The first steps to War begin here.

The atmosphere was thick with tension.

Two first-class adventurers stared each other down, vicious bloodlust swirled in their irises. Most of the passengers on the deck had passed out from the aura the two released.

Vana Freya, with black fur and a silver spear. His onyx eyes gleamed with anticipation at the battle waiting to happen. It had been a while since he had fought someone he was unsure of the outcome. However, the slight sweat on his hands as they gripped his spear and the ever-rising dread encompassing him took away from the experience.

Stood in front of him, with conjoined swords held in one hand beating his own weapon in length, was a half-elf. Shabby bleached white hair nestled behind slightly pointed ears; his eyes hidden behind a pair of pitch-black glasses.

Allen couldn't get a read of his opponent. He had only seen him in action once and that was when he decimated the limbs of the Androclus. The boy was not in any fighting position, nor were his swords pointed at him or were they protecting his own body, ready for an attack.

Vana Freya was known to be short-tempered, angry and wrathful in some cases. Those who were weaker than him would tremble when placed in front of him, the man not even needing to take a step to win the fight. It took a strong willpower to even face him, let alone rival him.

Allen Frommel felt uneasy. The cold look emanating from the black shades was attacking his animalistic instincts. Igniting his fight-or-flight instinct, as if he had been resorted back to the very animal his features had originated from. He didn't like it. It wasn't natural.

He had not felt this way before. Not when facing a dungeon boss, or Ottar or anytime in the dark ages. The last and only time he had felt this way was back before Lady Freya had found him. When he saw his parents get incinerated in the black flames as he held his little sister tightly to his chest. As he saw the massive shadow eclipse the sun. That feeling of dread, the one from that Black Dragon. That was the only comparison.

"N-Nathan?" Hestia murmured in shock at seeing her lost child. After almost 2 weeks of radio silence from him, he finally re-appeared, and it was to save her. But for Hestia, that wasn't what was important. She didn't like what was radiating off of the half-elf. From reading his falna, she knew he only got like this when he was angry or in pain.

Seemingly ignoring his Goddess, Nathan took a step forward as he began to approach the cat-man. In response, Allen prepared his spear, his grip tightening even more.

"Nathan, wait!" Bell shouted from behind Hestia. It had been even longer for him since seeing his friend. The half-elf also chose to ignore his captain.

Ais Wallenstein was standing next to Bell as she stared at the half-elf. The unnerving feeling had also reminded her of her traumatic past. It was not nearly as bad as compared to what she experienced but it wasn't pleasant.

She didn't dare look away but judging from a lot of thuds, she assumed a lot of the passengers aboard had fallen unconscious under the weight of the pressure emanating from the boy. She felt like she needed to interfere, to stop the inevitable fight. From what she saw in Knossos, Bell's friend had levelled up and was most likely a first-class adventurer now. A fight between two first-class adventurers, especially ones like Allen and Nathan, would bring devastation to the city.

"Nathan, please! If you do this, it could mean war with Freya Familia!" Bell pleaded. This finally seemed to stop the half-elf. He had only made three small steps towards his opponent. This was the other reason Ais wanted to interject. She didn't want to see Bell and his Familia fight against the Freya Familia. She knew her Familia would struggle; the Hestia Familia would be decimated.

From the back of the ship, Ryu stared at the confrontation. Lunor, Chloe, Anya and herself had been trying to help the unconscious people into a better position, hopefully to avoid the conflict. Though most of the Freya Familia that had boarded had also been knocked out. The four waitresses were struggling themselves but they had all experienced it before.

However, the elf and Anya couldn't focus. Ryu looked at the half-elf who had become a complete enigma to her, even after figuring out who he was. Anya, the poor girl, had become almost shell-shocked at seeing her older brother.

They had just finished dealing with the bodies before slowly making their way forward. The other Freya Familia members still awake had almost forgotten about them; their full focus being directed at the half-elf. They all knew he was the main threat and with one look at the waitresses, one of them had silently agreed to a truce with the women until the situation had defused somewhat.

Ryu had just made it to the main deck when she heard Bell plead with his friend to back down at the fear of igniting a war. She only realised the true consequences of the actions that could take place today. At the mention of this, Nathan had stopped. She noticed a small smile form on Vana Freya's face, though he remained where he was.

"...Bell,"

The voice that came from the half-elf was a relief to the waitresses. It was still cold and monotone but it indicated that he still had control of his mind. That is what they had gathered when dealing with the boy when his voice changed, something they wished to not experience again.

As the half-elf registered his friend's plea, he turned, revealing the ugly gash down the right side of his face. He didn't need to look at Allen to know that he hadn't moved, his instinct ability being his third eye on the cat-man.

His hidden eyes might have looked back at his Goddess, his captain and the Kenki but the malice coming from his stare was fully directed at the grey-haired woman standing next to his friend.

"When Vana Freya chose to attack our Goddess, he already declared war."

Before anyone even had time to respond, Allen attacked with such vicious speed, it shattered the deck of the boat, sending splinters of wood everywhere. Nathan caught the attack just in time, sparks flying everywhere as the tip of Allen's spear met the twin blades of Skias Alf.

The boat became alive once again as if the signal to battle had commenced.

"Sorry Goddess!" Bell shouted as he grabbed Syr by the hand and plunged off the side of the boat, taking the girl with him.

"After them!" a Freya member shouted but before they could pursue the pair, Ais intervened.

"I don't know what's happening but I won't let you hurt Bell,"

Seeing what was happening, Lunor grabbed Ryu and Chloe grabbed Anya, their instincts as Assassins and fighters kicking in, telling them this was a fight they wanted to avoid. The pair being dragged away were unable to fully process what was going on, still reeling from the two people they didn't know how to deal with.

After pushing a few members away, Ais quickly snatched up the Goddess Hestia, wanting to get her away from danger. She looked at the two fighters, who were now side on. She could see the Vana Freya bare his fangs at the boy as he was held in a deadlock. She saw the deep wound on the half-elf's face he had gotten in Knossos almost a month ago now, one he had gotten from helping them. Now he was helping his friend. Was it really true what Bete had said, about the boy? The ever-growing pressure of dread was enough for the sword princess to not take the risk with a deity in her protection, even if it was the half-elf's deity.

"Wait, I want..."

Ais cut off Hestia as she jumped from the ship and landed on the bank.

"I'm sorry Goddess Hestia, I did not want any harm coming to you," she explained. Hestia looked up at her, ready to argue back but Ais saw the sadness sink into her Azure blue eyes.

"... thank you," was all the Goddess could mutter as she stared at the boat where her child currently battled one of the strongest adventurers in the world.

Allen pushed his spear down, splitting the twin swords. He initiated a kick to the half-elf's stomach, which was quickly parried. Allen didn't give the boy a moment though as he lunged his spear again, forcing Nathan to roll out of the way.

Nathan rolled into the path of a Freya Familia member, a level 4 amazon, who swung her battle-axe down at the boy. Nathan used his momentum and rolled behind the swing, the weapon burying itself in the deck.

Before the amazon had time to dig her weapon out of the boat, Nathan plunged his sword through her torso. Blood flew at Allen, who was forced to shield his eyes from the red spray. Nathan unsheathed his sword from the woman's body and kicked her corpse at the cat-man.

Allen simply batted it away, not showing any remorse towards his fallen comrade, and engaged the half-elf once more. Allen knew he had the speed advantage, that was clear from the fact the half-elf was dodging and parrying more than he was attacking. However...

Nathan shoved the hilt of his left sword towards Allen's abdomen, forcing him to block with his spear. Skias Alf then brought his right sword down with such strength, that when Allen tilted his spear to block the second attack, the force vibrated through his body.

He was a level 6, a high one at that. The half-elf couldn't be any more than a level 5, and yet Allen could feel the strength advantage he should possess was barely there.

'Does his bloodlust give him more power?' Allen deduced as he attempted a smack to Nathan's forehead with his fist, only for the cat-man to have to retreat as the half-elf's blade came millimetres away from slicing off his wrist.

Allen was starting to get pissed off. This fight had already finished when he played it through his mind before he made the first move. He had tried to imagine losing, to stop that future from happening. And he struggled too. Now that the boy was out in the open and didn't have his stealth or sneak attack to play off, Allen couldn't imagine himself losing. And he wasn't. He was repeatedly forcing the boy into defensive positions, seemingly gaining the upper hand. But then out of nowhere, the half-elf read one of his moves, parried and launched a counter-attack that narrowly missed his throat.

Vana Freya wasn't losing but wasn't winning either, and that was frustrating him increasingly, with each passing second. After seeing one of their Familia members who was stronger than most of them be killed so effortlessly, all the Freya Familia members had backed off. Most had jumped the ship, continuing the search for their Lady. The few that had remained were either unconscious due to Skias Alf's bloodlust or had abandoned to the banks of the river, watching the fight with anticipation and nervousness.

Allen swivelled around another counter-attack aimed at his throat and thrusted his spear at Nathan's right eye, hoping the injury had hindered his sight. Allen saw that it hadn't as Nathan went to deflect his spear upwards, which would knock him off balance. But Allen had done this on purpose.

Just before Nathan's blade made contact with Allen's spear, the cat-man expertly swivelled the weapon in his hands, with the blunt end now facing the half-elf. In that time, Nathan's sword had already passed over where Allen's initial strike would've been.

Allen rammed his weapon upwards, knocking Nathan's sword and arm into the air, putting him off balance, having put the half-elf into the position he had intended to put Allen in. With the half-elf out of position, Allen thrusted the blunt end of his metal, silver spear at the boy's throat. It was a sure hit, only Ottar had the speed to block this and even then if caught in this position, the Boaz warrior would struggle to fully stop it.

Allen's eyes widened in shock as the boy moved his head away just in time, and in a flash, brought his right sword in a direct motion towards Allen's throat. Allen's arms were stretched forward. He could neither block with his spear nor dodge that would put him in a helpful position.

In a moment that was most likely his many years as an adventurer kicking in, Vana Freya buckled his knees and hit the deck of the boat. Without wasting a second, he pushed off and backwards.

As he got up, he scowled. He was stood in the exact same position as he had before the fight started. And the half-elf had not taken even a single step backwards from where he started.

'He can read my attacks... somehow?'

Allen stares at the boy, garnering no response back. He cracked his neck and flexed his fingers. He was considering fighting seriously now, not bothering about the potential damage caused by the fight. He was beginning to analyse Nathan as a threat on a higher scale than the Loki Familia. They had regard for consequences and damage. From what Allen was sensing, the Skias Alf held none of those weaknesses. It seemed he wasn't the only Freya member to think this way.

Yellow lit up Allen's eyes as two streaks of lightning crashed down on the boat's deck, sending splinters of wood everywhere, the crackle of the attack echoing in the air. He recognised that magic. He made a quick scan of the rooftops, looking for Hedin.

Allen had planned on talking with Hedin later on about what had transpired but at least he recognised a threat when he saw one. A small puff of smoke swirled up from where Hedin's lightning magic struck the boat and presumably the half-elf. Allen knew if he could read his attacks, there was a good chance he read the surprise attack as well. But to Vana Freya's shock, Hedin had hit his target. Allen scowled in annoyance.

Small waffs of steam came off the boy's skin. The usual cremated skin from being hit by lightning was still pale and healthy, minus the scars. Bits of the black clothes had been burnt but that was the only extent of the damage. However, the crackling of the magic remained.

Allen's eyes narrowed to the boy's weapon. The combined swords, swirling in his blackish-green magic contained buzzes of electricity bouncing off the blades.

From afar Hedin just stared at the sight. Not only had his powerful magic had no effect, but the boy had also somehow controlled it and was wielding it. Hedin was smart enough to see what was happening next. He had no time to shout a warning cry.

With a swift swing of his swords, Nathan smirked as he released a whirlwind of lightning and blades of air. Allen put up his arms in defence but it did little as he was hit directly. The impact of the attack sent shockwaves, shattering the boat. The occupants of the vessel were plunged into cold water, forcing those who were awake to swim, making those who were unconscious wake up and the few who could not manage either, were dragged to the bottom of the river along with the bits of debris flying everywhere.

Bell and Syr stopped for a moment, having escaped their hunters. In the dark alley, Syr was smiling having escaped but just as she went to take Bell's hand she felt the shockwave. The pair looked back at where they had come from. Both stood wide-eyed in awe and fear at the incredible tornado of power enveloping the sky. Bell recognised his friend's magic, and Syr saw the yellow of Hedin's.

"Let's get somewhere safe," Bell murmured, grabbing Syr's hand. He could feel the girl's hand tremble. Whether that was because of the cold water or what they had just witnessed, he didn't ask.

Finn looked out of his window, seeing the mix of wind and lightning. He recognised both, deducing what had happened.

"What do ya wanna do?" Gareth asked to his side, the dwarf also marvelling at the attack. The Prum thought of sending a force to intercept or encircle the inevitable fight. However, most of his familia was not strong enough. He didn't want to send Bete, Tiona or Tione because he was unsure if they would remain out of the fight, especially if Nathan was involved. He didn't know where Ais was and with Riveria... well he didn't want to involve her with anything regarding the half-elf just yet.

"Gareth... let's go."

The dwarf smirked, having come to the same conclusion as the prum.

"I'll meet ya at the gates in one minute."

Finn went to grab his spear while Gareth went off to find his axe, both hoped they wouldn't have to use them.

"Shakti wait!"

The Ganesha captain ignored the plea of her vice-captain. She knew only one person had that colour of wind magic. She had called off the search but she had not called off the hunt. Not after what she knew. The Ankusha was not going to waste this chance.

Freya watched from afar. She had been watching Bell and Syr's date for a while, having done her duties earlier as a Goddess of the harvest.

But now, she squinted her eyes at the fight going on. She had made sure the pair had made it away safely and focused her attention on Allen and that half-elf. She had known Nathan to be strong. Chloe, Lunor, Ryu and even Mia suggesting as such. But to stand equal to Allen, control Hedin's magic and now produce such a powerful attack. She knew it now. He was not someone to overlook at this crucial moment. If he found out what she planned to do with Bell, if he hadn't already, he would not sit back and watch.

He had also taken one of her beloved children from her, she felt the blessing rip away. Tiana had been a loyal follower for a while. She would not allow something like that to be ignored.

"Ottar."

"-yes, milady?" The Boaz man answered, his facial expression not changing once today, even after witnessing the sky being painted black, green and yellow.

"Go help Allen and bring the half-elf to me."

Ottar stood straight up and without wasting a moment, dashed off to fulfil his lady's wishes. He made sure not to take this lightly. While not seeing them as a threat, he recognised both Allen and Hedin as strong. For Lady Freya to not make light or joke at this moment, Ottar knew this would be something he needed to deal with properly.

People screamed as houses were demolished in the whirlwind of magic. Rocks, wood, glass and bits of the street were swept away as the magic ripped through the riverbed. The attack finally crashed into a bridge which was decimated, the people on it having to flee into the water, only to be sent hurtling into the air when the magic tore through the water, sweeping the liquid up while disintegrating the rest.

The riverbed was dry and barren, only puddles remained as even with a clear sky, it began to rain. Water splashed down everywhere, followed by wood, stone and other fibres of debris. Nathan didn't care about any of that. He had held back on his attack, not wanting to cause too much damage and hurt people, but when you're facing a level-6 opponent, holding back too much is never a good idea.

As if to prove his point, standing in the middle of a dried-up river, Vana Freya glared up at him with his onyx eyes, daring him to come down and face him. Nathan swept his wet bleached hair away, chucked his frazzled sunglasses away and stared back. He stood on a bit of the boat that had stayed intact big enough to hold his weight. While he had dried up the river in front of him with the sweep of his sword, the water behind him had not been affected and now it roared forward, ready to fill up the riverbed again.

Those who had fallen from the boat cried out in terror as they were swept forward at alarming speed by the rushing water. Nathan thought of helping them but knew he had bigger issues to deal with. Allen Frommel was still the fastest person alive; he could not move his gaze once. His wooden raft was swept forward and Nathan jumped off it, onto the bank of the river. Allen followed, ignoring the pleas of the citizens reaching out for help to the first-class adventurer.

As the water fell, both men faced each other. Green met black as the water pelted their skin. Nathan undid his swords, duel-wielding once more. Allen swivelled his silver spear, wiping the water away from a small burn mark on his cheek. Both fighters had stared each other down on the boat but now they realised this fight was one both of them would walk away from unharmed.

'I'm going to kill him for Lady Freya.'

'To protect Bell and Lady Hestia, I'll kill him now.'

Both combatants pushed off the ground, sending mud everywhere as two small sonic booms signalled the restart of their fight. Twin blades smashed into a spear as sparks flew into the air.

Allen swivelled his spear, hoping to dislodge the boy's stance and create an opening. In response, Nathan caught the end of the spear with his left sword while simultaneously letting go of his right sword so it could drop underneath the catman's weapon.

Nathan grabbed his airborne sword and thrusted towards his opponent's stomach, only to be met with a shin guard as Allen raised his leg in defence. Allen then straightened his leg, forcing Nathan backwards. Allen thrusted the blunt end of his spear at the half-elf's forehead, only to be blocked by crossing blades.

Allen wasted no time and pushed Nathan backwards, causing the boy to skid in the wet grass. Nathan used this momentum to flip backwards and into the air, using his wind as a platform.

Allen followed him by sprinting to a nearby rooftop. He was so fast that even Nathan struggled to keep up and saw the afterimages the vice-captain made. Nathan began anticipating Allen's moves and started hurling blades of wind at him, slicing through the air.

Allen swivelled, flipped and side-stepped all of them, not bothering at the rooftops he hopped between being torn to shreds. Shrieks of residents flooded the air but neither of the fighters paid any attention to it. Neither one of them wanted to hurt or kill anyone not involved but they knew they couldn't be precautious. In their minds, the other held no sympathy for the members of the public, so they couldn't either.

After sprinting around the perimeter where Nathan stood in the air, Allen made a swift change of direction and flew at the flying half-elf. If it wasn't for Nathan's instinct ability, Allen would've killed him, his speed was so ferocious.

Nathan released his platform and let gravity take him. As he watched Allen fly over him, he timed the release of his magic just so he could swing at Allen's body as it flew over him. In response, Allen swivelled in the air catching the boy's blade with his spear as he flew past.

Nathan immediately re-ignited his magic. If he could keep Allen in the air, his odds of winning drastically increased. He pushed off, chasing after Allen, running in the air. All the catman could do was watch suspended in the air as Nathan lunged upwards, preparing a double swing of his swords.

Allen threw up his spear in a futile block as Nathan slammed his full force into the block. Allen picked up pace and smashed into a nearby store, sending brick and stone everywhere. People, after seeing what was going on began fleeing in panic disarray.

"MOVE!" Allen shouted at the people getting in his way as he got up off the street, wiping the small bit of blood off his forehead. He growled; the half-elf had drawn first blood. The people around him almost fainted at the bloodlust radiating off the first-class adventurer as the blood drained from their faces. It didn't help the bloodlust was being matched by the intense aura seeping off the floating fighter standing above them all. The small bit of water created by the river being flung into the air had been replaced by a downpour of rain from the dark clouds nestled overhead.

The rain pelted the ground as Allen stayed stationary. Nathan narrowed his eyes waiting for an attack but Vana Freya just returned the gaze. Nathan wanted to spam his wind magic but Allen was surrounded by a crowd of innocents. He was not so far gone that he would involve any of them. He wondered if he would still be thinking that near the end of the fight. For now, though, they were held in another standoff.

Even though Nathan had managed to block most of Allen's attacks, they were still reverberating through his bones. His vision was a bit disoriented, struggling to keep up with Allen's speed. His instinct ability blaring in his mind non-stop was giving him a headache.

After another minute of waiting, the last remaining person had fled the streets and Nathan started his barrage of attacks. Allen tensed his legs and began his dance of avoidance.

Nathan sprinted across the air, hurtling wind down at all times. Allen raced behind him, dodging each attempt. A few times he had to block with his spear, pushing him back but he always managed to catch up.

Houses were wrecked and left in rubble as the two first-class adventurers battled through the rain. Allen watched Nathan land on a roof and disappear. Before Allen had time to go look where the half-elf went, his animal ears picked up noises of someone bursting through wood and brick.

Nathan smashed through the glass window of the house nearest Allen, sending shards of glass at the catman. Bits of glass lodged themselves in Nathan's leg as he spun in the air, gaining momentum as he swung his leg down at the catman's skull. Allen threw up an arm in defence, thrusting his spear with his other. Nathan barely dodged, the silver spear grazing his right cheek as it narrowly avoided his eye. He winced in pain as the massive scar on his cheek flared up at being attacked, making his eyes water.

It was Nathan's turn to throw bloodlust at the catman. He had gotten fed up with the running about. It seemed Allen agreed. Both charged each other once more. Their weapons created shockwaves each time they collided, blurry images of green, silver and black as the pair flew every attack they knew at each other.

Allen held both an advantage in speed and strength but Nathan's wind and instinct allowed him to compensate for the speed and his anger closed the gap in strength that it was barely registered.

Blood began dropping onto the ground as they had both given up on dodging. Skin was slashed and cut, clothes ripped and torn as the blood mixed in with the rain.

Allen saw the boy wince when he had attacked him on his fresh wound and he made sure to use that. He threw most of his attacks on the right side of the boy's body, knowing it was his weaker side. But he made sure to attack his left, though he knew he couldn't catch the half-elf off guard no matter what he used.

Nathan knew Allen was solely focused on speed, it was why he had stopped the chase and made it a war of attrition and strength in a straight head-to-head battle. In strength, he didn't know who would win but in attrition, defence and durability, Nathan knew he would win. Only Ottar could beat him in that regard and that's not counting the insane healing factor he'd built up over years of torture.

The noise of small pats of feet in the rain invaded the score of blades hitting each other as another combatant entered the fray.

Allen and Nathan jumped backwards as a metal whip split the two. They whipped their heads around to face the one who had interrupted their fight. Stood in the rain with anger in her eyes, the Ankusha held her metallic whip as it jumped back to her, crashing into the cobble on the floor.

To her left and right, she saw the destruction of the city she had sworn to protect. Her anger only built as she stared at the half-elf.

'Shit,' Nathan thought. Allen was bad enough but this was not part of the plan. He could easily take her on in a 1v1 but he saw the hatred in her eyes and knew why. If she chose to attack him, which was the most likely outcome, Allen would jump on that and in a 2v1 against those two, they would make short work of him. And Allen knew this.

As he saw Nathan's jade eyes focused on the Ganesha Familia, he lunged his spear at the boy with lightning speed. With his instinct screaming at him, Nathan narrowly evaded with a stumble. Then with a crack, Shakti's whip flew at his exposed back. Nathan instinctively put a sword behind his back, blocking the attack but not softening the impact.

The half-elf stumbled forward as Vana Freya flew at him, his spear ripping through the air as it aimed to take his life. Nathan parried as fast as he could, his twin blades in a blur of motion, just managing to stay a millisecond in front of the silver spear. But then another crack of metal made his pointed ears twitch. He had to make a decision.

The metal ball at the end of Shakti's chain smashed into the boy's shoulder. In that fraction of a second, Nathan combined his swords and with his free hand, grabbed onto the whip. The pain stung but he greeted his teeth as he yanked hard, pulling Ankusha forward, making her stumble. Allen didn't just sit back and watch.

He went to slice off half-elf's hand that had grabbed the whip but Nathan pushed his hand down. With precision, he spun the metal chain around the sharp end of the spear. Seeing what was happening, both Shakti and Allen let go of their weapons and raced forward, their fists bare. All Nathan could do was watch. He had disarmed them but their intent to continue the fight had not faltered.

He braced for impact as two fists with unbelievable strength smashed into him. He felt one of his arms break immediately on impact, thankfully it was the same one that was attached to his smashed shoulder. That meant his other one was still fully functional. After flying through three houses, he wasted no time lying in the heap of rubble he sat.

FWWWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSHHHHH!

His eyes widened as he ducked under the silver flash that embedded itself where his head just was. He took a gulp of air before his gaze narrowed. Walking through the rain and debris, Vana Freya and Ankusha seemed to have come to an agreement that he needed to be dealt with.

Nathan stood back up, his combined swords in his ruined, broken arm while in his other was the whip that belonged to the captain of the Ganesha Familia.

"Nathan, you're going to answer for what you have done!" Shakti remarked.

"Can't really... do that if I'm... dead," the boy muttered through gasps of air, the battle with Allen beginning to take its toll.

"You are a threat to my Lady. You will be dealt with how I see fit," Vana Freya spat back, swivelling his spear as if to make his point clear. Shakti gave him a side glance.

"Vana Freya, while not on the same level as Skias Alf, you will also need to answer for the destruction and chaos of the city!" The captain of the largest Familia stated firmly, earning a growl.

"And who is going to make me?" He growled back.

"Should I take what happened tonight as a revolt?" Shakti questioned. She had seen the gathering of Freya Familia members; and heard about the chaos they had caused. A familia doing what they want was not something Orario needed.

Allen fully turned to her, his eyes burrowing into her skull.

"You would be wise to stay out of this Ankusha!" He threatened with a growl as he slammed his spear into the ground. Shakti did not back down and began to make an order.

WHAM!

Allen was sent hurtling back, disappearing from Shakti's view. All she saw was the recoil of her metal whip.

"He was really... pissing me off," Nathan muttered with a smirk as he brought the metal whip back. He had thought of leaving, escaping while his two opponents bickered. But with one look to his right, he sighed, knowing it was going to be even harder now.

Shakti's eyes widened as Finn Deimne and Gareth Landrock walked into the pile of rubble. Gareth stood suspiciously close to the half-elf, his axe facing upwards as he glared at him.

"Ya ain' to move another muscle, ya 'ear me?"

The boy sighed as he dropped the whip to the floor with a clang. His shoulder ached, his arm was on fire and his mind was exhausted.

Finn looked the boy up and down, assessing what condition he was in. The wound on his face had not improved. Finn thought back to what Lady Hestia had said. How he had fought alongside them and put himself in harm's way to help them.

But then he looked at Shakti and saw all the people he had lost to Evilus and the things Nathan had done. He was still unsure what the right answer was, but he knew it wasn't murder.

Finn swivelled his spear as he caught a terrifying Allen Frommel from slicing Nathan's throat open, mere inches away from the boy.

"Move!"

The voice emanating from the catman made everyone's skin crawl. It was filled with hatred and bloodlust.

"Vana Freya. I'm going to have to ask you to calm down," Finn said in a calm voice. The look he got in return showed that the vice-captain showed no signs of listening. In response, Gareth grunted and gave the catman a look that told him to try and see what would happen.

"So what, you are going to defend him?" Shakti spat out as Allen backed off with a grunt, never leaving his gaze from the half-elf, the boy making a mocking smile at him, almost setting him off again.

"I want to stop this senseless violence and talk it out," Finn stated back.

"Talk it out? Stop the violence? Did you not hear what Enyo had said? He knows nothing but violence. Look around you, this was because of him!" She said as she pointed at Nathan.

"And the kitty cat," Nathan mocked. Shakti spat at him while Allen almost threw his spear at the boy. Even Gareth and Finn gave him a disappointed look. He didn't care.

"Do you not want to solve this? Do you just want chaos" Finn asked the boy. He was listening to Riveria here and giving the boy a chance.

"Solve what? There's nothing to solve. What, you want to see if we can hug it out?" Nathan said, his mocking tone not going away. Finn was beginning to regret stopping Allen.

"You're not helping your case."

"I have a case?"

"I'm trying to give you a chance to-"

"HA! A chance. Don't bullshit me Braver. You just want to feel good about yourself because you think you owe me or whatever. Let me tell you now, I participated in the destruction of Knossos not to help you lot or this bastard city. I did it for me and me only," The boy stated. "A chance," He spat the words out. "I never had a chance from the beginning. As soon as I made that deal with you, you always intended on bringing 'justice' down on me," Nathan said with air quotations.

"Ya haven't exactly helped ya self, lad," Gareth intervened.

"Yeah well, who actually gives a fuck. Try to talk it out? Don't make me laugh. You're right Shakti, all I know is violence. But have you ever thought to ask who's fault is that? Who forced me to fight for my life every day. To learn how to fight because if I didn't, I would've been killed in the name of your so-called justice."

"And you think that gives you the right to murder innocents? To bring destruction and pain wherever you go. If you really think that you couldn't have come to us for help, you're as stupid as you are violent."

"Then I guess I'm really stupid. To me, you all looked like monsters. Like that time you ripped 20 people to shreds with this exact whip, or when you threw an innocent man with a bomb strapped to his chest into the river just to protect yourself. Why didn't you help him?"

Shakti went quiet on hearing that. She knew she had done bad stuff during the dark day, they all had. But she had tried to do better, she always did. To make up for what she did.

"At least I tried," She said with a scowl.

"Because you had the opportunity to," Nathan spat back.

Allen had sat back. He still wanted to kill the half-elf, that hadn't changed but he was gathering intel for his Goddess now. He was sure she would be interested in this, not that it would matter since the half-elf would soon be dead.

He looked around as Ankusha, Braver, Elgarm and the rat bastard all looked at each other. They were enemies from the dark days, he supposed he joined their side too. He didn't really care back then; he only did stuff because his Goddess wanted him to. She cared about the city; it was her personal garden after all. So he helped here and there but he had no personal attachment. He did get his level up though.

His ears suddenly twitched and he scowled once more. He recognised those feet.

"Oi, what are you doing here? You should be protecting our lady!" Allen spat at Ottar as the Boaz man casually walked in. The rest of the group turned their attention to the entrance of the King. Only the strongest could casually walk into a battlefield and immediately grab everyone's attention.

"It was her who sent me," He replied as he walked past his subordinate and towards the Loki Familia captain.

"Braver."

"King."

"Could I ask that you move?"

"Why? What business do you have with Nathan?"

"I do not. It is my Lady who has requested me to bring him to her."

After hearing that, the atmosphere grew thick. Nathan felt a tremor run down his spine at the mention that Freya wanted to see him. The other three questioned why. Allen however, grinned sadistically.

"If that is the case, I shall help enact my Lady's will."

He was sure he could ask his Lady to kill the annoyance after she got what she wanted from him.

"Lady Freya may talk to him after he has been arrested and taken in. Then he can be detained and be questioned by anyone who wishes to," Shakti said, keeping her voice steady. She was not about to let the boy go.

Ottar and Allen both gave her a look. One to say to try and stop them, the other to say that she dare get in the way of their Goddess.

"May I ask why the Goddess Freya wishes to speak to the boy?" Gareth said as he kept his axe raised.

"She knows..." A whisper came from behind the dwarf.

"What?" Allen said as he glared at the half-elf who began to stand up.

"She knows that I know, doesn't she?"

All of them stared at the boy as he stood up straight with a grin plastered on his face. The grin shook them as he was brimming ear to ear when facing the strongest faction in the world.

"What do you know?" Ottar questioned, not enjoying the smile on the boy's face. In response, the boy dug into his pocket and pulled out something. He threw it to the floor in front of them. To Finn, Shakti and Gareth, it was just a simple necklace. Allen and Ottar, they stared wide-eyed at the green necklace their Goddess had given to Bell Cranel before the Apollo War Game. The one she gave in Syr's form.

"Hahahaha. I've known for a while but I thought with the shit she is pulling now, it was a good time to mention it," The boy said with a deranged laugh. Then all of a sudden, his posture changed and his aura went dark. His smile still remained as he addressed the captain and the vice-captain of the Freya Familia.

"If she touches even a hair on his head, I'll drain all the blood from her body," He said in a cold tone. At that, Allen threw his spear at the boy with all his might while Ottar raced at the wall he stood, blowing Finn and Gareth out of the way.

Shakti remained motionless, the bloodlust pouring from Vana Freya and the Warlord made her blood run cold. But made her skin even paler when the dust settled, no presence of the half-elf was there.

Ottar and Allen spun around as Gareth and Finn got back up, their weapons at the ready.

"SHOW YOURSELF YOU BASTARD! I'LL MURDER YOU!" Allen shouted into the air. There was no response. The rain patting the ground was the only noise.

"IF YOU DON'T SHOW YOURSELF, I'LL KILL THOSE WEAKLINGS IN YOUR FAMILIA AND MAKE THE BRAT WATCH!" He said. The fact that the half-elf had threatened his lady with murder and escaped made Allen riddled with anger he could barely control himself from killing anyone he saw. But then an icy feeling ran through his skin.

Everyone tensed up at the wave of wrath encompassing them. Even Ottar struggled to breathe as he remained rooted to the spot. He had never felt a presence like this.

" Hurt them..." the voice came from nowhere. They sprang their eyes back and forth, looking from where it came from.

" Even touch them, I'll massacre everyone."

With that final promise made, the feeling of dread evaporated as the half-elf seemingly vanished, releasing the cluster of the strongest adventurers in the city from the vice grip he had around their throats.

All of them looked at them. Both Ottar and Allen didn't even bother arguing or shouting at the others, intent on completing their Lady's mission, they began their hunt for the boy. He was injured, he couldn't have gotten far.

Shakti cursed under her breath, tears springing to her eyes as she picked up her whip.

"Finn... I will bring him to justice, with or without your help."

With that, the captain of the Ganesha Familia walked away.

"Gareth?"

"Yeah?" The dwarf responded.

"Didn't you find it weird?"

"Which part?" Gareth pondered, he had thought most of it was weird and deranged.

"He doesn't want help?"

"hmm, what do you mean?"

"He's refusing help. He believes in his mind that he doesn't deserve redemption. The way he agreed with Shakti, how he tried to aggravate Allen and Ottar. If he wanted to, he could've taken my offer of talking and he threw it away."

"The lad's clearly not thinking straight, I'll tell ya that. Though, can ya blame him?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's still livin' in the dark ages. He never escaped them."

With that to think on, the Prum and Dwarf began making their way back to the Twilight manor, planning on talking to Loki and their elven friend once more on the topic that has encompassed their past fortnight.

"You saw Nathan? How was he?" Welf asked Hestia as she got back. The Hestia Familia had finished their shift at the pub and were now questioning their Goddess on what had happened.

"I... don't know," Hestia murmured. She had only briefly seen her child and she could tell he wasn't doing very well. Couple that with Bell not having returned yet and the Goddess of the Hearth was not doing very well mentally. None of them were.

"God damn it," Welf cursed as he sat back into the armchair. "It'd help if Bell was here."

"Master Bell still being missing is worrying Lili now?" The Prum said. The day had been long but the strenuous work had kept their minds occupied. Now that the work was done, their minds were free to remember the situation their Familia was in.

"I just hope they are both ok," Haruhime prayed in a sad voice. Mikoto sat beside her and put an arm around her friend's shoulder.

"I'm sure they are. Bell and Nathan are both strong enough to handle themselves," The far eastern warrior said. While they knew it was true in terms of physical strength, in regard to the half-elf, after hearing from Haruhime and Braver, they knew he was not doing well mentally. They were right to be worried.

"Maybe if he sees us happy, he'll join us?" Haruhime thought out loud.

"What do you mean?" Hestia asked. Any option was worth listening to.

"Tomorrow is the last day of the festival. If we show Nathan that we are ok, maybe he'll come out to us. Maybe it will entice him to join us."

They knew it was a long shot, but after such a mentally taxing week, they needed a break. Maybe even Bell would join them and they would be a happy Family once again. It really was wishful thinking.

They didn't know surrounding their house was a swarm of Freya Familia members ready to attack any minute. Ottar and Allen had returned to their Lady and after explaining what had happened and apologising for failing her, she gave her ultimatum.

"Tomorrow I will take my Odr. Whether he accepts me as her or me, it won't matter. When that time comes, be prepared. I do not mind, dead or alive... deal with him." She said as she twirled the broken necklace she had gifted her Odr.

The call to war has commenced. Nathan Vs Allen is far from over and Freya now has her eyes on him. Will Freya still get Bell? How will Nathan handle the coming days.

The Freya War Arc will be fire, trust me. I've been cooking on this one. I hope it will be just as enjoyable as I've imagined.

The Reviews:

Wacko12 - Who knows, I don't think even he does. Hel is the only one who knows.

jank7457 - The ones on board got off lightly... for now. Nathan vs Freya Familia has only just begun and he isn't as kind as Bell.

Guest - Your review is about chap 6, I got similar reviews at the time I prublished it as well. Won't really address it but in the book they ran away sreaming, they don't know how good Nathan actually is as they have no experience with someone his level and its the dungeon, don't take risks.

As always, thanks for reading. New chapter soon as well as on my other story (go check it out). I'll see ya later, Peace!