So, Christmas chapter... yeeeeh. I probably could have done a Christmas special or something, but I am going to wait until next year for the plot to advance a little more and show something that may be spoilers at the moment. I am going to try to have another chapter ready before the year ends, already 3k words into that one.

Now, let's talk about the chapter... without doubt, the cringiest chapter up to date, at least I feel it that way. Leaving that aside, it's no spoiler that this is also kind of a Loki Familia-centric chapter, so feel free to leave your impression of how I wrote them.

Chapter 26

'I don't know whether to be proud or jealous of Tsubaki,' Zelos Wilder mentally commented as one Drake Aurion carried one Rose Fannet by holding her by the waist while he held her arm around his neck.

'Not now, asshole,' the blonde replied, hearing the Werewolf's pants getting worse as they approached her house, all the while the night sky watched over them; too bad Zelos continued.

'Because that wonderful bitch succeeded in something I could never do as your best friend… getting you laid.' Drake groaned. 'Had I known all I had to do to get you laid was to throw a Faunus in heat at you back when we were in Remnant, I would have done it ages ago.'

'Don't you fucking dare to do a victory dance just yet,' he looked over at Rose, whose eyes were looking at the ground while pointing directions at him. 'I have high hopes she's got a way to restrain herself at her place.'

'I wouldn't recommend that.' Jude suddenly said, making himself known. 'Supposing the behavior of animal people here is the same as Faunus; putting them in chains to restrain them will cause them to hurt themselves.'

'And what about-'

'Doing her own job will not cut it, Drake. You know this,' Jude interrupted him, giving his honest and most recommended opinion as a doctor.

'… If it wasn't because it is you saying this, I would think this is a conspiracy with Zelos at the top.'

'Heeeeeeeey~' The fact that the scumbag in question was enjoying this didn't make it any better.

"It's here," Rose panted, pointing at the two-story house in front of them.

"Didn't know the Guild staff earned enough for this." Drake managed to joke about it, succeeding in distracting Rose a little.

"I have been working for the Guild even before the Sword Princess registered, I have saved up a lot." she snorted. "Although, a raise would also be nice… fucking Royman," she growled, managing to stay stable enough to open the door of her place.

He helped the woman inside, noticing her panting became worse the moment they entered.

'Right, this is, in layman's terms, her territory.' This meant that on a very deep subconscious level, she didn't have to hold back anymore… that was a problem.

"Th-thank you… please leave…" she rested her back against the wall, removing the bow of her uniform and ripping apart the first two buttons of her shirt to allow her to breathe better, looking at him with erratic breathing and a look in her eyes that he could translate easily; hunger, and not of the food type.

'… Supposing I do decide to help her,' he stated. This wasn't a life-or-death situation, at best, it was for the well-being of another; that one being Rose. However, the subject of sex was something he considered complicated due to the aftermath; if Zelos's experiences were something to guide himself by.

Zelos snorted. 'Right, help her.' He was just messing with the blonde, seeing as he could not lie.

'Even if I go down with this…' his eyes mentally narrowed as Rose slowly walked towards him.

'Don't worry about it. I have already read how you have sex thanks to a certain asshole; I don't need to see the graphic version of it. So, we took some measurements.' Luke said.

'How many fucking times do I have to say I am sorry,' Zelos sighed. 'Also, what do you mean by-'

*BANG*

Drake mentally raised an eyebrow, seeing as he recognized the sound of someone hitting a head with a bat.

'We call it; the Zero Dark Thirty protocol. Until you do give us the signal all of your senses will be disconnected from us.' Flynn stated, taking command of the situation. 'And as a precaution, we have taken care of the most dangerous asset.'

Drake didn't need to ask if Flynn was talking about Zelos. 'And let me guess; you are gonna restrain him with chains and sit on his back while his eyes, mouth, and ears are covered?'

'Obviously.'

Fucking classic.

'… the only thing bothering me is that name. It gives the idea that the rest of you will silently watch, as if it was the dead of the night…'

'…'

'…'

'…Told you we should have picked another name.'

'Oh be quiet, Yuri.'

From there, he could hear the two fighting until Lloyd came in.

'They are gonna be like that for a while… you are on your own now, brother… Godspeed.'

Drake's eye twitched. 'Don't you fucking make this sound like a suicide mission.'

… Nothing… he could barely feel their presence inside his Soul…

"If you stay any longer… I won't be able to hold back," she gripped his jacket, looking at him while panting. "So please-" no more words came out of her mouth the moment his gaze landed on her with such intensity that it almost suppressed her urges completely; as if a dangerous predator was looming over her.

"If you were chained, you would only hurt yourself. And if I let you alone, you would only wreck this place out of pure desperation…"

Rose snorted after staring for a few seconds, her ire rising. "Do you think it would really be so easy, just for being in my heat cycle to let you fu-"

"I am just offering my help," he said, seriously. "I seek no relationship or carnal attachment out of this. I am just trying to help you, just as you helped me and kept quiet about my bullshit."

She held a snort at his choice of words; but yes, bullshit did fit perfectly.

"Unfortunately, I cannot do the same thing I did a week ago; what you are feeling isn't bound to any negative emotions at all."

She stared at him; choosing to believe his statement about the inability to lie as her grip on his jacket tightened while her other hand moved his scarf down. "… Then I suggest you find another way to help me, then." Their eyes narrowed before she brought him closer to her, just as he placed one hand behind her head and the other one on her rear to claim each other's lips.

They stumbled through Rose's house, with Drake trying to carry her all the way to her room on the second floor. Whatever little force of will she had a minute ago, it was gone the moment they decided to start this 'healing' plan.

He let himself be pushed against the wall as she continued her assault.

The blonde quickly turned her around, her back now facing him, and moved one hand over her shoulder to invade what was behind her opened shirt to massage her breast, while the other swiftly moved to her crotch; unbuttoning her pants and opening her zipper to move his fingers inside, immediately feeling her wetness.

At least this way he could guide her, seeing how her legs were a bit too weak to walk normally at the moment.

"Could you at least wait until we make it to your room?" she moved her head back as she still held him against the wall to claim another kiss.

"No~" she moaned between kisses, just as the movement of his fingers started to quicken; making her whole body enter shock as her legs weakened. "Aaaaah~"

The blonde eyed the room, opting to keep one of his hands down there as he carried the now weakened Rose as she instantly removed her vest, leaving it in the hallway.

He didn't pay much attention to the room, deciding to just focus on Rose to get over this. She let herself fall on her bed, letting a small moan escape her mouth before rubbing her own body.

The former Noble removed his upper clothes, placing them in the shadows with no worries about Rose seeing the act.

"Please~… don't stop~" something inside of him growled the more he listened to her sultry voice, making him grit his teeth as she rubbed all over her body before Drake turned her around, forcing her to lay on her chest.

He grabbed her rear and moved it towards him, making her knees bend to show her ass to him before grasping it with both hands.

"Ah~" she gripped the sheets of her bed as Drake gripped her pants and underwear in one go before tearing them apart.

"Someone's being prepared," he thought out loud, seeing as her crotch was completely trimmed. The only reply he got in return was more moans before he moved his arms under her rear to lift her, his whole face now staring directly at it.

"Oh~?" Rose's eyes widened as she felt her whole body being in bliss the moment she felt something hungrily exploring her. "Ooooooooh~" He was eating her; in such a merciless way that she instinctively bit into her covers with an unreadable expression before letting go of it to moan as loud as she could with a blissful expression on her face as she climaxed.

The blonde let her go, her legs falling on the corner of her bed and onto the floor, which then dragged her lower body off, as well. Her arms and head remained on the corner of the bed; with her head resting on its side, making her stare straight at the blonde cleaning his face off her, but not before noticing how his fingers seemed to lick some of her.

"Of you poor thing~," Rose muttered, sitting on the floor as her hands went for her crotch. "Someone probably didn't eat anything in the Dun-"

"Quiet," he ordered in a low voice, making Rose freeze as her whole body shuddered in some sort of unknown joy, and his eyes laid on hers. For some reason, his eyes seemed to be more slit than usual as his pupils glowed, more predatorial than she remembered them. "Crouch," She did as told, pretty much following her Werewolf instincts. And for some reason, it only made her more aroused the more he stared at her with hunger in his eyes. "Spread them," her legs opened automatically, showing her wet crotch as her fluids soiled the floor.

He turned to face her, walking a step closer to her as she now was millimeters away from his crotch before looking back at him; he didn't need to voice his order seeing as her hand slowly moved his pants down to feel something uppercut her jaw.

Her eyes remained widened as her panting increased with her tongue while her stare remained on its length despite not being fully erect. However, the Werewolf in heat intended to fix that as her hands went for it and her tongue hung just millimeters around it, making him feel her hot breath. But-

"Stop."

And so she did, just as her hands were about to get their grasp on it. She looked into his eyes, pleading with him to let her do it before he gave an order. "… No hands."

She moved her hands away and placed them between her tights, just as her tongue slowly went for it again. The moment it made contact with its tip, whatever amount of reasoning she still had vanished before she took him wholly in her mouth. She started slurping and gaggling as Drake's eyes moved to her chest; her breast still being partially freed.

"Rip off your shirt," her hands left her tights in an instant before grasping both sides of her shirt and forcefully opening it, ripping apart her button before letting her breast hang free and unrestricted.

He continued staring at them, just as the Werewolf placed her hands behind his tights before her head started moving more enthusiastically while her hips instantly started to move slightly forwards and backward; dirtying the floor with the sheer amount of juices that came out of her.

She suddenly felt more eager the moment he placed one hand on the side of her head, only to be forced to stop as she felt his other hand grabbing the opposite side of her head before he started thrusting into her slowly. Her hands instinctively left his tights before going for her crotch, rubbing it and fingering herself as he switched to pistoning her mouth.

She looked up, wanting to see his eyes, to see the hunger in them and how it had intensified; but something more caught her attention. It wasn't his eyes; rather, it was what was currently ravaging her mouth, as the little space that remained suddenly disappeared, making her choke on the process before Drake's eyes snapped; as if he had been in a trance.

He quickly let her go, letting her fall on the ground as he gave a few steps back. He placed his palm on his face; trying his best to ignore the smell of Rose on them as he tried to regain control as he breathed in and out, making his eyes return to their normal slit.

"… This is bad," he muttered, just before he looked over at Rose to see she was fine; that was a mistake. Rose Fannett was currently on her chest, resting on her knees with her ass raised high for him to see; using two of her fingers to show a very drenched opening for his sole use while her face was visible enough for him to notice she was looking at him with the same hunger he had shown before; a hunger that soon returned in the shape of his eyes becoming more slit again at such a pleading sight as he looked at Rose's almost heart-shaped eyes.

He didn't waste a moment before grasping her buttocks, making her let out a small moan before thrusting his hips forward without warning at the already-drenched entrance.

The time for foreplay was over.

He was starting to lose his notion of time; only keeping track of the times Rose finished, even though the blonde continued thrusting her. However, the Werewolf didn't seem fazed by this seeing she continued moaning while her arms had enough strength left in them to keep her face from kissing the ground.

"More~!"

He narrowed his eyes, stopping for a moment before moving his hands from her buttchecks to grasp her hips, making her eyes widen before he suddenly thrust at full force, making her climax again as her hands started to fail due to the full force behind it.

The blonde noticed this, which made him accommodate her by helping her stand up before carrying her by the buttchecks, facing him. Her face seemed mostly lost with her tongue tiredly hanging out while her eyes seemed almost empty; and yet-

"More~" she muttered softly as he accommodated her in the right position before just letting her fall on it; making her regain the brightness in her eyes as it entered her with ease. She leaned her head back with a loud moan as her tongue remained out while Drake grabbed and put some strength under her buttcheks before he started moving his hip forward; finding his rhythm with ease as Rose's head came forward to smash his lips with hers, forcing a battle for dominance to start with their tongues as her heart filled eyes stared at his hungry draconic ones, speeding up on his thrusting with the intention of making her sloppy.

"No fair~" she dumbly said between the kiss, losing the energy in her tongue before she proceeded to moan while resting on his shoulder, only to suddenly stop before he raised her ass in the air, only to let it fall once more, making her bite his neck, indicating to him that she came once more.

They remained still with him firmly inside her before she slowly raised her head to whisper something in his ear.

"More~"

From then on, Drake decided to make use of the bed.

Not expecting a very sweaty Rose to still have enough strength in her to be proactive by stranding him before she decided to ride him, placing her hands on her knees as she crouched on to move her hips vertically. However, the blonde didn't stay idle as his fingers started to pinch her erect nipples.

"Move~"

"Oh, giving me orders all of a sudden?" he teased her, Rose stopped grasping her breasts as he moved his hands behind his head, using them as a pillow. "Not capable of finishing on your own?" he smirked, seeing the frustration on her face as she speeded up, but it wasn't enough.

"…"

"Sorry, could you repeat that again?"

She gritted her teeth. "Please, just fuck me alre- OOOOOH~" he trusted his hips upwards, answering her request in kind as her eyes widened while her expression turned to a solely blissful one. Her hips started to move enthusiastically, following his rhythm as he sat up to start sucking on her breasts while hardly fodling the other, making her increase their rhythm before he brought both of her assets together to suck on both of them as Rose felt another orgasm coming-

*CRACK*

However, the two lower parts of the bed broke, making the sudden change of height along with the gravity turn the final thrust into one deep enough for her to scream in delight as her breast bounced in perfect sync.

The covers of the bed had been tossed on the floor so they could continue; with each position being rougher than the last as the Werewolf was now resting on the back of her head while her ass was high in the air, Drake pushing on the inside of her thighs down as he stood above her, his back turned to her, thrusting in and out with incredible speed, drops of her juices flying out with each thrust.

"So," he moved forward. "Conceited!" he thrust into her mercilessly, seeing as she was pretty much used to it by now; but even so, her moans were the loudest by far.

"Sho goo~ Sho goo~ Sho goo~ Sho goo~" her speech patterns were a complete mess by now. Gone was the respected Guild staff member known by many, and desired by many more; reduced to a fine mess.

"amost the~ amost the~ amost the~ amost the~" She said, the message was clear for him. But-

"Hold it in until I finish."

"Eh~?" her face turned dumbfounded, seeing as her body seemed to obey his order while her mouth said something else. "Plse le m cu~ Plse le m cu~ Plse le m cu~"

He didn't acknowledge her pleas; seeing as her entrance had been the tightest during the whole session, making him thrust even faster as he started to growl. At that moment, Rose's eyes widened, feeling him throbbing inside of her. "Inside~ give it to me inside~!" she stated clearly as his growling intensified until he reached a final point in which he took a second before giving the final thrust, releasing all he had contained with a very satisfying groan; along with a very happy scream from Rose.

"Gimme~" she pleaded, opening her mouth as he stood up from her while putting pressure on it to not let out a single drop escape before kneeling to relentlessly thrust it in her mouth, letting the rest of him slide in her as Rose's eyes widened in ecstasy. But it seemed too much for her, seeing as her mouth was now full and leaking out, forcing him to pull out to spray off the front of her body.

For the first time since they started, Drake sighed, regaining consciousness of his surroundings as he looked at Rose; laying on the ground, marked all over her body with his stuff, panting in pure satisfaction.

"… Shit," he muttered, realizing that saying 'Fuck my life' didn't seem appropriate at the moment. The former Noble had no idea what had taken over him; seeing as the last two times hadn't been so… animalistic.

He had been thinking so much that he didn't realize at what moment had Rose started to clean herself with her tongue before reaching to get a hold of it once more, making his train of thought stopped as he saw her eagerly cleaning him as a moderate speed before letting go with a-

*POP*

She looked at him, the lust in her eyes gone; only showing a small, kind smile as the heart eyes remained. "… Clean," she muttered, before passing on his tights as he just stared, mainly at his crotch.

"You go down, you bastard," he looked around the room, making him sigh at the state of the room; pieces of Rose's teared-up uniform laying around, the bed broken, covers stained with both of their juices, the floor had also been sullied, and finally, the passed-out werewolf in need of a clear bath.

"…"

Rose Fannett opened her eyes slowly, her ears catching the songs of the early birds singing next to her window. She tried to move, only to notice her whole body was sore; the good kind of sore, that is. She looked around, noticing that she was in her room; yet, the bed she was on didn't feel like hers… it was better… and bigger… it was at that moment that the memories of yesterday struck her.

Her eyes widened as she vividly recalled the events of last night… as did her body; her loins started to remember.

"Oi," her eyes snapped at the sound of the familiar voice, slowly looking to the side to see him sitting on a chair next to her night table. "Don't you dare get horny; I am in no mood for cleaning again."

'… cleaning,' she repeated the word, remembering the state she and her room were left in before she passed out. It was at that moment she noticed; not just her bed and covers were brand new, but she could also tell her whole body had received a thorough bath seeing how nice she smelled despite how dirty she got the previous night.

He was currently fully dressed, sitting with one leg resting on his opposite knee while his arms remained crossed

"You…"

He raised his fist before counting with his fingers. "I gave you a thorough scrub," her face paled. "Bitch please, after I already saw all of you last night, giving you a bath was like a walk in the park compared to that." She blushed before she continued. "After that, I went out of my way to get you another bed in the early morning; left the money on the counter with a note for the owner. I placed you on the bed, put on some new covers, proceeded to clean the damn whole room, and finally; I made you breakfast." She looked over the night table, seeing a cup of warm coffee and an omelet on a tray, along with a pair of potions; most likely for her soreness.

The Werewolf couldn't help but look baffled, letting her jaw drop as she tried to make out anything in words.

"Don't," he suddenly said. "There's no need to say anything, and that goes beyond words seeing as I myself went a little excessive last night."

She relaxed, leaving out a small snort along with a little sly smile. "Is that what we are calling it?"

His eye twitched, opting to stand up to leave the room. "I am gonna go to the Guild and ask for a new uniform; gonna say you are on sick leave today."

"No one's gonna believe that," she said, seeing that the staff knew about her condition yesterday. "… Drake,"

"Don't you fucking say it," he said, stopping as he held the doorknob in an annoyed tone.

"Thank you." He groaned, not looking at her as he left her room. She kept her smile as she picked one of her pillows, earing with her werewolf senses the moment the main door had closed to then proceed to plant her face into the pillow and scream as loud as she could while hiding a massive blush while her wolf ears violently twitched.

When she stated she remembered everything, she meant it; that included every expression, gesture, word, and gibberish that came out of her mouth. She could blame it all she wanted on her biology. But that didn't change the fact she looked like a bitch in heat… even if she was indeed in heat.

Worst of all, she couldn't help but remember the moment he became a predator, giving her orders as if she was prey he was waiting to hunt; marinating her before the fact, no less. And the worst part of it all… was that she loved every second of it; from start to finish.

Silver lining; it had been the best night of her life.

The fact that she couldn't even feel her legs was proof of it…

"huh?"

"… Whatever it is you have to say you piece of shit, say it."

Currently, Drake Aurion found himself inside his soulscape, sitting around the table with his elbows resting on it, and intertwined hands on which his forehead rested. Because he just knew what was coming could be considered another internet forum discussion; this one could be labeled as 'Our friend got laid, let's talk about it'

"Where do I even fucking start?" Zelos Wilder stated, resting against the back of his chair as he waved his hand while holding a stack of papers that gave Drake an ominous feeling. "This, Drakey; is your sex log…"

"…" he lifted his head a little, looking over at him with a look that could kill. "I am not in the mood for your bullshit, bud." Everyone cringed, because the only times Drake was ever one-hundred percent serious with Zelos was when the blonde called him bud; he hated being called that.

"Drake," he turned to sit to the opposite side to see Lloyd waiving the same stack of papers with an apologetic look before looking around the whole table.

"… Privacy? What the fuck is that?" he asked sarcastically, seeing as everyone had one of those. "This is worse than when Zelos wrote that fucking book."

"For the millionth time, I am sorry about that." The redhead apologized before placing the papers on the table. "Now, before we start laughing at this; let's address the elephant in the room… what the fuck happened?" Drake groaned as Zelos continued. "because according to this," Zelos pointed at the paper. "There was some serious pounding happening."

Drake groaned, making everyone sigh at the choice of words.

"Before I answer… explain that" he pointed at the stack of papers.

"We waited in a damn void of nothingness until you were done," Flynn said, recalling a little of what they experienced. "You finally gave the signal after four hours. When we finally got a vision, you were sitting on that chair with an expression that could only be described as, and pardon my language; 'I fucked up'"

Drake had the urge to facepalm as Yuri lazily continued. "We wanted to ask you what happened. But you had such a miserable face that not even I of all people wanted to ask you. So, we started to theorize until Zelos, in his infinite wisdom asked out loud, 'Man, I wish I could just get something that told me what happened!'"

Drake groaned. "And let me guess; just as things we think of manifest in here-"

"A stack of papers appeared above the bastard, hitting him on the head; kind of hilarious."

Drake sighed. "I am gonna have to revoke all your admin privileges to my soul and mind… or set a fucking firewall."

Guy laughed awkwardly. "You do realize I would be able to walk through it, right?"

The leader of the Guardians scowled as he flipped off his fellow blonde.

"Now that that's settled… what happened?" Flynn asked, deciding to take the lead so Zelos wouldn't have to; seeing as he couldn't keep a serious conversation for longer than a couple of seconds.

"… I don't know," Drake stated, not really sure at what moment he lost control of his instincts. "All I know is that I kind of lost sight of my initial objective the moment I laid eyes on her after dropping on her bed… things became cloudy after that, with only an idea coming to me at that moment."

His eyes narrowed as he returned to rest his forehead on his intertwined hands. "I want to sully her," he suddenly said, just as everyone heard a growl coming from a long distance away, along with one coming from Drake. "I want to mark her, taste every inch of her body, mark her, I want more, More, MOR-!"

*BONK*/*BONK*

Drake suddenly snapped, sitting straight as he looked to his sides to see Luke and Jude, each holding a red bat that either said 'BONK', or 'No Horny.'

"… Did it work?" Jude asked, just as Drake started to rub the back of his head.

"It is amazing and saddening at the same time that it actually works." Everyone sighed at Drake's response before he looked back at the rest. "… the fuck's happening to me? My other times, I didn't become a fucking sex addict."

"Well," Guy suddenly looked at the mountains at the far side of the Soulscape. "That has something to do with it, no doubt," he replied, just as the 'mountains' began to stir.

"… Shit/Crap baskets" all the Guardians stated, looking from afar at the one responsible for the big growl from before. The very thing that Freya saw when she invaded his Soulscape, it was NO mountain.

"So, your Dragon instincts corrupted your thinking?" Zelos asked, looking at Jude and then at Drake.

"It is possible," Jude said before looking in Drake's direction. "But how were you able to stop in the end? Because we all know stamina has never been a problem for anyone here."

Drake sighed. "There were two moments when I was able to think clearly: when she started coughing," he threw a glare at Zelos, who was about to throw a dirty comment but stopped. "And when I was finally able to finish after going at it for so long."

"Post-nut clarity," Zelos commented.

"The only real defense a man has," every Guardian sans Drake stated, making each one of them look at one another before some chuckled.

"Wait… you said 'finally'…" Zelos flipped the papers. "… you went for two and a half damn hours and you only finished once!? What the fuck?" The redhead exclaimed. However, this was actually quite serious seeing it took him way too long to finish.

"Drake," the blonde looked to the side to see Jude standing once again next to him. "Can I have your hand for a moment?" the blonde did as asked, letting Jude grab it as he started to touch his hand as if examining it. "… It seems you have developed a small extra layer of skin under your normal one. Your father also had it the last time I performed a check-up on him."

Drake scowled, knowing full well that it meant that his father also had it. "It's a Dragon trait, isn't it?" Jude nodded. "As if the damn eyes weren't bad enough… what else did he tell you?" Drake asked, seeing as the number of Dragon Faunus in the current age could be counted on a single hand, and any anatomy record about them was lost to time.

"He said he lost sensibility to a lot of things, seeing as it was so sturdy he lost some sensations in his body. Anything ordinary, or with a weak Aura, didn't get any reaction from him," Jude crossed his arms, before looking at the 'mountains' in the distance and then back at Drake. "… I have a theory." Everyone looked at him.

"Let's say you didn't feel any physical stimulation or even felt anything during it due to the second layer of skin despite being mentally stimulated," He pointed at Zelos with his palm without looking, who immediately shut down before something came out of his mouth. "You, being influenced by your instincts, start to feel frustrated seeing you really feel nothing, forcing you in return to be somehow a little sexually repressed and have a feeling of hunger along with a personality change."

"… Actually," Drake started to ponder about it. "I am starting to recall something…" his eyes widened a little before he slammed his face on the table. "… You know how I can hear a person's shadow when the feelings they think become too much?"

"… Where are you-" Jude started, not really seeing where Drake was going with this. But Zelos knew.

"No," Zelos said, looking at him annoyed, something that wasn't usual at all. "You can't be serious."

'Fuck me rougher!'

"Yeah…" Drake said, recalling all of her shadow's thoughts.

'Order me! Use me however you want!'

"That is such bullshit," Zelos muttered.

'Fuck my mouth!'

"But it would also explain why your personality changed instead of being like a ravishing animal; Rose's thought influenced yours."

'Make me your bi-'

You get the idea.

"I spend all of my teenage years trying to figure out the complexity of the female mind, and this fucker got the ultimate cheat code for them this easily?"

"I feel we already went through this in the past," Drake commented before Yuri chuckled.

"I just realized. Besides that, wouldn't you be able to use the shadows for sex, as well?" Yuri commented maliciously, making Zelos realize he was indeed right due to the creation of constructs, and even materializing his own shadow to make things spicier.

"… fuck you, Yuri," Zelos commented, thinking that Drake had the ultimate power.

"You do realize I went through a lot of traumas for this power, right?" Drake asked, making Zelos shut up before he realized something.

"Wait… seeing as we now know all of the external factors that shaped the session… wouldn't that mean Rose was a bad laid?"

"For fucks sake, Z/Dude!/Bro!" Everyone replied.

"Patronize me all you want, you know I am right."

"It wasn't really her fault, though," Jude commented, having taken into consideration that despite being a Werewolf; she didn't have her Aura unlocked, and wasn't even an Adventurer with a Falna... although… "Now that I think about it, I recall your father mentioning that the average Aura user only gave him a tickle sensation… you may have a problem with this in the future."

Drake Aurion realized that, as did the others.

"… Would this classify as suffering from success?" Guy commented, with no real malice or humor behind his joke, but he was still right. Yet Drake didn't care, seeing as he was a little more relaxed seeing he found the root of the problem.

"Don't know, don't care, don't need it. All I have to do to prevent that is not sleep with anyone anymore, period."

"Hate to break it to you," Luke commented. "Blue balls are an actual thing."

He shrugged. "I either do my own handy work, or I take my risk with the red-light district, either one works." He sighed, seeing as he was finally able to leave everything behind him… only to suddenly scowl. "Now, if you excuse me… I need to have a talk with a certain someone."

He faded, making everyone look at each other before some shrugged.

"You know… jokes aside; there's one person that might be able to help him with that problem," Lloyd said, crossing his arms with a complicated smile.

"Why didn't you say anything, then?" Zelos asked.

"Because he would punch me for suggesting her."

There was a moment of silence before all of the Guardians figured out whom they were talking about. Yeah, none of them had the guts to say it to his face; even if she was the best option to go through his Dragon skin.

And he just happened to be talking to her now.

Meanwhile, Jude couldn't help but ponder about the Dragon skin Drake developed; recalling what the blonde's father had told him during his check up. The youngest of the Guardians could remember clearly how the older Dragon Faunus had stated that he developed that trait when he was ten… and Drake was only one year old as a Dragon.

'Supposing that his Dragon psychology is trying to catch up with his human years… what else could change in a matter of only a few years, or worse… months,' he thought, recalling that there were things even Drake's father -one of the scariest people he knew- didn't feel like sharing. 'I have a bad feeling about this.'

"If I could lie, I would tell you; 'You are officially dead to me'" Drake stated as he was being pulled by a cloaked individual through the streets.

"Oh come on, I got you laid and this is how you thank me…" she suddenly stopped, turning around with a narrowed eye. "… Unless you had performance issues?"

He slapped her hand away with a twitching eye. "I didn't. at least not in a negative way."

She raised an eyebrow, only for her eye to widen before she started to chuckle. "What? You're saying Rose was lacking…" she said between laughs, only to see his friend wasn't saying anything in return. "… holy shit! That's what-"

"I already had this conversation with my brothers, Baki." He said, keeping a low voice seeing the blacksmith was insistent on hiding her identity for some reason. "Now, mind telling me who you are hiding from and where you are taking me?" he asked, seeing she suddenly appeared with a serious face before pulling him away.

"Don't you fucking change the subject," he made a gesture with her head at him to follow her. "We will be talking about this later." She said before entering an alleyway.

"No, we are not." He replied as he looked at another cloaked person waiting for them, Tsubaki turned around to show her serious gaze again, while the second cloaked person revealed herself.

"… What's going on, Hephaestus?" The red-headed Goddess sighed with a tired expression before answering.

"We may have a problem."

FLASHBACK

The Goddess of the Forge, Hephaestus.

The dutiful Goddess that all her Children respected currently eyed a certain drawer; the one where she always kept one bottle of alcohol for when things were becoming too stressed. A certain blonde that invaded her mind recently had taken her latest bottle, so she had stashed a new one for when the time came.

"Phae-Phae!"

That time was most likely now, as the Goddess Loki barged into her room along with one Riveria Ljos Alf; who respectfully bowed in acknowledgment and apologized for her Goddess' attitude.

"Been a while hasn't it," The Goddess sat on a chair in front of Hephaestus's table; resting one of her elbows on the chair's armrest while she lazily placed one of her legs on the corner of her seat, contrary to Riveria, who sat normally. "Since that emergency Denatus, am I right?"

"…" Hephaestus just stared, seeing as Loki not only had a heavier tone than usual, but her eyes were also slightly opened.

"… You're sober," Hephaestus stated with a sweat drop on her forehead, making the other Goddess groan.

"Don't remind me," Loki clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I was gonna restock Soma last night; all I ended up with was my money taken away, and Bete with a broken jaw and a concussion… fucking blondie and his fucking friends."

Hephaestus maintained a blank expression, even though she had an idea of who she was talking about; especially since she knew Drake and her Familia were on rather poor terms.

"That's not what I heard," Riveria gave her Goddess a warning glare. "You barged in destroying the property of another Familia. And then allowed Bete to assault a blind person; ending up with him being knocked out, and then losing part of the money meant for our next expedition."

'… Blind person… Jude?' She had never personally met that brother of Drake. But she remembered the name from when the blonde said the wounds caused to his eyes were worse than her scarred face.

"Damn it, Raul," Loki cursed under her breath; seeing as there was no one else who could have sold her out. "Let's get down to business already!"

Hephaestus and Riveria just stared, seeing as the other Goddess shamelessly changed the topic for her benefit; classic.

"Phae-Phae, I would like to request clothes resistant to cold. My Children are gonna be needing it."

Hephaestus raised an eyebrow before her eyes widened. "You… Are you gonna be attempting to go past the fifty-ninth floor?" The glacial territory; where only the Zeus Familia had managed to reach when they were still active.

'Has Loki Familia reached that level of stren-' her thoughts were interrupted by Loki's snort.

"Girl, we wish." Loki sighed. "But no. With the weird stuff going on around here recently, we might as well not do any long expeditions for a while. "However, that is also related to why I am here." Her eyes opened. "It seems you haven't heard. But there's something weird going on Floor twenty-seven."

The Goddess of the Forge raised an eyebrow just as Riveria took over.

"We heard rumors about not only the floor freezing over but also about how Monsters gained ice attributes and became stronger," Riveria said, maintaining her royal composure. "We sent our scouts there to get a confirmation. And despite the rumors being true, they couldn't stay for too long seeing as their limbs were starting to get frozen at an astounding rate."

"I see," Hephaestus replied, feeling bothered as her neck became tense for some reason, a feeling of déjà vu. "In that case, give me the issued order of the guild so we can start with the planning of what my children will be forging… what?" she asked, noticing how Loki looked away and whistled innocently while Riveria looked straight at her eye; but there seemed to be some tension seeing how the grip on her staff tightened…

"… this wasn't issued by the Guild," Hephaestus concluded.

This kind of event was looked at and supervised by the Guild. The fact that Loki was doing this without their approval meant-

"Hold it right there," Loki pointed at her accusingly. "I know what you are thinking. But there haven't been any orders regarding that; neither to investigate nor to stay away from the Great Fall. So, everything is fair play at the moment."

Hephaestus sighed, pinching the bridge between her eyes as Loki continued.

"Besides, don't you think it's weird?" Loki was pretty much standing now, slamming her palms on the table; Hephaestus could tell that disgusting smile of hers was starting to take shape. "Just like that incident with the earthquakes on floor thirty-eight! Once it was solved, the Guild denied any mention or question about it!" and there it was, that damn disgusting mad smile. "They should have issued a notice about it by now, yet nothing has happened! Ouranos is plotting something along with the Guild! I just know it!"

Hephaestus simply and blandly stared at Loki's eyes; with the latter now being millimeters to the former's face, seeing as Loki had pretty much rested her non-existent chest on the table to get closer to her before Riveria pulled her back into her seat , quite forcibly.

"Anyway, that's why I am doing this," Loki stated calmly. As if the last minute was nothing new.

Hephaestus sighed, remembering the incident regarding the earthquake, for which a Centurion had been responsible.

'…huh.' Hephaestus mentally thought, starting to draw parallels between that incident and the current one.

The Dungeon is being affected out of its normal behavior, check.

The Guild being vague about the accounts, check. It was even more suspicious now seeing they weren't even taking action.

Monsters are being greatly affected as well, that's new. But it was proof of an external force operating in the Great Fall.

She hadn't spoken with Tsubaki since she returned from her weapon testing, asking for a few more extra days off to forge as she desired. So if she knew something, her Captain hadn't said anything about it yet.

And she hasn't even seen Drake since she forged those tools. 'You are beautiful,' she mentally slapped herself, trying her hardest for her mental train not to take a detour into flashback land.

"Um… Phae-Phae? You ok there, girl?" Loki asked, seeing as her friend's face had turned red while her face remained neutral, somehow.

The Goddess of the Forge didn't say anything. Instead, she opened her drawer without looking to take out that bottle of alcohol she had been hiding, along with a little glass before serving herself some of it; knowing that a Centurion may be involved stressed her, a lot in fact. Especially since she had to stay quiet with the one person who would make a mess if she was aware of it, Loki.

Riveria stared judgely, almost as if criticizing the Goddess for behavior so unbecoming of her. She would expect that from her own Goddess, but not from Hephaestus. However, despite not voicing her thoughts, her eyes pretty much showed clearly what she was feeling, something Hephaestus noticed.

"I am sorry, princess. But is there anything you might want to share?" Hephaestus interrupted her mercilessly, without a single amount of caring in her tone as she served herself a shot. "Not all of us can run from our responsibilities to live another life, your Highness," Hephaestus stated, making Loki's jaw drop. "So some of us need something to walk off those moments. So, unless you have something helpful to say," she took a shot before continuing. "I suggest you continue to stay quiet. If not, you can go back to your kingdom and do your own duty; giving your father a suitable heir."

Riveria's eyes remained dilated, staring at the Goddess while she kept her mouth shut, to keep her bad habit of mouthing spells from causing a catastrophe.

"Geez girl, what was that abo- ouch!" Hephaestus slapped Loki's hand, seeing as the Goddess of mischief was going for the bottle, the full bottle.

"How many people? And who are they?"

"Huh? Loki asked, finding herself puzzled at the sudden question while she rubbed her hand.

"I already have your Familia's measurements, but I need to know who will go to put my Children to work."

"Oh, should have started from there," Loki flinched, seeing as Hephaestus threw a glare that indicated she was being serious. "Riveria, Gareth, My Ais, the twins, and Raul."

Hephaestus raised an eyebrow. "Finn's not included?"

"He's busy trying to set the next expedition up," Riveria said in a professional manner, as if what transpired not even a minute ago didn't happen. "Along with fixing Loki's mess with Soma Familia while keeping an eye on Bete."

"I see," Hephaestus internally sighed. "When do you need the equipment?"

"Yesterday," Loki flinched, again; seeing as her response was one that would make anyone give her a bad look, which proved true as Hephaestus scowled intensified. "I am being serious, the sooner the better. Before fucking Royman states that it is prohibited to enter the floor."

The Goddess sighed. "I will try to have everything ready tonight. I will send it all to you when it is ready." Both Loki Familia members nodded. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to-"

"Actually, Phae-Phae. There's something I had been meaning to ask." Hephaestus raised an eyebrow before pointing at something on a stand placed on Hephaestus's table, next to the Goddess.

"What is that?" Loki asked, looking with narrowing eyes at the hammer; THE Hammer, the one HE had given her. "I am trying to figure out whether you broke the rules or not; seeing as I can't quite pinpoint if Arcanum was used for that or not."

"It was a gift," Hephaestus replied, holding herself from doing anything rash.

"Hmm… I also feel something odd about it." Riveria narrowed her eyes. "Has it been used yet?"

"No. And it will stay that way."

"Shame," Loki said, standing up and walking to it before extending her hand to touch it. "The things that you would be able to forge with them would be-"

"Loki," The Goddess of Mischief opened her eyes, feeling a familiar danger in the room, and so did Riveria. "Back off. Unless you want me to make it look like what happened to Aphrodite was like child's play."

Loki's eyes fully opened, making her grab Riveria by her collar before walking to the door. There was a reason why the after-mentioned whore would freeze whenever Hephaestus was present; it wasn't nice.

"We are leaving! Don't forget to send the equipment! Bye!" And so she left along with the High Elf; ignoring the complaints of the latter.

And so, Hephaestus sighed, calming herself as she delicately ran her hands through her hammer; making it shine a little at her mere touch. She would have preferred to watch over it a little more, but the current situation needed to be talked about with Drake in detail.

So, the Goddess took a final shot before hiding the bottle and securing the hammer before leaving the room.

Gareth Landrock laughed to life's content as he heard Riveria's side of events of the meeting between Loki and Hephaestus, and he wasn't the only one.

"Poor mama," Tiona Hyrute commented, laughing from the side while her sister was no better.

"Talk about answering your life's call, huh, Riveria?"

To her surprise, the High Elf didn't seem so fazed when the older amazon spoke. "You tell me, Tione; seeing as nowadays it seems people are weary of Amazons thanks to you."

Tiona laughed again, but this time at her sister as she recalled the humiliation she suffered over a week ago at the hands of the blonde's red-haired friend; not only did he manage to break her hand somehow, but also managed to stain her Captain's reputation, and overall all the Amazons, as well.

"Don't you laugh, you dumb bitch," Tione screamed at her sister. "You're also an Amazon!"

Tiona simply shrugged. "Since when have I cared about what others think?"

Tione's face turned bland, remembering whom she was just talking about; the most bizarre Amazon of them all.

"What do you two think?" Tione rested her hand behind her head, looking over towards Raul and Ais; the former laughed awkwardly seeing as Riveria was looking over her shoulder with a glare that clearly said, 'say something, I dare you', while the latter-

"I think it's rather cold," everyone became serious as they officially entered the twenty-seventh floor. Her response made everyone but the Elf and the Dwarf aware of where they were.

"I am freezing in here," Raul thought out loud, rubbing his gloved hand together.

"The fact that we aren't getting frostbitten is only due to Hephaestus Familia equipment," Riveria commented.

"We were in lucky they had some leftover materials of the time Zeus Familia used to explore the Glacial Territories; so I suggest you get used to this as a practice when we get there."

Everyone seemed to nod as they headed to where the Great Fall ended, taking note of the state the walls were in as they got closer.

"Looks like another party was here before us," Tione commented as they arrived at their destination, looking over at the frozen waterfall while Gareth and Riveria narrowed their eyes at the state of the area.

"There doesn't seem to be any indication of that, but there was certainly a fight here," Riveria commented, inspecting the destruction of the walls, and even some holes that reminded her of the ones that took shape when Monsters spawned, but... "the walls, they aren't healing."

"Neither is the floor," The Dwarf commented, as both noticed marks of blade on both floors and walls… and only that.

"There's no way…"

"A single person did all of this," Riveria nodded, seeing as they all reached the same conclusion.

"Either that or a group of people that all used the same kind of weapon," Gareth said sarcastically. "Very unlikely; a party composition of all the same is only a hot mess."

"Agreed," Riveria commented before noticing the rest of the party admired the frozen waterfall.

"So pretty!" Tiona said before jumping atop the frozen lake.

"We are not here to play," Riveria got closer to them, seeing Tiona trying to walk over the ice.

"Gareth said to get used to this environment, so I am doing thaaaaa- ouch!" Tione started, only to fall on her butt before her sister started to laugh.

"Using my own words against me," Gareth snorted before he walked away. "Don't go too far."

Riveria sighed, wishing Finn had been here seeing as Gareth and her usually had opposite ideas; this being one of them.

"Remember to keep an eye on anything suspicious."

"Yes, mama!" Tiona commented as her sister joined her in trying to walk on ice after pushing Raul, all while Riveria sighed.

"Who are you calling mama?" Riveria sighed, feeling a little stingy at the comment after recalling the Goddess Hephaestus' statement, only to push the thought away as she looked to the side to see the only person that remained with her. "What are you thinking about, Ais?"

The Sword Princess narrowed her eyes a little. "I don't like it," she muttered. "This doesn't seem right."

Understatement of the century.

"It isn't. It is out of place… like everything nowadays really," Riveria commented, partly happy Ais' mind was off that one blonde that reminded her of the black dragon.

"… it reminds me of him," or maybe not!

"Come on, Ais," she patted her shoulder. "Not every occurrence that happens can be attributed to one single individual," the High Elf started to walk away, in an opposite direction to where the Dwarf had headed. "Go on and search with the others, and remember to stay close by."

She nodded, jumping onto the ice to land perfectly unlike the Amazons; opting to slide her feet rather than walking like Tiona was now doing.

"Slow down! Slow down! Slow down! Slow down!" Raul exclaimed, unable to do anything as the Amazon crashed into him.

'… go slow,' Ais concluded, seeing a clear example of what shouldn't be done.

A few minutes passed as everyone searched the floor.

"Nothing over here!"

"Same."

"Not even a single Monster," Riveria commented as she heard the other's reports.

"That has also been bothering me. Although," Gareth looked again over the damaged walls. "Maybe it is because there are no stable walls to allow them to spawn."

"Which again begs the question, who was responsible for this damage? Because I can only think of a few people who could do this, and none of them uses a katana."

Gareth sighed, reaching the same conclusion.

Meanwhile, Ais got closer to the waterfall; the Great Fall. The place where the Monster Rex of the floor, the Amphisbaena, spawned.

She slid around it, seeing her own perfect reflection watching her.

"Ais! Riveria is calling us to regroup!" The blonde nodded at Tione's words, turning around to head her way-

"Ais"

Her eyes widened, suddenly stopping before looking back to see not her reflection on the ice, but her mother's.

"…Mom?" Ais muttered, in a rather broken tone as her eyes watered.

"Ais…" the image of Aria said again as if wanting to say something.

"Yes, mom! Tell me!" Ais softly placed her hands on the ice, waiting for her mother to say something.

"Why… " Ais put more pressure into the ice, waiting eagerly for what her mother wanted to say. "Why… are you such a disappointment?"

Her eyes widened, realizing her mother was looking at her with a face she had never shown her before; as if she were angry at her.

"Your father died for you, and I am being held captive by that monster," Aria stated. "And yet, here you are, playing to be Adventurer," she turned around, making Ais start punching the ice as Aria left. "Such a waste."

Her figure was soon surrounded by a familiar wall of black wind before she disappeared, making Ais scream in anger and horror as she recalled the last time she saw her mother. And as she did, the image soon changed, to one of a single emerald-green monstrous draconic eye looking at her, only to then be replaced by the figure of the one person invading her mind.

"You!" she shouted, a black wind starting to surround her as she unsheathed her rapier while everyone else started to call her name; not realizing the floor was shaking. "It's all your fault!"

She prepared to perform a thrust, only to see his image crack… no… it wasn't him who cracked; it was the waterfall.

"Get out of there!" Riveria's shout finally reached her as the black wind died down.

"Awaken, Tempest." A green wind surrounded her before she jumped back, just before a massive dragon head broke through the ice, soon followed by a second one along with a massive body that swam through the ice as if it was nothing, breaking it apart as it advanced.

"The Amphisbaena," Gareth muttered, seeing as the two-headed dragon roared all the while the whole floor trembled. "But it seems different."

Each head of the Monster Rex usually had red eyes and green crystals around it, while the other ones were blue; but now it seemed like everything was icy blue, along with its skin which resembled crystal at first glance.

"An abnormal, perhaps?" Riveria thought out loud.

"Since when have abnormal monsters been blue?" Tione exclaimed, seeing that every abnormal she had seen until now had a different color pattern of skin.

"None of this situation makes sense; this is just another thing to add to the pile," Gareth commented, grasping his Ax as he noticed his cold breath was denser. "The floor also became colder!"

"Tione, Tiona," Riveria caught their attention. "If the report about the Monsters on this floor were correct, then they are so sturdy that no weapon could pierce them, there is a chance that also applies to the Monster Rex. User the fire swords to distract him, if you have a clear opening to its throat, take them," Riveria ordered them as Raul handed them each a fire magic sword. "Its attacks and patterns may have also changed, so be careful!"

"I will take my chances with the Ax. You get somewhere safe, lad," Raul nodded at Gareth, sweating despite how cold it was before he left while the Dwarf and the two amazons went on to distract the Monster. "Try not to take too long, Elf!"

Riveria's eye twitched before looking at Ais; her expression was shell-shocked. "Ais, I don't know what happened down there. But now is-"

"Mom," Ais stated in a tone void of emotion, even more than usual. "I saw my mom."

Riveria didn't waste any time in placing her hand over the blonde's shoulder before turning to face her. "Ais, I don't know what it is you think you saw. But right now is not the time to ponder on it," the roars of the Monster continued along with the sound of explosions from the magic weapons. "So, I need to know, can you fight?"

The only response she got was a nod, along with the grip on her sword tightening; she was in no state for fighting, emotionally speaking.

"You need to focus, Ais. We are not gonna make it out of here alive."

The girl just stood there before Riveria rushed away as she rubbed her throat; it hurt.

'I should have gotten a scarf,' she thought before she ran into position, feeling how Gareth's statement held true as she felt colder with every step.

"Don't get too close, Lass!" Gareth shouted, seeing Tiona sliding through the ice awfully close to the Monster Rex while unleashing a fire wave from her magic sword straight to its face.

"That skin is bullshit!" The Amazon shouted, seeing as it seemed as if the flames dissipated the moment they made contact with the crystal skin… no… her eyes managed to catch up the instant steam was created the moment the fire made contact with the monster. "Its crystal skin is so cold the flames evaporate the moment they make contact."

"We are highly unprepared for this," Tione muttered, watching her magic weapon and her daggers, nothing would pierce that thing. "And there's a chance Riveria's magic will not be able to even completely pierce it, either."

Gareth snorted as he looked at his Ax. "Tell me about it." Its edge had been partially frozen after he had been able to land a hit on one of its heads; his attack only managed to push the head back a little. "And it seems that we may have another problem," he noticed Riveria standing in the distance, making a sign with her hands before pointing at her throat.

"What is she saying?"

"… It means we have only one chance with her spell." Her throat was freezing, and if her sign were right, "And we have five minutes to break its crystal skin," Riveria was currently the best mage in Orario and the spell she was going to cast would take her one and a half minutes. But the situation with the environment was so abnormal that even level Six Adventurers were being affected by it; it was unnatural to the highest meaning of the word.

"All or nothing, then," Tione stated, seeing her sister jumping and landing gracefully on the ice while unleashing more fire attacks on a single point with no clear result.

"I don't think you are angry enough," The Dwarf stated, seeing what the amazon wanted to do, and giving a step back before she planted her feet firmly on the ground after throwing away her weapons.

"I have been humiliated in front of everyone and the Captain thanks to a fucking redhead," her eyes dilated as she gritted her teeth, the ground she stood on started to crack out of pure pressure before she released an enraged roar as her Berserker skill took over. "I AM PLENTY PISSED OFF."

She jumped forward, pretty much launching a kick at one of the heads of the Monster. Neither she nor her sister usually wore footwear due to being amazons. The only reason they were now wearing something to cover their feet was only because Riveria insisted their feet would stick into place if the area was too cold.

The head of the monster was pushed back, crashing against her other head as everyone heard two *CRACK* sounds the moment the heads crashed.

"Lass makes it seem easier than it is," Gareth barked as both heads fell on the ground, he looked over to the side after three minutes had passed to see Riveria's lips moving; her chanting had started.

The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction.

"This is not enough! We need to break them even more!" Gareth shouted as he saw Tione and Tiona focusing on the crack of a single head by slamming their gloved fist after performing a somersault; making it crack completely to reveal its skin underneath.

The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all.

"Back off!" Tiona shouted to her sister, stabbing her magic sword into the monster before it started to glow, making the insides of the monster being lit up in flames; heating up the monster's head from the inside to weaken the ice around it as both Amazon sisters jumped back as the sword broke.

"One head left!" Gareth shouted as the monster began to move through the ice while both heads started to spit an icy wind from their mouths, instead of their usual blue flame.

"We can't get close!" Tiona shouted, seeing as part of their cloaks seemed to freeze with the mere touch of the attack. "We will turn into popsicles if we are even grazed by it!"

Come, crimson flames, the ruthless inferno. You are the avatar of hellfire.

Gareth knew the spell Riveria was trying to chant; only two verses were left. Ten seconds at best, and only one of the Amphisbaena exposed. And now, there was no way to get closer seeing that wind would freeze him over before he could reach its head.

"Awaken, Tempest!" at least not him. Ais Wallenstein shot herself forward with an empty expression; her wind concentrated in the tip of her rapier serving to dissipate the Monster's wind before her target's head focused on her, concentrating its blast on her, creating a clash of winds as Ais started to lose speed and strength.

The Sword Princess gritted her teeth, still hearing her 'mother's' words in her mind. Her wind suddenly became sharper, as outlines of a black wind took form before piercing through the attack easily and hitting the Monster on the nose. But that wasn't where the crack on its ice layer was located.

Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war.

Ais gritted her teeth as she jumped back from the Monster's head. She knew that she wouldn't have enough time to land on the ice and then have the footing to shoot herself forward again.

"AIS!" she looked over her shoulder as she fell, spotting Gareth sliding through the ice with his Ax placed in front of his chest; her eyes widened as she realized his plan before fixing her body.

The Dwarf stopped moving his legs, figuring out he already accumulated enough speed before letting the ice do the rest of the job as he moved his Ax over his shoulder. "NOW!" He swung his Ax just at the right time so Ais could use it as support to shoot herself forward.

"Awaken, Tempest!" She called for her wind once more, going even faster as she easily avoided the other head trying to get a bite out of her before her rapier met her target.

*CRACK*

"DONE!" Gareth shouted, looking at Riveria, who adopted a rather smug look as she said the last verse of her spell.

Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf

Gareth's eyes widened as a massive red glyph positioned itself below the monster; rather close to where the Dwarf was.

'That's why she was so smug!' he thought as he tried to slide away as far as he could, only to be pushed away when the pillar of fire surrounding the monster exploded all over the area.

"Think that will do it?" Tione asked, having calmed down as everyone met back at Riveria's position.

"Unlikely," Riveria commented, not looking at Gareth as he approached them; knowing he was throwing a glare at her. He most likely wanted to punch her like the first time they met. "It will certainly be weakened, so prepare yourselves to finish it as soon as the spell ends."

"Let's enjoy the heat while it la-"

*ROAR*/ *ROAR*

Gareth shut his mouth, hearing and seeing as the monster roared through the flames.

Through the years, Riveria had learned to appreciate a little Finn's 'magical' thumb, telling him of any incoming danger or thing they may need to be wary of. But somehow, the High Elf didn't need to know beforehand something was about to go wrong this time around. "You just had to talk," she said to Gareth without taking her eyes off her fire pillar before it was dissipated by the Monster's sudden massive roar that created a pulse of cold wind.

The Monster started growling, watching over all of them as its two pairs of eyes started to glow.

"… I am having a feeling of déjà vu," Raul commented as he gave a step back while the Amazon sisters had the same feeling, not really recalling for a moment as to why.

"… Shit," Tione muttered, recalling her encounter with the earth serpent that was causing the earthquakes in the Dungeon; her fears were confirmed as several icy blue glyphs appeared in front of the Monster, one that could use magic.

"Scatter!" Riveria shouted, making everyone do as told mid-order before several shards of ice were launched in their general direction.

"Its heads are still uncovered and wounded," Gareth pointed out, eyeing the Monster as he ran and rolled, doing his best to not use his Ax seeing that ice might be able to make it unusable. He looked at Riveria running next to him, to the opposite side of where the attacks were coming from. "Are you using me as a shield, Elf!?"

"As if you wouldn't have tried to do the same if you thought about it first," Gareth narrowed his eyes, noticing her voice sounded raspy; the coldness of the place had finally affected her voice. It was a miracle she wasn't talking about how a Monster was able to use magic.

"I guess it's up to us, then," he thought out loud, seeing as his attacks may actually have a chance now since that ice was no longer covering the monster's skin. "Tione! Use your magic sword to open a way for us; Tiona, Ais, and myself will focus on the heads," he looked at Riveria. "You stay back, you're deadweight at the moment," he didn't wait for her to say anything, nor did he look back to see the High Elf twitching eye at him before they gave chase to the Monster.

"Here goes!" Tione swung her sword, ignoring the slight crack coming from it before a blaze of fire opened a path by barely burning the shards of ice; just being able to diminish their size.

The three first-class Adventurers charged, going as fast as they could before they heard Tione's shouts. "Glyphs from above!" they slightly looked up, noticing icicles falling out of Glyphs that suddenly appeared above them. "Go! Go! Go!" They didn't bother dodging as another wave of fire, courtesy of Tione, took care of them before the magic sword broke.

"Ais, be prepared to counter the Amphisbaena's ice breath; you are our best chance!" she knew that, mentally preparing her short chant the moment they were close enough… or so was the plan as a medium-sized glyph suddenly appeared above them.

Nobody was able to say anything as the spell took the shape of a light blue vortex of snow and ice that surrounded them before they were lifted from the ground as shards of ice pierced their protective clothes, harming them in the process.

"Awaken!" Ais struggled as she felt her whole body freezing before she finished her words. "Tempest!" Her wind surrounded her before she expanded it, managing the break of the spell before her fellow Familia members fell on the ground.

Her eyes widened, watching as not only both of them were trembling; but their clothes and skin were slowly freezing, taking root from their wounds.

"Ais!" Riveria forced her voice loud enough for her to hear, the sword princess quickly looked over her shoulder to see Tione and Riveria running at them, only for all of their eyes to widen as they noticed a glyph appeared below the two.

Riveria cursed, being the fastest of the two to react before pushing Tione out of the Glyph. "RIVERIA!" was the last thing she heard before her surrogate mother was trapped in a jagged block of ice, freezing her in an instant before it exploded to deal further damage.

"FUCK!" Tione cursed seeing Riveria's rigid body. She rushed to help her, but she suddenly fell to one knee. "That's some bullshit!" she noticed a fresh ice wound on her failing knee, probably from the ice that exploded, and it seemed to quickly freeze her leg. She raised her head, watching in horror as several glyphs surrounded Riveria's body, only to then be saved by Raul, who rolled on the ground before grabbing the Elf to then get out of the way.

"Argh!" but one of the incoming shards managed to grace his leg, leaving it in the same condition as Tione's.

Ais gritted her teeth; seeing as no one but her was in any state to fight, even if she herself was starting to freeze due to her own wounds. And to make things worst-

"Why are you such a disappointment?"

She started hearing her mother again as time seemed to stop for her.

"Just like that time, nothing you can do. And everyone you care for is taken away from you again… permanently."

"… Please stop." She begged, gritting her teeth as the taunting continued; not noticing she unconsciously started to call forth her wind, but not her usual green one.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Ais Wallenstein released a scream full of despair, unleashing the black wind all over the area which managed to disturb all of the current glyphs around the floor.

She jumped forward, cutting the distance between her and the Monster in an instant with a thrust full of that accursed wind gathered in a thrust.

The Amphisbaena roared, aiming both of its heads at her before shooting off the cold wind, which seemed to do nothing against Ais' current wind seeing she was able to pierce through it; just as she was able to do with one of the heads of the Monster, killing it in an instant.

*CRACK*

She planted her feet against a wall near the waterfall, raising her head as she prepared to do another thrust directed at the remaining head with an empty look. Not paying any attention to the sound of something breaking her ears caught.

She shot herself forward with her wind, the Monster's single head roared and several Glyphs appeared all around her; shooting shards of ice that managed to grace her seeing she didn't care about avoiding them, just going in a straight line at her target before she finally pierced its head.

*CRACK*

She fell; rolling against the cold ground the moment she made contact with it. The Sword Princess managed to position herself, ending up on one knee before stabbing her rapier into the ground for support; not noticing its state.

She panted in cold breaths, seeing as how the Monster's head fell on the ice. Ais looked back; seeing Gareth and Tiona forcing themselves to stand up with partially frozen limbs, while Tione and Raul were tending to Riveria, their states were no better either.

But at least, the worst had come to pass…

Wrong

Ais' ears twitched before her eyes widened, looking back at where the Monster Rex's body was supposed to be. Her jaw dropped, seeing as the wounds she inflicted on its heads were healing… no, rather, it was as if they were being filled with ice before both heads stood once more, roaring with more intensity than ever.

"Ais," she looked over her shoulder, at Gareth, who had a rather solemn look on his face while Tiona had a rather terrified one; completely uncharacteristic of her. She understood why the moment she looked at the destroyed frozen waterfall; she adopted the same look as Tiona the moment she spotted Monsters coming out of the place the Amphisbaena swapped from.

Crabs, eels, and many other monsters that were usually found in the Water City came out of them; all of them were icy blue in color, contrary to their usual ones. They also had an air around them that gave Ais an awful feeling.

She looked back at the Monster, noticing its icy layer was now covering the two heads one more.

This was the worst possible scenario, and she could no longer do anything due to the state of her wounds, freezing the parts where she had been struck. She didn't even grit her teeth this time, seeing as there wasn't even a single way to escape. She ignored the screams coming at her, not really seeing a notion in paying attention.

She kept hearing her 'mother's' words, taunting her all the way, even now. But she tried to not pay attention to them, and instead opted to think of her father, remembering his words.

'Someday, your hero will appear and save you.'

She felt like crying; because clearly there was no hero here to save them. So, Ais Wallenstein closed her eyes, leaving the silence of the room to take her…

'… Silence?' she thought, snapping her head up to see that everything seemed to stop… no. It was more accurate to say that every single Monster stopped moving for some reason. It wasn't until a single second later as both heads of the Amphisbaena started to roar along the rest of the Monsters the moment a soft wind came from the floors above.

The Adventurers covered their ears, seeing as it was becoming too much for them. Being rendered to only watch as the Monsters continued roaring… before every single one of them exploded.

Their eyes just stared in confusion, seeing as one by one the Monster exploded before laying eyes on the Amphisbaena; its roars became more erratic… almost as if it was afraid. But in the end, it also exploded; leaving nothing but small particles of dust, crystal-like snow behind it, and a massive wave of air that pushed everyone back a few feet despite not being close to the Monster.

"… What just happened?" Tiona voiced everyone's thoughts as Gareth tried to stand up.

"Consider it a miracle," he stated. "Let's focus on getting out of here before something else happ-"

"Someone is coming," Gareth mentally cursed the moment Ais said that. She was looking in the direction of the broken frozen waterfall. "They are… sliding on it?" she asked, puzzled, seeing as it sounded like someone sliding through the Great Fall.

Their response came in the form of someone indeed sliding down on it as if he was skating; jumping forward at the last moment before landing on the frozen water gracefully, without slipping all the while seemingly leaving pink petals as he rushed forward, only the Level Six Gareth was able to track him with his eyes. "Aaaand, won," a black-haired man wearing a black eastern vest with golden stripes with a long sleeve shirt with similar designs under it along with black pants.

But the thing they noticed the most… was the tribal tattoo of the number three on the back of his right hand; many knew what that meant.

"Oh, please no…" Tione thought out loud, just as a familiar blonde landed next to his friend.

"Oh, you won?" the blonde with abnormal eyes said after landing on the ice, seeming to slow down at the last second to not break it. "How about not using your fucking semblance the next time, you dick?"

"… Nah." Yuri Lowell shrugged before looking around the area, his lazy smile turned into a smug one as he saw Loki Familia. "Hey look, it's the clowns." and then it turned into an uncaring one. "Aren't you guys too far away from the circus?"

'… Did they just jump all the way down from floor twenty-five?' they all thought.

Tione gritted her teeth, ready to say something, but Drake beat her to it.

"They are unimportant, focus," Drake said as he patted his brother's shoulder before they started to inspect the floor.

'I can no longer feel it,' Yuri mentally said as he walked to a giant boulder of ice before touching it. 'Pretty sure Glacies bailed before we arrived. Hey, backseat drivers, thoughts on this?'

'Besides the obvious, nothing much,' Jude commented.

'And the faint sensation I had been feeling every time I was here has faded… yup, my money is on Yuri with this one.' Drake replied as Yuri groaned.

'Why is it that I am always on the right when we don't make bets,' he sighed, placing his hands on the ice as it started to melt from his touch. '… Hey,' Yuri's eyes narrowed. 'There's no divinity in this ice.'

Drake adopted the same look as he walked to where Amphisbaena used to be. 'I feel traces of Glacies' here, but there's no divine trace either…'

They looked at each other. "We got a dead end," Both sighed before rubbing the back of their heads.

"What now?" Yuri asked as they approached the other, the blonde was about to say something, but someone beat him to it.

"We can tell you what happened," they neutrally looked at the Dwarf, whose right hand and left leg seemed completely frozen. "In exchange," he looked at Yuri. "Can you do what you did with that ice to us?"

The Third Guardian narrowed its eyes. "Ever heard of trades on equal grounds? I doubt anything you have to say is worth anything to us."

"Wait," Drake raised his hand, as a sign for Yuri to stop. "Our guess is the Amphisbaena spawned; showing unusual traits to the one it usually shows, just like the other Monsters on this floor as the rumors had stated." He narrowed his eyes. "You and your guys battled it, and it somehow disappeared despite how things might have gone."

"He exploded." Gareth commented.

"It kamikazed itself, we already expected that." Yuri commented, but Gareth maintained his composure, deciding to place all the cards on the table.

How the Amphisbaena had a layer of ice protecting its heads.

How they dealt with it.

How Ais Wallerstein pierced through its heads; leaving aside the dark wind out of the story, but Drake already knew about it since the first time they crossed eyes.

And finally, how it all ended.

"… You said it was a layer of ice covering its heads, nothing else?"

Gareth nodded.

'The Monster Rex didn't have Aura, otherwise, Glacies wouldn't recur in using ice to protect itself.' Yuri commented. 'But it had enough of the Centurion's influence to cast magic Artes.'

'Maybe trying to take over a Monster Rex was too much for the Centurion while it was in a sealed state,' they looked over to Ais Wallenstein; craving her nails into the cold floor while her emotionless eyes stared at it; trying her best not to look at the blonde's direction while he felt some of Glacies influence in her. 'It is the only explanation, she wouldn't have been able to break through its Aura if it had it; dirty wind or not.'

"Help the wimp with the black hair, the Dwarf, and the smart Amazon."

"Thank Gods," Tiona exclaimed. "I feel like I am gonna turn into a popsicle if this keeps going any longer," she stared at her frozen parts, ignoring Tione's outburst about why she's the smart one.

"Why not me!? Is this because I attacked your red-haired friend the other day!?"

"Yes," both replied in perfect sync. "Now be quiet, unga bunga."

Tione didn't know why, but she felt incredibly insulted by the remark.

"If possible," Gareth got their attention. "Could you also heal her?" he pointed at the now conscious Riveria. "She got hit the worst out of all of us."

"… No," Drake replied, noticing the Elf was focusing solemnly on him as if she wanted to question him. "I am in no mood in dealing with the inquiries of an Elf," He made a motion with his head indicating Yuri to go.

'I will be scanning the floor in the meanwhile,' he mentally stated before kneeling on one knee to place his palm on the ground.

Yuri nodded as he approached The Dwarf and the younger Amazon first, while Raul carried Riveria to them as Tione just limped.

"… thank-"

"Don't," Yuri interrupted Gareth's words. "If it were up to me, I would leave you all to die here for the crap your mutt pulled with my younger brother two nights ago."

Raul winced, remembering the begging and outcome of that event. "… But you aren't a werewolf."

"… that's racist," Yuri gave an incredulous look, looking offended while Raul was taken back by the comment. "He's adopted, we have the same last name."

"Seems rather unfair to be pissed when it was our mutt who was rendered unconscious," Tione stated; letting her dislike for them be clear due to her previous humiliation, but acknowledging Bete fucked up… just as she was doing right now.

"I am sorry, did someone say anything worth paying attention to?" Yuri asked lazily, looking at Gareth with a warning glare.

"Not. At. All," Gareth said with clear intent at Tione. 'Drop it.'

She gritted her teeth but nodded regardless as she saw how Gareth's and Tiona's limbs and other body parts seemed to unfreeze the moment Yuri place his hands over them. "… You are not healing the ice, you are absorbing it," Gareth concluded with widened eyes as Yuri said nothing in response.

"… Sorry about your brother," Raul suddenly commented, just as Yuri proceeded to help him; stopping at the last moment to look him in the eyes, his words were sincere.

"… there was nothing you could do about it," Yuri solemnly commented. "Just be grateful he tends to be a pacifist."

"… didn't Bete end up with a concussion and a broken jaw?" Tiona asked, just as Yuri finished working on Raul.

"You would be burying a headless mutt if it had been me," they all felt a chill run down their spine… no, it felt as if a cold knife itself had done it; just as they swore his eyes turned crimson red for a moment.

"Well, I am done. You are gonna have to do something about the open wounds, though." Yuri commented as if the last second didn't happen at all.

"Ha… ha… yeah, we have potions for that," Raul commented, feeling as if death itself had grazed his very being for a moment. "Here," he said, handing those who have now been unfrozen a potion.

"Thanks, lad. I know my Familia and yours might not be on the best of terms, but still-" Gareth wondered if he was cursed, stopping mid-sentence as he looked past the black-haired individual; watching in disbelief as Ais Wallenstein silently charged at the blonde while surrounded by a black wind despite how frozen her body was.

Everyone from Loki Familia looked past Yuri with widened eyes, while the Guardian simply sighed, already knowing what was going on despite not being looking at it… before he disappeared and appeared between her and his brother; leaving a trace of sakura petals on his way.

"I commend you for not shouting bloody murder despite the amount of killing intent you have been leaking until now-"

"Get out of my way!"

Yuri sighed, grabbing his sheathed blade as he waited for Ais to get closer, only to then parry her attack with his sheathed weapon with ease; dissipating her wind in an instant as not only her wind disappeared-

*CRACK*

But her blade also broke, making her eyes widen as she was pushed back.

"But I give you minus points for not realizing the state of your rapier," he suddenly appeared in front of her while she was still being forced back by the sudden parry.

'[Wailing Havoc]'

He landed an uppercut on her chin as his body was suddenly surrounded by an icy blue light, pushing her off her feet and into the air before he jumped at her with a spin kick to then strike her with his sheathed blade.

"But above all else, it seems you forgot I was here," he stated coolly, positioning his blade above his head while both were still airborne. '[Severing Fang]' he performed a full vertical swing and slammed her into the ground.

"Ais!" Gareth shouted, rushing towards her while Yuri landed near Drake.

"You let your guard down," Yuri commented, in a rather annoyed fashion as Drake sighed, finishing his inspection of the floor.

"Nothing…" he looked lazily at him. "Also, this is why you are here," pointing between Yuri and the Loki Familia. "Let's go," they turned around, uncaring of whatever happened next with Loki Familia; as far as he was concerned, he was done with Hephaestus' request.

"Wait," Yuri suddenly turned around, seeing Loki Familia trying to tend to an unconscious Ais. "Hey, Dwarf," Gareth tensed, watching the young black-haired man; seeing as this was another misgiving from part of their Familia.

However, for some reason, Yuri's face didn't show any kind of disdain as if they already expected this. This was something he and Riveria should have expected as well, seeing Ais held the most animosity towards the blonde for obvious reasons. But they had been so preoccupied with their state that they forgot about it.

"Gareth," the Dwarf suddenly said, seeing as Yuri was waiting for his name.

"Gareth then. If you or your lot find a cone-like object, I suggest you give it to us," he pointed at Tione. "Miss Unga Bunga over there knows what I am talking about."

Tione's eyes widened, realizing this was indeed a similar incident to the one with the Monster causing the earthquakes; a divine object was involved.

"And why should we do that if we were to find this object?" The Dwarf narrowed his eyes, making Yuri shrug uncaringly, as it was his expression.

"Prepare to have a bad time, then," he turned around and started to walk away with Drake. "Don't say we didn't warn you… what is it?" Yuri asked, seeing as Drake was suddenly staring at a dark road ahead with his glowing eyes, only to shake his head with a groan before he walked away.

'I felt someone staring at us for a moment… ' he mentally replied before they continued their way.

And so, they left; leaving alone Loki Familia to lick their own wounds.

"At least everyone made it out alive and fine," Finn Deinme sighed, earning a glare from Riveria.

It was currently nighttime, and all the top executives of Loki Familia, and their Goddess, were reunited in the infirmary at the Twilight Manor. Gareth and Riveria were currently sitting on their beds while the rest of the expedition members slept out of exhaustion.

"I wouldn't call nearly frozen to death fine, Finn," Riveria said, holding a cup of hot chocolate, courtesy of Alicia. The only reason there were no Elves in the room doting on their princess was due to Finn giving them the threatening smile to not bother them.

"… I am gonna ask Hephaestus for a refund," Loki stated, recalling the state of their recently acquired equipment with a twitch in her eye.

"Don't," Gareth said. "Had it not been for it, we would have been frozen a short while after entering the floor. The equipment did its job… it just wasn't enough."

"Sounds like enough reason to me to ask for a refund."

"I am with Gareth… the whole situation just seemed on a whole other level; from the environment to the Monster Rex… to their appearance… it was too convenient," the room got quiet, only to be broken by Loki's groan.

"That fucking blonde and his stupid friends," she said, recalling the event with Bete.

"There's something that has been bothering me about that," Gareth looked at Riveria. "Don't you think it's awfully convenient that the Monster explodes itself to bits just before they showed up?"

"Obviously," Riveria hissed. "And remember its behavior before that, the way it roared along the rest of the Monsters… it was as if it was afraid of something… and then he showed up."

"You seriously think a Monster Rex, a really fucking abnormal one at that, was afraid of blondie and his pace?" Loki scowled as the words came out of her mouth, only to sigh in defeat. "Sadly… I have been reconsidering his… their threat level?"

"Are you talking about that incident with the blind werewolf? The one with the divine wound?" Finn asked seriously, not hearing the whole report about that mess due to how frantic Loki was when she returned.

"That kid should NOT be alive, Finn," she opened her eyes. "The amount of arcanum in those wounds in his eyes might have been minuscule… but I could feel it was on a whole different level…"

"And the fact that he definitely knows what's going on in the Dungeon is another worry to have in mind," Finn sighed. "This already goes beyond a scuffle between two Familia for something Bete started. Worst case scenario, he might be a threat to the city seeing we don't know his agenda."

"The fact that all of them seem strong enough to go against Level Fives like Bete and Ais just makes it worse; Level Six perhaps?"

Loki groaned at Riveria. "Bete may be one thing, but my Ais was just tired! There's no way she would lose just like that!"

"That may be so, but the speed that black-haired man showed easily surpassed that of Vana Freya. And even if Ais' sword had been damaged due to the use of her Avenger skills it shouldn't be so easy to break a Durandal weapon." Riveria reasoned, sending a worried glare at the unconscious girl.

"So, to summarize;" Finn took a deep breath. "We still know nothing of what's going on, the Guild is keeping something fishy under wraps, the blonde and his friends may be more dangerous than we first thought, and there's also the fact that it seems they know far more than they are letting on, and we now have a future debt on our hands with Goibnu for a new Desperate for Ais."

Loki groaned, knowing the girl would be depressed about that one; especially for how much she would have to pay.

"Well…" Loki looked at a certain cone-like icy blue object standing on the nightstand next to Riveria's table. "At least we didn't go empty-handed."

"Kudos to Raul for his quick thinking," Gareth said, looking at where the boy was resting. It turned out the object had landed close to where he, Riveria, and Tione were. And since Raul had also been there with the incident with the earth Monster, he knew the object contained a divine artifact inside, making the Supporter secure it before the blonde and his friend appeared. However-

"Still can't feel shit, though." Riveria sighed at Loki's choice of words. "Honestly, if it wasn't because you told me the last object like this had a divine artifact, I would have tossed this into the garbage."

"And the blonde also wanted it for some reason, so it must be worth something to him…" Finn started to ponder. "Although I find it weird that the other group, the one that retrieved the first one, didn't appear."

Loki shrugged. "Who cares? What are we going to do with this, anyway?" she asked. "I mean, we are obviously going to keep it, but besides that-"

"Lock it away," Riveria commented; she would love to find out what exactly was the item that let not just people but also monsters cast elemental magic was. But it would be too irresponsible to try manipulating a divine object on a simple whim. "And if possible, use it as a bargain with them if we don't find anything; we know where to find him after all," the Hostess of Fertility. "Although I have to admit I am worried about their warning about keeping this."

"About us having a bad time for keeping this?" Loki snorted with a wave of her hand, discarding the warning completely. "They were obviously lying! Trying to scare us to get their hands on this, the nerve of some people…"

Everyone deadpanned at her. "Like you are one to talk about deceiving others," they said in perfect sync, making Loki chuckle while Riveria looked at the object one final time, hoping that their threat was a lie as Loki claimed…

It wasn't.