“How are you holding up?”

Mary looked up from her book and gave her friend a tired smile. Their match had landed them both in the hospital. They didn’t go to the regular care as the other fighters did. They ended up in the emergency facilities. Pandora had been released a day ago while she had to stay here. The end of the preliminary matches had been two days ago. The organizers had announced a grace period between the Preliminaries and the Main Stage.

“I’m bored. I’m supposed to be cleared tomorrow so I’m just wasting away.” Mary leaned back into her pillow.

“So no hard feelings about me winning the fight?” Pandora crossed her legs and took a sip from her glass.

“Why would I be mad? That was a really good fight. It showed me how much I have to improve. That was a good trick by the way. Using Trick Star to cause me and the air to switch places,” Mary said.

“Hehehe.” Pandora rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. She had never been good with praise.

“Though, you have to admit that our fight was weird right?” Mary closed her book and glanced at her friend. The face Pandora made was all she needed to know. Pandora had no idea what had happened. Both of their opponents had failed to show up and they were forced to fight each other to accommodate.

“My opponent was supposed to be an Alf named Chiyo Kurokami. Who was yours?” Pandora asked.

“A man named Exen Vaerpath. A dwarf from Nidevalleir,” she replied.

Pandora looked out the window of Mary’s room. The sun was beginning to hang low over the horizon. “Looks like I have to go now and let you get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked.

Mary smiled. “Come to my shop every now and then. Let’s have tea like we used to.”

“To Pandora!” Yuki raised her mug in the air.

“To Pandora!”

Pandora held her cup in front of her, feeling embarrassed as her friends toasted.

“Guys, we really didn’t have to-”

“Come on, Pandora.” Embla wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “Lighten up! We all made it to the main stage.”

“Yeah but…”

“Are you still thinking about the matchup?” Cal asked. Pandora’s emotions were easy for him to read. All her little quirks meant something. The fact that she wasn’t inhaling her drink and was rubbing the lower half of her pointer finger with her thumb was all signs that something was wrong.

“Yeah. I think it’s just weird for someone to suddenly drop out with no notice,” Pandora said.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, at least you got to fight someone you knew and not a complete stranger,” Embla said, removing her arm from around Pandora. She grabbed her turkey leg and took a bite. “Let’s just be happy that we all moved onto the next round! Only one of us needs to win the tournament for our whole party right? All five of us being here increases our chances by a lot!”

“Talk with your mouth closed,” Cal said.

“She’s right, Pandora. Even if it’s strange, we should be somewhat thankful. If you want, I can… ask around to see what happened,” Yuki asked.

“No, it’s fine. It’s not something I’m really worried about. Besides, Embla has a point. All of us made it to the Main Stage. There’s no point in worrying about the past,” Pandora said. She grabbed her mug and took a sip.

“That’s the spirit,” Embla said.

“Well then, let’s talk about the next round. The Main Stage is the next round of the Ataraxia Tournament. Unlike the prelims, we won’t have the luxury of knowing who our opponents are until it’s our turn to fight. This way, we won’t have time to strategize and prepare against the person we’re fighting,” Yuki said.

“That sucks,” Embla said.

“Right. Since we have five days left until the start of the Main Stage, let’s take this time to polish our skills and get ready,” Red said. “No time like now to refine some skills we’re a bit iffy on.”

William shambled down the streets of Yggdrasil. His mind was still in a frenzy. His loss at the hands of Red had gotten him ostracized from the group. There was no verbal indication that he was. The others simply steered clear of him and Kaguya had only been there to see him once.

“How could I lose!? Especially to some third-rate adventurer like Red!?” William said to himself. His rage at his loss was fueled by the alcohol in his hands.

“What are you looking at!?” Onlookers shied away at his outburst and kept on their way. William scoffed. He let loose a small puff of ice from his nostrils and stumbled down the street.

He felt someone bump into his shoulder, causing him to turn in a blind rage. A spike made of ice manifested in his hand as William turned to slash whoever dared to lay their hands on him.

However, the figure was quick in sensing his attack. With one hand, the figure grabbed his wrist. A black mist emanated from their palm, burning his flesh and corroding the ice into nothing.

“Let me go!” Will said. The anger he felt instantly transformed into unbridled fear. The pain he felt at having each cell in his wrist being eaten away by this figure in front of him was growing by the second.

The figure said nothing and let him go. Will rubbed his wrist, wincing upon seeing the reddened flesh. The skin was nearly gone and he could see the raw flesh beneath.

“I’m sorry about that. People tend to react badly when someone wants to slash them across the face with a sharp object,” the figure said.

“Y- Yeah, sorry about that. I was just angry.” William gulped. There was something off about this person. He could sense nothing from them. Not one ounce from malicious intent radiated from their body.

“Angry? What for?” the figure pried.

William blinked before opening his mouth. The alcohol was digging its claws deeper into his rational mind. Normally, William would have never opened up about his loss to a complete stranger but ten mugs of mead had worked its charm.

“That stupid fucking tournament. I lost. In the first goddamn round! How the fuck did I lose to a lowly Crimson Dragonkin!? And he was a member of that team too!” William let loose his rage. His blue eyes glowed as mana surged through his body. Frost began to form on the window next to him. A small burst of frigid wind blew past the figure, disturbing their cloak.

“And if you could pay him back? Would you?” the figure asked.

William paused.

“A way to pay him back?”

William felt a shiver run down his spine when he saw the smile on the figure’s feminine face.

“Yes, if you had the power to pay this Crimson Dragonkin back, would you?” the figure asked.

“Do you even need to ask? I’d jump at any chance to put that stupid red fuck six feet under! I’d even do it to his entire team!” William snarled.

“Then why don’t you?” they replied.

“Huh?” William had a confused look on his face.

“If I could give you the power you need, would you do it?” the figure asked.

“I already told you my answer. Now stop talking like a broken record and tell me how!” he demanded.

The figure’s smile never left their face as they reached into their cloak. After a few seconds, they pulled out a small vial filled with black and blue liquid. The vial filled with misty soup in her hand pulsated with a soft blue glow every few seconds.

“What is this?” William leaned in to take a closer look. He was a bit surprised by its appearance. So this little vial will let me beat those Memento fuckers to death?

“This is called Idunn. It’s a miracle drug. We’ve been giving it to people to give them a second chance. Others who lost the tournament have taken it and they’ve reported a 300% increase in overall strength, speed, and magic, meaning that they’re over three times stronger than before,” the figure said.

“Three times stronger?” William smiled as he stared at the vial. “Just from drinking this small ass vial?”

The figure nodded. They held it out towards William and waited for him to accept it.

An ear-splitting grin appeared on William’s face. His intoxicated eyes glinted with madness in them. Perhaps if he was sober, he would’ve thought twice of this odd situation but he wasn’t. William swiped the vial from the figure’s hand and popped it open.

“Oh, you might not want to do that out here. You should do it when you see them,” the figure said.

“When I see them?”

“Yeah, don’t you want to see the look of arrogance on their faces get wiped off when you become stronger right in front of them?” the figure said.

“Right, right. If I can crush their spirit, they won’t even participate in the tournament.” William’s logic had completely flown out the window. All his inebriated mind could think of was obliterating Memento Mori.

“Are you alright?” Embla asked, supporting Pandora. The Priestess’s cheeks were red as she giggled.

“I’m fine. Don’t wowwy sho much Embwa!” Pandora poked Embla in the cheek with her finger.

“She really can’t hold her alcohol, can she?” Embla asked.

“Pandora’s a lightweight. It’s weird because we’re twins,” Cal said.

“You barely drank,” she retorted.

“I drank more than her. She was shit-faced drunk after 2 mugs of mead,” Cal said.

“Let’s wait for Yuki and Red to finish paying our tab.” After saying that, Embla walked over to a bench and sat Pandora down.

Pandora burst into a fit of giggles and laid down on the bench. “Hey, Embwa! When are you asking out Calll~?”

A small blush appeared on Cal’s cheeks as he stared at his sister for making such a ridiculous statement.

“W- What?” A blush spread across Embla’s face. “Asking who out now?”

“You know what I mean! I mean it’s sho,” she hiccuped in the middle of her sentence, “Obvious that you two have a wittle shomething shomething going on!”

“Pan, you’re drunk.” Embla crossed her arms and looked down at her friend. “When are Red and Yuki coming out?”

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the new girl from Momento Mori,” a familiar voice called out from down the street.

Cal and Embla turned around and saw William stumbling drunkenly towards them. Although he was intoxicated beyond relief, the hatred written in his eyes was as clear as day.

“William? The fuck are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be with Celestia?” Cal asked.

“Celestia? Those assholes? No, no, no, they’ve been ignoring me for days and because I lost to a third rate,” William said.

“Okay? Why are you here?” Embla asked.

“The fuck else am I here for? I’m here to settle the goddamn score! Where’s that red asshat!” William demanded. His yelling was beginning to attract onlookers.

Embla sighed and walked up to him.

“Oh? You wanna go first?” he slurred.

“Go first?” she asked.

Her answer came in the form of a frozen blade. Her eyes widened as she narrowly avoided the swipe, jumping back just in the nick of time. “What the hell man!?” she yelled.

“Where’s Red!?” William said. Spittle flew from his mouth as he charged at Embla in a frenzy. He swiped his ice blade at her.

Embla dodged the attack and followed up with a left hook to his face. William’s head snapped to the side as he stumbled back and fell on his back. He groaned in pain before slowly sitting up.

“Get out of here before we call the guards,” Embla said, looking down at his drunken form.

“What’s going on?”

The two turned around upon hearing that familiar voice. Red walked out of the Guild Building with Yuki next to him. Their eyes drifted down to the sitting form of William. Both of their noses crinkled at the overpowering scent of alcohol that radiated from William like light from the sun.

“What happened?” Yuki asked.

“I don’t know. William just came out of nowhere and started attacking us,” Cal answered.

“He’s looking for Red. I don’t think he got over his loss in the preliminaries. Bastard pulled an Ice Sword on me. I was lucky I wasn’t cut to pieces,” Embla said. She turned around and glared down at the trembling man.

“Hey, Will! Get up and go back to your party!” Cal said as he walked over. He squatted before the man and waved his hands in front of William’s bowed head. He narrowed his eyes when he heard chuckling. “Oy, are you going to leave or-” he never finished his sentence as his instincts screamed at him to retreat. Cal jumped back. His eyes grew wide in surprise as he narrowly avoided William’s swipe.

“Go back? No, I’m not going back… not until I can put things back the way they are. Me with my foot on that crimson bastard’s neck,” William said as he stood up. He had a demented smile on his face as he held an empty vial in one of his hands. A small amount of black and blue liquid remained inside.

Yuki’s eyes grew wide in horror upon seeing it. H- How… How is that here? “EMBLA! CAL! GET AWAY FROM HIM NOW! AND GRAB PANDORA TOO!”

Taken by surprise at the sudden urgency in Yuki’s words, Embla grabbed the drunk Pandora and ran towards Yuki and Red. Seeing Embla’s retreat, Cal moved to do the same.

“William. I’m going to need you to put the vial down and come with us. You’re sick. We can get you help,” Yuki said, raising her hands.

“Help? Why would I need help? Thanks to this… I can right that wrong that was done to me a few days back. You know I’ve been sitting in my room thinking of how things could have gone so wrong in that fight and now I figured it out! That red ingrate must have done something to tip the scales in his favor so here I am… tipping the scales back in mine,” William said. “I can already feel it working. All this power. All of it now mi- Gaaaagh!”

A sudden pain shot through his entire body, forcing him back down to one knee. He roared and howled in pain as sickening cracks and pops were heard. Everyone from the random bystanders to Memento Mori winced at the sound.

“What’s happening to him?” Embla asked.

“I don’t know…” Cal answered.

“It looks like your little experiment was a failure.”

Hati looked up at her companion. The two were situated on a rooftop a few streets down from where William and the others were. Hati flipped her pinkish-red hair. Her hood was down for this occasion. While it helped her keep her face hidden, it did very little in terms of letting her see. Every once in a while, she would take her hood off to take in the sights.

“It’s not done yet. Let’s let it run its course,” Hati said.

“I don’t understand why this strain is being tested. Having a strain go all the way to Level 5 is the fastest way to lose people we’re trying to get results from,” Sigrun said.

“Have you heard of the phrase ‘Big Risk equals Big Reward’?” Hati asked.

“What does that have to do with any of this?” she asked.

“Just watch and see.”

William writhed in pain as his body transformed. He felt his mind slipping with every passing second. It was not a slip into madness. A slip where he would still be conscious of his action and think albeit in a different manner. The slip he was feeling was the same one felt when close to death. The sweet embrace of oblivion had beckoned for his soul and now he was falling towards it.

He roared in agony as the slow process of his death continued. His face cracked and morphed as his face became more pronounced like a snout. His fangs elongated, pushing past his lips. Scales appeared all over his body. From his lower back, two black tails with blue-tinted scales grew. As each horrifying second passed, William became more and more reptilian in appearance. His body was no longer one that could take on the attributes of a Dragon but rather it had become a vile mockery of the legendary beast itself.

In his last slip of living consciousness, he reached out in desperation as he tried to utter the words that he would have never said in any situation. “Help… me.”

And as quickly as it came, it ended just as quickly. William lay still for a few seconds.

“Is he…?” Embla asked.

“All of you get out of here now! We’re adventurers. We’ll handle this,” Yuki said.

The crowd around them whispered amongst each other.

“What are you doing?” Cal asked, seeing Embla take a step towards William.

“Checking for a pulse?” She gave him a look that made him feel incredibly stupid. He nodded and gestured with his hand towards William.

Embla walked forward and knelt before the prone form of this beast. It looked wrong in her eyes. Just its very existence violated every law of nature that existed. She placed two fingers at his throat, looking for any indication of cardiac activity. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Her eyes opened when she felt a breeze brush past her leg.

“Breathing but there’s no pulse?” Her eyes drifted to William’s head to see if he was awake. Her answer came in the form of a glowing pair of eyes staring back at her. William opened his mouth and roared, moving at surprising speed to bite her feet off.

“Shit!” Embla’s body flickered as she dodged in the nick of time. She appeared next to Cal.

“It’s…” Yuki cut herself off before she finished. It was just like Alfheim. The memories of that infected patient biting out the guard’s throat was still as fresh as the leaves during spring.

“Yuki? What do we do?” Red asked, gripping his sword.

“We have no choice. It’s the same as it was back then.” Yuki stepped forward and drew her blade. “Listen up you two. Cal, I want you to cover us while we subdue William. Embla, get Pandora back inside the guild then come and meet us outside for this fight.”

“Got it!”

“Roger!”

Embla grabbed the still-drunk Pandora and rushed to the guild building with her. By this time, the crowd had scattered in fear and panic as William began his deadly rampage. One such bystander was not so lucky in her escape. She screamed as William grabbed her head with his hand and brought her close. He growled as he opened his mouth and swallowed her head into his mouth. With a nausea-inducing wet rip, he tore her head from her body along with most of her spine with his mouth.

“Fuck!” Yuki rushed towards William. “RED!”

“Got you!” Red said, running after her. His body flickered as he disappeared in a burst of speed. He reappeared behind William. Flames coated his sword as he brought it down on William.

Yuki created a ball of blue fire in her hand and threw it at the reptilian horror before her.

The beast that was once William raised its arms and howled in pain as the flames impacted his body. He dropped his quarry and stumbled back. He smothered the flames as it dropped to the ground, rolling around. Its baleful reptilian gaze locked onto Yuki and Red as the wounds on its arms sizzled while it regenerated. Black blood dripped onto the pavement.

“Hey wait… isn’t that the same blood that the Sabyrs had?” Cal asked.

Yuki and Red glanced at him in confusion.

“Those Sabyrs we killed. When we hit them, they bled black blood,” Cal said.

“He’s right. Look.” Red pointed his finger at the blood flowing from William’s arm.

“So… you’re saying that Will and the Sabyrs are connected?” Yuki asked as she watched William lumber towards them.

“Talk later. I think he’s up to something,” Cal said.

William opened his mouth and unleashed an ear-piercing scream. The roar cracked every windowpane within a fifteen-meter radius. His lower jaw unlatched from his skull and split into two. Small dots of blue energy gathered inside of his mouth.

“Wait a minute… hold up. Isn’t that the…?”

“No, time! We need to dodge!” Red said.

“No, we can’t. It’ll hit the guild building and if not, every house behind it will be gone alongside several city blocks worth of people,” Yuki said. She gritted her teeth. Icy mist formed at the tips of her fingers. “Get behind me. I’ll see if I can block the attack.”

Red and Cal glanced at her before nodding. The two got behind her. Yuki clapped her hands together. Ice erupted from around them, creating a frozen dome of water.

The William Beast fired the beam at her. The force of the blast tore up the cobblestone road around him. The beam traveled at high speeds, creating gale-force winds. The attack collided with the barrier, cracking it almost immediately.

Yuki’s eyes widened as she struggled to push back against it.

The barrier for a few seconds before it completely shattered.

However, before the attack could hit the three, the beam warped as if it had hit a wall and flattened itself. The attack then twisted as it was reflected into the sky. A thunderous explosion ripped the skies of Yggdrasil apart.

“Sorry I’m late,” Embla said, holding her swords out.

“That’s a bad habit that you shouldn’t have,” Cal said, smiling at her.

“Give me a rundown,” she said.

“William turned into that thing. It bleeds black blood like the Sabyrs back at the forest,” Cal said. He reached for an arrow in his quiver and aimed it at the Beast.

The beast snarled and bounded towards them like a rabid dog. Embla gripped her sword tightly as she prepared to rush towards it. However, Cal was faster in this aspect. He infused the arrow with flames and fired it at the Beast.

The arrow hit home on the Beast’s shoulder, causing it to roar in pain. But even the pain couldn’t stop it as the Beast continued its relentless charge.

“Fire doesn’t work?” Embla asked.

“Get down!” Cal said, grabbing Embla and throwing her to the side. He jumped as the beast charged down on him. Grabbing three arrows from his quiver, Cal fired one Fire Arrow, an Electric Arrow, and a Light Arrow.

“Let’s see you get up from this!” he yelled. A small crackling light appeared in his hand before rapidly expanding and splitting into multiple golden spears of light. Valkyrie Spear!

The spears all fired at the same time, homing in on their opponent. The Beast jumped back. The spears began to chase it.

“Now!” Cal yelled. “Get it while it’s distracted!”

“If he became like the Sabyrs in the forest, then we should douse him in fire,” Yuki said as she ran towards him.

“Shouldn’t we try and save him?” Red asked.

“Red… that vial he drank was the same as it was in Alfheim. There’s no way we can save him after he becomes like this,” Yuki said with a grim tone. “There’s no cure…” she coated her sword in blue flames and jumped on William, slashing his back.

William roared and swiped, hitting her in the torso and sending her crashing into the building across the street.

“Yuki!” Red yelled. A shadow engulfed him. He turned around quickly, parrying a strike from William’s blue talons. He blew a stream of red fire in William’s face, causing him to step back in pain.

Embla appeared on his back. She raised her hand and slammed her palm into his skin. A series of black spikes pierced through his chest, causing to fall forward. “...” Embla remained silent as she hopped off his back. The two watched carefully as the holes in William’s body began to close rapidly.

“Fire’s not working on him,” Red said.

“Fire worked before. Why isn’t it working now,” Embla said, gripping her swords.

The beast slowly got to its feet and roared. A wind of frigid air blew them both back. They covered their faces from the buffeting wind. William turned his gaze towards Red and growled. Without any warning, William disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared next to Red.

Red had no time to react as William’s talons slashed him across the chest, sending him into the air. The beast grabbed Red’s leg and slammed him back into the ground. Red groaned in pain as William slammed his foot on his chest. The beast looked down at Red and opened his mouth. Blue light began to gather inside William’s mouth.

“LET HIM GO!” Embla slashed her sword at William’s face, cutting his eye. The light died inside William’s mouth as the sound of energy gathering was replaced by the sounds of roars of pain. He snarled and swung his arm.

Embla’s body faded out of sight and she reappeared above him. She gripped her swords and disappeared. She reappeared in sixteen separate places around William.

“[Sixteen-Fold Dance]!”

William was forced back as he was relentlessly slashed in every part of his body. He raised his arms to protect himself. Embla raised her sword and swung the blade. William swung his arm and parried Embla’s blade.

Embla’s eyes widened as William’s tail slammed into her side. She coughed in pain as she flew into a wall. Before she slammed into the wall, Embla threw her blade at William, causing it to pierce his shoulder. William growled as he grabbed her sword and tossed it to the side next to Red.

“He hits really hard,” Embla groaned. Her eyes widened as William appeared right in front of her. He raised his arms and slammed it down on her. Time slowed as William’s arms slowly approached her.

The ground shook as William’s arms hit the ground, leveling the front of the building. The shockwave ruptured the street, sending debris everywhere.

“EMBLA!” Cal screamed.

“I’m fine!”

He turned to see Embla standing next to Red.

“How did you…?” Red groaned, getting up.

“No time to explain. We need to stop him before anyone else gets hurt!” she said.

“H- How? Fire doesn’t work on him.” the two turned to see Yuki shuffling towards them. She gripped her arm.

“You okay?” Embla asked.

“Do I look okay? No, the fucker broke my arm,” Yuki said.

“I think I might have something,” Cal said, clenching his fist. “Remember back at the bandit fortress when you stopped me from using it?”

Yuki’s eyes narrowed. “You’re gonna use it?”

“Normal fire doesn’t work on him right?” Cal said, watching as William burst from the rubble. William roared and howled, shattering the peace of the night sky. “We have no choice. If he keeps going, lots of people are going to get hurt and the Midgard Military isn’t here yet.”

“Fine. Just don’t overexert yourself,” Yuki said.

“What’s going on?” Embla asked.

“Cal… I’m giving Cal the go-ahead to use his Arts,” Yuki said.

“He has a what?” Embla’s mouth fell open in shock.

“No time to discuss. I need you guys to keep him off me while I charge it!” Cal said.

Red and Yuki nodded as they charged towards William.

Cal closed his eyes. Embla took a slight step back as a massive pressure fell upon the area. The ground shook slightly as a golden aura appeared around Cal. He opened his eyes. His eyes were no longer that honey-gold that Embla had become familiar with. His eyes were now a blazing orange, similar to that of the Sun.

“Embla, what are you doing? You gotta help them keep William off me,” Cal said.

“R- Right,” Embla said. She glanced at Cal once more before using Super Acceleration to disappear in a burst of speed.

Embla appeared in front of William, who was preoccupied with Yuki and Red. Her blades became coated in shadows. “[Crossroads Killing]!” She swung blades, releasing a violet wave of energy that cut through William.

The beast gasped as it stumbled back. Black blood spilled from its torso as it was disemboweled by Embla. His intestinal tract and stomach fell from his gut. William roared and swiped his arm at her. Embla jumped back, narrowly avoiding the attack.

“Icicle Raid! Fox Fire Wheel!” Yuki threw a series of icicle spears and a flaming ring at William.

“Meteoric Burst!” Red inhaled and unleashed an explosive ball of flames from his mouth at William. The attacks collided, leveling the street. The ground shook violently as the civilians all fled from the scene. As the smoke cleared, William stood, missing an arm and in the middle of a smoldering crater that spanned the entire width of the street.

“How the fuck is he still standing?” Embla said.

“I don’t know,” Yuki said. “He’s different from the others.”

“Cal, are you ready yet?” Red asked.

“Give me three more seconds!” Cal responded.

“Three more-”

“Embla!”

Embla turned around and gasped as William grabbed her by the throat and raised her into the air. She kicked and scratched as his grip tightened around her throat.

“Let her go!” Yuki yelled.

She and Red charged at him. William’s tails swung, hitting both of them and sending them crashing into a store across the street.

Embla gasped for air as her struggles began to weaken. I need to get… out of here. I need to use… Her vision swam as she created a small violet knife in her left hand. She threw the knife weakly into the air. Embla disappeared in a puff of black smoke and reappeared next to the knife. She fell to the ground, rolling and coughing as she inhaled copious amounts of air.

“CAL!... NOW!” she gasped.

Cal raised his hand as an orb of golden flames appeared above his head. Cal roared as he threw the orb at William. The orb flew at blinding speeds towards him. Seconds before colliding with William, the orb rapidly expanded and swallowed the beast before flying into the air.

Cal aimed his bow at the golden orb that was now high above the skyline. An arrow made of golden flames appeared in his hands. “Prominence Arrow.” He fired the arrow towards the golden fireball.

The fireball exploded in the sky, lighting the night ablaze. The city was shaken by the massive explosion as people ran for shelter. As the light died down, Cal fell to his knees, panting.

“Cal!” Embla ran over to him and knelt next to him.

“Did we get him?” he asked.

“Yeah, we did.” Embla smiled.

“Good,” he said, sighing in relief.

“Like I said, the experiment was a failure,” Sigrun said, yawning.

“No, it wasn’t.” Hati got up from her spot and stretched her arms. “The experiment was a great success.”

“What? But we failed to gather any data! He died instantly from the serum! What part of this was a success to you?” Sigrun asked as Hati walked past her.

“The fact that this experiment uncovered another Arts user hiding away in this city,” Hati said, smiling at her partner.