of yours," Elizabeth chided, folding her arms as she looked at the man, "You saw through the illusion, and could have prevented it."

  Oliver's eyes went wide, quickly bringing a finger to his lips as he tried to shush her, but it was already too te. Evy slowly stood from where she was sitting with everyone, all eyes turning towards him.

  "Pappa..." Evy called, her tone menacingly sweet as she made her way over to him, "Is what she said just now true?"

  Oliver grumbled, glowering at Elizabeth in betrayal before turning his attention towards Evy, becoming as disarming as possible.

  "Sweetie, of course not, I simply-" he began but was cut off as Evy suddenly leaned forward, her eyes darkening.

  "You're not about to lie to me, are you?" she asked, to which he looked away abashedly.

  "I mean, no...of course," he swallowed hard, scratching his cheek, "I mean, I may have noticed and might have had a chance to stop it..."

  Evy let out a heavy sigh and stood, looking down at her father in disappointment.

  "Damn it, pappa..." Evy shook her head, running a hand over her face, "We sent Mira and Kenneth into danger because of you..."

  "I know, but they can handle it," Oliver told her, firm in his belief, "Besides, if they were truly in danger..."

  He gnced over at Elizabeth knowingly, who simply rolled her eyes.

  "Yes, I would save them," Elizabeth said, crossing her arms as she looked disapprovingly at Oliver, "However, Oliver, your attempts to show me what they're capable of is dangerous. This is as much an evaluation of you as it is of them."

  Oliver shrunk under her words, appearing a little sheepish.

  "Evaluation?" Evy asked, and now Elizabeth had everyone's attention, "What do you mean?"

  Elizabeth sighed and turned towards them.

  "You know I went to the gate in Italy, yes?" Elizabeth asked everyone, who nodded that they knew, "Well, I've seen firsthand the dangers of such a gate."

  Elizabeth shifted her weight, gncing off down the hall at the hordes of Marionettes still flinging themselves against the barriers.

  "This is no different," she continued, "More will appear, and as you know, I've helped Asgard and many others to ready themselves against all sorts of threats."

  "Yeah, you inspired me to get stronger..." Evy said with a light blush of embarrassment, "Many of us look up to you as an example of what a Pyer should be. Strong and capable of protecting what we hold dear."

  Elizabeth allowed herself a small smile before it faded and she looked back at everyone.

  "This world is under threat," she spoke clearly so that they didn't misunderstand, "As strong as I am, I cannot be everywhere. I need to make sure that there are those capable of defeating such threats."

  There was a silence that fell over everyone as they took in her words, and she used that moment of silence to continue talking.

  "I heard of what was happening, and decided to investigate," Elizabeth expined, grabbing their attention, "If it was like the gate in Italy, I wanted to be sure that another incident didn't happen. If such a gate were to break..."

  She left unsaid what everyone knew, letting it sink in.

  "So, you wanted to see if we were ready?" Evy asked quietly, and Elizabeth nodded, "So...what are your thoughts so far?"

  Evy was a little shy in her question. It was almost cute. Elizabeth could tell that her opinion meant a lot to the girl, and so she answered them honestly. She told them how Viggo and Noel were a capable duo, but pyed around too much. She commented on how Leif's emotions cause him to hesitate, though crified that having emotions was not an issue. It was the hesitation.

  "What about us?" Stel asked as she motioned to herself and Anders, "Have we done okay?"

  "Like Noel and Viggo, you work well together," Elizabeth answered her, "It's not so much your ability that is the issue, but your flexibility."

  "Flexibility?" Stel tilted her head in confusion.

  "Yes," Elizabeth nodded, motioning around the area, "This illusion. Why do you think that you can't crack it?"

  "Well, it's strong," Anders spoke up, "If we just bust through it, that magic would come back at us."

  "Right," Stel agreed, "The only way is to undo the spell, but it's so intricately tied into-"

  "Wrong," Elizabeth cut her off, flustering the girl, "Yes, it's intricately tied to the ambient magic of this pce, but why do you think that's the only way?"

  "Because...it is!" Stel affirmed her answer, but as Elizabeth sighed, she defted a bit and started to doubt herself, "I mean, it is the only way...right?"

  "And that's what I'm talking about," Elizabeth told her, "You pick one route and never venture from it. You don't even try and consider other possibilities."

  The two of them were silent, for she wasn't just talking to Stel, but Anders as well.

  "You didn't even try to dispel it," Elizabeth continued, "If you don't have that skill, it's fine. However, you completely dismissed breaking through because of the danger, but did you ever think that in such an intricate weave of magic...there were gaps? Pces where those threads of magic started and could be completely unraveled? Like pulling the thread of a sweater."

  Stel and Anders both slumped against each other, heads touching as the dawn of realization hit them.

  "We really didn't think of that, did we?" Stel asked Anders.

  "Nope," Anders sighed, "We really just ignored that, huh?"

  "I mean, where could it be?" Stel asked, looking around, "It sure as hell isn't here."

  "I guess we should have looked," Anders ughed, "Alright, Miss Falcrest, I get your point. Find the right pce, and the blowback is lessened if not nullified."

  "Precisely," Elizabeth said, "While we are trapped in an illusion to walk the same pathways, we didn't have to stop here. Think if it like a treadmill. Sure, it repeats, but if you stop..."

  "You're only in one pce of the treadmill..." Stel ran a hand over her face in agonizing realization, "Damn it."

  "As long as you remember to look at things from all angles, you'll be good," Elizabeth told them both, "You have amazing talent...you just need to use it."

  They appeared pleased to hear that and Elizabeth turned to Evy and Oliver.

  "You know that you need to work on," Elizabeth told Oliver who smiled nervously and looked a little ashamed, then she turned towards Evy, "As for you, Evy...I really have no comments."

  "Wait, really? Evy looked surprised, but was a little suspicious, "You have nothing to advise me on?"

  "Not at the moment, no," Elizabeth pced a hand on the woman's shoulder firmly, "What I saw earlier was good. You wasted no movements and paced out your attacks to continuously take advantage of the situation."

  Evy smiled to herself, incredibly pleased to hear such kind words.

  "We feel a little left out here..." Leon chimed in with a little ugh, "Are we doing good?"

  Elizabeth looked over at Leon and Aria, the two archers of the group. She appraised the for a moment before telling it to them straight.

  "You're too x," she told them bluntly, "You don't have to be rigid, but your danger sense needs work. As someone who fights from range, you need to be aware of your surroundings more. Work on that, and you both should be good."

  They nodded and thanked her for her advice. It wasn't like Elizabeth had no intention of helping them. If they could get stronger, it was less she had to worry about, and after a few moments of talking over certain ways to improve themselves, Elizabeth sensed a shift throughout the area. Mira and Kennith had completed their mission.

  "It's done," Elizabeth told everyone.

  "What is?" Viggo asked, standing with the help of Noel.

  Elizabeth motioned down one of the halls, where one by one the Marionettes were crumbling and falling apart. The assault had ended, and like paint being washed away, their surroundings began to melt and fall away. Reality was returning to them.

  "Oh, that's what you meant," Viggo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before grabbing his spear.

  As the illusion fell away, they found themselves in a simir hallway that they had been in, but instead of being a byrinth of intersections, there was only one path to follow now, and follow it they did until it came to a grand, dark wooden door that was just slightly ajar. Coming from behind it was the smell of rot and death.

  Pushing forward, Leif opened the door for everyone and stepped into what looked like a chapel fused with a throne room. Great works of stained gss lined the walls on either side of them depicting grotesque scenes of feasting on flesh. Pews lined in rows led up to a ptform where a gilded dark throne and podium were situated as if it were used for sermons. However, most of the pews were broken, bodies of insectoid like creatures littered the area. Upon closer inspection, however, it was revealed that they were once humanoid, but now had been twisted into grotesque abominations.

  What drew everyone's attention, however, was the rge creature near where the throne and podium was. It appeared to be a strange mix of centipede and spider, many limbs and thoraxes fused together in a strangely elegant way, all coming from the torso of a woman clothed in crimson robes etched in gold.

  She wasn't moving, thousands of knives imbedded into her flesh, and from the wounds came a sickly bck blood. As they made their way closer, one of its thoraxes moved as Kennith appeared on top of it, covered in wounds and panting with a gre aimed at all of them.

  "You motherfuckers!" he excimed, pointing a knife at them, "Spiders! Fucking human spiders....Or elf, whatever. Humanoid spiders."

  "H-Hey, buddy," Viggo waved with his spear, "You good?"

  "Good? Good!?" Kennith motioned to the creature under his feet, "Does this look good to you?"

  Sliding down the creature, Kennith stumbled a bit on the nding, but Leif helped steady him. With an appreciative nod, he continued to glower.

  "Next time...you guys can face the creepy insect dy," Kennith grumbled, motioning for everyone to follow, "Mira's over here...we had another guest."

  Following Kennith, they went around the creature to the other side where they saw Mira leaned against a bck marble pilr, clutching her side where she was bleeding from. She was conscious, and as she saw them, gave a smile and a small wave.

  "Hey, guys..." she called, motioning weakly with her free arm to another pilr nearby, "We had a two for one special as well."

  There, pinned with hundreds of knives into the bck marble was another twisted creature. It had six arms, one of which y on the floor nearby while the others were pinned to the pilr. Two of the arms came to sharp points, like bdes, while the others had sharp cws. Like the rge creature behind them, this one was also clothed in crimson robes etched in gold.

  "Seems big ugly over there had a sister," Mira motioned with her head towards the rge centipede woman and then at the multi-armed one nearby, "Pain in the fucking ass. Did Kennith tell you that it's your turn next time?"

  "Yeah, he did," Aria chuckled as she went over to help Stel check her wounds.

  "Good," Mira nodded weakly, "Fucking hell..."

  Mira grimaced as they cleaned the wound. Anders was being seen to by Anders and Leon while the others went to harvest the cores from the two Vampire Lords.

  "Impressive..." Elizabeth mused to herself, looking at their handiwork. Usually, Vivienne worked alone. Preferring to mold and shape her creations as she wished. Vivienne, Progenitor of the Mind was the centipede creature, while the one pinned to the pilr...

  "Notification said her name was Valorie," Kennith called as he saw Elizabeth looking at it, "Thing was quick...angry that we had attacked her sister."

  Valorie, Progenitor of the Spirit.

  Elizabeth knew of her, for she had proven quite troublesome in the past. Capable of becoming ethereal and moving through walls, as well as magic that was haunting as it called upon the spirits of the dead. An apt skill for one with such a title.

  "Yeah, well...we were quicker," Mira called with a chuckle, wincing as she ughed.

  "Speak for yourself," Kennith retorted, "Cut you open good."

  "Nah, I let her do that," Mira replied and Kennith ughed.

  "Sure you did," he told her, "Just get treated. We're not out of this yet."

  "Yeah, you guys owe us drinks," Mira joked, "So many drinks."

  "Don't worry," Oliver told them with a chuckle, "You'll get all the drinks you can handle. Just rest for now."

  "You both did good," Elizabeth praised, "Not only did you take down one, but two. You should be proud."

  Kennith and Mira exchanged a look of pride between themselves.

  "We joke, but honestly..." Kennith leaned back against the pilr he rested against, "We were lucky. The rge one there was almost dead when the other one joined."

  "After seeing the others fight..." Mira added, "We tried not to drag it out, but it wasn't easy."

  Looking at the notification for clearing this pce, Elizabeth made note that the time remaining had only gone down by about half an hour since they left. Beyond the time it took to find Vivienne, the ensuing fight probably didn't take more than ten, maybe fifteen minutes. That alone was an achievement.

  Elizabeth had no real notes to give these two besides one as she pced a gentle hand on Mira's shoulder.

  "Get some rest, you earned it," she told them softly, "When you're good, we'll finish this."

  Mira smiled widely and nodded. It was good that they had survived, and if they could face these two alone...then the future looked brighter than ever before.

  -----

  Nikushimi