"I don't see this working," Ellie said looking at the beaten up Samiets tied to a pole.

"It will work. Trust me." Dolton said, sitting on a stool nearby.

"That's what you said last time. Anyone can tell that this is a trap."

"It's perfectly simple, there will be some idiots who don't want to see Gimbo get killed and will rush out to save him. I've positioned my men thought the route they'd take and pick em off one by one."

"It won't work, Right Thelma?"

"Right Louise." The assassin twin said.

"I wasn't asking for you two creeps opinion!" Dolton snapped.

"If I may boss," Ingrid interrupted. "I can point out several severe flaws in this plan. Two of the biggest being that this is it entirely depends on people coming to rescue the hostages, and the fact that we don't have a contingency plan if this one fails."

"That's a good point, do you even have a plan B?" Ellie asked.

Dolton was a bit reluctant to answer. "...... I'm.... I'm working on it."

"You won't win...." Gimdo wheezed glaring at Dolton. "We have.... a duty to protect our village... our people... they won't ever-"

Dolton got up and walked towards Gimdo and stomped on his face. "I wasn't asking for your opinion." Dolton snapped, keeping his boot firmly planted on Gimdo's face. "And I'm gonna make sure you live after the two days so you can watch me when I burn your precious village to the ground. Burn.... I just got an idea." Dolton then removed his foot with a sinister grin. "Thanks Gimbo."

"Boss. There's a response on the CCD." Ingrid spoke up, holding up a circular device. Dolton waved, raised an arm and signaled Ingrid to throw the device to him. He caught it and pressed the button on the rim.

"Talk to me."

"Got some guys leaving the village." A voice came from the speaker embedded in the device.

Dolton shot a smug look at Ellie, pushing up his shades. "How many?"

"About... Five. With a dog.... I think. But they're all human though."

"Really. Must be those guys Waze fought."

"Wait... there's three others. Samiets.... Yeah, three samiet kids following them.”

Both Gimdo and Bush looked up on hearing that.

"Well it's a start," Dolton replied, sounding a little disappointed. "Take em out." He then kicked the button and threw the device back to Ingrid. "Looks like we got our first catch of the day."

Bush turned his head around and whispered to Gimdo. "You don't think..."

"By the goddess.... I hope not." If what he hired was true, he could only think of one who would be that brave (Or dumb) to come and rescue him on his own. Please Rodger, don't do anything stupid.

Extra help

"Whoa! Check that out!" Melvin squalled, pointing at an old ruin, sticking up from the undergrowth with ivy plants and other vegetation growing on the rock.

"What about it? It's just a pile of rocks." Max said.

"Maybe to a blockhead like you."

"They kinda look like the ones back at the village." Cliff evaluated. "Probably must've been an ancient city built here ages ago."

Allisa looked toward Nel who was studying the map.

"According to the map, this is simply called 'the lookout.'" She traced her finger across where they had gone from. They'd only left ten minutes ago so they weren't very far from where they started. So far they hadn't encountered any beasts, besides the odd wolf which Max fought off with very little effort. "There's a ruined city a bit further on that we need to pass through to get to Deadman's end."

"A whole city?" Allisa asked, looking at the map. She managed to find the city, labeled 'Berkwara ruins', also finding that it was marked with a skull.

"We'll be passing along the outskirts to avoid whatever's supposed to be there."

"So where's the place we’re trying to get to?"

Nel pointed to a point of the map, far away from where they were standing. "We still have a way to go yet. Once through the city, we need to go along this narrow strait close to this river and follow it up to the grotto where Celtic Hoard is encamped." She then folded up the map. "And this is as far as you three are going!"

Everyone looked a little confused by what Nel said until they heard rustling in the bushes behind them. Rodger, Dora and Fred then emerged, all three carrying branches which they were trying to use as cover. "Aw, can't believe you caught us already." Rodger moaned.

"How long have they been following us?" Cliff asked, folding his arms.

"Since we left," Nel said casually.

"Wait, that long?!" Allisa exclaimed.

Melvin glanced towards Cerberus who was at his side. "Did you know they were there boy?" Cerberus gave him a small nod.

"Some look out he is," Max said.

"Well, what's your excuse? Your nose is somehow plugged up!" Melvin countered.

"What are you doing out here?" Allisa asked the three samiets.

"Ain't it obvious, we're gonna help ya," Rodger said as he walked out of the bushes.

"You don't have to. We got it covered." Max said.

"Yeah we do. My gramps is in trouble, and if my pa were still alive, he wouldn't hesitate."

"Seriously, It's gonna be dangerous where we're going. It's no place for kids." Melvin said.

"You're a kid." Allisa pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm a wizard," Melvin replied to her confidently.

"But you're still a kid," Cliff said to him. "But he does have a point. No offense to you three but you don't really have much experience dealing with these kinda situations."

"Says you." Rodger huffed.

"Um... They do have a point, Rodger." Dora said timidly. "This is Celtic Hoard's main base we're going to."

"A-And we've never gone to somewhere s-so dangerous before," Fred said, even timidly.

"Which is why you need to go back to the village," Nel said bluntly.

"We're helpin and that's final!" Rodger countered stubbornly.

"Ahhh I hate this kid!" Cliff groaned, resting his hand on his head.

"Well, I get why you're here.... Sort of," Allisa said pointing at Rodger. "but why are you two here?" She asked Fred and Dora.

Both went silent until Dora spoke up. "I, I want to save my Grampa!" she announced, bowing. "He's the only family I actually care for, but I know him. He's not as strong as he once was. I-I promise I won't get in the way. I just want to make sure he's ok."

The group was taken back by her declaration. "That's... kinda hard to say no to," Allisa said.

"And you?" Nel asked Fred.

"Uhhh...."

"I don't think you have family taken captive."

"N-No, b-but...." Fred pointed at the map in Nel's hands. "Th-That's the map my mom gave ya, right?"

"Your mom?" Max said thinking. "That woman from the council?"

Fred nodded.

"Oh yeah, I thought she looked familiar," Melvin said.

"I got it from her, yes," Nel answered Fred.

"Wh-Well I know another way to Deadman's End, one that my mom doesn't know about."

"You do?" Cliff asked skeptically.

"Y-Yeah," Fred nodded.

"We came out a lot here before Celtic Hoard moved in." Rodger continued for him. "We have a secret way in that takes us right in the center of their camp where they're likely holding my Gramps."

"Seriously?" Max said.

"That would save us charging through the main gate," Melvin said with relief.

"And how do you know that it will take us to the center of the camp?" Nel asked.

"Uhhhhh....." Rodger innocently poked his fingers together while Dora and Fred looked to the ground. "Well.... Promise you won't tell Gramps."

"I don't like the sound of this." Cliff groaned.

"We've... kinda been there before."

"Several times," Dora added, sounding just as guilty.

"I-It was his idea," Fred said, pointing at Rodger.

"Well, given that all three of you are alive, it must be true," Melvin said, trying his hardest not to judge.

"So where is this place?" Max asked.

Rodger's innocent look turned to a cocky grin. "I'll show ya, but, ya gotta take us with ya."

"Or you could just give us the info and run off to the village since this is going to be very dangerous." Cliff countered.

"Well Allisa, your call," Nel said.

"Why am I making these decisions?!" Allisa exclaimed.

"Because this was your idea."

"She's got a point," Max said rubbing his chin.

"Well 'leader,' what's your decision?" Melvin said.

"Stop joining in!" Allisa snapped at the two of them. She then looked at the three Sameits, all putting on a pouting face that made them look like lost puppies, and sighed. "I guess it would be better than charging head first without a plan." She said.

"I... gotta agree there." Cliff sighed. "Especially since we're short of the suicidal maniac."

Allisa nodded and faced the sameits. "Alright, you can come."

The three expressed their gratitude.

"Promise ya won't regret this," Rodger said.

"W-We'll try not to get in your way," Fred said bowing.

"Thank you so much," Dora said.

"Don't mention it," Allisa said awkwardly while rubbing the back of her head.

"Could have seen that one coming," Melvin commented.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Exactly what it means," Cliff added with a sigh. "You're just the kind of person who can't say no."

"With that settled," Nel interrupted, bringing up the map. "Where exactly is this place."

Fred walked up to Nel, who lowered herself with the map for him to view it. "B-Bout here." Fred pointed just beyond the ruins of the city they were about to pass. "T-there's a cave that takes us to where we're going."

"That doesn't seem too far," Max said, looking at the map.

"And if anything it avoids the other skull marked areas on the map." Allisa pointed out.

"Unfortunate, we're gonna have to go through the city to reach it," Dora added.

"We do?"

"Yeah. The entrance is only accessible through a certain path in the ancient city."

"So we're gonna have to fight the beasts in there," Max said.

"Please don't sound glad about that." Melvin moaned.

"A-Actually, there's only one beast in there," Fred said. "And it's something we should avoid at all cost."

The group looked at Fred, all looking concerned by what he said.

"They call him the king of the Forest. It's an old Behemoth that has claimed the entire city as his lair." Rodger said.

"Behemoth? You mean like that thing we fought two days ago?!" Allisa asked.

Shortly after meeting Rodger, the group encountered a Behemoth on the way to Sterland village. While no one was badly hurt, it did take all 7 of them to finally bring it down. There was also the Creature Dorstera that Garlahad awakened back in the Triest Sea temple, which was strong enough to smash apart the ground, and took the combined effort of Max, Yuki, Melvin and Cerberus to finally destroy it. Frankly, the group's memories of Behemoth's weren't good ones.

"This ain't nothin like that one," Rodger said, putting on a spooky voice. "This is none other than the king of all beasts in the forest. A monster that has claimed the lives of almost everyone and everything that dares to challenge it."

"But," Dora interrupted. "We don't actually have to encounter it, hopefully." Dora approached Nel, scorched Fred over and traced her finger along the city on the map. "The Center is where the beast's nest is located, but we can just go along the outskirts and bypass it. With any luck, we shouldn't run into it along the route."

"And if we do?" Max asked.

"Run. Fast."

"I figured as much." Cliff sighed.

"Why not fight it?" Max asked, to everyone's cringe.

"I think it's called the 'king of the forest' for a reason," Cliff said to him.

"Even I won't fight him," Rodger said.

"That's saying something," Melvin commented.

"Even my pa couldn't beat it. He said he's proud to be one of the few that made it out alive."

"Ok... I'm getting scared." Allisa said timidly.

"But we don't have to worry about that," Dora said measuredly. "We've gone through there a couple of times and never ran into it."

"But with our luck...." Melvin groaned.

"...We might run into it." Cliff said.

"Please don't jinx us." Allisa moaned.

"Well, if it does, I'll fight it off," Max said confidently while slamming his fist in his palm.

"No, we run," Nel said to him as she stood up and folded the map. "Our fights with Celtic Hoard, not some Behemoth that's supposed to be the strongest in the forest."

"I'm with her there," Melvin said to him.

"Same here," Allisa said.

"Ok fine," Max said in a grumpy voice, accepting defeat.

"Right." Nel turned to the sameits. "I guess you're leading the way."

"Leave it to us," Rodger said with a grin. He then marched off expecting the others to follow.

"Um. Rodger," Dora called out. Rodger looked back and noticed that the others weren't following. "The old city is that way," Dora told him, pointing in the opposite direction to where Rodger was heading.

Keeping a straight face Rodger corrected himself, ignoring the stares from the group.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," Cliff muttered.

Berkwara ruins

Being short did have its advantages. For Large Jack, that was evident in his ability to conceal himself. He stood barely at 3 ft. 6, making him the smallest person in Celtic Hoard. Because of his height, he wasn't that good when it came to close-quarter fighting. However, he more than made up for it with his sniping, able to hit a small rat in the eye from a mile away. Only one person had ever survived him, and that was yesterday with a red-haired woman who managed to dodge headshots and other hits that would be fatal if they hit.

Right now, Jack was within what used to be a clock tower, located in the center of the ruined city. His Rifle lay beside him as he sat up against a wall, loading bullets into magazines for the weapon while waiting for the signal to act. Then, when he had finished loading the 5th magazine, his Crystal Communication Device (CCD) buzzed into life.

"Jack. They’re comen. Westside. Bout eight of em, four of em kids, and one dog."

Jack picked up the CCD and pressed the speaker button. "Got it."

He then picked up the rifle and moved over to the West side of the clock tower. One of the most important things for Snipers, more so than even the weapon itself, was a vantage point. The clock tower was situated right in the center of the ancient city and was the highest structure still standing, with a perfect view of the surrounding area. Of course, the difficulty in this environment was that there were many places to hide for his targets. That was something he had to consider. Even a missed shot would prove fatal to a sniper since the noise, direction, the muzzle flash, even the glint in the scope, can give away his position. Since his targets were mana users the risk was even greater.

"This is gonna be interesting."

****

"Wow!" Allisa gasped as she looked over the vista. The city in question, Berkwara, was actually built into a massive crater, about a kilometer long. Of course, the inside of the crater was full of ruined buildings with a few still standing, the tallest being a large tower that looked like it used to be a clock tower. "That's something straight out of a movie." She muttered with a gasp.

"We're not here to sightsee, remember." Nel's blunt tone snapped Allisa back to reality.

"Can't I just enjoy the view for a second," Allisa muttered under her breath.

"When we're not busy and in a death-filled forest, then maybe."

Allisa jumped, not expecting Nel to overhear her.

"I agree with Allisa on this. It's incredible." Melvin said, looking over the ruined city.

"So how'd we get down?" Max said, looking down at the edge of the crater not really caring about the view. "Don't think we can jump down."

"Not unless we wanna break our necks," Cliff said, looking down. "I'm sure they'll have some way to get down. I mean, they wouldn't build a city in a hole in the ground without some way down."

Dora then approached the three onlookers. "Actually, the city sank into the ground." She said.

"Seriously? The whole city?" Allisa asked.

Dora nodded. "It's a story my grandpa told me. Apparently, this city existed before the coming of Saruin."

"It's really that old?" Melvin asked, barely containing his amazement.

"Yeah. The legend is that there was a powerful sorcerer who was betrayed by the city. In revenge, he cast a spell that sank the entire city into the ground."

"Seriously. One guy did this?" Allisa asked.

"Must have been a very powerful earth spell to sink an area this big." Melvin pondered.

"It's what my grandpa said. He uses to come out here a lot with my Grandma when she was still around."

"And that was before the King of the Forest moved in too," Rodger added. "My pa came out here a lot to with my ma. Before the king of the Forest moved in a lot'a people came here cause of rumors of treasure."

"You being one of them I bet," Cliff said.

"Well, no body found nothin. When the King of the Forest moved in, it just got too dangerous to search the ruins."

"How strong is this thing anyway?" Max asked.

"You're not fighting it!" Melvin snapped.

"I was just asking!"

"It's really strong," Dora said. "It showed up about 3 years ago and scared off every monster in the city. Before Rodgers pa died, he and a couple of warriors from the village went to try and fight it and only he came back alive."

Allisa, Cliff and Melvin all gulped together.

"As interesting as that is, it isn't really that important to our current objective," Nel said, getting impatient. She turned to Fred. "You said there was a way to avoid this monster."

"Y-yes. M-moms map means that you walk around the city. Wh-We're gonna take an underground path that's in the city."

"In the city? What about the King of the Forest?" Allisa asked.

"We should be alright. The path doesn't take us to the beasts lay in the center of the city." Dora said. she pointed out towards where the old clock tower was located. "Just past there is the beast's lair."

"There?" Nel looked out towards where Dora was pointing. Huh? What was that?

"We gotta go around the rim until we reach a way into an unground water way. We then follow that to the exit beyond the city where there should be another water way."

"And that will take us straight to those guys that got the old man?" Max asked.

"It actually sounds convenient since it will likely avoid any ambushes along the way," Melvin said. "Assuming that there are none in the city."

"And these guys don't know about this short cut?" Cliff asked.

"Na, there's no way those morons would know about it," Rodger said.

"How can you be sure?"

"Just a hunch."

"Right....."

"So next question, how do we get down?" Allisa said, looking over the edge.

"Th-They'res a path over there." Fred pointed to a point a few yards away, which was what looked like a staircase built into the rock face going down into the city.

"That doesn't look very safe," Melvin said looking at the stairs.

"Only way down though," Rodger said as he began to walk away.

"Don't seem like we got a choice," Max said following on. "Hopefully it's more stable than it looks."

As the group began to depart to the perilous stairway, Allisa noticed Nel was still looking over the ruined city.

"Didn't you say we're not here to sightsee," Allisa said.

"Huh? Oh, right." Nel responded, quickly glancing at Allisa before turning to the city again.

"Did you see something?" Allisa asked, looking out at the city.

".......It's nothing." Nel shrugged and started walking. I could have sworn I saw a flash in that tower.

"......If you say so."

The Ancient city ambush

The staircase in question was even more perilous than they had seen from a distance. It was a very steep set descending in the cliff face down into the ruins of the city.

"You.... Can't be serious..." Cliff mumbled.

"Is that even safe?" Allisa exclaimed, feeling some form of vertigo.

"Cause it is. We use it all the time." Rodger said casually. "Just mind ya step when going down."

"Isn't there a safer way?" Melvin asked, peeping his head over the very steep drop.

"Unfortunately no," Dora replied. "There used to be another way on the other end of the crater, but that path takes you directly to the King. So this is the safest way down."

"Still better than jumping," Max said, sounding very calm.

Nel had her gaze locked on the old clock tower in the center of the city, even activating her Piercer eyes to study the tower.

"Um.... Are you ok?" Allisa said, noticing her eyes.

Nel didn't reply, keeping her eyes glued to the tower. Everyone then took notice.

"You see something?" Melvin asked.

"Not sure yet," Nel replied.

Just then, she saw a small flash, followed by a small bang.

"GET DOWN!!!"

Nel drew out her short blade and intercepted an oncoming bullet, blocking it with the flat of the blade.

"Was that a gun?!" Allisa said lifting her head.

"It's that sniper from before."

****

"Tch, That bitch."

Large Jack grumbled as he cocked his rifle. His plan to pick her off went up in smoke when he noticed that she had her eyes glued to his location meaning she may have noticed something, a careless mistake for a sniper. But when he changed targets to what looked like the strongest person in the group, the fair-haired bulky guy, and that woman managed to intercept the bullet before it hit.

"Looks like we've worn out the surprise."

****

When the gun had fired, everyone but Nel instinctively flinched and dropped to the ground. Allisa had her hands over her head while Melvin and the Sameits were lying on the ground.

"That was a gun! Where'd it come from?" Cliff said. Had one arm covering his head.

"That tower in the center." Nel pointed out.

"Wh-What do we do?" Fred said in a panicked voice.

"First things first, we gotta get out of the open!" Cliff pointed to the tree line. "Everyone get to cover!"

"I got you covered," Nel said, holding up her blades as everyone else ran to the tree line. She then flinched as she sensed something directly below them. What's that?!

"So the bitch that killed Selvester's up there."

A large bulky man with a large mustache and a large pompadour walked towards the wall with the stairway down, sliding on a knuckle duster.

"The will of Gaia, the eternal mother that binds this world, Shatter and crack before her will."

The man pulled back a fist with the knuckleduster and slammed it into the wall.

"Earth Breaker!!"

Fissures ran through the large section of the cliff the group was standing on, followed by it cracking and falling apart.

"WHAT THE?!!!"

"WHOA! THE WHOLE CLIFFS COMING APART!!"

"WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO US?!!!!!"

The part of the cliff that was affected collapsed down into the city, blanketing a large area in the collapsed earth. Several of the ruined buildings below were crushed by the falling rockslide as great pumas of dust were lodged into the air.

".... Everyone *chough chough*, everyone still in one piece." Cliff coughed as he emerged.

"mmmm...mmmm..."

Nearby he saw a pair of legs swaying. He could tell that it was Max since the figures wore sandals and shorts. He grabbed the waving legs and tugged Max free.

"Gah! Thought I was gonna die there..." Max looked up to Cliff. "Thanks for the save man."

Cliff dropped him on his head and looked around for someone else. It was difficult to see anything with the dust floating around.

Allisa then burst from the rubble, coughing and spluttering. "....What... What was that?"

"Felt like an earthquake," Max replied, rubbing his head where he had landed.

"That was no ordinary earthquake," Cliff said looking back. Just visible was the section of the cliff where they had just fallen. It was only the section where they were standing that had collapsed.

"Where's everyone else?" Allisa said, looking around.

"I can't smell them through the dust," Max said.

Just then, a large rock fist burst through the ground.

"Found them," Cliff said.

Emerging from the earth was Rodger, Dora, Fred and Melvin who was carrying Cerberus.

"Hooo boy. That was close." Rodger said dusting himself off. "You guys ok?"

"We're fine." Allisa nodded.

".....I'll get back to you on that." Melvin moaned, dropping Cerberus and dusting his cape.

"I-I thought I was gonna die....." Fred complained.

"Just what was that? The whole cliff just collapsed." Dora exclaimed, waving her arms about.

"I'm guessing we just sprung one of Celtic Hoard's ambushes," Melvin said.

"You mean they're here? They were waiting for us?" Allisa asked.

"Seems that was the case," Cliff said, letting out a small cough. "They're probably waiting for us in the city. They may have had a plan to make sure we ended up in the city just in case this wasn't where we were headed."

"By dropping the whole cliff?!" Dora stated, coughing after.

"Hey! Where's Nel?" Max called out.

Everyone then noticed that they were short one person.

"Nel! Where are you?" Allisa called out.

"Hey! Answered us!" Melvin called out. Suddenly, the map Nel was holding was thrown to his feet. "Huh?"

"Get everyone out of here!"

Nel was then spotted standing a few meters away on the remains of a half-buried building. Even though the dust, the Yellow Glow of her Piercer eyes was visible, giving her a sort of scary demon look.

"Where are you going?" Cliff called out.

"I'm gonna take care of that sniper!" She then disappeared from her spot. "I'll meet up with you later. Just get out of here!"

****

Large Jack saw the red-haired woman burst from the dust from the collapse. Not that he was surprised that she could have survived something like that. She was running across the rooftops at an incredible speed, heading in his direction.

"This is gonna be an interesting hunt." Large Jack said to himself with a grin. He set his sights on the woman's eyes.

****

Nel saw another flash coming from the ruined tower. She immediately halted and skidded to a halt as the bullet shot past her. If she were still running, that would have certainly been a headshot. This sniper's skilled.

She then leaped to the next building. However, as she looked down, she noticed a gang of five below her, one armed with a rocket launcher, aimed at the building she was jumping to.

"Eat this you bitch!" the man with the rocket launcher yelled as he fired at the building. The missile hit the building just as Nel had landed

"That get her?" one of the men asked, just before Nel who had repaired behind the group decapitated him.

She had landed before the missile had hit and used quickstep to leap back onto the next building and then again to launch herself past the group

"Oh shit! Behind us!" One of the men yelled, bringing up an automatic rifle before beginning to empty his entire clip at Nel, who leaped aside into the window of a nearby building.

"Stand aside!" the man with the rocket launcher instructed, firing a missile at the building. The resulting explosion demolished it. "That get her?"

Nel burst from the smoke, landing on a broken pillar before launching herself away; ignoring the four remaining and just missed another of the sniper's bullets. She filled over and landed on all fours on the next rooftop, glancing again at the clock tower.

****

"Damn...." Large Jack cocked his gun as he took aim at the woman who was running again, ducking out of sight within a group of buildings that were out of his sight. She was definitely heading towards him.

He whipped away sweat that had collected on his forehead. He had never encountered someone who can survive against him for this long. It wasn't just the speed of his hunt, it was also the ruined buildings that were increasing her cover. But he wasn't complaining. In fact, this was the most fun he had for a long time. There were still more ambushes along the route and the path she was heading down, there was only one-way out.

"Yo.... She's heading towards you guys. Take her at the exit to that group of ruins." He said into the CCD.

"Got it."

The exit to the group of buildings was a small shoot that brought the person to a wide opening. However, it was completely obscure from Large Jack. However, there was a small surprise in store for her when she arrived there. And if she survived, the path towards him was completely open.

"This is getting really interesting."

****

Meanwhile, as Nel charged through the city, the others were even worse off.

Having broken from the rubble of their entrance, they were quickly barraged by what seemed like a meteor storm, which was blocked by the combined use of Melvin and Rodgers Earth mold magic to put up a dome that just held the barrage but reduced the entire area around them to rubble.

"There must be a wizard nearby," Melvin said as the dome began to crumble away. Cerberus started growling at someone who was standing on one of the ruined buildings a few yards away, a large build man with a notable pompadour.

"Impressive that you were to survive that bombardment. Many an army has fallen to the destruction wrought by that particular spell." The man said, exhaling through his nose so hard that it looked like smoke was blown out.

"You mean.... He's a wizard?" Allisa said, confused by the man's bizarre appearance.

"Apparently...." Cliff said, not sounding so sure. "Doesn't really look the part."

"Hey bastard! You with Celtic Hoard?!" Rodger yelled out, pointing a finger.

"Indeed I am young one. I am known as Quintox von Faust, a former nobleman of Miltesa turned bandit through a series of unfortunate events. Due to the complexity of my name, most refer to me as Faust." The man said with such gusto as he leaped from the building he stood on.

"We're... not that interested in your backstory buddy," Cliff said to the man, clearly hurting his feelings.

"What's with his hair dew?" Max asked, scratching his head.

"This is the signature hairstyle that has been passed down in the Faust family for generations, from the time of the founding of Miltesa herself. Even though I've discarded the name of 'Faust', this symbol of my fam-"

Max interrupted Faust during his monolog by charging up to him and punching him in the face and sending him through the building causing it to collapse. "Wasn't that interested dude," Max said nonchalantly.

Faust burst from the rubble, spitting out a goblet of blood along with one of his teeth. "Quite strong for one so small." His eyes drifted to the scar on Max's scare. "I heard the stories but I never believed them to be true." He then grinned. "A true Salamander."

Max charged, swinging a flaming kick at Faust, who blocked it successfully without being forced back. Stunned by that (Since the kick was stronger than what he used to hit him the first time), Max dropped down, Faired up his right fist and punched out at Faust who, with notable effort on his part, caught his fist and held his ground. What?

"Fist of Iron!" With his free hand, Faust struck Max in the gut, launching him back towards the group, forming a small crater where he landed.

"Max!!" Allisa yelled.

"I-Is he ok?" Fred asked.

Max emerged from the crater clutching his gut. "Ok.... That hurt." He groaned.

"He just set Max flying," Melvin muttered with worry.

"Which means he's no ordinary opponent," Cliff said facing Faust.

Allisa helped Max up from the crater.

"How's that guy a Wizard? He's way too strong." Max groaned.

Melvin dipped his head by what Max was insinuating about wizards.

"That is a fair analogy. Due to wizards' reliance on magic, it is heavenly common for them to neglect their physical strength." Faust said.

"Which is why humans suck at magic," Rodger said under his breath.

"I heard that!"

Faust continued. "There are some Wizards who try to balance out that weakness by using both magic and combat technique, which are known in the Empire as Battlemages."

"And that's what you are?" Max said, pushing away from Allisa.

"I am from a long line of Battlemages. Though I am not but a disgrace to the family, the Faust family is known far and wide for our battle mage's combining our earth magic with our combat style of hand to hand combat which had been passed down through the Faust line for generations." Faust continued his explanation with such pride that he was almost glowing.

"Lotta pride for a bandit," Cliff commented.

"Think I've heard of these battle mages before," Melvin said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Don't really know the details but it's militarized wizards who use weapons as conduits for their magic, rather than using tools like wands or staffs."

"Is that possible?" Allisa asked.

"It's not impossible. Like I said when I was explaining this stuff to you, magic is an art of incantations, spells, and formulas. While the norm to use none weapons to cast spells, like my wand, for example, it's not entirely impossible to use something like a sword to cast spells. Main drawback of using something like that is down to weight. But some wizards have gotten round that by using specifically designed weapons to use magic. Like those knuckle dusters, he's using."

"You're quite smart for someone your age," Faust said to Melvin. "It's just like he said, I use my Knuckle dusters to act as the conduits for my earth magic, a combination that complements each other beautifully."

During his explanation, Max, who had grown impatient, had launched himself at Faust and kicked out. Faust was able to react by grabbing Max's foot.

"It's rude to interrupt someone when they're talking." He said with a smirk.

"Well I wasn't paying attention," Max said with a grin. "But I do get that ya pretty strong." He then flared his foot, freeing himself from Faust's grasp before punching forwards at Faust, who punched at the same time, locking each other's fists.

"Want to put that to the test kid."

Max jumped back and flared up his fists and launched himself at Faust again.

Faust sidestepped out of Max's various swings before catching one of Max's arms before launching his own attack at him. "Fist of Iron!"

Before the first sent him flying again, Max bossed himself away with his feet, freeing him from the bewildered Faust while somersaulting over him and threw both flames in his fist at Faust's exposed back, allowing himself to be blown back by the backlash from the resulting explosion while Faust was forced into the ground.

Max rolled on the ground before jumping to his feet, just as Faust picked himself from the ground, his back still smoldering. "Not bad kid." He said clicking his neck. "Gotta give you that one."

"I'm just getting warmed up."

Max then let out a fire roar at Faust.

"Rock Wall!" He slammed a fist on the ground and a wall raised up to block the flames, only just.

Max then leaped over the wall, kicking down with his entire left leg flared up.

Faust put his arms up. "Will of Steel!" The impact formed a crater below Faust. Faust gritted his teeth as he tried to bear Max's attack.

He then finally forced Max off and slammed another fist to the ground. "Earth Spear!"

Sharp rocks then shot through the ground, catching Max and sent him hurling back. Max recovered in the air, landed and launched himself once again, coating his fist in as many flames as he possibly could.

"Fist of Iron!"

The two's fists collided in a massive explosion of force. When it finally died down, both combatants were launched back. After they finished skidding to a stop, the two launched at each other again, trading several blows, becoming almost obscure from the others by the various explosions from Max's power and Faust's earth magic.

"Should we help him?" Dora asked, watching the brawl.

"I... Think he's enjoying himself." Allisa said with concern.

"That's not a fight I want to get in the middle of, given what that kid can do," Cliff said. "WE should retreat and try to regroup."

"You think he'll be alright?" Rodger asked.

"Yep." Allisa, Cliff and Melvin said in unison.

"If anything, we should get moving before we get caught up in the destruction that'll come from him," Melvin said.

"It's just two people fighting," Dora said.

"Yeah, but things do seem to go boom when that idiot goes all out." Allisa sighed, recalling when they were attacked by ghouls in her school and Max destroyed an entire corridor and blew a hole in the wall.

"That's an understatement." Melvin sighed, recalling the devastation he wrought during his fight with the Homunculus Thatch, which burst through several rooms before resulting in the Homunculus exploring, leveling the entire labyrinth (Almost).

"Um.... G-Guys... Wh-We got trouble."

The group was then drawn to the sound of something mechanical approaching them. To their right was a Magitek Walker, the smaller bipedal model, armed with two machine guns and a cannon, flanked by two men armed with war hammers.

"Ahh! Just our luck!" Cliff exclaimed as the group turned to face the newcomers.

"Yo Faust!" One of the men with War hammers called out. "We're here to help!"

"Ok!" Faust called out after forcing Max off him again.

"Oh Crap!" Max exclaimed when he saw the new threat. He then launched himself towards the Walker, but a wall then grew from the ground and he slammed into it hard enough to leave an impression.

"I'll take care of this kid," Faust said, lifting one hand off the ground.

Max freed himself from the wall, turned around and glared at Faust.

Meanwhile, the cannon of the Walker fired at the group, but Melvin made a barrier and blocked the projectile.

"We got this!" Allisa called out to Max.

"Alright!" Max said, getting back to his feet. "I'll take care of funny hair."

Faust giggled slightly at Max's nickname he made for him. "I won't be staying out of this fight completely," he said, raising one hand. "Guardian of the earth. I summon thee to my side. Golem!"

A violent tremor then shook the ground, nearly tripping the group up. before them, the earth shot up, taking the form of a 10-meter tall golem, made entirely of earth.

"Oh crap! A familiar!" Melvin called out.

"That's a familiar!!" Allisa exclaimed.

"It's bigger than that one that girl from the Rats had. Undoubtedly much stronger." Melvin looked to Cerberus. Should I use Cerberus for this? If he did, then he probably wouldn't be much help if things went wrong later on, given how much mana was needed to use that form.

"Don't worry," Rodger said. "That thing's mine." He said with a large grin on his face.

"Sure you can take that thing on?" Cliff said to him, not taking his eyes of the human opponents in front of him.

"Not alone he won't."

Dora and Fred then walked beside him.

"Wh-We'll fight this thing," Fred said.

"You guys focused on those guys," Dora said.

"Ok," Allisa nodded. "Try not to get separated."

"And be careful," Melvin added. "Familiars strength depends heavily on their summoned."

"We'll help you out when we scramble these guys," Cliff said.

"We'll help you guys out when we bring this thing down," Rodger said back.

"Ha, don't get smart with me kid."

Meanwhile, Max glared at Faust. "You bastard!" He yelled. "This is between you and me!"

"It still is," Faust said. "But I have a duty to Dolton, so I can't just put off my foes to fight one person so that C rank familiar will assist my comrades." He then slammed his palms together. "This one, my B rank familiar is to help me fight you.”

"Guardian of the meadow, protector of all, heed my call, Radagast!" He then slammed his right palm to the ground. Suddenly, smoke puffed out under his palm, and once he lifted his hand, a small, green hedgehog was seen below it.

"Huh? Is that a.... hedgehog?"

"Radagast. A rare hedgehog monster with unique powers." Faust said as he crouched to stroke the nose of Radagast, who let out a small yelp as he brushed its nose against his hand. "Despite being a B ranked familiar, he's actually weaker than that Golem I summoned."

"Like that'll matter!" Max charged in again, flaring up his fist. "Hedgehog or rock monster, I'll still kick your ass!"

With a grin, Faust drew his hand away from Radagast, who fired several quills out, catching Max in his left thigh, causing him to stagger in his charge. "Fist of Iron!" Taking advantage of it, Faust uppercut Max while he was vulnerable, who was sent flying back into an area where that was untouched, smashing into a nearby building.

"Ow... that really hurt..." Max got back to his feet and wobbled slightly. He felt that his left thigh was a bit numb, around the area where the quills were sticking out.

"I'm very impressed that you can still move that well. Radagast's poison quills are strong enough to down a behemoth." Faust said as he approached Max, Radagast hovering beside him. "Unlike the Golem, Radagast is more of a support familiar."

"So it can shoot out those spikes? Big deal."

"It can do a bit more than that." Faust clicked his fingers.

Radagast yelped and hovered up into the sky curling up into a ball. It then grew to an enormous size, with the quills growing and combining to enormous spikes until it resembled a green spiked ball.

"Whoa cool! Can Hedgehogs do that?"

"I wouldn't stand there and admire it if I were you."

The ball then started to spin and directly on where Max was standing. "Oh Crap!!" Max leaped out of the way, just before the ball obliterated the entire building he was in, still spinning as it barreled after Max, literally destroying everything in its path. Max eventually stopped running, and let out a fire roar, managing to stop it in its tracks and force it away. While he was distracted, Faust had made his next move.

"Thien will of earth, rain down from the Havens, Meteor Shower!"

Debris from the ruined buildings had risen up above Max and started to rain down on him, eventually catching him and forming craters where they landed, burying Max in the rubble.

"That's the spell I used before, though at a much higher altitude and with larger rocks," Faust said as Radagast returned to him. "Had enough?"

A large explosion blew the rubble away, with a battered Max emerging, wiping away blood from his mouth. "Like I said, I'm just gotten warmed up." He said with a large grin before punching his fists together. "I'm gonna beat ya. Then me and my friends are gonna get outta here and save Rodger's gramps and the old man."

"I like your spirit kid. It's most invigorating," Faust said, waving him with one finger. "Let's see if that will be enough."

****

Two battles were taking place in the old city, simultaneously. The first was Nel's dash to the sniper in the old clock tower, dealing with various ambushes along the way, the second was the ambush on the west side of the city, one battle, in particular, was destroying almost everything.

Blow the ruined place in the center of the city lay an underground chamber almost pitched black, filled with the bones of various shapes and sizes. Only one thing lived there, and with the noise of the battles above ground, he was beginning to stir.