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A Knightly aura became perceptible a second later, as did the wrong-ness.

Out at the edge of the lake, a wet whap! echoed against the water, followed by a splash and a shriek. A similar jumble of noises slapped the slush-muddied banks again a few seconds later, and then another one. And more.

Asphodel Knight was back here, on schedule, taking care of that pesky tentacled lamprey-youma again. Granted, there wouldn't be any people swimming out here at this time of year, but sometimes someone in need of some quality alone time would drift around the lake in a little fishing boat, no matter the weather. Therefore, it was best to keep up the pest control routine all year round.

He'd since learned all the tricks it had up his sleeve, so he was whacking away at it with his shovel with a somewhat bored look on his face, as its toothy gelatinous tentacles wrapped around his face once again. As usual, it would be dust before it managed to eat him.

"What?"

Asphodel leaned back quickly to dodge the sudden incursion of blades. The Negaverse agent before him got a good slice into his neck, though, thankfully away from the jugular. She looked pissed, though, and for what? Because one of Metallia's fingers was upset he was stubbing one of Metallia's toes? Please. He rolled his eyes as he continued to struggle against the tentacles, and now, his unexpected opponent.

"Her friend keeps putting innocent people in danger out here," he said. "So, I don't care. If it wants to not get hurt, it can stay in the Rift." His spade was still sturdy in his grip, and he made another move to hit it.

"Oh," said Asphodel, as the lake-youma was cast harmlessly away to the vile dimension from whence it came. It sure was nice to never see that place again, he thought. When accused of starting the conflict, he shrugged noncommittally, still not caring much.

Then he waved a hand dismissively at Slyvite's offer, saying, "Oh, no, no need to give me special treatment here. I remember the Youma Control Services branch of the Negaverse, I'll just use the regular hotline number you give civilians. What was it again?" He then crossed his arms, making a show out of pretending to think about it. "One... eight eight eight... something something... four...?"

His eyes met the agent's with a slow, reptilian blink.

Asphodel's eyebrows slowly raised (not that it was visible, with the hat), and his posture slackened a bit as he absorbed Sylvite's words.

Part of him thought: another one? Already? Really?

He knew, from personal experience, words like that were signs of someone three steps from the finish line. A crooked-toothed grin spread across his face as he thought, further: why not? It used to be so hard to even think of leaving the Negaverse, but nowadays, it seemed, the stench of Chaos had become harder to tolerate as the organization grew in power. He could barely go two weeks without meeting someone else who had either defected already, or was about to.

Why not, indeed. Asphodel spoke.

"What's on your mind, really?" he asked. "Sounds to me like you've been thinking the Negaverse is irresponsible about some things. Wrong about some things. Why else would you be telling me I have a point?" He leaned into his spade, and it sank a bit into the slush-covered mud.

"Honestly, it would be in your best interest to stab me," he continued. "Then you'll have yourself a nice report on how you defended an innocent youma from a traitor."

He stood up straight, and yanked his spade out of the mud, splattering bits of it on the two of them.

"It'll keep you from looking too suspicious."

The knives grazed at his sleeves, cutting through the fabric. "Ow," said Asphodel, melodramatically. No skin had actually been broken. "Yeah, that's real convincing," he said, dodging back out of the mud to more solid ground. "I'm really feeling your undying loyalty to Metallia here." His spade was ready in his hands for a counter-strike, but he didn't move.

"Here's some things to write in that report while you're triumphantly standing over my dead body," he said, tauntingly. The stray wisp that was still following him around, after all these months, popped out from under his hat and floated nearby, looking for all the world like an extra eye staring down the agent.

"The traitor you ran into, was quite insistent that you leave. They said it was not only possible, but could even be made easy. They mentioned having contacts and connections, including a Senshi Princess and a Royal Knight, who could help you escape to a safe location and remove the Chaos from your star seed without risk of the Queen or a General-Sovereign pulling you back to the Dark Kingdom and executing you. They seemed quite confident that you could find a place for yourself outside of the Negaverse... and even invited you to join a Brigade full of traitors they've been working on." The crooked grin flashed on his face, briefly, again. "I'm sure you'll get the praise you deserve for taking care of a problem like me, General."

Asphodel was swaying casually with his spade in his hands, wide open for attack. He was all but daring her to follow through on her intent to kill him.

"You wanted to be someone, huh?"

The corner of Asphodel's mouth twitched a bit, threatening a smirk and another barrage of witticisms -- but -- it paused. Dropped. He took a clearing breath, and his form wobbled a tiny bit. Something softened in his eyes.

"That's exactly how the Negaverse caught me."

His spade lowered to the ground again.

"I was a kid, I wasn't even out of high school," he said. "I found out senshi exist, and I was angry they were running around with powers that were just handed to them. I remember being so pleased I was chosen to join an organization where I could earn power of my own." His voice was bitter and guilty, all at once. Many of his Negaverse memories were still half-formed, eaten away in bits and pieces by a yellowy static, but he remembered what he thought. He remembered how he felt. And his first memory, the moment he was corrupted by Charonite, was crystal clear.

"I was powerful and important. I was making the world a better place. I was going to be one of the leaders of the new world we could create after the senshi were gone," he said. "I was somebody." He nodded, and another breath whistled through his nose. "Those were good times, as long as I kept believing all the excuses for everything I was doing. It was all worth it, so long as I could keep looking the other way."

His eyes burned at her direction, pointedly. "Don't insult yourself by suggesting you're some kind of special hopeless case!"

That came out sharply, like a knife thrown into the wall.

"I'll petition the Code myself if I have to. If you want out, there's a way. I'll stake my life on it."

Asphodel had his mouth open, ready to say even more, before Swirls leapt at his face -- and suddenly they were both gone.

All that was left was him and his wisp, floating dimly in the darkness next to him.

"Think I got to her?" he asked, not expecting an answer.

He received none. The little ball of pale flame simply burned.