"Freedom. I wanted to be free, didn't I?" Tsuyoi looked at the well in front of him, the blade of the guardians resting on his neck.
It has been a week. He is about to die, and yet, his friend isn't here.
"Eh, who am I kidding? All I did was run from what was behind me. I didn't choose to run… I just didn't want to face the thing chasing me." He closed his eyes. The execution took place in 'The Hollow', the central courtyard of Hades. The only thing here was concrete beneath their feet, and a well at the center of it. The heads of the executed inmates would drop there; nobody knew where it led.
He was about to find out though.
"At least I'm glad that… he didn't risk himself in order to save me. I'm okay with that… I'm okay with this." He took a deep breath. The guards raised their blades.
"Wait." Erik called out, and the guards slowly lowered their blades. He approached the phoenix with his hands tied behind his back. "I want to talk to him." He added.
Tsuyoi opened his eyes in surprise and looked up. "You look disappointed." Erik smiled.
"I could say the same thing to you." Tsuyoi grinned nervously. Erik's smile dropped. "I hope you don't think this is anything more than a setback. Soon, you'll be dead with no one other than me to witness it. And the rest of your friends will be right… wait a minute, something is not right…"
Erik smiled again.
"You don't have any friends, do you? If you did, he would've been here by now." He turned his back on him. "I never understood the title 'The Undying Phoenix'. I find it a bit overconfident, don't you think? For someone like you, the more suitable nickname would be…" He started walking away.
"...Tsuyoi The Failure."
He raised his hands, and the guards raised their blades once more. Tsuyoi closed his eyes and winced slightly.
They swung them down. Blood gushed out everywhere.
But to his surprise, Tsuyoi found himself alive.
The guard on his right screeched out in pain and dropped dead on the floor; the other one was just knocked out cold. Erik paused and smiled.
"...How-" Tsuyoi looked around, not believing what was in front of him.
"Talk about a last-minute save… I guess you do have friends." Erik turned around.
The Anomaly faced forward and met Erik's eyes, his undying determination only getting stronger by the minute.
"...Pablo Drake." Erik's smile grew bigger.
Tsuyoi gasped. His voice started shaking. "You-" Pablo interrupted him. "Sorry we're late. This place was really hard to find." He chuckled, proud of his save. "Dang right." Haisha pulled out his fist from the guard's smashed armor. They came down from the sky because it was open and nobody was guarding the roof for some reason.
"It's finally an honor to properly meet you. You're the talk of town!" Erik waved his hand. Pablo pointed his blade at him, several meters between them.
Pablo's patience was wearing thin, and yet he wanted to hear what Erik had to say. "I would've preferred to meet… somewhere else. Specifically, you in my laboratory, chained up and barely alive, fed by tubes." Erik tied his hands behind him again.
"I guess I should apologise for crashing your party." Pablo had no idea how strong this guy was, but he had confidence in his abilities. "No, no need. You're the guest of honor." Erik raised his hands playfully.
"Pablo… why did you come…? I'm touched but this was a trap! He wanted you here!" Tsuyoi's voice couldn't stop shaking. Maybe because of fear, adrenaline, gratitude or a mix of them, he didn't know.
Pablo looked over his shoulder towards Tsuyoi as he got in front of him. "I don't care! You didn't abandon me, so I would never abandon you!"
"Stop talking nonsense, bro!" Haisha yelled. "Though for some reason this place does not feel like a prison at all! This was way easier than I thought!"
"Because that was his plan, you doofus! He brought no guards because-" Erik interrupted Tsuyoi. "I'd prefer if you didn't talk about my plans while I was here. But yes, he is right." He snapped his fingers, and an almost invisible barrier surrounded the prison like a dome. "You really made a mistake coming here, Pablo Drake. But I won't be the one to complain." He continued walking forward.
He looked above and sensed the magic despite the barrier being invisible. He cursed under his breath and sliced Tsuyoi's handcuffs. "Let's go, Haisha!"
Haisha nodded and started carrying Tsuyoi on his shoulder. "Don't worry, bro!"
Erik raised his hands to aim something at Haisha, but Pablo was right behind him, blocking his aim. "I guess we'll do it the old-fashioned way." He lowered his hand, sighed, and kept following them.
They made it to the west section of the prison and entered the 'Brimstone Wing' where the violent prisoners were kept. They immediately closed the gate behind them and met up with Kori, who was waiting for them. "Kori, do your thing!" Pablo said.
The alarms inside Hades started blasting.
She nodded and touched the gate, freezing it all. "Now what? Erik has blocked off every exit with a barrier." She raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, how do you know his-" For the third time, Tsuyoi was interrupted. "We'll create a riot, then! We'll use the chaos to blend in and survive long enough to find a way to pierce the barrier." Pablo kept moving. "Haisha! Free the prisoners in here and tell them we're starting a riot! Kori, you go with him. Tsuyoi and I will find the exit."
"Got it!" Haisha dropped Tsuyoi from his back. Tsuyoi scratched his wrists and started stretching. "Look at you, playing captain now, huh?" Tsuyoi chuckled. He had been on his knees for at least an hour. It seemed like something was on his mind; his eyes widened as he remembered him. "We need to get someone else! His name is Dante." He said.
"You made friends in here? The last thing we need is more trouble!" Pablo protested. "He is an alchemist. He can help you with your disease!" Tsuyoi yelled back at him.
"...Where is he? We need to find him immediately!" Pablo started looking around. "Okay but before that…!" Tsuyoi ripped his prison shirt and took a relaxed deep breath. "Much better."
He then started running towards the Ash Wing.
"Welcome back." Pablo smiled and started running after him. "Who's this Dante guy? Can he fight?" He caught up to Tsuyoi, which surprised him. "I don't know. But he is a Treasurer. Speaking of, I need to get my Treasure before we escape!"
In the hallway, four guards blocked their path and raised their Magisteel blades. "Surrender now!" They yelled.
"Shit! Let's go back. We'll find another way-" Before Tsuyoi could turn around, Pablo placed a hand on his shoulder. "I've got this." He smiled.
Tsuyoi stopped and looked at him, confused. But then he grinned back. "Really? Show me what you got."
The guards started charging against them.
Pablo raised his hand, several tendrils sprouting from his arm. One for each guard.
They pierced right through their armor as Pablo amplified the tendrils with mana. Magisteel is strong, but the quality of their armor stood no chance against Pablo's immense mana.
He then slammed them across the room repeatedly until they stopped moving. He pulled back the tendrils, leaving Tsuyoi in shock. "You really nailed this mana thing, huh?" He let out a breathy laugh.
They continued moving and entered the Ash Wing, then made their way toward Tsuyoi's cell. "Dante! My guy!"
Dante was hiding underneath the bed and flinched upon hearing Tsuyoi's voice. "What is going on?!" He yelled. "We're leaving!" Tsuyoi yelled back.
Dante got out of his hiding spot but shook his head, refusing his offer. "No way! We'll die out there!"
"Huh?!" Tsuyoi said in disbelief.
"I… I'm fine being here. I need time to think… I need to be punished for what I did to my wife!" His voice started shaking. "I'm not leaving!"
Tsuyoi clenched his fists and started running to Dante. "DANTE!" He screamed. Dante gasped in shock and fear. Tsuyoi raised his fist.
"MAN THE FUCK UP!" He punched Dante's face with full force, sending him towards the wall and breaking his nose. Dante yelled out in pain and held his nose. He curled up against the wall and raised his other hand in defense. "What was that for?!"
"The only unjust punishment is a man punishing himself! You didn't kill her, so stop acting like you did!" He grabbed Dante from his collar and pointed to Pablo. "This is my friend I told you about, Pablo. He too is infected with whatever your wife had! If you want to forgive yourself, start by helping him!"
Dante looked at Tsuyoi in fear. "But… but…"
"There is no 'but'! There is no 'but'! The only but is his butt you're going to save!" He let go of Dante and turned around to exit the cell. "If you're going to keep living in 'what ifs', you're dead just like your wife."
He didn't wait for Dante to follow him; that was his choice, not his.
Dante looked at the floor as tears fell from his eyes, mixing with the blood raining down his nose. He curled up in a ball and started sobbing.
"It's sad we didn't get to know each other, don't you think?" Erik spoke through the speakers. Pablo stopped. "Oh please, I know everything I need to know about you, you evil bastard. You make a great first impression." He yelled back.
"Oh? Are you giving a moral speech right now? That's rich." Erik responded. "Tell me, Pablo, how many people did you kill in order to survive?"
Pablo froze and quickly ran the numbers in his head. "Hm… Sanita counts too… and uh there were the bounty hunters in Glacilume…" He then faced Tsuyoi. "...What comes after seven?"
"Six? Hell if I know." Tsuyoi shrugged.
Pablo scoffed and yelled back to the speakers. "What is it to you?"
"Oh you haven't even counted it properly? But I did. 296 people directly, 14 thousand indirectly. But I bet you don't even know what a thousand is." You could almost hear Erik rolling his eyes. "So that's what makes you better than me?" Pablo yelled.
"That's what makes me more considerate. I know exactly how many lives I crushed in order to achieve my salvation. You killed fewer and you didn't even bother to count. You have no right to play the hero here, Pablo. As far as I know we're both victims digging our way out of our coffins."
"You don't sound like a victim right now!" Pablo gulped and gritted his teeth, but Tsuyoi placed his hand on his shoulder. "Dude, ignore him! He is trying to get in your head!"
Pablo exhaled sharply and nodded. "You're right. We should find your Treasure." They continued running.
"Who the hell is this guy anyway?" He looked at Tsuyoi while running. "Erik Eishelm. He is one of the Three Great Commanders of the United Government. I don't know how strong you have become, but you're not strong enough to face him! And don't get this the wrong way-" Before Tsuyoi finished his sentence, Pablo cackled. "It's okay. I get it."
"You do?!" Tsuyoi gasped. "If you say I can't fight him, I'm taking your word for it. But I'm not running away if he tries to fight me!"
"That sounds good but how do you plan on infiltrating the room where they keep my Treasure? We have no idea where it is."
"Kori and I beat up a government official and got a map of Hades! Apparently there are countless floors underneath this place, and at the bottom is The Vault! The only way to get there is the well in the courtyard, but when we looked closer, we realised there were secret passages the guards used, hidden from you guys! One of them leads to The Crown."
"The top level for administration? That Crown?" Tsuyoi looked at him in disbelief.
"Yes, that Crown. The Guard Hall has a passage that leads to the lower floors!" Pablo nodded. "They will know we're going there!"
"That's why we're starting a riot, genius! The guards will be too busy with the prisoners, leaving the Crown empty. The only problem is Erik, but I doubt he's alone." Pablo suddenly stopped and faced towards the wall on his left. "One should be here." He pushed the wall, opening the hidden passage. "Ash Wing is already right next to the Crown! This one leads right to it!"
They walked through the passage very carefully, listening to the voices inside the prison and voices from the walls themselves. Pablo peeked out of the entrance and found the guard hall completely empty, with no sight of anyone else inside their cafeteria. "Looks good." He left and signalled Tsuyoi to follow him.
"How have you been holding up?" Pablo asked, using the opportunity to make conversation. Maybe to cope with his stress or maybe because he just missed him. "Could've been better. It's not my first time inside prison… but knowing I'll get executed made me count the seconds of each day."
"That sounds bad. I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier. A bunch of stuff happened." He walked down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible; both of them were barely even whispering. "I'd love to catch up, man. But you can see how we're in a hurry right now! Give me a recap."
"I met Nasaki. And he isn't the fearless muscular warrior you've imagined him to be. Y'know that drunk homeless guy you left me with? Apparently that was him."
"No fucking way." Tsuyoi chuckled in surprise.
"Yes way. He taught me how to control my mana, or at least, he tried to. But he taught me more important things. I went to Thornskar… met up with Kori and Haisha there. But that's a long story. Afterwards we went to Glacivulcan to find a Magiborn Teacher so I could learn sorcery. …But that's also a very long story." They had made it down to the Upper Depths, where the medical ward, service areas, and interrogation rooms were. Then they went even further down to the Lower Depths; they couldn't see what was there because of how dark it was. They trusted the voices they heard and finally made it to the lowest floor, Level 5, called 'The Vault.'
"The Vault wasn't on the map we had, but this has to be it." Pablo looked around in shock as his eyes started hurting due to how bright this place was. Days of enduring the darkness of Glacilume made his eyes more sensitive to light.
"Now, we'll find your Treasure and-" He was interrupted by the screams of a very enthusiastic woman.
"PABLO DRAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She yelled. He recognised the voice instantly. "Oh come on…" He muttered.
Their path was blocked by Suberi Yasui and the Third Apostle, Juryo Ku. He was just as annoyed by her antics as Pablo was. She pointed at him dramatically and stood tall. "It appears we've met again! Our rivalry knows no bounds, even fate has-"
Juryo slapped the back of her head. "Focus!" he yelled. "We have a boss to impress."
"Ow!" She held the back of her head. Juryo stepped forward, looking at Pablo with one hand in his pocket. "Commander did say to let you fight for a bit, don't know why though. So I suppose I'll hold back to see what you're made of."
"Who are you?" Pablo's left hand went to the Zweihander on his back, his grip firm. Juryo casually ignored his question. "I was waiting for someone more impressive when I heard there was a guy able to use mana."
"How does that make me special? There is an entire species made out of mana, you guys sure you don't want them instead?" Pablo drew his blade and pointed it at Juryo. He started walking towards him. "Tsuyoi, go! Get your Treasure! I'll hold this… purple-haired- Wait he…"
"He looks just like Sanita!" Tsuyoi and Pablo both said in unison. "I was about to say that…" Tsuyoi laughed it off. "I guess purple hair is a trend."
Suddenly, Pablo was wrapped in glowing purple chains. The chains extended and slammed him to the wall behind him. He tried to break free but failed to do so. He couldn't move a muscle.
"Shit… I'll meet you at the exit!" Tsuyoi yelled and started running. The chains wrapped around Juryo Ku's waist had more chains coming out of them, which seemed to be the ones that attacked Pablo. "I'm busy here, woman. That's your guy."
"Right!" She activated her Treasure on her feet and started skating towards Tsuyoi like the floor was ice. "Oh shit, that's so fucking cool!" He looked behind him while running.
The hallway ended in a T-Junction, leading up to another hallway. Tsuyoi looked left and right, not knowing where he was supposed to go. But he was running out of time.
Suberi was moving very fast, way faster than the Treasureless Tsuyoi. "If it isn't the friend of my rival! It's an honor to meet you!" She reached to grab Tsuyoi, but Tsuyoi jumped and boosted himself off the wall, making her crash head-first into it. "You too." He said, then went right.
"Damn it…!" She held her head and tried to stand properly, then let out a war cry. "This isn't over!" She continued following him.
Pablo condensed his mana into his left arm, which broke the chains. Once that was done, he sliced the chains with his sword.
"These aren't actual chains. They're made of magic. I cannot use my Treasure on them." He thought to himself as he started running at Juryo Ku. "Nice! Give me some more!" Juryo grinned in excitement as more chains were unleashed from his waist. "That's the source! His Treasure allows him to create chains and control them… but can he only do it from the Treasure? If so, then it's not an elemental-type." He sliced the chains coming towards him.
As he got in range, Pablo raised his sword and swung it. "The Anomaly, what a joke!" Juryo grabbed his blade bare-handed and swung his fist, aiming at his face.
"You sure love running your mouth a lot!" Pablo took it like a champ, and didn't back down. "But when you're trying to kill someone… words don't matter!" Pablo clenched his right fist and raised it.
"...ACTION DOES!"