Odin was enjoyed the new city that Hildegard was bringing about, as he began walking through the streets of the Bosco capital, watching a mixture of humans, elves, and demi humans go about their business. For many non-humans, this was the first time they had been allowed within the walls of the city, at least without some form of persecution involved, and many of the human residents were more than happy to show their new neighbours around the area. After all, Sachsia was a massive location. Even Odin, who had spent some time here after putting Hildegard on the throne, still wasn't entirely sure where many things could be found. The castle was an easy one, as it could be seen as a landmark basically anywhere, but if anyone were to ask him where the market was, he'd be at a complete loss.

That was actually what he was looking for today. He had tried to approach people to help him find his destination, but unfortunately people hadn't become that accommodating yet. Sure, they'd be happy to assist elves, demi-humans, the more 'normal' races found in the world. But helping a Lich was still too much to ask of them. Perhaps they knew who Odin was in Fiore, or they'd seen or heard of his brutal slaughter of Brunhild and her minions when they had attacked. Either way, he was probably going to be wandering for most of the day if someone didn't help him soon.

Sachsia was the newest crowning jewel of the Bosco empire, risen from the ashes of the previous empire. It hadn't been too long ago that mages from Fiore had flocked in to support the battle for the throne which had taken place here, all parties wishing to influence the future of this nation in one way or another. Jove had been part of the force sent by the Rune Knights, and due in part to the Knights being unenthused about interfering with a foreign nations politics, Hildegard rose to power.

The news of who her Fiorian backers were had made its way to Crocus, which of course funneled its way through Era. The panic settled through the headquarters, and immediate action was deemed necessary. Perhaps it was due to Jove's recent battle with Erebus, or the fact that he was due for promotion any day now and was whispered to have been considered for the Kingsguard, but he was selected to come to this city for a single purpose.

The largest single backer of the new leader of Bosco, Odin, had been spotted crossing the border in. The lich had made his way through the streets, not at all hiding his rather menacing form, and this had made it extremely easy for Jove to do his job. Approaching from in front of the Lich, Jove stopped shortly before him. His face was serious, as it always tended to be, and he spoke up to the demonic being before him- The Guild Master of Eternal Nightmare.

"Odin, I presume?"

Odin did have to admit, even if Sachsia wasn't particularly kind to him, it was definitely more accommodating than the entirety of Fiore. Sure, a lot of people weren't helping him find the market, which was annoying, but it wasn't like they were fainting, screaming, or running in terror from his existence. He even received a few smiles from the very brave commoners, to which he would simply raise a hand to wave back. He could get used to this, not being hated for every moment of his life. Just most of them.

The city was bustling, to the point that Odin didn't even realise someone was approaching him until his eyes glanced, mostly in passing, across the face of a very serious male. The face didn't instantly ring any bells, so there wasn't any real way to know if he was friend or foe. Or some kind of neutral party. His words also betrayed nothing about his stance, merely just confirming something that, admittedly, was fairly obvious. Still, Odin had no reason to ignore the man. He was among the closest thing to allies that he could have outside of the guild, and he didn't think he had that many enemies in Bosco yet. Other than Brunhild obviously, but her fanatics wouldn't have wasted time talking to the Lich.

"In the flesh, so to speak." He couldn't help but afford himself a little chuckle at his terrible pun, but his voice was otherwise as serious as the man before him, "To what do I owe this greeting, Mr...?" Hopefully the man would introduce himself, and Odin could get a better idea of who exactly he was talking. Whether he got a reply or not, he'd still add, "I wonder, would you be able to help me find the market? I'm hoping to pick up a new book today."

Odin responded with a light joke, though it came across as a bit foreboding given the context of who he was. The Lich himself, the leader of one of the most powerful and influential dark guilds of all time, stood before Jove. He walked through this city as if he didn't have a care in the world. Perhaps it was due to the fact that what the Rune Knight saw was nothing more than a skeleton standing before him, but he couldn't help placing all the crimes this man had committed on his shoulders right now. Lucifer whispered into Jove's ear, tempting him to take action now while he had his enemy in his sights.

The internal struggle did not reflect on his face. Stoic, emotionless, Jove nodded as Odin spoke to him. He hadn't yet answered the question about his identity when the Lich followed it up with a request. "Certainly, I just came from there. I'll escort you, if you don't mind having a conversation on our way."

The two of them would begin walking, and at that moment, the knight would introduce himself. "We haven't been introduced formally. I am Jove Augustus, Captain of the Rune Knights." With just his fame, Jove was a nobody. However, if Odin was well versed in the going-ons of his guild, he'd recognize the name of a man who quickly disposed one of his top subordinates. How would the Lich react to this information?

Odin often got told a lot of information, so much so that he found it difficult to keep track of everything. That was where many of his guildmates came in. But forgetting the appearance of one of his greatest threats? That was a new low. The name instantly sprung forward all the information Odin had been given by Khalfani, as well as what he had heard regarding the Erebus situation. An oddity among knights to be sure, Jove Augustus solely worked around his 'office hours', being in the knights was not so much a calling to him as it was to many others. He had taken out Erebus, arresting him in Baska, but he had wished to meet the man first and form an opinion. It was the Council that had changed the outcome. Thinking about the man's initial offer as they walked, Odin wondered if that was exactly what was going on here. After all, it was only one o'clock, still well within normal working hours.

"Not at all, I'm always happy to talk with any Rune Knight who doesn't try to kill me on a whim..." Odin paused for a moment before adding, "You're not going to try and do that right?" The lightness of the Wizard Lord's tone didn't do much to hide the obvious threat in his words. He wasn't trying to provoke Jove, simply dissuade him from ruining an otherwise beautiful day. And besides, they were in Bosco. Here, Odin was akin to a hero, albeit a brutal one, who put Hildegard on the throne. And Jove didn't have authority as a rune knight in the foreign country. If they were in Fiore, things might've been very different.

"So, what would you like to know?"

Odin carried himself lightly, as if there weren't a single threat to him in the world. If one simply started a conversation with the Eternal Nightmare leader, excluding the fact he was an undead being, one would never associate the atrocities he had committed with his name.

In nearly all cases, Jove had a rule in which tried to follow. He wanted to get to know someone before jumping to conclusions about them. This was true for Odin too, and yet he couldn't help but shake the information he had already become aware of. As a Captain of the Rune Knights, he he had access to all the data on criminals throughout Fiore. Odin was one of the worst of the worst, having spread chaos and death in his wake for whatever goals lay before him.

"I don't think this is the place for that." Jove spoke these words as a matter of fact, and as always, his tone seemed without obvious emotion. "Even if we'd been back in Fiore, it wouldn't be wise to initiate a fight on our scale on a crowded street." The way he spoke of their hypothetical clash held some confidence to it. It was something outside the norm for those who knew Jove, and to be honest it was new for him as well. He had only just started embracing this level of reserved confidence.

With that said, the two began walking alongside one another. Deciding to keep things simple, Odin asked what it was the Rune Knight wanted to know. Jove considered the question carefully before speaking, in order to make sure that is thoughts were in line and he could be as clear and coherent as possible.

"I have met others of your Guild. Obviously, I didn't have the opportunity to speak with all of them, but the ones I had didn't seem the contain the evil and malice associated with you and your guild by the Council." Jove decided to cut to the point quickly, rather than try to get into a battle of wits with a potentially ancient, certainly ageless being. The voice of Lucifer cackled through his subconscious, but Jove continued. "Your name has been associated with the death of many people. It's not just those who rule Fiore, but innocent civilians who have died by your plots. What is your actual goal?"

Odin respected Jove's reluctance to fight, as he knew many that would focus on the threat rather than the safety of the people around them. Obviously Shichiro had caught Odin outside of his guild hall, so he had never had that dilemma during their encounter, but Odin had been accosted (or attempted to be) in the street many times by rune knights and thugs alike, neither of which seeming to care about who got in their way as long as they were able to take down the Lich. Naturally, these had all ended the same way, but there was something refreshing about being able to have a chat with the supposed enemy. It reminded Odin of Kazimir in some ways: another man who stood on the other side as the Lich but who was respected and liked by him. After all, Odin owed him for the use of some of his spells.

Maybe it was because Eternal Nightmare were beginning to make moves around Fiore, and Earthland in general, but Odin was being asked about his guild a lot more than before. Maybe everyone in the guild had been painted with the same brush: evil people to be taken down, but now that conversations were happening, people were realising that wasn't the case at all. Almost everyone in Eternal Nightmare was neutral more than evil. Almost everyone.

"My guild isn't filled with the evil people one might assume when hearing about us. The majority of us are neutral people that simply don't want to be held back by the restrictions placed upon us. It's not like we go around murdering everyone we see, that'd be incredibly pointless." Odin paused for a moment, as he realised the hole he was about to dig himself into, "Eternal Nightmare is a dark guild almost exclusively because of its relation to a demon, who we no longer have any association with, and because I'm a known criminal as its leader." Odin couldn't help but chuckle a little bit before adding, "Even though I'm part of the reason our current king is sitting on the throne."

The question about Odin specifically, as the two meandered through the streets of Sachsia, was a bit more complex. "The goal of Eternal Nightmare is, as many people are starting to realise, to change the system of government on which Fiore rules. Not even necessarily kill the king, just ensure the person in charge deserves to be in charge, and isn't just picked because he was born the right family." The Wizard Lord's voice then darkened a little, at almost the same time that he realised he had no idea where they were going, and it was entirely possible Jove was walking him directly into a trap. He really hoped that wasn't the case.

"However, people rarely join a guild for the selfless reason of seeing its purpose come to fruition. Just like every other member of Eternal Nightmare, I have a personal goal that aligns with the goal of the guild." Odin would let his words linger for a moment, making it clear that he had no intention of saying any more detail about his purpose. "What about you? What is it you want in life?"

"I know that well." Jove spoke in response to Odin's first point, explaining that the guild itself was filled with a variety of ethics. The idea that a dark guild would imply a trove of evil intent was one that was extremely dated. Jove had experienced Rune Knights and Light Guilds rife with corruption, and the idea that the inverse wouldn't also be true was laughable. "I have been fortunate enough to become close with some of your members. However, it is an undeniable fact that some of your ilk have committed heinous crimes."

Rather than bothering with a response to the King comment, the man thought it best to pass by that unaddressed. It was a provocative statement, but said with such an offhanded carelessness that Odin was either oblivious to the fact, or intentionally trying to draw a response. With the benefit of the doubt having been given, the conversation would continue to flow.

While Odin spoke loftily about their goals, offering allusions rather than a hard description, Jove realized that this may be a topic in which further information was not going to be gained. The lich let out a menacing aura, his voice taking on a rather dark undertone. The reaction to their walk was one which would chill lesser mages to their core, but Jove's response held to it an equal level of gravitas- Locking eyes with the Guild Master, or at least where the skeletons eyes would be, with the same bored and expression he always held. Zero reaction, no masking a sense of fear or intimidation; a reigned in response that could only be given through absolute confidence.

"That's fair. This is a discussion, not an interrogation." With that said, the question was turned on the knight.

Jove looked forward and ahead. "Well, I originally was a Guildless mage who also worked in business and merchanting." His demeanor hinted towards a continuation, rather than a random fact. "As I grew older, I realized that both jobs were shit, so I might as well choose the one I'm better suited with.

"At the end of the day, I respect the gravitas of my position I'm in, and I handle the work I am assigned. That being said, all I really want is a job I can be lazy in and not to work anymore overtime." Nothing he said was a lie, yet so many withheld truths were lost with the simplicity of his words. The fact that he wished for the country to be made freer and fairer as the catalyst to making his goals a reality, for example, could not be insinuated. Yet still, the answer was honest and detailed enough to likely take care of Odin's concern, if not to satiate his curiosity.

Jove spoke of the multiple heinous crimes that Eternal Nightmare members had committed, likely with Erebus in the back of his mind due to their brief altercation, but Odin had always been aware that, whatever the crimes of his allies, his own were likely far worse by comparison. The only reason his bounty was not higher was simply due to the bounty system being relatively newly implemented, and not accounting for the Lich's time in Grimoire Heart, nor his actions as a member of Midnight Cult. His entire time as a human, and vessel of Lucifer; and around 50% of his time as a Lich was simply ignored by the council and the king. It was an odd one to be sure, but if it meant there would be less people coming after him, who was he to complain. "That's not to say some famous light mages haven't committed equally inexcusable crimes. I'm often surprised when I remember how quickly Konstantin Sokolov was pardoned. Is a brief stint in jail really all it takes? Maybe I should give it a try next time."

Obviously none of that was really Jove's fault, and Odin wasn't criticising him specifically, but in terms of evils committed Kon was honestly at a similar level to the Lich, although the man had done some good in the world during his time. He was more neutral it seemed, but he had definitely been on both extremes.

With the same being asked of him, Jove gave an actually fairly interesting response. There were very few mages today who were simply in it for the money, most had grand ideas, Odin himself being one of the masses. It made him respect the knight even more, he was a cool guy, but there was one question on Odin's mind when he spoke, "Why choose the Knights then? Surely a neutral guild with its options, or even a light if you err on the side of goodness, would pay just as well but also allow you to choose your own working hours?" Odin wasn't dumb enough to outright invite Jove to his own guild, but if all he wanted was to enjoy life, be lazy, and make money... Eternal Nightmare already had Zane, what harm was another?

The lich spoke true.

Jove could not bring himself to disagree with Odin, not when the points he had made were so based in fact. He found himself wondering what had occurred to allow Konstantin reprieve from the Rune Knights gaze. Certainly, Augustus had heard of the individual and their crimes, and yet the name was now associated with a relatively positive acknowledgement. The conversation continued, and Odin expressed interest in Jove's life. Why the Knights? He offered up some good points, and yet Jove remained expressionless as they moved along the streets.

"Why indeed." Silence settled between the two of them again. Jove could address each point Odin made, but instead his words seemed disconnected from the aforementioned inquiries.

"As a Leader, you must know what the most important step to take, do you not?" A brief pause, only a moment for Odin to consider the words, before continuation. "The one directly in front of you, in order to ensure progress."

It seemed like a 'Gotcha' question, perhaps, and yet Jove continued. "There are times in which I am given an order to act. It is out of my control; You've heard about it, I'm sure." He was referencing his conflict with Erebus, a high ranking member of Eternal Nightmare.

"However, I don't have a grand plan for my life. I joined the Knights, and this is where I shall be fore now. I took the steps to ensure that I could operate at my job in the way that appeals to me the most- One such appeal is the opportunity to meet others, regardless of how the Rune Knights as an organization views them, and forming my own opinion. Good and Evil are black and white terms which hardly ever apply as a sole descriptor of anything.

"However..." Jove trailed his words, and his feet stopped in their tracks. If Odin looked at him, and locked eyes with the Knight, he'd feel it. The flash of mana, the roaring of demonic energy, and even the echoes of a Devil whom he was very well acquainted. It'd be a flash, enough likely to leave the Lich wordless.

"There are those I believe to be good with bad characteristics, and those who are bad with good characteristics. I believe you to be the latter. You talk well, and have about you a charisma which certainly explains your ability to attract such powerful and influential mages. Yet you deflect rather than answer. I cannot argue whether or not your approach is just, nor can I truly discuss whether your ends justify your means. Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps what you're doing is truly for the best for all those involved. And yet, I can't help but feel as if part of your drive is your own Pride. As if there's something more than meets the eye; something sinister. Konstantin was a monster, but he never tried to tear Earthworld asunder."

A long pause, followed by a heavy sigh. "Forgive me. I'm not usually this much of a talker. We agreed to a peaceful walk, and I believe this to be as much as I can promise for now. Until next time, Odin Morningstar." And with that, Jove turned his back on the Lich, leaving the skeletal man in the street.

[EXIT]

Of course it would be too easy to get all the answers Odin desired from Jove straight away. Instead, the man shifted the conversation somewhat to asking what made a leader, something Odin asked himself every day. He had spent much of his life as a simple follower. He followed Crowley and Grimoire Heart, he follows Morrigan. It had only been recently that he had amassed his own following, and he was still getting use to it. He didn't fully understand what it was about him that brought so many to his table, but he was grateful to each and every one of them for giving him the chance to complete his mission. And he would help them too, he would ensure they all reached the heights they desired, that was the pact they all made.

Of course, as Jove mentioned his orders, the Lich's mind flashed back to the reports he had heard regarding the capture of Erebus from the man in front of him. Orders or not, it was still enough to show that Jove was a threat, someone to be wary of no matter what.

At least, as the man continued, he gave the sense of a deeper understanding of the world than the simple good vs bad. Outside of his orders, he wished to meet those the world deemed 'evil', and come up with his own opinions of them. Commendable to be sure, and something Odin was trying to do among the Rune Knights as well in some ways. He had respected Shichiro, despite his defeat at the wolf's hands, and felt similarly for Jove.

A bad person with good characteristics, that's how the captain described Odin. The Lich stayed silent as he listened, but felt a desire burn within him to explain the actions of the crown that had plunged him into darkness. The betrayal the Lich had felt after being promised and forgotten. While not something he mentioned often, it still lingered in the back of his mind. Of course, he had other reasons for wanting to take down the crown, and change Fiore forever: he did truly wish for the less fortunate to have a better chance in their life. But he couldn't deny the simpler, more primal feeling of revenge that he wished upon the King. The man who began Odin's descent from a Kingsguard to who he was now.

Jove would depart shortly after, Odin having stayed silent for the final moments of their discussion. He wouldn't say any more, having felt his passion and anger build in a way he wasn't used to. Whether Jove had intended this reaction, he could never know. But, as he walked the opposite way down the street, the punch he sent into a nearby building, almost taking out the wall in its entirety, was more human than anything the Lich had felt in some time.

More human.

Almost mortal.

-Exit-