11 Chapter 11

"I...apologize for that Warrior's actions affecting me to act as such." The Priest Schwanhild said in a composed dignified manner. "As I was about to say, I am Twinkle Fai Schwanhild of House Twinkle. I am a Priest and will be offering support magic so the members of this party may succeed in their duties." 

Michael raised an eyebrow at that roundabout apology, where she didn't apology and just blamed Dust. He considered saying something, but a look at Dust just showed him pouting, and overly acting his pain.

Also the girl was low-key insinuating that the current party would fail, or not do as well, without her help. Megumin didn't seem to notice, Yunyun was too shy to comment (Michael thought he might have to talk to her, if she was bothered by what's said), Sedol was still flexing, and Heinz was the only once to seem annoyed, but all he did was raise an eyebrow before huffing.

Michael mentally shrugged and let it go, he wasn't the girl's father, and Dust wasn't a close friend that he felt the need to act on his behalf, and everyone else mostly ignored the Priest girl beyond her introduction.

"So, nice to get acquainted with everyone. Now moving on, Chris, I believe you have a plan--"

"OBJECTION!" Aqua shouted with her arm pointing out.

"What is it?" Michael sighed.

"We don't need a Priest around!" She pointed at the shocked Schwanhild. "There is literally no point to her role in this party. And she's stealing my gimmick!"

"And of course that's the problem." Michael facepalm, it was mostly to hide his twitching lips.

"Um, Lady, I mean Miss Aqua, there is no reason to worry. With Hild-chan is here for to buff our party, while you focus on healing. No one is taking that away from you." Chris said nervously trying placate the irritated Aqua.

"Her role is redundant! I can do all of that! Heal and Buff!" Aqua objected.

"True, I understand how some people are just copies of other members of the party, and don't add anything new or unique to the table." Megumin said with a "wise" nod.

Sedol and Heinz were nodding along with the Crimson Demon. Michael wanted to ask all three if they have any type of self-awareness.

"Megumin...you of all people shouldn't say that." Yunyun found herself saying.

"Agreed, little miss isn't likely to add to the dynamic...unless she was going to wack Darkness with her staff." Dust stood next to the two muscled adventurers, eyes closed and also nodded.

Schwanhild looked like she was considering to wack Dust with her staff, but held herself back from repeating her earlier behavior.

"Hear me, Arch Priest who holds the same name as a goddess, I'm..." It looked like she was about to go on a tirade, when a look and a wave from Michael to come over stopped her. She looked nervous for a moment, before she walked toward him, the argument between Aqua and Chris continued in the background.

...It kinda almost looked like Aqua was successfully pressuring Chris to concede. Odd, Chris seemed like she was used to dealing with eccentric and pushy personalities, if her friendship with Darkness was anything to go by. Thankfully she held on due to seeing my action.

"Miss Schwanhild," Michael covered his mouth from the side holding Aqua, and spoke in a low voice. "As a noble, I'm sure you had to deal with different type of people, but if you want to move things along with minimal fuss, your best bet is just to appease Aqua by praising her."

"What!?" Schwanhild almost would have shouted, but Michael's whispering manner caused her to emulate him. "While she looks like one of high bearing, why should I lower myself to her? Explain yourself, Dark Paladin?"

"Sometimes you'll meet people that don't care about your station, and can fight back if you act on a perceived offense." Schwanhild scowled but patiently listened to Michael (he hoped her listening to him, is due to a curiosity about him from their previous interaction, and not some weird crush). "In this case, if you were to tell Aqua something like, you wish to learn from her, she'll change her tune the other way around, and be the one defending your place in the party. That way, no one has any criticism to stand on." Of course, Michael can force the issue and say the Priest was staying in the party for this quest, but this way seemed more organic, and was likely to cause less friction.

Schwanhild pouted as she considered his words, then slowly nodded. She moved toward the still heated Aqua going off on Chris. Wait, Aqua, why are you pulling Chris's ear?

"Excuse me, Lady Arch Priest!" Schwanhild said in a high voice to get Aqua's attention.

Chris looked thankful at the intrusion, and slipped away once Aqua turned her focus on the little Priest.

"What?" Aqua scowled and glared. It failed to look intimidating.

"My dream is to fulfill my family's expectation, and become an Arch Priest, nay, to become the greatest Arch Priest of all. Thus, I wish to learn from the example of one of my seniors, and witness what a True Arch Priest is like on the battlefield." Schwanhild spoke with a hand on her heart.

"Eh, eeeh?" Aqua looked taken aback, before a blush and a smile came to her. "Hmm, I see. You know what, I guess you should be in the party after all." She said with closed eyes, and holding her chin up high.

Schwanhild blinked in shock. "It was that easy?" She muttered to herself.

"I suppose it's only right, that I the Great Healer Aqua should show this newbie the ropes." Aqua put her hands on her hips. 

"Didn't you become an adventurer just last week?" Michael asked with a smirk.

"Shussssh, quiet!" Aqua said with a conspiratory tone, finger on her lips. "Forget about the small details. Just live in the moment, okay?"

"By the way," Aqua said to Schwanhild. "I can't sense any divine favor on you, which goddess are you following?" 

"Ah, while I am taking the Cleric Job Path, I haven't chosen a deity to follow yet. Father said it's not something to worry about till I'm near Arch Priest Class. It's why I don't have recovering or purifying spells yet." Schwanhild casually explained. 

"That is definitely not how that works." Chris muttered. 

"I see," Aqua grinned. "Why don't I tell you about the Axis Church?" She said taking the girl to the side, like a shady salesman. 

Michael shook his head in amusement. Still, things seemed to have calmed down in the group, and Chris took her place back in the center. 

"Ahem," The Thief coughed into her fist drawing attention back to her. "If we could finally talk about the quest?" She looked around to see finally, thankfully, no one objecting. "So, here's the situation..."

Chris proceeded to give a quick summary that a sentient cursed sword had taken hold of Darkness, granting her massive sword skills for the price of her sanity. Michael supposed it would work as an excuse to save face for Darkness, after taking away the sword and destroying it. 

"Where did such an evil weapon come from?" Schwanhild asked, frowning. She came back with Aqua a while ago. Michael should sense a pale glow of holy aura in the small Priest, while had Aqua looked smug and happy. 

Chris looked subtly at Michael and Aqua at Schwanhild's question. The Water Goddess and Dark Paladin looked aside at each other, and gave a near invisible nod. 

"It definitely came from Garrius Smithy." Michael said neutrally. 

"Yep. And that's all that we know." Aqua said in an equal calm tone. It looked like she wanted to embellish her excuse more, but Michael grabbed and squeezed her hand, to tell her to hold her peace. 

"Hmm, I see." The female Priest nodded seriously, not noticing the byplay at all. 

Michael gave a quiet sorry for that old blacksmith, before remember how much of a pain in the ass he was, and retracted the mental apology. 

"So, here's what we're going to do. Dust, Sedol, Heinz and Michael will fight the Enthralled Darkness with hit and run attacks. One attack then pull back, we don't her to gain more power the longer she fights one person, till she overcomes them." Dust and Sedol nodded. Heinz looked like he wanted to object, but a glare from Chris had him shrug and nod as well. "In between attacks, Yunyun will throw spells to throw off her concentration. The goal isn't to harm her but to distract her." Chris said, which had the tepid Crimson Demon nervously nod. 

"You don't need to worry about harming Darkness," Michael said to Yunyun. "Her Vitality stat is somewhere in the triple digits, you don't need to worry about actually managing to injure her."

"Eh, it's a hundred or higher!?" Yunyun said wide-eyed, while the guy adventurers didn't seem surprised. "...It's almost kinda like..." Yunyun gave a not so subtle look at her rival. 

"What?" Megumin said at Yunyun's look, sounding irritated but not knowing why. 

"Ah, nothing. She just reminded me of someone." Yunyun looked away. 

"What's that suppose to mean?" Megumin started poking Yunyun with her staff. Especially poking with gritted teeth at her chest. 

"Okay," Michael spoke to get the discussion back on track. "So during all of this, I'm guessing Aqua and Schwanhild will buff the party before we start, and then apply heal as needed throughout the fight?" Michael differed to Chris, letting give her approval and act as party leader for this mission. 

"Yes," Chris nodded. "During all that, I'll use Steal at the appropriate moment, and remove the evil blade from Darkness."

"Wait, you forgot about me!" Megumin cried out. 

"You have the most important job," Michael said, gaining the little Arch Wizard's intense eager attention. "You'll be the one to destroy the sword with your Explosion Magic once and for all."

Megumin coughed embarrassingly, and smiled to herself. "Hm, hm, I suppose you see the importance of my power. Very, well, I shall lend you my might, Michael."

Chris then called everyone to review the plan and their roles, one more time, to be sure everyone knew what to do. 

"Ah, Megumin, quick favor. " Michael called out. 

After discussing something with her for a bit, and a quick look at Megumin's Adventurer Card, the Crimson Demon went back to the group for the last strategy session before the mission. 

"Michael, Michael," Aqua called out from next to him. 

"Yes, Aqua?" 

"Since we're discussing the plan, doesn't that mean something will go wrong?"

"No, that only happens in movies because the audience is being shown the plan, but the people making and discussing the plan would naturally know it. Thus whether the plan works or not isn't know to the characters in the story. Only the audience knows depending on whether they see the plan or not." Michael explained. 

"Ah, I see, that makes sense. I suppose we don't need to worry, since with how awesome our group is, the plan would definitely go without a hitch." Aqua said proudly. 

"...Why do you do this?"

===x===

The plan went wrong. 

It started right from the get go. 

"I see, so you brought my own friend to fight against me." Darkness was in the standard knight pose in the field where they left her, hand on the ground stabbed sword. Her shiver was ruining any dignified image she was trying to hold on to. "I suppose there would be similarities between Michael and Master after all." 

"Please don't make comparisons between me and that thing." Michael said in a tired, dry tone. He noticed that she still had some of the provision he prepared for her. He supposed it's good she's at least not starving. 

[Like hell I want to be compared to that milktoast sob] The Sword said back. 

"I see, so that's a Cursed Sword." Megumin said dramatically. 

"Darkness," Chris spoke up. "Don't worry, I'm gonna save you."

"Chris, I'm actually--"

['Save her' huh?] The Sword interrupted. [Oh please give it your best shot, let's see you try and save someone that doesn't want to be saved. Isn't that right, slave?]

"Hmmmph! Yes, Master." Darkness moaned. 

"That vile sword, to make the noble Crusader speak like this." Schwanhild gasped, almost not believing what she was seeing. She then narrowed her eyes, in hardened resolve. "We will definitely destroy that disgusting thing."

[You're welcome to try, you Loli Nazi!] The Sword shouted back. Upon seeing the confusing that her not getting the insult, the Sword changed tactics. [After all, everyone knows the White Mages are the most useless party members, that can't do anything on their own. Why, you're no different than that idiotic goddess who can even beat some pathetic toads to save her life]

""WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING USELESS/STUPID!!"" Aqua and Schwanhild roared and dash forward to attack. Darkness while stunned readied herself none the less. 

"W-Wait, that's not your roles!" Chris shouted to no effect. 

Schwanhild cast Smite on her staff, covering it in the energies of her faith in herself. Aqua summoned her staff and drew on her divine power to cast God Requiem. 

Darkness moved, blocking Schwanhild's strike, before following it up by shoulder slamming the Priest into the oncoming goddess, who in her effort not to hit Schwanhild, ended up dispersing her spell and tripped on Schwanhild, as they both rolling on the ground. 

"Hmph, so she actually can fight now!" Heinz exclaimed before running forward to engaged Darkness, also forgetting he was suppose to attack once and pull back. 

"MUSCLES!" Sedol shouted and jumped into the fray as well. 

"Why is this suddenly serious?" Dust cried out and he ran forward as well. He kept a bit of a distance from the two forward fighters to see when he could attack, but couldn't help but feel that this fight wasn't as easy as he expected. 

When Darkness parried every slash Heinz made toward her, before slamming Sedol's oncoming sword aside, spinning and slashing him with the broadside of her blade, Dust cried at being right. 

[You worthless sad, pathetic sacks of shits. You think gathering up will help you? No, that just means more blood bags to cut open. And you, stupid bitch, stop going easy on them] The Sword said before increasing the electricity on Darkness. 

"Sorry, Master~!" She happily shouted. 

For Michael however this situation worked out fine. He had grabbed Aqua and Schwanhild in the beginning after they fell and pulled them back.

"Cast attack and defense buffs on the guys, they are getting their asses kicked out there." Michael told them. 

And they were. Despite outnumbering Darkness three-to-one, Darkness was not only holding her own, but actually pushing the three adventurers back. Every time one of them manages to land a hit, it never becomes a lucky strike again. Either Darkness will adjust to avoid it, or to take the hit in a way she liked, and also didn't hinder her. Not only that but the sword moves she is hit by once surprise her once, afterward she knows it and would even incorporate it into her own style. 

Heinze likely didn't notice, but was feeling very uncertain throughout the fight. Dust who realized this was actually freaking out. Sedol just kept attacking. 

Throughout it all, Chris only observed the fight, calmly seeing how it was going, and looking for a chance to use her skill to disarm Darkness of the evil blade. Michael could see surprise, pride and joy when she saw how Darkness was fighting, which turned to worry the more Darkness seemed to look happy with how the sword was shocking and insulting her friend. 

Aqua and Schwanhild followed Michael's commend, causing the three male adventurers to become faster and more durable, which only excited Darkness more, as she put more effort into the fight, to compensate this new difference in ability. The Sword was laughing all the while, between insulting Darkness, the adventurers and electrocuting Darkness throughout everything. 

"Megumin, draw on your magic, but don't cast your spell. Be on standby, till I give you an opening." Michael order, eyes on the fight. 

"Hmph, very well, I suppose I will hold back my dark power for now!" Megumin responded, feeling excitement at seeing this strategy coming together. A strategy that needed her as a pivotal point. 

"Yunyun, when you find an opportunity, cast a thunder type spell once, and then hold and prepare a Flash spell."

"Yes!" She responded keeping an sharp eye on the fight. It would be tough to cast a spell, but Lightning was a very fast spell and at some point, the Crusader will need to pull back to not be overwhelmed. Yunyun waited and waited...

There!

Darkness had jumped back to get a moment to breath before dashing back in, to battle the adventurers. 

"Lightning!" The electric spell was fired, moving at seemingly the speed of its name. 

It hit and enveloped Darkness. 

"Eh?" 

Both Yunyun and Darkness look confused, as the Crusader couldn't notice an effect. 

[Ha! You call that a thunder spell! I'm hitting this slut with more of this shit, than you can do in a year] The Sword shouted at Yunyun. 

"Aaaaah, I'm sorry, Michael." Yunyun found herself starting to cry at her failure, and the blades words. 

"That stupid lump of iron is getting too full of itself." Megumin said darkly. "Maybe it's time to teach it what making light of a Crimson Demon means."

"No," Michael calmly placed a hand on both Crimson Demon's shoulders, calming them down. "Everything is working exactly as planned." He told them, to their surprised confusion. "It now thinks Yunyun doesn't have anything that can harm it. So the next part..."

Michael explained to them what to do and waited. He told Aqua and Schwanhild to prepared spells of their own, and when to cast them. Schwanhild was surprised at what she was asked to do but nodded when he told her to trust him.

"Don't worry, everyone will get out of this alive and well. ...Except that sword, of course." His words had such a surety to them Schwanhild found she couldn't do anything but nod, and trust that he knew what he was doing. 

Michael kept observing the battle, like Chris was doing. The Thief looked toward him, and an understanding passed between them. She had heard his plan with Yunyun earlier. Chris gave him a nod of understanding which he returned. Michael looked back to the fight, and projected a single long and slender rapier-like sword with a short hilt. He kept himself at ready, tensing his muscles to explode in action at any moment. 

Darkness knocked back all three adventurers, she was starting to pant a bit from exhaustion now. Sedol, Heinz and Dust stood up, each shouting or crying their own battle cry, and Darkness started to dash forward to meet them. 

"Now!" Michael shouted. 

"Flash!" Yunyun cast. 

The spell caused an incredible and wide spread flash of light. 

"WAAAAH!" Aqua cried out having looked at the origin of the spell directly. Thankfully Schwanhild didn't do the same. 

"Hugh, what's this?" Darkness cried out, she felt something sharp throw toward her. She heard a blade cut through the wind, and completely miss her. 

"Steal!" Darkness heard her friend shout her signature move. 

"NO!" Darkness shouted, and held onto her master with everything she had. 

The light from Flash died down...

And Darkness was still holding the Enchanted Sword. 

"Master!" The Crusader shouted in elation. 

"Eh? What the heck is this?" Chris had a bag containing food Michael made for Darkness within it. 

[You know, Thief. It's Chris, right?I'm gonna be real pissed if your Luck is actually good, because that would mean that stupid lunch box had more value than me] The Sword said, annoyance in it's tone. 

"Her Luck is actually the best I've ever seen, Master." Darkness helpfully added, 

[...] The Sword was quiet. 

Then it electrocuted Darkness harder. 

"HMMMPH!" She smiled, moaning happily. 

"Dammit," Chris cursed. "I can't believe I failed, I guess I'll have to--GUHH!" Chris fell on on knee, electric sparks around her. "What? Paralysis?" 

[You're apparently my Pet's closest friend. Be glad I'm just putting out for the duration of this fight]

"Dust!" Michael called out. "Get Chris away from there." 

"B-But, there's sparks on her." 

"Do it now!" Michael shouted. 

"EEEK!" Dust cried out and in fear, and ran picking up Chris and pulling her away from the fight, while crying out in pain from static shock every once in a while. 

[So, you'll finally enter the field, huh Michael. ...Pet why aren't you moving?] The Sword said in confusion, upon noticing Darkness standing still. 

"I...I can't..." Darkness said wide-eyed. 

[You] It cried out toward Michael. [What did you do?]

"Oh just a little old exorcist trick." Michael smirked.

Stabbed to the ground on Darkness's shadow, was a Black Key. A weapon for fighting demons and vampires, and one of the best at immobilizing opponents. 

"Ah...I'm completely helpless." Darkness panted in excitement.

"Yeah, sorry Darkness. I wanna say this up front, this is gonna sting a bit." Michael said as he cast Reinforcement on Darkness. He may not have studied her body enough to cast Empowerment, but for now her defense should be twice to three times it's effective value. "Aqua! Schwanhild!" He called out and jumped back. 

"Acknowledged, Dark Paladin." Said Schwanhild. 

"You got it, Michael." Aqua called out. 

Both Arch Priest and Priest cast their buff spells on Darkness. 

""GUARD UP!""

[Why are you raising her dura...no. No, you can't be. You cruel and crazy sunnvabitch! Isn't she your comrade!?] The Sword shouted in panic. 

"What? What's about to happen, Master?" Darkness asked.

"Hmph," Michael chuckled. "You clearly done know me. Yes Darkness is a friend, and I've made her the safest woman in this kingdom at the moment. As for you? The Blessings you had in your creation makes me not want to give you any chance to be lucky. So, I'm ending it all now. Megumin!" Michael called out, and made sure everyone else was away from the Crusader. 

"And now the time of reckoning had arrived. Darkness blacker than black, darker than dark..." Megumin threw away her eye-patch and began casting her one and only spell. 

Micheal thought back to his talk with Megumin, and how he solidified this plan in his mind, as a backup should Chris fail. 

===x===

"What is it? Do you wish to see my Explosion firsthand to assert it's power?" Megumin said, a hand on her hips, and one holding her staff.

"No, no," he chuckled. "I'm sorry if this is a bit personal, but can I see your Adventurer Card?"

"Eh, that is..." Megumin looked unsure. He likely wouldn't figured out her "small problem" from a look at her Card, but she didn't want him to suspect anything, till she conned made her way into his party. 

"I just want to see how high your Explosion's potential damage is, as I'm worried on how it might seriously affect Darkness if it landed near her." Michael said. "And we can't afford you demonstrating your magic lest we lose the element of surprise against the evil sword."

"Ah, I see, I see." Megumin said proudly, imagining how the Dark Paladin feared the destruction her magic can bring, and would shout for his allies to take over, as she shattered the wicked blade to dust. 

She handed Michael her Adventurer Card, and who scrolled down to Explosion Spell (the only spell lit up, he noted), and looked to the numbers (for MP needed to cast the spell and damage output) next to it. Michael had seen Darkness's Card before, and experienced her durability himself. 

Michael made a few mental calculations, and saw that it was possible for Darkness to survive Megumin's spell without any buff spells. However he was now sure that with buff spells from Aqua, Schwanhild and him, Darkness would definitely survive even if hit with an Explosion. The sword on other hand wouldn't. 

===x===

"...The ultimate attack magic, EXPLOSION!" 

An impressive tower of fiery destruction fell on Darkness and the Enchanted Sword. 

Michael hummed and thought about this attack academically. On the Stella Scale with 10 being the Stella itself, and 1 being the furthest away from being comparable to the Noble Phantasm, Megumin's Explosion was an impressive 1. 

"Y-You..." Chris got out of Dust's hands, and began walking toward Michael glaring at the Dark Paladin. 

"She would have survived even without the buff." Michael stated plainly. 

"What!?" Megumin seemed the most surprised. She was mostly offended though. 

"You didn't think I would have you cast Explosion Magic on my party member, if it was going to kill them, were you?" Michael said to Megumin, incredulous. 

"Ah...That makes sense." Megumin said and awkwardly looked away before she thought of something. "Wait, you have an Arch Priest, does she have Resurrection?"

"Of course!" Aqua exclaimed, to which Schwanhild looked at her senior White Mage with new awe. 

"Even then, I wasn't going to kill her. I don't kill my comrades. Beat them up to near death to help them? Yes. Kill them? No." Michael explained. 

"...You have a few screw loose." Chris said, but as she looked at the slowly dissipating smoke, she smiled. "But I guess that's not bad given the result." Her eyes enhanced by her Skills could see in the smoke.

Chris could see Darkness moving and breathing. The Crusader's armor was in ruins, and her clothes mostly in tatters and holding on. Darkness herself barely had some scrapes, and smoke from the heat of the spell going off of her. More importantly, Darkness herself was fine. 

"So this is how it ends." Heinz said melancholic, which Michael didn't get given how the Swordsman had his ass handed to him. 

"One day, I hope to see how the True Darkness's muscles hold up." Sedol said. 

"That can seriously be taken the wrong way." Michael muttered. 

"At least it's all over now." Aqua sighed in relief. 

"You said it." Dust cried out. 

"Truly, this is a good ending to this brief battle." Megumin said from her place on the ground. "Also, can someone pick me up?" It seemed like turning her head was the most she could do. 

"It wasn't much." Added Schwanhild holding onto her black cap. 

"...Are you people doing this intentionally?" Michael cried out. 

"I know, right!" Yunyun exclaimed. "I don't know about everyone else. But Megumin is always raising flags for no reason." Yunyun went and side carried her rival, placing Megumin's arm over her shoulder, and acting as a crutch for the Explosion Mage to stand. 

"I'm not raising flags!" Megumin protested, but her voice was quiet from exhaustion. "Besides, I used my one good magic for the day. I would be in serious trouble if a flag was raised."

"No way," Chris suddenly called out.

"No..." Michael said as he already expected what was likely to happen. 

The smoke dissipated and Darkness, beyond light superficial injuries, appeared fine. She was only holding the Enchanted Sword whole and in one piece, with no cracks or breaks in it at all. An Adventurer Card in her other hand. 

"Darkness, you seriously..." Chris said. 

"Impossible, are you telling me that Darkness, that Darkness she...!" Dust exclaimed. 

"No, no, you people are not giving her this." Michael shouted to everyone. 

"I had no choice." Darkness voice started small. "It was either my fetish, I mean, my pride, or my Master." She corrected herself mid her dramatic speech. "I couldn't lose him! So in order to protect him, in order to protect Master, I had to!"

[...Pet. No, Darkness, I had truly thought my time was up]

"No!" Michael shouted and pointed at the sword. "You are not doing some bullshit 'I acknowledge you' crap. Stop doing something that stupidly cliche."

[You truly are the best user--No, the only wielder I could have] The Enchanted Sword now glowed with a holy aura, protecting and empowering it. 

"Master," Darkness looked at the blade affectionately. 

[I acknowledge you, Darkness. I would even say, you were born to wield me]

"I MADE YOU FOR HER, YOU BACKWARD DUMBASS!" Michael shouted. 

"Is that..." Sedol looked on in amazement. 

"So that's the true power of a Crusader." Heinz added with a grimace, and challenging grin.

"To think that that Darkness, who now matter how much a argued and pleaded with her, would finally use her Skill Points in something other than defense." Chris said with resolution that hid her joy and pride at her friend's growth."

"No, stop acting like this is some personal arc, of her overcoming some mental block or some shit." Michael pointed at Chris, who he could see was trying to keep her serious face. 

"The power to slay all evil." Said Schwanhild, gripping her staff tighter. 

"The bane of demons, the power that allowed humanity to stand up to the darkness." Aqua said dramatically. 

"Stop adding to this scene, Aqua!" Michael cried out. 

Aqua despite smirking, said her line with cool delivery. 

"Sacred Smite."

Everyone stood straighter, realizing that there foe had become ever more dangerous. That they would need to truly work as a team to overcome this challenge. Thus the adventuring party were of one mind, united in facing this new trial. 

Except for one, of course. 

"STOP MAKING THIS AN EPIC MOMENT, DAMMIT!"