Deep underground, unbeknownst to any of the rank and file rebels in the castle lies the true base of the rebellion. Just beneath their feets lies an underground tunnel network that had been built during the Vampiric War of 1000-1025 AC. It was not built by humans however, no, it was built by one the vampire lords who ruled the region, Count Huss. He built the underground network as a means to house his human cattle while he lived luxuriously above ground. Whenever the Huss family ate they knew their meat was fresh. Most Westphalians have forgotten the history of this location, which is exactly why the Man of Stone had chosen it to be his base of operations. However, unlike the vampiric lord, the Man of Stone has decided that he’d live underground, and use the underground network for a more nefarious purpose than holding human cattle.

The Man of Stone led the rebellion from this underground location from the very beginning, the day when the knights and heroes were sent to crush the rebellion and take his life was no different. Deep underground lies a study fit for a noble. It is well furnished, housing two beautiful 50 year old red mahogany sofas, both of which were gifted to the Man of Stone by Lord Creon, before their falling out. Between the sofas lies a large brown and white bear hide rug, a gift from Marcus before he was elected emperor. Above the rug is a beautiful and extravagant chandelier which serves as the only light source in the room, which the Man of Stone bought himself. Along the walls are massive bookshelves, each filled with dozens of books he had collected over the years. The subjects of the volumes vary from history, to political treatises, to science, to subjects of a more, demonic nature. Directly across from the steel door that is the study’s main entrance, lies a large Blue Wood table, a gift given to the Man of Stone by his father, many years ago. It is at this table the Man of Stone is working, sitting in a large chair, made of green dragon skin. He isn’t wearing his infamous black armor, for that is on a mannequin in the corner of the room. He’s instead wearing a black robe. He was supposed to have slept in it, but ended up working all night. The lack of sleep has had no effect on his mind however, he had gone days without sleeping during the war with the elves. He is wearing a monocle over his one good eye, the other covered by an eyepatch as he writes away in what appears to be his personal notebook. It was as he was writing when the steel door opened and a small person rushed into the room.

“Lucy Wucy, Lucy Wucy! Check this out!” the person announced running so fast into the room they rammed into the Man of Stone’s chair, making them bounce back onto their rear.

The Man of Stone, sighing, slowly puts down his quil and turns around to look down at his guest. Looking up at him is a young girl in a white robe that’s decorated with glitter and poorly drawn images of animals such as dogs, cats, dragons, and fairies. The robe looked like it was the canvas of a 5th grader’s art project. The girl’s body looks like she’s in the 5th grade as well. Her body is small, standing only around 5ft. Besides the robe, the only other noticeable piece of clothing besides her brown shoes (also covered with glitter) is her headwear. On her head is a white unicorn mask that has bright blue eyes and a large horn on the forehead. The girl springs up to her feet, her energy not diminished in the slightest.

“Lucy Wucy I got a new mask! Do you like it!? IT’S A UNICORN!” she exclaims, shaking her head left and right to show off the mask.

The Man of Stone keeps the same bored facial expression, clearly unimpressed.

“Get out.” is all he says turning back around in his chair.

“Awww Lucy Wucy is always so shy! Ooh is this your bed hair? Hehehe it’s all fluffy” the girl giggles rubbing her hands into the Man of Stone’s hair.

Without looking back, the Man of Stone puts his right arm behind him grabbing the girl’s head. Effortlessly he squeezes until the girl’s head pops like a grape. The body plops on the floor as the Man of Stone looks at his hand which is now covered in blood. He opens a drawer and takes out a towel and begins to wipe the blood off his hand.

“Oh Lucius only you could be cruel enough to kill a little girl in cold blood.” A new voice notes as two new figures enter the room.

The figures have the same white robes like the girl but unlike hers aren’t decorated. Instead one has images of stars while the other has images of blue waves. The one with the stars is wearing a mask of an owl, with bright yellow eyes and brown fur. The second is wearing a mask of a grey rat.

“That damned hybrid is no girl” The Man of Stone growls.

Between them the chunks of meat that composed the girl’s head start to move back together, regrouping at the girl’s body. The chunks combine, reforming the girl’s head. Her head looks good as new, no trace that a few moments ago it was crushed. She shoots up and puts her unicorn mask back on.

“Hi, I'm back! That was fun! Do it again!” the girl shouts.

“Not now, I need to talk to Lucius. Go roll around on the floor, you like to do that.” The owl mask wearing man directs as he takes a book off a shelf and begins to read it. The rat mask wearer moves into a back corner, remaining silent.

“Okie dokie. Rolling rolling rolling” the girl hymns rolling around the floor.

“Today’s a exciting day for you isn’t it? Today’s the day your plan comes to fruition. I have to say, the higher ups are intrigued, I have my doubts.” the owl man continues.

“I couldn’t care less what you think.” The Man of Stone retorts, still writing in his notebook, refusing to look at his guests.

“That is true, you never cared for my opinions. When you first brought up this plan of yours of starting the demon wave by sacrificing 10,000 souls at the altar I thought you were insane. Over time I’ve somewhat warmed to the idea, but I still think there are better and more efficient ways of bringing about the demons. That reminds me, are you concerned about the knights on their way here?”

“Of course not. I knew they’d be coming weeks in advance. Once they arrive the demons will need to feed. The knights will be their first meal if they fight their way inside.”

“Ah you are a clever one, that’s why you didn’t just move as soon as you knew of the attack. What a fun coincidence. What if your pet kills all the knights though?”

“That’s why there are the rebels above. If Archer kills all the knights they’ll feast on them instead.”

“I’m sure you’ve also heard that the hero of prophecy is being sent here as well. Him and the other one.”

“They’re not a threat. Archer will handle them.”

“What makes you so confident?”

“He knows what’ll happen if he fails.”

While Archer was being spoken of, he entered the room, shotgun and rifle on his back. He has a humorless look on his face.

“Sir. Our guests are here. Do you want me to go greet them?” he asks.

Archer notices the other people in the room, his face changes to that of anger.

“Ah Amon was it? Yes it would be very great of you to go handle the knights thank you very much.” the owl man answers, still reading a book.

Archer takes out his revolver, dashes to the owl man and presses the barrel against their head.

“I don’t take orders from you” Archer hisses.

“Oooh that gun is cool Amonny. Can I play with it?” the girl who had died a few minutes ago interjects, pulling on his coat.

Archer aims the gun away from the owl and blasts the girl’s head to smithereens.

“Damn hybrid” Amon grunts.

“You two are bad with children. You ok honey?” the owl man asks.

On the floor all of the meat chunks start to roll their way to the girl’s body reforming once again. Once her head is back she picks up her mask and puts it on, ignoring the fact it now has a hole in the front and back.

“Yeah that was fun! Do it again Amonny!” she cheers, disregarding the fact she was murdered twice within the span of a few minutes.

“Archer. Go greet our guests. You know what to do.” the Man of Stone orders, neglecting the girl.

“Yes sir.” Archer says putting his revolver away and makes his way out the room.

As he walks he makes eye contact with the man wearing the rat mask. He’s leaning in the corner and gives Archer a wave. Archer spits at his feet as he exits.

“Not a well trained pet is he?” the owl man remarks.

“I disagree. He’s loyal to a fault” the Man of Stone comments.

The Man of Stone gets out of his chair and begins to put on his armor, knowing that the time to carry out his plan is approaching. As he puts on his spiky black armor an alarm starts to blare.

“Oh my. Seems the knights have sent some saboteurs ahead of the main force and are now inside the castle. Or was this also part of your plan?” the owl man questions.

“It’s not. Doesn’t matter, nothing will prevent me from performing the ceremony”

“You know I’m feeling generous today. You two go handle Lucius’s intruders. I have to go report back to the higher ups.” the owl man instructs.

The owl man waves his hand creating a portal and walks through it. Once through the portal shuts, leaving the three of them alone. The Man of Stone, now fully armored, pushes a button on his desk which causes one of the book shelves to turn around revealing two large swords in a display. He removes them and puts them in their sheaths, slinging them over his back.

“Hey does this mean I get to play?” the girl asks, sitting up.

The rat man nods his head.

“YAAAY! Ok let’s go have fun, bye Lucy Wucy!” the girl waves running out the room, followed by the rat man.

Now alone the Man of Stone takes a deep breath and says “Today’s the day I save humanity”.

****

“Where are we going!?” Nazuko questions as they run down the stairs.

“Don’t know!” Warren answers.

They’re currently running down a stairway that’s lit up by lanterns equally spread out along the walls. They don’t know what exactly they’re descending to, they only know that the slaves and the statue which keeps a shield over the castle is underground. Of course, this isn’t what’s on their minds right now. Right now all they can think about is escaping as they are being pursued by an angry crowd of rebels. Ahead of them they can hear the man Warren kicked rolling down the stairs. After descending for two minutes they see a large metal door at the end, with the rebel struggling to get up.

“Open the door now!” Warren yells, picking the man up by the collar.

“Ugh yeah ok. Might take a while, hand’s broken, remember? Also I think my leg broke, you know because you KICKED ME DOWN THE STAIRS!” he shouts but does as he’s told anyway.

“Nazuko, did you bring anything that could help us right now?” Warren asks as the yelling of rebels steadily becomes louder.

“Not in the bag you made me bring you. Wait a minute, before we left Ryder gave me this grenade. He says it’s a good luck charm.” Nazuko reveals taking the grenade out of her pocket.

“It’ll have to do. I’ll be back, make sure he opens the door.” Warren orders running back up the stairs.

“Ok got it. Open the door faster!” Warren can hear Nazuko yell behind him.

“MAYBE MAKING THE GUY WHO HAS A BROKEN HAND AND LEG OPEN THE DOOR IS A BAD IDEA!” he hears the rebel shoot back.

Running up the stairs Warren examines the grenade given to him. It’s quite small so he knows if he uses it down here it wouldn’t cause everything to collapse which is good because he’s going to have to make his way back up these stairs to get out of here. Hearing the sound of voices becoming louder and seeing the mass of men before him he stops in place and takes out the grenade’s pin.

“There he is!” the rebel in the front yells.

Warren puts his arm back and concentrating his aura into his arm chucks it at the sea of men ahead of him. The grenade flies so fast it could give a speeding bullet a run for its money. It collides with the frontrunner’s head, causing the grenade to bounce then explode which results in the stairway becoming filled with debris and dust. Warren covers his mouth with his arm but still coughs a bit. After thirty seconds passed, which felt more like an eternity, the dust eventually settled. Warren sees the stairs ahead of him are covered with body parts and blood. The men who were further back moan in pain whereas the ones up front were completely obliterated. Warren remains in place waiting for the arrival of a second wave of men. He knows that they all couldn’t charge down at once so most likely the rebels in the castle are going to rush down in waves. Not hearing any more footsteps, Warren concludes that he has about a few minutes to escape before the second wave arrives. He turns around to head back when he is unexpectedly tackled.

“You won’t get away you son of a bitch!” his assailant yells as they tumble down the steps.

As they roll the rebel tries to attack Warren with a knife, but Warren is able to hold him off, albeit with some trouble. The rebel has some gold aura faintly emanating from his body causing Warren to use more strength than he expected. Warren is able to stop himself from rolling by grabbing onto the edge of a stair, using his aura to strengthen his grip. The rebel continues to roll down but only for a few feet for he too was able to stop himself using the same technique. The rebel stands up but is injured. There is blood coming down his face, his peasant clothes torn from the explosion. He has short dirty blond hair and appears to be very young, it’s doubtful he’s legally an adult. He points his knife at Warren.

“You son of a bitch. I’m making sure you don’t leave here alive” he threatens.

“How old are you?” Warren asks, ignoring the threat.

“Why does that matter?”

“Just answer.”

“16 so what? Don’t think my age means I won’t end you.”

“ You’re young. Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“Like my parents could afford it. You’re asking a lot of questions for a man who’s about to be killed.”

Warren’s eyes narrow. It dawned on him he’s never fought someone this young before. This makes Warren hesitate, grown men are accountable for their actions, kids aren’t. This rebellion isn’t black and white, his desire to save his friends no matter what made him forget that.

“Get out.” Warren orders.

“You think I’m going to leave just like that?”

“If you’re smart.”

“I don’t know what your plan is. But I have to protect the Man of Stone, I don’t know what he’s doing down there but it’s for the greater good.”

“Kid if only you knew. I won’t attack you. But if you attack me, your life is over.”

The rebel puts his arm down and stares. He steps to the side indicating he’ll let Warren pass. Warren passes him but as soon he does the rebel summons the rest of the aura in his body and attempts to stab Warren in the back of the head. But he never gets close because Warren turns around, disarms him, and plunges the knife into the rebel’s throat in one smooth movement. Warren stares down at the body before him and sighs. He hears more yelling from upstairs so he has no time to think about what he did, he runs down the stairs to return to Nazuko.

When Warren returns to the base of the stairs he sees that the large metal door was opened, with an exhausted rebel and a tired Nazuko nearby.

“That took forever! Why is the door so heavy? What are they keeping down here?” Nazuko rhetorically questions, taking heavy breaths between each sentence.

“We’re about to find out. Move” Warren tells the rebel shoving him into the door.

“Ow, ok ow, walking hurts” the rebel complains.

Nazuko, Warren, and the limping rebel find themselves in a makeshift tunnel. It didn’t appear to be the work of human construction, the tunnel looked more like a natural formation. There was no man made ceiling, only ragged rocks, the same is true for the walls. If one bumped into a wall their back would undoubtedly get scratched and cause bleeding. The only man-made inventions they see are doors every now and then and the torches that are hung along the sides. As they make their way down the hallway they hear a door open behind them. They all spin around to see a rebel in his mid forties enter the hallway, yawning. He looks to his left and notices the strange trio, he recognizes the rebel.

“Johnson? What are you doing down here? You’re not a high enough rank to be here. Wait, what the hell happened to you? You look like shit” he interrogates.

“Sir! I-ugh was told to come get you. Didn’t you hear the alarm? The knights are about to break into the castle. We need to rally the troops” the rebel makes up.

“What? They defeated the Reaper? Is that why you look terrible?”

“Yep! That is so what happened. I got hurt in the fighting”

“Well at least we still have the shield up so they can’t use their long range weapons. Wait, why did they send you specifically?”

“Ugh everyone above my rank died”

“God damnit. Ok fine, I’ll be up in a minute. Last question, who are those two?” he grills.

“Sir did you forget? The repairman was scheduled to come today to fix the roof of the barracks. Once the fighting started I was told to bring him down here for his safety, you know since he’s not a part of this.”

“Mmm. What about the girl?”

“Good question. She’s..um”

“I’m the repairman’s boss. He’s been slacking lately, I’ve been assigned to make sure he does his job.” Nazuko throws in.

“Huh, you seem quite young to be a supervisor.”

“Why thank you.”

“...Johnson, just make sure they don’t go through the black metal door that’s around the corner, that’s where we keep the shield generator and the slaves. Lead them to the break room across from it. After that, go to the infirmary, it’s the room I just left”

“Yes of course sir!”

With that the elder rebel turns around to head his way to the stairs, not knowing the destruction he’s going to witness along the way. The trio follow the directions given to them and like they were told, see a large black metal door.

“I’m surprised that it worked,” Nazuko mentions as Warren tries to open the large door.

“Yeah no kidding. I almost shit myself.” the rebel jibes.

“You’re lucky. If he found out, I was going to kill you both. ” Warren states matter of factly as he yanks the door open, using a surprising amount of aura.

“Gee thanks. Listen, I did what you asked, can I leave?” the rebel begs.

Warren looks at Nazuko who shakes her head in the affirmative.

“Fine. But tell no one what you did, get out.” Warren allows.

“Yeah definitely. If I survive this, I'll wipe this day from my memory.” the rebel promises, departing.

“See Warren, letting people live feels good doesn’t it?” Nazuko quizzes.

“Mmm”

“I’m going to take that as a yes”

The duo that temporarily became a trio is a duo once again as they enter the large black door. Inside Warren closes the door behind him to ensure no one knows they’re there. Ahead of them is a completely new view. The floor is now made of shiny bronze tiles and the walls are now nice smooth red bricks. The hallway is lit not by torches but by electric lights in the ceiling.

“Ugh did we teleport?” Nazuko inquires, noticing the drastic change in scenery as they walk.

“Nope. I don’t know where we are but I do know one thing, given how heavy that door was and how this hallway looks we’re in high rank territory. Everyone we meet down here most likely works with the Man of Stone personally.” Warren surmises.

“Ooh that must mean they’re rich.”

“Stay focused.”

“Hey I can help you and pickpocket people at the same time. I know because that's what I did when I got you your weapons.” Nazuko brags as she takes out a bag of gold.

“Fair enough,” Warren accepts

They stop in their tracks as they see that the hallway before them splits into two seperate hallways, one to their left, the other to their right. The hallways before them are identical so they have no idea where they’re supposed to go.

“Looks like we have to split up” Warren concludes.

“Are you sure? Sounds dangerous, for you. I know I’ll be fine.”

“We have a time limit. We don’t have time to search together. I don’t know what’s down each hallway but I know one leads to the slaves and the other leads to the shield generator. They’re not dumb enough to put them in the same relative location.”

“Ok fair point. Second question, what the heck is that?” Nazuko requests pointing at a figure approaching them from the left hallway. The figure appears to be a giant rat?

Warren narrows his eyes to get a better view. It looked like a humanoid rat was coming towards them. It enters a full sprint. Warren, not taking any chances, takes out his last knife and hurls it towards the figure.

Instead of the figure dropping dead it instead grabs the knife without losing any speed and throws it back at Warren. Warren was caught off guard by this but was able to react quickly enough to catch his own knife. However, this took his attention off the figure who was now right in front of him. Warren receives a knee to the face and falls to the ground.

Before Warren had time to recover he was attacked by a flurry of punches, his body being crushed by the figure on top of him.

“Die giant rat!” Nazuko screams as she kicks the rat in the face which, while it didn't get it off of Warren, stopped its series of attacks to look up at Nazuko.

Now having a better look, Nazuko realizes that it’s not a real giant rat but a man wearing a rat mask and a robe.

“What the?” Nauzko says in disbelief, not really comprehending what she’s seeing.

Taking advantage of the opening, Warren gives the guy a strong punch to the gut which sends him flying. The figure is sent down the hallway from whence it came.

“Nazuko! Go down the other hallway. Find my friends or the statue. Then get out and go help Will, the knights are about to arrive soon. I’ll handle this.” Warren shouts.

“What? Are you crazy? That guy is clearly a psycho. You’re going to need help”

“Time limit, remember? I got this, trust me.” he says as he wipes the blood away from his nose.

“Ok fine. But you better not die!” Nazuko accedes, running down the other hallway.

Warren stares down the masked man. He’s on the ground but casually gets up and stares back at Warren, acting like he never got punched. Warren knows this man is a threat, if a normal man received that punch he would have been crying in agony. Instead of that reaction the man cracks his back like he just woke up from a nap. Warren takes out his machete, knowing he can’t let this man live.

Warren charges at him aiming for the head. He attacks with a horizontal strike but the masked man ducks and gives Warren an uppercut then a straight punch to the stomach. The punch forces Warren to bend forward where he’s about to be kneed in the face again. Warren prevents this by tilting his head to the left and counteracts by pushing all his weight forward and runs resulting in the masked man being bashed into the wall behind him. Warren attempts to straighten up but realizes his waist is wrapped in the man’s arms. Warren is lifted off the ground and slammed right back down, so hard it makes the tiles beneath crack. Warren is then kicked like a rag doll across the floor. Warren, full of adrenaline, springs back up and runs back to attack. The man dodges each swing with ease. After each failed swing Warren is hit with two quick punches. He dances around Warren as he attacks, moving as if he was water. After the 6th failed swing the man strikes Warren with a kick to the stomach, causing him to collapse to the ground.

“Heheheh come on Warren I know you can do better than that.” the masked man states looking downward at Warren.

Warren raises his head, a shocked expression on his face while he holds onto his stomach.

“How-?” Warren asks but is met with a kick to the head.

“You know when I first heard that an intruder made their way inside the castle ahead of the knights I just had a feeling it was you. When I saw you in the hallway I just couldn’t help myself. Though to be honest, it took me a minute to recognize you. You look awful, are you living in the streets?” the rat man inquires, squatting down.

Warren takes advantage of his relaxed demeanor by grabbing his shoulder and giving him a hard headbutt which sends him stumbling back. This allows Warren the time to get back on his feet.

“Who the hell are you?” Warren demands.

“Hehehe oh right, you can’t tell with the mask.” the rat man answers.

He rips it off revealing snow white hair that has too much pomade in it. His eyes are a blue that matches the ocean. He has a wide smile on his face.

“Andrew?” Warren asks in disbelief.

“The one and only” he answers with a bow. Now that his mask is off one can hear his voice loudly and clearly. It’s a soft and calming voice, the type of voice that girls love and men envy.

“You got ten seconds to tell me what the hell you’re doing.”

“Come on, don't be like that. I haven’t seen you in months.”

“Why did you attack me?”

“Oh isn’t that obvious? I have to kill you. I didn’t want to make it too quick though, I wanted to see if you’ve gotten any better at fighting, I guess not. Also wanted to get some things off my chest, make myself feel better”

“Andrew, you're not making any sense.”

“Hmm I guess I have to start from the beginning. Warren, you blame yourself for what happened to everyone right?”

“...”

“Of course you do. Well I’m here to put your mind at ease. Remember when you fell asleep on watch? That wasn’t your fault. I spiked your drink, isn't that funny? You fell asleep because of me”

Hearing this makes Warren clench his machete, but he doesn’t lunge. He still doesn’t fully understand what he’s being told. He’s doing everything he can to hold himself back.

“It was all my fault. I’m the reason everyone got sold into slavery. Isn’t that great? Now you can be happy, at least for the time being. I didn’t plan on you, Nerva, and Adam escaping but I thought ‘eh no harm no foul. I’ll let them live’. But then you started your whole attacking slavers thing as a way to vent. If I were you I would have just seen a psychiatrist. Doing that also would have prevented you from coming all the way here. Now you have to die so pffft that sucks huh?”

“...Why? Why would you do that?” Warren asks, his voice trembling. The anger is building up in him and is reaching the boiling point.

“Come on Warren I thought you would at least be able to figure that out. You know me, I’ll do whatever it takes to get ahead, to survive. Look at the world around you, it’s all about to come crashing down. Demons will rule this world and I’m going to live a life of comfort when it happens. So I joined the group that started this whole peasant rebellion, they’re going to cause the demon wave. Why delay the inevitable you know?”

“....When did you join them?”

“Ugh I think about two years ago? The specifics are boring but what does matter is that to move up the ranks they wanted me to get sacrifices for their ritual. That’s when I thought of you guys.”

“How could you do that to your friends!?”

“Because I’m selfish? I never could form attachments with others so maybe that’s why? I didn’t expect to be psychoanalyzed today so apologies if my answers leave much to be desired. If it makes you feel better, it’s nothing personal. Oh no. Warren, are you mad at me? ”

With his aura now surrounding his body like a white raging inferno, no longer able to repress his anger, Warren lurches at Andrew. Now attacking with such speed that looks like a passing blur to the human eye, Warren swings his machete like a madman in all manner of directions. One moment he’s attacking vertically only in the next second to attack horizontally, then attacks diagonally with such veracity he can turn any normal man into mincemeat. Notwithstanding, mincemeat is not what was created. Every attack Warren dished out did not hit meat, but water. As Warren attacks, splashes are heard and were Warren to stop for a minute he would have realized Andrew is utilizing his magic to turn his body into water for he is a magician with an affinity for water. Andrew’s body still has the appearance of a human, it’s just that when the machete enters his body it’s as effective as attacking the ocean. The only effect Warren’s litany of attacks accomplished was to make Andrew change his facial expression, it is now a frown.

“Come on Warren, you know you can’t hit me. My ability cancels yours out completely.” he bemoans.

The attacks keep occurring, the sound of machete cutting water remaining constant.

“You’re not listening to me are you? Time to bring you back to reality.”

Andrew steps back and flings a jab into Warren’s throat. Not only did he effortlessly bypass Warren’s constant whirlwind of attacks, he was able to penetrate his aura. The scene was more reminiscent of an adult smacking a child who was having a tantrum than a fight. If anything in this fight showcased the gap in fighting ability between these two, it was this.

“Ack” Warren gasps, clutching his throat as he struggles to keep his footing.

“This is sad.”

Warren successfully remains upright then strikes again. He attacks a few times but they’re still as ineffective as ever. Andrew decides he’s had enough and puts his arm up which stops Warren’s vertical chop mid motion. With his free hand, Andrew gives Warren a blow to the rib so hard that a crack reverberates through the hallway.

“Ah!” Warren moans in pain as he drops his macete in order to hold onto his side.

Andrew now has a face of regret, like he just kicked a dog.

“Ugh I feel bad. I thought killing you would be more fun. You don’t think when you fight, you just go berserk, it makes you too easy to read. I suppose you always were like that though. The fact you’re mad at me also makes me a bit sad. I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you where everyone is, so you can all at least die together during the ritual. Go down the hall, take a left, go to the end of that hall to the stairway, at the bottom of the stairs is where everyone is. Don’t worry, everyone is downstairs, you won’t meet any resistance.”

Warren takes out one of his healing potions and chugs it. After he finishes he slams the glass like an angry drunk.

“Hmm I still have the feeling you’re mad. I was supposed to kill you, you could at least be grateful”

“After I get everyone out. I’m going to kill you” Warren promises as he goes back to pick up the bag of weapons Nazuko gave him which was dropped when the fighting began.

“Heh, I doubt it. If you do survive though I’d be oh so happy. I’ll tell you what, if you survive I’ll buy you a bottle of champagne, your favorite. Say hi to the others for me, and you better confess to Joanna when you see her. It’s most likely going to be your last chance to do so.”

Warren ignores Andrew's statements already running down the hall, following the directions he was given. If it was possible, Warren would’ve tried to kill Andrew again but he knows it’d be a futile effort. Besides, he needs to save his friends asap, he thinks to himself he’ll handle Andrew later.

“Oh shoot, I might get an earful for letting him past me. Whatever I’ll just say he snuck past. I was in the bathroom, yep that’s what I’m going with.” Andrew professes to himself, standing alone in the hallway.