The place was musty. Dirty. Hardly fitting for a path to freedom. Nadeline wrinkled her nose, clearly displeased, though she remained silent. The group began making their way through the many halls of the place. Both Grant and Wesley took the lead while Jaakuna, Emiri and Nadeline hung back. Emiri couldn't help but wonder about the place. "Say, Naddie, what do you know about this place?" She asked out-loud.

“A giant underground complex in Archadia, consisting of natural caverns and the abandoned ruins of an ancient palace. Many of its ways and passages remain uncharted on current maps. From the style of the carvings adorning some of the walls, it is thought that the complex was built at some point during the Galtean Alliance, though no records of its construction remain. A survey mission was initiated to chart the many corridors here, but a particularly nasty infestation of creatures has significantly hampered progress.” Nadeline happily recited for the group.

"Said creatures are one of my primary concerns." Grant spoke as they walked. "Although they don't concern me as much as human opponents. I hope we don't encounter anyone that would give away our location."

While Wesley and Grant were at the front of the group, acting as the guards of sorts, back behind them both of them no doubt would hear Nadeline recite what she remembers about the Sochen Cave Palace. Jaakuna listened and from what she was saying, the cave palace was built back long ago when the Galtean Alliance was still around. Jaakuna remembers very little about that alliance, but Wesley remembers reading about that like it was yesterday. It also helps that his ancestor was alive during the time of the Galtean era, too. When JAakuna would hear more of what Nadeline said, she would speak about how there's supposedly a very nasty assortment of creatures lurking about. That confirmed what Wesley was thinking earlier about the Hell Wyrm. Jaakuna, on the other hand, didn't even know this place was still around back then.

When Nadeline would finish, Grant would speak briefly about how he would much prefer not to encounter the monster foes, but human enemies was what he made a mention of preferring. Wesley thought about what he said and wondered if that had to do with anything of that woman Levi he briefly mentioned back in the Archadian Dungeons. WEsley would shrug it off as they kept on moving along. Wesley spotted something up ahead. It was shining and gleaming in the sunlight that came through the cracks from the celing. "What's that?" Wesley said. He would move closer to it and it would seem there are about four copses with each a weapon of sorts. "There seems to be an Iga Blade, an Artemis Bow, a Morning Star, and a Gungnir.' Wesley said as he looked to Emiri, Jaakuna, and Nadeline. "I guess take your pick." He said shrugging.

Jaakuna looked among the four weapons. He admired them each and as he would do that, he soon found himself attracted to the Gungnir. He would pick that up. He felt how heavy it was. "Hmm, light for a spear." Jaakuna mused aloud. He gripped it in one hand. "Light with one hand, but not doable." He mused again. He would take it in two hands and stab, slash, and just do any basic fighting movements. "This will do nicely." Jaakuna said nodding in approval. "Okay babe, you're next." Wait, did Jaakuna just say that aloud? Boy was he going to get it good later.

He didn't think he was going to get off the hook with flattery, did he? Emiri looked at Jaakuna with a rather amused expression. Nadeline giggled furiously in the background, though they subsided as Grant shot her a look. She didn't respond to him, though she did stoop and inspected the weapons. She wasn't sure if she wanted the bow or the sword. She could feel Nadeline's impatient stare on the back of her head, so she turned back to her.

The blonde haired girl grinned happily, jumping in and inspecting the weapons herself alongside her friend. Emiri rolled her eyes and reached for the Iga Blade, though Nadeline swatted her hand away, taking it first. She ignored Emiri's glare as she tested the blade out, swinging it around a few times. Emiri picked up both the Artemis Bow and Morning Star, slinging the quiver of arrows over her shoulder. The axe was somewhat heavier than she had anticipated, though she did like the feel of it.

"Greedy, greedy." Nadeline chided her playfully. "Having more weapons doesn't give you more power."

Emiri slid her dagger back into her boot, making sure Morning Star was secured on her belt as she wielded the Artemis Bow. "Versatility is not overrated." She replied simply, pulling the string back and testing it.

After everyone would get the weapon of their choosing, the group would proceed to go deeper into the Cave Palace, hoping to finding the exit as soon as they could. It would be tough, however, as they would have to trust which turns to take and hope those turns would take them to the correct path. When they would get to a certain one, Wesley would stop. They came to a clearing and Wesley had a bad feeling about this. It was like something ominous was in the air. A few seconds later, the group would soon see the beast that is the embodiment of the ominous feeling that Wesley had gotten beforehand.

As the beast would reveal itself, Wesley drew his Yagyu Darkblade. "Ready yourself my friends! The Ahriman fast approaches us." Wesley states as the Ahriman would appear before them, moving in such creepy ways that truly live up to the legend.Jaakuna took out his Gungnir and joins Wesley and Grant, though he shot Grant a glare. It was not a very nice one. He then brought his attention back to the Ahriman. "Let's do this shit!" Jaakuna said, holding his Gungnir in a diagonal position.

lol double post

As the group prepared themselves for battle, Jaakuna joined Wesley and Grant at the front. He would shoot Grant a nasty glare. Grant only looked back at him, though he shifted his attention to the Ahriman before him. The spectral being before them loomed over them, extending its arms towards them. The way it moved creeped Emiri out, though she swore it was the weirdest thing she had ever seen. Nadeline hummed happily, brandishing the Iga Blade as Emiri prepared a shot.

The Ahriman shook its body wildly, its arms above its head as it divided itself into four different copies. "Of course." Emiri muttered as they all came rushing at them.

The group scattered at this point, and Emiri shot off an arrow. It zipped right through the ghostly figure. Figures as much. As the Ahriman closed in she readied another arrow, though at this point Grant stepped in. He shot the monster several times, each one going straight through it, though at the last shot it dissolved. "Only one is true, the rest are false." He stated, turning to another one.

Poised and ready, Jaakuna would dart off, as would everyone else. Divide and conquer was the strategy they all would go for. Jaakuna couldn't focus on everyone else, so he would focus his attention on one of the Ahriman ghouls. As he took on the one he chose to focus on, Jaakuna took his Gungnir, hoisting it above his head, and he leaped up into the air. His spear at the moment was beginning to become surrounded in Fire Magick. In a matter of seconds, they entire spearhead would be engulfed in Fire Magick, being that of the strength of Firaga. Jaakuna, with a simple downward slash, he would attack the beast, but only to find out that it too was a fake, just like what Grant had said. "Damn!" Jaakuna cursed as he landed on the ground, angry as fuck.

While Jaakuna was wonder which was the real one, Wesley would take on his. He looked to it, not moving. The Ahriman he was facing also wouldn't attack; at least not yet. Wesley had to plan this out. If this was also a fake, where would the real one be. Alternatively, if this was the real one, then how could he damage it. All of these things Wesley was considering. His body wasn't even moving. Well, at least not the lower parts. His upper body was looking around. Calculating. Wesley had to plan this out. After spending a minute thinking and planning, he made his move.

Wesley took his Yagyu Darkblade. Concentrating into the blade would be traces of white. Wesley would focus on just the traces of white. His mind at a place where it was clear, pure, much like the white magick gathering around his Yagyu Darkblade.Wesley would close his eyes. In another sixty seconds, the blade was pulsing. The blackness of the blade pulsing and coming to slowly invert itself, Wesley would then open his eyes. As soon as he did, each millisecond that it would take for them to open, the blade would slowly(not really, but it feels like that in the moment) turn completely white. Wesley would then take his move. Rushing forward, his body went ultra fast. He would swing the blade upward, then slash several more times in horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and just repeat, repeat, repeat. As Wesley did that, the beast in front of him would almost match every one of those slashes with it's long arms. The important thing to come out of this was that the beast in front of Wesley taking in his attacks was the real one.

"This is the real one." Wesley said as he informed his friends and Grant. The screams from the beast hinted something to Wesley His sword was engulfed in Holaga, so that must only mean one thing. "Holy! It's weakness is Holy." Wesley would say once more.

"That would be my cue." Nadeline sang, holding her blade up. "Be a dear and assist me, Emi." Her white glyph was inscribed into the ground beneath her, the song of magic in the air. She twirled her sword around, as if treating it like a staff, and once she finished she pointed her sword at the sky. Emiri held her hand out, a clock appearing underneath Nadeline, its hands spinning forward. The blonde smiled, her magic springing up from the ground and surrounding her sword. She whipped said sword to the side, kneeling slightly, and then she took off. She zipped past the group, the clock still underneath her and stopped right before the Ahriman.

She stabbed the monster multiple times, each stab executed in a flurry and melding together. The clock stopped each attack, making them look like swords of light. They kept the Ahriman in place as Nadeline jumped, holding her sword above her as it glowed an ethereal white, Mist gathered around it. She slashed downwards, sending down a pillar of brilliant light onto the Ahriman. The rest of the holy swords then converged onto the monster, creating what could only be called a holy explosion. The force of the magic was strong, and the airborne Nadeline was thrown backwards. Grant felt himself get pushed back by the blast. He had known her magic was strong, but he never imagined it being this strong. Emiri put her hands in front of her, trying to remain steady as she was nearly blinded by the blast.

On the instant that Wesley would inform his friends about how the weakness to the beast would be Holy, Nadeline jumped on that cue. She would go in hard and fast.to the beast, blade glowing an ethereal white, and stabbed it multiple time. The Ahriman would shriek out in agony and pain at the point of each stab. With each stab going into it, the shrieks got louder and louder. It got to be at the point where the beast itself was oozing out black blood. It had limbs missing from its body, and cause of the amount of damage that it had taken from the combined efforts of both Wesley and Nadeline, it was now on the ground, clinging to whatever life that it still had left. Though, now, it would be dead from the huge explosion that the rest of Nadeline's attack would dish out. Wesley foresaw the explosion and had made preperations to jump back so he didn't flung back from the force of the blast.

After NAdeline had purely dominated the beast, Jaakuna looked on as the smoke would clear. There was nothing left, only a burnt circle. One could just assume that little circle is all that there is left of the Ahriman. Jaakuna couldn't believe it. He stood there in disbelief right next to Emiri and Grant. 'Wowza! Nadeline and Wesley sure are the purest couple out there. I'm sure their kids would be brilliant in every sense of the word." Jaakuna said that on purpose, knowing full well Grant was right there. He would even nudge to Grant with is shoulder. "Wouldn't ya agree?" Jaakuna said with an 'eh? eh?' face.

vincent is not nice

:D

herp derp

:D

vincent is a douche

vincent is a douche

:D

Everything was just unbelievable. NAdeline creating that huge hole, and just everything about it. Wesley didn't think she had that much power within her, but Nadeline had been able to keep up with the likes of Jaakuna and Wesley, so perhaps the display of her feats are just blooming later than usual. Regardless, Emiri suggested to everyone that they should get going. JAakuna agreed to that and WEsley did as well. They both would nod and everyone would head off in the direction to the exit.

After heading down a single pathway down the center, the group would take on beasts of all kinds. Wendigos, Imps, Crystalbugs — just about any all kinds of creepy crawlies that would find themselves in the groups way. It wouldn't be that long until they actually found themselves heading closer and closer to the exit/entrance to the Tchita Uplands. Wesley and Jaakuna led the charge naturally as they would point out the light at the end of the creepy cavern. "It seems we're almost home free my friends!" Wesley pointed out as he looked towards the light.

"Enthusiastic bunch, aren't they." Grant commented on Wesley and Jaakuna, though he was slightly amused. He had expected a more difficult trip, but something was bothering him. Mainly the fact that they had managed to literally walk out of both Old Archades and the Sochen Cave Palace. They had caused quite a racket when they defeated the soldiers and mages that had been guarding Emiri's door. He expected that once they left the building, they would have gotten chased, or ambushed, or something. He didn't like it. It was too unlike Vincent. He would go through the trouble to have thirty people stand watch over one girl (albeit a powerful one) and yet sends no forces after them once they reclaimed her?

He lightly pulled Emiri's sleeve, causing her to look at him. "Did you ever get to do Vincent's task?" He asked her quietly. She shook her head. That made the situation even stranger. No, he didn't like this at all. He looked back for a moment, though Nadeline called him to keep up with the rest. He hung back, though it seemed he had caught the attention of Emiri. Ironic, considering he was sure she would never even want to speak to him, much less look at him. "What is it?" He asked her.

"Why would you care about that?" She replied with her own question, referring to his previous inquiry.

"Vincent informed me that once you had completed your task, he would make sure you were slain before me." He stated, still looking over his shoulder.

Emiri's eyes widened, though they narrowed quickly afterwards. She knew Vincent had been lying to her, that pompous idiot. Now she really did owe Grant a big one.

They were almost home free. It was just a few steps more and they would be out of the hell hole they were previously in. When Wesley and Jaakuna would begin those final steps, Jaakuna would look back and while Nadeline was following close, it would seem that Grant and Emiri were talking about something. Wesley would also notice it. He would just wonder what it could be about, but Jaakuna would think and act differently. A severely angered expression would appear on his face and Wesley would hear Jaakuna curse some very bad things about Grant under his breath. He didn’t hear all of it, but he made out the words “Asshole”, “Fucking Bastard”, and the sentence “I’ll rip his fucking throat out.”

Wesley would stare at Jaakuna with widened eyes and his head would shake in disappointment. He would say nothing, but he would just shake his head at Jaakuna. Though, Wesley did now wonder what exactly the two of them could be talking about. Regardless of that, however, the two of them would catch up to the group, and out from the Sochen Cave Palace the emerged and into the sunlight of the Tchita Uplands they would appear.

“We finally made it.” Wesley said smiling.

“About fucking time!” Jaakuna said, smiling as well.

As the group would just bask in the joy of being out of Archades, out of the Sochen Cave Palace, and just out of the way from Vincent, the victory would be cut short as clapping would be heard and out from behind them(they were facing the entrance/exit to the Sochen Cave Palace), and as it would be revealed, several soldiers and magi of the Archadian Imperial Army would be revealed and right in the center of all of them would be the Third Judge Magister, Leviathan Necfedeles.

“You lot sure took your sweet time getting here.” Said Levi, helmet on. She would look to Grant. “Prince Grant, good to see you again.” She said laughing.

Of course.

Another fight, huh? Emiri couldn't help but wonder how strong this Judge was. If Ixion and Hamut were any indication, she would be a challenge. Even with the five of them here, she wondered if they would be able to take her on. She highly doubted they would be spared, either: Ixion had been called back when they had been defeated while Hamut had other intentions (though she did not forget that he nearly killed Savayna). She was more than certain that this fight would have to be fought the entire way. Jaakuna was using an unfamiliar weapon, she was sure Wesley and Grant weren't at full strength, and this woman looked like she meant business.

Grant couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "The gods have graced me with your presence once more, vapid serpent. It would have been an honor, too, alas we have no time for you and your riffraff." Grant replied to Levi.

Nadeline looked at Grant. Obviously, he hadn't the experience they did with Ixion. Still, she doubted Leviathan would let them just walk away. She prepared her sword, though looked back at Wesley. "Brace yourselves, I fear we have a battle ahead of us."

"We could still escape." Emiri said quietly. "My power is at hand."