Chapter 18 - Act XI (continued)

IV.

"Be a dear and remember: Corporate will pay us less if we go along with safety regulations so you better cut corners!" Audrey told her, chuckling at her odd joke. She had pulled out a crossbow to hand over to her maid. Madoka looked at her inquisitively as she had forgotten they had the weapon. "You might need this or something. Oh! And—" She whispered more ominous words in English as she handed over the bolts to the maid—"If you need to get to me, kill anything or anyone that gets in your way."

Her heavy words landed on her like hissing coal melting the snow and burned with remnants of sparks on their brittle edges.

The red haired girl was nervous about being alone and alternated her grip on each of her weapons beneath her cloak. The crossbow's quiver slung easily at her side as she felt its mechanisms.

She would claim that it was because Audrey was too dangerous to be left to her own devices without her but that was simply a lie to herself. The princess moved confidently away to join her group but anxiety gnawed at Madoka. She looked away in a futile attempt to prevent the loneliness that sank its teeth into her.

The Guild Master paid her a look as she attempted to hide her feelings.

The light in his eyes burned brightly from the golden reflection of Knotting strands and fiery orange irises. She sensed recognition in that brief moment of odd warmth before Luxgor turned away to lead other parties. He had a burning recognition of something in her. Fear? Madoka shook her head as she held onto his gaze for a little bit more.

No, it was blind trust. Faith? It was foolishness. The Guild Master feared both of them at first but now merely hesitates before reprimanding them. She hoped to gain his trust for Audrey's sake.

He believed in her and sent her to go with the original iron rank party. Madoka hesitated and looked back towards Audrey. The haughty mage and her princess were already on the move with the rest of their party. All Madoka could do now is pray to the kind gods for her safety. She even sent a prayer to Ceghinort though he seemed unreliable.

A grunt pulled her out of her worries.

"Well, looks like your Lady is in good hands," Eraziror leaned back. "Or rather, they're in good hands because of her, don't you think?"— He cleared his throat — "Since we're simple Iron rankers and those guys were all silver, they've tasked us with the easy work: Kill the bastards crawling out the furthest western gate when the assault takes place on their front door. Well, if there is a gate still standing there anyways."

"I got a bad, bad feeling about this," Kanys adjusted her bow and sword. After she glanced at Madoka, she looked less confident. "A really bad feeling just now."

"Hm?" Eraziror noticed his partner's stare at the maid. "Come on, now. Our copper friend here is as powerful as the big guy, at least. Right? You saw her fight last night. At the very least, there shouldn't be too many left to scatter about from the main attack."

He knocked on Armor's chestplate and could not even produce a rattle. The Sovos pulled his hand away and was evidently hurt from hitting the giant. Madoka's eyes rolled. She knew she could defeat Armor with ease but if she got caught by him it would be difficult to escape his grasp. The maid did not know if he was a Narm or a Sovos to begin with but she did not ask to challenge him on either subject; a duel or his race meant nothing to her.

"It's time to head to the western gate," Eraziror ordered. Kanys nodded while both Madoka and Armor remained silent. The lack of their responses made him grumble as he trotted ahead. The maid heard him muttering to himself. "Well, aren't you all a talkative bunch?"

He paused for a reaction but recieved silence instead. Armor started to move into the woods so Madoka followed with the Sovos trailing behind. Other parties were close but soon branched off to wherever Luxgor told them to go. He truly was a powerful leader, she thought. To be able to direct smaller groups to enact a plan must take a lot of work and power.

Her senses twitched as she sensed something ominous ahead. There was the smell of death hanging in the air like a cloth fluttering in the wind. Madoka was used to that but something else creeped along with it. The forest cleared out as they trailed through to view the former Sovos settlement. They took cover behind boulders where they were ordered to but they could not resist peering around to catch a glimpse at the desecrated place's remains.

The more she looked the more she hated what she saw. Over the zigzagging trails and flattened roads to the dilapidated gate, a paltry amount of shoddy buildings stood in defiance to whatever horrors the goblins inflicted upon its residency. The structures had splintered wood exposed through stone like bones and bloody mud slathered their walls. Madoka noticed a remnant scar of carved up land that led to a destroyed part of the wall. Audrey's spell pierced through the settlement, she groaned at the realization.

"Era— look!" Kanys cried out, pulling Madoka from her thoughts. Purple mist covered the area but lifted just enough for Madoka's eyes to adjust. She wished she could take back what she saw.

Various hollowed out corpses of different sizes were strung up and dangled from pikes and poles, drained of blood and had faces that were caved in by being bludgeoned repeatedly. They were also nailed to shoddy wooden fences and a hastily dug up moat seemed to carve itself around the town's perimeter like a coiled, dead snake. Madoka winced and averted her gaze for a moment. From her side, Kanys retched as she took in the sight.

"Place looks abandoned," Eraziror remarked. "Those... poor people those twisted bastards hung up..."

He shook with anger. Madoka suddenly hated what these adventurers had to go through and this job. Why did the Princess like these kinds of things? Something boomed within the distance. The maid saw an explosion bloom in the sky and felt the ground tremble beneath her feet. A sick feeling in her gut told her that it was possibly Audrey's doing.

"Kind gods. It's the seige!" Kanys pulled her bow out. She gave Madoka a look while the maid stood there. "Don't just stand there, get ready! Do you even have a weapon?"

Armor rumbled from behind Madoka and startled her. She had forgotten the giant was behind her! Madoka scanned through the mist and the town before speaking. She heard faint echoes of thoughts from her search but she did not know if they were from monsters.

"There's not many of the creatures in there," she stated.

"How do you—"

"Now, now," Eraziror held out his hand as if asking her to hand him something. Kanys's shadow suddenly shifted and warped as the dark form of the Cherish-man emerged from it. "We'll let you borrow a sword, alright?"

The Night Operator placed a beaten up short sword in the Sovos man's grip and vanished. Madoka took it regardless and looked at it with apathy. Knotting magic did not pool around its blade and displayed its unworthiness to be held by the maid.

Unworthy.

They cast you a blade of pity.

Its dull edge will not cut through the blinding darkness.

I will let you see, child.

If you give me your--

"What are you doing? Stop!"

Madoka shook her head after feeling a dull rubbing in her grip. Eraziror was yelling something about copper coins. Madoka was surprised to see shards of the swords blade crushed like sand in her unharmed hands. Did she crush the adventurer's gear? She bowed apologetically but only the cold hilt of the sword remained, never to take another life again. Not like its useless edge could.

"Sorry," she muttered. There was something in her head but she did not explain that.

"I get it, I get it," Eraziror sighed. Another magical attack boomed in the distance. "You're the true monster, here."

Madoka did not know if that was a compliment or an insult. They ignored the ominous winds as they gawked at the bodies. Did they sense the expanding purple mist in the area? It covered her like a spiny cloth. She inspected the magical fog on her arm and noticed tiny needles were stabbing into her skin. She merely took her crossbow out. It had Esmeralda's green stone engraved in its stock.

Still resisting my call?

I will send you a gift...

Madoka growled and kept her crossbow close. Knotting strands were nearby but she knew using her magic would make her tired. Get out of my head, she thought furiously. She already did not like hearing the thoughts of animals and certainly not one who can scheme like this one! Suddenly the ground quaked more severely as the sound of a monster roared overhead.

"Shit," Eraziror stumbled as he covered his ears. "That is definitely not a goblin."

"You think?" Kanys glared at him. They ducked behind Armor. The man simply awaited whatever large foe was approaching through the gate. Smog from the fire magic obscured whatever made that loud and ferocious roar but Madoka could tell it was much more powerful than an ordinary goblin. The mist seemed to lift as the billows of flames wafted skyward.

"Maybe it ate them?" The maid suggested. The pair of Sovos looked at her incredulously.

Armor's helmet pointed at the ominous shadow approaching. Based off of the smoke being pushed by its form, Madoka guessed it was taller and bigger than Armor. Perhaps the creature was as big as the bear she and Audrey slayed. The mountain remained calm so Madoka stood beside him. She noticed other parties did not try to get its attention.

The steps grew more violent and a massive, grotesque creature emerged from the curtain of smog. Bodies fell off of the walls into the moat as it stomped around blindly. Madoka had no idea what the giant monster could be. Its pale blue skin brightened around its carriage-sized gut and its flabby skin flapped wherever it could off of its two arms like thick drapes. Its snout sniffed the air and its maw opened, revealing broken teeth. Madoka hated its ugly face but she noticed that it appeared to be in pain.

"Bloody hell," Eraziror breathed. "An ogre?"

"It's missing its eyes," the maid observed. The gouged caverns where the ogre's eyes would be still gazed in Armor's direction but its head diverted as it sniffed the air. One, two, three, Madoka counted. Three hollowed out sockets, no doubt clawed out by the foul being's influence over its thoughts. It stretched its neck to the left and then to the right blindly but remained in the gate's open path.

They all were suffering from this evil entity, Madoka growled. She vowed she will find it and clean it off this world's surface! Madoka scoffed and took aim at it with the crossbow. She shall lure the evil being's "gift" to them for her to destroy. Behind her, Armor tapped her shoulder with assurance as if he knew what she was planning. She determined the giant man will be her weapon to slay that thing.

"W-What are you going to do with that?" Eraziror shrunk because he already knew what the maid intended with the weapon.

"I'm going to shoot it," Madoka shrugged. She took a bolt from the small quiver and slotted it in the crossbow's mechanism. She had never loaded it before but it was less complicated than it seemed. The bolt locked into place and the crossbow glowed with golden light that only she could see.

"Are you mad?" Kanys stopped her question as if it was rhetorical. Madoka glanced at her briefly. "Of course you are. You crushed a blade with your bare hands."

"Yes, I am angry," the maid explained.

"That's not what I—"

She let her killing intent flare to life and its aura silenced the Sovos girl's complaints. She was angry over everything about this commission. Over the separation from Audrey and the lives she took yesterday as well as the ones she will inevitably take today. Above all, she growled as she pointed the crossbow at the roaring beast, she hated this constant chatter.

"C-can you hit it from here?" Eraziror peaked from the cover. His tone tried to remain cheerful but it wavered like the thin grass in the wind.

"Of course I can," Madoka sighed. "I used to hunt deer with stones awhile ago."

"Stones?"

"I threw them," Madoka told him blankly. "Directly at their heads."

"I'm sold, then," Eraziror grinned. "I'll just, ah, be standing way over here, then."

"No you're not!" Kanys gripped him and dragged him back behind cover.

"You think you can take it? It'll hurt other people if it goes loose," Madoka ignored the pair of cowering Sovos and asked Armor. She cautioned a look at the big man. The gold adventurer tag gleamed brightly as the helmet glanced slightly at her. A nod was all she needed. "Here goes then."

She pulled the trigger and watched the bolt sail straight into the beast's head.

"Kind gods!" Eraziror cheered. "Perfect shot!"

The ogre ceased its wandering as the bolt dug into it. She could hear its flesh crunch as it folded over the projectile and she knew the ogre felt it. Rage and vengeful thoughts seethed within the wicked monster and its flesh glowed red. It roared and pummeled its chest as it tracked the source of its ire. Chunks of its fur tore off its claws and the ogre charged directly at them.

Kind gods, Madoka breathed in as she realized her plan might be too reckless. What if the oaf lost against the ogre? Its imposing frame was a lot bigger than she thought as it burst into a full sprint towards them at an alarming speed.

A rumble thundered by her side as Armor began to charge towards the ogre in response. He raised his axe and prepared to swing at the enraged beast. Its blade glinted in the grey sky's light between smeared rust and dents but both the tower and giant monster collided in a deadly exchange.

A blade rang against claw.

A stoic silence smothered vehement desperation.

The two locked in a bind. Their momentum slammed to a halt as a heated crater formed from their terrible impact. Madoka flinched from the dissipating purple mist and Knotting magic crashing against each other but the two bodies crushed the ground beneath them. They appeared to be evenly matched, she observed. Madoka hesitated to help him and leave the useless iron ranked adventurers behind her alone.

Despite being evenly matched, Armor's own intent rose like heat in a burning furnace. This was a true Gold rank adventurer's strength, Madoka's eyes traced the bright strands gather along his wrists and axe. The mountain roared louder than the ogre and broke through its claws!

With a single swing, the adventurer brought his weapon upon the monster's tree trunk sized neck and struck bone. The life and desperate thoughts escaped out of the towering monster's eyeless head but it did not fall. It died where it stood. Instead, a tiny stream of blood jetted out of the gash when Armor withdrew his axe from its neck.

"Blast it all," Eraziror paled.

"Get back behind the rock, you two," Madoka growled as she moved to cover them. Something disgusting was upon them so she took up guard over the Sovos adventurers. "If you know what's good for you."

"What do you plan on doing?" Kanys demanded. "Block it when it's already dead?"

"No," Madoka sighed. "I'm blocking what comes after."

Slowly, its insides bubbled like stones splashing in water as its reddened flesh faded back to grey. It gave her a brief moment to gather enough of the Knotting magic strands in a shield to protect all of them from the disgusting spray. In a flash, blood and dark guts erupted from its neck and crashed against her translucent golden barrier. Most of its gunk bounced off the shield but Madoka felt the yellow chains in her hand heat up from their impact.

The ogre gurgled before it collapsed. Its sheer weight caused the ground to shake but soon silence settled in the forest once again.

"Kind gods," Eraziror glanced at the magic Madoka conjured. "Is there anything you can't do? Using this level of Knotting magic like nothing. It's just... brutally annoying how jealous I am of you!"

Madoka shrugged. Kanys tapped the barrier and found it to be sturdy. She scoffed and said nothing though the maid knew she felt jealous, too. The guts that puddled on the ground made her wish Audrey was with her to wash it away. She jerked out of her thoughts in horror. She did not protect Armor! She crushed the golden links in her grip and saw that he was covered in gore. The shield broke like shards of intangible glass she could run through.

"S-Sorry, sir! I didn't cover your armor in time!" Madoka apologized and inspected the aftermath. The giant was unharmed despite getting innards sloshed all upon him. Slowly, he turned. All of its mess sloshed to the ground and the maid jumped back to avoid the splash. His heavy armor started to clink. "Sir?"

The armor heaved into a rapidly moving motion, like a tray set clattering on a rickety cart. His steps squashed the gore as he faced the maid. A low noise sounded within the helmet. Madoka realized that it was laughter. Armor was laughing! At the sweet and deep earthy tone, she relaxed. He was truly the warrior she thought he was. He was gloating over his felled prey while Madoka wondered what he looked like beneath all that viscera covered metal coating.

"You are quite a fine warrior," he spoke in Reverent Noble. "You protected my friends and knew my intentions."

"Why are you praising me?" Madoka asked him but recieved a laugh as a response. "I did nothing. You're the one who defeated it."

The tower shook the branches of shredded trees with nothing but his voice.

"I see you. A warrior who does not waver in the face of an ogre's charge," he told her. She was still trying to get used to his voice but he spoke again. "One who knows strength."

Madoka was about to say something but she heard someone cheering from behind her.

"Bloody hell," Eraziror clapped as he hopped over spilled organs to see the massive ogre corpse. "That's the power of a Gold rank adventurer, right?"

"H-Hai," Madoka nodded.

The other adventurers she noticed scattered away. It did not matter, for their abandonment meant the ogre before them was Armor's to claim. However, she did not know if its massive corpse could fit inside Kanys's shadow. The two were too stunned and did not notice Armor speaking.

"Now what?" Madoka breathed. The purple mist still enshrouded the ruined settlement.

"The fun part," Eraziror pointed at the ogre's ugly head. "We claim it, like we did yesterday with those bastards."

He happily marched towards it but Armor moved in front of Eraziror.

"What is it?" He asked but retreated behind Kanys after Armor let out a growl. "Okay, okay, big guy. All yours."

Armor pointed to Madoka and directed her to the creature's head. Only the hushed tones of a rhythmic breeze infused with the sizzling grass melting from the dead beast's blood could be heard. Battles sure destroy a lot of nature, she mused. Its neck was loosen and threatened to sever completely from the rest of its corpse like a strip of torn dressing.

Armor brought his axe down deep into the earth. Madoka looked at his helmet inquisitively. He nodded expectantly. A challenge? She pondered as she saw golden links swirl towards the towering axe's handle. The axe glowed a deep red instead of golden, indicating to her that it was stronger than the weapons that glowed yellow. Armor wanted her to sever the head completely. The maid scoffed. It was child's play even though the axe was as tall as her.

"Go on," Eraziror seemed too excited to see what Madoka could do with Armor's weapon. "Give it a go!"

Madoka groaned. Were they there to mock her strength or to extol it? Armor's axe was cold and its handle was full of dents from its master's continued grip. She pulled it out with ease and inspected its bladed edges. How many unspeakable horrors has this thing faced? She looked to the dead ogre's eyeless head and severed it completely with a thunderous swing.

Armor gave a growl of what she presumed was approval.

"We will talk later," he spoke quietly. Perhaps she could clean his armor later, Madoka mused. A shadow above her pushed through the crowd.

"Hold!" A voice came above through the cloud. Luxgor was flying high above them but the purple mist made it difficult to see him. The Sovos iron rankers greeted him as he landed. The Guild Master scrutinized the scene and stopped in shock from the sight of the chopped up ogre. "Don't tell me you killed that thing, Madoka."

"I didn't," she replied curtly. Luxgor flinched but noticed Armor standing by its massive leg. The leg was taller than her even though it was flat on the ground. She pointed at the giant. "He did."

"We will discuss things later," Luxgor sighed. "Regroup with us soon. This place is strange but the Truth Guild will set things up soon."

"Yoohoo!" A familiar voice called Madoka. Luxgor rolled his eyes. It was Audrey! The gloomy feeling she had subsided but she realized the princess was dragging someone along with her. "Where is my maid?"

"I guess we will regroup here," Luxgor interrupted them. "Stay put."

"Rin?" Madoka studied the haughty mage. Rin seemed bewildered by whatever troubles Audrey caused them. She suddenly missed Luxgor but realized even he could not control the princess.

"Come on, man," Audrey looked hurt. "I'm right here and you say her name instead?"

"Apologies," Madoka began but Audrey jumped up towards her. Rin's dazed eyes did not even glare at her like she usually did. Just what did the troublesome girl do to her?

"Speaking of that," Audrey held onto Rin like she was a friend. "She and I are best friends now! Isn't that right, Rin?"

"H-Help," Rin mumbled. "She's too much!"

"Audrey Dalion," Madoka spoke calmly but powerful enough to cause Audrey to gulp and release her prisoner. Juujee came through the woods with a copper tag around his neck. "Come."

"Nae waaah! We were just talking about isolated atmospheric pressure and water molecules! Nothing troublesome—"

"Audrey Dalion," Madoka repeated herself. She needed somewhere to store the ogre's head, after all. "Come."

Audrey pouted but straightened up after she recieved a single glare from Madoka.

"Who is in charge here?" Eraziror muttered. "The noble or the slave? Ach! Ow!"

Kanys punched him in the shoulder to shut him up. Madoka ignored the pair and dragged Audrey by the arm to where the severed ogre head rolled.

"I was gonna get her to apologize to you, but Jesus what the hell is this thing?" Audrey examined the corpse and its head. "Three eyes, moldy skin. This thing ain't right!"

"An ogre," Madoka stated blankly. "I was going to put its head in the portal."

Audrey squelched her breath before her cheeks got bright.

"Oh! I remember!" She exclaimed. "Proof of a kill, yada, yada. Though the only town that takes a monster this size is called... Glade. Glade something. Put it in here! You must've gotten XP from killin' this thing, I swear."

"I didn't kill it," Madoka sighed. Audrey manifested a large enough portal for it to store. "But it was a gift from the big armored man."

She drew her axe and plunged it into the monster's gargantuan head until she dug into skull. The hooked grip was able to be dragged, so Madoka simply walked through the portal with it and it vanished inside. The maid did the same thing with the infected bear awhile ago but it still surprised her. Audrey clapped her hands and the portal closed.

"Well?" Audrey asked as she pointed to the rest of the body. "Should we take that too?"

"Can it even fit in the portal?" Madoka glanced at its clawed feet. Three bumpy lumps of toes stared back and made her avert her gaze. Audrey shrugged but then noticed the gate.

"Soooo, hey, Madoka," Audrey spoke slyly and immediately Madoka knew what she was thinking. "Come around here often?"

"You honestly expect me to go inside there?" Madoka put her hands to her hips. Audrey grinned. She withdrew the axe without the head it was stabbed into and placed it Madoka's unwilling hands. "With you?"

"Yeah!" Audrey cheered. They were quite a distance away from the rest of the group. "Let's go explorin'!"

Madoka groaned and inspected the mist. It did not seem to harm her or the princess. Audrey was already standing at the gate, startling the maid. How did she get there so fast?

"Come on!" Audrey waved to her. "Let's go before Luxgor-san sees us!"

"He's going to be so angry with us!" Madoka complained but did not stop herself from following the princess.

"I know right?" Audrey chirped. "But something tells me there's secrets in here that we might wanna get to first."

"Kind gods help me," Madoka breathed in a prayer. She will destroy this girl one day but after she picks up her messes!

V.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Audrey urged Madoka to follow. "Don't wanna have the guild people after us!"

"Why don't we just stay put, then?" Madoka grumbled. She smoothed her clothes and peeked over her shoulders but only saw the dead ogre's lumpy toes. She groaned but hurried after Audrey over the moat of dead bodies.

"'Cause that's boring!" Audrey moved deeper in. Madoka sighed, since deep down she was bored and itching for action.

Or, she just liked only being near her princess.

"Kind gods," she breathed. "There's nothing left, isn't there?"

"Nuttin' but the rocks and the dead, amen," Audrey spoke in that odd accent of hers. She called it a Southerner's accent dismissively like a joke, but to Madoka it sounded like another way to use the language of the Gods. "Like destruction from the Almighty, all hands are feeble, buildings are rubble, and hearts are dismayed... or something like that. Never liked that book."

The street was broken up as if a giant descended down and battered through it with his fists, or like frozen ice sheets breaking off into individual dangerous islands floating down a river. The few skeletons of buildings that still stood were coated and smeared by a mysterious brown substance that the maid did not dare to touch.

What secret could they find here? Madoka wondered. Audrey suddenly grew silent as they approached a building. There were still goblins roaming around in this place, she realized. A humming noise could be heard on the inside. They crept along the rundown walls when she noticed the purple mist slithering through its destroyed windows.

Grant us ears.

To hear our enemies crushed.

Come to us.

O, come to us and speak your tall form into our new ears.

Prayer? Madoka deciphered the odd thoughts. Someone, or something, was heard struggling through the burnt walls. She peeked quietly above a shattered window to investigate. Audrey's body crept close beside hers.

The sight almost made her gasp. Bodies were strewn about of unknown origins and piles of frozen severed ears were in the room's center amidst the rubble. Madoka averted her gaze from the messes and maintained her composure, only to find the source of those odd prayers. There were four goblins wearing robes and seemed to be taller than the normal ones she destroyed last night. They were dragging a sack that contained someone struggling inside it.

She moved to attack but Audrey stopped her. Madoka gave her a look but the princess simply nodded back at the sack. A green hand wriggled through a hole.

"Chanting?" Audrey whispered. "A sacrifice?"

"Quiet," Madoka warned her. They watched the creature struggle in the sack until the taller goblins hurled it brutally overhead and she heard the floorboards splinter under its impact. It shrieked in pain while the others chattered strange vocalizations but she had trouble hearing them clearly.

The goblin inside the sack tore at the others, but they were too strong for its weak arms. One of the tall goblins lowered its hood and revealed multiple Sovos ears grafted on the sides of its head, much to the girls' horror. The three other tall goblins then dumped the struggling one in the center out of the bag. Its head rocked against the ground and revealed that it did not have any eyes unlike the tall goblins.

Eyes and ears, Madoka pondered grimly. These creatures seemed at odds against each other based off of their odd fetishes. The eared goblin drew a staff and pointed it at the eyeless one. It screamed in an odd language, but Knotting strands pushed themselves towards Madoka's own ears. She plucked at the chains and rotated her arms in an arc to both sides of her head, then watched the amber magic copy her movements. After the strands attached to her ears, she realized she could understand them.

"You!" The eared Goblin shrieked at the eyeless one. Madoka realized that the magic was changing the Goblin's words to Commoner. "You would give your eyes to the False God!? The—" It uttered incomprehensible words,"—Barrier!"

"Evil!" The other tall goblins chanted and began to tear at the pitiful captive's flesh.

For a moment, Madoka considered leaping over the wooden barricade and painting the room green, but suddenly she felt a tug on her sleeve. Audrey looked at her oddly, but could not question her. The chanting continued and an ominous violet energy swirled beneath where the captive lay.

Ears.

Ears!

So we may hear Tomorrow!

Madoka decided whatever they were trying to accomplish was too dangerous to watch. She had to act! The ground began to rumble as the princess mouthed a command, but Madoka ignored whatever it was. She drew her axe and leapt through the windows to confront the monsters.

The inside of this building was disgusting but Madoka stifled her urge to choke from the rotting smell. In a quick movement she spotted the four goblin targets and prepared for an attack, but to her surprise they cowarded and abandoned their spell casting at the sight of her fearsome intrusion.

"A heretic!" one of the hooded goblins shrieked. It had an oddly feminine voice, but it sounded like it was mixed with gravel and bile.

"Stop!" Another cried out, raising its arms in surrender. A band of bloody ears clicked together around its bone-thin wrist as it shook with fear. Audrey hopped over to investigate with Madoka, but she could sense magic emanating from the princess.

"Interloper!" The one with the grafted ears spoke to them in a mix of Commoner and Noble. "Have m-mercy, you and you!"

It pointed a shaky claw out to the maid and her princess. Madoka could not believe she was speaking with monsters. The leader spoke again, tapping her staff on the ground and letting go of it. To her surprise, the staff remained standing upright amongst the severed ear piles and limbs.

"This town's finished!" It spoke to Madoka. "Our livestock ran!"

"Livestock?" Madoka questioned if the bodies of dead Sovos surrounding her were the livestock. The goblins nodded vigorously.

"R-Ran away! With their ears and their—" It spoke faster as it noticed Madoka's countenance darken. "Broke the Barrier, the False God did. Poisoned these heretics with lies of eyes!"

It directed its finger at the pinned goblin. A wound was spreading across its bare chest, as if a sword was meticulously carving a bloody pattern along its skin.

"False God?" Audrey asked. Madoka was curious in a False God. Would the kind gods even allow such a heresy to exist? Was it the creature whispering in her head?

"Surely you see her work all around, you!" The creature addressed Madoka. "You feel her pecking at your eyes, like a bird! You and you, come with ill intent and juicy offerings."

"If you mean the guild," Madoka growled and lifted her axe in a fighting stance. "You are mistaken if you think I will allow that."

"Yeah!" Audrey cheered behind her. She would roll her eyes but she had to focus on the threat in this rotted carcass of a building.

"Barrier, keeps it below, you and you," the leader's wretched voice turned to a desperate snarl. She could sense a battle brewing. "Or are you a heretic already!"

"Take their ears!" One of the hooded goblins cackled.

Madoka rose her axe to defend Audrey but the spell circle beneath the captured one flashed in a purple light. The magic's emission stunned everyone, and the blind goblin writhed on the floor. Its thoughts were erratic. Pain? Madoka questioned, but turned to see the other four goblins were incapacitated and also writhing on the floor.

"Audrey?" She called over the wailing creatures.

"I'm good, I'm good," Audrey shouted over them. "Finish them off before something bad happens!"

The rumbling continued and through it all Madoka finally heard thoughts above the chaotic clamor.

Me, a false god?

I am no God.

They only need eyes!

To see Tomorrow!

I will show you, Child.

How blind they are!

"Enough," Madoka chided. She moved to silence the wailing, but she noticed they were also ripping at their eyes amidst the chaos.

"Do it!" Audrey struggled to maintain her balance from the shaking.

She swung.

Frozen ears scattered, blackened ashes and green blood sprayed like discolored snowflakes in a windstorm against the frail wooden walls. All that remained before her was the blind captive. It still writhed and the magic did not disappear even after the remains of ears were disturbed. Its thoughts were not recoiling in agony, Madoka realized that it was writhing in ecstasy!

Eyes!

Oh, I see!

Tomorrow, it is—

The spell circle flashed and she witnessed what silenced the blind goblin's thoughts. A massive, gaping jaw materialized from the spell circle and crunched the goblin like a green, moldy grape exploding with its rotten fruit. Its skinny body snapped like a green stalk of a flower crushed between sharp teeth. An ogre was coming through the spell circle head first!

"Ewwww, gross!" Audrey shrieked at the sight. "Don't just stand there, get it!"

Madoka left on its forehead and plunged her axe straight into its top eye. The creature howled in agony, but began to seep back into the floor and magic circle as its power faded. Her grip felt like it was shattering a tough rock, but even still, rocks still could be smashed to pieces. Its throat ruptured as it swallowed the goblin whole and its lower eyes wriggled in agony. Squishing noises disturbed her ears as she withdrew the axe and proceeded to smash another eye. Each strike seemed to slow down its emergence.

"Like whack-a-mole with an ogre!" Audrey cheered. "Smack it down!"

"Can. You. Not?" Madoka groaned over the ogre's roars as she gouged out its final eye. She realized that Audrey used magic to slice off its tongue and even through its tough fangs. She was fighting off a larger claw emerging from the portal while Madoka silenced its wailing.

Instantly, the magic seal ceased existing as she pulled her axe out of the beast's final goopy, lifeless eye. The rest of its body was apparently unable to come with it since the magic stopped, leaving the ogre's severed head fused to the wooden floors in a bloody mess of flesh and rubble. The claw, surprisingly, dissolved into purple mist.

"Blegh!" Audrey looked away. The head was melting in the mist as well, but Madoka did not want to stay and find out what might happen next. "What kind of messed up ritual was that?"

"It was what they called the False God's doing," Madoka glanced at the leathery green heap she made before the ogre arrived. Well, she glanced at the large head she lept off of. It arrived partially.

"They mentioned a barrier," Audrey mused, but she noticed the leader's staff still remained standing after all the commotion and took it. "We should go investigate it before the guild people take the opportunity away."

"Let's go," Madoka agreed, although secretly she figured anything was better than being near the rotten head in this house. Between the grotto and this place, she was sure she hated this godless town more.

As they moved along the scarred road, she noticed it was eerilyw silent. A slight inclined pushed through the middle of this place and nature claimed the eastern side where the supposed siege took place. She was reminded of the many snow covered hills they traveled over in Fiara.

Madoka swatted the mist away from herself. The mist swished away from her, and dissipated quickly after they stopped that ritual. She groaned at her new ability to see magic. Of all the things Audrey could do, this was not one of the abilities she wanted. Whatever it this ugly mist was escaping to, this ancient city will never be restored to its once peaceful state.

"So this, False God," Audrey's sapphire eyes scanned above them at the things unseeable. She still had the Goblin's Staff. It rattled with ears and odd rocks off its thorny and twisted handle. She focused for a moment, and before Madoka could stop her red strands formed in her wrist's veins. "Yah!"

The staff of ears did not react to the Domineering magic. The girl held it sideways as she inspected it and flinched at Madoka's glare.

"S-Sorry, my intrusive thoughts won that one," Audrey tossed the staff into the portal. "Had a feeling the magic in that staff and my own were not compatible."

"Let's just get it on with," the red haired girl grumbled, but stopped just in time to see an opening in between a few crushed towers at the center of the hill. A dark cave entrance sat there with more of the strange symbols she saw being carved upon the captured goblin's skin. "This must be where the barrier was guarding."

"Mm," Audrey peered further up the hill. "A church...?"

Madoka joined her gaze to see a broken sculpture overlooking the rest of the town. It was missing many of its features but nevertheless seemed like a desecrated statue of a kind god to her. She shook her head out of it. There was not enough time since Audrey was already headed towards the dark cave. The runes carved inside the rocks seemed like they were inactive.

"I hope this isn't another thing like the grotto," Madoka worried.

"No," Audrey confirmed. "There's something different about the manas here. They're... bright?"

Madoka could not see what the princess saw, so she focused on her own Knotting magic. The more she observed the magic in the air, the more brightly it glowed. She noticed it would hardly glow at all in her vision if she did not focus on it. It must be her improvement over her control, she hoped. The amber strings lit a path straight into the darkness and seemed to gather in a certain area within.

"I sense something in there, too," Madoka told her. "Careful."

Together, the two descended into the hill's dark cave. Audrey's magic rings and stars illuminated the surroundings. Light pooled in from the other end of the corridor. This was not a cave, she realized. It was a tunnel!

She could not resist heading towards the glowing Knotting magic ahead. Could it be a fairy? The strands curved over a mound, and Madoka did not hear any thoughts deeper within the tunnel. The mound crumbled to dust as she attempted to step over it.

"Dust?" Audrey started but was interrupted by the glow Madoka uncovered. "A flower?"

Strange white glowing flowers were growing here of all places? Their petals glowed in defiance to the dark around them and yet peace surrounded them in their gentle aura. The light reminded her of the bird, but she hoped they did not share a correlation.

"Pretty!" Audrey gasped at their beauty. Madoka bent over to look at one closer. It had a large petals that layered into a bulb on its tip yet the stalk did not yield to its weight. Instead, it stood upright as if it was at attention and silently gave its light to the world around it. She wanted to touch it but it could be a trap somehow.

"I've never seen any like these at the Estate," Madoka remarked. "They are beautiful, like you."

"Ah! Don't say that," Audrey's core lit her blushing face. Madoka could not stop herself from saying that, because the flower's beauty distracted her. She checked the area around it and noticed that more flowers seemed to be growing in a path towards the outside. "These... aren't just dusty mounds. They're... goblins?"

She carefully stepped around the flower to look at one of the goblins. They were whitened by the light and were frozen in motion. They were like statues, Madoka looked at its face and scoffed. Still ugly, even if fear etched its mug in its final moment. She wondered if that statue above was not actually one at all.

"Salt?" Audrey looked at the ground as they traveled by multiple sculptures. "Or bone, even. Perhaps a combination of the two. Something or someone did not want these things to escape, and used a spell that caused mass calcification."

"Mass—" Madoka attempted to repeat that large word but they already made it to the tunnel's exit. Audrey excitedly leapt over more of the glowing flowers and into the sunlight.

"Ah, fresh air!" She twirled to face Madoka. "And the, uh, unknown. We're probably around the base of the settlement."

"I'm glad we made it out," the maid scoffed. Still, she had not realized it at first, but they traveled quite a ways downhill and now were standing at the bottom beneath a large cliffside. "Those things dug all of this?"

"Probably," Audrey guessed. She squinted at the top of the cliff. Madoka could see the torn down walls. "Well, I thought there would be a secret in that place but there was a whole lotta goddamn nothin'—"

The grass beneath them shook and the trees rustled. Shattered ashes and salt slid out of the exit of the tunnel as Madoka searched for the disturbance. Why did that girl open her stupid mouth? The quakes were rhythmic. Something was stomping loudly out there.

"Come, before this place crashes down upon us," Madoka dragged her princess along towards whatever was causing the commotion.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" Audrey complained, but the two were off. She broke away from Madoka's hands and stopped. "There's company ahead."

It was true, Madoka felt the stamping grow more intense as they moved away from the cliff. Lucky for them, the trees in this part of the woods were tall as towers and crowded like soldiers in a formation. They would sneak upon the nuisance making noise and silence it before the cliffs topple over! She would do that, however, the pair found themselves at a dead end. A massive root snaked as far as she could see through this part of the woods. Distant, hungry thoughts were coming from behind the root.

"Come," Madoka commanded Audrey.

"Wait up!"

Madoka had no choice but to climb up on it and scout for any danger below. Ogres, she counted three large figures below her in a clearing. A hand suddenly crunched the bark behind her, but they were too high up to be noticed. She whirled around and turned to see Audrey struggling to pull herself up.

"Dude," Madoka groaned.

"Uh, a little help here?" She urged. "Come on, I ain't as strong as you!"

Madoka put her hands on her hips and stared down at the princess. She contemplated if she should help her up or not.

"You could just use magic to fly up here," she sighed. Audrey grunted as she continued her attempts at climbing up.

"Yeah, and?" The princess did not even challenge her, which almost made Madoka smirk. "You flew up the root like a squirrel on crack, I just —hng— forgot, okay?"

With a final shove, she finally got a hold of a nook and pulled herself up.

"Seriously, man," Audrey heaved. She was out of breath from merely climbing up a root. "Don't give me that look, this root is taller than a house!"

The two quieted down before Madoka could question what she was talking about when the stomping suddenly stopped.  The ogres were talking. She did not realize until this day monsters could speak. One of the grotesque brutes raised a three fingered hand to his chin, as if in thought.

"What's in a name?" He asked the other two. The ogres were strange. They only possessed two eyes. Maybe these large monsters were a separate type? "The Cuckoo — Why do the birds call the Named One that?"

The other ogres did not respond, but instead waited for him to continue with bated breaths.

"For some, it is to gain power over others," he continued. Was this creature reasoning? Madoka wondered. Audrey poked her. "Power over the unknown. The power to control themselves and their smallness. Us? We are too big!"

"You sneak in and get 'em distracted," she whispered. "I'll charge up a spell."

"A spell?" Madoka was admittedly more nervous of the spell than those three monsters, even though they were each larger than Armor.

"Yes, yes," Audrey slid a finger across her neck. "This kind of spell. Get 'em in position."

Madoka rolled her eyes. They seemed to be rapt by the leader ogre's speech. His tone was softer than she imagined an ogre would sound like, and much more intelligent than the goblins.

"Boss, I'm all for names and all," one of the ogres spoke up. "But my stomach has more power over me than a name."

"A name means everything, fool!" The leader snapped. "They named your stomach's churning and turning "hunger," isn't that correct, my sweet little birds?"

Distract 'em, Madoka heard the command in her head. Challenge accepted. She lept off the root and landed before the three ogres. They stood about six or seven heads taller than her.

"Ah!" The third ogre raised his hands up in surprise. The dirt, snow and grassy debris cleared from Madoka's landing. "A bird!"

The leader ogre stared in shock at the maid's arrival and sniffed the air.

"My, my, my," he pondered aloud. He was pounding the ground with a crude club along with his comrades. Madoka could see a pendant wrapped around his finger. Knotting magic made it glow yellow. "What an unexpected unknown. Are you a named one? Or one of these birds?"

He revealed a cage behind him, and held it up effortlessly at his eye level. Madoka saw its contents: Two women and a smaller individual. A goblin? She squinted just to make sure. Why were Sovos trapped with a monster.

"My name," Madoka kept her voice steady and her axe ready. She doubted she had enough time to deal a lethal blow to any of them. They were too tall for her to leap to and chop in time if she wanted to keep the hostages alive. "Is Madoka."

"Madoka?" The leader asked, then he started to laugh. The other two looked at each other in confusion, but began to laugh with him. "You don't suppose you have any other names than just the one? Names, have power, you see. Unlike these delicious snacks, who do not have power."

He shook the cage in his hand. One of the women kept standing, staring at him defiantly.

"I am a slave," Madoka sighed. "I have no other names."

"A slave?" The ogre leader questioned, but eased into a laugh. The ground rumbled as his belly aching continued. "A Slave Madoka! Splendid. Two names!"

"Can I eat slave?" The third ogre asked. He shook his head. It was evident that his efforts in trying to speak Commoner caused his mental faculties to slow. His eyes glowed with intense thoughts and the sun outlined his imposing silhouette even through the trees.

"We should give it a proper name before you do," the leader declared.

"Wait," Madoka told them. She needed time to distract them for Audrey's spell. "I can give you three a name."

"Give us a name?" The ogres seemed suddenly mystified at her suggestion.

"What are you doing?" One of the women in the cage shrieked. "Are you mad? Get us—"

"Shut it," Madoka and the ogres all snapped the caged prisoners. The leader dropped the cage on the ground and pondered her suggestion once again. "It's true, once you have a name, people will fear you."

"Fear us?" The leader ogre pondered at the proposition. "And what is a Slave Madoka? Nevermind— Give us a name and send our name to those babbling fools upon that hill."

"Make it fearsome!" The second ogre cheered.

"Make it hungry!" The dumb third agreed. "Or we'll make you hungry!"

The threat did not seem like it made sense at all, but Madoka understood the meaning behind it.

"Let's call you the Bone Crushers," Madoka suggested. The leader did not seem pleased at the suggestion. "Leaf Eaters?"

"Oh I like that one!" The dumb one agreed.

"Slave Madoka, you are making me quite hungry," the leader finally spoke. Madoka hoped the spell Audrey was preparing would be ready. "Or perhaps, these three birds will suffice as a delicious meal?"

"Maybe you can be called the Bird Eaters?," Madoka suggested. The ogres gasped, seemingly awestruck at her newest name idea but even more impressed by her. She hoped to lead them away from the hostages. "Speaking of birds, there are plenty of them upon the hill. Maybe you can go up there and eat them?"

"Maybe we should do that, boss," the dumb ogre suggested. "I like birds!"

"Mmm, maybe we should— Wait a minute!" The leader exclaimed. His gluttonous belly glowed red as his anger rose. "You just want to eat our birds! Only the Cuckoo gets to eat them!"

It drew its massive club while the others grew agitated and did the same. Madoka still noticed the pendant wrapped around his finger. The three gathered closer to surround her, leaving the cage in a safe spot.

"Audrey, do something!" She screamed as the ogre prepared to smash her with the club.

"This is your end, Slave Madoka!" The leader roared. Madoka prepared to leap out of the way, but suddenly a massive Wind Blade cleaved each of the ogres' heads off. The energy sliced through several branches behind it as it traveled into the sky. The headless leader's body started to topple over, so she dove out of the way. Leaves and branches crunched as the bodies crashed down through everything.

How is anything allowed to be that big? Madoka groaned.

"Oh baby, a triple!" Audrey cheered. "That was the biggest Wind blade I've made yet!"

"Could have been worse," Madoka sighed. The bodies began to stink as their insides experienced fresh air. "Let's get out of here—"

"Hey! Helllooooo?" A voice near the tree she leapt off of called.

"Oh yeah, prisoners!" Audrey moved towards the cage beyond the fallen ogres. "Let's rob them!"

"Audrey," Madoka started after her.

"I'm just joking!"

As she rounded the leader's massive hand, she noticed the pendant was loose on its gross finger tip. Audrey watched her peel it off, surprised that she was able to lift its giant claw off the ground and not ruin everything. Madoka shot her a look and the portal immediately manifested. She contemplated taking one of the beast's clubs, but she did not want to know what scheme the princess could use it for and chose not to.

"Hey! Let us out of here!"

"So needy!" Madoka approached the cage. There were three trapped in a cage made out of tough wood and tightly knitted strippings. The one whining wore an odd uniform, similar to the Adventurer Guild but it was grey and more rugged. She was covered in mud and nasty liquid. The other taller woman stood silently, as if she was waiting on the first. A furry tail flicked in annoyance, but she stood there with crossed arms. A Cherish woman, Madoka followed the swishing tail's path. She averted her gaze after the tall woman glared back at her.

The third was a tightly bound goblin, with only its head exposed. Its eyes were still inside its skull, at least, but it looked crazed.

"Well, color me surprised!" The woman eyed Madoka's tags. "Never knew coppers could be so tough! You are here to rescue little old me, right? Right?"

"You're not old," the tall woman scolded her.

"Whatever! Just get us out of here, please! We have to report back to Luxgor or he'll throw a fit! Wait a minute," the Truth Guild member's green eyes scrutinized Audrey. "I know you two! The Adventurer Guild Master told me all about you two! A Noble and her slave! How romantic! Ach!"

The strange woman yelped as the other elbowed her. The Cherish woman gave her a look that Madoka knew all too well. She has given Audrey that same look. She noticed the Truth Guild member was pouting!

"Do you honestly expect me to have manners after this ordeal?"

"A little thanks would be appreciated," Madoka agreed with the Cherish woman. She suddenly knew who they were without even meeting.

"Fine, fine! Thank you, saviors. We're somehow quite alike," the Truth Guild member groaned. "I am Arudite, level two researcher of the Truth Guild in Capital Rustaze. And this here is my slave, Ilalune."

VI.

The cage's thick branches came apart in Madoka's fists easily like bread loaves. She cared not for the mess she caused to fall upon the dirty captives. Arudite sputtered, while Ilalune stood tall and dusted herself off quietly. Soon, a girl and her slave stood in debt to a Royal and her maid. Madoka eyed the Truth Guild girl with a cautious glare.

"So?" Madoka sighed. She could sense Audrey peering from behind her at the odd pair before them. "Now what?"

"A level 2 researcher?" Audrey muttered. "That's a little plain..."

The so-called level 2 researcher's eyes were bright enough to reflect the green mossy giant trees above and below, with a foggy haze glossing over them like hot breath staining a window. She was studying them, with a bit of discomfort, as if they were predators. Madoka was not one to be the face of a show, so she glared back at the woman. Arudite quickly rubbed her eyes, and the maid watched her pull at something shiny beneath her robe. A small jade broach held her cloak together tightly, but kept her body protected.

Perhaps she was a Noble. The robes were probably more ornate than their own clothes beneath all the mud and grime. The details, it seemed, would be extracted soon enough, she supposed. Madoka narrowed her focus again.

The researcher fished out simple glasses that were dirty like the rest of her. Their lenses glinted like water sprayed in the twin moonlight. The traces of golden, geometric Knotting strands did not disturb its frames and indicated that it was not some kind of magical device. The circuitry simply returned to their usual patterns in the air after swirling around the researcher. Madoka chastised herself. Of course, people wore glasses all the time.

The slave, Ilalune, cleared her throat impatiently for Arudite to conjure up an answer.

"Huh? Oh, yes! Right!" The Truth Guild member pushed up her glasses with a muddy hand. "Those trolls left me in quite the state. My dear friend here, she is a powerful warrior on her own but we were caught by surprise."

Ilalune shrugged.

"Trolls?" Audrey asked.

"Caught us while we secured this nitwit and stole the Bureau device I was planning to use on it," She stomped a tough boot on the goblin's head. "Now, we're up one nitwit and down one magic pendant."

Pain.

Survive.

Must tell the others.

Surface too dangerous!

Disturbance, evil!

It wants our eyes.

Thoughts from the goblin surged through Madoka, but it remained still and quiet. The mental image of a massive dark crater flashed in her mind. That must be the disturbance. She decided to leave the creature be. It knew to stay silent, much like her.

"Wait a minute," Arudite inspected them closer. "I know you two! The unusual copper rank heroes from the reports! Ah, it must be fate that I got my hands on those things, and now I get to meet you! It's much more exhilarating to see you both, my heroes!"

"Heroes? Eheh, no," Audrey told her. "We simply were investigating the rumbling and got lucky."

"Lucky?" The researcher laughed heartily. "It takes a party of Gold rank adventurers to handle a single troll and yet, you managed to slay all three effortlessly!"

Her head tilted and her voice lilted, causing her hood to fall down and reveal long purple hair. An exquisite and unique hair color, Madoka recalled only two of her fellow commoner maids had such a color. This woman was not a Sovos nor a Cherish woman. No scales, no tail. Perhaps she was a Narm like they were, Madoka thought.

Audrey looked at the massive corpses. They were tall and silent as forgotten ruins now, their stench filled the covered woods like rotten food in a scullery. Not like it fazed the maid. Madoka guessed they were different in some regards. Ogres had nasty greenish skin and three eyes, while these monsters had thick and burlap brown hides with two eyes. They had one giant horn instead of multiple ones like the ogres as well.

"You mentioned a magical device, a Boo--Bee? Row?" Madoka tumbled over the word. "Bureau device."

"Yes, that's it!" Arudite cheered for the maid. Despite the ensuing encouragement, Madoka felt embarrassed for trying to pronounce the word. There was no pity in her tone, though suddenly the researcher became glum. "I've lost it. The damn thing is probably crushed to bits underneath the bastards somewhere."

Madoka glanced to Audrey, but she knew the girl did not want to reveal they had it in their storage portal.

"Oh, I suppose you want to know what it was for," she kicked up twigs.

"We should be regrouping with the Guild Master," Ilalune interrupted but Arudite sighed loudly. The Cherish woman settled into silence. Dust settled on wood in the light, and mud colored guts painted rivers on grass in the momentary silence. The monster's chunky and tubular insides were as tall as Madoka.

"I got the time, okay?" Arudite wanted to vent. "A Bureau item is enchanted by the Gods. Which god? No one knows! It links with a chosen individual and those who are close to them. The device will only allow them to use it. I theorized this pendant would grant the monster intelligence. Perfect for my studies! What? Please don't look at me like that! I'm a researcher, nearly completed my studies! Not a fighter!"

Audrey finally pierced the silence by laughing. She choked for a moment, and Madoka helped her recover. The girl's perfect blue eyes glanced at the researcher's glasses, then to her purple hair, and proceeded to burst into a fit again.

"You're saying you're a graduate student doing a senior project?" Audrey wheezed. "Those are a thing in this world? Ho, that's rich!"

"It's important! I had to learn how to read and write to get into the Truth Guild!" Arudite protested. That information impressed Madoka more than the things she rambled about. She hated learning how to do either, so she refused to be taught. "S-Still! My research is important on learning about these creatures and their gods! The Head Researcher sent me here by request! I can't refuse such a valuable offer!"

Audrey composed herself.

"And?" Madoka wanted to get going. They have dawdled in dangerous territory for too long now, but her thoughts could only sense the goblin pretending to be unconscious.

"You, my lovely red haired hero," Arudite pointed at her. "Have a peculiar talent, don't you? You can hear the meanings in the caterwauling of beasts, and the shifting shadows to shadows of monsters' consciences. You spoke to those trolls, did you not?"

"She didn't—" Audrey moved to cover up the secret like a child hastily tucking away a stolen treat unsuccessfully.

"I did," Madoka let the weight of her words match the swing of an axe. "Now what would you have of it?"

"I have these, guesses, predictions of what those might be," Arudite continued. "Since we are beyond the Truth Guild's reach and can keep secrets, I want to offer my knowledge and experience in exchange for yours."

"Why?" The maid pondered aloud. The researcher drew closer and smiled.

"You two are dazzling and mysterious!" She cheered. "I seek partnership, I give you my insight and you will have a big future when I make it in the Guild!"

"You stink," Madoka warned the girl from getting too close. Arudite awkwardly pulled away but gave Audrey a hopeful look.

"Why do we need to keep it a secret?" Audrey asked. The researcher looked around and spoke quietly.

"The heresy I will talk about begins with the monsters: As we worship the kind gods above. Sovos, who worship their Adventurer God. Buthos who worship their Goddess of Life. Narms, who worship the Nameless One and many others who worship their own kind gods in the Celestial. I theorize that the monsters worship kind gods below our very feet."

Madoka did not have much knowledge in the kind gods she worshipped, but she shrugged in response. Gods existed everywhere, though it never occured to her that they could exist right below her. As she made the connection, the researcher smiled.

"What a better way of asking one of these things for a mere glimpse of their kind gods?" The girl took her glasses off and tucked them away. She chuckled. "It's simply a proposal of sorts. You don't have to accept my offer of being allies so soon, but I want to repay you both..."

"I accept it," Audrey declared suddenly.

Madoka turned to her, caught in a snag of disbelief and something uglier. Jealousy? What did that girl have that made Audrey drop her guard so easily? A gasp escaped out of Ilalune. It was evident that she was also surprised at this turn of events. Her princess's eyes held a light in them with interest, though Madoka hoped it was merely her imagination.

"Pardon?" Arudite was shocked and then became happy. The two jumped close to each other and acted like friends suddenly. A spark snatched a moment between the two, and Madoka did not like it at all. "Oh! Yes! To our friendship, then."

Madoka pulled them a part, and to her surprise Ilalune helped. She glared at the maid, but still remained silent.

"I have to admit something," Audrey wriggled free from Madoka's grip. "I don't have much I could give you, though."

A lie. Madoka was at least at ease that the girl retained a level of caution even if the interest seemed more than just mere information sharing. The researcher's cloak swished as she returned to her slave.

"Ah, details, details. I owe you two a lot," Arudite waved her off. "More research is required anyways. Our findings will be left for tomorrow, but for now we must get to Guild Master Luxgor."

"You go ahead," Audrey spoke. "We have to collect the horns off these guys."

Madoka guessed that the princess meant secretly they were going to pull away again.

"We can wait for you," Arudite offered, but was stopped by Audrey removing her hood and revealing her Noble status. "Very well, then."

After a brief exchange of the town's location, the maid and her princess were suddenly alone with the dead trolls again.

"Now then," Audrey's eyes flashed from the glow of their own Bureau item, the storage portal. "Time to suck these guys up!"

Madoka's head swam with the current inventory they had within that portal— the bits and huge things that she could remember, anyways. A load of weaponry, dead goblins, an ogre's hut sized head, and an expanse of coinage that could set her free hundreds of times over were inside that thing. How could she fit three trolls that dwarfed all of those things put together?

And yet, the hexagonal white strands beamed into existence over the leaf choked undergrowth. First, the hexagon was small, and then it expanded in a bloom of light. Madoka shielded her eyes, but caught a small glimpse of the troll corpses sinking into the portal. At her shocked face, Audrey gave a shrug.

"To paraphrase that one Greek guy, Socrates," she sighed as the portal closed noiselessly and swiftly as a hind. "I am the wisest, and all I know is that I know nothing at all. Such is the folly of the Truth Guild, the paradox, if you will."

"What?" Madoka asked in English.

"Exactly. Your Knotting magic, for example, the sublimination of unreal to real, the kind gods," Audrey's voice trailed off. Her eyes lowered towards the goblin. "Now won't you get up, get up? We spared you. Git up! Now, wakey, wakey!"

The goblin stirred and immediately plunged its head in prostration before the princess. A fitting pose for all, no doubt, Madoka's head bouyed to the surface of her own thoughts from Audrey's strange rant as she glanced at the creature. She was happy that the source of her jealousy was away from her princess.

"You knew it was awake?" Madoka was tempted to squash the creature like a bug, but knew Audrey probably had an outlandish plan for it. She shook her head. Of course, her friend had a plan. "Speak."

"S-Spare me, you and you, Lord and Lord!" It begged in broken Commoner. "I a-am not a threat."

Madoka looked at Audrey, who gave her a nod. She knew not what the nod was for, but decided to take control of the situation.

"You spoke of something on the surface that is dangerous," Madoka questioned it. She lifted her cloak's folds just enough to reveal her deadly axe beneath it. "Would you show us the way?"

The goblin hesitated, but it knew it had no other choice. The question was not for a favor, but instead a simple and dangerous demand that it could not refuse.

"Me, show you and you, Lord and Lord!" It declared but pleaded with its eyes. "Let me free, you!"

Madoka crossed her arms, much to the goblin's infinite dismay, and then she felt a finger poke her side.

"What is it saying?" Audrey asked her. "What are YOU saying?"

"What? We're speaking in Commoner..." Madoka realized that the talent Arudite spoke of was happening to her right before her eyes, so she straightened her posture and explained. "It knows what caused the rumbling and will lead us to it. Won't you?"

"M-Mercy, Great Lord!" It begged. Madoka stepped over it and rose to her full height as she did. Her shadow looked over it like an avalanche. With a quick motion, she undid its ropes. Its arms were slimy and slick like oil! The goblin scrambled up to its feet, but surprisingly, it did not run. "I will show you! But you let me free after!"

"Very well," Madoka agreed, trying to shake off the residual grossness of its oily arms left on her hands.

"G-Grob," the goblin uttered a strange word. "Grob will show you and you! Disturbance, not far. Quickly follow Grob!"

"It says its name is Grob, now let's go," Madoka began to follow the goblin through the woods. "But be careful! The danger is near."

"Wha?" Audrey chased after her. "What kind of name is Grob? I could come up with a better name. Henry! You could be Henry!"

The goblin hissed at the suggestion, but remained alert.

"Grob doesn't like that name," Madoka reported. Audrey clicked her tongue at the rejection. She followed the goblin silently, monitoring its thoughts. It was thinking of meat, its home, and the disturbance from something below the surface.

It ducked and weaved through roots and leaves while Madoka simply stepped over them. It was staying true to its word, at least. There were thoughts of beasts around them, but she knew that they posed no challenge and dared not to approach them. This forest was a similar beast when they first arrived from the mountains, with breezes to blustery bursts of wind pushing through the treetops. The sky was green here, not blue.

"What do you make of the scholar?" Madoka asked. She was unable to contain her suspicions about the woman. What did that girl have that she did not?

"Huh?" Audrey asked, but realized who Madoka was referring to. She felt ashamed, perhaps she was thinking of Arudite more than her princess. "Starters, that nerd is using an obvious alias. It's, ah, a fake name. Second, can't you tell what's so special about her?"

"She's attractive, but I promise I'm—" Madoka blurted.

"What? No, not that! Well, besides that!" Audrey sighed. Her cheeks went red, but she cleared her throat. "The girl is a... You know what? If you can't detect what she is then she's probably safe to go to the Guild."

"What?" Madoka asked, but the air was changing again. Several flying creatures above were disturbed by rustling in the woods. The goblin screeched, but she realized something was targeting them. She swatted the creature out the way, right as an arrow landed before their feet.

Enemies were in the treetops and beyond the root before them.

"Not another step forward!" A voice warned them. "Lest you want more from where that came from."

Audrey's breath sharpened. Madoka could sense the killing intent within her brewing. Were they to fight to the death now?

"Show yourself," Madoka calmly spoke. She knew that three were poorly concealed in the branches, and two were inspecting what the goblin led them to. The goblin escaped, but that was no longer her concern. It had served its purpose.

"An adventurer, eh?" The man's voice laughed. A tall Sovos's brown tail flicked out from the trees as he landed before them. The other two were moving behind them. They were surrounded, Madoka cursed herself for being reckless. The Sovos had a powerful sword strapped to his waist and held another thick blade in his hands. His face was more dragon than like Eraziror's, with his green eyes bloodshot and cracked side to side with a battle hardened look. "Well, we got here first!"

He reached under his armor and pulled out an iron tag.

"And?" Audrey asked. Madoka noticed the stress in her voice. It was much more tense than usual, her eyes shifted to something unseen in the air. "What does that matter?"

"A Noble adventurer?" The Sovos laughed. "What a joke. Sorry, I don't do honorifics."

"I don't mind," Audrey sighed. "What is this place?"

"That's for us to find out, little girl," the Sovos adventurer smirked. "Stay out, or you'll have a problem on your hands."

Two other Sovos adventurers emerged from behind the trees. Madoka stood at the ready in case they attacked.

"Can we see it?" Audrey suddenly switched her tone completely. "I don't think we're strong enough to go in anyways!"

She laughed sheepishly, but revealed her copper tag. The Sovos looked at her tag and then howled with laughter. The quick deception was working, at least. Madoka noticed Audrey's magic, but the adventurers had no idea that their lives hung in the balance of her palms.

"You are copper rank?" He laughed. "Fools! You are lost, right? Stick close to the entrance. We can surely guide you back to a town, for a price."

Madoka did not like the sound of his insinuation, but knew it was best to remain quiet and act innocently.

"Show us please, sir," Madoka begged, though her voice was deadpan and uninterested.

"Come quickly," The Sovos raised his hand and made a calling motion with it. "Boys, we're moving out!"

"Yay!" Audrey kept her childlike act up. It would be adorable, had Madoka not notice her glowing palms tucked quickly within her bag.

"As your seniors, little girl, you will have a lot to learn from us if you stick with us," the Sovos boasted. "We've been through the lands."

The others made gestures in agreement.  The Sovos adventurer slashed through thickets and small branches as he continued to brag about his useless exploits. As they rounded the corner, Madoka's heart nearly sank from the horror that followed.

A massive pit dugged into a steep incline, with nothing but darkness within. The pit was a wound in the earth, similar to the tunnel in the town with the disturbed remains of trees shattered and splintered in its formation's wake. She noticed that her Knotting magic seemed to avoid the pit and instead redirect back towards the sky.

"Whoa!" Audrey's voice wavered. The tone of innocence completely dropped, like a heavy rock in a lake. Only the warning rippled in her shaking breath. The Sovos turned to her after he tucked away the blade and pulled out his big sword. "That seems dangerous! Are you sure you want to go down there?"

"Lady, we are adventurers," He puffed out his chest. They are doomed, Madoka pitied them. "A lousy pit full of treasures is not going to scare us!"

He swished his sword while the other adventurers psyched themselves up. A female Sovos took out a talisman and began to hum loudly. Substance magic? The green helical strands formed weak nets and coated their skin and scales. Madoka guessed that they were some kind of strengthening spells, but they paled in comparison to Audrey's own. She shook her head.

"You guys still will go down there?" She asked. The Sovos adventurer ceased his hollering and laughed at her.

"Shut it, slave!" He pointed his sword towards the dark entrance. They all roared and marched into the pit.

"Well, then," Audrey stared down the hole. "They are screwed."

"What do you see down there?"

"I see," Audrey's voice faltered. "Dark manas."

"Dark... Kind gods," Madoka breathed. Something rustled within the branches near them. She pulled her axe out and growled. Audrey also got into a fighting stance.

"No! No hurt me, Great Lord and you!" Grob emerged from the branches. The creature followed them?

"What are you doing here?" Madoka asked it. She felt a pang of pity for the lone creature. It was if the look in its eyes was of sorrow.

"My home," Grob's voice quivered. It could sense the disturbance in the air, but perhaps not the manas like Audrey could. "My home."

It pointed towards the hole.

"What is it saying?" Audrey's voice was a whisper.

"Its home is down there," Madoka pointed at the hole. The goblin suddenly ran down into the pit. "Wait!"

It was too late!

"What should we do, Audrey?" Madoka knew what the answer was, but she would rather leave.

"We get the heck out of here!" Audrey surprised her by the order of retreat. "Ain't no way we could—"

Suddenly, a rumbling shook the ground like a heavy, aching breath. Branches toppled and Madoka shielded Audrey with a strong pull on the Knotting strands above her head. Though she could move while holding onto the strands with great effort, she found that it rooting her in place while she used them helped in standing steady while the earth trembled beneath them.

Something bellowed out from the maw of the pit, followed by chaos. Madoka hated to admit it, but she was more worried for the little goblin that ran inside. She knew deep down inside of her that the creature would not be alive if they found it in there. The ground threatened to tear apart and more of the towering trees began their sundering.

"What do we do?" Madoka looked around frantically. Her magic could stop the debris falling upon them, but not them from falling into a fissure. Audrey could not hear her, but she knew what must be done. They would have to face the dark pit head on!

VII.

Madoka tore away at the Knotting strands as if their numinous lights were weakened twine and dove into the darkness with Audrey in tow. The booms of trees crashed down thunderously upon the rumbling maw's opening as a foetid hatch. Like a bier of branches, the daylight was lost to the girls underneath it. Madoka landed on her feet, and buckled to her knees when she caught her princess.

Audrey panted heavily after being set down, though Madoka did not know whether her breathlessness was from the chaos outside or the heavy blackness that smothered them like a damp roughspun blanket. The reckoning from the pit finally ceased, as if it was aware that it has swallowed its chosen prey— them.

"Gah, why does it keep getting worse?" Audrey complained.

There was nothing heard but the heavy breathing from the two of them.

"You tell me," Madoka rubbed her eyes, only to make the phosphenes swirl more intensely against the dark.

"Should I blast ourselves outta here and call it a day?" Audrey casted a small flame above her finger, but gave out a disdained pout. "Black manas. Similar to the ones in the palace. Be on guard."

"It's all your fault," Madoka muttered.

"Yeah," Audrey sighed. "I know."

"And I hate that you don't... nevermind," Madoka truly did not like feeling guilty after casting blame on her princess.

"What?" Audrey asked. "Should I destroy the trees or not? This dungeon is optional."

Madoka was about to approve of her destructive choice for once but a chill ran up her skin. Kind gods, she realized that they were not alone down here. Who knew what lurked deeper within. Audrey's fire flickered and waved in the wind, but her eyes were suddenly fixated on the walls of this wretched place.

"There's many... tunnels in this place?" She drew a bigger light, revealing many openings before them. The maw split into many throats of dirt and roots. "No way..."

Audrey's light revealed to Madoka that the walls were black and thorny roots. They were just like the evil ones back in Fiara's capital and Palace. As her eyes adjusted, there were shattered pathways and a faint glow within each of the tunnels.

"Thin pathways, almost too small to fit on," Audrey mused but her eyes widened in a sudden realization. "This must be Henry's old home!"

"Its name is Grob," Madoka corrected her. Or was Grob, she silently added. Audrey kicked up a twig and hurled it into one of the tunnels, but nothing happened. "We should find those adventurers if we are to explore this forsaken place."

"I'm... okay, I think," Audrey flinched from the unseen manas in the air. "We just have to explore a spooky dungeon with evil magic roots growing all over the place. What could possibly go wrong?"

"A lot of things, actually," Madoka supposed. She examined the black roots and contemplated their origin. Could it be...? 

Audrey pulled out her infinitesimal, tiny light and turned towards the rightmost tunnel. Their fate would be sealed once they go in. Still, the princess stepped forth and her magical lantern bobbed against the darkness weakly, but remained laden with intention. Madoka let her lead through the cramped spaces, but decided to get in front of her as soon as there was enough room for her to butt in ahead.

The tunnel widened and light poured in from the end of its path, eventually unfolding into an ancient grand stairway, with roots permeating in between their sprawling descent. Audrey gasped.

"More of those damn roots," she stared up at the stretching tendrils. They threaded invasively through dirt and stone. Madoka's eyes and heart settled on the destruction they caused. "Like chemical streaks in the sky from nacelles... Gah!"

She clutched her head, as if her mind was being stabbed by needles. Madoka grabbed her shoulders. They were still warm, heated by the magic she got from Ares.

"Are you alright?" She asked. Audrey stumbled into her, but recovered. A simple grunt of affirmation nestled itself in her chest. "It's been awhile since I held you."

Streaks of red light pulsed within their pervasive darkness while they embraced for a minute. The root's texture seemed to be more like ash or worn out stone. Audrey pulled away, which was unlike her but Madoka did not mind. She did not want to know what bothered Audrey, but she remembered the destroyed palace walls and houses of her country and could imagine the princess did the same.

"I'm sorry. Had a moment of remembering my past. This place," she observed. Madoka looked with her. They were above a goblin city. It was big as a city square, made to live in by Goblins, but the architecture was conquered by the roots. Beyond it was a temple, no doubt the place they should get to next. "Seems to have experienced a miniature apocalypse of its own. The roots seem inactive, but we'll have to be careful crossing through when we get down there."

She hopped over a baluster made out of bones.

"How far did those adventurers go, you think?" Madoka wondered.

"I 'unno," Audrey ducked under a fallen pillar. "They probably got eaten by the roots."

Madoka fell silent at her suggestion. This place was more vast than she thought. Her eyes adjusted in the dim red glow above. The massive stone monument rested in shattered pieces, just ahead of many torn crude structures that lay shattered across the ground. They did not withstand the massive black roots that crushed them.

"Huh. Seem to be made out of scavenged wood, hastily made. Perhaps these goblins were not planning to camp out in front of the temple for too long," Audrey looked at the small huts. They were barely taller than Madoka, perfect for Grob's height and its kin. She looked through one of the windows and pulled away before the maid could stop her. "Don't look in there. There be dead things within."

Madoka obeyed this time. She could smell the dead in there, anyways. They were halfway to the temple and the roots did not seem like they were going to grow or attack, she prayed that they would stay that way. They rounded around more of the destroyed huts into an opening.

"Stalls," Audrey pointed at some that were still in tact. They were the size of benches. She looked at one and bumped into another. The wood splintered and growned into a clattering mess of wood. "Shit."

Madoka groaned, but she noticed what also cluttered the ground with the broken bench. Ears. Of course, she sighed. The goblins were obsessed with ears. The purple mist seemed to be absent from this place, so she hoped the evil eye entity controlling it had no power here.

"S-Sorry," Audrey tucked her glowing hands behind her waist and shifted pensively. "Ears, eh?"

"Ears," Madoka repeated her princess and sighed. "Always those damn things. I hate ears now."

"You and I both," Audrey agreed. "They must use them for everything. Maybe even their damn currency might be ears! Or food, even? Blegh!"

She kicked another waist high market stall over. It shattered easily. The wood, or whatever material it was made out of, was brittle.

"Let's get to that big temple thing, shall we? See if we can't find a way out of here."

"Right," Madoka scoffed. The two passed over the remains of shredded goblins.

"Something ain't right about them," Audrey remarked. Madoka looked at her. "Well, besides the obvious."

Some were impaled by something and others were splattered across the stone steps. A desecration was performed here, their insides painting the walls with digestive and rotted fluids. It seemed to be decorated in a profane oval. Madoka gagged, realizing the bodies were lying in the pattern of a dislodged eye.

"I hate this place,"

"Apparently whatever came across here hated it too," Audrey looked disturbed from the unsightly display. "I'd say you left them looking worse off during that last battle we had. But this attacker split them up like this on purpose."

Madoka would protest at the gruesome comparison, but instead remained silent as they gingerly stepped over bodies and crawled under interwoven roots in concrete. They arrived at the foot of a row pillars, its cracked stone steps were ruined by the enormous tendrils. Audrey tapped on the remains of a nearby pillar.

"Some kind of adobe and mud. Okay, maybe not mud, definitely not mud," Audrey quickly pulled her hand off. "Yucky!"

An ominous, red glow began to seethe through its surface from within. Madoka cursed to herself at the girl's recklessness. She was not trapped inside a goblin's fallen city — she was trapped with her princess. Something caused her gut to feel wrong, and the maid quickly tore her away from where she stood. A thin root suddenly speared through the pillar's remains, shattering and nearly stabbed her. Audrey shrieked, and Madoka realized that the root also had the remains of only the kind Gods knew stuck to it.

"Shit!" Madoka covered her as rumbling began. They were getting closer to the source of this evil magic!

"S-Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Audrey moaned as the calamity gained. The rumbling ceased. "Noted. Don't touch nothin' in this temple!"

"Even I could tell you that," Madoka groaned.

The root retracted back within the earthen wound it spread from. Several petrified ears and dirt rustled along the steps onto the streets below from a breeze. It felt rhythmic, almost like breath, too close in proximity to her own skin. The static of Knotting chains glided in pursuit, though she was not sure if the sensation of magic helped soothed her or merely distracted her from the nerve wracking feeling she had when they moved towards the temple's entrance.

"Okay, we're going down, down! Sugar!" Audrey perked up, and promptly descended into the maw of the temple.

"Wait!" Madoka groaned. It was terrifying how she quickly got over nearly dying a few moments ago. She did not have time to fall behind.

Fortunately, or by cursed luck, the misery of the unknown was before them right at the start. The temple merely had a massive wall with a shattered opening. That seemed to be where the evil roots were coming from, since Madoka's magic strayed away from it quickly.

"Hey," Audrey tugged the maid's sleeve, looking up at the wall. "Doesn't the wall look familiar?"

The jolted chains ran along the surface of the walls up to the ceiling, where more of the roots hang. The wall seemed unremarkable at first, but suddenly Madoka gasped at the princess's revelation: The wall looked like the AI Servitor Hesonoo.

"How is this possible?" She breathed uneasily. The wall's surface was rotted and stony, but a massive crater was inlaid in its side as if a massive sphere belonged within it. Only damaged stone and dark voids filled the openings that contained its arms and cannons would be if it was Hesonoo. "This isn't..."

"It is, but, it seems like its dead. Probably because of what we did in the grotto... Sorry, correction, what you did in the grotto." Audrey waved her off. "You know how you destroyed the robot?"

The maid stood puzzled for a moment. It seemed like an eternity ago since they entered that damn Secret Garden. She shook her head.

"I remember throwing the slime core at it," Madoka told her. "But now is not the time to relax!"

"You changed the core into a literal pillow! With magic! It's the damn truth, as those little chains shattered from your palms, it changed back into a massive cannon ball directly at the eye!" Audrey cheerfully reminded her, but suddenly yelped in pain before Madoka could question her. Something in the atmosphere was changing rapidly. Madoka moved to defend her. "Gah! My head!"

Audrey clutched her head, her scream pierced the maid's ears and heart. Of all the sounds she hated the most, her princess in pain was at the top of the list Madoka did not have time to react before the situation grew quickly into a deeper nightmare than ever before. The dark roots began to shift violently.

What do I do? Madoka turned towards the entrance of the temple, realizing that the vines were closing it off. They have fallen straight into an enemy's elaborate trap. Purple mist suddenly exhumed from the massive opening, making Madoka groan as she supported her princess. They were outmatched by dark magic and ways to escape.

"Kind gods, help us!" She screamed out while Audrey wailed in pain. The mist was forming into an unspeakable horror Madoka could not understand. The shape filled into a massive face of a being she could not comprehend that covered the entire wall.

This must be the God of the goblins! Madoka steadied Audrey, but was terrified to the core to run.

「I see you, Child of the Stars.」

It spoke in a thousand screams, rended by pain from the coldest feeling Madoka could feel. She struggled to breathe, yet she knew this impossible being was one of the undeniable Gods beneath the surface — a False God. Audrey clutched Madoka's sleeve, her eyes wracked with pain.

"M-Move!" She screamed.

Madoka shook out of her fears, but the face prevented her feet from moving no matter if she struggled. It had many large tentacles, a beak of a strange avian, and thousands of beady eyes— Madoka's world fell flat on her face. The princess tripped her!

"Get up!" Audrey shrieked, seemingly partially recovered from whatever was ailing her. "I don't know what's stopping you too, but I'll apologize later! We have to get through the thorns!"

Right, she had to save her princess! Madoka scrambled to her feet, trying to avoid looking at the face but it was impossible to avoid. Its mist was slowly wrapping around her head into her ears. Audrey could not see it, the maid breathed heavily as she swatted at the needles poking at her ears. She cursed and stamped more in defiance. Something was emerging through the deteriorating wall and she did not have the time to play this God's games.

"I don't care about you, I am no goblin!" Madoka scolded the entity. "Let us out!"

「One day I await your open ears, Child. Now obey her and survive.」

"I... Hate this!" Madoka roared furiously. She stamped the ground and pulled herself completely up. "I don't need you to tell me that, I need your help!"

「Your wish... Has been spoken of now and Tomorrow.」

"Madoka?" Audrey's core flared to life. Pain scarred her face from whatever was wracking her mind, but the princess was persevering through whatever her problems were. It was time for Madoka to do the same with this damn mist that pierced her eardrums!

"Focus on yourself, Elise!" Madoka screamed. It was only a moment, but she raised her hands up and pounded her own head savagely. The calamity was reduced to a blissful silence after a dull moment of pain. Blood smeared down her cheeks, but she did not care. "I'll take my own ears before giving them to you, false God!"

She yelled. In the dark, a root burst through from the opening but it seemed more animated. Madoka reeled in horror at the sight, even though she was now deaf she could feel herself screaming. The root was an elongated body, wearing the torn remains of armor bearing a familiar crest she recognized. It was one of the corrupted soldiers of the Prince's army!

Its wooden and torn up face unhinged its jaw as its eyeless sockets gazed at Madoka, but her vision was torn away from the massive Fiara Soldier and its root. The princess's desperate grip pointed at the vines blocking the area. Madoka noticed her proncess's hand was glowing red as she prepared an explosive spell.

The soldier's stretched torso lead into the rest of its root, like it was a serpent with a fully grown man's upper half was in place of its head. As soon as it began to stretch further towards them, dead bodies fell out of its stomach's carved out cavity. Madoka barely had time to look but she noticed a sword of one of the dead glint in the ominous red glow. It belonged to the adventurer party that went in before them!

Audrey's magic spell launched against the roots. Madoka watched the fire spell silently collide against the blackened roots but nothing happened! She could not hear the explosion, but it caused the soldier's root to recoil. The princess was looking at Madoka desperately and mouthing something, but the maid knew what she must do. She reached with a bloody fist inside her chest for the golden crystal within her core. It was formed into the same bomb that she used against the AI Hesonoo's wall for the first time!

With the weapon inside her hand, she tossed Audrey to the side and hurled it at the roots. Kind gods, she prayed the weapon could cut through these disgusting vines. The bomb glowed as it sailed through the air for a couple of seconds, but Madoka could sense the soldier was closing in on them!

A bright light blinded her, but she felt the vibrations from the crystal's released magic consume whatever was near it. Madoka shielded Audrey from its explosion, as stone and root shards peppered her face. The wall of roots was broken!

The maid scooped her princess up and ran out the opening, ignoring the crystal flinging towards her chest as she retreated. The cave was collapsing from the new disturbance in its vicinity but Madoka kept running swiftly. It was odd to her how everything around her was exploding into golden light from her crystal. She felt the pillars and temple were crashing down upon them and more importantly— the soldier within.

More, more! I need more speed! Madoka thought desperately. Audrey wriggled herself out of her grip and began to run with her. She could only pray to the kind Gods that the princess could keep up with her. She pulled the crystal out her chest once more as they approached the collapsed tunnel they first entered through and smashed the roots that blocked it.

After that, her world went black.