“Nabel…” A tall, lean, muscur woman called as the cart rattled from the stony path below. “You seem…a bit quiet.” Lee gnced at the Elf, his hands were fidgeting and he had his csped fists up to his face, seemingly in deep thought. His sword y sharp and steady at his p, quiet and solemn like its master.

  “Lee…” The elf voiced out, and huffed out a puff of air as his pale knuckles turned white from how much he squeezed them. “Can I leave for a moment?”

  Lee assumed it had something to do with what he told her st night during the overnight camp by the Sunfang corpse. His stories regarding his time in svery and captivity…and how Boudicca’s family saved him.

  “Huh?” Lee, the warrior, blinked and gnced at him one more time making sure she heard him right. They were on the road and him dropping off right now would just end with him being left behind. It’s not like he has somewhere to go as well. “Alone? Nabel, you know entering the promethean forest on your own is simply suicide right?” She pointed out. “It’s turning night as well.”

  “I–It’s suffocating here.”

  “Nabel—” Lee pursed her lips and turned her eyes toward the rest of their party and the Dwarves who guided the cart and the horses.

  “Something up?” Bruce, the short man, peeked up from the book he was reading. The other two id side by side together asleep, with Alina’s head on Hotaru’s shoulder.

  “I need some time alone.” Nabel clenched his sword before slipping down the back of the cart and nding neatly on the treaded path. “You guys go on ahead—I’ll walk there.”

  “OI NABEL!” Bruce yelled worriedly. “GET BACK HERE!”

  The cart carried on as Nabel stared at it from afar, still along the dirt road. His eyes carried a sort of ment, as if he hid something behind them.

  “Alright.” He turned his back to the cart. “Time to continue on.”

  “Not without me you won't.” Lee’s voice turned his spine shrill as he shuddered at the sudden call behind him.

  “Lee?!” Nabel looked confused and a bit surprised at her unforeseen appearance.

  “Did you really think I’d let you go into the forest alone.” She sighed, her thick arms shifting to a crossed position. “This is why parties exist and not solo ventures. Anyone who tries that never makes it back.”

  “You know how strong I am. I’m not gonna die so easily.” He insisted.

  “What if it reaches night time, who's gonna keep watch?” She raised her eyebrow back at him.

  “I won't sleep.”

  “Nabel.”

  “Fine.”

  “Good.”

  “We’re heading that way.” He pointed toward a dim part of the Promethean forest. It was barely touched by the remaining sunlight and the way the trees twisted themselves made it look a bit eerie.

  Lee shrugged. She's been through worse. Cave exploration was, after all, far spookier than a mere darkness in the woods.

  They ambled forward, cracking leaves and snapping twigs as they strayed off the main path. For some reason the trees here felt a lot more unfamiliar and foreign. A deep sense of dread and the feeling of ‘we’re not supposed to be here’ slowly set in.

  “Why exactly are we going here?” Lee mused as she crouched down following Nabel.

  “Last night—I had a dream…” He pursed his lips thinking that Lee would cut him off by now to point out the oddness in that. However; she stayed silent, waiting for his next words. “I can't remember it properly but for the longest while now, I’ve had this pit feeling in my stomach and when we passed by here—”

  “It got worse?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You realize it would be stupid to investigate this alone right?”

  “If it was anything dangerous, I could've outran it.” He spoke with confidence. “I’m not sure about any of you guys though.”

  “That's why you decided to go alone?” She shook her head dismissively. “Are we that unreliable?”

  He snapped his head back, a bit annoyed at her presumption. “I just want to keep you guys safe okay?”

  Lee winced and rexed her chest. “Sorry.”

  “No–I know you just—-you guys also just want to protect me but–”

  “You can handle your own?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then so can we.” Lee smiled at him and Nabel couldn't help but smile back.

  “Right.” He then turned back to where they were heading. The trees creaked unnaturally and there was a suspicious ck of noises in the area, seemingly having no wildlife.

  “The dwarves—were you okay?” Lee asked, a wariness in her voice.

  “I could get through it.” The elf bit his lip. “I just closed my eyes and meditated…I could ignore them that way.”

  “Hey…” Lee gave the elf a ruffle in his hair. “You didn't sh out. That's a start.”

  As she finished her sentence Nabel stopped in his tracks as an overground cave was before them. In front of it was…a bunch of Kingdom Soldiers.

  What were they doing here?

  The two of them immediately knelt down to hide in the nearest bush, peeking only to understand what was happening.

  It was a clearing. A very quiet one. There were no woodnd creatures, no sign of Demonic Beasts, and no sense of familiarity. However, There was a foreboding feeling of doom emanating from the void like cave entrance.

  The Kingdom grunts didn't seem to care for that much as they stood still in front of the cave, as if to guard it. There were a couple dozen of them in a line, pced like statues.

  “What's going on here?” Nabel’s face was dened with worry. After all, how did the Kingdom pass through the Empire’s borders without being noticed—and what were they protecting so securely inside that cave?

  “Nabel, we should go.” Lee suggested, realizing this was above whatever capability they could right now.

  “Y–you’re probably right.” Nabel agreed. He loosened his grip on his sword and met eyes with Lee who was fully prepared to book it as fast as possible and report it to the nearest barracks in Nieve.

  “Let’s go.” Lee began to count down from three with her fingers.

  But suddenly.

  “HEEEEELPPP!” A shriek escaped from within the cave as a woman in tattered clothing ran outside and tripped on the dirt. Her hair was messily cut and her leg was bent in the wrong direction. How she managed to even run outside was beyond Nabel’s thought process.

  Lee realized Nabel’s eyes were wavering from their decision to escape. “Nabel—I know you want to save her but—we can't handle whatever that is inside alone. You can feel it too, right?” She grit her teeth. “That looming death?”

  Nabel closed his eyes trying to shut away the screams of the woman as the Kingdom guards began to surround her and grab her by her hair and begin to drag her back.

  “LET GO OF ME!” She screamed. “MAY LALIETTE CURSE YOU!”

  Nabel heard her words and his eyes quickly gnced to take a look at her appearance again.

  He finally noticed it.

  Her ears.

  She was an elf.

  Without any more hesitation he leaped out of the bush and in a blink swiped his sword to the side decapitating the Kingdom Knight who held the beaten elven woman.

  “NABEL!” Lee screamed after him.

  He caught her as fast as he cut him. Her eyes were a deep blue and her cheeks were flushed from being hit. He could also see marks across her body—signs of being used in the most vile ways. His vision turned blood red as he realized what happened to her.

  “You fucking monsters.” He took her to safety as far away from the grunts as possible. In no time as well Lee came out of the bushes, her great shield out and ready to support him.

  “So how is she?” She didn't bother questioning his decision. Only asking for her condition.

  “Bad. Marks across her body. Her legs have been broken so she can't resist as well.”

  Lee’s face turned a disgusted expression as she gred at the grunts who carried an emotionless visage. “Bastards.”

  The guards drew their bdes and pointed it towards the two of them.

  “T-thank you—” The elf woman croaked out and after being pced down by Nabel, she passed out immediately.

  “Sleep well, sister.” He wiped the dirt off of her face.

  “You ready?” Lee smmed her shield on the ground and brutishly cnged it as an intimidation factor. “We don't usually fight anything but demonic beasts…these are people”

  *Yeah.” Nabel cleaned the blood of his sword. “There's no need to hesitate. They're scum worse than demonic beasts.”

  Some distance away from what was happening, there was a quiet, slightly rge, and rustic office hidden somewhere in the North close to Nieve.

  The office was beige and looked fairly old, with worn wallpaper, rusty mps, and a small chandelier serving as light for the whole room. There were shelves of books containing old titles and many sets of journals and newspapers.

  There was a bck couch and seats that were pced in front of the main table. A grandfather's clock sitting by the edge of the room ticking ever so routinely. The faint smell of cigar and freshly burned paper hung in the still tense air of the secured office space.

  Behind the head table of the office sat an aged man who meticulously filed documents, pcing some in a folder and turning others to ash by burning it in his table mp.

  “You've arrived, Mistress.” The old man gnced ahead of him. “Please share the reason as to why you took the time to visit such a secluded pce in the North.”

  The woman in front of him was covered in an inconspicuous cloak, shrouding her entire body and head, hiding any way to identify her.

  “I heard she is in town.” She paced around the room, her gaze wandering between the different points in the vicinity. “What could she possibly be doing here, I wonder?”

  The old man sighed and dropped the documents down. He turned his head up and met the woman who came to seem him in the eye. In return, she also took off the hood in her cloak revealing her beautiful face and fiery red hair.

  “Lady Maddison, I am sure you already know before you even came here.” He opted to dismiss her question. “Do not fret, I am here ro make sure our business does not get interrupted in between their motives.”

  “She's good at hiding her tracks, you know?” Maddison sat in front of him and kicked her legs up the table. “We're basically cut from the same cloth, after all.”

  “The logging for Promethean wood has proven successful, all the legal documents have been filed and a company has been made under a pseudonym that funnels its fund directly into the Underworld’s pockets.” He expined. “After the Knight Commander purged nearly every corrupted pig in the Northern Capital, a lot of opportunity has freed itself for us to grab.”

  “Excellent, Hesser.” She smiled and some of the documents began to fly up and levitate near enough for her to read. “The stock increase due to the fall of illegal loggers has been quite invigorating “

  “Indeed it is.” Hesser leaned his back and stretched his arms. “Your call could not have been more right, Madam.”

  Maddison didn't say anything to reply back but after noticing something, she suddenly frowned upon reading the documents.

  Hesser failed to notice and continued to praise his Mistress. “Getting a share of the confiscated logs in exchange for providing information and helping with the investigation.” He shrugged. “A smart move, if I may say so myself, Madam.”

  “Yeah sure.” The document floating in the air dropped down to the table and Hesser noticed an irritation in her eyes. “I was right.”

  “Is something the matter?”

  “You've either noticed it and refused to tell or you haven't noticed and you're incompetent.” Her gre caught him off guard and sent a chill down his spine. His hands clenched as the pressure in the room doubled.

  “I deeply apologize, Madam. I-I didn't think it would be much of an issue as of now and was seeking to settle it quietly so as to not disturb your other efforts.” Hesser immediately stood up from his seat and bowed his head. “I was hoping to get some help—”

  “Help?” Maddison’s voice was terrifying, like a devil’s call that's about to rip your soul straight out of your chest. “What help would you even get?”

  “The Hunter's guild might be able to—”

  “Don't lie to me.” Maddison’s tone was sharper than obsidian. Hesser felt a pressure on his chest. “I can tell by your heartbeat that the words you speak are nothing but false idols.”

  Hesser remained silent as he could feel the room close in around them.

  “The Demonic beasts have begun to act exponentially less day by day and yet I have not with me a single report regarding the issue.” Maddison clicked her tongue. “Now you dare speak of working with another?”

  Maddison thought for a moment. She tried to connect all the information made avaible to her.

  The decline of the Demonic beasts.

  The arrest of the corrupted nobles.

  The appearance of the Kingdom in the North.

  The arrival of the White Cat Guild.

  And a fact that she has recently found out due to Elijah's secret assigned task—The Crown Prince’s expedition towards the borders to the outnds.

  “Hesser.”

  “Yes, My Mistress?”

  “Is there perhaps a chance the Devils have begun to move?”

  The man paused—processing what she had just uttered between her parted lips.

  “The Devils have no power nor army to control, My Lady—how would they even—” He blinked. Thinking through what she had just said it was fairly obvious what the Lady of the Underworld was insinuating.

  “The arrival of the White Cat Guild. Then a Secret Expedition from the Crown Prince. The decrease in the Demonic Beast activity.” She listed down the facts. “Those could only mean that there is a significant yet confidential effort being pushed by the Emperor towards the North, especially regarding the Outnds, the only remaining haven of the Demon Country.”

  “Then—the Kingdom's presence—”

  “There's only one expnation.” Her face turned grim as she didn't expect them to go so low. “The Delha Kingdom is working with the Devils.”

  …

  “NABEL!” Lee shouted as she strapped her shield to the dirt and defended against a strike from a knight. Nabel flipped away from a ssh from two different Knights that attacked him at the same time.

  He nded with poise and immediately recovered to swing his sword with immense strength. Like a thundercp he bsted through and cut the two Knight’s arms, removing any way for them to retaliate.

  The Knights staggered backwards with a bnk expression. Nabel hesitated making another move as their emotionless state struck him as odd.

  “There's no time to waste!” Lee yelled from beside him as she swung her shield violently with enough strength to bash one of the Kingdom knights’ heads and turn their helmet into a smashed pancake.

  “Right.” Nabel grit his teeth and cut through the wind splitting the torsos of the grunts from their hips.

  There were still a dozen or so left of the Kingdom grunts, who now surrounded them, their weapons drawn and ready to strike.

  “One more time?” Nabel exhaustedly grinned at her.

  “I can do this all day.” She raised her giant shield and ughed.

  The knights closed in and thus began another set of battles between the Hunters and the Kingdom soldiers.

  “On your left!” A voice came from the trees as what looked like a thunderstrike split the air and struck itself along the crowd of enemy soldiers and set fire to the surrounding area.

  Nabel looked behind him. He only knew one mage who could cast such a unique spell. “Alina!?”

  After that magic strike, a barrage of arrows came from all over the woods. Piercing through the gaps in the armor and rendering some of the soldiers armless or at worst death.

  “Don't count me out!” A short man yelled as he leaped from tree to tree. “Even a guy like me has been through hellish practice.”

  “Guys!” Lee felt excitement course through her as she couldn't help but ugh. Somehow, the rest of their party found the two of them and came to help.

  She was so caught up with the arrival of her friends that she failed to notice one of the soldiers sneak behind her.

  “Pay attention, Lee!” The soldier was kicked away by two furry legs as a beastwoman lightly let her feet drop with grace. She carried a short wand with her and immediately casted a spell. “Let the light of the World Tree guide me!” A bright blinding glow emanated from her wand and she bsted it towards the Soldiers who recoiled from being overwhelmed with the shine.

  “Thanks, Hotaru!” Lee grinned as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

  “Don't lose your head here.” Hotaru sternly scolded the rge dy who could only nod back with a smile.

  “What are you all doing here!?” Nabel called out to them in a panic. “It's dangerous!”

  “As if you guys could win a battle without us!” Bruce yelled from the trees. “We’re a party, remember? We do things together no matter what.”

  “And you're our leader!” Alina added. “When thick comes thin, we’ll be behind you to support you.”

  “You all…” Nabel sighed and finally a chuckle left his throat.

  “You don't have to keep doing things on your own, Nabel.” Hotaru reminded him. “That's what you taught me.”

  Nabel remained speechless.

  “See.” Lee smiled. “Told you we don't need to be protected.” She patted his head. “We can handle ourselves, so just keep focusing on the goal.”

  Nabel tightened his grip on the sword. A new determination filled his heart as he faced the enemies ahead of him. “Everyone!” He yelled and the team prepared for his call. “LET'S WIN THIS!”

  “RAAAAHHH!” Lee initiated the battle cry as she charged forward with her shield knocking down enemies left and right.

  On the other side of the front line, Nabel quickly advanced through the remaining Knights as he cut through them like butter.

  Their blindspots were being covered by Bruce who kept his eye on both of them and shut down any sneak attacks and advances the enemy tried to make by firing an arrow just in time.

  Further back was Alina who tended to the injured elf girl and was chanting a powerful spell in the meantime.

  To protect the midpoint between the back and the front was Hotaru, who was skilled in both ranged and close ranged combat. She supported both Nabel and Lee who lumbered forward against the numbers of the emotionless soldiers with her bursts of light, while also keeping any grunt from coming forward to target their back line by kicking and punching them away.

  It was a formidable setup that they've honed through years of experience together and working out pns alongside one another.

  “Left side!” Lee screamed and ducked down and pulled her shield up overhead. Nabel leaped and nded on the shield. He then used it as a unching point to strike as fast as possible and with the help of Lee’s added strength in pushing him, he pushed his feet off the shield with such force it caused a shock wave in the area.

  He cut through any of the remaining soldiers who still tried to fight and grouped the rest in a pile. He was so fast that if you blinked you would have missed him entirely.

  Once the remaining forces gathered in the a group a rge boom of thundering fire bsted in their direction by Alina completely annihiting what's left of them.

  Nabel finally drew his legs to a stop.

  He was exhausted.

  Tired.

  And about to pass out even.

  He hasn't pushed himself this far in ages.

  He dropped his bde and onto his knees as he took in as much air in his lungs as possible. Going that fast required tremendous breathing control, and basically for the entire duration of moving at that speed, he was not able to take in a single breath of air.

  “Nabel!” Lee was the first to rush his side like always. He fell into her thick arms as she caught him.

  “Phew.” Bruce slid down the tree and walked over to them, followed by Hotaru and Alina who carried the unconscious elf girl in her arms.

  “Is he okay?” The conscious elf girl asked.

  “Yeah.” Nabel replied, to prove that he in fact was okay. “As good as new.”

  “Your definition of new smells.” Hotaru covered her nose. “You still think of Demonic Beast guts.”

  “I was pnning to shower after handing out the body of the Sunfang to the guild.” He expined.

  “Not like you're any different Hotaru.” Bruce poked fun at the beastwoman. “You're fur’s covered in every kind of grime and shit. Why haven't you washed?”

  “Excuuuse me?” Alina walked up to the short guy, after ying down the unconscious elf beside Lee. “I’ll have you know that even if the great Hotaru was covered in the most egregious shit in the world, she’d still smell and look more beautiful than you?”

  “Haaaah?” Bruce raised an eyebrow and loosed his sleeves. “You wanna go, you long eared skank?”

  “Just cause you don't have a girlfriend doesn't mean you have to get angry about it with me.” The elf girl shrugged.

  “You're not even dating!” Bruce gawked. “She's not even paying attention to you! Look!” They both gnce at Hotaru who is now busy licking her own fur. “She's grooming herself!”

  “So sexy…” Drool left the Elf’s face as she stared heavenly towards the bear woman.

  “You dumb broad!” Bruce began spitefully smacking the elf and she retorted back by also spitefully smacking him.

  “You two—” Lee wanted to stop but Hotaru simply shook her head.

  “Ignore them.”

  “We should check inside the cave.” Nabel suggested from Lee’s p. “There might still be imprisoned elves there.”

  “Right.” Lee brushed some dust off of his cheeks as they locked eyes with each other. “I’ll help you stand up for no—”

  “What in the goddess's name happened here.” A tired looking man with no armor and long bck hair stepped out of the cave. “Why are all my guards dead?” He yawned, seemingly unfazed by the smell of blood and iron in the air.

  He id his eyes on the party in front of him, then caught the body of the elf girl behind them.

  “Oh uh…” He pointed towards the elf girl. “Can you give her back—she was fun so I’d like to use her again—but hey I’m fine with sharing.” He shrugged.

  Instantly a bst of thundering fme snapped from Alina’s staff and smashed straight at the man. Shrouding that entire area in a cloud of dust and dirt.

  “You guys don't like to chat do you?” He yawned again and as the dust settled revealing his unharmed stature and his hands raised to reveal a transparent gss like barrier that seemed to completely negate Alina’s attack, the whole of the party suddenly felt a dread inside them. “Hey actually, a warrior, a beastwoman, and another elf. You guys would make for fantastic merchandise. Same goes for the elf dude, your body would attract a lot of the female customers.”

  “You.” Nabel found strength in him to stand.

  “Yeah?” He looked so…apathetic. Like what was happening didn't concern him at all. This was pissing Nabel off.

  Way too much.

  “You did this to her?”

  “Can't sell it properly till I know the quality.” He chuckled. “Though it is unfortunate, how most of my regurs have been executed now.”

  “Fucking bastard.” Nabel grit his teeth and picked up his sword.

  “Whoa there, pretty boy.” The man raised his hand in surrender. “I don't wanna fight right after I wake up.” He pondered for a moment. “You guys can walk away scot free if you just hand that unconscious elf. How about it?”

  Nabel didn't answer. His legs moved before anyone could even react.

  And like a fsh of lightning…

  He made contact.