AN: Started Lies of P after posting the last chapter. Finished it on September 29th, and here I am now writing the new chapter as promised. Those previous lines were written last year, and here we are about three months later.

Chapter 34

Flashback (Two after Drake and Tsubaki's first meeting)

There was a weird misconception around the whole world that everyone born in the Far East knew martial arts. And sadly… they would be partially right.

The place itself was a hell hole with clans, martial schools, and many conflicts regarding power going on. Parents would try to teach their kids how to fight… so her mother decided to teach her Judo. Suffice it to say the Blacksmith was found throwing people to the ground… It was later she found out during one of her mother's drunken walks that the reason Judo was chosen for her was that she hoped people would lose concentration due to her breasts and lose soon after.

Tsubaki had been a little annoyed with her mother for a while, to say the least… but hey, results were results… until now.

'Mother dearest, not everyone is a horny monkey' she thought, laying on her back in her backyard as she considered how she ended up in this position.

"Are you gonna stand up and continue, or continue sky gazing?"

Her eye twitched.

"I told you to give me a minute!"

"It's been ten!"

Tsubaki was a First Class Adventurer, by Orario's standard. A Level Five and the Captain of a prestigious Familia; one of the 'strongest'.

So even if she was a Blacksmith first being an Adventurer, a fighter, came a close second. It was only that Falna, Skill, and Stats alone couldn't do in their lives… experience and practice also played that kind of role.

Sadly, at her Level finding a challenge in the Middle Floors of the Dungeon was barely a possibility nowadays. And getting on any lower Floors was just too time-consuming. There was also the option of having a fighting partner… but no one in her Familia dared to take the challenge… or help her in that manner given that sometimes holding back was not her forte.

Tsubaki could ask Adventurers from other Familias for a sparring partner. Too bad her options were limited. Shakti was too busy with her role as a Captain. Gareth was an option, but she didn't need to think twice knowing Loki would try to get something out of it; her Goddess already had too much on her plate as it was with Drake. Freya Familia… you don't need to be a Sage to realize why that is a bad idea from every possible angle.

But then the solution came to her in the form of Orario's secret anomaly… said anomaly was now crouching down and poking her cheek.

"… Do you mind? I am monologuing right now."

"It might as well be a damn eulogy by how long you are taking." He stood up, extending his hand to her.

Yes.

She got the perfect partner in the end… or so it would seem if it wasn't for the fact that he wasn't taking her seriously… or perhaps he was? It wasn't the fact that she could easily knock him out with one punch thanks to her 'Dragon Slayer' Skill, or so he said. It was the fact that he was definitely a more efficient fighter than her.

Being able to disarm her with ease, hitting vital spots, planning the perfect time for an opening by reading the pattern of her movement.

Drake Aurion had always said he preferred to be more of a Technical Fighter than an Instinctual one… and it showed. The bastard didn't even need to use Artes or even a Weapon to disarm her… it was truly infuriating now that she thought about it… but it was the perfect solution for her training dilemma.

"Think you can take me more seriously now?" her deadpan was obvious, seeing as it wasn't the first time he had sent her face into the ground during today's training.

"…" The Blacksmith could actually see him pondering about it. "… Sure thing, you have managed to last longer after every time I have beaten you into the ground."

She snorted, finally taking his hand before helping her back to her feet. "You say that as if it has been a dozen matches."

Now it was his turn to deadpan right before calling out a familiar name. "Ranko?"

Tsubaki pressed her lips and closed her eyes in a fake wince, recalling who had been watching their sparring session; her head maid.

"Thirty-Six matches; all in your favor, Drake-sama." Drake gave her a thumbs-up before addressing his friend.

"Thirty fucking six… and you have managed to get better by mere seconds every time to be able to last… what again?" The blonde looked to the head maid again for confirmation, even though they all knew he had been keeping count of the duration of each of their matches.

"Her last fight lasted around Fourteen Minutes."

"Ok, Ranko; you stoic bitch." Tsubaki pinched the bridge between her eyes, knowing full well her stoic head maid was smiling. "Listen," she clapped her hands before looking at Drake. "I really appreciate this; hell, I am even sweating bullets right now… but could you please step up the seriousness a little?"

"You want me to send you even faster into the ground?"

"Dude, I am being serious." She sighed for a moment. "You are strong and have enough discipline to know how to control your strength. So give me something that could give me a thrill to make me struggle." He stared blandly, but she interrupted him. "Yeah, I know. I am getting better combat-wise but you not taking things seriously is starting to make me feel like a child; and more likely, it is hindering my progress."

He opened his mouth but the seriousness in her eyes told him it really wasn't the time to joke about her age.

"… Don't you fucking dare to complain later."

She clapped her hands, succeeding in her self-imposed mission. "Neat! Ranko! Go fetch a blade for edge lord over here."

"That won't be necessary," she looked at him, noticing he had taken out his jacket and was now rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

"… The fuck are you doing?" she asked, noticing he was now stretching… after hours of them sparring.

"You haven't been able to beat me at my easiest… and you expect me to face me while armed… nope!" his own bones started to crack. "But I will be fair and fulfill your request… so give me a minute."

She sighed, realizing beggars can't be choosers. "… Here I was hoping I could see more of your swordplay…" She blinked for a moment. "Now that I recall… didn't you mention you were also adept with a lance, and dual-wielding as well if I recall correctly?"

"Yeah… had to learn the former one due to my mother's insistence… that and the damn thing always appeared whenever I donned my armor."

Tsubaki raised her eyebrow.

"As for the latter," he took a moment. "Let's just say I get a little vicious whenever I am fighting with two swords… no, it would be more accurate to say I become more like Lloyd in terms of mental state… it is kind of bullshit, to be honest." He could feel her stare on him as he bent his back backward.

"I hope you realize how much you are not making sense right now."

"As I said… bullshit." The blonde finished his stretches, gesturing for Tsubaki to take her position.

"You better do something else than just bypass my attacks and throw me into the ground."

"Nope." He started to make slight jumps, gaining momentum. "I am gonna do something that hopefully will make you develop something that might help you in your Dungeon diving… having said that," he closed his eyes for a mere moment, making Tsubaki feel a chill run down her spine before she raised her guard; all jokes and fun were gone.

His eyes opened slowly, suddenly shortening the distance between them in a split second before completing his sentence. "I am gonna kill you."


The memory went through her eye in the split of a second… no, it was even less than that.

It felt as if her brain had sent a shock throughout her whole body. She didn't waste her time, grabbing her blade and Lett's dagger from the Xenos' hands before taking a defense position-

*CLANK*

Blocking a two-sided attack from the Replica's blade… an attack no one, not even Tsubaki had seen coming.

Drake had kept his word, in a sense. He fought more seriously in their matches to the point he had indeed killed her several times… from a technical point of view.

In the span of the next hour, Tsubaki Collbrande had indeed died a good amount of twenty times. It all ended in her being sent into the ground again… only it was far more painful. But the biggest change was that she could feel his killing intent.

At some point she started to respond in kind, trying to do the same; completely forgetting about her 'Dragon Slayer' skill… but it was all for naught; he was still faster and stronger than her. In the end, all she could after so many attempts was to feel how the attack was coming thanks to the intent after so many 'deaths'… not see, predict, or anything of that sort… only feel.

And it is for that very same reason she was able to block the Replica's attack.

But then again, that was all she could afford to do.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND TRY TO FIND AN EXIT!" Tsubaki shouted her lungs out, not looking at the Xenos and instead locking her eye with the Replica's; trying to feel what the next move would be.

Lett wanted to say something, anything. But all he could was turn around with a complex expression and do as told, followed by Aude in a rush.

Tsubaki currently held her blade and the borrowed dagger looking down, with her arms extended and crossed to block two blades that would have most likely cut her in half. She moved her head back before the fake Drake shortened the distance to deliver a headbutt; failing by a millimeter as Tsubaki managed to gain some distance after backstepping.

Her new ground was lost as the Replica shortened the distance between them with a barrage of attacks.

Up and up, down and left, left and right, kick-

"!" all its attacks were timed, waving its blades in different or the same direction. But the last attack, a kick after making a sudden swirl in shortening the distance caught her by surprise. No, she did feel something coming but her reaction time was just not fast enough.

*CRACK*

She could hear the Aura bracelet breaking again, taking the damage for her. But even so she could feel the full force and power of the kick as she was sent close to a nearby wall.

'One more, the bracelet will most likely be broken by the next hit I take… and after that-'

Its blade would be able to cut her very flesh. And the Adventurer knew she would not be able to keep up in defense, the last attack was proof of that.

Yeah… she was royally fucked.

Her instincts kicked in, Tsubaki ducking to the side in time to avoid the blade piercing the metal wall made of Aura with ease. She stepped to the side, missing a fist that came for her head.

She backstepped again, trying to catch her breath as the Replica took its sweet time to retrieve his blade. Its emotionless eye stared at her for a moment.

Her body reacted again, raising her weapons in a specific manner to block an attack… that never came. She stared, seeing the Replica tilting its head slightly for a moment… only to suddenly shorten the distance in a moment, its blade already going for her left shoulder… and not a single trace of killing intent could be detected.

She was too slow again, barely able to counter the blade's momentum-

*CRACK*

Her bracelet finally broke-

*SPASH*

Just as the edge of the blade started to cut through her skin. She raised both of her weapons as fast as she could, stopping its blade before it could cut through her whole shoulder. She could feel it, the lack of strength due to the broken Aura Bracelet.

The Adventurer struggled, trying to counter The Replica's strength despite the clear difference… completely forgetting about its second blade; swiftly slashing her stomach.

Tsubaki could feel her lower body grow warm, thanks to her own blood.

Little by little, her knees started to fail her. She fell on her knee, forced by the force applied by the Replica's blade stuck in her shoulder. Her vision started to turn blurry and even her ears seemed to start failing; hearing cracks of electricity.

'Oh, right… his Lightning.'

Her scream could be heard through the halls of the ship; illuminating the area in a bright green as Lightning ran through her whole body. All of it was being conducted through the cold steel of the blade in her shoulder.

She saw her vision falling to the ground, her body becoming too tired and numb to feel anything anymore. Although, Tsubaki could tell she had been kicked across the hall by how her vision seemed to move.

'… dick' she thought, laying on the ground… noticing her own blood… and seeing the faker coming at her calmly; waving his sword to clean her blood off the blade.

Tsubaki tried to stand up… to move… to do anything… but to muster even a single word seemed impossible.

'Killed… by a fucking… wanna-be.'

The Blacksmith felt like lecturing herself at the thought of reaching the end of her line. But being realistic, the situation was far from being optimal.

Fuck it.

She found it hilarious… the thought of dying had always come in the form of dying eaten by a big fucking Monster or a Forge explosion in her younger days.

The subconscious thought of her age made her smile a bit… living the so famous 'Life flashing before your eyes' thing everyone seemed to talk about. And out of it, there was just one thing she could conclude… the one thing she regretted above all else.

'… Why couldn't I have met you sooner?' she honestly wished she could see him again, as cliché as it sounded. 'But here I am, stuck with the cheap discount version….'

Her eye felt heavy… her consciousness fading, as little by little, the Replica got closer.

The last thing she saw was her impending doom suddenly stopping, dropping its blades before falling on both knees while gripping the side of its head.

'… da fuck?' Tsubaki thought numbly, noticing her vision was shifted… it was Lett, shaking her body while Aude checked on her as well while the Goblin seemed to call for her name. She didn't pay much attention to it, focusing only on what her blurry vision was able to identify passing both Xenos… a drone floating not far from them, looking at the Replica before focusing on her… and then, her eye finally closed.


Adam Taurus rested against a wall with his arms crossed while donning an unreadable expression.

The environment around him was dark, cold, and dirty… mines were meant to be like that after all… and unfortunately for him, this one was awfully familiar for him.

The mine where his parents died.

The mine he himself was forced to… had to work in to make a living.

Long gone were his parents' dreams for him; being someone, being a Huntsman, Lawyer, Doctor… anything more than a simple miner. Gone as well were the books that his parents had worked so hard to attain for him, only to be able to feed himself and have a small roof over his head to live.

And now, here he was… watching his younger self slamming a pickaxe on a random rock. The Faunus only stared from the back, but he didn't need to look around to know the eyes of his younger self were devoid of any emotion.

The current Adam wondered for the third time if he had died; discarding the idea as soon as it came knowing his blessing would have kicked off.

Did the drug Drake gave him had 'Depressing Flashbacks Dreams' listed in the secondary symptoms? No, he punched himself with enough strength to knock the shit out of a normal person.

It was then that Adam considered another idea…

'… Don't tell me that fucker managed to send me to Hell…' he thought, a little deadpan adorning his face for a moment; recalling there was a circle of hell that took care of this kind of thing… but like all other ideas, this one was discarded. If he truly were in Hell he knew the Great Spirit of the Underworld would do something far worse than this as punishment for his last transgression towards him… her… them… them and Drake.

'Fricking pronouns.' Adam thought, recalling Pluto didn't have a definite gender.

"Is that him?"

His thoughts came back to the situation at hand; looking to the side of his younger version to see two miners muttering between them… yeah, he remembered this.

"Yeah… the guy whose parents died in the latest accident two months ago."

"Poor kid… another one that ends up in here with the rest of us."

The older Taurus scowled, recalling hearing people's whispers behind his back, pitying him. Back then, the only thing those words did for him was send him into the border of depression to the point he just thought of keeping his emotions locked.

However, there were other kinds of words that managed to plant seeds in his mind.

"Fucking Schnee."

The source of his anger.

"The conditions just keep getting worse the deeper we go into this damn mine and we still have to work with the same faulty equipment; not to mention lacking."

"Keep quiet, dumbass." Another Miner hissed. "Do you want us to be made a public example of badmouthing? The last guy who did that had to be 'Discharged due to not being fitting for work'."

Someone snorted. "Sure, a broken face by the fist of the Head Miner fits that description."

"Would you imbeciles be quiet already? The upper staff will be doing rounds soon."

'And it was like that for weeks; always the same sedentary living, always the same whispers, murmurs, and complains; sinking into my very mind little by little… but it all ended after this.'

"Careful with that, it has been malfunctioning as of recently." One miner said, close by the area of the mine that was meant to be extended.

"The same as all the other models?"

"Aye," there was a somber tone in the miner's words. "It won't turn off when the damn button is pressed. That, and you know the drill tends to accelerate more the more it's on-"

"-To the point it goes out of control, I recall… Can we exchange it for another one?"

The Miner shook his head. "All of them are like this. They are already due past their maintenance… hah!" He kicked the machine before replying in a lower voice. "You would think the higher-ups would learn of this kind of thing after the last incident."

"They were told about this way before the latest accident. But you know the Schnee rule 'If it works, it works."

Everyone close by groaned.

"At least we aren't near a zone full of Explosive Dust."

"Don't you fucking jinx it. The last thing we need is hitting just a single crystal of Earth Dust; Hello Earthquake."

Multiple groans were heard.

"Don't blame me! I am not the one jinxing it!"

There was a silence after that, only the mining tools and the work in the mine could be heard… until one random voice asked-

"The accident… what exactly happened?"

The rhythm of the word shifted, slowing down a bit as the question lingered in the air.

"As you might have guessed… The drill went out of control" the Miner sighed. "Usually when that happens we would turn off the generator… but we were just too late. The sonar had detected a huge quantity of Explosive Dust the more the drill dug… it was already too late by that moment." The man ran his hand over his face as he recalled the event. "Everything was in fucking chaos; everyone was shouting, rushing through the exit and only a few were lucky not to be caught in the massive explosion, or splashed flat by a falling rock."

There was another lingering moment in the air.

"I heard the new sonars can detect the type of dust a good fifty meters away… and we still have the first damn model," the other miner held the device, hitting slightly. "It's glitching away by the way."

"Then try to restart it… we are not getting a new one… less so a functional drill that operates as it should… we are just Faunus; expendable for the people born with a fucking silver spoon in this God-forsaken kingdom."

All the work stopped, leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth as they simply looked down at their very feet; no effort to raise in any way was shown.

It was soon after that they resumed their work at the sound of the supervisor getting closer.

All of this while a young Adam Taurus slammed his pickaxe with more effort than before. His eyes no longer devoid of emotion… but filled with a silent anger after finding out about the incident that almost killed his parents.

The current Adam just kept staring, clenching his own fist at the memory before sighing. Pleading his Lord Ratatosk for patience… no… control in front of what was to come.

"You are all behind the fucking schedule!"

Time had moved on again.

The Knight of Ratatosk saw how every miner had been forced to stand on the snow during what was supposed to be break time.

"I don't care if you are tired! Malnourished! Excuses! And so on! You were given the chance to earn a living!" a man wearing a luxurious coat, covered from head to toe from the infernal cold shouted. Usually, he would be looking down on all of them due to their situation, but seeing as productivity had been low by a decent percent… it was normal for him to be this angry.

"But Sir! As I already explained-"

"I said I don't care about your excuses!" The Elitist backslapped the Miner, making him fall to the ground. "My only concern is the productivity of this hellhole!" he started to stomp the Miner. "It isn't my problem if the equipment is malfunctioning!"

*Stomp*

"If the Mine is getting more unstable as you dig deeper!"

*Stomp*

"I don't care for your well being, either!"

*Stomp*

"If there's a need for more handy work there are plenty of homeless people and animals out there to take care of it!"

'The good old Atlas' treatment.' Adam thought with a neutral expression. Normally, this kind of attitude would be the type of food the media enjoyed the most. Sadly, this whole mine was owned by the Schnee, covering this was as simple as cleaning their mouths with a disposable tissue.

"Do I make myself clear!?"

The Miner didn't reply, he had passed out on the cold snow.

"Someone, take this Vermin out of my sight!" two guards soon came to do as told. "And you!" He looked at all the miners. "Get back to work!"

All of the miners dispersed, holding their growls of discomfort and tiredness from their lack of recess time.

All… but one.

'And here we go.' The older Adam saw as his younger version walked in the opposite direction of the miners; not caring one bit about stumbling into them.

He recalled the time when he held that pickaxe; its grip was humid due to the snow and his small hands already had bruises from the many times he had used it. But maybe it was because of that very reason that he chose that instead of a simple knife as a weapon.

At that age, he wasn't stealthy at all. Had it been on solid ground and not in snow, people would have heard him approach him… and see the murderous look on his face.

The reason for his parents' deaths, right in front of him; easy for the killing. At that moment all the young Bull Faunus could see was red, fueled by the rage which left no trace of doubt or hesitation on his mind at the moment. That's why raising his pickaxe at the back of the man's head was so easy for him… too bad the Elitist had decided to turn around at that very moment, his eyes widened at the sight of his life being threatened; raising his hand to cover his head, resulting in the tip of the mining tool being impaled on the man's shoulder.

"You… You!" the man screamed, his voice soon toned down with a scowl as he growled at Adam. "You fucking animal!"

The young Faunus growled, retrieving his pickaxe to use it in the right spot this time while a roar accompanied him. But his window of opportunity had been closed shut, seeing as he was tackled without care by the guards.

By this time every person who worked in the mine, miner or not, was seeing what the commotion was about. Murmurs were heard all around the area.

"We will take care of him, sir!" one of the guards stated, getting a hold of Adam's neck and arm while another did the same on the other side.

"… Don't." the Elitist said; his voice full of scorn, rage, and disgust. "Give them enough time and the animals will bite the hand that feeds them… no; he will be made an example of." He looked at his assistant. "Bring me the branding iron."

The man ordered all the miners to return in line, all while a raging Adam was held by both arms while being forced on his knees.

"THIS!" the man pointed at Adam. "This is what is going to happen to any of you that have any ideas like this one!" he raised the brand iron with the letters SDC; its brand heated to the maximum.

The younger Adam struggled to get free, shouting and growling.

"Look at him, acting like a true animal to the very end…" the man sighed tragically despite his wounded shoulder. "Oh well."

The brand approached… but Adam didn't hesitate in his rage as the branding approached his face. "I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU! YOU AND THIS FUCKING KINGDOM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The pain wasn't short nor was it subtle.

The current Adam knew this because he recalls sensing some extra pressure. He felt his own face itch as he closed his eyes, hearing his younger version's scream at the pain he felt.

The branding was no longer there thanks to his blessing… but moments like this made him feel like it was still there. He recalled the moment in more detail; watching the Elitist's smirk as he branded him, the faces and murmurs of everyone looking… cowards for not raising their voices any single time… and the World.

The Knight had heard once around the time his parents were alive the phrase 'All living beings are equals'… that was a lie. Otherwise, this treatment, and his parents' deaths… none of them would have been so infuriating.

He recalled Drake's words during their final encounter back in Remnant… saying that Lloyd Aurion would have done anything for Justice to be met… but that wasn't the case; the reality of it all is that never happened and his life went on a downward spiral from there.

He had been imprisoned for the assassination attempt; not even a trial had been set for him. The only reason as to why he had been freed was because there had been an accident during his transportation. It was obvious Atlas was not a place to stay, so he smuggled himself out of it and so on until reaching Menagerie… the Unofficial 'Kingdom of the Faunus.'

Soon after he joined the White Fang, believing their cause of fighting for the Faunus' right was his calling in life. But no, soon he learned that their approach was more pacifist than anything… this, of course, also enraged him. It wasn't until Sienna Khan took over that their methods changed.

The idea of making a change for their kind came out of his mouth every time… but he now knew it was only an excuse to just destroy everything; ruining the lives of many to queel his own rage.

If anything, the only good thing that came out of that time would be Blak-

'Nope!' Adam thought suddenly. 'I would rather be hearing my own screams due to the branding a thousand more times than going down that rabbit hole again… wait a second.'

The screams of his younger self had suddenly stopped, which shouldn't have happened if the memory of the event was right; he should have been shouting for a good while, and cursing even more.

Not only that but he felt how the temperature had suddenly risen a little. It was still cold, but not the 'It is snowing' kind of cold.

He finally opened his eyes, realizing it was nighttime and that he was no longer on the mining site. No… this looked more like an old-styled city… and somehow familiar, as well.

For a moment Adam questioned where he was now… wondering as to why it did not continue where they had been left off.

He walked a little, looking around before approaching a corner of the street to reach a more open area; his eyes wandered for a moment before looking at something massive in the distance… it was the statue of a giant knight's sword.

"… Fuck."

Now he knew where he was.

Zaphias; home of the Imperial Knights, place of birth of both Yuri F. Lowell and Flynn Scifo… and depending on the time, either its own kingdom or part of the Kingdom of Mistral.

'But I already have a feeling of WHEN I am.'

*BOOM*

And right on cue an explosion could be heard in the distance. He walked to a corner, looking down on the lower streets to see various members of the White Fang rushing in, fighting, killing everyone they could see.

And leading them was a young red-haired man reaching the end of his teen years. He wore a black suit with a rose imprinted on his back, wielding a familiar red blade.

"Move forward! Show them the might of Faunus! The might of the White Fang!"

The older Adam looked down… and couldn't help but cringe at his former self. However, the thought left him for a moment, wondering if perhaps there was a pattern in all he was seeing; because such a jump between events was just too random… something was definitely up.


Tsubaki felt drowsy… like really fucking drowsy.

It wasn't a hangover type of drowsy… but it was still definitely that.

She heard voices, it took her a good full minute before being able to distinguish Lett… and one other. It wasn't Lett, for she knew the War Shadow could not talk at the moment. It was later that she identified it as… kind of robotic.

'The fucking AI'

The Adventurer couldn't make up their words but she knew the Goblin sounded a little agitated.

She stirred her fingers, slightly moving her hands a little to see if there was something of use against the damn drone. Her bracelet was already broken so it would be a challenge to destroy one with her bare hands. Her katana was her best bet but she would need to be careful not to raise any atten-

"Tsubaki, you dumb bitch, stop lazing around." Lett's comment made her eye snap with a twitch and an unreadable expression on her face.

"Ok, what the shit?" The Blacksmith sat up, her eye widening as she instinctively went for her stomach… no wounds to be seen. "The fuck?"

She looked at Lett who simply pointed at the drone; recalling in that moment it was the last thing she saw before passing out.

"I take it you helped us, then…" The machine didn't say anything. "Just what the fuck are you playing at? Sending us here and unleashing a fucking Replica of Drake on us." Tsubaki wasn't angry, she was enraged.

"Although I do take responsibility for the former accusation… the latter one doesn't fall on me." The robotic voice replied before looking at the Goblin, who rubbed the back of his while whistling.

"… The fuck did you do you fucking green Goblin?" Tsubaki cursed in a low voice, fighting the urge to choke and shake him.

"Why is it that everyone always says the same exact thing whenever I make a tiny little itty bitsy mistake?!"

A vein popped off her forehead before she proceeded to do as she thought, but the AI got in her way.

"I am afraid we might need every help we can; so I will start from the beginning." The Adventurer narrowed her eye at the machine before looking at Lett; pointing at her eye and then at his. A threat he understood all too well.

"I had originally separated you from your companions into an Area that didn't have energy, in a room you shouldn't have been able to get out for the reason previously explained." It looked at Lett. "But I didn't expect a fucking Goblin to cleverly get all of you out."

"I am just gonna take that as a compliment." The Goblin commented while Tsubaki just kept staring at the drone.

"However, I also didn't expect him to restart a computer; it was at that moment that I received a notification the moment it tried to contact the Cordovin AI. Since Cordovin has been permanently disconnected it went through various failed security protocols, forcing the system to activate a Replica as a measure."

Lett gulped, not daring to look at Tsubaki; knowing full well nothing but a death stare awaited him.

"Seeing as you are helping us," Tsubaki reasoned, pinching the bridge above her nose as she tried to calm down. "Why not intervene in the activation? You can do that… right?" she was still trying to understand this whole technology shit.

"Normally, I would. The moment I was activated I made a scan of all the systems under the authority of Cordovin. But when the Goblin activated that terminal, I was surprised; because it was under a completely different server and permissions. My Guess It Atlas decided to keep that Server as a separate thing for only experiments."

"And since you have no access to it, preventing the activation was not a possibility." Lett completed the explanation. "But that still doesn't explain why the Replica could use Aura while the suppressors were still on at the time."

"Because of the Armor. Atlas' scientists might be self-centered, but they are good when it comes to keeping themselves alive. In case there was something like an uprising happening in the ship the suppressors would only affect the rioters; the security on the other hand would remain unaffected."

"Talk about always being in control…" her thought stopped for a second. "At the time… does that mean the suppressors are no longer active?"

"That would be correct," Tsubaki looked to the side, at Aude; his hand completely regenerated, with his voice back as well. "However, the AI made it clear that only in this area."

The Adventurer caught the Xenos' message. Wherever Drake and Adam were, the suppressors were still on.

"I thought the best approach would be for all of you to be at your best when the time comes… even if your chances of remaining alive keep being lower than twenty percent."

Tsubaki narrowed her eye, realizing the Replica hadn't been dealt with when she passed out.

"What exactly happened after I passed out?"


Flashback

"That is not going to work! Believe me, I know!" Lett shouted, looking at the Replica Drake being forced onto his knees after the drone released a sound wave in a frequency that only it could hear.

To be frank, the Goblin still wasn't sure what to make out of all of this seeing how they were being helped by the one that separated them from Adam and Drake in the first place.

He and Aude had frozen in place when they had run from the Replica earlier; leaving Tsubaki on her own. But they were surprised when it had demanded them to take it to where the Replica was or Tsubaki would most definitely die.

Which led them to their current situation.

"I am fully aware of that, and prepared as well." The Drone replied.

Lett recalled the time he and Adam received support from Ray; using her voice to neutralize the opposite party. But Drake had found a way of going around it by piercing his own fingers into his eardrums and thus nullifying the sonic attack in an instant.

'Yes, even if it is effective and he can heal doesn't mean a normal person would do that without hesitation!' Those were his thoughts at the time. But now, he could only draw a blank line in his mind as he saw the Replica separating his hands from his eardrums despite the pain, preparing his fingers to do just that despite the pain his brain must be going through.

"There!"

His eyes widened, seeing as the walls between him closed in an attempt to crush him. The Replica, however, reacted in time as he used both of his hands to stop them, making him endure the hell-like frequency the AI emitted.

But it didn't take a minute to see the Replica managing to plant his foot, remaining on one knee, in an attempt to endure and succeed through it all; not expecting a block of the ceiling falling on him.

By now, he had been cornered and the sound was still in effect. There was no possible way for it to-

"Oh, come on!"

The Replica was no longer on one knee, managing to start pushing the walls with its hands… and head.

"So much for solving things easily."

The floor opened below it, not giving it a single room for it to do anything about it as the wall and ceiling left no chance for that as it fell on it; along with its weapons.


"What's with you and throwing people in holes?" Tsubaki asked with a twitching eye.

"If it works why stop using it?" The drone looked at her. "I am looking at Exhibit A right now."

A vein almost popped on Tsubaki's forehead. But with a sigh she decided it was better to focus on the task at hand.

"Where is it?"

The drone looked away, generating a holographic map of the ship; with a blinking dot on a part of it.

"I managed to send it to the very bottom of the ship, even making sure every single way was locked. But-" They saw the dot moving, little by little. "It has managed to cut through all of them little by little. It will only be a matter of time before it reaches us."

"So… what I am getting out of all of this is," Lett got their attention. "There is a fucking Terminator behind us, we are Sarah fucking Connor in this scenario and Skynet is suddenly helping us."

Tsubaki was getting really tired of not getting Movie references.

"Just for the record, I am not interested in Destroying Humanity… at the moment."

"We need those two. As much as I hate to say it, we need the powerhouses here. Our best chance literally broke when I last faced the wanna-be."

"You mean that cheap discount bracelet; I am working on that." The Drone ignored the Blacksmiths glare at the description of her creation. "As for Drake and Taurus… I am afraid they are indisposed for the moment; making up for the past."

Everyone stared for a moment, but it was the Goblin who decided to break the silence. "The fuck does that even mean!?" He shouted, thinking for a moment the machine was on their side.

The Drone ignored them, floating to the door to reveal another one. "You two," it addressed the Xenos. "Follow this drone, it will take you to a armory with more than just grenades."

"Say no more," and just like that the Goblin was already crossing the door, his previous indignation already forgotten.

"Every damn time…" the War Shadow sighed before following suit, leaving the drone and Tsubaki alone.

"Follow me."

Tsubaki followed, looking at her with a narrowed look.

"I hate to play the one asking stupid questions , but I need to check the facts here," she walked next to it. "Why are you helping us?"

"I am not."

"Oh, let me rephrase that, then." Tsubaki narrowed her eye. "Why are you helping me?"

"I am afraid you are overestimating yourself, Miss Collbrande-"

"It's already way too late to put on the act of the useless and robotic AI." The drone stopped for a moment. "I don't know a lot about technology; fuck it, I am having problems finding out every function my Scroll has… but ever since you dropped a few hours ago, I couldn't help but analyze the whole thing over again."

And so she went on; Drake's intention of separating by having her try clothes in an attempt to be alone with the AI and plot this.

"And the more I thought about it the more I couldn't help but remember how Drake always said Rita Mordio never did half-assed shit…" her lips twitched upward seeing the light on the drone glowing intensely. "And if Atlas could create something like Cordovin, why couldn't the most intelligent woman in Remnant do the same?"

The drone just stared at her for a good while.

Tsubaki swore it looked like it was trying to make her head blow up with her stare; her smug smile definitely wasn't helping her case.

"This idea was all mine," The drone started to move again, making Tsubaki roll her eye seeing she was just going to pretend she hadn't been found out. "Drake owed me that much… and the only condition he asked of me-"

"Was that nothing happened to me," Tsubaki concluded, walking next to the drone with an expression that could be considered a mix of frown and scowl. The Adventurer didn't like the fact that her best friend let her out of the plan or the fact that he thought she needed to be protected; she wasn't a helpless princess damn it… although the situation wasn't the best, to be honest… but even so. "Dick."

"Quite so, yes."

"But what exactly did he owe you for? Is this related to what Adam did in the past?" the lack of response was all the answer she needed. It remained like that until they arrived. The doors opened, revealing some kind of laboratory with automatic hands moving, some with lasers, working on her broken bracelet.

"Are you repairing it?" Tsubaki asked in intrigue and excitement as they walked closer, stopping right before a protection window.

"I am. Right now… you are the best bet we have."

Her excitement died down. "Hate to be the realist here, but even with my bracelet I can maybe last five minutes, at best."

The drone floated next to her. "Your blades are top-notch; better than the cheap shit the Replica's had¸good enough to go through that damn armor." Tsubaki mentally gave herself a pat on the back; feeling proud of her own work. "You were able to somehow keep up with him, before and after it entered Lloyd mode."

'Seriously, why do they call Dual-Wielding that?'

"And the most important thing of it all… for some reason, despite having no real Aura, you were able to bypass Drake's Aura as if it was butter."

Tsubaki kept staring at her bracelet being repaired with a neutral face. But in reality, her body had been tense at the last point; the damn drone staring at her one millimeter away from her face didn't help her one bit.

But to her surprise, it floated back a little.

"Drake trusts you… a lot. So I am going to put in the same trust at the moment." Tsubaki inwardly sighed, not wanting to explain how one of her skills could easily kill Drake if not careful. "However… I do have something that has been eating at me for a while now."

She raised an eyebrow. "I checked the recordings of just before you all entered the ship; Zelos claimed we were no longer in Remnant. At first I thought it was ridiculous, but then looking at a fucking Goblin of all things in your party puts things into perspective."

She snorted.

"I know and accept that fact…" she looked at Tsubaki. "But I don't know how long has passed since I was last updated." The AI stated, realizing Tsubaki raised an eyebrow. "Right, I am talking with a normie." Tsubaki definitely wasn't gonna hold that one for later. "This AI was updated regularly; the last update happened a little after Yuri's funeral. After that, Drake had ghosted us again to Origin knows where. Lloyd and Zelos went to Atlas to track another Centurion, and some activity that could probably lead to the Kingdom's fall-"

"Which happened."

"Flynn and Guy stayed to help up with things in Zaphias… and Jude… he had been in Atlas the whole thing. I can only imagine how he took the news of his brother dying… and we had already lost Luke before that… things were looking bad for us."

Tsubaki felt like placing a hand on its shoulder… but there wasn't any.

"And now, I see we are in a different universe, and I look at the bracelet with runes only Lloyd had knowledge of…" the drone looked at her again. "There are things that don't make sense… but I can confirm Zelos and the others are not here despite me seeing him outside the ship. So my only guess is that Drake either made that for you… or he taught you to make it yourself. So some time must have passed for him to learn them."

Tsubaki trailed for a moment, not knowing how to reply, not knowing how she would take things.

"Bitch, it is just a simple question; no need to add suspense to it."

Or not.

"How old was Drake during those events?"

"Eighteen."

Tsubaki pondered for a moment; considering Drake was now Nineteen, but also having in mind that Adam and Ratatosk arrived one and a half years before-

"Two and a half years… give or take."

"I see… thank you."

Silence.

"Is that it?" Tsubaki looked at the drone perplexed. "Nothing else you want to ask?"

"You probably don't have concrete answers; I will just wait to ask Drake."

"Ha! Jokes on you! I know plenty of things… like the fact that Yuri and Luke were alive during the final stand in Remnant."

"Meh, they probably used the Resurrection Arte."

… Huh?

'… Huh?' Tsubaki remained in place for a second before fully re-analyzing what she just heard. "I am sorry, did you just say-"

"Nah, couldn't be. None of the conditions could be met at the time… wonder how they came back then…" The drone muttered, pretty much ignoring the Blacksmith; even when said person was now shaking the drone, but it still didn't respond as it was lost in thought.

"Bitch, don't you ignore me." Nothing. "Bitch? Bitch!?... damn it!"


"As much hype as there is in my system right now, I can't find it in me to act hyperactive given the situation," Lett commented, standing in the armory with various weapons he had only seen on his Scrolls while investigating the subject. From simple side-arms, pistols, hand cannons, and shotguns, to grenade Dust Launches, RPG and so on.

But now, he opted to be a realist. "Is this actually gonna help against a thing whose only objective is killing us?"

The drone just floated next to the Xenos as they walked in. "Not at all. If anything, I am still working on a strategy, which brings me to the following," the drone stopped and turned to them. "I need a list of your capabilities and probable equipment you may have."

The Goblin sighed, not liking it one bit. "Aude can use his body in every form he wants, I can summon a horde of Goblins made out of Aura." Lett didn't know why, maybe it was his experience with Adam; he knew the AI wanted to throw a comment about his semblance. "And I have a few of these." Lett opened his coat to reveal-

"Storable Spell Knifes…" the drone remained still for a moment. "We actually finished them." And for a moment, its voice sounded less robotic. He also raised an eyebrow, wondering what it meant by that last statement. But it beat him to it. "What spells do you have in those?"

His confusion increased, seeing he clearly knew what they were and how they worked. But decided to focus on the incoming danger rather than dive into his own curiosity.

"[Explosion], [Tidal Wave], [Indignation], [Thunder Blade], [Ice Tornado], [Cyclone]..."

"Are you kidding me? Most of them are High-Level spells!"

"You say that like it was a bad thing." His confusion was honest.

"We are in a closed space you imbecile, not to mention damaging the ship anymore is not going to benefit anyone!" the Goblin let out a 'Oh' before shrugging it. "Also, the Replica will just absorb all the Lighting Artes, so that's a No-go."

"So the only spell we may be able to use is [Ice Tornado]," the Goblin rubbed his chin.

"… I wouldn't be so sure… " the AI seemed to ponder for a moment. "Anything else you may have that could be useful?"

"Nope," he took out a bottle of water, half-empty. "Unless you want to count this as a tool as well." He replied, ready to drink the rest; trying to kill the thirst in his throat. But he couldn't as his eyes darted to the side to see the drone emitting a light on his arm that prevented him from moving.

"Believe it or not… it might help. Don't drink that. It might be useful." The light stopped, letting him move freely before throwing it a look.

"How the hell can a bottle of water help us out!?" he was ignored, seeing as the drone moved to Aude who had been looking at some weapons a few feet away. Whatever it was, the War Shadow simply nodded before walking away.

"Follow me," the Goblin simply rolled his eyes as he did as told. "Before we proceed I would like to assess the data I have of the Replica. Anything you might have noticed?"

The Goblin followed suit, his mind going through the events that happened not too long ago. "Nothing much besides being menacing," he wasn't exaggerating. Maybe it was the Replica's Aura or the fact it was Aurion Replica's, but he could feel the air near it being heavier when it got closer to them… or that could easily be explained as Lett being scared shitless at the moment.

He could feel the AI glaring at him again, waiting for an actual helpful answer. "… It's smart." That seemed to get it for a second, seeing it had stopped advancing, waiting for Lett to continue. "Back when we were in the other armory, we heard footsteps approaching the room. Aude and I thought we were safe once we heard the footsteps going away… only to then have its blade thrust to the wall and into my shoulder."

"You think it did that so you would lower your guard?"

Lett nodded. "I mean, it is a Replica of Drake Aurion… wouldn't that kind of tactic be something he would use?"

The drone didn't reply, opting to just float still for a moment before moving again. "I am still working on a strategy to use against the Replica." They stopped in front of a massive door. "Try to familiarize yourself with these in the meantime."

Lett had had a lot of reservations since the AI started to help them again, mostly in fear it might do something behind their backs, like activating the Aura inhibitors. Besides, he also noticed how it started to sound less and less like an AI should… all of those thoughts and worries went off the windows the moment the massive doors opened, revealing a massive imposing figure a few feet away from him.

To be honest, he honestly didn't feel guilty for accidentally activating the Replica and that it might actually kill them, not at all.


"Despite what you said before about all of the pros, it doesn't change the fact that Drake's Replica still beats me in every area," Tsubaki commented, watching as her bracelet was still being repaired, already giving up at the whole [Resurrection] Arte seeing the bitch clearly didn't intend to say anything about it.

The repairs were done; it looked completely new, as it had never been broken. That meant step one was already over, step two was now coming up with the plan… and that was the problem.

From what Tsubaki had learned the Replica had been programmed to follow every directive to the word. Throwing away every bit of self-preservation if necessary for the sake of said directive. One would think that was an advantage… the problem in the equation being this was the Replica of none other than Drake; a specialist in not only lacking self-preservation but also willing to put himself in danger on a regular basis.

"Good to see that fucking habit is still a thing," the sarcasm from the AI was very noticeable.

Apparently, the Replica carried everything but the memory of the Original… but this one was also lacking every emotion, only following the directive of Atlas.

Meaning, even if Tsubaki could one-punch him and kill it thanks to 'Dragon Slayer', landing the damn blow was near impossible.

"The one other Advantage we have is the fact that it can't use his Shadow Semblance. Otherwise, it could have easily escaped the trap I set."

The Blacksmith blinked for a moment. 'Right… his lightning was something he got from accustoming his Aura and body to it… but even so…'

"How come it can't use it?"

The drone looked at her. "Because as the name states, Replicas are just copies; imperfect ones. They try to copy the exact soul, but in reality it ends up being a defect; to the point the first ever Replica's would suffer from anemia, deficits and ended up dying at a young age."

Tsubaki recalled reading that in the documentation she found earlier. Apparently, Mithos' group managed to improve the process of Replication so the Replicas would last… although they would still end up dying after a good period of time… like a product with an expiration date.

"And since the Soul is imperfect, it is only natural they would never develop one…" The drone seemed to go into a trance for a moment. "That is the Fate of all Replicas… Except for one."

The Adventure raised an eyebrow. Sadly, she knew asking wouldn't serve her any god seeing the AI could decide to play be bitch again.

"Having said all of that, there's one advantage we have… or rather, the one thing that the Original Drake has that the Replica doesn't. Say, what is the one thing combat-wise that comes with memory?"

Tsubaki raised an eyebrow, repeating the question in her mind before her eye widened. "Experience."

"Drake has learned to remain calm even in the most fucked up of situations. Fuck, he even developed some mental shit in which time significantly slows down in his mind to analyze the situation." The AI really sounded scornful at that one.

Leaving that aside, it made sense.

And just like that, little by little the idea started to form in her head. Yeah, all the Replica had was muscle memory and flow of Aura; explaining as to why it could do them so easily.

But mentally, it was a clean slate.

However, that didn't mean it couldn't learn a new trick. The memory of not too long ago came to mind, recalling how the Replica learned how to attack without showing killing intent.

"We mentally overwhelm it, from all sides and corner it and don't allow it a single second of respite."

"Correct. Sadly, it is a 'easier said than done' scenario." The AI stayed quiet for a moment. "Also, you won't be tiring him out."

Tsubaki looked at the drone confused for a moment, her eye narrowed into a scowl. "Lett and Aude… you are using them as bait."

It looked at her, making Tsubaki swear the AI looked confused at her. "Didn't you do the same not too long ago?"

To her credit, Tsubaki didn't tense.

"As I am speaking with you, so am I with the Goblin and the Shadow Monster. And the former told me a little tiny bit of information that just didn't feel right…" if the AI had a face right now, she would surely return the scowl tenfold if the tales of her from Drake's mouth were anything to go by. "Since when the fuck does Drake make sound when he walks?"

The Replica had muscle memory, which included habits like walking… and guess who just so happens to be able to delete their presence whenever they want to, to the point that his footsteps would be silent?

"The walls of the ship are made of concentrated Aura, so it is impossible to see through them with Aura Sight, so there was no way the Replica could have easily known where those two were. And there are no active cameras in which you guys were to be seen, but I can make a pretty accurate assumption."

Yes, Tsubaki had been the Lett heard outside.

Her Adventurer experience already told her there was something dangerous on that floor, pretty close by. Her first instinct was to feel something keeping her in her tracks. It was only then that she managed to overhear Lett and Aude inside that room.

So, she made a choice.

She made a little noise near the door and then hid on the next corner, steading her breath and calming herself; maintaining her heartbeats at a slow rate… even when the Replica drew a blade through the wall; the next thing she heard was Lett's screams. But even so, she still waited for the perfect chance to strike.

Too bad the Replica had avoided her surprise attack with ease.

"It was a calculated risk."

The drone snorted. "That's the best excuse you can come up with?"

It wasn't an excuse, it was a fact.

"The only reason that fucking Goblin isn't dead is because the Replica didn't see all of you as so big of a threat; it would have pierced his head and not his shoulder had that been the case." The drone floated closer. "I can see it… there's a darkness in that eye of yours; you didn't hesitate in that plan of yours despite the risks; so don't fucking patronize me."

There was a thing… and that thing was that every single Adventurer had that 'darkness' in their eyes… it was what one got after years of Dungeon diving. Everything can happen in the Dungeon, and those who survived in it were molded by those experiences; from Monster to Mortals… it wasn't the first time she had had to make a difficult decision… and it wasn't gonna be the last one.

And even with all that being said… she really did expect Lett or Aude to die when she decided on her plan.

"No smartass comment?"

Tsubaki's scowl only remained, but her silence spoke volumes.

"Thought so… now, let's focus on the task at hand."


Its steps were silent as they were certain.

A small part of the front of its helmet had been broken, revealing a familiar draconic eye glowing in the darkness.

It ignored everything, including the healed yet aching wound on his shoulder, as well as the warm feeling of wetness in its ears.

Every closed door it encountered was easily cut down by its blades… until it abruptly stopped.

It was a dark hall like any other, but its instincts told him otherwise… that meant it was on the right track.

The unheard echoes of its steps sounded, one after another… until the Replica ducked its head to the side avoiding an energy shot going straight for it. That single targeted attack was soon followed by a volley of bright blinks in the distance, resulting in a barrage of shots that covered the whole hall.

The Replica gave a few steps backward, and some to the side in between shots; its eyes moving at an inhumane speed at what was in front of it. Everything seemed to slow down for it that instant, just as the grip on his blades tightened a little before he started to wave in the air in a perfect rhythm to deflect the shot and open a way for itself; calmly walking forward.

At least, that's what it looked like.

For every step, its eyes still moved way faster than it should. Even to the point it caught several lines of Aura extending through the walls and ceiling, carrying what it recognized as Miniguns all pointed in its direction.

In a split second the Replica saw all weapons engaging at him. It was already dealing with a full-frontal assault from an enemy that was about thirty meters away, and then a coordinated one from all sides.

"…" There was a small twitch of its lips hidden behind its mask, just as cracks of green lightning started to spark out before quickly zip-zapping to the side while blocking a few shots; all while its eyes kept moving… until it stopped. Not only did it analyze their situations, but also their overall movement as every single one coming from the walls around it started to clash with one another, bouncing and destroying the source of the attack on the walls.


What a fucking Monster

Those were more or less the thoughts Aude, The War Shadow, had.

He knew the plan had set them up as bait -unlike a certain Goblin that was more or less living in his own fantasy- but even so, he didn't expect for the Replica to be this adept.

Now that he had recovered his Aura, he could use his Semblance to extend and transform his body in any way he wanted. So, taking a lot of Gatling guns with each of his fingers extending and expanding like limbs would do the job.

Fuck no.

Aude already expected things to be bad, but what he witnessed was just plain stupid. By his estimate even Level Five Adventurers would have issues with how much firepower he had used; more than a few shots would have landed on the target.

The Replica had not only blocked the attacks with ease but also seemed to calculate the point at which the shots had been impacted with one another once the War Shadow had used his extended limbs with more Gatling Guns to position them around the wall in order to have a better chance… which was unfortunately not the case.

The event would have made his eyes widen… if he had any organic ones. The precision with which all of it happened in little more than an instant, to the point it even made his frontal attack look stupid simply by how easy the Replica made evading all the attacks appear.

His body tensed, finally realizing he had stopped firing. All of his fingers flinched in instinct to continue the attack, but by now it was too late.

The shots made out of energy flew at their target, but it lifted one blade as its Aura coated the weapon before doing a semi-horizontal slash; leaving a shape of Aura floating on the air only to then raise his other blade, its Aura on it being double as intense as the previous one before doing the same; creating a black X like projectile that started to rotate as it went forward, destroying all of the around the walls while also cutting through Aude's extended limbs.

His screams were heard, just as the frontal shots he had fired were easily crushed by the projectile. He mentally cursed, quickly retrieving what was left of his extended limbs before returning to normal; dropping all the weapons he had been using to get out of the way of the attack.

But something stopped him.

Aude held back a shout of pain, wincing as he looked to his side only to notice a blade piercing his armor and shoulder, making him unable to move after breaking his Aura with a single attack.

He looked towards the Replica; one hand extended after having thrown its weapon, passing through the unnamed Arte that was still coming towards the War Shadow.

Aude gritted his nonexistent teeth, pushing his body opposite to his shoulder; shouting as he felt a part of him tearing apart little by little until he was finally free of his own limb.

He limped as fast as he could. Not looking back he felt the intensity of the attack reaching the very spot he had been before; pushing him forward and lifting him up by the sheer force of the explosion.

Aude rolled, almost losing consciousness in the process.

He raised his head, looking at a big door that had been close by. Aude tried to crawl, trying to reach the door; not expecting the Replica to silently approach him before stabbing him through the back and impaling him to the floor.

'Oh fuck this.' Aude thought, not even the energy to scream remained… but he did have enough to let a cylindrical object drop off his body.

A flash grenade went off, pretty much numbing every last sense Aude had. He thought the long-pitch noise of the explosion was annoying just as his vision blurred.

He honestly didn't know what to expect out of this sight as he was pretty much neutralized and Lett was nowhere to be found seeing he had gone to prepare himself. But he at least could get a rest out of-

The Replica twisted its blade while still impaling Aude.

"FUUUUUUUUUCK" he screamed, its eyes trembling as he turned his head on the ground to look at the Replica: its single visible eyes looked down at him coldly. And it was then that he noticed the Replica's bleeding ears.

'Aaaaaah'

Aude hadn't been there when Adam, Lett, and Ray confronted Drake Aurion to retrieve the Centurion of Ice. It seemed as in order to not be affected by Ray's Sonic Attack, Drake had pierced his own ears to avoid the issue… something his Replica had also done after suffering the AI Sonic Attack earlier. That's how the Replica seemed unfazed by the flash grenade… that… and closing his eyes was also so fucking simple.

'Again… fuck this.' Aude thought as he saw the Replica raising its other blade and moving to impale the War Shadow's head.

"[Rocketo Punch!]"

The doors were torn apart, as a giant robotic hand in the form of a fist came flying through; punching the Replica's back but not before this one fixed the position of his downing blade to block the attack.

"Hey Aude, are you dead yet? Say nothing if you are!" The War Shadow managed to raise his head to look at the entrance of the next door, barely making out a giant figure on the other side; raising the middle finger with his good arm at it.

"That's the spirit!"

His voice sounded louder than usual. But he guessed that was a given seeing what he was raiding.

The last thing Aude saw before losing consciousness was a pair of drones floating towards him.


The Replica gritted its teeth… a completely unfamiliar, and yet somehow familiar feeling while the back of its neck started itching for some reason.

It had rushed forward once its feet were finally able to touch the floor.

It saw in the distance how the War Shadow was carried away by a drone before entering another dark room. Its eyes flared with Aura as it entered only to see nothing at first glance, but even so, its instincts kicked in; jumping to the side to avoid a giant fist slamming on the floor where he just stood.

The Replica rolled on the ground and performed a flip before identifying what it was facing now.

"For the love of… can you please just stay put!?"

An Atlesian Paladin… a heavily modified one by the looks of it.

Its shoulder pads opened, releasing a barrage of shots that the Replica dodged, only to be blown away by the explosions these attacks generated.

"[Rocketo Punch!]"

And then be slammed against a wall while being airborne.

"This is it! Everything I got." Every part of the Paladin fired up; the firearms and lasers integrated into its arms, the rockets in the shoulder pads. All of it fired it up in an instant towards the Replica; landing every shot.

The Paladin just watched as the consecutive explosions happened.

But Lett wasn't an idiot. Expecting things not to be so easy was only logical.

His thoughts proved to be true as he started to see a silhouette starting to walk out of the fire; another part of this mask cracked, showing more of his face. The same could not be said about the armor, seeing as it was still intact.

The Paladin extended its arms once more, but not before hearing something.

"Assessing Situation…" The Replica suddenly said. "Execution of orders is going to result in property damage of the Atlas Military…"

"… You have got to be fucking kidding me." Lett muttered in realization.

The Replica hadn't acted up until now.

The Goblin hadn't stopped to wonder as to why the Replica hadn't acted given they all knew it had the instinct and reaction time to counter the Paladin's attacks… and it had been because a part of its programming prevented him from damaging Atlas' tools, activities and resources.

And now, it was seeing what to do about it.

"… Assessing complete. Disposal of intruders and taking control of installations takes priority."

The Goblin shot everything he had once more, not wasting time in seeing how the Replica would act. But even so, Lett could see the very exact moment the Replica disappeared out of sight before the projectiles could reach him.

The next thing he knew, the Paladin was already falling to the side. Followed by being split of a great part of it as it fell.

The Replica had first phased and cut through the Replica's legs using [Ghost Wolf], followed by jumping before coating its Aura into one of his blades to make it look like a massive blade of darkness which easily split the Paladin.

"For fucks sake, I just got this!"

The Replica landed on top of the pilot's chamber, slashing it open to quickly use one blade to stab the spot the pilot was supposed to be.

The eyes of the Replica showed confusion. Seeing as in the chamber there was no Goblin… rather, there was an Aura construct that resembled the Goblin. One, that seemed to fade out of existence soon after being stabbed by the Replica.

"I am sorry…" Lett's voice sounded through the whole 'room' in a mocking tone, making the fake dragon look around with its glowing eyes; not a single living signature was detected. "The Goblin you were looking for was in another robot."

Its eyes twitched, noticing how all of a sudden, not one but dozens and dozens of lights of Paladins turned on all around it.

The Replica didn't have a layout of the ship programmed in its head. Otherwise, it would have known that this room was a hangar where all of the Paladins had been stored.

"Now, I wonder in which of these I really am?"

The eye of the Replica twitched as his Aura flared.


The answer was, in none of them.

Once the AI had found out Lett's semblance was creating Aura constructs of himself, he had been forced to not drive the Paladin. Rather, he had been forced to just learn of its capabilities so his copies would know how to operate it.

And so here he was in a separate room way off from where the Replica was at the moment. Panting by how many copies he had created and actively maintained.

"I am starting to have doubts about this."

"Meh. Our chances were always low."

The Goblin didn't have the energy to argue back. All of his bravado disappeared after cutting the feed that transmitted his voice.

They saw how the Replica lunged forward as the Paladins in the room, casting [Beast] the moment it first made contact with one of them.

The shockwave Black Dragon created by the Arte was enough to make all of the Paladins around take a step back. The one that had been hit flew back, crashing with other ones on the way.

The Replica's green lightning snapped just before it disappeared while being airborne and reappeared amid various Paladins before slamming his fist on the floor; releasing a pulse of lightning to fry the circuits of the mechs.

However, his instincts kicked in. He raised his blade to the side to receive a kick from one of the Paladins close by. Only to then be caught by one of them and then slammed on the ground.

It might have not been a lot of time, but the AI had managed to reinforce the internal circuiting of some of the Paladin's with the sole intention of nullifying the Replica's Lightning.

"Be frank, does this improve our odds?" Lett asked, his eyes never leaving the screen of the fight as the Replica was slammed on the ground several times-

"Not by much."

The hand of the Paladin holding the Replica was suddenly sliced open.

"[BEAST]"

The Paladin that had been holding the faker had been destroyed on the spot by the Replica's kick the moment he had been released.

"At least it is getting annoyed." The AI replied as the Replica roared.

It made a cross slash with its blades to create an X-shaped projectile that flew forward; The [Final Gale] sliced through all the Paladins in its path as if they were made out of butter.

He quickly turned around, swinging one blade after the other; firing [Demon Fang] after [Demon Fang]; creating a horde of black fang-like projectiles that grew as they went on, obliterating everything in their path.

"By now, I am not sure if that is a good thing or not," Lett stated, watching as half of the Paladins had already been disposed of.

He looked away from the screen; trying to distract himself for a moment from a situation he was totally NOT fully responsible for.

His eyes landed on Aude, who had been brought not too long ago by a set of Drones. Said drones were now emitting a green light that the Goblin had already seen in use with Tsubaki while she had been rendered unconscious. The light had healed all the wounds the Replica had done to her, to the point it looked like she had never been hurt.

He wondered if it was as effective with limbs from normal bodies. Aude was a War Shadow; he didn't have bones or organs. He even lost an arm once and it grew back after a while, something that seemed to speed up thanks to the help of the green light.

"Where is Tsubaki?" he asked, not wanting to look at the screens; the roars and the sound of explosions were all he needed to hear to know how things were going.

"Don't worry about her… yet."


The Faker spun his blades, deflecting every shot and not standing in the same spot for longer than a moment as he avoided or blocked the shots from the Paladins.

The whole hangar was a mess, to the point the Replica now had to see where it stepped on to not stumble due to the countless mechanical parts on the ground..

To make things more tedious, the Paladins that remained were keeping their distance and were being more precise with their shots.

The Faker could not get close to one fast enough before receiving cover fire from another. A while ago that wouldn't have been an issue but the flow of its Aura was becoming slower, not to mention there was now a slight pant on his breathing.

Using long-distance Artes wouldn't work, seeing as the Paladin's movements were now wider due to having more space in the hangar.

It unconsciously gritted its teeth, feeling that uncomfortable sensation on the back of its neck once more. Its eyes darted around the hangar, making itself aware of its surroundings; seeing what it could use to its advantage.

An idea came to mind.

Without wasting a second he swiftly moved to a big chunk of a destroyed Paladin, kicking in the direction of an active one as the grip on his blade softened a little; its vision slowing down as it waited to see the Paladin's reaction.

The mech moved an inch to the right, only to be met by a blade impaling its center a second later. The Replica took a deep breath and rushed forward, jumping to plant its feet on the Paladin's chest before taking hold of the handle of this weapon; bursting his Aura so the blade would do the same before twisting it and ramming down.

It was tedious, but it was a good strategy to deal with the rest of the Paladins.

But it seemed as if the rest had another idea as they rushed forward, in a rather desperate manner.

The Replica stepped away from the Paladin he had destroyed, prepared to take this opportunity. But something stopped it… or rather, it made it stumble a little. It quickly looked down, its eyes widened a little as it saw a Goblin construct -most likely the one piloting the mech it had previously destroyed- hanging from its leg as the construct struggled to not fade.

The eyes of the fake dilated, gritting its teeth as he raised a blade to stab the Goblin only to feel something heavy slamming on him; it had forgotten about the Paladins, who were now pilling one after another… soon accompanied by a rather ominous-

*BEEP*

Its eyes widened.

It still couldn't hear anything due to his ears, not really… but anyone would be wary when a giant robot suddenly started to emit red blinking lights. It flared its Aura, Lightning, everything.

*BEEP*

But they didn't give it any time as they went off in an explosion; one after another.

There was silence in the hangar, except for the flames that were coming off a small mountain of scrap metal. Said mountain blew apart by an outburst of black Aura accompanied by green Lightning… and the most inhumane roar possible.

The Replica panted heavily, a field of his Aura surrounding his body flicked for a moment before shattering completely; its Aura field had been broken.

It walked slowly, looking around in the darkness; the fire of destroyed mechs was the only source of light. It enhanced its eyes, trying to find an exit.

Its body was tense, with its guard up despite having its blade down. It reached for the exit, ready to move up again in the tower.

But just as it was about to make contact with the door its body stopped… no, rather, its mind slowed down again as its instincts kicked in.

There was someone… something behind the Faker.

The intention to kill it was clear as day.

Its body was already too tired to react. It mentally growled, concluding as to how to avoid an attack it could not see. Its head ducked to the side to avoid a rather familiar edge, but its instincts still screamed. It sidestepped to the side, feeling an edge cutting part of its upper shoulder with ease… it burned.

The Replica took the momentum to turn around and send a [Demon Fang] managing to see its assailant give a few back steps before stepping out of the way of the projectile. The Replica unconsciously growled; looking at the woman it was sure it killed hours ago.

The Replica could smell that Tsubaki Collbrande had a peculiar smell on her… oil; proof of it being the slight taints of black on her clothes, skin, and hair.

It had been so concentrated on dealing with the Paladins that it never noticed Tsubaki sneaking into the room, literally hiding herself among the debris of destroyed mechs to blend with the scenery and cover her scent.

Tsubaki on the other hand started to analyze the situation. The Replica's Aura Field had been broken: even if her Dragon Slayer could easily bypass it, it meant that its flow of Aura was at least somehow disrupted.

Secondly, its patience and mental state had already deteriorated. Even if it had managed to adapt to every situation until now, it did not come without some damage. Even more, she could almost feel the anger in its eyes… although there was something else, familiar even; it reminded her of its Original, but she just couldn't name it at the moment.

As for her, here she was. Literally oiled and dirtied from hiding; guess whose idea was that?

'Fucking AI bullshit.' She thought grudgingly.

Besides that, there was her repaired Aura bracelet, her own personal High-Frequency Blade… and what the AI called a mass-produced blade; similar to the ones the Replica used. The AI had been right, her weapon was far better than these but they had Aura, so it was better than nothing… that, and a certain Goblin didn't feel like letting her borrow his daggers anymore.

'Fuck you, Lett.'

The Blacksmith mentally slapped herself, focusing on the task at hand. Only because everything seemed to be to her advantage didn't mean she was out of the woods yet.

She rushed forward, attacking with the blade in her left hand. Despite the low illumination in the hanger, Tsubaki could tell the Replica had been surprised. A few hours ago, it would have dodged easily-

*CLANK*

Now it had been forced to block with both blades in a cross fashion; it had gotten slower.

It readjusted the handling on both blades; keeping the defense with one and pulling one of the blades back.

'[Sonic Thrust]' Tsubaki thought, predicting the move and throwing her head to the side to avoid the Arte; swiftly moving her head to the side as well to go past the Replica while her body made a complete turn with her elbow raised; delivering an elbow strike to the back of its head.

The strength she used and her skill should have been enough to crack the skull-

*CRACK*

Point proven, but even so-

"AAAAAARGH"

It was still too soon to drop her guard. It turned around, extending its blade to reach her. She blocked with one of her own, not wanting to give it a chance to perform a long-distance Arte. As for the short distance ones-

'[Beast]' The Adventurer concluded, noticing how her opponent adjusted the handle on its weapon to throw a punch; Aura surged through it. She adjusted her blade, turning it upside down before leaning forward, hitting the Replica's forearm with the pommel of her blade to redirect the punch. To her credit, she didn't flinch the moment she heard the Dragon's roar as the Arte was released.

Desperate, therefore predictable, and easy to read.

The Replica also lunged forward; Aura gathering in its other hand.

'Another [Beast]?'

No.

The flow of Aura seemed too small for that one.

"Jump back and block downwards with the blades"

A familiar robotic voice sounded in her right ear.

She did as told, blocking an uppercut with the pommels of her blades in a cross formation. 'Fuck' Tsubaki cursed, putting all of her strength in not losing her guard position as she was thrown into the air.

"Sidekick with its right leg" she gritted her teeth, seeing whichever Arte was being used wasn't over. "After that, it's gonna-"

"Quiet!" Tsubaki snapped, letting go of her right blade as the Replica jumped after her, preparing to deliver the quick attack as she tried to bend backward while airborne; Catching the Replica's kick, absorbing the momentum to turn around and send the Replica slamming into the floor.

It yelped in pain-

*CRACK*

And something broke… no… it wasn't its bone… rather, it was the sound of something she knew rather too well; Metal.

She landed, rushing towards the faker as it started to stand up with a single blade in hand. The Adventurer gritted her teeth, jumping and gripping her blade with both hands before descending on her enemy.

The Faker roared, raising both hands in a defensive position. It was at that moment that Tsubaki readjusted the grip on her blade. If there was something she had absolute pride in, was her prowess as a blacksmith; including the ability to know the weak points of a weapon and how to exploit them.

*CRACK*

Both of its blades broke in an instant. Its eyes widened as her blade descended, but not on him specifically. The Faker was never the target, it had been what Tsubaki heard cracking earlier, its armor.

The same armor protecting him from the Aura inhibitors.

*CRACK*

*CRACK*

*CRACK*

The armor fell into pieces just as a slight wound spouted blood off his chest. The Captain of the Hephaestus Familia would have loved to end it right there by cutting deeper. But she didn't want to give the Replica enough time to recover, so she launched her attack ahead of time.

"Hey-!" she pressed the device on her ear, checking it was still working. Her words died down as she saw how the Faker started to have some sort of seizure.

"Already activated the inhibitors."

Tsubaki released a sigh she didn't know she was holding. Only too tense as she looked at the Replica again, sitting on its knees, convulsing while its eyes seemed to roll over in its head.

The grip on her blade tightened as she took a step forward, ready to deliver the final blow.

But every step she took felt heavier as she looked at its face.

Most of the mask covering its face was gone, but she couldn't avoid making a resemblance to its original.

She gritted her teeth, giving a step forward as her blade moved towards its heart… a realization came to her mind as the next second came to pass, seeing the tip of the blade one hair width away from its chest.

Her eye widened, seeing one of its hands gripping the blade; the edge cutting its flesh with ease while its body still convulsed-

"How…"

The glint she had seen in its eyes earlier… the very same feeling that had been crawling up the Replica's bad minutes ago… an emotion the Original Drake Aurion was more than familiar with.

"…" his body stopped moving erratically, just as his free hand went to his face to remove the remains of its mask while breaking the mass-produced blade with its grip. "Annoying."

"Oh…" Tsubaki thought out loud, receiving a [Palm Strike] to the chest which sent her flying through the hanger, crashing into the debris of Paladins before crashing against the wall.

Even with the Aura bracelet she couldn't help but spit blood as her back crashed into the wall. Her whole body went into shock; along with her senses.

Tsubaki could hear the AI's voice, not making much of what it was saying. All of her focus was on the Replica. The bastard picked up her blade before approaching her in the distance. Its mouth moved in silence. But even so, she had a sense of dread as her one eye managed to make out the word 'Backup'.

"… Why the fuck is that thing calling for backup?" The Blacksmith spoke through the pain as she awaited an answer… the lapse of time it passed before getting a reply didn't make her feel any better.

"Have you ever seen Drake being so pissed he has said 'Fuck It' and decided to take things to the extreme?"

Tsubaki pondered for a moment. The thought made her pale for a moment.

"The Replica still has a separate connection to the ship's network; it just decided enough was enough. It is going to activate all the Replicas on the ship, just to deal with us."

'…' For a moment the Adventurer's mind short-circuited.

The image of Replicas of not just the other Guardians, but also Artes Users and people that filled Atlas' military criteria awoken all at once.

"You are sounding-" she groaned in pain, trying to separate herself from the wall. "You sound awfully calm. I take it you are already working on something."

"I already send Lett to deal with that."

Tsubaki deadpanned as she fell to the ground, concluding the situation was already at its worst point.

She looked up, seeing the Replica walking towards her calmly. Awfully so.

It was fully aware of the situation, knowing it held all of the cards. After all, the Captain of the Hephaestus Familia couldn't even stand up properly, her legs… her whole body shaking due to the previous attack.

At that moment, Tsubaki couldn't help but let out a sarcastic snort as she felt a cold sensation that only increased the more her enemy approached her… a presence she hadn't felt since her early years.

'Hello, Death'


The Goblin had rushed through the halls of the ship, following a drone that served as a guide.

According to the AI they had less than ten minutes before all of the Replicas were fully activated. Since the AI didn't have access to that system, nor did it have a body that could destroy the System operating and controlling the Replicas… it was up to him to stop them…

The problem now being-

"Come the fuck on!" he hysterically shouted as he hurriedly typed on the keyboard of the computer; all external access had been blocked.

He looked to the side, seeing the mainframe as he went for his dagger and lunged at it-

*CLANK*

Only to see his trusty daggers barely scratching the thing. "The fuck!?" he looked in disbelief at his weapons, then at the computer only to notice some sort of disclaimer on it. "Reinforced with the finest metal and even more Aura, the very best of Atlas." He read with a weak laugh that started to become erratic before taking out various grenades and tossing them.

He barely covered his face, letting the smoke clear before his shoulder sulked down… the computer was still intact and working, the word 'Loading' to awaken the replicas still visible on the screen.


How long has it been?

'A long fucking while, that's for sure.'

The first time she went into the depths of the Dungeon she had already been told plenty of times it wasn't a place to play Hero or have Adventures like in some of the stories of old.

And she knew that… no… that was a lie.

Even if she took those words too hard, Tsubaki Collbrande experienced firsthand once her eye could no longer distinguish in the darkness of the Dungeon.

However, if there was one thing that helped her go through all of it and adapt herself to the 'Darkness' every Adventurer had in their eyes, it was not the help and companionship of others.

It wasn't anything that could be considered wholesome, nor was it the hype and adrenaline of the battle.

It was greed.

She had always said it; Tsubaki Collbrande was a Blacksmith first and an Adventurer second. Dungeon Diving was nothing but a means to an end to achieve her dream of reaching the Realm of the Gods.

That had always been her drive.

Funnily enough, the only reason as to why she hadn't kicked the bucket as she grew older was a mix of a bunch of things. The respect and love she learned to have for her Goddess, who served as a mentor and friend… and the responsibility the Goddess had bestowed on her as the Captain of her Familia.

With time, the presence of Death as she went into the Dungeon became less and less noticeable. Always there, but always keeping its distance.

But she never forgot that feeling… and now, sweet old Death seemed to be greeting her once again; its hand metaphorically as a cold hand wrapping around her neck like an old acquaintance.

It was humorous because never in her whole life she considered she would die at the hands of something that looked like her best friend…

'Friend…'

The word lingered in her mind.

A sour taste came along with it.


"Anything you might want to say?" Tsubaki asked with a smug look thrown at her Goddess, watching over the Aura Bracelets.

Usually, her Goddess would be happy had it been any other of her creations like a proud Deity for her Child.… that was a lie. As of late, Hephaestus' smile carried a twitch seeing as Tsubaki was getting to experience creating weapons and equipment with 'foreign' knowledge and tools.

Yes, her Goddess was jealous and Tsubaki was rejoicing about it.

This was partly because Hephaestus wanted to be responsible with the hammer Drake had given her, and because the knowledge of Runes was something he had given only to Tsubaki; not to mention the Goddess would also need to borrow the Chisel made out of her blood.

Tsubaki could still lend her some ingots with Aura she still had to spare to forge something. But Hephaestus still refused, there was a little pride in it seeing her Child would be smug about it whenever she offered to lend a hand regarding this.

However, she was still Tsubaki's Goddess and as such she had to act the part. "Congratulations, saying you have surpassed every expectation I had would be an understatement."

"Oh Geez, I am awesome, I know."

But Tsubaki just had to make it difficult for her.

"On a serious note. I am starting to feel I don't need to look over your work anymore seeing you are the only person besides Drake who has this knowledge." Hephaestus smiled, kindly. "You could even say you have surpassed me in this area of the Forge."

The Adventurer stared for a moment before letting out a "Huh"

The Goddess blinked for a moment seeing as there wasn't any kind of smartass remark. Hephaestus couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. "Really? That's all that it takes to shut you up nowadays, being complimented? Has age finally caught up to you so that you can't think of anything to say?"

A mention of her age would surely get a reaction; the Goddess knew it would if it were the other way around.

"Nah… it's just… it feels so surreal," the redhead raised an eyebrow, not expecting Tsubaki to start going deep on this. "People have dreams or delusions their whole damn life; reaching its ends either forgetting their goals or simply not achieving them."

Hephaestus frowned for a moment, thinking that some just fooled themselves with their so-called dreams by how impossible or hard they were…

'Like wanting to surpass the realm of the Gods.' She thought, seeing as Tsubaki fell in that category… never faltered, not even once. One would call it madness or insanity, some would call it drive… but whichever was the case… she was reaching that goal.

And now Tsubaki probably came to that realization and didn't know how to take it.

"Gods, I am awesome!"

The Redhead facepalmed. "Or not." she thought out loud before shaking her head with a chuckle.

"But… even so,I don't know how to feel, I only managed to get here thanks to his help." That earned her a look. "I know, there are only a few things Mortals can do alone but… I just feel I got too much for so little."

The Deity looked Puzzled for a moment. This time, she could tell Tsubaki's mind had gone somewhere else, the long-distance look in her eye confirmed it.


'Ah… not exactly what I expected as a last fleeting memory.' Tsubaki thought with a sour taste in her mouth, seeing her impending death approaching her.

She had made her peace with Death if she ever decided to visit again during some Dungeon diving… but she was going to have to kindly decline that cold embrace for now.

Tsubaki Collbrande wasn't clinging to life for herself, but for the sake of someone else.

As of recently, the concept of time has become a curse for her. Even with Falna, her time would eventually come to pass and he would be left behind, alone.

In the months she got to truly meet him, the conversation they held together during their night in Riviria started to pile on her. What had started as giving someone a helping hand extended to something she had come to accept after a while.

But in the long run, it would all be for naught if her clock would stop ticking for her… so she decided to hold back how much she could give back to him, and opt to just be there at arm's length until she no longer could.

But now…

*CRACK*

Now it wasn't the time for that.

*CRACK*

"Sorry, girl. But you got me confused with someone else." Tsubaki muttered in pain, thinking that Drake would certainly enjoy that sweet cold embrace if the entity came for him.

So, with shaking legs and a Determined eye, Tsubaki stood up as the cold sensation around her shoulder faded. "But I appreciate the reminder, though…" her eye narrowed at the Replica; she could see it began pulsing around the visible parts of the body. The Aura inhibitors were still active; the Faker was just walking through the whole pain. Not to mention that since its flow of Aura was being disrupted, it meant that theoretically, it couldn't do any Artes.

That was her sole advantage.

On the other hand, externally there were no physical wounds to be seen. Internally, though… It was a miracle she was alive, again. No, it was a miracle she didn't spit more blood.

The Aura bracelet had taken most of the damage, the rest had managed to bypass the Aura Field the item gave her. and said item-

*CRACK*

Was now breaking again.

Unlike before, it looked like she didn't have the luxury of taking two more hits before it broke. She didn't want to take her eye away from the Replica, but she knew it wouldn't take long before it broke fully.

'Focus'

The Adventurer discarded the thought, tensing her body to get rid of the numbness as her gaze narrowed.

Her mind had concluded a single goal.

This wasn't a grand battle to give the title of a victor. Nothing spectacular or loot of sorts would come out of this.

This wasn't even a battle to surpass herself.

The only thing, the only word that came to Tsubaki was nothing but survival.

The sudden change in her demeanor made the Replica stop for a moment, narrowing its eyes; the familiar resemblance of annoyance reflected in its eyes before it dashed forward.

Yes, its moves were slower due to the inhibitors but that didn't change the fact it knew how to use a blade.

She gritted her teeth as both rushed forward instinctively. Her eye never left the blade as her punch was to intercept it.

*CRACK*

By this point, she stopped caring about the state of the bracelet and made use of the Aura Field while she still had it; countering the blade with her fist, even if the pain and the effort of the High-Frequency edge tried to cut through her.

The Replica didn't seem fazed, adjusting the blade to deliver two consecutive slashes; Tsubaki managed to block the first, then parry the second one. Another step forward, going for a straight to the face; she winced once it made contact, seeing the Faker had rushed its own head forward to mitigate the damage.

'Ignore the pain.'

Her punch was pushed back just as the blade was raised over its opposite shoulder while side-stepping to that side. She expected another slash coming for her left side, seeing it take full advantage of her eye patch.

She unconsciously left out a 'Tsk', feeling a sharp point trying to thrust over her left shoulder. The Adventurer made a mistake, not realizing the Replica had taken the time to let the blade drop on its opposite hand while it moved to her blind spot.

The Captain of the Hephaestus Familia tried to move her left shoulder back without looking, not wanting to be caught in another surprise by the wanna-be Drake. And so it was the case, seeing a shift move on its hand before twisting the blade and going for her neck… no, it was her head.

Right now, she could feel the blade easily cutting through the Aura Field and going for the left side of her head. Her eye dilated for an instant, crouching to avoid the blade and then met a knee strike straight to the face.

'KEEP. GOING.'

She ignored the pain, recovering mid-air and rushing forward; barely noticing a hint of wetness on the left side of her face. The attack had managed to cut her, along with the cord of her eyepatch.

Her left eye remained closed, covered in blood. This didn't go unnoticed by the Faker, along with something else that Tsubaki herself had not realized.

It changed the hold of its blade to its right one. On the very same side of Tsubaki's 'bad' scarred eye before crouching while holding on to its hands near the handle and the edge; it was a drawing position.

The position between the two was shortened instantly. Two pairs of teeth gritted against each other.

The First, the armed Faker who had concluded its opponent was desperate and on its last legs.

The Second was the woman who mustered all of her strength to stop the blade by intercepting it with her elbow and knee; a part of the blade managed to pierce through the Aura Field and cut through a little part of the abdomen.

The eyes of the former widened for the first time, seeing Tsubaki's left eye open; even if that part of her face was soaked, her vision was still clear to her.

The Replica instantly let go of the blade, trying to keep its distance from her. But she was quicker this time, managing to get a hold of its shoulder with her free hand before sinking her teeth into its neck; thirty-two sharp blades piercing its flesh.

It screamed, and for the first time since all of this started; Tsubaki felt angry at what she was hearing.

In a desperate attempt, the Faker punched the pommel of the blade, pushing it deeper into Tsubaki. In a sense it only made it worse for it, her bite going deeper out of instinct before she tore herself back; with a piece of its flesh in her mouth.

Both stumbled back, the Blacksmith spitting out what she had chewed on instinctively. Looking forward to glare at the Replica, standing up in a hurry; a hand holding her blade -acquired as they separated each other- and the other putting pressure on its shoulder; the wound wasn't healing.

But what really got her attention, even more than the open wound in her abdomen, was the look in the Replica's eyes… Fear… Panic… Despair.

She took a step forward without realizing it, her punch already prepared as she did. The Replica didn't say anything, opting to just make erratic noises with its mouth, nothing coherent as his Aura started to blaze a little; various veins popping off around its body thanks to the inhibitors.

Both roared, one in rage and the other in panic.

Fist and Blade rushed forward, meeting midway; one meeting its end in contact, shattering in pieces as the other one went forward, piercing through the chest of its target before releasing a burst of energy that tried to take the shape of an animal; a lousy attempt of a [Beast]

"Fuck off and die already," Tsubaki replied, retracting her fist and giving a couple of step-backs; seeing the Replica fall backward. Her rage resided at no longer needing to see such a pathetic sight.

However, not a second later she fell on her knee; fighting to not pass out as her whole body seemed to want to go into a seizure. Her hand immediately went for the wound in her abdomen, wincing at the mere contact.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK."

The pain was too much, she really wanted to pass out at that very moment.

"Would you please be quiet already?"

She suddenly found herself surrounded by a green light, soothing her pain a little. "Good fucking word… honestly, I expected the Replica to die using its Aura with the inhibitors activated rather than you killing it… kudos, I guess."

"For fucks sake, can you please stop being a cunt for five damn minutes?"

The drone snorted. "Fine… you did good… and even managed to surprise me, a lot."

Tsubaki groaned, not feeling it in her to know if the AI was being genuine or being antagonistic.

"Look at yourself, you dumb bitch."

Her eye twitched, opting to do as told rather than rant on and on. Her 'good' eye widened as she noticed something around her, something red.

No.

It wasn't blood.

It was faint red energy coating her whole body… Aura.

She instantly looked at her bracelet, to see it completely cracked-

*CRACK*

And it continued to do so.

The AI explained that soon after Tsubaki had managed to unstick herself from the wall, the bracelet started to glow while she had been coated in Blue Aura. Soon after, it started to increase at a great level… the only person who hadn't noticed it was Tsubaki, and only because she had been too deep in the fight to notice.

And soon after, it had turned Red.

She could feel the drone stare at her as if waiting for an answer the Blacksmith herself had no idea how to answer…

"Emotions," she muttered, almost mechanically.

Aura; the manifestation of the Soul that could be affected by emotion.

At that moment, at first, the thought of surviving was all that led her to finish the Replica. But that was soon replaced the moment that anger had invaded her; no doubt it was at that moment the Aura turned Red.

In her mind, Drake Aurion was a person who could stare at Death itself and appreciate her like a good dancing partner; unfazed, unscared, completely accepting if the time to have that last dance would come.

That thing… had no right to resemble him. And even so, she felt more anger at herself for having compared it to the Original; seeing such a pathetic display was the last wake-up call she needed to fight forward

"The whole inner monologue is good and all… but that still doesn't answer the how." From what the AI understood, the person in front of her didn't have her Aura unleashed and needed an item to just leak some of her inner Aura. Not to mention showing the amount and control she demonstrated before was unheard of… but the most unbelievable thing was that she had managed to almost successfully execute an Arte.

The Adventurer had explained before how she had managed to weaponize the Arte [Beast] on some battle gauntlets and used them on some dumbasses wanting to pick a fight. The way Tsubaki explained it when she delivered the final blow, she instinctively tried to replicate that feeling and it just happened… in a rather incomplete way.

But Tsubaki could see the AI frustration when it came to the Arte. After all, among those with the release of Aura; Artes Users were the more scarce kind of individuals there was for the training they had to do from a very young age. And here she was, almost successfully replicating an Arte, so there had to be something else carrying her in the whole Aura department…

Her eye widened, feeling a slight burn in her back as if the answer itself poked her. "My Falna."

"Your what now?" the AI asked, seeing the realization on the Adventurer's bloodied face as the drone's healing light did its thing. But just before it could press more, their attention got taken as something started the glow not too far away, the Replica's body.

"Relax…" the drone said, already seeing Tsubaki's muscles tense as the Replica's whole body started to fade… no, it was more accurate to say all those particles of light started to gather into a single point, creating a small dark greenish sphere that fell to the floor. "It's body is just doing what it was naturally intended to do."

Tsubaki narrowed her eye, recalling the other project besides Replica that would be considered inhumane. She took a deep breath, shooting the knowledge away as she took a piece of debris before smashing it into the small sphere; a small wave of energy was released around the area.

"I already had enough bullshit for one day." She took a deep breath, watching at first glance how her wounds started to heal as if it were Magic.

"I probably already know the answer to this, and leaving Lett's bullshit for unleashing that thing on us… I have to ask… why do all of this?"

The drone stared at her.

"… I never asked, how much has Drake spoken about me? All bad things I'd guess.."

Tsubaki snorted. "There are way too many negative adjectives to answer that question… but he also described you as the smartest person he knew."

The drone snorted, knowing full well there was the term 'bitch' missing somewhere in that sentence.

"Smart doesn't mean wise… and you must know by now I can hold a grudge."

Right, Tsubaki couldn't help but sigh. "Why is it always about Revenge with you fucking smartasses?"


"Mommy! Mommy! Wake up!"

Looking back at it, even if the mission had been a failure Adam Taurus felt a sense of pride in striking the heart of one of the 'Human Super Powers Of Remnant'.

The Imperial Knights were supposed to be the 'Second Strongest' Military Power. At this time, they were meant to be serving under the Kingdom of Mistral. The reason why it was called the 'Second' was because contrary to Atlas, they didn't have as many numbers or resources and technology at hand.

No, their strength lay elsewhere.

Artes users were a rarity in Remnant, often believed to be something exclusive to the Noble Houses, but that was wrong. Seeing as the Imperial knights had over three hundred of them that could be considered proper Users and many more in training.

However, that changed on this very night as the older Adam Taurus saw a young girl tugging her fallen mother as if trying to wake her up from a long sleep.

The HQ of the Imperial Knights was supposed to be in the city of Zaphias; which also served as a normal city. This attack had been planned when most of the Knights were supposed to be out dealing with another diversion… which meant that most of the people here were civilians.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

Adam clenched his fist, trying to omit all of the screams, explosions, and fighting around him… all of them his doing… his past self's doing.

"We only have a few hours before one of the Knight Squads returns! We must go and secure the target!"

His ears twitched, hearing a familiar, and rather unpleasant female voice.

'Blake.' He thought, seeing her trying to make his younger version focus on their mission and not the mindless slaughter all around him.

As much as he hated her now he had to admit that she had always been his voice of reason in their early days.

"She's right, Adam. We are not gonna last long if Knights happen to return sooner than expected." A member of the White Fang said, just as the rest of the members gathered.

"We still have some time, and everything has gone as planned." His younger version said, looking at a wristwatch just to double-check the time. "Blake and I will secure the target. The rest will focus on getting the attention of the few Knights that remained in the city, try to get them as far away from the target as possible."

"There's a slight issue," an older member holding a radio said. "I can't contact another one of the groups." Despite being a medium-sized attack, it was an organized one. More than one group entered Zaphias through different parts of the city.

"We confirmed that all the Knight brigades were indisposed, correct?"

"Scifo, Niren, Cumore, Dinoai, and Schwann; all of them out," the Faunus grinned. "And one of them making a blindsight."

Every institution had a bit of corruption from within, the Imperial Knights were no exception.

"We have to assume some of the trainees and retired folks are engaging," Adam walked away, followed by Blake while the rest of the group went on their way.

"Something the matter?" the younger Adam stopped, noticing Blake looking over at the now orphaned child crying over her dead mother.

"Are we really doing the right thing?"

"We are," he approached, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Remember the mission, saving one of our own; a Faunus who is being held here against her own will, forced to do what they demand of her like she were a common animal." He looked at the orphaned child, had the mask not covered his face, it would reveal his eyes showed no amount of sympathy. "However, that doesn't mean our job will always be clean."

Blake slowly nodded, taking her gaze off the child as they started to run away… leaving the older Adam facepalming at himself; he had really forgotten how much he used to gaslight Blake... or rather himself.

Now that he had matured a little and his blessing covered for his rage, he could now tell that those 'For the Greater Good' kind of excuses were just that, excuses to make others feel the same pain and hate he had harbored for years.

He sighed, watching himself dash away before looking at his own hands. The Knight of Ratatosk still had no idea of what the hell was going on. Whether this was a dream or not, he still could not access his Aura. He wasn't feeling any pain, so the inhibitors were ruled out.

"This better not be one of Origin's joke… "

No, the King of Spirits was an observer, not someone who found joy in intervening of his own accord.

'At this rate, I will not be able to catch up with them…' No Aura, no enhanced running. 'Shortest route it is.'

The route he had taken in the past avoided a lot of attention, but there was a way to get to the objective by going straight at it.

"Hold your ground!"

The problem was having to witness more of the White Fangs doing; his doing by extension.

Squires using practice swords, trying to defend a group of civilians covering for dear life.

Another civilian, clearly untrained, mustering the courage to pick up a weapon and being assaulted by all fronts and beaten into the ground.

Locals were being destroyed, either by members of the White Fang throwing bombs or rocks… it wasn't anything organized, just pure anarchy. All Adam could do now, was clench his fist as he walked through it all.

"Somebody please help!"

"Where are the Knights!?"

"My house!"

"Be quiet already!" an elderly man was pushed into the ground, his stomach punched to leave him without any air.

"Ple-" his leaders were silenced by a kick to the stomach, one after another.

"Not funny when this treatment goes the other way around, huh, Human!?" the masked Faunus shouted, an angry snarl soon replaced by a sadistic grin. "This is fucking Karma!"

Adam gritted his teeth, not wanting to turn back to see something he had no power to stop. Even so, he stopped dead in his tracks… but not because he had some brilliant idea or epiphany that could change the past… no, what made him stop was a crimson blur accompanied by a set of petals of the same color.

'Ah… right.'

Every plan had an unforeseen variable.

Expecting every major Knight to be out was one of them. Although the person in question didn't behave like one, he was still a Knight in name… the man who would be known as the Bloodiest Guardian in the future.

"Huh…" the White Fang member suddenly stopped, having felt a cold breeze run through him before looking back.

He was only wearing a simple pair of black pants and a sleeveless shirt that went with his black hair. At first glance, this individual could be mistaken as a petite woman; a dire mistake if you were to address that with him.

"The fuck are you doing there, girl!? The fuck did you come- huh" his words died down, seeing as his vision suddenly fell to the side.

"Wish I could take my time with you," the girl turned around, seeing the body of the Faunus being horizontally cut in half on the ground. By the time the Faunus finally figured out what was going on, he died before he could even mutter a single word.

"Now then you fucking animals!" the newcomer extended his hands; a crimson blade exhuming an ominous Aura on hand, its edge absorbing all the nearby blood in the area. "Come!"

Yuri F. Lowell

Age: 15

The older Adam just watched, seeing as all the Faunus of the White Fang charged. One by one they were sliced mercilessly; going for only the vital spots to incapacitate their opponents as fast as possible.

Yuri was most likely the reason they had lost contact with the other group of White Fang members.

Adam looked to the side, noticing other members of the Knights arriving to secure the civilians; Yuri probably just served as a distraction… but could he really be called to deal with the problem without any issues?

"Fu-Fuck this!" a Faunus shouted, seeing no way in hell numbers could beat the Monster in front of them. However, all he managed to do was turn around before being stabbed in the back.

The Faunus tried to scream, but Yuri twisted the blade and retrieved it; letting the body fall as the remaining members just watched. What they saw was not the image of an honorable knight; it was the visage of a bloodied Monster seeking more prey, the blood around his face and that cursed blade only helped sell the image more.

"We- we give up!" they tossed their weapons and fell on their knees, hands up for all to see. You would think that as a Knight, one would show honor by respecting the terms of surrendering and just imprisoning them… but this particular night held no honor whatsoever.

"Yuri!" an elderly man, someone who had some sort of position in the Knights scolded the young Noble after he decapitated the surrendering Faunus; finishing the rest in the blink of an eye. "They had already-"

Yuri just shut him up with a glare, clearly not being in the mood to engage in a retarded debate about ethics.

"Hachate, were you able to contact the Knights outside?" Yuri asked one of the people who had arrived with him.

The man shook his head. "Our communications are being jammed."

Adam just saw how the younger Yuri held the urge to sigh before looking at the few people at his disposal. "Take all the wounded to the lower quarters, that area has already been cleared and secured."

'And then he goes on preaching about how he hates being in charge.' The Knight of Ratatosk thought with a hint of sarcasm.

"I will try to clean up as many White Fang as I can; hopefully, I will be able to find the jammer, secure more civilians, and find Jude…" now he sighed.

"Is there a need to worry? Yeah, he's young; but he's better in hand-to-hand combat than most Knights."

"Yeah… but then there's that pacifist bullshit he believes in…" Yuri replied before turning around.

"What about Rita?"

Yuri stopped for a moment before snorting. "Believe me, that bitch is the last person you have to worry about."

'I second that notion.' Adam thought with a bland expression before seeing Yuri leave. He looked around and saw the survivors helping each other before leaving the area.

Adam recalled that after some years, he heard that the reason why Yuri had remained in Zaphias that night was because he picked a fight with an older Knight; which earned him a night in solitary confinement as punishment… Even if you are a Noble the rules still apply to everyone.

Still, to this day, Adam had to admit he had been lucky he didn't cross paths with Yuri that day… and it was in that moment that it dawned on him. His younger self never met Yuri that day… so how was he seeing this?

'So how the fuck I am seeing this?'

He had concluded this had been a dream, a fucking accurate dream seeing how his whole childhood section had been. But now, he had no idea what was going on.

The Faunus grabbed the side of his head, feeling an intense and painful headache settling in; a familiar one at that. He fell on his knee, trying to not lose consciousness as his vision blurred for a moment before realizing his environment had changed.

It was a wide white space, with various machinery and things one would not find in usual places… another familiar place for him.

"… What?"

His senses started to return, hearing Blake's voice as he looked afar to see his younger self, Blake… and a cat Faunus with short brown hair, wearing a white lab coat and messy clothes under it, her most notorious feature being the scowl on her face.

"Are you deaf? Or just stupid?" her disdain was visible. "I am not some slave or prisoner for the Kingdom of Mistral or the Imperial Knights; I am here of my own volition."

Both members of the White Fang were taken back by the disdain of her words, but also of her overall message.

"But… we had received reports of you being here against your own will; why else would you be here!?"

The older Adam ran his hands through his face; knowing these were gonna be some excruciating minutes.

"Oh, several reasons, I may say; I hate socializing, I am a scientist and this is my lab, also my room, and the most important thing above all -and this is just me saying so you can get it in your thick head- it is my decision being here!"

She sounded more annoyed than angry, really.

"But our sources-"

*SNAP*

Blake's eyes widened, feeling a heat past her face for a moment. She looked over her shoulder, noticing a burning mark on the floor along with some faint flames. With the mere snap of her fingers, Rita had cast [Fireball] on Blake.

'And the finger snap was just for dramatic effect'

"The next one will go straight for your face."

"But we-"

*SNAP*

Truth to her word, several [Fireball] were shot straight to her face, only for his younger self to unsheathe his blade; absorbing all the attacks as his blade parried each.

"You are a traitor for our whole kind!" the younger Taurus pointed his blade at the Artes Mage before lunging forward. "If you are not with our kind you are against-"

"[Demon Fist]"

The older Adam saw how his younger self managed to move his blade in front of him to absorb the attack. However, the strength behind it was enough to push him back a few feet.

"Who dares-" the voice of the Faunus died down, looking in the direction of the attack to see a man… a kid, no, barely entering his teens, extending his glowing fist at him. But the most noticeable trait of the boy were the wolf ears on top of his messy black hair.

"I had it, Jude." Rita said, her scowl noticeable as he addressed the amber eyes of the Wolf Faunus.

Jude Maxwell Lowell

Age: 13
Fun Fact: Still not blind at the time.

'Oh, Origin no.' Adam thought, instinctively feeling a phantom pain on the left side of his head.

"Sorry, acted out of instinct." The young wolf said nervously, never dropping his stance as Adam noticed a set of gold, white, and emerald green gauntlets and boots; the last set of weapons forged by one Lloyd Aurion at the time.

"Did you do as told you?" Rita asked, placing a land on her hip as she looked at him; completely disregarding the presence of the Faunus of the White Fang.

"Yes. The jammer was where you said. But the location where it was-"

"I am aware, I will address it with the Commander and the rest later." She sighed, looking over at Adam; his ire was noticeable after hearing the jammer had been destroyed. "By now a signal should have already reached the brigades that were out." her scowl grew. "Seeing as it seems you and your partner are not very bright, let me spell it for you… you guys are fucked."

"Language."

Jude was ignored as the younger Adam unleashed Moonslice, releasing the energy on his blade straight at Rita.

Jude rushed forward, standing before her and the attack as his gauntlets glowed. A wall of green wind appeared after extending his hand, easily blocking the attack before the wall faded.

"Again, I had it, Jude." Rita sighed in exasperation.

"Blake, take care of the traitor. We are taking her with us whether she wants it or not, I will deal with the other one!" Adam said with a snarl as he charged at Jude.

"Adam! This isn't what we came here for!" she watched as Jude ducked to the side to avoid his blade, separating from Rita as Adam focused on him.

"She's the smartest Faunus alive-"

"Smartest person alive, get it right." Rita interrupted him without a care as Adam continued to rant.

"A traitor to our kind! Someone that easily could build something to wipe us up if she so wanted to!"

"I mean, he's not wrong."

"You are not helping your case!" Jude shouted as he did his best to block and avoid Adam's attacks.

"We can't leave her here!" Blake looked back at Rita, completely unamused as several glyphs appeared above her.

"Your funeral, kid."

Meanwhile, Adam and Jude continued on their own. Not much advance had been done in their fight seeing as only one person was doing all of the attacking, and failing on that account.

"What!? Too scared to fight, brat!?" Adam asked as his blade was blocked again.

"I am studying to be a Doctor," Jude replied, trying to force back the blade with his own strength. "Taking a life goes against our oath."

"Hilarious!" The Bull Faunus growled back, raising his leg to kick the young Faunus on the chest, but Jude managed to backstep at that moment. "You say that as if you could kill me if you so wanted to!"

Adam rushed while Jude remained airborne, performing a thrust that would reach Jude by the time he touched the ground with only a little time to do anything. Even so, he was confident the blade would reach his opponent.

Jude landed; his eyes locked on the tip of the blade.

At that moment, he took a deep breath and jumped back, making Adam grin as if the blade would reach him in the next second. And just as the tip of his blade was about to touch him, the young Wolf disappeared.

"What-!" his sentence was never finished, feeling something sharp making contact with his Aura field behind him.

"… I know every part of the body better than anyone here, just like I know how to permanently make sure someone is rendered bound to a wheelchair for the rest of their lives. So yes, I can kill if I so want to… but Doctors are meant to be the opposite. So, drop your weapons and give up."

The older Adam saw the whole exchange with a mix of scowl and embarrassment for what was about to happen. To this day, he still remembers his line of thought at that time. He could feel the hesitation in Jude's voice, and opted to not believe his words; he was a thirteen-year-old for fucks sake.

The younger Adam slowly lowered his blade, only to grip tightly before doing a full one-eighty slash. To this, Jude simply bent his back backward to avoid the blade… and then took the momentum to do a flip kick on the side of Adam's head; breaking his Aura field and knocking him out in an instant.

The young Faunus fixed himself, lowering his guard as he looked towards Rita… she hadn't even moved an inch from her spot. Her opponent on the other hand…

"A Semblance that allows you to leave a copy in your place… quite the coward, aren't you?" Rita looked down on Blake, twitching on the floor.

"Grab them. We are going to rendezvous with Yuri and wait for-" her voice started to die down, her ears twitching as she looked around. Jude soon started doing the same as they became nervous after a moment… and then, the whole place above them blew up.


Adam's eyes snapped.

For a second, it felt again as if his head wanted to explode… just as an explosion went off in Rita's Lab during that memory.

'Something that I hadn't planned, mind you.' Adam sighed, noticing his environment had changed once more… to a completely unfamiliar one.

A Graveyard.

During a very windy and cloudy day no less.

He narrowed his eyes, seeing a large group in the distance. The Faunus got closer only to stop dead in his tracks as he recognized a few of the people in the group.

Some Knights he was aware of, along with people from the Mistrals Council, Nobles from the other Kingdoms… and all of the Guardians at the time, sans Drake.

Zelos, Yuri, Flynn, Luke, Guy, and Jude…

It was then that Adam figured out this was the aftermath of the attack on Zaphias.

The scene shifted again for a moment, showing how each of the young Nobles minus Jude and Flynn had been separated from the group.

"Jude mentioned the jammer had been found in the Captains' meeting chambers. A place only people of said rank or above could enter… I believe all of us are thinking the same thing." Luke Fon Fabre commented, with all of them looking at the rest of the people in mourning.

"Your deduction skills are top-notch," Yuri commented with a hint of sarcasm, but there was no humor in his voice.

"It is not that simple," Luke looked at Guy. "The way I see it, every decision you and Flynn make regarding this will have a lot of ramifications."

If Yuri were to reveal where the jammer had been then there would be turmoil next, and it would only be a matter of time before a civil war erupted from within.

If he were to address it only with the Captains, then the culprit would easily deny it and more than one person would raise their voice against being accused.

"So… what are we going to do?"

Yuri sighed at the dreaded question, especially at the 'We' part. Some months ago, one of their friends, a brother, died. Another went on his own, ghosting everyone so he could enact Revenge on his own… but he also did it so the others wouldn't forfeit their responsibilities like he was doing.

At least, that was the conclusion they had reached.

"As much as I hate to say this and repeat his words; We aren't gonna do shit. I will take care of this myself."

There were some scowls and frowns.

"Bitch… are you seriously pulling a Drake on us right now?" Zelos asked with a twitching smile.

"Not exactly, it is not as if I am gonna leave my home and embark on a journey," Yuri scowled. "Not when I know my prey is so close."

"But that still doesn't answer Guy's question. What are you gonna do?"

Yuri just stared at the distance, not a single expression could be seen on his face.

From what Adam recalled, Yuri would proceed to investigate and instigate who he thought was the traitor in the Knights. This would put him in a bad light for two years as every Knight would show their dislike that someone was calling them dirty.

He was so dedicated to this that he made sure to cut almost all interaction with Flynn, and even went as far as sending Jude to a different place to continue his studies… all so they wouldn't take some of the fire.

"First Collette, then Lloyd… and now this." Yuri thought out loud. "Fuck, I miss my childhood."

Zelos gave a sardonic smile. "Some of us were forced to mature a little sooner, Yuri. Look at Guy."

The blonde frowned. Zelos' words were as truthful as they were hurtful.

"Seeing your Family killed and burned alive, along with your whole villa does that to someone," Guy commented with a sigh before looking at Yuri.

"Will you be ok?"

Yuri remained stoic looking at the distance.

"… Who knows?"

The scene seemed to shift again.

Adam was still in the graveyard, but this time he was now looking at Flynn and Rita; both staring at a grave.

'Guren Scifo'

One of the people Adam was 'responsible' for killing.

But in reality, it had all been Ratatosk.

At the time, The Great Spirit had been the one to stage everything. From manipulating the information about Rita Mordio being a slave to the Knights to having bombs planted in specific points of Zaphias.

Adam had remained unaware of this through the whole ordeal.

Apparently, by the time the Brigades that were outside arrived, everything was more of a mess. Not to mention more White Fang members had arrived as backup with snipers in the city.

By the end, more lives from both sides were lost. Guren had been one of them.

The weird thing was, no one knew exactly how he had died through the whole mess. Only that he had used his Shield of Light Aura to block a shot that went through and perforated his chest. A normal bullet wouldn't have been able to do such a feat… it was later revealed to him that it had been also one of Ratatosk's schemes.

"He was your father, you know… you should at least have the decency to shed a tear." Her face showed no emotion, and her voice was low, but the most notorious trait she displayed at that moment was-

"You are already doing that for me," Flynn said with an even lower voice. "And he was also your father, as well."

Rita Mordio; the orphan with an IQ so big that got the attention of everyone in the Kingdom of Mistral, despite being a Faunus. It was Lycaon Lowell and Guren Scifo that ended up taking her under the Knights' wing. Although she was a smartass at a young age, along with being anti-social AKA 'Fuck I hate people', she cared for the men who served as her father figure.

Both were now gone.

"No matter what everyone says," Flynn turned around, placing his hand on her shoulder. "None of this was your fault."

She clenched her fist as he left.

When the people of Zaphias found out why the White Fang had attacked in the first place, the people had become divided; one side of course being the bigots against the Faunus kind, and those whose families were lost in the conflict.

But Rita didn't care… if anything the fact that Flynn, Yuri, nor Jude didn't blame her for anything was worse than any insult; the guilt started to eat away at her.

"When Lycaon died, I felt empty; I didn't know how to react to it, opting to just sit as the tears ran through my face. When Collette died, I wanted to nuke the White Fang and their stupid island; it wasn't as if anyonewas gonna miss them. The only reason as to why I didn't do it was because Guren made sure I wouldn't do anything of that magnitude. When Lloyd died, the anger was there; but with no one to direct it at, the only thing I could do was to leave it all to Drake… and this… the only reason I didn't nuke the position you stood at was because my resources had been limited by the Council of the Knights."

Adam blinked for a moment, narrowing his eyes at what he just heard. "… How-" in that moment, he wondered once more why he was seeing a memory that didn't involve him.

"And things just got worse after this… Jude was sent away for his protection, thinking that his older brother had turned his back on him. Flynn was forced to become a Captain at a young age, to keep some order in the Knight; he's his father's spitting image, so he got down that part well… even though he closed himself to his emotions to achieve that image… and Yuri… " she clenched her lips further as the wind increased, to the point Adam was forced to cover his face, it was then he noticed that everything around him had disappeared.

He was still standing on a grassy field, but the graveyard and everyone had disappeared… everyone, but her.

"I wonder, how many times did you try to kill one of my friends for your retarded cause?" she snapped her fingers, making a gust of concentrated wind punch his chest-

*CRACK*

And break something in the process.

His ribcage had been completely broken, spitting blood through gritted teeth as he flew back before falling on his back.

At that moment, the idea of this being a dream or illusion was completely discarded. He was way too familiar with real pain to know the difference.

This only leaves one question, the most obvious one. "How…" he tried to speak, savoring the savor of his own blood in his mouth. "… is this… happening?"

"You were fooled by the smartest woman in Remnant, guess!"

He heard her snap her fingers again. "AAARG!" his scream came out instinctively, feeling two blades coming out of the grass; another that didn't make sense.

"Remember when you tortured Drake and wanted to stream it all for laughs and giggles?" she snapped her fingers, creating giant fingers of earth that dug themselves out of the grass next to him before getting a grip on him.

*CRACK*

And there went another scream, along with most of the bones in this body.

"Remember when Flynn and Yuri went to Vale and you had the fucking audacity of sending a shooting at the former? I sure do." The fingers disappeared, in a rather digital-like way before lightning came down on him; not even a scream was left of him this time… but at least now he had an answer.

"… Noooo." He growled, more in annoyance than in pain before going into a little flashback session.

"I told you, I had Rita look into it. She noticed the planning for the whole ship, including the Ai. She installed a backdoor just in case."

"… Rita's backdoor most likely erased Cordovin, and replaced it with a more robotic AI."

'That is correct, Mr Aurion. I am the AI designated by Miss Rita Mordio to overwrite the designated AI for this ship. Designation: Useless AI.'

'Does that mean you reject the atrocities you committed that night?'

His eyes started to twitch, uncontrollably as all the pieces started to connect… along with a single thought in mind…

'Since when would Rita Mordio create a useless AI?'

'Rita' stared down at him, just as he tried to glare at her. "You." he snarled.

"Me." Another snap of her finger, but no pain came to him. Instead, the whole field and sky turned into a wide white room.

Adam Taurus had been stuck in a simulation.

"It was running at medium capacity, by the way."

He groaned, feeling all of his wounds pretty fucking lively. "This felt… too real to be a simulation."

"Courtesy of Mithos' technology," she looked at him coldly. "Really gives one a full sense of immersion, doesn't it?"

"Those memories-"

"Ah, that," she snorted. "I got your childhood one from records stored in Atlas' Database. The ones from Zaphias' in the same way, and the funeral…" she tapped the side of her head. "Yours truly."

Adam let the information sink in, figuring out that the reason he had been able to see a memory of Yuri Lowell was because it had been recorded.

"Of course, I realized my mistake a little too soon; I had been expecting you to follow Blake and your younger self. But I had overlooked the fact the Aura inhibitors were still on, so you could not follow them at your usual speed."

'So, she had been forced to change the scene and give me a migraine in the process.'

"Speaking of which," she snapped her fingers again, and his scream came back with emotion; the inhibitors were back at their full capacity.


Many years ago, back in Remnant…

Rita Mordio had groaned when Zelos had pretty much begged her to install a fucking backdoor on some super-secret project of Atlas. The urge to make it explode when she heard the details was so big Zelos had to hold her down from doing it.

After a while, she agreed to it. Using 'Rita is the best' in binary as the password. But she still continued investigating a little. She fell back off her chair laughing when she heard Cordovin had offered her brain to serve as the AI base to control the ship.

So, she thought, why not make use of the backdoor she had just installed?

Creating a digital copy of herself wasn't so hard; it only took her one full day… and lots of coffee and sugar.

The best part, she didn't have to dissect her own brain for that, so that was another 'Suck it Atlas!' for her.

Suffice to say, when the backdoor had been finally activated, she didn't expect to see Drake, Zelos… along with Adam fucking Taurus of all people.

The more she saw, the more questions she had.

But above all that, even if her current self was an AI… it was funny how a Mortal emotion such as rage could overrule her judgment so much.

And here they were now.

"What to do now?" Rita asked. "I know for a fact you were blessed by Ratatosk himself… so why haven't you used it? You could easily overpower the inhibitors and be done with all of this."

'Because we are still in the Dungeon.' He thought, struggling with the pain.

"Oh well," she snapped her finger; her eyes completely lifeless as several blades floated above him. "Your funeral."

He screamed, feeling one of the blades impale themselves into one of his legs.

"Remember when I was incognito a few hours ago, and asked you if you felt guilty about every crime you had committed, and then you said 'It doesn't matter now'?" another blade fell, impaling his other leg. "I am sure as hell it does matter now!"

Two snaps of her finger, two blades that impaled his arms.

"…Dr… Drake!" he managed to spout the name of the blonde, stopping Rita right as she was about to snap her fingers again. "He… our sides have an agreement… if you do this, it will bring consequences on him."

She snorted. "And when has that ever stopped him?"

Adam cursed, knowing full well she was right about that one.

"And it is funny you mention this… because for some reason, he really tried to protect you from me." His eyes widened behind his glasses. "Oh yeah, he figured out it was me right from the start after he figured out the binary." She snapped her finger, but no blades fell. Instead, several screens appeared, showing recordings of them when they first entered the ship; showing Drake, and focusing on a slight twitch on his finger.

Adam's eyes twitched as he figured out what was going on. "Fucking… morse code!?"

Rita explained how Drake had tried to explain the situation, but she wasn't the least interested in it at the moment. She was, of course, more interested in knowing why Drake was with Adam. But she quickly discarded the notion knowing he would say 'It's complicated'.

So, she decided to follow up with trying to kill the former White Fang member. But Drake had asked her not to. Her ire had increased exponentially in that moment. She could have blown up the whole ship in that moment and be done with it, knowing Drake would survive it. But he got ahead of her.

"He did… what?"

She smirked. "He offered to serve you to me like this. He even made himself bait to set everything up."

Adam gritted his teeth, blaming himself for putting his trust in someone who used to be his enemy.

"All of it, as long as I didn't kill you." Her smirk disappeared, leaving him perplexed. "Fuck, I even put a stronger dose on him to have him sleep longer in the room next door; enough to work on a whale."

In a twisted and bizarre way… Drake had protected him; knowing that in the worst-case scenario, his blessing would keep him alive.

*SNAP*

His eyes widened as he heard her fingers snap, loudly, just as a blade fell straight to his chest. By this time, breathing was the most excruciating thing in existence.

"I am sorry, were you having a moment of HOPE… well…" he walked close to him, putting pressure on the blade in his chest. "Too fucking bad."

"I may have not shown it! But I loved them all, Guren, the Knights, ALL OF THEM!" She twisted it. "I was born with nothing! Using my intellect to survive on my own! But I had managed to find a home! A Family! And even if you were just a pawn, you had your role in it, in ruining and destroying everything I had."

Even if this wasn't the real Rita Mordio, her emotions were genuine… as were the tears falling down her face. "Yuri closed himself to purge the Knight from the inside," she retracted the blade a little, "Flynn was forced into the role of Captain from a young age, creating a bigger rift between the two for a year!" and then inserted it back in. "Jude was exiled for good." And she kept doing that, "I lost my best friend again… and many more… all because of you!" Over, and over, again.

During this whole exchange, all Adam could do was spit blood, not even having the energy to scream, and partially blaming his immortality for having to go through this.

'… No,' he thought, going on into his own limbo for a moment.

When he arrived in this World, Adam Taurus really believed he had gotten sort of a blank slate, a new beginning. And despite some troubles on the way, that train of thought continued the same way.

But then, Aurion arrived.

It was inevitable, but he knew both of them were going to face each other, and it happened. However, things seemed to calm down to the point their relationship seemed to hang on a pretty thin fucking line.

But now… now his past actions were metaphorically and literally taking a stab at him.

The reason she had shown him his childhood, his turning point, was because she wanted him to relieve the same pain he had; her same pain. And now… he could really tell, he would do the same if the roles were reversed.

Adam Taurus finally concluded that he deserved better.

But even so… he refused to just die. Not when he owed his Lord too much.

"Fuck this." Rita said, walking back a little as she saw her own mess. "I will apologize to Drake later… but the fact you get to live after all you did… it's just bullshit."

"You… promised." He tried to invoke her friendship with Drake.

"I will apologize…" she raised her fingers, ready to snap. "I am his friend, after all."

*SNAP*

His vision slowed down, seeing the blade above his head fall. He wouldn't die, because the Faunus knew the extent of his blessing; he wasn't sure if Rita was. But even so, he never got a blade run through his brain.

So, he closed his eyes and waited for it to happen… only for it to never happen.

"We had… *YAWN* an agreement… *YAWN* you bitch." His eyes opened, revealing Drake Aurion, holding the blade as it was before to impale him… and with a very drowsy expression on his face, to boost.

"Fucking… how!?" she asked, more annoyed than angry. "I gave you enough to make you sleep for a damn day!"

"Yeah, well…" he tossed the blade to the side before rubbing his eye, yawning in the process. "Apparently, my Dragon genes are catching up to… what?" he raised to count; fuck he was really sleepy. "Eighteen years… give or take."

He walked around Adam, slapping his face as he stood in front of Rita. "I can't explain it right now… but I can't let you kill him."

"… You are still defending him?" she growled in a low voice; tears forming in her eyes at this betrayal.

"I am…" Adam sighed in relief; being thankful Aurion was a man of his word and was keeping his agreement. "But you are my friend… and I am not going to let my reasons ruin that."

'I fucking take back everything good I just thought!' Adam thought, forcing himself to only look at the ceiling; not being able to move at all.

"His blessing makes him immortal; at least battle-wise as far as I know." He looked over his shoulder for a moment. "Only Divinity… can kill Divinity."

Adam blinked, taking the implications of what he just heard. Aurion was gonna kill him himself, releasing his Divinity, alerting every damn Deity in this World of his existence… ruining everything.

"Consequences-"

"-Be damned," Drake said, most of his drowsiness already gone. "I can take the burden if the worst comes to happen." He replied with a stern look, looking as Rita, whose arms were crossed, tightened the grip on her arms as she listened.

"… Our agreement."

"Don't care." he could hear Adam gritting his teeth in frustration. "Just say the word." He said to Rita… Determination and Sacrifice were bright in his eyes… but there was something else, part of her reasoning had returned.

"The consequences… how bad can they be?"

"Bad… we are talking hundreds as collateral on the worst-case scenario," Drake commented nonchalantly. "But don't worry, as I said," he grabbed his right forearm, with enough force on his grip to break a normal one… this didn't go unnoticed by Rita as she finally saw something else being reflected in Drake's eyes… Despair.

"Show me your forearm." She wasn't an expert on social cues, but she knew how to read a person. And Drake, who was usually a fucking closed book, had opted to open a bit.

She moved up the sleeve of his jacket, narrowing his eyes as she saw an armband covering most of his arm. The eyes of the Cat Faunus narrowed as she removed it.

Adam didn't know why… but something had changed in the room. And if he could see Rita's face right now, she would see an expression full of horror, trepidation, ire, confusion, fury, anguish… confusion. In the end, all she could do was stare as she came to her own conclusion.

"Drake…" Adam tensed, sensing the fear and anger in her voice. "What did you do?"

There was a moment of silence before the blonde finally spoke. "… I completed Origin's final trial… and this is my atonement."

'Ah… so that's your game,' Adam thought… finally understanding what Drake was doing… but the price left him with a bad taste in his mouth.

"… Why?" Rita asked, her anger rising as she knew the implications of what she heard. "Why? Why!? WHY!? FUCKING WHY!?" she grabbed his shoulder and looked straight in his eyes. "We agreed! We fucking agreed it wasn't necessary! We knew the fucking consequences! SO FUCKING WHY!?" she planted her face on his chest… crying as she continued to ask.

Drake looked down, moving his free arm around her as she continued. The Rita Mordio in front of him was an AI, whose last update happened way before the events they were referring to took place… so her confusion and anger… were more than justifiable.

"I had no choice."

An excuse usually used by those put in a desperate position and thinking clearly; forcing them to make a rash decision…but if it came from someone like Drake… it meant it really was one of those situations.

"Was it them?" she gestured at Adam. "Was it another ploy of Ratatosk?"

"No/No" both replied, making her eyes widened in surprise; not expecting that answer, not Adam's integration.

"Then who-"

"Ruby Rose." Drake replied, not really having to be angry as he muttered that accursed name, letting the name sink in Rita's mind as she drew her own conclusion… the correct conclusion.

"So… tell me," she separated from him, looking at Adam. "Tell me to do it… and I will, I will take all of the burden of the consequence as my own."

Rita's face twisted into a complex expression… The worst part was… she didn't have a physical body… and yet her chest hurt for some reason.

"… It is good to see you are still the same piece of shit." She sighed in defeat, concluding this was all set to make her give up… even if everything he said and did was nothing but the cold and hardest truth.

*SNAP*

The blade impaling disappeared… just as the Aura Inhibitors were finally deactivated.

Both Drake and Adam sighed in relief, feeling the Aura finally flow without pain as the latter's wounds started to heal.

"So, we-"

"We are not cool," Rita said, proceeding to kick him as hard as she could as Adam lay on the ground. "My only hope is that you fuck up that agreement you both have so he has a reason to kill you," she crouched next to him, pointing her finger at him. "Whatever misery befalls you in the future, I want you to have it in mind from now on that you fucking deserve it."

'Figured, can't win all of them.' Adam thought with a tired tone, taking her words to heart as she moved to Drake.

"So… mind finally telling me what the fuck is going on?" she sighed. "And don't fucking say it's complicated."

Drake took a deep breath, ready to answer… but someone beat him to it.

"HOOOOONEY~" Every fiber of Rita's existence flinched at the sound of a very familiar, and annoying voice. She looked around, with a little bit of disgust in her eyes as Zelos Wilder dived at her… only to phase through her completely before kissing the ground.

"Oh… right… I am a hologram," she had been so surprised she forgot that little fact. "The fuck did you come from, Zelos?"

"Our love transcends time and space!" Zelos made a thumbs up gesture, his face still planted on the floor.

"… He looks more like a creep than I remember." Her words created various alarms in Drake's mind.

'Oh… right… during the time Rita made the AI-'

'They weren't a thing' the rest of the brothers concluded, making Drake feel a sense of relief and fatigue seeing his mind was no longer gonna be quiet.

'It was good while it lasted. How are you guys doing?' there was a series of collective groans. 'That bad?' he asked, referring to all the time during which the Aura Inhibitors were on.

'Scenery-wise, We were just floating in an endless void…' Guy started with a tired tone. 'I would have said it had been peaceful but…'

'Zelos spent the whole fucking time yapping about wanting to see Rita!' Luke pretty much growled. 'It was insufferable.'

'Pot calling the kettle black?' Drake didn't need to be in his Soul to see Yuri flipping off Luke, and vice versa. 'And Drake just so you have an idea of how annoying he was being, not even I could stand him.'

And that was coming from the layoff guy.

'He figured out it was the moment just as the inhibitors were activated… ' Flynn released a heavy sigh. 'It just went like that for hours… and hours… and hours…'

Drake sighed on his side, knowing full well his best friend was going to be insufferable for a loooooong time. But there were now two things bothering him. One of them that he did not hear Lloyd's voice.

'Hey, dumbass; you fell asleep?' There was a moment of silence, even the other didn't say anything. 'What?'

Nobody answered, he was about to press for more but… Zelos got his attention. "Come on… it is just a hug!"

He looked to the side, seeing Zelos trying to plead with Rita for something. "You created blades that pierced through Horny Boy's limbs and chest; you can make your body tangible in this room, all I am asking for is a hug." By this time, he was already on his knees.

Rita pinched the bridge between her eyes before sighing; snapping her fingers as her body brightened for a second; a moment later, she sighed once more as she was held by dear life.

'He does know that she was created before they were a thing, right?'

'You know what they say about a fool in Love' Jude commented, making Drake snort internally as he realized something. '… Wait… how did Zelos know about Adam's torture if the contact between us was cut?'

Drake then realized why Lloyd had been quiet.

His brothers surely got a rush of the memories of the last hours… including his more present conversation with Rita.

'Oh…'

'… Yeah. Nobody is happy recalling that event.'

Drake rubbed the side of his head, tired more than anything. 'It's ok… it's all in the pa- AH-' He never finished the thought, bending over and grabbing his knees for support as he felt a massive pain in his crotch.

"!" even breathing was hard at the moment.

He looked to the side, seeing Zelos on the ground once more; holding his crotch as Rita stood over him with a red face.

"That's what you fucking get for getting touchy! The nerve of this… why are you like that?" she asked, noticing the now pale Drake on the verge of falling.

"Oh, this is gold," She looked at Adam, scowling as he sat on the ground. "Zelos and the others are manifesting into this place using Aurion's Shadow… and funnily enough, any actual damage they -His Shadow- suffers, it will be directed to him."

"Oh shit," she exclaimed, wincing as she looked between Zelos and Drake.

"Quite the surprise… heh, bud?" Zelos asked, having earned his predicament by groping her ass.

"Don't… fucking… call me…" he gave up, lacking air as he found this little revelation stupid; seeing as how they found out now of all times, seeing as none of his brothers had been hurt in any significant way while using his shadow until now.

"Rita…" he looked at her, scowling.

"Hey, he was the one being a fucking perv, don't blame me for-" she crossed her arms, trying to justify herself.

"Not that… you dumb bitch," he said, recalling the second thing that had been bothering him. "Tsubaki… where is she?"


Drake rested against the wall with his arms crossed, his lungs finally able to recover some of his breath.

And a couple of feet away was Adam…

None of them said anything after Rita left… even though both knew anything they said inside of the ship would be heard by her. But that wasn't the only reason.

But just as he was about to say anything, the door a few feet away finally opened; revealing Tsubaki.

Her blade was gone, her Aura Bracelet was broken, her hair was down, her eyepatch was gone; replaced by a piece of her own clothes. Speaking of which, her usual attire was completely shredded to what Drake could identify as blade cuts… but there were no wounds on her.

Drake looked at Rita after creating a body the moment Tsubaki entered the room; the Cat Faunus maintained a stoic expression the whole time.

'Sus as hell.' Yuri commented, but Drake let it pass as he focused on her face… she was mad.

'You knew this was coming.' Everyone chanted; not being helpful in the slightest as she approached, menacingly.

He knew it, and he deserved it. So, the only thing he could do right now was just deal with the consequences.

Tsubaki Collbrande stopped in front of him, narrowing her eye on his face, he sighed after a while. "Wh-!" he stopped, feeling her warm hands on his cheeks before twisting them.

"People have tried to get smart with me in the past; I haven't fallen for a plot since my younger days, but this one so far has made the biggest fool in existence out of me." The worst thing of all of this was not the pain he was going through thanks to her Dragon Slayer… no, it was the fact that the bitch in front of him was trying to be cute by pouting.

He would have loved to blame Rita for this, but he was the one who agreed to this in the end. So all he could do was take it.

"The next time you are gonna pull some questionable shit, fucking don't leave me out." her twisting increased. "That aside, completely amazed you can retain that stoic face of yours."

He groaned a little. "I promise." She smiled, but it soon fell into a frown as she kept focusing on his face.

She let go of his cheeks, leaving a nasty red mark on them, before moving her arms around his waist as she placed her face on him.

The blonde was a little taken back at the action, looking over at Rita for context on what may or not have happened. However, all the cat did was look away while rubbing her cheek while Zelos, who decided to keep bothering Rita, just made a gesture back at him to return the hug.

He rolled his eyes as he did, already planning to do that beforehand. "Anything you might want to share?"

"…" Tsubaki didn't answer, tightened the hug a little bit as she tried to get closer to him. "I had to deal with a wanna-be asshole with a really fucking punchable face."

Many things were felt by him at that moment. Since the moment he met her, he was not used to Tsubaki Collbrande feeling any sort of negative emotion. Not when they faced the Goliath, nor ever… well, there was that one time she felt a little jealous of that Crozzo guy, but that's beside the point.

But now, he could feel worry, confusion, some anger… and even a little bit more deep down; guilt being the most prominent one.

He gently raised his hand towards the back of her head; softly brushing it for a moment as all the negative emotions diminished… but never disappeared.

After a minute, he looked at Rita; with a face that had only been reserved when someone did something grave. "What did you do?"

Rita sighed. Giving a step forward, she raised both arms as a sign of peace. "I just want to say," she started with a solemn voice, only to deadpan at what she said next. "It is that fucking Goblin's fault."

A sigh got their attention, looking over at Adam. "Yeah… I can believe that."


It was about Four in the afternoon by the time they exited the Dungeon.

Overall, it was a mission complete.

Drake pulled the ship into the shadows and placed it underground close to the Xenos' newest base; outside of the Dungeon's domain.

What was meant to be a simple mission ended up being harder than it should; for some more than others.

But in the end, everything turned out ok. The ship was under their 'Control' and Tsubaki got more than just Dust Refiner; with Rita serving as a teacher on everything regarding Dust.

He still recalled how her eye glinted as clinging to one of the drones and calling it her new friend, and he could also recall Rita's groan.

'She just needs to go through the rest of her character development again, give her a chance.' Zelos' words gathered some laughs.

'Let me remind you, she wasn't the most sociable person either during our finals days.' Yuri commented, but Drake didn't laugh… nor did Luke.

'I am not a bit happy about hearing the word Replica again either, Luke. But all of that has been dealt with.' Drake commented, checking on the Fifth Guardian seeing the subject was rather too personal for him.

'I know… can't help but feel mad about it… fucking Jade.' Luke cursed, being silent for the rest of the walk, left alone to his own thoughts.

"Mind if we speak for a moment?" Adam asked, handing over his scroll as they stopped in front of the Hostess. Drake looked at the device for a moment, throwing Adam a glare before taking it and his Scroll and tossing them in the shadows.

Now that Rita Mordio was back, the paranoia Drake had of her hacking his Scroll returned; something Adam thought as well seeing he didn't want to be heard.

"Despite how things turned out… I just want to say," he struggled, not because saying the words was hard… but because what would come after it would hurt. "Thank you."

Drake stared, taking a deep breath before exhaling… lazily nodding before throwing a quick jab; sending Adam to the ground, and knocking down his shaders in the process.

He ignored the people staring, seeing as what witnessed that just kept walking with worried stares on their faces.

"Can't say I didn't see that one coming," Adam grunted as he sat.

"Oh really!?" Drake did his best to keep his voice low as he crouched next to him. "Pray tell why?"

Adam didn't reply; doing it would only be adding more gas to the fire.

"Never mind I had to relieve my biggest fuck up." He ignored the itching on his right forearm. "I had to abuse my friendship with Rita to keep you alive, Adam."

The redhead nodded.

Drake knew one of his oldest friends wouldn't force him to do such a thing, solemnly because the blonde laid on the line the preview of all the consequences that could happen if he killed Adam.

But the worst part of all of it was that it wasn't even a gamble.

Because Drake knew Rita… he forced himself to relieve something he hated and use his friend knowing full well Rita would back down. The scary part was… that if Rita had been selfish enough to say yes… Drake would have done it, even if Tsubaki ended up hating him as collateral.

Adam understood this… and felt guilty because of it.

"You think that only because you are here, nothing that happened in Remnant will come to haunt you… huh?" he whispered, proceeding to show his clothed forearm. "Do you think I leave free of what made this? Free of the guilt that came with it?"

Again, Adam held back his answer.

"No… Taurus. Because if the right being or entity ever comes to me calling for Justice regarding this… then I will take it without a doubt." Drake stated, not a single hint of doubt in his tone. "Neither you nor I are stupid underage brats that think that words like 'Sorry' or 'Thank you' will fix what we had done."

Again… Adam knew that… which is why he knew a punch was the least he deserved.

"Excuse me."

Both snapped back into reality, looking near the entrance to see one Ryuu Lyon; with Syr Flova hiding behind her, looking over at the scene as if she was going to be the one to be punched if she said anything.

And she wasn't the only one.

"Don't you all have work to do?" Drake replied, standing up as he looked at the windows of the first floor; patrons and waitresses looking at the scene. He could even see Mia looking at things with a neutral expression. "Get back to it."

His order felt like a chill running down their spines. "Yes/Yes nya~ " all the waitresses replied, making Mia snort before focusing on her stuff as well.

"Anything I need to worry about?" Ryuu asked after taking Adam's glasses on the ground, looking at Adam with a glare as he stood up.

"Just reminding him of something," Drake said, seeing Adam taking back his glasses before placing them on his face. "What's up with you two?"

Ryuu kept staring at him for a moment; seeing the slight anger in his eyes. But not finding the right words to say at the moment. "Someone came in and dropped this, your name was on the envelope." She went into her pocket and pulled a letter with his name on it.

"Who dropped it?" Drake asked, looking over it.

"We don't know."

He stopped, looking at Syr to the usual double-check.

True/True

"I was working and just noticed it on the table. I never saw the moment it was dropped."

True/True

He narrowed his eyes, looking over it another second before opening it. "Did anything else happen while I was out?"

Ryuu's eyes opened for a moment… ready to say no, only to recall the visit of someone who supposedly knew Drake… and Hephaestus' strange behavior after it.

But just as she was about to mutter the first word, her instincts kicked in. However, she fought the urge to raise her guard as she knew the source of the danger… it was Drake.

"What…" he uttered, his rage controlled and his tone cold.

"What is it?" The Knight or Ratatosk asked, looking over Drake's shoulder to read the letter.

"What… what the fuck is this!?" his eyes glowed as he read the contents all over again.


Many voices were heard… along with many footsteps going from right to left.

The staff of the Guild had closed their doors before the usual time as they all gathered in the biggest room in the building; arguing on what to do in their current predicament.

Some few were in agreement, and yet the majority were in disagreement.

Their usual stoicism was gone as there was no need to hold a mask to show to the people outside of the Guild.

All the while near a corner, a single person was sitting on a chair with its back against the wall. To anyone watching her, it would look as if she was dead. Her current position consisted of her body looking down, with red drops falling on her usual pristine uniform. Not that it matters seeing as there seemed to be blood all over her. Especially on her hands and face.

Yes, it truly looked as if Rose Fannett was truly dead.


You made it, congrats. But hey, nothing compared to that one guy that wrote a 40K! words chapter huh, what a mad lad.

28K words, to date my longest chapter. And hopefully, something like this won't happen again in the future.

(beta reader: fuck you and your 28k words, I am going to start demanding money from now on -_-)

The reason this chapter was so hard to write was not because of Tsubaki's part; I had fun writing that part. The problem was RWBY's favorite angry child, Adam Taurus. I wanted to define his character a little and give a little exposition to Aurion's character a little; the problem was the former.

I spent some time thinking about what exactly to do with Adam, because at first, I was planning on Rita reenacting a torture scene Adam ordered on Aurion and reaching a similar conclusion to this one. But then I thought, Nah, too easy… so I chose to explore his character a little with past events.

That's when the next problem came because the whole Zaphias thing was meant to be a big flashback arc in the Original story, a part that I never got to write. And when I recalled how much I had planned, I got a writer's block on how to tackle this. After a long time, I decided it was best to cut some things, a lot of things, off.

Now, onto the real chapter notes:

-No, the whole use of technological weapons being used on the fic will not be a regular thing, seeing as that would kill some of the purposes of being in Danmachi. at best a certain someone will get a small weapon so she can defend herself, but nothing explosive like a mecha for a while. (beta reader: yeah, lets not forget Danmachi is set in a medieval setting)

-How did Lett deal with the other Replicas? I cut that part, leaving it for a flashback for another chapter seeing as I was already taking too long. The whole aftermath of the Replica fiasco was skipped for the same reason.

-Falna is bullshit, it has been stated before. So, trying to adapt the leaking Aura given by Tsubaki's bracelet is not out of the question; there's also the fact she had been working with Aura weapons and tools for a while. Then again, as a rule, that has been mentioned implicitly before, emotions and the mental psyche have a lot to do as well.

-Speaking of Tsubaki, her killing the Replica will have more than one sort of impact on her, just to add more problems to her. (beta reader: oh boi…)

-Adam doesn't considers he fucked up. Even if he had been rage and revenge-induced, he believes his actions served a goal on his ideals at the time. But he recognizes he deserves his punishment on a personal level, and he knows that isn't gonna stop soon with Rita around.

-Despite having Despair as one of his domains, even Aurion has a few things that still can bring him to such a point. The subject will be brought to light when the first arc of this Volume ends… yes, I still haven't even started with the main event.

The next chapter should be a short one-

Beta-reader: …are you trying to make me mad, ya little bitc-?

Hopefully, I will get it ready before my birthday.

Beta-reader: -_-