Mila throws out her fireball, destroying the Leech that was Oscar as an explosion goes off from the force of her explosion. Glyn lies on the ground, staring at the broken Queen Piece scattered along the ground. He forces himself up as the pain fades and gathers the pieces as he keeps his eyes on Mila in the distance.

            “Mila, what did you do?”

She ignores him, looking around as she sees an opening leading down a hallway. “That should lead me out of here.”

            “Mila, wait.”

She ignores him, pushing ahead down the hall.

Glyn forces himself up and pants rapidly. “What’s going on? How come she’s ignoring me?”

Shaking his head, Glyn pushes down the hall, chasing after her, pushing his body forward. As he runs, an intense pain shoots through his body with every step.

            “It looks like Oscar has died,” Lois says, standing on a platform overlooking the large black sphere.

Sebastian stands next to her as they stare down at the sphere resting in the middle of the airship. “Sadly, our little sacrifice has escaped. We’ll need to change focus.”

            “So, a change of plans?”

            “I had wanted to leave those outside to deal with after the Great One’s awakening. But now we’ll need to gather more sacrifices before we can awaken the Great One and heal his injuries.”

Lois smiles and bows. “Allow me to head out and gather what’s needed. There are plenty of lifeforms around that will serve as worthy meals for the Great One.”

            “Fine then. Go gather us more sacrifices. Take the Demonoids with you. I’m sure you’ll face resistance but prioritize gathering what we need.”

            “And what will you do?”

            “I’ll capture our little strays. As soon as our sacrifices are ready, then we’ll begin the proper awakening ceremony.”

Lois nods. “I’ll prioritize those that need to die for the sake of our goals. But I’ll say this. I’m likely to die in this endeavor, so before I leave, I need an answer.”

            “Fine, I’ll answer whatever questions you may have.”

            “You never intended for us to survive this mission, did you? I can tell we were all bound to die before the Great One’s awakening.”

Sebastian smiles. “Does it matter? So long as one of us survives, then all that matters is we awaken the Great One and cause the return of Demon kind to the world.”

            “Avoiding the question just after saying you’d answer it. But I guess it doesn’t matter. We Leeches don’t matter at the end of the day. We are tools to serve the Great One to feed of his Miasma. So, we shall do our part and reawaken him and bring about a new age of terror.” Lois bows as she walks away, leaving Sebastian on his own.

 Sebastian laughs, staring down at the black sphere. “Each of us truly had our own motives, didn’t we? I guess being amidst Humans for a long time has caused a drift in our minds. Humanity truly is infectious.”

Glyn rushes down the halls chasing after Mila until arriving at an observation platform. He tumbles over to catch his breath as Mila stands beside him, looking up at the barrier surrounding the airship. After some panting, he looks up at Mila and simply stares at her.

            “If you're thinking of firing off fireballs out at that barrier, it won’t work. It’s not fueled by Mana but Miasma, so it’ll eat up your attacks.” He says.

She shakes. “Why?”

            “What?”

            “Why are you here? You’re a weakling who needs others to fight for you. Why are you here?”

            “Because I wanted… no, I needed to save you.”

She sighs and shakes her head. “Fine then.” She approaches Glyn, grabs his hands, and pins him to the side of the airship. “I can gut you here and now, you know that!”

            “I know that. But you don’t have a reason to. And you're not as murderous as you want to appear.”

            “Fine.” She drops Glyn as he looks up at her. “But if you dare try to hold me back, I’ll killing you.”

            “A fair deal.” He smirks.

            “You must have a plan to escape, don’t you?”

            “I do, actually. To power this with Miasma, they’d need a good source of it, which would be the Demon they plan to awaken. If we can disconnect it from the airship, the barrier would fall immediately.” Glyn explains. “And once the barrier goes down, those outsides will barrage this ship with everything they have to destroy it.”

            “Not that I care. I just want out.”

            “That’s fair enough. I don’t care much about what’ll happen after. All I want to do is save you, Mila.”

She growls and turns away. “Shut up! Let’s move to take out this damned Demon or whatever.”

            “Good. Now we’re on the same page.” Glyn says, forcing a smile on his face as he stares at Mila. “She shouldn’t have been able to destroy the Queen Piece on her own. There has to be something else going on here. And I need to figure it out before she goes completely out of control.”

Glyn stares at Mila, noticing her Mana levels increasing slowly as sparks go off around her fingertips. “At this rate, she’s bound to become a living bomb. I need to figure this out before it’s too late.”

            “What?” She asks, turning back.

            “Mila. I promise to save you, no matter what.”

She turns, annoyed. “Whatever. Just keep moving so I don’t have to save your ass.”

            “Trust me, I don’t plan on it. But we are in enemy territory, so it's best we be cautious.”

            “Whatever. Do you even know where we need to go?”

            “Somewhat. But weren’t you leading the way?”

Her face goes red as she blushes, embarrassed. “Shut up. If you know, then speak up sooner! Fine, lead the way then!”

            “Gladly. We need to head to the lowest parts of the ship. That should be close to the engine room. Once there, we can find the fuel pump and destroy it.”

            “And that will lower the shield?”

            “Almost assuredly outside of any excess energy.”

            “What?”

            “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just focus on the task at hand.” Glyn says, marching ahead at top speed.