Everyone continued hanging out around the bonfire after the meal. They chatted and joked around. Someone even started playing music. Joe turned out to be quite a musician. He borrowed the musical instrument from Will to play the music. When he played, the fairies danced and sang.
Grace was motivated by the mood and ended up singing. When she sang, everyone quieted down to hear her song, even the fairies.
"You should have picked the Bard class, my lady," Jet said.
"If she did, we would end up pausing to hear her sing instead of fighting," Paytowin joked.
The festivities went on till almost midnight. John stopped everyone from staying up too late. He doused the bonfire and asked everyone to rest. They would all depart to their respective destinations early tomorrow except for Scarface.
"I've decided! I will give you people two more favors!" Chris exclaimed before they left to rest.
"What favors?" Jack asked.
Chris turned to Wilted. "You said you have people who can travel to the underworld, didn't you?"
"Yes. Two people. Three, if we include Jack. The two are now busy getting the portal-closing stone to close the underworld portals."
"Good. Once they finish that task, send them on another run into the underworld," Chris said.
"What for?" Wilted asked.
Chris took out a strange-looking crimson key instead of answering her.
"Isn't that…," Wilted seemed to recognize the key.
"This is a duplicate. I kept the duplicates of certain things with me. With the underworld forces in the upperworld, his castle will be unguarded."
"Whose castle?" Jack asked.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Lucifer's," Wilted answered. "This is the key that opens his castle's inner vault. This key was the ultimate reward for one of the post-game quests when players already roamed the underworld after defeating the demon invasion."
"What is inside the vault?"
"The fallen apostle's weapons," Wilted answered. "The best weapons for each of the elite classes. Twenty-four weapons are inside that vault."
"Best? Are you saying these fallen apostle's weapons are better than the God of Courage's Sword I get from the Council of Virtus?" Jack asked.
"That is correct," Chris answered.
Jack whistled after hearing it.
"John," Wilted gave the crimson key to John after receiving it from Chris.
John gave the key to Scarface and said, "Pass it to Tip at Heavenly Citadel, please. I will send him a message about what to do with it."
"Are you sure you trust him with that key?" Jet asked. "It opens a treasure vault to the strongest weapons of this world."
"He can't go to the underworld even if he wants to steal the weapons," John said.
"Don't worry. I'm not that dishonorable," Scarface told them.
"Just know that we will hunt you down if Tip doesn't get this key by tomorrow," John warned. After giving the key, he turned to Chris. "You said two favors?"
Chris nodded. "I heard from Wilted that your guild has three guild guardians and is now looking for a fourth?"
"That's correct," John answered.
"I've also heard what monsters your three guild guardians are. I must say it is a rather surprising coincidence. If you get a certain type of monster for your fourth guild guardians, it will trigger a secret guild enchantment."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"It will?" John asked. He then turned to Wilted and asked, "Do you know about this?"
Wilted shook her head.
"That's why I used the word, secret," Chris said.
"How many secret features do you hide from me?" Wilted asked.
Chris simply chuckled at the question.
"What type of monster should we get?" John asked.
"A bird-type monster, and I have a suitable candidate for you. Here, take this," Chris handed John a miniature cage.
"This is a duplicate of another special item I kept. This cage will allow you to catch a full-grown monster of mythical grade and below. You can then tame it to become your guild pet without a hassle. It has a 100% success chance, and you don't need to reduce the monster's HP. You can capture the monster even at full health."
"That's awesome!" Jack exclaimed.
"You said you have a suitable candidate for this bird-type monster?" John asked while handing the miniature cage to Scarface. Jet again wondered if Scarface wouldn't just use that item for their own guild.
"I will send you the coordinates," Chris said.
After receiving the coordinates, John said, "These coordinates…"
"Yes. It's the underworld again. But trust me, you will want that bird for your guild guardian. It is a large-sized monster, but it can even fight on equal footing against titanic-sized monsters."
"I will take your word for that." John turned to Scarface. Before he could say anything, Scarface said, "I know. Your guild will hunt me down if I don't give these two items to Tip. Don't worry, he will get it. We need to work together with the underworld threat looming over us."
"Good man," Jack clapped Scarface's back. "Can't believe you tried to kill me when we first met, eh? We have come a long way since then."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Scarface could only laugh while shaking his head. It had indeed been a long way since then.
"Do you also have Mana Purifier in your special inventory?" Wilted asked Chris.
Chris shook his head. "You should know a certain way to get it."
"I have tried. It is gone. Someone has taken it. The only way to get another one is through random drops or quests," Wilted said.
"What is a mana purifier?" Jack asked.
"It's something that can reduce the corrupted mana in an area," Wilted answered. "Never mind. Even if I have it, it won't halt the underworld forces too much with only one Mana Purifier."
"That's true," Chris nodded. "Well, have a good rest, everyone. The fairies have prepared accommodations for you. Everyone, please follow the fairies."
"Accommodations? I only saw one hut on our way here," Paytowin remarked.
Chris ignored Paytowin's question. He asked Wilted, "Mae, care to sleep with me?"
"Drop dead!" Wilted scolded. She then walked away.
"Sigh… She is still shy," Chris shook his head.
"I see he inherits real Chris' bad manners," Joe said to Badass, who nodded for a response.
The fairies took the group back to the groove near the hut. They saw in between the trees, several hammocks had been hung. These hammocks were made of vines and covered with leaves and bird feathers. Paytowin climbed on one.
"It is very comfortable!" He exclaimed.
Everyone climbed on available hammocks after hearing Paytowin. The fairies started singing a soothing lullaby after everyone laid on their hammocks.
"Sleeping under the stars… I feel like I am back to my first camping experience," Joe said.
"Yeah, difficult to do that now with monsters roaming the outside. Have to always use a tent when sleeping in the wilderness."
"Enjoy it, fellows," John said. "It will be a long time before you enjoy this kind of peace again. If we lose, this will be our last night for enjoying peace."
