A/N: Welcome back! I'm going to take this quick A/N to tell you about a little known discord server. It is a Myne appreciation server for Myne enthusiasts. THose who love our God and saviour, Myne should join. The code's gHX46ds.

April Fools! Just kidding. Well until the end of April the First the server is in Myne mode. The server is real, so go check it out. Sneak peeks of chapters and me complaining about life. My username is the same as always.

Just a little warning for this chapter. It gets quite dark. Namely, tying someone's hands together by threading the rope in the holes you carved in their hands. Don't proceed if you're not really comfortable with that.

Enjoy this chapter!

Huh. The sword isn't in my chest. It's actually being raised? Now it's in a building?

"What?" I looked up. A stone hand had come out of the ground next to me. Lilika's arms were outstretched and she was breathing heavily.

"Looked like you needed some help there, friend." We grinned at each other. I pushed myself up and wiped my mouth. I ignored the pain in my side.

"Ready for round two?" I said. I smiled as his face twisted.

"Die!" He brought his whip around again. I jumped and used Lilika's stone fist as a stepping stone. I made an arc with my blade, but he dodged. I dashed into his open side and thrust, but he dodged again.

"Gaah!" He twisted his whip around and started spinning it like a top. I jumped back out of range of the black whip. I walked over to Lilika who was watching him spin around like a madman. He didn't seem to notice I had left the circle.

"That's the one you were talking about?" I nodded.

"Zek. I burned down that guy's child fighting coliseum. He may or may not be a little angry at me for that. I did nearly kill him." Lilika looked between me, the crazy whip spinning guy, and Katai. She then started laughing. "Huh?"

"I can't tell which one of you is the villain, Ariete." She giggled further. I rolled my eyes but let a smile come forth. Katai watched from beside us.

"Is that pitiful man the one who had you suffer, Master?" Lilika raised an eyebrow. I ignored her. "Yes, Katai. Now, let's see." I held my hand up like I was checking a watch. "Alright, it's about time."

"Katai, Return to your original form." The boy nodded and glowed. The glow disappeared and Katai clattered onto the ground. I picked him up. "Showtime, Zek."

At the mention of his name, my former master looked towards me and grunted. He stopped spinning his whip. I stepped towards him. He started running at me. "Take this!" He let go of his whip and drew a knife. Bad move. I jumped over his clumsy thrust and landed my foot on his shoulder. Using gravity, I tilted back and drew my foot off his shoulder. I then gave it a light whack with my foot. He sprawled onto the ground and I landed silently. I used Kantan and Katai to hold down his hands.

"Gyahhh!" He yelled as his hands were nailed to the ground by my daggers. I looked back. The crowds had already mostly dispersed for safety, and the guards were standing back. Fatty was pale and spluttering.

"What is going on here?" Lilika's father approached. Two small red puddles had gathered around Zek's hands. I should come up with a name for him, but I couldn't grab one.

"Father!" Lilika rushed to her dad. Naofumi and Raphtalia followed behind him. Naofumi was scowling and Raphtalia looked worried.

"Ariete, what did you do?" I smiled innocently and whistled. I lifted Kantan and Katai and then rotated them 90 degrees. I then stabbed them back down again.

"UrghhhhH!" I laughed as he let out a cry of pain. "Don't worry," I kicked him in the head. "It's justified." I stomped on his chest. "Ask Raphtalia." Another kick. "They deserve punishment." I picked up the knife he tried to stab me with and planted it into his foot.

Naofumi looked at Raphtalia, who was looking at me blankly. Naofumi then looked back at me.

"It's fine. He deserves torture. This soul here is too evil to simply burn in hell. No. He will suffer for us. Ain't that right, Raphtalia?" I grinned at her. This is it. My final chance for revenge. Naofumi can heal him to keep him alive, and I can just make him suffer, every night until 2 years have passed. The same as he's done to me, right? Eye for an Eye, as they say.

"Raphtalia, come here and help me tie this guy up." I pulled out my daggers and returned them to their sheaths. I also pulled the knife out of his foot. Blood spilt onto the pavement. I kicked him over and reached for his whip. "This works as rope." I began to wrap him in his own whip. He groaned as I laced his hands together by tying a knot inside the new slits in his hands. Raphtalia looked in horror, Naofumi nodding in approval, and Lilika wincing as I tightened the bindings.

"Hey, you. Fatty. Come here." I gestured towards the fat guy. He looked at his defeated brother and then knelt down and placed his head to the ground. "I-I beg that you do not take my life! Please!" He held his hands up in a prayer-like position. I laughed. I walked up to him. The soldiers surrounding him, I suppose his guards, stood in front of him and readied their swords.

"We'll never let a filthy demi-human stain our lord! Not even if he begs for it!"

I laughed again. "So sure of yourself, eh?" I used Kantan and Katai to tip off the helmets of every soldier. I then made sure each of them was shaved clean. Two started bleeding from the scalp and shouted. I disarmed the rest by knocking their blades out of loose hands. "Oopsie, the razor hit your skin. Oh well. Collateral damage." I pushed the guards away with a shove.

"She's just a little girl! How can she have-" I silenced him by shoving Kantan down his throat, blade first. He screamed. Good. The blade seemed to cut his throat. I pulled it back. Kantan was stained with blood, spit, and mucus. Hah. The same mucus I coughed up in that cage one day. I chuckled at the irony. I moved forwards. The man was trembling in fear. "You know what, I'll let my sister do the work." I waved. "Raphtalia, come here."

My sister stayed glued to her spot. "Come here, Raphtalia. Avenge Rifina. Kiel. Everyone he… he fucking tortured. Make him pay for that hellhole he put us in. Do it." Raphtalia placed her hand on her sword and drew it. She held it with wobbly hands and walked towards me. "Come, on Raphtalia. Make him pay." I closed my eyes and waited. I hear the blade sink into his flesh with a satisfying grate. Probably the bones. Wait, where's his scream of pain, or something?

I opened my eyes. Raphtalia had her hands sitting on the pommel of her sword. It was sunk into the ground, right between the stones. "I-I can't." She said.

"Why? Why not!? They made us SUFFER!" I yelled at her. She whipped her head to face me. "If we do this, we're no better than them."

"What difference does it make!? They killed our friends. They made us suffer. THEY MADE ME KILL HER!" I screamed.

Raphtalia looked at me. Everyone watching did. Did… Did I say that… No.. wait!

"What? What!?" Raphtalia looked down at the ground then back at me. "What do you mean you killed her? Are you talking about Rifina? No… NO!"

Her knuckles went white on her sword. She sank to the ground on her knees. Her sword dropped to the side. My knees threatened to buckle as well. "I-I had no choice… she… she was going to kill me… and then…" I started to mumble.

I looked down. It is my fault, isn't it? RIght? I heard that rattling noise again. I looked up. Fatty had a sword in his hands and a crazed expression on his face.

"Die, you Filth!" He raised the sword and it started sliding downwards towards Raphtalia. No…, not her!

I jumped to the left with as much force as I could. I felt something cold go across my stomach. I landed on the ground with all but my sanity and stomach intact. I felt my stomach. Warm. I lifted my hand. Red.

"D-Damn you!" I tried to push myself off the ground. I couldn't. I checked my mana. Almost full… It should be fine, right?

"Kantan…. Katai… Release!" I croaked out. The two daggers slid out of their sheaths and glowed.

My body lacked any feeling below the neck. I guess that's a good thing since my side and stomach are cut through. Kantan knelt beside me and started using scraps of my cloak to bandage me. Katai stood by the still kneeling Raphtalia. Come on, sis, you can do it.

"Katai, you better not let Raphtalia cry over me," I ordered. He nodded. He kept his body facing towards Fatty. Fatty charged with a thrust. Katai parried and slashed. Fatty somehow dodged. Kantan finished tying up my wounds and rushed in to help with his axe. He chopped down but missed Fatty's hand. He fell forwards. Fatty kicked him. Kantan flew backwards, hitting his brother square in the chest. Dummy. They both went skidding away.

"Now, finally! An execution!" Fatty cackled and raised his sword. Raphtalia remained motionless. "NO!" I yelled.

The blade came closer and closer to her.

It made a clank against Naofumi's shield. "Naofumi! You're late!" I yelled. He nodded at me. He then looked at Raphtalia. "You are my sword Raphtalia, but a person can't protect himself with sword alone. I am your shield. So, come on. Stand and be my sword again."

I stared at the awfully out of character Naofumi. When did he get so charismatic? He took Raphtalia's hand and helped her stand up. Fatty moved his blade off Naofumi's shield.

"Now come on, see what happens when you see what I can do." Naofumi's shield changed.

Curse Shield, Wrath.

A/N: Ah, this chapter was more grim/dark than It was supposed to be. Naofumi is very OOC at that end part, but oh well. I realise there are still 6-8 more chapters to go… and the climax is here. Huh. May need working on.

Azentra: Yeah. Big deviation. My headcanon is that she got thrown around for a year, then 2 years fighting with Zek and then about 3 or four weeks free before she got caught and enslaved again. I do think that her level definitely was not 1 when Naofumi bought her. I'd say she might've been level 4-8 when he got her. The 2 years part was her training independently from the levelling. I don't know if this is true in canon, but it seems that fighting against another player will not give experience. Naofumi never mentions gaining experience when he duels anyone, so that is my assumption.

By the way, I am thinking of re-writing some of the earlier chapters. More or less to correct errors and flesh out parts that I retconned in.

Omake Time!

Omake 8: Regression Part 3

"Oh dear, I think they must've consumed the Aetete Mushroom." The old woman rushed to a shelf and grabbed a book. Naofumi kept the two little girls close to him. Raphtalia was sucking on her thumb. Ariete was squeezing his arm. For a young girl, she does sure have a ton of strength.

"Here we are, Aetete Mushroom." The old woman spun the book around. Naofumi took a glace at the magic shop and then looked at the book. A de-ageing mushroom whose effects last 4 days. Naofumi sighed. "4 days!? One had me already pulling out my hair!"

Naofumi exited the magic shop and began to bang his head on the wall repeatedly. Ariete watched in mild amusement and then went back to babbling about something.

Next Time, The Future.