https://youtu.be/YyknBTm_YyM

The next few days came and went, with Oz doing his best to carry on even though he was now alone. Knowing that Svafrlami wouldn't show any mercy, Oz spent these days training, honing his skills to the best of his ability. Unable to simply leave them alone, however, he would head down to Midgard for a few hours each day, doing his best to aid in the relief effort of Peuma Town.

When the third morning came, however, Oz made a beeline for Svafrlami's office - all these months, and he still wasn't quite sure whether to call it an office or a palace. Running down the golden halls, he stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath, knocking on the door with a slightly nervous look on his face. With the passage of a few seconds and the sound of one person hitting another, followed by the sound of two armoured men scurrying away and the slamming of a door, Oz finally heard a response.

"Enter." decreed the cold, knife-like voice of Svafrlami. Oz nodded and pushed the door open, stepping inside. His movements apprehensive, he slowly approached the commander, who eyed him like something he had stepped in. As Oz's eyes met his, he stood a few feet in front of his commander.

"U-Uh...good morning, Sir Svafrlami." he looked up at him, kneeling while the commander raised an eyebrow.

"You're late." Svafrlami scolded. Oz simply bowed his head, not feeling like pointing out that they hadn't agreed on an actual meeting time. Seeing this, Svafrlami raised an eyebrow before becoming more calm. "So, Abendroth. Three days have passed. I do hope you're ready to actually clear your mission this time."

"...right." Oz nodded, speaking quietly.

"Hmm? Is everything alright over there?" Svafrlami asked, noticing Oz's despondency and seeming to be concerned. "Did something happen? Any family troubles?"

Oz didn't respond to that, but met Svafrlami's subsequent smirk with a glare as the commander looked down on him, slouching in his throne. "As much as I'd love to continue this discussion, you are here for a reason." he said. "So, let's talk business. I have a special task for you today, and I think it'll be just perfect for one like you!"

As Oz looked up curiously, Svafrlami held a folder in his hand, his smile oddly triumphant as he looked through it. "At sunrise tomorrow, I will be going on a witch hunt! And I'll be taking a number of Hunters with me." he explained. "I want you to come with us. We're hunting down an especially powerful witch today."

"Is that so?"

"Precisely! She's been spotted in Midgard. I don't know who she is or what she's up to, exactly, but my divinations tell me she is quite dangerous." Svafrlami replied. "So I want to infiltrate her ruins and put her to ruin before she can hurt anyone. I've only got the world's best interests at heart, after all."

Svafrlami pressed a hand to his heart, and Oz looked up at him suspiciously. "But...why can't your divinations tell you who she is and what she's up to? For that matter, why do you know it's a 'she'? Are you su-"

Oz's questioning was interrupted by a set of flying swords and spears landing in the floor right in front of him. Widening his eyes, he stopped speaking, and Svafrlami looked down at him.

"Most witches are women, which you would know if you did even the slightest amount of research. It's just a trend I've noticed among their ilk." he explained, before shaking his head and glaring down at Oz. "Now, do you wish to waste my time with any more stupid questions?"

"N-No..."

"The correct answer." Svafrlami clapped sarcastically, sitting up. "Now, then, you understand what's you have to do, right? If you do as you're told, then that promotion of yours is guaranteed. What do you say?"

Oz considered his options here and found it was best not to object - not now, anyway. He didn't want to kill this witch, just like he didn't want to kill Fenrir; and it was worse in this case because he didn't even know if she was actually up to anything. Paying evil unto evil was one thing, but what if he was paying evil unto the innocent? He had to agree, just long enough for him to gain the proper context and make his own judgement.

"Alright...I accept these terms." he said, nodding slowly as he looked up at Svafrlami. "As a knight, I'll do what's right."

Even if "what's right" didn't line up with "what Svafrlami wants me to do", which was the part Oz wasn't telling him. As Svafrlami gave him a satisfied nod, he cleared his throat. "The Val Gate, at sunrise, tomorrow. Do not forget." he told him. "Now, you're dismissed. And don't be late."

"I won't." Oz nodded, standing up and turning around, immediately heading towards the exit and closing the door behind him. Once it was closed, he took a deep breath, smiling a little to himself as he envisioned Thor's smiling face. He knew that above all else, the God of Thunder would want him to follow his heart. So, keeping this in mind, he exited the hall, doing his best to keep his head up both figuratively and literally.

.........

https://youtu.be/RVFIcrCgNuQ

The Val Gate was as majestic as ever, its wooden doors reaching to the sky and the bright light of the vast blue outside peeking through its open aperture. Not wanting to invoke any more undue criticism from his leader, Oz had arrived an hour or so early, waiting for someone else to arrive. He was always a morning person, but even for him, this was fairly early.

And eventually, as he heard loud chatter and armoured footsteps approaching, he looked up, having been fiddling with his green robes in boredom beforehand. There, he saw Svafrlami, fully dressed in his golden plate armour and white cloak, as he was seemingly ending a speech to the men behind him, and quickly summoned his mask to hand, putting it on.

Said men, though definitely knights, didn't look especially knightly, wearing white leather armour with shortswords strapped to their waists, and white hoods, making their faces a little harder to see even under the rising sun, which bathed their clothes in a redlight. All in all, they looked more like rogues than chevaliers.

As Svafrlami laid eyes on Oz, he glared disdainfully at him before addressing the rest of his men, while slowly drawing nearer. "Now, without further ado, my Witch Hunters, I introduce you to the rookie who will be joining you on this expedition!" he announced. "I present Oz Abendroth! This is his first witch hunt, so I wouldn't get my hopes up too high for him - but the important thing is, he's trying."

Reception to this was mixed, with some people chuckling at Oz while others instead looked at him with sympathy. Oz, for his part, focused on the crowd, choosing to ignore Svafrlami's words and giving the Hunters a deep bow. "Good morning! I am Oz Abendroth, as our gracious commander has said!" he exclaimed. "It is nice to meet you all, and I hope I can be of use today!"

"What are you, some kind of clown?" one hunter asked amidst all the chatter, and Oz tilted his head in curiosity at that question, wondering whether or not to answer that question earnestly.

"Can you do balloon animals?" another guy asked. Wondering if it was the mask, Oz cleared his throat and nodded, deciding to clear things up before any more questions were asked.

"That is in no way what I'm here for, but yes, I can do balloon animals." he said. "I can also do juggling, acrobatics, and one hell of a limbo dance!"

"Hey, this guy's pretty awesome!" one person said, though nobody else audibly shared this sentiment. Svafrlami raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he stared at the younger angel.

"Really, now? Can you also do sword swallowing, Abendroth?" he asked, causing Oz to shake his head. "How about fire breathing? Or the globe of terror? Oh, and what of the knife dodging act?"

"...I actually can dodge knives, but it's not usually much of a performance." Oz chuckled nervously. "As for the others-"

"Like I said - don't let your expectations get too high, or the inevitable disappointment is on you, really." Svafrlami cut him off, earning a few small laughs from the adoring audience and causing Oz to hang his head. Thank goodness they couldn't see his face. "Now, then, listen up. I'm only going to say this once."

As Svafrlami stepped forward, going past Oz and towards the Val Gate, he turned to face his platoon, his expression more serious than before. "Today, we are bound for Midgard, so that we may take down the witch who has been located in the Lufe Ruins!" he announced. "She is a powerful witch indeed, and one whose magical molestations of the natural order cannot go unpunished any longer!"

"Didn't you already tell us this?"

"Shut up, it's obviously for the newbie."

"As members of the Witch Hunting Division, you have been trained to take care of threats like these!" Svafrlami continued, ignoring his men's chatter. "You know what witches are like - crafty little monsters who will use every trick they can to cause chaos! As guardians of the order, we must strike her down without hesitation! For who knows what could happen if you give her even the slightest chance?"

As Svafrlami spoke, Oz couldn't help but feel like the commander was spelling the word 'witch' with a capital B. Surely they couldn't be that bad, right? "Just wait and see..."

"To all you heroes who signed up to do good for all of existence as we know it, show me your enthusiasm!" Svafrlami exclaimed. "Raise your voice, let me see your certitude!"

"Yeah!"

"Alright!"

And more uproarious cheers came from the hunters, who simply had to appeal to their desires to do good and their senses of justice to find the determination to do this. Oz watched the whole scene unfold, having kept a close eye on Svafrlami, and he had to hand it to him - he spoke with conviction. Every single word was delivered with the utmost passion and confidence - and not in his typical "I'm better than you and I'll let you know it" way. He seemed like a genuinely charismatic leader today.

But he saw through it all. He knew what Svafrlami was like in private, and that all this was a mask; no more real than the cheers Oz did as a way to not stick out any more than he already did. Once the cheering died down, Oz turned his attention back to the commander, who gave him a brief, disdainful glare before turning to the Gate and stepping closer to it, glancing back at his men.

https://youtu.be/6SD-5pX4cGg

"Then ready your blades, your spells and your lives, for today, we cross the Bifrost!"

As he said that, he pushed the Gate open as a golden, glowing 'ᛋ' rune appeared on his back. Gazing into the azure of the horizon, he leapt and formed a great, majestic pair of luminous wings, soaring across the rainbow bridge with the Lufe Ruins in mind and a confident smile on his face.

Oz was the next to follow him, his rune identical save for its green colour, and afterwards came the rest of the division, remembering where their destination was and following their leader closely.

There was a considerable gap between the Hunters and Oz and Svafrlami, and as the latter two flew, Oz began to draw closer to Svafrlami, who looked down at him curiously. "So, Svafrlami." the angel began. "That was quite a speech, I must say."

"Did you come all the way over here just to say that?" Svafrlami asked, unamused, to which Oz nodded.

"If I don't talk to you, then I'll die of boredom before I even reach the Ruins!" Oz chuckled, causing Svafrlami to audibly scoff.

"That's truly all? You seem to be misunderstanding a few things, Abendroth." he said. "If you presume that you are at the level where we can talk as equals, then you truly are as foolish as you look."

"I don't look foolish at all."

"That moronic mask of yours says otherwise." Svafrlami shook his head, turning alongside Bifrost as Oz followed. "Why do you wear it, anyway? Did Thor get it for you?"

Oz briefly faltered at the mention of Thor, but quickly perked up as he focused on the gorgeous blue heavens surrounding him. "I-I just think it's delightful! Do I need another reason?" he asked. "I mean, just look at it, it's smiling!"

"Indeed - because when I've had enough of you grinning like an idiot, I can rest assured, knowing you can put on the mask and I can observe the same thing in green."

"Why, Svafrlami, you don't have to look this way." Oz looked at him. "Unless you happen to enjoy it, that is."

Svafrlami tutted in annoyance, not liking Oz's strange burst of confidence. To tease him, of all people. He'd certainly be getting back at him for that. "If I were you, I'd pick my next words carefully."

"Right. Sorry, Your Angelicness." Oz replied, causing Svafrlami to narrow his eyes. Even under that mask, he could tell that Oz was enjoying this.

The two of them continued to fly, with the host of angels following closely behind, and neither of them made much of an attempt to slow down, as Oz trusted them to remain on the right path. The sky was blue, with white clouds cast randomly across it, and the einherjar were like birds to any onlookers who happened to have good enough eyesight to see them; for they were fast enough that your average human would certainly have a hard time of it.

Beginning to see the ground below, Oz looked at Svafrlami once again, which the commander picked up on as he looked at him with scorn. "What do you want?"

"Oh, uh..." Oz cleared his throat, smiling a little. "I was just curious about these Lufe Ruins."

"What could you possibly want to know?"

"Well...they have a name, so there's got to be something special about them! Right?" Oz asked. "Have you ever been there before?"

"I have, as a matter of fact. Many years ago." Svafrlami explained calmly, looking back on the memory with a small smile. "They used to be a temple to the goddess, Freya, but alas, catastrophe fell, and now only ruins remain."

"Oh? But as a divine temple, surely there has to be some measure of ambient magic left behind, right?" Oz speculated, as Svafrlami raised an eyebrow. "Maybe that's why the witch was drawn to it!"

"It very well could be." Svafrlami replied with a nod. "But either way, it won't protect her from us."

The two of them continued their flight, with Oz now focusing on the rainbow and where it was leading him. Which meant that Svafrlami was always close by, sadly. After a long while, he saw what looked like a wrecked temple in the middle of what looked to be a wrecked city, with whatever houses that were once here completely razed to the ground. Its body was a dark grey, and its walls were barely intact, with broken pillars on the side and a shoddy roof over its structure as its only protection. It stood atop a vaguely pinkish podium surrounded in wilted roses, and its size was overall rather large. On top of it was a tiny, filthy, gold-coloured statue of a boar, held up as a symbol of the goddess who once looked over this temple.

As he drew closer, he took note of what seemed to be an entrance - five cavernous holes in front of the ruins, with none of the indoor features visible through the darkness. And he wondered - just what kind of catastrophe befell this temple?

"We're drawing near. Prepare for landing." Svafrlami said, and at once his body became engulfed in a golden wind as he sped up towards the ruins. Oz nodded quickly, doing the same thing and mimicked Svafrlami, engulfed in a green electricity as he increased his own speed, following Bifrost to the end.