Olivia Lot was having a very awesome day.
First, she woke up, and Ken took her out on a date! Okay, well, it technically wasn't a date, but it was totally a date! The red-haired girl said she wanted to explore the city before the second day of games started, so the two of them spent over three hours alone together, seeing all sorts of cool sights!
Enforcer City had a mini fair, which was pretty cool since she and Ken got to ride on a rollercoaster, and there was a ton of yummy food that all looked odd but tasted amazing. She had no idea how the Licht-Fulk had things like this but lacked tech; maybe their rides were powered by mana? They also went by a pool area that was shockingly hot, visited a mini music concert, and ate even more yummy food.
It didn't really matter to her, though, because the point was that it was fun. Truly a good way to spend the time before the second round of games. When the two of them did finish checking out the city, they sat on a park bench, enjoying the last of their food and time.
It was an awesome date, no matter how many times tsundere queen Ken denied it being such a thing.
Enforcer City was big, and its people were all so nice. Several even ran up to the two of them, asking for autographs since they were playing in the Enforcer games. It was nice having fans, and it was also nice seeing how amazing this place truly was. It was like a paradise, lacking flaws, and it only seemed to get better and better. She almost didn't want to leave.
"Have you noticed anything with Davi?" Ken asked, taking a bite of something that looked almost like roasted duck but was coated in layers of pink sauce.
"What do you mean?" Olivia wiped her mouth with a napkin.
"I mean, ever since he and Susie got back from their trip yesterday, they've both been acting a little different," Ken muttered. "Like the two of them have been really, really close?"
Olivia nodded. "Yeah. I guess."
After spending a full month together training with Captain Laerton, she expected Susie and Davi to be a bit closer, but she was shocked to see how close they had suddenly become. The two of them had gone off together last night to speak with Max and Sera, and when they returned with Laerton, they were walking hand in hand. Susie even slept in the same room as Davi! It kind of ticked her off, because Davi hadn't even so much as glanced her way or said anything to her. He spent all the time he had talking with Susie, and the looks they kept giving each other…
The truth was, she really only agreed to go out with Ken as a form of revenge, hoping it would get Davi to glance her way, but instead, he just stayed behind with Susie, and the two talked about Haru only knows what.
Was this jealousy? Probably.
"I'm a little annoyed by it," Olivia finally admitted. "Like, come on, are they going out or something? They didn't seem that close before the matches? What gives? Evelyn really isn't going to like it either, I bet…"
"Evelyn? Like Evelyn Lunar?" Ken asked.
"Yeah."
Ken frowned and suddenly recalled what Sieg told her. "Don't go near that woman."
"What? Why."
"Because I said so."
"That's hardly enough info-" Olivia was cut off suddenly when Ken grabbed her face and leaned in until their noses were touching. Her face heated up instantly, and she was forced to stare into Ken's deadpanned look. Was Ken always so forward? Ever since the 'incident' with Evelyn, she had started to realize that she might prefer girls over a lot of guys. With the exception of Davi, Sieg, or Ash, a lot of men were lacking, but she was lucky to be surrounded by so many pretty girls.
"I said so. That should be enough," Ken stated. She also didn't actually know why Sieg forbade it, but Evelyn Lunar was a prick, so that was reason enough for her to keep Olivia away from the other witch.
"Y-Yeah? Okay?"
"Good girl." Ken let go of Olivia's face and sadly leaned away. "Now, should we go beat up Davi?"
"Why would we do that?"
"For dating that Susie girl."
"I mean, it sucks, but if Davi loves her- Actually no, I called dibs on him. Yeah, let's go beat him up!" Olivia agreed, a little too fast, and she stood up, grabbing Ken's hand. "He needs to pay-"
She didn't even make it ten feet before something smashed into the ground, meters away from where she and Ken had been. Debris was kicked up, but Ken moved with inhuman speed and with just a finger shattered every shard before it could reach them or anyone else.
The Licht-Fulk all screamed in terror when they saw what had fallen from the sky. Olivia's face also paled when she noticed it. "A monster?"
A massive dire wolf, as big as a bus, stood up and shook its body before it howled toward the sky above.
"Invaders!" One of the Licht-Fulk screamed.
"Invaders arrived!"
"Call the royal guards!"
Olivia pulled her wand out and raised it. "Row Blood Bo-"
"No." Suddenly, a flicker appeared before her, and Sunny formed into existence, light compressing into his shape. He held a piece of chalk. "I'll handle it. This isn't the first one to appear." The wolf howled, but it never stood a chance. Sunny moved like a blur, and before it could even sink its fangs into his armor, he drew a circle of light around it. "Begone. To the Underworld with you." Sunny snapped, and the beast faded away, dragged into a swirling portal.
"Whoa." Olivia's eyes widened. "He's pretty good."
"Yeah." Ken folded her arms and frowned. "I wonder where he sent the monster."
"Who knows. I doubt it matters, though."
"Yeah. It probably doesn't."
***
Himvel…
The elf that Sylas trusted. The elf that helped create the entirety of this dungeon. The elf who was somehow still alive despite nearly a thousand years having passed. That was the enemy he now had to beat if he wanted to return to the city above and make sure his friends were okay.
"A lot of people called him, Himvel, the hero," Mel said casually as she and Davi walked the streets of Underworld, followed closely by High. "The hero who managed to convince Haru not to kill the Licht-Fulk. The hero who helped create the Licht-Fulk. He was an elf unlike any other. They say that his greatest dream was to explore the stars, yet he didn't. Himvel, the hero, fell because any hero who lives as long as he has will eventually reach a point where they stop being the hero." Mel threw her hands out. "Gaze at this place. That which he has built."
Now that he was actually walking the streets of the city, Davi was able to get a better idea of how it was.
Underworld was thrown together. The buildings were either made of scrap or shards of jagged crystals, which likely fell from the world above. The streets were made of cobbled-together shards of aluminum, and the place lacked all forms of colors, save for the inside of buildings, which were warm. Everyone walked around in thick, heavy coats and kept their mana blasting so that they wouldn't be frozen and reduced to shards of ice. One section of the city was dedicated to the farmlands. A field that was deader than dead could be, yet through sheer luck, they'd somehow harvest something.
Most of the food people seemed to be eating or selling was scraps of other meals. Likely plates or the garbage from the world above, which was tossed down here.
That was what the Underworld was. One big trash can where Enforcer City tossed all that it didn't want or had no use for anymore. A city of scraps and shattered dreams.
Davi expected such a place to be one full of despair, and yet he couldn't help but notice the smiling faces, the laughing of kids, or the festive music. A few people had what looked like old radios hooked up. No idea how they worked in the dungeons since tech normally didn't, but the radios did, and they replayed all that Ho said yesterday during the games. Even down here, the people wanted to participate in them, it seemed.
Life found a way to live.
Life always finds a way to live.
"Some of us were born down here," Mel said. "Others were tossed down here. I'm one of the lucky ones who got sent here when I was a baby. I don't remember the outside world. We survived because we had to, and while some of us might be content to stay put, others aren't. I do want to escape, or at the very least, for this place to be less hard to survive in. The warmth above would be nice. So would good food. Yet, at the same time, I know that is an impossible thing to ask, for Himvel the hero guards the path."
"What's wrong?" High questioned, when he noticed Davi had a look on his face.
"To be honest, I kind of thought you were Himvel," Davi admitted, causing Mel to let out a loud laugh.
"Y-You thought High was Himvel?" She placed an elbow on High's shoulder. "This guy? You thought he was Himvel the hero?"
"Okay, well, you don't have to be rude about it." High sighed.
"It crossed my mind." Davi shrugged. "He seemed weird. Constantly appearing out of nowhere. Knew a whole lot of things. Plus, he's constantly wearing those clothes. I figured there was a chance he could be Himvel."
Mel nodded and eyed High up. "Now that you mention it, I guess I never noticed how odd of a guy he really is. He was down here way before any of us, one of the first, in fact, and he always wears that goofy mask."
"He's definitely a nutjob."
"You guys suck," High said flatly.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask, what's the Rite of Marriage?" Davi asked bluntly. "Earlier, you told me I shouldn't marry the princess no matter what, as they'd do the Rite of Marriage and it would kill me, but you didn't explain what that truly was. I bring it up because the princess is somewhere down here, right?"
High hummed at the question. "Yeah, I guess I can explain that. Rites are sort of like ancient spells, or I guess you could say they're before spells."
"Before spells?"
"Yeah. The Lord of Order was the strongest of the Almighty's angels. Besides the Almighty himself, and of course, Haru, the Lord of Order is the strongest being in the universe. Before he placed his laws on the world, mana was a chaotic force of nature. It could do nearly anything and defy all rules, for there were none. Imagine shaping the universe to your whim with a simple thought. This is why dragons are so feared, for they were made before the Lord placed his rules upon the structure of the universe. Dragons are sometimes considered authors of reality, for they can freely shape destiny and fate as easily as an author can rewrite their own novel. When the giants were made, the rules of mana were put in place, but the giants discovered the flaws in the Lord of Orders' design, and thus, the Rites were made."
"Oh, I think I get it. Kind of like glitches in a code?" Davi nodded. "Spells are how the code works, and Rites are bugs or unintended features that a programmer failed to see."
"I don't know what any of those words mean." High responded in a flat tone. "But sure. The bottom line is rites break the rules of mana."
"And the Rite of Marriage?"
"It's the worst one."
"Of course it is… Because women?"
"...No."
"Oh. So what makes it the worst?"
"It was created by Du'Lac." High hummed.
"Ah. Yeah, that would do it." Davi winced, and suddenly the image of a sword appeared in his mind. "That guy's always made nasty stuff. I'm not shocked he was behind something like this."
"Whatever he did, I can promise you, it pales in comparison to the Rite of Marriage." High let out a weak sigh. "Marriage is a sacred thing. Two people who love each other come together and swear loyalty to one another. It's a union. The Rite of Marriage is this concept taken to its logical extreme. A twisted fusion of husband and wife. Quite literally." High's shoulders lowered in sorrow. "They say that the Ebony Knight held his lover as she died in his arms. He couldn't save her. Nor could he live without her. So he devoured her."
Davi stumbled and tripped over his feet but was luckily caught by Mel. He glanced at High in pure shock and disgust. "H-He ate her? Do you mean that literally?"
High nodded solemnly. "The Rite of Marriage is simple yet grotesque. There are a few variants of the ritual, but the most common version requires a fusion between the two bodies. Their flesh, blood, bones, and even their souls merge together. They become two beings in one form, and the easiest way to start it is to devour your lover. Eat her. All of her. Consume her flesh, bathe in her blood, and take all that she was into yourself. Just as humans will shove monster cores into their bodies and force their souls to expand and evolve, you crack her core open and drip the contents of it into your mouth, just as one would do with an egg. You do all of this until not a single bone is left. Until even you're not left. You melt. You break apart. You crumble. Your cells mingle with those of the forced holder, and your very DNA changes and alters. Suddenly, you aren't yourself. You're not your love, either. You exist within this new form, and so does she. Two souls, two cores, two pilots. One body. One being. The Ebony Knight ate his lover. Consumed her whole, and they fused into one being. An absolute evil. One whose shadow coated the land and whose blood was a toxic sin. With their power, this fused being impaled Haru on their blade, and it was an act of such unholy despair that it resulted in the race of demons being born and the elves being wiped out."
Davi threw up. Normally, he was reserved, and dark things didn't usually disturb him, but the idea of devouring a loved one, forcing them to merge with your own form, and no longer being yourself? That was too much. He couldn't help but picture Olivia, Ken, and even Evelyn. The thought that reducing them to mush and swallowing them, turning himself into a puddle of goo that would reform with them living on through him? That wasn't a situation he wanted to imagine, but it forced its way into his mind.
"D-Does the royal family know what the Rite is?" Davi demanded, coughing up bile.
Mel patted him on the back and gave a sad nod. "Of course."
"A-And they still wanted to use it for the princess?"
"Yep." High folded his arms and shook his head. "It was why I told you not to win or go through with the 'marriage'. They're keeping it mostly under wraps because they, of course, don't want the information getting out. Most people don't know about the Rites, and even if they did, they'd likely assume the royal family is referring to normal marriage and not that fucked-up abomination of a ritual Du'Lac made. The Queen is desperate to save her daughter, believing that this is the only way, but I doubt it would work. The Rite might slow her transformation down, but once an elf is exposed to the mana of a demon, they begin to turn into one themselves unless they're wearing a protective suit. Just like the process of magical mutations that humans undergo, it can not be removed. It is a plague on the very soul itself."
Davi wiped his mouth of the bile and scowled. "Did you do anything to the princess?"
"No," High said. "She's with your other friends. We're actually about to arrive."
Up ahead was a small stone platform. It looked sort of like a miniature version of the arena up top but lacked Himvel's tech, so there weren't any holograms or light shows.
Dozens of stone golems were scattered on the arena. Some were lanky and long, others short and round, some had multiple arms, and some lacked limbs completely. They still all fought the same person. Max dodged in and out of their blows, all without using his mana, and punched them hard enough to crack stone. Several Licht-Fulk were cheering him or the golems on and betting food on who they thought would win.
Sera, Susie, and the princess were also present, though Princess Ever wore a long white cloak and had the hood up, blocking most of her appearance. It wasn't total coverage like last time, and a few people were sending her disgusted side-eyed looks. If she noticed, she didn't react to it and instead kept her focus on Max, who was doing quite well.
"Finally up?" Susie was the first to notice the approaching Davi, High, and Mel. "I was getting worried you weren't ever going to wake up."
"I've been through much worse." Davi snorted.
"I take it you've already been filled in?" Sera questioned.
"Yeah. We need to beat Himvel if we want to leave." Davi folded his arms. "You all in?"
"Of course," Susie smirked.
"I have to." Sera nodded. "Max is in, too. He's just tied up right now. I guess he felt bad that he lost and is now throwing himself into danger, hoping to do a bit better. Men…"
"I'd like to help as well." Princess Ever muttered quietly, still not facing Davi.
"Do you really think you can beat Himvel?" Mel demanded. "The entire Underworld could all team up, and I doubt they could beat a single one of the five guardians, much less Himvel himself."
"If we had a captain, it'd be easy peasy." Davi hummed and casually punched his chest a few times. "Even a vice captain. These guys are likely around the power of a regular Knight or Title Knight, so the question is if we can muster up that sort of power."
"Do you think you can?" High asked.
"Sure. If I have to."
"There you have it." High threw an arm over Davi's shoulder and laughed. "The kid says he can beat Himvel."
"I will," Davi promised. He then turned his eyes to the princess. "I've made up my mind also. Let's do it."
"What?" Princess Ever finally turned to look at him.
"Let's destroy the sun and save your people." Davi held his hand out. "And let's also save all these people as well. No rites, no secrets; we'll break the barrier and allow the Licht-Fulk to leave this dungeon."
"You're serious?"
"I am. I want to bring it all crashing down."
Princess Ever looked conflicted for a few seconds before she nodded and gave a determined look. "Okay." She reached out, about to grab his hand. "I just want to save my people. So let's save them all."
"Yeah."
Mel watched the exchange. "Are you really sure about this, High? High?" The man stayed silent for several moments. Finally, he nodded.
"Yo, Davi, catch."
Davi turned and raised his hand up just in time as High tossed something to him. He glanced down at it and raised an eyebrow. "A piece of chalk?"
"Yep! I want you to have it!"
"Thanks…"
"It does something." High huffed. "There's a reason I'm giving it to you."
"Oh, cool. What does it do?"
"The Licht- Fulk don't have access to mana the same way normal mages do. Like someone from Rossum, they lack proper Cores. They also lack Qi Lines as well. This is because their souls are actually fake."
"Like they aren't real?"
"Yeah. They're artificial lifeforms." High explained. "This means their soul lacks a Yin or Yang property, and so they can't actually form an inner world to support a Core. To make up for this weakness, they created two forms of fighting. The first are golems. Believe it or not, but golems all have cores and are able to use spells just like normal mages. Golems are nothing more than shells with a massive ball of mana placed into them, and this mana gives them various powers. When it comes to this dungeon, all the golems here have a form of atomic magic."
"Oh yeah, Olem has that?"
"Most golems lack thought, and so they can't cast proper spells, but every now and then, you get crazy advanced golems like Olem, or Bolem."
"Bolem?"
"Yeah, he was a creation Himvel made, along with that guildmate of yours, Olem. They're mad powerful, even for golems. It isn't too important, though, since no one has seen Bolem in years. The second thing you need to understand about the Licht-Fulk is their other way of using mana. That's in relics. They work sort of like the enchanted gear that you Knights have, but they're powered by the light of the All Mother. It basically allows the Licht-Fulk to use a form of light magic, but what makes them different from normal enchanted items is that technically anyone can use them."
Davi glanced down at the piece of chalk he now held. "So, even though I normally can't use light-based enchanted items, I can use this? That seems kind of powerful."
"It is, which is why, of course, it has a cool down. Licht-Fulk relics only work within this place, and so if you take it out of the dungeon, they become totally useless. Also, they only have a certain number of charges and then take a while to reset. That chalk you have has one last charge left in it. I'm giving it to you for a very important reason."
Davi's look grew serious. "Yeah? What do you need me to do?"
"When you're fighting Himvel, as your blades clash, call on that piece of chalk. Announce it as loudly as you can. Say 'Mother's Light' the instant you and he come to blows."
"And that will help me win?"
"It will fulfill the next step in my plan."
Davi nodded. "Alright. I trust you. If you're telling me this is important, then I'll do it."
"Thanks." High placed a hand on Davi's shoulder. "You're a good person."
"You're good also."
"No. I'm really not."
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing." High chuckled. "Let's go beat Himvel's ass." He offed his hand to Davi who nodded and was about to take it, but before they had a chance to shake on it, a loud bell tolled through the city, and all the Licht-Fulk members froze, panic filling their eyes—all except the Princess, who looked confused.
"Not now," Mel cursed.
"What is it?" Davi demanded. "What does that bell mean?"
"They sent them."
"Sent who? What's going on."
"The Enforcer city," High explained calmly. "Invaders are what you would call monsters. Creatures that come from beyond the dungeon's walls, which try to claim it. The royal guards are strong, but many can't actually deal with multiple invaders at once. When that happens, Sunny uses his ability and gets rid of them. Guess what that means? He sends them here."
Davi's eyes widened. "Wait, so then monsters are showing up?"
"They're already here."
Davi felt his scar burn, and he glanced up just in time to see a swirling white portal appear in the time. It twisted like a flushing toilet, and the contents of it were dumped into Underworld City. Dozens of monsters, all of different shapes and sizes, began to fall and screech.
Underworld was under attack.