"I wish to start this meeting by thanking all of you for coming." Axel stood from his seat and bowed.
"Pleasure to be here." Gal Keith, head of the Kinship Forest gang, smiled lightly as he took off his glasses.
"What is this meeting about, Axel? We're all busy." Thomas Habich frowned slightly. As the head of the strongest gang, Mosaic Sip, as well as one of the two Apex-rankers of the Underworld, his time was incredibly precious. If Axel hadn't issued the emergency meeting message with the Crossers official seal, he might've even skipped the meeting.
"It must be important, Tom. Otherwise Axel wouldn't have called for us, isn't that right?" Ichabod Vadic smiled sinisterly at Axel. His green hair only amplified his weirdly kind, yet murderous, air. He was the head of Heavenly Warning. The most powerful man in all of the known Underworld, a man on the borders of becoming a Law-ranker!
"Let us start with introductions." Axel nodded as he looked at the ten seated members of this meeting.
"This is Ichabod Vadic, head of Heavenly Warning." Axel pointed to the green haired man. His short hair's color almost distracted from his toned figure. His body was obviously more lean than bulky. His two fancy daggers were on the table as he leaned back on his chair.
"This man is Thomas Habich, head of Mosaic Sip." Axel looked to Thomas who had quite the scholarly look. His figure was covered by his large white robes. His long black hair was neatly tied into a ponytail. His sharp eyes sent chills into Axel's back.
"This is Gal Keith, head of the Kinship Forest." Axel smiled at the blue haired man wearing ornamental nobility clothing. His bangs covered his forehead as he retied his short ponytail.
"This is Liz Gyda, head of the Origin of Eons." Axel pointed towards a woman in a full suit of battle armor. Her short pink hair was cut to her ears. Her whole vibe reminded Phina of Vice Captain Samantha Virgile from the Exodia.
"This is Crown, First Leader of the Crossers." Axel pointed to the seat to his right. Crown was an orange haired man who wore a simple fox mask. He slightly bowed his head.
"This is Marten, Second Leader of the Crossers." Axel pointed to Marten, who had an unusual dignified air around him.
"This is Orville, Third Leader of the Crossers." Axel introduced his last Leader. Orville was quite the muscular man. His large stature only boosted the look of his bulky body. He sat with crossed arms and his large greatsword on the table.
"This is Irene Kano, CEO of Kano Industries." Axel introduced Irene with confidence. The ones who didn't know her were the heads of each gang, who all knew the power Kano Industries held.
"This is her mother and guardian, Matilda Kano." Axel looked at Matilda with worry. Matilda sat with elegance, yet her raised chin indicated arrogance.
"Lastly, this is-"
"Seraphina Ender." a voice cut off Axel when he pointed to Phina.
Everyone got up and unsheathed their weapons when the doors swung open. Pida and Tala who were standing behind Phina unsheathed their weapons too, so did all the Captains of the Crossers gang.
"Calm down. Calm down." Danilo said in lighthearted tone. "We don't mean trouble."
'Shit...' Matilda grit her teeth as she glared at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Matilda, it's been a while." Danilo chuckled lightly.
"M-Mother, do you know who he is?" Irene looked at Danilo with fear.
"He's a damn monster." Matilda said with a sigh. She sheathed her weapon as she looked at everyone here. "Calm down. If the bastard wished to cut us down, he could kill us all with ease."
"Don't forget about my comrade either." Danilo smiled as he pointed behind Phina.
Everyone turned to see Nightmare standing behind Phina. Phina felt a chill as she realized that he was behind her. Her senses tingled with recognition. "It's you!!"
"Pleasure to see I'm still in your memory, Seraphina Ender." Nightmare said in his deep voice.
"W-Who are you?!" Axel was currently stuttering as he stared at the two intruders.
"We'd like to participate in this meeting as well." Danilo seemed to whine like a child. "Pretty please? I'm sure you would like for two Law-rankers' input on your whole situation."
Everyone in the room felt an incredible pressure at the mention of the two men's rank. One of them would've been possible with their current force, but two was stretching it too far.
"What do you two brats think you're doing?" a hoarse voice called out as an old man suddenly appeared in the room.
All the gang heads stood up from their seats and kneeled when they saw the old man. "Master!"
"So...you're Mysie?" Danilo glared at Mysie from behind his mask. 'Law of Space as well as the Law of Life? This geezer really is a monster.'
"Law of Death, huh?" Mysie mused to himself. "Not bad, but not nearly enough to beat me."
"Let's all calm down. We had no intention of fighting you in the first place." Nightmare tried to soothe the situation.
"So why have you infiltrated an Underworld meeting when I've seen you as part of the Monarchs?" Mysie glared at Nightmare.
"I-I left them!" Nightmare hurriedly explained. Just the Law of Life and Law of Space terrified him beyond belief! To think this old man had two more Laws he knew of...truly! What a monstrosity! "I left and decided that the obvious course of action was to side with Seraphina Ender to kill all the Monarchs and join the two factions!"
"..." Mysie simply stared at the two Law-rankers. Killing them was as simple as flipping his hand. He might have to flip it a few more times to kill Danilo, but it was easy. He sighed then turned to Phina.
"So...you're the brat that turned this whole Arena upside down?" Phina shivered in fear when Mysie's gaze fell on her. She hadn't felt this terrified even when she was under the gazes of all four Generals. Of course, back then, it was like an ant looking up at mountain. She simply couldn't realize the difference in strength.
"Answer me...Seraphina Ender." this time, everyone felt a chill as it finally registered.
Seraphina Ender! She was right here!!
Out of the 22 people in this room, only 8 people knew including Phina!
"Y-Yes, Sir!" Phina quickly bowed. 'I am so fucked right now...'
"What do you hope to accomplish, Seraphina?" Mysie asked a simple question.
'Damn it!' Danilo was thinking to himself as he saw Mysie take the lead. 'I assumed he would back off...I overestimated myself!!'
"I-I...I want to achieve peace for the Arena!" Phina said heroically.
"Do not lie to me." Mysie said in a casual tone. "Answer truthfully. No one here will lay a finger on you. Hell, I'll even help you leave."
"..." Phina's eyes widened. His words...comforted her. For the first time in an entire month, she felt that she was absolutely safe. "I...I want to leave the Killers' Arena."
"Seraphina?" Pida's eyes widened.
"How selfi-"
Mysie's chuckle was cut off by Phina as determination filled her eyes. "But I want to save my friends too!"
"..." Mysie was shocked silent. "Hahahaha!!"
His laughter caused another chill to go down the gang heads' backs.
Mysie simply smirked. "How will you do that?"
"After I master the Skill I need to learn to leave, I will earn an enormous fortune. I will use it to buy the Killers' Arena from the Exodia and free whoever wishes to be free. I'll stop the punishments and build a giant wall around the beast territories and isolate them from the Humanoids." Phina explained their plans.
"What about the economy?" Mysie asked, as if to test her.
"W-What?" Phina was taken aback. 'What about the economy?'
"This entire Arena's economy moves around the currency which is Beast Repellants. If you stop the beast invasions, Beast Repellants will lose all value and the economy will crash. Civil wars would be most certainly expected." Mysie explained. He then sighed. "The cultures too. If the punishments stop, the cultures will crumble too. The Elven Hellzone, the Dull Desert, the Orc Mines, the Demonic Day, the Human's Silence, the Angelic Nightfall, the Demibeast Prison. Each of these countries have their own cultures and sense of identity. If the punishments stop, the Elves, who are adapted to the Elven Hellzone's heat and way of living, will lose all they built for the past 578 years. Same to all of them."
"..." Phina fell into thought. She then looked up at the old man. "I'll figure it out! I'll get the Monarchs to cooperate! They must have a solution. I'll even enslave them if I have to."
"..." Mysie simply stared at Phina coldly. She was obviously terrified, yet she didn't break eye contact.
"I like you." Mysie chuckled. "I will lead you to your goal, Seraphina."
Danilo felt a chill. 'I'm being ignored...no. That's for the better. I don't want to die yet.'
Phina's eye widened as a smile rose on her tired face. "Really?"
"From now on, you live with me. I will teach you and protect you until you learn the Skill." Mysie declared. "All of you are free to do whatever you want. Seraphina, you will follow me to my abode and stay there until you learn the Skill. Say your goodbyes now."
"W-Wait!" Phina protested until she was punched in the face. Everyone was shocked. It was Pida!
"Don't mess up this perfect chance, you dumbass!!" Pida said with rough breathing. "Seraphina, if you mess this up, I will never forgive you! Go! Learn! Free all of us!"
"..." Phina looked at Pida as she held her cheek with her hand.
"You promised to show me the outside world...didn't you?" Pida smiled as he held back his tears.
"Pida..." Phina stood up. She slightly hugged him as she tapped his head, signaling for him to read her mind. 'I promise we will visit many beautiful places in the outside world. I promise I will buy the Arena. I promise that we will succeed.'
Pida's eyes let out a single tear. This past month was the best month of his life, yet it was also the most stressful and terrifying month of his life. If Phina actually succeeds, he could travel the world with peace of mind. He could finally be truly free in the truest sense.
"I promise." Phina whispered as she broke off their hug. She walked up to Mysie. She hesitated as she turned around. She bowed to everyone. "Thank you for everything. I definitely will not forget all of you when I buy the Killers' Arena."
"Are you done?" Mysie looked at Phina.
"..." Phina grit her teeth. "Yes."
With that, Phina disappeared with Mysie as she left the Crossers City.