Rodger slammed his palm to the ground, creating a pillar that aimed straight for Dolton. "Think I'm gonna let you?!"

As the pillar approached, Dolton raised his right hand in the way, hocking his fingers like talons of a bird. He then caught the pillar as it hit and then with a squeeze, shattered the entire thing into fragments.

"I honestly don't care what you think." Dolton then glared Rodger with a wide grin. "And since you seem in a hurry to die, I'll start with you."

A giant pair of hands formed beside Dolton and opened wide. Both Doc and Apa jumped in surprise as the hands slammed into their boss.

"Didn't see that comen!" Rodger boasted with a satisfied grin. It didn't last long as cracks formed in the hands and finally shattered apart, Dolton stood in the center, with both his arms stretched out.

"Not bad," Dolton shrugged as he walked out of the rubble. "Seem's you got a good deal of range, kid."

Clicking his tongue, Rodger drew out his hammer, a sight that made Dolton flinch.

Is that...?

Rodger slammed down the hammer. Several rocks freed themselves from the earth and fired themselves at Dolton, who intercepted each one with palm strikes, effortlessly breaking each one.

He looked to his two underlings. "That kids mine, you take out the others."

"Ok."

"Right."

Both nodded.

"Rodger, What are you doing?" Dora yelled, pulling his shoulder. "Come on, we gotta run!"

"Uh uh," Rodger stubbornly shook his shed. "A real man never runs when the boss is right before him!"

"B-But that's Dolton! We don't stand a chance!" Fred protested.

A dark shadow then suddenly loomed over them. "Bum, Bum!" The three lept quickly out of the way as Apa, brought down his war hammer, shattering the ground beneath him. "I recognize you three, Selvester fought against you yesterday." He lifted the hammer up again and swung towards the isolated Dora. Several branches shot up and protected her, taking the blows before they hit her.

"Dora!" Bush yelled out, trying to stand, but fell down due to his injuries.

"Oh Crap!" Rodger and Fred turned to the new threat, ready to assist when something shot between the two and exploded, sending both back several feet apart.

"Killing kids ain't really my thing," The Doc advanced on Fred, loading a bolt into her mini crossbow. "I'll take the droopy kid, you get the girl." She instructed Apa.

"Since when do you give out orders?" Apa said, drawing back his war hammer.

"Wh-wha...." Fred trembled as he brought out his crossbow.

"Fred run!" Dora called out, bringing out branches around Apa, restraining him while she broke for the forest.

"H-Huh?" Fred looked to Dora.

"We'll stand a better chance in the forest! We'll fight them in there!" She instructed Fred. She then called out to Rodger. "Don't do anything too reckless! He's strong, remember!"

Rodger chuckled as he turned to face Dolton, who was waiting patiently. "Don't worry, Cause we're all gonna win!"

Fred followed Dora's lead and ran in the opposite direction towards the tree line. "I don't think so." The Doc fired a bolt at Fred but was blocked when a wall raised from the earth in front of the shot. "What the..." Doc turned to the old men. Gimdo had one hand on the ground; panting as he used what strength he had to allow Fred to escape.

"How annoying." The Doc grunted as she raised her crow bow. "Should we take out the old geezers?"

"Forget them. They’re already on death's door." Doc told him, resting the war hammer on his shoulder as he persuaded Dora. "Let's just take out those meddling kids." She then took off in the direction Waze had run. "I'll take out droopy! You get pinky!"

Apa grunted as he advanced to where Dora had run off. "I got a bad feeling about this."

He walked off, leaving Rodger and Dolton behind, who stood by as they glared at each other.

"Don't you think you're a little over your head kid?" Dolton said as he clicked his fingers.

"I don't think so," Rodger said with a smirk. A rock then shot from the earth in front of him and sharpened into a spear as Rodger took a better stance with his hammer. "Cause I'm gonna win!" He yelled as he slammed the hammer into the back of the rock. "Home Run!!"

The spear shot towards Dolton at high speed, but he managed to dodge with ease. 6 rock spears formed in front of Rodger.

"You can't dodge all of them?!" Rodger boasted as he repeated his attack, sending the projectiles at Dolton.....

"Don't have to,"

.... Who intercepted each one and blocked them with simple palm strikes.

"How pathetic. This some kind of game to you, kid?" Dolton asked with a sigh.

A rock fist then charged towards him, and this time, Dolton shattered it with one finger through the middle.

As it shattered, Rodger rushed him, leaped through the rubble, gathering rocks to his hammer before swinging down towards Dolton. "Didn't see this comen you Bastard!"

Dolton effortlessly raised a palm that connected to the giant hammer, and much to Rodgers surprise shattered it.

"What the-"

He then performed a roundabout kick, striking Rodger in his left side, hitting hard enough for him to cough up blood before launching him away a few feet. "I wasn't born yesterday you little brat," Dolton grumbled while pushing up his glasses. "I'm an enhancer, which means my body's literally a weapon."

Rodger struggled back to his feet.

"You get it. You're way out of your league. Even those geezers couldn't beat me when it was the two of them." Dolton spoke as he raised a finger. "May as well just let me kill you know and save the pain."

"He's just a boy!" Gimdo yelled.

"No, he's a brat that did a great job pissing me off," Dolton responded to Gimdo. "It won't be just him. You two will be next, and then those troublemakers that ruined my bass will follow."

A rock then hit him in the temple, leaving a small graze. "I-I won't let you..."

Rodger stood back up, holding his hammer. "A... real man never runs from his enemies." He placed a hand on the ground, forming a Golem behind him. "He fights for what he believes in, and never goes back on his word." Rodger's eyes flashed at Gimdo. "That's.... what my pa believed in, and that is the way I chose to live!"

Dolton's eyes widened behind his shades as something in his mind clicked. His pa?

The golem then charged him, swinging its fist towards him. Dolton dodged and clawed his hands before slamming it into the torso of the golem and squeezed, shattering it. As it fell, he began to laugh sinisterly, causing Rodger some concerns.

"Now I get it. I wondered why you were striking so many bells," Dolton slowly lowered his hands slowly, fixing a menacing grin at Rodger. "YOU'RE GRAHAMS BRAT!!!"

That single statement caused Rodger to freeze completely, eyes widened in shock. "Wh-What?"

"I can't believe I didn't see it earlier," Dolton continued, pushing his shades up. "You look almost identical to him, not to mention that hammer of yours, and sporting that same crap! No wonder why the mere sight of you pissed me off."

"You- You knew my pa?"

"Dolton! Don't!" Gimdo pleaded.

"Of course I knew him." Dolton simply ignored him gave Rodger another menacing look. "I'm the one that killed him!"

Beyond your limit

"Oh come on..."

Cliff was breathing very heavily. He would be drenched in sweat, but his 'Level Up' was still active so it was simply evaporating into steam. But he was starting to feel the strain the ability had on his body.

What was worse was that the wind spirit familiar, Sylphen was still untouchable. Every time Cliff had blasted it apart by his shockwaves generated by his punches, it just reformed. Its attacks didn't do much to harm Cliff due to his physique and strength, even able to break apart the wind attacks with just a palm, but it was beginning to wear him down. He could tell that the familiar was quite intelligent; it knew that Cliff couldn't maintain his current strength for too long, and was simply buying its time until Cliff reached his limit.

Frankly, even Cliff knew this was a bad matchup.

I'm not sure if I can keep this up much longer.

The reason he was in this fight was to keep the familiar away from its master. What he'd seen so far though glances were what looked like a to and frow battle. One time he looked like he had the upper hand against both Faust and Melvin, but seconds later he was sent to the ground when Max, Shay and May joined the fray.

But that's when things took a seemingly strange turn. The last look showed that Waze's body seemed to be emitting a strange aura, which frankly reminded Cliff of the Homunculus back in the labyrinth.

I hope they can handle whatever he did. I'm getting a seriously bad vibe.

****

"Whoa, what the heck?"

"That... Doesn't look good."

Both Max and Melvin aired their concerns at the aura that surround Waze. It wasn't just that, some of his blood vessels were sticking out, and more strikingly, his irises had seemed to vanish, leaving just the white-eye ball left.

"By the goddess..." Faust breathed, feeling his muscles beginning to tremble by the flow of power. What is this ominous power? It feels so unnatural...

Suddenly, Waze began to cough up blood but then began to laugh hysterically, leaning back as he lost himself.

"THIS POWER, IT'S SO FREEKEN AMAZING!!!!"

He then straightened and aimed his right revolver at the three with a wide grin. A wide blast of light shot from the barrel towards the ground, who leaped out of the way as it passed and continued on, followed by a massive explosion in the distance.

The three looked with a combination of awe and dread before bracing themselves from the shockwave.

"What.... What have you done?" Faust muttered as a boot collided into his face and launched him back.

"Amazing..... THIS IS SO FREEKEN AMAZING!" Waze yelled hysterically as he aimed the left revolver at Max and Melvin.

"WATCH OUT!!!"

Both leaped out of the way as a blast of wind was fired, blowing away large chunks of the ground in the process.

"W-Whoa...." Melvin gawked at the destruction wrought by a single shot.

"That's some power," Max said as he rocketed himself forwards, sweeping a strong flamed kick at Waze, who vanished before he could make contact. "He's gone?"

"Behind you!!"

Before Melvin could warn him, a thin orange beam pierced through Max.

"MAX!!!!"

Max fell forward, catching himself from falling, clutching the wound on his chest.

"HAHAHAHA!!! This is so amazing!" Waze was directly behind Max, smoke pouring from his right revolver.

"You... What have you done to yourself?" Melvin demanded.

"I told you, I powered up!" Waze boasted. "A special bullet I got on the black market. Essentially quadruples my Mana- BLEAGH!!!" He then threw up a large quantity of his own blood.

"At what cost? Whatever you've done is obviously killing you!"

"SHUT UP!!"

Waze fired a shockwave from his left revolver, just missing Melvin, scaring some of the earth in the process.

"Like I care... the only reason I had to use them was cause of you bastards...." Waze hissed while wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "... We could've had an easy picking ransacking that pathetic little village, but you guys had to come along and ruin everything..."

Shay and May then appeared behind Waze, swinging downward with their hammers. Waze disappeared again, reappearing directly above them aiming both his pistols at the two. "I never liked you two," he said as he squeezed the trigger.

Suddenly, a spiked ball collided into his back, pushing him away. Waze managed to recover and tore off his trench coat, which wrapped around the body of the ball before throwing it away while he backfilled around and landed. "I forgot about you."

The spiked ball unrolled, revealing Radagast, who floated down towards his master Faust who had his left hand placed on the ground. "To think you would go this far, I certainly pity you."

Waze was too hysterical to ignore the damage his overflow of power was doing to him. His ears were now bleeding as well as thin red lines dripping from his eyes.

"A man who would go this far for power is a sad thing indeed."

"OH CAN IT!!!" Waze yelled out furiously, pointing his revolvers out towards him. "I couldn't care less what some wishy-washy, two-timing bastard like you thinks!"

"Sinkhole!"

The ground beneath Waze's feet then caved in and he began to fall down. "What the?!" Waze looked back up. "You think something like this can stop me?" He then aimed his right revolver downwards, "THINK AGAIN!!!" He then fired a torrent that propelled him up into the sky. He spun while he tried to get his bearings, preparing to unleash a powerful blast.

"Alright now!"

Suddenly small orange orbs that began to expand surrounded him. "What is this?" He then caught sight of Melvin, who was pointing his wand towards him, with an orange glow emanating from his wand. "YOU?!"

I may not have a lot of Mana left, but this much I can do.

"Explosion."

All the orbs around Waze then simultaneously exploded, consuming him in a cloud of smoke. He emerged out of it, blackened and trailing soot, his two guns ruined.

Directly below was Faust, pulling back a fist as he came towards him.

Gotta.... Do... Something.... Waze was still conscious, but no matter what, his body refused to listen to him. All he could do was descend helplessly towards the upcoming knockout blow. No..... It.... IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS!!!!!!

"Fist of Iron!"

Faust's fist collided into Faust's gut, his body bending from the force before being rocketed away through the blackened tree line.

"Lady Fiona, I hope you can be at peace now."

****

Cliff panted hard as he pulled back another fist, using his palm to aim. He was very close to reaching his limit, and his enemy still showed no signs of slowing down.

"Just.... A bit longer...." He panted as he prepared to lunge his attack. However, the wind spirit suddenly dissipated into thin air. "Now what?"

He questioned, not dropping his guard. However, he noticed that there was no sound from where the battle with the spirit's master was. Taking a quick glance in that direction told him all he needed to know, the master was defeated. Cliff let out a sigh of relief as he dropped to one knee as the steam he was emitting began to dissipate.

"About time, I was very close to reaching my limit." He muttered to himself, smiling despite the pain from the after effect starting to set in.

"We pulled it off, somehow."

A new Rival

Allisa was forced back against the wall as Ellie took another swing towards her. She ducked quickly as her opponent's massive blade of ice carved into the wall, peppering her with small rocks displaced by the swing.

As she rolled across the waterway, Ellie had lunged at her again, preparing another swing. This time, Allisa teleported out of the way, reappearing at her rear while swinging downwards, but Ellie responded quickly by twirling her to her back and blocked the strike before kicking back into Allisa's gut while pivoting again before swinging at her again. Allisa managed to block but was forced backward. She recovered while facing her opponent, panting heavily.

This had been her longest fight so far against a human opponent, and she was starting to feel the fatigue catching up to her. What's more, her opponent looked like she could still go on for much longer.

"I'd be lying if I say I wasn't impressed by the fact you've lasted this long," Ellie said as she steadied her blade with one hand.

Allisa steadied herself as she tried to keep some distance between them. By her reckoning, her opponent was just as strong as Rubrik, though possibly even stronger since she got the feeling she wasn't showing her full power. But there was something else, something that seemed to be making her a bit hesitant.

"6 Elemental: Water!"

As Allisa was lost in thought, small water droplets rose from the water below, gathering around Ellie. With a quick sweep of her hand, the droplets fired towards Allisa at the speed of bullets, Which she couldn't dodge in time, allowing the drops to impact hard on her skin, some even piercing though, while some just scraped past her, leaving little marks on her skin. Allisa grunted as she tried to recover, seeing another salvo being prepared to fire.

Allisa dodged them by teleporting away reappearing at Ellie's back with her sword drawn back, preparing to swing down on her left side. Without turning her body, Ellie simply punched Allisa in her side; strong enough to send her staggering back, skidding across the water until she finally stopped.

Ellie turned and pulled back her left hand. "6 Elemental: Wind!" a small cyclone formed in her palm. She then thrust in outwards, shooting out a powerful cyclone, more powerful than the one she used on her before.

Allisa calmed her breathing while holding her sword in both hands, a few flames gathered on the blade. "Vermilion Strike!"

She swung downwards, intercepting the cyclone with her vertical flame strike. The two forces collided, strong enough that it shook the very foundations of the waterway. Allisa almost was blown off her feet as the shockwave hit.

As the resulting smog dissipated, Ellie had launched through it and swung down at Allisa, who blocked the blow with her own sword, facing her opponent close up. And then, something clicked in her mind.

"If ya see a girl called Ellie, can you tell her I'm looking for her?"

She remembered the last thing Kira had said before she left her back in Gerlarder.

"She has long, silver hair. Oh, and a scar near her right eye."

Her hair wasn't long, but it was silver, and hair could be cut so the fact that it was short may not mean much. And close to her right eye, extending down from her eyebrow to the tip of her cheek was a noticeable scar.

No way.... Is it her?

Ellie pulled her left hand back, preparing to launch another attack.

"6 Elemental-"

"........ Are you...... Ellie?"

There was a visible twitch in her opponent's face as she reacted to her name being called. She forced her blade off Allisa's and leaped back putting up her guard. "How do you know my name?" She demanded.

"Huh... oh, your Ellie? K-Kira's frie- sorry, girlfriend."

There was another reaction from Ellie. "....... Kira?" She muttered quietly, her sword slowly dropping.

"You.... You're her... aren't you?" Allisa pressed, lowering her guard.

"..........How do you know her?" Ellie asked, a hint of tension in her voice.

"Oh... I met her on the boat on the way here." Allisa replied quickly.

Ellie's expression was unreadable. "She survived the voyage here?"

"Yeah, she's fine." Allisa nodded.

Ellie let out a sigh. "I see. So she's still alive." She said darkly.

Allisa was confused by her tone, figuring that she should be more happy about the news. "Wha... What do you mean by that?"

Cliff then finally spoke. "But, why attack a passenger ship? Were they after something?"

"Probably not," Nel said, hearing her. "It might have been someone important on that ship in incognito."

Allisa's eyes then widened as she recalled the conversation she had with the group following the Kraken's attack. Melvin and Nel had speculated that the creature was a familiar, and Cliff followed it up by thinking it was after someone in particular on that ship.

"..... Were you.... Were you responsible for that?" She asked in a hushed voice.

Ellie didn't respond.

"Hey, answer me!" Allisa snapped as she raised her blade until the tip was pointing at Ellie. "Was...were you after Kira?"

Suddenly, someone restrained her by grabbing both her arms with two pairs of hands, forced her to her knees while planting two feet on her back. "Wha-!"

"Having trouble Ellie?"

Directly behind Allisa were the twins, Thelma and Louise.

"Wha- where did you come from?" Allisa demanded before she winced as the two's grip on her arms tightened. She was taken completely by surprise; she hardly knew they were there to begin with.

"Quite the spirit."

"Especially for one so young."

Ellie let out another sigh. "How long?" She asked.

"We just arrived this time." One of the twins responded.

"That's a first," Ellie muttered under her breath. "How are things up there?"

"They lost."

"Completely."

"Their enemy took them by surprise."

"They then destroyed them."

" Isn't that right Thelma?"

"That's right Louise."

The twins said.

"I see," Ellie responded. "After all that mans big talk, they're taken out by a handful of adventurers." She chuckled. "How pathetic."

"Who-Who are you people?" Allisa asked, before letting out a cry as the two pushed more on her back.

"It's rude to demand,"

"For someone in your position."

"Let her go," Ellie instructed the two while bashing her left palm into her ice blade, which cracked the ice blade, allowing the fragments to fall into the water.

"Are you sure?"

"She may be a nuisance later on."

Ellie glanced at Allisa, who looked up at her. "If she does, I'll deal with it."

"Very well,"

"She'll be your responsibility."

The released Allisa's arms and pushed her down into the water. They then walked towards Ellie.

"So what next?" One asked.

"The village still stands."

"Nothing we can do about that now." Ellie sighed while sheathing her sword. "For now, let's meet up with the others. I've had enough of this forest."

The two nodded and walked back down the waterway in the opposite direction to where they had come from. Ellie stayed behind and approached Allisa, who was struggling back to her feet. Allisa strained her neck upwards to look into Ellie's cold gaze.

"Wh-Where are you-"

Before she could finish, Ellie grabbed her top and heaved her to her level, staring deeply into Allisa's eyes. "Because you're acquainted with Kira I'm letting you go this once." She said menacingly as she moved her face closer to her's. "If we meet again, I promise you I won't be so merciful." She then shoved Allisa back into the water before departing, taking few steps before stopping. "And if you see Kira again, give her a message." She tilted her head slightly, giving Allisa a cold glare. "Continue to chase after me, and I will kill you."

After her last threat she departed.

Allisa got back to her feet, feeling a slight hint of relief that her opponent decided not to kill her. She ended up thinking back to the look Ellie gave her when she talked about Kira, how cold her eyes looked. What could have happened between them?

Allisa considered chasing after Ellie. She couldn't understand, but she felt that she should try and stop her. Despite being Kira's girlfriend, she did express her desire to destroy Sterland Village. Ellie was still visible due to the blue glow of the Mythril in the water. She then stopped herself, remembering why she was here. Clenching her fists with some kind of frustration, she then charged in the opposite direction, towards Deadmans End, and her friends.

She couldn't explain it, but she just knew that she would see Ellie again. It was the same feeling she felt when she first met Rubrik, and even before that, Garlahad when she first met him, this was someone she would have to face, one way or the other.

Ellie.... Just who are you?