A dull pain greeted Roszen as she woke. Krex hovered over her, lightly slapping her face. "Oh, I'm so glad you're awake, my lady." He helped her sit up. "Are you unhurt?"

"My head is pounding and it feels like I was hit by thirty-two freight trains--" she let out a groan as she stretched "--all at once."

Krex rolled his shoulders. "You essentially did. The Courtesan is definitely out of our league for now."

"I'm pretty sure Dante would have no problem." She got off the ground and steadied herself. "But she's not invincible to us, if only I had my Devil Trigger."

"Why do you think you'll need it?"

"It would even the playing field, if only for a moment."

"And if she has one?"

"Then I'm fucked." Her shoulders slumped while looking around, seeing where she came in, or what was left of it. They were in a long corridor and they were alone. "Where are we, and where's Dante and Lady?"

"My guess is we're near the cells; the slides were designed to drop prisoners to a cell, but with the way the floor collapsed many of the slides broke."

"How do you know that when you were an orb?"

"I'm still aware when I'm in that orb; I just can't really do much." He stood up and dusted himself off. "I'll eventually reform, but the closer you are to me the faster I return."

Roszen nodded and began to walk down the long corridor. They didn't speak for many minutes until Roszen looked at Krex. "Who's the leader?"

"Vurnomon. Nasty thing he is. Makes Mundas look merciful." He looked back. "I don't know much but if you have questions, I'll do my best."

"Do you know anything about a human woman named Briallan Goldworth?"

"No, we haven't had any recent prisoners by that name. Who is she?"

"My mother."

"My sincerest apologies, my lady. I should have known better." He bowed to her. "When was she taken?"

"Little over two years ago."

"Unfortunately, my lady, I wasn't summoned here till around six months ago."

"Shit... guess we'll have to find her the old fashioned way."

"Of course, my lady."

They walked in silence again. The corridor eventually opened up to the cells, a large cylinder room lined with hundreds of prison cells. Before they could enter, Krex pulled Roszen to the side of the wall. "Careful, they have an alarm." He pointed to what looked like a woman, sitting on a perch of some kind, about halfway into the room. "That is a Bloody Mary Banshee. If she screams, every demon in the hideout will know exactly where we are." The Demon looked like a small girl in a nightgown and was covered head to toe in blood.

"As much as I like a good fight, having that many will be too much." Roszen put a hand to her chin. "Will she scream if she dies?"

"No, but there's three more here." He pointed to the others that were stationed at various levels of height. "They might take notice if we take one of them out."

"Can you take them out with your bow?"

"Easily." He summoned his war bow.

"All in one shot?"

"...Not so easily..."

She thought a little more before her eyes lit up with excitement. "What if I gave you a power boost?!"

Krex looked at the Banshees; they were positioned in a vague spiral. "That might work... although it's going to take a lot; you might pass out from the strain."

She smiled at him. "I got my guardian angel with me."

"Alright, if you're sure." He turned around and knocked an arrow. "Just place your hands on my back and pour your energy into me. I'll transfer it into the arrow as I draw."

"Right." She placed her hands on him and took a deep breath. Red and violet energy went down her arms, and the engravings on her armor glowed the same as it passed.

To Krex, it felt like a slow trickle at first, then soundly he felt the near overwhelming power she had. Like someone was dumping gallons of water on him. "I knew my lady was powerful, but I never thought..." An image flashed before his mind, a legend who had long since died. "Is she...?"

"A-Anytime now, Krex!" Roszen's straining voice broke though.

"Right!" He began siphoning the power into the arrow. As he drew the arrow back, it began to glow with the same red and violet colors. At the apex of his draw, the arrow began to hum slightly.

"Princeps Venandi!" The arrow soared through the air. Flying faster than any bullet, it hit the first Banshee and before her body could fall the others were struck dead.

"Alright!" Roszen had both hands in the air in victory, but she didn't realize that she was falling backwards before Krex caught her. "Whoa... thanks, Krex."

"Anytime, my lady." He helped her straighten out. "Are you alright now?"

"Yeah, I should be fine now." She walked into the prisons. "Why does Vurnomon have so many people?" She went up to a cell, seeing that a few of the prisoners were women. "Are all of them women?" She leaned in to get a better look; they were alive, but they looked gaunt, unresponsive to Roszen's approach.

"Yes, unfortunately." Krex walked up to her. "They are being drained for their blood and are being kept alive. Though only barely."

"There's got to be something we can do?"

"As of now, there's nothing we can do." He pointed towards the ceiling. "The exit is up there; I'll carry you up."

Seeing that there was nothing she could do, she began to walk away, until something caught her eye. "What the..?"

"My lady?" Krex looked back to see Roszen walking toward a cell. The cell only had one occupant, a young girl.

"What is she doing here?" The young girl looked unharmed, well fed even. She had long brown hair, pale skin, and crimson eyes. The only thing she wore was some type of gray robe.

"Sometimes Vurnomon takes young girls for something. We suspect he tortures them, from the screams we've heard at least."

Roszen knelt down at the cell. "Hey there."

The girl's head shot up. Eyes widening, she stumbled backward and crawled back into the wall. "No... No, he promised; I won't go back for another three days! No please..." Tears started streaming down from her eyes.

"I'm not apart of his stuff." Roszen made herself as small as possible to appear less threatening. "What's your name?" The girl didn't say anything and just stared at her. "My name is Roszen Goldworth, and this is my familiar, Krex." Krex bowed to her but stayed back.

"Familiar...?" The girl let her guard down a bit. "Are you a witch?"

"I know a few things, but no, I don't practice magic. I hunt demons though."

The girl began to walk closer, but still had her guard up. "My name's Atusko Kagari, b-but my friends call me Akko."

"You're a long way from home." She nodded. "Can you tell me why you were taken?"

Akko hugged herself and shuddered. "He attacked my house. He was after my mom, but he found out that I wanted to be a great witch and told me if I came with him, he'd spare my mom and give me what I wanted." Tears began to fall again. "But he lied! He's done nothing but put me through some sort of torture f-for months and-and..." Hiccups started to form. "And he s-still too-k mom! I-I sa-w her last week!" She fell to the floor and started truly sobbing.

Roszen got up with gritted teeth and clenched fists, and looked at the cell door. It was attached only by hinges. Grabbing hold of the door, with Krex's help, they took it off without much effort. She walked inside. Akko stopped crying and when she saw Roszen coming, she began to move away towards the wall.

Roszen got to her level and opened up her arms to her for a hug. Akko stared at her for a minute, before finally diving into her and breaking out in wails of sorrows. After a few minutes she calmed down enough to speak again. "Can... can I come with you?" she said with her face still buried in Roszen's shoulder.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Akko." She patted the girl's head. "I won't be able to defend you very well." Akko's shoulders dropped. "But I can bring you to your mother."

Akko's head shot up from her shoulder. "Really!?"

"Yeah, which cell is she in?" She picked Akko up and walked her out.

"That one!" She pointed to a cell that was on the fourth row and directly opposite of her cell.

"Krex, can you fly us up there?"

"Of course, my lady." Krex picked them up and spread his wings out.

"He's really polite," Akko commented in childish awe.

Roszen let out a giggle. "I know, right?" They flew and landed on the narrow ledge in front of the cell.

"Mommy!" Akko got out of Roszen's arms and bolted to the cell. There was only one occupant, a near middle aged woman wearing a similar grab as Akko.

The woman looked up, trying to focus. "A-Akko?"

"Stand back." Roszen moved Akko to the side while Krex assisted her in removing the door. Once the door was removed, Akko ran inside and hugged her mom.

"I'm so glad you're ok!" Akko cried out.

"I should be saying that to you! I've never thought I'd see you again..." Her mother looked to Roszen. "Thank you for this, uh um Miss?"

"I'm Roszen. I found your daughter in the lower section of the prison. I would free everyone but I won't be able to protect a single kid, let alone a large group."

"I understand, Miss. I thank you for doing this at least."

Roszen began walking out of the cell. "I promise you this, I will be getting you all out." She and Krex put the door back. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"And where do you think you're going, whelp?" A deep voice called from the ceiling. They turned and saw something fall and land with a tremendous crash. As the dust settled, the demon appeared. It was large with dark red skin. A silver cannon for an arm bigger than themself was aimed at Roszen and had a shinny blade for the other. Its black legs folded like a bird's while a long metallic silver tail flailed out for balance. Two more silver cannons were folded into its back. The head was small and had sunken into its giant chest, and it was covered in a black helmet with white lights for eyes.

"Krex, who's that?" Roszen pulled out her knives.

"The Warden, Bogon." He summoned his bow. "This is going to be tough."