WIEDERGEBURT Act VII: CHapter 33

We arrived at the Misty Mountain Range via the Warp Gate, then traveled to Fray’s house, where we found both my aunt and someone I had not seen since before my battle with the Sekbeist Overlord—or his heart, at any rate.

“Eryk! Been o’ long time!”

“Sterk. Good to see you.”

The man who greeted us was short, possessed a barrel-like body, and a thick beard. Sterk was the Dweorg Rune Master who had joined the Nevarian Braves after we rescued him and his people from the Sekbeist down in the Morkdypt Ravine. Before I had been sent hurtling to Gudeverdenen, he had been Kari’s sounding board for all of her rune arrays. The two of them could talk shop for hours.

He hadn’t changed much. He looked older, his hair had some gray in it, and he had a few more wrinkles, but that was it.

“An’ it’s good te see ya, as well,” Sterk said. “Gave us quite the fright, ye did. We all thought yeh was dead. Imagine ma surprise when Lady Fray suddenly appeared before us and claimed ye had been sent to the realm o’ the gods. I dunno what’s more shocking. That ye traversed realms without a Warp Gate, or that yer Lady Fray’s nephew.”

I couldn’t say anything, so all I did was shrug.

“Sterk has been working on those isolation chambers for you,” Lady Fray said with a placid smile. “I knew we might not have much time, so I asked him to add as many extra features as he could.”

“Aye. I’ve done as Lady Fray asked. I think ye’ll be pleased with what I created,” Sterk said with a broad grin.

Without further delays, Sterk led my group away from Fray’s house and toward one of the mountains. It wasn’t Westfang Mountain. This one was several times smaller than the Northern Plains tallest mountain. I was also further out.

I hadn’t been this far out before, so I didn’t know what to expect, but Sterk led us to what would have looked like the entrance to a cave—if not for the massive double doors embedded into the wall. Like all the Dweorg’s architecture, it was a work of art unto itself.

“This be the entrance to the isolation chambers,” Sterk said. “Come along.”

“It looks like we are finally going to begin cultivating our understanding of concepts,” Kari said. “This is pretty exciting. Siv and I did closed-door training before, but it was rushed. We didn’t have much time to do more than gain a basic understanding of time and space.”

“I want to master the Concept of Space quickly,” Siv added, seemingly in agreement.

Fay also clenched her hands into fists. “I need to get stronger quickly too. I can’t afford to keep falling behind.”

“Hmph. This princess is sure she will master the use of her concept,” Lin said with a huff.

“Uh-huh. I’m sure,” muttered Tora.

“Did you say something?”

“Nope. Not a fucking thing.”

Lin and Tora looked like they might start arguing, but Siv and Kari stepped between the pair before something could happen.

Sterk wandered up to the entrance, inserted a glowing key into a large slot, and twisted. The doors shuddered before opening. A stairway was revealed on the other end, brightly lit with monster core lamps.

“Follow me,” Sterk said with a “come on” gesture.

We followed Sterk down into the mountain, which looked like it had been carved out with earth manipulation. The walls and floor were perfectly symmetrical, but the roof was sloped, and drawn along the walls were millions or maybe even billions of runes. Kari saw those and immediately stopped the entire procession.

“By the nine realms! This rune array is fantastic! I’ve never seen something so complex! If I’m not mistaken, the main component for this rune array is Fehu and Ansuz, but you’ve connected it to twenty-two runes in a single, winding array! How ingenious!” Kari said, squealing.

“Heh. I’m not surprised ye recognized what we did,” Sterk said with a grin. “That’s right. This particular rune array is what we drew all throughout this mountain. It’s purpose—”

“Sealing away time,” Kari announced.

“Correct, lass.”

“Sealing away time?” Fay asked, brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“It takes centuries to master a single concept,” Kari said, already entering her lecture mode. “This isn’t something that can just be done on a whim.”

“I did it on a whim,” I said.

“You’re a freak of nature and don’t count,” Kari countered.

“Wow. Harsh,” I mumbled.

Kari smiled at me, but then got back to explaining the purpose of the runes. “Back when me and Siv were cultivating our understanding of our respective concepts, we used an isolation chamber that had similar runes inscribed inside them. What they do is force time to slow down. Time is still moving, however, the inside moves far more slowly than the outside. I suppose you could say the flow of time inside of these chambers is compressed. One day in the outside world is about one year inside here.”

“Runes can do that?” Fay asked, gaping.

“Aye, though we Dweorg did not have the means te do it until Lady Fray arrived,” Sterk said.

“If runes are that powerful, couldn’t we use them to defeat the Zehn Todesharr?” asked Lin, arms crossed.

Kari shook her head. “Runes are powerful, but they are not all powerful. What’s more, it takes a long time, a lot of effort, and even more Spiritual Power to get an effect that is equal to someone who has mastered a concept. Of course, runes can also be used to bolster someone’s own power. However, rune arrays like that are highly unstable. Their only use would be in situations that you have extensively planned for. Even then, all someone would need to do to break the rune array is destroy a single rune. Then all that effort would go to waste.”

Kari had created rune arrays that destroyed entire armies before. Her Death Array had defeated an army of several billion back on Vindenkent, and she had created another rune array that buried more than half of Klaue’s army, but both of those had been battles we planned for extensively before executing. They also didn’t have anyone who could have broken our runes. The Zehn Todesharr were on an entirely different level.

Lin grimaced as she, too, understood what Kari was saying. “This princess understands.”

“I’ve created an isolation chamber for all of ye,” Sterk said, eyes going to Lin. “Even ye have yer own isolation chamber.”

Lin paled. “Ah. This princess is—”

“It’s fine.” Sterk waved her off. “Lady Fray already explained it to us, but even if she hadn’t, us Dweorgs wouldn’t think any differently of ya. It was yer and Lady Fay’s strength that saved us from becoming slaves again. We won’t betray ye.”

“Thank you,” Lin mumbled.

“Anyhow, let me show each of ye where ye’ll be staying.” Sterk gestured again for us to follow him, and we did, traveling deep into the bowels of the mountain. The temperature did not change, nor did the light levels. Monster core lamps were embedded in the wall every few meters apart, creating the perfect amount of illumination.

These Dweorgs never did anything half-assed.

Kari, Fay, Siv, Lin, and Tora were all showed to their respective isolation chambers, leaving just me and Sterk alone. Each of their chambers was located inside of a hallway on the deepest floor. My chamber was at the end of the hall, behind a nondescript door made of stone.

“This be yer isolation chamber. It is different from the others chamber’s. Lady Fray said ye were cultivating the Concepts of Life and Death. We had to create a larger rune array for it, but ye should be able to cultivate both concepts without much trouble,” Sterk said. He slid a key into a slot made from a gleaming red monster core. The core lit up after the key had been inserted, then runes appeared along the door, glowing vibrantly before it slid open.

The room on the other side was very nondescript. It was large, but it appeared larger than it really was because there was nothing inside of it; no bed, no dresser, no mirror. It was just an empty room.

Well, empty if one didn’t include the complex rune array that had been etched onto every square centimeter of surface. This was clearly Sterk’s work. I sensed the hands of a Rune Master at work. Saying that, even I was impressed by the complexity of these runes. It was clear this was something Sterk hadn’t created on his own. My best guess was Fray had the schematics for it and gave them to Sterk.

“Ye can begin training once the door closes,” Sterk said. “I’ll activate the Time Compression Array before I leave. Lady Fray said she wants ye te spend at least a month training inside o’ this chamber. Good luck.”

I barely heard the door close as Sterk’s final words rang out to me. A month. We would be spending an entire month training, but I assumed he meant a month in the outside world. In here, one month would equal sixty-three years. That was a lot longer than I expected to train.

“Desperate times,” I mumbled to myself, closing my eyes and taking several deep breaths. When I opened them again, my heart was hardened and my will more solid than steel. I was determined to master the Concepts of Life and Death. By the time I emerged from training, there wouldn’t be a single person who understood either concept better than me.

***

Nearly half a month had passed since Eryk and his wives went into closed-door training. Fray sat on the windowsill, staring in the direction she knew the training ground to be. She hoped they would all be far stronger when they emerged.

“You seem troubled, Lady Fray.”

Fray turned at the gentle voice to find Chloe walking out of the kitchen, her single teacup in one hand and a teapot in the other. Both cup and pot were rather intricate works of art with elaborate designs swirling along the polished white surface.

Chloe set the teacup down on a small round table and poured the tea. Green liquid poured out. It was a type of green tea then. Fray wandered over to the table and sat down as Chloe, ever the mindful woman, placed exactly two cubes of sugar and poured in some milk.

“You do remember that you are no longer obligated to serve me, don’t you?” Fray asked as she took the cup to her lips and drank. She sighed in content as the set the cup down and smiled. “I though I am grateful you continue to.”

Chloe smiled as she moved around the table and sat down. That was something she would have never done before now.

“I realize I don’t have to serve you anymore.” Chloe’s smile widened. “But I have become accustomed to serving others, and the one I want to serve is currently in closed-door training.” The smile left. “Are you worried their training won’t go well?”

Fray shook her head as she traced the lip of her cup with a finger. “That is not it. I have every confidence in Eryk and his harem. My main concern is that I do not know what kind of world will be waiting to greet them when they emerge.”

Chloe said nothing to that. Fray sighed again, though this time it was melancholy, and took another sip of tea. The bitterness of the tea itself complemented the gentleness of the milk and the sweetness of the sugar. She also had to give high compliments to the tea leaves themselves, which held a far more complex flavor than anything she had tried before.

That Valence was certainly talented.

A knock sounded at the door. Chloe rose to get it, but Fray waved her back into her seat as she stood up and moved to the front. She opened it to reveal one of her Valkyries. The young woman was a redhead with a smattering of freckles dotting her green face.

Her face was currently locked in an expression that was quite serious.

“Lana, has something happened?”

Lana pounded her right fist against her left breast, the sound clanging against her armor. “My Lady, there has been movement from Vesperia. I just received word from our patrols that the remaining four members of the Zehn Todesharr have left. Gorrick and Unglau are traveling south-east. Wutend and Leblos are heading south.”

The woman’s words made Fray’s heart still. She could only think of one thing that could mobilize the remaining four members of the Zehn Todesharr.

She sound around and looked at Chloe, who was already standing and looked ready for whatever orders Fray had for her.

“Chloe, I want you to take a squadron and find out where Wutend and Leblos are heading,” Fray ordered.

“At once, My Lady.” Chloe pressed her right fist against her left breast, bowed, and left Fray’s house. She was undoubtedly on her way back to Vahn to get changed into her Valkyrie armor.

Fray turned back to Lana. “Tell Alaiya that I have new orders for her. She is to gather a squadron of our best warriors and follow Gorrick and Unglau. I want her to tell me where they are going, what they are doing, and anything else she deems relevant.”

“Yes, My Lady!”

Once more pounding her chest, Lana turned around and left. Fray watched her go, shut the door when she disappeared, and leaned back against the doorframe as she closed her eyes. The scent of lilacs and violets filled her nose as she breathed deeply through it. Her house had several different flowers growing inside. She did not have Valence’s talent for crossbreeding plants to create tea, but she was very talented at cultivating her garden.

The situation has changed. It seems they discovered the location for the remaining two Great Overlords. That is the only explanation I can think of to explain why the Zehn Todesharr would leave Vesperia empty. They are moving forward with their plans.

Fray wandered over to her divan, sat down, then turned and reclined on it. The soft mattress under her back was comfortable, but she hardly felt it. A coldness had seeped into her body.

Or could it be they still don’t know the exact location of the Great Overlords’ tombs. Perhaps they merely received a hint and are investigating to verify their location? I should have asked Lana if one of those two teams had a Dweorg with them.

Fray stared at her ceiling, pondering.

Either way, I have a very bad feeling about all this.

***

Medusa stood inside of a quaint tent with no decorations and just the tan walls, ceiling, and a single table to look at. The scent of many unwashed bodies filled the air as she and two others stood around a table. The two men standing with her was Dante and Rainer, two of Hilda’s husbands. Medusa had heard they were Spiritualists of great power and reknown, and indeed, it seemed they had power on par with Medusa herself.

She felt respect for Hilda, who could tame such powerful men.

She also felt fiercely competitive toward that woman.

That was why she was here.

“This queen believes we should make a night raid on the slave camp,” Medusa said as she reached out and tapped her fingers against the map sitting on the table. It was a highly detailed map of the surrounding area. She traced her finger along the map. “This queen shall travel alone and slip into the enslavement camp under the cover of darkness. Once she has secured the slaves, she will set off a flare, and you two will lead the rest of our Spiritualists on an attack to wipe out the Sekbeist forces.”

Dante was the younger of the two. He had a very youthful appearance despite his hair being pure white. The leather armor he wore looked light, like it couldn’t protect him from anything, but it was covered in a complex rune array. Medusa knew little about runes. However, she had seen what they could do. She didn’t doubt his armor would protect him from all but the most powerful of attacks.

Standing beside Dante was Rainer, with his swept back hair and piercing intelligent eyes. He looked a lot more serious than Dante. He also wore silver armor instead of leather armor. It was scratched in some places, indicative that it had seen much use, but it was also well-maintained. The armor had been polished to a shine. The runes were also still there. They were drawn into the silver with Demon Beast blood, though Medusa did not know what kind.

“I think that will work,” Rainer said after thinking about her plan for a moment. “Though it will put most of the burden on you.”

“That is fine.” Medusa waved a dismissive hand. “This queen has been looking for a challenge for some time. Freeing those who have been enslaved and protecting them will be a good challenge.”

“Well, if that’s what you want, I don’t see a problem with it.” Dante shrugged. “And I am curious to see your power. Hilda speaks very highly of you.”

“She does?” asked Medusa.

“She says you’re a formidable opponent.”

Oh. So that was it. Hilda and Medusa were both Eryk’s mother-in-law, and they were both powerful rulers of their people. Neither of them was used to listening to the orders of others, which always put them at odds with each other, though they maintained a cordial relationship for the sake of the people they protected—and Eryk. However, it was clear to Medusa that both of them wanted Eryk to look up to them more than the other.

This was a competition to prove who the better mother-in-law was!

Medusa spent a few more minutes with Dante and Rainer, hashing out the details of their plan, but they didn’t want to make it too complicated. Plans had a way of going awry regardless of how well thought out they were. Better to have a basic plan that was adaptable than a rigid plan that might fall apart at the first complication.

After the plan was ready, Medusa mingled with her Spiritualists. She had only brought one hundred with her. They were a mix of human, Lamia, and beastfolk. Medusa didn’t honestly think she even needed this many. Her strength was such that she was confident she could crush any enemy in her way, but Hilda had argued that it was important to have the people free the slaves.

Medusa didn’t disagree, though it called her to agree with that woman.

Night soon fell. Guided by the stars and the red and blue moons, Medusa Shadow Walked across the Northern Plains to the enslavement camp.

The slave camp was an old city that once belonged to the people of the Northern Plains. While it was not the same size as Vahn, the stone structures were many and myriad, spread across a flat plain and surrounded by a large rampart. There was technically only one entrance—technically because Medusa did not need to use it. She slipped into the city using the shadows.

While Medusa did not have the ability to sense life like her daughter, all Lamia were able to use a form of heat vision, which allowed her to see heat sources. She found a large number of heat sources patrolling the city. Those were the Sekbeists for sure. Closer to the center of the city was a large cluster of heat sources, which she believed were the slaves.

Medusa slipped into another shadow before anyone could find her and made her way to the heat cluster. There were a few enemies who could use Shadow Walking as well. Medusa froze when a Sekbeist Shaman tried to slip into the shadow she was walking through, but she quickly manipulated the shadows to devour him.

She hoped he wouldn’t be missed.

Emerging from a shadow closer to city’s center, Medusa switched from heat vision to normal vision. She was lying lengthwise within an alley and peering into a large building surrounded by Sekbeists. That was definitely where the enslaved people were located.

Medusa considered the situation for a moment. She needed to kill those Sekbeist, secure the prisoners, and then light a signal flare. After that, her job would be to protect the prisoners until the Sekbeist army was routed. The question was what would be the best method to go about doing this.

After giving it another moment’s thought, Medusa merged her arms into the ground, manipulating the earth element to her whims. The ground beneath all the Sekbeist guarding the building turned into quicksand. Before her unfortunate victims could even shout, she manipulated the sand to rise up and travel down their throats, blocking all noise. Then she drew all one dozen guards into the earth, where they disappeared as if they had never existed.

Now for the signal flare.

Medusa grabbed the necklace dangling around her neck. A small red gem placed within a pendant glowed brightly in the night. It was actually a monster core. She removed it from the necklace, channeled Spiritual Power to overload the core, and threw it into the air. Mere seconds after she tossed it, the monster core exploded like fireworks.

That would do for the signal.

Moving quickly, Medusa merged into the shadows and re-emerged inside of the building where the slaves were. While the inside was large, a square kilometer in size, the inside was crowded with so many bodies there was barely any room to sleep. Several people were even sleeping on top of each other.

The explosion had woken most of them. Quite a few were sitting up and looking around. It wasn’t long before most of those eyes found Medusa.

“People of the Norther Plains, this queen has come to rescue you from the Sekbeist,” Medusa announced. “As we speak, this queen’s forces are eradicating the Sekbeist outside this building. Please remain here with me until they are gone. After we have defeated them, this queen and her forces shall escort you to Vahn, where we have established a city to protect everyone from the Sekbeist.”

No one said anything at first, but it wasn’t long before people began talking in both loud and hushed voices. Medusa could hear everything being said thanks to her sensitive ears.

“Is she for real?”

“Does this mean we are free?”

“Who knows. This could be a trick.”

“Why would it be a trick? There’s no point.”

“I wonder who this woman is. She calls herself ‘this queen.’ That sounds very familiar.”

“It reminds me of how Lady Lin talks. I remember Lady Lin was always referring to herself as ‘this princess.’ Maybe those two are related? They look kind of similar…”

It seemed her daughter was quite well-known to these people, though she didn’t let them know that Lin was, in fact, of her flesh and blood. There was no time.

Several Sekbeist were attempting to barge into the building. Medusa only assumed they realized why her forces were attacking and decided to kill the slaves out of revenge. She would not let that happen.

Quicker than a whip, Medusa used Shadow Walking to appear outside the building. She located all of the would-be attackers, then manipulated their own shadows, making the black shadows rise like tendrils to wrap around their legs, arms, and necks. The Sekbeist gasped and grabbed onto the tendrils as though to rip them off. Medusa clicked her tongue and let more Spiritual Power flow through her connection to the shadows. A loud snapping sound echoed around her as nearly one hundred necks cracked at the same time.

Medusa found herself with nothing to do after killing the first group of Sekbeists who attacked. The others were simply too busy being slaughtered to come over and try to kill the slaves. She decided to let them all gather outside so they could stretch their legs instead of remain cooped up in that building.

The echo of explosions and Spiritual Techniques rang through the air for nearly an hour before they died down, and through her connection to the earth, she could sense the vibration of footsteps coming her way. Medusa turned just as the Spiritualists under her command entered the clearing from around a corner. Dante and Rainer were in the lead.

“Are these all of them?” asked Dante.

“This queen believes so,” Medusa said.

“It looks like many of them are underfed and injured,” Rainer noticed. “Let’s get them healed up. We should also prepare meals for them. Then we can have them load up into our wagons and begin the journey back to Vahn.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Medusa nodded with her typical imperiousness. “This queen shall leave matters to you.”

While Rainer began ordering the healers to tend to the wounded and Dante had their forces set up a food station to feed the starving slaves, Medusa slithered amongst those they had rescued. Most of them could not take their eyes off her. That was expected. Medusa was aware of her own beauty and exotic appearance. Lamia were not unusual, but the people of the Northern Plains had never seen one quite like her before.

She paused after her third pass when she noticed one particular human who looked relatively healthy despite being old. He was a man in the later years of his life, with many wrinkles and white hair. He had a handlebar mustache and a windows peak. They gave him a distinguished look. But what really caused her to pay attention to him was how his blank eyes remained fixated on her.

“Garret?!” Rainer suddenly gasped as he ran up to the man. “Garret, is that you?!”

The old man turned from Medusa to smile at Rainer. “Master Rainer, it is good to see you. So good. I feared the worst had happened to you all after what happened in Vahn. Is Lady Hilda well?”

“Hilda is fine,” Rainer said, placing his hands on Garret’s shoulder and smiling. “I’m so glad we found you. Hilda was devastated when she realized we had no idea where you were. Dante is here too. Come. Let us get you some food. There is so much I have to tell you, and I’m sure you also have things you would like to tell me.”

“Indeed, there are many things I would share with you,” Garret said.

Medusa watched them a moment longer, but then she turned away and continued her rounds. The private affairs of Dante, Rainer, and Hilda were none of her concern.

***

Chloe traveled with a squadron of three others. The jungle heat was stifling, but fortunately, the armor she wore had runes that helped regulate her body temperature, though it could do nothing for the humidity.

The area she traveled through was known simply as the Rotfang Forest, though it was more jungle marsh than forest. Twisted trees blocked her view of the sky. A sickly sweet scent filled the air. She could smell the poison permeating this place, though she also sensed that this was far more than just poison. The Concept of Death hung heavily over this entire area.

“We’ve been traveling for several days and haven’t found anything. Do you think the Zehn Todesharr are really here?” asked Monique. She was a dark-skinned woman with cornrows of purple hair, big brown eyes, and a sharp tongue to match the two swords she wielded.

“This is where eye-witnesses reported seeing them travel,” Chloe said.

“And are you sure we can trust those eye-witness?” asked Monique. “I don’t mean to question you, commander, but those people were enslaved humans. For all we know, they were ordered to say that.”

“We could be walking into a trap,” Astral said with a nod. She was, in some ways, Monique’s opposite. Her skin was fair, her eyes blue, and her hair a light pink color. The only thing she shared with her partner in crime was her sharp tongue.

“That is all the more reason for us to check this out,” Chloe said.

“If we go in expecting a trap, then we won’t be surprised when the trap is sprung. That should make escaping from it easier,” said the last member of their squadron. Alexia was a very petite girl. She had wavy blond hair, big green eyes, and very small features. Some people had mistaken her for a child. They were very lucky Alexia had such a mild personality, or they would have found themselves in for a world of hurt.

As it was, all those people merely felt extremely guilty after their words brought Alexia to tears.

Crocodile tears, that is.

“I s’pose you bring up a good point,” Monique said at last. “And it’s not like we can leave the Zehn Todesharr to their own devices. There’s no telling what they’re planning.”

The Rotfang Forest was a massive expanse of poisonous land. Several areas were covered in thick and swampy pools of burbling purple liquid, obviously an incredible toxin, and this place was also home to many poisonous reptilian Demon Beasts. They had come across a number of them, though none of them were powerful enough to even slow her squad down.

“Do you sense anything, Alexia?” asked Chloe.

Alexia tilted her head, then shook it. “I’m sorry, Commander. I can sense a lot of life in the surrounding area, but unfortunately, all this poison is messing with my technique.”

Alexia was what the God Race called a Sensor—a person who was sensitive to the life forces of others. She had a natural affinity for the Concept of Life and had trained it to such a degree that she could easily sense all the life around her within a two hundred kilometer radius. Not even Eryk had senses that could equal this woman.

“That’s okay. We will just keep searching,” Chloe said with a smile.

“This would be easier if we had more people,” Monique said.

“That would also be dangerous,” Chloe admonished the woman. “We want to know what the Zehn Todesharr are doing here without letting them know we are onto them.”

“Yeah. I know,” Monique sighed.

As they continued traveling, the ground began rumbling, causing them all to stop walking. Chloe at first thought what they were sensing was footsteps shaking the earth, but then a noise echoed back to accompany the shaking.

It was the sound of explosions.

“It sounds like someone is fighting something,” Astral said.

“I’m sensing something one hundred and fifty kilometers east of us,” Alexia suddenly added.

“What do you sense?” asked Chloe.

Alexia turned to her, face grave. “The Concepts of Life and Death are clashing and causing distortions in the environment.”

Chloe didn’t need anything more than that. She ordered her forces to carefully but quickly move toward where Alexia was sensing the clashing of concepts, and before too long, they found the sources.

Two people were battling against one person. Two of them were easily recognizable as Sekbeist Lords. Their skin was ashen gray, their bodies clad in armor covered in bony outcroppings like spikes, and their blood red irises were surrounded by black instead of white. One of them was large and covered in layers of muscle, while the other was relatively small—small enough that Chloe might have considered him a child if she didn’t know any better.

The person they were fighting was less a person and more of a spiritual entity. She was clad in robes of pure white, her lithe body hauntingly beautiful but also very disturbing. Her skin was a pale purple, almost chalky, while her lips were a darker purple. Her eyes had no irises or pupils. They were pure white and veins throbbed around her temples. White hair complemented her clothes and skin.

Only one object on this woman was not white—her scythe. It was a massive thing that appeared to have been carved from black bones. A skull sat where blade met handle. The handle alone was at least three meters long, the blade another meter in length. So dark was the scythe that it seemed to snuff out all light. It trailed wisps of black miasma when she swung the weapon.

“I am surprised to see your consciousness still somewhat intact, Ende,” the larger Sekbeist Lord said. “That you can recognize us as threats is a credit to your strong will… not that it did you much good in the end. You should just give up. You are only prolonging your own suffering.”

The woman the Sekbeist Lord called Ende did not respond with words, but with an inhuman shriek that rattled even Chloe’s bones. She covered her ears to try and block out the sound. It felt like that sound was damaging her soul. When that didn’t work, she used her own Spiritual Power to block out the noise.

Ende charged at the two and swung her scythe, unleashing a blast of death energy so intense the very sky seemed to die. It became a poisonous black color. Sadly, neither of the Sekbeist Lords were concerned. One of them stepped forward, held out his hands, and created a massive dome that protected them from the harmful death energy. The woman slammed her scythe into the shield. While the shield did crack, it did not break, and Ende was blasted backward by an incredible shockwave of explosive energy.

“That looks like Wutend and Unglau,” Astral said, staring into the sky.

“Yeah. And the woman they are fighting is definitely Ende—the Great Overlord of the Sixth Realm,” Alexia added.

“What should we do, Commander?” asked Monique. “Should we help Ende deal with those Sekbeist Lords?”

Chloe thought for only a moment. More explosions of power rocked the air. She flinched when stray beams of death energy rained on them from above, though she protected everyone by transporting them several dozen meters away. She looked back at where they had been standing. The entire area was completely blackened and the trees were crumbling away, rotting and decrepit.

“We cannot help Ende,” Chloe said in a quiet voice. “If you look at her closely enough, you will see that she has become little more than a rabid beast. She’s attacking the Sekbeist Lords now, but she could just as easily begin attacking us if we reveal ourselves.”

“Then what should we do?” asked Astral.

“The only thing we can do.”

Chloe gave Astral a grim smile as she removed a small sphere covered in runes from within her armor. The runes lit up as she channeled Spiritual Power through it. Turning the sphere toward the battle, she spoke in a soft voice that belied her urgency.

“Lady Fray, I do not know how well you can see this, but it seems your fears have been founded. Wutend and Unglau are battling against Ende. I don’t think there is anything we can do for her either. Her mind is far too gone.”