38. Unprecedented Teamwork

Arganan finally, finally got his metal leg. And he was more than ready to accompany Frey on a trip into the Sechs' base, as Frey (with help from Forte, Doug and Dylas) managed to get all the way across Maya Road and towards the entrance of said territory, where there now was an airship stop. The plan was that Arganan and Frey, as well as Doug, would head to the Sechs' territory, break in, and get the Rune Spheres.

But…they had one problem in the way of Arganan coming along.

"I object to this idea." Therius glared at Arganan. "The last time I was here, you literally crashed an airship and thought of going to Delirium Lava Ruins. You heading to the Sechs' base could seriously endanger your life."

"To be fair," Arganan glared back at him, "You got yourself injured in those same ruins when you accompanied Frey."

If Therius could roll his eyes, Arganan was more than sure the younger man would do so, if he wasn't in front of royalty right now. "Going straight to the Sechs themselves might also risk your capture. You may not be Count, anymore, but you are still Lady Calista's

"But if that's the case, why does Frey get to go to the Sechs herself, despite being the Princess?" Arganan argued. "She also risks being captured!"

Frey could only groan, shaking her head as she looked between both men. "As long as all four of us stick together, I don't think any of us will get captured so easily. In the worst-case scenario if one of us passes out, one of us could bring them back to the Clinic while two of us go ahead. That way, none of us are alone."

"I still think it's a reckless idea." Therius frowned, looking towards her. "Why not mobilize the guards in Selphia for this?"

"They're admittedly not at the same level as Sechs Empire soldiers. Nor do we have enough to spare to just form a squad and storm the base." Frey shook her head.

"Besides," Doug added, raising a brow as he looked towards Therius, "Frey here is literally one of the best fighters here. And I can also help her and the rest of us slip past the guards. I know we can make our way into the base easily."

"His knowledge of the base and her fighting skill should be an asset to getting us in there and stopping whatever Ethelberd's schemes are." Arganan finished, looking Therius in the eye. "And, of course, you yourself are a fine knight. Calista sent you here to help, and if you working with all three of us is going to help, I don't think we'll be so easily defeated."

"Hm." Therius paused, closing his eyes for a moment. A slow sigh left him, before he opened his eyes and finally made his decision. "If that is what you request, I'll join all of you."

"Yes!" Frey fist-pumped the air. "Thank you so much!"

Therius gave Arganan a look that seemed to say, 'I'm going to regret this decision, aren't I?'

Arganan couldn't help but chuckle a bit in response.

Heading on the airship to the Sechs' base was pretty easy. Surprisingly, nothing tried to shoot them out of the air or anything, despite the Sechs clearly being enemies with Frey and all that were aboard the ship. Arganan figured that there would be further defenses on the land, where the actual base was.

Arganan was right. There were quite a few soldiers, in fact.

And some of them, like the one soldier that previously attacked the town, joined themselves with the monsters and became stronger.

"How is that possible?" Therius asked, mid-fight.

Arganan found himself dodging many, many attacks. "I wish I knew!"

"I think the Rune Spheres have enough power to use the Omni Gate spell as is!" Frey called back, just as she knocked out the first of the fused soldiers. She swung the longsword she had with her, hitting the second. Arganna used his power to quickly blast the soldiers back, and Therius finished it off with a few slashes of his rapier.

Doug hit the third fused soldier on the head, knocking them out with the blunt edge of his sword. "Is that the last of them?"

"I think so." Frey took a deep breath, looking around, and Arganan took the opportunity to look ahead. He realized that there was someone else, pointing.

"We're not alone. There's one more."

Standing ahead of the group was an old, old man. His hair was completely grey, long and cascading past his shoulders, with a long beard matching to boot. He wore long, draping clothes that went down to his ankles, reminding Arganan slightly of how the mages in Lazulis dressed. The sneer on the man's face did bear anything but malevolence, however.

"Impressive, that you made it this far. That you can even defeat the Divine Dragons…even if they're just copies." The man spoke.

Arganan took a deep breath, pointing his sword at him. "You're Ethelberd, aren't you? Give up the Rune Spheres and we won't have to beat the crap out of you to do so."

"And you think you can challenge me?" Ethelberd countered, raising a brow. "You, the Earthmate and your companions have much to see. Try to catch up with me, and perhaps I'll be willing to show you."

"What?" Therius managed, but that was when several pillars rose up out of the ground between Ethelberd and the entire party, forming a wall.

"Damn it!" Doug rushed over, trying to slice at the pillars, but it was no use. "I've seen this before. These won't come down unless we find the switches around these outskrits."

"You mean we have to wander everywhere until we find said switches and turn them off?" Arganan asked, his gaze snapping towards him.

The dwarf nodded. "Unfortunately, yeah. We better get looking if we want to catch up with him."

"He wanted to show us something…" Arganan heard Therius muse. "Probably to brag about his power. This could be a trap, Princess."

"Either way," Frey managed, looking towards the white knight, "We won't be able to get those Rune Spheres back unless we catch up with Ethelberd and make him surrender them. Let's find those switches!"

The party found themselves running around the outskirts of the Sechs' base, finding one, two, and then a third switch to lower those pillars. Many mammoths, snow beings, and other monsters lurked around, however, making it difficult.

It also didn't help the whole place was so damn cold.

Arganan shuddered, brushing snoflakes out of his hair as best as he could while trying to look around. He and the others just activated the last switch meant to lower the pillars, and were on the way back to the entrance.

"My question is," He managed, "How the hell did the Sechs manage to have a base here? Are they just trained well enough to deal with these beasts and the weather in general?"

"I'd like to assume so." Doug managed, shrugging. The dwarf tried to get a few snowflakes off his bangs, shaking his head briefly. "Though I can't help but wonder if a mammoth or two ever tried to break in."

"I don't think that would end well if they did." Therius managed. "We can't underestimate those beasts. If they got into an enclosed space like this base, they might wreck many rooms before they are defeated."

"I do want to befriend one if I can, though." Frey commented, a soft hum leaving her as the four continued their trek. "I think their power could be really handy."

Therius raised a brow. "You can befriend monsters in this realm?"

Arganan stared at him. "No one told you before you came here?"

"No."

"You should try it sometime!" Frey beamed. "I have a Wooly called Woolia at home."

"Woolia?"

"it's a long story." Arganan sighed, and the four continued on with their journey.

They soon made their way into the base, battling even more monsters, soldiers, and activating more switches. Arganan wondered if the series of tunnels and halls would ever end, but thankfully, everyone found themselves outside again…just in time to see Ethelberd.

"There you are!" Frey pointed her longsword at him. "Just give up the Rune Spheres already!"

"Not so fast." Ethelberd held up a Rune Sphere in his hands. "I promised to show you something, didn't I? Omni Gate!"

A flash of light appeared, and as it faded, there was a small lizard-like being.

"Look at it." Ethelberd drawled, eyeing it with disgust. "So weak. So small. But…I have a piece of the past dragons with me." He placed down a bluish item that resembled a fin, before shouting, "Etherlink!"

The dragon and the fin melded together, and with another flash of light, the dragon grew, turning blue, with fin-like wings extending from its back. A mighty roar escaped the dragon as it looked down at Frey and the others, and Ethelberd laughed.

"Behold! I've found a way to create Divine Dragons at my own will!"

"What!?" Doug's jaw dropped. "No way!"

"I knew it was a trap." Therius muttered, taking his rapier out. "We have no choice but to fight!"

"I'm on it!"

The dragon lunged at them, and Arganan and Therius both swiftly dodged. Frey took the change to jump up to dodge, before landing on the dragon's back and trying to stab at it with her longsword.

"Frey!?" Doug stared upwards, bewildered. "Are you gonna be okay on there!?"

"I'm okay!" Frey yelled back, trying to stab the dragon multiple times. "I think I got it!"

"I don't know…." Therius looked up at Frey and the dragon, bewildered. "I think it might…"

That was when the dragon twisted in a complete rotation, still flying through the air. The Princess tumbled off the dragon's back, from the momentum, screaming as she hurled towards the ground. Therius instinctively moved to try to catch her, and Arganan quickly held up his own arm, activating his Outsider's power.

Frey suddenlys topped mid-fall, still floating in the air, but quickly landed on the groun safely. A relieved breath left Arganan at that, just as she offered him a sheepish grin. "Thanks."

"Incoming!" Therius grabbed her by the arm, pulling her out of the way of the dragon, that just tried to lunge at her again. It almost hit Doug in the progress, eliciting a yelp from him before he tried to swipe at its side with his sword.

"I don't think stabbing and slashing alone is gonna work!" Doug yelled. "Does anyone know any earth magic!? This is probably some sort of water dragon!"

"I think that was obvious from the fin!" Arganan called back. The dragon swooped towards him, and Arganan used his Outsider's power to try to block it with the barrier he created on the spot. The dragon screeched as it hit the barrier, moving its whole body to twist away from it and head for Therius, instead.

Therius sidestepped the dragon, trying to slash at it several times with his Rapier. "I don't have any magic!" Therius yelled to the others. "Frey?"

"I got it!" Spikes of rock came up from the ground, hitting the dragon, which roared several times.

"Yes!" Doug sidestepped the dragon, managing to stab into the dragon past its scales. Unfortunately, he was still holding onto the sword, and so he ended up getting dragged up into the air as the dragon ascended. "Whoa!"

"Doug!" Arganan grimaced, watching the dwarf scream as he got lugged around by the dragon. Even Ethelberd looked mildly disturbed, having not taken that into account, but he wasn't moving to try to stop Doug or anything. If this wasn't a life-or-death situation, it would be much funnier than it was right now.

"You have to let go!" Therius yelled up at Doug.

"Easy for you to say!" Doug yelled back, glaring at him. The dragon took a sharp turn, and Doug's grip slipped. "Damn it! No!"

"I got you!" Arganan quickly activated his Outsider's power, catching Doug and lowering him safely to the ground like he did with Frey. Doug landed on the ground safely, heaving in relief. Frey decided to use the opportunity to blast the dragon several more times with rock blasts, spikes of earth, and more. The dragon soon collapsed to the ground with a mighty thud, roaring one last time before fading into nothing. Doug's sword clattered to the ground, no longer embedded within a dragon.

"Rr…." Ethelberd frowned, but then it turned into a smirk. "So, you can even defeat those copies. Impressive. Though it'll take more than that to beat me…Come to me!" Ethelberd yelled. An airship appeared at the edge of the cliff behind him, and Ethelberd turned to board the ship.

"No!" Doug rushed forward, grabbing the sword and raising it as he tried to stab Ethelberd. Ethelberd turned to face him, and with a flash of magical light, Doug was thrown back. The dwarf hit the ground several times, sliding along the snow with a groan, and Arganan instinctively ran over to him.

"Doug!" A curse left Arganan as he tried to use what little healing magic he knew to try to help him. "Are you okay!?"

"Damn…" He heard the younger man mutter, before Arganan heard Ethelberd huff.

"Don't get in my way, dwarf." He hissed, before looking towards Frey. "As for you…I'll see you in my castle in the clouds. And you don't get a choice in the matter."

"What do you mean?" Frey asked. "What do you plan to do if I don't?"

"You'll see." Ethelberd swiftly entered the airship, and before anyone else could run after him or try to get on the ship, the ship rose up in the air, higher until it was out of sight.

"Doug?" Therius' attention turned to Doug. "Are you okay?"

"Sore…but fine." Doug tried to get up, only to trip. "Shit!"

Arganan barely managed to catch him in time, letting the younger man lean him as much as he could. "You can lean on me until we get to the airship." He managed, shaking his head. "I don't think we can catch up with Ethelberd now, but at least we know where he's headed."

"And we still don't have the Rune Spheres…" Frey sighed. That was when Arganan heard Doug laugh a little, before taking out a Rune Sphere from his coat.

"Actually…I got it."

"What?" A gasp left the Princess as she looked at the Rune Sphere, then up at Doug's smile. "How!?"

"You took the opportunity to nab it from him when you stormed him, didn't you?" Therius asked, eyes widening a bit. "That's some quick thinking, Doug. Good job."

"Thanks." Doug offered him a grin. "We gotta put this back where this belongs, and quickly. Maybe Lady Ventuswill can restore some of her health."

"So we only have three left." Arganan concluded. At least the entire mission wasn't all in vain, despite Ethelberd getting away. "We should head back and get some rest."

"Right."

The four soon went back in an airship after Frey summoned one, head swiftly back to Selphia. Though they didn't complete their mission entirely, there was still hope, now that they had one of the four Rune Spheres with them. However, the threat that Ethelberd gave loomed over their thoughts, and they swore to warn the town of what could possibly happen next.