"It really was a beautiful ceremony," Estelle told her friend, who had cried worse than she did.

"I'm just glad to have closure, it felt like a perfect ending to his story," Luna told Estelle, hugging her one last time before she had to leave.

"Yeahh," Estelle patted her on the back, "We better get going, but we'll be sure to stop by next time we're in town, which shouldn't be too long."

"Thank you for coming by, again, it means a lot to me," Luna finally let go of Estelle.

"Bye, Luna," Rita waved at her.

"Bye, Rita! Come see me again!" Luna raised her voice as they were leaving.

"A bit clingy, isn't she?" Rita asked.

"Yes, but her heart's in the right place," Estelle replied.

"She obviously thinks a lot of you and shows appreciation..." Rita told her.

"Yes, yes she does, what's with the tone?" Estelle looked to her wife.

"Do you feel like I appreciate you enough?" Rita asked, anxiously.

"Oh you show lots of appreciation, you make me feel special," Estelle smiled.

"Well because you actually are special, you might be the most special person in the entire world, and not just to me," Rita spoke scientific truth, not an attempt at flattery.

Estelle giggled a little, "Thank you, Rita."

The pair approached Patty and Judith, who were waiting by the front gate.

"Where are Yuri and Karol?" Estelle asked.

"Well Karol is already in Dahngrest, Raven summoned him," Judith looked down the stairs to the lower quarter, "And Yuri..."

Estelle and Rita turned their heads, seeing Yuri and his faithful pooch saying goodbye to a mystery girl with Black hair. To their surprise, there was a kiss involved, and not a peck, either.

"Well, Yuri's got himself a girlfriend," Estelle felt mildly excited for him, "That's so-" Her words were cut off by Patty, who was standing behind Judith shaking her head 'no.'

"Well then, shall we get going?" Estelle switched the conversation.

"Just... waiting on them..." Judith was staring.

"So, Judith!" Estelle grabbed her attention, "What do you plan on doing on arrival to Dahngrest?"

"Oh... I uh-" Judith tried answering, "I haven't really thought about it... I'm just along for the ride I suppose, wherever anyone needs me."

"Well you could help Patty and me with the reconstruction on the tower, or you can go see what the guilds are up to," Rita offered more to talk about.

"Well," Judith refocused finally, "What would I do on the tower? I'm not exactly good at operating machinery..."

"Head of security," Rita told her, "The tower will be the only thing capable of producing new Blastia, it's likely to be the target of all kinds of guild types or bandits, and if even a few of them get out early it could ruin everything."

"Yeah," Patty rubbed her chin, "I hadn't considered that..."

Estelle chimed in, "If Bhodi Blastia were available to the general public, there isn't a real problem since everyone can defend themselves, but if a couple bad guys got their hands on them early, they could cause terrible damage."

"Plus," Rita snapped her finger, "The Metal Man had a Blastia magnet similar to the one Patty designed, and he had a real problem with them ethically, too! He could show back up!"

"He had what?" Patty asked, terrified.

"A Blastia magnet, it was less advanced than your design but it still did the trick," Rita told her, "But this isn't the first time we've been attacked by our own technology, obviously there are scientists out there with similar ideas to us and they sometimes get there first."

"Right..." Patty looked at her feet.

"Alright!" Yuri finally came up the stairs, "Sorry I'm late, let's get going."

"Sure," Judith scoffed at Yuri, shoulder bumping him on her way to the ship.

???

Raven and Karol entered the Don's chamber.

"I hope things went well, but judging by your expressions, I assume they were awful," Harry sighed.

"Worse than you can imagine," Raven told him, "They're not hiding it at all, they told Karol everything and even tried to recruit him."

"Well," Harry rubbed his temples, "The Hunting Blades aren't known for their sneaking around, which I suppose gives us the advantage."

"Sir," one of his guards interjected, "We should strike them while we still can, with Karol and Raven's blastia on our side they won't stand a chance, there could also be less bloodshed this way."

"No," Harry dismissed the idea, "If I force my ideas on my own population I'm no better than the empire, and if I attack my own citizens, then we become exactly like the empire."

"I hate to say it," Raven shrugged, "But we're stuck."

"What do you mean?" Karol asked.

"We attack? We lose, if we don't attack, we lose," Raven began rubbing his temples, too. Headaches were setting in.

"Our best bet is to monitor the situation, until they pose a reasonable threat, we will remain at bay," Harry told them, "Please recon them."

"That may be easy," Karol told him, "Nan, sort've

Clint's left hand girl, doesn't support what they're doing."

A slight earthquake suddenly shook Dahngrest.

Raven, Karol, and Harry all rushed out to see what it was, apparently the tower of gears was coming online.

The quake stopped, but Karol quickly realized what this meant.

"No!" Karol shouted to Harry and Raven, "Rita's blastia manufacturing machine! Once the Hunting Blades hear about it, they'll attack it!"

"Then we shall be ready," Harry stated with a firm tone.

"Raven, assemble Altosk, they will follow you, Karol, go warn your friends."

Without a response, Raven and Karol took off.

???

"I'm so glad it's up now!" Patty was excited, they all were, some more than others.

"This is a turning point in our entire world's history," Estelle's hand were wrapped together as her eyes watched the beautiful tower, once for evil, now coming on for good.

Rita was in too much of a trance to say or hear anything, the machine she built was working perfectly, the construction guild may as well not be here, but it's nice to have a safety in case something goes wrong.

Rita pressed buttons on her tablet device, not having to type as much as usual since the coding was almost fully automated.

"This thing is capable of constructing one barrier Blastia in just 10 minutes!" Rita beamed, "That means in a few hours, we'll have enough to resupply all of the world's major cities, from Zaphias, to Capua Torim, to Nam Cobana Isle."

"It's amazing, Rita," Estelle hugged her wife from behind in celebration.

Tears formed in Rita's eyes, "We did it..."

Yuri stared into the distance, "I guess nobody's gunna attack after all... wait..."

A mysterious figure was approaching at rapid speed, as it grew closer, they saw it was Karol, dead sprinting toward them and waving his hands all around.

"Hey! Hey!" Karol was shouting, he finally got close enough to talk to them normally.

He fought to catch his breath, "Hunting blades... attack..."

"Breathe, Karol," Yuri supported Karol's body while he caught his breath.

"I'm fairly sure that the Hunting Blades are going to attack this place, they're the only major guild who won't go along with the treaty with the empire," he sounded panicked.

"And you think they want Blastia as an edge, since they're in a minority?" Patty asked.

"Woah, woah," Yuri said, "Hold on, I thought that the treaty between the guilds and the empire was already finalized."

"Well it was," Karol replied, "Sorta... when the world was ending and we all had a common enemy."

"No wonder Flynn has been so busy," Estelle commented.

"Anyways, my point is we will never know when this facility will come under attack and who it will come under attack by," Karol told them, "Raven is bringing Altosk to help secure it. I suggest you close the gates to anyone except those trusted until things cool off."

"That's a good idea, I'll get to work on that," Rita ran deeper into the building, typing some coding as the doors closed behind her.

Rita closed the door, and the last bit of natural light disappeared so she could work in peace, with only the blue glow of the Blastia construction device to light the room.

"There, now no one can get in," She said to herself.

"Or out..." A familiar voice spoke back.

Rita, startled, lit fire in her hands.

The metal man, still in uniform, dropped down from the ceiling to face her.

"You?!" Rita shouted, "How did you get in?!"

"I've been in here for days, this is where I came after your friends chased me away," The metal man's distorted voice carried through the room, but wouldn't leave it due to the building's firm design. She was alone.

Rita made the first move, blasting him with all of the fire she could conjure.

She pulled up the control panel while he blocked the fire with both of his shields and locked the system up, halting production and preventing the system from harm.

"No!" The metal man shouted, knowing he was locked out.

"That's right, you're not getting any Blastia from this, scumbag," Rita yelled.

"You misunderstood my intentions, Mordio," He told her, "I'm here to destroy this place, not steal Blastia."

"What? Don't you want people to have access to barriers so that monster attacks stop?" Rita stalled while attempting to reason with him.

"If only it were that simple, I just want everyone's odds to be equal on the battlefield, by any means necessary," His suit made a clinking noise, indicating his Blastia magnet was charging up.

"Fair?!" Rita shouted, "What about your giant metal suit? How is THAT fair?"

The Blastia magnet activated, and just as before, her Blastia briefly became liquidated to be ripped off her wrist.

"See?! How's that fair?" Rita shouted.

Hydraulics hissed as the suit powered down.

"You're right," The distorted voice said, the hatch opened and a single, brown haired man in a mask hopped out.

The man drew his sword, and with his still distorted voice, said "This is fair."

Rita drew her own sword and locked blades with him.

???

"Look! Here comes Raven with Altosk, finally!" Karol wiped the sweat off of his forehead, "phew!"

"What's with you?" Judith asked.

"Well I was worried we'd get attacked without reinforcements, that would've been bad..." Karol told him.

"Have you no faith in us?" Judith asked, playfully.

"I mean, against an army?" Karol stuttered.

Altosk secured the perimeter, any attacks would surely be thwarted by the might of the largest guild.

"Here we are," Raven gasped for air, "I'm getting too old for this..."

"Getting?" Yuri teased.

"Where's Rita?" Raven asked after doing a headcount.

"She's locked inside working on the Blastia still, the wall is completely sealed and it would take massive Blastia cannons to penetrate the walls," Estelle answered his question.

"So what about that giant keyhole?" Raven asked.

"Well that? I don't believe anyone has a key to that. It was likely destroyed when the tower fell the first time," Estelle replied.

"What if they pick the lock?" Raven asked.

"Ehhh the lock is pretty hard," Karol responded, "It would even give me trouble, and we're not letting them anywhere near it, anyway."

Suddenly of the trees, marched the Hunting Blades, dozens of soldiers, maybe a hundred, decked out in battle armor.

They halted, forming a wall, Altosk raised their weapons, as did the Hunting Blades, both guilds waiting for their leader's command.

Raven and Clint stepped forward toward each other in the center of the field.

"Clint, you don't wanna do this," Raven told him, "We have a larger army, and Blastia on our side."

"Even so, no one can match the might of our warriors," Clint replied.

"Clint! People will die! Your guild, your family will all perish!" Raven reasoned.

"You'd be surprised, old man," Clint lifted Raven up removing his Blastia and letting it drop to the floor.

Altosk's weapons were raised and about to fire, but Raven motioned them to stop.

"Clint..." Raven struggled to speak with Clint's massive hand around his neck, "Please, take my life and my Blastia... spare the rest of them..."

Clint released Raven, letting him drop to his knees.

"You'd do that for them?" Clint asked him, Raven's head bowed.

"You know your forces outnumber mine, you believe you can win, so you'd sacrifice your life and your Blastia for my men as well as your own?"

Raven nodded, looking up to him.

Clint raised his massive blade, "I can't say no to this offer!"

Raven closed his eyes.

Cries erupted from the party, who were too far away to stop it.

Clint's blade slammed down, going for a killing blow, but was blocked by a spinning disc belonging to one of his own, Nan.

Clint looked to her with a furious expression, "You dare attack your leader?!"

"I do!" Nan shouted back, "Some things are more important than a guild!"

"Nothing is more important than a guild!" Clint shouted back, standing and raising his blade to threaten her.

"You're threatening to slaughter people, and send your team on a suicide mission!" Nan's voice broke.

"I raised you like a daughter, and this is how you repay me?!" Clint stepped closer, "You were an infant, crawling in the blood of your own parents, I didn't have to take mercy on you, but I did."

"I don't owe you anything!" Nan shouted, "I never asked for your help, and I would've rather died there than to start a civil war, causing thousands to die!"

During the commotion, Raven reclaimed his Blastia.

Nan assumed a battle pose, during which the entirety of the hunting blades raised theirs at hers instead of Altosk.

"Really?" Clint laughed, "You'd fight me?"

"If I must..." Nan tried to relax and keep a confident battle stance.

Clint raised his blade and charged her, going for a killing blow, but before he could close the distance, Raven drew his bow and fired an explosive arrow Arte in between them.

This sparked a return fire by the Hunting Blades, which eventually lead to an all out battle.

Blades clashed, arrows soared, and battle cries echoed in the distance, even Nan fought her own troops, fighting alongside Karol and the rest of the party.

Brave Vesperia wasted no time trying to fend off Altosk's forces.

Their chances were high, since they had a numbers advantage and Blastia.

The Party were prepared for a fight, but it seemed every Hunting Blade member they threatened layed down their weapons and surrendered.

"Huh?" Yuri was puzzled as he looked across the battlefield, it appeared there were few casualties and injuries, almost as if they weren't trying to hurt each other, Repede stopped in the middle of the fight and whined at him.

The battle was short, until finally only Clint remained.

"Give it up, Clint," Raven had his bow pointed straight at Clint, who muttered in anger as he dropped his blade and fell to his knees.

"Hey guys?" Yuri asked, grabbing the attention of the party, "You know how there's supposed to be activity from the top of the tower? Well now there's not."

"Something must be wrong!" Estelle began panicking, trying to blast the door open with her Artes, but it wasn't budging.

"Karol! Pick this lock! Now!" Estelle commanded him.

"Ok, ok!" Karol looked at the lock, "I just need a Bobby pin and something thin and metal, like a screwdriver."

Patty removed one of her Bobby pins and handed it to Karol, letting her hair down in the process.

Judith pulled one of her longer hair ties out, also letting her hair down.

"This is gunna take me a few minutes... there are a lot of variables..." Karol told them.

"Just focus!" Estelle shouted.

"I can if you stop yelling!" Karol shouted back.

???

"Your technique is good, Mordio," The masked, anti-blastia man clashed with her again, being incredibly aggressive, "But you lack experience with the sword, I'd be happy to give you a lesson if you tell me how I can destroy that Blastia maker!"

Rita fought defensively, she knew she was the inferior swordsman, but she wanted to prolong the fight as much as she could.

The door began making a clicking sound, as if someone were picking the lock.

The masked man looked to the door, and Rita saw her opportunity. She slashed at the man's face, cutting a hole in the mask that made his eye visible.

"You'll pay for that!" He shouted, his voice now only half distorted.

His style now got much more aggressive, he was holding back before.

He performed a disarming action, the expulsion, her bode clattered to the other end of the room and Rita fell to the floor.

"Unlock the barrier protecting the Blastia maker!" He pointed his blade at her neck.

"I'll never do it!" Rita shouted.

"You know what? I believe you," The masked assassin put his sword away and waited.

The lock was eventually picked, and the party busted in to save her.

Upon entry, the Blastia magnet was activated remotely from a panel on his wrist, stealing every member's Blastia straight off of their wrists.

"You realize we outnumber you by a lot, right?"

"Ruff!" Repede growled at him.

"Is that so?" The masked man asked, and at their most vulnerable moment, with no more Blastia, the party was betrayed.

Every member of Altosk, previously thought to be on their side, suddenly turned and pointed their bows, swords, and axes straight at the party and Nan.

The rest of the Hunting Blades, who had previously faked a surrender, were now well on their feet, with their weapons also pointed. There must have been 200 people pointing weapons at them.

"Go ahead and surrender! We'll be merciful!" Clint shouted.

"Maybe!" Tyson added and laughed, slightly maniacally.

Yuri, Repede, Estelle, Rita, Karol, Judith, Raven, Patty, and Nan all dropped their weapons and surrendered, they were subsequently cuffed behind their backs.

The masked man looked at the group, as if he were pondering something, staring at them for a good amount of time. They unfortunately couldn't see his face, apart from the partial crack that Rita had caused, which showed only one blue eye. He shook his head and instead walked to the doorway.

Clint and the masked man stood mere inches away from one another.

"Clint," The masked man greeted him.

"Abigor," Clint greeted him, using a name, which indicated they were friends of some sort.

They hugged in a manly fashion, complete with the back pats.

"It's been too long, my friend," Clint was smiling, which was rare.

"And yet we haven't lost a beat, have we?" Abigor, the masked man, replied.

"What an impressive piece of equipment you have there," Clint checked out his metal suit, "All kinds of fancy stuff, and no Blastia?"

"No sir, don't believe in them. I think we need to be strong without them," Abigor told him.

Clint's face changed, "But you'll honor our deal, right?"

"Ah, yes," Abigor told him, he ran and entered his metal suit.

"What was our deal again?" He asked, through the suit, which worried Clint.

"I get one Blastia, and you get to destroy the rest," Clint reminded him.

"Oh yeahhh..." Abigor replied, "About that..."

He took every Bhodi Blastia that he had collected and smashed them with the suit's strong, metal arm, they created little puffs of rainbow dust upon destruction.

"No!" Clint shouted, "We had a deal!"

The metal man began making his escape once again, it seemed to be an art he had perfected.

"Kill him! Do not let him escape!" Clint commanded both the Hunting Blades and Altosk.

Despite their best efforts, they couldn't match his speed, even with their arrows.

"This entire exercise has been pointless!" Clint smashed his hand into the side of the tower, creating a mild dent in the cement, despite not having a Blastia.

"Boss," Tyson walked next to him, "We now have a large enough army to take over Dahngrest, and we have some of the world's most valuable prisoners now, I consider this a victory."

"Even so," Clint told him, "The Imperials have Blastia, we do not."

"Yes…" Tyson said, "So long as this tower remains locked, we will have no Blastia."

"The mage locked it," Clint said, "She can unlock it."

Tyson retrieved a handcuffed Rita from the group, the other members tried to stay silent.

He took her over to the console, "You closed it, now open it!"

"You forgot to say please!" Rita taunted.

Tyson slammed her head on the console, which got an upset gasp from Estelle, who was trying her best to stay quiet, "Open the Damn console or it means more pain for you!"

"I'm never opening it! Torture all you want!"

"Tyson," Clint caught his attention before pointing at the princess, who was the only one in uncontrollable tears.

"Ohhhh I get it," Tyson maliciously walked over to Estelle.

"Don't you touch her!" Rita shouted.

Tyson laughed as he picked her up.

"What's more important?" Tyson asked while pulling his knife out, "That the console remain locked…" Tyson then pressed his knife directly against her throat, "Or that the princess keeps her life?!"

Estelle looked Rita in the eye, trying not to look too afraid.

"I-" Estelle spoke.

"What was that?" Tyson asked.

"I want you to know," Estelle told him, calmly, "That you're going to die for this."

Tyson pushed the knife harder against her neck, "You know I have other hostages, right?! I don't need you!"

Clint walked over to Tyson and took his knife, "I know I said whatever it takes, but this here is too far. It makes me sick to my stomach. I know I wouldn't want any of my loved ones to be threatened."

Tyson roared from rage, "You're gunna go soft?!"

Clint shoved Tyson, "Know your place, lock them in the dungeon."

Tyson nodded and bowed, "I'm sorry boss, I don't know what came over me."

Tyson and a group of a few dozen members of Altosk and the Hunting Blades escorted the prisoners back to their base, and down into the prison.

"You guys are lucky," Tyson told him, "I would've started killing, but that's apparently not the way we do things."

Tyson locked the door and walked back upstairs.

"Well, this sucks," Yuri said what they were all thinking.