How was the real Corvus doing? That was a pretty good question. Of course, with his connection cut off, it was a good question that Seth had absolutely no real answer to. So naturally, he had no idea that when the connection was dropped, that Corvus simply ceased to function.

That he had fallen limp and collapsed to the ground, like a puppet who's strings had been cut, unsurprisingly. It was an opportunity that they colossal jade serpent he was battling didn't take for granted, causing Corvus to be gobbled up by the serpent and immediately swallowed.

Thankfully, one of Seth's valiant and observant Spirit Animals had noticed the event happening and had taken over control of the cities indestructible Lord, causing the snake to have a very unpleasant meal.

At the current moment, Corvus was hacking away at the spongy guts of the serpent, slashing away at it from the inside like a particularly aggressive parasite. As it turned out, having a sword that absorbed blood was a boon when you were inside a gigantic beast with enough blood to fill a lake, all of which was spurting into its guts with every slash.

It was a wonderful boon that let his sword grow larger and deadlier with every slash, as it hungrily gobbled up every drop of blood inside the serpent. At a certain point the sword did not even bother to wait for it to properly bleed, instead starting to slurp the blood directly from the punctured veins, like it was a straw for its giant red soda.

Not that Seth knew any of this at all, of course. So when faced with that question, he simply shrugged and answered in a dismissive tone,

"Eh, I'm sure he's fine."

Before they could continue with their conversation on identity, however, a delicate sound pricked at both of their ears and immediately turned their expressions serious. Their eyes gleamed like freshly sharpened blades as they turned their heads in sync, both of them turning to face the endless horizon of the boundless meadow, and the small crack that had formed in the air.

It was a hairline fracture, so small it would be impossible to see if you didn't know what you were looking for, but it was undoubtedly there. It had only been there for a few seconds before the gentle sound of glass cracking echoed out once more, a sound no louder than a whisper which echoed throughout the boundless space like a thunderstorm.

Slowly but surely, more cracks formed upon the first, branching out like a tree that was endlessly glowing. Starting out no bigger than a pin, then growing to the size of a finger, then an arm, then larger still.

After everything they had been through, even if they didn't understand it yet, how could they not know what this is? Another portal was forming, but thankfully this one was giving them more warning than the previous ambush did.

Ink manifested itself from markings along Astra's body, one set flowing down her arms and starting to crawl into the shape of a weapon in each of her hands, while the other spread across her body and started to wriggle itself into the form of resplendent armour.

It wasn't long until she was garbed in pure silver armour, which gleamed in the meadows unknown light source as if the armour had been freshly polished. The ink flowed up her head, bundling her two toned hair tight before forming a helmet over her head.

Whether it was by pure coincidence, or the cruel humour of whatever formed their Requitals, Astra's face was covered by a silver face plate that was almost identical to her own, with a deep scowl formed on the metal to match its wearer.

The eyeholes of the armour glowed with a flickering blue light, the only signs of the eyes that hid behind them. It added an almost eery factor to her entire existence, as if she were some ghostly knight risen from the dead to exact its vengeance.

Adding to her defensive state, a shield was next to form in her left hand. It was simple in its design, as many shields often are. A simple round plate of metal big enough to cover half of her body, this Requital appearing more worn and battered than her perfect, gleaming armour. Yet the edge of the round shield was unlike the rest of it, sharp and polished, like the edge of a razor.

Seth couldn't see any form of straps or grip on the reverse of the razor edged shield, it seemed to just stick to her forearm through the most magical property in the world. Magnetism, no doubt thanks to her powers.

Although, that did raise the question of how anyone else would be expected to use such equipment, but maybe the creators took such things into consideration.

Her hand grasped around the weapon that formed a moment later, the silver gauntlets hiding the discolouration her abilities had left on her fingers. The ink in her hand finally finished its job, compressing into the form of a single edged sword which gleamed wickedly in the light.

It's blade was roughly the length of his arm, with a slight upward curve at the spine and a slight bulge at the tip compared to the base.

Before Seth could analyse the sword, Astra tossed it up and grasped the blade, before offering the handle to Seth. He raised an eyebrow at her with an inquisitive expression, to which she simply wiggled the handle at him in response.

Nodding his head in thanks, Seth grasped the hand and took the sword from his companion, who immediately set about forming a new weapon from her vast arsenal. It was true, that he could have had an arsenal as large, or even larger, than Astra if he wanted. But unfortunately, in his hubris, Seth thought that he didn't need it.

He could repurpose weapons on the battlefield, create and enchant his own weapons, use puppets as weapons and let the Lord, who already had a wonderful weapon, fight in his stead. He had his dagger, so he simply gave away the majority of armours and weapons he acquired in order to arm his people.

A valiant effort, perhaps, but stupid. This is why heroes always die stupid deaths. Selfishness wasn't bad sometimes.

Chastising himself, and promising to keep more requitals for himself in the future to have back-ups, in case of situations such as this or worse occurred, Seth brushed his thumb against the swords hilt and found something odd.

Directly in the middle of the hilt there was a vertical slit, a break in the handle. He looked at it curiously and realised that the weapon he had initially believed to be little more than an off brand katana, was in fact a twin Dao sword. Another brand of stupidity he had acquired, it seemed.

He didn't miss the opportunity to give Astra another strange look, as if asking her why she gave the dual swords to a one armed man, but she simply shrugged in response. Although, Seth could swear he could feel her amusement hiding behind that mask.

Stabbing the sword into the ground, Seth removed the useless metallic arm from its socket and tossed it onto the ground so that it didn't get in the way while he was fighting. Once he was free of the dead weight, he cast out his threads and gently wrapped them around one of the dual blades.

The same burning sensation erupted at the tips of the threads, causing Seth to hiss in pain, but it was quickly replaced by a cool, euphoric embrace as the very next second his threads were accepted into the soul bound weapon.

Astra might not have known how he did what he did, but she could feel his influence being projected onto her loaned weapon, and quickly drew back her natural defences, even if she had no idea how she was doing that either. It was simply a feeling she had in mind, a feeling of acceptance or rejection.

If she wished, she could fight against his influence and hurt him more, but there was no point in it, so she simply relaxed and let that influence take over the weapon as it lifted itself from the dirt under Seth's control.

Lifting the other blade with a more mundane method, also known as his hand, Seth twirled the twin swords and got a feel for them in his hands, metaphorically speaking.

In the meantime, Astra pointed her new weapon, a two metre long Bident with bladed prongs, at the discarded metal hand. Lightning arced between the prongs, like it was one long cattle prod, before a bolt leapt towards the metallic limb.

The arm trembled on the ground before exploding in a hail of shrapnel, but that shrapnel quickly caught itself in the air, staying suspended under Astra's electromagnetic control. With the mask covering her face, it hid the various strained and concentrated expressions she was making as she worked, and instead the entire ordeal seemed effortless.

One by one, the interlocking metal plates that made up the arm crushed themselves inwards before rolling, forming into long needle-like spikes as if they were clay being moulded by an invisible hand.

These needles, twelve in total, were evenly separated between the pair. Astra's allotment immediately sticking themselves to the bracer of her armour, ready and waiting to be used, while Seth's assortment lifted themselves into the air and hovered around him like a halo of metal.

By shocking coincidence, the moment that they finished these preparations was the same moment the cracking sky finally shattered apart, glass shards of shattered space hovering in the air, as a silhouette appeared in the newly formed gateway.

The pair lowered themselves into battle stances, Astra resting the bident on the edge of her shield as Seth held the sword before him, while his hovering arsenal pointed towards the approaching figure, as they finally stepped into the meadow alongside them.

A few metres away, the grass bending slightly as the strangers foot stepped through the portal.