"Ah, the mother of all plot inconveniences."

"Oh my god, mini-Thor's alive!"

"How hard was it? Did you kill them all that quickly?"

"Now, that's a scary thought..."

The chatter of what remained of the hunters was fairly on-brand for them, as I'm sure you've noticed, but Svafrlami, who was in front of the formation, elected to ignore them, turning his attention to Oz and the witch, arrogantly facing the former and giving a slow, distinctly sarcastic clap. "I didn't think I'd see you here, Abendroth." he said, dangerously calm. "I must admit, you've exceeded my expectations. I'm proud of you."

Not a lick of sincerity behind those words, Oz suspected. Taking in a deep breath, he gave Svafrlami his most neutral expression and said, "That, in and of itself, is unexpected."

He remained cautious, and Svafrlami gave him a small smile. "I'm sure you remember what we came here for, no?" he said, before the clapping stopped and his smile became an evil-looking sneer as his voice dropped to a lower, more commanding tone. "So, why don't you finish the job?"

https://youtu.be/9T7ryh1qOpU

"Oh my goodness, that's the witch!"

"Guys, we're here! This is the boss fight!"

"Wait, wasn't mini-Thor just talking to her? What about?"

As the chatter continued, Oz faced Svafrlami, the latter watching his every move in anticipation and glee. Oz knew he had a choice to make - obey Svafrlami, or defend the witch - and found that it was considerably less difficult than he was expecting. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing his nervousness, however, he stepped forward and gave him an easygoing smile. "Why should I do that?"

"I want to return to a brave new Oz - a strong one who doesn't need me to survive!"

He knew right away that he disagreed with the order itself, but thus far the witch had seemed to be a much better person than Svafrlami himself, and he was not about to let the latter cow him into obedience this time, especially not to kill someone. His desire to do the right thing overrode his fear.

This, naturally, did not make Svafrlami very happy, and seeing the satisfied smile on the witch's face only made him angrier. Still, he was able to contain himself, doing a brief breathing exercise before looking at Oz. "You would ask a witch-hunting division why they're killing a witch?"

"I would." Oz replied, nodding slowly, much to Svafrlami's annoyance. "Since you're so confused, surely you should be able to explain to me - just what has this witch done to deserve execution?"

"Do you doubt my intentions, Abendroth?" Svafrlami raised an eyebrow, still managing to maintain a composed mask.

"I don't know your intentions. That's why I'm asking."

"It's as I said - we need to protect the natural order from those who would throw it into unbalance!"

"Aren't you forgetting something, Svafrlami?" the witch spoke up, giving him a cheerful little smile as both he and Oz shifted their gaze over to her. "After all this time, you've really forgotten how-"

"You keep talking, witch, and we'll see what happens." Svafrlami snarled, now visibly infuriated and barely holding it back. The witch simply shrugged, and Oz looked back to Svafrlami, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, that reminds me." he said. "You two know each other. You have history."

"Is that what she told you?" Svafrlami spat as he glared at Oz, the amusement from earlier completely gone.

"Is that what you're not telling me?" Oz countered, watching as Svafrlami began to visibly crack under his continued persistence. "I'm only asking for the truth. I feel like this is a touch more personal than a mere witch hunt."

With every word, Svafrlami seethed even more, clenching his fists and looking at Oz with a raging inferno in his eyes. How dare this...peon defy his commander! "I think you're the one forgetting something now, Abendroth!" he shouted, unsettling all of the hunters, who immediately ceased their gossip. "Don't you want that promotion? Because you were given a single condition: do as you are told! So I wonder just why you think it's a good idea to defy me now, when my objective is only just within reach!"

https://youtu.be/a0Zr2K24cMY

Though he faltered at the mention of the promotion, he glanced back at the witch before shaking his head. "Because I don't know if I can trust your objective. As far as I know, this witch is harmless." he admitted. "And I know Thor would want me to do the right thing - even if it meant opposing you."

"Well, look at you! Ever the white knight, Abendroth!" Svafrlami spoke, his voice both mocking and absolutely furious at the same time. Suppressing the anger, he closed his eyes, giving a quiet chuckle as he realised the situation - Oz was willing to oppose him directly now - turning against the heavens to defend a witch. Giving him a shit-eating grin, he faced him, knowing that what he was about to do was now fully sanctioned. "...oh, how I have waited for this day."

"Svafrlami, we can talk things out, but I won't just mindlessly subm-"

As Oz spoke, Svafrlami stepped back, pointing at him and speaking in a commanding tone. "Men! Our guest has been seduced by this witch! It's up to you to break him free from this spell - by any means necessary!"

Oz frowned, watching the hunters exchange confused glances and mumbles before nodding, drawing their shortswords and pointing them at the green-clad warrior. "You're really buying this, huh?" he asked, disappointment evident in his voice. The cats disappeared in a flash of pink light, making it clear to all that a battle was brewing.

"Don't worry, mini-Thor! We'll save you!"

"And the cats, too!"

Watching both Svafrlami and the witch fall back to give the combatants room, Oz sighed, calling his gun to one hand and a Berstan grenade to another, watching the knights as they raised their swords and charged towards him. As he prepared to attack, however, he noticed Svafrlami holding his greatsword and casting his runes from where he was standing - a gold one, with glowing green "ᚲᚢᛚᛏᛖᚱ" characters in the middle. "Culter."

The moment he spoke, a green aura enveloped the hunters, boosting their speed considerably, and Oz immediately unsummoned his ranged weapons to create a pair of short sabres once he saw how quickly they were approaching. He knew he'd have to prepare for a melee confrontation, so when the crowd reached him, he watched their movements closely. It was one vs. eight; a fight far from fair. Thank goodness Svafrlami was there to level the playing field.

As the witch fell back to watch, she observed the clash of blades, as entering combat seemed to awaken a whole new beast in the einherjar. Despite being outnumbered, he didn't seem to have much trouble throwing himself in the middle of their attacks and evading with panache. With twin blades of light, he danced around his enemies' attacks, and it was quite entertaining to watch him sneak in hits on the hunters while avoiding damage himself. Even though a few stray blades got in, it wasn't a stretch to say that right now, he was winning this fight. She was rather impressed.

Oz, meanwhile, felt like he couldn't let up for even a millisecond. If he faltered even slightly, the crowd, with their boosted speed, would get him good. So he focused on evasion, knowing that he wouldn't be able to reason with these hunters while Svafrlami was there. Just knock them out first, then hopefully deal with the commander. So, in a stroke of his sword, he disarmed two men in turn before teleporting out of the formation and stepping even further back.

The hunters noticed he was gone and looked around, finding him standing there with a hand crackling with a bright green lightning. Launching a bolt at them, he watched as his target swiftly brandished his sword and thrust it through the bolt, diverting it harmlessly. He sighed, putting his hand down and calling forth a Berstan grenade.

"You don't want to rely on those spells, Oz." the witch called out as he took aim towards the readily-advancing enemies. "They're witch hunters, so they're skilled at combating mages."

"Thank you kindly!" Oz exclaimed, lobbing the grenade into their formation and watching it explode as the area they were standing in went up in green smoke. As they began coughing, one of them trying to clear out the smog with her wind spells, Oz drew two guns and fired wildly into the cloud.

Eventually, Svafrlami tired of this, and with a snap of his finger, he set off a gust of wind, powerful enough that Oz had to brace himself as the smoke blew away in an instant. Quickly, Oz switched back to his twin sabres, seeing that he had successfully knocked two knights to the ground, and his body crackled with green electricity as he twirled his swords. "Apologies in advance!"

In a flash of lightning, he rushed through the remaining enemies, taking their attacks, spinning wildly and slashing each of them, cutting through the enemy formation before emerging on the other end. As three more knights fell to the ground, Oz turned back around and faced the remaining three. "Are you ready to call it quits? You can see how this is going to go."

The three of them raised their swords again, their hands trembling, and Oz offered them a smile. "You don't have to put yourselves through this. I want to show mercy on you."

"More of the witch's foul tricks!" Svafrlami announced, and at once, their thirst for combat was reignited as the commander conjured a rune above the hilt of his greatsword, with orange glowing characters that read "ᚲᛁᚠᛖᛊᛒᛟᚱᛖᚾ", surrounding them with a glowing orange aura. "If you wish to save your comrade, don't let your brothers' falling be in vain!"

"I'm not possessed!" Oz protested, but rather than listen to him, one of them ran towards him. He struck him with his sword, but Oz parried it with his own blades, noticing that this knight seemed to be much stronger than before. He struggled against his blade, trying to gain dominance over the clash.

Meanwhile, the other two used this as an opportunity to strike, the two of them flying up to the sky before one grabbed the other, spinning him around in a circle before hurling him towards Oz. The one clashing with him abruptly jumped to the side, staggering him somewhat as the thrown angel collided with him, sending him to the ground.

The angel raised his sword, driving it into Oz's shoulder as the latter tried to regain his bearings. And at that, he did, reflexively unleashing a dome of green lightning from his body that shocked the assailant, causing him to fall down, unconscious. As the witch pointed at the body and magically lifted it off him, Oz began to stand up, looking at the other two as he put the swords away and got out two pill-shaped Galan bombs.

The two hunters, feeling a tad bit discouraged but not wanting to let Svafrlami down, ran towards him together, and Oz waited for them to get close enough as he did his best to shrug off the pain. Once they did, he braced himself before slamming the grenades together, unleashing a loud sound that pierced the ears of everyone in the room, Svafrlami and the witch included.

Oz, not quite as shaken as everyone else, recovered first, and grabbed the heads of both knights before slamming them together and leaving them incredibly dizzy. Now able to do as he pleased, lightning crackled in both of his palms as he held them out towards each of his enemies. At once, a powerful blast of lightning, in the shape of a serpent, was fired at each enemy, striking each one in the chest, and in the blink of an eye, he whipped out his guns and opened fire until they each fell to the ground, unable to battle any further.

He sighed, putting his guns away as he looked back at the witch, glad he'd come out alive. But she didn't seem quite as relieved, instead springing up in panic. "Oz, look out!"

"Huh?" Oz murmured, looking around only to find a familiar array of swords and spears flying towards him. Quickly dodging them, he looked back to find Svafrlami, pointing at him with a frown on his face.

"Well, that didn't go quite as planned. In hindsight, I should've expected that from the one who defeated Fenrir." he tutted, shaking his head. "But I'm not the only one here who's made mistakes, am I?"

He began to approach Oz, giving him his most infuriating smirk. "Rebellion...insubordination...defending the enemy, and attacking your own allies." he listed things off, having calmed down from his earlier outburst. "Quite the perfect little betrayal you've got here, 'hero'."

"Svafrlami, stop this." Oz frowned, looking down. "We don't have to oppose one another on this."

"Oh, but we do." Svafrlami replied. "Because with all this, it's rather clear that you've turned against the Knights. Because you were foolish enough to think you could 'do the right thing' and still receive that promotion. This turn of events shouldn't even slightly surprise you."

"So make me proud, Oz! Follow the righteous path, and you'll get that promotion for sure!"

"This...isn't about the promotion anymore." Oz shook his head, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat as he pressed his hand to his heart. "I don't know what grudge you have against this witch, but I won't just be an accessory to it."

"For someone who loves doing the right thing, I couldn't help but notice you aren't doing that." Svafrlami mocked. "You see yourself as some white knight, some champion in shining armour? Allow me to set things straight: you're no hero, just a fool with a saviour complex! Even now that you're faced with someone far superior to you, you still want to fight, to resist!"

"You're not wrong." Oz nodded, much to Svafrlami's amusement as the taller angel drew his longsword. "I can't stand by and allow you to hurt someone innocent. I'll find a way to stop you."

Svafrlami remained silent at that as the witch moved further away from the scene of battle, and at once, he looked down at Oz, smirking even more and letting out a small little laugh - distinctively entertained by all that was happening, and Oz could feel himself being looked down on both literally and figuratively. Calmly, the commander raised his greatsword, piercing through Oz with his stare.

https://youtu.be/efGjsUmPWs8

"You know what I see in front of me right now? An enemy to the knights - to the heavens! You're a villain, 'hero'." he said mockingly, slowly treading closer as Oz drew his gun to defend himself. "And who better to take down a villain than the true hero - Odin's most powerful and treasured protector, who will eliminate this obstacle where it stands!"

"I'm not-" Oz began, only to cut himself off to dodge as Svafrlami swung at the air in front of him, sending a wind slash in his direction that was only just fast enough for him to dodge. He'd sussed out that the knights wouldn't let up on the attack because of Svafrlami, so against Svafrlami himself, he had no choice but to try and fight back.

Svafrlami planted his greatsword into the ground, looking at Oz as a rune appeared in front of him - gold, with the letters "ᛒᚱᚨᚾᛞ" floating in the middle in silver. "Brand."

The rune glowed on cue, filling the room with a blinding light that Oz could only barely avoid having to cover his eyes against - being an einherjar and living in the Realm of Light, he was able to resist. So, when the light cleared away, he saw the cave's floors were absolutely littered with swords. Longswords, greatswords, rapiers, katanas, even more obscure brands like khopeshes, scimitars, and he could've sworn he saw a talwar or two. Each one with a different design, but all equally deadly. The cave looked like a graveyard of blades, with each gravestone being a part of Svafrlami's private blade collection.

Oz drew his guns, taking aim at Svafrlami only to watch each and every blade rise up into the air and fly wildly in the space between the two. They seemed to ricochet off the walls, the floor, and even each other, making the arena much more chaotic than before. Oz quickly fired a few bullets, but they struck the swords, seemingly parried in midair, much to his visible frustration.

"What's wrong, 'hero'? Feeling overwhelmed?" Svafrlami sneered, looking down at him with a simpering smile. Oz forced a smile and gazed into the field of blades.

"Sword of." he replied calmly, figuring his best course of action here was to somehow try and get up close. There was a vast distance between the two of them, with cruel blades filling the space. He knew he'd have to give it his all if he wanted to make even the slightest bit of progress.

The witch looked at Oz, a little worried for his wellbeing. She'd suspected that with his showing in the last battle, and the fact that he apparently defeated Fenrir, he might be able to do this. But, looking at Svafrlami, the sheer amount of ancient magical power emanating from him was very worrying. Still, she decided to fall back, choosing to evaluate for herself that Oz both needed and deserved her assistance.

Choosing to become the serpent, Oz found a slight opening and rushed in, strands of holy light weaving together in his hand to craft a parrying dagger as he focused his efforts entirely on defence and evasion. A good thing, too, because Svafrlami's onslaught didn't spare him even a moment to breathe. He ran through, sidestepping past a flying rapier only to immediately duck under the furious swinging of a talwar. He rolled out of the way of a rain of daggers and sprang to his feet, using his dagger to deflect an incoming longsword. It was quite exhilarating, and would've almost been fun if he wasn't certain the commander was genuinely trying to claim his life.

Svafrlami stoically looked on, holding onto his greatsword and just observing. Oz actually seemed to be doing a good job of navigating his deadly labyrinth, which was of course bad news. Now, he seemed to be fairly close to reaching him. Light flickered in his palm, which he held towards him, but before he could do anything, Oz also noticed how close he was and teleported out of the storm of blades. Now in front of a slightly shocked Svafrlami, he landed a spinning slash to his shins before getting up.

Oz's dagger transformed into a sabre, and with a dead-serious look on his face, he performed a slash that was quickly parried with a flicker of Svafrlami's greatsword. The commander smirked, uttering the word "Sowilo." as a rune with a glowing red "ᛊ" character appeared in front of him. At once, his sword was enveloped in crimson flames, and he swung at Oz.

Knowing the attack was too powerful to reliably parry, Oz jumped backwards and dove back in to strike Svafrlami. He just narrowly dodged, so Oz went in for a sideways slash and an upwards swing, both of which connected. Then, he stepped sideways to avoid a downwards blow from the flaming blade. The sword dug into the ground, Svafrlami only smirked as a different rune appeared; its character a glowing blue "ᛚ" as he uttered the word, "Logr."

From where his blade hit, a fierce blue stream of rushing water began to generate, threatening to push Oz away as he struggled to keep his footing. The waters flowed swiftly, trying their hardest to carry the young warrior, but he did not yield, clumsily stepping out of the way of Svafrlami's next strike. Without room to do much more than dodge, he avoided the cackling commander's attacks, almost losing his footing, and though Svafrlami was missing each blow, he seemed more amused than frustrated.

"Dance, my little jester! Dance!" he laughed, swinging his sword and watching Oz's increasing struggle to evade him. The torrent growing larger and stronger with every passing second, he knew he'd land a hit eventually. Waiting for the right moment, Oz teleported out of the stream, appearing behind Svafrlami and grabbing the back of his neck, letting out a powerful surge of lightning.

Svafrlami allowed himself to take the hit for a little while as he switched his active rune to a different one - a black character; "ᚢ" with the command word, "Uruz." his body surrounded in a black aura, he took a hold of Oz's hand and lifted him up with ease, feeling the strength of runic magic engraved in his being as he crushed his wrist with a wicked smirk, holding him out in front of him. "Your dance ends here, 'hero'!"

Oz tried to wriggle free, but it was no use. He'd been caught. And Svafrlami watched him struggle for a little longer before deciding enough was enough. He spun around and tossed him straight back into the field of flying blades. Realising what was happening, Oz was overcome with fear, which was validated as a greatsword came in and struck him.

Now at the mercy of the Brand rune, Oz faintly heard the witch gasp before feeling more blades dig themselves into him, tossing him around as if he were a plaything of sorts. With each fierce slash, each harsh sting, he felt himself growing weaker. Svafrlami's smirk grew wider with each impact, and eventually, with a snap of his finger, all the swords disappeared, except for his own personal greatsword, which he held in his hand.

Watching Oz fall to the ground, wounded and weakened, he gave off a low chuckle, shaking his head in amusement as he slowly stepped closer to him. "And so the curtains fall, and your story ends, 'hero'." he taunted him, continuing to walk until he was right in front of him, slowly raising his blade. "I've been wanting to do this for a long, long time. You may spend your final moments wallowing in your regrets."

"I...have none." was all Oz could muster, glaring defiantly at Svafrlami. And he hated that fire he saw in the young einherjar's eyes, robbing him of that last bit of satisfaction. How that einherjar, in his naivete, his stupid noble spirit, managed to show courage even at death's door. Once again, Svafrlami's smugness vanished in an instant, and fury filled his eyes as he growled and raised his sword, quickly bringing it down on the angel to skewer him once and for all.

"That's enough."

But, to his surprise, the tip of his blade did not hit any flesh, instead impacting on what seemed to be a hard surface. Looking down, he saw Oz's body surrounded in a translucent pink dome, sparkling with magic, and, already immensely stressed, he looked up to see the witch, standing up and holding her hands out, her once-calm expression now serious.

"I was hoping you'd have changed throughout these years," she sighed, shaking her head. "But you're still the same foolish, spiteful boy you've always been."

He held his sword tightly, pointing it at her with a look on his face that was both panicked and furious. "This is between me and him, witch!"

"Be that as it may, this man interests me." she told him, stepping closer as she took a deep breath, clutching her necklace tightly. "So I won't be letting you claim his life."

"I'll move onto you next, you meddling pythoness!" Svafrlami lashed out, trying to stab Oz multiple times, each time blocked by the magic barrier. "But this has nothing to do with you! It's none of your business, do you hear me?"

"Have you forgotten already?" she asked, her hand surrounded in a shining red light as she offered Svafrlami one of her smiles. "This became my business the moment you stepped into my temple."

Letting go of the luminous necklace, she held her hands out towards the raving Svafrlami, who was conjuring up another rune, seemingly desperate to stop her. But he was the one who needed to be stopped, and she knew this, keeping this in mind as she kept her eyes on him. "Brisingamen, I call upon your power." she chanted, watching as a golden wind began to surround his entire being. "Before me lies a soul full of hate; but he will fall before the power of love!"

At once, Svafrlami charged forth, and the witch's necklace shone with a bright light. As she extended both her hands to him, she allowed him to draw closer before firing a lucent beam of magic, pale red in colour, at him, large enough to almost engulf the entire cave in its radiance. Svafrlami let out a blood-curdling scream as he was caught in the enormous blast, and as the light flickered away, he was panting heavily, using his greatsword to support himself as he stood on one knee. He'd taken all the damage from that attack and was barely standing.

"Damn...witch..." he puffed, practically sobbing, with a look of great despair in his eyes as he slowly turned around, trudging back towards the entrance as he only just held on to his consciousness. "Gods...damn you...hero..."

She watched him leave, sighing slightly as she flicked her hair back into place, before looking down at Oz's unconscious body. Frowning slightly, she approached him and placed a hand on his chest, closing her eyes.

"Poor warrior...suffering under a man like him." she lamented, before shaking her head. "Your time has yet to come. But you've proven your virtue...so I'll save you."