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"Tell me again," Nikolai said as he stared at the abandoned house in front of him. "Why do you have a hideout like this one here?"

"Good question," Lucas grinned with pride. "I have a habit of finding places to sleep if I have nowhere to go. You can guess how it started."

"That took a sad turn," Nikolai turned to the archeologist. "This is not a luxurious mansion, but we can protect you better here," he said and noticed that she was looking left and right.

"They are close," she muttered. "I can hear their giggle. Their obnoxious giggles are getting closer."

Nikolai frowned because he couldn\'t hear anything, but it was not the time for doubts. They walked into the abandoned house and found that the inside was spotlessly clean, unlike the outside.

"You did not expect I would sleep in a dirty place, did you?" Lucas grinned as he walked toward a fridge and opened it. "I have a lot of food here, too," he showed them.

"Ah, young master is back," a man suddenly walked out from one of the rooms. Nikolai almost attacked immediately, but Lucas jumped to block him.

"Adrian!" smiled Lucas. "I did not realize that you are still here. So your house hasn\'t been rebuilt yet?"

"I am sorry, young master," the beastman kneeled on the floor. "I have yet to find a place to stay. I know that I am exploiting your generosity. I will leave immediately."

"Your hideout doubles as a hotel?" Nikolai frowned at Lucas, who looked quite awkward.

"I found Adrian sleeping in one of the streets with nowhere to sleep, so I gave him a place to stay. He is the one to keep this place clean," sighed Lucas. "I need this place for a while, Adrian. You can stay in a hotel for the next few days. Use this money."

"You befriended a saint?" muttered Taly beside Nikolai, and he had no words to refute that. The homeless man cried in thanks before leaving the hideout to leave the three of them.

"I am hoping that it\'s only a phase," Nikolai answered before the three walked toward the room. It was a well-lit and clean bedroom that had a study desk inside. "You can work here, and we will protect the house from the outside."

"Are you sure that I can trust you?" asked the archeologist. "I will die if you leave me here and they surround me."

It seems she has developed a fear of closed spaces because of how long she has been on the run. Her job at the adventure\'s union was her only source of money, so it was no wonder that she spent the day with him.

"I promise you with my name that you will be safe and unharmed," said Lucas. "You are doing more to my kingdom than you think, so I will reward you generously once this is over."

Taly looked unconvinced and turned toward Nikolai, who only nodded in response. Then, finally, she sighed in relief and entered the room, and her work began.

"So, do you want to play something?" asked Lucas after a few minutes of silence. "I can also sing," said the saint.

"We will wait outside," Nikolai said before leaving the house, and Lucas followed. The street was empty, and the front yard was full of weeds. "Why did you allow that man into your hideout?"

"Adrian needed a place to stay, and I happened to have one. So why would I not allow him to stay?"

"There are a million reasons to avoid trusting strangers and almost none to trust them."

"It was never about the reasons," said Lucas as he took out two chairs and sat down. "I don\'t need a reason to help those in need. Years ago, I was the one in need."

"And did anyone help you?"

"...no," grunted the bastard. "I want people to help others more, and I will be the first to do so," said Lucas.

Nikolai looked at the man taking a seat and realized how similar he was to Sergio. As the alchemist appeared in his mind, Nikolai realized how much he missed him.

\'Are you well, Sergio? I hope you didn\'t get scammed out of your money again. Maybe you hate me now, and you found better friends than me. I will be back soon to Rohan, but I hope that I don\'t see you.\'

"She is here."

"The woman is here."

"That house over there."

"We found her."

"We found her."

"We found her."

Voices began appearing around the house as myriad colors lit up in the darkness. Lucas frowned when he realized that their enemy was far from being human.

"They are fairies," Nikolai took out his twin scimitars. "They have powerful barriers, so do not be fooled by their appearances. Attack a singular point instead of spreading your range."

"It seems you know them well. Are they what you fought when you left the ball yesterday?" Lucas jumped out of his chair and took out his rapier. "This will be fun."

"Are you interested in a bet?"

"A challenge?"

"Let see who kills more," smiled Nikolai to pump him up. Lucas seemed to realize his goal but still got excited over the matter. "We can see who is the strongest out of us two," as he said so, Nikolai jumped forward.

Five fairies appeared around him as soon as he reached the front yard, their claws trying to shred him apart. Nikolai needed to be careful lest Lucas senses his darkness.

The twin blades were dark weapons on their own, so Nikolai did not need a lot of effort to infuse the element into his weapons. However, it was a struggle to keep it well hidden from Lucas.

A thin layer of darkness covered his blades as they struck at the fairies. Their screams echoed throughout the yard as their barriers were torn to pieces.

"Impressive," Lucas muttered before he jumped forward, his rapier striking at one of the fairies and destroying its barrier. Nikolai glanced his way to see the sword\'s tip covered with the condensed and sharp wind element.

"Kill them!"

"Kill them!"

"Kill them!"

The fairies surrounded them as the two stood back-to-back. As soon as a monster approaches, it gets killed by either darkness or wind.

It was only the beginning of a long fight.

***

"There is... still more?" muttered Lucas with a ragged breath. "They are infinite. The corpses are disappearing, and more are arriving. They must be immortal."

"They are not," muttered Nikolai as he stared at one of the fairies disintegrating to particles. "Their queen is known to be a master of energy. Her own hands make these fairies, so they are multiplying."

"There is a queen?" asked Lucas. "Then we just need to kill her, and this madness will be over."

"We are too weak to kill her," Nikolai shook his head. "The only reason that she has yet to kill us is her enemies. When she expands too much of her energy, her domain will be attacked and destroyed. So she needs to kill us without suffering a disadvantage."

"Why does she want to know the prophecy?" Lucas asked as she struck down another fairy, and a different one bit his forearm. Then, as his wind pushed the monster away, his sword struck its neck and killed it.

"This ritual involves one of the ascended gods," Nikolai explained without lying. "Gates of Celestia will be opened through this ritual, and a god will descend. This gives a chance to those powerful beings to try their luck and force their way into Celestia."

"That cannot be the only method."

"It is the fastest one to ascend godhood or steal a bit of divinity."

"Are you saying that gods exist?" Lucas glanced at Nikolai. "Not even my father has reached such a level. I always thought that gods were an exaggeration of powerful people."

"Most of the time, they are. The gods exist, but they are the most selfish creatures in existence. There is no beloving god, but only a good who needs people to worship it."

"A different presence has arrived," Lucas snapped his head and warned. At the same time, the fairies dissolved into energy and flew toward a figure standing in the darkness.

"A troublesome opponent has appeared," Nikolai forced a smile. "I think we need to put our bet on hold until we take it down. That is if we manage to live."

"A life and death battle," Lucas grinned as he took a stance. His mana exploded as a pair of wings appeared. "Bring it on, monster."

The newcomer started walking toward them and emerged from the darkness. As Lucas managed to look at it, his face froze because it was none other than a child.

"Lucas," Nikolai called out from beside him. "Do not underestimate this child. It is a high-level spirit that serves their queen only. If we are not careful..."

A monstrous aura exploded from the child, with an innocent face and antennas over his head. Its eyes turned black as a grin appeared on its face.

"....we will die."