The next morning, everyone got ready and set off.

Riding through the mountain pass, everyone kept their eyes open, looking for anyone or anything on the cliff side.

"Cirrus, can you and Nox look around? I'd rather not be the one to get fired at." Artemis said.

"Hm, Nox."

"Alright!"

Cirrus gets off his horse, and Nox turns into an owl. Cirrus dons his Ceryneian armor and scales up the mountainside with Nox flying next to him.

Quickly running up the mountain with great finesse and speed, he reached halfway up the mountain in 30 minutes of running.

"Nox, this is taking too long. Can you keep an eye on the group?"

‘No problem! I will tell you of any enemies we find. ’

"Same here."

As Nox goes to be the eyes for Artemis, Cirrus continues his ascent up the mountain. After 20 more minutes, it was getting harder to breathe. 30 more minutes passed, and it was getting thin. After 5 minutes, Cirrus had to stop and rest.

"Haa! haa!"

‘Shit!’

He could feel his heart beating as fast as it ever could and stopped for now and calm himself enough, but not enough, to where his body would cool.

"Proper breathing… proper breathing… remember what Lance taught you."

After another 20 minutes, Cirrus had made it to the top of the mountain. Up on the mountaintop above the clouds, it looked as if he could walk on the clouds themselves.

"Haa! Haa! Haa! Cool view! Disengage. Oi Nox, how are things on your end?"

‘Fine, so far. How are things on your end?’

"I’ve climbed to the top of the mountain… now to find that Familia! (Exousía, Adorn: Stymphalian)!"

Jumping from high on up, Cirrus equipped his armor and used his wings to glide through the air, and gained an even better view of the mountain range in general.

"Spotted some people on two mountain ranges to the right."

‘Hmmm, saw them!’ Nox went down and flew before Artemis. ‘(White Bright) [White Night].’ A slight bright light shone on what Artemis perceived to be right.

She turned to see two things moving in the distance.

She drew her bow and arrow, notched it, and after a few seconds, she let it fly with utter inhuman precision.

"Ah, they're running. I’ll open the doors."

‘We’ll try not to make you wait.’

Just like in the desert, when he proved himself to the Shalzard Kingdom, he was swooping down upon them like a peregrine falcon, finding its prey.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

‘Oh? Is that an entrance?’

He made himself as aerodynamic as possible to increase his dive. Approaching the ground, he swooped towards the entrance as the people Artemis had shot already ran back in, leaving a trail of blood leading to a door. He bashed through the door and quickly registered all the insides.

Stopping his speed, he spun to dissipate it while grabbing one by the throat and slamming them to the ground.

"Guh!!!!!"

"So… are you a lot the Loviatar Familia?"

"!!"

They all slowly pick up their weapons.

"G-get him!!!!!!!"

"You should have said no."

Changing to his Ceryneian armor, Cirrus moved through the mountains quickly, all the while observing the operation and understanding the layout of the place.

Unfortunately, it was bigger than what he had expected.

20 minutes later.

"Hey uh… Nox?"

‘Yeah, what’s up?’

"Yeah… this mountain is fucking massive. I’ve been walking for a while, and… I’m still fucking walking. I think the village is more of a town or city. Even this hallway has cart tracks, so… they could have several openings around several mountains."

‘… That is going to be a pain in the ass. Can you get one of those guards you beat up to tell you the path?’

"I tried, but they all had poison teeth, so they all quickly died… that, and I may have released some built-up stress and anger at them for making us travel for so damn long. "

‘… Alright, we’ll find our way in. Just keep going. Stop them from unsealing the monster.’

"Hm, be careful."

Cirrus would run through all the corridors that held cart tracks, but with each one he followed, he would reach a crossroads.

"… Alright." He lets out a deep sigh. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe."