Keri
As the roots that had engulfed the beast began to disappear, well it was not a beast anymore, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
```diff
- "Finally, im fuckin' knackered." -
```
Then hellfire burst from the very earth itself.
He slid backwards, scooping up the metallic arm from the ground and shoving it into his belt loop.
```diff
- "Can't catch a fuckin' break can i, i guess we ain' got no choice though."-
```
With a long exasperated groan he straightened his posture, and cracked his joints, and starting to move forward at a medium pace, dodging the various pillars of fire and nearing the tower once more. He kept his remaining hand upon the hilt of the sword he had still yet to draw but did not make any immediate action, they could at least *Try* A diplomatic approach, as much as the citizens of the VEKTET seemed to resort to violence, a peaceful solution was preferable.
Beverly
The onset of the inferno before him, crimson in color, and identical to the sanguine hue of his own eyes — it was a sight long-familiar with the Guardian of the First Floor. A horrific blaze that extended beyond his control, set solely to *Incinerate* All that which lied before him. His hand recoiled as the heat flickered horrifically about his body, its terrible, scalding nature reminiscent of the dying star of his homeworld... Right. The ability that he was granted, that he was born with, and that he honed to protect those dearest to him — it *Frightened him.* Ever since he set his eyes upon the surface — the land beyond their palaces of the undisturbed depths — the form of the red sun over a lost paradise left its deep scar within his very soul. For there is nothing quite as horrifying as the concept as *Absolute disparity,* Burning away all those who are closest to you.

*`Lord, mentor, teacher, guardian... No. Mother, Eikokue. How ever could she muster the bravery to step foot upon that damned land of a smoldering sky?`*

The Guardian took a deep breath in, his extended fingertips upon the ground clasping tight, receding from the stony form of the path before him. The chaotic, all-burning flames begin to die down, yet the prevalent embers of their persisting form remained scattered across the surrounding region about himself. He set his sights on the two intruders, who had delicately managed to evade his attack of transcendent fury, and clenched his teeth.

*`Was it her ability?`*
*`Her position?`*
*`Her prowess?`*
*`Her status, as hero...?`*
_ _

*`No...`*
*`There was nothing to give her bravery.`*
*`She wasn't born with it, and she wasn't gifted it.`*
*`She made bravery for herself,`*
*`and continued marching forth, ever with a smile.`*

—*Right. This was no time for hesitation!*

```diff
- "𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓭'𝓼 𝓐𝓻𝓴 𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮."```

He spoke, without intent for them even to understand, and opened his palm wide, yelling:

**```diff
- "𝓔𝔃𝓮𝓻𝓸, 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓯—..."```**

...What was that?
_ _

*```fix
"Let's talk."```*

_ _

An atmosphere of confusion manifested about the knelt Guardian, his eyes opened wide in shock as he heard the words extended toward him. *`He would, speak, with, huh... Me?`*

His sentence was interrupted, and so too was the manifestation of the item titled *'Ezero'.* In the moment that he spoke its name, however, a grisly, destructive aura had begun to manifest centimeters ahead of his palm, as if he were about to summon a weapon of tremendous nature. Yet his shock would overtake such a process; he halted in his words, and instead stared solely upon the form of the two intruders, his mouth slightly ajar.

*`...This one speaks the language of the Ark...???`*

```diff
- "𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹..."```

Aazkue lowered his hand, his presence of duty-born hostility departing.

```diff
- "𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒶𝓀 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝑒?"```
Robin
Kuouo clenched his teeth, a cold shiver running down his spine as he *Felt* The destructive aura of '𝓔𝔃𝓮𝓻𝓸' beginning to manifest. His leg pulsed with burning, aching pains; even with the fractures set and the gulp of alcohol slightly taking effect, his manner of whisking about the battlefield so suddenly and harshly even with his good leg irritated his right greatly. Despite being able to have navigated the field with nimbleness, being down a leg and all of his mana greatly reduced his true mobility — He *Knew* That he couldn't survive a battle against the Root-Crown, that of which displayed a higher amount of stamina and magical prowress *Still* After the first act of the battle.

The bandit began to brace himself for the oncoming attack, his free-flowing body tensing up before...

*Shock displayed itself in the Root-Crown's eyes, Aazkue stopping the manifestation of his tremendous weapon in hesitation mostly borne from confusion.*

```diff
- "𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹... 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒶𝓀 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝑒?"```

The pressure weighing down on Kuo's body released itself once more, the bandit relieved to hear the man speak towards him in an elegant tone soothed with a natural gentleness. The bandit let his guard down to a degree, dropping his shoulders and looking up into Aazkue's eyes.

```fix
"Y... Yeah man. At the very least let's take a break...```

The bandit took in a couple seconds of silence, his chest quickly rising up and down before he finally caught his breath and composed himself. Infernium, being called from within Kuo's SOUL, is magnetized back beside Kuo's hip. For the time being, Plan C was a failure... A good one, depending on how things turn out from here. If things were to get worse, the only option was to escape.

```fix
"So, ya just woke up, huh? How d'ya feel? Other than, well, yer legs being torn up... Guess, ya gotta little too excited protecting the tower there. I wouldn't worry too much, Zocheiz in town's a pretty good doctor..."```

The hero spoke with an easy-going, casual tone, hoping to ease the guardian of the first floor, make him realize that he was finally, truly awake. Kuo crashed onto his bottom, now feeling the lasting effects of adrenaline's toll.

```fix
"Y'know he's one of the guys that helped make that cure."```