Farmboy-Zero has appeared. It's the uploader; do not die. Hmhm~ I've been playing Catherine a lot lately, I'm loving that game a lot =D

Aaaaaaanyways, I''m back with a new chapter... What? You could tell? Aha...ahaha...*Ahem* So today, as we head deeper into the murderer's vault, the tension between Adell and Rozalin appears to rise, and Marc decides to take a little detour. Enjoy~ ;)

Chapter 3: Rise of the Beauty Queen; Of High heels and Spankings

Mothman: A race of winged monsters that have a moth-like appearance. They are very fast and can fly right past enemies, giving it wider movement in enemy filled areas than most units. It can attack using powerful Sonic Screeches which can disorient and confuse its foes. Furthermore, as it flaps its wings, dust comes off of them. It can use this dust to obscure the vision of nearby foes, so despite of its lack of physical prowess, it can make for a formidable opponent.

Location: Murderer's Vault; Dangerous Refuge

Venturing deeper into the forest, their surroundings became more and more hostile. All the trees had died. The shallow but reeking poisonous swamps became more and more abundant and steady footing became hard to find. Before long, the party found themselves hopping from fallen tree to fallen tree, in order to evade the sinister looking, and smelling for that matter, swamps.

"Ugh! To think I, the daughter of Overlord Zenon, would have to venture into such an arduous place..." Rozalin complained with a frown.

"Oh, c'mon, it's not that bad." Adell said as he casually hopped to a different log. "But it probably would have been a lot easier for you if you hadn't worn heels to a place like this…"

Rozalin shrugged. "I wouldn't expect a buffoon like you to understand the noble qualities of high heels. Very well, allow me to enlighten you…"

Roy sighed at the notion. ("There she goes again. Please stop her, somebody…")

Adell suddenly stopped moving, seemingly in thought. "Ah…" he turned to face Rozalin. "Hey, I just realized something." Roy sighed in relief as the oncoming speech was cut short.

"Why isn't Zenon trying to rescue you? I mean, he should know that you're missing by now, right?" he jumped back to the same foothold as Rozalin. "And that being said, why isn't this all over the news? We should have bounty hunters chasing us with shootouts and everything!" The thought of shootouts visibly excited Adell.

"You! You dare mock me!" Rozalin suddenly yelled at Adell fiercely. "Are you implying that I am not the real daughter of Zenon!" Roy, Celeste and Tink also halted as they heard Rozalin yell. "What the..?" Roy wondered out loud. "Are Sir Adell and Miss Rozalin having a fight?" Celeste also wondered out loud.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Adell asked confused.

"My father cherishes me above all else! A beautiful mansion built just for me! All those furnitures made just for me! Servants who work just for me! And he sends me flowers and gifts everyday! All for me, and only for me! Who else would Overlord Zenon do such things for? Who? Answer me!" Rozalin looked at Adell furiously, daring him to state the otherwise.

"What are you getting so angry about? No one said anything about you not being his daughter. I just wanted shootouts…"

She turned away from him in an attempt to regain her composure. "…Hmph. That is what you get for asking rude questions."

"My~ I have never seen Miss Rozalin so angry…" Celeste said as she looked at Rozalin worried. "Eh, whatever. The boss probably just told her that wearing heels to a forest is stupid."

Celeste shook her head with a smile. "Hmhm, it seems you are still too young to understand the heart of a woman, little brother."

"What's that supposed to mean? C'mon, not even that blockhead can understand such a vague concept." Roy turned around to question Marc but didn't find him behind them. Looking around, he didn't see him anywhere.

"Speaking of that guy…where'd he wander off to?" Celeste also looked around for Marc in vain. "I wonder if he got separated from us…he was walking behind us until at least a few minutes ago so he probably couldn't have gotten far…"

"Skreeee!" A shrill shriek pierced through the silent forest.

"What the-?" Adell and Rozalin rejoined the group. "What was that sound?"

The shrill shriek had come from above them. A number of glowing red eyes had been watching the party from above for a while. Disturbed from their rest, they flew towards them enraged.

{-}

"Geez, I can't take my eyes of off those guys for a second without them getting lost." Marc complained loudly. The thought that he himself had been the one who had gotten separated from the group had not yet occurred to him.

Marc hopped from log to log, intently watching and listening for signs of the others. Just as when he had entered the forest, there was an unusual silence in the air.

He stopped moving and attempted to get his bearings. "Hmm…east is where the sun rises…so that means….that means uh… Gahhh, I can't even see the sun from here!" Marc ruffled his hair in frustration. "What a pain, this place is humongous… finding someone in here is like looking for a needle in a-"

"Hey, there! Look out below!"

A red haired girl with a wild haircut dropped down from the trees and landed beside Marc. She wore a strange and somewhat provocative outfit; shoulder pads in the image of beasts' claws and a blue top with suspenders going down to her pants that only reached up to her knees. Otherwise, all she was wearing was a black bikini, leaving her arms and middle naked. She had an axe strapped to her back and a whip wrapped around her middle like a belt. The last thing Marc noticed was the slender tail with the bushy end that playfully swayed from left to right behind her. Everything about her reminded Marc of a lioness.

"Cat got yer tongue or somethin'?" the girl asked Marc, rousing him from his surprised state.

"(There's a lot I'd like to point out but I'd better refrain…) who are you, if I might ask?" Marc asked her, deciding in his head to leave wardrobe matters aside.

"Who cares 'bout sumthin' like that? Ah need ta ask ya somethin'! Have ya seen a flock 'o Mothmen 'round here?"

Marc scratched his head and sighed. ("Why do I always run into the weird ones…) Sorry, but I haven't seen anything around here but trees, swamps and mud…"

"Raaaaahhh! That sucks! A've been lookin' all over the place!" The girl started yelling and stomping around irritated.

"Whoa there you, take it easy now, no need to get violent." "It's Leona! Not 'you!'"

"Well, I had to call you something, right!" Marc asked her exasperated.

"Well, who the hell are ya for that matter, huh!"

Marc sighed. "…If you really want to know, it's-"

"Ah! Ya some kinda lumberjack or sumthin'?" Leona pointed at his axe. Marc slapped his hand in the middle of his face. "…Fine, let's go with that. I'm a lumberjack."

The girl known as Leona nodded to herself as if making a mental note. "So what're ya doin' way out here by yurself, Jack?"

"Don't go naming people by their profession… And I'm looking for some people. We got separated."

"Oh, that so? Ah got separated from mah pets as well. Beside them Mothmen, ya haven't seen any stray zombies lyin' 'round somewhere, have ya?" Marc froze up at the mention of the zombies.

"Ah'm so pissed off they got away from me; an' after ah took the time tah try 'n teach 'em how ta talk too… Hm? What's wrong, Jack? Ya've gone all white."

"…Those zombies… they didn't have the strange habit of naming their favorite food, did they..?"

Leona looked at him excited. "Yeah, that's right! Ya seen em!" Marc averted eye contact. "…You could say I've seen bits and pieces of them…"

Leona started wagging her tail. "C'mon spit it out then! Where'd ya see em?" Marc hesitated. "…I, uh… (If I tell her we chopped up her pets she's gonna throw another tantrum for sure…)"

"By the by, ya smell kinda familiar, Jack… Kinda like mah pets do…" Marc twitched.

"S-Smell..? Ahaha, well I've been told I smell kinda bad before, ahaha…" he laughed nervously.

"Ya sayin' mah pets smell bad!" "N, no! I didn't mean it like-"

The riled up girl swung out her axe and pointed it at Marc. "Ya've been actin' mighty suspicious… Don't tell me…" Marc twitched again.

"Ya bastard! Dun tell me ya sliced up mah zombies!"

"Well, we didn't have much of a choice! They were trying to eat us!"

"Raaahh, ya bastard! Stay right there! Ah'm gunna smash ya!" Leona jumped towards Marc with her axe overhead and hacked at him at full velocity. "Whoa! Wait, let me explain-!"

Marc jumped out of the way as the downward strike shattered the fallen tree they were standing on. ("!-She's strong!") Marc jumped backwards and landed on a different log.

"Ya bastard, stay still 'n lemme smash ya!"

"Who'd wait around for that!" Marc also drew his axe in defense. "C'mon now, can't we talk this over?"

Leona shrugged. "Dun be such a pussy. Ah'm just gonna murder ya a little!"

"You can't murder someone just a little!" Marc yelled frustrated. "Gah, there's just no talking with this girl."

Leona jumped to the same foothold as Marc and eyed him curiously. "Hoh~? Ya gunna fight me? Ya got more balls then I reckoned ya had. Right then, entertain me, Jack!"

"It's Marc!"

{-}

"…Those pests sure were fast…" Roy said as he wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve. Around the slightly winded party lay an entire flock of mothmen on the ground.

"Yeah… Mothmen are known for their speed, they're often used as messengers." Adell said in thought. "But it's weird… They're usually pretty timid and flee easily…"

Celeste looked at the moth-like creatures with pity. "I wonder what made these creatures act so violently…"

Not having any answers nor any prospect of obtaining any, the party decided to continue on.

"Let's keep going for now, we might meet up with Marc further up ahead." Adell said confidently.

Roy patted his sister on her back. "Don't worry, sis. Cockroaches tend to pop up wherever you least expect. So, instead of going back, we should move on ahead." He said with a smile.

Hearing her brothers words, Celeste was slightly reassured. "Thank you, little brother. And to think that, for a moment, I thought you and Marc truly didn't get along." She smiled at her brother.

"Whatever gave you that idea, sis? (It'd be great if he drowns in one of those swamps, hehehe.)" Roy smirked to himself.

The group continued on and silently made their way past the swamps.

Adell and the others walked over a large fallen tree spanning one of the many hazardous swamps. Suddenly, Adell came to a halt and looked at Rozalin seriously.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked the spoiled princess forward.

Rozalin crossed her arms and looked away annoyed. "What? Are you still mad at me?"

"…Are you planning to ask another rude question?" Rozalin asked with a frown.

"No, I'm not. I was just wondering what kind of man Overlord Zenon is. All I've heard are the legends. No one has seen Zenon and lived to tell about it. So, I have no idea what he's really like…"

Rozalin looked at Adell, wondering if she should answer his question. "Well… My father is… a kind and generous man." She seemed as if she was mulling over the right words to describe him.

"He always protects me with all his might. There is no one more respectable than him."

Adell switched his gaze to Tink. "Hmmm… What do you say, Tink?"

"Well, I have never met him personally, but uh, he is not someone you want to upset, eh." Tink started to look around skittishly. "Anyone who defies him, or fails to follow an order is killed immediately. His cruelty… Mm, he is indeed an Overlord."

Adell looked at Tink and Rozalin and wondered about their different statements.

"Huh… You're talking about the same guy?" he crossed his arms in thought. "Well, I guess even the feared God of all Overlords can be sweet to his own daughter." He shrugged. "Heh… I guess Zenon does have one soft spot…"

"You! If it was only me, I would have let it go. But, I will not abide you ridiculing my father!" Rozalin told Adell heated.

"Y, you're taking this all wrong. I'm just surprised that even a demon like Zenon can show parental love. I guess demons have families too…"

Taken by surprise, Rozalin grabbed Adell by the hand and looked at him elated. "Do you really believe that?"

Adell jumped back flustered. "H, hey! Don't get so close to me."

"It is exactly as you said. My father does love me. That special bond between my father and I, it is the love we share between father and daughter." Rozalin smiled to herself.

Adell scratched his cheek, wondering what got into her all of a sudden. "Well, it's good to know that demons feel affection too… I guess." He spoke hesitatingly. ("But, her father is the demon I must defeat.")

He looked to the ground pained. ("Dammit… I shouldn't have asked her about him. It just makes it harder to defeat him…")

{-}

The sound of steel clashing against steel reverbed throughout the dark forest. Marc and the wild girl Leona exchanged strikes in a vicious melee, neither of them giving any signs of backing down.

"Ya'ren't bad!" Leona yelled as she parried a frontal strike from Marc's axe. She spun around in a fluid motion and swung her weapon at Marc's side.

Seeing the attack coming; he slid underneath the large battleaxe and caused her to stumble by striking her feet with a leg sweep.

"Rrrgh, ya little-" As Marc jumped back to get some distance for another attack, Leona grabbed her whip from her waist and lashed out at Marc as she fell. The whip wrapped around Marc's left arm and Leona used him as an anchor to stay on her feet.

With the whip connecting the pair in a standoff, Marc and Leona stared at each other fiercely as both searched their opponents for the smallest of openings to strike. A single wilted leaf dropped down from the trees above. As it slowly bobbed left to right in the wind, the pair's concentration remained unwavering.

When the leaf had finally landed on the ground, Leona pulled the whip with a powerful tug, causing Marc to skid forward. ("!-Such brute strength!") The girl spun around, flinging Marc through the air towards her.

"A've gotcha now!" Leona cried out victoriously as she raised her axe and prepared to deliver her final attack.

"It's not over yet!" As Marc was flung through the air, he cut the whip with his axe and also swung his axe forward with both hands. Their axes collided with enough force to pulverize the tree beneath them; causing Leona to lose her foothold.

She nearly dropped down but Marc grabbed her hand just in time. "…Whaddya think yur doin'!" Leona scowled at him. "We're in the middle of a fight!"

"…Fine, then I'll drop you." Marc loosened his grip.

"!-Jus', jus' pull me up 'lready, ya bastard!" Leona yelled frantically. Marc pulled her back up on the fallen tree and smirked at her broadly. "W-What's with that look! Ah aint thankin' ya!" Leona crossed her arms, as if in protest against something.

Marc looked at the lioness amused. "So, what do we do now? Continue our fight?"

Leona sighed and shot him an irritated look. "Like a'd be able ta keep going after ya helped me… Chѐ, yur an irritatin' guy, Jack…"

"…It's Marc…"

"Ha?"

"My name. It's M.a.r.c."

"Yur name's Marc? Then why didn't ya say so in the first place! Ya really are weird!" Marc felt an increasing desire to punch the woman.

Leona spat on the ground. "Keh, ah'm not in the mood ta fight 'nymore. Ah'll letcha off the hook for t'day." She stretched her arms in a carefree manner.

"Still, fight'n ya was a lot a fun. Ah hope we meet again soon, wahaha!" Much to Marc's displeasure, the woman seemed to already be looking forward to another fight.

"See ya 'round then, Jarck!"

"IT'S MARC, DANGIT!"

Leona leaped back up into the treetops and disappeared from view, leaving Marc standing, once again, by himself in the middle of nowhere.

"Ah! I should have asked her if she knew the way…" Marc closed his eyes pained and sighed. "Guess I'll have to go with my gut…"

He opened his eyes and decided to keep walking straight for now; after all, he had been going straight the entire time, right? *He had in fact been zigzagging.*

Just as he started walking, he noticed something strange.

A single arrow, pointing in the opposite direction Marc wanted to go, was carved into one of the trees. Following that line of sight, there were many more trees with arrows pointing in that direction. "What the..? Were those there the entire time…?" ("Could it be..?")

He shrugged to himself. "Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. I might as well give it a shot."

Following the arrows, Marc heads further into the forest.

Location: Murderers Vault; Corpse Garden

"Eh, zis is strange. Ze monster we are waiting for should have found us by now." Tink said as he floated next to Rozalin. She quickly put her hand over his mouth. ("Shhh, he must not hear us.") Rozalin whispered as she eyed Adell, who was scouting ahead a little. He didn't appear to have overheard them. ("…So? What sort of monster are we searching for? You said it was unique to this swamp. It had better not be extinct already… How old are those legends?")

Tink struggled from underneath Rozalin's hand and whispered back. ("Have some patience, my dear princess. Do not worry. Ze monster will find us soon.")

Right on cue, an electrically charged Aqua demon leaped from the swamp and landed in front of Adell. "Aha, look over zere. We are looking for somezing zat looks like zat. Or rather, zat is it!" Tink switched to his red personality and propelled himself backwards. "Ahhh, zere it is! N-No stupid!"

Adell took a defensive position. "A new kind of monster!"

Tink pulled at Rozalin's clothes terrified. "Princess! We must run! Don't look back; leave only your memories behind!" Rozalin stared at Tink in thought and then looked back at Adell. The monster was walking towards him.

"If father… if Overlord Zenon is the one who kills him, then his death will have had meaning. But, to be killed by a nameless monster in the pursuit of his life's goal would mean he had died in vain. And if he dies, Taro and Hanako will be really sad…"

The aqua demon lunged at Adell, but he evaded the strike by diving to its side.

"Princess! Are you getting soft? You are a demon! Not to mention, you are also ze daughter of Overlord Zenon! Ze weak will perish! Zat is ze way of ze world! Princess, do you count how many eggs were cracked to make your omelettes?"

Adell drove his fist into the monsters stomach followed by a roundhouse kick, knocking it down. But it got up again soon after. "Omelettes? I prefer veal and truffles for breakfast…" Rozalin said in contemplation.

"What you eat for breakfast is beside the point, eh. Ze point I tried to make is zat you must make sacrifices to survive. Princess, some day you will rule over every demon! Such happy, sugar-coated zinking will not work with zem!"

The electric demon tried to body press Adell but he quickly rolled under him and dove aside.

"But he is different, Tink." Rozalin said looking at Adell. "He did not take me hostage, and he has even promised to return me to my father. And what is even more bizarre is he continues to struggle toward keeping that promise. Making a promise to an enemy, or even trusting an enemy… I cannot understand why he did it but… I wish to discover what his true intentions are."

Tink flew in front of Rozalin and put his 'hands' on his head in frustration. "Princess! What you speak of is…!"

The demon created a thundercloud above Adell, who had just jumped back near Tink, and it rapidly started surging with electricity. Though Adell dodged the impact in time, Tink was electrocuted by the voltage and was left floating above ground completely charred.

"Ah! You okay there, Tink?" Adell called out to the roasted frog.

Tink slowly turned towards the slimy adversary and started flailing about furiously.

"Zat was uncalled for! Who is responsible! Who wishes to receive ze zrashing of zeir life!"

Tink pointed at the demon angered and wildly thrust around. "You! Stay right zere! It is 2000 spankings for you!"

End of part 2! Haha, I love Leona. Most of you probably understood from my description but I'll say it anyway; she's a beastmaster. In my head she started out as just a bad tempered, hot headed girl but as I thought on she started getting a bit funnier in my head, hmhm~ Anyways, we'll see her again sometime in the future. But for now, let us continue on towards the next part, the climax of chapter 3 is at hand! Also, what is up with those arrows I wonder?

Till next time folks!