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"You never did tell me for what reason you were out there, Rhian."
Emilia mused, looking her companion up and down.
"I can't imagine that you were out there to make your mark for the sake of village pride, though."

"Artair."
Emilia sighs. She already had a rough idea of what was probably said.
"For someone so concerned about chivalry, perhaps she has had little opportunity to attempt practicing it on the battlefield herself."
Exasperation, rather than anger. Emilia knew more than anyone else save maybe Tanja and Rhian what trying to maintain a code of honor was like in the face of insurmountable odds. But then, she would be no Maiden Warrior if she didn't.

Not that chivalry had no room on the battlefield. Honor was what separated men from the animals. Faith was what separated the able from the dead. Kindness, the living from the merely surviving.
"We haven't had a chance to catch up for a while. What do you make of all this? What we've gone through, I mean."

Mori finds that his healing doesn't actually do anything. Kanade shakes her head.
"Your magic isn't strong enough yet to heal injuries I take in human form. Like I said, focus on the real target."

Indeed, Kanade rushes ahead of Mori. She's somewhat slower, somewhat less graceful than she was fighting Andras earlier. Of course, this is all relative; slower than she was prior still means she's faster than most of the Helper's Club Kaijin.

Mori tries to get between Nene and her pursuer, but several things happen.

Firstly, Kanade is still fast enough to get there first.

Secondly, her pursuer is-

"Why won't you die?!"

An icy blade thrusts out of the ground, out of solid shadows as Andras reappears. Kanade is almost too slow to evade, but parries the strike with a kick, swiping Andras and throwing him to the side.

"What the hell...where are we?!"

Nene seems ruffled, but otherwise none the worse for wear. Mori notes that she's carrying a broken piece of driftwood, slightly iced over. It seems she might have managed to fight off Andras for a little bit.

Andras pulls himself up, cracking his neck.
"Dear Princess. You could barely protect a man who wants you and yours gone without throwing yourself under the bus. You couldn't even protect poor Yui-chan. What would she think, I wonder, seeing you fail to-"

He barely evades Kanade's lunge, darting out of the way as her armblade stabs where his head was almost a second ago. He laughs.

"Slow on the take, are we? The Black Princess of Calamity isn't so invincible after all. Mark my words, Sawatari. She won't be here to protect you from me."

"Who...wait. Kanade? Damn it! I can't leave her, but...."

"Stay back. Sawatari, you can back me up, right?"
Kanade's voice sounds slightly laboured.

---

Mildred, Akihiko, Riku and the rest head towards the sobbing. They find themselves trudging along a desolate path of sand, surrounded in all directions by coral and rock save the sea above.

Not far from their starting location, there is a dip towards a clearing below. A gigantic sea shell can be seen, a sickly pale white in color with thin black cracks across its surface. Across the other end of the clearing, you can see a tall, thin figure in black, Jack the Ripper, from the looks of it, and he seems to be fighting off what appear to be amalgams of sea life and coral twisted into human form; you can assume that these are the Onibi of the Domain.

To the east of the clearing, you can see a massive dividing wall, but squinting past it, you see, barely, four shapes. If you squint, you can recognise them as Nene, Scathach, Sawatari and Andras; Andras and Scathach appear to be fighting. However, the wall is tall and thick enough that there doesn't appear to be any way to get to them at the moment.

The sobbing seems to be coming from the sea shell, where the Onibi are pouring out to fight Jack the Ripper.

For a moment, Mori believes what he sees to be a young woman. Was it....Shinomiya Nene? Red hair, blue eyes, a hoodie.....wasn't this her?

Something didn't feel-
Sawatari. Let me teach you something about the power of Kaijin.

Though he heard Kanade speak, the sound feels like it's coming from within his head, rather than from her speaking to him directly.

A Kaijin's powers aren't restricted to combat alone as you miust have learned by now.  Your Kaijin possesses power over shadows, while Kasuga's possesses power over fire. While you don't have the power to pierce illusions like myself or Tsukuyomi, your power over shadows might be of use here. Focus on the target and tear away the darkness.

Orrel
"Lin has....well, I want to know if she feels welcome in 3-F."

---

Lin
"Sure. I have to train all the time. My Arte...well, requires it, really. It's kinda difficult to control, so you have to have fine coordination. Training helps that. I'd be happy to train you."

---

Ricardo
At the sound of Ricardo's voice, the female voice shrieks, a loud crash sounds and the music stops playing. Wuh-oh.

---

Delwyn
Jack shakes his head.
"No! We were checking on the puppies Max was raising in here for him before this thing lost his mind and started nipping at us! The hell?!"

Just then, you remember something essential about griffons. They are very perceptive animals, and subsequently, very paranoid; when in the presence of those with bad intentions, they become restless. While Jack and Nick might be telling the truth about not doing anything, there is definitely someone in here with bad intentions.

---

Kruger
The Matagot's tail swishes.
"So Lord Wallhaim is indeed a man of culture, as my lady would put it."

Library
Natsuo....doesn't comment. Either because he doesn't want to talk about it, or he's desperately hoping you didn't notice and pretending like you didn't so you won't say anything.

He makes a strangled noise in his throat, briefly resembling a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, before composing himself.
"Just help Kousei. Yelena has been worried sick about him since he lost the ability to talk. Tell me when you have helped him."

---

Akasaka Residence
Yelena rubs the back of her head.

"I really just want Kou-kun to be able to do what he wants, you know? It feels like he's almost back to who he used to be.  Can you help him?"

"Two questions. Firstly, what do you know of the upcoming feast with King Alfham?"