Chapter 30

Nepgear point of view timeskip 3 days

"This is getting ridiculous, first we had to find those rare items, and we can't find this fucking labyrinth!"

"Swear!"

"Calm down Alexia, we won't know for sure until we find it."

Like the bold wording said, 3 days had passed since their visiting of Mina back in the Lowee Basilicom, 3 days since they had started their long, tedious search for anything, ANYTHING related to the Dungeon which was said to house the Lowee Mascot: The World Labyrinth. Apparently, according to Mina this Dungeon had been housing the Lowee Mascot for a long ass time, and had the same amount of care put into it as the Planeptune Mascot's resting place. Furthermore, the Lowee Mascot hadn't been seen for a long time now, so there was no telling how well it was currently doing, which didn't bode well for the Party all things considered.

Shortly into their search however, one major problem arose…

And that was that they couldn't find the World Labyrnth's location.

Something which had utterly infuriated Alexia though she had spent the last few days keeping her emotions in check until she just couldn't anymore. Hence her following tirade at the 'leader' of the Shadow Garden Organisation. "And when has that been helping anyone, Alpha?" She retorted, going on before her fellow noblewoman could respond. "First, Mina couldn't give us the location because she basically forgot and didn't even write it down and now we're finding a labyrinth which is supposed to be at this location! Where the fuck is it?!" she yelled at the end.

Right now, the Party had been travelling across a large snowy plain, clad in their woolliest clothing so that they could preserve their body heat and keep warm. Though, they nonetheless kept releasing small clouds of breath from their mouths every time they exhaled. They had travelled to this area thanks to the coordinates imputed onto one of IF's phones by Mina's doing, coordinates which had detailed the last known location of the World Labyrinth Dungeon, although like what Alexia had been going on about they hadn't been able to find even a SHRED of evidence pointing to this being the right place.

After a couple days of searching, the tensions between the girls had begun running high, to the point where even Ram deigned it necessary to stay quiet and not piss anyone off for fear of being punished… punished in a worse sense than what she'd been used to normally.

"Swear!" On their side of things though, Compa and Rem yelled with their own pouts for the second time in this conversation… though the amount of times they (Compa even more so) had tried to keep this story curse-free had to be in the hundreds at this point.

Let's just say that she had been accompanying some people with… tempers, putting it mildly.

Something which became much more obvious when Alexia turned her fierce gaze over at the young Nurse while flipping her off, uncaring for the fact that they had kids with them. "I'll spank your asses until you can't walk anymore if you keep saying that." she stated through gnashed teeth and multiple veins bulging on her forehead.

"Eep!"

Groaning in annoyance as Compa shrieked and then retreated behind IF where she thought it'd be safe, Alexia sighed as she turned her head back to the blonde Elf, a dry look in her eyes as she put her hands on her hips. "Do YOU have any idea where it is, Alpha?" she questioned blankly.

Then, when Alpha tried to think of an answer, a groan escaped her lips combined with a hiss at the revelation of her fellow noblewoman being right about this. "I…. fuck, your right."

"Exactly."

Over on her side, IF looked down at her phone with brows furrowed in confusion. "But it should be here, the location system told us we would find it here." She once again protested, showing the girls the Phone's screen to provide proof for her claims. Normally IF would have hesitated in doing something like this, but given the situation at hand she just didn't have the drive to retain herself much.

However, something quickly caught Alpha's eye, prompting her to cautiously and warily ask the following question. "When has it been updated IF?"

"Let me check…. Three years. Shit."

"So we're following an outdated map which hasn't been updated in the past three years... perfect." Alexia growled, crossing her arms under her chest and looking around for anything that could even HINT at a possible pathway, though internally she just wanted to go back to civilization and have a nice warm bath. Something which had been said to be one of Lowee's tourist attractions since the warm hotspring climate was a rarity in these lands.

"Ah poop at this rate we'll never find the dungeon and mascot."

Compa meanwhile tried to keep everyone's spirits up, her attitude almost sickenly positive as she made the following statement for motivation purposes. "Don't worry guys we find it for sure like we did before!"

Unfortunately, she wasn't a certain white haired, blue eyed katana wielding half Demon who wanted power over anything else, hence why her words had the exact opposite effect. "That was when we had information about it, Compa. We can't be sure if it's correct or not, we were only lucky we found those near-impossible items." Alpha explained, sighing wearily at the fruitless results their search was presenting before them.

"But still…."

At this point, Nepgear decided to suggest something. She did so because she honestly thought that there weren't any other methods possible for them, plus even this one felt like a bit of a longshot in her eyes. "Why don't we gather some information back at the city, guys?"

"Have you not heard what I said, Nepgear?"

"I know Alpha, but it can't hurt unless we try. I mean I don't want to be rude but it would take us many days or weeks at this rate, something we can't afford. At this rate, we won't be able to find the Dungeon ourselves, I'm only suggesting not making it an order."

"..."

It didn't look like Alpha found Nepgear's alternative very plausible, judging by her expression. However, Alexia felt the exact opposite as she decided to try and vouch for the Planeptune CPU Candidate. "She's right, Alpha. Nepgear does have a point, it would take us many days if we try to find this Dungeon alone. Normally it wouldn't be a problem for us, especially with Shadow Garden's vast information network, but with the information about Ariforie and ASIC's goals alongside our own time constrictions, we have to hurry before it's too late."

"...(SIGH) I suppose you're right Alexia, but it's too risky with those ASIC running around, we can't tell whether they are our enemies or allies."

"I know but we have to take those chances if we don't hurry…. Then Arfoire will be walking among us."

"Maybe…"

And so, with their third search for the World Labyrinth Dungeon a failure like the last few attempts, the girls decided to walk back to civilization where they could possibly gather information on where they can find the Dungeon housing the Mascot.

The sounds of their footwear crunching over the snow could be heard around them while their legs lightly burned to showcase how aching they presented themselves from the constant use. However since they had nowhere to rest for the time being, the girls had to press on, even if Rom and Ram wanted to complain a single glance from Alexia had shut them up.

While they walked, Nepgear then had a thought enter her mind, and to her relief she found that it wasn't about the Mascot's possible location. Her relief had mostly to do with the fact that she believed everyone wanted to take a break from THAT discussion for the time being. "You know, I wonder how Vali's been doing. It's been a week since we last saw him… I wonder if he's having as much trouble as we have been?" she mused to herself.

At this, the atmosphere gradually started to lighten up as amused chuckles and smirks filled the group. "I'm thinking he is on a battle spree right now." Alexia remarked with a chuckle, Alexia agreeing with a nod and a chuckle of her own.

Though this just caused the Planeptune CPU Candidate to tilt her head in confusion. "Battle spree?" she questioned in confusion.

This caused both Alexia and the blonde Elf to glance at one another before they directed their combined gazes at their resident physically eldest-looking CPU Candidate. "Have you seen the look on his face whenever he fights?" The former asked.

Nepgear nodded at this, not sure what they were going on about. "Well yeah, it looks as if he was excited or something." she replied.

Over on her side of things, IF's eyes widened when she began to piece together what the two girls had been trying to tell Nepgear about, her heart feeling suspiciously heavier in her chest. "Wait a minute… don't tell me." she began to say.

She didn't need to finish though, that task had been done by a more-than-happy Alexia, who smirked smugly at the brown haired Guild Agent. "Yup he is a battle maniac." she stated.

PAT!

The sound of a hand meeting a face could be heard within the large snowy plain when IF facepalmed herself. Hard. "I should've figured that to be the case when he explained he didn't want the credit." she muttered in dismay under her breath.

Meanwhile, their resident Nurse just tilted her head, visible question marks on top of said body part. "What's a battle maniac?"

"... you've been sheltered your entire life haven't you Compa?" Alpha questioned dryly, refusing to believe someone could be this naive.

Something which made the Nurse pout in her direction while puffing her cheeks out. "Hey I'm not! I was seventeen until I was allowed to get out of the house!" she exclaimed, turning her head to the side in a huffy mannerism while crossing her arms under her sizable bosom.

Alpha looked deadpanned at the Nurse's answer, before she looked towards IF who put her hand on her face… again. "Two words: her father."

Now THAT made sense, Alpha realized. She remembered how protective Vali's father was over his wife whenever she had to go outside the family's territory for any length of time. Plus there was the trope in anime and manga about how protective fathers were over their daughters, something she'd found to be stupid… but aparently, it didn't just happen in fiction. "I see… a battle maniac is someone who loves and lives for battle."

Compa gasped at this, putting a hand over her mouth. Now that she heard that, she thought back to some of the mannerisms which the Unbeatable Prince had shown during their early days of fighting together. Then, she remembered how he had been like whenever they fought against enemies back in the Orcus Labyrinth. Through all those times, not once could she recall him being afraid to jump into the thick of it, heck it looked to her like Vali relished it. Now she understood why. "Oh my, he's like those fighting guys in street fighter?"

Alexia nodded. "You could say that."

Now THAT caused the Nurse to go pale with fright, especially at the possibility of Vali getting himself injured from one of his fights. "Oh no! He must be so badly hurt by now!" she exclaimed urgently.

However, that urgency didn't seem to reach the others though, maybe a little in Nepgear but not in Alexia and CERTAINLY not in Alpha. Said blonde Elf shrugged her shoulders at this. "Ehhh nothing could get through that thick head of his when he finds a good fight. I've honestly lost count how many male suitors fought Vali for our affection."

Hearing this caused Nepgear to hum in thought, from what she had been hearing she began to understand a bit more about her training partner… and the more she learned, the more similarities to her personality in her SDD Form began to crop up. "And how did that go?" she asked, wondering what the outcome.

"He beat all of them without a scratch." Alexia stated bluntly, having remembered hearing about those times in rumours and hearsay. Though she had later gotten confirmation from Alpha who nodded her head in agreement with her blunt statement.

Nepgear practically beamed at this. "Woooooaaaahhhhh! Vali must be strong!" She exclaimed in awe.

Awe which did NOT seem to be the case when looking at Ram's expression, the pink wearing girl huffing while looking to the side. "Tch! He might be strong but he won't match against me!" she proclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out in pride.

Pride which took a major hit when Rom stuttered out a question to her younger twin. "D-didn't he f-fought against us a-and win Rem?"

"Guh!... Don't remind me Rom."

While Ram got her pride wounded by her sister, Nepgear then went and worriedly asked the two noblewomen the source of their trust in the silver haired hybrid. "But how do you know Vali is alright?"

For a moment, the said girls looked at one another, before they looked back at the Planeptune CPU Candidate. "Let me tell you this Nepgear: what's the difference between thinking and reacting?" Alexia questioned.

This prompted Nepgear to blink owlishly a couple times, before she quite LITERALLY pulled out a brown cap labelled a 'thinking cap' (prompting multiple sweat drops from the girls) before she placed it on top of her head and began to think. "Ummmmmm thinking is something which you think internally and react is something you react to outside stimulus."

Alpha nodded her head at this definition as she stepped forwards, placing a hand on Nepgear's shoulders. "Well we learned something important that Vali told us: 'thinking is just something a coward would try to do and can interfere with what you feel is right, so instead of that just don't think and react already so that way it won't get in your way of what you feel is right.'" she explained, quoting one of the things which Vali had told her during their time together.

And that had been a LONG ass time.

Absorbing that knowledge, Nepgear's eyes sparkled with awe and wonder at the intelligence behind those words. Words which had left her speechless, though that couldn't be said for IF who whistled under her breath before commenting the following opinion. "Huh, a wise guy he is." she remarked.

Her remark garnered her a knowing look from the two girls, before they turned back to Nepgear and Alpha continued off from the brunette's statement. "Sometimes he is, but the point is we don't think how he is fine, we feel that he is already getting close to his goal of getting the Lastation Mascot." she explained, pulling her hand back from Nepgear's shoulder.

This allowed the CPU Candidate to finally get herself back into reality as she blinked multiple times, momentarily confused about her momentary lapse before she remembered what had just happened. "I-I see..." she stuttered.

"So Nepgear do you think he is fine or you feel he is great?"

"I think….. I feel Vali is fine." Nepgear finally said after a moment of silence, placing her hand where her heart would be to try and 'listen to her heart' tell her what her 'feelings' wanted to say regarding the boy's safety.

Alexia nodded her head in approval at this. "That's perfect, as long as you react instead of thinking you'll know when the answer comes to you."

"I see….. Maybe I should do that more often."

After hearing these words from their resident Planeptune CPU Candidate, Alpha nodded her head in understanding. "Indeed, anyway we're close to the city, once we're there all of us have to be in separate groups in order to gather information on where we can find the labyrinth."

"Got it Alpha."

Unfortunately just only a few feet away from them, was someone buried under the snow. None of the girls noticed this lump of snow, not even the eyes which peered out from within them. Once the owner of those eyes saw that they were far enough away, the owner jumped out from their makeshift hiding place.

It was Underling.

"Haha! You girls will never find it because w-we ah-ah ACHOO! (SNIFF) brrrrrr! Dammit I t-told you t-to get enough money to b-buy some clothes!" she tried to say to act all tough and all… before she sneezed and shuddered under the cold Lowee Climate, hugging herself and shuddering like an anime character would before she glared at the snow pile like there were something there with her.

Something which soon became proven right when another figure came out of the snow. This figure had the appearance of what looked like some kind of dark grey mouse, sporting red eyes and two white whiskers on each cheek. The coloring from his shoulder to his hands were black while two small maroon-colored bat wings protruded out from his back, though whether or not he could use them for flight remained to be seen. On his chest, there looked to be some kind of red and yellow broken heart design, while from his tailbone there looked to be a thin, black tail that has something similar to a big, black, broken heart in the end. The coloring from his knees to his feet was light red with two stripes on each side.

Currently, he looked to be shivering as well, obviously another victim from Lowee's Climate. A small sneeze escaped his lips as he glared back at the green haired girl whom he was obviously affiliated with. Why else would he have been with her? "I-its n-not my fault that y-you used that money t-to buy many clothes a-and go to a spa!"

If one couldn't tell by the glare that Underling sported right now, it became obvious that she did NOT approve of being told she was at fault. "Oh your p-putting the blame on me now!?"

"Of course I am! ACHOO! You spend all our money we got from the ASIC for just clothes! Why do you need so many freakin clothes!?"

"S-shut up! I-I don't need to answer you! You even used our spare money to play at the arcade!"

"It's called p-practicing! I-I could use those moves that c-could be useful!"

"I-I'll show w-what's useful! ACHOO!... right after we get the hell out of here before we get a cold."

"I love to agree with you but the city is about five miles away and we can't get spotted by those girls and the candidate's."

"... ahhh fuck. Why does this happen to me? Are the authors trying to make our lives miserable?"

(This one is not from us this time. You're the one who's not acting like a proper adult.)

(Hunter: does some fortnight dances to the fortnite theme)

(Gahahahahha!)

"I know you two are making fun of me!"

(Hunter: shifts to T-posing for a few seconds before shifts into the 'dante michael jackson dance' with the hat, coat, shirt, scarf, pants and boots)

(We aren't…. maybe)

"What was that!? I know I heard that and what was that dance for?!"

(Oh look at the time, time to reveal Valis point)

"Don't ignore me you bastar-"

Vali point of view

On Vali's side of things, he currently resided within Louis's research facility, him and the others having returned there after the events back within Nicola's Crypt. Right after they had entered the memory, it had been shown that Nicola had already been a Successor for a long time, and had to keep himself strong in order to fight off the urge to Frenzy and keep Mia safe. If Nicola lived the outside world Vali could've seen himself becoming friends with this kid, maybe introduced him to his little brother too.

After they had seen the memories detailing everything that the kid had gone through for his sister, the real Nicola had appeared before them, happy to see his sister awake. They had some moments together before he was turned to stone. Once they exited out of the memory Nicola was revived as his knight monster form, but this time he was in control and fell asleep like Aurora. As for Mia herself, the female Revenant had been thankful that the group, mostly Vali, but Vali had waved her gratitude off. He'd reasoned that if she hadn't led them there, then they wouldn't have found a Successor so easily so they were even.

Currently, he was talking with Mia, joined by Yakumo, about some of his stories about the outside world. "... and then, once this little fucker wouldn't leave me alone-I swear I thought he was gay but, unfortunately, he was waiting for a perfect chance to blackmail me. After exposing him, I went to him and gave him the worst wedgie ever and hung him in front of the entire school." Veli narrated, grinning like a shark as he remembered one of the more… migraine-inducing annoyances he had made pay the price for irritating him.

Didn't help that he had the gall to call Alpha and Emilia whores in front of him either.

Opposite him, Mia and Yakumo had their own reactions to this with the former giggling behind a hand over her lips. "(GIGGLE) that must've been really painful for him wasn't it?" she questioned in mirth, though internally a feminine part of her cheered at the thought of such a scumbag getting what he deserved.

Yakumo grinned, though he also looked like he wanted to cringe at the same time as he held his backside in a fit of phantom pains. He didn't get why himself, not completely anyways, but he just KNEW one of those would be painful, and he quite liked his ass the way it was thank you very much. "Of course it was. He not only got a wedgie but was seen all over the class. It must be very humiliating wasn't it Vali?"

The silver haired Hybrid nodded, mentally chuckling at the images of that said person being hung in front of everyone to see. The utter humiliation he had suffered then must be extending to the rest of his life too, plus there likely weren't many girls who would be willing to give him the time of day with that stain on his reputation either. Thinking about it, one silver lining about this whole ASIC situation was that he didn't have to deal with countless women pestering him to become their servant, though internally he believed this to only be a temporary thing and once things calmed down post ASIC's destruction, he would have to return to dealing with that shit. "Inde-"

CLICK!

Before Vali could continue though, he was interrupted when they heard a door opening as they looked to see who it was before they saw someone entering their base. It was the woman, Eva. Her face had black marks on it and her eyes had a faint red glow.

"What's she doing here?" Vali sneered, anger bursting forth inside of him as he summoned a single MS to go and strike her down. However, before he did so, the woman spoke something which made him give pause, halting his movements and causing Vali to narrow his eyes suspiciously.

"(PANT)(PANT) please…... jack….(PANT) you have to save jack!"

Those words pretty much took whatever strength Eva had left to say apparently, for not long after saying them she fell down to the ground as Mia quickly went to her. Upon examining her condition however, the blonde petite girl's eyes widened in horror before she swung her head around to look to the others, her hair swaying in the same direction. "She's about to frenzy!" she yelled out, alerting the rest of them to the danger of the situation.

Louis immediately went to her side, kneeling beside her before picking the woman up bridal style. He then looked to the rest of them, his gaze stern and resolute in its seriousness. "Let's take her to the back. We can treat her there." he told the rest of them.

THIS did not sit well with Vali as he widened his eyes again, this time more out of shock than actual anger although there had been plenty of that mixed in. "Hold on, she's the enemy here. Why should we help her?" he questioned through gritted teeth, pointing his MS at the woman's neck like he wanted to just decapitate her right on the spot.

Louis meanwhile, had already prepared a counter to this argument that Vali had presented, almost like he had known that he would protest against helping Eva from the start. Though to be fair that wasn't too hard to figure out either, the researcher bet that in any other circumstance the other Revenants in this hideout would have been the same way. However right now each of them had been assigned to different tasks and were currently minding their own business. "She may be an enemy Vali, but she's about to Frenzy and came all the way here,so she must have something to tell us. Plus if she Frenzies here, this facility may be destroyed or at least significantly damaged in the ensuing battle." he explained.

Those words caused Vali to give pause, the male pondering them until he realized the logic behind them. Sure, he and them could deal with a single Greater Lost rather easily but the destruction and probably life lost as a result of that battle wouldn't be doing them many favors. Not to mention that he had a point regarding Evas intentions for coming here. "... fine, but if she backstabs us then I won't hesitate to incinerate her." he relented, although Vali did promise what he would do if things were to go south.

Something which Louis completely agreed with since this concerned the people of the research facility he ran. "Got it."

Later

A while later, Eva woke up not too long after she had been successfully treated and as of right now she sat on the couch, sipping some tea. She looked like a feeble twig right now though, as Louis, Yakumo, Mia, Vali, and Krul sat/ stood around her. Not to mention how Krul and Vali kept a watchful eye on her.

Regardless, after she looked up from the tea she had been given with a remorseful look on her face."I apologize for barging in like that." she said in apology, lowering her head briefly.

Yakumo decided to get to the point instead of all this wishy washy stuff though, he didn't like this any more than Vali did in all frankness. "What's going on exactly?" He questioned, with the silver haired hybrid and the former Vampire Queen scowling as she nodded her head in agreement.

For a moment, Eva remained silent until she gazed directly into Louis's piercing red eyes and asked the following question. "... do you know about the cavern underneath the cathedral?"

Momentarily surprised by the question, the researcher nodded his head after retrieving one of his maps from the Table, opening it and looking up that specific area. "Yes, it's one of our locations to go so we can see where a possible Successor is. Why are you asking?" he questioned after finding it.

Though, he wouldn't expect the following response from her. "We…..we were attacked there. Jack lured them away so that I could (COUGH)! (COUGH)!" she tried to say, before breaking into a coughing fit.

"Slow down before you get a sore throat."

While Mia tried to play the calm one in the situation, Vali narrowed his eyes at the silver haired woman. "Attacked? Wait what were you doing down there in the first place?" he questioned neutrally. So far she hadn't done anything, but that didn't mean he trusted her right now. Oh, he trusted her about as far as he could throw her.

"... Our mission is the preservation of the Successors and their Relics… it is not a new phenomenon for a Successor to go into a Frenzy." she eventually replied to him, although that just confused the Half Devil even more.

A confused Vali leads to an irritable one very easily, something which Eva soon saw first hand when the half Devil snarled at her, his eyes narrowing as KI began to radiate from his form. "What do you mean, woman?"

As much as his killing intent intimidated her since she knew that in a fight she would be no match for him, Eva mentally forced herself to remain calm which had to be an admirable feat in and of itself. Thus, she continued explaining her side of things. "There has always been a need for someone to monitor them…. And to stop them if they ever begin to turn."

"Wait hold on, you and this Revenant have been monitoring the Successors?" Yakumo questioned.

Eva nodded. "Yes. A Successor acts as a vessel for a Relic in both body and will. If that vessel breaks… it has to be replaced."

Louis narrowed his eyes at this as he recalled what they had seen when encountering Eva and Jack for the first time after defeating that tribal-like Greater Lost. Suddenly that picture had a bit more complexity to it. That barrier must have been the one which housed the Successor within, and that body must have been the Successor who had likely been about to lose control, prompting their quick action. "Is that why you were hunting for Revenants?" he asked for clarification about his theory.

Once again, Eva nodded. "Yes. We considered every option there is, we truly did. But in the end, only that one tactic would work."

"I see."

"I-I know that this is no excuse for what we've done, but even if it's the only way, that is simply a burden I will have to live with."

At this point, Krul decided to interject into the conversation. "I suppose it's not easy to find a replacement vessel huh?" she remarked, thinking back to her time ruling the Vampires. She remembered being in a position similar to Eva and Jack's, having to make some tough decisions for the betterment of her race such as forcing certain families to marry their heirs to one another so that a war wouldn't break out between them. She could only imagine how those marriages turned out afterwards, but her feminine side never liked any second of it. However, there hadn't been much she could do otherwise since it hadn't been an issue directly involving her, and when issues she was personally connected to arose Krul had made sure to strive towards the best outcome possible… although that didn't always lead to one she found personal satisfaction in.

Those in positions of leadership don't have it easy, she'll admit to that.

Looking at her for a moment, Eva directed her gaze back down to the coffee, staring at her own reflection. "That's why we're here: to keep a constant eye on the condition of the other Successors."

After she admitted this, a momentary silence took over the room. One which was then broken by Vali realizing something about them. "Wait are you guys' Successors too?" he questioned, causing the others to look at Eva in surprise and curiosity.

Said woman confirmed his suspicions with the answer she gave. "Yes, Jack watches the successors for signs of frenzy as the Successor of the Eye, while I act as a temporary replacement until we find someone suitable. My voice has the power to stave off one's Frenzy…. For a time at least."

"A temporary vessel…. I'm beginning to see." Louis muttered as he cupped his chin, all kinds of thoughts running wild within his mind. Bringing himself out under prompting from Yakumo, the Revenant researcher then directed his gaze back to Eva. "Anyway tell us this: is there a Successor under the cathedral?" He questioned.

"...Yes. Me and Jack were traveling there to check on them. I know I have no right to ask you for help, but please...(COUGH)! (COUGH)!"

"It's alright. You rest here for now. We'll rescue Jack. I promise."

"Hold on Louis, tell me why would we rescue someone who has been trying to kill us every time we met." Vali questioned, narrowing his eyes once more. So far he could tolerate the fact that they wouldn't be killing Eva for how she had information for them, not to mention she hadn't been doing anything suspicious since she had arrived here, but the fact that Louis wanted to apparently HELP someone who had LITERALLY been trying to kill them multiple times now rubbed him the wrong way.

Vali was no gary su, damnit!

However, like before the researcher seemed to have formulated an answer for him ahead of time thanks to the response he gave to the silver haired male. "Because Vali, Jack is a Successor too. If we don't do something, the Relic will likely force someone into the role of a Successor and turn them into a Greater Lost. Would you want a rogue Successor running around? Especially with what's going on in the outside world..."

"... fuck it all….. Fine."

With Vali's cooperation secure using the power of logic, Mia then decided to inquire as to the nature of the Successor's identity. She felt like it would be nice to know who they were helping after all. "Great, so about the Successor under the cathedral, do you know who they are?"

"I do. In addition to a number of other scientific endeavors, he was involved in Revenant research and an integral part of project QUEEN. I believe you know him as….. Juzo Mido." Eva answered.

What she did NOT expect was for how Yakumo reacted. "Did you say Mido?" the red haired Revenant questioned, shooting up from his seat and narrowing his eyes into a fiery glare at the woman.

Krul arched a brow at this suspicious behavior. This had been an unusual reaction, what was it about this 'Mido' character that got him so riled up? "Huh? You know him, Yakumo?"

"Yeah he…. He sold us out. Me and my entire family." Yakumo answered, growling at the unpleasant memories that name brought out of him.

"I see…. Get some rest everyone, our next destination is underneath the cathedral."

Well, this just got more complicated now.

After having confirmed everything, Vali and the others had retreated to their personal quarters for the following night. Each of them was to rest and prepare for the journey they would be undertaking tomorrow, since as much as Eva had been adamant about rescuing Jack from his situation, doing so after not long returning from their own journey wouldn't lead to anything good. If anything it may just make the situation worse in the long run as much as it proved frustrating for her since she couldn't have argued against that logic.

Still, this new information about the situation had gotten him thinking, as he lay on his back and pondered while staring up at the ceiling with his hands tucked behind his head. If this Mido had the Relics, then what would be this person's goal? Why did he need the Relics at all? Those things were like living bombs if one asked him, one moment a person became a Successor, then the next they would turn into a Greater Lost. There was really no telling when this would happen either, since it all depended on the person's willpower to control the Relic's, although it was only delaying the inevitable. This really makes Vali give a headache. All of this adventure could be written in a book… speaking of books he could remember the time where he was meeting with Beta.

Flashback

"This is perfect Vali! From the stories which Albion told us, these would be perfect for a new book!"

"Yeah, his stories are about the countless heroes throughout my universe's history. It would be interesting to meet with them and fight them too, especially the one called 'achilles'."

"(GIGGLE) only you Vali."

Vali and Beta sat together in one of her workshops which she had set up across all of Gamindustri. Apparently, in the years they hadn't seen one another she had set these up in each Nation so she could gather intelligence easier, since cities like these tended to have quite the gossipers around. Especially the women, hence why she set them up in areas where women tended to be around in flocks, although this had the side effect of Vali having to deal with more females trying to take him away from his girls than normal… this got offsetted though by the sheer FEROCITY in which Beta and any girl he happened to be with at the time would scare them off, even the normally shy ones like Emilia and Olivia.

It's always the quiet ones… one time, Albion had even compared them to dragons themselves in terms of temperament. He had sounded real proud of that, too.

Right now, as Beta in her normal civilian outfit worked on one of her novels, one which she hadn't been spending as much time on due to it not being that popular at the moment, Vali noticed something that caught his attention. "Hm? Hey, I noticed that you keep writing this book a bit more than others, Beta." He questioned, reaching forth and grabbing onto another Novel before bringing it to his eye level.

Looking up from her Novel, Beta glazed at him and saw the one in his hand. "Hmmm? Oh! You mean this book! Oh I've been writing this one quite often, its my hobby to write." She explained with a smile.

"Heh, I can see that." Vali replied, and if anyone was wondering their seats were right next to one another, the two having found this to be their preferred method of relaxing after a long date. Which they had spent the majority of this day doing. As he looked at the book's cover, he found it a little surprising that the book's front cover had a simple emblem on it… one which strangely enough looked like the Tattoo he had drawn onto his back. "What's the book about?"

However, when he had asked that question, Vali didn't expect Beta to start shuffling nervously as she poked her index fingers together over her knee-length skirt. "Uhhh can you promise not to be mad?" she questioned rather timidly.

'Ooookaaaaay…?' the male wondered internally, although he swore he heard a few snickers in the back of his mind. "What can possibly make me angry Beta?" he questioned in confusion.

"Wellllll take a look."

With the permission he got from Beta, Vali opened the book and he read some chapters, Beta sweating all the while. She reacted this way because she thought that the book's contents could make Vali angry, especially all the records she had been documenting and some parts which could make him furious. However, all this changed when, much to her surprise, Vali merely looked to her in confusion, a brow arched. "It's actually a great book, what is this about?" he questioned, not knowing why Beta thought this would anger him.

For a moment, she gaped at him in shock, but that soon faded when she recomposed herself, placing her hands over her lap and crossing her stocking-covered legs. "Your… not furious about some parts Vali?" She questioned in nervous confusion.

Confusion which Vali sought to disperse when he shrugged his shoulders with a scoff, personally feeling affronted that she would suspect such a thing about him. "Please, what can words do to me? Plus it looks like this book could be sold really well Beta." he replied, then gave his honest opinion even though he was no story critic himself. He found it to be quite decent in the storytelling department, plus it felt… more than a little ego-stroking for some reason.

Obviously, his words had the effect he had intended for her as Beta's eyes sparkled with joy. "Oh thank you for appreciating my work Vali!" She proclaimed, hopping from her seat and onto his lap.

Instead of pushing her off like he would any normal woman who invaded his personal space, Vali grinned as he wrapped his right arm around her back and pulled her close. His left arm rested on her stocking-clad thigh, since the way she had landed resulted in her legs hanging over his left side. "No problem, what is this book about? I notice that I'm in it." he questioned, reaching for the book with his left hand and skillfully flipping the pages back to where he had left off earlier.

Leaning back a little so their faces were merely inches apart, Beta began to explain with a somewhat shy smile, a tinge of pink on her cheeks. "Well I've been meaning to write a book and tell it to our future children when they decide that. It's about all of your adventures you're going on, all the drama that has been caused to you and you never back down despite all the odds turned onto you. The title is called the War Chronicles of the half-devil." She explained to him.

"Is that so…?" Vali mused as he put his metaphorical thinking cap on. He didn't get why but part of him didn't like the name she had chosen, or rather the last part hadn't been something he found to be accurate enough. He had another name in mind actually, and when it appeared in his mind he swore he could hear Albion weeping with pride in him as his wielder. "Could you rename the title as 'War Chronicles of the White Dragon' instead? That sounds like a much better title to me. Not like I'm rejecting my Devil side, but I feel more like I'm a Dragon than a Devil."

Upon hearing the name change request, Beta's eyes sparkled as she tested the name out in her mind, finding it to be rather catchy actually. "That's a great title, Vali! Oh I wonder if our children will love it?" she wondered, a dreamy sigh escaping her as she cupped her cheeks, already losing herself in lala land at the possibility of them having a family together. Something she had fantasized for a long time about only for to have actual probability to it due to him responding to those feelings.

One of the best days in her life, if one were to ask her.

Vali meanwhile, chuckled a little at how his girl had been reacting at the thought of having a family with him. "Maybe so Beta." he remarked, before noticing the time on a clock nearby which made him frown. "Looks like its getting late…" he whispered.

Beta heard it however. "Eh?" She questioned, blinking before she looked at the time and saw why he had said that for herself. Her eyes became downcast as a result. "Oh, it is, isn't it? Looks like you'll be leaving soon…" she muttered in a depressed tone. It wasn't often that she got to go on a date with her man since she was busy with her duties as a famous author, she had to go around and gather intel for Shadow Garden too. Sometimes she cursed how popular she had become, bad memories of many male suitors trying to ask for her hand coming to the forefront of her mind.

Upon seeing that depressed look on her face, Vali's chest tightened as a firm line appeared on his lips. He would have said something to try and comfort her, but before he could… Vali felt the reluctance to leave within him as well. Thinking about it, he didn't get to see Beta as often as the others, and he could tell that didn't sit well with her. She probably didn't want him to go, even if she understood his reasons for doing so.

He didn't want to leave her sad like this… so how could he brighten up her day?

An idea presented itself to him soon after thinking that.

Internally hardening his resolve in attempting to make his girl smile instead of cry, Vali slowly reached upwards with his free hand (the other still wrapped around her back) before using it to cup her cheek. This caused her to look up at him in surprise…

Before he leaned down and brought his lips onto hers.

Briefly her eyes widened at the warm contact her boyfriend gave her, but that didn't last long as she closed her eyes and returned the kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pressed herself closer to him, allowing Vali to feel the heat from her warm breasts press into his chest. Their kiss remained slow, soft, chaste and tender as the sounds of lips repeatedly making contact with one another filled the room, a warm atmosphere filling it that had been brought about by a boyfriend trying to make his girlfriend smile. Judging from how she responded, he seemed to have gotten something right, ESPECIALLY when he took the hand on her cheek down to her thigh and caressed it, running the hand up and down her leg causing her to moan happily into the kiss.

The kiss may have remained chaste, but it lasted for about 5 minutes before they pulled away slowly, the two opening their eyes to gaze into one another. After a few seconds, a soft, warm and affectionate smile formed on Vali's lips as he used the back of the hand that had been around her back to caress her cheek gently. "The day's not over yet, and I do believe I can afford to stay a bit longer…" he stated, trailing off at the end.

Hearing this, Beta's eyes briefly sparkled at the implications of him wanting to spend more time with her, before she became a bit timid while biting her lower lip. Though she didn't waste much time in making the following response since she knew for a FACT that there was no need to. "Could you…stay with me? Just for tonight…" she requested meekly, and although that request could be interpreted as a lewd one, just a single look into those unsure eyes told Vali what she REALLY wanted.

Mentally running through his memories of his schedule, Vali realized that he didn't have much to do the following morning, and it wouldn't be much of an issue to inform Luxon of his location should he ask him, thus Vali's smile widened. "Your wish is my command, my princess." he whispered into her ear.

Now THIS earned him a practically BEAMING smile from Beta (who liked things like princesses and dreamed of being carried like one by Vali, something he'd done on MORE than one occasion just to get her smiling), the sight of which erased the tension in Vali's chest as he grinned and resumed kissing her. Something which Beta returned in kind, and they would do so for the rest of the night. Nothing lewd, just two people showing their affection for one another.

Flashback end

Remembering that night had Vali smiling happily, especially the end bit. Beta had been writing his life story so that in case they had children in the future (he wasn't ready for children yet, something he'd made sure to inform the girls about, hence why he hasn't done the deed with any of them yet) they would tell them about 'War Chronicles of the White Dragon'. Beta really loved stories, she had ever since she had been a child when they (him and Alpha) had saved her from demonic possession. She'd grown up hearing stories from Vali who would read them to her when it had been bedtime, stories that she'd grown to love to the point where whenever she heard a story that was interesting, she wrote about them. These wound up including some from Vali's original world like Achilles heel, legend of twelve labors, any of them. They'd been great stories, as they'd apparently became very famous to the point where even the ASIC read about them.

'Heh, all the girls have their own quirks, Alpha the leader, Emilia the timid, Delta the brash and the others…. I'm starting to see in the comics why the MC would love them.' Vali thought softly to himself, a flower of affection blooming within his chest.

So he decided to take a rest and go to the cavern underneath the cathedral, get the successor and find Juzo Mido.