...Peace At Last?...
After the battle they had at the Crimson Demon village, Aurdel was hoping to get some peace and quiet. "Moi has just reopened this shop, so stop destroying the merchandise you Goddess of Misfortune!"
"Aurdel! Aurdel! Why is the only one who recognizes me as a Goddess a dumb Devil?!" Unfortunately for him that was too much to ask of the people around him. As Vanir implied Wiz's shop in Axel was finally rebuilt, restocked and reopened for business, Unfortunately for the Archdevil Wiz took it upon herself to invite ALL of his party to reopening including the aforementioned Goddess of Misfortune known as Aqua. The two angrily stared each other down at the shop.
"Say, Wiz, you didn't buy all these items from Megumin's father again did you?" He said while inspecting some of the things on the shelves.
"I-" She turned and saw Vanir give a stare of death, "I-I didn't, I listened very thoroughly to what Vanir-san told me to do and I b-bought useful magic items." Judging by the burn marks on her that advice had to get in through a different manner.
He grabbed Aqua by the ear, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"
"I don't feel like having to deal with another collateral damage terrorist incident, so I'm going to take us out of the picture before that happens," he began to drag Aqua away.
"Smart decision man of another world who has those romantically pursuing them but continues to refuse to share as to why he refuses their advances."
"Hey, Aurdel, what did Vanir just say?" Aqua said with sudden rapt attention,
"I didn't ask for comments. Also, I would appreciate seeing some form of appreciation for housing you-"
"Moi would not have stayed in your home were not for thou party."
"Then for the hospitality-"
"Moi was attacked day in and out by the rabid Goddess you should keep on a leash."
"I do not need to be kept on a leash!"
"Just show some gratitude."
"What would thou want from me? Thou already has enough saved to rival small nations."
"I don't need more money! I'd prefer if you taught me a skill or something of the like."
"Moi knows not what skills thou would actually be capable of learning, most would kill a mere human."
"The dolls, the exploding dolls."
"Ah, thou would be fully capable of learning that. First, release that pesky Goddess." Aurdel let go of Aqua's ear.
"Thank you! I never expected a Devil to-"
"Now watch," a pile of dirt rose from the ground and formed into one of those same small dolls.
"Hey, what is that-" The doll leapt up and onto Aqua and exploded, detonating with enough force to send her flying out the door.
"Hmm, useful."
"Indeed." They observed from the soot covered Aqua from inside the shop, Aurdel pulled out his card and learned the skill.
But after that they took their leave from the store, because he really had nothing pressing to do for the day that didn't matter to him too much. Rather he was going to take the opportunity to work on what he'd planned to. Based on what he remembered from the UNSC's designs and from his previous experience with working on them both in the field and during Spartan training, he was going to try and recreate the warthog. Though, he was going to have to make one that was longer so that he could actually fit all the members of his party in it. The hardest part he was going to have to do was making the actual frame for the vehicle. While he knew the general design of it he didn't have all the measurements for each part or the frame itself. This made things especially difficult since he was going to size up the whole vehicle.
Then again since he was planning to implement the weapon he'd taken from the Crimson Demon village it might be better to make the body of a Scorpion any build around the gun. That would take much more time and resources to do though so he wasn't exactly confident in that idea. For now at least he'd build the Warthog and make changes as need be. He did his work in the front yard of the mansion since there was really no space inside, it's not like there was a garage and even if there was he didn't want to fill the house with fumes. To start with, he went to the town's blacksmith and borrowed the forge. With its use he was able to produce several molds for the part that he needed along with the parts he needed to make the general frame of the vehicle.
Once he had those he was able to start putting it together with the tools he'd collected from the village. As he worked he noted that with these tools he might have been able to actually get the armor off of him himself, though that didn't necessarily matter since he'd already been merged with it. He still has some severe pains from the whole experience, along with the occasional splitting headache, but with Aqua's help he was usually able to keep it under control. Sweat formed on his forehead as he welded the parts together, he wiped it off. Once he was done with this he was going to work on how he would actually power the damn thing. Originally he was planning to just hook it up to his suit's reactor via wire, but that wasn't exactly an option now unless he wanted to perform surgery on himself and find out where it was. No matter what he wouldn't be able to rely on it in the long term anyways, as it'd force him to always be equipped.
The frame was mostly complete when he heard a voice near the gate, "Hey! Aurdel! Are you here?!" He put down his tools and walked over. "Woah, you're out of your armor? How did that happen?"
"It's a long story, now what do you want Dust? Are you trying to mooch off another drink trying to sleep with a person in my party?"
"I really wouldn't mind either."
"Tell me what you actually came here for or I'm having Luna put a bounty on your head."
"Jeez, alright." He shook his head, "Well it partially has to do with wanting to sleep with someone, though not someone from your party."
"This better be good," he opened the gate and let him in, seating him outside and bringing over a pair of drinks.
"I want to know how you got so many girls in your party."
"Oh this crap again, I've already told you there's no 'trick' to doing it. And the amount of whatever sex you have in your party doesn't matter, it's capability."
"Bullcrap! There has to be something you're doing!"
"Have you ever considered that you have to actually put effort into something?"
"Of course not! I haven't lived my life like that up to this my point and I won't change that!"
"Really? Well why don't you tell me how far that's gotten you. You're constantly in debt, constantly on the run from the town guards and are practically hated by your companions for how much trouble you cause and how much you owe them."
"That isn't true-!"
"Is it? Then why don't we go and ask them? We can walk down to the guild right now and I can ask them. What do you think they would tell me?"
"Fine! You win!" He slammed his fists down on the table, "Look I'm just… I'm just desperate, alright? Can you think of any way you can help me out?"
Aurdel folded his arms, "The best place to start would be focusing on improving yourself."
"Like how?"
"Combat skills maybe, you and your party did get chased down and have to be saved."
"Hey, that wasn't-"
"I wasn't saying that it was your fault you were attacked, I'm saying you should have been prepared to fight anything you encountered."
"Then how do I improve? I don't have enough skill points to level up my swordsmanship skills."
"Numbers and words on a card isn't all there is to fighting, even in this world. Follow me." He lead him over to a clear space.
"You said you fight with swords, right? Show me how you fight." Aurdel threw Dust a sword, not Gram though. That was his.
"Alright old man, prepare to be amazed!" He watched as Dust took the sword and got into a horrible mockery of a combat stance. Then he watched as Dust wildly swung in some imitation of actual swordplay. It was as if he'd picked it up by practicing with a large stick… Wait a minute… Aurdel watched Dust's movements closer. The way he fought, it wasn't suited for a sword. It was suited for something else though.
"Stop, give me back the sword."
"What, was it really that bad?" Dust handed him back the sword, "I think it's the sword's fault anyways, if I had my trusty sword I really would have-"
"Be quiet for a moment," Aurdel raised a finger, "You don't really fight with a sword, do you?"
"What are you talking about? Of course I do! I think you're just being-"
"No, you don't. You're refusing to use the actual weapon you're good with," he saw Dust begin to sweat nervously.
"Oh yeah, and why do you say that?"
"Because of the way you fight. Here, I think you'd be better accustomed to fighting with this." He threw him a long metal rod this time.
"W-what's this?"
"You tell me. Here, hit these targets." Aurdel picked up some wooden block he had cut out and threw them into the air towards Dust. The man missed every single one of them, but it was obvious that he was missing on purpose. "Hit. Them. Or else I'm going to make you admit your secret by prying it out of you, I know what points on the body hurt the most if they're hit."
Dust gulped, Aurdel threw the wooden blocks again. This time Dust struck every single one of them. He even speared through one of them. Yes, speared. "So, are you going to admit it now?"
"Admit what?"
"That you were lying that you're a swordsman? And that you're better with a spear?"
He threw the pole down, "Damnit, I didn't come here to do this. I'm-"
"No, you're not leaving because I'm not going to let you. You agreed that you were going to improve yourself."
"I didn't agree improve to jack-" Dust tried to walk away, Aurdel struck him in the Solar Plexus."Damn!" He keeled over, "What was that for?!"
"For trying to give up. Now, admit it."
"Fine, alright, I'll admit it," Dust sat up holding his gut, "I'm much better with a spear, but I don't like to use one because of a vow I made a long time ago."
"And this is where we begin," he took Dust up from the ground and back to where they were seated before and handed him his drink. "You don't think it would be good to utilize the skill you have with one?"
"I already told you, I made a vow-"
"Vows are only as good as the people that make them, and the man you act as isn't the kind to keep any vows. "
"Then what the hell do you want me to do?!" He slammed on the table again.
"Start being the better man, show what you're actually capable of. Do you want respect? Do you want money? Do you want women? Then proven that you deserve it!" He practically shouted in his face to get the point across. Normally he wouldn't get this sort of heated but knowing the kind of man Dust was it was all the more important for him to do something about it.
"Damnit… You're right." His fist clenched, "As much as I enjoy putting up this act sometimes it gets me into a lot of crap. That needs to change."
"Good, good. To make sure that happens you'll go with me on the next quest that happens, I'll make sure you can show off." He extended his hand out to Dust, "All you have to do is put in the effort."
"Damn right am I going to put in the effort," he took Aurdel's hand and shook it. "Now if we're going to go on a quest together, why don't we-?"
"Alert! Alert! All Adventurers please grab all your equipment and prepare to defend the city at once! An army of the Demon King is on it's way to attack the city! All civilians must evacuate out of the city and to a safe position! I say again, an army of the Demon King is on it's way to attack Axel!"
"What the hell?!" Both of them shouted at the same time.
...Saving Axel!...
"AURDEL GANOWICZ YOU BASTARD! COME AND FACE ME!" A familiar voice bellowed. Somehow, only God knows how, Sylvia had survived. Or, she'd come back from the dead. Regardless of how she'd done it she'd come back for bloody revenge. The form that she took was that of a massive amalgamation of three of the Demon King Generals they fought up to this point: herself, Hans and Beldia. He knew this because in his downtime he'd actually done some research into who each of the Generals were, discovering that Hans hadn't been just a man but rather a massive poisonous slime hiding in the form of one. So he knew that he was part of the amalgamation just from the amount of what appeared to be slime making up the form that Sylvia took.
And the reason he knew that Beldia was part of it was because the form had a massive version of his head, along with various metal plates identical to the armor he'd worn and a sword to match his own. But that wasn't the only threat presented to them. Alongside the massive beast that stood before them and approached Axel was a massive army of Demons and Undead. It'd most likely been summoned by Sylvia's now combined strength. This was really bad, he needed to organize a defense fast. He ran to the front of the pack of Adventurers where his party stood waiting for him, Dust followed him there. "Aqua! I need you to make it so everyone is able to hear me!"
"Got it!" There was panic in her voice as she cast the support spell on him, making him loud enough for everyone to hear even over all the ruckus being made.
"Listen up everyone! This situation may look bad, but I have a plan!" He didn't really have one. He had a general strategy in mind but not a plan, but that wasn't something he was going to admit aloud. Morale was always and important part of battle and not having some plan of battle would cause it to plunge, meaning that even if they had the strongest adventurers they could easily lose. "I need all of the Mages, especially the ones that can use Advanced Magic and the spell Bottomless Swamp in particular to go with Yunyun! Thieves, you'll go with Anatalia and support the Mages! The Mages will cast spells to catch as many of the enemy forces as they can, but if anything isn't caught then the Thieves will set up traps just outside of the range of the magic to catch them! Move, quickly!" A large group of people ran off, following the two people from his party down to the frontlines.
"I need all Archers and Rangers to be ready with as many arrows as possible! Any enemies that get caught in the traps but don't die are yours to take, move quickly!" Another group of adventurers ran off to get into position and attack the enemy. "I need all fighters to step forward!" A large majority of the adventurers stepped forward. "Half of you will leave to cover the evacuation of the town's citizens, make sure no harm comes to any of them!" That group of adventurers rushed off, "The rest of you will follow Darkness to the front lines and take out anything that hasn't been caught already! I want the clerics to follow them and pick a group of fighters to support, it doesn't matter if they're in your party or not!" The large group ran down with Darkness. He didn't always trust her, but he knew that if push comes to shove she can give it her all.
"Creators! We're going to do the same trick we did against the Mobile Fortress Destroyer! Find the blacksmiths and artisans and get to work!" Those people ran off to do their thing. Two others came running out to meet them.
"Aurdel! We came to help!" It was Wiz and Vanir.
"I need to know what you all can do," he said quickly. He needed to get information out of them fast or he wouldn't be able to use them in this battle before they lost.
"I can use any kind of Advanced Magic! I can even use Explosion!" Wiz said quickly. She could use Explosion? Come to think of it, it made sense given that she was a Lich. "But my best skills are with any form of magic relating to ice!"
Ice? He could make use of that. "Aqua, can you summon large amounts of water?!"
"Of course I can! I'm a-"
"Good, I don't need to hear about why you're able to do it. I just need to know that you can do it! Aqua, Wiz, try and encase that thing in as much ice as possible to slow its advance! Vanir, I need you to support the smiths and Creators in making bombs to use against the army Sylvia brought with her!"
"We got it!" Aqua and Wiz both shouted before running off.
"Moi is more than capable of performing such a simple task," Vanir floated off.
Out of those in his party who stood here, there was only Megumin and himself with Dust who was still tagging along. "Dust, I need you to go down there and support Darkness for now. But when I need you to come running you need to act as quickly as possible, got it?"
"Got it boss," he ran off spear in hand.
"Megumin, I need you to charge up your biggest and meanest Explosion yet. Get in a good position for it too."
"I won't disappoint Aurdel!" She ran off staff in hand. He stood alone near Axel and watched the initial first steps of the battle begin to play out.
"Luna, you should get going. I don't want you to get caught in any of the crossfire here."
"Are you sure you can handle this?" She approached him, "I mean, I know you can handle it. But…"
"I know what you mean, but I'm willing to give this my all no matter what. If it takes my life then so be it."
"Everyone, cast your spells!" Yunyun shouted. "Bottomless Swamp!" The mages with her that could do the same cast the same spell. Ripples of purple-black holes filled the plains around Axel, she and the others watched as hordes of undead and demonic creatures charged forward and fell into the pits. Then once they were in they sank to their deaths, drowning in the swamp. She appreciated how much trust Aurdel had in her, but at the same time it made her worry. She didn't know if she would be able to live up to expectations. She- No, she had to be confident! If she wasn't going to help win this battle to defend Axel then she was going to do it for him! "Free Mages, use Fireball to pick off those monsters behind the swamps!"
"Fireball!" A wave of fireballs flew out from behind her as the Mages who hadn't been able to use Bottomless Swamp cast their spells, fire rained down on the Demons and Undead that had managed to avoid falling in and set the grass around them ablaze. A wall of arrows shot out from behind the lines of the Demons and Undead.
"Use Wind Curtain!"
"Wind Curtain!" A wall of wind appeared in front of them, sending all of the arrows flying in random directions and away from them.
"Wire Trap!" Yunyun heard someone shout, she turned to find that it was Anatalia and all the other Thieves. As Aurdel had planned they were setting up traps in front of the swamps to catch anything else that made it past them.
Something about this all, even if the situation was dangerous and extremely tense, put her at ease. Having all these people around her that trusted the same man, the one that she trusted and wanted to be with, gave her confidence. If she just did as he would do then they would get through this. Her resolve strengthened! "Lightning Strike!" She summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky and wiped out a group of undead and Demons.
Dust was on the frontlines with Darkness and other fighters, they were covering the flank that wasn't entirely covered by the swamps of the mages. What was Aurdel exactly expecting him to do? Sure he could use his spear extremely well up close, but what was that going to do to help them against the giant monster they were bound to fight? He personally had no idea what they might do, but he would leave that part up to him for now. He just needed to perform the job that was given to him for now. He thrust his spear forward and tore through three undead knights, then brought it hard to one side and split apart a Demon that was coming close to him. Fighting like this made him remember how much he missed those days.
Maybe… Maybe if he did this he could bring those days back, live the life he was originally meant to live! If he could do that then everything would turn out just fine for him. He wouldn't need to worry about debts or anything like that, he wouldn't even have to worry about getting involved with the guards constantly! His resolve was steeled. This battle was all he needed to focus on now. He charged forward and speared through another three Demons, forcing more backwards and into one of the Bottomless Swamps.
Darkness didn't know what to think. She knew that Aurdel often looked down upon her, mostly for what she found pleasurable, but despite all that he'd charged her with holding an important position in the battle against these forces of the Demon King. Part of her was occupied, wondering what hard and vicious enemies she might encounter, their brutal strength trying to strike her down as she resisted. But the other part of her was occupied with Aurdel's motives. Could there be something that he wanted from her? Maybe he gave her the position because he knew she might fail, leaving her stripped of her gear and ravaged by the enemy left only as an example of those who stood against the Demon King.
The thought excited her, to have a man who put up such a noble front to possibly have such vile real intentions was ideal for her. Those men who lied to the world were often the worst behind closed doors, the kind to abuse her with all their might and to their heart's content!~ She could hardly keep herself under control even in the presence of a battle right in front of her, it was all too enthralling. But if she were to expose such beastly desires from him then she would have to do as he expected, to defend this section of the line with all she could give. And yes, she would give it her all! She simply must find out what he really wanted of her!
Personally, Anatalia didn't care what happened to the people around her. That feeling went even a little ways for the party she was a part of. Sure they were her party, but they weren't her family. The thing that mattered most to her was finding her younger sister someday and living out the lives they were supposed to. But if she was going to do that then she was going to have to leave this place alive, and that meant fighting not only for herself but all of those around her too. "Wire Trap!" She set out more traps, catching Demons in them. With the targets trapped she threw a series of daggers and tore them to ribbons from afar. But regardless of even her own goals she still had to complete the job that Aurdel had given to her.
Aurdel, that man. He hadn't even known her for more than a few minutes before he allowed her to join his party. And that was even with all of the warnings she'd given regarding her past and the bounty on her head. Maybe that made him different, but all that she knew what that it made her trust him. To some it might seem naive for someone to accept a wanted criminal, but to her being accepted by him was the ultimate form of trust. He was confident, but he wasn't brash or egotistical. And that was all for good reason, from everything she'd seen he was as capable as he thought of himself if not more. Knowing that made her only trust him more. She'd fight this battle, for him, for herself and for her sister.
"Hurry up you dirty Lich!" Aqua shouted running across the grass with Wiz in tow.
"I'm sorry Aqua-sama, I'm not as fast as you!" Wiz wasn't out of breath but she certainly was by no means as fast as her. After all she was a Goddess so she had to be the best in all there was. Looking at her made her a little annoyed though especially with the amount of trust and respect Aurdel gave Wiz rather than herself. She really couldn't understand it, why would a Lich get preferential treatment to a Goddess? But maybe this was what she needed to really get through to him!
Yes, she would give him a performance that would blow his pants off! "Alright Wiz, let's see if your puny undead magic can match up to the magic of a Goddess!
"Aqua-sama, please don't call my magic-!"
"Sacred Create Water!" She summoned a large torrent of water from the sky and clouds above, it pouring down atop of the weird looking undead, chimaera slime thing that was attacking Axel.
"Cursed Crystal Prison!" Wiz used her dirty magic and froze the holy water that she summoned, encasing the thing in front of them in a large block of ice.
"Yeah! Aurdel, did you see that?!" She turned around quickly, trying to get Aurdel's opinion on what she'd done. Ah, he wasn't here right now. He was off doing something else… What was he doing? She didn't know, but she really didn't care. All she cared about right now was getting the proper praise for her actions as a Goddess.
Megumin prepared herself, "Fufufu, this is bound to be my biggest Explosion yet. And on such a big target no less." She looked at the monster that Aqua and Wiz had encased in ice, it was massive and no doubt yielded a large amount of experience. No doubt it would also give her a title that no other could hold, one surpassed not even by dragons slayers. Aurdel had a plan though and as much as she wanted to blast it right away she knew that she had to hold back from doing so. She watched as the gliders that Aurdel had instructed the creators and smiths to create soared out from Axel and to the front lines of the battle, diving down to attack the Demons and Undead of the enemy lines.
When they hit the ground they exploded violently, taking out groups of enemies at a time. Each time she saw one she squirmed a little, it made her want to use her Explosion magic more and more. Each one only pushed her drive more and more to do it, eventually it was too much. "Oh I can't wait anymore, I just have to do it. Explosion!" A swirling blue magic surrounded her and her staff atop the hill, then it blasted outwards. It hit the wall of ice that was encased the massive beast that came before them. There was an ear-piercing shattering noise as the ice broke like grass and collapsed in a huge wave of dust, dirt and bits of ice everywhere. She felt satisfied.
"Damnit, I only told her to get ready. Not to actually use her Explosion spell on Sylvia now!" He needed to think. Megumin didn't have the mana to force another Explosion, neither did Wiz. He nor Yunyun, Anatalia, Darkness and even possible Vanir had the power to take it down either. He looked down at the frontlines. For the most part the smaller forces were wiped out and it was mostly a job of cleaning them up, meaning that the Mages were mostly going on the offensive now rather than the defensive. Okay. He had an idea. "Fighters!" He shouted with all of his might at the top of his lungs, "Spread out across the lines and ensure that nothing passes through! Mages, I want you all back over here right now! Wiz, Aqua, Dust, you come over here too!" There was a massive stampede as large amounts of people shifted across the plains to their new positions
All the mages, including Yunyun, came over, so did the other three he'd called over. This situation would be do or die for Axel now. It had to work, or the city would be lost. He was getting a splitting headache because of all of this but he fought through it. "Yunyun, I need you to go over to Megumin and prepare one of your most powerful spells. And tell Megumin to get another of her Explosions spells ready, we're going to give her a boon."
"I-I got it!" And she ran off as quickly as she could.
"Wiz, as much as I don't want to do this you're going to have to collect our mana."
"B-but Aurdel, I-"
"They're going to need it if they're going to defeat that thing, I'll deal with the aftermath."
"O-okay!" She seemed hesitant to do it, but she trusted him. A massive glowing ball appeared above her in the air, purple magic swirling all around her and the other mages.
"Aurdel, what am I going to do?" Dust asked him.
"What are you going to do? You're going to do the most important part, we're going to strike at the belly of the beast." Wiz took mana from him, Aqua and all of the mages nearby. The sheer amount of it was overwhelming and caused sporadic bolts of lightning to strike out from the sky. If this wasn't going to help them win, then he didn't know what would. "Alright Dust, get on my shoulders." He helped him climb up onto him, Aurdel was much taller than him after all. "Wiz, how are we doing?"
"We're almost…. Done!" Aurdel felt a bit weaker after having his supposedly extremely large mana pool trained, but it was going to be put to good use here.
"Send it over!" Wiz shot the ball of mana across the plains and towards Megumin and Yunyun who were expecting it. He began to run towards the newly freed Sylvia.
He could hear Yunyun and Megumin's chants from here, "Power… Surging!" A little glowed where the two Crimson Demons stood, shining like a pillar of fire rising to the heavens.
"I am Yunyun! Greatest Archwizard of the Crimson Demons and Axel!"
"I am Megumin! Greatest Archwizard of the Crimson Demons and Axel!"
"Together, rival or not, our combined power will defeat any foe that stands in our path!"
"Together, our power will defend the righteous and stop the rising tide of any battle!" A tear went down Aurdel's face. A little girl and the one she'd bullied were working together, as real friends. It made him proud!
"Light of Saber!" Yunyun's overcharged attack struck out first
"Let's the storms blow and let the flames of the inferno roar! My magic, the greatest of all offensive magics, will put you down. Burst forth, Explosion!" Megumin's struck out next, the two attacks combined and shot towards Sylvia at the same time.
There were sonic booms as the magic crossed the plains towards Sylvia, but at the moment before they struck her she held her arms out. A barrier rose. "Damnit!" Dust shouted, looking at what had happened. "What do we do now?!"
"We do what we were supposed to do!" Aurdel threw off the robes that he was wearing, he'd have to pick them up later but that didn't matter. He didn't want to burn them up completely. Despite the pain that it caused him he activated the thruster pack that had integrated with his body. Even with the horrible burns it gave him he shot forward into the sky towards Sylvia.
"YOU ADVENTURERS WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME, YOU WILL NEVER BE SAFE AGAIN!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, "THE DEMON KING WILL DEFEAT YOU, ALL OF YOU!"
"There!" Aurdel shouted, pointing at a spot in the in air. "Arc it towards there in the air! Trust me!"
Dust hesitated for a moment, then he felt the resolve him him. "I won't disappoint!" Dust drew his arm back, then tossed his spear!
The two of them fell down towards the ground, Aurdel made sure they didn't kill themselves in the fall. He began to run. Moments later the spear hit it's mark, Sylvia let out a wild howl of pain. The barrier fell and both Megumin's and Yunyun's spells hit, blasting the massive beast that she'd become away. Aurdel managed to run quick enough with Dust on his shoulders so that they weren't obliterated in the blast. They safely got away. Once he got back to where all the others were he let Dust off his shoulders, then collapsed backwards onto the grass with a sigh. "You know, sometimes I wish we could go a day without something insane happening." First there was a laugh, then a thunderous roar of approval and cheering. They'd won the battle this time. God almighty knew how much he wanted a break from all this though.