A while later, Velvet and Kurumi was walking around to find some information that would lead them in some direction but haven't had any luck yet. The duo of travelers had just talked to a merchant and decided to regroup with Sorey and the others to check if they've found anything on their end. Velvet and Kurumi walked back to the inn to see if they had returned from their little sightseeing when they saw Mikleo coming out of the building when they arrived.
"Hey, Mikleo." Velvet greeted, getting the water seraph's attention.
"Oh, hi, Velvet. Kurumi." Mikleo replied.
"Something wrong?" Kurumi asked. "Where's Lord Sorey and Lady Lailah?"
"Me and Sorey got into a fight in the aqueduct ruins under Ladylake." Mikleo explained a bit guilty. "He told me that I have no means to purify hellions as well keep me from becoming a Sub-Lord to help him."
"Do you know where they're heading after that?" Velvet asked and Mikleo nodded.
"They're heading forwards Galahad Ruins with Alisha, who just became Sorey's Squire, they are going to get pure water free from malevolence to use as a vessel for the Lord of the Land." Mikleo continued. "Lailah has been leaving letters for me to know where they are going."
"Then let's go." Velvet replied suddenly before walking away.
"Really, just like that?" Mikleo questioned and Velvet stopped before glancing at him.
"Yep, just like that." She repeated. "We don't want our Shepherd to get into trouble."
"But-!" Mikelo was cut off by Velvet raising her hand in the air.
"Did you forget that I have the flames of purification as well?" Velvet asked. "You can come with us if you like, it doesn't matter to me."
"You may need the power of purification to 'purify' hellions but you don't need it to 'fight' them." Kurumi pointed out. "You can fight, am I right?" Mikleo smiled at the two as they proved a really good point in everything and nodded.
"Let's check on our friends before they get into trouble." Velvet told them before they ran away to the direction of the ruins to help their friends.
Once they got to the plains outside of town, Velvet saw a special but familiar butterfly flying away which the therion recognize very much as it was Seres' physical form outside her body thanks to Velvet's new abilities. Velvet convinced the two seraphim to follow her but before she could lead them further, hellions came to them.
"Really now, they never seem to give up even though I'm stronger than them." Velvet said bored as the hellions was only a pack of wolves and snakes. "You two, stay back. I'll take care of this on my own." Velvet takes out her gauntlet blade and goes into battle.
"Don't worry, it'll be over in a few small minutes." Kurumi explained to the water seraph. "Lady Velvet is an experienced opponent, you have to be prepared to what's to come."
"What do you mean?" Mikleo asked as he glanced at the wolf before looking back at Velvet's fight without her fighting without much effort.
"You'll see." Kurumi replied. Once Velvet was done, she retracted her blade and turned back to the seraphim before she noticed something behind Mikleo and ran to them.
"Look out!" Velvet called out and pushed Mikleo to the ground before taking out her therion form to devour another wolf hellion. Mikleo just started terrified over the scene as the hellion was completely devoured into her arm and it turned back to normal. "You okay, Mikleo?"
"What happened to your arm?! What happened to that hellion?!" Mikleo yelled in shock and fear before Velvet looked at him serious.
"Like I told you back in Ladylake, I'm a hellion, seraph and human in one and the same being." The Nephilim told him. "My hellion powers are one of a kind, it allows me to devour malevolence of different beings and areas to get stronger. It's really useful when you get into a fight with monsters."
"A hellion that devours hellions is really a thing." Mikleo said hushed to himself as he stood up from the ground. "I never knew a hellion with such a power existed."
"When I was just a hellion, I couldn't spread malevolence as well as now. I never did." Velvet confessed without looking at him as she continued on the path. "I guess people just thought of me as just a monster and a freak."
Mikleo just watched at the black haired woman's back, he was still scared of her after what just happened but he could feel that Velvet wanted to look for him so he wouldn't get hurt. He didn't know if the therion cared for him or she was doing it for a different reason he didn't know.
While walking forwards the entrance to the ruins, Mikleo something knew about Velvet he didn't notice before. She's an experienced hunter as she checked the grounds for footprints and things that seemed out of the ordinary while following the butterfly before them. The trials led through to a ruined little village that probably had been abandoned for some time which made Velvet get reminded of Camlann. As they walk further away, they noticed the entrance of the ruins was already opened which meant Sorey, Alisha and Lailah was already in there and the trio could sensed malevolence pouring out of it. The entrance was like a cellar door with a wide and long stone steps.
"Mikleo, stay close to me." Velvet ordered him. "My domain protects you from malevolence."
"A-alright." Mikleo stuttered, still a little nervous around the Nephilim.
"I know you're scared of me right now." Velvet pointed out and the water seraph looked down at the ground, guilty. "I've seen many people with that same reaction but there's people who think this ability of mine can make something good to the world. It was an old seraph, who I thought as a father I never had, told me that." Mikleo looked at her with surprise over the small smile on her face.
"So you're not angry at me for doing that?" Mikleo asked and Velvet looked at him.
"Why would I do that when I'm used to it?" She questioned. "Humans can sometimes be too scared of things that misunderstand everything."
"What Lady Velvet is saying, people don't always understand new things that can't be explained from their perspective." Kurumi explained. "They won't believe in things that they can't explain. You've just experienced that yourself and the others will understand once they see it."
"You're right, I can admit that I was scared and still am. But I can see now that you just didn't want me to get hurt." Mikleo confessed and Velvet nodded in acknowledgement.
"Let's go, be prepared for hellions down here." The therion said and they walked down to the Galahad ruins.
As they tried to navigate through the ruins, the trio got into a couple of fights with hellions that was taken care of quickly. Velvet had memorized many enemies weak points and told Mikleo to go to attack instead of defense and support as there was sometimes hellions that were weak to water, like Arthur once said to her: 'Know your foes, and strike where they're weak'. Mikleo, on the other hand, was impressed with Velvet's experience and knowledge. He'd seen her sometimes using her Break Soul artes which changed depending on the enemy type. Kurumi was standing on the sidelines as support as the wolf explained that is because of her oath.
Kurumi explained that her oath to transform into a human but at the prize of being visible to humans and have to make a contract with someone with incredible power to use it, once the contracter chants a special chant, the contract will be fulfilled and Kurumi would be able to help in a fight together with them. Velvet then told them she didn't want to miss use her powers until it was absolutely necessary which activate another contract that makes Kurumi her bodyguard in some ways.
After some time, they arrived at an altar after hearing what must have been Sorey, Alisha and Lailah talking but they were gone when they got to the altar. On it was a beautiful blue and white bow and when Velvet was about to touch it, the Sorcerer's ring appeared on her finger and radiates a fiery red aura.
"This bow is a Divine Artifact, Simon told me about these." Velvet remembered as Mikleo walked over to her.
"A Divine Artifact?" The water seraph asked and Velvet looked at him, nodding.
"A Divine Artifact is what it sounds like, it's an artifact that have incredible power. It's one of the things needed to do a complete armatus, a special power to the Shepherd." Velvet explained as she stood up. "This bow has the power of water and can activate the power of the water armatus. I wonder why Sorey didn't take it with him."
"That's because I'm not his Sub-Lord." Mikleo pointed out. "That's what Sorey and I fought about earlier."
"I see, he doesn't want to get you involved." Velvet concluded. "Then you should take it, I can't use it since it has the water element."
"Okay, if you say so." Mikleo replied and took the bow. Just then, Kurumi got stiff and started to growl at the path further in.
"What is it, Kurumi?" Velvet asked alarmed.
"There's a great amount of malevolence further in, I can sense Shepherd Sorey's domain in the same area." Kurumi explained which made the two get on high alert. "They are heading straight forwards the hellions!"
"This whole ruin is crawling with hellions that are strong against fire." Mikleo said, remembering Velvet mentioning it earlier. "If Lailah is with them, then they won't stand a chance if they don't find another way."
"You picked up on my lesson." The therion pointed out impressed. "Sometime, I maybe should teach you and Sorey a few things about combat. Kurumi, let's go."
"I have their sent, I know where they went. Come on!" The purple wolf said as she ran off with Velvet and Mikleo right behind her tail.
They hurried in fast pace while avoiding many hellions to hurry over there, Velvet was the one who was worried the most. She knew Sorey was her son so she had a duty to protect him, even if the mother didn't know how or when to tell the truth now that Sorey knows about the Lord of Calamity. If her old past as a murderous monster was to get lose then she didn't know what to do or what Sorey and the others will do to her. Not even Kurumi know Velvet's true identity. The trio see what looked the light of flames in one of the corridors and hurried over there to see Sorey and Alisha fighting giant poisonous centipedes which was really hard for the two as Sorey was in the armatus.
His hair had gotten as long as Velvet's hair but in a ponytail and blonde, his outfit was white and gold with details of red while his eyes and earrings had turned red as well. He was holding a longsword in his hands that Velvet presumed to be the Sacred Blade from the festival, she found out when she accidently got lost in a giant ruins once where information of the complete formula to the armatus. So this was the first time she saw a complete armatus that wasn't fused with an Empyrean like Artorius but Sorey was out of energy to keep the armatus on as he transformed back.
"Mikleo, Kurumi! Keep the centipedes distracted so we can get some time!" Velvet ordered.
"Alright!" Mikleo agreed, raiding the bow as he was the only one that could use it.
"Roger!" Kurumi replied. Velvet ran forwards as Mikleo shots three water arrows on the centipedes, getting Sorey's attention.
"Mikleo! Velvet!" Sorey exclaimed in happiness as Velvet got to Alisha in case the hellions would raise again. "You couldn't have timed that bet…" Mikleo was walking right past him. "... ter?!"
"Lailah! Let me become your Sub Lord!" Mikleo said serious to Lailah.
"Are sure about this?" The fire seraph asked.
"He's sure alright, why else does he want to follow after you." Velvet replied, shocking them.
"Wait, hold on now!" Sorey said and the water seraph glared at him.
"Velvet and Kurumi taught me that I don't need the flames of purification to fight!" Mikleo retarded angry, still upset of the fight earlier. "Oh, yeah. You're right, I am stubborn as a rock!" Sorey looked at him confused. "I admit it. I'm hell-bent on becoming a Sub Lord. But there's something important that you don't understand!"
"I do understand! I just didn't want you to get involved!" The Shepherd exclaimed.
"Stop fighting and become friends already!" Velvet shouted, getting the two's attention as the centipedes got up. "Mikleo is already as involved as it is, it was his choice to come here. Do you really think that dream is yours alone?" The centipedes were about to attack Velvet but she takes out her therion arm absorbing some of their power and malevolence. "Rush Strafe!" Velvet takes out her gauntlet blade and swings it multiple times together with the power of wind that makes tornados underneath the hellions, which make them float in the air.
"Sorey! Do what Velvet says!" Alisha agreed as she helped Velvet fight the centipedes.
"You can hear us?!" Kurumi asked in surprise.
"Then that means Alisha has resonance strong enough to be able to hear seraphim and maybe even see them." Velvet mumbled to herself as she used a martial arte.
"This is our dream." Sorey concluded as he holds up his arm with Mikleo doing the same as they smiled at each other, Velvet took a glance at them with a smile.
'Looks like we both were right about them, Simon.' Velvet thought, remembering the day when the couple was talking about the boys' future.
"Now, Lailah!" Sorey and Mikleo said together and Lailah smiled while she was bowing, taking Mikleo's hand as Sorey got to the fight.
"Thank you for bringing Mikelo here!" Sorey thanked the black haired warrior.
"Like I said, it was his choice." Velvet replied, before focusing on the hellions while Lailah was saying the incantation.
As they fought, one of the many centipedes charge at the two but Velvet was fast enough to jump onto it with her therion arm at its head, devouring it was Lailah shortened the chant which shocked the water seraph a bit as Sorey now became his vessel as well. Mikleo now could join in the fight without worry.
"He already knows my true name." Mikleo replied, who the others presumed was for Lailah.
"Heck, yeah, I know it!" Sorey exclaimed and the two nodded to each other. "Luzrov Rulay!" He turned into the armatus but instead of red, it was now blue and was holding the bow but in a more detail.
Sorey now could shot water based seraphic artes with the bow as the whole team worked together to defeat the hellions, thanks to the armatus made quick work and stunned them for the most time as the centipedes were weak to water of all kinds in particular, the others had the chance to strike and defeat them. Once all defeated, the group gathered up.
"That was amazing, you two!" Alisha commented as they got to the two when Sorey took off the armatus, surprising Lailah a bit.
"Oh, were you able to remove it?" The fire seraph asked, Sorey and Velvet looked at her confused.
"Now that you mention it, it just… came off." Sorey replied.
"Wait, you weren't able to take off the armatus?" Velvet asked, not understanding the situation.
"When we first used it, Sorey could activate it but not take it off. We've been trying to figure it out." Lailah explained the situation. "He's a bit of a mess and complicated."
"I see. There's complications to his powers as the Shepherd for reasons unknown." Velvet concluded before thinking, 'Could those complications be caused by his powers that he got from birth?'
"Does it really matter?" Sorey asked them. "Besides, this means that I can now use the armatus at will, right?"
"Seems like it, but you still need practice to use armatization to its full potential." Kurumi suggested.
"Lost those training wheels? Look at you!" Mikleo pointed out.
"Shut up!" Sorey replied simply. "Mikleo, I just wanted to say…"
"Don't thank me." The water seraph cut him off. "After all, I merely did this for my own dream. With a little help from Velvet." The Shepherd playfully hit him.
"I know that." Sorey said and the boys playfully started to hit or even tickling each other. Velvet smiled at the scene that the boys finally got back to each other.
"Velvet, I was meaning to ask you about that ability in your arm." Lailah asked the woman.
"My hellion type is one of a kind, I'm what's called a therion. I can devour malevolence from creatures or environments but it recur that I break the core which leads to death." Velvet explained her ability. "That's what I did to that hellion that almost hit you."
"Lady Alisha, I noticed that you were able to hear Lord Mikleo and Lady Lailah's voices earlier. Do you have the ability to see seraphim as well?" Kurumi asked and Alisha looked at the wolf with a smile.
"Yes. Not only can I hear your voice but I can see you now." Alisha answered, her answer stopped the two childhood friends to stop.
"No way! You can see seraphim now?" Sorey said excited and Alisha nodded.
"Looks like you've gotten quite strong in just a few days." Velvet pointed out but saw Sorey starting to lose his balance and hurried over to him to keep him on his feet, like the mother figure she used to be to Laphicet. "You okay, Sorey?"
"Yeah, I'm just a little exhausted." The green eyed boy replied.
"It must have been all that fighting today, you should take it easy for now." Velvet suggested. "Let's get the water before heading back and don't think about you having a chance against a Lord of Calamity when you already get exhausted like this." Sorey chuckled nervously as the Nephilim knew exactly what he was about to say.
"Lailah, Mikleo, Kurumi… Please accept my sincerest gratitude for saving me." Alisha thanked the seraphim around them.
"It was nothing, I assure you. But you're welcome." Mikleo said and Velvet giggled a bit.
"I thought we weren't supposed to be thanking you!" Sorey teased him and the two once again started to mess with each other.
"Those two are really inseparable." Kurumi pointed out.
"No kidding." Velvet agreed, being reminded of Simon a bit but for a good purpose.
"All right, the waterfall is just up ahead." Alisha declared and they all nodded before they walked further inside.
After a while, the group arrived at a waterfall that was coming out of the wall into a basin. Velvet got down on one knee to look at the water to see if it was pure enough to be at the sanctuary, the water was crystal clear which was a sign it wasn't polluted by malevolence.
"Looks like it is as pure as it can be." Velvet concluded as she stood back up. "But we can't carry it, it'll get tainted by malevolence."
"Mikleo, do you think you can freeze this water?" Lailah asked the water seraph.
"Huh? Uh, yeah, don't see why not." Mikleo replied.
"When you freeze the water, it is going to be highly resistant to being corrupted by malevolence." Kurumi pointed out.
"Exactly." Lailah agreed.
"Very well, I'll give it a try." Mikleo said as he takes out his staff and swings it as a clump of ice came out of the pool which he grabbed to show the group.
"Thank you very much, that should be enough." Lailah said.
"Now, before this melts, we'd better take care of our other problem." Alisha told them.
Suddenly, something in Sorey's pocket glow bright and showed something shocking to Velvet. It was a vision with Michael writing the Celestial record with Velvet, Simon and Muse coming to check on him in his room before he got up from his desk to greet them but none of their faces was shown which was a good thing. Velvet remembered that day as it was just a couple of days after the boys births and Muse wanted Michael to meet them before he was going back to his work.
"You got an Earthen Historia?" Velvet asked nervous because it brought back memories of when she almost died in the hands of her despair and Innominat.
"Yeah, Lailah gave it to me in the aqueduct in Ladylake but I couldn't activate it." Sorey explained, looking at the woman. "How do you know?"
"Experience. It wasn't a good experience to see everything about myself repeat itself in visions." Velvet gritted, not liking to be reminded of that event. "They show events that already happened and are created through the flow of energy beneath ground called earth pulses, it's the earth that records history and sometimes comes up to the surface."
"So the one writing is the one who is the author of the Celestial record." Mikleo summeraced for the group.
"There are more Earthen Historia where this came from." Lailah told them. "If we obtain them, surely we can obtain more information about the past."
'Let's hope none of those are about me.' Velvet begged as she wanted to tell Sorey herself about who she really was.
"Oh, man, this is too sweet!" Sorey exclaimed as he ran a few meters away from the group with excitement.
"This is only the beginning. Don't get so worked up." Mikleo pointed out. "Remember what Velvet said."
"Right." The Shepherd replied before falling on his back. Everyone hurried over to him to check his condition as Velvet placed a hand on his forehead.
"Looks like he got a fever again, possibly for the vessel pact like before." The therion concluded. "Looks like I have to carry him back to the inn again just like last time."
"I better make more ice to cool him down." Mikleo suggested and Velvet nodded.
"It'll be dangerous with all of the hellions in the area. Milady, I think it's best that you devour the malevolence as much as possible." Kurumi told her.
"That's probably for the best." Velvet agreed, as she stood up to walk further away from them as she takes out her therion arm and struck the ground.
It had been a while since the Nephilim had devoured that much malevolence, it was satisfying in a weird way but this meant she was getting stronger. This way she would be able to protect Sorey with this power. As soon as the particles of malevolence disappeared from the air, Velvet took Sorey on her back as the group began to walk back to Ladylake so Sorey could rest up.
