https://youtu.be/DY5V57iNUuk

"The sun rose, and with a clear blue sky came a nice, mild breeze. The people of Seiryu were up and about, beginning to get on with their morning routines, greeting one another, and going around the streets. There were relatively fewer beggars compared to, say, Genbu, even during the night. People went around, practically singing a song of giddy anticipation as they frolicked through the blue streets under the blue sky."

"'What a revolting sight', thought Raina. Sitting atop a great tree in the outskirts of the town, she looked over the joyous citizens with a very un-joyous sneer, her legs crossed in a certain show of regality. Covered - a very generous term, mind you - with her magenta-coloured robes, she sat by, her rose-coloured magic flowing around her, rising off her in the form of motes of light while she waved her delicate fingers around, mentally reciting a chant for a spell most nefarious."

"And what better companion for this beautiful enchantress than a man most prepossessing? Standing on a branch behind her was her faithful companion, the dashing elf Van, whose green clothing blended in perfectly with the leaves that backed them, his violin in hand as a divine tune wafted through the air. But what, pray tell, could this duo most nefarious be doing on such a day like this? With so much beauty in this world, how would they go about crushing it beneath their heels?"

"Van, dear, are you quite done?"

As Van ceased his narration, he looked down at the pink witch in front of him, whose expression, unseen but predictable to him, was rather annoyed. She avoided facing him, taking a deep breath to try and compose herself. Van, calm as ever, continued using his rapier as a violin bow, playing the tune that he himself had described, and beamed brightly. "Done? How could I be done?" he asked. "I haven't even reached the part where your heart grows three sizes!"

"For the sake of my sanity, could you kindly leave that part out?" Raina sighed, shaking her head. "I fail to understand just what it is you're even doing here."

"Well, Calypso left early to try and track down Viera." Van explained. "So that leaves me with two options - try to join the hunt somehow, or stay here and watch my significantly less difficult-to-follow witch companion work her magic."

"Tch." she scoffed, glancing up at him before returning to her concentration. She visualised what she needed in her mind - a horde of mindless creatures who knew only to seek and destroy. With the sheer quantity of creatures she'd need, quality would have to be compromised; good thing she didn't need intelligent monsters, or even strictly obedient ones. So making them strong wouldn't be too big of a tax. "If Calypso's doing her thing, remind me why I have to do this?"

"So that I can go out and see who does anything about it." Van stated. "It's always good to monitor potential threats. Know your enemy, they say."

"Alright. I suppose that makes a lick of sense." Raina shrugged. "Then if I'm to assist in this master plan of yours, could I at least do so in silence?"

"But my voice is beautiful, and my violin even more so."

"Well, this isn't about you! So shut up, or I feed you to the zombies!"

Van sighed and nodded, ceasing his playing at once. He wasn't entirely sure if she might actually follow through on this threat, but he took this uncertainty as a bad sign and chose not to stir the pot any further. He instead watched her waving her arms like a conductor overseeing an orchestra, focusing entirely on the ground below and finishing the mental calculations, her demeanour becoming more relaxed and cheerful.

"Souls of the fallen, cease your rise! You belong to me, a Warlock most wise!" she cackled, smirking as a bright pink light shone from her head, engulfing the leaves in its radiance. "Now, ascend, my army, scatter and destroy!"

Her magic spread out like a cloud, covering the whole tree and reaching the base. The trunk, once a solid brown foundation for the tree, visibly began to decay, several wide gashes forming over its length. With a resounding, witch-like cackle echoing across the whole forest, she watched as humanoid figures rapidly sprouted from the newly-formed lacerations. Bald, pink-eyed men, with blotchy grey skin, their mouths filled with sharp fangs dripping with poison. These parodies of life crawled out from the magic-infused tree that birthed them and willingly dropped to the ground, ready to begin the hunt.

While Raina looked on, pleased, Van appeared more neutral. It was not yet safe to get moving, so all he could do was watch the abominations go, biding his time until the bloodbath began. Not that he was looking forward to it in the least...but it was a necessary measure.

.........

https://youtu.be/WDqWQWtC2EE

It was a beautiful day, indeed, thought Viera. The sky was blue, and even from her inn room, she could hear the birds chirping. It had been a pleasant symphony to wake up to. And yet, she couldn't help but notice how much their voices had been drowned out by those of her companions.

As the sun rose, the trio, having gotten up by now, were out walking, taking in the sights of Seiryu. Dressed in their usual outfits, they didn't attempt to hide the fact that they were adventurers as they strolled close to the city centre, seeing a large, dying tree in the plaza with leaves scattered all over the ground. They definitely got a few funny looks, Ashbel more than the other two, but even Viera didn't bother to comment on those. And not just because Sly was busy talking their ears off with stories about his long-standing rival, Sully.

"...and after I fought my way out of the spider pit, the first thing I saw was that oh-so-smug grin! Fortunately, I'd managed to sneak out one of the tarantulas, and the whole ordeal left me in the mood to throw something at him. A little karmic payback, since he threw me in, you know? So when he opened his mouth to start his usual ranting, let's just say he did not see that coming."

Honestly, thought Viera, those two should just kiss, with how many petty pranks they seemed to like pulling on one another. While Ashbel seemed engrossed in the tale, Viera stayed focused, looking out for anyone she thought might be in the Deliverance - with her eyes especially peeled to pick up the presence of any green-haired, pointy-eared bastards in the vicinity. None had been spotted yet, but the day was still young.

After a while, Sly stopped talking, and Viera took the time to focus on her surroundings, but still there was no luck. She glanced at Ashbel, who seemed more focused on admiring the sights of the rustling trees. Suddenly, he looked back at her, his eyes meeting hers, and he gave her a smile. "You good, Vi?"

"...fine, I guess." she replied. "I can't find any of those Deliverers anywhere. But I know they're here somewhere. They have to be."

"Well, it's like you said, right? They could be anywhere!" Ashbel pointed out. "Maybe you've run into a few of them already; it's not like they'll be kicking puppies out in the open."

"Sometimes, I wish they would." Viera scowled. "It'd make it much easier to find them and crush their skulls where they stand."

"Wow, I've got some violent teammates, huh?" Ashbel murmured, chuckling quietly as he eyed Viera, who didn't seem to see the humour. "Not that I'm one to talk. Call that an objective observation!"

"What? In case you forgot, they're the villains." Viera mumbled slightly defensively. "You should want them dead."

"I'm not judging you, Vi." Ashbel crossed his arms. "Stabbing bad guys is part of being a hero, isn't it?"

He wasn't sure if that sounded right, but he didn't bother trying to clarify. As he looked ahead, he saw Sly staring off into the distance, sniffing the air somewhere to his left and raising an eyebrow. Viera shrugged at Ashbel's statement, her focus more on him than the ninja. "I mean, I guess." she said. "Which is why it's all the more important that we know where the 'bad guys' even are! They've got to have a base somewhere!"

"You talking about where to find them?" Sly cut in, looking at the two of them with a casual smile. "Because I might have some leads."

"Really?" Viera raised a suspicious eyebrow as all eyes fell on him. "How did you manage that?"

"With this." Sly said, tapping his nose. "I'm a Sanguine, you see."

"Sanguine...those guys get their powers from monsters, right?" Ashbel questioned, recalling what he knew about them.

"Yep. So while you might have been born with magic, and Viera's comes from her faith," Sly explained. "Mine came from drinking snow-wolf blood in a ritual."

"Does that enhance your sense of smell, then?" Viera asked, half-sarcastically.

"Sure does, among other benefits." Sly replied proudly, much to Viera's surprise. "And I smelt a lot of things just now that we may be interested in investigating."

https://youtu.be/vXST0bh0NOQ

"Well, what are you waiting for? Give the details!" Ashbel exclaimed, looking up at him with an excited grin. Sly chuckled and nodded, pointing to his left.

"Well, over there, you'll find a weirdly strong smell of peaches and vanilla. There's also a faint stench of blood, steel and acid." he said, before pointing to the south of the great dead tree. "In all directions, but especially over there, the smell of blood is getting much stronger by the second, and I can make out a bit of...rotting flesh."

"Huh. Didn't think the people of Seiryu would be into that." Ashbel nodded slowly, turning in that direction. Viera shook her head, however, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No. This has 'Deliverance' written all over it." she said. "Sly, do you smell any large, earth-based beasts?"

"I do not." Sly shook his head, sniffing the air once again to confirm.

"Then this must be Raina's doing." Viera furrowed her brow, contemplating what to do about this. She'd become familiar with their methods of attack - zombies meant the witch, beasts meant the elf. And knowing Raina's preference for quantity over quality, she knew there were likely a lot of them. Turning back to Sly, she, still feeling weird about relying on him to any extent, asked, "You said they're coming from all directions, right?"

"Do you have hearing problems or something?"

"Shut up." Viera glowered. Ashbel, taking all this in, immediately came to a conclusion.

"With all that blood...we'll need to split up if we want to stop this place from turning into a necropolis." he sighed, frowning slightly. "And to think I wanted to do some sightseeing before I started all this hero stuff..."

"Well, if you count dead people as a sight, and I really think you should, then you already are, aren't you?" Sly pointed out, smiling cheekily.

"Oh, what joy." Ashbel deadpanned. "So, who's going where?"

"I'm going that way." Sly said, pointing where he'd smelt the steel and acid. "I've got a bad feeling about what's over there, and if I'm right, I need to be the one to stop it."

"Well, aren't you the noble one?" Viera raised an eyebrow, looking over to the south where Sly had indicated. "I'll be going that way."

"Then you can leave the rest to me." Ashbel said, looking to his right with his hands on his hips. "We ready to move out?"

"Aye aye, cap'n." Sly nodded, saluting. "And when we're done, we can meet back here."

"Don't die, you two. I won't be there to heal you." Viera warned. "That said...I'm ready to go."

Ashbel grinned, watching as the two of them turned to start going their separate ways. "Then with that sorted...let's go!"

And with that sorted, the three of them wasted no time in splitting off, and they marched towards their respective destinies, only hoping that they would once again cross. For if this was what the dawn brought, they would have to be the dusk that opposed it.