The day Wonderland ‘came into existence’ would be one remembered by all of humanity.

It was the twenty fifth of December, a day the vast majority of the world knew as Christmas, a holiday filled with cheer and happiness…

So of course, no one expected the chaos that started that morning.

“Move it, move it, we need every willing helper, find a Guild employee and state your level and Class and we will assign you to a suitable area, move it!” Dante shouted, the flurry of movement in the Guild listening as some measure of order was established, only twelve people not doing so, moving instead to Dante.

“Dante, I don’t want Jotun involved, they’re a bit young for this…” Arthur stated, thumbing to the Jotun members who wanted to complain, but found they didn’t really have any moral high ground to speak from.

“You’re all barely a few years older than them, but you have a point. You six won’t be going out with the rest, don’t worry, other young Adventurers aren’t going to help out either.” Dante said, quickly snapping his vision to Arthur instead of Drew, knowing that the leader of Einherjar wouldn’t just leave it at that.

“As for Einherjar… while I honestly don’t want to be involved, we’ve already made an agreement, haven’t we?” Arthur asked with a frown, getting a reluctant nod from Dante.

This situation could be explained by the news showing on the TV, speaking of how mask wearing Contractors/Adventurers all over the world were attacking stores, banks, police stations, public areas, it was chaos out of nowhere.

And unfortunately, America knew exactly who was causing it, even if there was no confirmed sighting of the man known as the Adventurer Killer.

And to think, this all happened on Christmas of all days…

“He chose the perfect timing… damn this monster of our own making.” Shaun cursed to himself, looking over at all the real-time reports, fights were breaking out almost everywhere…

The only saving grace was that little to no guns were being used, because the enemies were Adventurers/Contractors, there was no way of telling if one of them was bullet proof or capable of deflecting them into an innocent bystander.

“Sir, we’ve already issued evacuation orders all over, but even considering that… the amount of casualties world-wide… it’s no Red Sky Day but… this is a human action, against other humans.” Grey Vincent appeared at Shaun’s side, Grey’s Anima giving him the speed needed to do so.

“I know, this is horrible… I bet Osama is wishing he did something this crazy when he was alive, wherever he is.” Well, Hell would have been stated, but considering they were being invaded by Hell…

Now they had to worry about internal affairs before being able to fight against Chronos?

“Probably sir, but I believe we found the person we need to target.” Grey showed pulled out his phone, pulling up a live feed of man standing in Central Park, a man killing anyone near him with a woodcutting axe and roaring…

He was actually roaring a word, just one.

“Arthur!” the man roared once more, and everyone who was watching this would know immediately who this man was looking for, getting Shaun to look at Grey.

“Get Einherjar, have them face this one… I don’t think he’s as simple as the rest.” The majority of the problem causers were between level fifty and eighty, manageable by top-tier Adventurer teams easily…

And one of those teams were actually lying there, dead, at the hands of this one man.

“He must be the one in charge of this attack, in America at least. Warn the other nations, there’s a singular ‘leader’ of the attack, once they’re taken care of, it might scare the others off.” Shaun said, wishing that they could just wipe out all these murderers and thieves at once…

But that was an unfortunate impossibility. Terrorists didn’t care for when their victims wanted to stop, they just wanted to spread their message…

And Shaun had no doubt, after this attack, Mourn would have a very loud voice with which to share his message, whatever it may be.

“…Understood, sir.” Grey moved, reluctantly but with purpose, and Shaun recalled his issues with Einherjar…

“Well, he better move past those issues now. I will not have more people die because he didn’t want to talk to some people.” Shaun said, having sent out orders, he picked up an earpiece and placed it by his ear, summoning his armour over his form while calling for Dante.

“Dante, we’re going hunting, Ellie, take charge, message Roy and check his status, and then message Oliver and remind him that if he isn’t at Sera’s side I will personally kill him after all this is over.” Shaun warned, watching Grey from the corner of his eye go up to Einherjar, half the group looking at Grey with surprise before having small frowns.

“Alright boss, let’s do this.” Dante said, his own armour appearing over him as they moved out, leaving the conversation inside the building to Grey and Ellie.

“Grey? So, you were a Guild worker this whole time?” Arthur asked with a frown, looking at Grey with a bit of surprise… and not a lot of trust.

“Yeah… didn’t really want to show up in front of you all again considering the kind of person I was when I was last in your life.” Grey pointed out, scratching the back of neck and letting out a self-deprecating chuckle.

He knew that he was… not the easiest person to call friend, back before his encounter with Shaun’s wife Sera, and he didn’t blame them for the looks he was being given.

“Arthur, who is this?” Emilia asked, looking between Grey and Arthur with confusion, and Grey chuckled a bit at the question, keeping her attention on him.

“I’m… well, I used to be friends with Arthur, Michael and Alice, before I went through a lot of… issues. It’s nice to meet you though, Emilia, I’m glad Arthur has someone in his life that looks out for him the way you do.” Grey said with surprising honesty as Arthur scoffed.

“Right, care now of all times. It’s a few years late, but hey, better late than never right? What’s the orders from the boss… and you’re definitely going to be talking with us after this day is over.” Arthur added before Emilia could get a bit embarrassed for the attention to her and Arthur’s relationship.

“I came here knowing that. Head to Central Park, there’s a man with an axe there, calling for you, my guess is that his job in this entire thing is to keep you busy or even kill you… and considering you’re known as the ‘strongest Adventurer’ it gives an idea of how strong he must be.” Grey warned, and Arthur actually considered it for a bit…

He knew the Adventurer Killer was higher levelled than himself, but his teammates… that was a maybe.

But with this kind of confidence, the man had to be at least level one hundred and sixteen like Arthur himself… a dangerous idea.

“Well, even knowing it’s a trap, shouldn’t I spring it? Someone capable of keeping me at bay can’t be low ranked in this group.” Arthur pointed out, and while the words could admittedly sound arrogant, it was arrogance based on facts.

The amount of people at Arthur’s level or higher in the entire world could probably be counted with less than ten fingers, even if Arthur was included in that count.

Arthur was modest most of the time… now was not a time to be modest.

“That’s what we were thinking, enemies near him seem to be keeping a distance from him and sending him glances, they don’t even care for each other but they care what he is doing, so he must be high up. We’re hoping that fighting him off might stop the fighting, at least here in New York.” Grey said, getting a shake of the head from Arthur, even as he gestured for his team to follow him.

“There’s no guarantee it would work, I even doubt it would… but the alternative is worse, huh?” Arthur said with a tired frown, and Grey winced realizing that Arthur knew exactly what the alternative was.

If defeating that axe-user wouldn’t end this ‘invasion’ here in New York, then the alternative was that they’d have to hunt down every single enemy and kill/contain them individually…

The amount of damage they’d do then would be far, far too much.

But still, they had to try…

The other option was much too painful.

Standing above the Empire State Building, Mourn stood, laughing at the signs of fires and destruction across the ‘big apple’ and Eddie standing at his side with a frown, on his other side Doc Cheshire stood.

“Burn, burn away you ignorant bastards!” Mourn roared, even if no one could hear him, it was cathartic to scream like this and have the ‘listeners’ actually experience pain.

“Mister Eddie, you look a bit down, is there something wrong?” The Doc asked with that creepy grin on his face, Eddie looking to the man with a frown before looking back to Mourn and sighing.

“Lots of things are wrong Doc, and not a lot of right things either. I’m against what’s happening.” Eddie said simply, Mourn sparing Eddie a glance before he continued looking across the wide expanse of the concrete jungle.

“Your disapproval was noted and ignored Eddie, stop bringing it up.” Mourn said with a frown on his face, the frown shifting very quickly into a smile when a few booms went off nearby, a building actually crumbling in on itself.

“Whoever did that deserves a raise! Do we even pay most of our workers though?” Mourn asked in mock concern, Doc Cheshire holding his chin as if in thought.

“I do believe you pay them boss, they air they breathe belongs to you after all.” The Doc was hopeless, drawing a roll of the eyes from Eddie, very disturbed that the therapist that they kidnapped ended up becoming a basket case when associated with Mourn.

Or maybe the man was always an oddball and being allowed to do as he pleased with Mourn resulted in the current situation? Who knew what it really was but the Doc, and he seemed a bit loopy right now so his word couldn’t be trusted entirely.

“How is Axe doing by the way, I hear he killed one of the top ten teams in this city?” Mourn asked, pulling out a phone and looking up some ‘live update’ website for information regarding ‘the Axe wielder in Central Park’.

“If he did, they were probably weak… his main target is the Chosen after all.” The Doc pointed out while Mourn heard Axe scream for ‘Arthur’ with a chuckle…

Axe rarely spoke after all, the man did have a damn scary voice and appearance though. Mourn got a lot of… business deals, very quickly with Axe at his side.

Mourn was terrifying, but he didn’t always look the part. Axe on the other hand really scared everyone.

It showed that despite his stoic nature and lack of speaking, Axe was quite smart. He immediately feared and respected Mourn while others seemed to think that he could be messed with, and yet they left Axe alone.

Basically, others were idiots to try and go against Mourn, Axe was smart enough to see that such a thing would be detrimental to his continued existence.

“Oh yeah, Arthur…” Eddie said, looking away with a frown, and then facing where he knew Central Park to be…

He was a member of Wonderland, the second-in-command… but he was also a Clive.

Between Axe and Arthur, Eddie would much rather have the latter survive their encounter…

Then again, they both might, if Axe lost and Arthur hadn’t forgotten the morals Eddie tried to teach him…

Eddie felt that he had failed, before he left home, but maybe Arthur would remember it…

Eddie doubted his parents would have taught Arthur properly… they were only good for hurting Arthur after all.

“Ah, I think that’s them, use the binoculars.” Mourn said with the hint of an insane grin as he wore a pair of binoculars, looking at Central Park…

Eddie sighed and pulled out binoculars of his own, looking down at the park with a frown…

He really hoped his younger brother survived… Arthur was scary, and a monster to Eddie, but he didn’t deserve what happened to him.

Stepping out of the SUV given to their team, Arthur assessed the situation, noticing many people fighting all around, some even attacking dead bodies…

The stench was the most annoying thing, Arthur determined, ignoring John puking nearby at the sight of someone being continuously stabbed despite being clearly dead.

None of the members of Einherjar truly waved off what was happening, all looking at least a bit sick… with the exception of Arthur, who was just busy taking in information.

He considered feigning sickness if he and his team ever saw something like this and decided that yes, that sounded like a good plan, rather than have his team catch on that something wasn’t right…

Sparing a glance for Emilia, Arthur gestured for the group to follow him.

He’d have to talk to Emilia someday soon… considering they were dating she deserved to know Arthur’s irregularities.

If she decided he was too much trouble after that… well, he wouldn’t blame her.

“Oh god, why would people do things like this…” John complained, still coughing a bit as he followed the other members of Einherjar, his Sneak Skill still active even if he spoke… though talking meant anyone who could hear him immediately knew where he was.

“I can’t believe I need to be the one to say this… but don’t question it.” Arthur said, well aware of the hypocrisy in his words when he was the most curious member of the group, drawing his team’s looks from the bad things happening all around them.

“The enemy believe what they believe. Their beliefs were apparently enough to do what they’re currently doing. You believe they shouldn’t, they believe they should. That’s enough of a reason to fight.” Arthur said, aware that his words might sound odd…

But they weren’t any less true. People could fight over anything, and people could also kill over almost anything.

Arthur was well aware of that.

Einherjar grew quiet as they moved, no one daring to come near Einherjar and provoke them lest they get themselves killed/knocked out before their job was done, and likely also knowing that Einherjar were to be left alone for their leader, the Axe-wielder.

And walking forward into one of the many open areas in the park, Einherjar found their target waiting, the man standing up from his previous position of being seated on the grass.

The man was large, matching Matt and Michael for height, possibly being even taller than them despite their roughly two metres of height… though he was definitely larger when it came to physique, the man was muscular as heck…

Michael was a thin guy, and Matt was only slightly better despite his position as a tank, but this guy with the axe was practically a muscular wall, wearing a tank top, baggy pants and boots, the original colours of those bits of clothing were lost to the copious amounts of blood splattered around, drawing more winces and disgust from Einherjar.

“You called me. I’m here.” Arthur glared, switching into his ‘Dungeon persona’ which he used against Demon Lords… demanding respect, and expecting it, or else.

“…” the man did not speak, or if he did it was muffled by that face mask he wore, only the upper half of his face visible, much like the Clockwork Smith…

Arthur hoped this guy wasn’t disfigured by his jaw like the aforementioned Demon Lord.

Instead of speaking, the man removed a phone from his inventory, swiping and letting the phone ring before it was picked up on the other side.

“Hey there! How’s my favourite Adventurer doing, well I hope? Great… I take it you’ve all met Axe? Before you ask, I don’t really know his real name.” A voice came from the phone, the voice’s tone confusing the members of Einherjar.

It went from excited to a more mild tone before what sounded like genuine confusion, a bit of mood-whiplash considering the scenery with that voice suddenly ringing out.

“I take it you’re the leader of this guy… no one actually told me anything, but I have a good idea of who you are. Adventurer Killer right? Mourn?” Arthur spoke aloud, raising a brow in question as chuckling rang out over the phone.

“See, see, I knew he’d catch on quick, as expected from one of my main targets… yes, I, am the Adventurer Killer. I am Jack Mourn, leader of this little group of mine. I call them Wonderland, cause I like stereotypes.” Arthur resisted the urge to roll his eyes with much willpower, an insane person naming their group ‘wonderland’ after the Lewis Carroll books?

As Mourn said, stereotypical… and a way to paint a pretty strange children’s book as something darker, still, stereotypical.

“That’s a really dumb name. The group I mean, your name sounds like it’s a fake, but I never put much stock in names.” Arthur admitted with a shrug, the members of Einherjar just listening to the exchange with confusion.

“I know, but I named us on a whim and it stuck. No one’s willing to argue after I tore out the larynx of the last person who spoke out… I think it was a larynx, going to need to check a biology book to be sure.” The casual discussion about tearing someone’s throat out was disturbing, but Arthur knew that it was just Mourn attempting to freak him out.

“So, Jack, if I can call you that, why do this? Why attack the world like this when we are supposed to be united in a fight against Chronos… why target me?” Arthur asked, confused.

“… I don’t think I’d mind, Arthur, but I really thought that Head Guild Master of America would have clued you into my hatred, but I suppose that man is a secretive one.” Mourn sounded a bit strange, as if… annoyed, with Shaun.

“He knows? Shaun knows why you’re doing this? And he didn’t tell me.” Arthur added aloud for the benefit of Mourn and the other members of Einherjar as a scoff was heard from the other side of the phone.

“Oh he knows alright. You see, Jack Mourn is a fake name, given to me by the one person I admire. I doubt he remembers though.” Jack said with a self-deprecating laugh, leaving the members of Einherjar silent as they listened.

“Before I was Jack Mourn, I was simply ‘patient twenty three’ of the Pennhurst Project Fool. A top secret program designed to train suicidal, mentally unstable soldiers to be dropped into enemy countries and wreck-havoc before being gunned down.” Mourn’s words drew wide eyes from the Einherjar members, including Arthur…

Michael and Matt were probably feeling a bit vindictive of their conspiracy theories having some credit to it now, but ignoring that, such an admission was unbelievable.

“I was trained to kill as many as I could before dying. I was tortured, day in, and day out to force me to hurt others and someday, it stopped bothering me. I started to… enjoy it.” Mourn’s quivering voice had near-sexual undertones to it, prompting a wave of disgust from the Einherjar members…

Well, all of them except Arthur who just accepted the words at face value, not bothering to look into whatever Mourn was trying to get them to think.

The way Mourn was speaking, he was painting the narrative to his liking, so Arthur instead focused on the ‘facts’ of the conversation.

If they were lies, he could confirm that later, but the other bits, Arthur discarded immediately as irrelevant.

“Get to the point.” Arthur pointed out, and Mourn giggled, giggled over the phone.

“Oh alright… so anyway, after being tortured for a few years, and training, I finally found a chance to escape… or rather, was given a chance to escape by the esteemed Chronos.” And there was the crux of the issue.

“Red Sky Day. You used it to escape?” Arthur asked, despite knowing the answer instinctively.

“Of course I did. Everyone was dying, my room was unlocked, and you think I’d stay there? Stay in that cage that hurt me every single day? I relished in the freedom… and then realized that I wasn’t free.” The undertone of violence entered Mourn’s voice towards the end, and while the members of Einherjar were a bit confused on what Mourn meant…

“You weren’t free… because the people who started the situation weren’t dead? The government wronged you, and if you appeared as is, you’d be silenced. You had no reason to believe otherwise.” Arthur said, somehow knowing this…

Why was he sympathizing so much with Mourn at this moment?

“…Yeah. The government that ordered that project be done is still around. And the other countries already messed with my plans in Columbia.” Mourn said the country’s name with venom in his tone, a hatred for the country that went beyond what Arthur understood.

Understandable, Arthur was not there for whatever happened in Columbia, but from what Shaun hinted at, it was bad on all sides.

“So this is you lashing out. Getting revenge… why target innocent people then? You don’t strike me as stupid, a stupid man would have been caught already.” Arthur pointed out, silence coming from the phone held in the Axe-man’s grasp.

“…Maybe it is stupid. But everything I do has purpose. Axe.” The man holding the phone straightened subconsciously, letting anyone observant enough note the man’s obedience to Mourn.

“Get ready to fight. If you can, kill Arthur. If not, Kyle will retrieve you before you die. Know that the moment you are done, the attack is done.” The large man’s eyes narrowed, his weapon appearing in his other hand.

“I don’t hold any personal vendetta with you Mourn… but considering that you called me out and want to kill me, I guess we will have to fight.” Arthur said, his Coat and Cutlass appearing, his teammates summoning their own Animae and equipment.

“That we do. One last thing before I go, there’s someone who wants to talk to you.” Mourn genuinely sounded confused at this part, Arthur wondering who Mourn was with, feeling nervous at the prospect.

“…Hey Arthur. It’s been a long time.” Arthur’s mind blanked, knowing exactly who was speaking from the other end of the phone.

“…Eddie?” Arthur asked, half of Einherjar going wide-eyed knowing the name, Matt and John being a bit confused on who that was.

“Yeah, it’s me. Sorry for being such a bad brother… I mean, I’m impressed, you’re strong, the face of Adventurers all over the world, fighting against Chronos… I’m proud.” Eddie’s voice rang out over the phone, the Axe guy looking at the phone with wide eyes of his own…

“What… What are you doing with Mourn? Why are you there?” Arthur shouted the last bit, surprised and admittedly a bit worried…

He hadn’t heard from Eddie since seven years ago, when his brother moved out after a large argument with his parents…

Arthur had always been a willingly ignorant person… yes, he was curious, very, but only with things that brought him enjoyment…

Things that he knew would hurt, or disturb him, Arthur would willingly ignore with not a hint of hesitation…

And the fight between Eddie and his parents was one such case of ignorance.

Arthur only knew that they were screaming at each other, Arthur staying with Angelica so that she didn’t cry, he didn’t know what the fight was about, what was the straw that broke the camel’s back, but Eddie left that night.

And now, the first time in years Arthur hears from Eddie, and he is with Jack Mourn, the Adventurer Killer… the man aiming to kill Arthur.

“I’ve been in a bad situation these last few years… Mourn got me out. Or further in, depending on your view. I work for him. He’s my boss.” Arthur almost felt like he got physically hit at that point…

His elder brother, one of the few that Arthur trusted, was working for Mourn?

“Well this is a surprise… I didn’t know Eddie was related to you Arthur… that’s intriguing! I mean, one of the greatest threats to my plan just happens to be the younger brother of my second-in-command? This is just priceless! It’s like a movie!” Mourn laughed, his voice softer than usual, probably because he wasn’t holding the phone, but everyone heard it…

The members of Einherjar all looked at Arthur, and he couldn’t look back to them, waiting for an answer.

“You’re… you’re with the people trying to kill me.” Arthur said finally, waiting on a reply from Eddie, wanting to hear what justification his brother could possibly have for his actions, as the second-in-command of Mourn’s operation.

“That I am. I’m not going to be personally involved in any encounters with you though, I have that kind of leeway. For what it’s worth though, I hope you win this fight.” Arthur felt a bit of tension leave his body, understanding immediately.

“Okay. I can accept that… hey. Did you know you have another younger brother?” Arthur asked, picturing his brother’s reaction to the statement… probably wide eyes and a bit of excitement.

“What, when did that happen? What’s his name?” Eddie asked, and Arthur smiled, knowing now, that his brother… well, his brother was, as he said, in a bad place…

But he wasn’t a different person. Eddie was still Eddie.

“His fourth birthday is coming up in a few months, his name’s Dennis. I’m sure he’d be happy to meet another older brother… not that we can do that just yet.” Arthur smiled a bit, and then sighed, frowning as he looked at ‘Axe’.

“Yeah… maybe when this is all over I’ll go visit. Bye Arthur.” Eddie said, the phone clicking off.

After a moment, the phone vanished into Axe’s inventory, the man rolling his head as he raised his weapon, leaning forward aggressively.

On his left wrist was ‘EX 17’, two levels higher than Arthur and three levels higher than most of Einherjar…

Not a train-smash, though it was bad.

Activating Soul Sight, glaring at Axe’s soul, Arthur raised his Cutlass, Solaris appearing in his other hand.

“Attack.” That was all Arthur said, Axe roaring as he rushed forward, the ground around them bursting as roots grew around, trying to entangle Einherjar’s legs, the six spreading apart to avoid being trapped.

“Strength-Endurance based fighter, his Strength is very high, his Endurance is probably three quarters of Matt’s!” Arthur shouted, the members of Einherjar frowning at the picture painted by that Stat layout…

Matt’s Endurance was damn high, even half of his Endurance was higher than Arthurs at least, this guy had to have an Endurance score of about a hundred and fifty, his Strength even higher than that.

Combine that with him growing roots to try and hold them in place, the man was a Wood-Element magician, which seemed neigh impossible…

“His Vitality and Dexterity are really low, like ‘imbalance the Soul’ low! He won’t be healing from whatever injuries we give him immediately!” Arthur shouted out, and the group smiled.

An enemy with a clear weakness, that being the finesse of his attacks and his healing ability?

Sure, it would be hard to hurt him, and getting hit by him would ensure extreme pain…

But… wasn’t that just like most human sized Demon Lords?

“Rah!” Axe roared, uncaring if they knew his weakness or not, stomping on the ground making a log with a sharpened point burst from the ground at an angle aimed at Emilia, the Russian thief rolling backwards, the attack going over her head.

Axe took advantage of his change in the terrain, running along the log and then kicking off of it, launching himself at Michael, the archer firing an arrow at the man…

And for once, instead of the arrow being deflected, it actually hit him!

And Axe responded with another roar and kick to the chest, knocking Michael flying backwards, the burn mark on his shoulder only slightly inconveniencing the insane killer.

Ah, not dodging because he was durable enough to take the hit, Michael would have to remember that after his sternum felt better.

“Hey, that’s my brother you just kicked!” Axe turned, wide eyed as he saw the giant blade coming for his waist, just barely raising his axe to try and counter the attack, but still being knocked skidding back…

Right, high Endurance made it easier to stand your ground, it’s why Matt barely got knocked around anymore.

Alice stepped back, making her blade shorter and using the flat to block Axe’s retaliatory strike, the berserker of Einherjar being sent back much further than Axe was from the same attack, and while she would have gone back to attack again, while stumbling back her foot caught on a root growing out of the ground…

Taking advantage of his tripping of the female warrior, Axe charged forward, raising his axe up and preparing to swing down into her skull, only for a Lightning covered foot to kick Axe in the face, the killer stumbling back from the unexpected blow, leaving Alice with enough time to roll to a standing position.

“He’s a bulldozer, uses magic similar to Miles! Matt, could use your help!” Arthur called out, the tank nodding, sliding between Arthur and Axe, the killer growling, a Venus-flytrap appearing from the ground and biting into Arthur’s arm, making the Chosen wince in pain before cutting the plant, glaring at Axe.

Their battle, while short so far, had attracted attention, the people on Axe’s side stopping their actions and watching the fight now, a crowd watching, some even having phones out.

Arthur’s team didn’t have the freedom to care though, Axe growling and rushing at Matt was taking up their attention, the killer slamming his axe at Matt’s skull, the member of Einherjar smirking and raising his shield to block.

When his weapon was stopped, and Matt wasn’t sent flying, Axe was genuinely surprised, his eyes widening as Matt shoved his shield upwards, unbalancing Axe even as Axe glared, a thorny vine growing from the ground and wrapping around Matt’s leg, trying to dig into his skin but only barely scratching him.

Invulnerable, your name was Matt… someday. Not yet.

But he was damn close among people of similar levels.

Axe stumbling back, and Matt held in place until he forced the vines off, Emilia dashed forward, slashing at Axe’s chest, drawing two lines of red as the man roared, swinging his off hand to try and hit Emilia, the Russian dodging just barely.

The serial killer roared once more, stomping his foot, spears of bamboo shooting from the ground to stab each member of Einherjar, all the melee fighters blocking or cutting the bamboo before it could hit them…

“Michael, John!” Alice shouted, realizing that the two long range fighters were also being targeted, Michael just barely deflecting the bamboo with his bow, and John stumbling back as a growling Sidhe clawed at the bamboo.

Luckily Sidhe was used to looking out for John during fights, at least when the cat was involved, the cat vanishing after blocking the attack, using its Mind Element to fade once more, John scrambling and activating Sneak once more…

It wasn’t much help though, so Arthur called out.

“Don’t bother, he attacked you even when you were invisible!” Arthur shouted, and the invisibility of the two vanished, John frowning even as he held out his hand, two swords appearing at his side, floating even as he ran away from Axe, making sure to stay facing the killer after what just happened.

“Argh…” Axe groaned, cracking his neck before narrowing his eyes, staring at Arthur and the other members of Einherjar…

So understandably Axe was surprised when Arthur burst with Lightning, the Element practically flowing off of him as his eyes glowed an eerie yellow that it did now whenever he called upon his magic.

“One last attack!” Arthur shouted, the serial killer cautiously taking a step back, yet still being surprised when Arthur’s Cutlass appeared, digging into his side and making the serial killer wince, a the cut bleeding a bit as Arthur twisted, spinning Axe around and kicking the man off of his blade.

The man stumbled back only to take two whole swords to the legs, the blades bouncing off after punching a centimetre or two into Axe’s thighs, leaving the murderer growling in annoyance.

That wasn’t the only ranged attack though, Michael launching an arrow after stabilizing his bow, and Axe staring at the arrow with wide eyes… surprised, because by the time he noted the arrow, it was already at his head.

“Invisible arrow, motherfucker.” Michael was still sore, literally and metaphorically, after getting kicked by Axe, and so the understandably vindictive Archer… shot the murderer in the eye with a Light Arrow.

And the Anima Skill, as mentioned, Invisible Arrow. An arrow that was invisible until a moment before impact, an assassination tool to get a definite first hit before a fight even began…

It was used to extreme effect here, the attack blasting against Axe’s left eye as the man roared in pain, stumbling back and buckling from the pain in his legs, then knocked on his ass by Emilia and Alice kicking him from the back of his ankles.

Now all this, was extremely painful, even for a person with a high Endurance stat… and Matt only made it worse when he actually ran, jumping forward with his shield, hitting Axe and pressing the man into the ground before rolling off of the murderer with his massive shield, the man groaning in pain as Matt stood, pointing at him with a smirk.

“Get fucked!” War-cry complete, Matt raised his arms into the air, the gathered crowd murmuring.

“Axe was beaten, everyone scatter!” Someone screamed, the crowd breaking into a run the moment that shield hit Axe, Einherjar looking around angrily but unable to really give chase, regardless of level differences, there were too many for them to be able to stop all of them…

Police cars and Guild workers were running around taking down a few, some using magic to capture the Wonderland gang members, leaving Einherjar to stare at Axe…

That was when a man appeared, masked just like the other people, except his mask had a grin painted on it, unlike the others with their bland single colour masks, his hand on Axe’s shoulder.

“Sorry ‘bout this… but we still need this guy.” The man said, Arthur’s eyes widening as he tried to send a bolt of Lightning out, the man vanishing before Arthur’s attack could reach him.

“Damn it, they got away.” Arthur said what all of Einherjar was feeling…

They had fought, and everything was going to be ending now, Axe’s continued stand had ended, and so had all of the other Wonderland attacks by Mourn’s own admission…

But looking at the dead bodies… the smoke coming from different parts of the city… and knowing that they only caught pawns in Mourn’s organization?

It was a sour pill to swallow.

The next day, the newspapers came out with many headlines, ‘Red Christmas’-‘Arthur Clive: target?’-‘Thousands dead, how did this happen?’-‘Adventurers must be regulated’…

The headline on the newspaper Arthur read was simple and to the point, a plea from the masses.

‘What do we do now?’

Arthur found he didn’t have an answer.

Arthur Clive

Level: 115 (B-Rank)

Class: Melding Sorcerer- Grants one stat point to Strength and two stat points to Wisdom per level

Gives Soul Melding Skill

Anima

Starving Cutlass

Coat of Recovery

Anima Skills

No Change

Primary Element: Lightning

Other Element(s): Darkness, Mind

Personal Skills

Tactician VI (9/300) - increases Wisdom by 35% (total 150%)

Sword Sage III (251/500)- Any bladed weapon deals 40% extra damage

Soul Sight III (247/500) - Allows insight beyond mortality

Dual Wielding V (220/250) - Greater use of two weapons

Lightning Elemental IV (235/400) - Use supplementary lightning spells

Quick Reflexes V (208/250)- Increases Dexterity by 30%

Hunter III (60/300) - Increases damage against previously killed enemies.

Regenerator II (81/100)- increases Vitality by 15%

Soul Melding (3%)- Approach Unity

Stats

Strength: 157

Dexterity: 167 (217)

Intelligence: 78

Wisdom: 206 (309)

Endurance: 78

Vitality: 157 (180)