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"Let's have a final party before we invade Castle Gray!" Baek-ji grinned enthusiastically, already holding a cup of beer in her hands. Rachel cheered along with her, sipping a self made cocktail made out of elderflowers and random ingredients, slowly basking in the warm and inviting buzz of alcohol in her system. Bagna whipped out a bottle of fireball whiskey, eager to show off his drinking prowess and ultimately to savour the burning sensation of alcohol going down his throat. Vector simply stood awkwardly to the side, holding a cup of water as he watched over them, wanting to stay sober and aware lest any chaos happen while the others were drunk. And John was simply not present, as he was sent away to somewhere to prepare for the invasion.
Engen was standing idly by, holding a cup of whiskey as he watched the Nameless start to party, brooding behind them silently. Ihwa, on the other hand, started to down shot after shot of any alcohol she could get her hands on, despite the previous violent incidents of her drunkenness and warnings of her master. After all, she would rather be blackout drunk and cause headache-inducing problems to herself than have to focus on Nenya’s death.
Additionally, she had been reeling from the vision that ring gave her, and reliving her sister’s death; feeling the life seep out of her sister and blood pool around her wounded body once again was enough to make her want to not have to think for a while. And alcohol provided a handy distraction for that, and any damages or incidents she caused while inebriated be damned.
Even though Nenya had died during the battle against Jintae and his gang, which had changed Ihwa when she had been brought back by Engen, and while Ihwa had safely returned along with being noticeably more closed off, they still had to move on and onto Castle Gray, but not without having a good drink before it.
After all, they never knew who might never return from it permanently and it was better to boost the morale of the Nameless before they engaged in battle. Also, being inappropriately drunk always provided a good distraction from the sheer risk and danger of attempting to overthrow an Elder and conquer his castle.
While Ihwa was drowning herself in alcohol, the others had also started getting drunk. Bagna had quickly regretted his decision to show off or drink at all, the alcohol making him feel utterly nauseous, which turned to him puking his guts out in some corner while Baek-ji filmed him as she giggled drunkenly.
“It hasn’t even been an hour, and here you’re already puking??? At least puke in a trash can…” Vector bemoaned, rushing to use his powers to create a portal and transport the puke somewhere else. Rachel simply giggled in response to them, before turning her gaze to Ihwa.
Feeling slightly dazed after consuming her beverage, she decided to approach Ihwa, feeling a bit more courageous to chat with her despite her previously cold and aloof attitude ever since the incident.
“Hey, what’re you drinking?” Rachel chirped, while her friend stood blankly, staring off into space, her face looking completely flushed. Ihwa simply murmured a slurred reply, before reaching over to take some other bottle of whiskey in a drunken determination. Feeling quite alarmed at the rate Ihwa was downing alcohol, Rachel hurriedly stopped her, grabbing the bottle away from her before she could take it and possibly get more stupidly drunk than she currently was.
Ihwa frowned in annoyance, before lunging at Rachel for the bottle, intent on taking it back, unconsciously summoning her gift and using electrokinesis to propel her forward. This sent Ihwa crashing into the wall of the bar as Rachel dodged her attack. Rachel peeked over to her curiously as Ihwa laid on the ground, her head hanging low. “Ihwa? You okay?” Rachel came closer to her friend, poking her still body inquisitively.
Fortunately, Ihwa quickly got back up, looking unscathed– albeit slightly disheveled; as she snatched the bottle from Rachel and triumphantly drank from it, before slamming the bottle down on the bar’s table, shattering the top of the table into smithereens, confidently proclaiming that she felt amazing, putting her hands on her hips in drunk determination.
Rachel stared at her friend in slight bewilderment, before shrugging casually, her agape mouth quickly forming into a bright smile. “Well, if you can handle it!” After all, gift users were probably powerful enough to withstand alcohol poisoning, and Ihwa was plenty strong.
Smiling brightly at Ihwa, Rachel decided to have fun with her, taking another cup of her elderflower cocktail and clinking the glass with Ihwa’s bottle, before consuming the mixture, as her face flushed into a brighter red and she started getting more drunk as well.
After a few drinks with Ihwa, Rachel stumbled off, leaving Ihwa alone once more as she went to check up on the other Nameless.
“Vector, gimme your blood… Just a sip…” Baek-ji grinned drunkenly, creeping up onto Vector and backing him into a corner. Before Vector could react, she had sunk her teeth into his flesh, drinking his blood, making him squeal in a mixture of pain and surprise. After having his blood be extracted from him by the bloodthirsty woman, he swayed back and forth, feeling lightheaded and woozy before slumping onto a nearby couch.
While Vector was feeling too light headed to intervene, Rachel was now busy forming several plants around the bar, giggling and admiring her creations. After puking his guts out pathetically, Bagna turned around, brushing against the plants and accidentally lighting them on fire as he unconsciously used his powers. However it was slowly becoming a flammable mess, with nobody else being sober or conscious enough to stop it.
While Rachel was frolicking around the bar using her gift to sprout some plants, Ihwa decided to finally put down the bottle before she puked her guts out like Bagna. So, in a drunken stupor, she flung her bottle down, perhaps being a little too loose in her control, the half empty bottle of tequila shattering at Engen’s feet, making her finally notice the man.
Engen was still drinking some whiskey coolly, staring back at Ihwa, looking quite bored. This gave her the brilliant idea to practice her fighting skills with him, and to also let off some steam. Cocking her head, she gestured to the empty streets outside, loudly challenging him to a battle.
Engen shrugged and accepted her offer, the pair walking out of the bar to fight while oblivious to the negligible fire that was starting in the bar. After they had made their way to an open enough area, Ihwa started, unleashing her electrokinesis, the red lightning buzzing around her as she used the lightning to propel herself towards him, unsheathing a blade which had sprouted from her arm, using a combination of her weapon creation and electrokinesis. Engen countered her attack with a flick of his wrist, summoning a sword using his own gift. However, instead of the usual bright blue, it had been tainted into a bright purple, the colour radiating off the weapon.
In response to the summoning of his sword, Ihwa did the same, forming a sword and slamming her sword against his. Ihwa grunted as her opponent pushed her back quickly, stopping briefly before sending a barrage of attacks at him, forming vibrant sparks each time their swords had clashed. Despite being so intoxicated, Ihwa could still hold her own, although her movements were a little sloppy in contrast to her sober self.
Engen leapt backwards, before summoning a horde of hellish skeletons to attack her. Of course, Ihwa dealt with them with ease, having improved quite a bit from when he had last trained her. Once Ihwa had cleaned up the skeleton army, her focus returned back to Engen, and quickly sped back up to slash him. Engen deflected her attack with his sword once more, narrowing his eyes slightly as she utilised her lightning to propel her and give her more strength to push against him.
At that point, it was as if time had come to a standstill, their faces inches apart from each other, gazes fixed on their respective opponent’s eyes, studying their expressions intently. Ihwa’s crimson eyes stared back at Engen, her expression a focused and neutral one, reflecting his own. The only sounds that could be heard were the strained breaths of Ihwa and the screeching of swords clashing against each other.
However, the brief moment of tension between the two was quickly wrapped up when Ihwa passed out, her focus wavering as her body stumbled to the ground, causing Engen to catch her in his arms, staring at her silently before carrying her in a bridal style whilst her head faced his shoulder, seemingly wiped out from exhaustion. “Not bad. You’ve improved quite a bit.” Engen muttered, looking down at her, feeling a tinge of satisfaction at seeing his weapon’s blades sharpen even more.
However, while he was carrying her back to the bar, Ihwa had briefly awoken, and in her half-awake and ravenous state, bit down on Engen’s shoulder, mistaking it for meat. Engen twitched slightly, feeling a sharp prick on where she had bitten him, and turned his head to look down at Ihwa as she bit him again, still feeling quite peckish and continuing to mistake his shoulder for meat. The man quickly pried her mouth off him, finally getting her to rest her head on his shoulder instead of biting it incessantly.
After going through that ordeal, he was greeted with a burning bar and his members all strewn outside, with Rachel swaying side to side drunkenly, smiling while clutching a bottle of alcohol, Bagna lying face flat on the ground, Vector panicking to put out the fire while Baek-ji was nowhere to be found. Then, Ihwa bit him on the shoulder again, mistaking his shoulder for meat once more.
When Ihwa had come to, she was greeted by rays of sunlight shining from a nearby window. She squinted slightly, feeling a slight throb which faded away as quickly as it came. Her memories were quite fuzzy, only vaguely remembering biting something tough. Perhaps it had been a mistake to consume so much alcohol.
Her throat was unmistakably dry, forcing her to get up from the bed and stagger downstairs, where she was met with the sight of Engen clutching a cup of coffee, and looking not too glad to see her. Finally, she noticed a faint but noticeable mark on his shoulder and decided it was a good idea to ask about it.
“Did you get into an accident or something?” She asked as she grabbed a cup of water, putting it to her lips and pouring the refreshing liquid down her throat while gesturing to the faint bite mark. However, that question made Engen break his cup for some reason, splashing coffee and shards of ceramic across the room. Ihwa gazed at the sight of coffee cup shards strewn across the room, before coming to the conclusion that it was probably a bad idea to engage or ask about it and promptly left the room as Engen started to dismantle and destroy the place in a fit of frustration.