Session 29

The great hall of Quintus' manor was, thankfully, more brightly lit than the exterior. Sconces lined the walls, each one holding a long, thin length of glowing yellow crystal that provided about as much light as a low-wattage lightbulb. Hanging above them was an ornate chandelier that was similarly studded with yellow crystals, illuminating the dilapidated decorations of the hall.

Two long rows of tables situated parallel to each other dominated the majority of the floorspace in the hall. The ancient wood was still holding up, though the tables were quite worn down as centuries of insect damage, water, and warping had taken their toll. Between the rows of tables was a long, faded, threadbare rug that looked as if it had once been a fine Arabian or Oriental creation.

Towards the north side of the room was a raised dais, upon which rested yet another table. Sitting in the center of the table was an ornate wooden throne with faded blue cushions. A half-dozen wooden chairs flanked the throne on either side, reserved for the honored guests that Lord Quintus would have entertained.

The walls were painted in alternating stripes of blue and white, and between the sconces were heraldic shields that J.J. suspected were the arms of the families that had sworn themselves to the lord. He briefly wondered which of the arms belonged to Tristan, or whether his family was too low-ranking to bear them. Behind the throne was a white shield larger than the others, emblazoned with a blue hand surrounded by six blue stars – the personal arms of Lord Quintus.

The main emotion that the manor evoked was not awe or wonder, but pity. J.J. would have loved to have seen this place in its heyday, but as it was, the manor was a shadow of its former glory. The hall was well-kept and relatively free of dust – likely due to Agnar's upkeep of the place, if he was indeed living here – but the room was bare. Hollow, even, might have been the better term. There were no dishes or candles to indicate that the hall had been used in hundreds of years, when this room would have once been the epicenter of feasts and parties. Of course, it wasn't as though Agnar would have had many opportunities to hold feasts, but it bespoke how lonely the man's life was. He was dwelling in a cavern deep below a city that was far beyond his time, in the ruin of a manor that he was desperately trying to preserve as the last shred of his connection to his previous life. It was hardly any wonder that he wanted to see Almencia returned to its former glory, if this was his daily reminder of how much he had lost.

"Nothing of value here, is there?" Ed's voice came from behind J.J., snapping him out of his musings. He glanced behind him to see the treasure hunter glancing around curiously before frowning as he realized that there were no treasures to be found.

"Not unless you want a ruined thousand-year-old rug, or you think you can get that throne back up the surface," J.J. replied drily.

"We should keep moving, then," Ed said. "It's likely that we'll find the lord's personal effects-"

"Upstairs, in his living quarters. Unless you want to check the kitchen behind the screens passage for silverware," J.J. interrupted. Ed stared at him, surprised, and J.J. couldn't help but grin behind his mask as he shrugged. "What? I'm a fantasy writer. Of course I know the basic layout of a manor house. You think I'd write about a subject I wasn't familiar with?"

"Right… in that case, we should make our way to-" Ed began, but a clattering noise in the kitchen caught their attention. J.J. immediately dropped into a fencing stance and pushed Ed gently behind him to protect him as the sounds of a scuffle drew nearer.

A pair of bodies burst through the wooden opening into the kitchen. In the modest light of the crystals, J.J. recognized the familiar shape of a Shard tangled up with something J.J. had never seen before. It was a humanoid figure, but it looked like it was made of liquid pewter. Its "face" was blank, save for a computer chip lodged in the center of its head, with a blinking red dot off to the right side which looked eerily like an eye. The rest of its body was thin and flexible, and it almost seemed to glide on a pair of needle-like legs. Its arms were long and whip-like, and ended in sharp points that it was furiously jabbing into the rocky body of the Shard.

To the crystalline monster's credit, the attacks didn't seem to bother it. Though its stony flesh was being chipped apart, it pressed its attack, swinging its club-like left hand at the metallic monster's face. The attack collided with the side of the doll's head, denting the metal inward, but the android seemed unaffected as the liquid metal quickly repaired itself.

J.J. watched the fight, transfixed, as he kept himself between Ed and the two combatants. The most chilling thing about the fight was that, other than the occasional screech of crystal or stone on metal, it was completely silent. Neither fighter made a sound as they bashed and stabbed at each other, grappling with one another as they tried to dismantle the other.

In a morbid way, J.J. was almost rooting for the Shard, though maybe that was because he didn't want to have to face an unknown opponent if he didn't have to. The Shard kept slamming its crystal limb into the metal creature's torso, but each dent that it made was immediately repaired. Meanwhile, the light damage that was being inflicted on the Shard was slowly piling up. The thin needle-like arms of the metallic creature kept chipping away at the Shard's left shoulder, until abruptly, its arm fell to the ground. The Shard paused in its swing to glance blankly down at its detached limb, and the metal beast took advantage of this to begin doing the same to its right arm.

J.J. began slinking towards the dais, gently nudging Ed along while keeping his attention on the fight in front of him. The Shard was still tirelessly bashing the metal creature with its remaining arm, but the attacks were becoming slower as the damage accumulated. Finally, the other arm fell too, though that didn't stop the Shard. It began trying to headbutt its opponent, but the metal creature ruthlessly pushed its arms through the Shard's face. In moments, the Shard had collapsed into a pile of dust at the drone's feet.

The strange creature didn't pause for more than a moment after the Shard was defeated. It swung around and noticed J.J. trying to sneak past it, and it immediately scuttled towards him next. Swearing under his breath, J.J. immediately dove in, swinging his saber upward to parry a lunging thrust from the drone. To his surprise, his blade effortlessly cleaved through its metallic limb, and the severed arm clattered across the ground a few feet away. The drone paused to look down at its arm for a moment, before simply re-growing it and continuing its advance.

"I feel like I've seen this in a movie before," J.J. hissed as he stepped back to avoid a quick stab from the monster. He cut through its arm again and counterattacked with a short slash. His sword caught the creature in the neck, and to his shock, he decapitated it cleanly. Its head went clattering across the ground before lying still while the body fell limply to the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut. J.J. stared at it in horror for a moment before letting out a slow breath and straightening up to go join Ed. Before he could, however, the head suddenly extended short, mercurial, spider-like legs, and it scuttled towards its limp body. Within seconds, the metal had melted together to reform its body, and it was back on its feet and gliding towards him again.

J.J. growled to himself as the creature advanced, and he held his sword out to parry its next attack. To his surprise, it suddenly lunged in, too fast for him to counter, and one of its arms stabbed into his right bicep. He let out a cry of pain, but while he felt the attack, his armor held, so it was like being stabbed with a nail that had been stopped by silk – the impact hurt, and it might leave a bruise, but it didn't break the fabric or his skin.

Looking up, his eyes fell on the blinking red light of the processor in the center of the android's face. If its body was rendered inert when separated from the head, but the head could still move in some fashion, then destroying the microprocessor was clearly the solution. At least that was easy, he thought sardonically. He'd been worried that he would have to completely disassemble this thing.

J.J. stepped back and sliced at the monster's head, but it reared out of the way to avoid the attack. That basically confirmed it, J.J. thought. It hadn't bothered protecting the rest of its body the way it was guarding its head. As it swayed away from him, J.J. stepped forward throwing out a vertical slash that the monster managed to slip away from, and J.J.'s sword bit into the soft metal of its shoulder. The liquid metal began closing around his blade, and he hastily yanked it out of its body, growling to himself. One of the arms stabbed at him, but J.J. rotated his shoulder to avoid the attack. With it overextended like this, he had a clear shot. Drawing his sword back one more time, he thrusted towards its face, and this time finally hit his mark. His sword neatly bisected the computer chip, and the red light instantly went dark. The body remained upright for a second or two before clanging unceremoniously to the ground and lying still.

J.J. slowly exhaled, catching his breath as he coldly checked himself for wounds. Aside from the sharp pain in his right arm, he hadn't been badly hurt, and he could ignore that light bruise. His eyes fell on the mechanical hominid. In his opinion, the Shards were more of a threat, as they tended to fight more aggressively, and consequently did more damage. However, the strange constructs were definitely more durable, with their sole weakness being far harder to hit. Not that he wanted to fight either of them, he mused grimly.

"Are you alright?" Ed asked, hurrying over to him. J.J. nodded, raising and lowering his arm to make sure it wasn't going to hinder him.

"I'll live. Just a light bruise," he said. Then his voice turned slightly suspicious. "Are these things extra mining equipment you brought along or something?"

"Well… yes, but I've never seen them this aggressive before," Ed admitted. "The Irise creates them to help it with some of its tasks, but I've never known them to be fighters."

"Well, it doesn't seem like they like me," J.J. said with a slight smile behind his helmet. As long as he didn't have to work harder to protect Ed, he could deal with at least a few of the robots. "Are you sure you don't want to head back up to the surface?"

"Of course not," Ed said stubbornly, frowning at him. J.J. sighed, but nodded tolerantly. "Let's get moving, shall we?" the treasure hunter added. "I want to see more of this manor."

The pair stepped around the prone body of the android and walked towards the dais, which they climbed onto before heading past it towards the back rooms. The area was dominated by a stone staircase leading to the upper and lower levels of the manor. Some servants' quarters were off to either side, but J.J. was disinclined to explore them, and Ed seemed to share his thoughts.

"To the master's chambers, then?" Ed suggested, nodding towards the staircase.

J.J. paused, holding up his hand. He could feel rumbling beneath his feet, as if there was something going on in a lower level. He strained to hear, but even in the quiet manor he couldn't make out anything, and a couple of moments later the rumbling stopped.

"Hm. Yeah, but be careful," J.J. insisted. "Let me head up first."

Ed nodded, and the two crept up the stairs, J.J. brandishing his sword in front of him as he led the way. He warily peeked over the edge of the stairwell when he reached the top, but when there was no movement, he relaxed slightly, though he still gripped his sword tightly. He motioned for Ed to follow him as he finished climbing the stairs and emerged into Lord Quintus' living quarters.

The first thing J.J. noticed was the large blue bed pushed up against the back wall of the quarters. Its woolen sheets were faded and thin, but otherwise looked to be in good condition, and J.J. figured that it had been used recently, given the lack of dust. Agnar must have been living in this room far more than the great hall, he determined.

His eyes then fell on the long table that was pressed against one of the walls. It reminded J.J. strongly of a stereotypical wizard's workbench, complete with glowing blue crystals, a mortar and pestle, an alembic, and a yellowed book that was splayed open. Next to the bench was a bookshelf full of books that J.J. could see were written in both Latin and Almencian, though he couldn't discern any particular title from here.

Against the wall behind the benches were shelves and chests filled to the brim with alchemical ingredients and materials. Dried herbs, metals, stones, and various other paraphernalia haphazardly littered the shelves with no regard to organization or categorization. Perhaps it had made sense to Lord Quintus, he thought wryly.

Ed let out a low whistle as he followed J.J. up the stairs, immediately eyeing the shelves. "Now that's more like it," he muttered as he hurried over to inspect the artifacts.

"Don't take anything," J.J. warned him. "The last thing I need is Agnar coming after me because you stole something from him."

"Don't you hate that guy, though?" Ed asked airily.

"Yeah, and the feeling is mutual, but I don't need to give him yet another reason," J.J. said bitingly as he walked over to the workbench. Ed ignored him and began to eagerly peruse the shelves.

Despite his warning to Ed not to touch anything, J.J. headed right for the bookshelf and hypocritically began pawing through it. He didn't speak Latin – though he had taken a bit of Spanish in high school, so the language wasn't totally incomprehensible to him – and his knowledge of Almencian was only slightly better. Thus, most of the titles were borderline gibberish to him. However, he did know the Almencian words for "alchemy" and "magic," and that was what he centered his search on.

Surprisingly, few of the books contained the word "alkaimia" in their title, nor were there any obvious variations that caught his eye. One or two did feature it, but when he pulled them out and looked them over, the books seemed to be more about the general history of alchemy than Almencia's specific history. After a few minutes of looking, he gave up and instead wandered over to the workbench.

The table, to his surprise, also looked recently used. Dust had been cleared off its surface, there was condensation inside the alembic, the burn marks beneath the brazier were new, and the mortar contained traces of fresh ingredients. Was Agnar dabbling in alchemy? J.J. hadn't figured he had any knowledge of it. Was he making a potion perhaps, or was he trying to research something?

J.J.'s eyes fell on the book on the workbench. Its yellowed pages were so delicate that he was hesitant to move them, but he was nevertheless unable to resist looking it over. Once again, he cursed his limited knowledge of Almencian and made a silent promise to ask Tristan to work with him on studying the language more thoroughly. Nevertheless, after stumbling over the words, he realized that he was reading Quintus' personal notebook.

To J.J.'s delight, he soon discovered that the book was a combination of a diary and a manual for Quintus' discoveries. His gloved hands gently pushed it to the first page, and he began reading about Quintus accepting his appointment as the court alchemist after his own apprenticeship under his father had ended. His first invention was a serum that could purify fouled water in minutes, though he mentioned having a difficult time producing it in quantities that could treat more than a pitcher at a time.

J.J. skipped several pages, trying to get to the first mention of the Seraphs. Thankfully, Quintus' entries were accompanied by sketches similar to those in his diary, so even with his limited skill in Almencian, he knew what the contents were.

However, when he reached the end of the book, he realized that he hadn't seen anything about the Seraphs. Frowning, he flipped to the first page again and took a bit more time reading the entries to see if he had overlooked anything. It quickly became evident, however, that what he was looking for just wasn't in there. Maybe Quintus had devoted a separate volume to them, or maybe someone had intentionally removed the pages so that the creation of the Seraphs couldn't be replicated. Either way, there was nothing in the book that was going to be helpful.

Sighing, J.J. dejectedly flipped to the last page, scowling at the final entry. It was something about a crown that he was making, working in conjunction with… alchemical jewels? J.J. paused and re-read that line more carefully, speaking the Almencian words that he knew out loud to himself.

"Crown of Almencia… of mine… use… jewels… from alchemy… bring… people hopes… best creation. Will answer king request…."

J.J. couldn't make out much else, but he likewise noticed that there were notes in the margin that looked like they were written by someone else, particularly as they were written in black ink instead of the blue that Quintus seemed to favor.

"Need more… perfect jewels… imperfect not enough… number? …citizens store… in chamber… under earth… sealed… remember… 26404."

J.J.'s eyes lit up when he saw the number, and he clicked his sword down into its pen form to copy it down, since he suspected it was important. It reminded him of someone leaving a password to a computer lying around, which brought a slight smile to his face. Even a thousand years later, people were still making the same mistakes, he thought wryly.

Heavy footfalls interrupted his thoughts, and both he and Ed turned towards the staircase, with the latter shrinking away while J.J. stepped in front of him, holding his sword out in front of him. To his relief, however, it was Tristan who emerged, breathing heavily as he turned to face J.J. and Ed. He lowered his chin slightly, emphasizing his displeasure.

"Why… are you… here, page?" Tristan asked coldly as he caught his breath. J.J. noticed that his armor had a couple more scratches on it, though he wondered if it was because he had run into Agnar or he had been fighting off those metallic dolls.

"Did… you forget why we came down here in the first place?" J.J. asked, frowning behind his helmet. "I was looking for something that would help us learn about the Seraphs."

"Indeed? Have you found… something, then?" Tristan asked.

"Not yet, though I did find something of interest. Do you know anything about a crown that Quintus was making?" J.J. asked.

Tristan tilted his head querulously. "The one who would have forged a crown would be the goldsmith, or possibly my father if King Domitius wished for an iron crown. I know nothing of it. What piqued your interest?"

"It was in this book," J.J. said. "It looks like Quintus' notes. Mind taking a look at it? Almencian is your native language, and I'm a little shaky on what it says, but it mentioned something about alchemical jewels. This crown might be connected to the Seraphs in the same way if the jewels are actually D-formers-"

"Page, I have already expressed my distaste for supposition without evidence," Tristan cut him off. "Did you find anything definitive that could expose a weakness in the Seraphs?"

"Not exactly, no," J.J. admitted. "But-!"

"If you have found nothing, then I require your assistance," Tristan interrupted. "I attempted to engage Sir Agnar once more, but he fled from me and barricaded himself behind a thick metal door that appears to lead to a sort of vault. I have been unable to penetrate it."

"Seriously?" J.J. asked skeptically. "I thought Azuron was the strongest metal Almencia invented. If you keep chipping away at it, I don't see how any door could hold up."

"Nor I," Tristan admitted. "Yet it hinders my efforts to finish my duel with Sir Agnar. Since you already sullied my honor," he added, his tone turning frosty, "you may at least partially redeem yourself by aiding me in opening it."

J.J. gazed at Tristan, before speaking in a soothing voice. "If Agnar's locked himself in a vault, he's not going anywhere. Why not take a little time to rest while you have the chance? Do you think you could read this passage in the book here? Your Almencian's better than mi-!"

J.J. was again interrupted when Tristan crossed the distance between them and grabbed him by the front of his jerkin, dragging him so that he was inches from Tristan and peering into the azure faceplate of his helmet. "I do not have the luxury of rest," Tristan growled. "I merely speculated that Sir Agnar has taken refuge in a vault; I am uncertain if that is indeed its function. If there is a passage back to the surface, he will escape, and my ven- my honor will not be satisfied. As I said, you are the one who sullied my honor by denying me a satisfying conclusion to my duel. Now, accompany me. Immediately."

J.J. bit back a retort along the lines of, "Yeah, really sorry I saved your life." All that would do would earn him another punch to the face, at best. Instead, he took hold of Tristan's hands and gently extricated them from his armor. "Alright, calm down," he said easily. "If Agnar got through that door, there's got to be a way in. Let's go take a look." He glanced over his shoulder at Ed and added, "Mind coming with us?"

"Of course," Ed agreed, setting down the piece of topaz he'd been playing with. "Even if it wasn't for safety, there's no way I'm passing up the chance to poke through a vault. There's gotta be some valuable stuff in there, right?"

J.J. rolled his eyes as he motioned for Tristan to lead the way. The blue-armored knight guided them down the stairs and into the main foyer again, before turning to head down another set of stairs that lead to a lower level. They walked in silence for a few moments, before J.J. spoke up.

"You're really worked up about this," J.J. commented lightly. "What gives?"

"This is a matter of honor, page," Tristan said shortly.

"You keep saying that, but there seems to be something more behind it," J.J. insisted. "I get that you're angry that he might have killed your brother, but-"

"You do not understand at all, then," Tristan said harshly, looking over his shoulder briefly before turning back around. "I shall endeavor to explain. When I was placed in stasis, I did so with the understanding that when I next awoke, the world that I knew and everyone in it would be gone. It was difficult, but I eventually made my peace with that. Seeing the bones of my father was what convinced me that there was no connection to my past remaining.

"Yet, when Sir Agnar reappeared, my hope was renewed. If I was no longer the only one who had been placed in stasis, perhaps others had been as well. Perhaps even my brother had managed to survive, and I might have one last thread linking me to my old life. However, when Sir Agnar told me he was a servant of the Black Seraph, I was… disappointed. I even despaired, for a former friend had turned traitor. And his story… everything that I had worked for, to save Almencia… it was all for nothing. Then he told me that he had slain my brother. Murdered him in cold blood. My mother had perished during the first war with the Black Seraph. My father's bones I had already seen. And then Sir Agnar presented me with my brother's D-former, proof that my final link to my past had been severed."

Tristan turned to face him, his voice shaking slightly with barely suppressed rage. "Sir Agnar robbed me of my last shred of hope. I had hoped that Almencia would survive, yet it was left in ruins, and Sir Agnar did nothing to avert it, even making our enemy stronger than ever. I had hoped that I might once again meet just one member of my family, yet Sir Agnar personally slew him and kept his jewel as a trophy. Only his life will give me satisfaction, for all that he robbed me of, and for betraying what we once stood for."

J.J. tried to formulate a response, but before he could, Tristan reached the bottom of the stairs and motioned towards something in front of him. J.J. followed him, and as he saw what Tristan was motioning towards, he let out a low whistle. A massive golden door loomed over them, its bright surface glowing faintly as the yellow crystals on the wall behind them reflected off its mirror finish. In the center of the door was an enormous five-ringed dial with pictures on individual rings, as well as a four-foot long handle. J.J. was strongly reminded of a bank vault.

"How exactly did he close this thing if you were right behind him?" J.J. asked, approaching the door and putting his hand on it gently. The golden surface seemed to hum slightly under his touch, as if it was vibrating. "Even in his armor, I doubt even he could have closed something this heavy very easily, especially if you were right on his heels."

"I was pursuing him down these stairs when I heard him ask if I would assist him in defending something. I responded that there was nothing he could say that would convince me to aid him, at which point I heard a loud clanging sound, and when I finished my descent, I was met with this door," Tristan explained. "I have tried numerous methods to breach it, yet nothing has affected it."

"What about a Critical?" J.J. suggested.

"That was one of the first methods I attempted once my initial assault upon the door failed. My attack was… reflected upon me. I felt as though I had taken the full force of my own Critical," Tristan explained.

J.J. stared at Tristan, curiosity welling up inside of him. He snapped his fingers, and his quill flew into his hand. Once extended into its sword form, he attacked the door with a short slash, putting a moderate amount of power behind the blow. As soon as the blade hit the surface of the door, his arm was flung backward with an equal amount of force, and he was nearly thrown off-balance. Tristan shook his head as J.J. stared down at his arm.

"Why did you insist on validating my claims?" Tristan asked, exasperated.

"I wanted to see for myself," J.J. replied nonchalantly.

Tristan growled softly, and J.J. could feel him glaring from behind his helmet. J.J. grinned a bit to himself before growing more serious as he began to inspect the door. "Have you tried moving the dial?"

"Without a combination? No," Tristan replied. "If you examine the walls more closely, you will understand why."

J.J. turned towards one of the walls and noticed for the first time that there were holes between the mortar. "Are those… darts or something?" he asked.

"Precisely. Vaults of this sort were often designed with traps to eliminate those that would attempt to breach them. After all, if there is no consequence for an incorrect response, thieves may try as many times as they wish until they reach the proper conclusion," Tristan explained.

"Oh, good, glad to know Almencians lived by adventure game logic," J.J. said drily. "Just let me quicksave here in case we get this wrong."

Tristan gave J.J. a perplexed look. J.J. simply shook his head and sighed as he began to examine the pictures on the dials. "How would we input a part of the combination?" J.J. asked.

"Simply press the button in once you believe you have the correct answer," Tristan said, frowning. "Are you attempting this without a combination? That is… brash, especially for you."

"I might have an idea about how to open it, though," J.J. replied.

"If… you believe you know the answer, I shall not hinder you," Tristan said cautiously. "However, I must warn you that even with your suit, you may not be able to withstand a full barrage of arrows. Even my own armor would likely only barely withstand one or two errors."

"Then you should step back out of the room, Ed," J.J. suggested. Ed nodded and crept back up the stairs as J.J. stared at the dial.

The buttons on the rings consisted of pictures rather than numbers or letters. Each one was a different animal – a fox, a rabbit, a snake, a bird… Furthermore, each dial had a different set of animals, so J.J. couldn't discern any sort of pattern. For instance, one ring had an eagle, a frog, a beetle, a fish, and a squid, while another ring had a fox, an owl, a bee, a snail, and an octopus.

"The book upstairs mentioned numbers…." J.J. muttered to himself, pulling out his diary and flipping to the latest page. On it were the numbers he had written down – 26404. In J.J.'s mind, given the context, they were clearly a combination, and he suspected that it was to this door… but what was the connection?

J.J. looked up again and examined the door more closely, slowly turning each ring. What was different about each of the animals? The species? Some were winged, while others weren't? If the number of wings varied-!

Suddenly, J.J. began to spin each dial in turn, examining each one. If he considered the attributes of the animals, he realized that each one had a different number of legs, and that the number of legs didn't repeat within a ring. One ring had an animal with two, four, six, eight, and ten legs, while another was zero, two, four, eight, and ten. If he thought about it that way, and he used the combination that Agnar had written down…!

J.J. grinned to himself as he turned the first dial until it was resting on the picture of a hawk, the only creature on the dial that he could assume had two legs – he didn't count the wings, since there was also a cow, which obviously had four legs. The second dial he turned to the picture of a beetle, while the third he spun until it stopped on the picture of a cat. The fourth dial was the picture of a snake, while the fifth dial nearest to the center was a fox. J.J. confidently pushed each button in turn down the line, then stepped back as the sound of tumblers unlocking filled the room with a loud clanging sound. He walked over to the door handle and pulled it, and after a moment's effort, the door began to give way.

Tristan and Ed came up behind him, Ed slapping him on the back while Tristan stared at him, as if in shock. "How… did you know the proper combination?" he asked.

"A little bit of guesswork, honestly," J.J. admitted. "But there was also a book upstairs that had the combination written down, in a way. We got lucky, though, since we went upstairs first and happened to stumble across it. There's no way you could have known that the answer was up there."

"No… though I suppose that I should be more aware of my surroundings," Tristan admitted, sounding slightly crestfallen.

"You were distracted by Agnar, and again, it was a coincidence that we happened to find it. Hell, the only reason why I copied down the number is that it's an old gaming habit," J.J. admitted. "If someone leaves a number like that lying around, it's bound to be important."

"Intriguing. Well done, page," Tristan said absently, his voice hardening again. "I would request that you do not interfere from this point on, then, as I challenge Sir Agnar."

"Tristan…!" J.J. cried, but Tristan had already wrenched the door open the rest of the way and was charging inside. J.J. sighed and glanced over at Ed, who shrugged and hurried in after Tristan. J.J. noted that the man seemed to be enjoying himself, despite the danger he was in.

"At least one of us is having a good time," J.J. muttered as he ran after the other two. The vault door led into a narrow hallway, which opened into a large cavern. J.J.'s first thought was that he had walked into a crypt. The room was bathed in a deep red glow from the scarlet crystals lining the ceiling above them. Oblong rectangles that vaguely reminded J.J. of coffins were standing along the walls, each one studded with precious gems that formed a latticework of bright lines, between which shimmered holographic panes that looked like force fields. In the center of the room stood Agnar, furiously swinging his sword at another of the metallic dolls which had somehow found its way into the mausoleum. The draconic's knight massive sword tore through the creature's torso effortlessly, but its liquid body quickly repaired itself and it swung a flail-like limb at Agnar in retaliation. The red knight blocked the blow, but its flexible limb arched around his sword to collide with his shoulder. If it hurt, the knight didn't show any signs of pain. Grunting, he cleaved the doll, bisecting it vertically. That attack, by happenstance, cut through its processor, and the body of the creature clattered lifelessly to the ground. Agnar sighed before turning to face the intruders.

"Sir Tristan!" Agnar exclaimed, sounding pleased. Then his eyes fell on the two men behind him, and he added in a much more dispirited tone, "Peasant. Thief."

"Traitor," Tristan replied coldly. "You retreated and barricaded yourself in this room after goading me? Must I accuse you of lacking honor now, when you have slandered me with that charge several times in the past weeks? You continue to refuse to answer my challenges."

"There are… mitigating circumstances," Agnar said slowly, looking away. "While I would happily answer your challenge normally, in this case, I must concede that the peasant was correct – the defense of my stronghold comes first, particularly since we are facing a foe that might legitimately threaten something that is more important to me than answering a challenge to an honor duel."

"And what might that be?" Tristan sneered.

"This," Agnar said, sweeping his arm around the room at the coffins, before pinning Ed under his gaze. "You, thief. You claimed you were looking for treasure, were you not? This is it. This is the greatest treasure to me, which is why I keep it locked safely in these chambers. And now it is under attack from an enemy that has threatened to take it from me. To that end, defending it is of paramount importance, surpassing even my duty to answer a challenge to my honor."

"By threat, you mean those metallic dolls?" J.J. asked.

"Indeed," Agnar replied. "It would seem that metallic monstrosity the thief brought with him possesses the ability to create minions out of mere scraps of metal. I have seen it myself – it needs only place a small eye upon a bar of iron, or any other metal, to have a doll that it may command. What's more, their liquid nature has allowed them to penetrate even the security of this chamber, as you saw. To that end… I must request a truce. Until these invaders are repelled from my castle, I must ask that we postpone our duel."

"And why would I agree to those terms?" Tristan hissed.

"For one, because I have shown you the same courtesy numerous times," Agnar replied coolly. "Rationalize it as you like, but I have permitted you to postpone our duel repeatedly because you requested it. I would hope you would show me the same courtesy. But, for another, because it is your duty as a knight."

"My duty as a knight?" Tristan echoed, scoffing. "How dare you speak of my duty?"

"Your duty, Sir Tristan, is to protect the citizens of Almencia," Tristan explained, sweeping his arm around the room once again. "That is what is contained in this vault. Each of these caskets contains an Almencian citizen who was placed into stasis before the island was completely consumed by the fires of war."

Tristan stared at him, dumbstruck, and J.J. likewise felt his mouth fall open. "Have you never wondered why I spent the majority of my time in these ruins, Sir Tristan?" Agnar asked in a much softer tone. "I was searching for these survivors. Over the past few months, I have managed to find roughly a dozen, and I believe there are more to be found. Do you not understand, Sir Tristan? This is our chance to rebuild our society! With these settlers, and the Black Seraph's alchemy, we can ensure that Almencia is restored! It shall take time, but it can be accomplished!"

Tristan was silent, seeming almost numb with shock. J.J. was also reeling from Agnar's revelation, but he had enough presence of mind to snap out of it when he heard something moving behind him. Ed let out a shriek of terror and stumbled backwards, and J.J. turned to see another liquid golem rushing towards them.

Tristan was standing closer to Ed, and J.J. was worried he couldn't get there in time. "Tristan! Ed's in trouble!" he cried.

"Deceiver! You seek to distract me!" Tristan cried, ignoring J.J., as he pointed a finger at Agnar. "My duty, Sir Agnar, is to exact vengeance. Furthermore, I have no proof of your claims, and even if I did, I would never aid such a-!"

J.J. growled and pushed past Tristan hurrying to help Ed. He was too slow, however, and the doll ducked low and stabbed forward with one of its needle-like limbs. Ed screamed in pain as it pierced his leg, and the doll quickly withdrew its arm to try and stab him again. J.J. slipped between Ed and the monster, slashing horizontally with a quick flick of his wrist. The initial attack missed the processor, but his blade did remove the head from the golem's body. It clattered across the floor, and before the severed head had time to try and scurry back to its body, J.J. drove his blade through the computer chip, which went dead after sparking for a moment.

J.J. hurried over to Ed, who groaned and pressed his hand to his bleeding thigh. "It's… not bad," he grunted. J.J. briefly pulled his hand away, and to his relief, the doll didn't seem to have hit any veins or arteries, since the blood seeping from his wound was spreading slowly. He grabbed Ed's shirt sleeve and yanked it. The fabric came loose easily thanks to his suit's considerable strength, and he pressed it to Ed's leg, saying softly to the man, "Hold that there. I thought these things weren't supposed to attack you?"

"Maybe it got confused," Ed explained, wincing. "If the Irise is looking for you guys, it might have given that command to its dolls, but the dolls are kinda stupid. I once asked it to move stones out of the way, and I had to tell the dolls to stop throwing rocks at me," he said with a sheepish grin.

J.J. scowled, then looked up and addressed Tristan. "Tristan, Ed's hurt. We should get him to the surface."

"You take him, then, page," Tristan growled. "I will not be denied my vengeance a second time. In fact, I would rather you were not here to distract me, nor to sully my honor further."

There was another rumbling sound beneath them, and J.J. heard the faint whirring of machinery under his feet. Then came a sharp, metallic screeching sound and the drilling stopped. The sounds slowly moved away from them, and the tremors gradually ceased. Agnar looked down at the ground before looking up at Tristan again and shaking his head.

"Sir Tristan, I cannot answer your challenge while my demesne is threatened," he said. "Furthermore, a second duel between us now would merely result in your death. If you feel your honor was sullied in the last battle, regain it by serving your country."

"I shall decide how I regain my honor!" Tristan shouted, pointing his mace at Agnar. "The only way is when your head lies at my feet!"

"Tristan," J.J. said softly.

"Nor do I believe your claims that you are merely protecting the survivors of Almencia!" Tristan added, ignoring J.J. "If you truly cared, you would not have slain my brother! I-!"

"Tristan!" J.J. shouted over the knight, causing him to spin around, his shoulders heaving with fury.

"What?!" Tristan screamed at him.

"What was your oath as a knight?" J.J. asked softly, in stark contrast to Tristan's bellowing. Tristan hesitated, seeming confused by the question. "When you first swore your vows as a knight, what were they?" he pressed.

Tristan hesitated. "They were-"

"I seriously doubt that exacting vengeance was at the top of the list," J.J. interrupted him, pressing the torn sleeve a bit harder into Ed's wound to try and staunch the bleeding. "As far as I'm aware, every knightly oath in history has centered around protecting those weaker than you. Isn't that what you swore?"

"You fail to understand the nature of a blood feud, page," Tristan began. "It-"

"Okay, forget your oath as a knight," J.J. interrupted. "What about your oath as a Kamen Rider? You're the one that took the title of Kamen Rider Aegis. According to Susumu, Kamen Riders are supposed to protect people, not use their powers to exact revenge. Plus, last I checked, an aegis is a shield. Shields can be used as weapons, sure, but their primary function is to defend. You don't hear about someone protecting others by crouching behind a sword.

"I honestly thought that was an apt name for you, you know. You sacrificed a thousand years just to protect a people you didn't know from a threat they couldn't face. I really thought of you as a true hero, in every sense of the word, and I admired you for that. Now, though, all I see is an angry, bitter man who's so consumed by a half-baked quest for vengeance that he's completely forgotten why he agreed to be put into stasis in the first place."

Tristan slowly advanced on J.J., seething with rage, but J.J. didn't flinch. "You dare-!"

"You're damn right I do," J.J. replied simply. "Look around you. You're literally surrounded by the people you were sworn to protect – all of them utterly defenseless and about to be attacked – and yet you're still only focused on killing Agnar. Even he's behaving more nobly than you are. I hate what he's done to the citizens of Marville, who he works for, and what he stands for, but even by trying to protect these few people, he's acting like more of a knight than you."

"We don't know if what he says is the truth!" Tristan protested. "There might not even be Almencians in those caskets!"

"That doesn't matter," J.J. said shortly. "Even if he's lying, you've already failed to protect someone who needed it. Ed got hurt because you didn't defend him. That was your failing, Tristan. If you're so blinded by hatred that you can't even save someone standing right beside you, then you don't deserve to call yourself a knight or a Kamen Rider."

Tristan looked down at Ed silently for several long moments as the man grit his teeth in pain. Thankfully, J.J. could already tell he wasn't losing much blood, but he still needed to be taken to a hospital as soon as he could. Finally, Tristan let out an irritated sigh and looked over his shoulder at Agnar.

"We… must retreat for now," he said reluctantly.

"If you must, but I wish to ask one last time for your aid," Agnar pleaded. "I have not lied to you. These coffins contain the last Almencians I could find, and while I am certain that I could defeat that metal abomination, I am unsure about whether I could do so while protecting these people at the same time. You were always better at defending than I was, which is why I now beg for your assistance. Do not forsake them. If you shall not fight with me, fight for them."

J.J. and Tristan traded looks, and then J.J. looked down at Ed. "Do you think you can stand?" he asked softly.

"I… could try, but I really don't want to put weight on this leg," Ed grunted. He was pale and sweating from the pain, though he was thankfully staying conscious. "Look, make your stand here. I'll be alright. Even if we ran, I'd just slow you down. The Irise might just come after you anyways, and I'd be in the way. Plus, I don't think it'll attack me."

"That metallic doll did," J.J. pointed out.

"Yeah, but like I said, they can be a little unpredictable," Ed explained. "But the Irise is programmed to never hurt the person that powered it on, and even in its berserk state, I think it'll adhere to that programming."

J.J. was still hesitant, but Ed sighed and waved him off. "If there really are people in those things that need your help, I'm not going to be selfish and say you have to look after me. Do what you have to do to turn the Irise off. Destroy it if need be. It's proven to be more trouble than it's worth this trip anyways."

Even though Ed's words sounded resolved, J.J. could see from his expression that the decision pained him. He was giving up a one-of-a-kind piece of equipment that could have brought him a fortune, even if he'd just sold it. J.J. nodded once as he replied, "Right. And thank you."

"Yeah, don't mention it," Ed sighed, slumping back against a wall and closing his eyes. Since the bleeding had stopped, J.J. felt that he wouldn't be in any danger if he took a rest.

"Page," Tristan addressed him as he walked back towards the two knights. "What does the diary say about the Irise?"

"No idea," J.J. shrugged, snapping his quill down to its pen form as he flipped the diary over to a blank page. "I'm not even sure it'll give us any data, since it isn't a Diemon. Even then, I don't have a reference for a mythological creature to go off of. Maybe a beholder, but beholders don't construct suits of armor for themselves. So let's try this."

He wrote down the word "Pupil" on a blank sheet of paper, and for a several moments, his quill didn't move. Then, to his astonishment, it began to slowly scribble across the page. It was filling in the information much more slowly than it would for a Diemon, which J.J. attributed to it trying to process data from an entirely new source, but it was nevertheless giving a good readout of a Pupil's capabilities. When it was finished, it fell flat on the page, and J.J., Tristan, and Agnar crowded around to stare at the stats sheet.

"Bah! Must it write in that barbaric tongue?" Agnar scoffed.

"Better this than a dead language," J.J. shot back. "Anyways, the Pupil itself doesn't seem to be very strong. It's versatile, and it can adapt to anything that threatens it, but the 'eye' on the top of its head is its weakness. We need to go for that. We turn it off or disconnect it from its body, the rest of it becomes a heap of scrap metal."

"What about its behavior?" Tristan asked.

"It'll fulfill any task given to it, it looks like, but for whatever reason, it really seems to hate Kamen Riders," J.J. explained. "I'm willing to bet that when we beat it back the first time, it decided to fulfill its original directive – looking for treasure – while trying to repair itself so it could complete its secondary objective of killing us. That'd explain the sounds we've been hearing. When it shows back up, it's likely to be fully repaired, especially if it found other armories." He then glanced up and frowned. "Which begs the question… why don't we just leave, if it's targeting us? It'd draw the Irise away from the caskets, if you're so worried about protecting them," he suggested to Agnar.

"That monstrosity will still be drawn to this vault. If it is truly searching for treasure, the door that seals this vault is of immeasurable value, as are the components keeping the Almencians in stasis," Agnar explained. "I fear that if it attempts to pry the gemstones from the caskets, the Almencians within might perish from the shock. I will not risk that by abandoning them," he said firmly.

"Fair enough," J.J. nodded, folding his arms. "Then do you have a plan for dealing with it? You know this castle better than either of us."

"I am of the opinion that it is likely to assault us by descending from above," Agnar said thoughtfully. "This vault's walls and floors are protected by the same metal that the door is made of, but that protection does not extend to the keep above. After all, Lord Quintus' estate was meant to be guarded at all times by his household knights, so there was no reason to protect against intrusion other than tunneling. Furthermore, in the event that one was accidentally trapped in this vault, he wished there to be some way to escape. The only viable entrance using brute force is from above."

"Alright, then how do we deal with it?" J.J. asked.

Agnar stared at him, and J.J. could almost picture him raising an eyebrow behind his helmet. "We?" Agnar repeated. "You have no reason to participate in this skirmish, peasant. These are not your people."

"Yeah, I really don't care whether they're 'my people' or not," J.J. replied simply. "They're people that need to be protected, so I'm going to help protect them."

Agnar gazed at J.J. silently for a few long moments, as if trying to process the statement, before shrugging. "I will not deter you if you wish to join the defense. Perhaps you might prove to be of some small use." J.J. smiled to himself. Maybe it was his imagination, but Agnar almost sounded flustered.

"You might not have to destroy the Pupil outright," Ed piped up suddenly. The trio turned to face him. J.J. was surprised to hear him speak up, as he'd thought the man had passed out. "There may be a way to shut it down without risking trashing the place."

"Elaborate," Agnar said.

Ed briefly explained his idea, while the others listened carefully. Once he had finished detailing how the Pupil worked, the three spent the next few minutes quickly hatching a plan that would hopefully allow them to disable the Irise without damaging the nearby coffins.

"Very well, this plan will suffice," Agnar said finally, looking up at the ceiling apprehensively. They could all hear the whirring of a drill above them. "And if it fails, we shall utilize force, as necessary. Assume your positions."

J.J. and Tristan nodded, with Tristan positioning himself beneath the increasingly loud whirring sound, holding his shield up towards it, while J.J. put his hand on his blue D-former and gave it a spin. "Reroll! Class: Thief!" his Driver shouted, and as a saxophone played, J.J. was enveloped in a sapphire jewel, which spun around him rapidly as his leather armor split to become a loose blue jacket, while a scarf wrapped itself around his neck. As soon as the transformation finished, J.J. backed into one of the corners, stuffing his daggers into his belt while keeping his left hand on the blue D-former. Agnar took his position opposite Tristan, his own claymore sheathed on his back.

"This… is rather nostalgic, Sir Tristan," Agnar said slowly as dust began to fall on them while they waited for the Irise to breach the ceiling. "A pity that we cannot ally with each other more often."

"Yes, a pity that you decided to ally yourself with the one you swore to destroy. And that you murdered my brother," Tristan replied coldly, not taking his eyes off the growing hole in the ceiling.

Agnar fell silent, turning his gaze to the hole above them. Moments later, the drilling stopped. There was no movement for a few seconds, and then the glaring red eye of the Irise appeared in the hole. It swiveled around rapidly, taking stock of the room, before pulling back. The three men glanced at each other, wondering what it was doing. Then, a claw appeared over the opening, holding something, which was unceremoniously dropped through the hole. Tristan stepped back and stared at the object as it bounced once on the floor before coming to a halt. The Irise had dropped a chest into the room, and as its lid popped open from the force of the drop, J.J. could see that it was filled to the brim with gleaming silver bars.

A moment later, the Irise suddenly dropped through the hole, landing over the treasure chest like a spider protecting its eggs. Its body had been repaired in the short time that they had lost sight of it, bearing no evidence that it had even been damaged. Its eye swung towards Ed lying on the floor, and the treasure hunter flinched as its pupil dilated upon recognizing him.

"PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: LOCATE VALUABLE TREASURE. OBJECTIVE COMPLETED. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE IN PROGRESS: ELIMINATE KAMEN RIDERS."

The large drill began spinning rapidly before thrusting itself at Tristan, but the blue knight was ready. He caught the drill on his shield and planted his feet, holding it in place. The Irise swung its pick arm around to strike his side, but Tristan raised his mace and caught that as well. Before its other arms could get involved, Agnar came up behind it and grabbed the remaining two metallic arms and wrenched them backwards, relying on his immense strength to restrain the automaton. The Irise's eye flickered and looked down, as if realizing that it had fallen into a trap.

"Now, page!" Tristan yelled.

J.J. had already begun moving before Tristan had spoken. His thumb ran across the blue D-former, spinning it, and a sapphire engulfed him as his Driver shouted, "Critical!" As the die collapsed around him, his body disappeared, and the Irise's eye swiveled wildly, trying to figure out where he had gone. J.J. sprinted towards the machine and jumped into the air, before landing lightly on top of its body. The Irise looked up, but saw nothing, and in doing so, revealed the switch that it had been protecting under its body. J.J. simply reached down and flicked the switch, before gently jumping off the machine. He smugly turned around as his Critical wore off, watching as the Irise's red eye began to dim.

"No need to trash a machine when you can just turn it off," he commented absently. Agnar and Tristan slowly released its arms as the machine powered down.

"PRIMARY… SYSTEMS… SHUTting… down," the Irise intoned slowly, the red in its eye fading. Then, moments later, it flared back up again, adding, "SECONDARY POWER SYSTEM INITIATED. PROCEEDING WITH OPERATION."

J.J. turned in time to be slammed in the side by the Irise's pick arm, letting out a cry of pain as he was thrown into a wall between two of the caskets. He was left momentarily dazed as he looked up in time to see Tristan narrowly block the drill, while Agnar was forced to grab the spade and piston arms before it could swing them around. Oddly, the two stronger knights seemed to be having a more difficult time with the Irise even though it was supposedly on backup power. Unless emergency power doubled its functionality, he thought wearily as he dazedly pushed himself to his feet.

"If we must fight this demon, then let us select a different battlefield!" Agnar shouted, his feet sliding across the ground as he grappled with the monster. "There is no need to keep it here now that the trap is sprung!"

"Some trap, if we're struggling like this," J.J. muttered. In a louder voice, he called out, "Let's toss it back upstairs and kick it into the courtyard, then!" He glanced over at Ed, adding, "Will you be alright here for a couple minutes?"

"As long as one of those dolls doesn't come after me, yeah," Ed said. "I'll keep my head down. Do what you have to."

J.J. nodded and put his hand on his red D-former, spinning it. "Reroll! Class: Warrior!" the Driver shouted, and war drums played as he was surrounded by a ruby die. While still surrounded, he lowered his shoulder and charged into the Irise, trying to knock it off-balance while he had temporary protection. Thankfully, his strength had already been increased, and he was able to tip the monster up off of two of its legs. That gave Agnar the opening he needed to finish lifting it up, with Tristan lowering his shield and grabbing it under its legs as well. J.J. added his own strength as he slipped beneath it, and the three men jumped simultaneously. They didn't get the Irise cleanly through the hole already in the ceiling, so more bits of wood and stone rained down into the vault, but they were able to carry it into the great hall. Once there, they unceremoniously tossed it into the courtyard where they could fight more freely.

As the Irise struggled to get to its feet, J.J. gave his amber D-former a spin. "Reroll! Class: Adventurer!" his Driver shouted, and he was briefly surrounded by an amber die as he reverted to his brown-armored form. While he usually preferred to freely change forms to adjust to a situation, in this case he felt that his base form was the best choice, given its balanced stats. The Irise had too many options available to it, and even Paladin Class would have been a touch too slow for his liking. Besides, he thought with a slight smile, when it came to power, Agnar and Tristan already outclassed him by a mile. It was best for him just to play support in this case.

The Irise finally clambered to its feet in time to see the three Riders step through the doorway side by side, with Agnar standing in the middle and J.J. and Tristan flanking him. The draconic knight drew his massive sword and pointed it at the Irise, growling, "In my time, the penalty for thievery was severing one's hand. What is it in this era, peasant?"

"Usually, we don't go that far," J.J. replied, giving his sword a little twirl. "But in this case, I think that's a fitting punishment."

"A pity, then, that there are three of us, while it possesses four arms," Tristan added, resting his mace on his shoulder. "It seems we cannot divide it evenly between us."

"Then let the best man claim the fourth," Agnar said, his voice dripping with bloodlust.

The Irise's eye flicked between the trio, opening its arms in an offensive stance. "TARGETS ACQUIRED."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," J.J. murmured. "Alea iacta est."

Tristan charged forward, holding his shield up while trying to draw the Irise's attention. The Irise brought its drill and piston arms down on him, battering at his shield with the concussive and penetrating force of its tools, but the sturdy Azuron shield held firm against the assault. The spade and picks came down to attack him, but before they could, J.J. and Agnar were at Tristan's side, catching the limbs on their respective blades. J.J. was able to knock the attack to the side, while Agnar's blow cleaved cleanly through the pick, which clattered uselessly along the stone floor.

"You are still weak, peasant!" Agnar taunted him. J.J. glared in response, and he could almost see Agnar sneering as J.J. drew his sword back and severed the Irise's other arm, gritting his teeth as he put his entire weight behind the blow. Agnar scoffed, then turned to help Tristan.

The blue knight's shield had been holding against the combined assault of the drill and piston, and without the other two arms to worry about, Tristan could go finally on the offensive. He dropped his hand to his belt and pressed the hedgehog icon. Spikes sprang from the face of his shield, and Tristan lowered his shoulder, ramming it into the body of the Irise, which scuttled backwards from the force of the attack.

Immediately, both Agnar and J.J. jumped up to attack its eye, but the machine suddenly caught their blades on its remaining limbs and threw them across the courtyard with surprising strength, though both landed on their feet. J.J. noticed that the force it had tossed them with exceeded its normal attacks; it was almost as if the machine had received a boost of adrenaline while protecting its vital areas. J.J. wondered if it usually limited how much force it put into its attacks to avoid damaging its limbs, but could remove those limiters if the core was threatened. It was surprisingly human in that way, he mused.

With the immediate threats out of the way, the Irise turned its attention to Tristan and kicked him with its forelegs. Tristan caught the blow on his shield, but he was still driven back several feet as his boots skidded along the stone floor. The machine caught its balance and scurried over to its severed limbs, which had landed near each other. It lowered its body to the ground, scooping them up with its drill and piston arms, which split to act as claws.

The trio paused to catch their breath as the Irise regarded its arms with its whirring red eye. The machine then stuck them into the severed stubs, and from the top of the Irise, small spider-like machines scuttled out and began welding the arms back on. Simultaneously, the three men groaned.

"We cannot continue like this," Agnar said, sagging slightly from exhaustion. "Let us finish this now. The diary claimed that so long as we destroy the head, the rest will fall, correct?"

"Yeah," J.J. nodded, wearily putting his hands on his knees. "But every time we try, it protects its head, so getting to it is the problem. Shutting it down didn't work, so I don't think anything short of destroying the head entirely is going to take care of it. I don't know how much longer I can keep going, though."

"I would recommend, then, that we concentrate our energy into a single attack," Tristan suggested. "Our stamina will not hold forever, and I am confident that we can overwhelm it if we strike it simultaneously."

"Bold, Sir Tristan. And dangerous," Agnar warned him. "Did you not learn from our duel the folly of putting your hopes upon a single attack?"

"I did. And I am confident we shall succeed this time," Tristan said firmly. "For it is not one attack that we are inflicting upon this foe, but three."

"Well, that's reassuring," J.J. said drily, pushing himself up wearily. "Let's do this quickly."

The Irise finished welding its arms back onto itself as the three men ran towards it. Tristan skidded to a halt in front of it, while J.J. and Agnar flanked the mechanical spider, the trio standing in a triangle around it. Its glowing red eye swiveled back and forth, trying to focus on each of them, while it held its arms out threateningly.

"REPAIRS COMPLETE. PROCEEDING WITH OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE KAMEN RIDERS," the Irise announced.

"That is an oath you shall not be able to uphold," Tristan said, glancing at the other two as his hand dropped to his Driver. J.J. and Agnar did the same, and the trio spun their D-formers in unison.

"Critical!" the three Drivers shouted at the same time, and the trio were engulfed in amber, metallic blue, and vermillion jewels for a moment before their Criticals manifested in different ways. Tristan attacked first, charging forward as a holographic shield appeared in front of him. The Irise struck at him with all four arms, but they bounced off his shield harmlessly as Tristan jumped forward and extended his leg, yelling as he slammed into it with a kick that tore through the left half of its limbs.

Agnar's aura manifested around him as shimmering orange flames, and he let out a bloodthirsty yell of his own as he jumped forward in a straight kick as well. The fire burning around him seemed to propel him forward as the inferno assumed the shape of a screaming dragon's head, and when he collided with the Irise's body, the right half of its limbs were shattered in a fiery explosion.

The Irise was sent reeling, scuttling backwards on shaky legs, as J.J. took a running start and jumped into the air. The Irise turned its eye and watched helplessly as J.J. spun in midair, gathering momentum, before swinging his leg around as hard as he could while letting out a short yell. The flying roundhouse kick collided with the Pupil solidly, knocking it off its body and sending it bouncing away across the cavern until it struck the far wall of the manor, leaving cracks in the stone. As J.J. landed, he saw the amber pane of energy he implanted on it dissipate as its eye cracked, and the red light slowly dimmed.

"SYSTEMS… CRITICAL… FAILiiiing…." the Pupil muttered, its voice growing deeper and slower before it shut off completely. J.J. pulled out his diary and idly glanced down at the Pupil's entry. Its hit-point bar had finally been drained to zero, much to his relief. He let out a long, slow breath as he snapped his diary shut and dropped to one knee, looking up at the ceiling as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Alright… that was a tough one," he declared. Tristan and Agnar walked over to him, with the former offering a hand to help him to his feet.

"Indeed. A worthy opponent," Agnar said. Despite his words, however, he lifted the Pupil to eye level, appraising it for a second, before unceremoniously tossing it deep into the cave. J.J. heard it bounce across the stone floor a few times before falling silent. Agnar gazed after it for a moment before turning back to J.J. and Agnar. "I must thank you for your assistance in eliminating that menace… and chastise you for bringing it to my stronghold in the first place," he growled.

"To be fair, that was… Ed…." J.J. said, trailing off and glancing towards the manor. "Right. We left him in the vault, didn't we? I should probably go get-"

"You shall remain here. You have trespassed upon my domain quite enough," Agnar interrupted. "I shall retrieve him, and then I demand that you all depart. I have much reconstruction to do."

J.J. and Tristan traded looks as Agnar disappeared into the castle. Moments later, he reappeared, carrying Ed under one arm and the treasure chest under the other. Agnar dumped the treasure hunter unceremoniously on the ground – eliciting a cry of pain from the man – and then he opened the treasure chest and placed it in front of Ed, much to J.J.'s surprise. Ed blinked at the treasure chest, then looked up at Agnar.

"What's this?" Ed asked, frowning.

"Although you assaulted my fortress, you were not at fault for losing control of that machine, so I bear you no grudge. Furthermore, however indirectly, you aided me in removing a threat to my premises. Therefore, it is my duty as a knight to reward your service. Within that chest are bars of the most valuable metal that Almencia ever produced. You may take it as your reward. Now, depart. Never set foot within this city again."

"Of… of course not!" Ed stammered, looking down at the chest as a grin slowly spread across his face. "With this, I should be able to retire! I'll be rich!"

Tristan and J.J. watched as Ed pushed himself up and groaned as he began staggering away with the treasure. J.J. moved to help him, but the man waved him off. "Don't bother," he grunted, dragging the chest behind him. "He told me to get out, so I'm heading for the exit."

"But… you don't know the way…." J.J. began, but Ed was already hurrying away. Tristan shook his head.

"Astounding what greed can accomplish," he commented. "One would barely think he could hardly stand moments ago."

"Out of curiosity, what were those bars made of?" J.J. asked, folding his arms. "Was it some alchemical metal that Quintus created?"

"Lord Quintus, peasant," Agnar growled. "Show respect to your betters. To answer your question, Lord Quintus discovered a process to extract and refine and extract the metals in alum, creating a lightweight, silvery metal that has many uses."

J.J. blinked. "…Aluminum. You gave him a chest full of aluminum? Well… that explains how he could drag it out of here on one leg, if it's that light…." A grin slowly spread across his face, and he began laughing, much to the confusion of Agnar. Tristan, on the other hand, had been on the surface long enough to chuckle a bit as well.

"What amuses you so?" Agnar asked skeptically.

"Ah… aluminum isn't all that valuable anymore," J.J. replied. "It's quite common these days. The amount you gave him… it might net him a little bit of cash, but it's not the windfall he might be expecting. Though, honestly, I think that's a more fitting reward."

"Indeed? Surprising," Agnar commented drily. "In any case, since you assisted me, I feel that I must offer you a boon as well. What would you have of me?"

J.J. stopped laughing and straightened up, suddenly growing serious. If Agnar was giving him carte blanche, there was only one thing he wanted: information. "Just answer a question for me. Where can we find the Black Seraph?"

Agnar seemed uncomfortable, and he slowly looked away. "I must request that you not ask me that question. It would go against my oath of fealty to offer information that could directly harm my lord."

J.J. frowned behind his helmet, but he relented and nodded. Then his mind flashed to something else. "In that case… can you tell me about that crown? I saw it in Quintus' book, and I noticed you had notes written all over that page as well. What is it?"

Agnar remained silent for several moments, staring off into space. He seemed to be weighing the value of that information. Finally, though, he met J.J.'s gaze.

"What you refer to is the Crown of Almencia, or more specifically, the Crown of Domitius. If you do not know Almencian history, King Domitius was the driving force behind the creation of the Seraphs and their jewels. It was his desire to allow his people to assume any role they wished, and Lord Quintus' experiments were the key to achieving that dream.

"The Crown of Almencia was Lord Quintus' final creation. It was meant to allow King Domitious to use the power of the Seraphs to control the jewels. With the crown, he could stabilize the debilitating effects of the Black Seraph's powers, allowing the citizens to achieve their desired roles with enhanced abilities, absent of the monstrous changes that usually accompany the Black Seraph's gifts. However, shortly after the crown was completed, the island fell into chaos, and the crown was lost. It is my belief that the crown was improperly used, which was what led to the proliferation of monsters on the island and its eventual downfall. I know nothing of its whereabouts, but it is a powerful artifact, one of Lord Quintus' greatest creations."

"And you're looking for this thing?" J.J. asked, frowning.

"No. My objective is to wait for the jewels of the Black Seraph to mature and to deliver them to him. That is all," Agnar said firmly. "Though he allows me to hunt for Almencian citizens when I am not tasked with overseeing the fruition of another of your citizens."

"Could the crown be connected, though?" J.J. asked.

"Possibly," Agnar said evasively. "I cannot say."

J.J. nodded, folding his arms and glancing at Tristan. "You got anything to say to him?"

"Merely this," Tristan replied, gazing at Agnar. "You showed a side of yourself in the manor that I was afraid you have forgotten. You truly have upheld your oath to protect Almencia."

"You flatter me," Agnar replied, but Tristan held up a hand.

"However, I am disappointed that you do not extend that dedication to the citizens of this city. They are the heirs of Almencia, you know," Tristan continued.

Agnar lowered his head, before sighing and looking away. "Sir Tristan, you did not witness the horror that I did-"

"No, but I am witnessing the atrocities that you are committing now," Tristan countered. "You have slain innocents in the name of a nation that is lost, in the vain hope that it might return. A hope that will likely prove folly."

"I have no connection to these people, despite your claims," Agnar replied. "The Marks family are proven Almencians, hence why I obeyed Lady Marks' command. The rest, however, are descendants of those from other lands who merely reside in a city founded by Almencians. This is not Almencia, despite your assertion, so I feel no guilt in exchanging their lives for those of my countrymen."

"And what of the Almencian Diemons you slew?" Tristan pointed out. Then he added in a softer voice, "Like my brother."

"They… those deaths tore at my soul, I must admit," Agnar said reluctantly. "However, when their minds faded and they were consumed by their powers, they were no longer Almencians. They were mere beasts. That is why I have kept the Almencians I have found in stasis this entire time, so that I needn't bear the anguish of slaying them if they possess the Seraph's jewels and achieve Apotheosis. I would much rather achieve whatever goal the Black Seraph has with as little Almencian blood on my hands as possible."

"Yet you are still willing to stain your hands," Tristan said coldly.

Agnar folded his hands behind his back, looking up at the ceiling of the cave. "Suppose that two children were scheduled for execution for a crime they did not commit. One is your cousin, and the other is a stranger's child. The king grants you the chance to pardon one and condemn the other. Every time, Sir Tristan, you would choose family over the stranger."

"You are wrong, Sir Agnar," Tristan replied. "I would find a way to save them both, and to fight against the injustice that wrongfully sentenced them in the first place. That is what a true knight would do."

Agnar was silent for several long moments, as if mulling over Tristan's words, and then he turned around and began to walk back to the manor. "My thanks once again for your assistance today," he said shortly, jerking a hand towards the cave's entrance. "I have repairs to see to. Begone."

Before J.J. and Tristan could say any more, Agnar slammed the gates of the manor shut behind him with a resounding crack. J.J. and Tristan exchanged looks, before J.J. sighed. "C'mon, we should catch up with Ed, make sure he doesn't reopen that gash."

"Quite," Tristan said. The two turned and walked in silence for a few minutes, before J.J. gave Tristan a sidelong glance.

"You seem like you're calmer now. Did you get all that anger out of your system during your duel?" he asked lightly. "Or did fighting with him help reconcile you two?"

"Make no mistake, page," Tristan said quietly. "I still seek justice for my brother's murder, and I will duel him again one day. However, I must admit that I was mistaken in prioritizing vengeance over my true oath as a knight. I swear to you, never again shall I forget that protecting others takes precedence over my personal quest to avenge my brother."

"Good!" J.J. said cheerfully, deciding not to press the issue further. However, as he glanced over at Tristan, the knight still looked uncomfortable, even behind his helmet. "What is it?"

"I… also owe you an apology," Tristan said, almost meekly. "I should not have struck you earlier. My rash action has shamed me, and I beg your forgiveness."

"Oh, right. That," J.J. said. He paused for a moment, then suddenly swung around with a right hook that caught Tristan off-guard. His fist struck the knight in the cheek, and he was knocked to the ground. Tristan stared at him in shock, holding his cheek, but though he remained on the ground, J.J. knew he was more surprised than hurt.

"Page!" Tristan cried. J.J. burst out laughing, walking over and holding a hand out.

"Now we're even," he said, still grinning. Tristan stared at his hand for a moment, before ruefully chuckling as well and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

"You have grown stronger, page," Tristan commented, shaking his head to clear it. "In more ways than one."

"Who's flattering who now?" J.J. asked, still grinning as they picked up the pace to catch up with Ed, leaving the manor behind.