Preparations

"Eh..? The fuck do you mean it'll be beyond difficult to survive? You really like to reveal crucial pieces of info at the last possible second, don't ya?" Noda growled.

"My apologies." Responded Kore. "With the amount of info I needed to share, telling you about the difficulty of the trip itself temporarily needed to be put on hold. There were other things that you all needed to be informed of first."

Esten nodded. "It is fine. Making for certain we were aware of the most crucial pieces of info first and foremost, was a wise decision in case you were killed before having the chance to inform us of everything else."

Adjusting his glasses with a negative looking expression, Setsuna had thoughts of his own to share. "You don't believe the threat of the trip itself was a crucial tidbit of info? I certainly do. Regardless... I suppose I can see how being aware of the situation itself, could be given priority. However, if we were suddenly caught off guard and killed, none of that information would hold much significance any longer. We'd be lifeless corpses."

"I believe our creepy bug friend would have informed us earlier on if we could not have survived a sudden encounter. However, he stated that the journey will be beyond difficult to survive, not impossible."

"Who the hell cares if it was more important for him to tell us sooner or not." Said Resk. "We know now so let's get moving! I wanna mutate myself as soon as possible so we can wreck Nare's Soarer buddies and then beat the hell out of Nare himself. Heh."

"Agreed." Stated Noda. His hands twitched, before he clenched them. "So it isn't gonna be a relaxing joyride of a trip over to the Archipelago. Got it. Whatever the fuck shows up on our way there, I'll tear to pieces. I'm gettin' sick of learning about all this extra shit. We just need to get our asses over to the damn place already. So.. got anything else to tell us about before we get going? I don't wanna be interrupted by another surprise. Oh yeah.. and just what exactly are we gonna be dealing with that'll make the trip so fuckin tough?"

Kore adjusted the cloth resting over his missing eye. "There will be no more surprises. You will be aware of every important detail once I've told you what we must deal with during our journey to the Blackened Archipelago. So, let me explain. We will need to face off against an entity Nare decided to give the name, The Smiles."

Everyone glanced at each other. Noda eventually responded. "What? The fuckin Smiles? And just where the hell'd he come with such a creative name for an enemy who can kill the entire Legion of Elite, and a Colossal Soarer combined?"

"You see.. The Smiles were able to brutalize and slaughter a substantial number of Colossal Soarers when we made our initial journey away from the Blackened Archipelago. Their species has not been wiped out, as Nare believes a battle against them would be pointless if we are unable to determine their source. To this day, we have not been able to find any trace of The Smiles other than the patch of sea we ran into them on. Now then, the reason they were given the name The Smiles is a rather simple one. Those who were killed by them during our battle, each had their own final words to utter before death. And every last one of our brethren who fell... mentioned seeing the entities let a smile slip before unleashing a fatal attack. None of us survivors saw such a thing, meaning it seems they only smile once they have grasped certain victory. Catching a glimpse of the gesture, may guarantee certain death."

"Yo, Kore... that's your name, right?" Tahara turned to him and asked. "Ever heard of the strength scale?"

"Yes." Kore nodded. "I am indeed familiar with it."

"Perfect. So, how would ya rate The Smiles? Give us a number."

"If I remember correctly.." Kore began. "Threats rated from 0 - 30 are a non factor for those of our level of power. A threat level of 31 - 40 equates to threatening one of our lives if we are alone. 41 - 50 threatens a city, 51 - 60 threatens multiple cities, 61 - 70 a country, 71 - 80 multiple countries, above an 80 is considered a threat to all life on the planet, and above a 90 would be considered a threat to all life in general. Yes?"

"Yep, that's right. But I wasn't askin for a lesson. I didn't think you were lying when you said you knew. So c'mon, let's hear it. Give the bastards a strength scale rating."

"Hm. Very well. In that case, I would give The Smiles a rating of between 60 and 65. However, my knowledge of them is based on one encounter alone. I don't believe it is enough to give a truly accurate estimation."

Biting down on his toothpick, closing his eyes, and smirking, Tahara chuckled. "Heheh.  Between 60 and 65 huh? That's one hell of an opponent. But we'll manage. I know we well."

"And just what sort of combative abilities do these smiling things possess, Kore?" Asked Esten.

"I was wondering the same thing. Just how do these shitheads fight?" Noda added.

"We will have more than enough time to discuss it once we have begun our journey toward the Archipelago." Answered Kore. "I can explain it then in vast detail. So, I say let us conduct the necessary preparations, and set off. I believe you are all eager to get going as well, yes? So let us do exactly that, then we may talk things over without delaying things any further."

Everyone agreed with Kore's suggestion. A medium sized vessel was prepared by Schalle after he and Dusk regrouped with the rest of the Legion of Elite. It held loads of equipment, weaponry, tools, food, and had high quality living quarters for everyone on board.

The remaining four members of the Legion who had been guarding other cities were also contacted, and returned in order to join in on the journey. Everyone who was already present within Kuraran awaited their arrival at the boat, which was prepared to set sail.

"Hey hey hey! Oh? Is that a Colossal Soarer? Can I slaughter it??! It'll be torn to shreds in no time! I pinky promise!" A female named Valah Celestt was the first to approach. She wore incredibly revealing attire, which showed off much of her toned and fit body. Nearly... all of it, in fact. She had gorgeous, medium length orange hair, which matched her fluffy orange tail and ears. Valah was a fox/human hybrid. All of her appeared human though, other than the ears and tail. Burn scars covered her arms. However, her scars were key to how she used her abilities.

Through these scars, Valah could summon and completely control the movements of a variety of weaponry, such as chains, arrows, blades, and so on. These weapons had to remain attached to her scars while in use, other than ranged focused weapons such as arrows.

Noda looked at her. "No, ya can't. This guy's our new Soarer buddy, Kore."

"Oh I see! So we're friends with the Colossel Soarers now? Well, they are pretty cute looking so I don't mind!" She smiled.

"You.. believe we are cute?" Kore tilted his head.

"Tch.. hey, don't get any freaky ass ideas fly boy." Said Noda. He then looked back at Valah. "Fuck no we're not friends with the damn things. They've killed our close allies. Gahn... Cindra... Naiken... and Resk's got one less arm now because of the shitheads. All of 'em are gonna die. Kore's just an exception. He's not really one of 'em anymore. But, we'll get you, Rune, Asada, and Yesta fully up to date on what the hell is going on once we've left and are at sea."

Valah crossed her arms and closed her eyes in thought. "Very very interesting. So the Colossal Soarers had a traitor among their ranks? What a shocking twist of events! And hold on.. a talking Soarer??! Wow, just how much have I missed?! I have so many questions!"

"The elders proclaim that patience will grant you the answers you seek." The second to approach, was a tall lizard man by the name of Rune Trung. He held a large staff in his palm, and wore an unzipped, heavy jacket, loose pants, as well as a hood over his head. With his staff, Rune was able to control a series of orbs. These orbs could be used to deal damage in a variety of ways on their own. However, they also had the ability to transform into any species that Rune had knowledge of. Having studied the history of Obliviana in great detail, Rune had a vast arsenal of powerful ancient creatures at his disposal.

Valah's eyes sparkled as she looked over at Rune. "Huh? Do they really? I guess as time passes my rapidly increasing list of 110 questions will inevitably be answered. Thanks a bunch for the heads up Rune!"

"I was merely passing on the information I was given by our omnipotent overseers. But I still accept your thanks with a smile." He smiled warmly at her.

Coming forward from the back of the boat, Setsuna welcomed his allies. "Rune. Valah. I'm glad to see you both made your returns here unharmed. Do you both believe you're prepared for the journey ahead?"

"Oh hey Setsuna!" Valah waved at him. "Hmmm. Well you see, all I really know is that we're traveling to a dark, mysterious island that will make us super strong. And along the way, we'll run into some creatures who like to smile a lot. Hopefully they're friendly! I was contacted by Resk and he was super excited, buuut not too descriptive. I don't mind though! It's like the elders said, my patience will grant me the answers I seek! Plus, as long as I'm with you guys things will be a-okay! So yep! I'm as prepared as ever!"

Noda and Setsuna glanced at each other, and then turned back toward Resk, who was in the corner of the boat pumping himself up. Esten was nearby him, enjoying a warm, quality sandwich made by Tahara, who was skilled with preparing food as he owned a world renowned restaurant in Kuraran. However, it slipped from her hands and nearly hit the floor. Resk quickly stopped what he was doing, and reacted swiftly, catching the sandwich. He began doing a little dance of excitement in front of Esten, extending his hand toward her to hand the sandwich back. She stared at him in disgust, slicing the sandwich to bits and moving toward Tahara to ask for a new one.

Slowly shifting his gaze back toward Valah, Setsuna responded to her. "....I wouldn't recommend holding high hopes for The Smiles. I can confirm that they're without question, certainly not our allies. But it's as Noda said. We'll go over everything in detail and fill you all in once we have departed. Resk's transmission was simply to let you know to come back. Though he could've been a bit more specific with things. Regardless, that's just how he is. And how about you, Rune?"

"Oohh yeah, I'm curious about your thoughts too Rune! Have the elders had any words of wisdom about what awaits us?!" Asked Valah.

Rune lowered his head. The grip on his staff strengthened. "Tragedy is near. The phrase has been just about all they have uttered as of late. I have not once, seen the elders in this much of a panicked state. No matter what does await us, we will not make our return home unscathed."

"Well, we shouldn't expect to." Setsuna said. "This is real life. To assume some form of tragedy wouldn't occur during a mission of this magnitude is naive. Let's just hope we're able to recover from whatever this tragedy happens to be. As long as it isn't catastrophic, we can continue to move forward."

Just then, yet another Legion of Elite member arrived. This time, it was a female by the name of Asada Oceane. A massive scythe rested on her back, and nearly her entire body was wrapped in matte black bandages. They went up to just under her aqua blue eyes. While her hands were wrapped, her smooth fingers were exposed. She had silky black hair, which was currently in a ponytail.

Asada had some extra abilities in addition to her regular combative capabilities. She was able to breathe underwater without restriction, as well as traverse through it with far more elegance than most. As for her main combative capabilities, they had nothing to do with water. Asada could wield her massive scythe with much strength and speed, but could also use an assortment of flowers to suck and absorb the life out of any opponent she faced. While she was 39 at the moment, she normally held the appearance of a 21 year old. Her flowers could grant her eternal youth, as long she absorbed the life essence of another in order to de-age herself. This ability of hers did not only suck away and apply the individuals life essence to her, however. It held other uses. She was also able to cause their bodies to simply rot, if she could pierce them with a flower. Because of this, Asada held an additional weapon at her side. The rose blade, which she would use to cut her opponent, which would then cause the pierced area to begin to rot upon her mental command. Meaning, she could delay when this rotting began should she choose to do so.

Asada walked up the ramp that led to the vessel, eventually stepping onto the boat, passing by everyone.

"Asada? So, how were things at Archen? Did anything occur that you'll need to recover from?" Setsuna questioned before she could get too far away.

She stopped, and faintly glanced back at them all. "I only have interest in completing the mission so that my strength increases. Don't speak to me otherwise." She then resumed moving onto the boat, toward the downstairs area.

On her way down, she passed Tahara. "Yo. Asada. Lookin' as enchanting as ever. I've gotta say, those eyes of yours still catch me off guard every time I see you." He said. He removed the toothpick from his mouth for a moment. "If you're hungry or anything, I could cook you up a quality meal or somethin'. I've got some stuff already heating up over in the kitchen area. But, if there's anything specific you'd like, I can still get a start on it."

"Stop asking." She answered. "You tell me this every time you see me. I have my own things to eat in my bag. If I want something from you, I'll ask."

"But you never will ask. You interact with us as little as necessary. To be honest, I can't believe you even accepted the invitation to join the Legion of Elite. But, guess it does present plenty of opportunities to get stronger, which seems to be your thing."

"That's right. I have things I need to take care of. Saving Obliviana isn't a priority. I don't give a damn if anyone dies, as long as..." she paused, and her expression momentarily softened. "Hm. It's none of your concern. But, if helping you guys be heroes or whatever involves missions such as this, which will greatly increase my strength, I'll come along. Now, I ask you to leave me be. Your food will burn soon."

"Yeah. As you wish, ma'am. But one of these days we're gonna learn everything about you. Trust me. We won't let you keep to yourself to this level for much longer."

Asada didn't answer, and continued onward, soon arriving into her prepared room.

Back outside of the boat, Setsuna, Noda, Rune, Kore, and Valah waited nearby the boat's ramp for Yesta, the final Legion member who needed to arrive.

Off in the distance, however, they noticed an enormous amount of dust had begun to form.

"Hey. Setsuna." Noda said. "Have any idea what the fuck that's from? Not once have I ever seen a dust storm this close to Kuraran."

"Neither have I..." Setsuna adjusted his glasses, squinting. "In which case, I doubt it's a dust storm."

Kore stepped in between both Noda and Setsuna. "You would be correct. As much as it displeases me to have to say, those clouds of dust are likely being caused by a group of Winged Warriors using the ability Nare simply named 'burrow'. We must get going. I'm aware you have another ally who we have been awaiting, however it seems Nare did not give us enough time for them to arrive. Winged Warriors who have learned the burrow ability, are much more capable than those who you have faced so far. An encounter with them now would be fatal."

"Tch... shit. Another damn surprise then, huh?" Noda shook his head.

Placing a finger on her lips, Valah said. "Mmm... I dunno if I'd called that a surprise. I usually like surprises, but a raging group of murderous enemies who could wipe us out with such ease would just be catastrophic! Wow Noda, is that really what you're into? You must've reallyyyy hated the birthday gifts I've surprised you with over the years then."

"Either way, we need to make haste and depart at once! This may very well be the Tragedy I have been warned of!" Screamed Rune.

"....it'll be a damn tragedy either way. If Yesta's close, the things are gonna slaughter her if we leave. She doesn't know that's a big ass group of Soarers. We can't contact her to let her know either. By the time one of Schalle's communication bugs reaches her, it'll be too fuckin late." Noda voiced.

Setsuna turned to him. "Are you suggesting we remain here? That isn't happening. Don't let your emotions cloud what needs to be done."

"C'mon, Setsuna. You know that isn't the kinda thing I do. It's just..... someone else. We likely... lost someone else." Noda's red eyes filled with tears. Very shorty thereafter, he aggressively clenched his fists. From that movement alone, a gust of wind blew in every direction. He deeply glared at the approaching Soarers. "We lost 'em to those fucking shit filled bugs again. They've taken another person away from us... from me. And there isn't a single fuckin thing anyone here can do about it! So c'mon... get the fuck on the damn boat and let's get going. We're gonna get to the Archipelago and power up our bodies, so that once we're back in Obliviana, we won't be helpless anymore. We'll be able to end this right away."

Saluting to him, Valah agreed. "Yes Sir Noda!" She then made her way up the ramp, onto the boat.

Rune followed swiftly, turning to face Kuraran once fully stepping onto the boat, and planting his staff against the wooden floor. He softly shut his eyes, and one of his orbs made its way onto the nearby land. It soon began to transform.

The ground shook and rumbled. The orb slowly morphed and formed itself into a gargantuan creature. One which towered over Kuraran.

It had a somewhat humanoid like figure. Blue flames engulfed the back of its head, and were blown to the side by the faint wind. Its skin was metallic, and its arms were so long that they would drag across the ground. It began to make an ear shattering, siren like noise.

Abruptly stopping what he was doing, Resk's eyes widened at the sight of the summoned creature. "Holy shit, Rune! What the hell is that?? You've never summoned anything that huge!!"

"Urgent situations such as this, require the assistance of far more powerful beings! Behold the Shining Behemoth!" Rune shouted. "It shall slow down our Soarer adversaries and allow us to depart unscathed!"

Noda had gone onto the boat, and stepped downstairs to the private quarters of the Immortal King Schalle. He pushed open the door without warning, and came upon Schalle talking with Dusk. "Hey. We've gotta get moving. Now. There's a whole damn army headed our way, and nobody here other than you knows how the hell to control this fuckin boat. Which is somethin' you should probably show us how to do in case you're killed."

Schalle paused, and looked his way. "Ah. So the Soarers gave us minimal time to prepare. Well, it matters not. Further preparations aren't needed. In fact, I must admit that I've been looking forward to the moment we decided to depart. Allow me to show you what our special vessel here is capable of, Noda my most cherished friend. As you know I'm quite the architect, and I designed this here water craft specifically for a scenario such as this."

"Great. Then get your ass moving, let's see what the thing can do."

Meanwhile, atop the boat, Setsuna watched closely as the burrowing Colossal Soarers continued to approach from a distance. The boat began to depart, and Setsuna's gaze turned into a concerned squint. He noticed that the Soarers speed had begun to dramatically increase.

One Colossal Soarer in particular gained distance over the rest. Its momentum shot up to such a drastic degree, that it ended up arriving within the next minute.

It burst from the ground, launching several meters into the air, before roughly landing upon the ground with a thud, some distance in front of Rune's Shining Behemoth.

This Soarer's appearance slightly differed from the Soarer's the Legion of Elite had faced off against up to this point. It was covered in tattered rag like clothing, and donned a hood made out of the same material.

The Shining Behemoth tilted its head toward the Soarer, and caused the entire area to vibrate again when it let out its booming siren like sound. Its face gradually split open, leaking all sorts of mucus through the newly revealed hole. From that hole, it shot out a humungous beam of blue flame, identical to the blue flames that raged on its head. The power of this beam seemed god like.

The Colossal Soarer rapidly chirped in response, and stared down the incoming beam of flame. From within its tattered clothing, it pulled out a Colossal Soarer leg, and quickly ate the entire thing with one swift motion. This powered it up enough to dodge the beam, however it dodged right into the Shining Behemoth's hand, which smacked the Soarer across Kururan.

Soon enough, more and more Burrowing Soarers arrived, and powered themselves up by eating legs they had stashed. Some were torched into nothingness by the Shining Behemoth's flames, some were smacked across the city, and some were crushed.

But slowly as the battle went on, the Shining Behemoth began to gradually become overwhelmed...