The party split up quickly, returning to tell the story of their battle with the boss and their close escape from death. The cynical boy watched, leaning against a tree in silence as he noticed how many "acts of tremendous heroism" he must have missed while he'd been fighting. Each player seemed to have their own account of things, no two of them alike. Nevertheless, there was a certain recurring theme of his own actions going unmentioned in favor of recounting the glorious stories of those who had been cowering in the corner, and the responsibility for the death of Vizer being placed firmly on his shoulders. Even Vizer's party, who had seen the whole thing, spoke of him as though he'd lost his mind completely. Then again, perhaps they were right. He'd gotten a little too carried away by the fight, and even though he'd almost died, he hadn't seemed to care.

Maybe it would have been better for everyone involved if he had.

"What a load of crap," He muttered. "This is why I don't like teaming up with people."

"True," Spoke a calm voice behind him. "They are self-centered, antagonistic of those not in their own social circle, and, for the most part, rather untrustworthy. In any situation, they'll focus on themselves first, and everyone else second. That's simply how one survives now that this is a death game."

"The fact that people are trash is no great new revelation to me, Caben," Burai said icily, turning to face the guild master with an unprecedented look of disgust in his eyes. "Yourself included. You knew all about Flynn being a former elite, didn't you? The entire point of this expedition wasn't to build morale, or whatever... it was just to manipulate her into fighting again, wasn't it?"

"Oh? I hadn't expected the famous hothead and berserker to be so perceptive," Caben said coolly, a somewhat mocking smirk playing upon his lips. "Indeed. I wanted to show her that the clearing guilds need everybody they can get - that those with the skills necessary to beat this game can't afford to squander their abilities. On that count, I succeeded admirably. Granted, it was difficult to arrange things so that you, the 'bait' I set to interest her, would find yourself in danger, but, then again... I have my ways."

"So you sent us into that trap on purpose. I knew it couldn't have just been a coincidence that we entered the dungeon right next to where Seventh Star was massacred...!" The White Wolf snarled, his eyes narrow and full of hate. "One of your guild members died today. Don't you even give a damn about that?"

"Not really. Vizer was a wild card, and notoriously unreliable. Nothing of value has been lost today - especially not in comparison to the advantage we've gained." Caben smirked. "The way I see it, things couldn't have gone any better. Well done."

"Even compliments from you make me sick, you arrogant sack of shit," Hissed Burai, the wolf by his side growling in assent.

"I just do what's necessary to progress. If that means getting rid of a man who was a danger not only to himself, but to my guild, or showing a naive little girl that she can't be permitted to hide behind others and cry her little eyes out, then so be it."

"What did you just say...?" The youth's voice was quiet, yet seemed on the verge of total, murderous fury. The guild master merely gave a cheerful laugh and turned away, striding back towards the gathering from whence he'd come. But Burai had no intention of letting him get away with what he'd just said. Insulting Flynn like that, after what she'd lost, was completely unforgivable...!

In a flash, the black sword Nothung - the last weapon Burai had been holding - sprang to his hand. Raising it over his head, he flung himself forward, bringing it down upon Caben with all the strength he possessed. "BASTARD!" He roared. He didn't care if he was inside a city. He didn't care if he couldn't actually harm the man. He didn't care if those around him would think him a lunatic. None of those things mattered. What the guild master had just said and done couldn't be allowed. Somehow, he was going to make Caben pay.

A flash of light dancing along the edge of a jet black sword.

The whistling its keen blade made as it tore through the air.

The silence as every single voice in the park was silenced all at once.

A grinding of metal against metal.

"Tch...!" Snarled Burai, glaring down at the man who stood calmly, one hand upraised to catch the blade of the heavy two-handed sword and hold it in place just a few inches from his face.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot. We were going to make a memorial to the dead using this sword, weren't we?" Caben said calmly, smirking across the edge of the sword at the infuriated wolf. "Thank you for reminding me." He smiled, ripping the blade from Burai's hands and planting it firmly in the ground. "Now then... you're dismissed."

"I won't forgive you for this, Caben..." Snarled Burai. "If this is how low guilds will stoop, then consider this my resignation. I was better off on my own. We're going, Kurogane." With that, he turned, his cloak fluttering around him, and walked away without another word.

She'd gotten worse.

She had became a lead soldier in the Stardust Brigade, and her exterior had changed completely. She was cold, distant, and was usually in her room when they weren't out searching for the boss. Her depression had come back full fledged, and she covered her sadness with anger.

She was constantly thinking about how Burai had left. She hated herself for it. Every night after he left, when she was trying to sleep, she remembered him pulling her lips into a smile. Then she'd cry into unconsciousness.

About a week later, she was done with the Brigade's wasted efforts of trying to find the boss. She left in the middle of the night, sneaking silently, her now constantly adorned expression of cool apathy on her face. She definitely looked less friendly combined with the brigade armor.

She entered the dungeon solo, not daring to look in the direction where they'd fallen into the trap. The last time she'd seen him. She went the opposite way, beginning to wander deep into the dungeon. She wasn't keeping track of the number of enemies she slaughtered, but she was making her way through it fast, not paying attention to strategy or where she was going. She had lost the will to care.

The knight stepped resolutely through the vast door that had opened before him, his sword already drawn and held calmly at his side as he entered, his eyes already staring icily at the figure that stood across from him. The armor covering it concealed all potential human features from view, save for its figure. It was tall, formidable, and each of its movements seemed to exude power and strength. Yet its shape was also quite clearly feminine, as was the mane of scarlet hair trailing from underneath its helmet. But the wings adorning its back, and its gigantic stature, made it abundantly clear that this enemy was no human.

<<Brynnhildr.>>

The name flashed up on the boy's HUD, accompanied by the appearance of eight health bars. The floor boss turned to face the lone challenger, who merely smirked, stepping forward onto the central stage of the room. The arena for the bossfight consisted of countless large, circular platforms of varying sizes and heights, suspended on thin poles over a vast abyss filled with lava, the sides of which were lined with the roots of a great tree that formed the ceiling high above, interspersed with cathedral-like stained glass windows, giving the room the appearance of some sort of otherworldly and hellish chapel. The boy already knew the battlefield all too well. After all, he'd been fighting this same opponent almost without rest for the past four days.

Following his self-imposed exile from the Stardust Brigade, the boy had retrieved his items from the guild, then, embittered, had ventured forth with little delay to do the only thing he could to take his mind off of his failures - fight. He had been tricked, manipulated, and used as a pawn to draw Flynn into a battle she hadn't wanted to fight in. Then, in his anger, he'd made himself the most hated man on the frontline, treated as little better than a criminal for attacking such a respected player as Caben, even if it was in a town where such actions could do no harm. He had lost his place in the clearing group, but that didn't mean he couldn't keep fighting. And so, stocking his inventory with whatever healing and food items he could get his hands on and carry with him, he had ventured once more into the dungeon, forcing his way ever deeper into it until he'd found a rest chamber, then making that place his base of operations as he searched for the boss' lair. After three days of nonstop searching, he'd found it, and, not giving himself time to feel afraid, had entered, engaging the boss in combat.

The Valkyrie-inspired boss had been a formidable adversary. She was armed with a spear and tower shield, with very thick armor that was difficult to pierce, even with his powerful weapon. Even so encumbered, however, Brynnhildr was still capable of darting around the battlefield like a bolt of lightning, using her ability to fly to dive down on him from above. As her sole target, he found himself nearly dying countless times, forcing him to retreat and concede defeat. But after many failed attempts, he'd finally managed to adjust to her moveset, and the surprises hidden within her bossfight. This time, he was ready.

Letting out a cry, the Valkyrie instantly targeted him, spreading her wings and launching herself straight at him. The instant he stepped into the room, she was already upon him, crossing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Twisting aside, the boy slammed the flat of his blade into the head of her oncoming spear, forcing it aside as, with a loud bellow, he carved upward, slashing along her arm as she passed him. A spurt of red flew into the air, and her first health bar dropped significantly.

The Valkyrie skidded to a stop, planting her spear in the ground and pivoting around it. The haft sprung back, then snapped back into place, launching her right back at him in an instant. He braced himself, leaping into the air and flipping back over her head as she cut through where he had just been. Landing behind her, he swiped his sword across the boss' back, then lunged forward, aiming to impale her completely. With a loud clang, his sword was turned aside as, pivoting, she brought up her shield, parrying the attack and leaving the youth wide open as she lunged three times with her spear. But Burai had foreseen this. Using the momentum granted him by the deflection of his blade, he activated <<Style Switch,>> placing both hands on his sword as he knelt, the first thrust going completely over him and the second only grazing his side narrowly as he spun about, then lunged upward, a vicious diagonal cut slamming into her spear and redirecting it to the side, interrupting the final attack and sending her stumbling. Sweeping out his leg, he continued his rotation, knocking the boss' feet out from under her. The Valkyrie flipped head over heels into the air, then thrust her spear downward at the white-haired knight, who darted back as Brynnhildr vaulted on her lance, flipping backward and onto her feet. As she braced herself to lunge, so did he, the black armored boss and the silver-clad warrior streaking towards one another and colliding in a spray of sparks as Burai, slipping to the right at the last second, caught the boss' spear beneath his arm, pulling her off balance as he slashed with his right hand from her right shoulder to her left hip. But although her first health bar was depleted completely and her second damaged as well, she did not fall. Undeterred, the boy gave a roar of anger and determination, slamming his head into the boss' helmet with enough force to stagger it, forcing it to spread its wings and retreat to the skies before he could follow up on his berserker assault.

He grinned, checking his health bar - which remained about 85% full, to his satisfaction - then returning his eyes to the boss as she drew back her arm, hurling her lance like a javelin. Burai knew better than to get anywhere near that projectile, as he'd already learned the hard way that simply contacting the air around it would be enough to cause damage. So, leaping away, he landed on the edge of the platform, struggling to regain his footing as the arena itself buckled from the impact. By the time he'd raised himself to his feet, Brynnhildr had already entered her second phase, discarding her shield and withdrawing a large bow from her back and knocking an enormous arrow - practically a spear in and of itself - to the string as she took aim. At the same instant, Einjerhar began to rise up from the ground all around Burai, trying to encircle him as they had in the ambush a week prior. But he wasn't going to repeat his past mistakes. There was a delay between each spawn and its being drawn to attack him. If he could kill each enemy before it could get its feet, then they'd pose no threat at all!

Launching forward, he darted out of the way of one of the Valkyrie's arrows as he plowed into a mass of rising bodies, cutting one, then two, and then a third down with a quick flurry of blows, spiraling out from their midst and decapitating a fourth foe before hastily sweeping up his blade to bat another incoming arrow out of the way. The ground shuddered beneath him as a third swiftly followed, embedding itself within the earth. He grimaced, carving through another two Einjerhar as a new aspect of the battle came into play. If he didn't move soon, Brynnhildr would destroy the platform beneath him, and he'd be dropped into the lava - an instant kill. In another two shots, it would begin to collapse, and he'd have to leap over to one of the adjacent stages. But that would be difficult with the Valkyrie hounding him and her undead guardians blocking his path. Nevertheless...!

Spinning around, he cut through two more Einjerhar, then rushed for the edge of the platform, dodging the first of the boss' arrows as he spun beneath an axe stroke from a recovered enemy. One last foe moved to block his path, only to have its throat torn out by a black blur that darted to the side of its master. Kurogane, being ordered to wait until just this moment, had failed to draw any attention until it was too late for the mobs to stop him from clearing a path for his master. Together, they reached the edge of the platform, and then, just as the last arrow came streaking towards them, they leaped, flying from the collapsing ground behind them as it shattered from the impact and began to crumble into the pit below, earthen shards splashing down amidst the lava pooling at the bottom of the chamber in a thunderous cascade. Landing on the next platform, Burai turned, only to see the Valkyrie streaking out from amidst the rubble, laying hold of her fallen spear as she did so and plunging it straight towards his heart. Raising his own weapon at the last second, he clashed directly with the boss, redirecting her attack upwards, but skidding backwards from the phenomenal impact.

This was phase 3, where things really started getting difficult. From here on out, she'd begin taking flight, raining attacks from all sides and leaving few openings for a counterattack. And, if he didn't hurry, her repeated crashes into the ground would break this platform, too. If he tried to leap to safety while she was still attacking from the air, he'd be picked off in a flash. Unless he beat this phase on time, he'd be doomed to failure. Nevertheless, despite the danger, he found a twisted sneer beginning to take form on his face as he stood, arms spread wide, as though inviting the Valkyrie to strike him down.

She accepted his challenge, streaking into the air and darting to the side before circling overhead and abruptly diving from the left. Seemingly unaware of her attack, Burai stood in place, only to pivot at the last second, raising his free hand and actually catching the head of her incoming spear, turning it aside with a flick of his wrist as, in the same instant, he skewered the boss completely with a vicious thrust of his sword, before taking the weapon still embedded in Brynnhildr's body and sweeping it down with both hands, slamming her into the ground behind him with enough force to shake the earth. Her second and third health bars vanished in an instant as the knight withdrew the blade, slashing upward as he did so and hurling the enemy's stunned and limp form into the far wall. Brynnhildr crashed into the stone of the arena's edge, sending falling masonry and shattered glass from a nearby window plummeting into the pit below as she recovered, launching back for one final attack.

"BRING IT ON!" He roared, lowering himself and clenching his free hand as the enemy's spear dove towards his head. Tilting it to the side, he dodged once again, before drawing back his fist and then letting swing the strongest punch he could muster. His fist, coated in the silver light of an unarmed melee skill, slammed into the boss' head, shockwaves spreading into the air around the screaming Valkyrie as, in an instant, the full force of the boy's overleveled strength stat reversed her momentum completely, sending her streaking back into the rubble of the first platform and tearing through two whole pillars. Burai gave a psychotic laugh as the stones crumbled, falling down... down... down into the pit below. But this was far from over. Brynnhildr was at half health, which meant phase 4 was about to begin.

Darting forth from amidst the crumbling stones, a jet-black silhouette abruptly descended from above, an enormous blade raised to carve clear through Burai. The White Wolf leaped back, launching himself from the platform as, with a single blow, it shattered to pieces, the impact carrying both him and his pet wolf down to a smaller stage beneath that which he'd just occupied. Emerging from the chaos it had created, his attacker landed across from him. The familiar shape of <<Nothung>> flashed in the light of the lava just a few yards below them as the black knight rose to his feet.

<<Einjerhar Siegfried,>> the guardian of Brynnhildr, had returned to settle his score with his young adversary. The Valkyrie's four remaining health bars had been split in half. Two now went to Siegfried, while she herself remained with two more beyond his reach. It was time to finish this.

"You want a rematch, huh?" Burai hissed, a wild smirk appearing on his face. "Well, if you were looking to get your ass kicked, you came to the right place. As it happens, I still have to pay you back for ruining Flynn's life. So, what are you waiting for? Come at me and DIE ALREADY!"

She launched forward, landing beside Burai in a battle ready stance. "How long have you been here?" Her voice was dark and emotionless much like her face. She had heard the sounds of battle before even entering the room, and a flutter had gone through her chest at the sight of Burai despite her wishes to keep up an unfeeling facade. When had he discovered this place? What did he mean when he said he was paying them back for ruining her life?

Her life had been ruined, that was true, but it happened long before the boss. He had only manages to crush what was already ashes. No matter the situation, or how confused she was emotionally to see the boy and boss again, she was jumping into the battle no matter what.

The boy stepped forward numbly, sword in hand, and then stopped suddenly, his gaze darting back with surprise as another figure landed beside him. There was somebody else who had found the boss? But he'd been here constantly for the past four days... And then, he heard her voice, and he understood exactly what had happened. It was Flynn. She'd followed him, hadn't she? But why? He'd told her to take care of herself, to stay safe with the others, not run in on her own. What was she thinking? His life was expendable enough that he could risk facing this boss himself, but she, on the other hand, had far too much to lose!

"Flynn...?!" He began to cry out, trying to ask why she'd been so foolish as to rush into the fight, only to stop mid-sentence as a jet black blur streaked towards the two of them. Siegfried crossed the entire platform in less than a second, his movements barely visible as he raised his sword, twisting into a violent spiraling strike straight for Flynn. Darting forward, Burai raised his sword, bracing it with his free hand as he intercepted the attack, skidding backward from the sheer force of the blow.

"Tch!" He grunted, planting his sword to keep from falling to his knees. "How the hell is he so strong?" Forcing himself up, he leaped forward once again, slashing for the black knight who parried in turn, stepping backward as Burai himself landed beside Flynn.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here alone, Flynn?!" Burai asked angrily, taking the momentary break in the fighting to round on the newly arrived player. "I still don't know what this boss' final attack pattern is!"