Chapter 14

'Ryuu, if a man ever touches your hand and you don't find it disgusting, never let him go.'

The voice of Ryuu's former Familia captain rang through her mind.

'But Alise… what do I do if the person literally lets me go?' They remained standing on the floor, looking up at where the hole between the thirty-seventh and thirty-eight floor used to be. All while everyone stared at her, some of them in mild confusion.

"Hmm…" Lett looked back at Adam. "I thought the person you described was a guy, boss."

Adam Taurus fought the urge to face palm. "He's still up there, you idiot." He turned back to the serpent rock monster. "Which it's good, I am about to be done anyway-" several explosions started to occur in the floor above, a terrible sense of deja-vu hit Adam as he unconsciously touched the spot between his left shoulder and his neck.

"… You have got to be shitting me." He would recognize that Aura signature anywhere.

'Zelos R. Wilder.' Tenebrae confirmed Adam's suspicions. 'We need to hurry up. Dealing with Drake alone is one thing, but two guardians is a whole different story.'

'I know!' Adam turned around and looked at the whole he had made in the monster's body, he quickly put his hand inside to scavenge through it, as if trying to find something. 'I thought Drake was the only Guardian that made it here.'

'Either Wilder arrived just now, or Drake's managed to keep his brothers hidden until now.'

Adam scowled at the thought as he continued searching for his mark. Meanwhile, Ryuu Lyon continued looking at the ceiling and at what her friends no doubt would call a rejection.

"Hey… aren't you…?" the Elf's eyes looked to the side to see the Amazon twins , the oldest one looking at her with narrowing eyes before shaking her head.

"Forget it. Can you tell me what exactly is going on up there? How many people are in the party raid against Udaeus, and how many wounded have there been so far?"

The Elf just stared with distant eyes before releasing a sigh. "There were a total of two people."

"Oh, only two people wounded? That's not so bad-" the Elf shook her head, making the Amazon raise an eyebrow in confusion before she realized what the Elf was trying to say.

"… you can't be serious? You can't be saying only two people were the entirety of the party… wait, if you are here, then wouldn't that mean-"

Ryuu nodded. "Yes. There's only one person dealing with Udaeus at the moment." More explosions happened on the floor above.

Tione Hyrute stared at the Elf with a dumbfounded expression before rubbing the bridge between her eyes. "Just what kind of irresponsible retarded dumbass would try something like that?"

"Ottarl." More than one person in the room answered, to which Tione waved her hand in annoyance.

"May I also ask what exactly it's going on here?" Tione looked at Ryuu. "A pillar of darkness almost manages to get me," Lett walked away and whistled innocently, not daring to cross eyes with the Elf.

Despite being angry at Drake for dropping her down and feeling conflicted about the whole exchange, Ryuu decided to investigate the occurrence on the current floor seeing that the former Noble was a little uneasy about it.

"Honestly, I am not entirely sure." She narrowed her eyes at the mysterious swordsman and Lett before explaining the whole situation up until now.

"He's up to something." Ryuu theorized, to which Tione snorted with a scowl. "Clearly. We don't even know if it isn't gonna turn on us after finishing… whatever he's doing." And the fact that he hadn't been as cooperative also made her wary .

"It almost looks like an ordinary knife now." Everyone looked at Raul, who was now holding one of the knives Lett had previously used to cast those spells. It seemed to have lost its color and it almost looked like a normal knife, with the exception of the metal being rather shiny, almost like a crystal of sorts.

"How's Bete?" Tione asked, to which Raul pointed to the side to see him resting against a wall and trying to stand up while muttering curses.

"At least he isn't shouting." Tiona muttered as Raul kept examining the knife and noticed an engraving on the handle.

"Hmm… DMAY… the hell does it- hey!" the supporter exclaimed as Ryuu took the knife off his hands in a flash as he looked at the letters. It was the exact same as the engraving in Drake's scarf.

It was at that moment in which Ryuu recalled one of the early conversations she eavesdropped between Mia and Drake. About how all of his things were stolen before arriving in Orario.

"This doesn't belong to you." Her voice was cool, her eyes landed on the mysterious swordsman, who had stopped in what he was doing but didn't bother in looking back at her. "Why do you have his possessions?"

Silence and tension took over. Lett even gripped his daggers tightly as a way of showing he was ready to act against them in the case they decided to attack.

"… He was never meant to come to Orario." Ryuu narrowed his eyes, recalling Drake also mentioned arriving to Orario was something completely unplanned and unexpected. "As a matter of fact, we weren't even meant to see each other's faces ever again. So, taking everything he had stored at the time was a chance we couldn't let go since he wouldn't be able to make use of them ."

Ryuu couldn't help but feel confused in how he said those words, but she wasn't the only one.

"Ok, I have had it! What the fuck is going on? Who are you talking about?" several explosions were heard from above. "And what the fuck's going on up there?" The oldest Amazon asked, all of her questions completely ignored.

The Elf tensed seeing that Drake might be having a hard time. And still, even if he would, he most surely would have preferred her to retain the cloaked individuals until he arrived.

The explosions continued above. The more she heard the more she doubted the blonde would make it out alive while alone with no support.

She quickly looked around, searching for the way to the stairs up and started heading that way.

"Don't bother." The words of the swordsman stopped her. "You will only get in their way."

"Their? There was nobody else but myself before the floor broke." And yet, she couldn't doubt his words. "Just who are you-"

Her words died down in mouth. Her eyes widened and her whole body froze, a reaction shared by the members of Loki Familia the moment something every single Adventurer would recognize at a simple glance.

Divinity.

Adam Taurus smiled as the hole in the serpent rock monster started to glow brightly in a brownish-orange color. He reached the source with his hand to retrieve what Tione could only compare to a cone-shaped object of the same color.

She started walking in his direction with a glare that would make anyone think twice about crossing her way.

But the floor started to tremble again. The only difference was that now she understood why there were so many monsters spawning, including Abnormals. It was because the Dungeon wasn't happy with the foreign source of divinity that the swordsman was holding.

"You imbecile! Do you have any idea what you have done!?" More monsters started to spawn, all of them Abnormals.

"Lett." his young companion blinked as he looked at Adam, who gestured for him to get behind him as the object floated in his hand before it started opening to reveal a crystal sphere with the same symbol on it Raul had seen before.

Ryuu and the Loki Familia grouped together as the monster's roars became erratic before they started charging. But not at them, all of their attention was on the divine sphere that started to disintegrate in Adam's hand.

"Boss, any time now would be cool!" Adam didn't react as his companion started pulling on his cloak. He closed his hand the instant the sphere disappeared, making a wave of energy surge from his body: divine energy.

"[Stalagmite]"

Tione's eyes widened as she saw several familiar glyphs appear on the ground. "Don't tell me-"

Various pillars of stone surged from the glyphs, decimating all of the monsters in the front in an instance.

'He now has access to the same spells the monster had used!' Tione gritted her teeth, knowing things would become hard and messy once they confronted him.

"Make sure not to move," he gestured his hands in the direction of the rest of the monsters. "I am not gonna be held responsible if any of you get hurt."

He snapped his finger. More Glyphs appeared once again, but these ones were bigger and were distributed throughout the whole floor.

"[Ground Dasher]"

The ground opened to create chasms in the places the Glyphs were positioned. Several stalagmites surged up as the ground shook, the monsters were pierced without a hint of mercy. It seemed as if he had complete control of the floor, the fact that he snapped his fingers again to stop the spell just made them think twice whether he had control over the earth or not.

'Finally.' He looked up and noticed that the explosion on Drake's side seemed to stop, but Udaeus' presence could still be felt. 'And it looks like someone is taking their sweet time.'

'Better for it to be this way. Let's go before he decides to stop playing around.'

Adam nodded as he took a transparent crystal with flying particles visible inside of it. "Let's-"

"Stop!" Tione pointed her daggers at him. "Whatever it is you are about to do with that, don't!"

Adam sighed in annoyance.

'… Great, now I am starting to act like Drake'

"Do you have any idea how bad things could turn out because of your reckless little stunt!?"

Adam and Lett looked at each other. "Didn't we pretty much save them?"

Adam shrugged. "That's simple-minded people for you."

A vein started popping out on her forehead. "Who are you calling dumb?!"

Both pointed at her. "You, you dumb bitch."

She gritted her teeth. "I can't let you go. For all I know , the only reason this whole thing happened might be because of you." She pointed at Adam. "How are you even able to handle divinity, are you-"

Adam snorted, already knowing where his accusations were going. "You seriously think I am a deity, aren't you?"

He couldn't help but laugh as Tione's scowl deepened as confirmation. "This is why I told you before not to think too much, it doesn't suit you."

There was a small snort coming from behind the amazon, she didn't need to look to know her sister was literally laughing behind her back.

"If you aren't a God, then what the fuck are you supposed to be!? How can a mortal wield divine energy with such ease!?"

He smirked under his cloak and prepared to answer. But the sounds from above managed to interrupt him.

But unlike the other times these weren't explosions, but roars.

"… Dragons?" Raul asked, being able to distinguish the sound of the monster. "Wha-"

His eyes widened as the whole ceiling started to be covered by cracks.

"The floor is coming down on us!" And it just happened as soon as those words came out of his mouth. The eyes of all the Adventurers widened as they saw the massive rocks falling on them and no way to avoid them.

*snap*

Tione caught the familiar sound of the swordsman's fingers snapping, making it so a dome of earth was instantly formed around them in order to cover them from the falling debris.

"Well… can't say I expected to see you this soon."

Ryu's eyes widened as the dome crumbled. Her eyes locked onto a familiar form, even though the color of his hair was pitch black instead of his usual blonde and his tattoo on the back of his right hand was glowing. Something also felt off, as if the person in front of her was a completely different individual.

"It's been a while, friend." Adam smiled under his cloak as a pair of green-emerald dragon eyes with black sclera focused on him.

A couple of minutes ago

Selfishness.

Every human, or rather, every being capable of reasoning was selfish to a certain degree. That also applied for Remnants Guardians.

However, he among all the eight could be considered the most selfish one.

Leaving his fame as womanizer and playboy aside, those who truly knew him would tell you he always backs you up in some way during a fight.

How's that selfish you ask?

Because if there's one thing that Zelos Wilder would give time to; it was to wreak some havoc with his brother. No matter who they were against, because they were inconsequential, being beside them in the moment of action felt like playing a good game for him, and this time it was no different.

Because it was that very selfish desire that let him to manifest himself by using Drake's shadow as a medium.

And boy was he enjoying it.

"Do you have any idea how fucking boring it was being inside of your soul for a whole damn month?" the blonde rolled his eyes as Zelos snapped his fingers in the opposite directions. Five red glyphs appeared above him to shoot multiple [Fire Balls].

Several explosions were heard behind the blonde as he fended off his side, still hearing his friend's ranting.

"Very!"

Drake's eye twitched as he slashed the air twice to hurl an x-shaped-wind projectile that shot itself forward. "[Final Gale!]" The projectile went through the whole room until it crashed against the wall, cutting every single skeleton in its path like if they had been made out of paper.

"I mean, yeah; everything we can imagine appears out of thin air. But for fucks sake if it doesn't get bored quickly." He had turned around to directly address his friend, leaving his back wide open as several spatois jumped at him.

"[Air Thrust]"

Several wind blades surrounded the monsters and decimated them in an instant, all while Zelos continued looking at Drake as if nothing happened.

'Don't believe him!' Luke snapped. 'He was more than happy with not doing anything and just watching your life as if it was a damn drama!'

Zelos' eye twitched as he grabbed an incoming skeleton by the throat and crushed it with ease.

"Now that we are on this topic, how the hell did this even happen? Also, Sword!" Drake slided down to the side while Zelos backflipped to avoid Udaeus' attack on him.

Their positions had now switched.

'He was literally here one second and then gone by the next. Also, spikes' Jude commented, making both backstep to back to back before Zelos made several brownish orange glyphs in front of the way of Udaeus incoming spikes.

"[Stalagmite]"

Pillars of earth intercepted and destroyed the spikes while runs of sweat started to run through Drake's forehead..

'Can we please deal with the Billy and Mandy reject and our other problem on the floor below before we figure out how Zelos pulled this bullshit?' Yuri suggested, a little more serious than usual seeing the familiar Aura they sensed earlier gave him a bad vibe.

"I second the notion." Zelos narrowed his eyes as a massive purple and white glyph appeared below Udaeus.

'Wait there's something wrong.' Jude commented as Zelos noticed the Glyph started to break apart.

"The fu-" Drake grasped Zelos shoulder, the red head looked to notice his best friend was sweating a lot.

Realization struck him immediately.

He was using Drake's shadow to manifest himself, which meant the blonde had been maintaining his presence with his Aura. Him partially using his blessing and casting Magic Artes of low and mid-level were slowly taking a toll on him.

"Damn it." he shut off his blessing, his eyes and hair returning to normal a moment later. He quickly wrapped his hand under his shoulder and jumped high.

"Why the fuck didn't you say anything?"

Drake snorted. "Because it looked like you were having fun."

Guilt washed over him as they landed near the edge of the room, spartois already going after them.

"I was." He sighed and put his hand in front of his face. "Sometimes I forget you can be more selfish than me." The fact that he was still there when he simply could pull his shadow back spoke volumes about that statement, since that would stop the Aura consumption the red head was causing.

Drake still had plenty of Aura. But he didn't want to risk anything with the Dungeon if he were to go a little further beyond. Even if her attention was focused on what was happening on the floor below, seeing as he had been partially using his divine blessing.

He understood now. The situation was more dire down there.

"So much for a fun time." Zelos thought out loud, a small smirk forming on his lips. "I take it you already have a plan, right?"

"Obviously." The blonde snorted as he stood up on his own two feet. "As a matter of fact, from the moment you appeared."

"Ok, ok, no need to rub it in, captain smart ass." Both started to walk towards the horde and the giant skeleton roaring at them, both with narrowed eyes and stern faces, unfazed by what was to come.

"Can you recreate Mythril?"

Zelos raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that also put a toll on you? Lloyd's weapons aren't exactly your classic store weapons."

Both fought the urge to not roll their eyes as they heard Lloyd, chucking like a proud father.

"If it was Ether, yes. But Mythril is more a passive weapon than an active one, and the benefits from it are better. As for the rest-"

"Don't bother. I know you enough to figure out what you are trying to do." he smiled smugly at the skeletons as both started to gain speed. "Any preference on what kind of poison you want from him?"

"Make it an explosive one." Drake couldn't help but smile behind his scarf as well. "Feel free to use low and middle level Magic Artes, Martial ones are fine too."

"Noted."

By the next step, they started to run at great speed towards their gigantic opponent. They sidestepped each to opposite sides, Zelos grabbed the hands of one of the skeletons to break it with easy and grab its sword and then execute a diagonal [Sonic Thrust]

But it wasn't just that.

There was an old saying between Artes Users; They are always stronger together'.

"[Cross Thrust!]" Both shouted as each performed a [Sonic Thrust] to open a way for each other and cross for a mere instant, leaving a cross planted in the floor, which exploded once they stopped the Arte, wiping out the front line with ease.

The Second Guardian rushed forward to purposely surround himself with Spartois chasing him.

"[Victory Light Spear]" he spiraled in the air, followed by a trail of light that expanded itself to get as many skeletons as possible before he delivered a powerful horizontal slash, destroying all of them before he descended with a vertical attack to continue opening his way.

His eyes quickly spotted the falling shields of various falling monsters. He gave a step forward and slightly crouched to deliver an upward quick to positionate the shield in the perfect spot, and then swiftly deliver a side kick enhanced with his Aura.

The shield flew with force, bouncing between all the falling shields, forcing them to be shot in different directions to pulverize as many spartoi as they could find in the way.

One of the shields flew in Drake's direction, his instincts kicked in as he faced the shield straight ahead by slicing it in two, causing the broken pieces to separate from each other and crash into a set of spartois.

"How many fucking times have I told you not to throw your shit in my way!?" A vein popped on Drake's forehead, making Zelos snort.

"Pretty sure we are pass the hundredth!" He moved his hand to avoid a thrust and then bent his upper body backwards to avoid another attack, then he twisted his body horizontally to deliver a swing of his sword and then his momentum from the attack to counter rotate in the opposite direction and deal with the second skeleton.

"Sword!"

His eyes narrowed at Drake's shout. He focused his Aura in his legs to jump high from his current position to avoid Udaeus horizontal sword swing as his friend did the same. Zelos gazed at different sections as they fled, several red glyphs appeared below.

"[Eruption]"

The red glyphs generated several explosions of magma that sensed everything around them flying while the falling magma melted those far away.

"We are still not close enough." They crossed their eyes for a second before Drake lunged forward with a [Rising Falcon]; to dive down with his sword in front of him to open his way and then rush straight ahead once he landed.

He gathered Aura in his blade, coating it to give it a different form. But unlike this time, he changed its form to resemble that of a claymore. Meanwhile, Zelos continued falling as purple glyphs momentarily surrounded him before he pointed at where Drake was with his index and middle fingers, sparks running through them.

"It's set!"

Another glyph appeared below Drake for a moment, sparks of green color ran through his whole body and sword as he advanced, swinging his weapon in a circular manner to create a green electric storm.

"[Lightning Punishment!]"

Drake kept going on and on destroying everything in his way, even the incoming spike from Udaeus, until he was finally about twenty feet away from it. The combined Arte finally died down, leaving the blonde looking up straight at the Monster Rex's descending sword.

He couldn't help but smirk as his blade returned to its normal form.

"My turn!" Drake back stepped right on cue as Zelos rushed past him to take his place. The Second Guardian quickly raised his left arm, "Mythril!" a black arm band materialized in his left arm, a pinkish-purple gem in the center. The glowed for a short moment before a circular glowing shield of the same color with yellow outlines in the front took the place of the gem.

A massive shockwave took place, stronger than anything up until now. The monster roared as he noticed that Zelos was not only uninjured and in one piece, but he was also looking up at the monster with a smug smirk and standing against him with no effort at all.

And then it felt it.

Udaeus felt as its strength left him by the second.

Mythril.

One of the two weapons Lloyd Aurion forged for Zelos Wilder. A shield that has the special ability to absorb any kind of attack; be it kinetic, energy, magical and even divine and convert the energy for the user to use. But its skill didn't end there, as it also absorbed the energy of anything it was making contact with, which was exactly what Udaeus was currently doing as his sword was still making contact with the shield.

The Guardian gave a mad grin before he parried back Udaeus' sword with ease, creating a shockwave in the process before Zelos jumped back high in the air.

"Wielder of the flame," Zelos started to chant as a massive red glyph appeared behind him. "reduce these evil souls to ashes..." he snapped his fingers in Udaeus' direction. "[Explosion!]" and a massive ball of fire was shot from the Glyph, straight at the Monster..

Both Guardians could have sworn Udaeus' eyes widened before he raised his blade in a horizontal position. Everything went white the moment the Arte made contact with the sword before a massive explosion occurred.

If the previous shockwaves hadn't taken care of the mobs before, this one had to do the trick for sure. As even Drake had to stab his blade into the ground to not be pushed back, but not before using his scarf to pull Zelos from above and into his side to not be blown away either.

"Don't you fucking think I didn't notice a sudden decrees in my Aura output!" Zelos scolded him, to which Drake gave him a smug look.

"You assholes pressured me into getting Udaeus' Sword. So, I am getting the fucking sword, intact."

Zelos' eye twitched seeing the blonde was right but said nothing as the explosion stopped. Udaeus remained there, fumes coming out from various cracks that seemed to be burning in the inside, while the sword remained intact.

The red head gave a few steps back, as Udaeus in a last ditch effort managed to lift the sword to lunge at them, more specifically at Drake. The former Noble gripped his katana, he moved his elbow back and pushed it forward at the same time as Udaeus. A cold gaze never left his face as the Aura in his blade rose. "[Marian]" his blade was engulfed with darkness to extend its range.

The two blades clashed, and not even a second later, Drake made a twist with his wrist and applied a second push. This generated an inner wave that went through the sword and into the damaged bones, which couldn't tolerate the sudden addition of force; resulting in its arm breaking apart as his sword was thrown back.

"Now you can show off." Drake muttered to his friend, who jumped back in the air, soon followed by the blonde right behind him.

"That benefit is yours, dumbass!" his leg started to glow white before he dived into Udaeus, driving his foot in the target's head to make it fall back as a massive white glyph appeared below it. "All set!"

His eyes started to glow, his sclera turned black, as did his hair. He swung his sword down in the corner of the glyph.

"[Wyrm Wrath]"

The glyph's color changed to black as a massive release of Aura in the shape of several dragons of the same color started to tear apart Udaeus bones until only the crystal remained.

His eyes narrowed as the floor started to break apart, not being able to withstand itself after his last attack. This meant his play time was over.

He had felt it a little while ago as he and Zelos opened their way through the horde of spartois. But they were having such a good time they ignored it, but now it was the time to work until his suspicions were confirmed.

So, he let himself fall to land on the thirty-eighth floor. It didn't take too long to see a familiar figure in the distance, wearing one of his cloaks no less.

"Well… can't say I expected to see you this soon."

His rage started to consume him. Not at the person directly, but what his presence and what he felt earlier actually meant.

"It's been a while, friend."

Impossible.

There was no way for her brain to rationalize it, even by Dungeon standards, it was impossible for such a small group to beat Udaeus.

Yet, she was seeing the proof as the remains of the Monster Rex bones fell as different pieces to the floor before completely fading.

But what really bothered her was that one of the individuals who did the job, was none other than the person Bete antagonized and also disregarded her captain. She stared with a long, hard look as everyone noticed how his blade seemed to turn into dust, not even the hilt remained.

'He isn't gonna be happy about this.' Tione thought, already knowing Finn wasn't going to be happy about the probable relation between him and the cloaked stranger.

And speaking of those two…

'What the hells with this mood?' none dared to say a word, not because this seemed really personal, but because every single person could feel the animosity of the former blonde.

Even though the cloaked swordsman didn't seem fazed, if anything, the smile under his cloak seemed to say otherwise. Lett on the other hand had stood in front of his 'boss' and took several of his magical knives out, each of a different color, ready to act if necessary.

'So many.' Tione already knew what those were capable of doing. Preparing to use a big number of those for a single person told her just how much the duo thought of the former blonde and his strength, information she had to get to her Captain.

'Just how dangerous it's this guy?' She also remembered that Lett had been afraid of him, and even the cloaked swordsman tried to hurry up to avoid meeting him.

"So… is anyone gonna say anything or are you gonna just stare at each other all day?" The older Hyrute cursed her sister, who clearly didn't know how to read the mood.

"Learn to read the mood, you idiot!" her sister hissed in the lowest voice possible, her sister simply shrugged.

"I mean, it's only a matter of time before the Dungeon decides to try something against brood and mysterious over there- "

The Dungeon started to tremble.

"And I rest my case." Tiona gripped her Urga, only to blink as they all noticed the trembles were not only stronger than before, but the whole floor had turned red as well.

"Great, what the fuck it's going on now?!"

The Elf ignored the screams of the other Amazon and instead focused on Drake and the cloaked individual. They weren't fazed by their current predicament, if anything, the latter seemed more amused by the situation.

Her eyes narrowed as his mouth moved, she couldn't make out his words. However, Drake seemed to hear them as he looked slightly down to the ground. And even if the Dungeon was trembling, even if the amazon sisters were shouting at each other and even if their supporter was panicking; she could clearly hear what came out of her co-worker's mouth.

One single word.

"Enough."

The whole floor turned dark emerald-green for a moment and then back to normal; with no trembles or Monsters spawn.

"… What the fuck just happened!?" the older Hyrute made her confusion clear. Ryuu on the other hand just stared at the group in front of them. Whatever it was what just happened, it was enough for Lett to stare at Drake as if he was the scariest thing in the room, his hands and legs were trembling .

"As scary as always." The cloaked swordsman replied, his smile still on his face. "The Younger Amazon is right though-"

"Thank you!"

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Drake didn't say anything, this in turn made the man sigh. "Ok then, I will start… How's your neck?"

Ryu's eyes narrowed slightly, a flashback of Drake's wound on half of his neck came to her mind.

"Here's one for you." Not just Ryuu but also all of the members of Loki Familia got alerted by a new presence that had managed to sneak behind them. The new arrival walked past them, Ryuu wasn't one to discern the beauty of a person; however, she had to admit the man with blue eyes and red hair was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.

But his most notorious trait at the moment was not his physic; but a glowing tattoo similar to Drake's, except his had the number two printed on the skin. And the familiar giant black sword he was carrying over his shoulder like it was nothing? A weapon Ryuu recognized easily.

"How's your chest?" Zelos Wilder asked with a smug smile on his face as he stood next to Drake, his free hand inside his jacket pocket as a sign of arrogance towards the cloaked swordsman, whose lips twitched at the comment.

"… What took you so long? Thought you were gonna use a dramatic entrance like usual."

Zelos snorted. "Bitch, look at me. I am carrying a giant ass sword and walking in like I own the floor. Which I do, by the way. It may not have been dramatic; but it certainly left some impact."

Ryuu hated to admit it, and even the Amazon sister agreed; he wasn't wrong.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Zelos asked, a deep scowl in his face.

The time for jokes was over.

"Funny. I was about to ask you the same thing, I thought he was the only unscheduled arrival." Adam gripped his sheath as Zelos shrugged.

"Shit happens. But speaking of unplanned things." He pointed at Lett. "I seem to notice you have things that don't belong to you."

Lett tensed, his instincts shouted at him to run. But unless Adam decided so, he was going to stay.

"We can take them." He replied, to which Adam shook his head while Zelos laughed.

"On boy, he doesn't know." The red head grinned before he snapped his fingers as his eyes glowed, making the knives start to blink before they lost their colors.

"What the fuck!?"

Adam narrowed his eyes. "In front of you are two of the four persons that helped create those knives, so it's only natural they know things we don't. Not to mention Wilder is considered one of the best magic users of his generation, so disabling the spells in the knives is also a possibility."

"Careful horny, it almost looks like you are trying to kiss my ass." Zelos stated with a little disgust in his tone.

'But that's the least of our problems.' Tenebrae said in Adam's mind. "Out of all the Guardians that had to appear alongside Drake, it had to be Zelos Wilder out of all of them." They cursed their luck

The reason Adam only had power over Darkness and Earth was thanks to Tenebrae and Solum. However, Drake's domain over Darkness easily overpowered Tenebrae's. And Zelos had a pact with the Spirit of Earth, and even if said Spirit was not there, he had enough experience to counter and even cancel his spells at the moment.

"So, what is it going to be?" Zelos asked as he pointed at the crystal he had in his hand. "That will take at least seven second to take effect, which is enough time for either of us," he pointed between himself and Drake, "to cancel the teleport."

Ryuu and Tione had to do a double take at the mention of what was just said. "Did they just said-"

The Elf nodded.

"Really? With that big ass sword?" Lett snorted, trying his best to remain standing by the sheer pressure he was feeling. Adam on other hand just scowled.

"Oh boy, believe me." Zelos took Udaeus's sword off his shoulder and with it partially pointed at them. "I have a lot of experience with big swords. As a matter of fact, my personal sword is bigger than this."

Ryuu and the Amazon sisters looked blandly at the red head, but it looked like it wasn't an exaggeration seeing as they spotted Adam's scowl under his cloak.

"So! What is it gonna… be?" Zelos's words started to die down as Drake raised his hand to tap Zelos's shoulder.

Ryuu couldn't see the expression on the former Noble's face, but she managed to see half of Zelos's eyes widening in realization before sighing.

"… Leave." The redhead replied with narrowed eyes, making both Amazon sisters shout in complaint.

"What!? After all that built up you are just gonna let them go?!" said the youngest.

"Do you really think we are just gonna let you lot do what you want after-!" someone grabbed her shoulder, hard. "The fuck do you- Bete!?" the status effect was still in place, yet the werewolf had somehow managed to stand up and get her attention. He was currently looking down, his legs trembling as did his hands. "Not now you stupid mutt. Also, you should be-"

*drip*

"Resting." Uneasiness became noticeable in her voice, the sound of liquid drops continuing in an ominous manner. It was then that she noticed that blood was hitting the very spot Bete was on.

Her eyes widened before she forced him to look at her: not only were his eyes dilated, but he was biting his own lips as if trying to suppress something with pain. And she understood what that was, it was clearly reflected in his eyes.

Fear.

She recalled that sometimes, animals were able to perceive when something was wrong, like knowing when a natural catastrophe was coming. That also applied for animal people, which meant that even someone like Bete could admit when something was too dangerous.

Tione looked back at the group in front of her, not being able to ask herself just who these people were.

"Thank you." Adam crushed the crystal in his hands, making it so he and Lett started to disappear. "Hopefully, we will be able to talk when he's calm."

Zelos snorted. "Do me a favor though, tell your Boss we will be watching out for him."

Adam couldn't help but scowl at the secret meaning behind Zelos words, but nodded regardless before both disappeared.

Ryuu released a sigh of relief and started to approach the duo, but she started to slow down as she noticed a twitch in Drake's hand. Not only that, but there also seemed to be sparks of black and green color running through his whole body while a strange dark Aura surrounded him.

"… Drake?" she tried to approach him but his friend raised his palm at her as his eyes never left his friend. It was a clear indication not to approach him.

Zelos sighed deeply as he moved his hand to grab the back of Drake's face and forced him to look down at his feet.

"He's gone. There's only us here, no one else matters." The Hyrute sisters twitched at how easily they were disregarded, as did Ryuu a little.

She saw Drake take a deep breath and then exhale as the sparks and energy stopped flowing through his body, the color of his hair returned to normal as well.

"You cool?" Zelos asked, his hand still forcing Drake to look down on his feet. The blonde nodded, to which the redhead narrowed his eyes in suspicion, or so it seemed.

"You sure? Need a Snickers?" The blonde punched his friend in the chest and slapped his hand off his head. Zelos laughed before he looked at Ryuu.

"Could you please take him out of here? and please try to keep him away from people. He might actually kill the first asshole that tries to pick up a fight with him."

Loki Familia seemed to freeze at that, especially since the redhead was looking at Bete. Who despite being afraid, tried his best to go over with his rage now that things seemed to calm down a bit.

"Hey, isn't that the fucking mutt that used Collete's scarf as a tissue and then stepped on it?" The smug smile he gave them was accompanied by half opened eyes; clearly, it wasn't a friendly one.

Ryuu on the hand walked to Drake's side, who had yet to move since he landed on the floor. She walked past him to get a better look at him, her eyes opened slightly at the look in his eyes.

The Elf frowned and went for his hand to guide out, only to hesitate for a second as she remembered their previous physical contact. But she pushed the thought aside seeing as it wasn't the time.

However, the blonde decided to adjust his scarf and put his hood on before turning around, leaving the Elf looking at him with concern as he walked towards the exit.

"Wait!" Tione rushed forward, in a clear last attempt to get something, anything out of them. "You can't just leave like that. We are on a mission by the guild, you are obligated to-"

"Bitch." A tick mark appeared on her head before she stared at Zelos. "Does it look like we care?" he gestured his finger at the three of them. "You could be a fucking deity and I would be more tempted to slap you."

It was a good thing Zelos interrupted the Amazon. Because Ryuu was blacklisted by the Guild, and she knew Drake wasn't affiliated with it, and the same might as well be said about the redhead. However, she couldn't help but wince at how Drake's friend was dealing with the whole situation.

"Do you have any idea who you are talking to?"

"An Amazon who can't get an overgrown brat to give you the time of day?" he asked in a blank tone, making Tiona burst out laughing seeing as he was pretty much spot on.

"Ho- How do you know that?"

Zelos chuckled as he walked away from his group. "So I am right, huh?"

Tione gritted her teeth. "How dare you!? You aren't even half the man the captain is!"

The red head's mocking continued. "I don't know if you noticed, if it's the other way around." The Amazon was pretty much fuming at this point. "Although, you couldn't even identify a good lay even if you had it in front of you." He gestured at himself.

She snorted. "Don't flatter yourself, you are only a pretty face."

"Oh honey." He grabbed her chin, her eyes widened seeing at how fast he had cut short the distance between. "If it was up to me, I would have you face down and ass up begging for it." her face remained red, but it wasn't out of rage at the moment. "I would make you forget about everything you held dear with ease and make you stop thinking about anything if I so fucking desired." His lips approached hers. Tione meanwhile couldn't help but stay still as the inevitable approached her, only for the redhead to quickly sidestep and turn around. "Unfortunately, I am already compromised!" he said with joy in his tone and disregarding her as if she was nothing.

Her near arousal was replaced with certain rage. "… You bastard! Is this just a game to you!?"

He looked over his shoulder, joy still in his tone. "Not at all!" his smile turned smug, it almost felt as if Loki herself was mocking her. "I am just distracting you." Because she had fallen for something so simple.

She blinked once, then twice and finally decided to look around and see that neither the Elf or the blonde were there.

"When-"

"About a minute ago." He shrugged. "They jumped to the floor above while you were being seduced." She couldn't help but look up at the massive hole Drake had created to arrive on this floor.

"You were so fucking easy." He replied as he walked back, mocking her all the way.

"Why the fuck neither of you stopped her!?" she looked at her fellow Familia members.

"Hey, we were focusing on you in case he tried something. You are the idiot that let herself get seduced." Tiona stated with crossed arms and a blank look, while Raul looked away.

Tione was growling at this point before she drew her daggers at Zelos.

"That's it! You are not getting away from us. If I have to drag you all the way to the surface myself, I will do it!"

Zelos sighed, he lifted Udaeus Sword over his shoulder with ease and pointed it at her.

"Fine…" he narrowed his eyes. "But there's something you should know first."

Tione tensed as she prepared to charge, but decided to humor the red head.

His eyes started to glow. But suddenly stopped as he blinked, his skin turned pale as his expression turned into one of panic. "Look out!" he pointed behind them. "A Black Dragon!"

Their eyes widened as she and Tiona turned around with their guard up, but there was nothing. "What the fuck are you-" she looked back to where the redhead was. "talking about…" but he was gone, as if he had never been there.

Her sister approached her from behind after a full minute of her sister not doing anything. "Uuuuuuh… Tione?"

Her sister raised her hand and made a fist with it, the message was clear.

'Shut it.'

"Raul. Pick up all the monster drops and crystals on the floor. Also, keep an eye for those magic knives; the Elf took one with her, but I remember two others were used by those cloaked assholes."

"Lett seemed fine." Tione ignored her sister as Raul did as told, only for his face to lose all color as he noticed everything worthy of value had suddenly disappeared.

"… Tione."

The Amazon sighed deeply already knowing she wasn't gonna like what Raul was about to say, and she was right.

"FUUUUUUUUUCK!"

Ryuu Lyon has always been someone that valued professionalism in various situations, especially in the dungeon. Only limiting themselves to talk if necessary, even though there were people that just couldn't stay quiet.

'Alice.' The image of her captain came to mind, seeing as there was hardly a time she ever stayed quiet.

However, the silence right now was just killing her.

Drake hadn't said a single word as they continued walking their way up the Dungeon back to the surface. She could still notice the twitch in his hands, but dared not to say anything about it.

She wanted to ask for his state of mind, but the answer would clearly not be a positive one. The memory of the look in his eyes when they were on floor thirty-eighth came to mind.

The Elf would recognize that exact look anywhere, it was the same look she had after burying what was left of her Familia and had asked her Goddess to leave Orario.

Empty eyes that usually had some brightness in them, a face so emotionless that would make someone think twice about confronting said person. Indeed, a look that could only be described as someone seeking bloody murder.

The twitch in his hand wasn't because he was excited, restless or impassive. It was an indication that he was holding himself back with every fiber of his being from acting against the two cloaked individuals.

He wanted to, he sought it, and yet he didn't act upon it.

She was actually a little jealous of him, seeing as he had more self-control than her in taking action. But she couldn't help but ask herself 'why not act?', they clearly had the advantage according to what she heard. And also, what exactly happened to warrant so much hate?

Was it safe to assume it was related to his revenge? She didn't dare to ask. Nor did she dare to do the same with her other doubts.

"Ask."

"Huh?" her expression became perplexed. The Elf couldn't help reacting in such a way at his sudden statement.

"I can feel your eyes making a hole in the back of my head. So, ask."

It took her a moment to recover. Her usual emotionless expression in place, yet her eyes betrayed her by showing signs of wariness at what she should ask. In the end, she decided that the best question was without a doubt, the most stupid one.

"Are you ok?"

There was a slight twitch in his walking, as if he hadn't been expecting that one. "That's your first question… really?" he kept walking ahead of her, but he could hear a low 'Mhmm'

"I… will be" he replied.

The Elf narrowed her eyes, him being unable to lie didn't mean he couldn't alter the truth a little. So his reply could also be interpreted as 'I am not ok.'

"You wanted to fight him… no. It would be more accurate to say you wanted to kill him."

He slowly shook his head. "… I won't deny it, I got kind of a tunnel vision back there."

She knew the feeling. Not unable to rationalize anything and just let the anger and rage blind you, tainting yourself with the blood of your victims until nothing remains.

"But my rage wasn't directly at Adam." Ryuu blinked, figuring out that was the name of the cloaked swordsman. "It was what him being alive and what he was doing entailed in the long run."

She raised an eyebrow before reaching the conclusion Drake could feel what was happening down below while fighting Udaeus.

"You seem certain he shouldn't be here."

He snorted. "Neither should I." he muttered in a low tone before he pointed at the left side of his neck. "He's the one that made this wound. I ran my blade through his chest and twisted it five seconds later. Believe me, I made sure he was dead."

She couldn't help but deadpan at his bluntness. Although, it did add to what Adam had stated about they never meant to see each other faces again.

"And what exactly does his presence and that crystal of divinity he obtained really mean?"

His head moved up, as if fighting against a harsh truth he didn't want to accept. Was it that he couldn't really come to terms with this revelation? Or that he simply didn't want to tell her?

"It's related to your revenge, isn't it?"

His silence was worth a thousand words.

But she didn't dare to enter into such a personal territory. As a matter of fact, she felt a little guilty. Drake might know her past, but he didn't interrogate the truth out of her and instead figured it out on his own; which still annoyed her to this day.

"… You never killed a deity while killing all those implicated in your Familia's demise, did you?"

She stopped dead in her tracks, as did he a second later.

Her actions had exposed a couple of deities that were implicated with Evilus; but she never swung her weapon directly against a deity. That would be the greatest taboo a mortal could do and yet, the fact he asked it as if it was nothing meant he had broken it.

"You can't be serious," she scowled. "Do you have any idea what that would mean for-"

He waved his hand as if it was nothing.

"Don't bother. I already had this same dance and song with Tsubaki when we met." He cut her scolding, disregarding the consequences of his actions.

Ryuu knew not all Deities thought the same. It was because of such Deities that groups like Evilus existed in the first place. But even so, no one in their sane mind would dare to actually kill one .

"… What did they do? What was so bad that it was worth it to be doomed for the rest of your life?"

To her surprise, he whistled. The number of things the deity must have done against the former Noble was clearly no small number.

"A lot, even before I was aware he existed or that he had a hand on it. But the thing that pretty much sold it was him 'killing' my brother."

Her eyes widened, but still couldn't feel confused after he used his fingers to quote killing.

"Why-"

"Another deity, who also wanted to kill me at the time, intervened and took his soul before the final blow was dealt. For three fucking years I thought my brother was dead."

"Did you do something in your previous life to enrage every deity that wanted to kill you?"

He turned around; she figured he was giving him a deadpan despite his hood and scarf covering his whole face.

"The deity responsible for everything said and I quote 'You should have never been born.'"

She internally winced, not daring to ask any more on that particular subject.

"But still, you said you killed that deity, right? If that's the case, they should be in tenkai right now."

For some reason, he just narrowed his eyes and resumed his walking. "Our circumstances are different."

The Elf took it as a clear indication that her questioning was over. But still, she was still curious as to why he didn't act. Yes, he would most likely go on a killing spree until his rage had subsided, tearing everything apart without discrimination between ally and enemy… including her.

"Was it because of me?" he had only managed to take a few steps before abruptly stopping. "Leaving aside Adam and Lett, there was also Loki Familia, your friend, and me." She theorized, already knowing his redhead friend was able to calm him down with ease as he did. He also couldn't care less about Loki Familia for obvious reasons. So that only left her.

Ryuu Lyon, the Gale; a Level Four Adventurer with years' worth of experience behind her: she wasn't weak by any means at all. However, compared to someone who managed to beat a Monster Rex with the help of only another person, and still didn't know what he was truly capable of, how strong was she really?

But even so, what she did recognize was that Drake Aurion was strong. But where did that leave her? she wasn't having a 'I'm weak' complex, but rather felt a little guilty that he had to hold back on getting what he wanted because of her.

"Yes. Although there were many other factors you should have in mind, like the divinity Adam had access to and how it could affect the Dungeon. I have never involved other people that were not related to my stuff in my fights."

She chuckled out of self-depreciation. "At least you had some self-control." He seemed smart, so he most likely took his time in taking action. Unlike her who went against everyone who showed a hint of being involved without corroborating the information.

"You had it worse." He voiced suddenly, as if knowing she was guilt-tripping herself. "I still had many people close to me. It didn't matter how much I secluded myself, how much secrets I kept and how much of a fucking asshole I was, they would always try to reach me."

The sincerity in his voice let her feel a little jealous, but then she recalled he was also away from home, unable to see his-

'Wait a minute' she narrowed her eyes.

"I thought you said you weren't gonna be able to see your friends ever again when you arrived in Orario. Then why was that person-"

"Because the son of a bitch dropped unannounced ." She snapped back in surprise, his annoyance was legit. Even more than when he got annoyed at her or anyone in the Hostess. "He also almost got me killed by the way."

'Love you too, bud!' Zelos shouted enthusiastically in his mind.

His eye twitched, but said nothing in return.

"Don't expect to see him too often though."

She smiled. "Even so, it seems you are happy he appeared in the end, right?"

He took a deep breath before he gestured to her to continue. "Can we please move on? you still have to pay your respect to your friends."

She hummed. The Elf hadn't forgotten, she just had postponed it to keep an eye on Drake. Although she did appreciate him remind her. "Thank you," she walked past him. "I still need to take a bath."

Now it was her who could feel his gaze on the back of her head. "You can't be serious."

The edge of her lips moved upward. "Despite how hard things have been on your side. I am kind of relieved no innocent person suffered for your revenge."

The blonde started walking behind her, instinctively reaching for his right forearm. "Not one."

Drake Aurion wasn't lying.

Because his biggest sin wasn't born out of revenge.

But out of pure selfishness.

"Ok, that's it." Mia Grande rested her cleaning rag on the counter, looking at a very focused blonde who didn't look at her way and instead kept writing on a book. "What the hell happened between you two?"

His pencil abruptly stopped and looked at his second boss with a raised eyebrow.

"That damn Elf has been avoiding gazes and ignoring anyone with a blush on her face every time someone asks her or even looks at you for more than ten seconds. "

It had already been two days since they returned from the Dungeon. Suffice to say that more than one member of the staff was surprised to see them both returning together; but even more surprised that the Elf had a blush on her face, even if her face was covered by her hood.

Her attitude towards the questions asked to her were just as Mia described them. On the other hand, when Drake was asked about it all he would reply with was 'ask her.'

And the cause for all of this?

The Elf had the audacity of asking him not to say anything about her little peeking at him while taking a bath. Knowing full well she wouldn't do as asked if the situation were reversed, he opted to not let this chance slide easily.

Flashback

"… Ok."

His answer made the Elf abruptly stop in their way through the forest in Rivira. She had been fully prepared to bribe him or even pull a dogeza if necessary. But it seemed like that wasn't gonna be the case.

"I mean,"

Too bad it seemed the world wanted her to suffer.

"It's not like you are gonna be able to keep quiet about your own transgressions for too long."

She narrowed her eyes. "You believe the truth will come out of my own mouth?"

"Oh, I am certain. Despite being used to having that motionless face on by default, you are unable to keep it when you're the center of attention."

She closed her eyes and turned around to be on her way. "My pride is in the line. Your predictions will not happen."

"Oh really?" Drake asked, his amusement hidden behind his usual demeanor as he walked at her. His sudden action made the Elf instinctively turn around to notice his hand reaching for her; this caused her to give a few steps back until her back now laid resting against a tree, his hand planted on it next to her face.

"Let me ask you something," his face approached hers. The sudden action made the Elf blush as she closed her eyes no longer knowing what to expect, nor being able to react as the recent memory of him touching her came to mind. But to her surprise, none of what she was expecting happened.

Instead, he did something far too cruel in her book. His face was past her own, and stopped millimeters away from her ear, a soft whisper came out of his lips.

"Did you like what you saw?"

The memory had come back to haunt the Elf whenever someone asked her about what happened.

"Ask her."

Mia sighed at his reply, but quickly focused on what he was doing.

"You've been on that since yesterday," she snorted. "A diary, perhaps?"

He stared blankly at her. "If it was, I can assure you that the only thing it would be recorded there is 'Dear diary, Syr's been annoying again today, too. What a surprise.'"

The Former Noble ignored the 'kind' glare he felt on the back of his head.

"It's something for Tsubaki." He let his pencil rest before rubbing his wrist, and with a good reason. Mia could notice that more than half of it had already been used, meaning she could tell the dedication he had put in it.

"You are capable and all, but what can you possibly teach Cyclops? Weaving?" she cracked up a bit, and to her credit Drake did find the idea hilarious. The Dwarf calmed down a bit as she saw the contents of the book, her eyes narrowed at the sight of strange symbols.

"Wait, are those-"

"Welcome to the Hostess!" Syr's voice got their attention, a chill ran down the blonde's spice. "Table for one?"

It wasn't killing intent, nor something ominous. Instead it felt like something that could be considered suffocating.

He knew this feeling.

Despair.

In its strongest point judging by what he felt.

His train of thought was slightly stopped as Anya softly pulled his sleeve to make him turn around.

And so he did, noticing various things in the process. Like Anya's face being a mix of worriedness and seriousness, and Syr's rather over enthusiastically smile as she stared at the entrance of the Hostess. But what got his attention the most was seeing a familiar purple haired woman standing there.

It was the same woman that had been with the God Aeshma the day he had been out with Anya.

Her skin was pale, and her eyes seemed rather empty. It seemed almost as if she was in some kind of trance as she simply stared at nothingness and breathed in and out in a very mechanized manner.

But his attention was more focused on the words the Darkness showed him.

Disgust.

Repugnance.

Loathing.

Sickening.

SUICIDE!

His narrowed as he continued to read word after word. Some of them repeated themselves over and over, while others were capitalized. But one word made him focus on her body to confirm something.

Yes, all the signs were there.

There was no doubt that the woman in front of him had been forced to do unspeakable things against her own volitions.

RAPE!

The word was only capitalized, but it was also blinking in and out as if the act was a norm for her.

It was truly disgusting.

And Infuriating.

AN: So, Adam Taurus, the only character or RWBY that will be featured in the story (at least for a very long time) instead of just being mentioned. This one's different from his canon counterpart, mainly because he's not as full of anger, or obsessed with his ex like his canon self.

Also, just to point out in case you didn't notice, Drake didn't engage against Adam and Lett solemnly because Ryuu was there. He used the last of his reasoning to tell Adam to leave, otherwise he would have attacked without care of who's around him. And since Zelos wasn't technically 'there', the only person whose life he didn't want to risk due to his rage was Ryuu.

When Ryuu asked if she was the reason he didn't fight, he redirected her question for her to come to her own conclusion instead of getting the answer out of him, because he didn't want her to feel guilty due to holding back because of her.