Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"[Grand Flame Breath]!" Chanted Jules, before unleashing a fierce, blazing wave of flames towards Aster.

"[Telekinetic Wall]!" He swiftly responded, the flames coming to an abrupt halt about half a meter in front of him as he formed a wall of telekinesis in front of him, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face as the air around him spiked sharply in temperature.

He then turned his gaze up as Jules raced forward and leapt over his wall, her blade raised high before she rapidly swung it down towards him.

He quickly crossed his twin blades above himself defensively, a loud clang ringing out as her sword slammed against his blades, Aster's knees buckling slightly from the force exerted in the swing of her blade.

"What the...?" Blurted out Jules, her eyes widening in surprise as the flames wrapped around her sword began to get absorbed by Aster's black blade.

She then swiftly opened her mouth, starting to charge up another Spell as flames began swirling inside her mouth...

"[Telekinetic Shockwave]!" Aster quickly chanted, unleashing an intense burst of telekinesis, knocking the Knight Commander away several meters.

Flames burst out of her mouth as she lost control of the Spell she was charging up, before she gritted her teeth and twisted her body around in midair, regaining her balance and bending her knees as her feet hit the ground and skidded back, before she swiftly stood back upright and whipped her blade across at an incoming telekinetic blast, dispersing the attack as her blade sliced through it and killed its momentum.

She then swiftly shot forward, raising her blade as she closed in on Aster before turning her body across as he fired out a telekinetic blast at her, evading it before unleashing a rapid, powerful thrust of her blade at his stomach.

He narrowly deflected the incoming thrust, grimacing as the blade grazed his side, cutting through his leather armor and slicing across his skin, the flames wrapped around the blade singing the cut painfully, his skin sizzling as he let out a stifled gasp of pain.

The pair then unleashed a flurry of rapid cuts and slashes at each other, their attacks more or less even, as they each blocked and deflected some of the other's strikes, while inflicting small cuts and grazes against each other, neither able to land a direct hit.

Jules then fired off a compressed burst of flames from her mouth as Aster simultaneously unleashed another telekinetic shockwave, dispersing the flames before they could hit him and knocking his opponent back several meters, as she blocked the force of his shockwave with her sword and got pushed back along the ground.

"Not too bad, and I can tell you're still holding back...but there's more to it. There's a distinct lack of hostility and killing intent behind your attacks, I thought the Nobility and Royals like me were your sworn enemies?" Spoke up Jules as she wiped away a trickle of blood from a cut across her left cheek, trying to discern what he was trying to accomplish by fighting her, as she thought to herself, "Captain Plore's report was vague about this guy, he probably left out some details about his abilities, likely to protect his pride or something like that, I doubt his ego could handle the fact that he was nearly killed by a Commoner.

Tch, how foolish...I can certainly see why he was defeated, this man is dangerous, he's more or less on the level of a Captain...and I doubt he's going all out yet, the attacks he's used so far don't seem to be what inflicted those severe injuries on Captain Plore."

"Well, right back at you, you aren't trying to kill me either. As for me, we don't kill indiscriminately, we only kill those who would be better off dead...and you aren't a target, and that goes for most of the other Knights in your personal squad too," Aster informed her, before thinking to himself as he touched at a burnt cut across his right forearm, "She's really powerful, I can tell that she's trying to size me up, she isn't really pulling her punches with her physical attacks, but she is avoiding aiming any attacks with her blade at my vital spots, and she's been conservative with her Magic so far...if she goes all out, there's no way I stand a chance against her without my Telekinetic Zone, she's definitely stronger than I am.

But I'd rather not reveal all the tricks up my sleeve here, especially my trump card. Alright, let's keep going a while longer, I'm starting to enjoy this...hope the others are having a productive time against their opponents too."

Not too far away from where the two of them were fighting...

"I am the Vice-Commander of the Knight Order and the Second Prince of the Kingdom of Persona, Siele Diamond, and I-..."

"Yeah, I know who you are...guess I'll introduce myself too, Tacitus Drake, of The Irregulars," Sighed Tacitus, as he balanced his axe over his shoulder.

"Evidently, you're a Pulverizer...at first glance, there's nothing remarkable about you, your looks are average, there's no sense of grace or elegance in your posture and then there's that lethargic, listless expression. I'd give you a five out of ten, and that's me being generous," Replied Siele, while eyeing him warily, "I should be careful, I have no idea what kind of Magic he possesses, I've never fought someone with Irregular Magic before, so it's best if I err on the side of caution. He may be a plain, not particularly attractive, fellow, but that's no reason to underestimate him."

He was in his late-twenties, with long, silky golden blonde hair that fell over forehead and was tied in a neat, thick braid that went halfway down his back, he had emerald green eyes, a fair complexion, and a strong, athletic build, and he was on the taller side.

He had a reputation of judging people by their appearance, he tended to be more amicable and friendly towards people he deemed to be attractive, regardless of whether they were Commoners or Nobles.

"Sounds like you're as shallow as the rumors suggest...well, whatever, there are worse ways to discriminate. If I remember right, you're a Water Mage and a Dual Blader," Recalled Tacitus, as the Vice-Commander drew out a pair of curved twin blades.

"Indeed, I am...question, those black and white blades your comrade was wielding, are those one of the Relic Armaments? They were quite beautiful...I certainly wouldn't be opposed to taking them for myself! [Double Water Slash]!" Exclaimed Siele, as he coated his blades in water and swung them across in Tacitus's direction, unleashing a pair of rapid slashing waves of water.

His eyes widened in surprise as his attacks dissipated the instant they closed in on Tacitus, who then whipped the flat of the blade of his axe at a rock on the ground, launching it towards Siele, who deflected it away with a swift swing of his right blade, knocking the rock away before he swiftly got low and shot forward with impressive speed and agility.

"I see, he can negate the Magic of others...no matter, it's not like I'm solely reliant on my Magic, my skills as a Dual Blader cannot be taken lightly. That is the beauty of my fighting style!"

His eyes widened slightly in surprise as Tacitus then flung his axe forward with a rapid spin, Siele quickly turned his body across, narrowly evading it as he caught sight of his reflection across the blade of the axe as it whizzed past him, before he put on a burst of speed and closed the gap between him and Tacitus.

Tacitus swiftly manifested his hammer from his Storage Ring, clutching the handle with both hands before swinging it towards Siele's head with immense force, the Vice-Commander's eyes widening in alarm before he quickly bent his upper body back, just barely avoiding the head of the hammer before he snapped his upper body forward and zipped past Tacitus, managing to inflict a shallow slash across his right hip as he shot past him.

He then quickly backed away, grimacing as he felt a sharp pain in his nose, blood pouring out of his nostrils as he got some distance away from Tacitus.

"What the hell...? Even for a Pulverizer, that's a ridiculous amount of brute strength! He's definitely stronger than Jorel, and until now, I thought he was the second strongest Pulverizer in our era, after Rione...but it seems that title might belong to this guy. His hammer didn't even graze me, but the sheer force of its swing busted my nose. If that swing had landed a direct hit, I don't think I could have survived that," Siele thought to himself in alarm.

"Good thing you dodged that...you aren't a target, so I shouldn't kill you. But I'm mentally and physically worn out from those damned ruins, and holding back has never been my strong suit, so try to avoid a fatal hit if I mess up," Sighed Tacitus, as he glanced at the cut across his side.

"I'll admit, I underestimated you. But I should warn you, you shouldn't make the same mistake with me, for your own sake...I suppose I'm going to have to take this fight seriously," Remarked Siele, as he slid his blades across each other with a grimace, before he shot forward as a deafening crash rang out in the distance...

"That axe you've got there, it's a Relic Armament, isn't it?" Surmised Colt, as his and Lexia's opponent slammed his weapon onto the ground, the two of them scattering as the ground split in two upon impact with a loud crash.

The ground rumbled as clouds of dust burst out, bits of dirt and grass flying out in every direction, as the pair evaded the attack.

"Indeed, this is the Relic Armament known as Labrys. Unlike most of the other Relic Armaments, it doesn't have a fancy special ability...but I think you'll find that it packs quite a punch," He replied, as he swung his axe at a nearby tree, slicing through the trunk before he grabbed the handle with both hands, turning the weapon across slightly and slammed the flat of the blade of the axe against the side of the tree before it could fall over, launching it towards Colt.

He quickly sprinted back in response, leaping away as the tree slammed onto the ground with a deafening crash, a cloud of dust rising up before several sharp clangs echoed out as Lexia fired off a barrage of bone projectiles at their opponent, which he blocked with the head of his axe, the projectiles pinging off it.

"Hm? Are these your own bones? What strange Magic," He remarked in bemusement, as he picked up one of the projectiles and inspected it.

He was one of the two First-Class Knights of the Commander Squad, Jorel Amethyst. He was in his early thirties, with rusty-brown hair that was spiked up, light red eyes, and thick sideburns. He had a tanned complexion with heavy, muscular build, and he was slightly above average height.

"He's pretty tough, definitely a lot stronger than that loser I fought in Garnet City, despite being the same rank. If our info is correct, this guy's at the level of a Vice-Captain...his abilities as a Pulverizer are a slight step below Tacitus's, but considering that he hasn't yet used his Earth Magic and has only been attacking us with his Relic Armament, it's safe to say that this isn't his full power," Lexia thought to herself, firing off another barrage of bone projectiles as Colt shot towards him and extended out several blood tendrils from his hands with razor sharp, bladed ends.

"Bones and Blood, huh? No offense, but you two have got some pretty creepy Magic there," Remarked Jorel, swinging his axe across in front of him and unleashing a small but intense shockwave, Colt's blood tendrils coming to a halt as the trajectory of Lexia's bone projectiles veered off to the sides as the shockwave struck them.

He then raised his axe defensively as a rapid spear of blood came shooting towards him, splattering across the head of his weapon upon impact, before his gaze darted about as he lost sight of Lexia.

Suddenly, he stiffened as he sensed a presence behind him, quickly spinning around just in time as Lexia swiftly emerged from a bush behind him with a thick, blunt bone in her right hand...she'd intended to strike the back of his neck with it, but that spot was out of her reach now that he'd turned around.

She quickly adjusted, driving a rapid thrust towards Jorel's throat, who just barely blocked it with the handle of his axe, a loud thunk echoing out as the bone slammed against it and cracked upon impact, before Lexia quickly sprang back and disappeared into the shrubbery as Jorel began to raise his right leg up.

He lowered it as she vanished from his sight and quickly backed away, stepping onto a more open spot and looking around with a grimace, Colt having disappeared too.

"I see, so they're Assassins...I thought they might be, but I wasn't sure since they're a fair bit more skilled at direct combat than Assassins usually are. I can only think of one other Assassin who's better at direct combat, and that one's a serious outlier of that particular Combat Template...no, it's more like a unique Combat Template, now that I think about it.

Anyway, now that they're actually fighting like Assassins, I need to keep my guard up...they're lurking around here somewhere, waiting for an opening. If I relax or lose focus for even a second, they'll pounce," He thought to himself with a grimace.

He surveyed his surroundings slowly and carefully, a growing sense of tension creeping around him with every passing second...exactly the kind of the tension that the Assassin duo were looking to exploit.

Jorel's gaze quickly turned across to his left as a rustling echoed out, right before he felt a sharp pain across his right calf, letting out a stifled gasp of pain as he snapped his head across to the right, to see Colt below him by his right leg, a dagger in his hand.

His vision blurred slightly before he gritted his teeth and raised his axe, starting to swing it down as Colt swiftly backed away, before he halted mid-swing and shifted his grip, whipping his axe across to his left as several bone arrows came shooting towards him from the shrubbery.

"Don't worry, this poison apparently isn't fatal with just a single cut, you'll live," Colt's voice echoed across the trees, Jorel unable to pinpoint where his voice was coming from.

"I've been getting this strange feeling since the moment I started fighting them, a feeling that they aren't actually trying to kill me...the young man with the eyepatch could have inflicted a serious wound just now, but all he did was give me a small, shallow cut. He could've targeted my heels to render my legs useless, or stabbed that dagger into my spine, there were any number of options he could have used with such an easy opening to exploit.

If this was a one on one fight against either of these two Assassins, it would be a fairly easy win for me, but with two of them attacking with such high level coordination and teamwork, I'm at a serious disadvantage. They definitely know what they're doing, there's no way I can win if I try to beat them at their own game. Alright, then...I guess I'll try tearing apart this entire area, that should be an effective method of smoking them out," He decided, taking in a deep breath and slowly exhaling before raising his axe up high.

Colt and Lexia quickly backed away from the area as they realized what he was about to do, right before a chain of deafening crashes rang out as he repeatedly slamming his axe against the ground, breaking it apart as the entire surrounding area rumbled violently.

More crashes echoed out as several trees began falling over, the ground too severely devastated to hold the roots in place, massive clouds of dust rising up as dozens of birds flew out of the plummeting trees.

As he continued to rampage in an effort to draw out the pair of Assassins, elsewhere in the area...

"Woah!" Exclaimed Raven, ducking and narrowly evading the swing of his opponent's weapon, a large scythe, which whizzed past his face before he forced her to back away by unleashing a burst of flames from his mouth, before a rapid explosive projectile came shooting towards her right.

She quickly jammed the blade of her scythe into the ground, lodging it in before shifting her hands to the bottom of the long handle and tightening her grip, before lifting herself up and off the ground, her legs pointing up as she moved her body out of the way of the projectile, which shot past her and struck the ground, chunks of dirt and grass flying out as it exploded fiercely.

She then arched across as another explosive projectile came shooting towards her, just barely moving out of the way as the projectile whizzed past the front of her chest, missing by a few millimeters before an intense explosion burst out along the ground as the projectile shot past her and hit the dirt a few meters away.

"Wow, you sure are agile, aren't you? Also, it's a good thing your boobs are basically nonexistent, otherwise that last attack would've blasted them right off your chest," Remarked Celia tauntingly, before firing off another Explosion Spell at her.

She quickly swung her feet back onto the ground, yanking her scythe out and springing back, Celia's attack narrowly missing her and shooting past the front of her stomach, before an explosion burst out a few meters to her left.

"The hell did you just say to me?" She shot back with a cold, murderous smile, her eyebrow twitching.

The other First-Class Knight of the Commander Squad, Tilda Malachite. She was in her early twenties, with long, curly, maroonish-red hair that framed her face, and light brown eyes. She had a fair complexion and was on the shorter side, she had a slender build with a flat chest, as Celia had aptly pointed out.

Despite coming from a Noble house that held strong, deeply ingrained prejudices against Commoners, those prejudices had significantly eased after she joined the Knights, thanks to the influence of the Commander, as well as the fact that she was a prodigy who became a full-fledged Knight at sixteen, reaching her current rank within a year...her young age at the time made her more impressionable, enabling the Commander to influence her and change her beliefs.

Of course, such deeply ingrained beliefs aren't so easily dealt with, and while she'd become open-minded enough for The Irregulars to deem her as not being a target, some of that prejudice was still internalized and lingering in her...

As Raven then fired his beams at her, she swiftly blocked them with her scythe, before a dark mist suddenly burst out around her as she rapidly chanted under her breath, a barrage of shadowy projectiles shooting out of the dark cloud as it enveloped her.

Celia unleashed a barrage of small, rapid explosive projectiles in front of her, hitting the dark projectiles shooting towards her and canceling them out, as Raven spread out his wings and flew up, grimacing as one of the projectiles grazed the side of his left leg...it failed to break through his scales, inflicting no physical damage, but the spot it hit felt a bit numb, Raven's fatigue increasing slightly.

"I see, that's Dark Magic. If I remember right, it doesn't do much physical damage, but it shaves away a person's stamina...it also has a debilitating effect similar to a poison or toxin, but I'm immune to such effects. It requires a lot of Dark Magic attacks to inflict fatal damage through that debilitating effect, so even if it did affect me, a single hit would be far from enough to kill me," Surmised Raven, before he quickly swooped down as a rapid dark slash came shooting out of the black cloud Tilda had surrounded herself with.

As Raven zipped down and evaded the attack, Tilda swiftly vaulted herself out of the dark cloud and straight towards Raven, whipping her scythe towards the side of his neck.

He quickly tilted his body back, narrowly avoiding the scythe before Tilda shifted her grip with a sharp twist of her wrist and drove the bottom of the handle of her weapon straight towards Raven, slamming at onto the middle of his torso with a thudding impact.

But it didn't have much of an effect against Raven's durable body, and after experiencing the heavy blows dealt by the Undead King, he barely even felt it.

As she began to plummet, she swiftly swung the blade of her scythe towards him again. He quickly reached out to try and grab the handle, before his eyes widened in alarm as it passed right through his hand, the blade phasing across his chest.

His vision blurred as his fatigue spiked sharply, before he gritted his teeth to regain his bearings and unleashed a fierce burst of flames from his mouth before she could attack again.

She quickly raised her scythe in front of her, gripping the middle of the handle and spinning it around, blocking the flames before getting sent hurtling down from the force of the attack, grimacing in pain as Raven's flames burnt the skin over the back of her fingers.

As she closed in on the ground, she spotted several rapid explosive projectiles shooting in towards her from her left peripheral. The instant her feet touched the ground, she sprang back as quickly as she could, tilting her upper body across to the left as one of the projectiles closed in on the left side of her chest, narrowly avoiding it before twisting her upper body in the opposite direction, the explosive projectile missing her by a hair's breath before shooting past her, a chain of explosions erupting a few meters off to her right.

"That was close...tch, I hate that that girl was right. If I didn't have a flat chest, I wouldn't have been able to dodge that...," She admitted to herself in irritation.

"That weapon, it's a Relic Armament, isn't it?" Surmised Raven, as he landed several meters ahead of her, regrouping with Celia as he touched at his chest, around the spot where the scythe had phased through.

"Yes, that's right...this is Death Reaper, it can inflict physical damage normally, and it can switch to an intangible form where it can pass through physical objects, and it consumes the stamina of any living thing it phases through. And I'm sure you're wondering what my Combat Template is...most people regard me as an Assassin, since my fighting style is closest to that Template.

But in reality, my Combat Template is one of a kind...I did start off as an Assassin, but once I was given this scythe, I modified my Combat Template to suit wielding this thing. In other words, my Combat Template is one that I crafted and created myself, a unique Template, so it doesn't have an official name...but I call it Reaper. The effects of this weapon are highly compatible with my Dark Magic, so it's quite fitting," She informed them, as she swung her weapon across.

"Huh, she's giving us info we didn't even ask for...," Mused Raven in bemusement.

"Well, creating a unique Template is an impressive, and extremely rare, accomplishment, she must be pretty proud of it...and people like to boast about stuff they're proud of," Pointed out Celia wryly.

"Tch, I can hear you, assholes..."

Meanwhile...

"Damn! You've really earned your reputation as the strongest Knight of the current era, haven't you!?" Exclaimed Aster, as he narrowly evaded a fiery thrust of the Commander's blade, before firing off his Telekinetic Push at her.

She reacted in the blink of an eye, swiftly positioning her blade in front of herself to absorb the impact, getting pushed back a few meters before unleashing a blazing wave of flames at him from her mouth.

Aster quickly formed a wall of telekinesis in front of himself, blocking the incoming flames just in time, before he raced across as a barrage of fireballs came shooting up over his defensive wall and plummeted down towards him.

He swung his black blade across as one of the fireballs closed in on him, the blade absorbing the flames as it sliced through them and transferred the Mana imbued in the Spell into Aster's body.

"Her Spellcasting speed is incredible, I'm completely on the defensive at this point...no choice then, I guess I'll have to use my Telekinetic Zone-...," Aster thought to himself as he started to cast the Spell as Jules began to charge in towards him, before he was interrupted as Tacitus suddenly zipped out in front of him with his hammer raised high.

He swung the large weapon down at the ground, slamming it down with a crushing impact and sending a powerful shockwave shooting out towards Jules, who swiftly halted and backed away, before getting down on one knee and plunging her blade into the ground, rooting herself as the shockwave hit her.

"Woah, what happened to you?" Said Aster, noticing several cuts all over Tacitus's body.

"Hey! Get back here! Don't you run away from me!" Suddenly came the Vice-Commander's voice.

The two Irregulars and Jules turned that way, to see Siele approaching with a pained grimace, his right forearm badly broken.

"I'm done with this...we're leaving. Argue and I'll leave without you," Stated Tacitus firmly.

"Huh? But I was just starting to-...o-okay, fine, I get it, stop glaring at me. Yeah, I suppose we shouldn't push out luck," Relented Aster, before muttering to himself, "Damn, and just as it was getting good..."

"You're not getting away!" Snapped Jules, zipping forward before her eyes widened as she came to an abrupt halt, as the flames coating her blade suddenly vanished.

"That one can negate Magic, be careful, sis!" Called out Siele, as Aster launched a signal flare into the air from his Storage Ring, before Tacitus grabbed hold of his shoulder, pointing their Teleport Spell Card forward and running his Mana through it, the two of them vanishing.

"Damn it!" Exclaimed Jules in frustration.

Not too far from that spot...

"Hm? Hey, that's the signal!" Noticed Raven, before Celia swiftly charged up a large, swirling sphere of explosive energy.

"You might want to dodge this!" She called out to Tilda, whose eyes widening in alarm as Celia sent the sphere hurtling towards her.

It landed a few meters in front of where she was standing as she turned around and sprinted away as fast as she could, before being blown off her feet as a devastating explosion erupted, a powerful shockwave bursting out and hitting her, before she landed facefirst onto the ground and slid forward, letting out a muffled groan.

"What the hell...? If she was capable of such a large attack, why was she launching such small ones before!? The hell were they after, anyway?" She muttered to herself as she got back onto her feet with a grunt, spitting out some dirt with a disgusted grimace.

Meanwhile, about a kilometer ahead of that area...

"Hey, over here, you two!" Called out Aster, as Celia and Raven found themselves in a wide, open grassy area.

The pair jogged over towards them as Raven receded his transformation, his face and left arm reverting to normal as he let out a weary sigh.

"Wait, where are Colt and Lexia?" Inquired Raven, looking around in concern, before relaxing as they suddenly appeared a couple dozen meters away to their left.

"Well, that sucked...what was with that guy? He tore apart that entire grove like it was nothing!" Huffed Lexia, as she marched over with Colt trailing behind her.

"Let's teleport ahead a few more jumps, just to be safe. It's starting to get dark, so let's set up camp for the night once we're a safe distance away," Suggested Aster, the sun having almost completely set, a rapidly fading dark orange hue across the sky, as a light, pleasant breeze blew across the area.

"Yeah, sure."

"Fine by me, I'm beat."

"Whatever, so long as I get to rest, I don't care."

"Ahh, every part of my body is so sore...this is nice!"

With the consensus settled, The Irregulars used their Teleport Spells to jump several kilometers away from the direction of the Quartz Ruins and the Capital, before finding themselves on the outskirts of a small forest.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think we're at the Beryl Woods now. This is as good a place as any to set up camp, what do you guys say?" Inquired Aster, before taking out some of their camping supplies from his Storage Ring once none of the others voiced any objections.

The others brought out their remaining camping items, before setting up tents in a clearing set between an encirclement of trees.

"We've still got a long way to go before we're back at the hideout...the Teleport Spells should cover most of the remaining distance, but I'd say we'll have to travel somewhere between five to ten kilometers on foot, at least," Tacitus informed them, as he sprawled onto the grass and stared up at the sky.

"Wouldn't be a problem if you figure out how to create Teleport Spells that teleport you to a specific location, regardless of distance," Pointed out Aster with a wry smile.

"That's literally the most difficult kind of Spell to formulate, it's several levels of difficulty above these Teleport Spells," Responded Tacitus dryly.

"Can't you just, like, steal a Spell Card from the Knights and just copy the Magical text?" Inquired Raven, as he formed a ball of flames and lit up a pile of wood gathered in the middle of the campsite, starting a fire.

"No, it's not that simple, otherwise anyone could make Spell Cards. It's not enough to simply write the text, you need to understand the purpose of every single line and accurately visualize how each line affects the Spell, all while pouring in a steady, delicate stream of Mana into it...the smallest mistake, a shift in focus or the tiniest hint of unsteadiness in the Mana channeling and the entire Spell is ruined. If that happens, you have no choice but to start over from scratch. More complex Spells require more lines of Magical text and a higher level of understanding of the mechanics and formulation, not to mention-..."

"O-okay, I get it...you could've just left it at 'no', you know."

"By the way, I thought the plan was to fight the Knights for about five minutes, after which Aster would send up the signal flare and we'd retreat. Was it just me, or did that last way longer than five minutes?" Spoke up Lexia with a frown.

"Well, uh...I might have lost track of time back there. I got caught up in the heat of the moment and started to enjoy myself, and-...sorry, my bad," Grinned Aster sheepishly.

"I hate you...," Muttered Tacitus in exasperation.

"Look on the bright side...we now know what we're dealing with. We may not have seen their full power, but that goes both ways, they didn't see the full extent of what we're capable of either. And evidently, we all managed to hold our own. If and when we encounter them again, we'll be better equipped to deal with them," Pointed out Aster objectively.

"But none of those Knights were targets, only a small handful of the Commander Squad Knights are targets. So, did we really need to fight them?" Inquired Celia in response.

"While that is true, it's inevitable that we'll have to fight them sooner or later. So long as we keep going after the church and the corrupt Nobles, they'll regard us an enemies," Spoke up Lexia.

"Mhm, it's not like they're going to leave us alone just because we aren't targeting them," Added Colt with a nod.

"Exactly, and with all that in mind, I think we've got ourselves a long-term goal to work towards...we need to get strong enough to the point where we can defeat them without having to kill them. Although, having experienced their capabilities firsthand, and at least as far as the Commander goes...that's going to be a hell of a lot easier said than done," Remarked Aster with a slight sigh, leaning back against a tree as he stared up at the sky, a glimmer of determination in his eyes...

Meanwhile, back in the area outside the entrance to the Quartz Ruins...

"Is everyone alright?" Inquired Jules, looking around.

"Well, none of us are dead, at least...that average-looking redhead really messed up my arm," Frowned Siele, nursing his broken right arm gingerly.

"They definitely weren't trying to kill us. At least, the pair I fought weren't. Plus, they didn't kill any of our subordinates either, they're all just asleep," Added Tilda, glancing around with a sigh.

"What do you think they were after, Commander? Since they had Teleport Spell Cards, they could easily have avoided fighting us by teleporting without ever emerging from the ruins," Pointed out Jorel curiously.

"The only explanation I can think of is that they wanted to see how strong we are. That speaks to their confidence, they had faith in their abilities and were certain that they could fight us without being killed. After all, they had no way of knowing that I'd opt to try and capture them instead of kill them," Replied Jules with a grimace.

"About that, why did you give us that command before they emerged? I mean, they're the most wanted criminals in the nation," Responded Tilda curiously.

"Because it would be a waste to kill them. And after fighting them, I stand by that decision, they're genuine threats. The one I fought is easily at Captain level, and the rest of them were strong enough to hold their own against you three...not to mention, they made it all the way down to the bottom of the Quartz Ruins. If we can find a way to get them on our side, the Knights will be exponentially more powerful. Keep this between us...I can't imagine too many other Knights will take kindly to their Commander considering the idea of recruiting a group of criminals, after all," Said Jules with a wry smile.

"Honestly, I seriously doubt that we can get them to join us, Commander. Five of them possess Irregular Magic, they're only alive because they managed to avoid getting executed by the church, I doubt that's a grudge they'll be willing to let go. And the sixth, the Homunculus, is a boy who was used in human experimentation by the church...if it were me in such a situation, I doubt I'd be able to forgive those responsible. And he's probably also looking for his missing twin sister...hm, maybe if we find her first, we can use her to negotiate with The Irregulars," Suggested Jorel thoughtfully.

"Well, whatever the case, they're a group we can't afford to ignore. I have no doubt that they'll venture to get even stronger than they are now, and we must do the same...if and when we encounter them again, we must emerge victorious," Stated Jules firmly, as she clenched her fists with a sense of determination.

As The Irregulars and the Knights plotted on how they would deal with each other going forward, meanwhile, at the bottom of the Quartz Ruins...

It was eerily quiet, the air stagnant and not so much as a single soul in the vicinity...the silence was then broken as a sharp gasp rang out, a burst of Miasma erupting and swirling around the space...as the Undead King's body formed out of thin air.

"I-I...I survived! Sh-shit, I...I thought it was done for! Damn it...damn them to hell! I'll kill them, I'll kill them all...I'll kill HIM! Especially him! That bastard, how dare he-...!?" He yelled furiously, before trailing off and composing himself, going quiet for a moment before a smirk spread out across his face, a chuckle echoing out, "No, I should be grateful to him...he did set me free, after all. And as a show of my gratitude, I won't kill him right away. After a millennium of being trapped in this godforsaken shithole, I'm finally free, so there's no reason to rush. Yes, I should take my time.

After all, they're not the only ones I need to kill...far from it, I have to wipe out this entire nation. And to do that, I'll need my army. Hm, what did they say it's called now, the Death Zone, was it? It's high time I return there, I'm sure my loyal undead subjects are waiting for me...yes, I'll head back there and bolster my forces, I have all the time in the world to do so, after all. And once my undead army is ready, I'll have them march through Persona and wipe this damned Kingdom off the face of the fucking map!"