"Was it really okay to just leave the meeting like that?" Yumi asked as the two exited the Palace and ventured into the city. "With that Lich running around it's only going to complicate things if you really want the Dwarves to join us. Shouldn't we remove her?"

"Meh, to be entirely honest I'm not worried about her. The bunny will be handled in due time." Akagi brushed off her worry as the two continued down the street. "Alice will handle things on her end, and honestly, having the undead rabbit around may actually help things out."

"Because seeing her lose is only going to make it more likely they take your deal?" Yumi guessed, to which Akagi merely replied with a chuckle. "I suppose that's fine then, but we need to be careful nonetheless. Alice reported that both that woman and her companion were dangerous and could vaporize her summons rather easily. We don't know either's full capabilities, so we'd best be on our guard."

"Yes, but those weren't the best summons that Alice can muster. I've authorized her to use everything up to but excluding Puppers." Akagi explained the restrictions she'd placed on her child. "If that thing gets unleashed, it will do far more than torch a city or two. So we can't exactly let it run loose."

{Not to mention, Wyvern plus underground doesn't really work. They're going to start questioning things hard if a big flying monster is suddenly miles underground.} (Akagi)

"So where to now? Are we going to hunt down our AWOL troublemaker?" Yumi asked if she intended to require Imp.

"Yeaaaaaaaah... Good luck with that." Akagi rolled her eyes as she imagined the unnecessary amount of work it would take to wrangle her friend. "Even my Demon Lord powers aren't enough to track down that idiot and drag her away from whatever crazy thing she's doing at the moment. Best to leave Impy to her own devices and meet up with her later. She's got one of the radios, right?"

"Yeah, I gave her one before we took off from base." Yumi nodded. “The range isn't quite as far as the one's given the our field agents, but its more than enough to cover the local area.”

"Then let's leave things be. She'll call us if needed, plus I've got a backup plan to keep her safe." Akagi shrugged as the two continued walking into the City. Beyond meeting with the Dwarven government, the Demon had a second objective in coming to their City. According to everything Akagi knew Halifax was forged somewhere in or around the Dwarven Capital millennia ago by a faction of Dwarves renowned for their smithing skills, and the Demon wanted to see what, if anything, she could find out about that process. Shealready had an educated guess about a key part of the Divine Blade's origins, a part that she figured was what Elariel wanted to hide, but she couldn't come to a conclusive answer without more information. After wandering around the City for a good three hours, taking in the sights and looking through the various Dwarven shops, Akagi and Yumi stopped just in front of a massive stone building that had the symbol of the Enorian Adventurer's Guild carved above its main entrance. It was a large shield with a single sword crossed behind it, both emblazoned with a large flame indicating that this branch was located within the Dwarven nation.

"Please don't tell me you're going to cause that cliche scene where the newbie registers at the Guild, gets harassed then destroys whatever idiot happened to pick a fight..." Yumi sighed, knowing Akagi was apt to do exactly that out of a deep love of cringe.

"I hate that trope, so no." Akagi rolled her eyes as the two entered, passing a party who made comments about Akagi's eyes before moving onward. She'd expected more attention, but it seemed that most people cared little for her strange appearance, likely because the city was frequented by all sorts of strange peoples. "What I'm here for, is something much more interesting. Recall something in your late

report."

{It was only twenty-four hours past the deadline! Give me a break! Not to mention you stayed in Cat the whole time and tempted me with your floof!} (Yumi)

"Welcome!" A receptionist called out to the two of them as they approached the counter. The Dwarven Capital's branch of the adventurer's Guild was pretty big, and the interior reminded Akagi of some of the Guild buildings she'd seen in FWO. There were dozens of parties crowed around tables or request boards, mostly Human, a fact that Akagi expected since most Dwarves were more interested in crafting than actually fighting.

"Ah, anime tropes. Gotta love em, especially when they turn out to be real.” Akagi chuckled. “

“We've got the Guild, cute receptionists, cheap labor, and an entirely stupid ranking system that honestly means jack shit when it comes to measuring someone's actual combat effectiveness." She said, the guild worker becoming increasingly nervous as the Demon stopped in front of her.

{Though I suppose that it's still better to have something like E-S ranking over a leveling system, those fucking suck outside of ACTUAL game worlds, and I hate them.} (Akagi)

"I-I've never seen you before... W-What can I do to help you?" The Guild worker stammered while other people watched on from afar. Akagi was an intimidating presence to the uninitiated, and her appearance was a bit much for the poor receptionist to handle.

"Where is the entrance to the King's Mausoleum?" Akagi asked, her question causing loud murmuring from others in the main hall. The King's Mausoleum was the name of the Dungeon beneath the Dwarven Capital, and its entrance was located below the Guild building. It was a tightly guarded Dungeon with only the highest ranking adventures being permitted to enter out of safety concerns, and was not something the average adventurer could enter.

"I'm s-sorry M-Miss, to enter the Dungeon, you'll need a permit signed by the country and the Guildmaster, d-do you have one?" The receptionist squeaked as she tried to avoid meeting Akagi's gaze.

"Ah, but not to worry! I do indeed have a permit!" Akagi said as she slipped the guild worker a folded piece of paper, which she quickly, yet shakily, opened.

{When did you have time to get that?} (Yumi)

"Um... This j-just says I can do whatever I want..." The Guild worker replied, scared and confused.

"Yes!" Akagi smiled in a way that made the receptionist shrink backward. "So please tell me where it's at before I need to take out my other permit." She said, flashing a brief murderous grin.

{EEP!}

(Guild receptionist)

"I... Um..." The Guild receptionist looked at her colleagues for help, all of which were ignoring her out of fear. "T-The Guildmaster has to open it... I'll have to-"

"No need to bother them, just tell me where the entrance is..." Akagi leaned in close to her and whispered. "Unless, of course, you want me to kill everyone in this building until I find it myself. Because I don't mind doing that if necessary."

“!!!” The receptionist sucked in air, nearly choking due to terror.

{Real nice... You're going to make the poor girl faint at this rate.} (Yumi)

{Hey, I'm just laying out the options. Which one she picks is entirely on her.} (Akagi)

"P-Please step behind the counter... I'll lead you to the entrance..." The Guild worker said in a quiet voice, her face white as a sheet.

"Excellent choice!" Akagi smiled as the two moved around the counter and followed the receptionist down a hallway at the end of which was a large stone door. It was rather plain in a appearance though at its center was a small hexagonal slot that Akagi figured was for some kind of key.

"T-This is the entrance to the King's Mausoleum... But without the Guildmaster's talisman..." The Guild receptionist paused as Akagi walked up to the door and gently kicked it down, the large doors falling aside and revealing a large descending staircase.

“I...” The receptionist froze, unsure what to say or do.

"Now, be a good girl and head back to your post. Can't have the others getting worried about you." Akagi said as she headed down the stairs. "Oh, and take this." She said as she tossed a small sack of gold coins to the girl, who had a panic attack as she saw just how much money was inside before fleeing at high speed.

"If memory serves, this place has one hundred floors." Yumi said as she pulled out a tablet that had information about the Dungeon. The King's Mausoleum was a high level Dungeon filled with creatures that most parties couldn't ever hope to handle. That it was also the longest Dungeon on the continent also didn't help matters. "A full party of high-rank adventurers take about a week to get to the fiftieth. That sounds painfully slow, almost like Grimora back home..." She sighed, recalling a place that Akagi had made her go once during FWO for a skill she wanted the Priestess to use.

"Lucky for us, I can move much faster than that. I estimate we'll be down and out in a few hours, depending on what we run into and if I find anything neat I want to examine." Akagi replied as they went down the staircase and ended up on the first floor of the Dungeon. It was as basic as basic came, looking like little more than a dark cave with blue torches on the walls. "Ah, this right here is hitting my nostalgia hard." She nodded heavily as Yumi simply shook her head. "Hishya and I used to Dungeon crawl in all kinds of games together. This kind of thing really reminds me of those days."

{How many hours did we grind that starter Dungeon in Free Wish? It had to be like two hundred since we came out and curb stomped the entire main story in a couple days after that. Poor Vampire man who was supposed to be the main boss didn't stand a chance against broken as fuck post game skills. They really should've locked those to ACTUAL post game now that I think about it, but they never expected anyone to be so autistic that they'd grind that hard in a game like that.} (Akagi)

"Why are we even going down here anyway?" Yumi asked, unsure as to why the Demon wanted to make such a detour. "Reports said that some powerful artifact was held in the core room, but are you really that interested in it?" She figured that the Ninja could've handled a job like this rather than Akagi going herself.

"Something Halifax mentioned to me once leads me to believe that what's down here is far more than just some unique artifact." Akagi replied, noticing that all the monsters on the floor had fled in panic rather than approached her. "She was forged in this city and recalled that the Dwarves used something powerful to make her. Additionally, can't you sense it?"

"Sense what?" Yumi asked as she tried to feel with her magic what Akagi was talking about.

"All ofthis city's magical power is flowing from this place." Akagi stopped and put her hand on Yumi's shoulder, which enabled the Priestess to see the bright white streaks of magic flowing through the Dungon like streams of water. "The Dwarves are powering this entire place with something at the bottom, and I'm keen on finding out more about it. Whatever it is is capable of powering an entire city like this uses this much magical power on a daily basis is not normal. Combined it with the fact that it's buried at the bottom of a Dungeon and add in Halifax's memories about her creation, and well... You've got me curious."

"W-Wow... That's a lot of magic power." Yumi said in awe as she watched the energy flow around them. She knew a good bit about magic power and had seen a lot of it in her time but this still surprised her. "And you think whatever is at the bottom of this place-"

"Helped create Halifax." Akagi nodded as the two continued into the Dungeon.

______________________________________________________________________________

Valuru POV

*WOOSH*

{Annnnd there we go. Arrived right were I told you that you would. Happy?} (Tanya)

“I'm still not a fan of teleportation.” Valuru said as he appeared inside a building, finding a large magic circle under his feet as he wobbled from some nausea.

{Oh, don't be a cry baby. Unless you want to walk several thousand miles you'll have to get used to zipping between places. Your weak stomach is no excuse! Lord Labrys is counting on us and I won't let your issues delay his plans!} (Valuru)

“Whatever.” Valuru said as he oriented himself, seeing no one else in the room, which he figured was some sort of basement. “I'll do whatever Lord Labrys wants, and if he wants the Dwarven Power Reactor extracted I'll find a way to make it happen.” He'd been sent to the Dwarven Capital on the order of his Demonic overlord in an attempt to secure the reactor at the bottom of the King's Mausoleum since its power was apparently important for whatever plans the Axe had for the future.

{And I've got a few ideas about how we're going to-} (Tanya)

“Hm?” Valuru paused with the unexpected and sudden halting of Tanya's thoughts, his foot just about to touch the first step to head upstairs. “Something wrong, Tanya?”

{No, its just... There are multiple souls within the city with extraordinary power. At least three and they're each even more powerful than that Hero you lost to.} (Tanya)

“I didn't...” Valuru calmed himself, not wanting an argument. “If you're surprised by their strength, they must be powerful. How do you want me to handle them?”

{I'll speak to Lord Labrys and report my findings. If we can isolate them perhaps you can capture one or more of them. The Power Reactor is going to be a tough prospect and may take some time to secure, but if we can get even one of these three it may completely restore Lord Labrys' power! For now just keep low and try and find out what you can about the King's Mausoleum. I'll report back with an update shortly!} (Tanya)

“Wait!” Valuru yelled as the connection was cut. “Damn woman.” He sighed. “Don't just leave me like this. The entire operation was by your design and I still have no idea how I'm supposed to get to this Reactor!”