...It’s not just spiritually inclined suffering...

Of the three Imperial princes to arrive to Emberona, Lofarro, Lauvanne, and Galban, the last member of the group could best be considered the least qualified yet most qualified.

In terms of tactical planning and actual charismatic etiquette, Galban was worse than even the most novice of students and was best described as...shrill.

On the flip side, the man was still an Aether Lord and was an absolute terror on the battlefield.

Galban earned a reputation of leading every charge and being an absolutely vicious killer when given the chance to attack the back lines of the enemy.

Hell, he was considered one of the best frontline fighters in the entire empire.

Unfortunately, he was still...how to put this?...an incredibly whiny bitch.

At least, that’s the impression he wanted to give to his opponents.

During the stint of time where a gargoyle had dragged Prince Galban through a floating portal in the air, the man kept ranting and cursing the entire time.

Which, surprisingly, was an attack in of itself.

One of the first aether arts that Galban had learned was something called [The Biting Noise of a Thousand Gnats].

This minor Ethereal aether art focused on the cutting power and psychological damages that could occur when someone whines hard enough to elicit a response.

If the gargoyle were made of flesh and blood, their ears would’ve started bleeding by now, and they would’ve thrown Galban into the abyss below as opposed to one of the portals due to the sheer amount of rage and annoyance being riled up in its belly.

But alas, Galban wasn’t that lucky.

The gargoyle’s path held true up until it had lined itself up with a floating portal that looked like a castle gate made of molten rock and jade.

The two were then teleported in an instant upon contact, with Galban now finding them standing on a raised circular platform and the gargoyle itself being teleported far away here.

Wherever here was.

"Stupid fucking gargoyle," Galban muttered and cursed as he did his best to take in his surroundings and understand whatever the fuck just happened to him.

[Oh, I can already tell that you’re going to be an annoying opponent to fight,] a voice as smooth as jade suddenly said as Galban darted his head back and forth. The sudden statement did wonders in causing Galban to immediately snap his attention forward while he also drew his guard and summoned his [Astra].

"Who’s there?!" Galban shouted as soon as his [Astra] finished manifesting in his hands. "If you don’t show yourself now, I will have no choice but to take your life with my [Astra], [Bonekneader!]

The [Astra] resembled a morning star but also had a weird spinning property to it that resembled a gyroscope. The stories shared by victims of Galban who managed to survive their encounter with the prince detail that this [Astra] had the weird ability to bypass most physical defenses and scramble the bones of those sorry sods.

It’s one thing to be unable to walk because one’s bones were broken; it’s another thing entirely when one’s arm bones get switched with their leg bones...and then broken.

[You royal types really need to learn the value of patience. Not everyone moves at your rhythm, you cranky fuck.]

As soon as this admonishment was said, the sound of steel strings echoed throughout the arena as the subtle glow of lava illuminated the ring.

It was in this moment that Galban realized that he was more or less standing in the middle of a raised circular platform that was surrounded by molten lava, separating him from what appeared to be the raised stands of a huge arena.

Sitting in the stands were monstrous beings that looked to be carved from stone, wood, and bone and radiated that same feeling of insanity as the bookwyrm and the gargoyles from before.

And sitting at the head of this motley crowd, in a grand stone seat directly in front of him, sat a horned demon woman with black-and-red mottled skin and a viciously heroic aura around her. As soon as she was visible, the rock music reached a crescendo.

Wait... how did he know this genre of music?

"Wait a minute..." Galban muttered to himself. "This happened before..."

As this incongruity appeared in his mind, Galban began to visibly tense to the point that the horned woman noticed almost instantly.

[I see that my theme music has gotten you all riled up. Good. Maybe you’ll put up a better fight.]

As soon as it registered in Glaban’s mind that this horned woman was mocking him, Galban immediately switched to warrior mode.

"You dare to mock me, foul monster?!" Galaban snarled as he readied his [Astra]. "I am Galban, Fourth Prince of the Erupting Dawn Empire, and I will not be belittled! Have at thee!"

With very little warning and a whole lot of anger issues, Galban swung his [Astra] and launched a gyroscoping spiked ball of death in the horned woman’s direction.

While the aforementioned monstrous woman didn’t have a mouth, she almost appeared to be smirking at the sight of the gyroscopic death ball.

A loud booming sound echoed throughout the arena as the horned woman stood up from her throne and grabbed the attack with a bare hand.

"What?!"

Needless to say, this little trick scared the living shit out of Galban.

[Since you gave me your name, it’s only fair that I do the same. I am Nepherage, the Valkyrie of Volcanic Fury,] the horned woman declared as she began to pump her arm full of aether. [Now, let’s see if you’re worthy of valhalla!]

And with that declaration, she threw back the gyroscopic death ball right back at Galban’s face.

...The Erupting Dawn Elites were also swept up...

While most of the warriors kidnapped by the gargoyles were sent down individualized portals of varying builds and sizes, the remainder were actually brought through the same one.

To be more precise, a group of gargoyles had dragged the elite warriors that the Erupting Dawn princes brought with them down into a portal that looked like it was made of the bones of a hundred different people and beasts.

And the place where these warriors ended up looked about as pleasant as the entrance in.

The elite warriors found themselves in the middle of a graveyard, at least, what they thought was a graveyard judging by the scent of death and soil surrounding them.

However, once they had a chance to look around, they realized that it was actually a necropolis.

Luckily for them, they were accompanied by General Legante, so they weren’t entirely headless.

"Soldiers, sound off!"

"Olban, here!"

"Mateo, here!"

"Santaea, here!"

"Polores, here!"

"And I make five; get in formation!"

Under the general’s command, the warriors from the Erupting Dawn formed a cohesive formation that covered most possible angles of attack.

Evidently, it was a wise move on their part to do so.

Shortly after they had grouped up, a pair of attacks came from completely opposite directions while accompanied by alien-sounding music that made their hearts raced.

The words "orchestral dubstep" appeared in their minds, but they weren’t in the right headspace to appreciate this sudden bestowal of alien knowledge.

They were more focused on the giant balls of black-and-white energy that seemed intent on turning them into corpses.

"Incoming!"

"Defensive formation!"

One of the attacks was absolutely loaded with cursed power that threatened to drag them down to the darkest pits of hell, while the other was filled with this strangely pure energy that wanted to wipe away their existences.

Thankfully, through the power of their coordinated efforts and the fact that they were mostly Aether Lords, they were able to knock away the attacks before they did any significant amount of damage.

However, they did still come away with a noticeable amount of pain in their limbs.

"Ow!"

"What the fuck?!"

"Did...did those attacks pierce our [Regalia]?!"

The ones who blocked the cursed attack felt their arms momentarily necrotize, while the ones who blocked the "blessed" attack felt as if their arms were being polished down to the bone.

[Hey, look! They lived!]

[Looks like we can get an actual fight in! How fun!]

Landing on top of a pair of monolithic gravestones, a strange-looking corpse puppet and an equally strange porcelain puppet began to stare down at the huddling warriors.

Every instinct in Legante told him that these dolls were dangerous, but he wasn’t entirely sure why. Especially since he couldn’t detect any noticeable levels of aether coming from them!

[Welcome, foolish soldiers, to our playground,] the corpse doll said first. [We hope you don’t mind the mess.]

[Especially since you’re going to be a part of it soon,] the porcelain doll added.

The naked threat caused the soldiers to raise their guards even further, but Legante stayed miraculously calm.

Then again, that might’ve been due to him hoping he could negotiate a way out of this. After all, they were merely subordinates and not...wait...

’Why am I thinking about running away?’