The Faceless Monster roared as Deuce did manage to get a few good hits in, but the inky ghoul wasn't planning on going down so easily. As Deuce battled against the Monster, the four girls all stood there helplessly, watching him fight this monstrous...thing!

They were right. Those fairytale battles were nothing compared to this. It was all just childish nonsense. There was absolutely no way one person can fight a powerful monster like that alone.

Of course, the girls could completely understand Deuce's reason. They understood how he felt about facing expulsion by the Headmaster, but seriously... Why was Deuce facing this horrible thing alone? What made him think he could? There has got to be a better way.

Deuce fired off a few more spells, attacking the beast. But as soon as they made contact, the Faceless Monster rose to its full height and let out aloud, earsplitting screech that sent chills running through the teens' spines.

"Leave! Leave!! LEEEEEAAVE!!!" the beast howled as it slammed its pickaxe against the ground, creating a massive shockwave that nearly knocked them off their feet. Dark purple energy came bursting through the cracks at blinding speed.

"Guuuuh!!" Deuce barely had enough time to defend himself before the attack hit him head-on, sending him flying and slamming against the mine's walls. "Oh, no! Deuce-kun, no!" the girls all cried out in horror as Alice and Aria immediately ran to his side. Ace merely glanced at him before letting out a scoff.

"Stand back if you have no control, Mr. Serious! I'll stop it!" he said as he took out his magic pen and casted a spell. "Haa!" Ace exclaimed as he released a strong spell on the ink ghoul, but all it did was push the beast back against the stone wall.

"Wuuuuuuooooooohhh!!!" it roared fiercely as it attacked Ace with the same move. "Guuhaaaah!!" Ace screamed as he got slammed into the wall as well, landing right beside Deuce and the four girls. Grim was the only magic user left, but his fear was overpowering his rationality and he was too terrified to keep his aim straight.

"Ffgnaaa!! Stay away!!" Grim shrieked as he frantically tried to summon his flames to protect himself, but he completely missed as the blue flames barely even fazed the Faceless Monster. "Grrrrr!!!" the Faceless Monster growled as it rose to its full height, glowering at the foolish intruders who dared to enter its domain.

Grim squeaked fearfully and quickly ran behind Alice's legs. "Th-This isn't working at all!" he yelled. "Now what do we do?!" Kira exclaimed. While the girls were helping Ace and Deuce stand up, something suddenly caught Alice's eye. She looked past the Faceless Monster and saw something shimmering in the darkness.

"Huh? Did something just sparkle?!" Alice asked. Everybody paused when they heard her words and followed the direction of her gaze. They too saw something shining in the shaft behind the Faceless Monster. Both Deuce and Ace's eyes widened as they quickly realized the source of the gleam.

"Behind that thing! At the end of the tunnel, something...!" Ace said. "Is that light... from a magic crystal?!" Deuce asked. It must've heard them announce that, for the Faceless Monster roared even louder with pure rage.

"GOOOOOOOOOOHHH! WON'T GIVE!!!!" it screamed, slamming its pickaxe in a fit of rage. Ace and Deuce quickly pushed the girls behind them when the Faceless Monster began to shake the mine as it became erratic and out of control. Grim was trembling uncontrollably and yank on Alice's arm desperately.

"L-L-L-Let's get out of here! We're done for at this rate!!" he yelled frantically. Alice nodded. "R-Right...! We all need to escape!" she said as the Faceless Monster created another loud boom, making the whole mine tremble.

Without a moment's hesitation, the whole group quickly ran towards the mine opening, leaving the mine as the Faceless Monster unleashed another earsplitting, chilling howl. "GGGGGOOOOOHHH!!!" it screamed.

The group of six ran out of the mine and headed back into the Silent Woods, returning to the Dwarfs' cottage. Upon arrival, they all collapsed on the spot from running so fast. They were all exhausted but were glad that they were able to escape that creature's clutches when they had the chance.

Kira leaned forward with her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "Whew! Oh, man! What... was that...?!" she sighed. "Oh, my goodness!" Alice exclaimed as she rested near the tree stump, her hand over her rapidly beating heart. "I've never seen anything so terrifying in my entire life!"

"Is this far enough?" Grim asked as he looked back in the direction they came from. "I think so...." Aria said, nodding. "Ooooww..." Ace groaned as he placed a hand on his back, trying to alleviate the sharp pain. That monster really hit him hard.

He then narrowed his cherry-red eyes. "What in the world was that? No one said anything about that!" Ace growled. "It didn't seem like any old ghost." Deuce said as he tried to think on what that thing might've been. Ace cracked his back, ignoring the pain that came with it before he let out an exhausted sigh.

There's just no way they can get that crystal without getting themselves killed by that creature. It doesn't seem to be worth the risk. They might as well head back without it. "Let's give up and go home. I'd rather get expelled than fight that thing. Whatever." Ace said casually. Unfortunately, that didn't sit well with Deuce.

He looked at Ace as if he had gone completely bonkers. "Wha?! Don't screw with me! I'd rather die than face expulsion!" he shouted. "There was a magic crystal in front of us. You think I could just give up and leave?!"

Ace just smirked at Deuce and showed him that he didn't care about what he thought. He wasn't the boss around here. "Ha. You talk big for someone worse at magic than me." he said smugly. "Go alone if you want. I'm done." Seeing that an argument was taking place, Alice quickly stood up and got in between them.

"Ace-kun—" Alice began to say when she and Grim suddenly jumped back as Deuce brought up his fists and glared at Ace with an enraged look on his face. His whole personality suddenly changed from nice and gentle to that of a street fighter.

"Oooh, that right? Then stay right there cowering like a spineless coward!" Deuce yelled out as he cracked his knuckles. Alice placed a hand on his chest and gave a slight push. "D-Deuce-kun, please calm down!" she pleaded. But the two boys ignored her as they kept glaring at each other.

"Huuuuh~~~?? Coward? Who exactly are you talking about?" Ace asked with a taunting smile. "Ace-kun, stop it." Aria said. Grim glanced at Deuce, surprised by his sudden personality switch. "U-Uuuh... Deuce. Did you switch up your character?" Grim nervously asked.

Alice gave the navy-haired boy her full attention and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Deuce-kun, please calm down. Try to relax a bit." she gently said. Deuce had his teeth bared at Ace and would've punched his lights out when he looked down to see Alice looking up at him with her round, soft sky-blue eyes.

There was something about her eyes that made him pause. Her soft, innocent sapphire-like eyes. That's so strange... How come this boy oddly resembled a pretty girl? He stared at her for a few seconds before he seemed to snap out of his rage.

"Huh! A-Ahem! My bad. I lost my composure a bit." he said, blushing a bit. Alice gave him a small smile and a nod as she stepped back, looking back in the direction of the mine. Kira sighed as she also looked towards the mine. "So, what now? Can magic actually help us at all?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Deuce shook his head. "Like the Headmaster said earlier, magic isn't all-powerful." he said. "If you can't imagine it, then it won't materialize. Large-scale or complicated magic requires a lot of training to use."

"But that's why we have schools for magic." Ace added. "You have to practice a lot to use magic just as it comes to mind. Bluntly speaking, you'll screw up if you lose your cool." Now that Deuce and Ace both mentioned it, the girls thought back to the time they've spent in the school.

They had noticed a sort of pattern that the students did with their magic, from the entrance ceremony to now. Alice gave a small nod. "I think I understand...It's just...that everyone has been using it willy-nilly." she said. Kira sighed. "What a waste." she said.

"But it's stuff you're good at, you can go off instinct." Ace replied. "At any rate, I'm going in there. I'll figure out how to beat that thing and come back with a magic crystal. "Deuce said determinedly as he turned and attempted to go back to the mine. But Alice quickly gripped his hand and pulled him to a stop.

"No, you can't. It's too dangerous." she said. "Yeah. You could get killed before you could even get that crystal!" Kira added. The girls knew that there had to be a better way to beat that monster...but what? Alice was planning to calm Deuce down so that he could at least think more rationally than to go in blindly.

But then, Ace had to be cocky and open his mouth. He clearly hadn't forgotten that chandelier incident and he wasn't going to let Deuce off the hook that easily. He rolled his cherry-red eyes as he smirked at the navy blue-haired boy.

"Oh, please. Judging by the chandelier incident and your actions so far, you're a complete idiot, aren't you?" he asked with a small scoff. "You couldn't land a single hit earlier, but now you'll "figure it out"? It's going to end the same." The girls all angrily glared at Ace.

"Ace-kun, stop that. He's trying to—" Jazmin began to say when Deuce whirled around and shot a glare at the red-eyed boy. He stepped up towards him, almost knocking Alice off balance.

"Come again?! You think of...?!" he snarled. "Here they go again." Grim said with a deadpan tone as he crossed his paws, doing nothing to help as the girls struggled to keep the boys from fighting. "Deuce-kun, Ace-kun, please stop it!" Alice begged. 

"Why are you being such a moron?! You want to get expelled?!" Deuce shouted at Ace's face. "I'd rather be expelled than risk my own neck for some stupid crystal!" Ace shouted back. "Stop it, please!" Alice pleaded, but Ace pushed her aside as he gripped Deuce's collar and held him up. 

"Quit actin' like you're so much better than me and get off your big high horse!" he yelled. "If you're up for a fight, then hit me with your best shot!" Deuce shouted as he raised his fists, looking eager to land a blow on Ace.

"Both of you, please...stop it..!" Aria begged as she and the other girls watched the two argue back and forth, without resolution or end in sight. They kept on shouting, yelling, mocking each other and it was only a matter of time before they got into a heated fight.

"Stay here like a pathetic wimp for all I care! I'm getting that crystal!" Deuce shouted as he shoved Ace away. "Fine! Have fun getting your butt handed to you!" Ace replied mockingly. Kira's left brow twitched in annoyance at their squabbling.

She has had enough of this! "WILL YOU TWO BLOCKHEADS SHUT UP ALREADY?!" Kira roared at the top of her lungs. Her sudden roar seemed to echo throughout the entire forest. The two boys were genuinely shocked by her roar, for they immediately stopped their bickering and stared at Kira with wide eyes.

Even Grim and the other girls were startled by her roar. "Waah! Why are you shouting all of a sudden?!" Grim questioned. But Kira ignored him as she glared at the boys. "We're all just wasting time standing here, bickering like a bunch of little kids!" she yelled, making everyone flinch.

"Now you listen up, boys! None of us are fond of doing this either! All of us wanna go back home, but we can't! Ever since we got here, things have gone totally out of whack for us!" She then pointed a finger at both Ace and Deuce as she continued her rant.

"Now Crowley gave us all a second chance to stay at school. And if we don't get that crystal, all of us are gonna be expelled!" she said, becoming authoritative. "This is exactly why neither of you could do anything back there! So I suggest that you guys stop bickering like little kids and start getting your act together!"

"Ff-fgnnaa...!" Grim exclaimed. Ace and Deuce both gaped at her in silence, taking in her words. Then Deuce spoke up. "Guuhh...B-But... What exactly should we do?" he asked. Jazmin crossed her arms as she walked up to the boys.

"Kiro-kun's right. We need to put our heads together and come up with a proper, rational strategy to get that crystal." she said firmly. Ace and Deuce both looked at each other, then they looked at Jazmin as if she was crazy.

"Strategy? You mean get along and work together." Ace questioned with a smirk, most likely laughing at the thought of working together with an idiot like Deuce and an annoying cat like Grim. "Ha! That's cold. You have no problem saying lame things with a serious face, huh." Jazmin gave him an insulted glare.

"Agreed. No way I'm working with this loser." Deuce said, glaring at Ace as he crossed his arms. Ace sneered at him before turning away. Grim looked between the two and thought about his own position in all of this.

True, he wasn't a student of Night Raven, but even he realized that if they failed to get the crystal, there would be nothing to stop Crowley from kicking him out of the school forever. "But... I feel like it's way lamer to get expelled on the first day of school." he said, bowing his head. That caught both the boys' attention.

"Uuh, that's..." Ace stuttered out while Deuce was in stunned silence. "Tuna Breath here's got a point. That's not cool at all." Kira said, glaring at the boys sternly. "Please? I don't know if it'll be enough, but we should at least try." Alice added, giving the boys a hopeful, pleading look.

Just by gazing at Alice's face and considering her and her friends' words, the two boys both gave in. For some reason, they just couldn't seem to truly say no. "....Haaaahh... Fine! We just have to get it done, right?" Ace said. Then he, Deuce and Grim smiled at the girls.

"So, what's your plan?" the ginger-haired boy asked. That's when the four girls knew that they had managed to get the boys' full cooperation in working together to fulfill their task, which was quite an accomplishment, to say the least.

The four girls all smiled as Jazmin then cleared her throat. "All right, here's our plan. Listen carefully." she said as she started to get serious. A few minutes later, the group all stood at the mouth of the mine, staring into the pitch-black darkness.

After discussing the plan carefully, the group of seven headed back towards the Dwarfs' Mine and were, mostly, ready to set their plan in motion. Grim stood beside Alice and Kira's legs as he looked into the dark cave, most likely thinking about the Faceless Monster.

To be honest, just thinking about encountering that horrible inky ghoul again was enough to give him the jitters. "You...really think it'll go as planned? I'm sca..." Grim said before he caught himself and shook his head, trying to look brave. "No, just nervous."

"I'm nervous about this, too, Grim, but no worries! I'm sure it'll be fine somehow." Aria said, trying to sound optimistic before she took in a deep breath to ease her nerves. To be honest, she was also feeling as nervous as he was. "We-We just have to accept our fate and hope for the best."

Aria nearly jumped out of her skin when Ace suddenly patted her on the back, making him start to laugh. "Haha, you're too stiff. Just go with the flow. Let's get this over with!" he said. The girls looked at him for a moment, before they each gave him a small smile and a firm nod.

Ace was right. It was now or never. Their plan will definitely work. After all, they've come this far and there's no way they're backing out of this. "Okay, Kiro-kun and Alistair-kun will lure the monster out. We all stay here and get ready to attack." Jazmin said.

She then turned towards Alice and Kira. "You ready, guys?" she asked. Kira winked at her. "Yeah, you bet! It's go time!" she declared as the two girls ran forward into the dark mine with Grim in tow. "Be careful, you guys!" Aria said. "Got it!" Kira replied with a wink.