He didn't slow, not deliberately. Pavel kept his pace, but he didn't want to be tired by the time he encountered some sort of otherworldly monster as described in the notifications sent out.

At the same time, he was still wondering why they hadn't reported that there was a Squire missing in action, or let alone killed. Had she been betrayed? Or had she sacrificed herself for others to escape? He didn't know, personally he didn't want to know.

"Sergeant!" a voice echoed loudly from behind, from approximately fifteen minutes back where he came from. This corridor made everything strange. He couldn't tell how far he had gone, but he was sure he made progress.

How fast were they making progress? He wasn't going to look back, there was no reason to. If there were no enemies in this pa.s.sageway, there was no reason to be concerned about them, right?

The air was dry, and as he heaved, it felt like it was biting away at his throat. Not only was it drained of moisture, but it was sharp and hoa.r.s.e on the lungs.

Even as he was pacing himself, it felt like he was being slowly and deliberately drained of his stamina, purposely weakened to lag behind. His eyes s.h.i.+fted to the runes that adorned the walls, the glyphs which his daughter had etched onto the book that was on the table back at the camp.

There seemed to be meaning to them, though he didn't get a close look at the journal, it was clear that she had circled things and written down notes. Deciding to slow down to a quick stroll, he refused to stop moving and maneuvered himself closer to the wall on the far right side of the pa.s.sage.

There were a number of wolf-like ill.u.s.trations, things that looked akin to undead, disease, and others that looked more like after-life references and bonafide greatsword wielding warriors.

Finally, he came to a stop as he pressed his hand against the wall. The air was still cold and dry, stale even. Looking down either direction all he saw was the glowing runes fading to darkness.

There was no hint of the entrance he came in through, nor any of the rooms that might be ahead. Just total darkness which kept him from seeing either end. "How is this corridor so long...?"

He started back up again, running a hand along his neck as he secured the good luck charm his daughter had made, the wooden doll she had carved for him especially. Taking on a jog once more, he neglected the continued echoing sounds of his unit calling after him. There was no use in returning their calls, waiting for them could lead to Neia's death if she wasn't dead already.

"What... The h.e.l.l is this place...?" Though he couldn't hear his footsteps due to his enchanted boots, the man could very well feel how heavy each of his movements had gotten. "It's like it is the gateway to h.e.l.l or something, but why is it so cold?"

"Hm, you're not wrong, but you're not right either," an aristocratic voice sounded behind him, one he didn't recognize, which caused the ranger to draw his magic bow and skid to a stop. Using his momentum while bringing his body low as he drew back the bow string as he turned around.

Now facing a man who appeared to have manifested out of nowhere, he raised a brow as he had his weapon aimed directly at the being. The first observations he took note of was the dark half-plate armor, blue robes over and underlaying it, along with a white-furred tattered blue cloak.

His appearance seemed almost elegant a n.o.ble like, he even had a short clean vand.y.k.e-styled beard. Pale peach skin and two-toned eyes. Yet the thing that took his eyes the most, were the two wolf-like ears that protruded from the top of his head.

Every part of him looked human until he got to that one little detail in his appearance.

"Who are you!? Identify yourself!" Pavel snapped as he rose to a half-crouch, ready to move out of the way of any probable attacks. He could see his breath whilst he exhaled calmly out from his nose.

"So... You are the one related to the Squire, how quaint." those gold and blue hues traveled over the much smaller human ahead of him. "What sharp eyes you have, Baraja. Very much father like daughter, wouldn't you say?" His words caused the one known as The Black or the Mad-Eyed Archer to tense up, he knew who he was.

"Where is my daughter?" His fingers were tightening around the bow string. "What have you done to her?" Then, he paused lightly seeing the man staring back at him unflinching. This humanoid being, with wolf ears, seemed to see him as nothing more than an annoyance. That was the scary part, he wasn't showing fear nor great aggression, but he was egging him on.

Seeing as Pavel had taken the bait, he grinned a devious grin, "Your daughter's safe... For now." It seemed the ranger was taken by his emotions, far too distracted as wasn't a battlefield, it was a personal matter.

"For now...? What are you planning on doing to her?" Pacing in a slight semi-circle, the creature's form s.h.i.+fted to compensate, as if he was compensating for his backside. Glaring his eyes at the being, he was curious about what he was covering.

"If you wish to see her alive, you will surrender your bow to the ground in which stand on. Otherwise, you will die here." Fenrir didn't care very much for the man's questions, but he was going to be blunt and straight up with the man. "You don't want that, now do you?"

"My Unit will be here at any moment, you think you can threaten me into submission?" Pavel tightened his grip on his bow once more, fire clearly being seen in those feral eyes of his.

"I really like those little blue orbs of hers," the wolf uttered aloud as his tongue would then travel along the inner walls of his lips, the tip poking out along the way. The very gesture proposing a s.e.xual inclination.

That's when Pavel let two arrows free, sending them directly at the wolf's chest, only for them to dissipate into the air upon contact with the armor itself. "What...?" He felt a tinge in his chest.

Fenrir didn't move, he was completely unfazed by the attack, he just remained smiling towards the human ranger from the nine colors. "You have about five minutes to surrender. Make your choice wisely, for I am sure your Unit will also depend on your answer."

"You would slaughter my men, simply for following after me?"

"Your Paladins decided to attack me after entering my home, I didn't kill any of them, despite how much I wanted to." That was when it struck Pavel, this creature hadn't been the aggressor at all. At least not from the words it had shared, and its intelligence... He couldn't call it a beast, now could he? Lowering his bow slightly, he stared at the being.

"Is that your surrender, Baraja?" These words had the man drop his bow to the ground, surrendering it as if literally following the man's words. He even removed his scabbard from his belt, dropping it to the ground with the weapon still sheathed inside.

That was up until he turned his head to the side slightly as if to look behind himself.

At that moment, Neia peered out from behind the cloak. Father and daughter matching gazes near instantly, it was as if they were looking into a mirror thanks to the untamed seeming eyes they shared.

"Eh...? You're alright?" Pavel was slightly confused, his eyes tracking back to the strange eared man. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Oskar Luminus tripped and shoved me to the ground, in the process of taking my book, to be eaten by the man who chased them off." Tears were welling upon in her eyes, making them glossy. Neia then took two steps out from behind Fenrir, to move beside him, only for the eight-foot-tall being to place his hand on her shoulder. It was as if he was telling her she was going far enough. "Those cowards didn't even use Detect Evil before attacking and retreating!"

"Betrayed by her superiors, her comrades, she was left to my mercy and I could've done anything I wanted." His head slowly lulled to the side, as his eyes trickled back on over to her. This was something she already knew, considering he had coped a feel when he first picked her up.

Pavel's eyes were going back and forth between the two of them, before resting her eyes on the bow which was in the scabbard at her side. It didn't look like any sword he had ever seen.

There was even a ring on her finger, something that he didn't remember her having despite hardly ever seeing her. His gaze then moved to the other man's hands, noting two rings.

"Who are you... Even...?" Pavel stood there with his arms dangling at his sides, he wanted to run over and take his daughter by the hand. Part of him wanted to entirely embrace her.

How long had it been since he had seen his daughter? How long had it been since she had hugged him the moment she saw him? She had become independent, she had grown so much and yet... As he watched those tears roll down her face as she could only look at him, kept in place by a single hand that was on her shoulder, very close to her neck.

It was as if she was on a leash and he was behind a gla.s.s wall.

"How rude of me... My name is Fenrir, Fenrir the G.o.d-Killer, Patron G.o.d of Wolves and Shadows. You are in the Citadel of Hel, my home. If you wish for your wife to survive, you will help identify her if the Paladins storm the Citadel, or you... Could you walk back outside and join her?"

Pavel stared at the man as he had given his name and his t.i.tles, his epithets being rather offputting, to say the least for the mortal man. "Patron... G.o.d?" In a way, he didn't quite believe this man to be a G.o.d, despite the fact knowing whoever had moved this ma.s.sive construct here had to be a being of power themselves. "You're aware of what is going on outside?"

"I can see as far as the Re-Estize Kingdom's furthest territories, and well past the Holy Kingdom's maritime fleet. I can even peer into that of Theocracy's Capital and the Elven Forests..." Now it just sounded as if he was boasting, but it was true, for the most part.

Pavel's gaze moved to his daughter, who seemingly nodded as she wiped her tears upon her tunic's sleeve. His eyes then fixated on the thumb which was caressing the bare area where the stump of her neck joins with her shoulder.

Was Fenrir comforting his daughter? Pavel couldn't quite tell if that was an advance or otherwise. If he could pick up his bow and take aim, he was sure he could end the probable threat. At the same time, there were doubts that this creature would even give him the time to act.

Fenrir could see the expression deeply rooted within the elite warrior's eyes, he was scrutinizing his touch, it almost made him openly chuckle. Instead, though, he slowly released his hold on Neia's shoulder.

Immediately the Squire looked up to Fenrir, batting her eyes up at him curiously, before taking a short sprint over to her father. She immediately wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Pavel sighed as he held the back of his daughter's head, squeezing her tightly within her arms. "When I saw you weren't in the camp by the wall... And learned you were left behind, I couldn't..."

Slackening his hold slightly, he began to observe the change in her hair and the complexion of her skin. She had changed since he had last seen her, but she seemed much different.

"Bare the thought of losing your little girl?" Fenrir huffed as he finished the sentence of the Ranger as he walked over and placed his hands on their shoulders.

Her hair was softer, it had a brighter light to it and her skin seemed almost flawless. Had she been using beauty products or going through treatments of some sort? His eyes moved to Fenrir once more before he noticed a strange aura about him. Something that he had missed during their immediate confrontation due to his emotions getting in the way.

That was when he heard a loud snapping sound, and the ranger glanced down to find his magic bow which he had placed on the ground was broken in two. His eyes were wide at the sight of this.

"You won't be needing it," Fenrir uttered under his breath, clear enough for the human to hear.

Without a second more, their surroundings had changed in a hardly noticeable flash of color. They were now standing in the center of what appeared to be a solid black road with white dotted lines, with concrete curbs, green gra.s.s, and homes coated in plastic sidings.

Powerlines littered the area above their heads, along with a brilliant false sky, similar to the one Neia had seen on the first floor but very much different. There were a number of clouds lining the edges. It was clear the floor was circular in shape as if they were in the center of a snowglobe. The sky above was stuck in perpetual twilight, stars dotted the skybox above. It was unlike anything either of them had ever seen before.

The two humans parted from one another and looked at the sights around them. It was like looking at an alien terrain. "Twilight..." Uttered Neia as she stared up at the sky, then over towards Fenrir. "This is the place you called 'Twilight Zone,' the floor Nidrennyius oversaw?"

"The Floor?" Blinking Pavel hardly understood what he was seeing, "What is this place...? Who is Nidrennyius?" He was obviously confused and he had every right to be considering how disorienting Hel's Citadel was designed to be.

"You're still within the Citadel, this is my creation, and it is no illusion." Fenrir gave a slight gesture towards the homes which had driveways and full modern-day appliances.

The Twilight Zone was one of the most detailed data hogging floors within the entire citadel. It turned a modern suburban center into a ma.s.sive maze. Though after learning from Nidrennyius, it appeared that this entire place had become real, even the fruit-bearing apple trees.

"So... Because you created this, you fancy yourself a G.o.d?" Pavel scratched his chin at this before narrowing his eyes on a ma.s.sive Angel which consisted of dozens of wings, hovered overhead.

It was Nidrennyius, a First Sphere angel known as an Ophan.

"Father... He has Angels who serve him, ones that can speak. They're nothing like the ones the Paladins can summon, they have a mind of their own..." Neia spoke from her own accounts. She had met each one of them, heck, she had been practically living in the Throne room since her training began. At least except for when she was in the hot springs.

"You are a G.o.d...?" Pavel was letting everything catch up, and he could see that his daughter believed in the very facts she was spewing. "You created those angels?"

Fenrir simply nodded with an unamused expression, it didn't look like he felt to need to spell it all out for the human. Though it was clear the ranger was still bitter over the broken bow.

However, it would give his unit good reason to believe he had either been killed or taken. It was all the more reason to get their troops moving outside, wasn't it? A faint smile could be seen across his lips.

"Why did you bring us here, Fenrir-sama?" Neia asked as she balled up her hands at her sides, her gaze occasionally leaving him and observing nearby curious trinkets and props like a random pink flamingo.

"Throughout the duration of his stay here, until the situation is resolved, he will choose one of these dwellings as his temporary housing. They are optimized for families of four to six individuals," Fenrir was now speaking a.n.a.lytically and he was hardly trying to sell it to them.

"You want me to stay in this strange place?" No matter which way Pavel looked, this place felt far too organized and looked easy to get lost in. Though he doubted he would be lost for long if that did occur. "Will my daughter be staying with me?" He narrowed his eyes on Fenrir.

"That is up to her, but she will continue her training under me during normal hours of the day." Fenrir crossed his arms over his chest as if expecting this Pavel guy to try throwing his fists, which would be inevitable as useless as his bow had been earlier.

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"Do you really have any intentions of letting us go?"

"Us?" Fenrir looked over the man, "Your daughter is now MINE. The only one I will let go is you." He emphasized the idea that Neia was now his, as she had recited an oath to him even if it was merely to appease him.

"What do you mean by yours...?" The corner of Pavel's mouth twitched.

Neia moved between the two of them, sensing continued discord, "Father please..." She had her hands out in front of him as if to calm her father down as she used a pleading tone, he hesitantly began to step down.