Round Table

by Bluestar076

In the kingdom of Seven, miles away from the Fairy Tail guild, Lunafreya Lacrima becomes the new queen and decides to find a guild of fellow knights to become stronger and improve her traits to become a proper guide for the land. To do so, these knights will embark on adventures of every type with allies and fellow guilds as new threats approach (SYOC closed).

5. The Shadow Over Innsmouth

Round Table Chapter 5: The Shadow Over Innsmouth

By Bluestar076

Hello guys! Bluestar here with a new chapter! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Yes, I know. It's already the fourth time but this time…I honestly tried, but I don't know, it's just that in this period I can't get to work with Digimon Adventure 04, so I've come back on this story hoping that I can get some rhythm for continuing the chapter on the other side. So, for now, we're here once again with this story, introducing more OCs as we're continuing through this first arc! If any of you recognize the title I'm referring to, you can understand which vibe this chapter will give! In addition to that, there will be an element that will anticipate what's coming next once all the members are gathered! So, with this said, we can start this new chapter! As always, I hope you enjoy it!

Note: I do not own Fairy Tail. All rights and characters belong to Hiro Mashima, A-1 Pictures, CloverWorks, and J.C. Staff.

Chapter 5: The Shadow Over Innsmouth

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Seven – Innsmouth Port

The mist was oppressive, surrounding everything. Those who would have entered inside that abandoned port would have inevitably fallen victim to the fog, unable to recognize any direction, even friends from foes, becoming easy prey for any creature that lurked inside that place standing close to the sea, which water was green, unusual, almost alien.

Yet…there was someone brave enough to go inside there and investigate. But no one assured them that it would have been an easy task.

In the heart of that port, a figure who still had their consciousness stable was looking at the situation from a roof. A young girl to be precise. She had pale skin and long, silky black hair, a slim, athletic body with medium-sized breasts, and a few scars here and there. She also had a blue eye, and an eyepatch on her right one. She was wearing white armor with black underpants that also had fewer protective plates than most armor to be agile and fast, but it still covered a good part of her body.

The girl was observing the streets of the port with a cold and serious expression. "This isn't good. I can sense the huge presence of something paranormal, but I can't help but think that I've been wandering like a stray cat for hours." She commented before raising her head. "And I'm positive that this mist is the cause of this. If it wasn't for my training, I'm sure that I would have collapsed a lot earlier. Still…I need to find the source of this singularity before I'm completely drained."

Just as she was done speaking, a vibrating noise caught her attention again. "Ah!" When she looked around, she could see several fish-like creatures with yellow-glowing eyes crawling up to the roof, staring at her creepily.

"Tch. More sirens. They must have sensed my scent." The girl commented.

"FRRRRRR!" After emitting another one of their noises, the sirens immediately jumped to assault the girl who, as an answer, quickly grabbed a particular whip out of her armor. The whip was made of small scales of blessed metal.

Despite the weight of the weapon, the girl was able to swing it perfectly and accurately, making it hit all the sirens that attacked her several times, piercing through her body. It was like looking at a long and lethal pinwheel spinning. In the end, all the pieces were falling down from the roof, giving the girl a chance to escape.

She quickly jumped from roof to roof to widen the distance between the monsters while holding tightly the whip.

"As long as they don't corner me, I should be fine!" She thought. Right at that moment, several more sirens tried to jump as soon as she did. "Dammit, clever ones." She called it for herself, but even in such a situation, her cool composure didn't abandon her and instead went right for the answer.

She closed her eyes and crossed her arms, opening her palms. She seemed to suffer a bit while concentrating her magic, but in still a short time, several circles of magic appeared around her. "Bloody Dance!" The circles generated several blades that she took and used to pierce down the sirens' bodies, moving forward by jumping on their bodies with movements that seemed like a lethal dance.

In the end, she could land on another roof completely safe, to see another siren trying to fry her with laser beams. The girl could see it coming thanks to a warning she got from her special eyepatch. She quickly took a sword from her armor that resembled a whip to deflect the laser back to the sender and blast it away.

"Phew…" She looked around to see if more were coming, but the calm yet creepy silence seemed to return, implying that she could breathe for the moment. But after all that time she was on that port, she knew well that this quiet wasn't going to last for too long.

"The attacks are getting more frequent every second that passes. I need to find the source of this singularity as soon as possible." She said to herself while holding the weapon tightly. "I'll make it happen. I've never missed a single hunt, and this won't be the first time. Or else…I won't be able to be ready for that day."

Ruina Cobolof – One-eyed Huntress

With that in mind, the young lady resumed her search. But little did she know…that she was being observed.

A few meters away from her, another figure was observing her. Judging by the silhouette, it seemed like another lady, who seemed…pleased with what she was seeing.

"You can run as you want…but you won't be able to hide forever." She whispered with a suspicious glint in her eye.

---

The Next day…

Seven – Capital of Somnus

Much like the other days, as soon as the sun rose, the bustling life of the citizens filled once again the streets of the capital of the kingdom. Many were surprised by the fact that this scenario was becoming the norm after all the challenges that the Ishgar continent had to go through. But certainly, it wasn't like someone was going to complain. Especially because of all the troubles they had been through, even Seven deserved some peace, and besides, there was still space for new and unexpected events, such as a newcomer.

STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.

Right at the entrance of the eastern section of the capital, stood a huge knight that was able to reach the grand door. Judging by the heavy breaths he was making, he had walked for a while by now.

Surely, what was immediately visible about him was his armor, which was indeed different from what most of the knights used to wear. It was sleek black and had silver accents that gleamed with an almost predatory sheen whenever he moved. The angular plates gave him an imposing silhouette and the gauntlets were equipped with sharp claw-like tips. The armor also had a poncho that flew with every step, contrasting sharply with the rigid lines of the armor. His face was covered in a helmet with two long horns resembling a bull's.

As soon as he saw the huge door, he raised his head, seeming pleased with what he was looking at. "Aaah, finally! This must be the capital. Now I need to find that…queen." He spoke. The armor made his voice reverb in a threatening way. With his goal in mind, he stepped in.

Inside the capital, the citizens were minding their business and were overall calm and happy…until they could see the huge knight starting to walk through the street. With their eyes widened and having already swallowed, the people began to free the road for him. He didn't attack them yet, but they were terrified that he could still have done something.

Not too far from him, two knights were sitting on two barrels. Seeing how nothing particular was happening to get their attention, they sat down to have a game of mahjong. But as soon as they heard the heavy footsteps, they both raised their heads. "What the?" When they turned around, they widened their eyes, much like the citizens, underneath their helmets, when they saw the giant knight approach her.

The huge figure stopped in his tracks just a few centimeters from the two knights and stared at them without saying anything at first.

On the other hand, the two soldiers quickly drew their swords, even if they were a bit scared. "S-Stop right there! One wrong step and we won't hesitate to strike!" One of them exclaimed.

And the huge knight as an answer…raised his hands in surprise and worry. "Ah! Wait, wait! Have I done something wrong? In that case, I surrender!"

"Uh?" The two knights looked at each other confused as that wasn't surely the reaction they expected.

"I'm very sorry. I surely didn't want to scare you guys. I just arrived after several days of traveling, that's all." The huge warrior continued. "I just wanted to ask a question, that's all!"

The two soldiers still didn't know what to say but…he seemed sincere with his tone. So, it was worth a shot. "Uhm…sure? What do you want to know?"

"Do you happen to know where can I find Lunafreya Lacrima?" The big warrior asked.

Immediately, the two knights raised their weapons again. "What business do you have with the queen!?"

In exchange, the big warrior panicked again. "Ah! No, no, no, I swear! I don't have bad intentions! I worked for her father in the past! I just wanted to talk to her about the guild she had founded! I was interested!"

Once again, the knights were confused and looked around…making the bigger one feel a bit uncomfortable. "Uhm…Have I said something wrong?"

"Oh, no, not at all. Forgive us, we may have rushed a bit and acted rudely." One of the knights told him.

"No big deal!" The big warrior replied.

The second knight pointed at a way. "At the moment, the queen is at the city's arena in the northern section of the capital. She's watching a tournament, so you may have to wait a bit before talking to her."

Those words caught the armored giant's curiosity. "A tournament, uh? Hmm…well! Thank you for the courtesy! Have a good day!" And with those words, he left for his new destination.

The two knights were simply left there…looking at him with a drop of sweat near their heads. They then looked at each other in astonishment.

"Ever since the queen had founded her guild, we had started to see the most bizarre people in town, hadn't we?"

"Is this the effects that guild have?"

"Maybe…do you remember when we visited Hippogriff Wings?"

"Don't make me remember when we visited Hippogriff Wings…"

15 minutes later…

The new information gave the huge knight a few more meters to walk, but he didn't complain about it since, in the end, he still arrived at his destination.

After gathering some more attention, he stumbled upon what seemed to be a squared arena with a few flags on the tips and several tents nearby. Adding to that, he could hear loud cheers coming from the center.

"This must be it! At least I think so…" The huge knight commented. He then tried to come closer and saw a ticket seller from the other side. "Hey, you!"

"Uh?" The man raised his head and as soon as he saw the knight in his shape… "AH! AAAAAAH!" He shouted out and immediately started to run toward the inside.

"Hey wait! I just want to ask something!" The huge knight tried to come closer, but he went straight, and by doing so, he carried the boundary markers with himself.

"STAY AWAY FROM-" The ticket-seller continued to run until he slammed his face against a wall and fainted.

"OH BOY!" The huge knight immediately ran toward him and checked how he was. There was a pulse but his nose was still bleeding. A bit nervous, he quickly looked around to check if there was someone observing and misunderstanding. Luckily, that didn't seem to be the case. "I'll…just leave him here…I'll call someone later…"

Even if in a goofy way, the huge knight was able to enter inside the arena, but quickly got lost between the various roads. "Dammit! Who designed this? I don't know where I'm going! Oh! Maybe there?" After seeing an exit, he quickly went close to it.

Once he could see the outside, he quickly figured out that he ended up directly at the ring's entrance. There, he could see the various knights who decided to participate and the bleachers with at least a hundred people in there, all cheering and looking excited. "Woah…"

And then, looking around, right at the center of the bleachers, he could see a different spot, one with a red carpet and several distinguished golden chairs. It was then…that he could see her.

"Ah! There she is! That must be the queen!"

That morning, Lunafreya, after dedicating the first morning to her duties as a queen, decided to take some free time to look at one of the weekly rumbles that occurred in the arena, just to feel closer to more groups of her citizens. That day, she even brought her mother Aurelia, Bogardius, Persephone, and even the other members of Round Table, who were all sitting near her.

"Brave knights, paladins, squires, or aspiring warriors! You are gathered here this morning to prove your strength and valor! Be prepared for every eventuality because you'll never know how your enemy could outsmart you! So, make your ground solid and fight with all you can! Whether it's triumph or failure that will await you, remember that you will have participated and that you got your chance to shine!" To start, she delivered a speech to the knights who participated and felt more secure, while also wearing her armor.

She then immediately turned around, a bit nervous. "How did I go?"

Pavlova immediately raised two thumbs at her. "You were great, Your Majesty!"

"Maybe a bit pessimistic as a speech, but it'll do for now," Scuti added.

"Oh, come now, Scuti! Don't be that hard on her, she's still practicing!" Vivienne told him before smiling at the queen. "I do think it was a good start-off!"

"Don't worry, darling, it's always like this at the beginning! With practice, it'll get better. I still remember my first times!" Aurelia added.

"I…don't think that's something to laugh off, Your Highness," Bogardius told her.

Lunafreya then sat on her throne. "Well…that's great to know! And honestly, I don't mind if Scuti lends me some criticism, they can help me to grow. Thanks again, Scuti!"

Scuti looked at the arena with his usual apathetic expression. "Just doing my job." He spoke before sipping a pineapple juice with a straw.

"Now the next step will be able to assist without overreacting. Oh boy, this is going to be hard…" The young queen continued.

"In that case, may I please you with a cup of tea, goshujin-sama? Me and Myuu prepared it together." Honoka proposed, already holding the table with the cups.

"Aww, thank you, girls!" Lunafreya was more than happy to take it and sniff the scent. "Earl Grey! It's even my favorite!" Before drinking it, she looked at Myuu. "I'm surprised you wanted to do us this favor! You're very sweet!"

The twilight-purple-haired girl blushed a bit and looked down. "Uhm…I thought that it was the least I could do. It's still beyond what I expected to be here, sitting with you after the way we met each other…besides, as a queen, you surely need something that can calm you down, and…tea is the best way." She spoke. As she was relaxing with people she knew, Myuu was wearing her casual clothing, a black mofuku with a yellow spider lily on the lower half, with a black obi around her waist that was embroidered with yellow flowers.

Lunafreya couldn't handle the diabetic sweetness and quickly hugged Myuu, making her more embarrassed. "Awww! You're just the best! And don't worry! That's all in the past now. You're here now, as a mage of Round Table and you're here with friends."

"Friends…" Myuu whispered, still new to the idea, but not that she disliked it.

Even Aurelia got closer to her and started to massage her shoulders. "And the fact that you've already proposed yourself to make my daughter relax means that you're already liking this new life, don't you think darling?"

"A-Ah! L-Lady Aurelia, you too?" Myuu asked, almost red as a tomato. "Well…yes, if I have to be honest…"

"That was what I wanted to hear! So, relax as well and enjoy the show!" Aurelia continued.

Grendel, on the other hand, snorted, visibly annoyed. "Enjoy the show…this is absolute bullshit! How can I enjoy it if I have to sit here and watch when I could join as well? You can't tell me that you have weekly matches and I'm stuck here!" She complained.

"Yeah, think of the fun we could get if we were there! Or if we were against each other!" Faris added.

"Uhm…Grendel, Faris, if you think about it, you're legal mages with a certain power level and these are probably simple warriors. Don't you think it would be a bit unfair if you chimed in?" Hector told them. Like Myuu, he was also wearing casual clothes. He was wearing a black vest-like jacket with black pants and brown shoes under his vest was a shirt-short sleeve button shirt with a black tie.

"So what? More fun for us throwing them around the ring!" Grendel countered.

"Can you imagine if we start using them to play baseball?" Faris told her with a smirk, followed by a boastful laughter coming from the two of them.

Hector simply looked at them with a skeptical face. "Rrright…"

"You know that trying to reason with brawny people is as challenging as taking down a God Dragon, right?" Persephone told him.

"I may have acknowledged that, yeah." Her adoptive brother answered back. "By the way, Persephone, am I already gathering attention from the bleachers?" He then whispered.

"A few at six o'clock…" The humanoid exceed told him.

When the boy raised his stare, he could see the girl in question already enchanted by him even if she was meters away from him. "When will I ever get peace?"

Alexis on the other hand was looking at the two tomboys of the group. "Seriously, girls! You fight dark mages and monsters on a regular schedule and you're not satisfied?" She asked.

"NO." This was the answer she got back from them that left her speechless.

"To be fair, this is a good answer," Augusta told her.

"Well, it will still be pleasant to see these fine warriors prove themselves in this rumble! Especially when the sun's shining brightly for them! Don't you think, Xavier?" Escanor asked the self-proclaimed demon prince.

"Absolutely! Let's see if they're worthy of this stage! Even though I can't confirm it for myself since…you know." Xavier replied, pointing at his blindfold.

"Oh…right…" Escanor said back, feeling a little bit guilty.

"Oh boy! Uhm, Honoka, would you mind commenting on what happens to Xavier?" Lunafreya asked her maid, who immediately nodded.

"Of course, goshujin-sama." Like nothing, the short maid went close to the red-haired boy with her chair.

It was at that moment that Bogardius turned around to look at the queen. "The knights are ready, Your Highness."

"Oh, that's perfect!" After hearing that, Lunafreya stood up and came closer, something that the huge knight at the entrance noticed.

"Oh, boy, here we go!"

"Without further ado, may the best win! Let the battle BEGIN!" Raising her arm, Lunafreya gave the signal, and like nothing, the arena roared between the cheers and the battle cries that the knights left out.

SWING! CLASH! SWISS! CLANG! Bonk.

The battle was infuriating, as it was an all-versus-all. The knights did their best to fight with what they had and ensure they were the only ones standing. The crowd was already excited, especially those who made their bets on a specific participant, encouraging their favorite one.

"Well, they're surely doing their best!" Escanor commented.

Aurelia was already clapping her hand in excitement. "Oh oh oh oh! How delightful!"

"Meh. I could do it better." Grendel commented.

Pavlova was looking curious while her tail was wiggling. "Man, it's difficult to root for someone like this!"

"Do you perhaps have any favorite ones, Your Majesty?" Alexis asked.

"Oh, I really don't have any particular chosen one! I like to stay neutral and just…reward whoever is the winne-" Lunafreya was about to answer but…

"WREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Suddenly, a louder shout than the others gathered both her and everyone else's attention, who were stunned to see a far bigger knight abruptly enter the arena and chime into the rumble as well.

"What the!?" The queen exclaimed.

Aurelia looked at Bogardius confused. "We made sure that all participants were in there, right?"

"Y-Yes, my lady! I've confirmed sixty warriors in total!" The general replied, looking back at the list.

The huge warrior in the meantime already swung his weapons: a pair of bearded axes that already started to wipe away each knight that they touched while also making sure to not kill them. In doing so, he showed outstanding strength that led him to take down the opponents with a single blow. Adding to that was his height which made him a hard block to take down for the others.

Even if it was an all-against-all, some knights chimed in together and tried to charge against him en mass. The bigger knight looked at the scene and made a loud laugh. "Oh, man! Do you want to mess with me? WITH THIS MERCENARY!? Sorry to burst your bubble but you've picked up on the wrong man!" He proclaimed. He then stood in a fighting stance and the mages of Round Table could see what seemed to be an aura coming from him.

Vivienne in particular noticed what he was doing, as she saw something similar. "What!? Enchant Magic!?"

"Enchant: Speed Boost!" The big knight used a spell to increase his reflexes and once he was ready, he charged against the small group of knights with his elbow exposed. And once he touched them…

Great Shot!

The knights all fell apart like pins, allowing the big knight to resume the battle with the rest.

The mages of Round Table, on the other hand, were looking astonished.

"Such strength! Where does he come from!?" Escanor asked.

"He's still doing great!" Pavlova added.

"Indeed. Even without his magic, he's still showing a huge physical strength…maybe even on par with mine." Augusta commented.

"AH MAN! NOW I REALLY WANT TO FIGHT HIM! CAN I DO IT, QUEENIE!?" Grendel asked, getting exasperated.

"N-Not now! I don't want the scene to get more chaotic than now!" Lunafreya told her, making Grendel start to act like the rare siamang gibbon.

Somehow both Honoka and Myuu were caught by the scene. "Those axes…they're so…violent…" The maid whispered.

"Yeah…I wonder how satisfying it is to chop someone with them…" The other lady added, especially considering that she also had an axe as a weapon.

And while Scuti just kept on looking at the scene while drinking his pineapple juice, Alexis started to get pale in the face and looked at the queen. "S-Should we do something, Your Majesty? Isn't this out of the rules?"

"Wait." Suddenly…Lunafreya raised a hand. All eyes were on her. "The holy item has descended on the battleground. The one that can deliver misfortune to those who get struck by it…and the same one that can give the ultimate victory to the one who manages to wield it.

When everyone else looked at her same direction they could see it…lying on the ground.

A closed chair.

Even Faris gasped. "The chair!"

"The destroyer of lives!" Grendel added.

Augusta sweated. "Whoever gets to wield it…will decide the outcome of this battle."

The knights all looked up to it…even the giant, who made a delighted grin underneath his helmet.

All the participants already run toward it, and before one of the regular ones could grab it, the huge knight slipped with the heel and took it from himself.

As soon as he raised his outstanding body with the tremendous item, all the knights started to shake from beneath their armor.

"They started to tremble for a reason," Xavier spoke. "He. Has. The chair."

Without hesitating, the huge knight started to chase down all the remaining opponents while wielding the chair. The enemies tried to run as fast as they could just to keep that sparkle of hope for their victory active or at least to make sure that they could get home without too many bruises. But it was all useless. The giant warrior reached them in a short time and…

SBANG! SDONK! BING! Bonk.

All knights fell prey to the impact of the chair, and all were inevitably struck down with their armor to pieces.

"I-I wanna go home…" One of them whined while trying to crawl away.

All that was left was the huge knight…who, despite being an unexpected third party, got the praises from the bleachers. Needless to say, he loved them.

"YEEEES! YES! Thank you! Oh, thank you! You're so kind! I do it for you!" He spoke.

The mages of Round Table simply…stared at the scene, incredulous.

"Well, this is particular. An unexpected adding fighter won fair and square but at the same time, this technically counts as a pitch invasion." Scuti commented.

"And the way he made those knights fly away…OH DAMMIT, NOW I REALLY WANT TO FIGHT HIM!" Grendel complained.

Bogardius came closer to the queen and whispered. "Should I make the guards go after him?" He asked.

Lunafreya looked carefully at the winner and made a decision. "No…I have a better idea." She then cleared her throat and…

"People of Somnus! Here's our weekly champion!"

The cheers increased high. The other mages of Round Table were a bit confused by that answer, but they wouldn't have denied that they liked the show as well, so they clapped their hands as well.

Even the big knight was a bit surprised, as a small part of him thought that now he was in trouble.

Shortly after, Lunafreya and her guildmates jumped from the bleachers, landing on their feet to reach out for the winner (Bogardius and Aurelia simply went through the stairs).

"Congratulations, huge knight! You surely proved yourself out there with that outstanding strength of yours!" Lunafreya told him.

"Yeah, and the fact that you have an Enchant Magic as well surely surprised me as well!" Vivienne added.

"Oh, thank you! I just…went with the vibes, that's all! Sticking to my nature!" The huge knight replied.

Faris raised an eyebrow on that. "Nature?" She then smelled something coming from him. "Now that I think of it…his smell seems…familiar."

"Well, as much as you would go with your guts, you still came here unsubscribed and therefore without permission." Bogardius quickly told him.

"Yeah, try to keep it in mind next time!" Alexis added.

Those other answers quickly changed the knight's mood. "Ah! O-Oh God, I forgot!" He quickly bowed down. It was a bit comical to see such a big figure formerly asking sorry. "I sincerely apologize. My intentions were different at first, but as I got lost and ended up here, I inevitably got caught by the excitement! It's…a tic of mine."

Alexis was actually caught by surprise by that answer. "W-Wow…he does know some good manners…"

"Yeah! And let's not exaggerate with him! He still gave us the match we wanted!" Escanor added.

"Absolutely! Even if I couldn't see anything, I perfectly heard the powerful sound of the chair!" Xavier chimed in. "What do you say, Your Majesty? Can we give him the prize?"

"I'd say he deserves it! At least just for this once." Pavlova replied.

Lunafreya nodded. "Yeah, we can close an eye this time. It's not like he made a scene or attempted to attack me…right?" She asked.

"Oh, absolutely not! I just arrived at this capital this day after a good handful of time! I was searching for you, queen Lunafreya!" The huge knight replied.

As soon as he said it, Bogardius, Augusta, and Honoka immediately grabbed their swords and pointed at him. "AH!"

"OH! Does that mean we can fight him?" Faris asked, already grabbing her two swords.

"FINALLY!" Grendel added, cracking her knuckles.

"Uhm, guys? Slow it down, please?" Aurelia asked with a nervous smile.

"What business do you have with goshujin-sama?" Honoka simply asked with a cold tone.

"And you'd better choose carefully your words," Augusta added.

Hector and Persephone were looking at the scene confused. "Is this how outsiders are usually greeted here in Seven?" The boy asked.

"You know, Hector…part of me wants to say yes," Xavier told him.

"I SAID I'M SORRY!" Vivienne whined.

"And here I thought I was violent…" Myuu quietly commented.

"AH! C-Could you please lower those things? I swear, I don't have bad intentions!" The knight asked, raising his hands in case he had to surrender.

"Exactly guys, come on! It's not like anyone who wants to talk to me wants to kill me!" Lunafreya told them.

"What about Laliette?" Myuu asked her.

"…Well you get the point! Give him some air! Put those things down!" Lunafreya said.

Augusta and Honoka looked down as they withdrew their weapons. "We're sorry…"

"Y-Yeah, me too…" Bogardius added. "Can't believe I actually chimed in…"

"This day is just getting worse every second it passes!" Grendel exclaimed, frustrated that she missed yet another fight.

"I know, right!?" Faris told her.

5 minutes later…

To be more private, the mages and the knight went outside the arena and talked properly, with Bogardius who took the chance to get back to the castle.

For starters, Vivienne handed the mysterious warrior a formal ticket with the written 150.000 on it. "Here you go! 150.000 Jewels for winning the match."

"Oh gee, thanks! I'll make sure to spend them properly!" The knight asked.

"So, what business you wanted to have with the queen, sir knight?" Alexis asked.

"Now that I think of it…before that, I want to look at you directly. Could you please take off your armor?" Lunafreya asked.

As soon as she said it, everyone was looking at her with wide eyes speechless. Even Xavier widened them underneath the blindfold.

"What?" The queen asked.

"Well, this comes as a surprise. I didn't expect you to be this direct with men." Scuti commented with his usual expression.

"Yeah, and here I thought I raised you with some tact, sweetheart," Aurelia added while nodding.

Naturally, the young queen got fully red in her face as soon as she realized what they understood. "NO WAIT, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I JUST WANTED TO SEE HIM IN FACE, COME ON!"

"I don't know, My Lady, that seemed…a bit direct," Myuu replied.

Vivienne took the chance to look at the knight. "Are you perhaps naked under that armor?"

"Uhm, no?" The knight asked.

The royal sorceress quickly looked back at Lunafreya winking. "You saved yourself this time!"

"YOU'RE THE LAST PERSON WHO CAN SAY THAT, VIVIENNE!" The queen whined, shaking her arms. She then tried to regain her composure, clearing her throat. "Uhm…you can proceed sir. I'm…sorry for this inconvenience."

"Nah, don't worry! I've witnessed far worse! Alright, here we go!" With those words, The huge knight started to quickly remove the various armor pieces to show his true look.

"Ooooh!" A surprised choir came from everyone (except Scuti) as they finally could see him properly.

"What does he look like?" Xavier asked.

"Bulky to say the least! Now I can see how he could fit in that armor!" Hector replied.

And it was just like he said. The huge knight was revealed to be a man standing an imposing 213 centimeters tall with broad shoulders and a muscular physique that seemed sculptured from granite. He had caramel skin with intricate tattoos winded around his arms and chest as well as multiple faded scars. He had a wild mane of plum-colored hair, an aquiline nose, and sharp, toxic green eyes. Some more scars were on his face. He was wearing a black and burgundy poncho that flowed around him, showing off his bare chest and tattoos. He wore dark taupe harem pants that fitted comfortably and tapered at the ankles, along with brown leather sandals. Around his neck were leather cords with talismans and beads from his travels and he had silver cuffs on his wrists and ankles.

The huge person looked at them with a smirk. "I know that you may caught off by my looks, but I assure you that I don't bite. I also think that I still haven't introduced myself properly! My name is Orlok Rodrigo. A pleasure to meet you all!"

Orlok Rodrigo – The Mercenary King

"Wow…he looks so cool!" Pavlova commented while wiggling her tail.

Augusta took the chance to come closer to him and examine his build properly. "Hmmm…you seem to have the right muscles at the right place. Do you train constantly?"

"Of course I do! I wouldn't be a proper mercenary if I didn't! Besides daily exercise, my diet is based on pork meat and protein bars." Orlok replied.

Augusta seemed pleased to hear that. "Just what I wanted to listen. Maybe we could share some P.E. tips later.

"Don't mind if I do!" The huge man answered back.

"Orlok…Rodrigo, you say?" Escanor then asked.

"You know him, Escanor?" Lunafreya asked.

"Kinda…I do remember his name flying around among the voices in the royal army. Tell me, is this perhaps not your first time here in Seven? Or better yet, directly at the capital?" The blonde knight asked.

"Oh! It seems that someone here knows me already! Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, I did wander here around in Seven a few times. Sometimes even took some requests on behalf of King Aegium himself." Orlok confessed.

"Uh!?" Alexis, Augusta, and Vivienne exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, wait, you knew my father!?" Lunafreya asked.

"Why yes! As I said, he asked me for some jobs as a mercenary a few years ago! I tend to help out mostly anyone out there and so I've got my title as the Mercenary King! No pun intended." Orlok explained.

"Ooooh, 'Mercenary King?'" Faris asked before licking her lips. "Now you've piqued my curiosity."

"Don't expect to get out of there before allowing us a fight, big boy!" Grendel added.

"Can you at least wait until we're done talking!?" Alexis scolded them.

"Oooh, now I remember!" Aurelia suddenly said. "Yes! I do remember you talking to my husband sometimes! You surely got bigger from those days!"

The huge man blushed a bit. "O-Oh well, it's only normal…" He replied. "Anyways…during my travels, I've recently heard of King Aegium's departure two years ago…and that his daughter had taken his place to the thrones." He made a small bow. "First off, I want to give you my condolences. Within the few times I've talked to him, he seemed a great man."

Lunafreya and Aurelia couldn't help but make a sweet smile as they bowed back. "You have our thanks for that."

With that done, Orlok stood up. "And second…after hearing that, I've heard that not only Lunafreya was able to strafe a coup against her a day after the crowning, but that she also founded a guild of knights!"

Lunafreya blushed a bit. "O-Oh my…did the news spread that fast?"

"You are a queen, after all!" Persephone reminded him.

"And you did make a proclamation when we opened the guild!" Vivienne added.

"Eh eh…right." The queen agreed. "Wait…does that mean that…?"

Orlok made a small laugh upon hearing that. "You guessed it! I was wondering if I could join!"

Vivienne and Augusta looked at each other with a small smile. "Three…two…one…"

"GAAAAAAAASP!" Much like she did with the others who offered themselves to join, Lunafreya made a huge gasp with starry eyes. "You…You really mean it!? But wait…aren't you a mercenary already?"

"Well yes, but honestly, I think working as a legal mage is a far more satisfying job! Besides, you had the guts to oppose and take down a defector openly and I already see a lot of people on your side! How many of you are in total?" Orlok asked.

"Thirteen," Honoka replied.

"Thirteen! Already thirteen knights on your side! Isn't that already part of your stunning charisma?" Orlok told her.

Alexis immediately raised her hand. "I AGREE!"

"Goshujin-sama is a nice person, after all," Honoka added.

"And I think I don't need to hear the others! It's already more than enough for me to join!" Orlok concluded before noticing that Lunafreya's eyes were making waterfalls. "Uhm…are you all right?"

"Y-Yeah it's just that…hearing that I'm doing a good job always moves me…" The queen replied with a silly tone.

"Get used to that." Both Vivienne and Aurelia told the huge knight with a small smug smile.

"COME OOOON!" Lunafreya whined while shaking her arms again.

"Ah-ha! Isn't this a reason to celebrate? Yet another warrior joins our bizarre adventures!" Xavier commented.

"HELL YEAH IT IS!" Grendel immediately replied. "Now I have a valid reason to challenge you!"

Orlok looked at her and then at the others. "Should I get used to that too?"

"YOU BET!" The girl answered for him.

A few minutes later…

Somnus – Guild of Round Table

After hearing about Orlok's true intentions and sending their regards to Aurelia, who came back to the castle, the mages of Round Table headed toward the headquarters of their guild, and the huge knight was already impressed by the look of the place.

"Oh my! I've guessed that since it was run by the queen herself this would have been a fancy place, but this is truly another level!" Orlok commented.

"I'm glad that you like it! Unless you find a place of your own, this will even turn out to be your home!" Lunafreya answered back.

"Oh, and make sure to be clean whenever you get inside here," Augusta warned the man. "Our queen hates seeing her personal spaces getting dirty."

"…Is that true?" Orlok asked.

"Absolutely yes." The queen replied. While her tone seemed gentle, the man could feel a dreadful aura of homicide behind that smile that pushed him a bit back.

"Trust me…I know how it feels…" Grendel told him.

"Alright…so…what is that we do know? Is there an activity I can participate in already? If I have to be honest I can't stand staying around playing with my thumbs for too long, I get the tingling every time!" Orlok then asked.

"You seem to keep yourself busy all day!" Escanor observed. "A respectful decision, no doubt."

"Oh, oh, oh!" Pavlova answered for him, sounding like she was barking. "We have lots of activities you can do! We have the gym, we have the playroom, you can throw me a stick and I'll take it back!"

"Throw you a stick…?" Orlok asked, starting to wonder if those dog ears Pavlova had weren't just for show.

The girl lowered her ears trying to look elsewhere embarrassed. "Ehm, forget that. We have the spa where you can relax, we have the kitchen where you can try to amaze us and the queen herself with your cooks, and you can join Honoka in cleaning the guild!" She then continued, talking at a fast pace and never catching her breath.

Honoka thought carefully of it. "I've never had an assistant before…"

"Or, well, you can dive already into your first mission and show us what we can do! The message board is on the first floor, just right in front of us. While we do accept you in the guild, we're still curious to see what you can do apart from what you showed us in the tournament." Vivienne added.

"I second that! Besides, I couldn't show you why they call me the mercenary king if I showed my true skills!" Orlok said. "I'm already all fired up!"

"Oh my, mentioning famous mages to prove your point? Quite interesting to say the least!" Vivienne replied, recognizing where he took the reference.

"He's not wrong, though! I think I've given you a satisfying performance of what I can do as a Demon Prince after all!" Xavier agreed.

"You'd better not disappoint me then, big boy!" Faris added.

"Oh trust me, I'll-" Orlok was about to give his word, but right at that moment…

Knock Knock Knock.

Three knocks were given at the main door, making everyone turn around.

"It seems we already have someone else who's looking for us," Augusta commented.

"That means you're already making a name out of yourself!" Orlok added, making the queen blush.

"O-Oh, come now…don't exaggerate."

"Should I go open, goshujin-sama?" Honoka proposed.

"Yes, go-" Lunafreya wanted to accept but she remembered the last time someone went inside the guild and how she reacted. "Err…actually…how about you go, Myuu?"

The twilight-haired girl was surprised to hear that. "Me? Well…if you wish, my lady…" Without opposing too much, she went toward the door.

"Do you think she'll get used to being treated normally soon, Persephone?" Hector asked, looking at the scene.

"Well, she does seem to feel comfortable at least." The humanoid exceed replied.

Once she reached it, Myuu opened the door and immediately behaved peacefully. "Yes? Oh!"

"What is it, Myuu?" Lunafreya asked.

Myuu turned around and looked at the others. "It may be something important, My Lady…" She moved to the right to reveal that the one who knocked was an old man wearing a white cassock, who seemed happy to see the queen.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. It's good to see that you're fine."

Both Lunafreya and Vivienne were indeed surprised to see him. "Ah! Father Nohansen!"

"Father Nohansen?" Orlok asked.

It was Scuti who replied for him. "He's the archbishop of the cathedral of Somnus, and the representative of Seven of the White Church, the most important cleric faction of Earth Land."

"Oh yeah! I did hear of them! I happened to read that the Holy Father himself had recently descended in a market at Caelum!" The huge knight commented.

"This man here is also the one who crowned Luna here on the big day!" Vivienne added.

Xavier, on the other hand, panicked. "ARCHIBISHOP!? WHITE CHURCH!?" He immediately went behind a staircase, gathering everyone's attention.

"Uhm…Xavier?" Myuu asked.

"I'M STANDING ON A SAFETY DISTANCE!" The red-haired boy answered back, getting a drop of sweat coming from everybody.

Lunafreya made a nervous smile at the archbishop. "Ehm…please ignore him, father. I'm happy to see you too! I come every Sunday to pray, but I never got the chance to talk properly to you ever since my crowning."

"Oh, don't worry about it. What's important for me is that you're doing your job as a queen with inner peace and support from the gods. And that crown really fits you, Your Highness! Oh, right, I've heard that you also go by the name of Lady Arthur now!" The old archbishop answered back.

"That's what we always say to her, right Honoka?" Vivienne said, making the short maid nod.

"The last thing I have at the moment is inner peace…" Lunafreya thought at that moment, wanting to rebut what he said.

"But please, what brings you here at our humble abode, father?" Escanor asked.

"Well…I wanted to ask if you were kind enough to accept a request for me. Your guild was the closest one to the cathedral and I did hear that apart from being handled by you, Your Majesty, you're starting to get recognition for your talent as knights." Noahnsen explained.

"Ha! I already like this man! Acknowledging quality when he sees some!" Faris already exclaimed, getting a skeptical face from Augusta and Honoka.

"Don't worry, father! I'm pretty sure we'd all be happy to hear about it! I just happen to join in!" Orlok already proposed himself. "Am I right?"

"Yes!" Almost everyone said.

"Hm." This was all that Scuti mumbled.

"You can see how most of us feel motivated! What type of request do you have for us?" Lunafreya then asked.

"Right, right, I'll go straight up ahead, Your Majesty. Have you ever heard of the Innsmouth Port?" The archbishop asked.

"The…Innsmouth Port?" Grendel asked, not knowing what it was.

"It's an old port that once served as a point for fishing discharge and the trade of goods overseas. It was also the landing point for those who reached Seven through small methods like boats, leaving to a lot of illegal landings." Escanor explained.

"Still…if I recall correctly, that port was closed almost sixty years ago in X736 because of a plague that deteriorated the structure and killed a lot of the sailors and those who lived nearby. Even if the place got fumigated, it was still abandoned, and no one tried to return there again." Augusta added.

Upon hearing that, Pavlova started to sweat. "M-Man! Already some red flags, I see!"

"Don't tell me…" Persephone added.

"Indeed. What you all say is true, especially considering that I was still in my youth when that place was open and infested. But still, the reason why I'm here is because of that port." The archbishop clarified.

"Judging by the premise of the place, it already seems something serious," Scuti asked.

"It may be. It happened right two days ago. A traveler came to the cathedral and asked for sanctuary. When we saw him, he had bleeding cuts everywhere. It was a miracle that he was able to resist and reach the capital," Nohansen started to explain.

"Bleeding?" Myuu asked.

"When we asked him how he ended up in that way, he told us that he had arrived in our nation by boat and ended up landing in the forgotten port, where he swore to see a deep mist that covered anything. Before he could even try to wander…he got attacked by what seemed to be claws and fangs of monsters he couldn't identify, but only hear the distorted roar." The archbishop continued.

"Monsters? So…the plague had made the port unbearable for humans but allowed some other creatures to live in it? Kinda like the Delvar Hamlet?" Pavlova tried to guess.

"Either that, or there's some explanation behind it," Augusta added.

"That's right. And because of that, I've sent someone to investigate the place, telling them to be careful." Nohansen said.

"Someone to investigate…oh, you mean an executioner? The special hitmen of the clerical corps?" Vivienne asked.

"They even have hitmen? Let's just hope I never meet one…" Xavier thought from under the staircase.

But the religious man shook his head. "Not really. But she still has the same experience as one of them. It's a girl that had lived in our church for a while by now, and in exchange for that, she helps us with some favors when it comes to exorcisms and purification." He replied. "Her name is Ruina. She has pale skin, silky long black hair and she wears armor, just like you."

"Really? Is she a knight of some sort?" Hector asked.

"No, not that either. But she likes to go precautious. Knowing her experience and how she helped us a lot in the past, I entrusted her with investigating the port. But…she still hasn't returned yet ever since yesterday." Nohansen added.

"This seems…quite serious, then. Especially if you said that this girl is experienced." Myuu commented.

"I know that it hasn't been that much and that it's just the possibility of the operation taking longer than expected but…knowing the port's conditions, I can't help but feel worried. That's the reason why I came here in the first place. If it's not too much…I wish you could go to the port and find out what happened to her." The archbishop concluded.

Lunafreya looked at Orlok, who nodded with a confident smile. Even the others gave a similar answer. With that in mind, the queen looked at the man and smiled at him. "We indeed opened our doors just recently but…we're still a legal guild like the others! So, we don't have a reason to say no, right?"

Naturally, the archbishop was more than happy to hear it and started to bow a few times. "Oh, thank you, Your Majesty. May the gods bless you with their wonders even more!"

That last comment made the queen blush a little. "N-Now, no need to exaggerate." She then turned around. "All right, you've heard the archbishop! This could be a tricky mission, so I think the proper move is to go in few to not lose sight of too many people."

"Smart choice indeed, Your Majesty," Augusta commented.

"And who shall be the vassals who will assist you?" Escanor added.

"Let's see, apart from Orlok, since it will be his debut mission…" The queen looked carefully at his crew. It was incredible that the guild counted fourteen members and she could choose who to follow her. Wanting to remain faithful to her words, Lunafreya thought about it for a few minutes.

"Let's see…Hector?" She then asked.

"Oh, me? No problem at all! Right, Persephone?" The boy asked his sister, who nodded.

"All right and…Myuu? Do you want to chime in as well?" Lunafreya asked.

The young lady was surprised and blushed a little. "M-Me? Well…I wouldn't want to have anything to say against it but…"

To her surprise, Lunafreya gently laid her hand on Myuu's shoulder. "Don't worry, it will be all right! I and the others will be there to assist you!"

The other girl looked down still embarrassed, but deep inside, she felt pleased. "S-Sure, then! I…wanted to show you the rest of my skills and spirits…this time on your side."

"Aww, aren't you just the cutest, Myuu? Come here!" Finding her cute, Pavlova quickly hugged her from behind.

"A-Ah!"

"I can assure it as well! We're all buddy buddies here in the guild! Nothing bad will come to you!" The dog girl continued.

Myuu looked elsewhere, feeling better inside. "That's…great to know."

As they continued the scene, Faris looked at them, and somehow…this made her think of what she had discussed with Aurelia, her aunt, just a few days earlier.

"I hope you can stay on her side. She'd surely need someone as resolute as you with her ideals."

Thinking back on that, Faris realized that she and Lunafreya had interacted with each other only in things regarding the guild. And while she was mostly ok with just being there, she still felt the need to know her closely, apart from just wanting to make Aurelia happy.

"Oi, sis, are you ok? You seem lost." Grendel called her back to reality, making her shake her head.

"…Say, sis, we still haven't done anything particular today, right?" The other girl asked.

"You'd bet. I'm starting to get in withdrawal. What about it? You want to join them?" Grendel said.

Upon hearing that, Faris made a smirk. "You know how to read me." She then turned to her cousin. "Oi, cousin! You don't mind if we get along, right?"

"Hm? Really? I never thought you would have taken this initiative." Lunafreya asked.

"Oh, come on, Luna! I'm part of this guild too, right? Who am I not to help? Besides, I think we could do some missions together once in a while, cousin and cousin, you know?" Faris replied.

"That's…very cute coming from you, Faris!" Alexis, also known as Lady Lancelot, commented.

"Aww, who would have thought that beneath that diabolical smirk stood a cute angel!" Pavlova added, making Lady Mordred blush.

"MIND YOUR BUSINESS, DAMMIT!"

"Well, if you want to assist us, I'd say you're more than welcome! Besides…I sense something similar coming from you…" Orlok replied.

"Uh? So, he noticed too?" Faris thought.

"That's right! And don't forget about me!" Grendel added with a smirk. "Let me give you a preview of when I'll ask you to spar, big boy!"

"Then don't disappoint me, tough girl!" Orlok answered back, smirking back. The two were already clashing their fronts.

"It seems you've got yourself quite the energetic mates here, Your Majesty," Nohansen commented.

"It's the magic of guilds!" Vivienne told him.

Lunafreya nodded to agree and looked at the rest of the guild. "As you know, you can put yourself to work with other missions or other chores while I'm away! I expect you to do another satisfying work, Round Table!"

"YES, YOUR MAJESTY!" Everyone else exclaimed. Alexis, Augusta, and Escanor were the most hyped up to answer.

"The rest of you, follow me! Next destination, the port of Innsmouth!" The queen concluded, moving toward the door of the guild, followed by the members who agreed to follow her.

"Goshujin-sama seems more motivated than the usual, doesn't she?" Honoka observed.

"Yeah..." Vivienne added. "She's the same as ever but…I can't help but feel a little bit more optimism in her voice today. Maybe…she's starting to get the flow of her double life…" She looked at the small group with a small smile. "What matters is that she's feeling comfortable with everything."

Scuti shrugged. "Better this way."

"I couldn't have said it more!" Escanor added before looking at the priest. "Say, Father Nohansen…even if you have the religion to follow, do you ever…praise the sun?"

The archbishop was left confused.

"ESCANOR, PLEASE DON'T BOTHER HIM!" Pavlova told him.

"And…that's how our reputation flies. I'm getting more the idea of how that Loke guy must feel inside Fairy-" Scuti wanted to add something and then…

"IS THAT PRIEST GONE?" Xavier asked, still standing behind the staircase.

That was the last straw to make the tall mage facepalm.

"Maybe you'll have to get used to this place, too, Scuti!" Vivienne told him with a silly smile.

---

Seven – Nearby Innsmouth Port

Vroooom…

A black and elegant car was driving through the roads of the land of Seven. For some, it would have been shocking to see that car go around in such small routes, and it would have been even surprising to see who was inside it.

Wearing her armor, Lunafreya drove her car while following a navigator. The car's roof had retreated, and the wind flowed in her hair. Standing on the other seats were Hector, Persephone, Grendel, Faris, Orlok, and Myuu, also wearing their armor.

Lunafreya gave a quick look at the navigator and made a satisfied look. "Good! We should be getting closer! I'm surprised that despite being closed, the port is still recorded as a local place of the nation."

"Even after that whole story? What, do they use as an attraction to make tourists come and scare them?" Faris asked.

"It would make sense if that was the case! As a professional hunter, I can say that metropolitan legends are a good way to attract tourists and people." Orlok observed.

"Yeah, especially if we count all the stories behind it. Do you remember that one of the dog pictures, Persephone?" Hector asked his sister, who trembled at the thought of it.

"The nightmares I had because of that…"

"In that case, we have to make sure that if any tourist comes by, they will find only an abandoned place, nothing more," Myuu concluded. "What surprises me the most is that not only you've decided to take a car but you also decided to by yourself, my lady." She added, referring to Lunafreya.

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal! I've always liked driving when I get the chance! Many at the guild still don't know how to ride a horse, so if needed, I'll use this for now. Besides, I wouldn't have taken a license if I couldn't drive at all!" Lunafreya replied with a wink.

"Gotta say, this car is comfy and shiny! Well, not that I would expect something less coming from a royal after all." Orlok commented.

"Yeah! It also has a lot of seats…" Hector commented.

"Is it something that it normally doesn't have? I've never been in a car before so I don't know…" Grendel asked.

"I'm glad that you liked it! I couldn't wait to share it with my guildmates! This jewel here it's a unique piece of its own! It's called Regalia, and it has been the car model designated only for the royals of Seven." Lunafreya explained.

"Really? Did we get this awesome thing? Why the fuck have I lived to Alvarez up until now then…?" Faris wondered.

"It does seem quite rare…so what would it happen if it were to be damaged?" Myuu then asked.

That simple question was enough to give Lunafreya an expression of anguish. "E-Eh eh eh…I'd rather not think about it! This car can cost up to 350.000.000 Jewels…"

"What!?" Everyone else exclaimed.

"Oh my! Uhm, sorry for that…uhm…" Feeling a bit guilty, Myuu tried to look anywhere to find something else to talk about. And right at that moment…she could see it. "Ah! My Lady, watch out! The road's getting foggy!"

"Uh?" When the queen raised her head, she could see it a few meters away, making her park near the road. Even the others could see it as well.

"You have arrived at your destination." The navigator's voice called out, putting everyone on guard as they came out of the car.

"This is…the place?" Orlok asked.

Grendel looked up and could see a bizarre phenomenon. "Huh…would you look at that? Up around here, the sky is clear blue, but toward the mist, it gets all dark and cloudy…"

"Doesn't this remind you of the situation at Delvar's Hamlet?" Faris asked her.

"Exactly…" The other girl answered.

"Hmm…I know that the weather can alter from place to place but…this seems unusual even for a coincidence…" Hector commented.

Orlok was ready to take out his twin axes. "Well, I think we all heard what the navigator said! I think we're ready to start."

Faris came closer to her cousin. "So, what do you say, cousin?"

Lunafreya looked carefully at the scenario. It was surrealistic, bizarre, and most importantly…shady. But considering the request they had taken and the voices they had heard…there could have been only one solution.

"…I think we have no choice. We must go in there." She turned around. "Get ready for everything. We're at the Innsmouth port."

Everyone else nodded, and they followed her.

The closer they got, the denser the mist became, so they could barely recognize shapes.

Seeing how everything was getting harder to see, the mages of Round Table stayed all close, so that they could not lose sight of each other.

"Shit, how are we supposed to find out that girl with this mist?" Grendel complained.

"It's not like someone here has wind magic, right?" Orlok asked.

"Well…I could try something, but I don't know if it will work…" Hector said, thinking of his special Dragon Slayer.

"It's better than anything! I certainly don't want to wander for hours!" Faris told him.

"What do you say, Your Majesty?" Persephone asked the queen, who nodded.

"We can try. Go ahead, Hector." Lunafreya said.

"Alright…" With the consent given, Hector took his sword, which assumed a green emerald color. He raised it and…

SWISH!

He made a single cut that released a small whirlwind. That gave some results but…not in the way they hoped.

After the wind moved the mist off a bit, they could see what was in front of them, but the fog still surrounded them, giving them an aura of oppression.

"At least it did something…" Hector commented.

"But not entirely. I think we're still not safe." Myuu added.

"Wait…" Suddenly, Faris called for everyone. "I can hear it…the waves of the sea."

"Really?" Orlok asked before concentrating. "I…I hear it, too."

Seeing how they were focused, Lunafreya turned around to look and she could recognize something.

Small houses…lanterns…boats parked near the bridges.

"…We're here. For real this time. Keep your eyes open." With those words, she proceeded.

"Oh boy, time to go into action!" Orlok commented.

As they came closer to the port, they were unaware that a silhouette was looking at them from a roof, frowning their eyebrows before disappearing in the mist.

Innsmouth Port

As soon as they arrived, they could already recognize the scenario of a typical port where sailors used to reach the land, with several green lanterns illuminating the roads and the bridges.

There was even a sign near the entrance, which Grendel already spotted. "W-W…ell…comme…to….I-Inn…"

"Uhm…it says 'welcome to Innsmouth'," Lunafreya told her with a smile.

"Hey! I need to practice what I've learned from lessons!" Grendel complained. "Though, I could barely see anything with all that moss."

"You have trouble reading, Lady Gaheris?" Orlok asked.

The blonde girl turned around. "I spent all my life fighting to the point that I skipped all my school lessons. I'm catching up thanks to Vivienne."

"Could you tell me the last part of 'demanding'?" Faris asked her with a small laugh.

"Guys! We're not here to play! Especially with all this ambiance…" Myuu told them.

"Yeah, we don't know when the fog will become deep again. We'd better start the investigations." Lunafreya added.

Faris and Grendel looked at them with a skeptical face and followed.

The small group kept on walking on a straight road, they could see the abandoned conditions they had been told by the archbishop: the buildings were all worn-out, full of cracks and moss. The signs were left to swing and squeak, and the only noise that could be heard was the one of the waves, joined occasionally by the cry of some crows.

"Uhm…are we sure that this place isn't plagued yet?" Persephone asked.

"No worries. It's a story of a long time ago. Our concern is another." Lunafreya told her. "Now that I think of it…the fact that this mist hasn't gone yet makes me think even more that this is the work of…someone."

"Tch, We've been here for not even ten minutes and I already have the feeling we're going around. We can't afford to lose too much time." Faris commented, feeling frustrated.

"For now, our main goal is to find that girl, so all we need to do is keep our eyes open and see if there's a figure resembling that person," Myuu told her. "Hmm…black curly hair…white armor…eyepatch. It shouldn't be that hard to recognize. Unless she's already…"

"Lady Leodegrance, please! Don't be that pessimistic already! We'll find her! We just need to be careful and quick!" Orlok told her.

"AH! S-Sorry…" The girl got scared, alarming the huge man as well.

"Ah! N-No, maybe I have exaggerated-"

And as the others kept on looking, Hector kept on looking around…spotting the corpse of a sailor just a few meters from him. As he was told that the port had been infested, he thought that it was normal at first. But then…he noticed something that made him go closer.

"Ah! Hector!?" Persephone asked, seeing him go.

"What did you see? Don't go too far!" Lunafreya warned him. Luckily for them, he went to a spot where they could still see him.

Once he had come closer, Hector could observe the corpse properly and could see what bothered him. "Uhm…the archbishop said that the plague happened over sixty years ago, right?" He asked.

"Yeah? What about it?" The queen asked back.

"This…this corpse seems fresh." The white knight answered back, putting everyone on alert.

"UH!?"

The rest of the group immediately came closer and could see as well.

"H-Hey, that's right…the skin hasn't rotted yet!" Grendel commented.

Orlok looked deeper than the others, to the point that he kneeled, took a drop of the corpse's blood, and licked it.

"Eh!?" Everyone was quite shocked by that. Lunafreya in particular turned around to not show that she was about to throw up.

"H-Hey, what are you doing!? It could be infected!" Persephone told the big man.

"No worries! My magic helps me not get anything bad coming from any type of blood." Orlok assured her (kinda) before spending a few seconds to recognize the taste. "Hmm…judging by the status of the blood, this poor man had been dead for…around three days."

"Three days!? How did it happen?" Myuu asked.

"Maybe he just landed at the port and got…attacked?" Faris tried to guess. She looked as well and could spot something else. "…Maybe this is what happened. Look here." She added, pointing at the corpse's throat.

"When everyone lowered their expressions, they could see it: signs of bite.

"That's…a big wound. It's not made by something like a dog…" Persephone commented, sweating a bit.

That hypothesis made Lunafreya sweat a bit. "…If that's so…then there could be a reason why that girl hasn't returned yet." She looked up. "Dammit…nothing had happened yet and this place is already getting dangerous. We'd better move.

Everyone nodded and resumed their search.

And as she kept on walking, Myuu looked for a moment over the sea and saw an elusive detail. "Uh!?"

It happened only for a moment…but the girl could swear that she saw a fin on the surface of the water going below. What made her stop was that the fin didn't belong to a regular fish, and it definitely wasn't that of a shark.

"Maybe…I've imagined it?" She wondered. She then looked at the others and quickly reached them.

"Guys, I tell you. If we keep on moving like this, we won't get anywhere soon. We need to change our approach." Grendel told the others.

"What do you suggest then?" Orlok asked. "You think we should split up?"

"Dude, are you crazy!? You're basically asking yourself to get killed!" Faris exclaimed. "Don't be surprised if you find a psycho with a hockey mask and a machete in his hands right in front of you!"

"I don't know about you, Faris but…I think Orlok here is the least one that should be terrified of a psycho with a machete." Lunafreya told her. Even the others agreed.

"…True, now that I think of it. But you get the point!" Faris told them.

"Ah, ah! Don't worry I get it!" Orlok assured her. "But yes, Lady Gaheris's right. I think we should start to think about something before-"

Right before he could finish his opinion…the inn they were standing behind suddenly turned its light on, putting everything to silence.

Everyone widened their eyes and slowly turned their heads to look at the house, with the windows shining a yellow color.

A few more minutes of silence followed.

"I…I…I'm not the only one who's seeing it, right?" Lunafreya asked.

"No? I'm not an expert on that, but how many red flags do you think that raises?" Grendel added.

"A lot? Like…a shit-ton of lot?" Faris replied.

"So…what are we going to do about it? It…clearly says 'come inside'." Myuu asked.

Everyone immediately looked at Lunafreya, who naturally felt a lot of pressure on her.

"Sometimes I forget that I'm the queen AND the Guild Master!" She thought. It didn't take long before she already knew what to do. "Even if it's basically the most exposed trap out there…it's the only place we can go in without getting lost in this port. Oh, please…make it so that nothing bad happens…" She took a deep breath and looked at the others right in the eyes.

"All right, my fellow knights and guild mates. Many of you know that I don't want to lie, so I'll get straight to the point. I'm also 100% convinced that this may be a trap of whatever lies in this port. But as you can see by yourselves, we're not getting that far by walking around. So…" Before continuing, she took a deep breath. "Do you have your weapons at the ready?"

As an answer, the others showed their weapons at her.

"Then let's go. Even if dangerous, we might get something out of it." The queen concluded before going toward the inn.

The rest of the group looked at each other. Some were still a bit reluctant, but they could see the queen's point, so they followed her.

"If anything, I'll get to punch something finally," Grendel commented with a scoff.

"Are you sure of it, my lady?" Myuu asked.

"Not really…but it's not like we have many other choices," Lunafreya answered back.

Once they were at the front of the inn, they could see that the name was 'The Black Cat', and that it didn't seem unlocked.

"…As if the omens of bad luck weren't enough," Persephone commented, feeling like she could say something about the title of the inn.

Lunafreya slowly put her hand on the door. She looked at the others. "Ready?"

Everyone nodded.

That was enough for her to open the door.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeek…

And when they opened…they were surprised, but confused at the same time.

The sight they got was that of an average sailor inn, with tons of sailors and captains eating and drinking, a small band singing sea shanties, and a few maids serving at the tables. It wasn't that different from what you could see from the inn of another port or even that of a guild.

"What the…?" Hector commented.

"All right…this is getting straightforward creepy," Myuu added.

"I-I agree. Yet we cannot jump to conclusions directly. It's better if we act casual for now and try to figure out things with a calm yet quick pace." Lunafreya suggested.

"Meh. If you say-" Even if unwillingly, Faris wanted to get along with the plan, but she immediately tripped over some water on the floor and fell heavily. "ACK!"

"NO!" Everyone shouted as well. But the damage was already taken.

The music stopped, and all eyes were on the knights.

"Agh…who the FUCK doesn't know how to serve jugs without spilling anything!?" Faris exclaimed before getting called by Myuu.

"Faris, please…" The other girl tried to call her out. When Faris turned around, she saw the attention she caught on herself.

"What are you looking at, eh!? It's not my fault if those chicks over there are incompete- MFF!" Faris wanted to protest further, but Lunafreya quickly shut her mouth.

"U-Uhm, please forget her! She doesn't know what she says!" The queen tried to apologize before also giving a quick look at Grendel, who frowned, feeling offended.

The sailors didn't look away; instead, their gaze remained fixed, putting much more pressure.

"I don't know you, but I'd say it's better if we put the weapons at the-" Hector wanted to comment something when one of the maids abruptly approached him. "AH!"

"Oh my! Look at this shining armor and this hunk of a man! Welcome to the Black Cat! Do you perhaps want to sit down and get something? I can assure you that our stuff is the best!" The maid told him.

"No, why even here!? Uhm…I thank you but I think I'll pass!" Hector tried to shoo her, but the maid seemed persistent.

"Aww, why not? I think you could have some fun in here…" The girl talked with a tone that almost seemed…melodic.

The white knight felt dizzy with that tone, but he quickly shook his head. "Ma'am, I would be very pleased, but unfortunately, that's not what I'm here for." He told her before gently, but firmly, pushing him away.

"Ah! What manners!" The girl felt offended, with her eyes becoming slit for a moment.

The bartender turned around and looked at the small group. "Yes. You should listen to the girl. It's not kind to get inside a bar and not take anything, don't you think?" He spoke. His voice was dry and hoarse as if he smoked a lot with the pipe he had in his mouth.

Those words and that situation only increased the sense of caution within the knights. "Folks, I can understand how you feel when you see a new client, but really, we came here only for our job. And besides…where do you all come from? This place had been abandoned for years." Lunafreya asked.

The people at the inn looked at each other, frowning a bit.

The bartender seemed the most annoyed by that. "What do you mean 'abandoned'? Don't spit nonsense. This port and this inn had always been open ever since the inauguration."

"What? Are you trying to act dumb or what? Haven't you seen what's outside?" Grendel told them, clearly not believing them.

"Wait a second…" Myuu asked, raising a hand. "What year do you believe this is?"

"What year? X736. Are you sure you're not the dumb ones?" The bartender replied. His eyes were starting to become slit as well.

The group looked around, and the rest of the crew inside the inn started the change as well.

"I think they're starting to get mad because we're not falling for their tricks. We better do something quick." Orlock whispered to the others.

"Agree. Get ready…" Lunafreya replied before unsheathing her sword. "Listen! I don't know what's going on here, but unfortunately for you, we don't plan to fall for your deceptions. We're here to find a girl and take her back, so unless you know where she is, you're pleased to disappear!" She proclaimed, with the others taking their weapons as well.

The crew of the inn became even more frustrated. Now the knights could see what seemed to be scales slowly forming in their bodies.

"Wait…are those…?" Orlok spoke.

"Look at them…"

"Thinking they're so smart…"

"So, there's more of them?"

"How rude…"

The crew started to talk between themselves with a more sinister tone, with their bodies beginning to wriggle.

The bartender glared at them with an expression that only meant cold fury. "It seems that some more mages took the bait, but they also look more prepared."

The mages of Round Table sweated a bit but never took their hands away from their weapons.

"You act all brave and mighty within that shiny armor you're wearing…but if there's one thing that will never happen is you getting out of here alive. There's no way that we'll ever stop fueling energy to the Great Fish." The bartender spoke.

"The Great Fish?" Faris asked.

"Yes…the Great Fish that lays dormant in the abysses of the ocean. The one the world will fall into." One of the 'sailors' replied.

"And we hear and obey only to him and his master. For far too long he was sleeping and for far too long, he had waited. Now that the time is near…we won't allow anyone to interfere." The bartender added. "And if you try anything to interrupt the process…" Finally, all their skins became fully scaled, their legs unified in one long fin, and their face became more monstrous.

"YOU'LL BE THE NEXT OFFERING!" All the crew jumped toward the mages of Round Table.

"LOOK OUT!" Lunafreya warned. Her cousin Faris was already in front of everyone, with her hand releasing several red electric shockwaves.

"Crimson Devil's Lightning!" She placed her palm on the ground, releasing a burst of red electricity that stunned most monsters. "Quickly! Let's get out!"

The small group went outside the inn, only to see that all the streets were already filled with more creatures, some coming even out from the water, making Myuu's thoughts real.

"Shit! We're getting surrounded! What even are these things!?" Faris exclaimed.

"Sirens! They drag the enemies with hallucinations and then attack them when they're the most exposed! Stay sharp!" Orlok warned, grabbing his two twin axes. "All right, Hati, Skoll! Let's teach them a lesson like we always had!" Without hesitating, he jumped into the nest of sirens, starting to attack them with the same charge he showed at the arena a few hours earlier, but this time, his more ferocious side showed up, as he started to chop the sirens in half. Some of them tried to jump to his back, but as they tried to dig their fangs into the giant's armor, these cracked into pieces, and they felt the man's skin harden. "Enchant: Fortify! Just what I need for these monsters!"

"Man, that dude is going hard! I must be no less dammit!" Feeling charged after seeing his new guildmate attacking, Grendel didn't hesitate and activated the aura that boosted her up before throwing herself in the rumble against the siren. "I'M COMING FOR YOU, BASTARDS! Hellebores Knuckle, Groundbreaker!" By using two of her techniques together, the girl known as Lady Gaheris started to go against the sirens, piercing their bodies one by one with a fatal combination of punches and kicks that reduced them to a pulp. In a short time, she was already back-against-back with Orlok.

"Oi, big boy! Don't think I'll stay behind you! This is your chance to let me see if you're this so-called 'Mercenary King'!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, is a demonstration you ask? Because I'm an expert at giving them!" Orlok answered back with a smile.

Just as a few sirens roared and planned to attack the two knights from above, several red electric shockwaves attacked them and made them fall. Right after that, Faris landed between them. "You don't mind if I chime in, right?" She asked.

"You kidding!? Not in the slightest!" Grendel replied, feeling delighted.

"Let's smash them!" Orlok added. The three of them threw themselves with all the violence they had.

"FRRRRRR!" In the meantime, a few more sirens aimed at Hector, shooting lasers from their eyes.

"WOAH!" The knight was quick enough to notice it and defended himself by deflecting the lasers with his sword. "Ngh! Lasers from their eyes!? Aren't we exaggerating a bit? Persephone!"

Right behind him, Persephone already jumped toward the sirens. "Coming right up!" The exceed girl dived down with her sword and cut down the heads of the sirens that were attacking her adoptive brother. Just in time to warn him. "Ah! Hector behind you!"

"Uh?" When the white knight turned around, he could see a siren aiming directly at the throat. The warning was right in time for him to react with the sword and cut him down. "Phew! Thank you, Persephone!"

His sister came closer to him. "Looks like we're not done yet!" She exclaimed as she saw more sirens coming up from the water, roaring at them.

"Now I see why I felt dizzy when that barmaid talked to me. Good thing I got used to flirts…whatever those are." Hector commented before raising his sword horizontally. "Ok, let's see how they react to this." His sword became of an amber color, as he slammed it to the ground. "Amber Sword Style – Earth Dragon's Slam Shock Wave!" The impact of the blade made several ground claws rise from underground, reaching the sirens and making them fly away. Hector wasn't done and ran toward the rest. "We need to free the road! Let's go, Persephone!"

"Aye, sir!" The exceed cat answered back. "Wait…I feel someone would sue me for saying something like this-"

"Holy Sword's God Assault!" Meanwhile, Lunafreya became a helix of light as she started to attack relentlessly the sirens with several sword combinations. She could notice how the monsters were intimidated and weakened by her light. "Are they weak to holy light?"

Myuu wasn't that distant from her, and her attitude changed completely. Her stare became cold and ruthless, just the way she assumed when she assaulted Laliette. She was both as graceful as a petal and violent as a storm, as she made her way through several sirens, chopping them down with her golden axe, reaching the queen.

"If you say so, then I may have just the right assistant that could help us." She spoke, as she took one of her special keys.

Lunafreya could recognize it. "That's the key you took from Laliette the other day!"

"That's right. And it's the right tarot I can ask assistance for!" Myuu confirmed, raising it. "Open, gate of nineteen: Sun!" A glowing light shined above Myuu, as a special celestial spirit was summoned.

The celestial spirit in question had the form of a regal woman with long, flowing blonde hair that was tied back in a high ponytail, with her bangs framing her face. She notably had horse ears and a horse tail, evoking a trusty steed of a sun god. She had golden eyes and wore almost knight-like armor, though there was only actual armor plating on her arms and legs and the rest appeared to be decorative. Her left arm and legs are covered in golden greaves and a vambrace, while her right arm is covered in black leather. Her decorative armor consists of a white militant coat that tapers into a half-coat, half-dress, leather underclothes for protection, and a white cape cut to resemble wings that were held on her coat by golden pauldrons.

"Woah…if I was a Celestial Spirit Mage…I would have seen myself having a Celestial Spirit like her…" Lunafreya commented.

The celestial spirit opened her eyes and made a gentle smile at the queen. "I'm glad to hear it. You must be Queen Lunafreya, the woman who's helping my master in her quest. Let me thank you for making me reconcile with my lady." She said with a very gentle tone.

Lunafreya felt warmed by that voice as if it was her mother speaking. "Oh, thank you! But unfortunately, we need to save the talk for later!"

"Sun, do you think you can help us?" Myuu asked. The celestial spirit turned around and could see the horde of sirens approaching them.

"Oh my. I sense a disgusting demonic energy coming from them." Sun commented, as she gently floated, with fairy dust starting to appear in front of her. "Let me open you the way with my radiant magic. Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Sun spread her arms, with the dust turning into shining needles that rain down at the sirens, burning them away.

Lunafreya could see a detail from the spell. "That attack…is the same used by that mage of Fairy Tail! What was her name again? Evergreen?" She then looked down and could see once again that the sirens seemed to burn away from the contact of the attack. "It seems that light is their weak point." Knowing that she made her sword shine once again. "Well! At least we know how to deal with them!"

"I've decreased their numbers enough to make you finish the job. You're free to move, my ladies!" Sun warned.

"Thank you, Sun! All right, ready Myuu?" The queen asked the other knight.

The girl known as Lady Leodegrance glared once again. "Always."

The two armored girls dashed against the sirens, with Lunafreya cutting them down with the sword. And adding to that, several blades of light were formed above her. "Holy Sword God's Judgement!" The swords of light threw themselves violently against the sirens.

Right a few centimeters from the queen, Myuu threw herself between the monsters with an acrobatic jump. And while she was still upside down, she started to spin before landing on her feet. When she swung her axe, all the sirens around her were filled with cuts and shredded in pieces.

The two girls then looked around to see how the situation was. There were still some sirens, but most of them had gone down.

"It seems we had done most of the job. We just need a little push. Guys, do you think we can make it?" The young queen asked.

"Ha! Are you kidding!? I could go on all day!" Faris exclaimed with a smirk while holding her two swords, which were still releasing electricity.

"That's right! I can say that these are just small fishes for me!" Orlok added.

The others seemed in the same mood, and this couldn't make Lunafreya happier. "All right! Then let's-"

FZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Right as they were about to end the small rumble, a giant burst of energy could be heard from the center of the port, making everyone turn around. "Uh!?"

"What the-!?" Myuu exclaimed.

When they turned around, they could see a purple pillar of energy rising into the foggy sky. Some of them recognized…a familiar presence in it.

"That power…it seems the same used…by the Balam Alliance?" Hector wondered.

"What!? I thought their leaders were all smashed for good!" Faris exclaimed.

"But that magic…it can't be otherwise. That's…dark magic…?" Lunafreya added.

The knights could then see some dark waves come toward them, but instead of attacking them, they went straight for the sirens.

"FRRRRRR!" The sirens could feel a sudden burst of power inside their bodies, which grew slightly bigger.

"THIS POWER…"

"IT'S THE GIFT TO THE GREAT FISH THAT IS SHARED WITH US!"

The sirens resumed their glares and roars to the mages of Round Table, who started to sweat further.

"Tch! As if things weren't already shittier! Whatever that thing is must have powered them!" Grendel commented.

"Not only that…at this point it's pretty clear where this fog and these monsters come from. We need to head toward the center of this port to find out whatever this is all about!" Persephone added.

"Maybe that's the place where we'll find the girl we're looking for…" Lunafreya whispered before looking at her guildmates and fellow knights. "Are you ready? We'll probably have to run a lot." She asked.

Everyone nodded. But…as if all that wasn't enough…

A melody started to play. A beautiful…yet ominous melody that caught everyone's attention.

"Wha…What…?" Lunafreya wondered, looking around.

"What's this…melody?" Hector added.

"This seems like…a wind instrument. Is this a…flute?" Orlok wondered.

The mages of Round Table thought that, even if strange, it was just a melody. But…there was more to it.

"A-Ah!" As soon as they started to listen to the melody…their senses started to get dizzy, and their sight started to get dim.

"H-Hey! What the fuck's happening!? I'm starting to become blind!" Faris exclaimed.

"This isn't a regular melody! G-Guys! Stay composed!" Orlok warned.

But Myuu already put her hands on her ears. "I-I can't! It's already in my ears! GAH!"

"No guys! Be careful!" Lunafreya tried to compose herself, but her mind was getting dizzy as well. The last thing she could see was a few of the sirens that already jumped against her, double attacking her in the belly. "GAAAAAH!"

"YOUR MAJESTY!"

"COUSIN!"

The other mages and Faris called out for her, but they were unable to go grab her as they got attacked as well.

---

In the meantime, Lunafreya slowly started to lose sight of them as she was thrown away. The fog became dense again, and their silhouettes faded away.

"N-No! GUYS!"

After a few more seconds in mid-air, Lunafreya crashed into the ground, cracking some of the wooden beams below her. "No…this wasn't supposed to happen…" She already started to stand up by using her sword, but she couldn't even get frustrated by what happened when she saw the two sirens that attacked her emerge from the fog, ready to devour her.

Even if the unexpected caught her by surprise, the young queen did not lose heart, and her sword started to shine again. "OUT OF MY WAY!" She delivered a horizontal cut to the monsters that were pushed back.

The sirens growled in pain, but it seemed that apart from the cut, they could still sustain the damage and roared back at the queen.

"Of course. That burst of energy strengthened them." She commented. The light of the sword became brighter, as a golden aura started to surround her as well. "Fine by me. You'll see what it means to mess with me!"

The sirens didn't care and attacked either way, sinking their fists into the wooden graves and making Lunafreya jump backward and upward.

"FRRRR!" The two sirens tried to grab her and crash her with their hands, but the girl was able to get away in time, at the perfect moment to unleash her attack.

"Holy Sword God's Bellow!" The signature attack of the God Slayers unleashed from Lunafreya's blade, unleashing a golden beam that pierced through the two sirens, burning them away.

The queen was able to land on her feet. "Serves them right. Now I have to- Uh!?" Another cry caught her attention when she thought carefully about what to do now. This seemed different from the sirens she had faced up until now. And when she turned around, she saw something she didn't expect.

Several giant squids, seemingly made of the same substance as the sirens crawled down toward her.

Lunafreya started to sweat. "W-Where do these come from!?" She exclaimed while sweating.

"GRRRR!" She didn't even have the time to ask herself questions when the squids started to shoot ink at her, forcing her to move around to dodge them. The huge creatures didn't stop and tried to attack her with their tentacles.

"Holy Sword God's Punishment!" As soon as the tentacles came closer to her, Lunafreya immediately started to attack back with the sword, pushing them back, even cutting some of them. She then stomped her foot on the ground heavily to give herself a large push with a jump to attack the squids directly on their bodies. "HAAA!" Single cuts were all that she needed to take them down while she landed back on the floor. "Did you like it- GAAAH!" Just as she thought that she started to have the upper ground, a third squid violently attacked her with a tentacle and threw her up, only to slam her back to the ground with another tentacle, making a small crater.

The queen started to get back, but the squid already grabbed her four limbs and started to lift her. "No! Nghh! Let me go! This is also extremely awkward! Stop it!" She tried to struggle, but the grapple was surprisingly tight.

The squid was already putting her close to its mouth but at the last moment…a large whip started to wriggle all around his body, attacking him and reducing him to pieces.

As a result, Lunafreya was able to land on the ground, albeit on her knees. "Uh? What?"

When she raised her head, she could see another girl with curly black hair wearing white armor landing right in front of her.

The girl turned around and met her eyes with a serious stare. "Are you all right?" She simply asked.

"Uh…yes," Lunafreya answered back.

"You weren't that bad, but you should be more aware of what's surrounding you." The other girl told her. Her attention was caught by more growls, and when she turned around, she could see more enraging squids coming toward her. "Tch. They don't know how to quit. Truly disgusting." She commented.

She then spread her legs and closed her eyes. "Blood Burst." Through the spell, she started to feel complete control over her blood, making it pump faster. The result was a scarlet red aura that surrounded her body, making her dash at an incredibly high speed toward the squid.

"She uses…her own blood as magic?" Lunafreya thought.

"GRRRR!" The squids tried to smash the girl with their tentacles, but the reflexes were extremely accurate, allowing the white-armored girl to dodge at the right moment, leaving only piles of dust behind her. She was then able to jump high and stand between all the squids. While she still held her cold expression and looked down, the girl grabbed two whips and immediately created a whole whirlwind of blows around her.

Just a few seconds later, all that was left of the squids were enough pieces that you could make a soup of it or a good plate of Nero di seppia.

Lunafreya was stunned by this performance, but this time, it was she who noticed an adding squid behind her. "Ah! Look out!"

"Uh!?" The other girl turned around to meet the last monster, only for it to be cut down by the queen's glowing sword. This huntress seemed…intrigued by the queen's blade. "Is that…holy magic?" She wondered.

Lunafreya ended up landing near her. "Phew…that was close." She commented. "I think I really need to thank you here. I dread the thought of what could have happened with those tentacles…BRRR!"

The other girl looked at her carefully. "Where…did you take that sword?" She asked.

"Oh, this?" Lunafreya asked, showing it. "I forged it with my teacher! I know it may sound incredible, but it was made by using a small fragment of a deceased god, and it's linked to my body! So, I can summon it whenever I want. So, yeah, I'm a God Slayer. Bizarre, right?"

"A deceased god? So, it really is holy magic. Do you think it could take down demonic beasts? Like…I don't know, a vampire?" The girl asked.

"Hm? Well, you could see what it did with those squids, so yes. I'm pretty sure it would be efficient against anything unholy belonging to the darkness. Why the question?" Lunafreya replied.

The other girl took a few seconds to answer, but she shook her head. "Uhm…never mind." She then turned around. "Those squids weren't here yesterday. I think the situation had gotten worse…"

Lunafreya came closer. "Yeah. It appears that this is the work of some sort of black magic toward the center of the port. I was planning to go there with my guild mates, but I got separated by some strange music…"

The other girl immediately looked at her. "Dark magic? Tch…it's really worse than I thought. A combination I always loathe to see." She commented before realizing the other thing she said. "Wait…did you say guild mates? You come from a legal guild?" She then asked.

"Oh, right! Sorry, with all this mess I couldn't properly introduce myself!" Lunafreya replied with a small laugh. "I'm Lunafreya Lacrima, or Lady Arthur if you want to call me formally. I'm the founding Guild Master of Round Table."

Naturally, the other girl slightly widened her eyes. "You're…the queen of this kingdom?"

The pink-haired girl tried to look elsewhere. "Oh, yeah I forgot that part-" when she looked back, she could already see the other girl kneeling to her. "Ah-!"

"I hope you didn't find my questions too invasive, Your Majesty."

Lunafreya's utter embarrassment rose once again, with her face becoming full red. "N-Now, now! No need to be this elegant! I'm just a regular mage now! You can rise."

The other girl said so, finding her strange. "So…Your Highness. What brings you and your guild here, exactly? I'm pretty sure you, of all people, know the story behind this port." She then fairly asked.

"We were actually asked to come here and find a-" Lunafreya was about to answer when she realized something…as soon as she looked at the girl more carefully.

"…What?"

"Black curly hair…white armor…even an eyepatch…ah! You must be Ruina!" Lunafreya realized.

"Uh? Uhm, yes, I'm Ruina Cobolof. You know me?" The other girl, identified as Ruina, asked.

"Yes! In fact, you are the reason why we came here!" Lunafreya told her.

"Wait, really?" Ruina asked a second question.

The queen nodded. "The archbishop Nohansen told us that you went to investigate this port after they were told this mess appeared. He got worried after you disappeared for a day and asked us to search for you."

As soon as she heard the answer, Ruina looked down and sighed. "Oh, that old man. I wonder what am I going to do with him."

"What do you mean?" Lunafreya asked.

"I told him clear as day as soon as we met. Ours is just a cooperation, nothing more. But somehow, he can't help but look after me. Even if I'm not that faithful to the gods at all." The other girl told her.

"Now…don't say it like that! Shouldn't you be happy if someone gets worried about you? It means that you're important!" Lunafreya told her, trying to cheer her up.

"Honestly, I don't care if I'm important to someone," Ruina said after turning around. "I have my goals set in mind. The rest is just passing through, nothing more, nothing less."

Lunafreya felt bad hearing that and turned at her. "Well…despite that, you still rescued me. So…I think that's more than a reason for me to care about you from now on!"

"What the-" Ruina was confused, looking at her. "Did you hear what I just said?"

"I did! But, I like to follow her ways. Plus, since you're in my kingdom, it's only natural that I help you! Actually…how about this? We'll move together from now. Our goal is basically the same and I need to get back to the others. Plus, I think you could use a little help at the moment!"

Ruina was a bit confused by that answer. They just met and this girl seemed already eager to lend her a hand. And seeing how confident she sounded, Ruina knew that there was no point trying to argue. So, she sighed. "All right. I won't lie, having someone to watch my back in a place like this could help me. Plus, considering that you're the queen, it's not like I have a real answer."

Lunafreya blushed again. "N-No, I'm not that type of monarch!"

Ruina turned around. "But I'm fine with it. Let's say that I'll be in your care for now, comrade Lunafreya."

"Ooooh, 'comrade'? Is this how you call your allies?" Lunafreya asked.

"We use it in my parts. Now…you said that there's a source of dark magic toward the center of the port, right?" Ruina replied before clicking on her eyepatch.

From her point of view, several magic characters and runes started to be digitized, and a special radar started to point in a specific direction.

"We need go to that way. Follow me." Without wasting any further time, Ruina started to walk in the designated direction.

"Ah! Sure!" Lunafreya said, immediately following her.

The two girls started to walk throughout the port, with their weapons at ready and while looking around. That abandoned place turned out to be bigger than expected for both of them. And the fog surely didn't help.

While she remained cautious, Lunafreya couldn't help but talk to the other girl. Maybe for comfort. "So…you said that 'comrade' is a thing you use in your parts. I assume you're not of Seven, then?"

Ruina slightly moved her eyes toward her, confused about how she was talking to her. Nonetheless…she still answered. "Yes. I come from the Pergrande Kingdom."

"Oh, Pergrande? Vy vyrosli v zamerzshikh pustoshakh?" Lunafreya asked

The white-armored girl was surprised. "Da, no ya ne osobenno lyublyu Kholod." She replied. "Your…Pergrandian is pretty good. Where did you learn?"

"Well, you gotta know a lot of things when you're queen. My teacher had to teach me eight languages for diplomacy." Lunafreya answered back.

"Right. I assume that you had an easy life as a monarch." Ruina commented.

"Well, yes, I can't hide that. But despite that…I always try to do my best to do my work properly, even if I still don't know whether I'll be a good queen or not. That's why I founded the guild! I still think I'm an apprentice who is learning the craft." The queen replied.

"Yes. I did hear the speech you gave when you were crowned three months ago." Ruina pointed out.

"Ah! Y-You did?" Lunafreya asked, a bit embarrassed.

The other girl nodded. "Quite the brave move to admit your weakness to your entire kingdom. But…I won't hide the fact that I've appreciated it. I respect your dedication to improving yourself."

Hearing that made Lunafreya almost melt. "Awww, thank you! You don't know how much it means to me!"

Ruina, on the other hand, got more confused. "Why is she acting like this to me-?" She thought. But right at that moment, her eyepatch sensed something behind them that made her turn around. "We have company."

Lunafreya immediately assumed a serious expression and prepared her sword.

Shortly after, several strange bugs with eight long paws started to approach them.

"Eugh! The more I stay in this infested port, the more I become disgusted with all these creatures!" Lunafreya commented.

"Welcome to my world." Ruina simply answered back. "Aim at the legs, they should make their trip!" She exclaimed.

The bugs' eyes started to shine and shoot several needles made out of dark energy, making the two girls move on their respective right to dodge them.

Ruina already glared at the targets' weak points and prepared her answer. "Boiling Blood." By using her blood, her two swords got enhanced, covered in a red color, and then she dashed below the large monsters, that tried to stab her with their large paws. But the young huntress knew well how to move with enemies such as them, and as such, she moved zigzag below them, cutting the paws of one of them with a strong impact like a pinball that crashes left and right.

The bug's body fell, giving Ruina the chance to jump on it and stab it in the brain to end him.

Another bug quickly glared at her and shot eight laser beams at her from its eyes.

Ruina widened her eyes, ready to defend herself, but right at that moment, Lunafreya jumped above her and was ready to answer the attack. "Holy Sword God's Bellow!"

The golden beam clashed with the eight lasers, nullifying each other and leaving the bug exposed. "Go now!" Lunafreya warned the other girl.

Ruina didn't let herself hear that twice and immediately used her leather whip to wrap the bug's legs and make it fall.

Lunafreya took the chance to jump on the bug's head and stab it to take it down.

But the situation was starting to get worse, as they could spot more bugs coming toward them, surrounding the area. "Ah, crap! At this point, they'll totally circle us!"

"We need to open a way. Is there something your magic can do for it?" Ruina asked.

The queen made a small smile for it. "I think it may…" With that in mind, Lunafreya placed her sword on the ground, starting to focus and expand her golden aura. Just a few moments later, she was surrounded by several blades of light, all turned towards the enemies.

Once the attack was done, the queen opened her eyes. "Holy Sword God's Judgement – Rain!" As soon as she pronounced the spell, all the swords of light ran at high speed toward the bugs, reducing their legs to tiny pieces and making them fall inexorably.

Ruina wouldn't have lied, she was impressed, especially by the holy power that the queen was showing. "Not bad. I can see how you came up with the idea of the guild." She commented.

"I assume I can leave the last touch to you?" Lunafreya asked with a joking smile.

Ruina was already on the move. "It had always been my job." She focused her magic, and by doing so, she generated a magic circle in front of her, putting her hands as if she were holding a gun.

"Blood Bullet Barrage!" After pronouncing the spell, Ruina started to shoot a barrage of solidified blood bullets at high velocity, piercing through the bugs' bodies, and taking them down. The girl moved around, moving the circle with her and taking down the bugs, making a living massacre.

Once all the bugs were taken out, Ruina made the magic circle fade away and took a deep breath. "That should be all of them. The road is clear." She commented.

Lunafreya was impressed as well by her performance. "Incredible. How can you use your blood like that?" She asked.

Ruina looked at her. "I've trained my body and my blood for years to make it become a weapon. I have full control of it and I can implement it in many ways."

"Really?" The queen asked.

"Yes. I could even use the one I can get from wounds. But I need to be careful on how to use it to not go into abstinence. There were times that I collapsed in the past because of this." Ruina continued.

"That's…impressive! No wonder how Nohansen often asks for your help! You're a whole group of executors in one body!" The queen commented.

"Like I said earlier, I have my reasons to do my job. And if you want something done, you need to know what you're doing." The other girl replied.

"Eh eh, fair enough!" Lunafreya replied. "It seems that I've gotten very lucky to end up with you!"

"Again with these comments…" The other girl thought. She then clicked back on her eyepatch, and the radar reported something. "…We're getting close."

Lunafreya turned around and she could actually see some purple energy in the distance. "We're getting closer to the center! Are you ready for it?" She then asked, looking at the girl.

Ruina nodded, looking at her as well. "Yes. Maybe we'll find your friends as well."

Then…the two girls stared at each other for a few minutes and had a…strange feeling that brought up a particular question.

"…Say…now that I think of it…have I seen you somewhere before? Because you look familiar…" Ruina asked.

"Really? That's curious…I had the same feeling." Lunafreya said back.

The two looked at each other for a few more moments, thinking why, and then…

"…Nah, it's just a coincidence."

And they proceeded.

---

Lunafreya wasn't the only one who got separated from the group. After the ambush caused by the sudden and mysterious melody, everyone got scattered throughout the port, which turned out to be bigger and more problematic than they could ever think.

Two knights of the guild in particular ended up getting busy, and in part, they took advantage of it to vent their frustrations.

"Anf…anf…anf…" Faris and Grendel were standing back-against-back, regaining their breath after making a good pile of dead sirens.

"Fucking…monsters," Faris commented.

"You went harder than usual, sis. Are you sure you're ok?" Grendel asked.

"Fuck, no! Everything was going decently until that stupid music started to play around and now, we're here distant from the others in a place we don't know about!" Faris replied, kicking away a dead siren for the frustration. "And there goes my plan of trying to stay close to Lunafreya."

Grendel turned around. "You…wanted to stay close to the queenie?" She asked.

Faris sigh. "Yeah, no point trying to hide it. It's partially because of Aunt Aurelia but…I mean, come on, I've never seen her or anyone else from the rest of the family for my entire life and now that I get the chance, I end up in a situation like this!?"

"No, no. I understand, don't worry." Grendel answered back before sighing as well. "Feeling isolated from the rest of the world feels like a shit. I know the feeling." Then…to lighten the mood, she made a little smirk and looked at her guild mate. "But say…I never thought that you were such a softie deep inside."

Faris looked at her with a skeptical face. "Don't try to tell it out loud to anyone that easily, ok?"

"Oh, please! You think I could throw a secret of my sis like that?" Grendel replied.

The crimson-haired girl scoffed. "And it's not being soft. I need to know her better before I can say to feel soft toward her. But…you get the deal. Besides, if I want to become the greatest knight in the world, I need to know that my family supports me as well, right? I just…wanted to know what was more of my family to see that I never saw."

"Yes, yes. I do get the drill." Grendel nodded. "But…how come that you search for them? Don't you have parents as well?" She then asked.

Faris frowned and turned around. "The less I talk about them, the better it is for me."

"Ah…I see. Sorry for asking." The blonde girl quickly closed before putting a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Still! No need for moping now. You'll get plenty of time to bond with the queenie, it's not like she would die that easily, or else I would be extremely pissed off at her to say goodbye in that way after giving me all those monologues!" She then tried to calm her down.

Faris couldn't help but smile at her. "Oi…thanks. I know we've started to hang out a lot but that was incredibly supportive of you, Grendel."

Grendel smirked at her back. "Of course! You're the only one who fully gets me in this asylum! How could I not try to cheer you up, sis?" She replied. "Well, not that everyone there is a lunatic…maybe, but you get the drill! And well…I think that if you talk to her, I'm sure the queenie there would spend some time with you. Apart from being part of the family, she's the type that would make you a friend."

This time it was Faris that made a smirk to her. "Really? I assume you're changing perspective from when you insulted her every time?"

Grendel's face immediately went red. "N-NO? IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" She shook her head. "I-It seems that you already got up again. Come on let's move!"

"PFF AH AH AH AH! It seems that there's a good reason we're sis, right?" Faris commented before starting to move. "Still, thank you. You're fucking awesome."

"Same to you," Grendel answered back with a smile. The scene ended with the two of them proceeding with a fist bump.

After that small emotional moment, the two girls kept on moving while standing cautiously. Even they didn't know where they were going actually. They just hoped to get somewhere soon.

"All right…the least we could do if we don't find the others is at least try to move toward the center where this whole mess should come from," Grendel commented.

"Good luck finding a big purple pillar in this mess," Faris replied. "I swear, when we come back, I think I'll join Escanor in praise to the sun if we get out of this!"

"And the last thing I would need now is another surprise of bad taste…" Grendel added. And…as if the case wasn't cruel enough…

They could hear something rolling near them, and just a few seconds later…they could see the severed head of a woman. It had freckles, peach skin, and red, curly hair collected in a short ponytail.

"Oh God…another victim!?" Grendel commented, feeling a bit disgusted.

"Well, at least this got a better treatment than the others, but still…poor chick…" Faris added.

And right then…just as they less expected it…

"…Who're ya tellin' poor chick at? I'm fillin' live 'n pumpy!" The head talked, with a distinguished accent.

The two girls looked at that in silence for a few seconds and then…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"OI OI! What hav gotten' in ya!? Chill out!" The head tried to calm them down, but the panic was already general. And not only that.

"WHAT AM I LOOKING AAAAAT!?" Faris shouted before kicking away the head.

"OUCH! OI!" The girl's head bounced around like a pinball and ended up in Grendel's arms "What's yer problem!? You think ya can-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH- GET AWAY!" Grendel panicked immediately and passed it to Faris.

"OI! STOP IT!"

"WHY ARE YOU GIVING THIS TO ME!? YOU TAKE IT!" The other girl shouted, throwing her head back.

"I DON'T WANT THAT!"

"OI, OI, Can ya-"

For a moment, the two girls threw the head at each other in a way that looked like they were playing volleyball, with them freaking out more every second that passes. If a monster of the port had passed there, even they would have found the scene bizarre.

But then…

"ALL RIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" The head screamed.

BONK!

"ACK-" Suddenly, a double punch on the girls' backs made them fall. When they turned around, they could see a headless body wearing armor. It was a heavy black coat, armored all around, focused on limbs and torso, an armored mask, heightened collar that could be swapped into a hood, with spiky fingers and "clawed" boots.

"What's yer problem!? You freaked out like ya seein' some sort of-" The head kept on complaining, while the body moved her arms as if it was following the voice of the head. But neither this time got

"ZOMBIEEEEEE-" Faris and Grendel freaked out again, but this time, the body kicked both of them in their private areas to make them stop.

"OUCH!"

"Can ya stoppin' screamin' like two whinesh laddies for two seconds!?" The head exclaimed.

"What the fuck do you expect!? You think it's normal to see a headless body and a TALKING HEAD!?" Faris retorted.

The head looked offended. "Ah, so dis is what's botherin' ya? Alrighte, gimme a sec." She spoke. Right after that, the body grabbed the head and somehow…attached it back to the body.

Crck!

Faris and Grendel could even feel the bones re-attaching each other, a noise that made them cringe a bit.

And then…the head, or rather the girl was whole once again, looking more normal now.

"There ya have it, see? Can ya stop whinin' now?" The woman asked.

The other two girls were still stunned.

"Dude…how the fuck did you just do that!? Are we sure you're not some sort of zombie!?" Grendel asked.

"What? Yer' tellin' me ya never seen a Dullahan before? Don't tell me they never told ya of Sleepy Hollow!" The girl countered.

Faris and Grendel looked at each other. "A what?"

"Oh, I see. Well, that's the deal with yers truly. Just made a ritual, cut my head off, and now I'm a spooky, yet kickass monster reaper!" The red-haired woman explained.

"You what!?" Grendel exclaimed, stunned. "How the hell are you still alive, then!?"

"Holy Spirits Magic, laddie! So, choppin' me head won't get ya nowhere if ya mess with me!" The woman explained with a proud tone.

"Ok…? And what's with that way of talking? I barely understand what you're saying!" Faris then asked.

"OI! Are ya tryin' to be racist, perhaps!?" The woman retorted, feeling offended. "Tis' but a respectful accent of northern Seven! Me house is just a mile from here, after all!"

"…Alright, fair enough. So…Dullahan woman, how did you end here exactly? This place surely hasn't the best recommendations." Faris then asked.

"I could ask the same about ya. But I think if ya wear yer armor, ya laddies have a reason to be in here." The woman replied. "Cool armors, though, quite the touch!" She added.

Faris immediately changed the mood and smirked. "Hey, thanks! It seems you have fine tastes!"

"It'd better be cool! This set cost me a stroke of luck when I didn't even want it!" Grendel added. "But yeah, you have a point."

"Name's Faris Lacrima and this is my buddy Grendel Hellebores. We're knights coming from a guild to investigate this port and find a girl with black hair." Faris explained.

The woman became intrigued by that. "Ah? Knights 'n guild? You must come from the guild of the queen laddie, then! Reund Tablet, yesh?"

"…We're from Round Table, yes. Why the question?" Grendel asked.

"Well, a pair of knights caught me in 4K after I took out some peskin' ghosts out of some laddies and they suggested me to join the queenie's special corps! After a few days, I couldn't help but look at dis sussy fog and wanted to check it out!" The woman asked.

"Taking out…ghosts?" Grendel asked.

"Before that…you wanted to join the guild?" Faris added.

"Don't ya think a guild could use for their personal Dullahan? I'm pretty sure the queenie would like what I have in me arm! Is she here?" The woman asked.

"Yes, she is. But a strange melody separated all of us and now we're trying to find her back. So, you can still consider yourself lucky." Faris replied before looking around.

"Ah, marvelous! So, I'm pretty sure ya don't mind if I stick with ya, correct?" The woman then asked.

"Well, if you don't kick us like that again, then yes!" Grendel replied, still feeling annoyed.

"Hey! On me defense, yer were the ones who played with me head!" The woman countered.

"…Right." The blonde girl simply replied.

"Ah, speaking of which! Me name's Saoirse Donnachaidh! Pleasure to stick with ya, laddies!" The woman then presented herself.

Saoirse Donnachaidh – The Headless Horsewoman

"You're a sailor? You don't give the vibes of a sailor…" Faris commented.

"It's Saoirse! Or, ya know, ya could call me Saoi or Kenzie, like Father McKenzie, that famous priest of that famous song-" The woman, known as Saoirse wanted to correct, but Lady Mordred had to interrupt her.

"Wait! I heard something." She warned, turning around. The other two girls looked in the same direction. "Something's coming from there." The crimson-haired girl added.

Grendel already prepared her fists. "Can you fight, Saoirse?" She asked.

"Eh eh eh…" As an answer, Saoirse made an amused and sinister laugh as she took out a long blackened scythe that came out of her arm, attached to it through a chain. This scythe seemed to release green flames from the blade. "Of course I can! With dis gem of weapon! Now who's asking for whoopin' their' asses!?"

A few seconds later…footsteps could be heard.

"Stay steady…it's getting closer…" Faris warned.

The other two girls kept on glaring.

The footsteps became louder and more frequent. A silhouette started to appear.

"Here it is!" Grendel warned. And it turned out to be…

A small dark aquamarine crab, which looked at the three girls.

They stared at it for a few moments in silence.

"…Pff…PFF AH AH AH AH AH! Really!? After all those monstrosities, this is what comes for us!?" Faris laughed out loud, seeing it as a joke. She turned around drying her laughter tear. "Oh boy, did the dark magic weaken or what? Come on girls, we can proceed. This won't probably do a thing."

"I don't know ya, but I don't buy it. These things can be a pain, ya know?" Saoirse warned.

"Right, and last time you reacted like this it didn't end up well," Grendel added with a skeptical face.

"Grendel, it was Honoka last time! We're talking about a little tiny crab! Come on, what do you think it can do besides pinch me? Telling me a horror story about a table top game-" Before Faris could prove her point, a gigantic horde of crabs followed the first one, charging against them and making the girl turn around. "HOLY HELP IN GODDESS CLAIRE, WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUCK?!"

"AAAAAAH!" Needless to say, the three knights ended up getting surrounded by the crabs in a matter of seconds.

"HOLY SMOKIN'! IT'S A CRAB RAVE!" Saoirse shouted as she started to answer back.

"WHY DO SMALL THINGS ALWAYS MAKE FUN OF ME!?" Faris complained as she tried to free herself with the swords.

"No offense, but you should let them finish before saying something, sis! But let's not talk about this!" Grendel replied before releasing her Breaker aura. "At least if we don't smash them too much, we can come back home with tons of crab meat! Hellebores Knuckle!" The brawler girl immediately started to free herself a road by smashing every crab that tried to assault her. "ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!"

"Hey! I like yer' type of approach! Maybe if we spare some time we could brawl!" Saoirse commented, liking Grendel's ways. That motivated her to spin the scythe and answer as well. Her body started to release green flames and her head fell off the body. "Alrightie! Have a look at dis! Headtaker!"

SWISH!

She started to make several clean and direct swipes to cut down many crabs in half. It was like an executioner beheading a criminal. Swift blow after swift blow, Saoirse was able to free herself a road as well.

"Hey, that's scythe is not that bad at all!" Grendel commented, finding it of her liking.

"See? I told ya the queen would have appreciated my tricks! Just wait until we face off a ghost! Dis magic is the best when it comes to monsters like these!" Saoirse answered back. "How's are ya doing, crimson head?"

Faris, on the other hand, was doing her best to slice down the crabs with her two swords and her Crimson Devil Slayer magic, but the numbers didn't seem to decrease. "Doing my best dammit! It's like a crow is croaking above me today, dammit!"

At a certain point, the crabs that aimed at her started all to open their pinches and shoot dark bullets at her.

Faris defended herself with the two swords, while the crimson electricity started to become more intense, and the signs of her Devil Slayer Magic more visible. "Ok, THIS IS THE LAST STRAW! I'M DONE!" She then spread her arms and aimed at the crabs with the bigger sword. Even if she got hit by some of the magic bullets, she didn't care. All that she focused on was charging energy in her blade until it became a crimson red.

"CRIMSON DEVIL'S RAGE!" After pronouncing the spell, the signature move of the Devil Slayers erupted from Faris's sword, releasing a straight and powerful crimson beam that wiped away a good portion of the crabs. This gave Faris time to jump and reach the other two girls. "Ok, these aren't as bad as we could expect, but they're surely a pain of my ass!"

"What do you suggest then?" Grendel asked.

"BASH THEIR INVERTEBRATE SKULLS AS HARD AS YOU CAN!" The other knight promptly shouted.

"NOW YER TALKING ME LANGUAGE!" Saoirse shouted back with a large grin.

"LIGHTS UP, ASSHOLES!" Grendel concluded with the same charge.

Needless to say, the three girls unleashed their weapons, attacking down at the crabs and making tons and tons of pieces with them, attacking with charge, frustration, and power.

"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAAAAAAAA!" Even if it was a thing of Grendel, all three girls released her battle cry as loud as they could while they pushed on.

It took a few minutes, but in the end, all that was left were shreds of crab pieces and several trails or craters made out with the port's floor.

"Anf…anf…anf…" The three knights were breathing heavily, and the faces of two of them were dripping with sweat, but still…they were all in one piece.

"Oi, how're ya doin'?" Saoirse asked.

"Pretty solid. I'm used to doing this all day." Grendel commented before smiling. "We weren't that bad, right sis?"

"Heh! You can say that again! That was a perfect way to take away my stress!" Faris replied before turning to the Dullahan warrior. "You weren't that bad at all!"

"Thanks, ya were kickass, too! Say, how do you resist alcohol? After this, I want to see how many mugs of beer ya can resist!" Saoirse said, delighted at what just happened.

"Well, modestly-" Faris was about to answer but…

STOMP!

They could hear something bigger than what they had just faced land right behind them with a large thud. They slowly turned around and indeed…they met a bigger enemy…and an important one.

"AAAH! A BLUE LOBSTER!"

(TOCCATA AND FUGUE IN D MINOR EARRAPE!)

A monstrous and huge blue lobster roared violently at the three knights and then tried to smash them down with one of its huge pincers, forcing them to jump away.

CRASH!

The impact caused a small crater on the floor, and if that wasn't enough, the lobster aimed at them with the other pincher, which released a rain of flames upon them.

"Get away, now!" Grendel warned. The three knights started to run around as soon as they could, avoiding the deadly flames.

"This big thing already looks more versatile! We need to find a way to expose it!" Faris suggested.

"Then leave it to me!" Grendel already re-activated her aura. "When it comes to stuns, My Breaker magic is the best! WREAH!" Without hesitation, the barbarian knight jumped amid the flames, aiming at the lobster's belly, already preparing her leg. "GROUNDBREAKER!"

SBOOOOOM!

Her kick went violently against the monster's belly, with the impact releasing even some orange magic energy. The giant lobster ended up recoiling a bit, even crashing against an abandoned building. But it was still standing.

"Tch, not enough for you, eh?" Grendel commented.

Saoirse was already running on another building's roof to reach the giant beast and jump toward it. "Alrightie! Let's see if this hunk of scythe can cut in your dummy carapace, ya mayonnaise crustacean! Spirit Render!" The Dullahan Knight immediately released a whirlwind of attacks with her scythe that pervaded throughout the entire lobster's body, starting to make the first cracks on the carapace. But even with that, the huge creature could release another roar.

"Ah come on! Are ya really tough, overgrown Sebastian!?" Saoirse complained.

As an answer, the lobster opened her two pincers and started to shoot several firebombs at exploded at contact.

"Oh, crap baskets- GAAAH!" Both Grendel and Saoirse ended up getting hit and were wiped away a few meters by the explosions.

"GRENDEL! SAOIRSE!" Faris shouted. She could see as the lobster kept on moving while releasing more firebombs. This sight couldn't help but make her furious. "All right, if you want to play dirty, THEN I'LL SATISFY YOU!" She exclaimed. Her body was already releasing a crimson electric aura as she dashed toward the enemy.

The lobster raised its head and shot fire bombs at her as well, but moving like a bolt of crazy lightning, Faris was able to move through them, reach the enemy's head, and stab it with her two swords, releasing electric shockwaves throughout its entire body.

The lobster roared out of pain and started to shake its body. Faris on the other hand, took the chance to raise her head. "ALL RIGHT, IT'S EXPOSED ENOUGH!"

"YA GOT IT, APPLE JACK HEAD!" Saoirse answered delightedly, already dashing toward the enemy while holding her scythe tightly, leaving a trail of green flames. Her head was already behind the monster's back. "A Head, A Gain!"

SWISH!

Two large cuts appeared in the lobster's legs, making it kneel down. Saoirse was already behind it, re-securing her head. "There ya go! Time for the finish!"

Grendel stood back up and glared at the monster, more furious than ever. "TIME FOR THE PAYBACK!" Her aura triggered back and she dashed at high speed for the finishing blow.

"SKYBREAKER!" With a violent kick, Grendel lifted the whole lobster's body and threw it to the sky, only to dash up and slam it down to the floor, releasing a large explosion that terminated the enemy.

"HOLY SHIT!" Both Faris and Saoirse exclaimed with their eyes wide open.

Grendel landed on her feet and saw the mess she created. "Oh God! I think I've exaggerated this time. It always happens when I use the Skybreaker! People blow up for no reason!" She commented.

"That's surely one less problem to take care of!" Faris replied.

Saoirse looked straight instead and could see something different among the mist.

"Well, it did something good at least! It brought us closer to the goal! Ya say that the center had purplish color, righte?" She asked.

When Faris and Grendel turned around, they could see the dark energy faintly visible in front of them.

"We've made it to the center…" Grendel whispered.

"Huh…so we've reached the top before getting back with the others. Don't know how to feel about it…" Faris commented.

"Hey, if we get rid of whatever is making this, we'll probably make the mist fade away and get back to the others will be a piece of cake!" Grendel told her.

"Either way, it's we that gain the most! Come on, laddies! Let's reduce 'em to a pulp!" Despite the battle, Saoirse was still full of energy and went straight for the main stage.

Faris and Grendel looked at each other smiling overall.

"She's a bit creepy, but she's not a bad company!" Faris commented.

"She can surely beat and that's already a lot for me! I can imagine the queenie's reaction to her. All right, let's go!" Grendel agreed.

Another small group arrived and with yet another unexpected ally. Only a few now remained.

---

Even amidst all that fog, a sparkle of light could be seen shine throughout that whole blackness for a moment.

Sun the celestial spirit, tried to lighten the path and make even a small portion of the mist away, but what she got was a small result, and the mist returned the way it was with a couple of seconds. She sighed and flew down back to her master.

"How did it go, Sun?" Myuu asked.

The celestial spirit lowered her head. "It seems that even my light isn't sufficient to show a bit of the path."

As a result, Myuu, Orlok, Hecor, and Persephone all sighed.

"Man, so we're going full blind?" Orlok asked.

"It's just like when I tried to cut down the fog earlier, then. The only thing we can do is wander around and hope to find either the others or the center." Hector added.

"Thank you for your effort, Sun." Myuu thanked her celestial spirit who smiled back and tried to reassure them.

"Now, now, don't be all blue! I'm sure the queen and the others are doing their best to reunite us all! We should try our best too!"

"Heh, you're right sun! Staying here moping and doping won't solve anything! Come guys, let's move on!" Orlok added, trying to add more comfort.

"You're surely optimistic despite staying in a situation like this, Mister Orlok," Myuu told her as they resumed their walk.

"I just like to think that it could have gotten worse and that we all passed worse even if we just met today!" The huge knight replied.

Somehow, this made the other three mages uncomfortable, as they tried to look elsewhere.

"…Ok, maybe I could have avoided that answer, but you get the point! As long as I'm here, I'll keep you safe, that's for sure!"

"Already better, yeah!" Hector replied.

"Though we still need to find a way to orient ourselves in this mess. It was already hard as a group…" Persephone added.

"Maybe I should have stopped to buy a compass before getting here…though I don't know if the fog would have interfered with the electromagnetic resonances of the-" Myuu was about to comment, but she stopped herself as soon as she heard something slither behind her, making her turn around. "Uh?"

When she did so, all she could see was an abandoned cardboard box.

"Is there something wrong, my lady?" Sun asked.

"Uhm…no." Myuu quickly answered. She started to walk again but…there was that noise again. "Hm!" When she turned around…there was nothing. Just that cardboard box again. "Hmmm…" She knew she couldn't trust that sight, especially after everything she had witnessed up until that moment. Still…she thought that she could move with no problems now but…

The noise came again…and again…and again. Myuu turned around so many times that her head started spinning. "Would whoever makes that slithering sound quiet down!?" She snapped at some point. But again…the only thing she could see was that cardboard box. "…Wait a second." It was then that she noticed a detail.

The box…seemed to have moved a few inches from when she looked at it for the first time.

Tap…tap…tap…

This made Myuu come closer to the box, which remained immobile…but the twilight-purple-haired lady had seen tons of things to just let it slip.

"Hmm…" After a few moments of looking at the box in silence…she lifted it.

Beneath the box…stood a girl around 152 centimeters, skinny enough and with a flat chest. Her hair was brownish-black and short, nearly reaching her shoulders, with some of them held up in a braid while part of her bangs were let down. Her eyes were big and doe-like, teal in color. She also had two moles that are similar to a colon below her right eye. She was wearing grey light armor made of black leather.

For a few moments, the girl still thought that she could not be seen…but as soon as she started to feel the cold, she looked up trembling...only to meet Myuu's eyes.

A red exclamation mark appeared on the lady's head. "What the-?"

"AH! Uhm…" The girl was clearly scared and tried to think of how to answer. The situation she was in made her stand up, draw a sword, and try to glare at Myuu. "By the nines! There you are!"

Myuu already grabbed her by the head and…

POW!

She gave her a violent knee on the nose.

The other mages of Round Table could hear the loud noise and turned around.

A few seconds later, they were all gathered to look at the poor girl who was almost knocked out. Someone could swear to see her soul in a chibi way almost leaving her body.

"Are you serious, Myuu!? This is the first authentic human we meet and you hit her hard!?" Hector exclaimed.

Myuu seemed honestly sorry as she shook her arms agitated. "A-Ah! I'm sorry! She took out her sword and I assumed she wanted to fight!"

Persephone gave a closer look at the girl and noticed how her nose was bleeding a bit. "Oh boy, I don't know if she'll wake up like this! Does anybody here have a tissue?"

"Uhm…here, take this!" Myuu gave her one. "I need to remedy somehow…"

Persephone quickly grabbed it and rubbed the nose.

"Ugh…" Suddenly, the girl started to regain consciousness.

"Ah! She's waking up! Quite fast…" Orlok exclaimed.

When the girl opened her eyes, she could see several people looking at her worried…including the one she knocked out in the first place. "…That hurt, you know?"

Myuu quickly bowed her head. "Please forgive me! I'm what you would consider…an easy brawler, it was almost instinct!"

Somehow, this made the girl get embarrassed. "Ah! No, no need to! Well…the fact that you have apologized is already something- No wait, what am I saying!? Uhm…don't worry, ok?" She spoke.

"Are you ok, little girl? Nothing seriously broken?" Orlok immediately asked.

"T-Thanks, don't worry. Just didn't expect a blow like that…" The girl replied, slowly standing up. "Maybe I shouldn't have taken my sword immediately but I've been running away from awkward sea monsters for hours and a moment I couldn't distinguish reality from fiction! And…well, it's not like I'm that little, I'm seventeen years old."

"We can understand. I think I'll avoid going inside inns for a while after this." Hector commented.

"You do know that guilds are based on inns, like ours, right?" Myuu told him.

Hector looked down in an awkward silence for a few minutes. "…Right."

"Wait…" The girl then said. "Did you just say…'guild'? So…you're not monsters trying to eat me?" The girl then asked.

"Uhm…no?" Orlok replied.

"I mean, if we were, we would have thrown you some tentacles already and done awkward stuff with you!" Persephone added.

Everyone immediately stared at her.

"What have I told you about seeing that anime genre!?" Hector scolded her.

"Sorry-" The exceed cut short.

"Leaving that aside…indeed! We come from Round Table! We came here for a mission! So, you can say to be safe for now." Orlok then said.

Somehow…this made the girl assume a face like she realized something stupid. "…Round Table, eh?"

"…Yes?" Myuu answered.

The girl remained the same for a few moments…and then raised her index finger. "Can you excuse me one moment, please?" She then walked a few meters away, with everyone else looking at her. Once she was a safety distance…she started to repeatedly hit her head on a wall.

"OH MY!"

"I'M AN IDIOT, I'M AN IDIOT, I'M AN IDIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!"

A few minutes later…

Somehow they were able to make her stop and got to know the whole story from her.

"Ooooh! So, you were a mage who was searching the way for the capital to join our guild, and during the road, you ended up in this port and got lost." Hector resumed.

"Man, for being an abandoned place, there are surely a lot of people ending up in here albeit by accident!" Myuu commented.

"Y-Yes…that's the whole ordeal. I wanted to look for the queen and see if I could join but instead, I've tried to attack one of you!" The girl whined with her new lump on the front.

Myuu couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. Inevitably, she came closer and put the girl's head on her legs.

"Ah…" Somehow…all the worry and regret of the girl faded away as soon as her head leaned on Myuu, who started to gently stroke her.

"Shhh…don't worry. It's all in the past now. I also need to apologize for answering you like that." The twilight-haired girl told her.

"You're so…soft…" The girl commented.

"I know! I've practiced a lot in this!" Myuu told her with a closed-eyes smile.

"Man, the girl's demeanor changed quickly!" Orlok commented.

"That's because Myuu used the legendary Lap Pillow!" Hector exclaimed, making the other mage confused.

"Our mother used to do it for us and like magic, all of our problems disappeared!" Persephone added.

Shortly after, the girl stood up again. "So…the queen herself is also here if I heard correctly?" She asked.

"Yes. Unfortunately, we got separated, but we're trying to find them back." Orlok replied.

"Oh boy…I surely hope to not make further impressions with her of all people…" The girl commented, looking elsewhere.

"Hey, misunderstandings can happen! People keep calling me an ogre whenever they see me for the first time!" Orlok tried to assure her.

"Plus, we can assure you that the queen isn't a person new to bad impressions," Hector added.

"S-Still! It's a queen! I should show a certain demeanor, right? W-Well…I think I can think about it later at this point…" The girl replied. "O-Oh, right! I haven't introduced myself yet." She cleared her throat. "My name is Lilybeth Abernathy and uhm…it's a pleasure to meet you all!"

Lilybeth Abernathy

"Hmm…quite the fancy name you got there. Are you perhaps a noble as well?" Myuu asked.

"Ah, no, not really. Before coming here to Seven, I lived in a mercenary guild. You're not the first person that tells me that, eh eh…" The girl revealed as Lilybeth, answered back with a small laugh.

"Oh, so you already know something about guilds…makes me wonder how you're so afraid to meet the queen and ask her the question then," Hector commented.

"Eeeeh, you have no idea…" Lilybeth replied back with a drop of sweat coming down from her head. "A-Anyways, you said you were looking for her and the rest of your friends, right? I suppose you don't…mind if I join you?" She then asked.

"Oh, not one bit at all! If you want to join us, it's only natural that you come with us!" Hector told her. With that, the small group turned around and started to move again. "Come on let's go."

"Yay!" Lilybeth was surely happy to tag along, and so went with them.

The group kept on walking for a while, hoping to track down either a silhouette of their friends or purple energy in the distance. And naturally, as the walking went on, the situation went silent quickly.

"It's a good thing that I was able to find someone in here but I can't help to feel uncomfortable…aren't they gonna ask me anything? Well…not that I'm that interesting, after all, eh eh…" Lilybeth thought.

"So, Lilybeth!" Orlok suddenly called her.

"A-Ah!" The girl surely didn't expect it. "That quick!?"

"Care to talk to us a bit about yourself? Just to lighten the mood." The huge man continued.

Lilybeth looked around. She was definitely not used to a question like that. Growing up, she ended up being the one grooming in a corner (but not in an edgelord way). "Oh, well…I'm not that interesting of a person, at least I'm not yet! But I can see myself getting some recognition after I start working!"

"I think you could still tell us something in particular. Like…I don't know, your magic? If you want to join our guild, I'm pretty sure that you have a magic of your own." Myuu suggested.

"ACK!" Lilybeth cringed at that part, making it clear to the others, who looked at her.

"You ok?" Persephone asked.

"U-Uhm, yes! I just…got a leg cramp." Lilybeth tried to come up with a commendable answer while she started to sweat. "Oh shit, what am I going to tell them now? It's not like I could talk about IT that easily!"

"Are you sure? You seem to be…sweating?" Myuu noticed.

"U-Uhm…No? It's…the humidity! You know, where there's fog, there's a lot of humidity, and so the sweat isn't able to evaporate and so makes us all a bit wet!" Lilybeth said, trying to justify herself again.

The others touched their faces and could confirm that indeed, they were a bit wet.

"S-So, you want to know about my magic, eh? W-Well…but why being hasty at all? I like to be practical with my proofs, so I'm pretty sure we'll get the chance to make me show it to you instead of just talking about it! I-I could tell you some other things like…I love reading encyclopedias! They're so informative and people tend to snob them a lot when you could learn a lot of things! Like…did you know that a shrimp's heart is on its head?" Lilybeth kept on talking, but the others could not figure out what was going on.

"Is she…trying to hide something?" Persephone asked.

"Uhm…Lilybeth?" Orlok asked.

Lilybeth kept on talking, but as soon as she heard her name, she stopped. "Uhm…yes?"

"…If you don't want to talk about it now…we can understand." The huge man told her.

"A-Ah…really?" The young girl replied, realizing what she had just done. To emphasize it, she put herself in a fetal position and cried a bit. "I'm a disaster…how am I going to talk to the queen like this?"

The others looked at her with a drop of sweat coming down from their heads.

"I think there will be a lot to work to do with this one…" Hector commented.

Then…right at that moment…everyone could hear a slithering noise that made them look around cautiously.

Lilybeth immediately stood up and grabbed her sword again. "It wasn't me this time, I swear!"

"No, this felt different. It felt more…slimy." Myuu commented.

After a few seconds…they were all surrounded by weird tall creatures. Their body was cylindrical, had tons of eyes all around and their head was actually a large mouth. They walked on small six-bug paws and had two long protrusions attached to their bodies.

All those eyes stared at the knights intensively…to the point that Persephone freaked out.

"OH THANK YOU, REALLY! I DIDN'T NEED TO SLEEP TONIGHT!" She sarcastically shouted.

The creatures made a distressing growl that looked more like a human scream and immediately started to run toward the knights.

"THEY'RE COMING!" Orlok warned the others, as he charged as well against them with his giant body, trying to push away one of them. After delivering a heavy shoulder attack, he was able to stun it, take one of his axes, and cut down one of the protrusions, making the creature shout with pain and anger. "How do you like that!?"

All the eyes glared at Orlok and the monster shot a grey smoke from the protrusion left which engulfed the knight who…started to cough.

"COUGH- AGH!" Orlok fell on his knees, feeling like his body was slowly deteriorating. "W-What is this!? Oh no…is this a curse!?"

"Mister Orlok!" Sensing the danger of the word 'curse', Sun quickly went toward the ally and let some fairy dust rain on him.

The sickness on Orlok's body (although it was covered by the armor) started to fade away, and the huge knight could feel his body getting healthy again. "Hey…I feel better! Thank you, Sun!"

"My fairy magic is helpful against sicknesses like this. Feel free to unleash yourself now!" Sun told him.

The Mercenary King was more than happy to hear it as he stood up and smirked. "With pleasure!" At that moment, half of his body was surrounded by black markings, and he started to charge some energy that assumed a scarlet color. "Since this pal here wants to mess up that badly, I'll satisfy his request! Blood Devil's Rage!" He immediately released a large torrent of blood from his mouth that wiped away the monster.

"Uh!?" Hector turned around. "That's a signature technique of…you're a Devil Slayer?"

Orlok was happy to hear it as he turned around. "Eh eh, I wanted to make it a surprise for a hard situation, but it seems that it got earlier than expected!" He then proceeded to attack another monster.

Hector looked back at the monster he was facing and promptly prepared his sword, which assumed a ruby color.

"Ruby Sword Style – Fire Dragon's Fang!" Hector threw himself to the attack with his flaming sword, starting a clash with the monster, which tried to answer back with the protrusions. But unfortunately for it, Hector was indeed more agile to answer, to the point that the creature spit a green acid from his mouth.

"ACK!" Hector immediately jumped high and with a single dive cut, he was able to slice the monster in half. "I hope I never find an enemy like that again! That was disgusting!" He commented. "What do you say Persephone?" When he turned around, he could see Persephone stuck in another monster's mouth. "PERSEPHONE!?"

"AAAAAAH! IT'S SWALLOWING ME! HEEELP!" The humanoid exceed was slowly getting swallowed down through the mouth, spinning like she was getting flushed down a toilet.

Hector promptly cut down the monster in its lower half and then freed his sister from the grasp. "Eugh…" Persephone found herself all soaked. "Do you think the water isn't dirty?"

"It would still be salty…" Hector replied.

In the meantime, Myuu was already making a massacre out of the monsters, swiftly dodging their attacks and mutilating their pieces one by one. She then jumped up and with a barrage of axe attacks, she reduced one of them to pieces. She then landed on her feet with the usual cold expression she had in battle.

Another monster tried to aggressively charge at her, but it was already locked in Sun's aim.

The celestial spirit concentrated a good amount of fairy dust that she released in a larger blast. "Fairy Dust: Pixie!"

Needless to say, the monster blew up, with Myuu standing right behind the explosion as if she were in an action blockbuster movie. She turned around and looked at her celestial spirit. "Thank you." Then, by looking around, her eyes locked on Lilybeth, who seemed to fight in a different way than the others. "Uh?"

"AH!" It appeared that the young knight limited herself to simply answering with her sword, being careful at the monster's attacks, and parrying when the time was right. It was complicated for her to move around when the monster shot something, but overall, Lilybeth seemed pretty agile and ready in her movements, managing to move around the monster and cut down its legs and protrusions at the right time. "Ah-ha! There you go! Now I don't want to kill you, so if you stay there, I think you would do a great favor to both-"

Before she could finish, the monster already started to spin toward her, pushing her away with a heavy blow. "AGH!" Lilybeth ended up crashing against a wall, and when she raised her head, she could see the monster trying to come and get her. "OH NO!"

Luckily for her, Myuu jumped in time toward the monster to cut him in half and save the girl.

"A-Ah! Thanks…" Lilybeth spoke.

"These monsters don't know the meaning of mercy. You'd better attack without hesitation if you want to get out of here alive. And why aren't you using your magic?" Myuu asked.

"O-Oh! I thought I didn't need it for creatures like this! And…well, I can see your point even if I don't like the idea of-" Lilybeth was answering, but she interrupted herself when she saw another monster behind Myuu. "AH! LOOK OUT!" She immediately jumped forward to cut him in half (even if unwillingly).

Myuu turned around surprised. And it was then that she could notice something in particular: apart from the one she was using, Lilybeth had another sword attached to her basin.

The other girl in the meantime landed on her feet and could see what she had done. "Oh God…even if it tried to eat me, I can't help but feel awful…"

Myuu came closer to her. "Well, you still saved me and I thank you." She said before looking at the dead body. "And like I said…there are times when you really don't have a choice. Keep it in mind from now on…and start using your magic."

Those words made Lilybeth clearly nervous. "U-Uhm…sure…I'll think about it."

The others came back to them. All the monsters were taken down and the road was clear.

"Are you all ok?" Orlok asked.

"Yeah, somehow…" Persephone replied, with her body fully soaked in water. While the others continued the fight, she quickly jumped into the water to clean herself. She then shook her head and her hair became fuzzy.

"Those monsters were completely different from the sirens we had faced when we came here. I think that the dark magic is spreading wider…" Hector commented.

"Then we should better hurry…" Myuu replied.

Surely, hearing about dark magic made Lilybeth further anxious about the situation…but even so, she could keep her lucidity and notice something. "D-Dark magic you say? You mean like…that purple stagnation in the distance?"

"Uh?" When the others turned around, they could see it as well. Purple magic wriggling in the distance.

"Hey, that's true! We made it!" Persephone commented.

"So, all this movement and battles did bring us somewhere! I just hope the others are ok…" Orlok added.

"Well…all I can say is that whatever lies in there will probably be the hardest block to put down. Are you ready for this?" Myuu asked everyone, who nodded. "Then let's go."

And so they started to move.

Lilybeth couldn't help but feel worried. Hearing about dark magic made her think of what could possibly stay in there. That thought made her look at her other sword, the one she still didn't unsheathe.

Would she have been able to pull it out?

---

The small group moved forward and, in the end, was able to reach the place where all the mess came from: the center of the port.

"So, we're here…" Myuu spoke. As soon as they arrived, they could see where the purple pillar coming from.

A house, larger than the others was surrounded by a shady dark aura, implying that the source was inside.

"So, whatever's making all this fog and those monsters inside there? I've never done it, but I think I'm quite good at destroying houses!" Orlok commented.

Right then…they could hear more footsteps coming. "Uh?" The caution was at maximum, but when they looked around…they could see a pleasant surprise.

Lunafreya, Grendel, and Faris were also able to reach the center, and they were not alone. Ruina and Saoirse were with them.

"Ah! Your Majesty! Faris, Grendel!" Hector called out.

"Uh? Guys!" Lunafreya answered.

"Ha! See? What have I told you? They're still in one piece!" Grendel added.

Naturally, the original group that went for the mission in the first place all got closer together.

"Oh, thank God! I got worried for you!" Lunafreya said.

"Ha! No worries, cousin! We were still able to do a mess!" Faris told her.

"And it seemed that everything went well nonetheless…" Myuu added. It was then that the various parts of the group could see the other new members for the first time. "And…it seems that we got more company?"

"There's…a lot more people than I expected…" Ruina commented.

"I-I know, right?" Lilybeth commented.

"What? Don't tell me ya're agoraphobic!" Saoirse told them.

The other girls…simply looked at her.

A few minutes later…

Lunafreya lined up everyone to see them properly.

"Ok...a short summary of what happened." She started. "So, after we got separated, everyone tried to make their way to either reach the center or find the others, and while doing so, we got assistance from third parties against new monsters. And among our helpers, we have…a Dullahan knight and a young girl who still hasn't shown her magic. And both of them were actually trying to reach the capital to join the guild, right?"

"Not only that, but you also found the girl you were looking for! So…this is Ruina Cobolof, correct? Glad to see that you're still safe and sound!" Orlok added with a smile.

But Ruina wasn't in the same mood, as she looked at him suspiciously. "What's this…smell of blood I'm sensing from you?" She asked before putting her hand on her weapons, ready to take them. "Are you perhaps a vampire?"

"What? No, no! I just use Blood Magic that's all! Though…sometimes I do need to drink blood…but because I'm a Devil Slayer, nothing more!" Orlok explained.

This put more red flags on the huntress. "So, you're a vampire! Who else would suck blood like that!?" She exclaimed.

Lunafreya promptly went in front of her. "C-Calm down, Ruina! He's with us! I can assure you he's not a vampire!" Still, she turned around to look at him. "Though, I'm surprised as well to find out you're a Blood Devil Slayer…"

"So that's why I felt something similar from you! How come you didn't tell us that yet?" Faris added.

Orlok looked elsewhere while scratching the back of his head. "W-Well, the issue was never brought up before…"

"Hmm…" Ruina kept on glaring at Orlok nonetheless, but she took the hand away from the weapons. "Just so you know from now on, I'll be watching you."

"That…doesn't sound too good-" Orlok thought.

"Quite the character for a huntress," Grendel commented with her arms crossed.

"I already like her." Myuu obviously added.

Lilybeth was surprised, on the other hand. She surely didn't expect Lunafreya to be that young, but she surely showed some radiance worthy of a monarch that made her look in awe. "W-Wow…so you're the queen?"

"Hm? Oh, you must be Lilybeth, right? Yup, That's me! A pleasure to meet you!" Lunafreya replied with a smile.

"AAAAAH!" Lilybeth almost felt blinded by such sweetness. "O-Oh man, I never thought I'd see the day where I could meet such radiance! My introverted heart can't take it!"

The queen looked confused. "Uhm…are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah, sorry. I'm just not used to people treating me like this. Anyways…even if I wasn't there, I heard the speech you have at your crowning and I can't help but feel motivated by you! I'm so happy to meet you- ah! O-Or…maybe I'm exaggerating and I should keep my spaces?" Lilybeth said.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm socially awkward as well, so I can understand! Plus, I'm a Guild Master now, so you're free to see me without a divine nature!" Lunafreya told her. "Quite ironic considering that I'm a God Slayer…"

This made Lilybeth go in awe even more. "Aaah…the queen is socially awkward just like me…I feel I could almost faint…"

"Boi! Ya two r'lly need to get some tips in social interaction! When we head back, I'll make sure to feed ya tons of beer!" Saoirse proposed.

"Ah! N-No, I would like to avoid, thanks, I'm not old enough to drink…" Lilybeth replied with a nervous laugh.

The Dullahan lady looked at her with a skeptical face. "Eh. Boring." She then looked at Lunafreya. "What about ye, queenie laddie?"

Lunafreya couldn't help but feel confused by this girl as well. "Well…I suppose one jug or two won't hurt." She replied. "So, your name is Saoirse, right? And you're a Dullahan…"

To answer, Saoirse broke her head and held it. "That's right, laddie!"

"EUGH!" Most of the group cringed a bit upon seeing it.

"Oi, what's the big deal!? Did yer parents never tell you of Sleepy Hollow!?" Saoirse asked.

"N-No, but it still makes an effect to see a woman taking her head off!" Persephone added.

"Yes. Even if I studied a bit of them, I never saw a Dullahan who can freely take her head off and put it back on whenever she wants." Ruina added. "But tell me…do you perhaps go around and haunt people in the forests announcing imminent death to whoever sees you? Be careful on how you answer."

Saoirse looked at her in silence for a few moments and then made a bored face that seemed honest. "Naah. That's work for boorin' fellows. Hunting ghosts is much more fun! You should see the reaction of the folks when they see one!"

"You…hunt ghosts?" Ruina asked, surprised. "Uh…I had some experience in doing that as well. Maybe we could consult each other…"

"Ha! I always ken how to put 'em on me side!" The Dullahan lady said, satisfied.

"And here I thought she would have made a ruckus…" Faris commented. "Well! Leaving all that aside, I think we've managed to do both things in the end! And it seems that we also know what we need to smash…" She then looked at the house with a dark aura while holding a smirk.

Ruina clicked on her eyepatch, and the radar reported her a large source of magical power. "Yes. I sense a large energy coming from there.

"Then let's finish this," Lunafreya concluded.

The complete group was on its way to enter the house. But right then…

A familiar melody started to play in the air.

"Ah!" Everyone immediately went cautious and started to look around.

"It's that shitty flute again!" Grendel exclaimed.

"Don't let it confuse you this time! Stay tight!" Orlok warned.

"Ah, please! I could never fall for such mince music!" Saoirse told him.

"I don't like this…I don't like this in the slightest!" Lilybeth commented.

Still…even if it was threatening despite being harmonious, the melody didn't start to mess with their senses. It was more like…it was a melody of warning.

While she remained careful, Ruina's eyepatch caught an approaching magical source. "Uh?" She turned around. "Someone's coming!"

Everyone looked in the same direction…and right at that moment…footsteps could be heard coming closer.

Tap…tap…tap…tap…

Everyone assumed their battle stances immediately, not expecting what would have come out from the fog. But one thing was certain: it wasn't going to be friendly.

A few more seconds later, and adding to the footsteps, a silhouette could be seen getting closer.

"There they are…" Hector whispered. His grip on the sword tightened.

And in the end…what came out was a young woman. She had pale skin, long flowy lavender hair, and fuchsia eyes. She was wearing an elegant blue jacket with gold ornaments with a white jabot on the neck, brown trousers, and a pair of black boots. But what immediately jumped at the eye of the mages was…that she was playing what seemed to be a golden flute.

Everyone frowned immediately. "There she is…" Persephone whispered.

As soon as her complete figure was visible, the woman opened her eyes and glared at the mages of Round Table, stopping the melody.

A tense silence rose for a few moments, but the knights didn't want to waste further time.

"Who are you?" Lunafreya immediately asked with an imposing tone.

The girl gently removed her lips from the flute and made a sinister grin as the wind started to gently move her hair and her jacket.

"The name's Ariel Andersen, the Melody of the Abyss, and a fellow member of Thalassophobia." She didn't seem to waste any time as well and introduced herself.

Ariel Andersen – The Melody of the Abyss – Member of Thalassophobia

"Thalassophobia…?" Lunafreya whispered.

"Considering the whole mess you started I assume that you're not that friendly, correct? Hell, I'd even say that you come from a dark guild!" Faris added.

"Perceptive, I see. Well, not that I'd expect a different approach after the show I've all put you into." The girl, known as Ariel, answered back. "I'll admit that you did a good job in managing to come all the way here and make yourselves a road in such mist. I thought that you would have fallen under the blows of the various creatures generated by the Great Fish's aura after I've scattered you throughout this port. But it seems that I've underestimated you a bit. I praise you, but unfortunately, whoever you may be, I can't allow you to proceed further, even if I have to take you down all by myself."

"The Great Fish…the same the sirens mentioned…" Myuu noticed. "What is this Great Fish you're mentioning? What are you planning to do?"

"It's none of your concern. We of Thalassophobia had worked for a long time on our special project, and now that we're getting closer to the realization, we cannot allow anyone to interfere." Ariel countered before grinning again. "That is…unless you want to join the vessels used as fuel for The Great Fish. I'm sure it would be more than pleased to receive all of your energy. You may take part in something beautiful."

"Vessels…used as fuels?" Lilybeth asked, sweating.

"Then…the fresh dead bodies we saw earlier…" Hector realized the whole deal and tightened his grip on the sword. "You used all the unlucky who got here as sources of energy for your plan!?"

"Really!? That's disgusting! Aren't you a bit ashamed of yourself!?" Orlok added.

"I don't expect you to understand neither mine nor my superior's reasoning. What I need for you is to disappear. And if those pets weren't enough, I'll make sure to remedy them right now. I hope you're ready to fight."

"HA! Listen to her! Do you think you can do something!? In case you haven't noticed, there are nine of us and only one of you! You'd better say your prayers now!" Grendel mocked her, already activating her Breaker aura and dashing forth.

"No, wait!" Ruina tried to warn her, but Lady Gaheris was already preparing for her attack.

"Hellebores Knuckle!" Grendel was already throwing her punch at maximum power, but even with such a sight, the girl from the dark guild didn't seem bothered by it.

"If you think like that, then it's clear that you don't know what a mage of Thalassophobia can do. But please…let me enlighten you…with your requiem." Ariel quickly put her lips back on the flute. "Sea Shantie Funeral."

She started to play a sweet and harmonious melody that somehow…stopped Grendel in her tracks.

"ACK- W-What!?" The mage of Round Table started to tremble and stutter as soon as the melody entered her ears. "W-What's happening to me!? It's like before but worse!" She tried to cover her ears but to no avail. "D-DAMMIT! I CAN'T STOP LISTENING!"

"What's going on!?" Lunafreya exclaimed.

"It's useless. Even if you try to break your eardrums, it won't work. The voice of the sirens reaches directly the brain. The moment you listen to them you fall already in their grip!" Ariel's voice said. She was able to let her thoughts be heard even if she was playing the flute.

And it was just like she said. Grendel's trembling became stronger, and she felt like several sirens were all laughing at her. At a certain point, several blue electric shockwaves surrounded her body, converging in an explosion of blue energy that wiped her away. "GAAAAAAAH!"

"GRENDEL!" Everyone shouted as she crashed to the ground.

"A-Absurd…just with a melody!?" Persephone whispered, bewildered.

"This is…completely different from what I've faced up until now!" Ruina added.

Faris, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel furious. In an instant, a crimson aura surrounded her and she dashed against the enemy. "HOW DARE YOU, BASTARD!?" She went for a direct x-crossed slash with her two swords. But all that it took for Ariel was to simply lower herself at the right moment, making the knight cut only a few hairs. "W-What!?"

"Care to join her that soon?" The mage of Thalassophobia asked. Her nails already sharpened like that of a siren, and in an instant, she attacked, making three scars on the girl's armor.

"GAH!" Faris fell to the ground, and Ariel couldn't help but like that vision before turning around at the rest. "As I said, I can take you all down with ease. Who wants to be the next to listen to my exhibition?"

"This is bad…if we leave her too much space, she'll take us all down with no ease!" Hector commented.

"We need to get her before she gets to play that flute, no matter her reflexes," Ruina suggested.

Lunafreya trembled with anger as she unsheathed her sword. "Then this is what we're going to do. I won't definitely let her go after doing that to both my cousin and Grendel. Round Table, ATTACK!"

"YES!" Everyone immediately threw themselves against the enemy.

"A collective attack then? You seem eager to finish this. Don't worry…" Ariel put her lips back on the flute. "I am as well." As soon as she started to play music, several swipes of blue energy started to appear from her aura, going straight toward the knights.

"Sun!" Myuu called out for her Celestial Spirit, who flew above them

"Right here! Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Sun immediately threw a barrage of energy needles that shredded the swipes to pieces, making Myuu get closer to the enemy and start to attack her with several axe blows.

Once again, Ariel showed incredible reflexes, managing to dodge most of the blows and even clashing her own flute (which turned out to be tougher than expected) with Myuu's axe. "You move well. But coming from an expert, grace and violence don't go along well."

"Then let me say this, coming from an expert. Wait until you talk!" Myuu retorted, pushing Ariel's back, making her lose balance for a moment and giving herself a chance to attack.

"Hm!" Ariel jumped back at the last moment, getting only a small scar on her face. When she landed on her feet, Ruina was already above her with her leather whip.

"I think it's time I pay you back for trapping me on this cursed port for more than a day." The huntress said. "Boiling Blood!" She used her blood to enhance the whip before throwing it in a whirlwind of blows.

Ariel saw it coming and with her flute made a magic circle that evolved into a magic barrier that defended her from the blows. "Pay me back? I've heard when you talked about doing things properly and I'm pretty sure that you would feel the same if someone interfered in your job."

Inevitably, Ruina finished the attack and landed on her feet. "Yeah, you're right. But there's a difference. I don't use foul creatures for my work." After that rebuttal, the black-haired girl immediately dashed toward her, starting to attack by using the whip sword this time.

Ariel attacked back by swinging her flute like it was a sword. "You talk so tough, but you don't look that different from the monsters you loathe so much. The fact that you use blood as your main source of magic makes you look like a vampire, don't you think?"

That comment triggered Ruina, as her eye widened. "DON'T YOU DARE!" She became faster and more violent with her attacks.

Ariel could feel her limbs start to yield, but it was still something that she could handle. "Hm?" But right at that moment, she could see Myuu run toward her, trying to assault her as well.

"Don't think that you can abandon me like nothing!" Myuu exclaimed, unleashing herself with the axe.

Seeing how she was getting overcharged by the two mages, Ariel waited for a break moment to stun both with a direct blow and jump high to get away from them. "Dead End Symphony!" By playing her flute, she released a large electric shockwave that filled both Ruina and Myuu's bodies.

"GAAAAAAAH!" They both shouted with pain, but Ruina kept her eye open to look at Ariel trying to dive against her.

"It's over!"

"Crimson Spike Armor!" As soon as Ariel was close enough, Ruina generated a layer of blood under her armor that came out in the form of red spikes.

"What!? AGH!" A few spikes ended up impaling Ariel on the arms and on the shoulder, forcing her to cut them down and jump back. "Dammit…I didn't expect that…"

"Kh…and it's only the beginning…you better remain on your guard…" Ruina threatened her.

"You say that when you can barely move. You and that other girl there." Ariel retorted.

"YA FORGET THEY'RE NOT ALONE, YA BAMPOT PIED PIPER!" Saoirse shouted, making the enemy turn look up.

Both the Dullahan knight and Orlok were in mid-air, delivering a heavy double dive blow with their weapons, forcing the mage of Thalassophobia to jump away, leaving only a crater.

"Enchant: Speed Boost!" As soon as he touched the ground, Orlok went full speed ahead against Ariel, trying to overwhelm her with his two axes and his brute force, delivering blow after heavy blow.

"Ngh!" This time, Ariel could feel herself getting dragged away, as her recoil made two trails on the ground. And that wasn't even going to be the worst part.

"Spirit Render!" Saoirse promptly started to spin with her scythe, looking like a hellish wheel leaving green flames behind her, inevitably reaching Ariel, and while she didn't cut her head off, she was still able to make a long cut that made her crash against a wall.

"AGH!" Ariel stood up, only to see Orlok in front of him surrounded by a bloody aura. "Oh crap-"

"TAKE THIS!" Without wasting any time, The huge knight threw the opponent up with an uppercut filled with blood energy, making her fly several meters away. "Now, Saoirse!"

"RIGHT BACK AT YA!" The Dullahan Knight was already jumping up to attack her, but as soon as she reached her, Ariel knew what answer to give.

"Beautiful Mask!" For a moment, the mage of Thalassophobia assumed the look of a screeching siren that stunned the Dullahan for a few seconds.

"ARGH, SHITE!" As much as she cursed, Saoirse was left exposed.

Ariel grinned and used her flute to release a magic shockwave that made Saoirse crash to the ground. The mage of Thalassophobia then turned her nails into siren claws and immediately dived against Orlok.

"GRRR!" Still enhanced by his magic, the huge knight was able to clash with her and block the attack. He then was about to use his free hand to attack her with his axe. "You're mine!"

"Not so fast. Sea Shantie Funeral." Ariel took her flute in time and used it to stun the giant man.

"GH! D-DAMMIT, NOT AGAIN!" Orlok tried to cover his years, but not avail. Ariel took the advantage and shot a swipe of blue energy to push him away. "AGH!"

"You're slowly progressing, but it's still a long road. A musician cannot be stopped that easily." Ariel commented. "Hm?" She then turned around to see several swords of light and a few ground fangs come straight to her. She quickly made a circle with the flute to summon the barrier and defend herself. When she raised her expression, she could see Lunafreya and Hector glaring at her with their weapons at the ready.

"You should speak for yourself! This isn't the first mission we made and we have already a few tough enemies we have taken down, so don't think you'll be that much of a difference, especially when I'm around!" Lunafreya told her.

"That's right! Those blows you've got earlier clearly tell us that you're not that untouchable from us, just you wait to get the rest!" Hector added.

Ariel couldn't help but grin. "Your persistence is something fascinating. I've always found the knights to be intriguing figures. Their bravery is certainly something worthy of praise but…I can't help but think that they're not that different from tin soldiers. All that is needed is a simple touch to make them fall."

This naturally enraged the two knights, with their swords already shining.

"You dare spit on our titles!?" Hector shouted.

"I may be inexperienced but I don't allow someone to insult either me, my soldiers, or my guild this way! Get ready to take the price!" Lunafreya added, raising her sword already. "Holy Sword God's Bellow!"

Hector's sword became bright blue and shot a beam of water which joined Lunafreya's one. "Cobalt Sword Style – Water Dragon's Roar!"

The two beams went violently toward Ariel, who looked at them with a cold expression. "Resign yourselves. Your fate had been sealed the moment you entered this port. Odysseus' Temptation!" This time, as soon as she played the flute, a maximum power beam was released, throwing itself against the other two.

A small clash occurred, and in the end, the three beams nullified each other. After the pile of dust faded away, Ariel could see the two knights try to overwhelm her with a double sword barrage. "HM!" The mage of Thalassophobia quickly used her flute to answer.

SDONG!

A loud iron noise could be heard and Ariel started to swing her flute to defend herself, even if she was forced to move backward.

"How's that for an impression!? Feeling satisfied!?" Lunafreya asked, feeling insulted.

"Yes, you could say so! But to convince me fully, you should see me lie down on the ground!" Ariel retorted.

"Don't worry about that! I know how to do it! RIGHT PERSEPHONE!?" Hector replied.

"What!?" When Ariel raised her head, she could see both Persephone and Lilybeth jump above their two friends and immediately dive against the enemy.

"HAAAAAH!" Since they caught her by surprise, they were able to throw her away with a double sword attack.

"NGH!"

"Great job, Lilybeth!" Persephone called out.

"You're not that bad either! I think we can finish this! LET'S ALL GO!" Feeling suddenly strong, Lilybeth gave the four of them the chance to run against Ariel.

This time, the mage of Thalassophobia started to get frustrated. "Alright…I wanted to cool it down to avoid your suffering. But if you're that persisting…you leave me with no other choice." She put her lips back in the flute.

"This melody of yours won't work this time!" Lunafreya warned.

"I know. That's why I'm bringing it to the next level. Dead End Climax!" Ariel started to play the melody and this time…it felt louder…wider…scarier.

The whole area seemed grappled by the melody, and the knights felt like they were caught in a nest of sirens.

"N-No…" Lilybeth trembled.

"W-What's happening!? Not this again!" Lunafreya exclaimed, trying to cover her ears.

"T-This spell…" Grendel whispered, trying to raise her head.

"It seems different than the others!" Ruina warned.

"You should be proud. I didn't give many the privilege of hearing my melody at one of its highest grounds. Your bodies, minds, and very souls will now fall prey to the voice of the sirens. You won't be able to escape now." Ariel's voice warned. And it was like what she said.

The melody, the laughter of the sirens, and their oppressive grip felt tighter this time. To the point that they felt their hearts getting crushed…and their ears started to bleed.

"G-GHHHHHH!" Lunafreya tried to maintain her stability, but her sight became dizzy again…and in the end, she and the others submitted.

"AGH…GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A choir of painful wails joined the melody, which converged into a large explosion that wiped everyone away. Even Sun got blown up (not literally though).

They were still standing…but barely. Their ears were whistling and bleeding, and their bodies were trembling from the physical trauma.

"D-Dammit…" Faris commented, trying to move.

"T-This is no regular dark mage…can't we really do anything to get closer to her…?" Ruina thought.

"N-No…there's no reason to quit! L-Listen carefully, Ariel…you still didn't take me down, get it!?" Lunafreya tried to react, holding her sword tightly.

"Y-YA TELL' ER QUEENIE LADDIE! Imma shove yer piper dun yer arse now!" Saoirse added.

"That's right! C-Come on…you still have plenty to go!" Orlok chimed in.

The others agreed and tried to move.

Lilybeth looked at all of them react and she was still there…hesitant whether to use her magic or not. Still…a part of her wanted to help them. Even if she was awkward, and they knew of it, they still wanted to approach her and try to act like they were friends of hers. Lunafreya also didn't have any objections to making her join the guild.

All of that…made her grow the wish to react as well…but was hesitant to do so.

"It seems like a critical moment for you." An apathetic voice suddenly said around the girl.

"…What should I do?" Lilybeth asked.

"Beats me. I'll stick with whatever you'll do. It's not like I have that much of an opinion." The voice replied.

She started to tremble at the idea of what would have happened if she had gone along with what she had in mind. But…she had met the guild she was looking for…and maybe, thanks to them, she would have finally changed the type of person that she was.

She took a deep breath. Her hand was still trembling…but it still grabbed the guard of the sword she had attached to her pelvis.

Ariel, on the other hand, looked at the other knights, almost uninterested. "You were able to survive the Dead End Climax and you're willing to resume the fight? The charm you showed a few moments earlier seemed to disappear for me. Now you look just pathetic."

"Spare us your fancy shit, we don't know what to do with that…" Faris added.

"Shut up and fight. We're still not done with you…" Ruina added.

"Hmph. As you wish. If you're requesting death so much, I'm no one to object." Ariel was ready to play the flute again, but right at that moment.

"Stop!" Lilybeth stood in front of the others, breathing heavily.

"Lilybeth…?" Myuu asked.

"If you want to take them down, you'll have to pass through me first, Ariel! I don't intend to run now that I've met someone that could make me strong!" The young girl declared.

Lunafreya seemed impressed by that.

"Really? You of all people are trying to threaten me? Apart from the cat girl, you didn't even bother to use magic against me. What gives you the conviction that you can stop me before I start playing?" Ariel asked.

Lilybeth's expression didn't change and instead…showed what seemed to be a butterfly sword with a purple obsidian blade and an ore on the hilt.

"That sword…is different than the one she used until now…" Hector noticed.

"It's the one she seemed to hide before…could it be?" Myuu thought.

Lilybeth glared at the enemy. "Let's just say that…I have a friend I can rely on for that." After saying it, she closed her eyes. "Once again…I give my body to you, Seethe." Her hair started to flow, the braid got untied…and then…

The small sword's ore opened, revealing it to be actually a purple slit eye that widened and infused purple energy to the girl, who sighed.

"What the!?" Grendel exclaimed.

"What's with that sword!? It almost seems like it got in pure synchrony with Lilybeth!" Orlok added.

"Could it be? Is she a Holder-Type Mage?" Lunafreya tried to guess.

"Not only that…the sword she's wielding. I can feel it…" Ruina added, seeing the magic parameters from her eyepatch. "It has a will of its own."

Ariel looked with her eyes twitching as the 'metamorphosis took place'.

In the end, Lilybeth opened her eyes, which now had a completely different expression. Colder. More apathetic. She looked at her hands and her aura…and then looked up at the enemy.

"What's with that expression? Don't think that you can get your high ground just because you changed your weapons! It'll take more than that to pass through my melody. Dead End Symphony!" Ariel started to play the flute but to her surprise…Lilybeth couldn't feel anything. It was like there was a barrier that surrounded the young girl. "W-What!? What's happening!? My melody can't reach her!"

Lilybeth kept on staring at her. "Is this really a symphony? It feels more like a child's play." She spoke. Her voice seemed blended with someone else's. She then put one foot forward. "Light Step." In an instant, she was already in front of Ariel, stabbing her near the chest.

"BLARGH!" The mage of Thalassophobia spitted blood with a withered expression as she never expected that girl to be that fast. "H-How did you-!?"

Lilybeth simply looked at her. "You can't really tamper with someone else's mind if there's already someone inside it, don't you think?" After saying that, she started to attack Ariel repeatedly with a barrage of attacks with the sword, filling the enemy's body with cuts.

"GAAAAAH!" Ariel ended up getting pushed backward and started to sweat. It was clear that she wasn't facing the same girl from before. She needed to react quickly, so she grabbed the flute and started to play. "Odysseus' Temptation!" She shot a beam at high speed, only to see it getting absorbed by Lilybeth's sword. "W-What!?"

Lilybeth didn't hesitate and shot back a beam of her own which pushed the enemy further.

"G-Gh…absurd…the situation reverted in less than an instant because of her…how did you do this!?" Ariel exclaimed.

"I'm just someone doing their job. Besides…it's not just me you should be concerned of." Lilybeth replied.

"What-? GAH!" Ariel didn't even have the time to ask that she got a double blow from Grendel's punch and Faris's sword.

"DON'T THINK YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT US THAT EASILY, DIPSHIT!" Grendel shouted.

"TIME FOR THE SATISFYING PAYBACK! TAKE THIS!" Faris added. The two didn't waste time and threw an adding barrage of attacks at her. "ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAAAAAAA!"

Ariel ended up getting thrown up in the air, where Saoirse's body was already waiting for her, surrounded by green flames. "Missed me? TAKE A HUG!" In less than a second, Saoirse slammed her back to the ground with the scythe.

"D-Dammit- UH!?" When she raised her stare, she could see Orlok and Hector already preparing two blasts of energy.

"After that annoying music, how about we repay the favor and make your ears whistle for a while!?" Orlok exclaimed.

"You said it Orlok! Let's do it!"

"Water Dragon's Roar! / Blood Devil's Rage!" The two beams merged into one and pushed Ariel away, only to find Lunafreya and Myuu in front of her.

"NO!"

"Holy Sword God's Punishment!" The queen went with a fast sequence of sword attacks and then jumped upward. Myuu joined in by attacking with her axe and then followed the queen. "Ruina! You started this case, you get the right to solve it!"

This time, it was Ariel who trembled, as she attempted to use her flute one last time to get rid of the enemies, even if the situation was disastrous. "K-Kh…d-don't think it will be this easy to take a member of Thalassophobia down!"

Ruina already prepared the magic circle and her enemy was already locked in. "It feels bad to say it, doesn't it? Unfortunately for you, I'm a huntress who sees her job right to the very end. And if you summon monsters like those…then you're in my way." Before shooting, she looked for a moment at Lilybeth. "Lilybeth, right? Or…whoever you are, thank you."

Lilybeth simply looked at her.

"Blood Bullet Barrage." Ruina immediately shot heavy bullets of blood against Siren, who couldn't play in time and got pushed away by the rain of blows.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! K-Kh! Dammit! At this point, they'll finish me! I can't afford that…not now!" In one last attempt, Ariel spread her arms and made a bright light that blinded everyone for a moment.

"ACK!"

Ariel took the time to generate two wings with her magic and fly away at high speed. And when the others could open their eyes again, they could see it.

"H-Hey, she's escaping!" Persephone exclaimed.

"AI! GET BACK HERE, YA FEARDIE!" Saoirse complained.

Faris was already preparing her Crimson Devil Slayer Magic to shoot her down. "YOU WON'T-" But Lunafreya quickly grabbed her shoulder.

"No, Faris. She's already far enough, you wouldn't take her. It's over."

Reluctantly, Faris made the energy fade away and scoffed. "Tch. Always hate it when it happens!" She complained.

"See it on the bright side, you got to beat her up for good! Well, we all did!" Orlok told her.

Ruina couldn't help but look up. "…I have a bad feeling about this…"

In the meantime, Ariel was already a few miles away. She was wounded and bleeding…but she was still intact. Even if she felt annoyed by what happened.

"G-Gh…the Master won't be happy that we had lost a sapphire…but it doesn't matter." She said to herself. For a moment, she glowed with a blue energy. "I've got enough energy from the people that ended on the port. This will still help awaken the Great Fish." And then…she glared back.

"A guild of knights…as if there weren't enough bothering people. If I'll ever see them again…they won't be that lucky next time."

---

A few minutes later, the situation finally calmed down, and everyone got a moment to regain air.

"Phew…it should be over, right? We just need to figure out what's inside there, correct?" Hector asked.

"That would be pretty much the plan. Although I wouldn't be surprised if there was another surprise waiting for us-" Orlok replied.

"If it was like that, it would probably be less dangerous than what we had fought now," Lunafreya added, looking up at the sky. "She was able to keep up with nine of us…and she said she was part of a dark guild…" She commented. Even back when she was a princess, she heard a lot about dark guilds, especially when it came to the Balam Alliance, and when she came up with the idea for Round Table, she knew that one day, she would face one of them, but only now she could understand the real danger they showed.

"Yeah…and because of this, I think we all owe a big thanks to the one who brought us out of this trouble," Ruina said, looking at Lilybeth.

The girl's expression didn't change, and she simply looked back.

"Damm boi! Who knew ye were hidin' somethin' like that!" Saoirse commented.

"Yeah! Now I can see why you were hiding it! Great job!" Orlok added.

"Hm. I just did what Lilybeth asked me. Nothing more." Lilybeth commented, confusing everyone (except Ruina).

"Uh? W-What do you mean? You're not Lilybeth?" Lunafreya asked.

What seemed to be Lilybeth shook her head. "I'm the weapon you saw draw against that woman. My name is Seethe. I'm a demonic sword." She explained.

"WHAT!?" Everyone shouted.

"What? Didn't you figure it out earlier?" Ruina asked.

"Uhm…thank you still for helping us, Seethe, you pulled us out of trouble but…could we talk to Lilybeth now?" Lunafreya added.

Seethe looked at them in silence for a few seconds and then…shrugged. "Eh. I guess." And just like that, a purple smoke came out from the girl's body and came back to the sword, which opened its eye. "I'm here if someone wants to talk. Not that I would see the reason why you should waste your time talking with a talking sword." It spoke.

"Well…at least it's honest," Faris commented.

"U-Ugh…" After regaining consciousness, Lilybeth held her head and wobbled for a few seconds. Everyone immediately came closer to her.

"Hey, you alright?" Myuu asked.

"Nothin' broken?" Saoirse added.

"G-Guys? You're all…here?" The young girl asked before starting to touch herself. "Wait…I'm alive, then? Oh boy, I survived again! Uhm…" She then looked around. "Is…that girl gone?"

"We made her run away thanks to you!" Persephone told her with a smile.

"Yeah! Who knew you could smack asses like that!? You were like a cyclone!" Faris added.

Lilybeth immediately became full red and tried to look elsewhere. "O-Oh please, it's not a merit of mine. You should thank Seethe for that. I still wonder how it was able to pick someone like me as its wielder…"

Ruina came closer. "Speaking of which…could you tell us a bit more about that sword's nature? It's clearly not just a magic one."

"Uhm…yeah, it's a cursed sword, in short. I got it a few years ago from a sword shop after hearing its particular story." Lilybeth started. "As you can see, it's a sword with a soul of its own, and it always chooses whoever it deems worthy of wielding it, like me, and by doing so, it grants superior powers to its wielder by taking over its body for a moment."

"Wow…that seems kind of a lot…" Faris commented.

"I-I know, right? This is supposed to be a super-duper devilish sword and it chose me as its wielder!" Lilybeth added.

"Hey. You had at least the decency to try and talk to me first. Plus, that body and mind of yours is quite comfy to take over with." Seethe told her.

"You do know it's an awkward thing to say, right!?" Hector told it.

"I'm a talking sword. You think I care about sexuality?" Seethe spoke back.

"…Fair enough." The white knight concluded.

"And besides, considering how you were eager to use it to save us, I think it can see a reason why it would pick you! What you did was very laudable, Lilybeth, worthy of a knight! So, thank you!" Lunafreya added.

…

Once again, Lilybeth became full red. "T-T-T-T-T-T-T-The queen t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-thanked me…." She briefly fainted.

Lunafreya became red in turn. "Oh my God! D-Do I give this effect?"

"Yup. Ya surely need some outing." Saoirse commented.

A few minutes later…

After Lilybeth woke up, the queen gave a quick look at everyone. "It seems that we had gotten out of this situation as well. We found the girl we were looking for, we're still safe and breathing and the enemy had been pushed back. There's only one thing left to do." She turned around to look at the house where the purple energy spread.

Ruina was the first one to move. "Let's finish this."

"…Quite hasty, don't you think?" Orlok asked.

"Honestly, after everything we have seen, I can't wait to go home," Grendel replied.

"Yeah, I second that," Myuu added.

Nothing else needed to be added, so the small group came inside the house…where there wasn't much, but the few that they saw were quite notable.

Apart from a single table without even a chair, there was a giant sapphire planted on the ground, glowing with purple energy.

"Wow…I can see how this port became messy!" Persephone commented.

Hector looked at his sword. "It has a similar resonance to my Dragon Slayer Magic…"

Ruina checked it with her eyepatch and could see the parameters of it. "There's no doubt. The dark energy comes from this sapphire. It's better if we destroy it."

"Agreed. I think a heavy blow would make the deal." Lunafreya spoke.

While they were discussing, Faris came closer to look at the table where she found something that she didn't expect.

A piece of paper. But it wasn't an actual piece of paper. It seemed more like a copy of a torn page from a book. "Hm?" Faris gave a quick read and…

In less than a second, her face became pale. "O-Oh…What the fuck!?"

"What's the matter, sis?" Grendel asked, coming closer and giving a read as well. "Oh shit…" She had a similar reaction.

"What's with you two?" Ruina asked.

Faris slowly raised her head, still shocked. "I…I think you should take a look at this."

Everyone came closer and could see the text of the page…which left them breathless. The text that followed was this.

"Chapter 3, Section 6: Leviathan – Demon Lord of Envy. A titanic fish whose roar can turn the sky into a devastating tempest in the blink of an eye. It lies asleep in the depths of the ocean at the center of Earth Land. If this beast were ever to awaken, a giant flood would soak Earth Land. Tornadoes will start to devastate the land, and inevitably, the world will be swallowed by the ocean. Throughout these centuries of immortality, I always thought that maybe one of the easiest ways to die for me would be to drown. But I can't get myself to stay underwater for too long. So, I created this demon to give myself this opportunity. That is…if it was ever to wake up. Honestly…I'm quite surprised with what have I done until now. If neither E.N.D will be able to kill me or I won't be able to use the Eclipse Gate, I'll awaken this demon, and bring everything with me deep down in the abyss of the ocean. You could consider it…one of my last resources. One of the madnesses I created because of this curse."

The description…the demonic characters…the images that looked like ancient sculptures…all members of Round Table and their new allies could immediately figure out what that was about.

"I-It can't be true, right?" Lilybeth asked.

"But…it can only be that…it's impossible!" Hector added.

"D-Do you think it's that, comrade Lunafreya?" Ruina asked the queen, sweating a lot.

Lunafreya seemed the most terrified by this discovery. She knew that name well…the name that terrified Fiore and spread its ominous aura throughout the rest of the world. She still remembered the terror her kingdom was feeling back when his empire was marching through the continent of Ishgar…and when they all heard about his diabolical plan. Everyone thought that two years earlier, that story finally ended. But right now…the queen was looking at it…a trace of his passage that remained.

"…There's no doubt. This is…" She whispered.

"H-Holy crivvens…" Saoirse added. Everyone ended up saying it together.

"This…is a page of the Book of Zeref!"

As soon as they said it, they could feel as if the silhouette of the terrifying black mage was behind them.

"H-Hey, what type of prank is this!? Because if it is, it's not funny!" Faris exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, wait! I thought that Zeref was dead! It happened two years ago, right!? Fairy Tail killed him!" Lilybeth said, remembering what she heard.

"Not only that…but I also heard that when he died, his book disappeared into ashes with him. So how the…!?" Orlok added.

"It should be like this…" Ruina replied, grabbing the piece of paper. "This is a photocopy. Whoever made this was able to scan it directly from the book of Zeref, maybe they were acquaintances. But…the same thing should be applied to the demons of the book. With Zeref gone, all the demons he created should have disappeared with him…" She then looked at the sapphire. "Is this the Great Fish Ariel was mentioning…? Is this Thalassophobia group trying to awaken this demon?"

Lunafreya immediately frowned her eyebrows, thinking of the horrible things that could have happened. She quickly grabbed her sword. "Let's not waste any further time. We need to destroy this!"

"Yes!" Everyone else was quick to answer and grabbed their weapons as well.

"On my three!" The queen warned. "One…two…"

"THREE!" As soon as the signal called out, all nine knights attacked at the same moment, stabbing their weapons on the sapphire…and after a few moments of silence…

CRACK!

CRASH!

Several cracks started to appear on the sapphire, which inevitably crumbled down to pieces, and faded away in purple magic.

"At least that part was easy!" Persephone commented.

When the group came out of the house, they could see the magic phenomenon.

Just as it was extremely dense just a few moments earlier, the fog quickly dissipated…bringing the light again to that abandoned port. They couldn't see it there but with the destruction of the sapphire, all the monsters that were still lurking in the port evaporated as well.

"We did it!" Lilybeth exclaimed all happy.

"FINALLY THAT SHITTY WEATHER IS GONE!" Grendel added.

"EAT THAT, PIED PIPER!" Saoirse added.

"Well…overall, it wasn't that bad as a first mission!" Orlok commented.

"When the mission gets accomplished, it's never a bad experience! I hope it will be the first one you'll be able to get from staying here in the guild!" Lunafreya told him with a smile. She then looked at the two girls who wanted to join as well. "The same goes for you, Saoirse and Lilybeth!"

"W-Wait…so I'm in?" Lilybeth asked, still incredulous.

"Of course!" The queen answered back with starry eyes. "You think I wouldn't accept two girls that want to join my guild? Plus, you showed to have great powers, so you're welcome, of course! We just need to get back and get all things set and done!"

"O-Oh my God…oh my God! I DID IT!" Lilybeth ended up jumping out of joy. "A-Ah! Uhm…have I exaggerated?"

"NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST! COME HERE YA LADDIE!" Saoirse told her, starting to rub her head.

"Aaah! D-Don't mess my braid!" Lilybeth whined.

While the other members were satisfied, Ruina came closer to the queen. "I forgot to tell you among all that chaos but…thank you for coming to my rescue."

"You're…thanking me?" Lunafreya asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I would have figured it out by myself, even if I would have taken a bit longer, but...I always show my gratitude to those who help me." The huntress explained.

To that…Lunafreya couldn't help but smile. "I guess that it's not like you really don't care if someone watches over you?"

Ruina tried to look elsewhere. "…Think what you want." She cut it out. "What do we do with that paper?"

Lunafreya grabbed it before going out of the house and took a quick look at it. "…Let's take it with us. There are people of a certain caliber that need to see this." She replied.

That mission as well, ended in a success…but for the first time since she opened the guild, the young queen couldn't help but get worried a bit for the future.

---

Somnus – Guild of Round Table

Once the port was free, the mages of Round Table all came back to the Regalia (where there was surprisingly more space for the new people) and made all their way back to the capital, at home.

The rest of the mages were informed of what they had found out, and they had similar reactions. Some of them were panicked, but all of them knew that something had to be done. Therefore…they all called out the first organization that needed to be informed.

A few moments later, a group of the Rune Knights, belonging to the Magic Council knocked on the guild's door to receive the photo of the page.

"Thank you for your reporting. Master Draculos will immediately be informed about this." One of the knights said.

Upon hearing that name, Ruina had a nervous twitch in her eye.

"Please, let me know as well what you find out," Lunafreya told them with a small bow.

"It will be done, Your Majesty. Now, if you'll excuse us…" With that done, the two Rune Knights came back to their carriage and moved away.

As soon as they were distant enough, the queen made a small sigh. "I can imagine the reaction the Ten Wizard Saints will have." She commented. "I just hope things will turn out ok."

"Don't worry! The Magic Council always knows what they do! Well…except when they hired Gran Doma…" Vivienne commented. "Still…hearing about yet another demon created by Zeref after barely two years things were settled with him is quite worrying…"

"Thalassophobia…considering that a single one of them was able to pull out a number out of nine of you, they must be formidable foes…" Escanor added.

"And that bitch even got the guts to escape as soon as she started to get whooped! She's better not meet me again!" Faris complained, taking a bite of a pork chop.

"Considering the mess they're trying to do, I have the feeling we'll meet them again soon. Can't wait for that! I'm not satisfied!" Grendel commented.

Even Alexis felt offended by what happened. "Don't worry, Grendel! Next time, we'll pay them back with interest!"

"Besides, we'll be ready next time!" Xavier added. "But we can cut away that for now! We have some more new members to greet, right? And two ladies with demonic powers, overall!"

"HA! Pleased to hear ya ken see quality when ya see it!" Saoirse said pleased.

"T-Thank you! These are the first times someone complimented me for Seethe…" Lilybeth added, feeling a bit embarrassed

"As a Demon Prince, it's only natural that I praise a fellow user of the demonic arts!" The blind boy insisted, getting closer.

"O-Oh boy…" Lilybeth couldn't resist and tried to look elsewhere with her cheeks fully red.

"Speaking of which, Xavier…what words do you have for the fact that there could be another demon of Zeref around?" Myuu fairly asked.

The boy looked at her in silence for a few seconds and then… "Uhm…yes!"

"…That's it?" Honoka asked. But she quickly shook her head and looked at her master. "Either way, stay assured goshujin-sama. If you tell me, I could track down these mages and take them down from first to last."

"Now, now, Honoka! No need to exaggerate! Although I can imagine you doing that, which worries me the most…" Lunafreya told her before sitting down. "This had surely been a long and challenging day, with worrying things to take consideration of, but for now…I want to rest a bit."

Honoka quickly nodded and went behind her to start massaging her back.

"Do you wish me to make you some cookies, my lady?" Myuu asked.

"Oh, please do. Make sure to make some for the newcomers." The queen told her. "Ah, right! Before you go, Myuu…"

"Uhm…yes?" The twilight-haired girl asked.

"Did you enjoy staying with us?" Lunafreya asked back with a gentle smile.

Myuu was about to blow for over-cuteness, but she limited herself to look down with her cheeks red. "Y-Yes…I think I did."

"Aww, she's so considerate! You truly found yourself a friend, my lady!" Sun, who was standing near her, said.

"…You're still here? You're free, Sun-" Myuu told her as soon as she saw her.

"Right away!" The celestial spirit didn't hesitate and disappeared quickly, making Myuu leave for the kitchen.

The queen could then see Ruina talk with Father Nohansen about what happened. Overall, they seemed to get along. The archbishop was surely happy to see them safe.

"So, she's Ruina? She looks so cool!" Pavlova commented while wiggling her tail.

"She is!" The queen told her.

"I'm truly sorry if you ended up involved in all of this, Ruina. I should have been more considerate." The archbishop told the huntress.

"Don't even mention it, father. We couldn't know. If anything…I'm surprised you asked for help from someone." Ruina answered.

"I know you don't have the best opinion about us, but ever since you've come to live with us, you are a guest of our church and a guest of the goddess Claire. So I thought it was natural to ask for someone to find you!" Nohansen told her with a reassuring smile.

Ruina looked down and sighed. "I wish I could be so carefree as you do, Father Nohansen."

"Don't worry. Everything will be fixed, I'm sure of it. You're a strong girl, Ruina." The archbishop assured her. "Let's go to the church now. You're probably tired."

But to his surprise…Ruina gave him a different answer. "Actually…I think I'll stay here for now. I still need to...do something here. Don't worry, it won't take long."

"Really? Then I'll be going. Make sure to not make too much noise when you get to the church, ah ah! Good night, Ruina." The archbishop agreed before quickly going toward the queen and the rest of the guild. "And thank you for listening to my request and coming back safely. I hope it's enough to compensate you." He then gave them a small bag with 200.000 Jewels inside of it.

"Oh yeah! I get to win money twice in a row!" Orlok said, all happy.

"OI! Don't think ya can hold them all by yerself! We still need to make that beer brawl! WHO'S ON IT!?"

Lunafreya made a nervous laugh upon hearing them as she bowed to the priest. "Forgive them, father.

"Ah, ah! No worry! I'm glad you found yourself some reliable friends! I'll be going now. Sweet dreams, Round Table." And with those words, the archbishop left.

Lunafreya took the chance to turn around and look at the three new members. "Well, with that done, I think it's a proper time to initiate your welcome to the guild!"

"Oh, there's a schedule to follow?" Orlok asked.

"If you like to call it that way! But nothing much really!" Vivienne answered. Right at that moment, Honoka and Pavlova came in with the mold that had the guild emblem on it.

"First, where would you like your emblem?" The small maid asked.

Lilybeth asked to have it on the back of her right hand, colored in black. "O-Oh, my God! I actually did it! My journey starts finally!"

Saoirse got it on the back of her neck, colored in green. "There ya have it! Now people better think twice before messing with a Dullahan of yer belonging!"

And finally, Orlok also wanted it on the base of his neck, colored in wine red. "Ah ah! I'm under copyright now! Man if it feels good to have a guild mark!" He commented.

"They all fit you, there's no doubt on that!" Lunafreya commented. And right at that moment…Ruina came closer to her. "Hm? Oh, Ruina, you're still here?"

"Do you need something else?" Hector asked her.

As an answer…Ruina showed the queen her right shoulder. "Could I…have one as well? Colored in blood red possibly?"

"AH!?" Everyone exclaimed.

"Wait, you want to join as well!?" Alexis asked.

"Well…truth to be told, I wanted to come here at the guild and ask if I could join you sooner, but I ended up getting busy," Ruina explained. "Am I…asking too much?" She then asked. But the child-like expression coming from Lunafreya said it all. "…No, right?"

"Of course, you're not asking too much!" The queen answered, immediately putting the guild mark on the designated place. "Welcome aboard, Ruina! I hope that you'll find the way to your liking!"

"From what I've seen so far, it seems a bit messy but…I think I can get used to it, comrades." The huntress commented.

"If you feel out of place, I could give you a schedule for P.E. training." Augusta promptly suggested.

"Ah! Give me one, actually please!" Orlok exclaimed.

Ruina, instead, looked at them with a skeptical face. "Uh, no, that's not what I meant, but thanks."

"And with this done, there's only one last step! Choosing your knight names! It's a tradition I like to give to anyone who joins the guild! You're free to pick anyone you want!" Lunafreya then said.

"Wait, we get to do that? Cool! All right let me think of it…" Orlok immediately started to think about it. "I'd like to have something that comes well with my title as the Mercenary King…oh! I got it! Safir! Simple and effective!"

"Oh, I already like it!" Pavlova exclaimed, wiggling her tail already.

"Ayy, nice choice ya got in there!" Saoirse replied before giving a quick look at the guild's list. "Hmm, people here chose braw niches for themselves, better not step ahind and choose a slang name! Hmmm…" The woman started to think about it. "Ah-ha! What better name for a Dullahan if not Lamorrak? Makes me think of home!"

"Oh my! You chose yourself quite the fancy name!" Vivienne told her.

"Modestly." The Dullahan lady said with a wink.

"And what about you, young Lillybeth? Thought of something?" The royal sorceress then asked.

"Hmmm…I imagine that going with just 'Beth' wouldn't be that cool and dignified…" Lilybeth replied before thinking a bit more. "Sorry…I can't think of something, but I'm trying!"

It was then that surprisingly, Alexis came closer to her. "Hey, it's ok! I didn't even know what to pick for myself the first time and the queen gave me the most beautiful name I could think of! It's not a bad thing to ask for help!"

"Really?" The other girl asked.

"Yes! And now that you make me think of it…in my honest opinion, as a representative of the Lichtscwhert family, I think a face like yours would go well with the name...Galahad!" The blonde girl suggested.

"Awwwww!" Some of the members were in awe after hearing it.

Lilybeth got embarrassed. "W-What? Why that reaction?"

"Galahad is a renowned name in the code of chivalry. It stands for 'pure'. Many famous people had it in the past." Scuti told her while sipping a cup of black coffee.

"Hey, you finally appeared!" Grendel noticed.

"I didn't have anything particular to say. So, I stood still and watched." The tall knight answered back with his usual apathetic tone.

"I already like this guy," Seethe replied.

"OH GOD, DOES THAT SWORD TALK!?" Vivienne exclaimed.

The others temporarily ignored it and instead, Lilybeth felt moved by that gesture. "Y-You would suggest such an adorable name to someone like me, Alexis?"

As an answer, Alexis gave her a thumbs up. "Queen Lunafreya did the same to me, so I don't know why I should do it myself."

Lilybeth turned around to look at the queen. "C-Can I be Lady Galahad?"

"Eh eh, absolutely!" The queen immediately made her a thumb up, making Lilybeth sob.

"This is the best day of my liiiiiife…"

With them out, Lunafreya looked at Ruina. "It seems you're the only one left! Got any ideas?"

Ruina closed her eye and stood in silence for a few moments. Somehow…the answer came quickly. "I was thinking of…Palamedes. It fits with my nature as a huntress."

"Oh? Interesting choice, indeed. You also picked a very ancient one." Vivienne commented.

"I also like it! All right, then! I think it's all settled, now!" With that done, Lunafreya looked at all the new members. "Can I ask you to kneel for a moment?"

They did so without many stories.

Seeing that, the queen took her sword and gently placed it on their shoulders. "Lady Palamedes, Sir Safir, Lady Lamorrak, and Lady Galahad…by the authority I have as both queen of Seven and the Guild Master, I officially declare you mages of Round Table! Knights of the Round Table!"

The four new members were overall happy and satisfied.

"YAAAAY! NEW BUDDIES!" Pavlova was excited.

"I hope we can get along, great warriors. Especially you, Ruina!" Escanor added.

"That's right! Isn't this a moment to celebrate, now?" Xavier added.

Hearing that…made Saoirse, now named Lady Lamorrak, grin. "Well…I may have an idea…"

A few more minutes passed by, and the tranquility came back to the guild. Well…kinda. Since Saoirse already engaged Faris and Grendel in a beer challenge.

"Anf…anf…anf…I'm…finished." Faris commented.

"Y-Yeah…too much…"

"COME ON! I'm already at ten beers and yer barely at three! Where's that charge ya showed with them crabs!?" Saoirse tried to prone, but when she turned around, she could see Vivienne drinking with thirty-five empty glasses. "WHAAT!? THIRTY-FIVE!? WHAT ARE YA!?"

Vivienne was already raving. "WAAAAAAAAAH! COME ON THIS IS NOTHING! I COULD GO ON ALL DAY!"

"Oh my God, who let her get to drink!?" Augusta exclaimed, knowing what Vivienne was like when she got drunk.

Lilybeth and Alexis looked at the scene feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I sincerely hope I don't end like that as soon as I kick my thirties…" The former said.

"Me neither. It would be a shame for all my family!" The latter added.

"Don't worry, a mug or two never killed anyone! In fact, I embrace the challenge!" Escanor then jumped to the table and started to drink as well.

"You know what!? Count me in, as well! I'm the Mercenary King, but I'm pretty sure I can also be the BEER KING! BRING IT ON, VIVIENNE!" Orlok chimed in as well.

"IN YOUR DREAMS!" Lady Merlin retorted as she started to drink more.

"AH, NOW WE'RE TALKIN'!" Naturally, Saoirse was happy to see the reaction.

"Oh boy, I think this will be a long night…" Augusta commented.

"Should we start to run away?" Hector asked worried.

"I think so..." Persephone added, resigned.

"Ha! This is nothing compared to a demon feast! I'm surprised that Vivi there is drinking that much!" Xavier told him.

Scuti simply looked at the scene and facepalmed.

"Well, it's not that I complain. I get to work at least." Honoka commented as she and Myuu were the ones serving the glasses.

"Wouldn't it be a problem if they end up drinking all the beer we have?" Myuu added.

"Hmmm…I'm curious though…can I try as well?" Pavlova asked.

"Pava. No. For your good." Augusta quickly told her. Apart from her being half-dog, she couldn't know the disasters that could have taken place if her friend got drunk.

"Oh, ok…" Pavlova consented with her ears lowered.

"There you go, Augusta, you've done your bullshit…" The huge girl thought, feeling bad.

While the mood lightened up, Faris took the chance to sneak away and go outside the guild hall.

She was standing in the main garden, taking deep breaths. "Phew…for a moment I thought I would have thrown up. Saoirse's crazy!" She then looked around and right at that moment…she could see Lunafreya just a few meters away.

The queen was looking at the starry sky, as the wind was gently flowing her cape and her hair while she had gently placed the tip of her sword to the grass.

From that distance, Faris thought that while being weird…that moment gave an air of majesty to her cousin. Then…she thought of what she wanted to do that day…and how she wasn't able to do so.

"…All right…remember what sis told you." She said to herself. She then came closer to the queen, who noticed her.

"Uh? Faris?"

"Yo, cousin. Things are getting a bit too much even for someone like me, so I…went out to take some air." Lady Mordred explained, trying to contain her embarrassment. "How come you're here?"

Lunafreya smiled and looked up at the stars again. "Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to take some air as well and...rearrange my thoughts. The discovery we made today is surely a lot."

"Yeah, don't tell me, specifically after all that time I spent at Alvarez." The crimson-haired girl replied before making a sigh. "Oi, Lunafreya."

"Hm?"

Faris looked down. "…I'm…sorry." She seemed to having a hard time admitting that.

But the queen was confused. "Sorry for what?"

"I've proposed to join the mission so that we could spend some time together and then we were split! How do you think I feel when something doesn't go as I planned?" Faris explained before making another sigh.

"Hey…don't act like that, it wasn't your fault, we wouldn't know it would have happened." Lunafreya tried to comfort her.

"I could have at least tried to resist and do something! But…nothing." The other girl insisted.

Lunafreya felt bad for her…but something else she said caught her attention. "So…you asked to join…because you were hoping to spend some time with me?"

"Well…I got to know you and the aunt just a while ago. I only heard of you before. And…well, since you're basically the only family I have left I thought it would have been proper to try and get to know you better, even if I would have found out that you sucked!" Faris explained. "Ah! N-Not that you suck, I'm just saying."

"Y-Yeah I get what you mean," Lunafreya assured her.

"Look…the thing is…even if I came to become someone…I still wanted to find a way to properly get to know you. This is your guild, so it's only fair that I try to know better my boss. And apart from that…well…you're still my cousin. I wanted to talk to you and the aunt one way or another." Faris continued.

The queen couldn't help but think that even if she was probably one of the most chaotic people she had ever met…right at that moment, Faris was just adorable. So, it came naturally for her to hug her cousin.

"A-Ah!"

"You know what's one of the best things about being a queen? Hearing people that try to stay at your side…especially when it's someone from your family. You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear It from you." Lunafreya told her. "Maybe I should be the last person saying this since I didn't even know about your existence until a while ago. But…I'm really glad that you had this thought."

"Well…you'd say it's natural…right?" Faris asked. Normally, she would have gotten away from a hug like that but…somehow…she remained. Perhaps she didn't dislike it, after all.

Lunafreya nodded. "Plus…if you wanted to spend some time with me to know me better, all you needed to do was ask! I'm a queen with a lot of stuff, that's true, but you really think I could not cut some time to spend it with a parent?"

"So…it would be ok from you?" Faris asked.

"Of course! Plus…" The queen came closer to whisper. "I have Ultra Warrior 4 at home and I still haven't tried the multiplayer…"

"Woah, really!? Hell yeah! Just you wait until I smack you!" Faris immediately liked the idea.

And a few meters away…Grendel looked at them while leaning on the guild's door with her crossed arms and with a smile. "Heh. Told you it would have worked, sis."

And as they continued to talk, Lunafreya looked elsewhere for a moment and…saw another familiar figure. "Oh! Speaking of which, I see there's someone else who may need some company!"

Faris looked and saw the person as well. "Oh. What do you want to do?"

"You know the answer already!" Lunafreya said before starting to walk in that direction. Not knowing what to do, Faris decided to follow her.

The person in question was Ruina, who went out for some air as well after she officially joined the guild. A lot of things happened in those two days…but overall, she could say that she had made some progress.

"…An official mage, uh?" She whispered. She took out one of her crosses that she used to fight creatures and looked at it. "This could help me out in finding those two. Honestly…I don't know if I'll ever feel fully a part of this guild. As long as it could help me accomplish my goal, I'll stick around. The queen's holy light will surely become of use to me." She then thought.

"Ruina!" A voice suddenly called her, making her turn around to see Lunafreya and Faris coming closer.

"Your Majesty? Comrade Faris?"

"I assume you wanted some space for yourself, right?" Lunafreya asked her.

Ruina turned around. "Yes. If it's not asking too much."

"Don't worry! We also came here for the same reason! I'll probably need to start and get used to a more chaotic scenario considering that we're already seventeen members in total!" The queen told her.

"Seventeen? Wow, we're already that much?" Faris asked.

"Y-Yeah…quite a shock, right? I just became queen, I went up with this crazy idea and many people already decided to follow me somehow." The pink-haired girl answered back.

"It's not like you get to hear every day that the queen of Seven is running a legal guild of her own. Apart from that…mages usually find in guilds their chance to redeem themselves or as a way to become stronger people. These ones simply decided to put your trust in you." Ruina explained.

That comment made the queen almost blow in commotion, but she decided to contain herself. "Thank you! So…I suppose you're among those people?" She asked.

"…If you like to think of that." The black girl answered back. "At least…I'll be able to hunt down more foul monsters and vampires with this."

"Vampires?" Faris asked.

"I've heard you mention them a lot back in Innsmouth. Are you that focused on them?" Lunafreya added.

To that, the black-haired huntress clenched her fist. "I've trained for many years to hunt these creatures, especially vampires, and I have my reasons for doing so. The less there are, the better this world will live."

It was then that Lunafreya…remembered something. "So…you spent years in hunting down horror creatures with the use of magic…yeah…you look like one of them."

"One of them?" Ruina asked.

"Yes! You're a Witcher!" The queen confirmed.

Both Ruina and Faris were confused.

"A…Witcher?"

"A what now?"

"Oh, right, it's natural that you don't know it," Lunafreya remembered. "The Witchers were an old faction of specialized warriors that traveled throughout the world in ancient times, back when Earth Land started to create magic. Through particular rituals and training, they were granted superior strength and reflexes compared to regular humans, and then they were sent to the outside, helping the people by taking down monsters and breaking spells and curses. You could say they were precursors of the modern mages. This faction slowly died as there was no real legacy and it was mostly replaced by the nowadays guilds." She then explained.

"Huh…this makes me think of how little we know about magic history…" Faris commented.

"It is…similar to what I do, though. I never thought of it…" Ruina added.

"Oh, right! There's more! Wait here!" With those words, Lunafreya quickly returned to the guild, leaving the other two girls confused.

A few minutes later, she returned with something they didn't expect. She seemed to be holding…

A guitar?

"Huh? What about that?" Faris asked.

"You…play music?" Ruina added.

The queen was already setting the strings of the guitar. "I love music! I listen to everything and whenever I get the chance, I like to play something like…this…a melody of those old times." And with that…she started to play some of the strings.

"…When a humble bard…graced a ride along…with Ruina Cobolof, along came…this song…"

Ruina raised an eyebrow since the queen used her name, but she felt…intrigued by the sword, and she left her to continue.

"From when the White Wolf thought…a silver-tongued devil…his army of elves at his hooves did they revel…they came after me…with masterful deceit…broke down my lute and the kicked in my teeth! While the devil's horns…minced our tender meat, and so cried the Witcher, she can't be bleat!" Lunafreya kept on singing with a voice that reminded her of a muse, the ancient goddesses of the arts.

"Hey…I like this song!" Faris said, starting to move her head in time.

Ruina kept on listening carefully and unconsciously…she started to tap her index to her leg, moving it at pace with the song. Right at that moment, the queen arrived at the chorus.

"Toss a coin to your Witcher, oh Valley of Plenty, oh, oh, Valley of Plenty ooooh! Toss a coin to your Witcher, oh Valley of Plentyyyyyyyyy…!" Lunafreya stopped. "And well…the song goes a bit like this."

"Well, shit…ain't you a good singer, cousin? Have you thought of trying to sing in a concert?" Faris asked with a little smirk.

"A-Ah!" Lunafreya immediately became red. "W-Well, I did think of that, but I would never bring myself to actually do it! I get enough attention by being a queen and I'll probably get more as a Guild Master now…"

Ruina, on the other hand…didn't really know what to do. She didn't have a specific opinion of the queen. If anything, she saw her as a useful and powerful ally.

Yet…this girl showed herself to be more than available and friendly to her. The huntress couldn't help but wonder about it.

…Why?

And yet…she couldn't help but feel a strange…yet pleasant sensation coming from that act.

"…I think you should try it at least once." She spoke.

"Uh? Really?" Lunafreya asked. And when she raised her head…she could see something unexpected.

It was very small…but Ruina was making a genuine smile while looking at her.

"That song…it wasn't that bad."

---

And we're finally done! Oh boy, I can't believe it would have taken me this long! Somehow...this became the longest chapter I had ever made, even surpassing Chapter 9 of Fate/Twin Roses! I surely structured it to have more acts but every time I was surprised by how many I wrote. But either way, we were able to pass through it once again!

It all started as a simpler chapter, but as soon as I wanted to introduce each new OC for this chapter I decided to expand myself by adding some more Lovecraftian aspects, several battles that could be interesting, and even a hint of what's going to happen after all the members will be gathered. Once again, I'm very glad to have received these particular OCs that give me a lot to work on while I try to give some space to the one that already appeared. In particular, I thought of Lunafreya and Faris with the latter trying to bond with her because I realized that there weren't many interactions between them up until now. I know we're barely at the beginning, but I thought that I could still do something between them to make the familiar relationship between them more realistic.

But of course, I leave the last word to you! Did you like the chapter? What were your thoughts on this adventure and the new characters that appeared? What do you think of this first true enemy and the threat it represents? What type of adventure do you think will await the guild next time? As always, please support this story with your reviews! Your opinion is important!

And so, a new year opens to us, and with it, tons of chapters will await us as well! 2025 will probably be the year when a lot of changes will happen to my life, some of them being very important for my future, but despite this, I still have plenty of free time I can use! And even when I get busier, I'll surely do my best to continue all these dear projects I started a long time ago, so make sure to stay tuned!

As for the next programs, with this out, I'll work on two chapters of Shogunate Pride next! Along with the SYOCs, I hope to get back on some of my normal stories, since they surely need an update (and maybe work on Adventure 04 for real this time =)

Either way, hoping for the future is always the best thing we can do, especially for times like these, so I hope that both mine and yours will be as bright as ever, and I hope that this year will be wonderful!

And with this said, I think we can finish here! I once again thank you for reading this chapter (if you made it this far XD) and I'll see you in the next chapter or the next one of another story of mine! Go watch Sonic The Hedgehog 3 in theaters while you're at it, it's an awesome movie!

Jokes aside, stay safe everyone! From Bluestar here, Arrivederci!

OC Credits:

Ruina Cobolof - SoIAmAWriterSoWhat (The same who made Augusta!)

Orlok Rodrigo - Lawless-Afterlife

Saoirse Donnachaidh - Benthino

Lilybeth Abernathy - Three (On Discord)