Boom!

  A deafening explosion sounded through the underground lab, accompanied by a torrent of blueish-green smoke that spiraled upwards, seeping into the upper vents and out the door which was left slightly cracked. When the dust settled and everything reverted to normal, Francis and Fatima coughed away the residue and admired the bottle of serum they had just concocted.

  Wearing pajamas and a work apron, Francis scurried over and took the bottle with his claws, grabbing the bottle from its containment holster. His eyes widened in fascination as he stared into the blue glowing liquid within the circular bottle, mouth agape, revealing his fangs.

  “Wow… we really replicated it that easily?”

  Fatima—still recovering from the surge of dust and powder—brushed off her work apron and face as she walked over, snatching the bottle and holding it above her head.

  “It’s only a good serum if it can handle the drop test.”

  Both twins flared up, tails twitching and faces brimming with excitement as they prepared to test the serum's durability. Before they could drop the bottle, a figure appeared in the open doorway—Felonious. His brows furrowed as he sauntered into the work lab, eyes scanning the dirty, mismanaged environment.

  “We’re not dropping anything,” he said in a low voice.

  Both twins looked at him, whining with complaint. Felonious’s nose twitched as he snatched the bottle from Fatima, setting it aside. His gaze lingered on it for a moment before asking solemnly. “Is that the potion you showed to the emperor?”

  Instead of immediately answering, Francis rolled up his sleeves and walked over to the bottle on the counter, unscrewing the lid and reaching into a nearby drawer. He scurried through the drawer for a few moments before taking out a small bottle of water with small black specs growing inside it.

  Felonious remained silent, his gaze fixed on the peculiar water sealed inside the bottle. Francis smirked as he unscrewed both lids, pouring a singular drop of the blue liquid into the water. The moment the two connected, the hue of the water abruptly changed, shimmering with a low blueish-green color. Within the water, the small black specs rapidly expanded, growing in size and gaining new features.

  It took Felonious only a moment to deduce they were small eggs. He watched with curiosity as the eggs hatched one by one, a small minnow crawling out and swimming away from its previous home. Soon enough, all of the minnows had been released, swimming freely within the confines of the jar.

  “Wonders…” Felonious’s voice lowered as he leaned in closer, observing the scene with a placid expression

  “It really works!” Francis turned to Fatima, his smirk growing into a mischievous grin. “Now, you’re making me Raddican paste for the next month.”

  “I ain’t doing nothing for you! We did all of this together; we'd have to make each other paste!”

  “Save the trivialities for later twins. In the next few hours, we’ll need this serum of yours to be replicated enough to grow a batch of crops.”

  “Hours?” Both twins' eyes widened, morbidly taken aback by the situation at hand.

  Felonious nodded his head, tail swishing back and forth behind him. “According to supervisor Kael, we’ll be leaving for Seraphis Kingdom this morning. It’s currently four in the morning, so you have approximately three to four hours to do so.”

  “Damn it!” Francis kicked a nearby barrel, his superhuman strength sending it to the other end of the room. It landed with a clatter, spilling out the contents inside.

  “Let’s just ignore that,” Francis scoffed, moving back to the counter as he yawned out loud.

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  Fatima shrugged her shoulders, pouring herself another cup of water as the two began working again.

  “Since when were you wandering about so late?” Fatima asked, her eyes never leaving the alchemical bench.

  Felonious made his way to the door, scoffing. “The importance of this matter has my mind awake whilst my body wants to rest. It’s none of your issue, isn’t that right?”

  Fatima chuckled, snorting as she looked back at Felonious with a cocky grin. “Just don’t slam your tail in the door.”

  The white-haired Vulpur scoffed, adjusting his sleeves. “Just get back to work, you can rest on the boat ride to the kingdom.”

  Without another word, Felonious stepped out of the lab, making his way through the chambers and reaching the first floor of the castle. The walls were dark on both ends, only illuminated by candles that dimly lit the corridors. Their flickering echoed up the walls, an ambient tone that made Felonious slack his shoulders, feeling a little more at ease.

  A small, relaxed smile crept up his lips as he reached for the hem of his white robe, pulling it downwards and letting the entire garment fall slack before him. Felonious was now entirely nude, ears and tail twitching as he picked up the robe before him, wrapping it around his midsection. In Vulpur culture, it was custom and tradition to wander about without any garments on, a symbolic release of freedom and stress.

  Of course, for the sake of formality and a lack of vulgarity, reproductive organs and organs of such a category had to be covered. Felonious moved forward, bare feet patting against the carpeted floor.

  “Dear Mother Nature, what the hell are you doing?!” A voice sounded behind him.

  Felonious shot around, catching sight of Hazel standing in the hallway, covering her eyes as she looked away from Felonious. The Vulpur man scoffed, covering his toned chest with his tail.

  “Have you ever seen a man without garments?”

  Hazel choked up a response, face slightly pale. “We always tend to cover up, or one of us looks away whilst the other changes. Why do you wander about not while wearing anything? My fathers enforcers would wreck and have you arrested for indecency!"

  Felonious rolled his eyes, putting his robes back on. “I can see why your father labels you so pure.”

  “Who told you that?” Hazel finally released her hands, arching an eyebrow as she looked at Felonious.

  “Your suitor, Kael Cavendish, also my advisor,” Felonious replied, looking away from Hazel.

  Hazel clenched her fists, grumbling under her breath. “That bastard just goes around telling people stuff? I’ll have his head if he leaks anything else!”

  The white-haired Vulpur sighed, turning around and walking down the corridor. He suddenly paused, looking back at Hazel with a mournful expression. “I heard about your father.”

  “Right, my father…” Hazel fell silent, looking to the ground. “Emperor Katsuki told me… lost control for a moment a few nights back, he had to use his abilities to restrain him and make him go to sleep.”

  Felonuous nodded in acknowledgement. “I’ve heard rumors spread that he won't make it that much longer.”

  “From whom?” Hazel’s brows furrowed.

  …

  Shinso’s mind was hazy as he finally awoke; he found himself leaning against the bar counter. His vision was blurred around the edges, making him feel slightly dizzy. Around him, the rest of his companions were asleep, small bottles and shots of alcohol scattered across the smooth countertop of the bar. Outside, it was still dark, but he could begin to notice the rising sun peaking over the mountains.

  “The hell…” he grumbled, rubbing his temples with his forefinger.

  Shinso hadn’t remembered falling asleep, and he was a little nervous seeing his Sword of Judgement leaning against the wall like an ordinary object. Its blade, previously coated with orange-blue flames, now looked normal and unassuming. But of course, there was nothing unassuming about a sword.

  Shinso slowly stood up, his legs wobbling underneath him as he gathered himself, slowly regaining his balance. His head was spinning, making him tip slightly and have to lean on the counter for balance. As he slowly took deep breaths, these effects gradually subsided.

  “Wake up.” Shinso extended a hand, snapping his fingers in front of Aizawa's face.

  Aizawa let out a low grumble, turning away from the sound and burying his head in his arms. It was like waking up a pouty child. Shinso scanned the area, taking in the shots and alcohol, realizing the current moment would be harder to truly grasp. It would also be much harder to wake everyone else up considering they were most likely drunk.

  Shinso walked to the corner, picking up the Sword of Judgement, watching as the weapon gradually shifted from its shape, transforming into the bronze pocket watch. The hands on the watch continued to rotate in a normal manner, meaning no abnormal changes have happened to the artifact.

  At that moment, the bronze hull of the watch began to vibrate, and the two hands on the clock jarred in a singular direction—north. It pointed out the bar and down the street.

  Without doing anything else, Shinso slowly drew a deep breath and left the bar, looking back at his companions one last time. His mind was still mildly fuzzy, and he had no guesses as to what happened, but he had a relic at his disposal; it was a mystical artifact that could do lots of things. Perhaps the reason as to why they ended up in this situation is in the direction he had to go.

  Using the watch like a compass, Shinso stepped out of the bar, moving forward down the street.