Bravely venturing the darkness that echoed with the cold frost of night and the fiery breaths of fear, Maxwell, Axel, Alsop and Elsa carried along Envy through the pathways to Bournington. A single light drove them all forwards, thirsty for some sense of humanity nearby them. Their lips had trembled as if they received a kiss from Death and their eyes darted about their soulless surroundings with nervousness. Dreadful tears formed at the eyes of the young, with Maxwell and Envy not being prone to also shedding gusts of fear from their movements. Finally, a tremor of speech came through which began a warming fire.

"Do you three know your prayers?" Alsop asked, his eyes strained with stress.

"I don't know them, does that mean I'm a dead man? Oh please, I'm so young!" Axel cried.

"You two must calm down. I'm sure Grove's horses just didn't like the weather that we encountered earlier." Maxwell said as he lifted Elsa onto his back and held her tight.

"Well, maybe they saw something in the bushes..." Axel started off.

"Something with scary-looking red eyes!" Alsop added.

"And something with a black, ghostly appearance!" Axel finished.

"You two are only scaring yourselves." Maxwell chuckled nervously.

"Perhaps I could speak up about something." Envy smirked sinisterly.

"What is it?" Asked Axel.

"Something is watching us." Simply replied Envy.

"Don't listen to him. He is only trying to scare you." Maxwell sternly said.

"No, I saw a pair of glowing red eyes earlier and I can see them again over there." Envy had jolted his head towards an incredibly swift figure that had ferociously moved across the bushes.

"Reveal yourself!" Shouted Maxwell immediately.

After a prolonged wait, a sinister shadow with a glowing pair of red eyes had come from the bushes with an intrusive stare towards the trembling group. As it moved closer towards them, aiming for a clearer view, an unnerving sound rumbled along the ears of the poor group. Like a set of hungry hounds drooling with anticipation, more of the figures emerged as they licked their lips. But this eventful display had only led up to nothing harmful. The figures had come up close to each of the party, especially Elsa, with smiles that emphasised the horrors of their hauntingly hollow faces - a picture of perfect horror. Their stay was limited to only a few seconds, for they soon flung their selves off to the bushes and down the path to Bournington.

"What was that?" Alsop trembled.

"You guys did see that too, yes?" Axel said in terror.

"Tell me what they were!" Maxwell flung his hands onto Envy's collars.

"I wish I had followers like that. They are sin cultists of course." Envy replied with a jealous sting to his words.

"Well, who is their leader? Which sin is it?" Pressed Maxwell.

"I would like to know too. In fact, I'll let you all in on a secret. I have rarely actually met any of my comrades." Admitted Envy.

"But this does mean that there is a sin nearby, surely?" Pondered Alsop.

"Yes." Said Envy.

"Maxwell, just past the upcoming village of Bournehill, there is Bournington..." Alsop shyly said.

"No, no, no!" Axel cried out. "This is all my fault! I let all of us go! We left Bournington weak."

"Fred and Chadwick stayed behind for a reason." Said Maxwell.

The group had now hastened their walk.

"No. I fear for them. We struggled with Envy, I can't imagine Frederick and Chadwick fighting a more superior enemy!" Axel had begun running.

"They are guardians. At the very least, the Seal of Greed is protected. It is their sole goal." Said Maxwell.

"What about the rest of Bournington?" Alsop interjected.

"That depends on how long the sin has been around." Maxwell grimly replied.

"Maxwell..." Elsa whispered in his ear. "I can hear someone crying far away."

"Hold onto me tight Elsa. Very tight, my sweet princess." Maxwell said.

Even though Maxwell's words were usually sure to have had a strong sense of confidence behind them, for little Elsa her heart could not help but be inclined to favour her fear. Despite her heartbeat pounding viciously within her chest, the ominous cries from afar were what made Elsa shake unwillingly. Louder and louder they became until finally, it became clear for Maxwell just what she had come to hear upon.

A small outlying village, Bournehill was a well-known place for rest, with a considerable number of travellers to Bournington staying there often. Yet tonight was not a night of relaxation. Deep in flames, rows of houses had been devastatingly destroyed by a familiar darkness in the distance. A huddle of figures, all of whom Maxwell and the others instantly came to recognise. Their eyes seemed to unwillingly focus on a more gruesome sight. With their white fanged teeth, the inhuman figures had trickles of blood seeping between each tooth, and a chilling sound of grinding cascaded into the air. Bone after bone was being chewed ferociously. Suddenly, their gnawing away at the bodies of Bournehill soon became slower and slower until finally, the figures froze.

"Running, Max. Running!" Tugging Maxwell fiercely, Elsa exclaimed.

"Huh?" He turned around, instantly noticing a member of their party missing. "Envy! He's running away!" He yelled in uproar - a truly costly mistake.

"Max! Those things! Don't shout!" Alsop cried out.

"It's too la-!" An instant yell came from Axel as his legs quickly lost their footing.

"Axel?!" Flailing about in the darkness, Alsop looked desperately for his friend.

"Alsop. Sort this out. I am going to find Envy." Said Maxwell.

He had left Alsop and Axel entirely alone in a village swarming with darkness. Worse yet for Alsop, the only other friend he had nearby was completely submerged in the darkness of the streets. Axel had been clawed away at until he finally was dragged all the way into a mound of half-eaten bodies. The smell alone was what also dragged Alsop into such a rancid roast of bodies. Yet, the instant touching of a body startled Alsop greatly. Was his friend within this mess?

For Axel, his body had accepted death. It was all over. A fiendishly foul foe had at last gotten through the frontline defence and reached the backline. Without Alsop, Axel was doomed. So, on his deathbed, he sighed hopelessly. The figure which dragged him through the streets had begun licking its lips with hunger, but a bigger predator soon came to cease its existence entirely.

"Axel." Alsop wept profusely.

"Alsop." So did Axel.

The two rose from the blood and bones of Bournehill with their sights on a single grouped enemy. Several tenfold of sin cultists.

"Do you remember that night in the slums, before the general became your mentor?" Asked Alsop, surveying the crawling figures at the bottom of the mound.

"Yes. We fought a sin cultist." Recalled Axel.

"This is like that night." Alsop hopelessly chuckled.

"No...no this is absolutely not! Back then it was just one, this is way too many! Curse Maxwell!" Cried out Axel.

"This time, we have a common goal, Axel." Said Alsop, his eyes darting around to note the numbers. "We both want to get out of this situation." He claimed.

"So, you think that's enough for us to push through these monsters?!" Concerned, Axel supposed.

"This time, Axel. This time, we need to work together. It's not like the slums where we could get by, by being uncoordinated." Said Alsop.

"You're thinking we should work together for once?" Pondered Axel.

"Balance is key, no? You defend and I attack. Together. At the same time." Said Alsop, a grin on his face as confidence came channelling within him.

So confident, in fact, that his heart had flowed far too much with it, and far too little with reason. Once again, passion persuaded Alsop. He plunged into the heart of battle with the heart of a lion, but the eyes of a blind man. His eyes needed no knowledge of what was going on, as long as his hands managed to focus on attacking mindlessly. And whether he liked it or not, Axel ended up agreeing to the senseless way of fighting. His eyes were considerably aware of the blind spots Alsop had because he was in an elevated place of land. So, Axel quickly shielded his fiery partner by placing solid rock slabs behind him in these areas of weakness.

With such a simple strategy, the two managed to prevail significantly, until finally, they won. But at what cost? All around the two, homes had been cleared well before they arrived. And just below their feet, the battlefield was nothing more than blood and bones. It greatly unsettled Axel with feelings of both worry and regret, but Alsop had a fiery set of eyes beside his friend. Paired with a childish grin, his eyes gathered onto the mighty amount of sin cultists the two had just managed to take out together.

"Not bad! We did attack and defence together and it worked!" He exclaimed with delight.

"You knew!" Axel felt disgusted at Alsop's excitement. "You knew I would protect you!" He remarked.

"You protected me, who protected you, so you protected yourself. I am the sword, you are the shield." Alsop said.

"Right..." Axel sighed. "I suppose it's an improvement from that time in the slums." He said reluctantly.

"Back then, we struggled against one sin cultist because of our differences. We should work together more often." Said Alsop.

"But we won't always be so well coordinated." Axel remarked.

"Nonsense, I'll always be alongside you, so it'll be hard to lose each other." Claimed Alsop.

"I'm only sitting on the fence because of how far ahead you go with your actions..." Mumbled Axel, but his companion had seemingly focused on a more pressing matter.

"These are not like the sin cultists we saw in the slums. Considering there's no fatigue on us, these are also not Sloth's." Observed Alsop, his eyes surveying the bodies of the figures. "So, whose are these? Why are they here?" He pondered.

"Envy claimed they're not his. So, it's strange." Said Axel.

"Ah, Envy. I wonder if Max has caught up to him." Sighed Alsop. "What a mess this is." He said drearily.