Nix landed in a crowd of Aquarions and immediately flamed up. Sharl landed beside him and managed to grab a stumbling Tess before she slid off the edge.

[Aura Ignition: Gemini Flames]

Nix punched the closest Aquarion square in the chest, launching him over the side. He pushed Gemini flames into his Archon blade and used it to block a spear attack.

[Spear Slam]

Sharl slammed the butt of her spear on the platform, the entire disc trembled as her stun skill completely immobilized the remaining opponents. She followed up by bulling two more Aquarions over the side with her shield.

[Incinerate: Gemini Flame]

Nix locked an Aquarion in a flame prison and then kicked her off the edge.

Nix and Sharl looked at each other, they were the only two left on the disc.

Sharl looked over the edge, "f*ck... Did I lose my cleric?"

A moment later a black-winged Air Nemesis hovered above them. Rhy's beautiful face was smiling when she dropped the red-headed cleric on the platform. "You guys lose something?"

Tess frowned at her teammates, "Oi... Take better care of me!"

/Inferno: Tess: Thanks Rhy!

"That one!" Nix pointed to a disc that was moving fast but was a close match for their trajectory. He raised both hands and a dozen strands shot out encircling four separate Aquarions. He yanked backward and then jumped at the same time. "Time to go!"

Nix dropped his strands when all four Aquarions went over the edge.

[Flashblade: Gemini Flame]

Nix sliced through the neck of an Aquarion who was going after Tess.

[Swapped Out]

"Huh?" Nix suddenly found himself on a different disc with four more Aquarions.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Oops! Sorry Nix, wrong skill. :P

[Tides of Flame]

Nix dodged and brought up his sword to block just as the flames washed around him. All four Aquarions jumped off the platform in an effort to flee the inferno.

/Inferno: Sharl: Dammit Junie, now I lost my Nix!

Nix scanned the area for another disc to jump on, between Rhylia and the ranged damage, most of them had been cleaned off. He used his strands to pull two Aquarions off of a disc that was too high for him to reach. After realizing his advantage Nix started jumping from one empty disc to another, pulling Aquarions off in small groups of twos and threes.

Finally, the disc he was on came to an abrupt stop, causing Nix to skid precariously close to the edge. A quick glance around told him that the rest of the platforms had also stopped.

/Inferno: Jun Li: That's all of them. Now what?

A moment later all of the discs started moving, slowly they lined up and created a long bridge to a platform that raised up out of the green pit below.

/Inferno: Jun Li: There's the chest. How many did we lose?

/Inferno: Sharl: Teams 1 & 4.

/Inferno: Nix: Damn... So many?

/Inferno: Gypsy: Not everyone has flaming ropes that they can toss people around with!

Nix walked toward the black chest, he was joined very quickly by those who were still alive. He felt a hand grab his arm and discovered Mina had caught up with him. "Ready to go to the 12th floor?"

Mina nodded, her pale face smiling widely. "It's been a long road here Nix."

"I remember the day you showed up in the Sea-World, seems like forever ago." He stopped next to the chest and opened it up.

The Whirlwind Trident has been added to your inventory.

The Map of the 12th Floor has been added to your inventory.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Map of the 12th floor? The actual map?

/Inferno: Nix: Don't ask me. We're higher than anyone has ever gone.

/Inferno: Jun Li: It's tempting to peek at 12.1.

/Inferno: Nix: Let's head out, there's a party waiting for us.

/Inferno: Sharl: Where?

/Inferno: Nix: Guess I don't know.

/Inferno: Fajii: Nix's Ranch.

/Colonial System Message: Congratulations to the Inferno Guild for advancing to the 12th floor. All members of Inferno are awarded the Blaze Armor.

/Inferno: Jun Li: An entire set?

/Inferno: Mina: You don't understand how far you've come. Inferno is on the Brink of destroying the Cai'Song Artifact, there won't be a Mermaid City after that.

******************

[Parliament Guild Office: 1300 hrs]

Nix looked up when Semmi and Vy gated in. "Anyone see you?"

Semmi shook her head. "Like the disguise?"

Vy was wearing a blue dress that Nix had designed to cover her crab-legs. They needed to remain incognito just until the quests were turned in. "We do wear dresses in Izzin, it's not like this is something new."

Nix stood up from his desk and headed toward the door. "Let's find Bael Strom for the first turn-in."

Semmi led the way out the door and to the exit leading to the 70th floor. She had found out that Bael still monitored traffic through the gate but only during the afternoon hours. The rest of the time he was busy with Parliament security operations.

The slender blond-haired Fir'Dhassi was standing in front of the gate. He looked over his shoulder when they exited. "Guild Leader Nix, nice to see you again."

Nix bowed his head slightly. "Bael we are here to turn in a quest."

[Proof of Death] has been removed from your inventory.

Bael looked at the dragon heart and then back at Nix. "You're a Dragon Slayer? I am impressed, Sir! This dragon was responsible for the extinction of an entire civilization! It makes me feel good that they will now rest in peace thanks to the efforts of Inferno."

[The Inferno Guild has achieved Allied Status with the Izzin Empire]

/Oasis System Message: The Inferno Guild has slain the Mighty Dragon that has ruled over the Lake Tysta Region. All Inferno members are awarded the Dragon Heart badge.

Dragon Heart

+ 500 AC

2 percent of Total health will

regenerate every 30 seconds.

Immunity: [Fear]

/Inferno: Sharl: That's really nice! Thank you Alpha Team!

/Inferno: Pon: Welcome.

The trio quickly reentered Parliament and headed directly to the Registrars Office. The Ain'Dhassi who handled Inferno's Guild registration wasn't there, instead, it was a Su'Dhassi female that they didn't know.

"Good Afternoon. I'm Nix the Guild Leader of Inferno. I am here to help Vyona Seabreeze register her Nation with Parliament."

"Nation Register? That sort of thing is impossible." The Su'Dhassi had short black hair that was cut close to her scalp, her flashing white teeth stood out from her dark skin. The Su'Dhassi brought up her hud and started doing a search. "Sorry Guild Leader Nix, there's nothing here that references registering an Independent Nation."

"Perhaps this will help." Vy removed a large signet ring from her finger and handed it to the Su'Dhassi clerk.

The clerk used her hud to scan the ring, immediately a large screen flashed in front of her. "Oh! Oh my, it says that you're from the lost Nation of Izzin, all I need is proof."

"Proof?" Semmi gave the clerk a blank stare. "Isn't the ring proof?"

The clerk shook her head and brought up a picture of an Izzin native, complete with crab-legs. "You could have found the ring anywhere."

Vy pulled up her dress high enough for the clerk to see her crab legs, then she held out her arm to scanned.

[Identification verified: Vyona Seabreeze, Minister of Naval Defense, Izzin Empire.]

"Minister Seabreeze, I'm Hali Upei. It's my honor to register the Izzin Empire in Parliament. Please sign here."

Vy nodded and signed the registration form that Hali pushed toward her. "Anything else?"

"25 million Credit Registration fee." Hali smiled apologetically.

"Inferno will cover the fee." Nix brought up his hud and paid the fee.

"Great then, we're all set!" Hali filed the form happily and favored them with a smile before turning back to her work.

/Oasis System Message: The lost Empire of Izzin has been rediscovered by the Inferno Guild. Tysta Lake and the surrounding territories are once again returned to the Izzin. The Izzin Empire is awarded 55 Parliament votes. The Inferno Guild and the Izzin Empire have entered into an Alliance. Until further notice, only Izzin citizens and their allies are allowed within their borders.

Vy hugged them both, her brown eyes bright with emotion. "Thank you both so much! Please visit me in a few weeks, I look forward to seeing the new Moon Goddess."

The Izzin Shipwright waved at them and then ported away.

/Inferno: Nix: Guess she had some sort of portal artifact?

/Inferno: Semmi: The Shipyard and Guildhall are complete on Loki. The rest of the guilds arrive tomorrow.

/Inferno: Nix: What about Resolute?

/Inferno: Semmi: They crossed the Escalade bridge yesterday, we just need to help them register. I'll take care of it Nix.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Party at Nix's Ranch, let's get it started!