I was going to upload two chapters yesterday containing nothing but "Trololol..." but I decided that would be a mean thing to do, especially if you were really looking forward to the new chapters XD

Hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you so much for reading so far into this story!


Just as Elsword predicted there were various traps triggered on the way to the core, the traps only consisted of lasers and missiles so we didn't have to worry about fighting midair (which made Aisha and Chung's job significantly easier) . Unfortunately, when we arrived to the core we couldn't find an obvious doorway to enter so we had to resort to breaking ourselves in-looks like stealth was no longer part of the plan.

The inside of the core was rather plain and disappointing, to say the least. I expected the core to have various Nasods on guard and futuristic gadgets that would activate and attack us for invading. Instead we were greeted with an empty blue hallway, two shielded Nasod guards, and a couple of coloured laser beams guarding the hall.

Our sudden appearance caught the Nasods off guard, giving us just enough time to attack and quiet them down. Eve wasted no time to extract the memory from the fallen Nasods with her phone-like device. We stood on guard while Eve gathered as much information as she could on the core. It was suspicious to see the lack of Nasod activity during our watch. You'd think a loud explosion would cause the Nasods to grow distressed or curious. The further I thought about it the more I grew concerned about our safety. Maybe the Nasod King knew we were going to come and set up a a trap for us to wander in to. It wouldn't catch me by surprise if we found out one of the surviving enemy Nasods warned him about our possible invasion.

"I have got it," Eve announced after some time had passed.

With the El Shard still tightly in hand, I scanned over the surrounding area one last time before turning my attention to Eve. She held up her device proudly, on its small screen showed a detailed layout of the core," the memory extraction was a success. I have got valuable information on the core layout and the guards on duty."

"So what are we up against?" Elsword asked.

"One thing you must know is that the core is a one way passage. You can think of it as a building made up of one big hallway." She zoomed into the top left corner of the screen. "We are up here"-she gestured to the blue layout-"the Nasod prisoners are held just above us, so the rescue team won't need to travel a long distance. The location where the older models are being scraped is around the same area so you can stop by there right after freeing the prisoners."

"And let me guess," Aisha piped in idly. "The big fancy king is at the bottom of this thing."

"Exactly," Eve double tapped the screen to zoom out. "The King is safely situated at the bottom level of the core." She gestured to the empty space at the bottom of the map. "I would imagine the area is heavily guarded so do expect a couple of battles along the way; this applies to the rescue team as well."

"Is there any particular threat we should be aware of?" Raven asked.

"There is a couple of things," Eve answered. "Both teams will be encountering laser traps along the way. Whatever you do, do not touch a red or green laser. That will set off an alarm through the entire core. The blue lasers aren't as threatening but they will do damage if touched. In addition, both memories showed vague signs of two elite Nasod guards. I cannot get any additional information about these two guards but I suspect they know of our intrusion."

"Or maybe they slept in today and don't know about our surprise visit," Elsword added jokingly.

"Elsword, take this seriously," Aisha snapped, slapping him on the arm. "We could die because of these guards."

"O-okay I'm sorry," he held his hands up in defeat. "I was just trying to lighten everyone up."

"We should get going," Eve said as she turned the device off. "It shouldn't be possible for either team to miss their target locations, this structure is very linear and there isn't much to hide from us."

"Looks like it's time to go," Elsword said with a sigh. "Good luck out there. Don't do anything stupid," he pointed at me. "I'm looking at you specifically."

"I'll play it safe," I reassured with a smile. "You guys stay safe as well."

After knowing Eun's power isn't enough to protect me or others around me I don't think I can bring myself to act recklessly.

"You better use your brain out there," Aisha snapped at Elsword. "I don't want you killed for being a complete idiot."

"Awe, are you worried about me?" Elsword asked with a wink. "That's so cute."

"I'm not cute," she nearly screamed as she slapped Elsword's arm. "How can you talk to me like that at a time like this? Y-you jerk."

"Wow, you're feisty today." He laughed. "You don't have to try and act all cool. I know you love me."

Within seconds Aisha's face was coated in a deep shade of red," ew gross." She shrieked, pushing him away. "I would never love you."

"I meant as a friend," he added with a sly smirk. "But you can love me in another way if you want."

"I hate you," she buried her tomato flushed face in her hands. "I shouldn't have said anything to a jerk like you."

"I'm just joking," he laughed, snaking an arm around her shoulder. "In all seriousness, I want you to stay safe as well. I'll never forgive you if you die."

Aisha kept her face buried in her hands, but we didn't need to see her face to know that it has evolved to a whole new shade of red.

"If we make it out alive I promise to take you out somewhere nice." Elsword added-that earned him another slap to the arm.

"That was quite a scene." Eve giggled as she diverted her eyes away from them." I cannot understand how they can fight so often and yet be so close to one another."

"That's how close friends treat each other," Raven explained. "But I don't know if those two would be considered just friends at this point."

"What do you mean?" Eve asked. "Are you saying they are like husband and wife?"

Raven chuckled at her question,"I wouldn't jump to that conclusion yet."

"So they are not simple friends but they cannot be classified as a married couple," Eve thought to herself out loud. "Why are human relationships so complicated? This will require further research back at home." Raven burst out laughing in response.

It is heartwarming to see your team bonding right before entering battle. Eun commented. At the same time it is also heartbreaking.

'I know what you mean.' I replied. 'I'm happy to see everyone is in such a carefree state but it makes me scared that one of us might not be here at the end of the day.'

I will admit, the thought of knowing one of these humans may die during this mission saddens me. I have grown quite fond of your friends.

'It's a shame you can't talk to them like I do. I bet they would really like you as a friend.'

They may accept me as a member of the team but I doubt they will accept me as a friend. Humans and demons cannot exist in unison, at least not in a world like this.

'But we're friends, right?'

If you wish to refer to us as friends then so be it. However, you are only one human. Every other human would not hesitate to kill my kind. It is like the bitterness between Nasods and Ponggos, expect in my case, demons have no chance in being accepted into your society. We do not have a Queen like Eve to guide us and our history with humans is stained with more blood than the Nasods and Ponggos.

'They accept Yang as a part of our team, so what makes you so different?'

Comparing Yang and I is like comparing a dog with an ex bandit, any human would choose to trust the dog more than the bandit. A dog can learn to be loyal but a bandit may not necessarily change their mindset. Only a bandit can think of a plan to betray and ambush. The worst a dog can do is give into its natural hunting instincts and attack.

'They all know you're good, Eun. There's no doubt-'

"You seem awfully quiet," Chung snapped me out of my internal conversation with Eun. "What's up?"

"I was just talking to Eun," I answered vaguely-I didn't want to go into detail about Eun's thoughts. "Oh, I should probably hand this to you now." I held up the El Shard.

"Right, it would suck if we forgot about that," he held out his hand to me.

"Don't drop it," I warned, placing the Shard into his hand. "And if you do drop it you better not blame me. I won't be-"

My words were abruptly cut off when his fingers wrapped themselves tightly around my hand. A small voice in my head told me to pull away but I couldn't bring myself to move my hand away. Images from a few nights ago flashed through my head causing my cheeks to heat up.

I wonder what would've happened if Eun didn't interrupt. What would he have done? I wonder if he would've kept my hand in his grasp until someone else interrupted or maybe he would've pulled me into a hug-where am I getting these ideas in the first place?

"If you die today," he began with eyes locked onto mine-I felt my heart jumping up to my throat. "I'll find a way to resurrect you and kill you again myself."

"That's a nice thought to have," I tried to joke around. "Talk about overkill."

"I just grew fond of your annoying...everything," he added, ignoring my comment. "Don't go throwing that all away."

"And you don't go throwing our new friendship away," I allowed my eyes to trail down to our hands. "Y-you're a pretty cool friend when you're not a jerk."

"I can say the same for you." He answered softly.

I bit my lower lip as the thought of hugging him jumped in my head. I didn't know why I wanted to do that to him, maybe it was because he could die during this mission and I wanted to share a moment with him before he went off, whatever the reason may be it got me debating whether I should hug him or leave him be.

"We should get going now," Elsword cut our moment short. "C'mon, boys, the faster we save the Nasods the faster we can help fight the King."


Just as Eve predicted, much of the hallway was infested with colourful lasers. As much as we wanted to speed up our travel through the core we couldn't afford to set off a red or green laser. Some of these lasers were moving at a set path, which costed us more time to predict their next move. Eve had a fairly easy time flying around the lasers, thanks to her drones, while Aisha took it upon herself to fly me across on her staff. She wasn't as quick as Eve, due to the fact that either of us could lose our balance and fall if she went too quick, but she was able to effectively navigate through the maze of lasers.

We barely encountered any enemy Nasods-much of the core was already protected by the traps. Eve grew more distressed the closer we got to our target. She kept reminding us to keep our guards up and eyes peeled for the elite guards. Aisha tried reassuring her of our safety but nothing seemed to help ease Eve's anxiety, but who can blame her? This mission could easily end our lives if we weren't careful, and the fact that nothing had come after us was unsettling, to say the least.

After what felt like an hour of travelling down the winding hallway a large entrance appeared ahead of us-I could instantly sense a strong aura emitting from the inside, the missing El Shard had to be inside. The hallway extended into the opening with little to no light brightening the path ahead. No doubt the King was just beyond the entrance. What made the situation unnerving was the lack of guards. It's as if the King wanted us to enter.

"Well, we're finally here." Aisha sighed. "A-are you two nervous?"

"Just a little," I laughed uneasily. "How bad can it be?"

"I-I'll be honest," Eve piped in quietly. "My legs have been shaking throughout our trip here, the closer I got here the more I wanted to turn back and run. P-perhaps this is what you humans call fear."

"Wow, I never thought I'd ever hear you say that," Aisha replied.

"We can discuss the significance of my emotions another day," Eve's eyes quickly scanned over the empty area. "What truly scares me is the lack of guards."

It's great how we're able to make it this far without encountering a single Nasod, but that leads to a more terrifying question. If all the Nasods in the core aren't on guard, where could they all be?

"There's no point in sitting around and being scared." Aisha took a step forward. "We've made it this far so there's no turning back now."

"Keep your guards up," I warned. "We could be ambushed right now."

She gave a stiff nod before making her way toward the entrance, Eve and I followed shortly behind her. The air thickened as we crept closer to the dimly lit path ahead. The magical aura grew nauseously stronger with each step taken, I felt physically sick from the amount of magic present.

"Stop," Aisha abruptly held her arm out to halt us.

"What's wrong?" Eve whispered.

"Shh," she quickly snapped. "I thought I heard something."

I held my breath as my ears strained to pick up the smallest sound. My eyes locked onto the entrance ahead-if we were going to get jumped, chances are our enemies would be waiting for us in there. Someone gasped as faint footsteps began approaching us, the metal floor clanged softly under our hunter's feet. I felt my heart dropping to my stomach as a figure began taking shape in the darkness, it was no doubt a Nasod. As if it knew I could see its position, the Nasod stopped in its tracks.

I stared mutely at it as it stood its ground. I couldn't tell if the Nasod was staring at me or at the group as a whole; either way, the Nasod knew we were here and it probably had a plan to attack. In one swift move the Nasod pointed its arm at us and released burst of orange light.

"Move!" Aisha ordered as she threw herself to the side-Eve and I leaped to the other side.

A fireball, nearly the size of a small bear zoomed past us, I could briefly feel its heat wave as it flew past.

"You like playing with fire, eh?" Aisha pointed her staff at the entrance and released a trail of fireballs. The Nasod was quick to react and countered it with the same attack.

"Humans should not be here." A voice sounded quietly from the inside. "Especially humans who house the infamous Nasod traitor."

I felt my jaw dropping as a giant red Nasod came running out, it looked as if it was wearing red armour and a matching red mask-a large orange orb sat in the middle of its chest. It was unlike any Nasod I have ever seen. Most of the Nasods we fight were smaller than us, at most they were nearly as tall as us. This Nasod however was bigger than all three of us combined. Simply being stepped on by this Nasod would kill us.

"Ignis," Eve blurted out. "I should've known they would be revived."

"W-who?" I asked while rushing back on my feet.

"When I was still Queen my palace was guarded by two powerful Nasods," Eve explained as her drones lifted her back up. "One of them was Ignis, the fire Nasod."

As if irritated by its name, Ignis smashed its fist onto the metallic ground. A swirling tornado of fire emerged from the point of impact. Without another word we started running away from it, the Nasod laughed as we scrambled away from its attack.

"The other is Leviathan, the ice Nasod." Eve finished once the tornado had begun to weaken and disperse. "I suspect the guys are facing Leviathan now."

We came to a quick stop once the tornado was completely gone. Ignis began approaching us, its bulky arms swayed nonchalantly by its side. We clumped together and slowly backed away from it.

"Ignis," Eve called out to the Nasod. "Do you recognize me?"

"Of course, Eve." The Nasod answered coolly. "I cannot forget the maiden I served years ago."

"This is great," Aisha squealed, a toothy smile etched on her face. "Maybe we don't have to fight it."

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to pass peacefully." Ignis replied. "It would be against my orders."

"W-what?" Aisha's expression dropped instantly at the response. "But why? D-don't tell me you hate Eve as well."

"Aisha, Ignis and Leviathan were created to serve the King or Queen only." Eve explained hastily. " It does not matter what they like or do not like. They have only one purpose and that is to serve the Nasod ruler."

"Eve is correct," Ignis pointed its hand at us. I felt my body stiffening at the thought of facing another fire tornado. "I did enjoy serving m'lady during her rein but the throne no longer belongs to her. It-"

"It would be disrespectful to go against your King's order." Eve interrupted stiffly. "I understand, Ignis. It was the King who revived you and gave Nasods hope again, not me. Until I can reclaim my throne we cannot be on good terms."

"If you reclaim the throne, do not think ill of me. I am simply serving my current master." Just like before Ignis launched a fireball at us. We all jumped to the side-Eve and I jumped to the right while Aisha went to the left.

Ignis proceeded to launch another burning tornado at Aisha's direction. Fortunately Aisha was quick to react and countered it with a blue tornado. A cloud of steam filled the battlefield as the two opposing forces collided, making it nearly impossible to see where Ignis and Aisha were.

"There's no way we can beat Ignis," I squinted my eyes at the white cloudy surroundings. "We'll be burned to crisps before we even have a chance to get close to it."

"Fighting Ignis is not easy," Eve responded. "But Ignis is not invincible. Ignis has a weak point which is located in the orb on its chest."

We would've had some chance to beat it if was on the back, but now I'm positive we won't be beating this thing anytime soon.

"Cyclone," Aisha's attack discarded some of the white smoke surrounding her and Ignis.

"We need to find a way to make Ignis fall," Eve quickly added. "When Ignis is off guard we can hit it with the finishing blow. I-I know it's not a very detailed procedure but it is the best I can think of right now."

"I like that plan," I replied with a reassuring smile.

"I need you to distract Ignis for a bit while I quickly inform Aisha about it," Eve ordered hastily. "Is that okay with you?"

"Be quick, Eve." I answered promptly. "I don't know how long I'll last."

"I will try my best."

Without another word I sprung toward the fuming Nasod. Ignis kept its back on me as I continued its one sided fight with Aisha, its flames were quickly overpowering her own. I quickly took this chance and slashed the Nasod across the back. I instantly sprung back from my prey once I had caught its attention.

"You're going to regret that, human." The Nasod sent one last raging fireball toward Aisha before turning its attention to me.

The Nasod raised its arm in the air and snapped its fingers together. In an instant the battle field was raining with fireballs, most of them were aimed at me while others made its path toward Aisha and Eve. Small patches of fire sprung to life as a result of the attack, this irritatingly tightened the space I had to jump around and dodge.

"I'll admit it, you're pretty good." I commented once the attack had run its course. The battle had barely started but I was already drenched in sweat and out of breath-I can't imagine what the fight with the King will be like. "But you're too slow to get me."

"Do not underestimate the power of Nasods, human." Ignis clutched its hands into tight fists, igniting a red flame on each fist.

"Don't waste your breath," I forced out a laugh. To the side I could see Eve hastily making her way to Aisha, who had her staff pointed at Ignis' back. Eve quietly gestured her to lower the weapon, Aisha was hesitant but gave in to her command.

I just had to keep Ignis distracted for a bit longer. Aisha and Eve should spring into action once the message has been passed down.

"I won't be losing to you any time soon." I added. The flames burning on its fists seemed to brighten. "You may have some flashy fire tricks up your sleeve, but I have an advantage over you in combat."

That was Eun's queue to make its appearance. I grinned as its familiar power coursed through my body. The Nasod showed no reaction to my new appearance but I had no doubt my unusual power caught it off guard. I decided to launch an attack while the Nasod was still in a daze.

"Fierce Tiger Strike!" I launched forward with a burning aura surrounding me. I had hoped my sudden attack would hit the Nasod over; possibly knocking it down in the process, but that plan proved to be useless.

With a blink of an eye the Nasod took action. I barely had time to react as it swung its arm down at me, slamming me down on the metallic floor. My head pounded at the sudden impact, the world around me was quickly being filled with tiny black dots.

Ara, move to the side!

I didn't know why I had to move but I didn't think twice before rolling to my right, a burning fist slammed into the spot I was laying seconds after I moved away.

I scrambled back to my feet and hurried away as the Nasod proceeded to shoot fireballs at me. I ran blindly to the sides as raging fire flew past me, it didn't take long for one of the attacks to nail me on the back, knocking me back down on the ground. The Nasod didn't spare me an extra second as it slammed its hand into the ground again, even with looking back I knew it had summoned the same burning tornado that had chased us down.

Rolling away wouldn't help me against a tornado, I had to get up and run. I clenched my teeth as I tried to force myself to get up, but the pain ripping through my back quickly became a problem for me. My limbs were weak and shaking as I tried to fight against the burning pain on my back, a cold sweat drenched my body the more I fought against the injury.

"Blizzard Shower!"

I breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of Aisha' intervention-if she was any later I would've become barbecue, quiet literally. Streaks of white smoke snaked around me as a result from the colliding attacks. Knowing that her attack would draw the Nasod's attention away from me I took my time to get up on my feet. Tears welled up in my eyes as the burned skin on my back stretched from my movement, my legs trembled at the raw pain and my hands coated themselves in sweat in response to the unshaken shock.

I rested my weight on my spear once I had managed to help myself up on my feet. I took several deep breaths in before averting my attention to the battle field. The white smoke made it difficult to see where everyone was, but I could tell my side was winning. The white smog left the Nasod disoriented thus allowing the girls to attack it at various angles. They launched their attack one after the other without a break, their barely visible silhouettes flashing from one side of the battlefield to the other.

"Assault Spear!" Eve summoned out a large Nasod spear and launched it at the Nasod. Ignis quickly held its arms over its chest as the spear made contact, it stumbled on its feet as an abrupt explosion resulted from the impacted.

"Chain Burst!" Aisha summoned a chain of fireball at the unbalanced Nasod, her attack successfully knocked Ignis down to the ground.

Eve's Nasods pushed her up into the air and over Ignis, she summoned out the same Nasod spear and pointed it at the fallen guard's chest. Just as she was about to plunge the spear down the Nasod raised its arm and shot a fireball directly at her, the attack knocked her back and away from its weak point.

Aisha cursed as the Nasod sprung back to its feet, it launched a series of attacks at her the moment it was back up-its attacks were more fierce and quick this time around.

"We're going to die if this keeps up." I mused. "Eun, we need to do something."

We are in no shape to fight.

"If we don't fight we'll die," I protested. "I-I know I promised not to act reckless but we have no other choice here."

Ara-

"Please, Eun." I whimpered. "I want to protect my friends."

Aisha screamed as one of the attacks successfully landed a hit on her. I felt my heart dropping to the pit of my stomach at the sound of her staff sliding across the floor. She screamed at the top of her lungs as the Nasod pointed its arm at her, ready to launch the finishing blow.

If it is what you truly wish. I felt Eun taking over control over my body-I mentally braced myself for what was about to come. Forgive me for this.

With one swift move Eun launched us toward the Nasod. Eun plunged our spear into the Nasod's raised arm successfully saving Aisha from its next attack. We quickly pulled our spear out and leaped back once the Nasod had averted all attention back onto us. Angry at its new injury, the Nasod proceeded to launch a chain of fire balls toward us.

Even with our quickened movement, it proved to be a challenge to dodge all the incoming attacks. Eun leaped from one half of the battle field to the other in mere seconds, sparing no time for us to catch our breath in between.

While Eun was easily able to navigate around the endless stream of attacks I had to endure the pain that came with each movement. It felt like someone was digging a knife through my back each time Eun made a move. A part of me wanted to beg Eun to stop and let us rest while another part knew it was best for us to partake in this battle. I knew there was no other choice but to fight, so I had to endure the torturous pain that was inflicted on me.

"Dimension Link - Century!" Without a warning Eve's Nasod scout sprung from behind Ignis and sent an electric current through its body. That alone seemed to be enough to cease its movements for a moment.

"Chain Lightening!" Aisha quickly launched an electric-based attack at Ignis in response to Eve's attack. The Nasod shakily raised its good arm and shot a large fireball at the incoming attack. Unfortunately for Ignis the impact of the two attacks resulted in an explosion, the sudden shock wave caused the large red Nasod to stumble back.

"Here's our chance," Eun charged forward. "Shadoweave!"

Eun threw our spear directly at the orange orb in the Nasod's chest. Ignis cried out as the spear successfully made contact with the orb but before it could properly dispose of the threat the spear released a wave of dark energy, trapping the Nasod in the dark vacuum.

Eve leaped up from behind and summoned out her Nasod spear once more. With one last battle cry she pointed the spear at Ignis' back and the weapon plunged itself in, the end of the blade ripped through the metallic body and came out the other end of the orb shattering the orange orb into pieces-a glowing amber object fell out of the Nasod's chest. The bulky Nasod fell onto the ground for the last time and didn't show any additional movements afterwards.