Atomu's grip around Knrhum's Blade tightened, as he glared right into Lisbeth's eyes, which he couldn't make out. However, beneath the thick shadow covering her entire face, a smile could be seen—a devilish grin, as if she was expecting to win this predicament.

Lisbeth was sure that if Atomu were to make the next move, she'd be a bit faster, slashing through and defeating him again. She was as ready as the day before to prove her point.

...and although fearful and trembling, Atomu promised himself not to give in to the stress, which made his blood boil and his heart beat faster. He put the sword behind him, pointing its sharp end at the ground, and shakily breathed out.

With one snap of her fingers, something behind the Demonears moved. Rowan glanced, and soon enough, the goblin king, dressed in a red jacket and bearing something resembling a crown waddled from upstairs, groaning, before almost collapsing at the few tables beneath.

"Three Demonears," Lisbeth muttered. "It's precisely what I promised, dear friend." she bowed, ever so lightly, and the other nodded, with a devilish grin.

"You won't knock m-me down as easily this time," Atomu spoke through his teeth, trembling.

Lisbeth chuckled, covering her mouth. "Figured I wouldn't, considering you jumped right into the lion's den," she whispered. "Leopold, Tabus, back up. I can do it by myself."

In a flash, the demoness snapped through the air, but right as she made her first move, attempting to swipe at Atomu's face with bloodied claws, an arrow pierced through her shoulder, sticking out on the other side, causing her to collapse.

"Filthy demon can't even take this outside." Rowan raised their voice, sticking their hand out and the arrow returned. "You'll kill the people of this bar!"

"You didn't seem to mind the corpses last night, so what's with the sudden change?" Lisbeth asked. "Don't act like you care-"

Rowan shot another arrow, but this time, it zoomed right past, almost striking Tabus' face.

"It's not about the past, Demonears!" Elton screamed. "Don't let her words get to you!"

"As if I'd ever let a demon console my mind!" Rowan uttered, and ran forward, jumping above her and grabbing the arrow from the wall, with Atomu following suit.

Right as he was about to strike Lisbeth, she disappeared, and the Paladian landed on the ground.

"Still too slow," she whispered, with her cold hands sending shivers down Atomu's back.

"Hayah!" Chyuuichi hit Lisbeth's side with his weapon, and blood splattered all around the floor and onto their clothes.

Lisbeth turned, and then Atomu shot up, kicking her leg. The next move spoke of him using his sword, but this time, the demon was just a little faster. Her eyes turned to the Mirillian, seemingly angered.

The goblin king's smile only grew wider, as his hands clapped, anticipating further amusement of the situation. The other underlings of his followed, chuckling, and the other, smaller demon presents all turned.

Rowan furrowed their brows, as their eyes caught Tabus' glimpse, who started stepping back, as if unsure.

Then, something leapt in from the wall on his side. With a turn in Chyuuichi's way, it revealed itself to be the same massive goblin creature, now angrily growing at all three. The goblin king inched forward, and Lisbeth glanced, clenching her fist.

Chyuuichi immediately grabbed the flute from his pocket, but with one swipe of those green and greasy hands, the instrument was knocked out of his mouth and now rolled a few meters away. He leapt, trying to catch it midstroll, but just as his hands touched the other tip, it tumbled right between the few broken, wooden floorboards. "Oh, seriously?"

The goblin screeched, and just as Atomu was ready to strike the same way Chyuuichi did, Lisbeth leapt to the ground, grabbing his leg and then dragging him along the floors.

"Keep your wits, Klakunhoi!" Rowan announced, and drew their bow towards Lisbeth, only to make a sudden turn and let go, hitting Leopold's stomach, who in turn tripped, pressuring his wound for a moment, before immediately sprinting forward, with his hands out.

The Tributal hopped on the table, kicking cutlery and dishes with their legs, which all were sent Leopold's way, slowing him bit by bit. Rowan jumped onto Eryk's body and bounced off onto the chandelier, hanging onto its crystals and climbing up, taking the arrow out of their mouth and pointing it at the demon, who glimpsed before launching upwards, reaching his arm and grabbing onto the big light.

His hand pierced through the glass above, breaking its glass and Rowan managed to find footing at its side, letting go of their shot. It bounced right off Leopold's mask, seemingly unaffected. Raising their brows, then furrowing them, they leapt forward, just right out of reach.

There was a moment when Rowan was unsure what they were to do next. They looked around the people in the bar, gathered against the wall or corners, thinking. However, before they could do much of the same, the chandelier came falling, crashing into bits and pieces.

The Tributal immediately jumped, clearing the smoke with their hand and grabbing the arrow. Its end lit on fire, and they struck right through Leopold's chest, kicking him further away.

Then, they turned to Atomu and stopped his drift, grabbing his hand and pushing him away. Lisbeth kept staring at Rowan's face. Their cheek was bleeding, and Rowan rubbed off the blood, not breaking eye contact.

Tabus on the side went completely quiet. Back stuck against the wooden wall, and a rather fearful expression painted his face. Lisbeth glanced at both demons and straightened up, breathing in.

"Dear hell." she shook her head. "You two are useless."

Out of the blue, Atomu smashed the sword into the ground, and a dirt wave appeared, jumping right as Chyuuichi climbed onto the second floor. The goblin king looked at Atomu and moved back, subconsciously.

Atomu breathed out, focusing on Lisbeth, who once again, managed to flawlessly avoid his shot. The king could've been amused, and if it wasn't for the enemy, he'd head right for the grinning, evil green head.

The demon, however, seemed relentless. Once again, he struck at the ground, pushing dirt through, before a massive wall of it appeared, and the Mirillian seemed ready to move in on the action, even though what they could potentially try seemed a little awkward.

However, in a flash of what Atomu attempted, Lisbeth disappeared out of the blue, again. Her shadow appeared in the corner of his eye, and when he tried to turn and face her, another wall somehow found itself transforming into a simple wave of dirt.

Chyuuichi leapt at that point, bouncing right off and remaining airborne before the demoness struck right through the middle point, with a bloody weapon that raised all of what was above the Paladian, eventually forcing it all to come crashing down.

"Atam?!" Chyuuichi uttered, before landing atop the goblin creature's head and nervously bouncing off.

It caught his leg, shaking him up and down, as a few silver coins dropped onto the floor, rolling into the same hole the flute did.

"Damn it, damn it!" Rowan uttered, grinding their teeth.

"Are you afraid?" Lisbeth uttered, now standing in one place and pointing at the Tributal.

"Afraid? I'm pissed off!" they let go of the arrow, and Lisbeth shifted, forcing its sharp end to start a fire, connecting to the wooden floor.

"Oh, no! Oh no, no!" Eryk raised his voice, trying to blow out the flames, and Rowan jumped towards him, kicking his ball-like body and exhausting the fire with his weight. Lisbeth made her way towards Atomu, and Rowan started running, before being caught by Leopold's hand, which tightened around their ankle. The bow dropped to the ground, and their arrow was right out of reach. The only thing Rowan could do was stare and observe, without much of a chance.

"Good riddance, Paladian," Lisbeth muttered, as her deformed body and open wounds started healing in small explosions of blood. "A weapon like this was only fit for a king. Curious, how a coward Paladian like you even dared to pick it up."

Elton ground his teeth, glancing at Ella.

"Get away from him!" Chyuuichi yelled out, trying to battle the air.

"From a corpse?"

"N-Nuh-uh! Nah ah!" Chyuuichi denied. "Nuh..." he started getting dizzy from all the blood flowing into his head.

The goblin king laughed, clapping his hands and closing his eyes.

"You amuse me as well. Vowing to fight so potently, only to end up being, once again, outsmarted by the people you'd willingly call the evil race." she smiled. "It's ironic, isn't it? Seems only sheer strength could've proven anything in the case of your blatant stupidity. Tell me, Mirillian." Chyuuichi squinted his eyes, and Lisbeth inched closer. "Who's the superior dwarf now, amongst the races?"

Chyuuichi swung his fist, but Lisbeth dodged, as expected.

Rowan crossed two fingers, breathing out. A small, dark fire appeared out from beneath their fingertip before footsteps rushed, and suddenly, Tabus pushed his boot into Rowan's palm.

"Gaah!" they let out a scream, turning their eyes.

"D-Damn well." Tabus grinned, and Leopold fixed his chains, slowly waddling over. The demon turned to Lisbeth again, with a roll of sweat going down his cheek.

A few goblins, earlier pointed by their king, climbed towards Eryk, stripping him of his goods.

"Ah, ah! Get away from me, goblins!" Eryk muttered. "Filthy creatures!"

Rowan glimpsed at the two, closing an eye. Lisbeth stepped forward and crouched, taking Knrhum's Blade from beneath the lump of dirt.

"Atam..." Chyuuichi muttered, his eyes widening with fear.

"What a pity something like this tumbled into the hands of someone so insignificant. A rebel, if not much more." Her hands graced the edge, and she looked deeply into the bright and shining metal, tracing its lines. "What a pity."

Then, the goblin king dared to stand up. His face didn't seem as satisfied anymore, and after a lowly groan, Lisbeth turned.

"Of course." she bowed. "The demonears in your hands means their shiniest of weapons as well. Just something I've been pondering. Don't you think this one specifically should belong to the people who did much more than you ever attempted?"

The king raised their hand as if arguing, and she inched closer, flipping the blade back and forth.

"In all honesty, we could've done much of the job without you. It'd be such a waste, wouldn't it?"

Suddenly, she pointed the blade's sharp end at the king's chin, and he moved back, fearful.

"The more time I spent wandering through those streets, the clearer it became to me. Demons as powerful as me don't need anyone else just to prove that strength. You were only here for the goods, right? We, as a race, craved something much, much more satiable. A chance, in this forsaken world, and a lesson for all those puny humans." she shook her head. "Goblins, humans... someone like you would never understand."

Leopold eyed Lisbeth, carefully. Tabus moved back, gulping, and Rowan's eyes focused on something that seemed to gleam right at the weapon's end.

Eventually, Lisbeth also flipped it around, before an eye stared right into the shadow cast by her hood. Its purple shine blinded her, and she dropped the weapon, before tumbling herself.

The other turned, with the massive goblin sniffing something out of the air, and eventually letting go of Chyuuichi, causing him to land in the same ditch as the flute. His eyes were wide, and his fangs were shaking. As if he was scared of something.

The weapon's grip was slowly swallowed by the dirt, which then revealed Atomu's hand, moving through the brown piles. His eyes were wide open, and the ground around sunk beneath. He put the blade into his hands, stood up and stared right into the eye.

Lisbeth put her hands together, trembling.

Atomu's eyes widened, and he stood up, hearing something deep below the fine alloy, and feeling a strange surge in his hands.

"Who are you fighting against, Knrhum?" she raised her voice, stepping back, moving towards Leopold and grabbing his hand. Rowan wiggled out of Tabus' grip, running towards the others, and the demon in question turned to the weapon as well.