Brad Fou Field found himself standing with his arms crossed, drumming his fingers as he stood at the mouth of what had to be one of the largest chambers on the Second Floor of the Capital Dungeon.

The room ahead had the largest concentration of monsters so far. The others had deemed it sufficient to showcase their combat prowess for their little kill-count competition. Naturally, since he was ill-suited for this sort of thing, he accompanied Marie and stood next to her as she observed the other four in action.

"Ten!" Greg proudly boasted over the roar of flames erupting against the exoskeleton of a massive insect that had crawled out of the holes bored into the rough stone. The fire born from his Septima was much like his temperament in how furiously it burned within his palms as he delivered a crushing blow upon the Cave Ant and immolated it.

However, his inattentiveness left him open to retaliation.

Marie gasped as another Cave Ant that had been skittering along the walls lunged for his unprotected back. It came within range to clamp its mandibles around his neck by the time he noticed. Even so, Greg's combat instincts pulled his head forward in order to evade while readying a flaming fist—

"Eleven."

—only for a streak of argent light to cleanly sever the insect's head from its mesosoma before either could react. Chris flourished his blade to the side as he stood just past the burning fists, ridding his fine weapon of the newfound blood. He then pushed up his glasses by the rim and became running light that darted to the left in a straight line, increasing the number of kills under Chris' belt by one.

"Tch." Greg clicked his tongue in annoyance. Then suppressed and controlled gunfire suddenly rang out within the chamber. His eyes, like those of most others, were drawn to the smoking barrel of a battle rifle held by Jilk on the other side of the chamber.

The sniper maintained a reverent distance from his liege as he pulled the trigger and let fly another shot. The bullet pierced between the antenna of another Cave Ant scurrying on the walls above. Then the magazine fell out and he slotted another in its place with a practiced grace, aiming anew and letting fly another shot at the grouping hanging near the ceiling.

"Immaculate aim as always," said the Crown Prince who likewise held a handheld weapon out. He pulled the trigger and a flash of silver accelerated out of the barrel. It struck the furthest Cave Ant out, leaving only an argent mark behind rather than puncturing the exoskeleton—one of three that could be spotted if you strained your eyes.

He then lowered his gun and put his empty hand forward. Sparks rose off his body and swaddled his frame as his cape danced. It was an electromagnetic field that distorted the space around him, a zone of electricity generated by his Septima. Pulling his lips back into a tight smile, he snapped his fingers and unleashed the power of the Azure Striker.

Lightning ran. Striking out from the field were three thin bolts of electrical streamers, almost like elongated fingers cutting through the air as they reached for the marked Cave Ants in the distance.

The monsters split apart. Perhaps they sensed the ozone in the air with their antenna. Or maybe it was a primitive instinct that warned of the danger that existed long before the advent of man into the clouds. Skittering with all their legs at a frantic pace they sought to evade the electricity converging towards them.

It was to no avail as the bolts curved in three directions, one going to each mark. The moment they made contact a connection between the field and the target was formed—a channel through with an unbroken charge could flow. The full force of the electricity surged as those thin streamers gave way to a trio of writhing lightning bolts that snapped out in the blink of an eye.

The azure flash of the electrical strike was brilliant without comparison. It easily eclipsed the natural light given off by the cave formations replete with half-formed crystals. And the radiant light left behind in the wake of Chris' motions. Even the raging firelight dancing with Greg's palm paled in as the targets eventually erupted and then dissipated before the Crown Prince's power.

If I had such power…Brad's fingers raked against the reinforced plating along the forearm of his bodysuit as the four kept mounting kills. He took a deep breath and silently recited the tenets of his faith to bury the insecurities that had begun to build within him. It would be ungrateful of him to want for more when he already possessed an abundance that others did not, even amongst his peers.

He shifted his focus from the roar of flames, the swing of a blade, the whizzing of bullets, and the crackle of electricity, to what was going on behind him instead. He could hear their classmates praising the prowess of the four amid their competition over the noise of combat and turned around to see the gathering was larger than he expected. He would have thought that most of them would be dealing with other monsters nestled on the floor, given it was their first delve into a dungeon.

Then again, this was easily the largest number of monsters they'd run into so far—no doubt due to the other Scholarship Student. While he had never met the young man personally, Olivia wordlessly extolled his virtues when given the chance. Almost as much as he expressed his adoration of how wonderful Marie was when she extended the same courtesy to him. If the abundance of Energia Fragments scattered throughout their jaunt through the First and Second Floor was his doing, it painted a picture of competence.

…Wait, where is Olivia? Purple eyes spanned the assembled within the corridor for signs of the Exosuit Olivia sported amidst the female portion of the class. It was absent.

However, Angelica was not too far away from them. Her crimson gaze was primarily fixated on Julius with adoration coloring them. At least until the Crown Prince glanced over towards Marie with a smile, at which point the venom of disdain darkened her face. Though he would prefer that she not look at Marie in such a manner, it was… tolerable if she did not act upon it.

That being said, Brad did note that Olivia was supposed to be in her care. And he couldn't shake the uncertainty of her being missing when most others had already gathered near the exit to the Second Floor. He wouldn't be able to focus on keeping an eye on Marie until he had answers, so he left her under the watch of the others once they'd finished up to confront the ducal daughter.

Angelica straightened up when once he came to a stop in front of her. "Is there something I can help you with, Lord Field?"

"Pardon the abruptness of my approach, Lady Redgrave," he began. "But I wished to inquire into the whereabouts of the Scholarship Student that you had proclaimed was under your protection for the duration of the class?"

The contents of his inquiry were met with a raised brow and brief confusion. "The girl is with my entourage."

"She does not appear to be with them at the moment."

Her gaze followed as Brad pointed towards the gathering further back consisting of her followers. Olivia was still nowhere to be found, which naturally left her to head towards them and demand, "Where is the girl you were to be keeping an eye on?"

The brown-haired young woman fidgeted under the inquiry. "Lady Redgrave, she… wished to make herself useful and stayed behind to collect the fragments we found along the way. Out of gratitude for you taking her under your protection."

Brad severely doubted that. Olivia was courteous, but she also would not endanger herself by acting so carelessly in an unfamiliar situation. And even if she would, as a member of Angelica's entourage, they shouldn't have left her alone regardless.

And while he could not assume that Angelica had drawn that same conclusion, her reaction made it clear it was not the answer she wanted to hear as her brows furrowed deeply. "And you let her go alone to do so? With none of you accompanying her at the very least? After I had stated that she would be under my protection as a member of my group?"

The way she hesitated to respond. The way her body recoiled as she took a step back. The way she looked at the others among their numbers while they pointedly avoided eye contact as Angelica looked to the rest in chastisement.

It watered the seed of uncertainty he had felt, leaving his lips to purse thin as he took a step forward and peered straight at the young woman. "I would appreciate it if you spared us your excuses and tell us where you saw her. Lest you forget, it was by Lady Redgrave's word she would be safe. Should anything have happened to her, I will personally seek that you be held responsible for your negligence."

Hitched breaths escaped the gathering while murmurs could be heard from the surroundings. Then she spoke up about how Olivia had 'left them' right after Angelica had separated from their group, and in which direction. He tuned out their further excuses as he combed through his memory of the map on display back then and it painted a picture he didn't like when he recalled what might be located around that area.

"Lord Brad," Marie called for him. He turned to see she and the others were in the center of the chamber that had been cleared of all threats. "We're moving ahead."

Though he would love to remain in her presence and protect her, the others were more than capable of doing so on their own. But should something have happened to Olivia, he feared that there was no one present who would do the same for her. He had to act.

"…Forgive me, Marie," he said regretfully. "There is a matter I need to attend to. I'll leave you in the care of the others for now."

[—Olivia—]

Olivia had lost count of how many times she had pulled the trigger at this point.

Stuck within a nest where the monstrous insects crawled from the numerous tunnels, her heart was hammering in her chest as she scrambled to get away while firing the pistol she'd been given. One scurrying Cave Ant within her sight buckled as a bullet smashed into its exoskeleton and penetrated, but only a second shot put it down. Even then another quickly overlapped the dissipating corpse and took its place on the march towards her.

Olivia knew she couldn't go back out the way she had been pushed. And there were too many for her to gun down at this point. But if she could reach one of the tunnels then she could potentially get back onto the traveled paths and follow them back to the surface.

However, her attempt at moving into one tunnel was cut short as mandibles snapped and clamped on the forearm guard of her Exosuit's outer shell. In a panic she jerked her arm to the side, an act which pulled the Cave Ant from its perch at the mouth of the opening and flung the surprised creature as its grasp slipped. But two more took their place, leaving her with no choice but to try another avenue of escape.

Stalling her movements to aim, Olivia fired the pistol as another set closed in. Its echoing bark and bright flashes resulted in sprays of green-tinged ichor. She turned her head and then her body to track two others attempting to flank her and popped off another pair of shots, scoring clean kills by chance. The tunnel they crawled out of didn't spawn another to take their place, and she felt a spot of hope in her chest that it was a chance to get away.

Yet, as she spotted a third closing in on the fringes of her left side and pulled the trigger, there was no ignition or flash of a bullet escaping the muzzle of her gun. There was only the sound of the hammer hitting empty air. The magazine had run out.

Olivia stalled in her movement again as she looked down, her thumb clumsily running over the paddle to release the magazine with one hand. She had practiced, but that was a lesson and not when she was in danger or clad in armor. Fortunately, the magazine slid out as gravity took hold and freed it for a replacement.

Unfortunately, the brief glance towards her firearm to release the spent magazine was the moment the Cave Ant accelerated. It was then, when she had reached for a fresh magazine, that it lunged. Mandibles that could crush stone and poor steel widened as they sailed toward her upper torso with the intention of ripping away her outer shell.

The moment she saw it lunging for her, Olivia ended up batting at the approaching mouth with the hand closest to the threat. The panicked reflex, responsiveness of the powered armor, and its bulk happened to be enough to send it tumbling aside. It curled over on its back and writhed, legs frantically kicking the air for purchase.

It was a distraction she didn't need given that, right after the threat in front of her was removed, she felt a hard thump on her back and heard the terrifying sound of scraping just over her shoulder. Something was there, clinging to her back. Her pistol fell from her grasp as she stumbled forward, trying to bring both hands around to grasp and pull free the unwanted passenger whose antennae came into view at the very edge of her screened vision—

CRACK!

—only for a bright flash to briefly light up the dim cavern with an audible crackle. It was brilliant white and blue, coming from behind her. It was only for a moment but after it was gone the air was suddenly filled with the nauseating scent that mixed ozone with a cloying putrid smell.

And then her body felt heavy.

The sudden loss of support placed such a great burden onto her shoulders that she fell onto her arms and knees in surprise. The smoldering remains of the Cave Ant that had been on her back were jostled loose, landing next to her. Horror crept its way into her heart when she saw there was a bit of metal and wire within its mandibles, still clenched tight in death even as the dispersal of its physical form began.

Something had been damaged.

Something important.

Chittering came from every angle as the Cave Ants that had been startled by the bright flash and rich scent of ozone began to close in cautiously at the fallen prey. Movement flittered at the fringes of her confined vision, the helmet restricting her from turning too far in either direction. And with her body too heavy to move well enough to escape, it only added to the sense of claustrophobia she felt as her heart rate spiked, and her breathing went from heavy to frantic.

Unable to defend herself without her weapon.

Unable to move and escape.

No voice to scream.

Trapped underground within the nest of monsters, Olivia closed her eyes and silently turned to her faith in her final moment as her thoughts drifted from the inevitability to the people she loved and the wishes she hoped to be fulfilled.

The matron who had taken care of her and the others of the parish. She wanted to be strong for them, to make their lives easier by learning all she could. She could only hope that another would take up the task she left behind, though even if no one did she was certain they would endure as they always had buoyed on their faith.

Then there was Master Lucas. He had done so much for her since she was a child and even brought her this chance. She only wished his efforts had not been squandered on her and hoped that he would not mourn her fate.

Then there was Lord Field, her fellow devotee of the Musicine Faith within the Academy. She wanted to offer him a balm to soothe the silent suffering he seemed to keep bundled within his heart. Oliva could only hope he would find it within the one whom he looked to fondly in her place.

And then there was Leon.

A hitch escaped her throat when she thought of the one who had accompanied her until now. The one who offered her endless kindness when she herself could offer him nothing in turn. The one whose kindness she had manipulated to such ends. If she had but a final prayer to offer to the Muse of Hope, it would be the apology that she would never be able to give would reach him and that one day his burdens would be lifted so that he would find happiness.

Holding her loved ones in her mind, Olivia recited a hymn she treasured in the depths of her heart as death closed in…

"OLIVIA!"

Her eyes snapped open as a voice rang out above the ambient chittering of the dog-sized insects moving to swarm her prone body. Then a crystalline shell encased her within a tight, unyielding embrace. Lord Field's Septima?

She looked for him through the looking glass of colors that spanned the prism as streaks of light ran through the cavern. Tearing through the monsters like invisible claws in a flash, only a sea of dissipating sparkles adrift in the air and fragments below remained where there had been throngs of moving bodies before. Her unasked question was only answered when the confines of crystal splintered and scattered outwards into shards and she could hear the roar of jets from above.

Blue eyes gazed above and bore witness as an angel clad in armor of argent and crimson descending upon wings of blue flames, with a halo of spheres floating behind it. A familiar gauntleted hand was extended towards her for a welcoming embrace, offering her sanctuary in her time of need. Olivia abruptly felt a wave of emotions come crashing over her unlike any other as she realized he had come for her. Leon…

Her fears and regrets and resignation. Everything that had been contained and kept at bay behind her shield of faith suddenly boiled over and became too much to contain. It spilled out as hot tears that carried with it every ounce of tension in her body, hollowing her out as every negative feeling melted away.

And in its wake, there was only a golden warmth that seemed to pour into her from some unknown place that felt both close and far away. A feeling that was so boundless and without form that she couldn't give context to it in that moment. Something precious filled up the emptiness left behind and took root deep inside of her from her head to her toes.

Olivia didn't know what that feeling was. It was something she felt would require deep contemplation and prayer. But what she did know was that the one who had coaxed it to life within her was in front of her now.

The one whose hand she desperately wanted to take and never let go of again.

[—Leon—]

Leon descended as slowly and gently as he could in front of the battered Exosuit while trying to keep his emotions in check. He was tempted to cut the engines and fall rather than waste seconds on the descent. But there was a chance that the force of the impact could potentially worsen Olivia's condition if she was hurt.

There were questions in his mind, of course. How did she get here before he did? In the literal worst place imaginable for any student to be in? Even Leon wasn't so overconfident that he would have rushed in.

He had fully intended to have Lola partition energy towards executing the Shred Storm as soon as they were within range. She was absolutely certain that it could wipe out every living thing within a certain radius in a single pass. So he had intended to head to the mouth of the cavern and use it once he was done thinning out the rest of the floor.

It had only been because Lola had heard the echo of gunfire at a tone too low for a human to hear that he changed his plans. She ran a check on the internal registry she had on every student with a firearm license in the class to use them, with that number being a handful. He was on the verge of panicking when he saw it was the refurbished armor he had bought to keep Olivia safe, which Lola magnified in his visor while they were in the distance to make sure there was no mistaking it.

Then he heard her name being shouted before the prism encased her. Lola had detected Septimal Energy spiking before she had deployed the Shred Storm, recognizing the signature as one she already had registered even before coming to the Academy. It was Septima within her register known as Prism Cataclysm for its destructive nature during her era, with the current user being one of the Five.

Its defensive properties were known to Leon when he played the game. And he had known Brad used it once in a cutscene to protect the Heroine from a sudden ambush in the Dungeon while he boasted about its defensive capabilities to earn her affection. You naturally gained more points for praising that aspect later on in his route when he was whining about how he felt inferior to the others because his damage output was lacking barring certain enemies and bosses.

Never in this life or the last had Leon been more grateful that his boasts were lore-accurate.

Leon had seen what it was like to be too late before. To see steel twisted and wrenched as blood leaked from the corpse sealed within it. To have to watch as battered flesh and mashed viscera had to be scraped from the metal, as what was once human was discarded so that the rest could be washed clean and salvaged for another person to take the dead's place once it was functional or refurbished.

Leon hoped he wouldn't run across that sight today as the crystal shell shattered.

"Is she okay?" called out the Prism Adept from his perch in a tunnel above the ground. His bodysuit was covered in the same crystalline material that had previously encased Olivia. A defense buff Skill within the game based on the visuals, but also a slight speed buff since he encased his feet for less friction like a pair of ice skates.

"Her vitals are relatively stable." Lola displayed on his visor different bars and graphs that moved up and down based on whatever sensors she had on Olivia. The fact that they were moving at all to indicate she was alive was the only thing he really cared about in that moment rather than the specifics. "She's conscious and aware. I think both of you made it in time to prevent any severe physical harm."

"Alive," Leon called out, if only because he wanted to personally inspect her current state before saying otherwise. He then landed gently onto one knee, holstered his weapon, and detached his helmet with a hiss as the hermetic seal connecting to the bodysuit was broken. "Livia, I'm going to remove your helmet now."

She didn't resist as he reached over to her helmet and lifted it from her head. Her normally cheerful and healthy face was now flushed and glistening. Her blond hair was matted against her skin from the sweat and her blue eyes were puffy from crying.

Yet somehow, she was still managing to wear a smile that contrasted everything else with a disturbing level of uncanniness.

"Her biometric readings are weird." Lola stated. "The indicators of fear are present, but also… the closest thing I can relate it to would be... euphoria? And it almost feels like it's fluctuating in time to something else…"

"She could just be happy to be alive," Leon murmured while holding his gaze, even as the sound of footfalls across stone could be heard as the Prism Adept began to make his way over. "Livia, are you hurt badly anywhere?"

She slowly shook her head before trying to move her arms. But from how the outer armor of her suit sagged, it was clearly too heavy.

"That suit is dead weight now. It's a short, coming from the Exospine. It looks like it was knocked out of alignment somehow and that created an opening where one of the Cave Ants managed to tear into the wiring. Fortunately, the current was directed into it instead of her body, but it's useless now until that gets replaced entirely."

"I'm removing the outer pieces of your armor," Leon told her. "Once I've made sure that you haven't suffered any debilitating injuries that'll be worsened by moving you, I'll take you back to the surface. Understand?"

Another nod.

Leon then turned his attention to Brad, who was observing her, with a far less gentle tone. "Watch the tunnels for anyone or anything else."

The Adept's expression folded in for a moment. Then back to Olivia, who was suddenly looking away from the pair and averting her gaze. A small sound escaped his mouth in understanding, and he turned his attention elsewhere. "I simply wished to make sure that she was unharmed."

"You're the one who goes to the chapel with her, right?"

"Yes. And you are her counterpart as a Scholarship Student." It was a statement rather than a question as the Adept focused on the numerous Energia Fragments left behind in the wake of his last attack. "You're quite skilled. I don't think even His Highness would have dispatched these numbers with ease."

"…Lost Items tend to be good in combat situations," Leon said after a pause before he began the disassembly of her armor, pulling loose the modular pieces from their connecting points using the augmented strength from his own suit. He tossed the pieces aside while taking mental stock of the numerous scratches and gouges within them, cataloguing just how severe the damage would have been if the armor was as thin as the garbage that most of the others in the class wore, and frowning. "How did you know she was in trouble?"

"She was missing from Lady Redgrave's entourage," Brad answered. "The young women, when questioned, claimed she had gone off on her own to collect the scattered fragments that I assume you're responsible for leaving behind. It contradicted what, admittedly little, I've known of her from the time we've interacted. So, I demanded to know the last direction she was spotted in and found a tunnel in the floor where there were an abundance of scattered crystals and heard gunfire coming from inside of it."

Olivia tensed when Leon's gaze turned hard as he looked over to Brad, who thankfully was still observing everywhere but the young woman whose bodysuit hugged every curve of her body openly as the torso was pulled away last. "The Professor should have warned about natural traps in class."

"She did," Brad confirmed.

Leon then looked back to Olivia, now freed of the confines of her armor as she sat on the ground with her knees pulled up to her legs. "Livia, you aren't clumsy. And I can tell from the damage to the back of your suit and the Exospine that it was a long, rough fall. So, be honest with me: were you pushed down that hole?"

Tears began to stream down Olivia's face as she gave a slow nod to confirm that someone did.

A sharp inhale flared his nostrils before Leon slammed an armored fist into the ground next to him. Olivia jumped as the impact cracked the stone and Brad turned in their direction to assess the situation, before quickly looking elsewhere again once it was clear he'd done nothing to her. Leon took a deep breath as he reigned in his anger before silently gesturing towards the Adept and signing with his fore and middle fingers in a 'V' shape from him to her.

She nodded slowly even as she wrapped her arms tighter around her legs, curling up even more.

"You can look now," Leon told him. Brad did so, though he kept his gaze upon her face rather than her bosom outlined by the materials of the suit and the press of her knees against her chest. "Did you see who was responsible?"

She was quick to shake her head. No.

Lola quickly chimed in her own opinion. "There aren't any other Septimal Energy readings nearby. Whoever did it didn't use a Septima either, so I can't identify them by that method."

Leon scoffed. "So, this is the worth of the Redgrave name, huh? And where was she during all of this?"

"…She was observing His Highness' prowess, much like most of the others," Brad answered in a measured tone. Practiced. "She had delegated the task to her entourage. Though I sincerely doubt she expected someone to act in such a manner when she had very audibly given her word to all parties involved. Such an act would be tantamount to directly slighting a Ducal family."

"A woman of her station should know damn well that if she gives an opening people who hate her won't hesitate to knock her off that pedestal if they think they can get away with," Leon pointed out with all the venom he could muster as he rose to his feet. "Her announcing that and then leaving Olivia painted a target on her back because they can both get rid of one of us and put a stain on her family's reputation. Do you have any idea how many people in the class, let alone the Academy, would love that opportunity?"

It was only by chance that they weren't stumbling upon Olivia's corpse. And without a witness whoever did it would get away with it. There would be nothing stopping them from trying again if he wasn't there.

"You're scaring her," Lola pointed out. "You're telling her that someone will be trying to kill her from now on. That she'll never be safe. Do you know how trapped that can make someone feel?"

He turned to see Olivia starting to quiver while Brad set a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated because if I had stayed none of this would have happened. We were told we only answered Master Lucas in terms of hierarchy, and yet I still listened to someone else. Never again."

Olivia very quickly shook her head at him before holding one hand flat while balling her other into a fist with the thumb sticking up. She then gestured the balled hand towards herself as she slid it over the back of her other hand. If he remembered right, it was the sign language for accusation—blaming herself for some reason.

He just chalked it up to her soft nature and shook his head. "You didn't do anything wrong."

That was when Lola spoke up. "Leon, we've got company. Footfalls and residual Septimal Energy registered to your classmates. They'll be within view in thirty seconds from the main tunnel path."

"I'm taking her back to the surface since the others are on their way," Leon said, looking over towards Brad as he offered to help Olivia to her feet. There were no amorous intentions in his gaze as her figure was put on display like with so many others that Leon had caught eyeing her, but what seemed like genuine compassion. "At least you're one of the good ones. I'll remember that."

"…I suppose I cannot blame you for thinking that way considering the situation, but it might be best if you do not say anything in passing the others," Brad said diplomatically. "It may inflame an already delicate situation, no matter how justified you are in feeling that way."

It was a sentiment that the Combat Support Pod supported. "Leon, you should listen to him. You're angry right now. Justifiably so. But the priority should be helping Olivia calm down and getting her back up top."

"…I meant a Higher Noble, probably for the best either way," Leon reluctantly agreed as he affixed his helmet back onto his head, coupling it against the collar of his bodysuit. The P-Bits roused from their stationary position in the air behind him and circled Olivia before creating the Capture Field, which left her surprised by the sudden levitation within the perimeter of the bubble. Lola then shifted the exterior of it so that it became opaque to those looking in, preserving her modesty. "I'll come back for the armor later."

"Please, leave that to me," Brad insisted. "I'll see to it that Lady Redgrave is made aware of the dire state of events, that Olivia's armor is returned to the surface and repaired, and that whoever did this will be punished. Just see to Olivia's well-being in my stead."

Leon only offered him a slight nod. Then he took off, burning a Bullit to accelerate as he bounced along the upper ceiling of the main passage to avoid the other students below while the Capture Field followed him in a straight path. He didn't bother looking down. "Lola, can you give me the quickest possible path up?"

"I can have you back on the surface in ten minutes at a comfortable pace with a passenger."

"Okay," he said, thoughts running in his head about how to prevent this from happening again. "And when we get back, I'm going to need your help with making something for Olivia."