"It took nearly ten archmages plus my combined divine and magical might to power the spell, the Tear of the All-Father saved us that day by stoping that madwoman, it didn't win the war, but it saved us"

The Mad King of Grannarius spoke to his generals (Who survived) about the gambit that saved his life, Report from the Vermilion Spy division codename Platinium Fox.

 

Richard was scared, it had been more than 30 minutes since they left the beach and still, no enemies came to meet them, he was sneaking looks at Lucrezia who was busy explaining bizarre and obscure factoids about the many wars the kingdom had embroiled itself in which made him think he was going crazy thanks to his rampant paranoia, after all, if she wasn't worried, why would he be worried?

Castra-Cam on the other hand was acting like she couldn't care less her gaze trained on the horizon.

"In the coming room, ask to fight alone"

Richard halted, making the girls all stop and draw their weapons, he immediately went on a defensive stance and began scanning the corridor for any type of apparition type threat, ghosts and wraiths usually avoided the dungeon but every once in a while he would hear from adventuring or mercenary parties about nightmare riders or greater banshees lurking in the place, either displaced from their usual haunts or on the run from a bigger meaner spirit.

"Where?" Lucrezia asked as she readied her ax and a fan of iron rods. Hope began casting detection spells and after they came back with no pings she raised her hand, the sign of false alarm.

"Richard, you feeling ok? didn't get enough rest last floor?" Raffa asked as she cast a refreshing spell over him, he felt his mind sharpening and the little tiredness he had been lifted from his bones.

Strange Richard thought, that was usually a miracle, not a regular magical spell, was Raffa near her limit for miracles today? a question for another time it seems.

"I thought I heard something, sorry for the false alarm everyone" he replied and everyone nodded "Likely something on the walls or a wayward spirit, those are more common on the later floors from what I've heard" Castra-Cam replied, Lucrezia nodded and said "On your guard everyone"

The pace of the march halted after that, for something like an hour they were walking slowly and checking every corner they took, Lucrezia herself was shoulder to shoulder with him, her very presence betraying that bloodlust she tried so hard to keep at bay.

Castra on the other hand was using what he believed was some sort of necromantic detection spell, pinging the area around them every 40 seconds or so.

Richard had been near warriors before, none had that aura about them, and Lucrezia wasn't even a Ki user! it was almost intoxicating in a way, like his own mental and spiritual state was molding itself to meet her own, it was a scary thought he felt, he didn't want to lose himself to the fires of war and all that.

The party eventually reached a huge arena, waiting for them was the spectral form of an elven warrior, the serpentine patterns in his armor combined with the trident spear made Richard gasp.

"That's the soul of a godsdamned Sea Elf," Lucrezia said, bile in her voice "By the medal on his left side it is either a general or a champion at that"

Richard sucked in air through his nostrils, of course, they would be fighting the godsdamned ancestral enemy of the kingdom, Lucrezia had a bloody knack for these types of things didn't she?

His mind went back to the voice again, it had helped him in the spar and now demanded him to fight against this ghost...a part of him knew that had his soul been breached by the foul or the profane his blessing would've kicked in, Gods even the minor ones were very touchy when it came to breaches of their Sphere, so this voice was being allowed inside of his mind and soul.

And there were very few gods with a particular interest in the sea elves...

"Lucrezia" Richard spoke, mustering the best authoritative tone he could.

The woman snapped towards him, her hand already in the ax handle, she narrowed her eyes at him, and for a second Richard felt a chill run through his spine, but he did not falter, something deep inside of him told him he couldn't.

"You want to fight it?" she asked.

"Alone" Richard answered, the other girls had puzzled looks on their faces, Hope then said, "Richard, it would be best we tackle him together, surely you understand that?"

Lucrezia's face told him she was thinking it over, the subtle ways her eyebrows rose and fell, how she tapped her leg with her fingers, tells he had grown used to seeing whenever she was debating with herself about something, usually, she would also stare at the sun, but given they were underground she made do with the ceiling.

"You going to let him fight that thing alone?" Raffa asked her face appalled at the prospect "Lucrezia that would not be...wise, not to make less of Richard's combat prowess for we have seen he has the knack for it, but such an enemy demands our combined might, I wouldn't want to see Richard here risk his neck for us like that" her voice trailed off as Richard saw Lucrezia walking up to him, she pulled something from her back, it shone a dull pale light as she handed to him.

"This is a Magi-Tech gun, a personal item I and Idun made before I left home, it can fire 10 times before you need to reload with a crystal" she then handed a small pouch with a myriad of crystals in it "In case anything happens to your shield and spear, plus those staffs you still haven't used" he saw her smile as she reminded him of the rest of his little arsenal, Lucrezia then gave him a few potions and said "In the case of life-threatening wounds, the talisman will trigger and send you back to the surface but watch yourself please, I don't want your mother mad at me"

"Why?" Raffa asked Lucrezia.

"If he wants to fight alone then we let him fight alone, I am sure Richard has a good reason and I trust him"

"So be it then, good luck Richard," Raffa said "Try not to die"

Hope cheered him on, clapping him on the back saying that her parents used to do the same to her all the time, Richard felt his face go red a little but remained resolute in his decision, stepping into the arena's threshold he felt a salty wind hit his face, the smell of blood soon following it.

"Richard" Castra called him out, he turned for a second as his body fell into the threshold "Kick his ass"

"Got it" He replied with a nervous smile.

"Human whelp! you dare challenge me Champion Laathur of the Abyssal Depths! Prepare to die then, together with your kind and those Orcs you love so much!"

"Defeat the shade, and my power will be yours, and when you find yourself in your darkest hour I will save you, as I did so long ago" there was a warmth in the voice, a touch of the divine that Richard could feel now, the words spoken filled him with courage and emptied his mind of fear, his goal was simple, and nothing would stop him from achieving it now.

Richard settled into his battle stance, and when the shade opened its mouth to gloat he jumped, piercing the throat of the fell beast, a wordless wail echoed through the arena as Richard surprised attack took the wind of the shade's sails, and the battle finally starting in earnest.

---

"Never liked that boss, not only does he have an annoying 10 hit combo, he gets reused every 10 floors or so as a regular enemy but with more health and doing more damage, they did a rush job with the dungeon in the game in my honest opinion, wonder if the sequel will ever improve on it..." William thought to himself as he watched Richard duck and dodge from the aforementioned attack, the training paid it seems.

"You are a bit too casual about this whole ordeal William, even with the amulets you given them..." Lucrezia chipped in, she was using his eyes to watch the fight in real-time and it was like she was hugging him from the back, her head nested in his right shoulder.

What a weird feeling.

"Hope and Saal'Xhir... I still don't know what to make of it" Lucrezia said "I understand the game version of this reality was tinged in...adult themes and such but to actually see it happening it's weird, but then again I guess those are my northern sensibilities talking here, compared to the south where Uumaries's teachings aren't so entrenched and they can enjoy the pleasures of the flesh more..." Lucrezia finished with a sigh.

"Lucrezia? Anything you wanna talk about?" William asked feeling curious, she wasn't one to ruminate on such topics, usually preferring a more direct approach, something was nagging her he could feel it, now to see if she would impart him with the knowledge of it.

"Hm, maybe later" Lucrezia replied and William felt her presence fall into the recess of his soul space, the empty feeling he got was hard to understand, usually it felt more like a weight being lifted but now, there was something more.

"Amazing, seeing you going silent like that, it's almost like you enter a whole new world and forget about your body, does it even happen to you in the middle of combat?" Raffa shimmed herself to William's side, he stared at her face, losing himself in those eyes of her before he noticed the poor woman going red from his staring, with a cough to dispel the awakeness he spoke.

"And here I thought you only had eyes for Hope and Richard, quite the paramour aren't ya Lucrezia?" Castra laughed teasing them, he waved her off.

"The battle lust wouldn't let me" William gave the woman a tired smile, that lion of his was ever eager to be out and about. Of course, he was keenly aware the right methods to lessen the bite of the Lust but to cross that bridge was not something he would do on a whim.

"For someone branded a Heretic by the Goddess of all that's right and proper, you have a bit of a prudish streak huh" Raffe spoke with a teasing smile "Tell me, how does it feel antagonizing one of the major kingdom's Gods? even in your position that is no small feat you know?"

William smiled, finally, the woman grew a pair and started to sound him out, oh yes he knew her "miracles" were cleverly made sorceries that masked herself as a right and proper noble but the rumors spoke the truth.

She and her family, together with many others around the Kingdom were part of the Anti-Gods faction.

While the name may paint them as an extremist cell, in reality, they seek to become truly free from the many Spheres of Power that permeate the world, in their own words "True freedom, not mired by the whims of the gods, or the wrath of the infernals, nor the machinations of those from the beyond" Many of the public members of the faction were pariahs, but thanks to the All-Father's policy were tolerated and given a platform to speak.

The big man himself was endlessly fascinated by them, as the God of Free Will they were doing what he was born to do, parts of his faith denounced his behavior, but he couldn't care a wit for them, to see his creation trying to be truly free, and thrive outside of his Sphere of Power was something that would bring him boundless joys.

Alas many, many other gods didn't like the idea one bit, not just them but the infernals too! to the point when once the faction managed to get a sizeable following they made the very first coalition to bring their all to bear against the faction's forces, in a battle that scarred Vermilion for a century.

Nowadays they were more on the shadowy conspiracy side of things, minus the aforementioned public members, with Raffa and her family being the de facto leaders of the faction, though if confronted about it they would tell you the faction is led by a committee.

"It is an issue yes" William spoke "But I did what I for my people, Uumaries played her hand wrong in a mad bid to amass more power with the nobles and she had to be punished for it" he finished, casting his eyes back to Richard he saw the young man blowing his goddamn shield up with some sort of magic that made the Magi-Tech gear overload in mana! the Elven champion staggered and kneeled, Richard went in for the kill before the champion warped to the air, screaming obscenities.

"...Nobles, the way you say it it's almost like you aren't one Lucrezia" Raffa had a puzzled look on her face "Mayhaps that hm... distaste for our fellows was the reason the Mad Goddess was so willing to work with you? follow your lead for the razing of Talos?" she smiled "Survivors of that massacre have made their way to the capital, soon you will find them and I wonder how you will act then..."

"If they require aid, and are willing to receive it from me then I will aid them, If they seek revenge they can try their luck" William replied "Nothing a few broken bones can't fix"

Raffa hummed " I don't know if beating the downtrodden is a good look, but you do"

"Hey, Looks like Richard is about to win the fight" Hope cut them off "Look at that he used the weapon you gave him Lucrezia!" she poked William who nearly jumped in surprise.

Indeed the young man was fighting spear and pistol in hand like some sort of budget Dante from Devil May Cry, dodging and parrying strikes in a pure state of combat flow she didn't know he was capable of,  You couldn't take him in combat in the game, he was purely a merchant NPC, once again the reality of it all struck William, this Richard was more than his digital counterpart indeed.

They all were.

William watched as Richard stumbled out of the arena, he was shaking intensely, William grabbed him by the arms and hugged him hard, slowly hearing his heart rate slow down as Richard calmed down.

"Keep this up and the rumors will get worse for him," Raffa said as she cast a healing spell that removed fatigue on Richard, William didn't care and once he felt Richard was safe he let the young man go, Richard, himself could barely string words together, out of breath as he was in the moment, he sat down in the ground with a plop as Hope rushed towards him.

"I am...fine. thanks, everyone" he spoke after a short few seconds, Hope extended her hand towards him and he grabbed it, getting up with a tired smile on his face, burning red as a side note.

"So how does the dragon distribute loot? I heard from a few raiding parties that he has some magical field running throughout the dungeon that calculates the effort each individual put in the fight then gives the excellent stuff accordingly" Hope began talking as they picked up their stuff and went towards the exit "Also, congratulations Richard, fighting a shade of a Sea Elf champion, that's major you know?"

"Good bragging if you wanna befriend any orc too, nothing breaks the ice with them like shit-talking their ancient enemy" Raffa smiled "Speaking of which, how goes the prince Lucrezia? Haven't seen him around lately"

William took a second to recall his memories "He's busy trying to master a series of combat-focused ancient spells if I recall correctly, it's going to take a long while as those are fiendishly hard to crack" Nods all around William confirmed what was common knowledge "I told him to speak with Kaine but the man is proud, wants to do by himself"

Hope nodded "Nothing beats hands-on experience, like this!" she did a little twirl which earned smiles from everyone "But I must say, I kinda wanna go home"

An effect of prolonged dives William remembered, a random chance debuff after a few hours inside the place that would make party members feel fatigued and homesick, one of the worst mechanics in the game due to its random nature and something William had complained about in the forums.

It also pushed him to do a solo run of the entire damn thing, demanding several straight-up wacky tactics to beat it and get the prize from the dragon at the end, William then noticed Raffa snapping her fingers at his face, getting his attention.

"Welcome back airhead. so the loot distribution? any sage advice for us mere mortals?" Raffa asked with a teasing smile.

"I am mortal too in case you forgot" William replied walking towards the exit "We all fought before getting down here, Richard might've defeated the big shade but I am certain we will all get something good from the old dragon"

Arriving at a closed-off room, they found a chest for each, their names engraved on it.

"Great, named chests!" Hope did a cheer "Mom told me those only happen when the dragon is personally pleased with your combat and puzzle-solving skills you know?" she turned to William and said "All thanks to you Lucrezia! now let's see that loot!" Hope dashed off, opening her chest first.

"Someone sure is happy, now for the rewards of our labors" Raffa elbowed William as she went towards her chest, Richard stopped by William's side and spoke "Lucrezia I..."

"Yes, Richard?" William asked

"Thank you for the opportunity, I am not that much of a fighter and even then you let me fight that shade, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate that" Richard spoke with a tired tone in his voice.

He then went towards his chest, William watching closely as he picked off something...

"Gods fucking above William!" Lucrezia screamed beside him, making him nearly jump.

"Jesus Lucrezia what the fuck, nearly made me jump here!" he told her before he got a grip, watching the others to see if they had noticed, none did as they were too busy with their loot.

"The merchant Kid! he has the tear, William! I saw it glinting in his fucking hands!" Lucrezia dropped the bomb as William's eyes went wide, he saw the distinctive golden glean of the tear-like-shaped crystal.

The fucking Tear of the All-Father, the lost piece of which the only known one had the Grannarius Royals, and the only known way to stop Malphas.

William felt a chill creep up his spine, hands shaking as ideas and thoughts began firing off inside his head, someone up high was moving pieces, and he was in the middle of the fucking board, he felt anger, fear, and panic all mesh together inside his chest as the realization he was played like a damn fiddle, not just him but people he cared about.

"What if... What if this isn't a trap..." Lucrezia began talking, at this point, William was hoping for anything, any semblance of a good ending in this particular tunnel he found himself in.

"Think about it, Richard's sudden battle prowess, even when we know he has no Battle-focused Blessing, his odd behavior in the sparring sessions and now asking to fight alone! Almost as if someone is grooming him to become a powerful asset for us!"

"The one that brought me here..." William's mind calmed as Lucrezia's explanation soothed his worries "Yes...We have yet to make contact with whoever brought me here, and fused my soul with yours if this is a sign..."

"Whoever this God is, they must be powerful, if they wanted us dead I am sure we would both be on the Long Queue already William, I understand this is just wild speculation but..."

William sighed in relief, even with all his knowledge he was caught off guard like that "It's enough, thank you Lucrezia, for stopping me from losing my shit that is"

Lucrezia smirked "I told you didn't I, I am looking out for you as well, after all, it is my body you are using up there" another laugh "I have vested interests in keeping you alive"

William smiled to himself, moving towards the chest with Lucrezia's name, and opened it, inside was a single vial containing a golden liquid, William couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Very fucking funny you goddamn overgrown lizard" he spoke to the air as the others looked at him, their faces asking what the hell he was talking about, William handwaved them as he checked out their loot, Raffa had gained a beautiful dragonbone staff, with a gem-shaped dragon eye on the tip of it, Hope herself got a suit of dragon scale armor and a set of earrings that increases magical defense.

With their loot sorted out, the group went towards the exit, ready to go back to the surface.

"Saa, did the mercs we hired spoke with you?" William asked his maid while walking around his room naked as the day he was born, on his body the many sigils of the gods who had chosen him burning bright under the magic light produced by the lamps on the roof. one burning brighter than the others.

"Yes, they have the weapon, 3 of their members nearly died more than once you know, the charms we brought from that shady merchant worked but they weren't pleased about it" Saa'ryu pulled the metal bar from the table "Lu I understand you don't want to... Indulge on your god's given needs but couldn't you put at least some undergarments?"

William grabbed the metal bar, and in a flash, it became a sword, then an ax, bow, and even a twin-blade from the elves. The more mana he poured into the weapon, the more excited he got until Saa'ryu snapped him out of it.

"It's getting harder to control, even with Gabriel's medicine and the training" William spoke out loud before putting the weapon down "This will make a fine gift for her, have it packed and delivered after I leave for the palace"

Saa'ryu nodded " Lu about the rumors"

William turned around, sitting on a chair near him, and stared at Saa'ryu "Yes?"

"My people are working on finding out who's the source, I know you told me to not bother but you are a Duchess Lu! you can't let these people mock your name so! what will the people think at home?!"

A strange thing for her to say, Saa'ryu wasn't one to care much for these sorts of things, so this must've been getting under her skin for quite some time it seems.

"It's ok Saa, I know you don't like hearing people talk that way about me, there's no need to appeal to my noble image, as much as anyone cares about that at home after all that happened, do what you must to find them, if that will grant you peace then I am ok with it"

His maid nodded, Lucrezia was pleased to see that her maid loved her so much that she would raise her hand against no-

"WILLIAM!" a voice shook him from the core of his soul, William's eyes went wide in terror as his mind reeled from what had just passed through his thoughts, the bond was growing deeper, stronger, and he was starting to lose himself.

It would seem whoever brought him here wanted Lucrezia in the reigns, not him after all.

Saal'Xhir blessing flared once again, the dreaded wave of lust for once clearing his mind from the existential dread of being consumed wholesale to birth some sort of gestalt entity that had his and Lucrezia's soul together, the wave of desire flooded his mind and body and for a blissful second he was free of his worries.

"I think you ought to talk with the woman in charge, it's clear even after giving her a church in our lands she wants more of you Lu, and holding her back like this is doing more harm than good, here drink this" Saa'ryu rushed to his side with a cup of clear liquid, a potion maybe?

It was cold water.

"Thank you Saa, I'll see about that, now if you would excuse me, I need a shower" William got up and went to the bathroom, opening the showerhead he sat on the floor and let the waters wash over him, their sound drowning his mind and letting him enter a meditative state.

---

Lucrezia paced around her usual haunts, the soul space had opened itself to a ridiculous degree as their connection became deeper, it was hard at first but with time she came to understand how much the virtual copy of her world meant to this strange boy that was in control of her body.

Such conflicted thoughts bouncing around his head, seeing him get worried when he fought his friends, in anguish while doing the dragon's dungeon, his checked lust threatening to bust out at every opportunity it saw, all those feelings had in time become her feelings and thus she came to see William in a light that very few had in his planet, in fact, she probably knew him better than his mother.

Not that that was a high bar to clear, knowing his relationship with his parents.

But it was the lust that had been proving an unflinching and constant issue, she had no godsdamned idea on how much he indulged back in Earth, daily, even more than twice a day! the sheer quantity of immoral lewd content in his memory was staggering, unheard even!

Ever since the chains fell off and William let go of his shame she witness snippets of it, they nagged at her, like an itch in her arms and legs she couldn't scratch, the thirst, and hunger for it was driving her insane, but there was a current of sadness there, as if William wanted to lose himself on it to drown out his more negative feelings, it was exactly like an addiction.

One she now had as well.

Whenever William was feeling down she would get flashes of his time where he drowned himself in that particular pit of dispair masquerading itself as pleasure, how he bombarded his senses with it to fully immerse himself only for the bliss to leave him shortly after it, he wanted more and dug dig for the next high but nothing could satiate himself anymore, chasing the dragon forever as he once said in one of those flashes.

It was a part of him that was washed with shame, she didn't know why at first, but now that much of Earth's knowledge had cemented in her mind, she could understand his shame after all that type of behavior was seen with disdain where he lived, that he trusted her with this extremely intimate piece of himself touched Lucrezia somewhat, even if that was in part thanks to the merge between him and her.

His fear when his thoughts went there was like a knife was jammed right into her ribcage, fast as lightning and just as deadly.

As he calmed down she went upwards, towards the "surface" the blessing of Saal'Xhir at full blast when she arrived as William for once let his mind be consumed by that divine bliss, it was hard for him to come back, or to even keep himself composed in front of Saa'ryu but he went that extra mile, for Lucrezia and her name.

She wondered how far he would go, and the thought of it made her shudder in fear.