A/N: Oren and Sophia make it into the city after all… but they're not out of the woods just yet.

  -x-X-x-

  There's a brief moment where Oren worries that his lies will be seen through. Is he overacting it? Will the God Hunter Lieutenant buy their story? If they don't believe him, then the best case scenario is that they get turned away at the gate and have to find another route into the city. The worst case scenario is that they try to detain him and Sophia, at which point Oren might have to kill them all.

  … Fortunately, that doesn't turn out to be necessary in the end. After a moment that seems to drag on for far too long, the God Hunter Lieutenant's mouth splits into a broad smile.

  "Well now, that's wonderful to hear! We're always looking for more recruits, and I'm sure a bright young man like you with such a beautiful wife will fit right in among the God Hunters. Let me just get someone to escort you to our registration hall…"

  Damn. Not the worst case scenario, but also not ideal either. A perfect situation would have had them let into the city just on the promise that he was intending to join up with the God Hunters. But even if they bought his lie, they'd probably been burned enough times by other grifters at this point that they'd stopped just trusting such cims.

  "Oh! I'll do it sir! Be happy to help get them where they need to go!"

  One of the other God Hunters suddenly pipes up, pushing off the wall he'd been leaning on and walking forward with a hungry look in his eyes. One that Oren recognizes all too well and one that has the Otherworlder very nearly drawing his sword and relieving the other man of his head right then and there. Especially because that hungry look… is directed at Sophia.

  Pying the role of 'Sally the innocent vilge wife' to a tee, Sophia continues to shyly press herself into Oren's side. Oren, meanwhile, stays silent and waits to see what the Lieutenant will do. He would love to be able to speak up and ask for anyone else to escort them instead, but that ran the risk of blowing their cover. In the end he could only hope-

  "Hmm, very well Private! Go ahead and take them over to registration. But no fooling around, you hear me? As soon as you've dropped them off, I expect you back here at your post on the double."

  The lower ranking God Hunter snaps off a salute and the gates are opened for them to enter. Oren simply rests his hand on the pommel of his sword and holds Sophia close with his other arm as they enter the belly of the beast.

  … Truthfully, he wasn't sure what he was expecting Skycastle to look like, but it's not what they get. Past the city gates, away from all of the refugees making camp outside, the city is… just a city. Beautiful in some ways, and ugly in others.

  Its not Hell on Earth or anything like that, like Oren might have suspected. There are no divine executions taking pce on the side of the cobbled streets, and the heads of gods and goddesses don't line the street on pikes either.

  Instead, Skycastle is the eye of the storm in a lot of ways. Whereas the rest of the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, this pce is startlingly intact and seems to be thriving… at least on the surface. But the more Oren looks around, the more he starts to see the cracks.

  Not everything is perfect on the streets of Skycastle. For one, there are God Hunters everywhere that he looks. In fact, the ratio of God Hunters to normal everyday people walking around is almost one to one from what he can see. And the normal everyday people, while putting on brave faces, are very careful not to make eye contact with any of the God Hunters.

  The pce is worse than Goldriver was, sitting on a razor's edge. But then, considering that the one behind all of this is literally the God of Tyranny, Oren supposed he couldn't be surprised.

  "Ah, there they are!"

  Blinking, the Otherworlder pulls himself from his thoughts to see the God Hunter who volunteered to escort them is waving ahead to two more men who are all smiles. They aren't God Hunters from what Oren can tell, but their presence still sets him on edge.

  Turning to him and Sophia, their God Hunter guide cps his hands together.

  "Right! These two fine gentlemen will take your wife to your new accommodations while you and I continue on to get you registered as a God Hunter Recruit!"

  What? Immediately, Oren steps in front of Sophia and shuts that down.

  "No."

  The Private's smile falters and so do the smiles on the faces of the two approaching men as well.

  "No? What do you mean no?"

  They're already in the city, so they could technically make a break for it. Unfortunately they're in a rather public pce so if they try to run now, even if they do manage to disappear into the city, they'll be wanted fugitives and hunted constantly.

  Oren wracks his brain for a response for a moment, only to have Sophia save him as she speaks up in a timid tone that's both surprising and also very in character for the moment.

  "B-But the Lieutenant at the gate said we b-both needed to go to registration."

  Forcing a smile back onto his face, their guide shakes his head and chuckles.

  "You just misheard him, sweetheart. Registration is no pce for a pretty thing like you. Let my friends here take you where you need to go and we'll-!"

  "No."

  With Sophia's help, Oren has a path forward as he pulls her closer.

  "She's right. The Lieutenant said take 'them' over to registration. He was very clear that you're meant to be escorting both of us all the way there. We'll stay together, thank you very much."

  The God Hunter looks like he wants nothing more than to continue to argue the point, but Oren still has his hand on the pommel of his sword and that silent threat alone is enough to make him finally back down.

  "Hm. Very well."

  Their guide gives a nod to his two friends, who share a look before shrugging and breaking away from them. However, even as the three of them continue on their way… Oren can feel their eyes following as they make their way down the cobbled street. And he can see the tension in the Private's back that wasn't truly there before.

  He gives Sophia's shoulder a soft squeeze to get her attention and though he doesn't say anything, it's like they're able to have an entire wordless conversation between one another while following the God Hunter through the streets of Skycastle. He sees understanding in Sophia's eyes, and he can tell it only grows as their guide takes them… elsewhere.

  To be fair, Oren doesn't know where this damn registration is supposed to be. But he's pretty sure the God Hunters are fully in control of every aspect of Sky Castle at this point, so their recruitment office probably isn't located in the slums of the city. That's where their guide takes them, everything getting darker and gloomier as they walk.

  Until finally, their guide takes them down an alley that proves to be a dead end, turning to face them even as Oren feels not two, but six men file in behind them.

  "Shouldn't have made things so difficult, friend. All you had to do was let us borrow your little dy wife for a bit so we could expin how things worked for pretty young things like her in Skycastle."

  Oren's jaw clenches and he slowly unwinds his arm from Sophia's shoulder, letting the goddess step over to the side of the alley, giving him room to work as the men continue approaching behind him.

  "She still would have been yours… most nights. But during the day, when you were training or patrolling the wall, she would have been doing her duty as well. On her back. Helping out in her own way."

  Disgusting. Utterly vile. Oren couldn't help wondering how many women were under this bastard's thumb in exactly that same way. Not that it would matter after today. Though… there were a couple of pertinent questions Oren wanted answered before they got started.

  "… And does the Lieutenant know about all of this? Is he in on your little racket?"

  The God Hunter blinks at Oren's sudden shift from a plucky young man to icy questioning, but he clearly doesn't think much of it besides considering it to be false bravado. Laughing, he shakes his head.

  "That moron? Of course not! This is mine and the boys' little side project. We're just trying to make Skycastle a nicer pce for everyone, that's all. Unfortunately for you… there ain't no room for independent sorts. Not in Skycastle and not in the God Hunters. So you're going to have to go. Don't be too sad though… I'll personally take good care of dear Sally here after you're gone."

  Oren narrows his eyes as the smug man gnces over at Sophia and smirks.

  "Might want to look away for this next part, darling. That way you can remember your husband for how he was… and not the corpse he's about to be."

  Crossing her arms over her chest, Sophia scoffs.

  "I think I'll watch, actually. There's just something about watching men too foolish to know they're already dead walk right into their graves."

  That causes a stir among the seven men in the alley. Six behind. One in front. Oren smirks as their treacherous guide's face twists into something far uglier.

  "You stupid bitch. You really think that your husband can handle seven-urk!"

  All that training Oren forced Tyranos and Sophia to put him through on their way to the God Killer's armaments hadn't been completely for nothing. He crosses the distance between himself and the braggart with a big mouth in the blink of an eye, and has his bde drawn and then sheathed in the other man's throat before anyone can react.

  Sophia smiles thinly as the man who wanted to turn her into some sort of communal whore dies choking on his own blood.

  "Yes. I rather think he can."

  The others all start to react. Some of them rush forward with angry shouts. The smarter ones turn and try to run away. In the end… it doesn't matter what they do though. Oren is simply too fast.

  "He killed him! He just killed him!"

  "Get him for fuck's sake!"

  "Oh fuck, he's a god!"

  "I don't have Celestial Metal, run!"

  He blows past the ones who rush him and kills the ones trying to flee before they can even leave the dark, dank alley. Then, he turns and cuts down those who had tried to stand in fight before they can even truly reorient themselves, either towards him or Sophia. No chance of the goddess being taken hostage this time. No chance of another Elric encounter.

  In mere moments, its over. All seven men are dead, the walls of the alley painted with their blood and red seeping out into the ground beneath Oren and Sophia's feet. Tilting his head to the side, Oren listens closely for a moment to make sure there's nobody coming to check… but there isn't.

  There are people nearby, but as expected, this is the part of the city where everyone knows to mind their own damn business. Likely, this was where this group had brought everyone who didn't py ball with them. If Oren hadn't been who he was, if he hadn't been as strong as he was… then nobody would have come to help Sophia, no matter how much she screamed.

  Oren's jaw clenches at the very thought and he wishes he could kill the men all over again. But… at least it's over.

  Sophia's hand slides into his own as she comes up alongside him, looking around at the bodies.

  "… So, what do we do now?"

  The goddess' voice is detached in a way… emotionless almost. But then to be fair, she's never really minded him killing God Hunters very much before. Still, Oren makes a point of sliding his fingers through hers, intertwining and squeezing down. Sophia jolts a little bit but squeezes back after a moment, gracing him with a happy little smile.

  Cleaning his sword while holding her hand isn't easy, but luckily there's surfaces nearby to wipe it down on. Once he's done so, he puts the sword away and gently leads Sophia out of the alley and back onto the road. Looking around at the frankly abysmal slums they find themselves in, Oren tilts his head to the side.

  "Well, 'Tophen' and 'Sally' will probably be cssified as fugitives eventually, though I don't know how fast that will be. We should have a few hours before that Lieutenant starts to wonder why his Private never came back… let's use it to get the y of the nd, shall we?"

  Sophia hums before nodding as she ys her head on his shoulder.

  "We shall."

  With that, they're finally free to explore the home turf of their enemy. And maybe, if they get extremely lucky, they'll be able to stop Tyranos and the Void Gods after all.

  -x-X-x-

  A/N: D'awww, such a cute murderous couple our intrepid protagonists have become…

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