"Huh?"


    A ce beyond the Oval Tower; a road in the After neighbored by tall, abnormal trees that, instead of bearing leaves, were covered by a top that resembled a glowing, translucent jellyfish of colossal proportions. Thin tendrils of the sameplexion gently swayed like vines in the illustrious environment.


    "What is this ce?" Joel audibly wondered, looking around as he ced his hand over his brow to look around.


    "Never seen it before," Blimpo responded, poking at one of the trees, "--Ah!"


    They were all on-guard as a brief yell left the lips of the elf, though it was revealed to just be a gray-armored crab that didn''t like its home being disturbed as it stuck its ws out from a hole in the glowing tree.


    "Stay on your toes," Vandread said.


    "Aye-aye, sir," Blimpo enthusiastically listened.


    It seemed at the very least that Hecate had ced them on the proper path, as unorthodox and mystifying as a road it was with the jellyfish-like trees and the weird critters that existed on the luminescent road.


    As always, Vandread embodied caution–leading the way and acting primarily as a scout as he was able to move silently and seem to perceive things with eyes that put a hawk to shame. For the most part, it seemed that only harmless critters like scurrying crabs and blinking squirrels upied the peculiar road.


    "Know where we''re going from here, ''Milio?" Blimpo asked.


    Closing his eyes for a moment when asked this, he focused on the map imprinted on his memory of the path to Quandary Pass–which now he could actually visualize where they were in rtion to it.


    "...Yeah, we''re at the start of the path now actually," he said in surprise, "I can see this road, then a sort of…tunnel under an abyssalke? After that, it''s a bit fuzzy."


    "Your brain always surprised me," Joel remarked, looking at his head.


    "Noment," he replied before moving on.


    The air was light and brisk, originating from the translucent tree tops from the light hum of air they produced. Nheless, it was a nice change of pace from the either hostile or hollow regions of the After.


    While they all walked, towards the back, the goggle-wearing elf slowed down a bit so that he was walking alongside Asher, who mainly kept to himself.


    "You''re from Earth like Emilio, eh?" Blimpo asked quietly, nudging his elbow against Asher.


    Asher looked at the elf in slight surprise then nced at Emilio, who scratched his head and nodded before confirming Asher''s thoughts.


    "I told him everything–don''t worry," Emilio said.


    "And he actually believed you? I''ve tried telling others before and they thought I was some cursed child," Asher said before looking at Blimpo, "Well, it seems there''s no point in denying it then."


    "Denying what?" Joel curiously said from up ahead.


    –The silver-haired adventurer asked, though the three amidst the conversation certainly were not going to include him in such a mind-boggling set of revtions.


    "Err, nothing," Emilio told him.


    "Oh? Alright," Joel looked up ahead again.


    –


    "Something ising," Vandread suddenly warned from upfront.


    All five of them were ready within a second, though it was Vandread himself that maintained his position upfront with two daggers drawn.


    What arrived had sprouted from a patch of the gray soil to the side of the road, rising up from its home embedded in the dirt as what revealed itself walked on four legs and wielded two, massive w appendages.


    "A crab–?!" Joel reacted, looking up.


    A giant crab, armored in a bright-red shell with beady eyes and a mouth of sharp teeth blocked the road now, mping its ws threateningly.


    "It''s not alone either," Asher noted.


    "It''s never just ''one'', is it?" Emilio questioned tiredly.


    Somewhat creepy was the silence from the other, sizable crabs that upied the luminescent trees as they had surrounded the grouppletely, seeming to gather at the behest of the giant crustacean.


    "Well, I hope you''re all hungry!" Blimpo said, grabbing his rune cannon and twisting the cranks on it to activate it forbat, "--We''re gonna be eating good tonight!"


    The crabby battle began as the colossal crab mmed its bulky pincher down in an attempt to crush Vandread, who flipped back and retaliated with a pair of shes–KLANG. Sparks flew, but there was hardly a scratch left on the tough exoskeleton of the crab.


    Vandread noticed this, being forced to duck down just as hended on his feet as the towering crustacean''s other limb swung by in an attempt to catch him with its ws. It was surprisingly fast, and undoubtedly mystical in its own right as its mouth opened, shooting out translucent tendrils that whipped towards the dark-skinned veteran with speed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Before they could reach however, a bright-orange ze tore through the tendrils, forcing the giant crab back from the heat.


    "Need some help?"


    Emilio stood by Vandread''s side, holding his metallic arm forward as smoke and embers cascaded from his palm.


    For a moment, the scaryered man was silent before straightening himself, "Work on getting that exoskeleton weakened, I''ll handle the rest."


    "Got it," Emilio smiled, unable to help but revel at the chance of fighting alongside his former mentor again.


    Against all expectations, a voice emitted from the giant, red-armored crab as its beady eyes took to a ghostly glow: "None shall pass."


    "Did it just talk?" Emilio asked.


    Pausing for a moment, he and Vandread looked towards the prime crustacean before it spoke again with a low, booming voice:


    "The Dragonheart shall not reach Quandary Pass."


    Being directly referred to definitely struck something within Emilio as he found himself perplexed by the crab''s seeming sentience.


    ''It knows who I am? It''s purposefully trying to block me from reaching Quandary Pass? But why would it specifically not want ME to leave the After?...Unless, it''s following orders from a different figure,'' he deduced.


    "Emilio," Vandread said, standing close, facing the crab.


    "I know," he nodded, "Let''s do this."


    –Meanwhile, the elven tinkerer had a smile as wide as a child on Christmas morning as he spun the handle of his rune cannon, unleashing continuous bursts of fire against the hordes of crabs that approached while back-to-back with Joel.


    Joel used his swift sword strikes to sh through the smaller crabs and pierce with his de, but their tough exoskeleton made it a tiring effort, "There''s so many!"


    "I know, isn''t it great?! We''ll have so much delectable crab for dinner!" Blimpo said.


    "Huh?!" Joel was taken aback by the hungry thoughts of the elf.


    Handling the bulk of the malicious and rabid crustaceans was Asher, not relying on his Devilheart System and instead warming up to using his ymore again as he moved swiftly and with skill, jumping up and cleaving through a half dozen crabs in a single action.


    "Sorry, but I''m not leaving any edible pieces behind," Asher said, spinning his de as he summoned abyssal energy that eradicated the crabs around him.


    Blimpo gasped, "Those were perfectly good crabs!"


    "Why''re you so obsessed with eating crabs?!" Joel called out.


    "''Cause I''ve never had it before! It''s a delicacy those snobby high borns always lorded over the less-than-fortunate, like me!" Blimpo exined, "--So I wanna see just what the fuss is about!"


    "...Huh, alright then!" Joel responded.


    There was no shortage of crabs, and no shortage ofrger ones as well, though not nearly as big as the main one blocking the path, though they were big enough tomand the attention of those fighting.


    "Big one,in'' right up!" Joel called out.


    Asher was already busy dealing with a handful of crabs that swarmed the road, so Blimpo flicked his goggles on and smiled, grabbing a handful of runic dust from his pouch and stuffing it down the barrel of his weapon.


    "Witness the glory of my inventions, my new friend!" Blimpo told Joel.


    "Sure thing, I''ll sing its praises if it can st that behemoth to pieces!" Joel replied.


    There was no greater introduction to the specialized madness of the elven tinkerer as Blimpo quickly dropped to a knee, mming his rune cannon down to stabilize it as he revved it up with a spinning crank as it began rumbling and crackling with sparks.


    All the while, the human-sized crab drew near, attempting to m its w down before the silver-haired man intercepted it with his sword, having to push his other hand against his de to hold its pincher at bay.


    Joel gritted his teeth, "A bit of haste would be nice…!"


    "You can''t rush greatness!" Blimpo said with augh, rapidly spinning the gear as the rune cannon rumbled violently now before starting to glow, "--Alright, get back! It''s ready!"


    The heat building up from the elf''s unstable weapon could be felt brushing against the back of Joel''s jacket as he nodded and jumped out of the way.


    "Rune Cannon Mode: ''Hasta La Vista''!" Blimpo announced as he pulled the trigger.