The two went quiet, giving each other an unsure look.

"Pss!" then again, it came from somewhere nearby.

After another moment of hesitation, the two moved forward, passing by an overhang nearing the Nuil's castle, with a few ruined beige walls, marking splits near small canals.

Chyuuichi slowly raised his weapon, and Atomu put the blade in both hands. The two stood back to back without a word.

"I'm not an enemy, you idiots!" a voice that they both heard once before echoed. Atomu turned around, seeing a silhouette standing in front of a small window next to the ground. "Over here!" they whispered again.

"Huh?" Chyuuichi looked down, curiously.

"Oh my." Atomu immediately ran up to the voice, seeing Rowan's angered face through the small gaps in the ajar window. "How did you get in here?"

"The goblins trapped me! Stripped me all of my jewellery and still thought I was worth something without my Tributal pride! Now get me out of here, you morons!" they said.

"Calm down," Chyuuichi instructed, signalling with his hands.

"Calm down?! Do you not realise how stuffed this jail cell is? Break the window and get me out of here, my hands are tied! I can't live a second longer like this!"

"Okay." Atomu stood up. "With my boot?"

"With your stupid boot!" Rowan yelled out, and Atomu quickly kicked the window's glass out, some of the shards flew right at the Tributal, and the others bounced off the adjacent wall.

Rowan slowly took one sharp piece of glass out of their face and dropped it on the ground, breathing in. "KICK THE WINDOW OPEN, NOT BREAK THE GLASS!" they were furious.

"Ahh..." The Paladian put his hand near his face.

"Do ya want help or not?!" Chyuuichi raised his voice. "Stupid Tributal..."

Rowan sighed, gritting their teeth. "F-Fine." they looked to the side, and Atomu eventually dragged them out of the cell. They coughed, and sat up, fixing their glasses.

"O!" Chyuuichi laughed a bit, looking away, and Rowan eyed him. "Should've taken yer glasses too, ya look stupid!" he chuckled, and Atomu immediately covered his mouth, for the third time.

"Hiding that bad tongue won't change the things he said." they scoured. "Don't worry, I won't let the words of a Mirillian get to me," they smirked, and Chyuuichi looked a bit offended.

"Y-You brought this upon yourself," Atomu muttered, glancing at Chyuuichi. "I'm sorry for all that."

"Hah. It'd be a low point for my honour if this was a concern."

"Right. W-We should probably take care of the wounds on your faces, though." Atomu pointed.

"I'll take care of that myself." Rowan stood up.

"Ugh." Atomu turned. "Damn royalty," he whispered, putting his hand on his forehead. "All the same."

"My ears can hear!" Rowan uttered.

Atomu sighed, before handing his bag to Chyuuichi. "There's a few bandages inside. Help yourselves."

The Tributal looked at their Guardian Demon, a bit bent to the side but still working. They reached out towards the long pocket of their pants. "Only one arrow here," they informed. "Damn it."

"How come they didn't take your weapon?" Atomu asked.

"Told ya, it's about shinies!" Chyuuichi put his head inside the bag, looking through it.

"Well, glad that the old Tributal made it out of the wood," Rowan mumbled, standing up.

Chyuuichi took a flute out of Atomu's bag, looking at it carefully. He eyed the Paladian for a moment before stuffing it into one of his bigger pockets, smiling.

"Do you know if there are any survivors out there?" Atomu asked as Chyuuichi threw him the bandage, and passed it to the Tributal.

"No clue, but I'm pretty sure someone's screams woke me up. They faded away further into the main square, so something might be there." Rowan informed.

"Told ya, leader!" Chyuuichi pet Atomu's back, and forcefully put the bag back into his hands, looking away.

"What is with you telling things today?" Atomu closed his eyes.

The Tributal wrapped the bandages around their face, squeezing tightly, as the bleeding almost immediately stopped. Atomu furrowed his brows, as a pink hue peeked through the beige of the material, and he turned, shaking his head.

"I swear to One, though," Rowan muttered. "If they put their hands on my Chicho, I'll be willing to find their damn hideout and do the same thing they did here."

"Chicho?" Chyuuichi asked. "One? What's with all that weird titalapituta?"

"Tributal word for a sibling," Atomu whispered, and Rowan immediately eyed him. "N-No clue what the other stuff's about." Rowan sighed.

"Hm. Very well then." Rowan put their hands behind their back, and a small wind picked up their ponytail, causing it to fly up a bit. They started walking forward, proudly holding the bow in one hand and the last arrow in the other, with a determined look on their face.

Atomu and Chyuuichi glanced at each other, shaking their heads in mutual agreement over whatever could be boiling in their minds.

Rowan's eyes twitched.

"Why are you just sitting there?!" they raised their voice, turning on their heel and clenching their fists. "You're Demonears too, aren't you?!" they furrowed their eyebrows, and Atomu straightened up.

Rowan stormed closer and stopped right in front of the two, looking up at their faces, as without their horse, they were pretty short. "A Paladian and a Mirillian. An unlikely alliance, one would say, both of you come from different parts of this world. I heard that Mirillians always complain about how close Lignoria and those Paladian caves are expanding towards their tunnels. At the same time, Paladians are the reason your people are in the underground."

Chyuuichi squinted his eyes.

"Look at you. So proud of your little comradery. At least pretend as if you care for one's home. Save what you let them destroy." they turned around again. "Follow. Fight for what you seek." they raised their hand against a small gasp that reminded Atomu and Chyuuichi that life still went on. The sun even peaked out from beneath the thick clouds of smoke.

"Man." Chyuuichi sighed. "Damned royalty," he smirked, but in a weird way. "Ya don't hate me for the tunnels, do ya?"

"I'm not one of hate." Atomu looked down. "Not anymore."

"Oh! Stupid glasses thinks they know it all, then!" he crossed his arms.

"I-I think I'm starting to understand why you got beat up in the casino." Atomu scratched the back of his head and started moving, albeit keeping a safe distance from Rowan.

"I got beat up?" Chyuuichi raised an eyebrow.

"The black eye's still there." Atomu smiled a bit.

Chyuuichi stuck his tongue out.

"Please be a bit more careful with your words. I don't think the other royalty would be as tolerant to making fun of them." Atomu explained.

"Royalty or not, those glasses look stupid," Chyuuichi uttered.

"Flee, then," Rowan stated, standing still, and the two halted their movements.

"Huh?!" Chyuuichi stuck his hand out.

"If all you want to do is complain about things that only concern stupid people, feel free to do it. You're not taking any of this seriously." Rowan continued. "They should've never let two idiots like you into the Demonear Leagues."

"Hey, hey." Atomu panicked a bit. "I'm not stupid, okay?" he smiled awkwardly. "He's the one troubling you!" he pointed to Chyuuichi, who looked at him in awe.

"The fact that you pushed all these other statements to the side and focused on the least important one indefinitely proves my point," Rowan spoke. "I don't need your help."

Atomu stepped back, grinding his teeth. "P-Please, Rowan! We want to help!" he stuck his hands out.

"Are you willing to prove it? Are you going to step over all of these graves you willingly ignored when it all came crashing down, Paladian?" Rowan asked. "Are you brave enough to step into the battlefield and fix what you destroyed? Are you a Demonear, or just a wannabe warrior?"

Atomu raised his hand, before hesitating, for a second.

"Like I thought. Go home, if you even know the way."

The Mirillian glanced at the Paladian, who stepped back, with his eyes now peered to the ground, with a small frown following suit.

Chyuuichi furrowed his brows and then turned to the Tributal, speeding up and quickly catching up.

"Yo!" Chyuuichi yelled, putting his hands on Rowan's shoulders, then wrapping his arms around and standing on the other side.

"GAAH!" Rowan let out a high-pitched scream. "Get your hands off of me!" they started thrashing, but couldn't shake Chyuuichi off.

"Doesn't it feel nice, dear Royalty?" Chyuuichi's eyes were half-closed. "To feel the touch of another real thing once in a while, not just the tip of yer bloody nose?"

"Hoo, hoo," Rowan's eyes slowly drifted towards Chyuuichi's face, growing in anger, still blinded by the sheer shock. "You are to respect me, filthy Mirillian!" Rowan moved both hands at the safe time, in a windmill-like motion.

Atomu watched from the distance, confused, but amused.

"Wow, wow. Calm down, Extremely Maximal Glasse!"

"IT'S ROWAN! JUST CALL ME ROWAN!" Rowan screamed. "DAMN IT!"

"You're going to wake up the goblins!" Atomu uttered.

"Guess we're on a name-to-name basis now. I'm Chyuuichi. Come on, ya can shake my hand."

"I will not." Rowan gleamed red from anger.

"I insist, Rowan." Chyuuichi's voice was a bit louder. Atomu unsurely approached the two. "We're a team, aren't we? One Demonear doesn't reject the other even if they're both dumb from Haranara to Shinoro!"

"Harabara... Shimori..." Rowan whispered. Atomu raised a finger but backed out. He didn't want to bring anything up, other than the fact that Chyuuichi didn't seem to struggle with Rowan's name, out of all the other ones.

"Then, what's your people's word for a team?" Chyuuichi winked, and Rowan breathed out loudly.

"Kla..." Rowan hesitated. "Klakunhoi." they fixed their glasses and pursed their lips.

"Klakunhoi it is! That's what we are, Klakunhoi!" Chyuuichi backed out, doing a little dance. "Klakunhoi! Klakunhoi! Do you know any songs about teams, Rowam?"

Rowan went silent.

"I'll sing my favourite one then!" Chyuuichi announced. "A simple performance thirst for wishes! Water flows along the river-" He stepped away in the heat of his performance.

"Rowan." Atomu stepped in, pushing one hand into his hair and the other, clenched around the blade's grip. "P-Please believe in us. We'll try our best to help you, even if you're way stronger."

"We're different. I just have things to fight for." Rowan looked down. "Differences, however, sometimes are for the best. Paladian, Mirillian and Tributal. That's much more of an unlikely alliance." Rowan let go of their fists, glancing at Chyuuichi and then Atomu.

The Paladian gulped. "Then...?"

For one last time, they turned around. "Forth, Klakunhoi!" they stated, treading forth.

Atomu's eyes shone. He quickly grabbed Chyuuichi's hand and followed the lead.

***

"Ahh! AHH!" Eryk raised his voice, as Leopold dragged him out of the basement and slowly up the stairs into the Midcity bar. "As the Nuil of Magna commands you, filthy demon! Leave me be!"

Leopold didn't react to his words, instead, he pulled a bit harder, trying to counter the force of his abysmal weight.

"Lamon! Do something!" Eryk yelled out, but Lamon was lying on the ground, wrapped around in a tight rope. He sighed, looking to the side. "A, B, C, D! Come on, come on!"

"They're not here," Lamon muttered.

Eryk thrashed, trying to escape the chains, making strange, high-pitched noises when Leopold made a swift movement, throwing him out from below and onto the wooden floors. His body made a strange sound and he groaned loudly. One of the chains snapped, setting him free.

Eryk immediately tried crawling away, staring forward towards the exit, however, something else came plummeting from above.

Another demon stomped on his fat belly, with a long pike piercing through the floor near Eryk's face. With one push, they rolled him around before Leopold threw another chain in their direction, which they quickly put to use.

"Glad ya had those, Leo! Otherwise, tubby over here would've rolled out," he uttered, chuckling, with one of two, long horns trembling with his movement.

"Tubby?! TUBBY?! Lamon, tell him to not disrespect the Nuil!" Eryk turned. "Respect my authority, vile demon!"

"Don't disrespect the Nuil," Lamon said, without much emotion in his voice.

"You amuse me, lardy!" he looked down, putting his purple hands on his face. "You're so focused on keeping your wits about this position. Always thought that the king was the strongest in the bunch," he explained. "Guess a human or two wouldn't agree with this idiocy!"

"Nuil!" Eryk yelled out. "Don't call me a king!"

"Nuil, mhm." Tabus backed out. "I can tell you something, one who calls himself Nuil. In the eye of us demons and goblins..." he stopped for a moment. "You're nothing but just another brick in the wall."

Leopold peered at the two, before heading towards the exit, carefully stepping around all the tied-up bodies beneath the tables, sitting in chairs or lying down on the floors. He looked at Ella for a little longer and ensured that she didn't escape from the rope's tight grasp, as she eyed him, trying to move. Elton remained quiet, sitting as if he had given up all and any hope he had. Kashmir still didn't wake up after a stone hit his head earlier.

Leopold put his hand on the window curtain and looked out, letting some light inside. He stared, standing still.

"Yo, Leo." Tabus turned, stepping away from Eryk and swinging his pike around. "Where did Isak go to? Thought he was the muscle here." he signalled with one hand. "Bunmo said that none in the Zimorron had seen him since last night, and that seemed kinda strange." he scratched his head. "Leo?" he asked, again, and the other demon didn't respond. He took a few angered steps towards the window, and glanced out, with furrowed brows.

Outside stood five corpses of different demons, hacked brutally, with a fire burning out from their stomachs. Some had their hands frozen, and others slid into the empty pits of dirt below.

"Demonears," he muttered. "They're damn here!"

"Five down!" Atomu announced.

"Five? How many did ya get?!" Chyuuichi raised his voice.

"This isn't some Dearfest game!"

"HOW MANY?!" the Mirillian pointed.

"One."

"Oh! Me too! Darn it!"

"Three for me." Rowan sped up, sliding down and seeing another demon, right as they turned the corner.

The Tributals ground their teeth, drawing their bow and shooting. The arrow hit the ground, before scattering into five different spears of pure flame. They bounced off the walls and slashed through the demon's wings, and then its body.

"Phew." they breathed out, running up to the arrow and taking it out of the ground. Atomu and Chyuuichi caught up, tired from the sprint.

Rowan immediately grabbed the circular handle in the middle of the door to the Midcity bar, trying to open it. "It's locked, or..." they peeked at the ruined debris of the nearby tower above. "Destroyed.

"We can slash through the wood!" Chyuuichi informed.

"There's the other entrance," Rowan recalled, snapping their finger. "It's connected to the basement and near the bartender's storage. Quick!" Rowan took a step forward.

"I still think my idea's better!" Chyuuichi added as the others followed suit.

The three squeezed right through a small but long gap between the bar's and the nearby, stone structure.

Rowan's finger immediately instructed Atomu and Chyuuichi to keep quiet, they wagged it twice before sticking their head out further and breathing in deeply.