Carpe Diem

The ex-guildmaster of Jupiter looked at everyone around him. They were all ready to kill him. One single move from him would probably make them rush in and attack.

"Oh? It seems that I'm outnumbered," he said rather calmly. He was confident that he could defeat all of them. What power did they have? He had the laws of this world at his fingertips. Their amateur hacking couldn't compare. He was about to end them, but decided that it would be too boring to end it here. He needed a more stunning victory, a much more entertaining battle.

Cecil pointed at Wen. "You really want to end me? I'll be waiting for you at the headquarters."

With those last words, he vanished. It took about a minute until they were sure that Cecil was really gone.

"I thought we could end it right here," Wen said to himself, but he knew their chances of winning were slim. Several of their members were already near exhaustion from all the fighting.

"We'll get him next time," Alice tried to cheer him up.

"Is everyone alright?"

The people around him gave nods and thumbs up as replies. That was until Epsilon made her way towards them with her marionette carrying the unconscious Magnus. The others moved to give her some walking space.

"Magnus is in critical condition. I managed to stop the bleeding for now, but his injuries are almost fatal," said Epsilon with a serious face. "He either needs to get to a hospital or get miraculously healed by some overpowered ability."

Tank frowned at the thought of hospitals. "That's gonna be a huge bill if he has no insurance."

"That dragon fire healed our wounds," said Lyria. "It might be strong enough to save Magnus."

"We don't even know where the dragon went or where it came from," Sed said.

"I saw it fly up north. We might still be able to catch up with it."

Kimmy transformed into a flying carp. "Kimmy can probably fly fast enough," said Alice as she climbed on top of her pet.

"I'll go," Luna volunteered. "I still have a lot of energy left to chase after a dragon."

"Me too," said Lyria. Suddenly, she remembered something. "Wait. I need to check on Vi!"

Lyria dashed towards the makeshift prison where Lyngvi was kept. Alice and Luna followed behind her. When Lyria kicked open the prison doors, she saw an empty cell. Lyngvi had managed to break out.

He was gone.

Lyria stood silent. In the end, he went back. Why did she even hope that he would change his mind and ally with them? She was disappointed that her words were not enough to convince him.

Luna and Alice stood beside her, giving her the comfort of company. Lyria said nothing, but they already had an idea why she was down.

"If Vi decided to side with the enemy after all that, then I won't hesitate to kill him next time we meet," said Lyria. Her eyes told her friends that she was serious.

Alice was frightened by her friend's words. "K... Kill!?"

"Damn right, girl! Kick his ass again!" Luna encouraged her.

Lyria left the prison. "Let's go find that dragon."

Frisk's voice came on. "Ladies, Wen wanted to tell you to head to the location of the temporary hideout after locating the dragon. I'll send you the coordinates."

"Thanks Frisk."

"No problem. Good luck, ladies! Stay alive."

Astrid caught up to them. "Are you alright?"

"Astrid!" Luna and Lyria said in unison.

"Everyone already moved to the new hideout. I figured you'd need some reinforcement, just in case we run into trouble. I'm going with you."

Alice climbed on top of Kimmy the carp. "Everyone, hop on!" The three other girls tried to get on top of the carp.

"Alright! Let's catch ourselves a dragon and save Magnus!" Luna was pumped up, but had a hard time getting on the carp. "Its scales are kind of slippery."

"Kimmy! Help her!" Alice commanded.

With one fin slap, Luna was moved on top of the carp like a sack of potatoes. "Thanks, Kimmy. We're ready to go!"

"Carpe diem," Astrid said with a peace sign.

"No puns, Astrid!"

Kimmy slowly ascended and gained altitude. As the carp did so, Frisk's voice came on like an intercom, "Good morning, ladies, this is your captain speaking. We expect to have clear weather and less turbulence. Please fasten your seatbelts during take-off and do not remove them until the seat belt sign is off. On behalf of all the crew members, thank you for choosing Frisk Airlines."

"What the hell, Frisk," said Luna.

"Sorry. I wanted to lighten up the mood a bit."

"Our mood will lighten if you have some good news for us," said Lyria.

"I do have a piece of information that might help. I noticed a few trees that fell near where you're headed. It might have been caused by that dragon crashing. I'll send the coordinates."

"Thanks, Frisk."

"No problem, Ladies. Leave it me, the ever reliable Frisk. Remember to subscribe to my cha—" Lyria hit mute before Frisk could finish.

Kimmy flew over the spot Frisk indicated in their maps. There were several trees that showed signs of damage, like a huge creature crashed into them. However, there was no visible sign of the dragon. The girls looked around carefully for more clues.

"Did it move elsewhere?" Lyria wondered.

"It's a huge dragon. It shouldn't be hard to find," said Astrid. "The skies are clear, so it's probably not in the air. Perhaps it's hiding in a cave?"

Alice squinted her eyes. "There's a cave entrance down below."

"That might be it. Let's go check it out."