Author's Note: Sorry for the late update. Had a doctor's appointment sprung on me.

"Iustitia!" - Regular Speech

'Mistress!' - Thoughts/Telepathy

[Justice For All!] - Skill/Ability Being Used

Beta'd by BigCC

Quest 2.7

The wooden elevator, as aged and worn-down looking as it was, did not fill me with confidence as it creaked and rattled its way up the shaft. Honestly, I was a bit amazed that it wasn't falling apart on me right now.

'Mistress! One must never tempt the elder god known only as Murphy!' Iustitia scolded me, forcing me to swallow down a small huff of laughter.

'Iustitia, Murphy was no god, elder or otherwise. He was a military engineer back in the late forties.' I responded in amusement. 'His famous saying was originally meant as a military acumen when preparing defenses; that it is best to assume that you will be facing the worst possible scenario in the worst conditions and plan accordingly. If popular rumor is to be believed, he hated the 'Law' that he inspired.'

'Really?' my Embryo 'blinked' curiously. 'How long ago did this human cease to function?'

'Uhm…I think it was in the late 80s, early 90s. Not sure off the top of my head.' I replied, trying to jog the memory of Mom telling me about him. Mom had liked those little history lessons; as an English Professor she'd always enjoyed learning the history behind all the little idioms and turns of phrase that existed in the English language. 'So a bit over twenty years ago now.'

'Hoh…that is most interesting.' the Maiden of Justice mused. 'Ah, Mistress, we appear to be slowing down. I can only assume that means we will soon reach our destination, best to be ready for battle the moment we arrive. The clamor caused by this infernal contraption will undoubtedly have drawn attention.'

'Right.' I silently agreed and readied myself. Given everything that I'd gone through so far in this hellhole, I honestly suspected I was going to be swarmed the moment we reached the top.

As I leveled Iustitia in her pistol form at the doorway, I was actually surprised that rather than another mob of [Lesser Remnant]s, I was instead met with the hulking forms of two [Greater Remnant]s slowly lumbering towards me with halberds at the ready, even as the wooden box carrying me slowly ground to a halt.

Thankfully, the boosts from [Quickdraw] and a single application of [Headshot] was able to one-hit K.O. the closer of the two hulking monstrosities (pulping its rotten head like a melon) before I quickly fired the five remaining shots into its equally grotesque friend and brought it down as well.

"Fucking gross." I groaned as I approached the fallen corpses. A part of me wanted to just ignore them, but I was far too practical minded to throw away free money over a bit of squeamishness. Both just offered up more cash and a [Poor Steel Halberd] each, so the Class Book from earlier must have just been a rare drop. "Seriously, why are the undead so…squick!? I think I'm ready to go back to the fucking rats if it means I don't have to deal with any more rotten corpses!"

'Agreed.' Iustitia offered enthusiastically. 'I know you have no more control over what foes we face next than I do, Mistress, but given a choice, could we please face ANYTHING other than the blighted already-dead?'

Glad to see we were in agreement on that.

I took a moment to look around the room that the definitely-not-OSHA-compliant elevator had released me into and couldn't hold back a frown. While Dad and I were both (technically) Christians, we were mostly non-practicing ones. I hadn't been inside a church or cathedral since…in a long time, but my new surroundings were definitely what I suspected a church's basement would look like…if it were left to rot for a few decades. Rotten and broken pews, lecterns and an assortment of other wooden furnishings were scattered around, as well as a number of broken, bent or just plain twisted brass crosses and crucifixes, several shattered or otherwise defaced statues of the Virgin Mary and a host of other such things.

Now, I was no psychologist, but the fact that the [Hill of Inverted Justice] seemed to end in a church had to mean something. A sense of Injustice born from broken faith, perhaps?

'Your idea certainly bears some merit, Mistress.' Iustitia put in her own two cents. 'Justice is an ideal based largely around faith. Be it faith in some higher power, faith in a system of law or simply faith in the goodness of humanity or the righteousness of one's own actions. Without such faith, that trust and belief, justice cannot exist. So, for justice to be so utterly perverted as it has been in this twisted place, a complete breaking or loss of faith would be a natural connection.'

I nodded in understanding. That did make sense. After losing his family and then his girlfriend, Hamelin's faith in any idea of a good or fair world had likely been completely broken. And everything around in this room was broken, rotten or defaced in some way; likely indicating that at least a part of Hamelin's mad quest of kidnapping and murdering Parahumans had been built around proving that justice (or perhaps God himself) didn't exist.

Oh crap…he'd gone and pulled a Bluebeard.

…please don't let this fragment be based on THAT bastard.

Shivering as I tried to chase the idea of an Embodiment based on the monster known as Gilles de Rais away from my mind, I stalked my way through the basement in order to find a way up to where I was sure the boss was waiting. Luckily the basement itself seemed fairly straightforward, a large, open-floored room with only the piles of broken debris and religious paraphernalia blocking my line of sight.

It didn't take me long to find the way out, a set of stairs leading upward…along with the monster guarding it. The largest zombie I'd seen to date, easily twelve feet tall, with a musculature that was simply inhumanly large, all covered from head to toe in solid-looking armor. It hefted an equally massive tower shield, with a shattered bronze cross embedded on its front, in one hand and a long spear in the other. Its name read it out as another [Remnant of Greater Injustice], but it had a star after its name.

'This is most definitely an Elite Monster, Mistress.' Iustitia informed me. 'I would advise approaching with all due caution. It is likely something similar to [Karkinos], though it looks like this particular Embodiment did not put as much energy into nurturing their personal guardian as Pequod did with his.'

No need to tell me twice. The thing looked like it could crush me in one hand. I'd empty out my gun into it and then see if could smash its armor using my Cudgel of Law.

Moving as quietly as I could through the heaps of broken and discarded wood and bronze, I made my way as close as I dared until I found myself in a good spot to take my shot. I raised my gun, fully reloaded from dealing with the two [Greater Remnant of Injustice], and felt the world around me start to slow down as [Bullet Time] kicked in. The first bullet screamed across the distance between me and my target and slammed right into the center of the plus-sized zombie knight's forehead. I'd been aiming for its eyes, but it was still a good shot.

The helm crumbled inwards, or to be more precise, the area around where the bullet struck caved in around it. On a living human being, that kind of injury would have crushed a portion of the skull and would have been, if not instantly fatal, then instantly debilitating and likely resulting in some severe brain damage. Against the Undead Brute I was facing, it merely sent it staggering backwards for a moment before it regained its footing and began to charge towards me, its lumbering footsteps shaking the room around us.

I quickly fired off the five remaining shots, but the Remnant managed to get its shield up in time and all five merely pancaked against it without any discernible effect.

That shield was definitely different from the one wielded by the earlier [Remnant of Greater Injustice], not only was that one blank, but it also seemed to be of a far higher quality as well. It was definitely better than the rest of the behemoth's armor as well. Probably some souped up equipment, befitting of an elite monster.

(Why it was just the shield I didn't know. Wouldn't upgrading its armor be a better use?)

With my gun empty I swiftly changed over to the [Cudgel of the Law] and counter-charged the [Remnant of Greater Injustice]. It wasn't that hard, the giant corpse was faster than any of its other oversized brethren but it was still as slow as heck, and the room was large enough that, despite my opponent's sheer bulk, I still had plenty of space to maneuver in.

Leaping over the brute's first thrust with its massive spear, I drove my weapon purposefully into its shield with a cry of "[Crushing Blow]!"

My tipstaff slammed into the tower shield with a sound like metallic thunder, leaving a massive dent in the massive sheet of metal for my trouble. Before I could wind up for another blow, I was forced to dodge out of the way of the damned spear that the undead was trying to shish-kebab me with.

Neither of my two melee weapon forms were suited for countering a polearm like that spear, so I was being forced to play hit-and-run until I managed to either kill the bastard or at least get a decent shot at the spear's haft to try and break it. And with the way the behemoth was waving it around all willy-nilly like, I wasn't going to hold my breath on the latter option.

It took me four more [Crushing Blows] to finally destroy the giant's shield. The undead brute actually threw the broken remnant at me (rather sloppily I might add, I could have stayed still and it would have still missed by a mile) before adopting a two-handed stance with its spear.

Well, this was going to be annoying.

I spent the next five minutes playing 'dodge the pointy stick' with the giant zombie, but finally I managed to land a [Crushing Blow] on its head, completely flattening it. That finally seemed to be enough to take the bastard down for good and the loot it offered was all the sweeter for the effort.

You have looted the Elite Monster Loot: [Shield of Broken Faith]!

You have looted a [Finely Wrought Steel Spear]!

You have looted a [Shield Knight] Job Class Book!

I took a look at the special loot first.

[Shield of Broken Faith]

Rarity: Rare

A Tower Shield forged from steel, iron and brass taken from a looted church and forged by the hands of one who has lost all their faith in God and Man. Despite the blasphemy committed against it, this shield still carries a bit of the faith that once blessed the church, granting its wielder greater protection in times of hardship. A smith of strong faith could reforge it into a far greater weapon against the forces of evil.

Defense: +50

Attack: +10

Passive Ability: [Faithful Defender (Weakened)]: Increases the Defense Bonus provided by the Shield by +20 whenever the user's HP falls beneath 50%. This bonus increases by a further 5% every time the user's HP drops by another 10%. If the user restores their HP over the 50% mark, the Defense Bonus will reset to normal over the course of 1 minute

"Huh, well that description certainly sounds like it could be a lead-in for some kind of side-quest." I muttered before shaking the thought off, there'd be time for that later, instead I moved on to the rest of the loot. The spear wasn't exactly intriguing, but the Class Book certainly caught my attention. 'Iustitia, any clue what this Shield Knight job does?'

'It is a High-Rank Job Class of the Knight Grouping, Mistress. It is primarily a defensive class, with over three-quarters of its skills being focused bolstering the user's defense in some way. It also allows the user to equip a shield as their main weapon as opposed to acting as only an off-hand weapon.' my Embryo offered as she analyzed the book. 'Though it does have a few attack skills, most focusing on attacking with the user's shield, such as [Shield Bash], [Shield Attack], [Shield Impact] and [Shield Avatar]. It is actually quite the impressive class if one is looking for a defensive build, albeit one hyper-focused on the user's shield.'

'Huh, I'm starting to think there's something more to the loot system, I mean getting a shield-focused Job Book at the same time I get an EM-generated shield. What are the odds?' I'd deliberate on actually using the Job Book itself more later on. There was no way I was just getting rid of it in either case, not only was it a rare loot drop but I also had no idea what other Forms Iustitia could take.

Some kind of 'Shield of Protective Justice' certainly didn't sound out of my Maiden's wheelhouse.

Putting such thoughts aside for later, I peered up the stairway as I quickly switched back to the [Lone Gun and Star of Frontier Justice] and quickly reloaded it before starting to make my way up as slowly and stealthily as possible, my gun at the ready. The stairway led up in a fairly straight line, but I couldn't see any hint of light seeping down. That meant one of three possibilities: 1) it was clouded over outside just like it had been in the Despair Dimension; 2) there was some kind of door or barrier blocking the entrance; or 3) the exit was inside some kind of building.

Considering that the dungeon I'd made my way through to get this far had been built like some kind of elaborate bunker, I was willing to bet it was going to be some kind of combination of the last two. It certainly fit the Dungeon's theme, and likely meant that the Boss Area would be somewhere in the building, like the Captain's Cabin had been for Pequod. Exactly who the embodiment had built itself around would likely determine the building and the location of the Boss Area.

As I'd expected, when I reached the top, I immediately found a trapdoor barring my path. It was also, apparently, bolted and barred from the other side. This was easily bypassed by having Iustitia change into the [Sword and Scales of Justice] and sliding the sword's blade into the gap, cutting through the metal chains and solid wooden bar with a bit of effort on my part.

High Strength stat for the win, I suppose.

Carefully pushing one side of the trapdoor open, I poked my head up to see exactly where I was...and my jaw dropped.

This wasn't just some church, it was a god-damned cathedral; one of the really old and fancy gothic ones you saw in Europe! It looked almost like some pictures I'd seen of the inside of Notre Dame.

In fact, this place could very well pass for Notre Dame itself…if Notre Dame had ever been besieged and left to rot. The walls were scorched as if it had survived some great fire and cracked in several places. The windows, likely once massive panes of stained glass, were filthy and somehow had somehow been discolored into various shades of red, causing the scattered light that managed to filter through to cast everything it touched in a bloody sheen.

"What on Earth…" I muttered as I looked around in bewilderment. "First a pirate ship, and now some kind of secret bunker located under Notre Dame? Just what was going through Hamelin's head to reshape his dimension like this?"

I was standing in the entryway of what had to be the cathedral's main hall. Normally such a place would be lined with pews and other such items. Instead, it was barren, save for a single red carpet that led up to where the altar should be. There was still an altar, but it lacked any of the finery or iconography one would normally associate with a cathedral's altar. This one looked like some madman had taken an axe to it with a crazed abandon; cleaving off several large chunks of it and leaving the rest as a deeply scared and barren mass of stone.

The discolored stained glass windows that stretched above it were even further vandalized, this time by three words written in what looked like German, all scrawled in pitch black paint and poor penmanship.

'Gott ist Tot'

'What does that mean, Mistress?' Iustitia asked, eyeing the words warily.

'It means 'God is Dead,' Iustitia.' I answered solemnly. 'It's a quote by a German philosopher by the name of Nietzsche; I suppose in this case it represents Hamelin losing all his faith in God and, I suppose, in Justice.'

Losing everyone he cared for, twice over and in such a similar way, must have utterly shattered any faith he had. A part of me could emphasize with that to a certain degree, as I'd lost my ability to trust in authority figures thanks to everything that had happened in Winslow. The biggest difference between us was that my ability to blindly trust had been slowly ground into the dust over the course of a year and change; Hamelin's had been utterly shattered by two brief, heart-wrenching moments.

I suppose which of us had gotten the worse end of the stick would depend on your perspective.

Standing behind the altar, its back facing me, and looking up at a partially bisected cross that hung against the back wall was a man dressed in what looked to be dark red plate armor, minus the helm. He was leaning on what had to be the largest sword I'd ever seen! If Iustitia's [Sword of Justice] was a hand-and-a-half sword, then this sword was most definitely a greatsword, one easily as long as I was tall.

"Anthony Lebowski was once a man of strong faith, both in his God and his fellow man. When his family was stolen from him, his faith in God was shattered. When the woman who helped piece his life back together was taken as well, his faith in humanity and its great lie of 'Justice' was shattered as well. And thus, Hamelin was born to carry his vengeance against the world that had wronged him so." the figure stated solemnly, its voice gruff and bombastic and seeming to echo with far more power than Pequod's ever could. It slowly turned around to face me, revealing that, like Pequod before him, it had inherited Hamelin's face, albeit altered in several ways. This remnant's face was sharper, with more aquiline feathers, high sculpted cheekbones and a bushy mustache. "So, the one who slew Hamelin and Pequod the Sorrowful comes to face me. Here to lecture and decry me for the wrongs my original committed before you try to strike me down?"

"Hamelin was kidnapping children and planning to murder at least several dozen people." I replied mildly. Granted the vast majority of those planned murders were villains, but the fact still stood. "I don't need to lecture anyone on how wrong that is, the facts speak for themselves."

"Pfah, right and wrong; such weak and petty concepts." the Embodiment sneered. "Was it right that Hamelin lost his family to some meaningless clash between overpowered fools!? Was what that damnable little psychopath Bonesaw did to his Emily right?! Justice, fairness, even that great lie known as God; all of that died within him as the truth of the world was laid bare before his eyes! All that matters in this world is power!"

With that he raised his sword with one hand and slammed it down into the altar; carving away another large chunk of the stone edifice.

"And thus, he began his quest. If the world would deny Anthony Lebowski the retribution he was owed, then Hamelin would take it by his own two hands!" the armored remnant snarled. "I am the living embodiment, the avatar, of that quest! And if you think that I shall fall as easily as that indolent wretch that named itself Pequod than you had best think again!"

"So do you represent Injustice, Vengeance or simply Violence?" I asked, largely doing my best to tune out his enraged ranting while also doing everything to tune out Iustitia's own ranting about how I needed to hack this foul abomination into pieces. "My Embryo doesn't seem to think there's much of a difference, but I have to admit to being academically curious."

"Hah! Very well then…I am Frollo, Embodiment of Violence." the Embodiment introduced himself with a dark laugh, before it scowled. "Since we all witnessed Pequod's final moments, all of we remaining Embodiments have chosen to take names for ourselves based on Hamelin's past. For mine, I took it from the villain of an Earth Aleph film that Hamelin's children loved, the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Anthony found his manner most disturbing, but I find I myself enjoying his character. Once I am freed from this damnable prison, I will continue Hamelin's quest, I will see that blood is paid to all those who wronged us and I will show this world the truth!"

"That's not happening, bub." I responded with a slow shake of my head; my eyes locked onto the now-named Frollo even as I did so. "Not while I'm here to stop you. Iustitia, Form One!"

"Yes, my Mistress!" the Maiden of Justice exulted aloud as she shifted into the [Sword and Scales of Justice].

"So you seek to wield the very symbols of justice against me…tch!" Frollo clicked his tongue in disgust. "So, your little pet represents the anathema of my realm; no wonder she seems so eager to spill my blood. Ha, I shall greatly enjoy breaking your toy against my knee!"

I felt indignation and a cold rage boil up from my guts. While an Embryo could repair itself with time if it was damaged or broken (or so Iustitia had told me), there was no way I was going to let that happen to her without one hell of a fight.

"Dead man." I growled out protectively, my eyes sharp and narrow as I focused on the Embodiment. "Fucking Dead Man Walking. And he doesn't even know it yet."

"We shall see, little girl." the Embodiment sneered back at me as it raised its sword and grasped it in both hands. "Let us see how well you fare against a foe that hasn't allowed itself to drown in self-doubt and despair!"

"I was more than enough to take down your original; I can do the same for some self-righteous knockoff!" I responded coolly.

Frollo seemed to have had enough banter, with a roar he charged forward; broadsword raised high in a powerful overhand swing. I had a very obvious counter that I hadn't had a chance to use in this dungeon so far, and I saw no reason not to use it now.

"[Balance the Scales]!" I shouted out, raising the scales in my left hand. The scales immediately began to glow with a bright ephemeral energy before it was unleashed in a massive wave spreading across the destroyed cathedral's hall. When the wave struck Frollo, the man-shaped construct staggered to a halt, his monstrous strength weakened and drained away by Iustitia's Skill to match my own abilities.

"Damnable little witch, what did you do to me!?" Frollo snarled out, hefting his large weapon with far more difficulty than he had previously.

"Figure it out on your own." I shot back with a grin as I activated [Lesser Sword Art: Sword Dance] before rushing forward. Activating [Blade Charge], I shot toward him so quickly that he barely had time to move his own blade to block my own.

I quickly broke our deadlock and began to attack again in earnest, launching several quick stabs at the larger Embodiment, each aimed at an opening in his armor. Each time, he managed to block me, if barely, by moving his larger blade to efficiently intercept my own. The level of skill and control he was displaying with his sword was simply inhuman.

'How's he doing this? Hamelin never showed any kind of skill with swords when we fought him, but this thing is wielding his like a master!' I asked Iustitia. I'd been a bit curious when Pequod had shown a surprising amount of skill with his own blade but had dismissed it out of hand as simply a part of his abilities. But for both Embodiments to have such an ability seemed…off.

'It likely has to do with Hamelin's former prisoners.' Iustitia offered. 'One of the Parahumans that Hamelin held captive might have been like that Über fellow you described. If that 'battery' was left fully charged when Hamelin fell, then it is likely it dispersed among his resulting fragments, granting them the ability to efficiently wield the weapons they manifest.'

Great. So, every Embodiment was likely going to be some kind of master warrior with their own weapon of choice. Just fucking brilliant!

We clashed several more times over the next minute, but neither of us proved able to break through the other's odds. Frollo was simply too skilled with his weapon and my own abilities made me fast enough to block or avoid his own blows. The look of mounting frustration on Frollo's face was probably echoed on my own beneath the mask.

"Bah! Were it not for that damnable witchcraft of yours, this fight would have been long over by now!" Frollo bellowed. "I will not allow this farce to continue another moment longer! Oh, Infernal Realm; I offer up the promise of fresh bloodshed, so grant me the strength of damned! Infernal Paradigm!"

The armored fragment's entire form was suddenly engulfed in a blood-red aura that seemed to radiate malice and bloodlust. A moment later he erupted forward, suddenly moving far faster than before.

"So you have embraced your sickening origins fully! Wretched Embodiment of Violence!" Iustitia snarled out as her blade form once more clashed with the greatsword.

"Averting one's eyes to the truth of the world to preserve such petty ideals accomplishes nothing, oh foolish Embryo of Justice!" the Embodiment snarled right back, each word accompanied by another swing of his greatsword. "I am what I am, I neither can nor do I desire to change that! By accepting my monstrosity, I gain greater power; and through that power I will exert my will onto this world! Through acceptance of my nature and my goals, I gain clarity and fortitude of purpose!"

Fighting like this wasn't going to get me anywhere. With his power boost, Frollo was slowly starting to gain ground on me and I needed to regain the advantage. I decided it was time I started making use of the abilities of my new [Captain's Coat of Constellations], along with my other Effect Gear.

"[Star Shower]!" I called and immediately felt my MP drop by a hundred. Above Frollo, a stretch of air suddenly turned midnight blue, dotted with innumerable shining white dots. An instant later those dots fired downward at Frollo in the form of fingernails sized motes of pure white light. Dozens were falling in each moment, and each that managed to strike the armored fragment dropped its HP by fifty points and left a small smoldering scar on its armor. It might have not seemed like much until you considered that, in the space of ten seconds, literally hundreds of those motes of had fallen and lots of little hits can add up to quite the bit of damage.

"Gaaaah!" Frollo howled in pain as he was pelted by the [Star Shower]. The small motes of light didn't even bother me, the few that came close winked out the second they were within an inch of touching my coat. That was nice, and gave me an opening to launch a [Blade Sweep] at the distracted Embodiment of Violence, gouging a deep line across the middle of my enemy's cuirass before I fell back.

I briefly considered taking the opportunity to switch Iustitia to another form, but I quickly discarded the idea. The [Cudgel of the Law] was even shorter than the [Sword and Scales of Justice], meaning I'd have to get even closer to big and angry and his very sharp sword to deal damage. As for the [Lone Gun and Star of Frontier Justice] that was just…no. With that speed boost of his, there was no way I'd be able to keep the bastard at a distance for long, and trying to fight a weapon like that greatsword of his with my pistol in close range was just a bad idea waiting to happen; not unless I was ready to deal a coup de grâce. Which wasn't a bad idea, honestly.

"Vengeful Cleaver!" Frollo roared in pain and rage, his sword's blade suddenly alight with a sickly crimson glow as he brought it up before swinging downward toward me.

I could already see where this was going and had a counter of my own

"[Lesser Sword Art: Vacuum Blade]!" I snapped out and sliced my own blade down, releasing the [Sword Dance] empowered skill at the same time a red wave of energy emerged from Frollo's weapon.

The two waves of energy met halfway, clashing for a moment in midair before they seemed to cancel each other out in a large explosion of energy.

"[Despairflame Shroud]." I commanded grimly, unleashing my trump card. Black-tinged green flames erupted around my body, enshrouding both myself and Iustitia in their protective grasp and making the Embodiment I was facing scowl deeply.

"Now you dare to call on the power you stole from Pequod!?" he snarled out. "Hypocrite! Usurper!"

I ignored his ranting and lifted a single foot. "[Despairflame Wave]!" I roared as I brought my foot stamping down onto the ground and unleashing a tidal wave of green fire on Frollo. It washed over the enraged fragment, scorching his armor and further winnowing down his HP by a nice chunk.

Then I shot forward with another [Blade Charge]. This time Iustitia's blade, empowered by the [Despairflame Shroud], was able to overwhelm Frollo's own sword, if only slightly.

The enraged Embodiment could only snarl as he was forced back a step by our clashing blades. "It is only because of your stolen power that you can manage this much whelp! Without Pequod's power you wouldn't be able to harm me!"

"But because I have his power, I can harm you!" I snapped back, a sharp grin on my lips. "And I still have one more trick up my sleeve! [Star Saber]!"

In a flare of light, a blue-white sword made of pure luminescent energy appeared inches in front of my left hand. Sending a silent apology to Iustitia, I momentarily dropped the [Scales] and grabbed the sword, before just as quickly stabbing it into Frollo's side.

"Gaah!" the Embodiment screamed in pain as I drove the blade into him up to its hilt. "You damned...!"

Leaping back and recovering the [Scales of Justice], I smirked as Frollo winced at the stellar energy blade that I'd left embedded in his body. Let's see him fight with that stuck in him.

"Foul little witch…vile harlot…usurper…hypocrite…I shall make a symphony from your screams!" the absolutely incensed Embodiment of Violence roared. "Enough of these games, enough of these paltry illusions. I will toss it all aside and embrace my demons to see you and your false ideals broken before me! Oh, Pyre of Malice; I offer my flesh for the power of those who have chosen to stand above all others!"

The red aura around him redoubled and I could swear that I could see the muscles beneath his armors bulge explosively after that. His face warped, human features seemingly melting and warping into something I could only describe as demonic; even as a burning red light overtook his eyes, wiping away thought and replacing it with a pure feral madness.

'Fuck me running! He's turned himself into a fucking berserker!' I though in alarm.

'Mistress, he's coming!'

'Holy shit!' I barely managed to dodge out of the way of a one-handed slash, the massive greatsword managing to split the stone floor where I'd been standing, pelting me with shards from it. I'll repeat that, he swung a greatsword that looked to weigh thirty pounds or so, with one hand and fucking broke the floor with it.

'Damnit, this bastard seems to specialize in buffing skills! Even [Balance the Scales] is struggling to keep his power suppressed!' I said to Iustitia.

'Indeed, Mistress. We must end this quickly or this abomination shall simply overwhelm us as he activates more and more enhancement abilities.' my Embryo agreed. 'Thankfully, he seems to have lost any ability to think in complex terms thanks to the [Pyre of Malice] Skill. That should prevent him from activating any more abilities until this one expires. For now, we must keep on the offensive and chip away at him before he regains his senses.'

My course of action set, I dodged out of the way of another wild swing and lashed out with my own fiery blade, scorching and scoring a solid line across the side of his cuirass. So lost in his fury, the maddened fragment merely let out an enraged roar as he tried to bring his blade around in another wild swing.

It was odd; despite his enhanced speed and strength, it was actually a little bit easier to dodge Frollo's attacks now than it had been before. There was no longer a thinking mind behind these attacks, just rage and feral instinct, and that made them…predictable. Combined with his boosts being restricted by [Balance the Scales] and the fight was likely far easier than it should have been. For every wild frenzied swipe and swing of his greatsword, I managed to score my own strike as he left himself wide open for a moment afterwards. The green-black flames of [Despairflame Shroud] licking outward to add further damage to each strike. Had I actually practiced with it before, I might have been able to accomplish more than the most basic applications I was using now. It would have been so easy to test and toy with my [Despairflame Cuirass] while scouring the lower levels of this dimension pocket of its undead hordes.

On the plus side, that meant that the [Well of Despair] had still been fully charged when I'd started wielding it against Frollo, so I wasn't likely to run out of MP in the middle of the fight.

The maddened Embodiment of Violence tried once more to bisect me with his greatsword, only this time his blade lodged into the ground when I hopped backwards to dodge, leaving him wide open for a moment as he pulled his blade free.

An opportunity that I wasn't about to throw away.

"[Despairflame Fist]!" I snarled out, punching forward and unleashing a massive surge of black-tinged green flames onto Frollo. The surge of flames struck him like a wrecking ball, sending the smoldering, smoking Embodiment crashing backwards into the desecrated altar. The impact was enough to break the badly damaged stone in half; a part of my mind couldn't help but muse whether such an act had any theological significance.

The impact (and hopefully ludicrous amount of damage I'd dealt) also seemed to knock the berserker back to his senses.

"Y-You…!" Frollo tried to rasp out, eyes locked on me in a hateful glare as he tried to force himself back to his feet.

"You know what, I've heard enough out of you!" I shot back, green and back flames roaring across both my arms as I shot them forward. "[Despairflame Torrent]!"

This time, rather than releasing the flames in a single concentrated burst, I instead poured them out in a continuous stream of fire. The torrent engulfed Frollo before he could fully rise to his feet, his eyes widening in shock before he was utterly engulfed in flames.

I kept the stream up for a full three minutes before cutting the skill off and letting all my [Despairflame] abilities fall away, leaving only the pyre of still burning flames engulfing Frollo's fallen form. I'd likely drained most of the [Well of Despair] in that last attack, but I was sure there was simply no way anything could have survived that.

So, I was honestly astonished when I heard a rough voice roar out from within the pyre. "Oh, Violent Flames; I give all that I am to wreak vengeance on those who dare to stand against me! VIOLENT TUMULT!"

With an inhuman roar, the flames that should have been Frollo's death pyre shifted from black-tinged green, to an eye-searingly bright red before violently exploding outward.

That was all I got to see before it suddenly felt like I was hit by a speeding truck and was sent flying backwards. I hit the ground hard, sprawled out on my back; though thankfully, I'd been able to keep my grip on Iustitia.

'Mistress! Mistress, are you OK?!' my Embryo asked anxiously.

'I'm…ack, hack…I'm good. What just hit me?' I asked, pushing myself up…and coming face to face with what hit me.

The pillar of flames was still there, billowing outward and upward with unnatural ferocity and still colored that unnatural shade of red. However, what immediately caught my attention was the massive, charred black skeleton (the remains of Frollo himself, it had to be) that seemed to be floating in the middle of they pyre.

Then the skull turned to glare at me.

"Fucking Christ on a crutch, you bastards just don't know when to die, do you!?" I groaned out in exasperation. Just like Pequod before him, Frollo seemed to have a second stage of his boss battle, this time as a flaming skeleton of all things.

The skeletal remains of Frollo didn't respond with words, instead it let out an inhumanly loud screech that almost made my ears bleed. Again, it looked like Frollo had been willing to sacrifice the last bits of his sanity for power.

Then the flaming skeleton raised both arms and fired off a torrent of flames at me, not unlike my final attack against Frollo's human form.

Luckily, I had a counter for that kind of attack. "[Bubble Stream]!" I shouted back, raising my [Black Buckler] in front of me.

A deluge of bubbles erupted out of my shield and met the raging jet of flames halfway. The two attacks exploded violently against each other, releasing a cloud of steam that momentarily blocked us both from view, save the bright glow of Frollo's new blazing skeletal form.

'Mistress, be warned, he is no longer under the effects of [Balance the Scales].' Iustitia informed me cautiously. 'His body no longer a fully physical one, so that ability can no longer affect him.'

'Fuck. Well, there's no way I'm going to risk you by getting close to that thing now.' I thought back grimly. Attempting to try and fight skeleton wrapped in a bonfire of flames with either a club or a sword just seemed like a bad idea, that left me with only one real option... 'Form Three, Iustitia!'

'Yes, my Mistress!'

In a flash, the [Lone Gun and Star of Frontier Justice] appeared in my hand and on my armor. Although the lack of multiple enemies meant that [One Riot, One Ranger] wouldn't kick in, the (relatively) longer range that the six-shooter had allowed me to fight this bozo without risking myself or Iustitia.

Raising the weapon, I lined up a shot through the clearing steam right at bastard's skeletal head. As [Quickdraw] activated, I decided to add in another skill as I pulled the trigger. "[Headshot]!"

The bullet screamed out of the barrel and flew with unerring accuracy towards the head of what had once been Frollo, smashing into the skeletal head with a loud CRACK!

The skull cracked under the impact, but it seemed largely unaffected by the hit…other than being even more pissed off than before if the shriek that followed was any indicator. Then it started hurling baseball-sized fireballs at me.

I quickly started moving, avoiding the flaming projectiles and returning fire at the fiery skeleton that didn't even bother to try and dodge, just tanking every shot I fired. Frollo's flaming remnants didn't seem to even notice it was under attack, it just kept shrieking and hurling fireballs.

A few of which were getting a bit too close for comfort. I couldn't keep dodging like this forever before the bastard landed a lucky hit and then I'd be down and this bastard would be all over me.

"Damnit. Looks like I'll have to use that skill after all." I growled as I reloaded for the fourth time. Raising Iustitia at the monster, I squeezed the trigger as I shouted one phrase aloud.

"[A Silver Bullet to Strike Down Villainy]!"

The bullet that shot from my gun this time was illuminated by an almost blinding silver glow as it streaked across the distance between me and Frollo's remnant, and when it struck the monster, the entire skeleton of the monster was lit up like a neon sign, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a timer starting to count down from five minutes.

Time to focus on defense until I can end this.

As if sensing that what I had done to it would spell its doom, Frollo's bony form let out a hollow roar as it started to spew out more and more flames. I just focused on staying out of the bastard's reach.

I really hoped that this skill was worth it, as I could only use it once per day AND I just lost exactly half of my remaining Stamina. The cost for using this Skill of Iustitia's was fairly steep, and the time I was restricted from being able to attack anyone was a pain in the rear, but if this worked like it was supposed to, then the moment I could attack again, this fight would be over bar the kicking.

This kind of situation would probably be a lot easier if I had a team or 'party' to back me up, but there was no way in hell I was letting my Dad anywhere near a dungeon without an Embryo of his own…

Huh, there was an idea, but it would have to go on the backburner for now.

Ironically, I barely dodged a fireball when I thought that.

"Gnaaaaat...!" Frollo's voice, far softer than before and now sounding like a mix of a fire crackling and metal being roughly ground together, seemed to echo out from the pyre.

"Holy…you can still talk in that form!?" I blinked in surprise.

"Killllll…willll killllllll youuuuu!" the thing slurred out.

Alright, it could still talk; that didn't mean anyone was still home up there. Jesus Christ, this was one messed up fragment if it was really willing to reduce itself to a state like this.

"Suuuure you will, big guy." I drawled out as I danced out of the way of another fireball. "It's not like you've been trying and failing at that for the past five minutes or so…oh, wait."

There seemed to be enough brains left in that skull to recognize the insult, because the thing shrieked again and tried to immolate me with another fire stream. I immediately raised [Karkinos] and countered with another use of [Bubble Stream]. [Silver Bullet] prevented me from attacking my target, but not from activating my own skills and items as long as I'm not using them to attack.

The resulting steam cloud made dodging for the next few moments a bit easier.

Finally, the timer reached zero, and I was free to finish this fight once and for all. I wasted no time, raising Iustitia's reloaded form at the giant skeleton's head and using [Headshot] once more as I pulled the trigger.

An entire corner of Frollo's burning skull was blown away.

"Kreeeeeeeeeeee!" Frollo, or whatever was left of him, shrieked so loudly when the bullet hit him that I thought my ears were going to rupture. It reached out with one flaming skeletal hand, and my eyes bulged out in disbelief as a massive sword appeared in its grasp, looking almost like a larger version of the blade he'd wielded in life except this one looked like someone had managed to forge a sword out of pure molten lava; it was black and cracked, with an unnaturally bright red glow pulsing out between the gaps.

Then the pyre surged towards me, bringing the flaming asshole and his unholy sword along with it.

"Oh, hell no!" I spat and proceeded to try and fill the flaming bastard with lead. There was absolutely no way I was going to try and block a blade like that with Iustitia; my Embryo might be tough in her weapon forms, but I was just noping that thing to hell and back. Even my [Black Buckler] wouldn't be much use; even if it could regenerate, that thing looked like it could split it in half with a single swing and likely take off a chunk of my arm with it.

Bullets slammed into the skeleton as fast as I could pull the trigger and reload, even as it reached my location and tried to bring its blade down in an effort to squash me, bisect me, or both. The blade was swung down, and I threw myself out of the way just in time to avoid being squish-sliced.

I rolled to my feet and started shooting again even as I began to run, each shot hammering away at Frollo's HP. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the large sword being raised, and noted that the mini-trench in the floor was half-full of bubbling lava. Shit, that's one literally over-powered sword if it had managed to flash-melted the stone it cut into molten form so quickly!

"Just fucking die already!" I shouted in irritation. "[Headshot]!"

Time seemed to slow down as the bullet screamed across the distance between the gun barrel it just left and the head of Frollo's skeletal form. It landed right between the eyes of the skull and shattered the head like a piece of pottery.

The pyre of flames let out one last keening wail before the flames surrounding the rest of the skeleton guttered out and it started to shrink back to normal size. Flesh and skin slowly spreading over its body once more before Frollo's original form was kneeling before me, though he was not in any shape to write home about. His armor was gone and his entire body had blackened into a single massive burn; it was clear that he was barely clinging to his existence.

"Hah...hah...hah..." the reformed projection was panting like every breath was a great and painful task. He looked at me as I slowly walked towards him, a sneer on his face even as cracks spread across his blackened skin, spewing a burning red light. "You...you aren't...any different...from me...Justitia...! We both...do what…we feel…we must...in order...to satisfy...our desires! No matter...how you deny it...we are alike!"

I sighed in a mix of exasperation and annoyance. Why did every single one of Hamelin's fragments try to drag me down to their level?

"Yeah, no." I stated simply. "I'm willing to admit that a part of me is doing this to get stronger, but that only a small part of it. The rest? I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do. I'm the only one who can enter these Dimensional Pockets, and you just confirmed that you and your fellow Fragments can leave them after you gather enough strength. I'm not letting you and yours continue Hamelin's mad rampage or turn my home into your personal battleground. Stopping you and yours isn't just the right thing to do, it's the just thing to do. And I am Justitia, the Master of Iustitia, Maiden of Justice, and justice isn't a path that I will walk away from, nor will I let it be confused with your path of selfish self-satisfaction, Frollo."

"Who are you...to judge me?!" Frollo snarled back. "You are…no judge… or jury!"

"True." I acknowledged as I raised Iustitia. "People get those, but you're not a person. At best, you're an angry ghost lashing out at the living, and at worst, you're just a mad dog bent on destruction. For you, all you deserve is an executioner."

With one final pull of the trigger, the [Lone Gun of Frontier Justice] spat a bullet that went through the Embodiment's head and out the other side. As Frollo finally shut up and started to collapse, his body dissolved into motes of red-orange light almost instantly.

You have slain the Unique Boss Monster [Frollo, Incarnation of Violence]! You receive 3000 EXP and $6000!

Generating Boss Loot...generated!

You receive [Black Burning Greatsword of Violent Tumult: Frollo]!

Huh...in spite of this place being the 'Inverted Hill of Injustice', the boss had indeed been the Incarnation of Violence...wonder if that's why he only seemed slightly stronger than Pequod?

Still, a greatsword? How the hell was I going to use that with my stick-like arms? Moreover, why would I use that if I have Iustitia already? Wait...did I get it because of the incompatibility between Iustitia and Frollo?

Shaking my head, I looked around the wreck of a room for where the cache of loot was.

'Mistress, under the window, in the reliquary.' Iustitia prodded at me mentally. I looked over and, to either side of the vandalized and broken statue of the Virgin Mary, were a pair of chests similar to the ones that had been in Pequod's secret stash.

"Come on out, Iustitia." I said. "I want to get the loot and get out of here before this place starts to collapse."

In a flash, Iustitia appeared beside me in her Maiden Form and walked towards the reliquary with me. I flipped open one box and peered inside. Three more skill books, plus a large stack of cash, met my gaze. I quickly put them away via my mirror and quickly discovered I was another $5000 richer. Wow. We could totally have the mortgage paid off AND fix up Dad's car with just the money I'd gotten on this one trip.

I'd look over the skill books later, when I wasn't in danger of the dimension collapsing around me.

"Ooooh!" Iustitia practically squealed in excitement as she opened the other box. "Two more system cards! And even some accessories! Three of them to boot! Oh, and this is an ingot of some kind of metal! Not regular steel either! We can look at them properly later."

As she spoke, she passed each item to me and I placed them in my inventory. Once the last item, a blue-gray ingot of metal, was sealed away, the statue of the Virgin Mary retreated into the reliquary and then moved to the side, revealing a swirling vortex of energy behind it.

"Iustitia?" I asked warily.

Moving to examine it, my Embryo nodded after a moment of study. "It's what the Dendrogram System emplaced to prevent the Dimensional Pocket from collapsing while we're inside of it." she explained. "You have to walk through it and activate your cloak's [Dimension Step] skill at the same time to leave. Then this place shall implode behind us."

"Better than being sent to some random point in Brockton Bay." I agreed with a nod. "Is there anything else here before we leave? Last thing we want to do is leave something possibly useful behind."

Iustitia paused and looked around for a moment. "No...there's nothing remotely useful left in this entire area. Everything of remote value in this foul place is already in your inventory, Mistress. Let's get out of this place. I can't bear to stand here a moment longer."

In a flash, she returned to my crest, and I sighed. This place was really getting her down, huh? Not that I blamed her; it was giving me the creeps too, even without Frollo around to focus the atmosphere.

Checking myself over by reflex, I straightened up and walked into the vortex. "[Dimension Step]!"

When the light faded, I looked around me, seeing the exact location where I had entered the damned Dimensional Pocket. Good, so the Dendrogram System's tweaks from when Iustitia patched some holes in it are working properly. Not getting sent randomly around my hometown every time I left a Dimensional Pocket is a relief.

Now that I was out of the dungeon and didn't have to keep my guard up as much, I sagged slightly in tiredness. I had no clue how long I'd been in that dungeon, but it felt like it had been half a day, even if the position of the sun just barely peeking above the horizon stubbornly suggested that it had been a couple of hours at most.

Sighing, I started walking down Captain's Hill. It was well past time that I headed for home. I'd go in, hug my Dad, have dinner, collapse on my bed and probably sleep until noon. Then, once I was well-rested, I'd fulfill my promise to Iustitia to give her sword and tipstaff forms a good, thorough cleaning to remove any traces of the undead I'd been forced to use her against.

Against my will, a smile crossed my face beneath my mask. Today had been...interesting, but fulfilling. I had to wonder what tomorrow might bring?