Later that night, a magic beam shot up into the sky.

“A magic blast? It’s rather close.” Said Ai.

“… Hmmm, I’m going.”

“Okay, I’ll stay back!”

Running through the trees, a familiar sight of people running through the forest in white robes.

“Hah~??"

 A black fire flared up.

 

Cirrus quickly changed his destination and got in their way.

Thud!

“H-hiiiiii!!!” they screamed.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Cirrus’s eyes were sharp and dark as one could be. “A couple of fucking rats.” Cirrus quickly rushed them and grabbed their chest, ripping off their self-immolation tools and throwing them into the air. “(Sing your Vespers.).”

A bolt of weak lightning struck the bombs, and they exploded into bits.

Arriving on the scene was Ryuu. The two Evilus members turn to see the furious elf.

“Cirrus… and you…” her eyes turned as sharp and dark as his. “You two were you the ones who released those monsters here? For what purpose!?”

“Guh… W-we will never—"

Cirrus grabbed one of them by the back of the neck, holding him up while he pushed the other onto the ground with his other open hand.

“Answer her or else I’m going to slowly crush your fucking neck.”

“D-do it!! we are not—"

Ryuu then sliced the other person’s shin down to the bone.

“Gaaaa!!! My leg!!!”

“We only need one, right Cirrus?” Ryuu said as she rummages through her bag and pulls out a bottle.

“That’s right, so which one of you is going to talk? I assure you the first one that does I’ll give them a quick and easy death, but the last one? Well, I’m going to pluck their skin like the feathers off a chicken until I get the answers that we want.”

“Y-you can’t do that!!”

Ryuu then strikes the one on the ground in the face, knocking them to their stomachs. She then impales them with her short swords into his arms, pinning him to the ground.

“Gaaaa!!!!! My arms!!”

“Still not talking? Fine, then I guess I’ll have to defile those backs of yours and expose your true identities.” She opened the bottle and the Evilus member instantly knew what it was.

“S-Status Thief!? No!! please don’t!!”

“Ha…. hahaha!!!” laughed the one in Cirrus’s grip. 

“What’s so funny, dickhead?” Cirrus tenses his free hand, ready to plunge his hand through him.

“I… I can tell from your voice and her eyes… that those are the sounds and looks of someone who has sworn revenge.” He removes his hood to reveal himself, an elf. “Just like me.”

Ryuu’s face was mortified. The elf's expression was just a few degree's more of insane from her and Cirrus's expression.

“Nameless kin of mine, human… do you not wish to see them again… those loved ones that death has taken from you?”

“… What bullshit are you spouting?”

“Y-you can meet them again! It’s possible!! Swear your allegiance to our master and he will—“

A shift in the air.

“!!”

Cirrus and Ryuu were too focused on the Evilus member to have noticed that someone was casting magic.

Cirrus, out of instinct, quickly tosses the elf back as he jumped in front of Ryuu.

“(Exousía, Adorn: Stymphalian)!!!”

As he covered Ryuu with his wings, they bombarded him with magic.

Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!

Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!

“Stay here and get the information I’ll—Bang!!”

A hit sent Cirrus back to his wings. The strike was strong enough to push them back a good couple of feet away.

“Honestly, these people can’t do anything right…” said a woman with red hair.

“Y-you!!” said the elf who was tossed coming to her. “Have come to—Crush!!”

With no hesitation, she crushed his head and then smashed into his back. A magic attack hit the other guy who was crawling away, destroying his body whole.

As Cirrus gets up and disengages his armor, he could see the person who fired the magic.

“You… you’re the one Wu complained about…” said Revis.

“Then you must be either Thetis, Arbuda, or Revis then?” Cirrus looks at her with a great, disdainful glare.

“Possibly” She quickly took off but—

“Where do you think you’re going!” Cirrus said, grabbing her leg as she was jumping away.

“!?”

‘A level 8!? They are this fast!?!?’ she thought.

“Come down and play—!?”

Suddenly, from a distance, a stream of pressured water crashed down on Cirrus, along with a blast of magic bringing him and Revis to the ground.

"Grrr!?" Cirrus grew angry at himself for being this rusty.

Revis then, without hesitation, ripped her leg to escape Cirrus’s grip.

Spurt!!!

“You motherfucker!!! I’ll rip—”

As he was going to chase her, Cirrus felt another, more massive surge of magic in the air. The air got cold enough to freeze the water on him.

“(Frost of samsara, turn the earth back into laminating white- Mahāpadma) [Naraka]!!”

“!?”

Cirrus felt an unbearable amount of cold. The water on him flash froze, and the area’s temperature quickly dropped. It reached near zero levels of cold.

For a level 8, he is sturdier than most, but nothing can defeat the cold, only survive it.

He looks in the direction of the attacks and finds two people, one with sapphire blue hair and the other in a red and black mask. Both were helping Revis.

“Astraea fucking dammit!!! (Exousía, Adorn: Cerberus)!!”

As the armor wraps around Cirrus, he charges forward to go after them. As he was doing, so Revis threw a massive hill of a boulder at him.

“You fuckers!! Come back!!”

He leaped and punched it, causing it to shatter.

When he destroyed the boulder, he found they had already left in heavily scented smoke that now was overtaken by a freak frostbite-inducing blizzard.

“Enough!!!!” He took out his spear and chanted. “(Sword of Damocles, sing your vespers.) [Dia Dikastí̱s: Logia]!!!”

With all of his strength he swung his spear with such might he blew the magic-induced blizzard away, sending a frigid wind through the whole floor.

“Haa!! Haa!!” He was furious, but he kept as much of a level head as he could.

He looked for any traces of them, but they left nothing behind.

“… Motherfucker… I held back to make sure I don’t accidentally kill them. Next time, I will rip their fucking legs off.” He clenches his fists so tightly he dug into his own palms. “Calm… Calm… Do not let your anger get the best of you. Fuuu~,” His armor faded away and he took a minute or two to center himself.

He walked to the leg to find it had already turned to dust.

‘… Motherfucker.'

He had restrained himself considerably, one is simply because he didn't wish to possibly just lose himself in his own anger. A thought resurfaced after so many years in Yamato, bettering himself.

'Think... think... Ah... what Hermes said. A second entrance... where...'

He scanned the area but nothing looked out of place.

"...Tch. I'll find your hole eventually."

 

Walking over to Ryuu, she seems to be holding something.

“I found this in the remains.” She showed Cirrus an orb with a D on it.

Cirrus looks at it and examines it.

“… It’s a magic tool, but for what?”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s used for something.”

“… Hold on to it.” Cirrus hands her the orb. “Keep it safe for now. Should you find something let me know?”

“Hm, I understand and if something comes up, you will inform me.”

“Of course. Say you aren’t hurt, are you?” He said, checking her.

“I am fine Cirrus. My hands are a bit cold but—!?”

Cirrus quickly held her hands.

“There are freezing. Here, let me warm them up. (Exousía, Adorn).”

His magic armor came and wrapped around Ryuu.

'H-he grabbed my hands!?'

Quickly Ryuu could feel her body get to a normal temperature and a bit more. Her sores and general well-being improve.

‘This is his magic!? It’s so warm and comforting. Like I’m back in my mother’s embrace as a child.’

“Are you feeling better?” he said, still holding her hand.

Ryuu looked to see him holding her. She didn’t feel the need to swipe him away. That was, until she could feel a drop of sweat begin to form.

“I-I am alright Cirrus.” She makes a small smile. “You can let go of my hands now. They are warm.”

“Ah good, good.” His armor faded from her, and he let go of her hands. “I um… Sorry I touched you without warning. I just… Well, I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I understand Cirrus. You don’t want me to end up like Alise and the other, right?”

“… Yeah. So sorry if I get a bit protective of you. I know you can hold your own very well.”

Ryuu felt glad he worried over her. This was a first for her.

“We should get back Cirrus. It is getting late.”

“You are right. If you want, I can carry you back to camp if you want?”

“I am fine walking. But if you wish to walk me back, I am fine with it if it would make you feel better?”

“… Yeah. Um, I’ll walk you back.”

 

Along the way back, they went over what happened.

“Given how they escaped you, they must at least be around level 8 in strength.”

“Yeah. They also came prepared to escape. Those scented smoke bombs still irritate my nose. I was too focused on that red-haired woman to even notice there were others. Tch.”

Ryuu could sympathize a bit. When she was on her crusade, she too was blinded by anger and got hit a few times by avoidable attacks.

“Don’t beat yourself over it. I know how you feel. They came prepared to escape being tracked by scent.”

“Still. They got away.” His eyes sharpen in anger.

“Yes, but next time I am sure we will rip those fucking rats from their holes and crush them,” Ryuu said as her eyes sharpen to a razor’s fine edge.

They both had a dark look to their eyes. This night, the remains of Evilus rekindled a dark fire.

“They won’t escape us.”