Two groups stood at the forefront of Etten-Leur's eighteenth floor, amidst the rubble and decay of the structure's interior. The White Roses had gathered, alongside the Blue Roses who served under the lead of Deitrich Reiche.
However, it was now the case that Ainsworth had taken command due to the orders of the Archangel, Selaphiel. He knew that Deitrich wasn't too happy about the matter, seeing Ainsworth as inferior to himself, but that wasn't something he minded too much. If it were just himself under the spotlight, he might not be too strict. But as it was Selaphiel who vouched for Ainsworth himself, any disobedience would reflect poorly on the Archangel.
Ainsworth wouldn't tolerate insubordination.
This didn't just go for Deitrich or the Blue Rose team, but also the White Roses. Ainsworth had been keeping a close eye on Lumière especially, who often tended to go off the rails with his brazen attitude. He would keep the magician on a tight leash. This was what it meant to be raised in experience and power by a being as powerful as Selaphiel, this was just his duty.
"I hope you're not too scared, Mr. Benedict, knowing your limited experience. If you don't want to take the lead, I'm happy to take charge." Deitrich phrased this comment in a friendly manner as his senior who had been in Heaven's Roses far longer, but it was clearly meant to provoke the Red Rose. Lumière scoffed as he heard this. Dietrich Reiche might have made a good Heretic.
"Quiet, Mr. Reiche. You might stir the monsters lurking around us."
Dietrich let out an audible 'tsk', eyeing Ainsworth with a bit of vitriol. "And if I don't?" Now, he was openly provoking Ainsworth, testing the boundaries of their relationship. After all, he still had some sort of pride as the Leader of his Blue Rose team. Perhaps this was the way he acted amongst his own members, and was fearful to let that perception of himself slide in front of them.
However, he didn't think to anticipate that the man he perceived as a newbie would glanced back towards him, pure bloodlust emanating out of the corner of his eye.
"This is the authority of a Red Rose, Mr. Reiche. If you can't accept that, and follow my orders, I will kill you right here for treason against the Goddess."
Hearing this, Deitrich took a step backwards, a little hesitant. He looked down at the ground as he scowled, replying in a curt tone, "Very well…"
Lumière's eyes widened, chuckling under his breath. It was a slight amount of shock mixed in with his elation. Was Ainsworth always as authoritative as this? He had always been the type to take roles of leadership, but to be as cold and unmoved as he was now… something had changed inside of Ainsworth.
This… this development was pleasing to Lumière.
He might not be alone in the pit of despair of being a man changed by his circumstances, and the bridge that he thought existed between them might not have been so broken after all!
One could tell the difference in the upbringing of the Roses just by taking a glance at each of their expressions. The White Roses showed no hesitation in making their way through Etten-Leur, but behind them, even the oh-so-powerful Blue Roses seemed to follow like little ducklings.
While these White Roses had no sort of great power, unlike their seniors, they had experienced many fights and tragedies, slowly but surely strengthening their resolve against danger and untimely circumstance. This was what it meant to be experienced, what the Blue Roses as a rank were meant to go through. In reality, despite their powers, in terms of resolve, the White Roses under Ainsworth were more akin to Red Roses.
They stopped on a stack of rubble overlooking a large flat area, where many shadowy figures had gathered, moving about and speaking to each other in a warped, incomprehensible language. This was the strangeness of the Nameless. It was likely that many of the beasts on this floor had grown up around themselves, rather than people, and so they could only half-mimick humans, stealing their identities but not their knowledge of language.
Despite that, they moved around carts with multiple tarp-covered cages within, moving boxes of goods and several other antiquities. It was like they were operating a business on the abandoned floor of Etten-Leur. This just wasn't possible without human influence. But how could they develop such a routine system themselves without picking up on human language?
This could only be possible if they were being used like slaves, pawns underneath a more developed mind!
Unlike the first time they had tracked down Nameless, Ainsworth chose to be far more cautious in his approach. He called for the Roses to move silently through the shadows, eyeing the beasts from afar. They counted them out, around three-dozen in total. There was no trace of ritualistic magic in the area, but considering their numbers, he chose to play it safe and send a pigeon to the Main Cathedral in the middle borough, detailing their positions and the quantities of monsters.
If there were just half the number present, Ainsworth wouldn't feel too scared about taking them down, but it was better for them to call for backup as long as they could afford it. Because they had taken caution and didn't reveal themselves brazenly, they could keep the Nameless in place as long as they wanted until they were sufficiently prepared.
However, his caution was soon after cut through by the appearance of another figure. This shadow in the darkness than had emerged began cutting through the Nameless moving carts and goods, slicing them into countless pieces to use up their regeneration and sap their strength.
This shadowy figure flew through the air in the darkness, resembling a woman, short but quick. That figure's silhouette reshaped as they watched it dash, into a beast of larger, sharper proportions. Large tentacles of miasma shot out from the woman's form, piercing one of the Nameless Spiders through the skull, causing it to crash to the ground with violent reverberations.
Everyone, apart from Lumière, was horrified by the appearance of such a figure.
Of course, Lumière had come to know this person well. He grinned, glancing at the woman as she continued her attack on the beasts.
'Is Ms. Yuran here too…? I was careful not to be seen with her during my final performance at the show hall, but I should be careful not to interact with her here too, just in case… this is really going to be an exciting event!'
Lumière drew his blade, prepared to strike at any moment.
"Is that a Nameless… slaying other Nameless…?" One of the Blue Roses murmured, wavering dismay in his tone. Other than that, there was a general sense of appreciation for the sheer uniqueness of the situation. Shock, fear, and anticipation that the mysterious female figure might turn her attention on them was also illuminated by their expressions.
"Are you going to stand around and watch, or are we going to do what we set out here to do?" Ainsworth pulled a thin white glove over one of his hands, grimacing as he then reached into his pocket, procuring box of paper cards, the ones that had been sealed with starlight in order to weave certain spells. "Forget the arrival of our backup, we have to start now! If they flee from whatever is in the darkness, we'll miss our chance to eliminate them! The eighteenth floor will remain a danger to the public!"
'Damn it! I wanted to take our time, but if they've already been startled, there's definitely a big chance that they'll flee! They might become too hard to track down, or they might flee to lower floors and kill others in order to re-disguise themselves!'
Suddenly, a figure crouched down behind Lumière, looking at the sight as they did.
"Ah, there's a bunch of bugs here…" An eerie, shrill voice echoed through the area around them. A miasmic blade swung itself at Lumière's head from behind, barely scraping against his cheek as he raised his own over his shoulder, blocking the strike. He saw a scowling face out of the corner of his eye, one that revealed half of his skull as his flesh melted away.
As soon as the blade-wielding figure had appeared, all of the Nameless stopped fighting in the distance, prostrating themselves and chanting, "Mammon! Mammon! Mammon!" The figure immediately fell back, standing alongside the Nameless that had been fighting.
Lumière dodged backwards, facing the figure as he grimaced. 'Mammon!? A Named was here! Was this a trap for us, or did we just happen to stumble into this danger!? What did Selaphiel say about the Named?? That it takes three Red Roses to take down, with no guarantee that all three will survive? We were only able to get close because I tricked him, but there's no way I can do such a thing again…'
He rejoined the White Roses, eyeing down the figure in the distance. Cecilia had vanished into the shadows, likely detecting the appearance of such a foe. If Lumière could make contact with her in secret, they might be able to devise a plan to take Mammon down… with her help, it might just be possible…
'If a Named is a Nameless that has received the blessings of the Blasphemer Goddess, is it alike to becoming a Geas-Bestowed? What kind of power will the Blasphemer Goddess have given a Named like Mammon? What contingencies should I prepare? Our lack of knowledge is our greatest weakness right now… can I talk to him, plot something out? No, he's not like Asmodeus. He didn't speak to us first, rather attacking. He might not be open to a dialogue, open to a ploy…'
"Our advantage has been given up! We need to fight!" Ainsworth shouted. However, beside him, the Blue Roses had begun to cower. Even Nicole, who was known for his anxieties, had drawn his own weapon, wielding the shadows around him in preparation for battle.
Could they really survive until backup arrived?