"COME ON MAN!" Ryuji yelled in frustration, roughly rubbing the top of his head.
"Just admit you were wrong," Ann sighed as Morgana nodded along.
"There is still one more room," Shiho reminded.
"That's definitely the room with the puzzle in it! I want all the pieces so I don't have to backtrack!" Ryuji righteously exclaimed.
"This seems personal for you, bud," Ren said in pity.
"Fine! I was wrong! Let's just go!"
They approached the last room that was in a long hallway when a guard appeared in a swirl of black mist. The guard was not like the ones they had encountered before. It was still a nondescript knight, but it was huge.
"Is it because I'm yelling? It's gotta be right?" Ryuji complained as the team jumped back.
"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
"This one is strong!" Morgana warned.
Ren focused on the guard as it raised its great sword and noticed slight wisps of a red aura leaking from the chinks in the armor.
"ON GARDE!" it declared.
"It mispronounced it!" Morgana laughed.
"I'm hung up on the Lord of the Rings reference," Ren muttered.
"Same." Shiho nodded.
"ENOUGH!" the knight roared as it exploded into mist once more, reforming into a massive detailed crusader. Wings erupted from its back and it took flight, pointing its massive silver sword toward them.
"THE LORD DEMANDS YOUR HEADS!"
"Oh shi—" Ryuji shouted.
"HAMA!" the angel yelled.
Ryuji rolled away from the glyph that had appeared beneath him, pulling out his shotgun and shooting, his shot wide of the angel.
The glyph exploded into holy light. If one was to examine it closely, it was completely created from runes.
"That looks an awful lot like one of Arsene's curses!" Ren yelled. "Try to avoid that!"
"TARUKAJA!" Ryuji cast.
Ren was filled with strength from the spell as he spun to the side, barely dodging the sword thrust from the angel. He pulled off his mask with great flair.
"Do your thing, Agathion! Lunge!"
"Weeeeeeeee!" Agathion appeared with a laugh, crashing directly into the chest of the angel.
"Yeah, I definitely like him," Ann said, laughing. "Carmen! Agi!"
A burst of fire exploded from Ann's whip as its tip barely grazed the angel, causing almost zero reaction. It roared, its head snapping around toward Ann.
"Ah come on!!" Ann groaned as she barely guarded herself from the overhead strike, backflipping away.
"Just a crazy lil guy!" Shiho agreed, Scathach appearing behind her as she jumped toward the oncoming angel. "DON'T HURT MY FRIEND! HEADBUTT!"
Shiho's face turned from a smile to a fierce grimace nearly instantly before she smashed her forehead directly into the angel's chest.
"Did she really—?" Morgana asked, dumbfounded.
"Yep. Dia!" Ann said happily as she healed herself.
"3 healers now! WOOO!" Ryuji cheered as the captain rammed the angel back, its armor exploding as it crashed to the ground, landing on a single knee and panting.
"You will fall before the king!"
"Let's go all out!" Ren and Shiho yelled in unison as the lights dimmed again, the group turning into streaks of black light and striking the shadow rapidly.
"Don't touch me!" Shiho declared as she walked away from the disintegrating shadow, swaying her hips and smirking proudly, giving the peace sign.
---
The group exhaled as the fight ended.
"Does anyone else hear the music when we fight?" Ren asked. "Am I going crazy?"
"Battle theme music brah!!!" Ryuji called in the distance. He lightly stretched and bent over to pick up the drop from the angel. "Yo Joker! We got a dagger here!"
"Guess we get weapon drops too, huh?" he added with a hint of a smirk as he approached. "This one seems better than what you had."
"Thanks, Skull. That reminds me. We need to get Panther a better whip too…" Ren trailed off, accepting the dagger from Ryuji.
"Oo-Lala," Ann giggled.
"Knock it off!" Shiho giggled.
"No, please continue," Ren said dryly.
"Ah poo, Skull would have blushed," Ann pouted.
"Probably not." Ryuji snorted.
---
The group finally arrived outside the grand library room. Entering it, they were struck by its quiet dignity.
"Ya know, I always thought that castle libraries were neat," Morgana said as they began to look around.
The books were messily tossed and stacked on the tables. There was even a stack of books on the floor that was being used as a table.
"This is the furthest thing from nea—" Ryuji froze while looking around before his gaze jumped erratically.
"Skull?" Morgana asked in concern.
"3 MISSING BOOKS! I WAS RIGHT! LOOK, ONLY 3 BOOKS ARE MISSING FROM THE SHELVES. RPG BABYYYY!" Ryuji cheered.
Captain Kidd roared in celebration, materializing in the void, his ship tearing through the area, causing spectral splashes around the boat's hull.
"Oh calm down, who do you think you are? Arsene?" Ren choked back a laugh.
"Alright, enough screwing around!" Morgana snapped. "And don't look down on Arsene's theatrics with that comparison!"
….
"That was Zorro."
"Sorry, Mona," the team apologized and began to search the room.
"The books surrounding the one missing over here are just about his attempted hookups and booty calls. It's really gross." Ann wrinkled her nose. "This one is making me sick. Dove, I'm headed your way."
She quickly moved away from the shelf toward her best friend.
"This is without a doubt the spot where that slave book goes," Shiho said with a frown as she flipped through something she took from nearby. "Can you believe this? Kamoshida hates Ren because he called him out about catcalling you."
"Pathetic." She chuckled in scorn as she shook her head.
"That was the day we both met him," Ann mentioned as she took in the names of the books on the shelf.
"This damn shelf is just all about Kamoshida!" Ryuji nearly shrieked from the other side of the room. "And the book that belongs here is right in the front of the shelf, I feel cheated!"
He picked up the book and jammed it angrily into its place before stomping away toward Ren.
---