Once the group had arrived in Larginia the next morning, they got out of the carriage and headed to the adventurer's guild. "Hello Princess Kyona, I got word that you and your group defeated the Ice King. Very well done, here is your reward." The receptionist then dug out some gold from storage underneath the desk and put it onto the desktop.
"Thank you! Lemme know if any more quests need doing!" said Kyona.
"I will." replied the receptionist.
The four of them then headed towards the castle and stepped inside.
"This castle is pretty big." said Azoth.
"It is. It's a castle. Stating the obvious there." said Lyonlu.
Kyona sniffed the air. "It smells different, like someone has been here before us. I'm getting changed into my adventurer outfit." Kyona left the room to go to her bedroom.
"I do wonder why we are here. Me and Eleina I mean." said Azoth.
"It was probably random." said Lyonlu. "You saw those wormholes out there didn't you, all sorts of things came outta those."
"I came from another land." Azoth continued. "I had a loving family, I was an only child, but we were very happy. I was a rare birth. I had the power to control fire since birth. There were only a few people in the whole country who were born with that power. They were called the primals. They are beings that control natural elements of the land, I just so happened to be born with fire. I chose to pursue a career as an alchemist because I liked the family business but I never thought I would end up here, using my potions to fight people… I was always a little shy so I never imagined taking down an icy being or a bunch of thieves."
"You wanna talk backstories now?" said Eleina. "Alright, I was born as well, with the primal power, but with the power of ice. I grew up in the icy mountains, which probably explains why I'm so used to the cold. I had a nice family too, I still live with them. I had a brother, but, they were buried in snow one night and never made it out…" Eleina went silent for a second. "I worked as a blacksmith." she said quietly.
"I'm back!" said Kyona to lighten up the mood. "What do you say? Ready to head out on the next adventure?" Eleina wiped the tears from her face, after reminiscing about her brother. "I better be able to go home soon." she said.
"Alright, let's go." said Lyonlu.
Yes,l-let's." said an embarrassed Azoth.
Kyona swung the doors open and stepped outside, but just as she did, a gun was pointed to her head. "Don't move, or she dies." Aaron turned his head to look at Lyonlu.
"I should have known something was up with you when you greeted us and then left, Aaron." said Kyona.
"Yeah, you should have, Kyona."
"Target sighted. Preparing to engage."
Somebody was dashing towards the castle from behind the tavern.
"Any last words, Kyona, before you get shot?" sneered Aaron.
Megumi was prepared to strike Aaron's gun, but just in time Aaron shouted. "Craelza!" Craelza came to his aid and blocked Megumi's blade.
Megumi jumped back.
"My my, so the lust goddess was freed from her cell. Her assassins finally made it. We almost have a full party." snickered Aaron. Aaron pushed his gun even closer to Kyona's head. "Not moving includes you too, you know." Aaron was about to pull the trigger, but with quick thinking, Megumi threw a dagger at Aaron's gun, knocking it out of his hands, just before he fully pulled the trigger and the gun shot up in the air.
Craelza ran over to sink her sharp fingernails into Kyona's skin to poison her, but she was stopped by Lyonlu, who took the hit for her. "What a pity, not the target I was hoping for." said Craelza. Aaron was trying to pick up his gun, when Eleina threw an icicle at him, lodging it in his arm, which started to freeze up. Aaron slowly grabbed the gun and fired at Eleina, but she created an ice wall, just in time to block the bullet. Azoth rushed over to Lyonlu and tried to use all her healing potions on her, but it wasn't working, so she used her only antidote she had on her to heal Lyonlu. "The poison should be dispelled within a few minutes. With five of us versus two of them, the fight should be over by then." she shouted.
"Is that what you really think?" Craelza had come from behind Azoth and tried to sink her poison-tipped claws into Azoth. Kyona ran over to try to stop her, but Craelza threw a poison dart at her and then sunk her poison-tipped claws through Azoth's flesh. Lyonlu rushed over to fight Craelza and they clashed fists. Lyonlu, with the upper hand, managed to knock Craelza back. She stumbled to get back on her feet, she realised she was behind the ice wall that Eleina was using to defend herself from Aaron's attacks. She was about to slash Eleina to make her victim count three as she was an easy target, but then, the ice wall shattered and Aaron had run out of bullets. Craelza's head had been cut clean through. It had started to fall down to the ground. Her neck erupted in a fountain of blood as her knees dropped to the floor and then the rest of her body followed.
Megumi had appeared from through the ice wall and was now standing in front of it, covered in blood. Aaron panicked and fell to a sitting position, frantically trying to reload his gun. He tried to use overdrive and shoot all the electricity out of his gun in one burst, but Craelza's blood had made Megumi stronger and she was hardly phased by it.
"You'll regret this, no I regret this, Craelza was all I had, I loved her, I cared for her, we did everything together and this world took it away, YOU TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME!" Aaron screamed. That was the last words that were heard from him, as all that was seen from behind Megumi was a pool of blood.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on the lust goddess' daughter again. I am her family's sworn protector, Megumi."