Tales of Xalthia

by xXGhostStalker

*DISCLAIMER: This holds no relation to Tales of VS. This is an original story* A mysterious lineage. An unimaginative power. Oblivious to Tsuki Himura, he defends his kingdom from evil and learns of a sinister plot. Forced to seek help, he travels the globe for much needed allies. Join him as he learns more about the world and about himself as something awakens inside him

32. Daemon Scourge -1st Revision-

Tales of Xalthia

Chapter 31: Daemon Scourge

Night has fallen over Chesberry as most of the crowds have shut themselves away in their homes. The only ones still out were the town guards and a few mercenaries patrolling through the streets. On the surface of things, it was an ordinary peaceful night. However, no one is aware of what's soon about to take place in the depths of one of the many underground tunnels beneath the town and the desert sands. The slave auction was in full swing within the tunnels and a fairly large crowd has gathered.

Most of the crowds were gathering in a large, underground room connected by a number of different tunnels lead into separate directions. The number of people piling into the room was no small figure. Many people had their faces concealed in order to hide their identity while some others were fully exposed. There were a fairly large number of bandits amongst the crowd with some of them seemingly on guard duty from the second floor balconies. There were a lot of shady individuals mixed in with the crowds. There was a small stage set up on one side of the room with a cage tall enough for an adult male to fit in.

Among the crowd numbers, Ramza, Elle and Lynette could be seen wearing brown robes with their faces partially covered up with a cloth. They were being guided by another individual through the crowds as they approached designated seats that were numbered. When they got to the seats, the individual who was guiding them took a few steps away.

The individual looked around the room to see that everyone else was too busy talking amongst themselves to notice them. "Your seats will be right here. Once the auction starts, try not to cause any unnecessary attention. Remember, your part and things should go smoothly" the person said. He then pointed to a tunnel on the other side of the room, behind where all the seats were. "If things go south, make a break for that tunnel. It will lead you out into the town outskirts" the person said. He then held his hand out towards Ramza.

Ramza reached out and took the person's hand and shook it, giving him a nod. "Will do. We appreciate the help" he said.

The individual nodded and walked away from them. After he left, the three of them looked each other for a moment as they huddled close to each other. In order for their plan to work, they needed to play the part as if they were here to buy a slave.

Lynette rubbed her left arm, feeling a bit uncomfortable because of where they were. She could overhear conversation from those nearby that were pretty sickening to listen to. Tales of abuse and mistreatment of Faeries, the roles that they're forced to have and other vile things. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. It's sick" she said in a low voice so that nobody would hear her.

Elle shook her head. Being an Elf, she was putting herself in significant danger because if people discovered her, there would be problems. Elves, while not technically Faeries themselves, they're still prone to subjugation into slavery. "Being in a place like this makes me understand why Elves don't leave their forest homes even more" she said.

Ramza took a peak around the room to see what they were dealing with. Each group seemed to keep to themselves mostly while others did what exactly he was doing. He assumed that they were probably scoping out the competition. "Really drives the fact home that this is really happening" he said. He shook his head and sighed a bit. "It's like he said, we just need to play our part out" he said.

Lynette nodded, holding her hand up to her chest. "So, we're only supposed to spring into action once Tsuki and Shadow give the signal, correct?" she asked.

Elle nodded at her, crossing her arms. "Sounds like it. Hopefully, they manage to free the captured Faeries and Beastfolk before the main event ends" she said. She then looked over towards the stage. "They'll be pressed for time since they will be coming in from a different area than we did" she said.

Ramza sat down in his designated seat and leaned back against it. "According to the schedule, that Foxkin girl that Tsuki met is supposed to be auctioned off first to kick off the event. On the off-chance that Tsuki and Shadow don't arrive before the selling bid, Mel will swoop in" he said. He didn't exactly like this place because everyone was spread thin and surrounded by evil.

Lynette shook her head. Ever since they set foot in this room, the feeling of overwhelming dread was palpable. She also felt a very dark and powerful force also at play which was very potent. There was no denying that what she was feeling was Arcanum. The only difference, however, was that it felt like it was on a much higher level than that of the normal Arcanum they've felt up to this point. It drove her anxiety levels to heights she's never been to before. "I hate to re-empathize this for, like, the tenth time but…I have a very bad feeling about this…" she said.

Elle was in full agreement. The feeling in the air wasn't normal by any means. "Yeah…me too. Something definitely isn't right here…"she said.

As they took to their seats to wait for the auction to start, the scene shifts over to Tsuki and the ninja who were standing in a small chamber with a number of beds made out of straw. There were splatters of blood against the wall as a number of bodies were scattered around the room. Tsuki and the ninja cleaned the blood from their blades as they sheathed them. The people they had killed were all wearing the same attire as the Skullblades. Based on the body count, they killed about 8 of them and in short work too. Some of them didn't even have the chance to draw their weapons. Most of those who were struck down were slashed multiple times, indicating that the ninja had killed the majority of them.

Tsuki looked at the ninja and was impressed at his skills. His movements were quick and precise with no sign of hesitation to them. "A ninja in his element sure is a terrifying thing" he said.

The ninja chuckled a bit, glancing back at him. "I'll take that as a compliment" he said. He then crouched down to examine the bodies of those they struck down. He seemed to be looking for something.

Tsuki stared at the ninja some more as he searched through the bodies. As he did that, time jumps back a few hours to when they met back at Lux's mansion. Everyone was pretty surprised that someone in ninja clothes suddenly appeared which put them all in defensive mode and ready to strike. That is, until Lux and a few of the maids and butlers stepped in to quell their worries. They were told that this was the person that Lux was working closely with and would be paramount to the success of their operation. With the misunderstanding settled, the ninja joined them in the lounge that they were in.

Lux breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone was just about to pounce on the ninja in mere moments if they hadn't stopped them. "Everyone, this is Shadow. He's the person I mentioned before. You know, the secretive fellow" he said.

Ramza tilted his head as he was leaning up against a nearby wall. "Don't see many of your kind in these parts. I didn't think there were any shinobi outside of Sirione" he said.

The Ninja named Shadow looked over towards Ramza while shaking his head. "That's because there aren't. Many shinobi were wiped out when the Syndicate overthrew the kingdom. There aren't many of us left at this point" he said.

Megrove, the small continent where the former Republic of Sirione stood, wasn't just a place where Faeries, Humans and Beastfolk used to live in harmony with one another. It was also a land where various tribes of shinobi and samurai used to live. Most of Sirione's military was made up of samurai and shinobi as opposed to your standard knights that other kingdoms had. However, after the fall of Sirione, many of the shinobi and samurai tribes were either killed outright or were forced to re-settle. It's unclear exactly how many of them are still around in the current day.

Cheria sat back in her chair, holding a finger up ot her chin. "If my world history is correct, your kind used to serve the late royal family. Shinobi and samurai were very prideful in your duties despite being on opposite ends of the spectrum" she said. She then looked over towards Phi. "Isn't Georg a samurai too?" she asked.

Phi shook her head. "While he may have mastered the art of the katana, he's, by no means, a samurai. He's just someone who's obsessed with their culture and the many different fighting styles they have" she said. She then drew one of her katana out from its sheath and stared into the blade that reflected a part of her face back at her. "There's just something when it comes to the katana that feels more versatile and elegant to an ordinary sword" she said. After a few moments, she returned the katana back into her sheath.

Shadow looked over at Phi and examined her. He was pretty interested in her. She wasn't born a samurai but he could see the same type of elegance and grace within her that his former peers used to have. It was pretty nostalgic to him. "It's interesting. I can almost feel a kindred spirit between us. You lack proper form and training but I can see the budding soul of the samurai within you" he said.

Phi shrugged her shoulders and sat down in one of the nearby chairs. "I appreciate the compliment but even I see that I have a long way to go" she said.

Ruko was interested to know more about Shadow but now wasn't the time for idle talks and pleasantries. "Getting back on topic, the slave auction. We only have a few hours before it starts, correct? So, what's the plan now?" he asked.

Lux nodded and stood up from his seat to walk over to a dresser. He picked up a rolled up piece of cloth and carried it back over to where everyone was sitting and rolled it out on the small table between them. It was the map of Chesberry and it's surrounding area. There were a number of places that had been marked as points of interest. Within the town, there was a building marked with a circle. Based on the location of the building, it appears to be the same one that Lynette and Ruko discovered while following the suspicious group. Beyond the walls of Chesberry out into the desert, there were two other points that were circled. They weren't too far from the town but far enough to make it hard for anyone ill-equipped to travel to. The two points were also in complete separate directions of each other, one off to the north and another to the south. Between the two marked circles, there were a series of exclamation points indicating something important was there.

Lux first pointed to the building that was circled in Chesberry. "There are three different entrances that lead to the auction hall. The whole thing is deep underground, connected by a network of tunnels and passages and all lead to the same place" he said. He glanced over towards Lynette and Ruko. "This area was where Lyn and Ruko overheard those people talking. This is the entrance that people use within town. Because it's hidden away in one of the many alleyways, people are able to come and go without much to worry about" he said. He then traced his finger over to the two circled points out in the desert. "The two other entrances lie in the desert not too far from here. The north entrance is used by the Skullblades and Syndicate in order to bring the captive Faeries and Beastfolk to wherever they have them held. With the auction closing in, there's no doubt that they have them locked away somewhere beneath the sands in one of the tunnels" he said. He then shifted his eyes down to the south circle. "According to my contact within the auction, this is used for those wanting to discreetly make off with their purchases and also doubles as an emergency exit of sorts" he said. He then shifted his eyes again as he points to the series of exclamation points between the two circles. At a glance, there appeared to be nothing of note there. It was a fair distance away from town. "This is a rough guess as to where the auction hall is. Somewhere in this area, buried deep below the sands. Each entrance connects to this space" he said.

Lynette examined the map while holding her hand up to her chin. "Hmm…if the three entrances all lead to the same place, then why don't we split up into teams of three and converge?" she asked. To her, that seemed to be the most logical choice. It would cut off their escape routes if anyone tried to flee.

Shadow shook his head and pointed to the southern circle. "Impossible. This area leads deep into bandit territory. We wouldn't even get close enough without being spotted and even if we did, it's heavily fortified" he said. They would have bandits and potentially Syndicate members coming at them from all sides if they were spotted. He then pointed to the circled building in town on the map. "I propose we send a team through the town entrance, disguised as if we were part of the venue while another team goes in from the northern entrance" he said. He then crossed his arms and looked at the size of their group. "There's just one caveat to this…" he said.

Nagi tilted her head a bit. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Lux scratched the back of his head with a heavy sigh. "They only allow a maximum group of three into the auction. Less people bidding, the higher the chances are at winning, you know. Which means, only three of us are able to get in through the town entrance" he said. He shook his head a bit before continuing. "To make matters worse, I believe I mentioned that only people that are vouched for from within the auction are allowed in, right? Which also means, we can only send in one group from that entrance" he said. It wasn't all bad though as he also had some good news to share. While Tsuki and the others were out scouting around town, he reached out to his own connections. "My contact in the auction has managed to vouch for three of you. All that's needed is for you to decide who goes" he said.

Tsuki tilted his head a bit before looking towards Ramza. "I think I will appoint Ramza as leader for that team. If things get rough down there, then we'll need some muscle" he said. He trusted his skills in battle plus his instincts as a mercenary could prove to be useful down there.

Ramza shrugged his shoulders. "Works for me. I was asked by a close friend of mine to find out if there are any mercenaries involved in this so this gives me the chance to find out" he said. If word were to get out that mercenaries were involved with the purchasing of slaves, that would spark a whole lot of problems especially when the Chesberry Guild Branch already has a bad reputation.

Lynette patted her chest, taking in a deep breath. "I'll go with him. If a fight were to break out, then he would be right in the middle of it. With my Healing and defensive Artes, he will have an easier time" she said. She was a bit nervous about diving into the heart of a dangerous situation but she needed to overcome her fears if she was going to improve herself.

Elle looked at the two of them and grew a bit nervous. Ramza was more than capable of fending for himself but Lynette was another story. While her skills in both Healing, offensive and defensive capabilities have significantly improved, she still has a habit of leaving herself wide open. "I'll join in. I'd be worried if it were you two. Besides, I need to see this auction for myself. As an Elf" she said. She needed to know if any of her kind had the misfortune of being involved.

Lux nodded as the first team seems to have been decided. "Great. So, the Infiltration Team will be Ramza, Lyn and Elle" he said. He then traced his finger over towards the northern entrance in the desert. "The second team is going to be made up of two members. The fewer there are, the faster the team can move and it'll be easier to stay out of sight. This team will be led by Shadow…" he said, glancing over towards him.

Shadow nodded as he shifts his gaze and locks onto Tsuki. "I would like Tsuki to join me. Out of those remaining, he's the only one capable of keeping up with me" he said.

Tsuki crossed his arms, tilting his head a bit. "Oh? And how do you know that?" he asked.

Shadow chuckled a bit. "You can't fool me. I can see there is much to you that I don't think even you fully understand yourself. I can feel the different energies swirling around you. My instincts tell me that you got potential and they're never wrong" he said. He then had a few flashbacks play through his head. It was just before everyone met up with Tsuki interacting with the girl and the suspicious man. As it turns out, he was watching that whole exchange happen from a nearby rooftop. He quickly took note of Tsuki's demeanor up to discovering the girl and his brief talk with the man. "Besides, I think you're someone I could trust and in my line of work, trust is a hard thing to come by" he said.

Allie put one hand on her hip as she pointed to herself. "If Master's going, then so am I. After all, we're a two-package deal" she said. That much was a given. No matter where he could have ended up, she would have gone with him so long as he has the Caliburn.

Shadow looked at Allie and examined her for a brief moment. Much like with Tsuki, he could feel a tremendous amount of energy inside of her. "You are…a Spirit…? No, that's not right. A Great Spirit…? That can't be it either…interesting" he said. He could feel the spiritual bond between them regardless so he really had no other choice but to agree. "So long as you don't slow us down" he said.

Lux nodded as the second team has been decided. "Right then. So, the Covert Team will be Shadow, Tsuki and Allie" he said. He then looked over towards Melphi. "As the Covert Team makes their infiltration, I have a task for you, Mel. Somewhere in those tunnels, I would like you to procure any evidence of Sirione involvement. Documents, materials, wares, anything you might be able to pick out. With your heightened senses, it should be easy" he said. Dragonkin have significantly better awareness for their surroundings that stems from their heightened sense of sight, smell and hearing. She should be able to handle things on her own.

Melphi crossed her arms and thought about the proposal for a moment. "A solo job, huh? So, it's alright if I let loose a little bit?" she asked, breathing out a small puff of fire.

Lux sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Only if you see fit. Just remember that this is supposed to be a covert operation" he said. He then looked over towards Phi and Ruko. "As for you guys, on the off-chance that things go south and all hell breaks loose, I want you to work with the town guards and any willing mercenaries to quell any threat that may affect the town. No doubt that the Skullblades and those from the Syndicate will retaliate against us if something were to happen" he said. With the bad reputation of the Guild Branch, he couldn't solely rely on them and the town guards aren't well-equipped to handle a concentrated attack.

Phi nodded, patting herself on the chest. She was used to this type of work already by now so this would be a simple thing for her to do. "Not exactly what I would have hoped for but I'll do what needs to be done. You can leave the town defense to me" she said.

Ruko was a bit disappointed that he would be put on defensive duty. He was hoping to be put in the action but after realizing the potential fallout, he could see where Lux was coming from. Given their past history up to this point, he was almost positive that all hell will break loose. "We'll keep the town safe. It'll be easier than fighting those entities we faced before, that's for sure" he said. From their run-in with the bandits in the desert, they weren't all that impressive to begin with but he could see the dangers of a concentrated attack.

Lux soon turned his head over towards Nagi and Cheria. "As for you two, I have a different task for you. From what I understand, Nagi is unable to fight as of right now because she lacks a proper medium, correct?" he asked.

Nagi didn't want to admit it but he was right. "Yeah. It's pretty frustrating. I'm getting tired of being protected all the time" she said. She wants to be of more use to them but every time she stops by a weapon shop, they don't seem to have what she's looking for.

Lux looked over towards Mina, who had been silent the whole time as she stood off to the side and nodded to her. She soon approached Nagi and handed her an old, ancient-looking book. The book had inscriptions of some strange language that looked like gibberish. Upon closer inspection, they were able to make out familiar symbols that appeared on the various types incantation circles.

Upon taking the book into her hands, there was an immediate reaction as the inscriptions imprinted on the book started to glow bright violet. Nagi could feel her own energies start to mix and blend into that of the book itself. It was a completely different feeling than when she tried to use other weapons such as staves and wands. Suddenly, the book opened itself up as the pages flipped from one to the other as if a powerful wind was blowing. Nagi stared into the blank pages as they turned and flipped and felt as if she were being sucked into it's pages. After about a minute of this, the pages reached their end and the book closed itself, letting out one final glow of light before ceasing.

Tsuki was confused at what just happened as he stood there in bewilderment. "What just happened…?" he asked.

Lux pointed to the book that Nagi was holding. "You mentioned briefly that part of the reason that she can't find a proper medium is because of her element affinity, correct? The element of Darkness is rather special and typically can only be wielded by certain monsters and unique individuals. As such, there aren't many things out there that align with Darkness" he said. He glanced over towards Mina who had an almost nostalgic look on her face. "Mina is also affiliated with Darkness. That spellbook used to be hers, back before she was captured. The Syndicate had done something to sever her connection with Mana so she was no longer able to read out of it. Eventually, the power of the book faded and to the average eye, it was no different than a blank book" he said. He saw the look in Mina's eyes as she looked at Nagi.

Mina recognized the reaction from the book. She had gotten a similar reaction from it before back when she was able to use it. "Open it up" she said.

Nagi shared a brief look with Mina before slowly opening the front cover of the book. To her surprise, the pages that were once blank all now had a strange language printed on them. "I…can read it…" she said.

Mina gave her a soft smile and a pat on the shoulder. "The spellbook recognizes you as it's new owner. It no longer belongs to me" she said.

Nagi flipped through the different pages as she read through a number of spells. "Is it…really alright for me to have this?" she asked.

Mina nodded at her. "I insist that you take it. Otherwise, it will just sit on the shelf and collect dust. Better to put it to good use than have it wither away" she said.

Nagi squeezed the edges of the book, biting her lip. "I-I'll be sure to take good care of it then…" she said. She felt energized at the thought that she would finally be able to be of assistance to everyone.

Lux looked over at Cheria. "I would like you guys to assist in our defense as a reserved unit. I know, more than anyone, how devastating the element of Darkness is. It could be our trump card, if things get bad. With Cheria's Darkness-infused archery skills, the two of you could be a deadly combo" he said. By packing Darkness into a small object such as an archer's arrow, a simple arrow could become highly destructive. If they're able to keep their foes at a distance with the use of her archery skills, then that would make the town defense easier.

Cheria didn't mind offering aid to the town. She was concerned about the safety and well-being of Tsuki and the others that were going right into the thick of it but she also had to take the townspeople into account as well. She wasn't sure if it was just obligation habits of a princess to protect the masses or if it was personal desire. "We can't just leave the town defenseless. If it will give peace of mind, then I'm willing to fight" she said. She then walked over to Nagi and locked arms with her. "Besides, what princess would leave her handmaiden behind?" she asked in a hushed tone.

Nagi felt a bit embarrassed when Cheria locked arms with her and got closer to her. "R-right…" she said. It may not be apparent but the two of them were pretty close. The time that she spent with her while Tsuki was away back in the castle really opened her up. The two of them were almost sisters, in a way.

Lux smiled a bit as they both seemed to agree with what he proposed. He then stood up and clapped his hands together. "With that, we have our Defense Team" he said. He then stepped away from his seat and started to pace around with one arm behind his back. "With the teams settled, let's get to the actual plan itself. It's a rescue-and-dismantle operation. According to the schedule given to me by my associate within the auction, the girl that Tsuki had met will be the first to be auctioned off as the main event. Our main priority is to free the captive Faeries and Beastfolk. That will fall onto the Covert Team. I'll have a team of guards on standby at the north entrance to escort the captives back to town. Once that's done, Covert Team will reconvene in the auction hall before the trade-off occurs" he said. He then looked over towards Melphi. "Mel will infiltrate with Covert Team and split off to find any evidence we can use against the Syndicate. Whether you find any evidence or not, Mel will also reconvene in the auction hall. If Covert Team hasn't arrived before the trade-off occurs, Mel will jump and cause a scene" he said. His gaze then shifts over to Ramza, Elle and Lynette. "When the commotion starts, the Infiltration Team will spring into action, using the chaos to strike down any hostiles while Mel or whoever attracts their attention" he said. He walked back over to the table he had rolled out the map and picked up to roll it back. "Once the girl has been secured, both teams will make their way back to the town entrance through the tunnels before reinforcements from the southern entrance arrives. There, our defensive teams will join in and fend off any pursuers" he said.

Ramza scratched the back of his head a bit. This plan sounded pretty crazy and borderline reckless. "Not the most elegant of plans, if I'm being honest" he said. He was expecting something with a bit more meat to it.

Shadow shook his head and glanced over towards Lux. "As much as I would like to agree, unfortunately, we just don't have the time to consider other options. People are already converging on the auction even as we speak" he said. He then looked out the back window up towards the sky. "The auction is set to open for buyers at 8:00 with it commencing operation an hour later" he said.

Elle thought about the timeframe that they had to work with and it wasn't really ideal considering the scale of the operation. "An hour…not a whole lot of time to work with" she said.

Shadow nodded and turned his head towards the group. "Exactly. Which means, we'll need to be quick as I don't expect the main event to last any longer than 10 minutes" he said.

Lux looked out through the window to gaze at the slow, moving clouds. "We got a few hours before our plan commences. Make sure everyone is squared away. Covert Team will have to leave ahead of everyone else so that they can synchronize with the Infiltration Team. Give yourselves time to make a trek out into the desert" he said. He was a bit worried about this plan but with their skills and how much faith Raiku has in them, they shouldn't have much of a problem. "Everyone knows their assignments so get ready. Things are about to get hectic around here…" he said.

Everyone continued to talk for a bit more before going separate ways to prepare for the operation. They visited the shops to stock up on items and checked their equipment at the local weapon shops and smithy. The hours seemed to crawl at a snail's pace until finally the sun started to set. Shadow, Melphi Tsuki and Allie had already left town prior to the sun going down with a team of guards as they made their way to get themselves into position to infiltrate through the northern entrance. Ramza, Elle and Lynette headed out to meet up with the contact that Lux had been mentioning and everyone else had spread out across town to prepare their defensive lines in case things fell apart.

As the sun was setting, Ramza, Elle and Phi were walking into the markets and waited at the spot they were told to meet up. Most of the streets started to empty out as people were heading home for the night and the shops have all pretty much closed their doors for the night. Aside from a few lingering townspeople and merchants, it was pretty easy for them to stand out.

Lynette looked around the markets, looking a bit nervous. She knows that chaos will eventually start up so she couldn't help but be a little worried. "I hope the town's going to be okay…" she said.

Ramza shook his head and patted her on the shoulder. "I wouldn't be too worried. I reached out to Seara while we were waiting and she said that she's got the place covered" he said. She did mention that if he needed any help, he should reach out to her, after all.

Elle crossed her arms, tilting her head a bit with one eye closed as she looked at him. "She's that mercenary friend you mentioned, right? You two seem to be pretty close" she said

Ramza looked over at Elle. "What makes you say that?" he asked. Her comment caught him by surprise as he didn't expect her to say that out of the blue.

Elle had a gut instinct that there was something between the two of them. She then pointed to her face. "Your facial expression and voice seem to be more relaxed when you talk about her" she said.

Ramza scoffed a bit, crossing his arms as he looked away. "You're just imagining things. I think you spent too long out in the heat" he said, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Lynette held a finger up to her chin. She had the inexplicable urge to tease him. "Really? I think she's right. We've known each other for a while now but every time you seem to mention this "close friend", you seem more…gentle" she said. It was a very subtle thing but as a girl, she's able to pick on it. "It may not be as evident compared to what Tsuki and Cheria have but I can definitely see the hints" she said.

Ramza couldn't help but shudder a bit at the thought of Seara acting like Cheria whenever those two have their little moments. "I can't even imagine that. She's wild and too much of a loose cannon. I don't think I'd survive if she was anything like Cheria. I'd…probably die from cringe" he said. Seara gave him more trouble than they would think but despite that, he doesn't make a single complaint.

Elle gave Ramza a blank stare as if she were judging him. "Way to be dramatic about it. I almost feel sorry for the poor girl" she said.

As they talked, a person wearing a brown robe came out from a nearby alleyway and approached them. The figure examined the small group before taking the hood of the robe off. Underneath it was a young man who appeared to be in his early 30s with dark brown, spikey hair and blue eyes.

The figure showed them a letter that was addressed to him by Lux to prove his identity. "So, you're the Infiltration Team, huh? Not quite what I expected…" he said. He didn't really know what to expect when he was told that a group of trusted individuals would be participating in this operation. But, he found comfort in the fact that they seemed capable enough to handle the task.

Ramza looked at the man. "And you must be his contact within the auction" he said, crossing his arms.

The man nodded and patted his chest. "The name's Colin Olsen. Stick with me and we'll get through this. I've been working undercover for a while now so as long as you do what I say, things should go smoothly" he said.

Lynette was still feeling a little nervous. She was getting flashbacks to when she and Tsuki infiltrated Prophet Castle. "Any advice?" she asked.

Colin shrugged his shoulders. "Act like you belong here. That's the best thing I could offer with advice" he said. He then pulled out three other brown robes from underneath his own along with some cloth. "Put these on. It'll help you blend in with everyone else. The cloths will help conceal your identity so make sure you cover your face" he said.

They each took a brown robe and cloth from him and put them on over their current equipment. The robes were big enough to conceal weapons and armor and half of their faces were covered. The hood from the robe also adds a bit of concealment.

Once they all had their robes and facial cloths on, Colin pulled his hood back over his head and concealed his face with the cloth that was hanging around his neck. "Follow me. I'll lead the way" he said. He took a few steps forward before stopping for a moment to look back at them. "Oh…and let me do the talking, okay?" he asked.

The four of them made their way down the alleyway that Lynette and Ruko had been before. The now darkened alley had a certain level of creepiness as they walked through the darkness. Eventually, they arrived at the dead end opening where they approached the people standing guard. Colin worked his magic as he introduced Ramza, Elle and Lynette as potential buyers. With his reputation within the auction, they managed to get in relatively easy.

The scene then shifts over to the desert where Tsuki, Melphi, Shadow and Allie were using the high dunes as cover to hide from those standing guard near the northern entrance. The northern entrance was part of a series of ruins with another one of those stone doors that they saw previously. Only this time, the doors were wide open as caravans carrying cages of captive Faeries and Beastfolk could be seen entering through the tunnels. There were about three caravans in total and each of them carried about 10 people in each. They did the best they could to scout out how many guards they had to deal with before approaching the entrance and counted roughly 5 of them.

After a few minutes had passed, the last caravan entered through the door as the guards gathered by it. By observation, they were getting ready to close the door so the three of them needed to act quick. They instructed the guards that they brought with them to hang back while the three of them went out to quickly deal with the enemy before they lose their chance. As they were about ready to close the stone door, both of them used planks of wood they found lying nearby to ski down the sandy slopes of the dunes. They came in so fast that the guards barely had time to react.

Shadow propelled himself off the plank of wood with incredible speed, drawing the two shortswords and delivering a quick cross-shaped slash to one of the guards, killing him almost instantly. Another guard drew their sword and charged at him while Shadow had his back turned but he quickly spun around and delivered an uppercut slash across their chest, making them stumble and fall back.

A third tried to launch off a few arrows at him but was quickly struck down when Melphi stepped in the way and used her tail to grab onto the person's ankle, spun around and slammed him hard against a nearby boulder.

The remaining two quickly tried to shut the door but were immediately stopped when one of them got blasted away when a rock pillar created by Allie shot out from the sand. Tsuki soon came charging in with the Caliburn drawn and slashed him across the waist, killing him. As for the one that got blasted away by Allie, he was only knocked unconscious. With the guards taken care of, the ones that they brought with them rejoined them and restrained the one that was unconscious.

Shadow used an Arte similar to Lynette's chains of light to bind the person's hands and feet and left him tied to one of the nearby stone pillars. He then approached one of the guards who appeared to be of higher rank than the others. "On the chance that Mel fails to find any hard evidence, the next best thing is a live confession. The bindings I placed on him will keep him restrained so you don't have to worry. Take him back to town with the other captives when the time comes" he said.

The guard captain saluted Shadow with a sharp heel click of his iron greaves. "You got it. In the meantime, we'll standby out here" he said.

Tsuki swung his sword to clean the blood off it before putting it back in its sheath. "Those caravans…we could potentially use those to carry the captives back to town" he said.

Shadow also took note of the caravans. They seemed to be powered by Earth and Wind Artes which was of a similar design as to what the Sand Surfers use. "We'll try to re-purpose them for our own needs. There's a good chance that some captives may not be able to have the strength to travel across these sands" he said. They had taken into account later on after their mission briefing that some may be too injured, weak or malnourished to make the trek across the desert. They weren't sure just how they were transporting the captives across the sands but now they have their answer.

Allie pointed over to the horizon as the sun started to go down beyond the sand dunes. "Master, it's about that time" she said.

Melphi nodded at them as she stood by the tunnel entrance. Using her enhanced sense of hearing, she was able to confirm that there were no sounds coming from the tunnels. "I'll be going ahead first then. I'll clear out any obstacles that might be in your way. Good luck" she said. Suddenly, a pair of wings had formed on her back. Based on what she was able to hear, there was quite a bit of distance to travel through the tunnels as they ran deep. She used her own abilities to take flight and made her way in.

Shadow was a bit concerned about her. Not for her safety but for level of self-control. "Something tells me that she's just a little too eager…" she said. He then looked at Tsuki and Allie. "We better get a move on ourselves. We only have a limited amount of time to free the captives and get them back her before we reconvene so we'll need to be quick" he said. His gaze shifted down at Allie. "Can you keep up?" he asked.

Allie gave him a casual salute. "Allie won't slow you down. I'll hide myself away until it's time" she said. She then disappeared in a flash of light as she retreated into the Caliburn. "I've got a convenient way to travel, after all!" she said telepathically.

Shadow shrugged his shoulders. "That works too" he said. He then glanced back at the guards, giving them a nod. "We'll try to be quick" he said.

With that said, the two of them dashed off into the tunnels, leaving the entrance guarded by the town guards. The tunnel was a straightforward path for most of the way and dimly lit by lanterns and candlelights on the walls. The passage was long and felt like it went on for ages. As they ran through the tunnel, they passed by a few scattered bodies of bandits and other individuals that must have been tied to the Syndicate, all of them being slashed and gouged by a pair of claws. With Melphi clearing part of the way for them, they were able to make a good amount of progress through the tunnels without much issue.

After what probably felt like 20 minutes of running through the dark passage, they reached an open chamber that split off into three directions. Much like with the passageway, there was signs of Melphi carnage. It didn't seem like anyone was able to sound the alarm though which was a good sign. There were about 10 additional bodies scattered around the chamber, all having similar wounds and injuries inflicted on them that were consistent with claw marks. Off to the left side of the chamber was the caravan that had brought in the captives.

Shadow took a look at the bodies that were scattered around to make sure that they were dead. "Pretty brutal way to go, if you ask me. Remind me not to get on a Dragonkin's bad side" he said.

Tsuki shook his head. Melphi had a rather brutal fighting style, only using the talents given to her as a Dragonkin but up until now, she's been showing some restraint. "I think it's more because she's fighting against slave traffickers. Dragonkin, from what I understand, already don't like Humans all that much so it's understandable why she's more aggressive" he said.

Shadow walked over to a body that was lying facedown and used his foot to roll the body face-up. He then bent down to remove the helmet that was on the person's head to reveal a young individual with an imprinted mark in the shape of Viper on the side of his face. "Can't say that that I don't feel bad for them. They deserve what's coming to them" he said.

Tsuki was curious to know something about him. "What's your connection with the Syndicate? As secretive as you try to make yourself out to be, I have a gut feeling that you're withholding some big secret" he said. His eyes remind him of himself back in the day. They were the eyes of someone who had lost everything.

Shadow fell silent for a few moments. He seemed to almost hesitate to talk about it. "Let's just say that the Syndicate took everything. My home, friends…family. I won't rest until the Syndicate burns" he said.

Tsuki could relate to him. It would seem that he had experienced similar events as he had. "I see…" he said. He then walked over to the tunnel that led southeast. Unlike the previous two, this one had claw and scorch markings on the walls. "At least we know which way Mel went, at least" he said.

Shadow scratched the back of his head. "Hopefully, she finds something we can use" he said. He then took a deep breath before heading towards the northern tunnel. "Let's keep moving. Time is running short" he said.

They continued on and went through the northern tunnel to see what they could find. Without having an actual map of the underground, they had to explore the old fashioned way. Thankfully, the tunnel they went down wasn't that long. In fact, it was more of a corridor that led to a series of rooms. They took a peak in some of the rooms and saw that most of them appeared to be stockrooms filled with various supplies and what appeared to be pillaged and stolen belongings of those unfortunate enough to come across them. Eventually, they got to a room on the far end where they noticed a small group of guards were gathered in next to a series of beds. By all accounts, it appeared to be one of the sleeping quarters. The guards were talking amongst themselves and chugging down pints of alcohol as if it were a party. Some of them already looked pretty drunk and wasted. Tsuki and Shadow looked at each other, nodding at each other as they both had the same thoughts. They drew their weapons and busted down the door as they charged in. Because most of them were already wasted, it took little effort to silence them.

Time returns to the present after they had killed the guards in the room. Shadow continued to search through the bodies as Tsuki took a look around the room. He found diaries, various bits of jewelry and sacks of Gald stuffed away in barrels and containers. There were also what appeared to be shackles and different types of restraints scattered around and attached to the wall. It only made his skin crawl at what could of possibly happened within these walls.

Tsuki felt sick and disturbed by what he found in the room. It gave him Prophet Castle vibes which brought back some unpleasant memories. "It's like a dungeon of horrors in here" he said.

Allie's voice soon came speaking out telepathically, only heard by Tsuki. "Master, something doesn't feel right…" she said.

Tsuki could feel it too, albeit slightly. There was a distinct heaviness and feelings of dread the deeper they went. It wasn't just simply because of the circumstances either. He could feel that there was something else in play. "I sense it too…and it's not natural" he thought.

Allie could be heard groaning a bit. "It feels familiar…terrifying…and unhinged…" she said. It was sending a sharp chill down her spine.

Suddenly, Tsuki felt some sort of reaction within him. He felt a fluctuation in his Mana where his eyes briefly turned from azure blue to a glowing yellow. At the same time, he felt as if someone tried to pull his consciousness away from him in the same method that Cliff has done but failed. It made him feel slightly dizzy as he had to use one of the bed posts to keep himself steady. "W-what was that? This feeling…could it be the Sigil…?" he asked himself.

Allie felt the fluctuation and grew concerned for him. "Master, are you okay? Your Mana had a sudden shift" she said.

Tsuki shook his head. He couldn't explain what just happened. It wasn't just a sudden loss of energy; it was more like something suddenly came in and blocked it. "I'm okay, don't worry" he said.

As he tried to process what just happened, Shadow stood spoke out behind him. "Well, these guys didn't have anything of note to them" he said with a sigh. He then looked over towards Tsuki who looked a bit strange. "Hey, you're looking a bit pale. You feeling alright over there?" he asked.

Tsuki took a deep breath to get himself settled and realigned before heading back over to him. "Just a bit winded, that's all. So, find anything useful?" he asked.

Shadow shook his head as he held up small pouches that contained Gald. "Nothing but a few Gald to their names" he said. He then put the pouches away into his bag. "We haven't come across very much opposition" he said.

Tsuki shrugged his shoulders. "Most of them are probably gathered around the auction hall at this point. We're just dealing with the stragglers" he said. With the auction about to start soon, that would make the most sense. "I'm fairly confident that we will run into the rest as we get closer to the auction site" he said.

Shadow nodded in agreement. The tunnel they went through was a dead end so there was one other tunnel for them to explore. "You're probably right. The more stragglers we take out before we free the captives, the better" he said.

Tsuki took a look at a nearby wall clock. They had less than 30 minutes to locate the captives and lead them back to the entrance. "Time's running short. We better pick up the pace" he said.

They soon left the room and took a quick look through the few storerooms to see what they could salvage. After that, they headed back through the tunnel and returned to the opened space from before and went down the tunnel leading south. Once again, the tunnel felt like it stretched on for miles as they pressed on through the dark. As they made their way through them, they did start to have run-ins with a few patrolling guards here and there but quickly took them out. They had to have struck down about 15 of them as they charged onwards.

Then, about 15 minutes had passed since, they tunnels soon opened up into a dungeon-type place. There were a number of cells that lined the walls on one side and one big cell on the other. Inside some of the smaller ones had setups of torture chambers and there were even some that were furnished with beds. Given the reputation of the Syndicate and, by association, the Skullblades, it wasn't too hard to imagine what those in particular were for. The conditions of the other prison cells were just as you would expect. For Tsuki, he's just thankful that there wasn't a powerful scent of death accompanied by a mountain of corpses like what he experienced in Prophet Castle.

In the middle of the prison corridor, they saw three individuals standing together in a group one of the cell doors. Tsuki and Shadow hid themselves behind a few crates that were stacked in a corner as they eavesdropped on the conversation that they were having.

The taller guard was standing in front of the door, his arms crossed and back turned to the cell. "So, what do you think will be the highest bid with tonight's main attraction?" he asked.

The skinny guard let out a screeching cackling sound. "Well, considering that the girl is young and pure, that already sets a pretty high bar. Combined with that special trait of hers, I'd say…half a million?" he asked.

The taller guard scoffed at him. "Half a million? That's pretty generous, if you ask me. I'm betting 750,000" he said. He then put his hand on the skinny guard's shoulder. "Let's make a bet. Whoever has the closest bet gets to pick first on which Demi-Human gets chosen for tonight" he said.

The skinny guard had a creepy grin on his face. "Oh, you are on" he said. He then looked into the cell behind the other guard and eyed a few of the captives. On the other side of the cell doors were about 40 captive Faeries and Beastfolk that all range from different races. Foxkin, Catfolk, Wolfkin, Elves and even a few Dragonkin were amidst their number. The skinny guard seemed to have set his eyes on one of the young Catfolk who had short, pink hair and violet eyes.

The third guard clapped his hands together. "Don't get your hopes up quite yet. There's a chance we might auction off all our merchandise. I spotted quite a few groups in the auction hall that look like they have some deep pockets" he said. He soon stepped out of the darkness to reveal a familiar face. "But, I don't mind throwing in a bid myself" he said.

Tsuki immediately recognized the third guard once he stepped into a bit of light. It was the same man he met in town that came to retrieve the young girl. "It's him! He's the one that took the girl earlier!" he said in a hushed tone.

The taller guard chuckled a bit, putting his hands on his hips. "Must have been pretty rough for, huh? You weren't even allowed to touch that girl, eh Finn?" he asked.

The third guard apparently named Finn shrugged his shoulders. "Unfortunate but yes. However, her purity will bring in a huge payout for us so I guess it works out in the end" he said.

The skinny guard let out another cackle as he slapped the side of his leg. "It's still frustrating though. Whoever is lucky enough to purchase her will own a fine, piece of work. Almost brings a tear to my eye to think that such a pretty thing will be defiled" he said.

Tsuki gritted his teeth as he rolled his right hand in a tight fist. He could feel an intense rage building up inside of him that caused the air around them to surge a bit. Because of this, a blast of wind shot out and blew right past the three guards. Obviously, this caused the guards to stop and look into the direction the sudden wind came from.

The taller guard tilted his head as he looked down the seemingly empty passageway. The rush of wind that shot past them was pretty significant considering the fact that there shouldn't be any wind inside the tunnels. "What was that?" he asked.

The skinny guard looked around and inspected the walls for any cracks. "Maybe a draft came through somewhere. After all, these passageways are pretty old. I'm surprised that they haven't already caved in" he said.

Finn shook his head and turned towards the opposite end of the corridor. "Maybe we're being blessed by the grace of Sylph" he said in a mocking, sarcastic tone. He then started to walk off towards the tunnels ahead. "Come on. The main attraction should be starting soon. We wouldn't want to miss out on our precious little flower being handed off, would we?" he said.

The skinny guard cackled one last time. "I agree. Let's g-" he said.

Suddenly, another strong burst of wind came shooting out towards them. Only this time, it came with the sounds of flesh being sliced open accompanied by the sudden smell of blood occurred. Before the skinny guard could finish his sentence, he was inflicted with a very deep slash wound across his waist. Blood shot out and splattered against the ground and nearby wall. The body of the skinny guard hit the ground face-first, killed instantly. The injury had inflicted on him had enough force and anger behind it that it was a miracle he wasn't completely sliced in half. It happened so quick that he probably didn't feel any pain.

The sudden event froze the two remaining guards in their place as the taller guard tried to process in his mind what just happened. It all occurred so fast that he couldn't even see it. This caused the guard to stumble back against the cell bars, screaming out as his whole body shook with sudden fear.

Finn turned around when he heard the sound of a body falling and saw the scene that had unfolded. He stood there, completely frozen as Tsuki stood between the both of them with a rush of wind swirling around him. "W-what the!? W-who the hell are you!? Where did you come from!?" he shouted.

Tsuki looked up at him, his face being dimly lit by the nearby lanterns as all the candlelights had been blown out from the rush of winds. His eyes had turned to a deep, violet color as they glowed with intensity. He simply stared at the man without saying a word, giving him the look of a merciless killer as he started to slowly approach him.

Finn took a moment to recognize Tsuki. "Y-y-you're that person from the town entrance…! The one that was with that girl!" he said, pointing his finger at him with a shaky arm. He felt the coldest of chills rush through his body. He felt a completely different aura and presence coming from him compared to before. It wasn't the aura and presence of a knight or an adventurer. It was that of a ruthless, cold-hearted killer. As he approached him, he looked over to the other guard. "Y-you there! Don't just stand there! Do some-!" he shouted.

Before the other guard could do anything, a pair of kunai were thrown out from the darkness at the person, one striking at his heart and the other in his shoulder. Shadow soon came out from the darkness as the taller guard fell and hit the ground.

Finn slowly started to step back before he stumbled and fell down on his back. When he looked back up, Tsuki was standing over him while holding his sword up in the air. "S-somebody…!" he said in a trembling voice.

Before he could finish the sentence, Tsuki swung his sword down and slashed him down his shoulder, killing him instantly. He proceeded to stand over the now dead corpse for the next few moments as the wind swirling around him started to fade. Soon after, he left out a sharp exhale as his eyes shifted back to his normal eye color. Almost as if he woke up from a dream, he snapped back to reality, stumbling back and putting his hand over his face.

Shadow was pretty surprised at what he had just witnessed. "Man, I didn't think you could be so intimidating" he said. Even he felt a little nervous and anxious watching him cut down the two guards in a brutal way.

Tsuki shook his head, feeling slightly light-headed. "W-what happened…?" he asked. It was like he lost time. He couldn't really remember what just happened. The last thing he could remember was feeling a sudden lack of emotions as his body seemed to move on it's own, unhindered by self-doubt and hesitation. There wasn't any hint of rage in his actions but he clearly had intents to kill and what worried him was that it wasn't him.

Allie's voice soon came shouting out in his mind in a frantic tone. "Master…! Finally, you're back to your senses!" she shouted telepathically.

Tsuki felt an intense pain in his head. "Allie…? What happened to me…?" he asked.

Allie had felt the shift within Tsuki and it was different than before. It was similar to when Cliff took control of his body. "I don't know. My words weren't reaching you. It was like you weren't there!" she said telepathically.

Tsuki looked down at his hand, seeing it tremble a bit before rolling it into a fist. "This feeling…it's just like back then" he thought.

He was snapped back to reality once more when Shadow walked up behind him and patted him on the back. "Hey, are you listening to me?" he asked.

Tsuki turned his head to look at Shadow. "Huh…? Oh…sorry" he said. He swung his sword to the side to clean the blood off the blade before sheathing it. "How are the captives?" he asked.

Shadow glanced into the cell and saw that the Faeries and Beastfolk were all huddled together, clearly frightened out of their minds. "None worse for the wear, thankfully. Though, they might be a bit traumatized after that display of yours" he said. He approached the cell door and used his sword to slice through the locks and letting it swing open. "Let me handle this" he said.

Shadow stepped into the cells and approached the captives. At first, they were extremely frightened and wary but that all changed when Shadow seems to have removed his headgear to show the captives his face. Tsuki decided that it would be best to keep his distance as he tried to reason with them. He didn't want to make it any worse for them than it already was. As he talked to them, Tsuki decided to stand guard. It only took Shadow a few minutes to properly explain himself and what was happening. Shadow soon came back with his headgear back on over his face.

Tsuki looked back towards Shadow as he walked out from the cell. "Everything al settled now?" he asked.

Shadow nodded at him. "We're all good. I removed their shackles and bindings but the Curse Marks still need to be removed. Lux can handle that back in town" he said.

Tsuki was relieved to hear that things were cleared up. The captives weren't as wary of him now because of whatever it is that Shadow said. He then turned and headed back down the tunnel where they came from. "We can commandeer those carriages that were used to bring them in. I'll take the lead while Shadow holds the rear" he said.

With a group of this size, they couldn't waste any time dawdling. Some of the captives appeared to be very weak and malnourished so it would take them longer to get back to the open chamber. The two of them started to escort the large group of captives back through the tunnel at a reasonable pace, making sure not to overexert those who felt weaker than others. As they walked through the tunnel, the captives started to relax a bit more as they started to talk about freedom, something that they've long been dreaming of.

After about 25 minutes of walking, they arrived back in the open chamber with the carriages. Tsuki and Shadow removed the cages from the carriages and loaded up the freed Faeries and Beastfolk. They made sure that they were all comfortable as they tried to squeeze them all onto 2 carriages. The less they had to maneuver around the desert, the better. Once everyone was settled, both Tsuki and Shadow took the carriages back through the initial tunnel. By the time they had already started taking off, the time limit that they were operating under had reached it's end. The auction's main attraction should have been in full swing by now so they had to be fast. With the speed they were going at, it only took them 5 minutes to exit out of the tunnels.

The caravan pulled up alongside the town guards that were still waiting on standby. Shadow stepped off the carriage he was operating and approached the guard captain. "Good work holding down the fort" he said.

The guard captain saluted Shadow. "Thank you, sir. Good work to you as well. It seems that you managed to free the captives too!" he said. He then walked over to the carriage that Shadow had gotten off and climbed up onto it. "We'll take it from here. We'll make sure that they're treated and looked after" he said.

Shadow nodded at him and pointed to his own neck. "They still have the Curse Marks on them so make sure they have them removed by Lux as soon as possible" he said.

The guard captain nodded at him, saluting at him once more. "Understood. Leave it to us. Good luck with the rest of the plan!" he said.

Another town guard climbed onto the carriage that Tsuki was operating as the remaining guards climbed into the backs of them with the freed captives. They also threw in the still restrained and unconscious bandit into the backs of one of the carriages. Once everyone was onboard, the caravan took off gliding across the sands back towards Chesberry. Tsuki and Shadow stayed and watched them as they sped off into the distance only to disappear over one of the high dunes.

They both walked back towards the tunnel as Tsuki looked at Shadow for a moment. "We better start running. The auction will have already started by now" he said.

Shadow looked at Tsuki, chuckling a bit. "Think you can keep up with me?" he asked.

Tsuki tapped himself on the chest, giving him a confident grin. "Only one way to find out" he said.

The two of them took off running in full sprint back down into the tunnels. They had no idea how much further along the tunnel they had to travel beyond the prison corridor. As they ran back through the tunnels, the scene shifts back over to the auction hall just as the auction was about to start, just about 10 minutes prior. All of the groups had gathered at their seats and sat down in their designated seats. Four people walked up onto the stage and one of them was the young girl that Tsuki had seen. She had her wrists and ankles shackled together as she was put on display for the crowds. Two of the people that were on stage seemed to be her handlers as they stood on either side of her and the last person seemed to be the person in charge of holding the auction itself.

The auctioneer banged a gavel on the podium which caused the commotion and lingering talks around the auction hall to cease. The crowd's attention was soon focused up on at the stage. "Hello and welcome back to the auctioning table! I spy some new faces amongst the crowd and some familiar ones as well! I hope you all brought your life savings because our main attraction will likely drain your wallets!" he shouted.

The auctioneer's words got the crowds shouting out in excitement and anticipation. They were all loud and obnoxious as their screams filled the room. Some were even attempting to call out to the young girl but received no response. Compared to her earlier interactions with Tsuki, the girl looked like completely different person. Her eyes were completely dead to the world with almost no light to them. She was holding onto the bracelet that was on her wrist with a firm grip as she had her eyes shifted downwards. She had no emotional expression on her face and looked like she had completely closed herself off from reality.

Lynette looked up at the stage and examined the girl. She could sense that, much like her own emotions, her Mana seemed to be locked away with the will to fight back. "That's the girl, right? Look at that dead look in her eyes…" she said.

Ramza felt a little uncomfortable about this scenario. All the people around them were shouting and celebrating at the chance to buy her to do who knows what with her. "Not even a shred of light. It's like she's given up hope and on herself" he said.

Elle shook her head. "Can you blame her though? Just look at what surrounds her. There's very little someone her age could do about this situation" she said. The girl had closed herself off from reality in an attempt to hide from it and protect what bits of dignity and humanity is left inside of her.

Lynette shook her head as she stared at the girl. She suddenly started to have flashbacks of Nagi when she was about to be sacrificed back in Prophet Castle. Only this time, she couldn't simply jump in to help her unlike that time with Tsuki. Making any kind of movement would blow their cover. "I can't believe this…" she said, rolling her hands into fists as she gripped the lining of her robe.

The auctioneer held his arm out towards the young girl as he glanced over towards her for a moment. "Without further ado, let's start the opening bid at 25,000 Gald!" he shouted.

After this, many amongst the crowds started to shout out bids one after the over without end. The price started to go up slowly but then hiked up to insane amounts over 200,000. The crowds spent the next 15 minutes going back and forth, raising the price of the winning bid. Eventually, the bids were exceeding 600,000 Gald and they continued to rise.

Ramza couldn't believe at the amount of money people were willing to pay. The price was becoming exuberant. It only made him wonder just how they managed to acquire such funds. "I've got no words…" he said.

Elle thought something was off about this. Even if she was a young girl, this type of pricing far exceeded what that normal amounts would have been. "There must be something special about that girl. These bids are way too high" she said. She then looked over at Lynette. "Can you sense anything?" she asked.

Lynette shook her head. She wasn't able to sense anything at all and that in and of itself was very abnormal. "No…nothing. My senses are being…blocked? Nullified?" she said, looking confused.

Ramza tilted his head a bit. "What does that mean?" he asked.

Lynette shook her head. She's felt something similar to this before as everyone else should have. "This dark feeling I've been having. It's giving me faint reminders of when the Anti-Arte Field was erected in Eresseas. The only difference is that this feels…stronger. Much stronger" she said.

Ramza glanced over at Elle for a moment. "What were you saying before…? That something wasn't right…?" he asked.

Elle gripped her chest a bit. She was starting to become anxious all of a sudden. "…Just what is this feeling…? This heavy sense of dread…?" she asked herself.

Soon, they started to hear that the bids had exceeded 800,000 Gald. It was around this time that the biddings started to slow down and come to a stop. Then, the final bid for the girl was called out for a staggering amount of 860,000 Gald.

When they noticed that the bids were starting to come to a stop, Ramza started to get worried. He looked up around the room and the second floor balconies and didn't see any sign of Shadow, Tsuki or Melphi. "This isn't good. None of them have arrived yet" he said.

Elle gripped the held of her sword underneath the robe. "If they don't hurry up, we'll have to go with Plan B" she said.

Lynette kept her eyes on the tunnels leading out from the auction hall as she wasn't sure just which one they would be coming out from. Then, she spotted Tsuki and Shadow emerge a bit from the second floor tunnel. "Guys, up there" she said, nudging for them to look up.

They both looked up and saw Tsuki and Shadow peek out from around the corner of the tunnel before ducking back into the cover of shadow. They breathed a sigh of relief that they arrived just in time to initiate Phase 2 of their plan which was to rescue the girl.

Ramza nodded to himself before shifting his gaze back towards the stage. "Better late than never, right?" he asked.

Upstairs near the second floor balconies, Tsuki and Shadow carefully made their way out into the auction hall, using the various crates and boxes to conceal themselves. The two of them had no idea just how many people in the hall were actually armed because everyone was wearing robes and with the hall completely lit up, it would make it incredibly hard to adhere to stealth.

Shadow took a peek out from the crates to see just how many visible threats they had to deal with. He counted at least 5 people up on the balconies, all armed with bows with arrows already attached to the bowstring. "I'd say taking out the archers would be our first move but doing so would be risky" he said in a hushed tone

Tsuki looked over at Shadow. "You're a ninja. Don't you have something like smokescreen or flash bombs?" he asked.

Shadow looked at him with a blank stare. "Just who do you take me for?" he said. He then took out a fre grey-colored pellets from his bag and held them in his hands. "Of course I do" he said. He then glanced back out over the crates as the commotion started to die down. "The archers should be taken out first. They pose the greater risk you can leave them to me" he said. His gaze shifted towards the two men standing next to the girl and auctioneer. "First priority is to secure her safety so I'm sure you can handle those three on the stage" he said.

Tsuki nodded and peeked around the crate to look around the crowd. After about a few seconds, he saw Ramza, Elle and Lynette near the opposite side of the room. "The distraction will cause confusion in which Ramza and the others can use to take down anyone armed" he said.

Shadow took note at the amount of people that were down below them. He's infiltrated several slave auctions before but this was, by far, the biggest crowd. "There are some pretty powerful people down there though and I'm not talking about just status either" he said.

Tsuki still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about this. He wasn't sure if it was just nerves that were getting to him or if his instincts were picking up something that he just couldn't see yet. "Seeing all these people here puts things into perspective on how other people are like around the world" he said.

Shadow shook his head with a light sigh. "The world is definitely no smiles and rainbows, that's for sure" he said. He then noticed that the bids had come to a stop. "Looks like things are about to wrap up. You ready?" he asked, clutching the grey pellets in his hand.

Tsuki nodded. "Time to break up this little party" he said.

The two of them prepared themselves to initiate the second part of their plan. Meanwhile, the auctioneer down below was calling out for any final bids. "What an exciting round of bidding! With a daunting amount of 860,000 Gald, is there anyone else that would raise it higher!?" he shouted. He gauged the crowd's reactions as no one seemed to be raising their bidding cards anymore. He gave them an extra minute before continuing. "Last chance! 860,000 Gald going once! Going twice!" he shouted. He then pounded the gavel on the podium. "Sold to the-!" he shouted.

Before he could finish his sentence, Shadow threw out the grey pellets as they exploded in the air, releasing a thick, dense smoke cloud that quickly filled the room in seconds. This caused those that were guarding the auction to be put on full alert as they drew their weapons. Unfortunately, they couldn't see much in the smoke. One couldn't even see past a few feet in front of them.

The archers on the second floor balcony readied their arrows and pointed them up as they started to glow blue. They were most likely going to use Water Artes to wash away all the smoke but before they could fire their arrows, Shadow ran along the balcony while holding a kunai in his hand to cut them down, using the smoke as cover.

Tsuki ran along the balcony and positioned himself so that he was directly over the stage and jumped over the railing. As he descended down, he swung his sword downwards at the guard standing off to the girl's right, slashing him down his back and causing him to fall forward and then in one smooth motion, leapt towards the other guard and did the same thing, only slashing him upwards in an uppercut motion. After the two guards were down, Tsuki used his sword to slice through the shackles and bindings around the girl's ankles and wrists, scooped her up in his and used his surroundings to leap back up onto the second floor balcony railing.

As this was going on, the auctioneer could hear what sounded like a couple bodies hitting the ground as he coughed violently the smoke. "Wh-what is the meaning of this…!?" he shouted.

Shadow's voice came speaking out through the smoke. "I'll tell you what it is. This auction is hereby canceled and your lives forfeit" he said.

Soon, the smoke cleared from the room and what everyone saw in the auction hall left some of them surprised and stunned. The two guards that were standing on the stage had been cut down as they saw Tsuki standing up on the second floor railing, who had broken the girl's chains and snatched her away. On the other side of the room, Shadow was also standing on the balcony railing, holding up one of the dead bodies of the archers by their collar.

The auctioneer started to panic as he saw the two of them. "W-who the hell are you two!?" he shouted.

Shadow shook his head. "Consider us the justice that you all deserve" he said. He then released the body and allowed it to drop and hit the pavement of the first floor below him.

The auctioneer gritted his teeth as he pointed at Shadow. " You dare mock us!?" he shouted. He then turned to point at Tsuki, giving him the evil eye. "And you! Hand the girl over, now! She's our property to do as we see fit!" he shouted.

Tsuki felt a nerve being pinched when he demanded him to release the girl. "Your property, eh?" he asked. He then pointed his sword at the auctioneer and shot out a blast of wind at him which collided into the stage and punching a hole straight through it at the man's feet. "I don't know what delusion you're living in but this girl isn't anyone's property. She's a living being, not an object to be used and sold for profit" he said. His eyes had turned color back to a deep violet color as he gave him a menacing look. "Try saying that again and it won't be just piles of wood with holes in them" he said.

The girl's ears, which had been pressed down against her head the whole time, twitched and lifted up slightly when she heard a familiar voice. On top of that, she could "see" a familiar strand of Aer flowing around her. Life soon returned to her eyes as she returned to reality to witness an unexpected scene. She found herself being held up in the arms of Tsuki. "You're…the one who returned my bracelet…" she said. She then took a look at her surroundings to see the chaos that was currently ensuing. Her chains had been severed and everyone was in an uproar. "You saved me…? But…why…?" she asked.

Tsuki looked down at the girl, giving her a soft and comforting smile. "Why wouldn't I? It was clear that you were in an unsafe environment so it only stands to good reason that someone pulled you out of it" he said.

The girl shook her head. She didn't understand him or his reason for doing this. "But why? You don't even know me…" she said. She was still apprehensive of opening up to him despite what was going on.

Tsuki continued to smile at her. "True, I don't know you but that's not reason enough to not want to help out" he said. He couldn't help but have a few flashbacks play back in his mind of when he saved Cheria from being kidnapped back in the day when he was still on the streets. He felt the same urge to help out even though his gut told him otherwise.

The girl still struggled to process what was happening. She knew that he was being genuine and honest because, much like before with their brief interaction in town, she felt safe. She didn't know what to make of this. Then, as if her body suddenly crashed, she felt very tired. She tugged at Tsuki's shirt a bit as her vision started to grow dark. "Then please…save me…" she said. After she said those words, she passed out.

Tsuki patted her on head gently. "I will. Don't you worry" he said. He then held her body close to him as he held his sword out, turning his gaze back down towards the auctioneer. "Here's my bid. How about I play in blood money?" he asked.

The auctioneer gritted his teeth with anger. "You both will pay for this dearly!" he growled. He then turned to the crowd. "What are you all waiting for!? Kill them!" he shouted.

After saying that, several groups of bidders as well as the remaining guards all drew their weapons and prepared to fight. However, this also stirred up conflict amongst the groups themselves. Since the auction had been ruined, it was every man for themselves at that point. Since everyone wanted to snatch away the girl, they all not only turned their blades on Shadow and Tsuki but to each other as well. An all-out brawl broke out as the groups fought amongst each other.

Ramza shook his head with a heavy sigh. "Well, we knew that it would come to this" he said.

Elle shrugged her shoulders a bit. "Hey, at least we can kill two birds with one stone. The lesser the crowd, the easier it'll be for us to escape" she said.

Lynette sighed, hanging her head down. " If anything, them fighting each other will speed the process up too" she said.

All three of them shared a collective nod and threw off their robes, drawing their weapons and defended themselves against the various groups. Once some of them noticed Elle, they all piled on her but with the support of Lynette and Ramza, they were easy to fend off. At the same time, guards from another tunnel on the second floor came rushing out and charged towards both Tsuki and Shadow. Some of them swung at Tsuki but he jumped back off the railing and fought them off. He had a bit of trouble since he was doing his best to protect the girl but Shadow kept him covered while he fought off his own attackers.

Eventually, they were both fighting with their backs to each other with enemies surrounding them. Ramza and the others were also having a bit of trouble as they were being attacked from all sides, giving them hardly any breathing room.

Lynette erected a barrier around them as a group of people wielding swords and axes charged at them, swinging their weapons. They ended up clashing against the barrier and battered it with various Artes to break it down. "These guys sure aren't pushovers!" she said.

Elle shook her head, chuckling a bit. "They put up more of a fight than those Skullblades. Makes me wonder just how the bandits managed to gain a foothold here" she said.

Ramza was cut up pretty good as he had been taking the brunt of the attacks. "The odds are pretty stacked though. Not only do we have to contend with the bandits and Syndicate but also those who have gathered here" he said.

While the barrier was still up, Lynette approached Ramza and started to apply Healing Artes to his injuries. With the in-fighting going on, she couldn't help but wonder about Melphi as she still hasn't reconvened with them yet. "I hope Mel is alright on her own…" she said.

After a few more hits to the barrier, it shattered which allowed the various groups to engage them again. As all this was going on, the scene shifts over to another part of the underground tunnel network. Melphi was standing in a big, circular room with her claws out and dripping blood from the tips, her eyes an intimidating yellow color. There were many bodies of guards and other slavers strewn across the room, all having deep gouge and slash wounds and some others burnt to a crisp. Melphi looked like she hasn't even broken a sweat yet despite the number of people she's already killed. She had no idea where she was at but she knew that she was deep within the tunnel network.

Melphi could feel the vibrations from the auction hall, indicating to her that fighting had broken out. "So, the fighting has started. At least, they won't have to worry about heavy reinforcements from this side" she said. She retracted her claws as they reverted back with her eyes returning to their normal color.

She looked around the room to see the carnage she left behind. She showed whoever came across her path no mercy whatsoever and the best part about it was that they couldn't even touch her. Not sensing anyone else nearby, she took a look around the circular room. There were various documents piled up on a number of desks and shelves so she took the next few minutes to go through them. With all the attention being directed to the auction hall, it gave her time to search through what she could with peace of mind. Unfortunately, most of the documents she came across were all contracts and business transactions. Nothing really that had official statements from Sirione.

Melphi sighed, scratching her head. "Well, I suppose if you want to keep your underground activities a secret, don't leave a paper trail" she said. She was actually kind of impressed that a group of desert bandits were able to think that far ahead.

She continued to search around for anything else that she might have missed but nothing really jumped out at her. With the vibrations from the fighting getting more intense, she didn't have the luxury to spend a lot of time searching.

Just when she was about to call off the search, she noticed something behind one of the bookshelves. She used her fire breath and incinerated the bookshelf which revealed a hidden passage behind it. She stepped over the burning, charred remains of the bookshelf and took a look inside the passage. She felt a strong heaviness from the other side as she made her way through it to a door. The closer she got to it, the worse it became. All of a sudden, she became very nervous as she put her hand on the door handle. It took her a moment to force herself to open the door. On the other side of it was a large, active incantation circle imbedded into the ground with a floating crystal in the center of it.

Melphi felt a great evil coming from the crystal and incantation circle that made her break out into a cold sweat. "What…is this…?" she asked

She slowly approached the incantation circle and held her hand out towards it. When it reached the outer circle, however, she was hit with a jolt of electricity. It was as if she had just touched an electric wall. It even left her hand feeling slightly numb.

Melphi held onto her hand as she took a few steps away from the incantation circle to examine it. "Someone is using this…but who? Who has the power to do this…?" she asked. She examined some of the symbols embedded within the incantation circle and started to notice familiarities with something she seems to have seen before. "The power coming from this is too great to be a normal spellcasting. It's dark…twisted" she said.

As she was examining the incantation circle, her body suddenly felt a it weak. It was as if something was draining the Mana out from her by force. It forced her to step away further back towards the door. It was in that moment that she had the look of realization. What she was seeing wasn't just any normal incantation circle. It was something far worse; something she didn't expect or want to ever see again.

Melphi's senses were suddenly put on full alert. "No…this isn't an incantation. It's an invocation! With this level of power, there's only one thing that they could be invoking…!" she said. She could sense that whoever was doing the invoking was just about finished. This set off a whole bunch of red flags for her. "I need to warn everyone…!" she said.

She then took off running back down through the passageway and back into the circular room. She ran with all her might back through the tunnels that she had gone through to reconvene with everyone back in the auction hall as the vibrations from the fighting seemed to grow in intensity. The scene then shifts back over to the auction hall. Most of the groups have either been cut down or were too weakened or injured to continue fighting. Tsuki and Shadow had rejoined Ramza and the others on the second floor as fighting started to settle down. Those that were still left standing were hesitant to continue fighting.

Ramza had some of his armor torn and shredded from all the fighting and was scratched up pretty good. He was feeling a bit out of breath from all the fighting. "They just don't know when to quit…!" he said.

Lynette was starting to feel a bit drained herself. Not only did it seem like the heaviness around them was draining her, but from her constant use of spells. "What are we going to do? Mel still isn't here yet and we got reinforcements coming from the southern entrance" she said.

Shadow shook his head. "I hate to be the one to say it but we might have to leave ahead of her. We can't stay here and fight them all off" he said.

Tsuki refused to even entertain the thought. "And leave her to fend for herself? Not going to happen" he said.

As their enemies closed in on them from all sides, the sounds of clapping could be heard coming from the southern tunnel. Moments later, a familiar voice came speaking out. "It's almost like we can't stop running into each other! Fate's a funny thing, isn't it?" the voice asked.

Stepping out from the tunnel was none other than Gepard. He stepped into the ruined auction hall as others stepped aside to make a path.

Tsuki wasn't exactly thrilled to see his face again but considering who they were fighting, it didn't surprise him all that much that he showed up. "Gepard. A little late to the party, don't you think?" he asked.

Gepard smirked at him and tapped his chest. "Better late than never, you know how it is" he said. He then paced back and forth a little bit. "You know, when we were told that someone had attacked the auction, I wondered what daring fool had a death wish" he said. He soon glanced over towards Tsuki and the others. "You're still the same meddlesome street rat as before. Always had a knack of getting in our hair" he said. Suddenly, a black aura formed around his left arm as he raised up, rolling his hand into a fist. A moment later, he swung his arm off to the side, releasing dark flames across the room. "It pisses me off!" he snarled.

Lynette felt the pressure from that black aura. She was almost positive that he did not have such a thing back in the desert. "Something's different about him. That black aura can't be natural…" she said.

Elle felt a cold sweat run down her back. The aura not only didn't feel natural, it felt distorted and twisted. She could sense the pure negativity from it. "It's not. That aura…it's Corrupted Aer and a heavy concentration of it, at that" she said.

Ramza had no idea what that meant but it clearly wasn't a good thing. "Meaning what…?" he asked.

Elle was visibly shaken up, even more so than when Eresseas was attacked. "Things are about to get bad for us…" she said.

Tsuki glared at Gepard as he felt the incredible pressure he was emitting. "Gepard…what have you done?" he asked.

Gepard chuckled menacingly as his eyes started to glow. "This is the culmination of our efforts. You should be honored to bear witness to change" he said. He lifted his arm up as a ball of black energy formed in the palm of his hand. After several moments, he threw it towards Tsuki and the others.

As the ball of energy shot towards them, Melphi came rushing out with her wings on her back. She came crashing down towards the ball of energy and used her claws to slash through it, causing it to explode in front of her. Melphi used her wings to shield her from the explosion as she was blown back towards Tsuki and the others.

Lynette rushed over to her so that she could apply Healing Artes. "Mel! Are you alright!?" she asked.

Melphi felt the sting from the explosion because of how close she was to it but was otherwise fine. "Agh…thanks Lyn" she said.

Ramza looked over towards Melphi as she made her grand entrance. "Look who showed up. I was starting to think you had gotten lost. What took you so long?" he asked

Melphi stood back up and assumed a defensive stance, shaking her head. "I'll explain later. Right now, we need to kill him and fast" she said.

Tsuki hasn't seen Melphi this worked up before. "What happened? What did you find?" he asked.

At that moment, a figure wearing full-body robe standing in the southern tunnel was grinning as they held their hand. A crystal engulfed in the same black aura formed in the palm of his hand.

Melphi had worked out what the real purpose was for this held auction as she made her way through the tunnels. She ran past several tunnels and rooms that were filled with bodies. They were all dead yet had no external injuries. None of them had a shred of Mana in their bodies. It was like all of it was siphoned out of them. "This auction is a set-up! It's being held under the pretense to sell off slaves but instead, it's meant to draw in a crowd with significant Mana" she said.

Shadow tilted his head a bit, confused at what she was saying. "What are you trying to say, exactly?" he asked.

Melphi shook her head. "This wasn't about selling slaves or making money. This whole underground network is part of an invocation circle that's been siphoning everyone's Mana!" she said. The feelings of heaviness and dread that they've been feeling the whole time were, in fact, the effects of their Mana being slowly drained. It had been happening at a gradual pace that no one seems to have noticed.

Lynette checked up on everyone's Mana levels and she was shocked at what she saw. "She's right…! What's going on!?" she asked.

Tsuki's bad feelings seemed to be coming true. "If our Mana is being siphoned, then what is it being siphoned for…?" he asked.

At that time, the robed figure from the tunnel shot the crystal towards Gepard. The crystal embedded itself in his body which caused him to shout out and hunch forward. His body stood in place for a moment before it started to twitch unnaturally. A thick, black aura started to form around Gepard until it eventually engulfed him within a black sphere of swirling energy. At the same time, everyone in the room suddenly felt their energy being rapidly sucked into the sphere like an all-consuming vacuum. Within the sphere, sounds of ominous growling and snarling could be heard.

Unfortunately, Melphi had arrived too late to deliver the news. The situation they were in just became grave. "No…! It's too late…!" she said.

Just then, Tsuki felt an intense headache and a high-pitched ringing in his ear. At the same time, Allie's voice spoke out telepathically, sounding very weak. "Mas…ter...! Terrible…danger…!" she struggled to say. Unfortunately, most of her words were cut off and lost due to the ringing.

Instead of hearing Allie's voice, another voice came speaking out in his mind. It was the same voice that had gave the words of warning before. "Situation critical. Danger levels, extreme. Initiating Soul Fusion!" the voice said.

Tsuki suddenly felt his consciousness forcibly plucked away from him as he felt himself being thrown into an empty, familiar abyss. This was just like the time when Cliff took over his body only this time it was by force. On the surface, Tsuki's eyes changed to a mixture of red and yellow with a crest that resembled a shield and a dragon wrapped around it in both eyes. Everyone was too focused on what was going on to notice the change with Tsuki.

Sensing impending danger, Tsuki looked over towards Lynette and spoke in a vocal tone that had a mixture of two different voices, one of them being familiar. "Lynette! Put up as many defensive barriers as you can around us, maximum output!" he shouted.

Lynette looked over towards Tsuki and gave him a confused look. "Huh…? What are you…?" she said. She then noticed that Tsuki's whole demeanor had changed. He didn't sound like Tsuki at all. In fact, she was able to make out what appeared to be Cliff's voice and someone else's. "Wait, you're not Tsuki, are you?" she asked.

Tsuki shook his head. "Hurry, unless you want to be vaporized!" he shouted.

Lynette wasn't sure what was going on but went through with what he said. She erected three different barriers around them, layering them on top of each other. Tsuki held out his arms as a bright yellow light started to gather over his left arm and a red light in his right hand. In moments, the yellow light turned into the shape of a giant shield made out of pure Mana and the red light formed into a familiar looking axe. Tsuki spun the shield around and slammed the bottom of it on the ground and erected one final defensive barrier underneath all of the ones that Lynette had erected. Compared to hers, this barrier felt far stronger. Not only that, but everyone felt like they could breathe lighter as if their energy was being replenished.

Tsuki assumed a defensive stance as he looked back at the other. "It's coming! Better brace yourselves!" he said.

Everyone outside of the barriers have already collapsed to the ground from having all of their Mana drained out from them. An intense growling and snarling could now be heard from within the black sphere. They had no idea what was about to come out of it but they felt the most wicked evil coming from it. Then, within the sphere, a pair of glowing eyes emerged and moments later, the black sphere quickly expanded outwards and consumed everything in the auction hall except for Tsuki and the others who were still safe within the barriers. After that, a loud howl echoed out as that expanded black sphere turned into a blast of dense, powerful energy that shot upwards through the ceiling. The blast was so powerful that it literally punched a hole out into the desert above as it shot high up into the air.

The blast of raw energy could been for vast distance. The blast rocked the entire desert as everyone in Chesberry all stood and freaked out about the blast of energy shooting up into the air. Part of the blast could even be seen as far away as Esseand where Raiku was seen standing on a balcony from the castle, gazing up in shock and alarm at the blast.

After about another minute, the blast faded away and in it's wake, left an opened crater where the auction hall once stood. The whole place was effectively vaporized and the tunnels that led underground have all caved in from the intense vibrations of the blast. As for the auction hall, there was nothing left as it was now just a giant hole in the desert. The only thing left standing from the blast were Tsuki and the others who were still protected by the barriers. Lynette's barriers had held out for a little bit but all shattered and the final barrier that Tsuki had put up had taken a severe hit but withstood the blast. When all the dust and smoke settled, everyone was lost for words. Describing them as being shocked wouldn't have been enough. They were all frozen in place as they tried to process the scene.

The final barrier soon shattered as Tsuki stood up, out of breath. "Is…everyone alright…!?" he asked, looking back at the others.

Ramza had dropped to one knee as he put his hand on top of his head. He looked around and saw that their surroundings had completely changed. The underground auction hall was practically destroyed and the night sky was opened up to them. The sand from the dunes had caved in and sloped down all around them. "I think the better question is, can anyone explain what just happened!?" he asked.

Elle was holding onto her left arm as she looked around her. "I've never felt such a twisted, dark power before. It's inhuman…" she said.

Shadow shook his head and pointed up into the sky above them. "And I'm afraid to say that it's not over. Up there!" he said.

They looked up into the sky above them in the center of the hole and saw something that looked straight out of a nightmare. A grotesque, black creature was seen hovering above them. It resembled a wyvern; a two-legged creature with a barbed tail and wings that were quite large. The pointed fins that ran along its backside had black flames around them as well as around it's feet.

To Ramza, it looked like a normal wyvern. Though, it shouldn't be possible to see a wyvern, or any type of dragon excluding Melphi, in Esseand. "A wyvern in the desert…!?" he shouted.

Melphi gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into tight fists. "No, it may look like one but it's no wyvern. It's something much worse" she said.

Suddenly, the wyvern-like creature looked down towards Tsuki and the others and let out a loud, screeching shriek. The shriek had so much raw energy to it that it they felt a rush of air blow right at them.

Tsuki stepped forward a bit, his eyes still a mix of red and yellow as he held onto the Mana Axe with the Mana Shield attached to his left arm. "To think this is what they were trying to invoke…" he said.

Lynette looked towards Tsuki and did a quick Appraisal of him. It was just as she thought; she didn't feel any trace of Tsuki's soul but she did pick up a familiar one and an unfamiliar one at the same time. "Part of you…must be Cliff. I'm unsure about the other presence I'm sensing though" she said.

Cliff looked towards Lynette. "You would be partially correct. However, introductions will have to wait for a better time" he said, glancing back up towards the wyvern-like creature. "Gepard sold his soul to the devil" he said.

Elle recalled that just before the blast, Gepard was swallowed up by a black sphere. "Wait, you're saying that thing is Gepard!? But how? He's a Human! How can a Human turn into a dragon?" she asked.

Melphi shook her head and jumped onto one of the fallen pillars. "Because that isn't what you think it is. Thankfully, his transformation seems to still be incomplete so we have a chance" she said.

Melphi brought up both her arms as they were soon enveloped by flames. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before faint growls could be heard. When she opened her eyes, they were piercing yellow as she jumped up, pulling her legs up and rolling into a ball as a red sphere of energy formed around her. A high concentration of Aer was sucked into the red sphere and after about a minute, the sphere shattered and out bursting from it was a familiar-looking red dragon. The dragon stomped it's front left food on the ground as it's tail slammed down against the ground as it looked up at the wyvern-like creature, letting out a loud roar.

Lynette looked at the red dragon in awe until she had flashbacks play back in her head. The dragon they were seeing was the same one that flew them out of Eresseas. Seeing as how this was the first time they've seen her transform, she was pretty shocked and bewildered. "Mel!? That's you, isn't it!?" she asked.

Melphi, in dragon form, looked down towards them and spoke to them telepathically. "Who else do you think it is? This is no time to be surprised!" she said. She fixed her gaze back on the wyvern-like creature, snarling a bit as flames could be seen shooting out from the sides of her mouth. "I'll explain later but right now, this thing needs to die. If it unleashes itself on Chesberry, there will be untold havoc and destruction. There won't be anything left!" she shouted. She then flapped her wings a bit, blasting out gusts of wind as she did so. "I'll try and bring it back to the ground! Use that opportunity to cut it's head off!" she shouted. She let one another loud roar before launching up into the air and flew towards the wyvern-like creature.

The wyvern-like creature locked it's gaze and attention on Melphi as it let out a high-pitched screech. In that moment, Melphi slammed into the creature and swung her tail around and struck it on the head. The wyvern-like creature was knocked back a bit, screeching at Melphi before charging back at her with its back claws out. Melphi flew back to avoid the claws and used her right frontal one to take a swing at the creature. Her claws ripped through it's side as it let out a pained shriek before backing away a bit. The creature then lifted its head back and shot out a blast of black flames towards her. Melphi did the same thing and shot out a blast of her flames as the two flame blasts clashed and lit up the night sky.

Meanwhile, Cliff and the others used the newly formed slopes of sand to climb out from the hole they were in and pulled themselves back up onto the surface with the young Foxkin girl on Cliff's back. All they could do was stand there and watch from the ground as Melphi fought the creature. None of them had any capabilities to fight anything in the air and while magic may be an option, Lynette didn't want to risk hitting Melphi with the two of them thrashing around in the skies above them.

Lynette was frustrated that they couldn't do anything to help out Melphi. "Isn't there something we can do!? We can't just stand here and watch!" she said.

Cliff shook his head. "Not until that thing is brought down from the skies. Besides…" he said. He then assumed a defensive stance as he held his axe at the ready. In that moment, he sensed a convergence of energy. "…looks like we're about to have some company of our own" he said.

Suddenly, bursts of energy formed around them as 10 familiar creatures spawned out of thin air. They were creatures that they all knew very well. They had a human appearance to them that resembled undead but had completely different characteristics of an undead.

Ramza drew his sword as the creatures spawned around them. "Not these things again! Why are they here!?" he asked.

Cliff looked around them to assess their situation. "When beings like that are in play, it's no surprise to see these things spawning with it" he said.

Elle looked over towards Tsuki. "Cliff, was it? You know what these things are?" she asked.

Cliff nodded. "More or less. The full explanation will have to wait for a better time but consider these things the shells that are left behind when creatures like our wyvern friend are created" he said. Then, he was engulfed with a bright yellow light for a brief moment before the light transferred over to the rest, enshrouding them with a barrier of protection around them. "While Mel handles the wyvern, let's rid ourselves of our guests, shall we?" he said.

The young girl was set down on the ground and had a protective barrier placed around her to prevent the creatures from attacking her. Cliff and the others then engaged the creatures that had spawned around them. Back up in the air, the battle between Melphi and the wyvern was intensifying. Melphi had used her tail and slammed it hard against the wyvern and sending it crashing down into the dunes. She then came barreling down towards it to land on top of it and dig her claws into it. However, the wyvern leapt up into the air just as she slammed down where it was. The wyvern shot out a blast of it's black fire at Melphi who took a hit from it. Melphi was burned a bit from the flames but continued to fight on.

She shot up in the air and closed in the distance between them and swung her left frontal claw at the wyvern and slashed it across the right side of its pace, causing it to let out a pained shriek. She used the opening to fly above the wyvern and this time managed to dig her claws into it's back as she brought it back down to the ground. The wyvern thrashed around violently to shake her off and eventually did before leaping up and using it's back claws to gouge her on her side and back. Melphi let out a pained roar as she stumbled back and lost her footing from the unstable sand dunes, falling onto her side. The wyvern charged in towards her while she was down and as she tried to stand back up, the wyvern bit down hard just above her right frontal leg. Letting out another pained roar, Melphi turned her head and bit down on the wyverns neck, digging her fangs into it as she forced it off her and threw it off. Melphi seemed to be feeling the pain as she was now visibly struggling. The wyvern was in no better shape as well as they were both pretty injured at this point.

Both the wyvern and Melphi shot out another blast of their fire breath and kept a stalemate for a few seconds before the wyvern came blasting through the fire and slammed it's head into Melphi, knocking her back off her feet onto her side. Melphi was about to get up but was pinned down when the wyvern came down and landed on top of her, digging it's back claws in her side as she let out another pained cry. Not having much strength to throw the wyvern off, all Melphi could do was lie there as the wyvern pulled it's head back before lunging at her to take a bite out of her neck.

Before the wyvern could do that though, multiple chains of light came shooting out from the distance and wrapped tightly around it's neck, back claws and around the torso. The chains were aggressively yanked back which forced the wyvern off of Melphi. In the distance, Lynette was seen with multiple incantation circles hovering behind her that originated the chains of light. Ramza came rushing in and slammed his shoulder hard up against the back of the wyvern's back left leg, causing it to fall onto it's side. As it fell, he swung his sword and sliced off one of the two talons, the wyvern letting out a pained shriek. It swung his right wing at Ramza and knocked him back as Elle came sliding down one of the sand dunes, using her speed and force of gravity to push off and leap towards the wyvern, using her sword to slice off part of it's left wing, making it so it could no longer take flight. The wyvern shrieked and retaliated by swinging its right frontal claw at her to knock her away. Still being in the air, all she could do was block it with her sword to avoid being cut up but ended up crashing into the sand dune.

Shadow suddenly appeared above the wyvern and repeatedly stabbed both his shortswords into it's back. The wyvern shrieked and thrashed around to throw him off but was unsuccessful. Shadow ended up running along the length of it's back, dragging his swortswords which were still impaled in it's back, with him to leave a deep slash wound across it's back. He saw that the wyvern was swinging it's tail at Shadow but dodged it by jumping off it's back so it's own spiked tail could impale itself. Even after all that, the wyvern attempted to get up as it pulled on the light chains. Lynette struggled to keep it restrained as the chains that were binding it's back legs and torso had shattered. She used all her might to yank back on the last chain that was around it's neck which forcefully brought the wyvern's head back down.

As it's head fell back, Cliff was charging towards it, holding his axe close to him. The wyvern tried to use one of it's back claws to take a swipe at him as he approached by Cliff used the large shield on his left arm to block and throw back it's leg. With one final tug on the chain, the wyvern's long neck was pulled back towards the ground. Cliff's axe started to glow brightly as he leapt up, taking a swing at the wyvern and sliced through it's neck, cutting it's head clean off it's body. The head of the wyvern fell to the sands as it rolled down the dunes, it's body soon collapsing afterwards. The desert became silent and the dust and sand around them had settled. The heaviness and feelings of dread were no longer there as if a veil had just opened up.

Ramza pulled coughed up a bit of blood as a trail of blood went down the side of his mouth. He was pretty banged up. His armor is in tatters and blood trailed down his forehead and right arm. He eventually pulled himself back up to his feet, sheathing his sword on his back. "Ugh…what a monster…" he said.

Elle struggled to get up from her hard impact against the sand dunes. Although she avoided being sliced up for the most part from the wyvern's attack, she did end up having her right arm cut up and slashed as it's claws tore through the metal plating on her arm. She had a few other minor cuts and injuries but nothing serious. "If this is what it's like to fight a dragon, then I'd rather avoid fighting another…" she said.

Shadow walked over towards Elle and held his hand out to help her up. "I'd say we make a good team though. You guys held up pretty well" he said.

Elle reached up and took his hand and stood up with his held though her footing was a bit unstable. Her legs felt a little wobbly as they trembled. "I would hope so. We're no slouches, after all" she said, sheathing her sword. She tried to take a few steps forward but her balance was unsteady.

Shadow helped Elle stabilize herself by taking her by the arm and placing it over his shoulder to help her walk. "After that performance, I wouldn't have any doubts" he said.

Lynette ran past them as she made her way over to Melphi who had the worst injuries of them all. "Mel!" she shouted.

Melphi let out soft, pained groans as her body glowed brightly for several brief moments. Soon, her dragon formed had completely vanished and left her human form lying down on the ground. She had some pretty serious puncture wounds on her side and right shoulder and was bleeding pretty heavily. Her back had two deep slash wounds on them. Despite her serious injuries, she was still conscious, albeit barely. The pain she was feeling was mostly keeping her awake.

Lynette quickly started to apply Healing Artes on her and after about several minutes of nonstop healing, she was able to stop the bleeding for the most part. She had used up her supplies and was low on Mana so she wasn't able to address the rest of her injuries properly. She wiped her forehead and looked over towards Ramza and the others. "I managed to close up her injuries but given how serious they are, they could reopen. We need to get her back to town" she said.

Cliff joined up with everyone as he came walking up from the sand dunes. Both the shield and axe were gone. "We better get a move on then. No doubt any remnants of the Skullblades will be itching to know what had happened here" he said. He then glanced over towards the wyvern's corpse and the giant hole that had been pierced through the desert. "That thing may have been an incomplete transformation but it had some serious power to it. We should count ourselves lucky" he said.

Ramza looked over towards Cliff, tilting his head. "Both you and Mel said the same thing. What do you mean by, incomplete transformation?" he asked

Cliff returned his gaze at Ramza, shaking his head. "Just as I said. What we saw was a fraction of what could have been" he said.

Elle shook her head in disbelief. "No way. You're saying that thing is normally stronger!?" she asked. There was nothing like that in the world before. It didn't make sense on how something like that could exist in the first place.

Cliff nodded, crossing his arms. "Far stronger. After all, these are the beings that almost wiped out all of humanity at one point" he said. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes before saying one final thing. "A Daemon…" he said.

An ominous word that spoke of a grave threat and danger. With much of the world's history either lost to the ravages of time or sealed away under the pretext of "forbidden knowledge", little is known about Daemons. Many consider it old folk tales and legends while others use them to get kids to go to sleep. In truth, no one really knew about their existence and any that try to bring up the topic are often scoffed at and thought to be crazy.

They all gave one final look at the remains of the wyvern as it soon evaporated into a black smoke, leaving nothing but charred remains and craters left behind. Ramza went over to help Melphi on her feet with the assistance of Lynette as Cliff went over to where they left the young Foxkin girl, placed her on his back and lifted her up to carry. With explanations on hold until later, they all slowly made their way across the desert and back to the safety of Chesberry. Due to everyone being pretty banged up and injured, it took them at least an hour to cover a small distance of travel that should have only taken 20 minutes from where they were at. Upon returning to town, they noticed that part of town had taken some damage. Several buildings had hole in them, others were smoking and charred. There were bodies of town guards and a few mercenaries strewn around the main entrance as people ran around frantically to tend to the injured.

The Defense Team, consisting of Nagi, Cheria, Ruko and Phi were helping the injured when they spotted Ramza and the others stumbling through the main entrance. They immediately tended to them and expressed their concerns for them. They kept asking if everyone was alright and wanted to know what happened but when they saw that Tsuki wasn't himself but as Cliff, they had their suspicions confirmed that something serious had happened while they were out in the desert. They were all taken to Lux's mansion where they had their injured tended to, Melphi in particular who not only has fallen unconscious at some point but also had her injuries had opened back up while making their way back to town. While they had their injuries healed, they began to debrief Lux and the others what happened over the course of the last two hours.

To be continued…