"Who are they?" Aelita bursts out. Silence replies to her.

"Let's think," Remi says. "Which Vampiric Brotherhoods support us?"

"Hmm ... nobody?" John answers. "The Moon led by the Princess of Terror certainly doesn't. No idea about the Stars though."

"They don't have to support us," Joe corrects Remi. "They just have to hate the current Irvine enough."

"Well, Madam Fron isn't exactly on friendly terms with Seira," I say. My friends are startled, perhaps due to my lack of usage of honorifics.

"You must really hate her now, Vio," Aelita says.

"Well, she does threaten the three things I care about: my grandma, my friends, and my life."

"I don't think Madam Fron has connections with vampires," John interrupts.

"Vampire mercenaries, perhaps?" Aelita suggests.

"Do they even exist?" Remi asks.

"Whoever helped us is irrelevant now," Agatha interrupts, her hand still relentlessly covering her tattoo. "We've gone so far that the regular troops can't catch up, but those Imperial Guards should be able to. We have to hurry."

"Why are you so sensitive about that tattoo?" Aelita chuckles nonchalantly.

"Shut up!" Agatha unleashes her fury.

And thus silence takes over until we reach the warship. "How are we going to take it over?" Remi questions.

"I'll handle that," I calm her down.

I land first. I immediately leap onto the warship and rush into the captain's quarters.

"You still lack grace, Vio. But I see your power has grown."

"Mr Anwar. I should have known. The Order, indeed."

Mr Anwar laughs a bit. The others step into the vessel proper.

"Oh jeez, we really are under your surveillance, huh?" Aelita comments as the ship begins to sail.

"Not exactly. Just a few guesses."

Agatha returns with new clothes on her. Mr Anwar raises an eyebrow.

"Well. It's better for you to split up. I've planned for that; we need some extra manpower, after all. John and Aelita, you will join Fronica Moonray, who is currently busy trying to find the remaining Sacred Gems. Remi and Joe will investigate trails in Al-Azhar about King Arthur. Agatha and Vio will investigate trails about Madu in the areas known as the Nameless Region."

"Not there!" Agatha shrieks.

"The Nameless Region? Where's that?" I ask.

"East of Francia."

"No! Not there!" Agatha bellows, horror dawning upon her face.

"What's wrong, Agatha?" Remi asks. At this point, Agatha is practically burrowing her face in her arms.

It takes a couple of minutes for Agatha to calm down. She sighs multiple times. "I guess I'll have to explain everything."

"You see, when I was young, say fourteen or fifteen, I joined the Fundamentalists–a human supremacist group; just like the Purists except for humans. I was naive and foolish and easily swayed. The Nameless Region was our base."

"What did you do?" Aelita asks.

"Depending on orders. Sometimes as mild as harassing or stealing, sometimes burning down houses ...."

"You've ever burned down a house before?" Aelita, shocked, asks.

"Yes."

"And probably killed some people inside?"

"Probably yes."

Aelita gulps her own spit. Agatha stares at her with weary eyes.

"A bunch of us moved to Irvine, you know, to wreck chaos. It didn't go well. Irvine cracked down on us and ... and almost everyone was slaughtered."

"Bloody hell," Aelita murmurs. "I don't remember such a thing happening."

"Do you think we broadcasted the operation? Of course not," Mr Anwar explains. "It was just another anti-terror operation for us."

"Right. But they spared me–well, Madam Fron spared me, sent my ass to Blazewing and told me to study. She moved there a few weeks after."

"Hmm ... so, say, Mr Anwar, you are sending me with Agatha to the Nameless Region so that Agatha can make use of her connections there?" I ask.

"Precisely," Mr Anwar replies. "Sharply analyzed, as I expected. You, Vio, will pretend you're a gladiator."

If I were drinking something, I would spit it out now. Gladiator? What now?

"Where on earth is the merit of that?" I ask.

"Elite gladiators have everything they want. Money, prestige, influence, and even slaves. And no one in that arena can match an Imperial Guard," he replies. "Each gladiator fight under the name of another entity, be it a rich noble or a criminal group. Agatha will be yours, lest people will be wary and distrustful toward you."

"One question, why split us into groups of two? That would be risky should, say, a Lord attempt to kill us," Remi challenges, supported by quiet nods from Joe.

"Oh, don't worry about the Lords for now. Remember the entire we-are-the-good-guys rhetoric they invented? Thanks to that, they can't be seen going around beating up people. They've also pulled out from their Doll business, their Madu business, the whole shebang, and allowed their minions to control those. You won't see anything more than minor demons."

"They're really that desperate?" I ask.

Mr Agusman laughs very loudly. "We spent half of the Order's resources frustrating their efforts in Al-Azhar. Sure it fell a month or two ago, but the resistance wasn't expected. It seemed to have forced them to change their overall strategy."

"Say, Mr Anwar," I ask. "Aside from the Moon and the Stars, are there any vampire brotherhoods left?"

"Huh? Why'd you ask that? The Princess of Terror essentially purged almost all other brotherhoods and absorbed them into her own. Even if there were any left, they would be extremely small in size."

"Well then who helped us?" Aelita murmurs. "A couple of vampires came and stalled Irvine's troops for us."

A shook Mr Anwar leans forward. "Are you sure they were vampires?"

"Yes," Aelita and I reply.

"The Moon is out of the question," he says. "The Stars actually broke off their alliance after they suffered severe losses in Al-Azhar, but they've been neutral ever since."

"Eh, well, it's not something we should worry about. For all we know, it could be a band of rebels," John says.

"Well, well, it's time to change transportation," Mr Anwar says as the ship stops. "Good luck."