Chapter 22

Vali, Nepgear (who was now conscious, boy did she feel embarrassed as heck when she woke up being carried by Vali), and Krul Tepes currently sat by a large bonfire, created using a combination of materials gathered by them and Vali's Hellfire. They had made sure to set up a place where they could camp safely, thanks to using a combination of their abilities to set up a hiding spot for them, something which had been suggested by Krul since they wouldn't be able to deal with the number of floors left to traverse. She'd informed them about the number of floors they still had left, and let's just say nobody had been happy about that.

After everything had been set up and some prey had been caught, it was roasted over the fire so they could eat it, resulting in a soft and comfortable silence between the three. Though, Krul had refrained from having anything but liquids since she had been a Vampire, thus needed stuff like Blood to survive although liquids like water could help as well.

Right now, the said half Devil found himself quite curious about their newest companion, curious about multiple things regarding her. Thus, he broke the silence that had dominated their atmosphere for so long. "So… what makes you special to the point where you became the queen of Vampires?"

Initially, Krul had tensed up since she'd hadn't expected him to ask that. No, that's not it, instead it was more like she had anticipated it, but not as soon as he had asked it. Still, she spent a moment collecting her thoughts together, before she looked up at him with a serious look on her face. "... It is because of my Shinso bloodline. Back when my people were still around, we were called "Alpha Vampires", shown by our undying bodies which cannot be killed so easily than that of normal Vampires. We also have special traits that are unique to our bloodlines which normal Vampires lack, with my special trait being 'Creation', 'Blood Link', and lastly Shapeshifting or as it was called back then, the 'wealth of power' ability."

Huh… so it was a matter of bloodlines, huh? Well, Vali couldn't say he understood such a thing, since he never really lived with such a thing until now. He hadn't even been aware that he HAD a special Bloodline from his Devil half, he'd only been aware of himself being not like the rest of his family and peers, as well as eventually a Hybrid of human and something else, which he'd later learned was his Devil side. However, despite his lack of experience with Bloodlines, Vali did wonder more about what hers could do, since his gave him such an edge in battle. "Huh…. what can they do?" he questioned.

For a moment, however, Krul tensed up again, though this was something different compared to before. According to Vali's expert eye, it wasn't something done out of surprise, but more out of caution and paranoia, as if that question was something that shouldn't have been asked which had been an expectation that Krul had grown up with. This was more theoretical though, unless he confirmed it with her first, but Vali felt like he had been on the right track there. Finally, she seemed to settle down and respond to him. "'Creation' is an ability where I can mix my Mana into my own blood and control it at will. By doing this, I can transform it into solid matter and mold it into anything they desire."

… Were Bloodlines meant to be this kind of OP? If so, then Vali felt glad that he had unlocked his because that just explained just how much of an EDGE he now had over his adversaries. He could only imagine how Magic would react to it in their next encounter. "In other words, you can conjure anything you want?" he questioned.

Krul nodded. "Yes."

"Cool."

For a moment, Vali noticed something flash through her eyes, though it vanished soon after as she continued before he could inquire. "My Blood Link is a unique ability, where I can inject my lovers with my Shinso blood to the point where it becomes something which permanently flows through their veins. This ability allows me to sense when my lovers are in great emotional stress and vice versa." she explained.

THIS one caused Vali to frown. "So you can basically inject blood to other people so that they can become a vampire-like you?" he queried.

To which Krul nodded, and again that something flashed through her eyes. "Yes, it is so I can know how my husbands are feeling in case they betray me, so far too many have betrayed me." she explained, that flashing thing appearing once more in addition to a bit of bitterness entering her tone.

However, thanks to seeing it again it allowed Vali to properly identify it: distrust. Looked like she had been quite experienced with betrayal, then, and from her husband, too. Perhaps they had been drawn to her by the power she had wielded as the Vampire queen, just like how women of today's society chose their men based on their own attributes like titles, money, and wealth. "A lie detector, that sounds useful." he stated simply, however, keeping his thoughts to himself.

Once again, Krul nodded although she gave off the feeling of wanting to say 'you have no idea' to him, but she in the end relented. "Indeed, my last ability is called the wealth of power." She told him, and THIS one was something which confused the half Devil.

Mostly because of it being a weird name for an ability, but since Krul was in a divulgatory mood, he asked anyway. "Wealth of power, do you have the power to control money?"

At this, Krul shook her head in slight amusement, as if she had heard that comparison before. "No, that's far from it. 'Wealth of Power' is an ability that enables Vampires to change their shape into almost any form that he or she wishes, such as a wolf, mice, bats, mist, or other forms known to folklore."

Vali whistled at this, liking how useful that ability sounded. If one went into different fields, he could imagine the uses that this kind of skill could have, like for espionage one could use this to assume the appearance of a local, or a small insect to climb into small gaps and observe surroundings. Heck, one could acquire skills from observing others if this ability was used correctly, like say one turned into a rat then hid inside a kitchen. After a while of observing people cook recipes, they would likely know how to make them themselves. Though they would likely need to refine those skills to a similar level to those they observed, but it was still a useful ability regardless. "That sounds like a useful skill." he commented.

His comment caused her to nod her head in understanding of his opinion, likely having seen through his thoughts just by looking at him when she'd explained this. Deciding that a change of position was in order, Krul tucked her legs close to her chest, unintentionally exposing a lot of her thighs and a bit of her backside through Vali had been enough of a gentleman to not look. Plus, it wasn't like he was interested either, he hardly knew her plus he wanted to be a faithful boyfriend to the girls. "It is, but despite the power's tremendous potential, the vampire's obsession with creating and sustaining an aesthetically-pleasing appearance has led to the abandonment of this innate skill." she explained with a scowl.

Now THAT caused Vali to scoff, rolling his eyes derisively and already starting to look down on those Vampires who dared not to use this Skill for such a petty reason. "Prideful bastards huh?" he remarked.

"... you could say that, but anyway why have you come to this forbidden dungeon of Orcus with a CPU candidate?"

"... you know about the candidates?"

"Yes, we vampires live for a very long time, we know about them after all."

"Then you're in for a treat, Tepes, because the world is fucked up if we don't do anything."

"What do you mean?"

"This is gonna take some time. Alright so….."

"The… deity … of sin?!"

"...sounds like you know that person very well, don't you?"

As Vali explained what had happened during these years, such as the organization ASIC attacking a major city and in the end, making it into a graveyard. By the time that he had reached the point regarding the deity of sin, Krul's face had shifted. It had become dominated by an expression that looked to have been a mix between surprise, worry and fear… though that last one had been suppressed for the most part as she had bitten her thumb's nail in agitation. "...yes… I do." She confirmed after a moment's worth of deliberation.

Perfect! Finally, some concrete source of information about a Deity they hardly knew a thing about! Vali really felt glad that he'd rescued her and she was this cooperative, perhaps now he could perhaps find out more about her. Possibly about a possible weakness. "Then what the hell is this Deity of Sin in the first place? Who the fuck is she?" he questioned, trying to hide his eagerness.

"... the deity of sin…. Is a monster, pure evil knows nothing but destruction. She is an incarnation of destruction and chaos as her powers were meant to be feared. Several thousand years ago, she hunted many species to extinction and destroyed so many places. My grandfather once told me that it took all the CPUs of that generation to kill her... but that came at the cost of their lives. As such, for a time there had been a lack of CPUs since they were initially believed to be invincible, their deaths undoing that belief, and thus making people afraid to believe in CPUs again. Once they started again, though I'm not sure of the exact details, the line of CPUs began anew, resulting in the current CPUs who rule over Gamindustri. In order to not let her live again, my grandfather and the oldest of the Vampires had destroyed many records and documentaries regarding this Deity, so that no one can ever seek her out or revive her again."

"... that does sound like something to be feared of."

"Oh no, if they revive her then all of Gamindustri will be doomed!"

"Then we have to act fast, we're wasting time now being here."

Vali got up as Nepgear quickly got up as Krul was about to get up before she fell. "Ugh… curses….."

"What happened?"

Looking up at Vali, Krul had a slightly irritated look on her face whilst she proceeded to explain, "Can't you see? I haven't had blood for so many years that it's negatively impacted my body. It's reached a point where my body can't handle extensive use anymore, not unless I get some blood in me. Liquids only work so much." she explained.

"... I see…." Vali stood there before he went to Krul as he held out his hand as she stared at it... before she finally realized his intentions. "You want me….. To drink yours?" she questioned in disbelief.

Nodding his head, Vali then explained his reasons. "What other choice do we have, Tepes? if this Deity is so dangerous then we need all the help in order to stop the ASIC from reviving her." To be honest, he wasn't sure what might happen if she wound up drinking his blood, but his point remained valid still. She may be a Vampire, a creature supposed to be extinct thanks to White Heart genociding their asses, but her power would be invaluable in the fight against ASIC if one asked him.

Krul stared at the offered hand for a few short seconds, before she opened her mouth to show her clean teeth… with the addition of two long fangs which she then used to bite into Vali's hand, prompting him to wince slightly in pain, but only slightly. He was used to far worse kinds of pain than this. Whilst this was happening, he felt his blood being drained away from his body, making him feel a little nauseous but held it on for a while. Meanwhile, Krul looked to be in bliss as she drank the most delicious blood she ever had, not even her various lovers could be compared to this delight. The thing was, the more powerful and healthy a person was, the more delicious their blood would be, which told her just how well Vali took care of himself.

As she drained more blood from Vali before Nepgear saw Vali was becoming pale. In response, she stopped the Vampire from turning the teen into a dried husk by pulling her away from him, freeing his hand from her fangs all the while. "Ok that's enough blood you almost made Vali into a dried husk." she exclaimed urgently as the silver-haired hybrid quickly recovered through the use of his Demonic Power.

Krul had a disappointment look before she realized. "Oh I'm sorry, it's just your blood tastes delicious, more so than any of my previous Blood banks." she explained, though each of them shuddered at what she could mean by 'Blood banks'.

Though soon Vali recovered and decided to get things back on track. "Uh huh, let's just go we're wasting time.". As he said that, he used his Hellwind to stop the fire, dispersing it.

This allowed Nepgear to get a good look at Vali to which she had noticed something which she had almost forgotten to ask about. "You know Vali, how did you get those marks from?" she questioned, tilting her head while Krul arched a brow. She didn't expect this kind of question, but now that she thought about it normal humans shouldn't have such marks adorning their person. Perhaps there was a story about that.

Did his… bloodline have something to do with it?

"... I drank from a pond as I was on my deathbed. It not only managed to heal me but also mutated my powers and, as a result, I got these marks. Probably some kind of side effect, nevertheless I have no clue how to turn them off." Vali explained, frowning. He remembered how he had tried a few times to return his body to normal, only for nothing to happen. It was a bit annoying, but hey at least the Marks weren't degrading him in any way, he felt.

"I see."

After this and leaving their hideout, the trio of half Devil, CPU Candidate and Vampire, walked throughout the dungeon, passing through some floors which gradually got harder and harder but as time went on. Though, it was nothing that Vali or Krul could stop. Like she had told him and Nepgear, her strength was not for show, proven when she killed a monster with just a punch and, through the use of her Wealth Of Power (Vali had decided to coin it as WOP) managed to conjure a sword-shaped like a thin single-edged blade to slice them in half. Apparently though, since she lacked proper nutrition for so long it would take time and regulated feeding for her full power to return, hence why she couldn't use her abilities to their fullest. For example, she could barely use her Creation ability to harden her body's defenses, and that was all she could manage using that, not to mention she couldn't use her Blood Linkability at all. Though that one was more along the lines of her not having any Vampires under her control at the moment.

She wasn't the only one growing however, as Nepgear was also improving herself through every battle she partook in. She was getting better and better at fighting in her human, HDD or SDD forms, but she had to be careful since some of these enemies were stronger than her. It had become clearly apparent that she was the weakest of the trio, especially since she'd almost got mauled more times than she'd care to mention on these floors. In those cases, she would let Vali or Krul handle them. Soon she'll be strong to not only protect her sister but also her people if she ever became a CPU.

Upon entering the 20th floor, they found themselves in front of… what looked to be some kind of forest, one which looked quite peaceful… almost deceptively so. With this in mind, the trio looked at one another, giving each other nods before going inside the vast wilderness. It wasn't long until they encountered their first enemy, that being…

'This world is getting more complicated now… a dinosaur?'

'Yup, a T-Rex more to be specific.'

'I know what type of dinosaur it is, Vali.'

Yup, they encountered a Dinosaur, one which Vali had learned about during his days at the Academy. Apparently whilst powerful, it was also said to be one of the oldest species of Monsters in the world, as well as incredibly rare. To the point where they were considered to be extinct already since the majority of people go their whole existence without seeing one. Even the CPUs hadn't seen one so far, which proved this fact's claims. The T-rex roared at them as Krul just simply destroyed it with her punch as it died.

However, something about it caught Nepgear's eyes, causing her to narrow them so she could get a better look. On top of its head, she saw that it had a flower on the tip of its nose before it disappeared along with the rest of the creature. "Why do they have flowers Vali?" she wondered, before asking their sole male companion.

"Does it look like I know? The only thing I know is that Dinosaurs can't have flowers on them." Vali replied.

Krul frowned as she cupped her chin with her right hand, looking down at the place where the T Rex's corpse had once been. "It is strange… It gives me an uncomfortable feeling." she muttered, though the rest of them indeed heard her.

However, before they could continue to ponder on this mystery, Vali looked towards a direction which caused him to scowl. "! look sharp, I sense 10 monsters incoming. It looks like they're trying to surround us." he quickly informed them.

"Got it Vali."

In response to his words, the trio hid within a nearby bush before seeing one of them standing in front of their hiding place. That is, before Vali flung a hand out to shoot a fireball of Hellfire at the flower, which resulted in the Dino going down. "Thats….. Pathetic."

"It looks kinda cute though."

Krul narrowed their eyes. "Think it's dead?" She questioned, noticing that the corpse hadn't vanished yet unlike the same one before.

She wasn't the only one who had noticed this though, Vali did too. "Maybe, but we can't be certain." he muttered beside her.

The dinosaur opened his eye as it shook its head before angry, prompting Krul to widen her eyes for a bit before understanding shone within them. "Ohhh I see now." she mused to herself, causing Nepgear to look at her in confusion.

"Huh? What do you mean Tepes?"

Just as she made to answer that question, the dinosaur then turned its snout and looked at the group's direction. In response, they stared at it before Krul punched its head off.

As its head flew through the air and landed near it, the dinosaur's body collapsed onto the ground in front of them, vanishing like the rest of the monsters of Gamindustri. Though, seeing the way it went out combined with… well, she wasn't sure what, but nonetheless Nepgear still felt a bit sad seeing its departure to the afterlife. "I kinda pity it." She muttered near silently.

Vali rolled his eyes at this. "Maybe so." he responded. Throughout their journey, Vali wondered if Nepgear was truly fit to go onto the battlefield, for she was nothing like him. As in, she didn't seem to like fighting and had a bit too much 'heart' for a cold-blooded warrior, if anything she fit someone who would rather create than destroy. Sure she had a strong drive, why else had she been able to activate that other form of hers… but, she seemed to have to exude more to keep herself in the game, as it were.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Unfortunately for them, Krul activated the Murphy law.

Timeskip

Turns out… There were a LOT of Dinosaurs, and each of them all wanted their flesh for supper. Whilst they had been fleeing from them due to the vast differences in numbers, Vali had questioned (read: interrogated) their resident former Vampire Queen about what she had figured out. In response, the said Vampire Queen figured out and informed the rest of them that those flowers on the Dinos seemed to be some kind of parasite-like organism, and they were controlling the Dinos by connecting to their brains with their roots. That had to mean that there was something in the woods controlling the Dinos with these parasitic flowers, making them act less like a mindless rabble of wild animals and more of a cooperative fighting force.

Turned out that whatever had been controlling intended to weaken them first, for Vali had to waste 25% of his powers to deal with the Dinos. Not only that, but Krul had been rendered almost entirely exhausted, and Nepgear had run out of her demonic power so she couldn't use her SDD Form. Fortunately, they had found out what had been controlling them: a dryad one which had ambushed them during one of their resting periods. They had managed to dodge it before it could capture any of the groups, before Vali wasted no more time and burned it to nothingness with his Hellfire.

Afterwards, they passed through lots of floors which took them a while before they arrived at the last floor.

The 100th floor.

"So...we're finally here…" Vali muttered under his breath, looking more tired than he had been in a long while. He didn't even want to return home anymore instead he just wanted to rest his eyes for like a month or something. However, this didn't stop him from identifying his surroundings which, to his awe, had radically changed once again like they had been during every floor they had visited. In this case, they had found themselves walking out of a cave-like cavern… into what could only be described as a massive hall-like ball room, one with towering pillars that looked to extend to skyscraper-like heights towards the ceiling above. There weren't that many of them and they were positioned to the point where they wouldn't hinder any large scale battles. Up ahead, they could see a pair of brownish colored doors, which had to be their way forwards. "Looks like we can just pass through… boy wouldn't that be the day?"

Krul nodded her head in exasperation. "Yeah, all this fighting has worn down much of my power as well. I suspect that Mrs CPU Candidate over here is the same?" She questioned, glancing over to Nepgear who looked back to them.

As much as she tried to put up a brave face, the look of exhaustion in her eyes remained apparent and they could see that. Thus, she eventually relented and nodded her head, confirming their assumptions. "Yes… I'm not at my top form right now… doesn't look like the others have arrived here first, either." she commented, looking around their surroundings.

At this, Krul remembered the few times when they took breaks for food, drink and rest, remembering one of them in particular where these two had told her of them coming here with comrades. "I assume you mean your other party members when you say this?" she questioned, getting a nod in return. "I see. Well, from what you've told me, I doubt that they would have gotten too far into the Dungeon from when you all separated. The first 100 floors are considered the 'upper levels' and the next 100 is the 'Lower Levels'. Even if one defeats the boss on the 100th upper level floor, monsters from the first lower level can still wipe them out easily." she explained.

Nepgear frowned at this. "It's like a new game plus but changed to the highest difficulty possible..." she muttered under her breath, something which Vali agreed with. As a Battle Maniac, he had gotten quite the thrill from fighting all these enemies, so he could proudly say that he had satisfied himself with this Dungeon. Now all he wanted to do, well, he had already stated this.

"Alright, let's go ladies. The sooner we're done with this, the sooner we can get the Mascot and we can finally…"

SHIIIINE!

"... Me and my big mouth." The moment Vali made to put them back onto the task at hand, the half Devil frowned when he saw what looked like some kind of summoning circle appear before them. One which looked to be big enough to fill the entirety of the room's centre. Instantly they got on guard with Vali summoning his Divine Dividing, Nepgear quickly taking her HDD Form since she couldn't use her other one, and finally Krul took on her martial arts stance which consisted of her left side pivoted behind her right, her right arm angled downwards with her hand in a fist and her left arm tucked in as if she were going for an uppercut.

In that moment…

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

A massive pillar of flames erupted forth, shooting up towards and connecting to the Ceiling. From that pillar, something proceeded to stomp its way out, as if the flames were some kind of gateway to a place of nothing but fire and brimstone. This thing… turned out to be a HUGE ass serpentine creature, with a hard shell body and six-heads with dark red eyes for each of them, as it towered over them like a literal skyscraper would. Not only that, but there were also differently colored patterns on their heads, something which Vali immediately took notice of and begAn to have suspicions about. "...well, shit. Looks like this is the final boss here."

"Th-th-this thing looks strong… e-e-e-everyone, please be careful!" Purple Sister stuttered fearfully, something which really let them know how bad things had gotten since, in her HDD, her personality had been more measured, battle hardened and focused. So, for THAT version of her to feel fear from this creature meant that they HAD to take it seriously otherwise something bad would indeed happen.

Turned out that this fear was indeed in fact, justified when the creature, one which Albion had attributed to be similar to the Hydra back in his home world, proceeded to launch the first move by having the one with the red marking (the 'red' head as Vali coined it internally) launched a breath of crimson flames at them, causing the trio to quickly scatter as the flames crashed into the ground like water finally impacting hard ground.

None of them looked to see what had become of the floor they had once occupied as instead, Vali and Purple Sister circled to the beast's sides as Purple Sister aimed at one of the heads with her Gunblade, and fired a bunch of energy-based rounds. "Haaaaah!" she cried as she did so, seeing the shots hit their mark as one of the heads got blown to smithereens. "Yes, I did it!" she exclaimed, before she aimed towards the middle head which she believed to be the main one controlling the others… firing another blast its way.

Watching this, Vali's eyes narrowed when he sensed something was going to go wrong soon. He wasn't sure what, but it soon became apparent when the 'yellow' head (the one with a yellow pattern on its head) had quickly gotten in front of the middle head and...uncurled its sides to make itself look more like a rattlesnake. The mark on its head glowed briefly as what looked like some kind of energy field formed in front of it, the energy blasts Purple Sister had fired hitting it and disintegrating harmlessly. "I see… so depending on the colors of those patterns, each head has a different set of abilities that it can use to smack us around with…" he mused, circling behind the creature whilst ascending upwards as the 'white' head proceeded to heal the destroyed head by layering it with an orb of energy to restore it to a point where it looked brand new. 'Tch, looks like we're facing something that's like a full party here!'

'Indeed, prioritize the heads which shield and heal first, Vali. That way, you will be able to stop those heads from coming back after you deal with them, and you will also impair its ability to defend itself.'

On that, Vali could agree with his Heavenly Dragon, and since he was so exhausted that activating his Balance Breaker would be pointless due to the drainage it has on him meaning he'd only be able to keep it up for 2 seconds before falling unconscious thanks to his current condition, Vali instead opted to smack himself into the yellow head first, so that he could daze it long enough for Purple Sister to hit it with a few of her energy blasts. However, the moment he approached it the 'green' head noticed Vali's approach and opened its mouth to unleash a torrent of wind in his direction, forcing him to ascend back upwards so that he could escape those winds. Of course, Vali countered with a fireball using his Hellfire, and it indeed hit as well as burned the head to nothingness, but this feeling of victory proved fleeting when the head was healed up. "Nepgear, quick while it's distracted! Hit the one that heals!" Vali called over to the CPU Candidate before grunting as he got hit by it's tail, sending him crashing into the ground with enough force to conceal his form behind a vehicle sized dust cloud.

Purple Sister wanted to see if he was ok after witnessing this, but his words prevailed in her mind as she once again aimed her Gunblade towards the white head, determined to capitalize on this opportunity. However, before she could pull her weapon's trigger her eyes widened when the purple head suddenly rushed into her field of view, narrowing it's beady red eyes on her. In that moment, Purple Sister froze, her eyes becoming glazed over as she started to breathe heavily. "No…" She began to say, tears building up in her eyes as she began to tremble violently. Throughout all this, the purple head never once moved it's gaze away from her, heck it almost seemed to snort like it found her despair amusing. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and gripped both sides of her head, dropping her Gunblade which then dispersed in a manner similar to that of defeated monsters. "NOOOOOOO!"

"?!"

"Oh, shit! CPU Candidate!"

Whilst she had floated there, trapped in seemingly something of the beast's own making, the red patterned head had already lunged forwards to try and gobble her up, only for Krul (who had been running about it's feet to try and destabilize it) to jump up and deliver a spinning roundhouse kick to the head. The moment her foot connected with it, she saw the head explode, although she didn't stick around as she grabbed onto the quivering CPU Candidate as she landed far from the beast while Vali distracted it by flying around its heads. This also served to take the purple head's attention away from it's previous target, resulting in the lilac haired girl snapping out of her previous stupor. "I… wha…? I remember suddenly seeing… my sister… everyone, dead… I…" she tried to say, but she just couldn't.

She didn't have to though, as this quickly clued the former Vampire Queen in on what that purple patterned head could do. 'I see… illusions, huh? Likely some kind of debuffer… one which shows people their worst fears to immobilize them, so it can devour them…' she thought whilst gritting her teeth, glancing back up towards Vali who kept circling around and launching both Hellfire and Hellwind-based attacks. 'Looks like Vali has figured it out too, he's keeping himself on the move while avoiding the purple head like the plague…' She then shook her head and focused on the task at hand, looking down at the quivering CPU Candidate. "Listen, that was an illusion created by that purple patterned head. The beast must have abilities where each head has roles that a typical party would consist of, thus don't panic and try to get yourself back together." she instructed in a way similar to how she had been taught by her mentor before she had become the former Vampire Queen.

Something which turned out to have worked, since Purple Sister managed to regain her composure after a couple moments of getting her breathing back in order. "I… I'm okay now, Tepes-san. I'm good…" she told her, trailing off as she began to float into the air once more. "But… this is bad, this thing has us at a severe disadvantage, It'd be different if we could destroy all the heads at once, but…"

"We'll have to make due with what we have, CPU Candidate." Krul stated as she turned and assumed her martial arts stance. She ignored the pout which was directed at her by said being for not addressing her by name, something she hadn't been doing since they first met. "Listen, I will catch it by surprise, the last few moments helped me familiarize myself with some of its weak spots, so I'll target them. You on the other hand, help Vali destroy the heads in any way you can, got it?"

"R-Right!"

Easier said than done was what Purple Sister had wanted to say, however she didn't want to be a downer right now since it wasn't needed. Thus, she once again took to the skies before speeding forth through the air towards her opponent, taking care not to look into the purple head's eyes as she aimed her re-summoned Gunblade with both hands. 'Alright, this next shot… will likely be my last one before I will have about 20 seconds of HDD left afterwards, but if I can get as many heads as possible…' she thought to herself, waiting for the exact MOMENT that the heads were in the right spot: close together to where, at her angle, she would be able to strike the majority of them down. 'Come on….. Almost….. THERE!'

Once Vali had pulled one of his aerial manoeuvres, it resulted in the majority of the heads being close enough for Nepgear's attack to work. Thus, after pressing a specific button on her weapon, Nepgear charged up a large blast… one which was MUCH larger than her Gunblade's usual rounds in that it rivalled the size of an average car.

In this instance, one of the heads, the blue patterned head, detected a mass of energy nearby. Curious and a little concerned, it would have turned to see what it was before dealing with it or, if it couldn't inform the rest of them so they could deal with the threat together… had Krul not jumped into the air and delivered a spinning roundhouse kick that blew the head to smithereens. "Hah, gotcha, bitch!" She exclaimed, a large grin on her person. She then followed this up with a drop kick whilst falling towards it's front left leg, smashing it by it's joint and causing the beast's heads to howl in different volumes as it fell onto its side, its balance being disrupted. Though, this would only end up buying Nepgear the chance to finalize her preparations and distract the beast long enough for things to go off without a hitch, something which Vali also had noticed and played along by detonating MR's near their heads so they could be 'moved' to a more ideal position and kept there.

Upon the following seconds when the heads all noticed the gathering of energy, Nepgear quickly pulled the trigger the moment the charging process had been completed. "MPBL OVERDRIVE!"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

When she had pulled the trigger, a HUGE ass beam of pure energy erupted forth from Purple Sister's Gunblade, speeding through the air before slamming into the majority of the heads with immense force behind it.

SKRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

In response, the various heads cried out in pure agony since they hadn't been able to react in time, only barely noticing the attack before it had been too late for even its defending head to do anything. Each head cried in different volumes, pain flooding through its various nerves until they each exploded in a shower of gore and guts, the main body slumping downwards till it hit the ground with a loud thud.

The beast seemingly down for the count, a grinning Krul who had her hands on her hip. "Hmph, a lizard's still a lizard, I see…" she remarked curiously, mentaly wondering what it would be like to feed off this creature. However, she soon banished the idea since she believed that it's blood likely wouldn't taste too good for her. Her smirk soon turned into a flat line however as she moved closer to the beast's downed form, yet still kept a reasonable distance from its remaining limbs, so if it was still alive, then it couldn't use them to attack her. "Still, a beast like this being here… whoever created the Orcus Labyrinth must have intended for this to be a much harder Dungeon…" she muttered under her breath.

"...Is it dead?" Purple Sister questioned, frowning as she and Vali who had floated over to her side, watched Krul inspect the corpse. Both of them had readied themselves to move to assist the moment they saw signs of life from this thing, but they weren't sure if it was dead yet for it had yet to vanish like normal Gamindustri monsters. Meanwhile, out of the three of them Vali likely would have had the best chance to avoid any surprise attacks, however he had the most ranged capabilities out of the trio so he had to be relegated to fighting from afar, plus Kru's healing abilities were unnatural (they'd seen proof of this multiple times throughout the dungeon exploration) so it was best for her to be the one to confirm the kill.

Vali shook his head, frowning. "Not sure, I mean I sense barely anything from its body, a lot of its power got drained from it thanks to that hit... " he mused, before he decided to not take any chances. "Hold on for a moment, I'm going to get Krul back." he told her, before shooting towards the former Vampire Queen before Purple Sister could stop him. She would have reached out for him, but she had felt her transformation reach its limits so she had to quickly descend towards the ground before she could shift back into her human form.

A bright light erupted behind him, which signalled to Vali Purple Sister's transformation back into Nepgear as he grabbed onto Krul from behind and pulled her up into the air. "I'm doing the 'double tap' rule, Vampire." He stated after hearing her squeak in surprise, as well as so he could avoid any fists of fury from her. All the while, he decided that since he didn't have much Demonic Power left, he would just use it all in one go in a move which would utterly ANNIHILATE the remains without a trace.

As such, he activated his Mana Zone ability and, with his control over the surprising amount of Mana in the air (probably used for the summoning as well as containing enough for another summoning if necessary) Vali promptly formed a massive Magic Circle over the entire beast's body… which then spewed out a MR big enough to consume the creature entirely. By the time that Vali had run out of Demonic Power completely, the MR vanished to reveal… nothing, there was not even a SHRED of flesh left behind. Its dead for sure, before Vali could move he suddenly went down.

"Ugh! Dammit!"

Instantly, Nepgear had rushed to his side as Vali fell to the ground, Divine Dividing vanishing from his person. Luckily, Krul had managed to catch them by shifting so that she landed first and broke his fall… as well as held him like a princess, although he currently had other things to pay attention to other than his pride currently. "Vali, what's wrong?" she exclaimed as Krul kneeled on one leg, holding her arms around the man's shoulders whilst angling his head so he could rest it on her arm.

The man in question weakly opened his eyes as he tried to settle his breathing. "My wounds are not healing up since I ran out of energy, give me a few moments and I'll get up."

"Ok."

Only for a few moments, did Vali stay on the ground to regain a bit of his Demonic Power… and eventually he got some back. Albeit only 10% though, mostly because of two things: one: the nonstop monsters coming back and forth throughout their dungeon crawling, and two: he didn't get to sleep that much for a while thanks to being in need of being constantly on guard in case of enemy ambushes... which had happened way too many times for his liking.

However, once he had recovered enough for them to continue, the trio promptly did so. They exited out of the floor through the doors on the opposite side, and entered a floor where on the side was a beautiful waterfall, and in front of them was a temple which they went into. As they entered they saw a corpse sitting on the chair and a purple ord was floating above the corpse's lap.

{You all have made it here finally.}

Nepgear had been the one who asked the first question upon them seeing the orb, her tone of confusion and a bit of worry seeped inside at the possible answer. "Who….. who are you?"

{You should know who I am CPU candidate.}

For a moment, she blinked owlishly at that, her confusion intensifying at the… rather unexpected answer to her question that the orb had given. However, she soon widened her eyes when it clicked in her mind, after a couple seconds worth of deliberation. "... the Mascot!" She exclaimed, to the surprise of the other two as Vali and Krul looked forth towards the orb with a new level of interest.

{Indeed, all of you have come so far reaching towards me.}

At this point, Vali took over things from here, stepping forwards to address the Orb. "You know what we want Mascot." he stated, eyes narrowing slightly as he pocketed his hands inside his trousers.

{Indeed I do, the world is in great peril and that ASIC organization is attempting to release the deity of sin.}

At this, each of them grew wide eyed in surprise, not having expected the orb to know of this. Even Krul nearly did a double take to this as the Orb left the corpse's lap and floated towards them. "How do you know this, Mascot?" the former Vampire Queen questioned.

{We mascot sensed that the deity of sin power is running through the course of the world, it is only a matter of time until she is awakened.}

"I see."

{For completing the Orcus dungeon I give you this power that you will need for your journey.}

Upon saying this, the orb glowed brightly for just a brief moment before it returned to normal. However, to say nothing had happened would be a big lie as Nepgear felt power entering her being, her body briefly glowing in the same way to further prove that she had indeed received the Mascot's power. "Goodness….. This is the power of a nation mascot?" she asked in awe, slightly breath-taken as she looked down at her hands.

{CPU candidate, thanks to me slumbering for a long time, many of the world's events will not be known to me aside from ASIC's actions and that of the Deity of Sin. However, I have faith that you will use my power for a just cause.}

Following this, the Mascot disappeared from their view in a flurry of sparkles, leaving them alone in the Temple.

For a moment, there was silence in the air as the trio looked for a while before looking at the corpse. "Wonder this person is..." Krul muttered, thoughtfully.

Vali shrugged his shoulders, not knowing the answer himself. "Don't have a clue."

Nepgear shook her head as well when the two looked to her for her answer. "Me too."

"Hmmmm, alright since we're here, might as well explore a bit here."

Timeskip

A short while passed for the trio as they explored the floor they had found themselves on, which actually had revealed itself to be some sort of resort-like facility. One with all sorts of facilities to its name that they now had access to, all the trio would need to do was explore it all so they could reap the benefits.

One such room turned out to be a library, one which only had a single shelf of books in it though that shelf looked to have been assembled in a hurry which implied… multiple things to the trio. However, one of those books turned out to be a somewhat detailed record of past events, Vali had found it and had been able to read the language it had been written in due to it being an ancient form of Leanbox's own language. Upon reading the book with Nepgear and Krul at his sides, they found out the identity of the Corpse in the Temple-like building, which turned out to be the creator of the dungeon: Oscar Orcus. The record had stated that he had created this dungeon from the orders of the CPUs of his Era, their reasoning being that they feared that the Deity of Sin would inevitably come back to ruin their world once again. Therefore, in order for the next generation to be guaranteed to be able to have ample preparation for the challenge that would come in the future, the Orcus Labyrinth had been created. The monsters within were able to respawn like any dungeon monster, including the beast that they had fought before, which meant this place could potentially be an AMAZING location to farm for monster resources as well as a potential military base using the monsters and many floors as a natural barrier of sorts.

Once they had finished the reading, Vali admitted to them that he could respect the man, since he must have had some resolve to his name, having been waiting for so long in this Dungeon and had been protecting the Mascot this whole time, even making sure that his corpse would be preserved once it finally shut down so it could continue his duty long after he had passed. As such, Vali had made a grave for Oscar Orcus to be buried in, since that had been all he could do for the dungeon creator.

It seems like there must be other dungeons that contain the Mascot, if they have to go through the dungeon, then fine by them bring it on!

Additionally, it seemed that Vali and the others had to wait for the rest of the group to come so that they won't have to go through the dungeon (Despite Vali wanting to fight all those monsters). Vali had tried to contact Luxon through the earpiece on his ear, only for the connection to not be made as if no communications could be sent out in here. Similar failures had been made throughout the rest of their attempts to reach their companions through their long term communications.

It wasn't like there wasn't anything here, though. During their exploration, the trio had found some interesting stuff there, for instance Vali had found a gigantic, non functioning T-rex shaped Robot in what had been the facility's underground Armory, a robot which had piqued his curiosity. At first, he had no idea on how to activate it, before he remembered how there were machines which worked solely when mana was provided for them, therefore he had figured: why not give it a try to see if his Demonic Power would work?

Turned out, it worked pretty well. Proof of this came to be when, before their eyes, the robot had begun to power up and got up from its former position of lying in a crescent-like shape on the ground. After it fully stood up and yawned, like a cat waking up from a long nap, the robot turned towards the trio faced downwards to view the source of its new energy, Vali. For a while, the two stared one another down as if they were having a contrast of wills, seemingly locked in place… that is, before the mechanical dinosaur lowered its head showing that it would follow Vali as he became its new master.

Upon taking the robot outside the Armor out into the open space in the floor's centre, Vali decided to test his new companion out. He discovered that it could change from a dinosaur to a giant humanoid robot, but with more powerful equipment. Not only that, but the Robot no matter what form it chose to assume, had some kind of animalistic intelligence, which meant that it could operate and follow them like a master and servant relationship. Upon realizing this, several… interesting ideas popped into Vali's head, ones which made him grin in a manner akin to an evil overlord whenever their plans come together. Maybe he could use this bad boy to intimidate those annoying girls who ask for marriage proposals or the boys who were lovestruck with his harem. He called the Robot by the designation that he had found on one of the many armor plates that made up it's intimidating T-Rex form:

Grimlock.

Another thing, Krul had found a sword which gave Vali IMMENSE shivers, though the male wasn't even sure why. However, he had an idea why, so he decided to ask Albion for information, to which the Heavenly Dragon had explained that the sword had a dragonslayer attribute. That would mean that the sword would be extremely effective against Dragons, and since Vali was his host and the user of Divine Dividing, that meant it would be a dangerous weapon for him to be hit by. The sword itself, well, one could hardly call it as such and instead could be seen as a heap of raw iron shaped like a sword, one longer than anything that any of them had ever seen. For a while, Krul heaved it by its hilt with ease, holding it in one hand as she tested it out by performing a few swings before she decided to wield it.

As of right now, the trio had retired to their own rooms for what they believed was the night time, and had taken the opportunity to rest up. Since this would be their first ever proper rest since they had entered this Dungeon, Vali, Nepgear and Krul EAGERLY took this opportunity to do so. Especially the silver haired hybrid who wanted to get some rest instead of worrying about the rest of their companions, since these 100 Dungeon Floors were LEAGUES harder than the ones they had cleared beforehand.

Still, as he lay on his bed, relishing in his first true rest without the need to keep his guard up in a LONG ass time, Vali contentedly smiled to himself. 'Ahhhhh, this is nice… I can see why people who scold those who try too hard to take a break, this is just what the doctor ordered for me...' Vali thought as he held his hand above his face, flexing it like it was a claw or something. Not a second later, a small silver flame manifested within the palm, blazing intensely yet also gently as well.

Looking into the flame, Vali pondered on it for a while, a pensive look on his face. Looking into fires was generally not a wise thing to do in the public consensus, just like gazing into the sun which was a big ball of fire and gas. However, he found there to be no problems with just gazing at his own flames. Perhaps that was why: they were HIS flames, so looking at his Hellfire meant that he was just staring at himself or something… who knows? This Hellfire however DID save his skin on more than a dozen occasions however, which meant to him that without this Bloodline thing his many battles would have been MUCH harder to accomplish. Still doable though, but still much more difficult.

Not to mention that if Krul hadn't been with them, things would have been even more troublesome, since Nepgear wasn't NEARLY as skilled as him due to her seemingly not having been outside much to get the battle experience she needed.

Speaking of Krul…

'Albion, did you notice? Whenever she looked at my Hellfire or Hellwind, that Vampire Queen got this… look… to her.' he thought to his partner.

'I would suggest not butting into this, Vali. If there is one thing which I know for a fact about members of the opposite sex, it would be that women's hearts have many secrets, more so than even Azi Dahaka's tome of forbidden spells and thats saying something. Still, it seems as though the use of your Bloodline invokes some… troubling emotions in her for some reason, and if I had to guess, then I would say that it pertains to her time with her people. Perhaps her Bloodline was why she had been betrayed in the first place?'

'Good guess, though whether or not its right has a good chance of being as good as mine… which is none at all.' Vali replied, frowning as he dismissed the Hellflame and put his hands behind his head, just behind the pillows of his bed. Even if he had a harem of girls with him, it didn't change the fact that women could be way too confusing to deal with, which was why he appreciated the male members of his family a lot since they saw things in a much… simpler light.

Simplicity is great and all… but if one led a simple life all the time, then Vali could see that as becoming boring rather fast. Not the kind of life he wished to live, that's for certain.

By the time morning came, or at least what they thought was morning since their sense of time had been skewed long ago, Vali woke up feeling more refreshed than he had been in a long while, a pleased smile on his face as he left his bedroom for the Temple building, where him and the girls had agree to meet up at in the morning so they could do their schedule for the day. Of course, they could have just left the Dungeon as there was apparently a teleporter built into the back of the Temple for that express purpose, however since they still had comrades in this Dungeon Vali and Nepgear had agreed to wait for them, believing them to be able to make it down here… though this was more on Vali's end than Nepgear's.

An understandable thing, honestly.

Upon exiting his room and making his way to the Temple entrance, the silver haired male expected to see the two companions he'd had for the past 100 floors already there. However, to his surprise he only found Nepgear there, shuffling about with her hands behind her repaired Sailor Dress. Apparently, she must have found some tools to repair her clothes or something during the night they had spent here, he mused internally whilst approaching her. "Yo, Nepgear." he greeted lazily, hands in his jacket pockets.

Her eyes slightly widened in surprise at the disturbance to the tranquil silence she had been enjoying, before she looked up and smiled brightly at Vali's approaching form. "Ah, morning Vali! You look like you slept well." She remarked, noticing just how… bright, the male looked instead of the near-dead zombie he had been before. It was a nice change, really, one she had quickly come to appreciate.

Vali shrugged his shoulders uncaringly, though looking into his eyes allowed her to see what he really felt towards his rest. "Meh, it was a decent rest." he mused, before glancing around and finally bringing up what he wanted to discuss with her. "Looks like the Vampire's not here, you know where she is? We were supposed to meet up here to discuss our schedules, since we might be staying here a while."

"Ah, we met up just a short while ago." Nepgear answered, before pointing to a nearby building which seemed to have some steam rising upwards. "She said she found an Onsen over there, so she wanted to have a bath there first before we talk."

Huh… Vali internally felt miffed about that, since this meeting had been something they had all agreed on. However, this soon got mollified by memories of Alpha and the others taking extreme care of their appearance since that was something girls took great pride in, thus Krul doing this seemed more understandable. 'Guess even women have their priorities and problems…' he thought to himself, humming. "I see… why didn't you join her, then? Would have thought you'd try to bond with her or something." he questioned Nepgear this time. Weren't girls more social than guys? He had seen that to be a thing amongst the female nobility, how they hung out with their friends while boys only stayed by their lonesome… though there were times when they were in groups, too, just not as often.

At this, Nepgear's shoulders slouched as she looked down to the ground beside her, shuffling on her feet. "Well… I would have, but… um, I don't get why but it feels like she's… unapproachable, you know?" she replied, trying to put her finger on it. It hadn't been as noticeable during their scaling the floors, but now that they had a chance to unwind Nepgear had quickly discovered that Krul was… a bit colder than she had anticipated. Maybe it was because of her past… she wasn't too sure. "I guess… it's like she's only with us to pay us back for freeing her. It's like she… doesn't see us as friends, or something. Goodness, I hope I haven't upset her or anything."

"Meh, I doubt that." Vali stated nonchalantly, getting her attention as Nepgear looked back at him. Honestly, he had heard a few times from IF and Compa how this girl was a… sensitive sort, even compared her to a doormat sometimes though not in jest, and now he could see why. Though, thinking back to his companions Vali found it easy to say the following. "Not everyone's good at socializing, girl. Remember she's been trapped here for a long while, so her social skills are bound to be rusty as all hell."

Yeah, it had been apparent since their early floor clearing that Krul… wasn't the best in terms of conversation, something which she had attributed to being alone in this seal for multiple thousands of years now. To the point where she didn't even mind Vali commenting about her age much, something which girls usually would frown and scold a guy for doing. This had IMMEDIATELY clued Vali in on her social ineptitude, which he understood and could relate to on some level since he wasn't a social kind of guy himself. In his case though, it was more due to looking down on the aristocratic society in general as well as loving fighting more than anything else… though, the girls in Vali's harem were an exception.

When she heard this, Nepgear understood somewhat as she nodded her head. "I… I can see that. She did say she was locked up here for a long time… wonder why though? I mean, she did say her people betrayed her and sealed her away because of her power… but…"

"Only Krul can tell us that, and besides it's not like we necessarily NEED to know every bit of her sob story." Vali stated, rolling his eyes. Sometimes, he hated it when people told him their backstories because in those times they'd explained it in a way which told him they expected sympathy from him, that they wanted him to comfort them and praise them for enduring hardship when that was something EVERYONE did on some level. "Besides, she has agreed to help us fight against ASIC, and that's enough for me if I'm honest. If she wants to talk more about herself to us, that's her choice."

Nepgear frowned at this, but didn't contest Vali on it. She wasn't a conflict-prone person by nature (unless she was in her SDD Form, because THAT was a different story), plus she didn't think she'd be able to win in a verbal contest with someone with as much life experience as Vali had. She remembered how IF had told her of the arguments he and Compa had about the morality of killing their enemies, of how it easily shattered her pure view of the world. It showed her that if it was necessary, Vali would be willing to do such things in order for his point to be brought across. She hoped in the future Vali wasn't forced into doing things which… could hurt those he cared about though, she didn't want to see him tread that path and, if what she had gone through with ASIC was any indication, there were people who could very well make that happen. "Alright, then… so, what do you wanna do now?"

Seeing that the CPU Candidate had wanted to change the topic, something he also wanted to do, Vali thought for a moment before an idea came to him. "How about we do some training? Your power should be replenished by now, so you should be able to transform again." he suggested, a slight grin on his lips as his eyes flashed with a maniacal glint to them.

A glint which sent chills down Nepgear's spine since, throughout her training with him, she had discovered just how formidable and sometimes sadistic Vali could be when fighting in any way, shape or form. However, her previous battles with this Dungeon's monsters as well as her lamenting her own weakness on multiple occasions returned to her mind, they served to fuel her resolve resulting in Nepgear nodding her head with a determined look on her face. "R-Right! Let's do it!" She proclaimed, much to Vali's approval. Just then, she got an idea which caused her eyes to sparkle with excitement, nearly causing Vali to jump in surprise at the sudden mood change. "Oh-oh-oh! Um, can Grimlock be there? Can he, can he, can he?" She questioned, getting up in Vali's space with literal galaxies for eyes. "He looks so cool and he makes me want to see how he works and…"

"Okay, hold your horses, girlie." Vali stated seriously, his voice that of a drill instructor while poking her in the forehead with his right hand. This served to snap Nepgear out of her previous state, prompting him to continue. "Grimlock can watch, but NO tinkering with him, alright? You DO remember that the last time you tried to mess with his machinery he almost scorched you alive with his fire breath attack, remember?" Yeah, after Grimock's activation Nepgear had been in a similar state to the one she had been before, apparently this was due to her being a bit of a mechanic and an inventor, specializing in hardware. He had figured as much since she had created Luxon (something which he felt VERY grateful to her for), but apparently it was also a bit of an obsession to the point where not even a combination of himself AND Krul could have stopped her from trying to tinker with Grimlock's machinery. To the point where the Robot had spewed fire from the mouth part to try and incinerate her had she not dodged in time. Ever since, Grimlock had been a bit wary of her, though Vali found some level of amusement from the sight.

"R-Right…"

"No need to be so sad with me, young lady. We'll be training for the whole morning, so hop to it soldier!"

"Y-Yes sir!"

...You know that feeling of underestimating something? Perhaps this could be applied here, for instead of until Krul returned to them, but their session lasted for the rest of the morning. Vali and Nepgear had commenced one of their many sparring sessions, the former proving superior to the latter like it was something she should never forget. During this session, both of them had commenced testing and evaluating their skills so that they could develop their own techniques to further improve their arsenal. If they could make sure to have as many options as they could then it'd be REAL hard to deal with them and they would become quite the powerhouses, which would mean that few people would want to mess with them.

On Nepgear's side, she wanted to get better at handling her SDD Form's sword especially with it's lightning prowess. Conjuring Lightning and Manipulating it was all well and good, but if she didn't understand how to properly apply it then she was just wasting it's potential. That had been why she had been trying to see if she could magnify the speed of her arm swinging with her Lightning so that she could slash at lightning speeds. In this session, Nepgear (in her SDD Form) had aimed to improve her close combat effectiveness since thanks to her ability to fly, she had high mobility which would be able to make up for her lack of proper ranged techniques.

As for Vali, he wanted to develop a new series of Techniques using his Lucifer Bloodline, one which could be used in conjunction with his Mana Series which would further diversify his potential on the battlefield. Also, since this was to improve his OWN power, he didn't focus too much on using that other dark power he had used against Judge… or rather, Vali still wasn't sure how he could put it to use, resulting in little progress being made there. However, the same could NOT be said for his Bloodline, his Hellfire and Hellwind being QUITE compatible with his Mana Series resulting in some of its traits being passed on over to the new Series he had been developing. Of course, this one session would not be enough to completely develop a whole slew of techniques just like that, but it was a start.

By the time that the sparring session had ended, the two exhausted and sweaty fighters had been kneeling in the middle of the facility, a large open space with Grimock lying down in a slightly curved angle to watch them. Soon however, their peace got disrupted by the arrival of footsteps, letting them look to see Krul walking up to them, hands on her hips. "Nice workout you two had going on there." she commented blankly, making it difficult to tell what she was feeling inside.

"Well, it's something we've been doing for a while, after all she needs to have her skills developed so she can fight better against our enemies." Vali stated, gesturing to Nepgear with one of his MSs, something which she nodded against. Still, now that Krul was here Vali decided to speak with her regarding the onsen she had found. "Guess that since you're here, you've finished using the onsen?" he questioned, though it sounded more like a statement.

A statement which Krul nodded at. "Yeah, found it last night, so I decided to freshen up a bit before meeting you two at the Temple. Though I guess there was more work to do than I expected, since it took me all morning to get myself ready." she explained, which also allowed Vali to take a look at what she was wearing. This allowed him further proof that some kind of tailor area had been found by the girls, because Krul now no longer wore his jacket.

Instead, she wore a short black, frilly style dress with a layer of white ruffles over black ruffles of the skirt. The top had a raindrop-shaped opening between her breasts, the straps of the top crossing before reaching her neck on either side. The top also had an open back with two x-shaped crossing stitches tightening it at her waist. A strip of pink went down either side at the front of her top and ended at bows above her ruffles. Five golden buttons were distributed evenly, going down the top on either side between the pink strips. She had a white collar of lace parted in the center of her neck that reached over her collar bones, bound by a pink ribbon with a large bow on the right side of her neck. It had a golden oval decoration in the center and a pair of ribbons trailing from it that reached her hips.

Along her arms, Krul wore detached, loose black sleeves that were puffed up under her shoulders and ran past her hands, becoming wider toward the end, two gold buttons at the cuffs. A black ribbon was tied into a bow at the top outermost sides of these sleeves, and its tails reached the length of the sleeves. White lace frills decorated the tops of the sleeves, and longer white frills hung out under the sleeves. The white also peeked out in a slit at the puffy part of the sleeves under either ribbon. Under these sleeves, she wore a pair of black gloves that were tighter against her skin and reached her knuckles. Each one had a pair of pink stripes running down from her knuckles to the end of the glove. They can only be seen when the loose sleeves over them are slid back. On her legs, Krul wore tall black boots that looked to be folded below her knees, forming a slit down to either knee and finally, to add a bit of height to her the Boots had tall golden stilettos.

"I see… Vali mused, before glancing towards Nepgear and noticing how sweaty she looked now that she was back in her human form, had been since they'd concluded this sparring session. "Why don't you use it now, Nepgear? I'll use it last since I want to get some more training done… also do NOT try anything with Grimlock without me looking, for your own sake…" Vali stated, though he narrowed his eyes at her and issued a warning when he noticed that maniacal glint returning to her eyes.

Becoming sullen at the thought of not being able to drag Grimlock back to the armor for 'maintenance', Nepgear nonetheless nodded as a bout of excitement filled her at the prospect of finally getting this dirt off her. Thus, she turned and dashed towards the Onsen area, intending on really 'refreshing' herself.

This left Vali and Krul alone in the makeshift 'training' area, and for a moment a bout of silence had dominated the atmosphere between them… that is, until the former Vampire Queen surveyed the surroundings with a critical eye. "I'm surprised you didn't end up destroying this whole place." She remarked, eyeing some of the signs of the sparring session more than others… ones which had been caused by Vali's Hellwind and Hellfire.

Something which the hybrid noticed, but didn't question as he instead did a few stretches to loosen his body up. Part of him was surprised that she hadn't called him stinky or something, since he had heard from her that Vampires had strong senses of smell so they could hunt their prey easier. Maybe she had grown used to foul scents in this Dungeon? "Yeah, well I would rather keep this place intact, plus I have a lot more self control than you would expect from me. Even if I'm a battle maniac, I still have restraint." he responded.

"Truly." Krul commented, before she stayed silent for a bit. Now, this may as well be their first civil conversation without the threat of monsters interrupting them, she found herself at a loss for words in what she could talk to him about. Since she'd been imprisoned for centuries, her social skills seemed to have deteriorated greatly, not to mention that beforehand she had been wanting to ask him about a lot of things, but right now her brain just refused to form them now that she was here. An annoying thing, which had reminded her of her teenage years so long ago… and she had ceased being an emotional teenage girl for MANY centuries now. Then, she proceeded to finally ask him a question which had come to her mind easier than the others. "By the way, these companions of yours…"

"What about them?"

"This may be out of line for me, but can we trust them?"

"... Yes, I know them all very well save for two of them, but they're not the kind to betray others. Aside from them, I grew up with my companions, so I can definitely call them trustworthy."

At this, Krul furrowed her brows, her eyes showing doubt about Vali's statement "I see… I'll judge that for myself, then. For power, even family members may end up pointing their fangs at one another…" she declared ominously.

Her words caused Vali's eyes to narrow at her, but he didn't comment for a while as he pondered this statement. It didn't sound like the former Vampire Queen wanted to sow discord amongst him and the girls because if she did it wouldn't have worked, plus she would have tried doing so with him and Nepgear if she were that kind of person. No, she struck him as the kind of girl who had a lot of logic and knowledge which people weren't commonly aware of, knowledge she would use to her advantage whenever the situation decreed it. As a former Queen, Vali could indeed feel a sense of 'dominance' in her presence, like she was used to being in control of things, which probably made trying to co-exist with him and Nepgear as an equal rather difficult for her. He could tell this was something she was struggling with by remembering their past battles throughout the floors, how she struggled to 'fit in' to their tactics. "Speaking of fangs, do you need any blood?" he questioned, trying to move on from this subject.

An action which Krul didn't seem to mind all that much. "I am satisfied for the moment, though I'll let you know if I require some more." her mood did indeed lighten up at the prospect of drinking blood, which he supposed was similar to what a guy was like when they got to eat good cooking after a long day's work. "Though, I will say that you might want to take a rest, using that Bloodline of yours seems to be something your body is still trying to get used to after all this time." She commented, looking him up and down.

"Yeah, I only recently found out about this Bloodline of mine, actually, so my still adjusting to it makes sense..."

Whilst he had said this, Vali had started removing the upper layer of his clothing, since it had become too uncomfortable with his sweat staining them thanks to his spar with Nepgear. This resulted in Krul getting a good look at Vali's upper body in its full glory, the glistening muscles that looked primed and ready for combat, as well as how his abs looked rock solid and his biceps looked so streamlined that they may as well be weapons all on their own. To her credit, Krul had the decency to not stare too much, though she had to comment about the sight with a tinge of pink on her cheeks. "I see… you must have trained thoroughly, to have a body like that."

Vali smirked at this, glancing down at his right forearm with a look of pride. "It's one of the things I'm proud of the most. Trained since I was young to wield the power I have, forged my reputation as the 'unbeatable prince' with it…" he told her, before frowning when he remembered the invasion of Eden. "Though, defeat isn't something I'm not familiar with, since a while ago I failed in protecting a City from ASIC. It's become the Gamindustri Graveyard, now…"

Krul frowned at this, remembering when he had told her that story. Looked like much had changed in the multi thousands of years she had been locked up in here. "If you intend to continue training, I believe that my assistance could be beneficial for the both of us." she offered, pulling out her sword which she had named 'Dragonslayer', causing Vali to involuntarily tense up. "Knowing the limits of one's Bloodline is essential for its proper mastery… although, take note to not rely on it too much because that will eventually spell your downfall on the battlefield."

'There she goes, going on about Bloodlines like they're the shit…' Vali thought, a flash of irritation erupting within his gut though he suppressed it moments later. Looked like she had a bit of history with Bloodlines themselves, not just her own, from what he could tell anyways. Still, her offering to help him with his Bloodline sounded quite tempting since she had been his senior in that regard… as well as many other things, he bet, so he decided to take her up on her offer despite his draconian instincts screaming at him not to. "Sure, that sounds good. Hope you can keep up with me…"

"Oh, believe me, I will 'cub'..." Krul taunted with a smirk, getting one in return as the two charged at one another.

In the following days, they trio spent their time training, relaxing and talking with one another, trying to get into a better understanding of each other. Well, this was more for Vali and Nepgear whilst Krul remained somewhat stiff towards them, though not as much as initially.

After those few days had passed, change in their routines came in the form of the girls finally arriving at the last dungeon floor. Once they had defeated the beast outside and had entered, they got greeted by the sight of Vali and Nepgear alive and well, which they were happy to see. Though they had been confused on how Vali had gotten those marks on his face and on his body to which he had promptly explained to them, each of them accepting it since his power had always been rather unpredictable. They had also been surprised to see Krul when they had been introduced, as she was a real life Vampire which they had thought had all gone extinct when the CPU White Heart slaughtered them.

They were at a large magic circle as it was the only transportation to get out of the dungeon as it glows before they were finally out of the dungeon, getting the Mascots power. One down, three to go.

They teleported at a cavern which means they are out of the dungeon as Vali then tried his communication again to see if it works or not. He heard some buzz before he heard Luxons voice

'Master you have called me?'

"Finally, how long were we gone for?"

'Approximately about five days since you have entered the forbidden dungeon.'

"That long huh….. Has there been any attacks on the ship?"

'Yes, only two raids from the ASIC attempted to see if they could capture the ship but was unlucky as they were dealt with. There are no survivors.'

"I see….. Pick us up and set coordinates to Planeptune Basilicom."

'Acknowledged, getting coordinates to your location and set to Basilicom.'

"I see you have indeed secured the power of Planetupe Mascots, however from the report you told me..."

Back inside the Planeptune Basilciom's living quarters, the said half Devil, his companions including Krul, were seated in a circle with Histoire floating in the middle of them. They had just finished explaining the situation which had taken place during that Dungeon, to which the Planeptune Oracle gained a whole new set of worries. It had been a wonder why she hadn't developed any gray hairs from all the stress she had endured.

Vali meanwhile, didn't have the same thoughts as he frowned at Histoire. "That the ASIC knows about the Mascots existence and the truth about the deity of sin, you knew about this didn't you Oracle of Planetupe?" He questioned, but it was more of a statement.

A statement which the following response from the Planeptune Oracle caused a new wave of tension in the atmosphere. "... yes I do."

"Then why didn't you tell us about this deity which could potentially cause mass destruction to Gamindustri?" Vali questioned in slight anger.

"It's because it was meant to be forgotten, Vali. That Deity caused so much destruction back when it first ran wild, and those who would find information about her would be influenced by her into worshiping her. This has happened on multiple occasions shortly after her first defeat by the CPUs hands, which is one of the reasons why any information related to the Deity of Sin had to be destroyed, so that no one could ever revive her."

Before Vali could respond to this, Krul took over as she crossed one leg over the other. "And you're doing a great job keeping it secured, now the ASIC knows about the Deity of Sin and is going crazy in their attempts to revive her." she stated, narrowing her eyes at the Planeptune Oracle.

For her part, Histoire felt a predatory gaze fall onto her thanks to the former Vampire Queen, and she knew for a FACT how dangerous she had been during the Vampire's golden age of existence before their demise by White Heart's hands. Upon learning of her story by her own admission, Histoire had nearly gotten a heart attack, not to mention the records she had of this woman's power and stature did NOT do the real experience any justice. In the end, she could only lower her head slightly, something she usually didn't do and people usually did to her. She WAS in the presence of pure royalty, after all. "I…...understand it is part that they discovered it, your majesty. Your grandfather trusted me to keep this information from being discovered." she admitted, shamefully.

Unable to bear the sight of the one whom she could consider her mother figure/guardian being scolded so harshly, Nepgear hurriedly interjected. "It's not your fault Histoire, no one is blaming you. If anything, they might have discovered this behind your back." she tried to say.

"Maybe so, Nepgear."

"...hhhaaa the past is the past now, lets just go with the present, have you discovered the other mascots on where they are?"

"Hmmmmmm…. Unfortunately, not. I have been keeping tabs on the Mascot of Planetupe, but the others have been relegated to the Oracles in other nations." Histoire explained.

Krul nodded her head thoughtfully, seeing the sense in that. Despite her trust issues, she could see the sense in using the leaders of other nations to monitor one Mascot each since they would be spread out over the entire world of Gamindustri. "I see."

"I suggest going to Lastation where you seek the mascot there, oh and also there is a CPU candidate there in Lastation as you already have Rom and Ram for cooperation. But the other Oracles are still new, being promoted in only the recent years,so they might not know where the Mascot is."

"... Fine we'll go to Lastation, is there anything else you might want to add?" Vali asked.

"Hmmmm, not at this moment, although I'm a bit worried about there being a lack of communication between our nations. It's like they're retreating to themselves, and that usually happens when something is going on. But for now rest up for today, tomorrow you shall leave to Lastation."