The corridor was almost silent as the first and fifth admirals walked. The only sound they could hear was their own footsteps against the cold steel floor. Alfonso looked around him with unimpressed expression. So those were the mines that De Loco took over…

They turned left and continued. The first admiral couldn't help but shudder at the thought of getting lost in there; the place looked like an endless labyrinth and some of the corridors were not finished yet because of the monsters that lived in the deepest part of the mines. Alfonso closely followed the man who seemed to know this place by heart. He had to admit that De Loco was truly blessed with an incredible memory.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the Ixa'Takans slaves working to find moonstones. The place was filled with the smell of their sweat and blood. It was absolutely nauseating. Alfonso cursed Galcian again for sending him in this horrible place. Why here of all places!? There were no civilized habitants, no electricity and everything was so dirty that Alfonso was worried about catching some illness while staying here.

He hoped that it wasn't the reason why De Loco wore that ridiculous glass helmet… The thought of the other admiral brought him back to reality. As he turned around he noticed that De Loco was gone.

There were others soldiers around but Alfonso's pride kept him from asking for directions. Besides, the other Valuan couldn't have gone too far… right?

He took a guess and strode towards the corridors in front of him, heading for another turn... Though after a few minutes the blond admiral started to really regret his decision. He was standing on bare ground and the steel walls were not done yet…

He was getting more and more worried as he got more and more lost. Then, he started to hear some noise that he couldn't identify at first. It got louder and was starting to sound like someone or something was crawling behind him.

Alfonso didn't even turn around, instead started running for his life. He barely looked at where he was going, he just wanted to get away from whatever that thing was. It wasn't until a few minutes had passed that he finally stopped to catch his breath.

Out of the many talents that he possessed Alfonso was particularly good at running. While he wasn't as strong as Vigoro or Ramirez, his speed made up for it. How convenient…

Alfonso rested his head on the stone wall and closed his eyes. He had been running for a long while and he thought he must've been as sweaty as those slaves from earlier. His blond hair was sticking to his forehead and was starting to curl, going all over the place.

For the first time, Alfonso didn't think about how miserable he looked. His eyes were teary as he wondered if he was going to die in this place. Another noise brought him out of his thoughts.

He slowly turned around and saw that he was being cornered by five…jelly-looking monsters*. Alfonso looked around but there was nowhere to run to. He couldn't even find the strength to scream, he merely closed his eyes and waited.

'' …Pyres,'' said a familiar voice.

Alfonso opened his eyes just in time to see those monsters being swallowed by the flames.

'' Oh…''

That was all Alfonso could manage to say as De Loco stared at him with an annoyed look.

''That's all you have to say!? Is running away the only thing you're good at? How about using magic or your sword for a change!?''

The blond admiral couldn't say anything to that, he didn't feel like arguing this time. He just followed the fifth admiral through the corridors again, making sure that he didn't lose sight of him this time.

No matter how obnoxious De Loco was, Alfonso was just glad that he wasn't alone.