In order for Liohime to know that Jolene was the real Jolene, she had to get her own personal feelings involved.

The impostor was able to access her memories, sure, but the idea that came to Jolene's mind was that she was the only one who truly experienced those memories, and she was able to relay her emotions honestly to Liohime.

Thus, she had saved her own life.

"Looks like I made the right choice," Liohime muttered softly, as he glanced over at the glitching figure who had been shot in the head.

The fake Jolene convulsed a bit before staring back at him expressionlessly, before she finally spoke.

"Not bad, Kanshido."

Liohime stiffened up, but the figure faded away along with reality as the black fog had finally been dispersed, and the duo found themselves in a deep chamber of rocky terrain.

--Liohime Kitagami and Jolene Aurora found themselves in the true Dungeon District, with no haze masking their view.

In an instant, Liohime's grip strength of his gun loosened while Jolene's legs lost all strength, and she stumbled onto the ground while her co-worker's gun fell out of his hands.

They both breathed a sigh of relief as their troubles had come to an end.

"I'm alive…" whispered Jolene, who gazed aimlessly upwards, while Liohime palmed his face gently, grateful that he had not killed her.

He hastily walked over to her and stopped low, before embracing her.

"Wha…"

"I was so worried, you know."

".....C-Chill out, will you?"

"Says the one who was bawling her fucking eyes out!"

Jolene averted her eyes and fell into silence while slowly returning a hug, and then she was hoisted upwards by Liohime.

"When we return to the surface, we'll talk about everything," he continued. "It's part of our promise that we made together in the second layer, after all. But for now, let's finish the job that we were assigned with."

"Alright."

Spotting the katana nearby that had been separated from her in the different reality, she smiled weakly and picked it up before continuing on the journey with Liohime.

***

With the duo finally reuniting, they both trekked the dark depths of the Dungeon District, where light was barely visible only through manufactured torches, lamps and candles nearby.

Liohime questioned the recency of these items being put up, but kept moving forward, until-

"Wait, stop."

"What's up?"

"I think….we're here."

"Huh?"

Jolene's eyes lit up, and she leaned over to glance in front of him.

Ahead of Liohime came a sudden drop that led to one final level of land that was surrounded by massive holes that led to different areas of the third layer. This land was covered in a rare material of blackstone, and many structures, walls, and surges of spikey and lengthy bumps of land above the normal level amounted all across the area, turning the place into something like a maze.

Both Liohime and Jolene could see the ceiling above that was situated no further than a few feet above them, and the only light sources available were lit up magic stones that glowed as they were littered across the land.

However, there was one singular glowing light in the far distance, brighter than them all that was located near the center.

Taken aback, both Liohime and Jolene exchanged glances before inspecting the area once again.

There was no deeper layer, no exit that led to another place, and no further piece of land that extended beyond this point.

This was…

--The Heart of the Paradisus Legion.

And the glowing light in the center of it all must be…

Liohime swallowed hard and exhaled deeply before speaking up.

"O-Okay, let's finish this shit together, Jolene. All we have to do is just get to that glowing light, and it's all over. We get there, use the watch that is strapped to our wrists, teleport the item to the client, and then-"

"Figure out how to get the hell outta here," Jolene finished, and Liohime nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Surely there's a quicker way to return to the surface from this point than taking the longest trek of our lives to the first layer once again."

"Let's hope so. Be prepared to use your Magical Beast in case of any sudden trouble while we head to that Magical Beast egg."

"Sure thing."

Without hesitation, Jolene leaped off of the exit and braced her fall with her katana slashing into the rocky wall as she descended with pace, while Liohime merely used the jagged edges of the wall as stepping stones to lower himself until he was in a safe position to jump onto the ground below.

All they had to do now was follow the glowing light.

***

'There's so much fucking debris and structures here. I'm not even sure if we're getting closer or not, Lio."

"O-Of course we are! Don't talk as if we're under an optical illusion or something!"

Unlike Jolene who complained that they were barely making any progress after trekking for at least three minutes, Liohime was sure that they were getting closer and closer. However, something else was troubling him.

"It's really quiet here, don't you think?"

"Too damn quiet. I can only hear the sounds of our footsteps right now. It's fucking eerie."

Nothing but silence abounded around them, a quiet that seemed to be even less than all of the other areas in the third layer, which left the duo unsettled.

Something's up, Liohime thought as he pursed his lips. It really shouldn't be this quiet.

He held his breath and listened attentively, trying to pick up any-

"Wait."

"Huh?"

Jolene had held him back, preventing him from taking another step forward.

"Did you hear that?"

".....No."

"Shit."

"What was it?"

"An extra footstep. We were walking in sync just now, but I heard an additional step."

Liohime's left eyebrow twitched, and then he could feel a looming presence, hidden away from his view, several feet away on his right.

Freezing in place, he whispered:

"It's an ambush."

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