[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: The Deathless Fortress]

The situation inside the fortress was far worse than either of them had imagined when they first charged in. And that was putting it very lightly, it was just pure chaos.

Ivan and Alexander sprinted through the large broken corridors shoulder to shoulder, their boots crunching over splintered stone and shattered iron. The air was thick with dust and the constant grainy hiss of debris sliding down collapsed walls. Every few steps, the ground trembled from distant impacts—heavy, thundering blows that made Ivan's teeth rattle.

And everywhere they turned, the Deseruit Beast roamed freely, massive and monstrous silhouettes moving between broken pillars and overturned hallways. They were hunting for anything that moved, ripping apart whatever was left standing.

Ivan slowed as another quake rolled beneath them. Far ahead, a hulking Deseruit Beast—six-legged, skeletal plates clicking as it moved—rammed itself into a supporting column. The entire side of the fortress shook. The creature pressed harder, mandibles clacking in frustration, until the structure finally gave way with a groaning crack. Dust and stone plumed outward as the tower segment collapsed like wet sand.

Ivan exhaled sharply through his nose.

"This really is insane…" he murmured under his breath, almost more to himself than to Alexander. Sweat beaded at his brow as he pressed the talisman Tamamo had given him tightly against his chest. "To think so many were hiding under the fortress all this time." He shook his head slowly. "How does something like that even happen without anyone noticing?"

Alexander kept pace beside him, eyes darting rapidly across the carnage. He could hardly form a coherent answer. The sight before them was so far beyond anything he'd imagined that his brain kept looping between confusion and disbelief.

"This is way more than insane," Alexander muttered as they ducked behind a chunk of fallen rampart. He rested one hand against the rough stone, catching his breath while trying to peek around the side. "This is, like… the sort of thing you only hear about in some old cautionary tale. The kind they tell kids so they don't wander into caves. I keep expecting someone to jump out and say this isn't real."

"Well, unfortunately, it is real," Ivan said quietly, peering around the opposite side. More Deseruit Beast, further than he could count. "And it's getting worse."

Alexander nodded grimly. "Yeah. No arguing that."

A smaller Deseruit Beast—if anything here could be called small—crawled over the shattered remnants of a staircase, its spined back scraping against a hanging painting. It sniffed the air in short, sharp bursts before pouncing on the remains of a suit of display armor, crushing it under its weight. The screech of metal being torn apart stabbed through Ivan's ears.

He flinched slightly at the sound, then looked back down at the talisman in his hand.

The charm pulsed faintly with an odd inner warmth, the color shifting as if it were alive behind thin paper. He tightened his grip.

Alexander noticed the movement and turned toward him, eyebrow raised. "Okay, I've been meaning to ask—what exactly is the plan here with that thing?"

Ivan exhaled, not entirely sure how to explain it. "You heard Tamamo said it would 'attract the majority of the Deseruit Beast.'" He lifted it slightly, feeling the paper against his palm. "Something about the talisman releasing something to attract them. Or… guide them to us? She wasn't exactly clear."

"Not clear?" Alexander repeated slowly. "Seems that fox really likes screwing us over. Not that I'm surprised."

"But," Ivan started again, "she explained it in Tamamo-terms."

Alexander blinked. "Meaning?"

Ivan offered a weak, helpless shrug. "Terms that don't make sense unless you already know what she's talking about."

"Fantastic," Alexander muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "So our only actual plan relies on a cryptic magical fox who talks in riddles."

"She doesn't talk in riddles," Ivan corrected half-heartedly. "Not intentionally I guess."

"Sure," Alexander said dryly. "That helps."

Ivan sighed, rubbing his thumb over the talisman's smooth surface. The enchantment tingled to the touch, like the ghost of a spark. "It will work," he murmured. "I want to believe it will work. Tamamo doesn't seem the type to do things halfway."

Alexander conceded that with a small nod. "Yeah… alright. If nothing else, she isn't careless."

A pause stretched between them as they listened to the distorted groans of breaking stone deeper in the fortress. The Deseruit Beast were shifting the entire architecture of the fortress with their movements. The fortress was slowly collapsing under the collective weight of chaos.

The silence broke when Alexander spoke again, softer this time—almost cautious.

"So… what exactly is our next step?"

Ivan looked up from the talisman, meeting his friend's eyes.

"I'm still figuring that part out," Ivan admitted honestly. "But this will help us… with something. It has to. Tamamo gave it with purpose."

"Sure," Alexander said. "But the problem is that every direction we turn, there's another Deseruite Beast waiting to tear us in half. And then there are those bigger ones." His voice dropped slightly. "The ones that look like they could chew through the entire fortress."

Ivan glanced around. He didn't want to admit how right Alexander was. He didn't want to say out loud that even with the talisman, they were deep inside a fortress filled with monsters that shouldn't logically exist.

He swallowed, fighting back a wave of nerves.

"We can't exactly take on that many," Alexander added, voice remaining low but steady. "We'd be shredded in seconds. So unless this talisman suddenly transforms into a portable death spell, we need something more than just reigning them all in."

"I know," Ivan said. He pressed his lips into a thin line, tension settling into his shoulders. "I know we don't stand a chance in a direct fight. Not like this. Not with just the two of us."

"Then what?" Alexander asked again, a bit more urgently now—not panicked, just needing direction. "What's the angle? What are we hoping to do?"

Ivan stared at the talisman for several long seconds. The small pulse of its inner glow almost seemed to match the rhythm of his heartbeat—slow but strangely insistent.

Finally, he lowered it.

"…We still can't do nothing," he said quietly.

Alexander's expression softened. Not out of optimism—more out of recognition. That was the Ivan he knew. The one who refused to sit still when people were in danger. The one who acted because the alternative felt wrong on a fundamental level.

"I figured you'd say that," Alexander said with a small sigh. "You always land on that, don't you?"

"It's not about being heroic," Ivan muttered. "It's just… if we turn back now, knowing what's happening here—knowing what might happen if these things get out—" He shook his head. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Yeah," Alexander said quietly, "I kinda get it."

Another tremor rattled the debris around them. Dust sifted down like fine powder from the remains of the ceiling. Somewhere far above, something large toppled and crashed, echoing through the corridors.

Alexander pressed his back more firmly against the fallen stone. "Alright," he said after a moment, "if we're doing this, we're doing it smartly. First rule: we don't draw attention until we use that thing. Second: we stay mobile."

Ivan nodded. "That's the plan then."

"Not a good plan," Alexander noted, "but a plan."

"A workable plan," Ivan corrected.

Alexander snorted softly. "If you say so."

Ivan took a steadying breath. "The talisman should help get rid of clusters of Deseruit Beast. So… maybe it can help us find the center of their emergence. Maybe even the cause."

Alexander's eyes flicked toward him. "You think something is causing this?"

"I don't think this many Deseruit Beast just… appear without a reason," Ivan said. "Something beneath the fortress must've been disturbed."

"Because that's comforting."

"It's not meant to be."

Alexander blew out a hollow breath. "Alright. Lead the way then. Fox-girl trusted you with that thing, not me."

Ivan nodded once, more firmly this time. He held the talisman outward, watching as the soft gold glow flickered—small but responsive. It wasn't much, but it was an opportunity. And right now, that was more valuable than courage.

They exchanged a final look.

A mutual agreement.

They stepped from behind the fallen fortress wall, bracing themselves as the tremors continued, preparing to slip deeper into the fortress, toward the densest cluster of Deseruit Beast—

Because, as Ivan had said:

They still couldn't do nothing.

Still Alexander watched Ivan move ahead, talisman glowing in his hand, and a quiet thought settled over him—one he never voiced aloud. ("Ivan really is… ridiculous.") Ridiculously brave, ridiculously stubborn, ridiculously unable to walk away from danger even when every sane instinct screamed otherwise. Alexander could never quite understand how someone could carry that kind of resolve without collapsing beneath it. And yet, every time Ivan pushed forward, every time he refused to back down, Alexander felt that inevitable flicker of admiration. ("He's the kind of person you follow,") Alexander realized. ("Even when you're terrified. Even when you don't understand him at all. Guess he really is a prince.")

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