Odin stood at the entrance to his guild hall, looking up at the imposing structure and wondering how the hell he had never noticed it before the formation of his guild. The Wischtechian Spire had stood for centuries, perhaps even longer, and yet it had remained undisturbed during that time. No dungeon delver, archaeologist or random adventurer had stumbled upon this treasure trove of ancient relics and technology. It had led Odin to believe that the spire had been, itself, magically enchanted. Perhaps it couldn't be seen, at least not until it was reactivated by those who possessed the Black Key. It made the most sense, and definitely wasn't something impossible. The ancient civilisation had been extremely advanced in their magical technology: Odin was still discovering things in the guild he had never seen before.

And yet, here it was, standing tall in the distance of Oak City, visible from every location in the city. Truly it stood as a symbol of power as much as it did a symbol of home. It protected the West, and served all the purposes of its inhabitants. Eternal Nightmare was a dark guild, but it protected its own.

His imposing and ever-present grin looked up to the sky, as he fired a single bullet of magic into the air, watching it explode like a firework as it reached its maximum distance. Truly it was a thing of beauty, just like the Spire.

6000/6400:

[Invasion]

Arriving from Baska, Shichiro didn't have much to do in the way of work. He had been wandering around. Looking for something to do, he combed the streets of Oak looking for task he could perform or the like. As he walked, Shichiro noticed something odd. He noticed there was a rather tall structure that he presumed could be spotted from every part of oak city. This was odd, he'd been here many times before and didn't spot the large structure until now. Well, it was quite suspicious how it would suddenly out of blue so he figured taking a look around wouldn't hurt. Making his way to the structure, Shichiro had seen there was an explosion in the sky similar to fireworks as if something was trying to signal people to gather.

This, of course, alerted Shichiro as well to the place in question, causing him to move faster towards his destination. When Shichiro was twenty-five meters away from the structure, he had smell two figures in the area. He couldn't completely make out who they were at first. Approaching, Shichiro would walk until he was within five meters of the two figures unless interrupted.  As soon as he got close, he recognized one of them immediately as Odin, the Wizard Lord criminal. It seems he's hit the jackpot.

He imagined the one next to him was a protégé of his but he's never seen or heard anything about him. Turning his attention back towards Odin, he began to speak to him. "Well well, isn't this a surprise. One of the most notorious criminals, right here in Oak town, eh? Must be my lucky day. Heh, heh. The name's Uchida, Captain Commander of the Rune Knights. You are hereby under arrest against Fiore and it's people. We can do this one of two ways, you either come quickly with me and I'll escort you along with some knights back to headquarters, or you can choose the hard way and I could have a light exercise before taking you in, the choice is yours."

Shifting his eyes, he looked at the other figure whose identity escaped him. "You're welcome to join him if you wish but since I have nothing on you yet, I'd suggest you leave before I do." With that warning, Shichiro had awaited the response of Odin and the other figure. Should they say no or not give a response, Shichiro would attempt to apprehend Odin but subduing him with a swift punch to the ribcage and calling a group of knights to this location to take him away.

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In hindsight, perhaps sending out Odin's only offensive spell into the air while standing next to a landmark in Oak and being one of the biggest criminals in Fiore was not a particularly smart idea. It had, after all, garnered the attention of two people and had made the Lich's day infinitely more interesting, and equally dangerous. The first that approached him, hidden beneath a cloak, seemed to simply be interested in the Spire. Maybe the adventurers and archaeologists that had missed their chance previously were now wanting to excavate the tower. They would definitely find it tricky to enter, and the inhabitants weren't exactly hospitable. "Examining? I live here." That was all Odin would likely need to say as he gestured towards the spire with his staff. He was a high profile individual, people knew his name and his face, and those that were scared would often back off from either.

The second was much more concerning, as Odin watched him approach. He would allow the man to walk but, at around ten metres, Odin would recognise the man about to speak to him. The introduction was appreciated and, if nothing else, updated Odin on the man's current situation. He knew of the 'Pack Leader' even though they had never met, Rune Knights and dark mages rarely mingled, but his promotion to Captain-Commander was a nice bit of information to be given. It would be at the mention of his title that Odin's reactions would kick in. Someone as high ranking in the rune knight as this man would not be here to exchange pleasantries and, as the metallic coating of Greed began to stain Odin's bones grey, he wouldn't be a pushover. He would also create a magic circle beneath himself, reaching out with wind magic as Kazimir had given him the chance to do once before. He didn't know the extent of this man's abilities, but he had fought Ezekiel recently, and the man's invisibility had been annoying to deal with. Finally, while the transformation was occurring, Odin would release a deep sigh as his Fear aura, and the aura from his staff, were both unleashed. He felt somewhat bad for the other man who had just wanted to see the new structure and would probably now be close to fainting, but it would be worth it.

Assuming nothing else would occur after Odin's transformation, the Lich would allow the man to finish speaking. Everything following was a standard Rune Knight threat: come quietly or I'll use force, but realistically they both already knew what was about to happen. If given the chance, Odin would also respond, as politely as the situation would allow, "You maybe should have brought those knights with you. I've got other plans so I don't think I can go to Era right now."

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5800/6400:

As Shichiro was in the middle of his introductions, it seems the Lich had begun to react with hostility in Shichiro's eyes at the mention of his rank. Smirking, he knew it would have always come down to this but he was obligated to say it regardless to give the criminal a chance to take the easy way out. Finishing his speech, he had noticed the lich cast a variety of spells upon himself. None of them had been directly offensive towards him but he'd still need to be cautious in case they had any other detrimental effects. With that, the lich had made his choice and Shichiro figured there was nothing that can be done but the hard way of going through things. On another note, Shichiro had felt a bit startled by the imposing presence of the lich. He was definitely a powerful individual, denoting the title of Wizard Lord. Being this close to him made it feel like he couldn't breathe too well as if he was choking simply for being in the presence of this being. He's met Nephilim and Vampires before but he's never experienced a presence of this magnitude. A small sweat drop had started to form, trickling down one side of his face.

No matter, something like this wouldn't be able to stop him from being able to collect on the massive amount of money on the Lich's head. He'd do what he must even if he had to brace, his fear. With a powerful rallying cry, Shichiro had psyched himself up and begun to quickly approach the Lich, with both of his arms in front of him and at the ready. Upon entering striking distance of the Lich, Shichiro pivots his body clockwise, throwing his left leg towards where the right calf of a normal humanoid would be. He was unsure if the lich would feel any pain like a normal creature would but he had to give it a shot. As he did so, Shichiro had taken note the other skeletal-like being had created some distance between the two of them as if he was letting them settle their own business. Shichiro had smirked at this fact, as though the person(?) no longer had a brain. It seems to have some form of intelligence to let the situation play out as it is. With that however, he wouldn't simply just disregard him completely as he wasn't sure what he was capable of yet.

For all he knew, the person could have some sort of secret weapon or ulterior motive up his sleeve. Should the time come to deal with such matters, he'd have a plan laying in wait just for him. For now, his concerns lie solely with the wizard lord known as Odin.

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It truly was a shame that there was no way for them to avoid combat, but also Odin had to admit: he felt exhilarated. It had been far too long since he had actually been in any combat scenario, years in fact, so he was excited to flex some 'muscles' that had not felt strain in that time. Not that Odin was particularly good at fighting, he had lost every battle so far with the sole exception of one in Mercurius and it was part of the reason why his magic was so defensive now. The test of his own ability was a welcome one and, thanks to being a Lich, it's not like there was any possibility of death involved.

The shout from Shichiro signalled the beginning of the fight, as the magic circle formed around him. What the spell itself did, there was no way to know for now, but Odin had to be wary. After all, he too had a spell activated that gave him unique abilities. His eyes stayed focused on the knight as he approached, his arms out wide and ready for anything. Odin needed him to be close to deal any kind of damage, so he didn't react until he saw the man pivot, having reached his intended distance.

As soon as Shichiro began to turn, Odin would do so too. Turning his body to the right, mirroring the knight's pivot, Odin would brace himself for the attack. He was expecting an attack to his right side, given the man's spin, so turning to face it would allow for a stronger brace. As the kick connected with what would now be Odin's shinbone, Greed nullified the attack and the Lich took no damage. In that moment, he would send out two quick jabs simultaneously. His left fist would be outstretched and aimed for the centre of Shichiro's torso, while his right would be sent down towards the leg that struck the Lich, aiming to catch the knight off-guard with a nullified attack and two reactionary strikes.

3180/6400:

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Successfully closing the gap between the Wizard Saint and himself, Shichiro also managed to deliver a kick towards the calf of the skeletal being. Although he took no damage, it seems he's managed to put a significant dent into the Lich's defenses, one more good hit and he would be able to punch down the lich for sure. Although he had great powers at his disposal, even with the defensive mana spell of his, his bones seemed brittle and weak. The only thing keeping him up was the spell itself and he was looking to capitalize on it. As the lich let his kick connect, it decided to launch two jabs simultaneously. Shichiro would then react to this by simultaneously planting his left leg he used into the ground instead of retracting it, adjusting his right arm to the left side of his torso while clenching his fist, a few of inches where the jab would have connected, slamming his clenched fist violently into the lich's left arm horizontally in order to deflect the incoming attack away from his torso as well as counterattack.

Shichiro's maneuver was not done however, as he followed up by shifting his upper body towards the lich, extending his head further towards the lich's chin, slamming his forehead into his chin, in an attempt to knock him out for capture. Unfortunately, this would mean Shichiro would have taken a blow to the left leg causing him severe pain. Gritting his teeth, he endured expecting his victory to be assured. Unfortunately, another hit like that and his left leg wouldn't be able to move like it used to for a little while from the blow he had taken from the lich. All he could do now was wait for back-up to arrive should the lich be incapacitated. Shichiro then would turn his attention to the lich if he was still present and watch him.

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Half of Odin's attack went through, however the punch felt weaker than what he was used to. There was a slight drain on his physical abilities, akin to how his own Fear ability worked, meaning he'd likely need to inflict a few more punches before he could truly take the man out. The other half of the attack was deflected by an oncoming punch from the man, which Odin had no time to react to, and so drained once more from his Greed magic. However, the rune knight was not finished there. Instead of backing away as Odin may have expected given the damage he had received, the man pressed forward, looking to slam his head into Odin's chin. The Wizard Lord would gladly be there to meet him.

Odin tucked his chin into his neck as he saw Shichiro's body move, looking to slam his own skull into the man's forehead as they collided. The attack, if successful, would likely damage both of them, requiring Greed's intervention once more. However that was not the end of Odin's attack. While Shichiro's attention was focused on the Lich's head, Odin would snap his right knee up, looking to catch the knight in the groin or stomach. Even if Odin didn't have enough time to react to the man's first attack, equally neither would Shichiro have time to defend against the Lich's. Perhaps that would be enough to knock him out, and end the fight there.

1660/6400:

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Ramses continued to simply watch as the barbarians fought each other. A multitude of punches and kicks were thrown, but besides that there wasn't anything else interesting going on. The two individuals blows shook the area, so he could tell that they were leagues above the power he currently held. A sigh would soon escape his mouth while turning around and preparing to leave the area. As the two fought, they probably wouldn't even notice him leaving... Well the Lich would probably notice due to him facing Ramses' direction, but as for the wildling, his back was turned.

"Create a connection. I'm gonna go take a break." A small beep would be heard in response as Ramses made his way towards the outskirts of the forest. While walking, a small display would appear above his left hand where he would be able to watch the fight fully. It wouldn't take long for him to reach forest's outskirts. At sight of the closest tree would he come to sit down and lean his back against it. A distance of ten meters was between him and two when he was standing watching, but now he had increased that distance to at least thirty-five meters. Asimov had also made its way back a little for about ten meters, but it stayed within a range where it would be able to get a clear picture of the fight and transmit it to Ramses.

As he stared at the display on his screen, the Lich wondered when the fight was going to be over.

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As Shichrio's headbutt travelled towards the lich's head, it would seem the lich had intended for a trade in blows again. Shichiro didn't mind this exchange this time around as his battle cast scale mail had absorbed the blow from the lich's retaliation. The lich  also seemed to have thrown a right knee whilst in the middle of his head butt. It was a trivial matter for Shichiro as he adjusted both of his arms downwards, placing his left palm over his right, aiming and directing his open hands at the femur of the lich's right knee in, slamming his palms onto it, halting the lich's knee strike a few inches just before it made contact with his stomach. Shortly afterwards, Shichiro had just thrown a simple kick towards the left shin of the lich with his right leg while Shichiro had the lich's right leg suspended in the air. It seems dealing actual damage to the lich would be quite troublesome as long as that strange magic he had up was still on him. No matter, he would continue to whittle down at it until he could forcefully dispel it and finally bring the criminal in question.

At some point, the other lich that was nearby had walked away from the rune knight and the wizard lord in order to do his own thing. Shichiro could feel less mana being taken from his body but of course the lich in front of him still remained. From now on, he'd be able to fight a bit easier knowing the other one had left.

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At the realisation of the fight being much more close quarters than previous fights, Odin cancelled his Wind spell, no longer requiring a lock on his foe as they stayed together. The headbutts were traded with one another, however the Lich's merely broke apart the cowl that protected the knight's head. Wasting no time, Odin would attempt another forehead strike towards the man's head, hoping to break through now that he didn't have his armour to protect him.

With both of the man's palms landing on Odin's thigh and stopping his attack, the Lich would retaliate by punching forward with both fists once more: his left aimed for Shichiro's right shoulder while his right fist looked to strike the man's outstretched arms from his previous block. It would not matter to Odin that his foe would strike his leg, as once again Greed would protect him. Odin's right leg was high and still bent, so he was able to snap from the joint and catch Shichiro in the man's lower torso. He was also conscious of the fact that he was running low on his own Mana. Thankfully, now aware of the other Lich's absence, Odin's Mana was once more his to command, and he would not be losing any more through someone else's intervention.

660/6400:

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A small yawn would come to escape from Ramses' mouth. It wasn't the cause of fatigue, no. The punches and kicks the two continuously exchanged only bored him. Looking at the screen above his wrist, Ramses would see the Lich land a hit on the berserker's head. The cowl that he wore broke away making Ramses realize that the battle may be over very soon. However, it was too early to guess which one would be the winner. If he were to judge a book by its cover then he would probably prematurely name the Lich as the future victor.

The defensive spell that coated the skeleton was very strong. Strong to the point that even Ramses was failing to copy it. Maybe if the Lich got away from being captured he would ask him about it? As for the who came from the forest, Ramses felt that he was also strong. The blows he through at the Lich held tremendous power and he didn't even cast a single spell. It seemed like the land of Fiore did indeed have powerful individuals.

Two spells had he already witnessed and memorized. It wouldn't be long before the battle heated up and he could see even more.

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The fight was coming to a close for them as they had exchanged blows time and time again. Having noticed the lich gear up for another head butt, Shichiro simply did the same by getting his head into position and retaliating with another headbutt of his own when the lich began his attack. This would cause another simultaneous exchange between the two of them with Shichiro's Battle Cast Hood taking the brunt of the damage. After the headbutt exchange had concluded, Shichiro's headgear had begun to crumble as it took all the damage it could withstand, breaking and no longer giving him protection. It was a small matter as it had done a good job of protecting him this far for when he really needed it and now it was up to him to finish the rest of this battle.

After halting the progression knee strike, Shichiro would simultaneously use his left hand to deliver a palm strike towards the spine of the lich, pushing him backwards, while swiftly gripping the femur of the skeleton with right hand and pulling the leg vertically from it's current position and pushing the leg towards the lich, forcing him to lean backwards, knocking him off balance in conjunction with the palm strike, interrupting his counterattacks with  Shichiro leaning his own body backwards in order to give himself some room to evade the incoming punches towards his person. When all was said and done, this should have been enough force to subdue his foe and get him ready to be taken away.

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Odin had miscalculated. He had presumed his own strength to be high enough, his mana pool deep enough. Neither of those were true, and he had underestimated his opponent. He had felt the hum of his phylactery, the soul casing almost begging him to summon it, to gain the additional mana that it provided and withstand many more strikes from the rune knight. However, in his vanity, Odin had refused the extra power, thinking he had enough without it. As the armour of his magic began to splinter and break apart, the Lich falling backwards and his consciousness starting to slip, he couldn't help but think about how close the fight had been. Perhaps, with more preparation, Odin could have won it. However the same could have been said for his foe. The Lich was the less skilled fighter, and that was why he lost. Now he'd likely face a jail cell in Era for his crimes.

He wondered about the other Lich too, if he was still in the area and what his plans were to do. The option for him to enter the guild hall, having shown interest and at least some level of strength even if it was purely through the abilities of a Lich, would be open for him to pursue, both as means of sanctuary from the captain-commander and to unlock new abilities, should he find himself having the strength to do so. Regardless, that was not Odin's focus for the matter. As his vision darkened, he fell to the ground, and wouldn't wake up until he was facing the dark concrete of Era's Dungeon.

-KO'd-

[Skipping Ramses.]

With his final strikes to the Wizard Lord, the task had been completed, he had managed to defeat this powerful opponent. Making sure he was truly unconscious, Shichiro had deactivated the effects of his battle cry in order to conserve what little mana he had left. It was truly a frightening experience but he wouldn't trade it for anything else, other than maybe money of course. With that, Shichiro brought his right hand to his lips, performing a sharp whistle as the Rune Knights he had talked about earlier came to apprehend the now unconscious Wizard Lord known as Odin.

With that, Shichiro began to look around for the other lich that had been near the fight at the beginning but couldn't spot it in the area at the moment. He probably went off to do his own thing before Shichiro could have a chance to interrogate him. Giving a slight shrug, he knew his job here was done as he had gotten his mark, although it was by a stroke of luck that he happened to find a wizard lord shooting flares into the sky. Well, now comes part two of the hard part of apprehending criminals, filling out a report of how it happened.

A captain under him had approached Shichiro wondering what happened that led up to the events of this capture. Shichiro just reached around the back of his neck with his right arm, scratching it nervously. He wasn't good at this sort of thing but he decided he'd try his best to explain what had happened up until this point. He told his captain that he had been visiting the town of Oak, doing odd jobs for the church and what not when suddenly a flare had been shot up into the sky and exploded like fireworks. When he looked into the sky, he traced the shot to a peculiar building he had never seen before from all his days of coming in and out of Oak.

So, following his intuition, he figured he should check it out and see what all of the fuss was about when he discovered two individuals in the distance. He explained that he immediately knew who one of the two were, which was the Wizard Lord known as Odin, Shichiro had said as he turned his head to look at the unconscious lich. So I decided this was the perfect chance to apprehend him. "Long story short, I confronted him and his friend, which I don't see anywhere anymore, told him to surrender and come quietly or I'd have to use force. As you can see, things didn't go the way that I wanted and well, I had to apprehend him in the end. As for the one I assume to be his accomplice, I don't know where he's gone nor do I know if he's involved with the Eternal Nightmare as a whole."

"For now, we'll just take Odin here to Era prison and question him about the whereabouts of his members. I'll have to put up a search warrant for the other individual that I saw conversing with him. If you guys need to get back to Era, take my airship. It'll get you guys there faster. I don't know how long he'll be knocked out but if you're going to take him in, do it soon," Shichiro had told the captain under him. The captain simply nodded before he instructed two seated knights that had accompanied him to cuff the unconscious Odin and bring him to Shichiro's airship so they could all get back to Era as quickly as possible. Placing his hands into his pockets, Shichiro walked back to the main part of Era in order to see what other things he could do.

As he walked he could see in the distance a ship ascending into the air and flying towards the direction of the city of Era. With that, Shichiro confirmed they had safely made it to the ship and now all Shichiro had to do was wait. Deciding to hit a bar, Shichiro decided to get a few drinks and rest before his group of knights returned and informed him that Odin was safely behind bars now. With a nod, Shichiro had gotten up and gotten out of the bar, letting out a sigh, as he escorted the Captain and Seated Knights as far as the borders of west Fiore before heading to his next destination.


[Exit.]

Watching all the events unfold on the transmitter, Ramses would simply come to rub his chin before rising from his position. He was quite confused on what just happened, but later on he would look over the recordings to get a better view of things. However, from what he could understand. There was a group of people operating in the land of Fiore that caught criminals. Cutting off the connection, Ramses would signal for Asimov to return to him. His companion's job was done, as well as his own. Taking one last glimpse at the large structure, Ramses would wonder what would happen if he ventured into it.

"Maybe that Lich could have explained the structure more. Too bad... I would have loved to see the outcome of my venture in it." muttered Ramses while walking deeper into the woods. During his journey today he had came across a variety of spells used. Some even he could perform now, so at least he gained a little from the small event. As he walked he had no clue on where his journeys would lead him. Maybe he would just end up finding the location of the group who were out catching criminals?

Exit

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