Corrin bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited by the front gate. His sword felt heavier than normal in its sheathe, and he itched to draw it, but he stayed his hand for the time being.

His eyes were drawn across the grassy space, towards the sand pit where Aria was performing, dozens of song spirits dancing in the air around her. They were even more numerous now than they'd been before, and her voice seemed stronger for it. She'd started by singing for some of the children, who'd seemed scared, but it seemed that her voice comforted more than just them. It was entrancing, and it drew the attention of everyone that heard, helping to keep their minds off of the situation at hand.

Kei sat closer to the front gate, so that she could give the signal when the attack was to commence. She had a young girl in her lap—one who'd gotten separated from her parents in the commotion—trying to keep her distracted by pointing at the song spirits and telling jokes, and lies.

But lies were sometimes important, Corrin could understand that.

He turned away and walked over to the Kegslayers, the party of five that would be attacking the western entrance with him and Luscien. Gold-ranks, and it showed in their demeanor. They were calm, even considering the circumstances, talking languidly as they too, waited for the signal.

"...I'm just saying, I think the bird ones are probably too bony, not enough meat on them," the captain was saying.

"But how is that going to affect the flavor?" A large man wearing chain-armor and holding a halberd protested.

A young woman, donning blue robes, let out a sigh. "It doesn't matter, monster meat tastes terrible no matter what you try, trust me."

"Hey," Corrin waved. "Mind if I join in?"

They eyed him for a moment, then the captain grunted. "Can't hurt. Corrin, right? Guess it's probably good for us to know each other a bit." He held out a hand, and Corrin tapped it rather than shake. "Kevs, I'm the captain of Kegslayers."

"Obem," said the heavyset one.

"Lesia, mage." The woman said, brushing her reddish hair aside.

A shorter boy, about Corrin's age, straightened, stepping up to Corrin like he wanted to compare heights or something. He had a bow slung over his back, and greyish hair that looked dusty. "Reken, good to work with ya."

The last was another young woman with a long braided ponytail. She was dressed in raggedy robes, and gave him no more than a glance. "Azni."

Kevs took a flask from his waist and put it to his lips, taking a swig before looking back at Corrin. "So what's your pick Corrin? We're trying to figure out what kind of monster tastes the best."

"You wouldn't catch me finding out," Corrin shook his head. "Have you ever actually eaten monster flesh? Disgusting."

Lesia brightened, throwing her hands up. "That's what I tried telling them! So you've actually eaten monsters before?"

"Yeah, I got stuck in a dungeon and ran out of rations." He shuddered.

"Same thing happened to me." Lesia laughed. "It's so damn chewy, and it's got that pungent flavor that you can't cover no matter how hard you try."

"Oh don't get me started," Corrin grinned. "You'll never catch me going into a dungeon without salt ever again."

"I actually talked to a cook about it, so I got a special spice blend made in case it ever happens again. It doesn't make it taste good, but at the very least I can confirm it helps it go down."

"You've actually tried it since?" "I like to be prepared," the mage grinned. "I'll write the spices down for you later if you want."

"Please do."

"You're both gross," Azni deadpanned.

Reken crossed his arms. "I bet I could get it down no problem."

"I'll take you up on that," Kevs slapped him on the shoulder. "Three bites, and if you vomit you buy a round for the rest of us."

"You owe me five when I win then."

"Of course. After this siege ends we'll drink ourselves half to death."

"Why do all of your plans always end with us drinking?" Azni cut in dryly, her arms folded. "Not sure what I expected joining a team with a name like this one though."

Odem leaned closer to Corrin, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Don't mind her. She acts all prickly, but once she downs a few mugs she's the one singing off-key 'til sunrise. Always demands I carry her home."

Azni twitched. "I heard that you know."

"Meant you to." Odem's grin was wide and shameless.

"So," Reken, the shorter boy said. "Are you strong Corrin?"

"Strong enough," Corrin grinned.

"I take it by the sword you're a close-range fighter," Kevs noted, "but what aspect?"

Corrin breathed out a puff of mana. "Ash."

"Wow that's rare," Odem's brows raised in appreciation. "How about your friend over there?"

"He's a second year at the academy in Taravast," Kevs answered for him. "Fire channeler."

"Taravast? Seriously?" Lesia glanced over at Luscien who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, focusing. "He's the real deal then."

Corrin frowned, feeling a bit miffed. "He's alright."

Odem snorted, then slapped Corrin on the back. "You're not even trying to hide it huh?"

"I just don't think…" Corrin trailed off as he realized Kei was walking towards them.

She met his eyes and nodded. "According to guildmistress Cennet, the time for you to go is now."

Luscien straightened off the wall and walked over, nodding once before turning to the gate. "We've got one shot at this, so let's not mess it up. Kevs, did you tell them all the plan?"

"Of course," he nodded.

"Perfect." Luscien turned to the adventurers staying behind, Bough's Arrows. "Hold down the fort until we get back. We're counting on you."

Their captain saluted. "Stay safe."

The iron gates of the estate opened with a creak, and they stepped back out into the streets. Corrin's blade sang its way out of the sheath.

Finally, it was time to get to work.

***

Kita's nose really was a godsend, letting them move efficiently through the city with their group of seven—eight if you counted the fox. Despite Luscien's best efforts though, the streets were even thicker with monsters than they'd been before, and they had no choice but to fight.

They moved at a jog, Corrin's robes ruffling as he darted past a weaker monster, and Luscien turned down a side-path.

"Monsters at the end of this alley!" he called out. "Zone spell!"

Lesia held out her wand, a simple stick topped with a gemstone that crackled and flashed, like a storm trapped in a marble. "Flash freeze!"

At the end of the path, there was a brief flash of light as ice exploded out in all directions, smashing stone and freezing monsters in an instant, before shattering like glass and crashing to the ground, breaking them into thousands of tiny pieces.

They emerged out the other side, and Corrin gazed longingly at the wealth of cores glittering on the ground, richer than gold without a monster in sight. But he kept moving, and Lesia began to chant again, the mana surrounding them bending towards her, swirling into a cyclone around her body as it built into yet another spell.

Some sort of flying goat came diving out of the air, bleating annoyingly and letting loose a blast of fire from its mouth.

Odem grunted, holding out a hand and forming a shield of shimmering golden earth mana in the air, fire spewing off harmlessly to the side. An arrow pierced it a moment later, and it slammed into the ground.

They kept running.

"Conserve your strength!" Lesia called out. "I'll handle the swarms!"

The mage cast spell after spell into the streets—ice, fire, swords of light. Mana swept through the air, decimating monsters by the scores, cutting a path for them to advance. Lesia's chanting never let up, her voice steady even despite the running.

"Damn she's good!" Corrin laughed as they ran.

"Lesia's the most talented among us," Odem nodded, easily keeping pace despite his larger frame. "A gold among golds, and zone spells are her speciality. In all of Liresil, you can count the mages better than her for hordes on one hand."

"Lucky for us," Luscien interjected. "If the acolyte can control monsters that is. My techniques aren't suited for swarms of enemies."

Odem grunted. "Neither are ours. Reken has one—and mine are well enough defensively—but as long as she's up, we just have to protect her."

"Still, this is burning our strength," Corrin said. "So how about we take a different route?"

Luscien raised an eyebrow. "Do you have one in mind?"

Corrin diverted course, shouting for the group to follow as he shot up a path which led upwards, then leapt over a gap onto a building. The aqueducts which ran above the lower streets of the city had been much destroyed in the attack, creating waterfalls in the middle of streets that drained water downwards back towards the river, but they still made for well enough paths for a channeler.

Lesia cursed behind him as she realized his goal, and hastily switched chants. She held her wand out in front and ran up a path of light that appeared over the gap, and disappeared once she crossed.

"More warning next time please!" She called out as her boots splashed in the water. She stopped and bent over with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. "I had to draw on my aura for that! Odem, carry me!"

"Got it," he said, bending over next to her and gesturing for her to hop on his back, which she did a moment later.

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"Reken, take care of any fliers while we're up here," she said.

Kevs nodded to Corrin. "This aqueduct heads west huh? Good catch, we'll move quicker this way, though we'll have to hop off when we get closer."

"Let's get going then, no time to waste."

***

The Underbough's western entrance was, much like the guild proper, surrounded by walls. It was a defensible location, and looking at it from atop the aqueduct, Corrin had some doubts about their ability to take it. Set into a gnarled root, the entrance itself wasn't visible, even though they could see over the walls a bit—but the Kegslayers knew it well, towards the back of the compound from the front gate, a sort of cave entrance, much like the Founder's Tomb.

"If it was the guild," Kevs said, "we wouldn't have a chance. Neither firestone nor spell would break those walls before we were driven off. But the entrance is a different story."

They leapt down from the aqueduct, walking through the streets by the dungeon, which were oddly quieter, and Kevs kept whispering for some reason.

"The guild was actually the first thing built here. It was a caravanserai that grew into the city you see today. Since it was built to watch the tree, the original sepals made sure its walls were sturdy. The entrances aren't really supposed to be defended from outside attacks though—they're meant to keep things in."

"Thanks for the history lesson?" Corrin complained as they came within range of the gates.

"It keeps me focused."

"Yeah well it's distracting me, so zip it." Reken hissed. He'd tied the firestones to the tips of his arrows, and carefully drew back the string. "Ready?"

Luscien's tails ignited. "Do it."

Three arrows, launched in incredibly quick succession, soared into an unnaturally high arc, and the seven of them charged beneath them.

Firestones. They really are so useful.

The gates blasted open, just as planned, but it seemed the element of surprise wasn't on their side as much as they'd hoped. A horde of monsters was visible through the smoke on the other side, seemingly having been waiting for them.

"Damn," Luscien cursed. "Keep going! They'll funnel!"

After a moment, Corrin registered what he meant. Lesia pointed her wand and it glowed brighter than ever before.

"Flash Freeze!" Her voice cracked as a huge sheet of ice captured every single monster racing through, over a hundred at least, and shattered, decimating their numbers. A few stronger monsters staggered up after the attack, shaking it off, but arrows pierced their hide a moment later, tipped with razor-sharp wind mana, and they fell as the next wave rushed forwards.

Stragglers attacked from the streets—monsters that hadn't joined the main horde—but they were cut down with ease.

"Keep draining them!" Kevs shouted as his greatsword cleaved through a monster lunging out from one of the streets. "Protect Lesia!"

Lesia cast constantly, mana raging around her like a maelstrom as a river of it surged towards the gates, fueling a barrage of spells that would have turned Corrin to a puddle. For sheer firepower, there was no matching a skilled mage, and somehow he felt it more than he had during the fight with the colossus.

As time ticked by, Corrin couldn't help but feel like things were going too smoothly, but even still, the monsters swarmed out, keeping them from advancing. They needed to get closer to collapse the entrance.

Luscien's claws burned through another as he suddenly tilted his head upwards. "Damn it! They must have held outside my range! We've got company coming fast!"

The trickle of monsters from the surrounding city began to pick up, like a spring shower turning into a true storm as dozens more came charging out of the streets.

The Kegslayers pivoted instantly, showing off the coordination expected from a gold rank team. Odem placed his hands against the ground, chanting hurriedly, and a pillar of stone rose up below Reken, complete with a low wall at the top for protection, from which he could launch arrows down onto the horde.

Luscien ran out along the perimeter, slashing wildly to thin their numbers even further, so that only a smaller contingent got anywhere near Lesia. And yet the monsters kept coming.

Then came the mages.

Lesia sensed it first, her chanting faltering as she looked towards the sky.

"Incoming!" She shouted as a fireball streaked over the rooftops towards them, and she hastily cast some sort of barrier, which shattered under the force, though the fireball dissipated as well.

"Enemy contact!" Kevs roared as he deflected a dagger, thrown from the alley by a cultist now charging in. Corrin saw the mages gathered atop the roofs, and realized they'd been trapped.

Did they know we were coming all along? He grit his teeth as he raced towards one of the mages, gathering aura into his blade. Or did Wyn's group tip them off?

He leapt up, and silenced a shout halfway before the mage could finish casting, then ran back to secure the side he'd left open where monsters were pushing in.

Reken was laughing atop his tower, loosing arrow after arrow towards the mages on the roofs. Each shot took an unnatural path to its destination, swerving to the left or right, mirrored by a spectral arrow of mana, before swinging back together and piercing the target from two sides.

Corrin let an ossein spider's fangs dissolve against his mantle, then skewered it on his blade. He spun, ramming its body into a monster attacking from the other side and sending it flying off the tip.

The battle hadn't tipped yet, but still the monsters swarmed through the gap in the wall, bombarded by spellfire as Lesia single-handedly held back the horde. Then, he saw the first of them coming over the top, gnashing their teeth as they spilled over the battlements.

"Shit," he grumbled as the mage let out a cry of alarm. Her spells broadened, catching more of them, but the monsters were too spread out now, and with extra range came less power, leaving more standing after each wide-ranging blast.

Luscien appeared next to him in a blast of heat, his mantle raging.

"It's a trap," he growled. "We need to make a move."

Corrin ducked beneath a glowing beam that swept across the space—cleaving Reken's tower in half. The archer leapt from the top, rolling across the ground. He shouted angrily towards the rooftop where the beam originated.

"My tower!" He loosed three arrows, but they deflected harmlessly off of a barrier as a spell circle glowed in the air behind the mage, charging another attack, mana building dangerously until—

A dagger pierced through the mage's robes, and he turned in surprise as the fifth member of Kegslayers, Azni, pushed him off the roof with a cold look. Corrin had forgotten all about her, but as he looked around, he noticed more cultist bodies littering the streets further out.

"They're getting through!" Lesia screamed as the monsters that avoided her bombardment swarmed closer, more following them over the walls.

"Damn!" Kevs kicked a monster off of his sword. "This is too much! We have to retreat and—"

"No! Push in!" Corrin roared, rushing towards the gate. "Push through or we'll lose our chance! It's now or never!"

Luscien raced past him, traveling even faster. He must have come to the same conclusion.

The Kegslayers hesitated, but it took more than a little crazy to reach gold-rank.

"We can't be outdone by a bunch of outsiders!" Kevs shouted after a moment. "Get in there! Cover Lesia! When this is over, drinks are on the guildmistress!"

A sarcastic cheer went up, and walls of stone erupted from the ground on either side of the gates, forming a clear path to the gates. It would only last for a moment, but they raced ahead, crossing hundreds of feet in seconds, charging towards the sea of monsters ahead.

And for the first time, Corrin saw Luscien cut loose.

The fire channeler sped even further, leaving the rest of them behind. Kita ran beside him, flames erupting from the fox's body, a comet streaking across the ground.

They crashed into the monsters and began to slaughter them, like wolves among sheep. Luscien's tails whipped back and forth, moving so fast Corrin could hardly track them. Compared to Eryndor, or even Tor, he hadn't thought the student was very impressive, but in an instant, Corrin beheld the gap that lay between them, and felt that it wasn't so easy to cross.

The ends of Luscien's tails curled up, spinning up three balls of fire, then flung them like into the enemy lines where they detonated, each taking out a monster on their own.

"Come on Corrin," he whispered to himself, burning even more mana to accelerate faster.

"Flash freeze!" Lesia screamed out from behind him, and the monsters to Corrin's right vanished in a crackling blast of ice.

"Form a circle!"

"Azni your left!"

"Cover me—!"

Voices overlapped as the seven of them formed into a ring surrounding Lesia. Cultists mixed in with the monsters, darting around in purple robes, striking whenever they saw someone get distracted.

Corrin locked blades with one of them, almost driven back by a ferocious blow. He stepped in to counterstrike, but the man leapt back, tossing a vial from within his robes, Corrin deflected it on instinct, but it shattered, spewing a steaming red liquid onto his sword arm, where it ate through his mantle and burned his skin.

He let out a groan of pain, and in the instant he was distracted, a winged creature latched onto his shoulder, lifting him into the air.

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Corrin channeled ash into his palm and slammed it against the leg, smashing through flesh and bone in one strike before falling a few feet back to the ground.

"Keep moving!" Luscien bellowed. "We're almost in range!"

"Get the firestones ready!"

Reken fumbled with the pouch, and the monsters reacted instantly, lunging towards him without care for their own safety, a raging mass of claws and teeth. Odem interjected, throwing a huge stone axe across the circle where it exploded against three monsters in a plume of gravel.

"Corrin!" Luscien grabbed Corrin's shoulder, spinning him around and pointing ahead.

Through the battle, a steady orange stone glowed in the hands of a cultist wearing different robes from the rest—a hood of crimson red sitting on his shoulders. The old man's hair was graying, and his skin was sunken and sallow. His posture befitted his name, slouched against a wall as he watched the battle from afar with faint disinterest.

Thestor Lystenthos.

"Sloth spotted!" Corrin roared, holding his sword towards the man who'd caused so much destruction. If they took him out, the monsters would lose all cohesion. "We're going after the bastard!"

"Providing cover! Rapids of Rūdkhān!" A huge sphere of water formed in the air, then broke, crashing against the stone and washing away almost all the monsters between them and the acolyte, whose eyes narrowed. He held up the orb and began to chant.

Luscien was three steps ahead of both Kita and Corrin, blasting past the monsters still dazed by Lesia's spell. He drew a fiery arm back, and Thestor's face morphed to one of shock. He stopped chanting abruptly, then turned and ran, robes flapping behind him.

A monster burst out of a building to intercept Luscien, some sort of two legged spinejaw with a maw longer than Corrin was tall. Its scales glowed a pale orange, matching the acolyte's orb.

Luscien dodged its snapping maw as the ground in front of him opened up, more and more monsters spilling from the earth. From the orb, tendrils of mana reached down into the ground, beating like a heart as the flooding intensified.

Before they could crawl up, a hundred spears of ice condensed in the air above them, then lanced downwards, skewering the spawn in droves.

"Keep going!" Lesia screamed.

More monsters broke off from the attack on the Kegslayers, rushing to the defense of their master, throwing their bodies in the way. An arrow, launched by Reken, streaked towards him, intercepted by a flying monster at the cost of its life.

Corrin slashed again and again, cutting through the waves as Lesia thinned the hordes. With each blast, each cut, they drew closer. Thestor clearly wasn't a warrior—he stumbled desperately away from them, running slower than any channeler, and only the absurd press of monsters kept him away.

Just a few more seconds and they'd be on him. Claws broke through Corrin's mantle, cutting a gash down his leg. He got knocked aside by the weight of a blow, rolling across the ground, but he got up immediately and continued the fight, ever closing the gap between him and the Acolyte. Luscien was faster still, tearing through beasts like they were made of paper, getting closer with each kill…

The gap began to widen. Their progress slowed—and more monsters pressed themselves between the two of them. It took Corrin too long to figure out what had changed.

Lesia's spellfire had stopped.

Backing away slowly, Corrin turned around, looking towards the circle formed by the Kegslayers, which had held back the waves of monsters by the skin of their teeth. Each of them—save Azni, was covered in wounds, but none were fatal. They could all keep fighting, but they'd stopped, staring towards Lesia in horror as the waves of monsters slowed.

Thestor began to laugh, a sinister, self-satisfied laugh that crept over the sudden silence. "It took you long enough! I was beginning to think you were useless after all."

Lesia's eyes were wide as she looked down at the spear of ice piercing up out of her stomach. A line of red trickled down from the tip, dripping slowly onto the ground. Her wand slipped from her hand, and she weakly grasped at the shaft of ice, her fingers staining with blood.

Behind her, holding the spear, was a young man with robes cut at the shoulders, revealing frost-covered skin beneath. He let out a long, misty breath, and pulled the spear out with a smile.

Lesia hit the ground.

"Shut up you senile old bastard." He flicked the blood off the tip of spear, spattering it onto the ground. "You should be thanking me for killing such a troublesome mage."

The other person Eia mentioned, Corrin remembered with a chill. A young man in different robes. How did he get past?

It was Azni who spoke first amongst them, her normally dispassionate face grit with tears. "Lesia…"

The man ignored her, his eyes staring straight at Corrin from across the battlefield—no, not Corrin. He was looking at Luscien. A smile slowly stretched over his lips, and he let out a singular laugh.

"What a pleasant surprise!" He said the words, almost casually. "To think I'd actually run into someone I know here, so far from home, and of all the people… I thought I'd have to wait for years to get you back for what you did to me, little fox."

Kita's fur stood up, and he let out a low, warning growl. Luscien stiffened beside him, his eyes narrowing.

"What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The young man spread his arms wide. "I'm a member of the Church of The Old God now! Asura Candidate, serving Acedia, Kieran Dunet."

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