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[Author's Note: for those who read the last chapter in the first 16 or so hours of its release: I changed a line in Moira's flash of memory based on some lore corrections from the main branch author. Pardon the late edit.]

The holy aura died... and Juniluny's throat began to bubble with tired amusement.

A side-effect of hellfire? A weakness of the power that so burned the Cabalist? No... I'd sooner believe the waif moved too fast to be seen than think she's already done! Juniluny let loose another dose of hellfire, burning bits of her soul away to cast the magic without censorship or the aid of her fingers. She muttered the last syllables of the spell with the final blast, and her voice slowly rose as she approached the tired, happy sigh at its end. Feeling confident, but cautious, she stood and admired the inferno while looking for signs of the victim inside.

I... resist... with...

The words seemed so simple, now... even meaningless. Did these platitudes ever truly empower her?

The medallion no longer spun.

Kim's exhausted, puffy eyes looked down at the restraint... and confirmed that the last bit she had, the last surge of might she could muster, was still not enough. The machine had worn her down to a state of weakness that felt immobilizing; even the minute motions she could make while underneath the voracious device felt sluggish and painful. I... cannot... reach my ki... anymore... The world seemed to gray, and her senses shrunk as she continued to wither.

The machine did not seem to notice, or care. Its pipes groaned as it readied to take another uncensored bite.

... No. No no no... there's just no sopping way...!

Juniluny stared, wide-eyed, at the burning skeleton at the center of the dying red licks of hellfire... and counted again. Still only one. The hole in the skull's forehead, where a pearl once rested, was visible even from afar.

Snickerbottom looked around in desperation. If the Warden was moving through her maze now, somehow invisible to sight, her warding blocks weren't going to give her any warning. Calm your knickers, Juni. She's a Warden; they're plenty of things, sure, but sly is as far from them as one can get. She peered through the firelit floor. Her guards were all still alive, here; the Northern Wind girl had mostly dashed past the lot of them, and each had remained at their posts as instructed. None were being engaged or killed, and at least a few of them—especially the Almiraj duo she had caught less than a year ago—could naturally see through illusory magic. Juniluny peered back at the stairwell. She had no warding bricks grow there... but if the Warden had somehow slipped into it without Juniluny’s notice, then she was too fast to risk peeking inside.

I’ll just get some of the guards to come over and check for-hmm? Juniluny blinked at the burnt floor near the corpse. She was... certain that she had seen the spear still there and whole despite the hellfire. Wishful thinking, perhaps-

The blessed hammer, still leaning against the hallway wall where it had landed, winked out of existence. Juniluny visibly jumped back at that and rubbed her eyes with her three-fingered hands before staring at the spot it once occupied. Is she recalling her weapons?! Or is she- She stared around anew, paranoid and alert, but her enchanted vision gave her nothing. “G-Guards!”

“There’s another one... a human, and a mage, but her aura is shrinking rapidly.” A tinge of fear escaped Layla’s mouth, and John grit his teeth as he worked doubly hard. Tears began to leak from his eyelids, but he said nothing else in response.

Moira blinked at John, at the stranger, and at the new bodyguard mage—already naked around her husband—who no longer sported that shocking blue hair. The Warden’s armor still stung with the heat of the fire she had suddenly found herself in. John’s hand, which had touched her in the middle of the inferno, remained on her shoulder when she popped into existence by his side; he had given her only enough of a healing to let her know she was safe before returning to his work. One after the other came the weapons: the one Moira used to kill an innocent man and then the blessed hammer of her mother. Guilt and questions continued to mount... but they had to be put aside, for now. I let my guard down. To think I needed saving by the man I came to save... Moira stood suddenly, ignoring the inky soot still on her hands or the stinging of the heated armor against her bare flesh. “What the Hell is going on here?!”

Galley Gallows, who no longer engaged John’s portal, tried to clear her throat and appear stately while still covering her delicate bits. “Now that we’ve regrouped, we can focus on killing the Cabalist and getting out of here.”

Layla added nothing to their conversation... but Moira still stared at her with narrowed eyes. “Then who is this? Another Order contractor?”

“No. She’s a rogue mage.”

Layla withdrew her eyes to return the glares. “I beg your pardon-?!”

“Layla, please!” John ordered.

“R-right!” She ducked back against the newest tunnel to peer through. “There... the strongest ones are just to your right!” Obediently, John swerved his efforts to try and reach their goal.

“Galley,” John commanded, “what can you tell us about this one?”

Another tunnel, and Galley looked to Moira for approval. The Warden wasn’t sure of anything, now... but John at least seemed to have a plan. She nodded, and Galley pulled up to the hole in space and gave it a strong whiff. “She’s young, like you all, and... in a lot of pain. She’s being killed, slowly. But even beat as she is, I can tell she was pretty strong...”

It was vague enough to fit two girls John knew... three if Juniluny had somehow grabbed Tricia-

He burned through his mana, and then half of his health into mana again, as he **** himself through.

"There'sssss no one here, Massssster!" Juniluny grimaced at the report. The boboka, a rattlesnake-headed man, had venom strong enough to rot away the hide of a wild boar in seconds, but he proved an irritating scout. Unfortunately, he was the closest respondent, and so it was he who was sent, cowering, into the stairwell.

"Keep going down, you inbred cuckerspud! She must be at the landing..." Unless Wardens really can become invisible... in which case, I'm a sodding sitting dove out here...! It was as close to a working magical theory as she could develop: an invisibility that was warded against detection magic like Juniluny's, and one that applied invisibility to items she subsequently picked up. It wasn't the most impressive illusion, but it was not the kind she had ever heard a Warden possessing. I'm overthinking things... really, a blunt club of a blessed child suddenly performing illusions? Pull the other one! She snorted confidently at her own joke. Soon, I'll hear that ugly snake-wretch die horribly, and that'll be evidence enough of where she's hiding-

"She isssssssn't there either, Masssssster!"

All her momentary confidence dissolved. Theories upon theories laid themselves out in Juniluny's mind, but none explained what had happened without terrifying ramifications. Deeply paranoid, Juniluny peered through the flickering shadows of torchlight to find any sign of an invisible, terrifying intruder that could even now be stalking her.

Kim... wake up...

Father...? Kim's eyelids were so heavy. Her body was numb. She was dying. She had accepted it only seconds ago.

Kim... remember... your destiny...

But I'm... too weak... I failed...

You cannot fail... as long as you remember... us...

The machine groaned over her. Slowly, her eyes flickered open. Faces, hundreds of them, stared back from time stretching backwards. The rows of them smiled upon her, their translucent expressions backlit by a dream of a rainbow world, and all their prismatic smiles danced and sang and laughed at their silly young descendant. One of the faces drew near: a man she had seen only in scans of parchments still held in the oldest standing temple of the Northern Wind. Dangun Wanggeom... the Undivided Slayer... son of the Lord of Heaven... The hair of his head touched the heavens, and the tip of his beard the earth, and his hands touched upon the horrible contraption pinning Kim to her demise even in this hallucination. The machine announced its next bite, the one that would surely kill Kim Moon.

I am ready... because I do not deserve life, where I so readily squandered it on failing you... The First Slayer said something to her, but she couldn't understand him. Suddenly, his bear-like hands grasped the edges of the machine... and pulled. The world seemed to groan around her; the faces began to flee or wink out of existence. He pulled again, and bolts and metal sheet screamed as they were torn. Kim continued to cry: at her shortcomings, at having to be saved, but most of all at looking upon the face of legend, of the divine proof of what she must become to honor all who came before her... here, at the moment of her defeat. Please... just let me...

With a final, triumphant yell, Dangun reared back and finally tore the apparatus that kept her on the slab of steel... and the taste of the cool air upon her naked, ruined flesh brought Kim the ecstasy of life. Her eyes opened wide, and she looked upon Dangun... but Dangun was gone, replaced by a familiar boy who still held up the ruined half of the Cabalist invention he had just torn away. His eyes were closed, and tears and sweat ran down his face, but she could still recognize that dangerous child who now attended the Academy.

"N... Newman...? Why-" Kim fainted away, though the question buried itself in her soul.

John’s eyes remained closed, but he could still see her body even as he multi-tasked. She was barely recognizable: hairless, almost skinless, and with her muscles burned down to the bones in patches here and there. If not for her card, he would merely be furious at the halfling witch that stalked him…

Kim Moon
Level 4 Martial Artist
HP: 13/65
MP: 0/0
Stats: Str 16 Agi 20 End 14 Int 14 Wis 12 Cha 8 Lib 4
Status Effects: None
Qualities: Hellfire Burns, Soul Drain (Heavy)
R/S: -3
Slayer of the Northern Wind. The daughter of Kwang Moon and an honor student at Ashford Academy. Though still in training, she is an adept fighter, who has mastered the katas of the Slayer, and uses them to devastating effect. Recently, her soul was severely damaged, severing her connection to the Slayer power of her birth and greatly diminishing her being.

Soul Drain (Heavy): this person has been deeply damaged by a soul-sucking power or ability of another, and will likely exhibit uncharacteristic personality or identity disorders as a result. The present degree of damage will make these disorders last as long as the soul damage remains.

It was not that John was so callous as to pity that she had lost sixteen levels and all of her mana. John knew that was just the Game’s way of describing what Juniluny had done to her… and, as far as John’s anger could fathom, what Juniluny now owed. With shaking hands, John lifted Kim’s pitiful weight from the slab.

Nothing came. No alarms screamed in her mind. The two Almiraj males, adorable in their loincloths, warned of no enemies that Juniluny couldn't see. Her patience wore ever thinner over the Warden's disappearing act. Did she... did she escape ?! Is that even possible?! They can create barriers, surely, but... escaping here would be... She shook her head. I need someone who knows about her. Who do I have… Well, the huge woman is the obvious candidate, but she didn't seem to know how to avoid my wards. Seeing as her enemy did... and I’m not sensing anyone moving downstairs... Juniluny cursed under her breath. Can’t believe I’m upset that the little one must've killed her, somehow... or they killed each other, Hells be praised. The boy, then: he probably knows the Warden, yes? I'll give him a squeeze for the details... and take a bit more to ease my hunger... Satisfied with her musings, she ordered her slaves back to their posts and retreated to her elevator.

"It's... done."

John's voice sounded almost satisfied, but Moira didn't bother to look up from where she continued to heal Kim Moon. She had all but expended her power in doing so; there was still plenty of damage to heal, as the flesh was wrinkled with scar tissue over most of the **** girl’s body. The pain of whatever happened to the Slayer kept her ****; it struck Moira that she might’ve been moments away from the same fate.

The tunnels in front of Galley and Layla closed. The Hound asked first, "What's done? She's heading to the elevator you mentioned, and she's still alive and well; how's that done?"

John slowly rose from where he had taken his seat after returning with the burn victim. "I mapped... everything..." Moira looked up at that, and the three girls watched as John finally opened his eyes... and were greeted by the segmented gray eyes of an insect.

"Lady help us-!"

"Tch-!"

"N-No!" cried Layla last, horrified at the mutilation of her lover's visage.

Slowly, the segments winked out of existence... and revealed dry and bloodshot eyes. What little of his powers she had seen had given Galley enough of a lead to realize what they just saw. "You were opening your portals… against your eyeballs? Huh… so you could look down the different paths at a glance... with just enough space to put your iris against it to look out."

Moira stared between John and Galley, dumbfounded, but the boy finally nodded as he rubbed his sore eyes. "Yeah... but then I was also laying them on top of one another, with every new end peeking around a corner from near the ceiling. If she noticed any of them, she sure didn't seem to show it… of course, each one being the size of a finger nail and hiding in the glow of the fires probably helped." Still, I guess Gamer's Body doesn't keep my eyes from watering up and stinging like Hell... John continued to nurse his sore eyeballs.

The pop-ups he had ignored for the past few minutes continued to blink. Some were certainly more important than others, but none had offered him anything of use just yet; for now, defeating Juniluny was the priority... and until recently, he just wanted to make sure he didn’t let her follow Talon to whatever fate the Order had for the Artificer.

But after what she did to Kim… and tried to do to Moira... I've got to capture her... find out how the Hell to keep the Cabal from coming after us… and then make her pay.

"She's... S-She's coming back down," Layla reported. "I can see her even from here."

"Down? Good..." A large tunnel appeared against the wall Moira sat next to as she cradled Kim's naked form. The lot of them stared in awe at the alien scene before them: a steel room filled with beautiful or terrifying devices and lab equipment, and a single, closed blast door. "It looks like this is the top floor, and she didn't come after me when I went in... so get in and stay safe."

"What about you?" Galley asked.

Moira already figured as much and wasn't having it. "We're not going to leave you here to fight her."

"R-Right! Besides, she'll be here in seconds! You can’t face her alone without any time to prepare, or without us to-"

John sighed and closed the tunnel. "That's fair."

Layla cut herself off, sighing with relief. To think I was about to lose him again… is… wait... is this the moment? He had shown concern for her... and everyone else, but especially her, she wagered. Is this the moment to strike...? To finally confess my-

Still without looking, John opened another tunnel: U-shaped around him and beneath the feet of all the girls. As one, they all fell into the chamber, barely managing to land on their feet. As one, they looked up with either surprise or fury as the portal closed above them.