“Haven’t seen you in a while.”

Kavlina looks at the plump, currently absent-minded man in front of her, his eyes not even looking up as she speaks. The shop is as dingy as ever, the dark alleyway echoing the sparse noises of the creatures of the slums. Yet interspersed between this white noise is the occasional sound of an explosion, its rumble akin to thunder. Above, streaks of smoke slice the bright sky, marking the dying breaths of many aircraft.

“Happy to see me, Gruffy?” She steps closer, removing her mask before lifting the man’s chin until she is able to stare directly into his blank eyes.

“Thought you died fighting the leader of the New Rule,” Gruffy says, finally realizing her presence. “Would be a shame if you did, though, being my most loyal employee.”

“So you knew.”

“I know almost everything that happens here, young woman. An invasion by a company of those soldiers and their master is hardly something confidential, isn’t it? Although I admit your disappearance was a shocking coincidence to me at first. Thought they finally found you and killed you…” He sighs, his breath stinking of alcohol and vinegar. “Anyways, what brings you here, wearing your full kit? If you’re asking me for another job, I’m sorry, but I don’t really have one right now. Haven’t been offering jobs in a while, actually.”

“... Would you like a drink?”

The bell rings as Kavlina and Gruffy enter the store, the shopkeeper Rul visibly disturbed at the sight of her blade arm, only mustering a smile when he notices Gruffy’s presence. Ignoring the glances of the other customers, the two of them sit down before the counter, conveniently located near the door yet also sheltered by a dark spot between the lights.

“A beer for each of us,” Kavlina motions for Rul.

“Huh. So you’re finally appreciating its taste?” Gruffy looks at her in surprise.

“You could say it’s like that,” she responds. As soon as the jugs are set down on the table, she grabs one and quickly takes a large gulp. The bitterness of the liquid rushes down her throat with a bubbling sensation, accompanied by a slight tinge of sweetness.

It’s disgusting.

Her stomach attempts to repel the repulsive liquid, only to be stopped at the throat and forced back down, the acids burning the esophagus. Yet within all that torture, she feels her body getting just a little warmer and comfier.

“You seem to really dislike it,” Gruffy notes, his face clearly lighting up a little in amusement as he, too, takes a gulp from his jug. “You know, I’m always welcome for more alcohol.”

“No.” Instead of taking up his offer, Kavlina takes another sip from the jug, feeling the same sensation of pain and disgust, but just a little lessened, replaced by a little more of the comfort from earlier. Then another sip. And another. And more… until she has downed the entire jug, her body heating up as if she is under the direct light of the Elyfesta in the middle of summer. All the while, Gruffy looks at her in pleasant surprise, although already on his third jug.

“You’re doing decent for a person who despises beer,” he compliments. “What’s gotten into you for this change of heart?”

“Just wanted to share a beer with you for once after so many invitations.”

“So you finally answered my call.”

It’s a strange feeling. Despite being fully aware of the other customers’ eyes on them and the uncomfortable atmosphere, Kavlina finds herself relaxing for the first time in a while, her posture slouching just a little as her muscles ease up. Her blade arm, always twitching in tension, calms down as the whirring becomes barely audible.

“Alcohol is quite the comforting drug, isn’t it?” Gruffy laughs. “Maybe you’ll come to like it one day.”

“Maybe.”

The store suddenly shakes, the ground vibrating from the impact of a misfired artillery strike not too far away. The lights rattle, blinking in confusion for a moment. The beer quivers as small ripples bounce off the walls of the jugs. Yet they are all used to it by now. For a community gathered together by their common sufferings in war, such noises only remind them of the turbulent world they unfortunately occupy.

“They sure are loud today, aren’t they?” Gruffy comments. “So frequent too. Thought they’d have calmed down for at least a while since yesterday night’s commotion.”

“Those damn boys and girls, always so eager to use their toys to kill each other…” a nearby customer mutters in annoyance. “Can’t even have a drink in peace.”

“Back at it again, those kids,” another customer chuckles wryly. “When it even ending? When they gonna give me back my leg?”

“It’ll end soon,” Kavlina says as she empties her second jug of beer. “Don’t worry.”

“Aw, girl, we all want it to end,” the previous customer replies. “But it ain’t possible for us. You look tough for a lady, but you’re just gonna kill yourself like them boys a few nights back.”

“Boc, that’s our Maiden of Justice right there,” a third customer, sitting just opposite of Boc, says. “She ain’t like us. She downed some of them bloodthirsty officers just by herself.”

“That’s just what everyone says, Lirn,” Boc dismisses. “We ain’t seen how strong she actually is.”

Kavlina slams down her jug, the sound stunning everyone into silence, their eyes warily drifting towards her. Her blood is rushing with fervor, her hand instinctively reaching for her knife. She stands, and before the small, curious crowd of onlookers, she brandishes her blade, her eyes brimming with confidence as she approaches Boc.

“So you were eavesdropping!” Boc exclaims in excitement. “How ‘bout we m a bet, eth? Winner gets a beer, and the loser pays for the beer.” As Kavlina stops before his table, blocking the lights, he too stands, making his short stature as prominent as possible.

“I suggest you just pay for my beer now,” Kavlina calmly says. A minor nuisance, but perhaps she can finally display some of her prowess publicly before the unruly denizens of the slums.

“W-W-Wait, we ain’t fighting here, alright?” Lirn hurriedly steps in between the two, struggling to separate them with his arms. “You’ll break the entire store! Rul, at least stop them from wrecking your store!”

Yet Rul, despite being the shopkeeper, only stands idle, neither excited for a fight nor apprehensive about the possibility of his store being turned into a brawling ground.

“Don’t worry,” Kavlina reassures. “I’ll make it quick.”

“Hey, girl,” Boc spits. “Your weapons. I only got my fists. Ain’t fair if you beat me like this, eh?”

“... As you wish.” She tosses her knife backwards, the weapon landing cleanly in her jug. Simultaneously, she detaches her blade, a puff of steam emanating from the joints as it is removed from her arm. Her metallic forearm and hand, previously compacted inside the blade, now stretch and twist, establishing a nervous connection to the rest of the arm.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen you eager for a fight,” Gruffy notes. “A rough bar fight, no less. Thought you looked down on those.”

“Are you saying that I am not allowed to loosen up at least a little bit?” Kavlina looks back, her field of vision arrogantly turned away from her opponent. “Besides… I said I’ll make it quick.”

“Focus, girl,” Boc growls before he launches a fist at Kavlina’s face.

She ducks, easily evading his punch. His movements are far too slow, encumbered by his unstable footing. Even if that had landed, it would’ve been nothing but a soft impact. Following through her movement, she grabs onto his shoulder, and in an instant, she is behind him, her eyes glaring at his exposed nape.

She is younger, taller, stronger, faster, her technique sharpened through her time as a soldier and assassin. He is old, weak, small, slow, completely unfit for any strenuous physical exercise. She has killed dozens of professional soldiers in these few years. He is not even a fighter.

Game over.

With a slam, she pins Boc onto the ground, the table and chairs rattling from the impact. He struggles and twists, but to no avail. The victory is hers.

“Now you’ve seen it,” Kavlina smiles before releasing her grip. “A beer, thank you.” It’s a bit refreshing to have a casual fight at times, she must admit, far away from the life-and-death situations she dives into on her jobs and missions.

Yet that will likely not happen again. At least not when her goal is still unaccomplished.

“Boc!” Lirn exclaims, rushing to bring his friend to his feet. “Now you’ve really done it…”

“A… beer, Rul,” Boc gasps, still stunned from the rapid turn of events. “For the Maiden. Please.”

With the eyes of the customers all staring at her, she takes her seat beside Gruffy once more, picking up her blade and slotting her knife back into her pocket. “I think I recovered well enough, don’t you think?”

“You’re acting strange,” Gruffy says. “Very strange. Must be the alcohol getting to your untrained liver.”

“You could say it’s a moment of relaxation,” Kavlina chuckles as she takes a sip from the new glass of beer, her throat now used to its sting.

She has already forgotten the brief moments of peace throughout her life. The simplicity of life, of studying to become some civilian occupation, of mundane daily exercise, of fresh warm meals every day… she doesn’t have any recollection of them anymore. Her memories, scattered and damaged, will only show the dying moments of her victims, begging to be spared yet to no avail. And every single one of them reminds her of him, the man she has long deemed a traitor, the only one whose death will finally satisfy her purpose.

It’s been just far too long for her to relax like this. And this transient moment will end soon.

“You know, when you first approached me, I thought you were just some lost, confused girl,” Gruffy says, his eyes staring at the ceiling. “Injured, angry, grieving… Dressed so much like a Confederation soldier, I thought you were a soldier gone insane. A little bit like me when I first migrated here and called this dump my home.”

“We are quite similar, I realize,” Kavlina responds. “Maybe that’s why you offered me this job as an assassin. You had a small team already, but still chose to recruit this unstable girl to be your tool to exact revenge.”

“I saw you as a tool, that’s all,” Gruffy shrugs. “It’s just a coincidence we shared the same hatred towards the ones in power. But recently, I feel you’ve gotten more… human. You didn’t seem as cold after killing that officer. Los, was it? And with whatever’s happened to you today, there’s definitely something that’s changing you, far quicker than those assassinations you’ve carried out every time to near perfection.”

“I just realized I needed at least some sort of a good memory to carry with me into the afterlife, after all. I can’t just end my life with steel and blood.”

“Thinking of dying already? You’re a bit too young to be thinking of that, Maiden.”

Kavlina looks at her blade arm, twirling it playfully just a bit. “You never know when death pierces you.”

“Well, I guess you have a point,” Gruffy replies. “Although you’re making it seem like you want to die.”

“I don’t intend to die, but there is a good chance.” Kavlina leans her head closer to Gruffy, her voice dropping to a mere whisper. “Say… Do you have anything that can drastically reduce pain? Or something that can improve concentration and senses over a short period? Something that can enhance my capabilities to kill?”

“The only things I can think of are—” He suddenly pauses, realizing the implications of her words after all this time. “You’ve only just rested, Maiden. And already you’re going for him again?”

“I wasted too much time killing those irrelevant, replaceable pawns before. I’ve lurked in the darkness, making myself hidden, and for what? In the end, I must throw myself into the fray, to take his head before all the corrupted ones, to show them the insanity they have followed. And once I’m done, maybe I’ll disappear. Maybe I’ll join my friend in the afterlife, if there is one. Maybe I’ll just become a mindless civilian. But by then, my purpose will be fulfilled. I’ll have no more regrets.”

“But—”

“I’ll make this a small tribute to your friend too, Gruffy, as well as all the innocents killed by this war.” She stands, her jug emptied and her face mildly warm from the rushing flow of blood. “You want them all to disappear, don’t you?”

She will forget all of her setbacks. Of the times she has failed to Avalel, she lacked either conviction or skill. She knows she is inferior to him with the Anapadeia, but she cannot simply back away and flee from her goal. She has already done that once. She had feared for her life back then when a stab was enough to kill him. By some fortune, she had managed to save her life from that duel, but it was a defeat. She was so close, yet so far.

She can’t allow herself to fail again. Not until she is a rotting corpse.

“You must be drunk to say that with such… impulsiveness,” Gruffy sighs. “Will this be the last time you are here in the slums?”

“... Yes.”

“Leaving already, Maiden?” Boc shouts, noticing her departure. “C’mon… I wouldn’t be so stingy as to only offer one beer.”

“Goodbye.” She opens the door and puts on her cloak, her silhouette like a swaying, graceful shadow cast upon a wall. And with a soft gust of wind, she disappears, leaving only a pair of faint bootprints.

“Hey!”

“And there she goes,” Gruffy mutters, taking another gulp from his jug. “Was nice knowing you, Maiden.”

I definitely shouldn’t have drank the beer.

Nearly crashing into several denizens on a hastily “borrowed” teraveza, Kavlina has finally made her way out of the slums and into the wide wastelands that leads to the Pass of Elethien. Her vision and reflexes seem to be sharp as ever, but every now and then, it just falters for a moment, the wheels swerving in an unexpected direction before it is forced back on course. She didn’t bring any supplies but her weapons, her knife strapped to her belt swaying by her side.

This will most likely be a one-way trip.

Yet she still heads forth, the adrenaline coursing through her blood, her heart beating increasingly faster the closer she gets to the front. The ground is practically shaking now, the recoil from the hundreds, if not thousands of artillery practically causing an earthquake. Despite concealing herself in a wooded area in the mountains, the blasts and smoke from the battlefield rattle the teraveza and slightly clouds her vision. The screams of the dying reach her ears even from this distance, muffled by the blasts. Above, multitudes of aircraft drop from the sky like dying birds, yet their immense numbers still blanket the sky, covering the surface with an ominous shadow.

This chaos… Such is the battle that may decide the fate of the war.

She notices a bright flash of light amongst the fog of battle, then immediately, the smoke parts like a screen, revealing a mass of corpses, mangled and bloody, belonging to both belligerents… and at the center of it all, a lone figure, his white armor dyed red, yet the sword on his hand is spotless, the metal glowing with a furious crimson. In front of him, a gaping hole is carved from the fortress of thick steel towering above even her position, its massive front-facing guns all destroyed or rendered immobile. Shrapnel and rubble lay everywhere, crushing the bodies underneath.

For a moment, the battlefield feels silent, the world’s eyes all focused onto that figure alone.

And as the figure strolls into the hole, the sword fades away into thin air before glowing veins streak across his armor like vines. A few protrude from his back, taking on rough forms before being shaped into eight pitch-black blades, each producing a rune that eventually carves into the armor itself.

The only one who wields a sword as his primary weapon in a battle of guns and fire. The only one who can so easily dispatch both friend and foe without any remorse. The only one who bears that aura of fear and authority, marching proudly as a conqueror… and like a deity.

She has found him.