While Priestess and Half-Demon Thief were greeted by Spearman that morning, and encounter was occurring far to the north. Armored Skeleton moved about the courtyard of the Lich Queen's castle, inspecting his troops as the howl of the wind was drowned out by the wailing of the undead within.
"My general, where are we going to attack next?"
"That is up to our Queen of course." Armored Skelton sneered as he looked over the other skeletal warriors with a sinister smile. "Our horde is quickly growing in number, that dwarven fortress was just filled with prime targets for us. Those fully consumed have added to my forces while the rest swell the ranks of the undead, my queen will soon rule this world."
"You there, skeleton!"
Armored Skeleton and the rest of his troops quickly looked around the area with weapons ready for the source of the voice, but there was no one there.
"My general, above us!"
Armored Skeleton looked upward and found a large winged demon perched atop one of the large ledges of the castle looking down upon them. From where the demon was, none of the skeleton's weapons could reach him, but he soon saw other skeletons armed with bows and arrows aimed directly at him.
"Kill him." Armored Skeleton's response was as cold as the wind around them.
"Hold there." The winged demon raised his hands to show he was no threat. "My master has sent me here to warn your queen."
"Hold." Armored Skeleton raised his hand to stop his archers from attacking. "What warning do you have for my queen?"
"My message is for her to hear directly."
Armored Skeleton paused for a moment as he looked over the winged demon, there was always the possibility that he would try to harm her, the Demon Lord's mission would eventually come into conflict with his Queen's.
"Follow me." Armored Skeleton continued to glare at the demon as he watched the him descend to the courtyard. "No matter what he has plan, my queen is far from weak enough to be hurt by him…and should he do anything, I shall slaughter him before feeding the horde."
The winged demon followed behind Armored skeleton as they walked through the great hall leading to her throne room, behind him was a small dispatch of skeletal warriors, obviously present to kill him should he try anything against the Lich Queen. The group entered and there she sat upon the throne looking over them, her face hidden behind her veil though her eyes flashed red as she watched them all.
"Why do you disturb me?"
"My Queen." Armored Skeleton took a knee before his queen as did the other skeletal warriors. "This demon has come to deliver some kind of message to you."
The Lich Queen stared at the winged demon, even if he couldn't see her face, her hidden gaze unnerved the demon.
"Speak."
"I…come with a warning from my lord."
The Lich Queen's eyes flashed once again as she tightened her grip around the arm rests, cracking them in the process before she stood and slowly walked toward the demon. Those in the room could feel the overwhelming menace radiating off her, the Armored Skeleton and the other skeletal warriors did not move as they kept their eyes on the floor, but the winged demon trembled as she drew closer.
"You dare come to my castle to threaten me?"
"No, you misunderstand. My lord did not send me with a declaration of war, but to caution you against a potential threat."
"My patience is very thin, deliver the message before I have you fed to my horde!"
"My lord was given a warning from the dark gods above, a group of adventurers may be coming to your castle with the intent of over throwing you and my lord."
"Preposterous! There is no conceivable way for adventurers to enter my castle! Besides, what does my defeat have to do with the downfall of your pathetic lord?"
"Pathetic? How dare you…" The winged demon clenched his fists, but the fight was soon taken out of him as the Lich Queen towered over him.
"Think carefully where you are little demon, you are in no position to threaten me."
"Of course…my apologies. My lord was told that there is some type of artifact within your castle that the adventurers may try to use against you."
The Lich Queen was silent as she looked down at this demon, she had to think what type of artifact or tool was here within her castle that could be possible used against her.
"My Horcruxes, that could be the only logical guess." The Lich Queen knew her horcruxes, including the new one, were well protected so what was the concern. "If the Demon Lord is so concerned about these adventurers, why does he not come here to deal with them himself?"
"My Lord and our forces are currently engaged in battle with the King and the alliance of the freefolk at the Capital. We had thought them defeated, and their attack is a doomed one, but they seemed determined to keep our forces there. This is clearly a distraction for something else to come, that is why he has dispatched me to warn you. Though your goals do conflict with my lords, the fate of this world of chaos may rest on you stopping this army from coming."
The Armored Skeleton and his subordinates looked toward the winged demon, then back toward the Lich Queen to see how she would react. They immediately saw the flash of her eyes and quickly stood and moved away from the winged demon, he assumed it was to let him leave.
"I see…is there anything else?"
"No. I shall take my leave then." The winged demon bowed toward the Lich Queen before turning to exit the throne room.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The winged demon turned toward the Lich Queen in time to see her raise her hand and freeze his wings solid. The winged demon cried out in pain as he fell forward, the moment he hit the ground his frozen wings shattered. He tried to get back up but then felt new pain in his legs, the cause of which was the Lich Queen firing icicles into his legs. The winged demon grunt in pain as he turned to see the Lich Queen towering over him, chuckling sinisterly as her eyes glowed in the dimly lit room.
"What…what are you doing?"
"Just keeping promise. I told you to speak your message before I fed you to my horde. You've delivered your message…now I shall keep mine." Lich Queen turned toward the Armored Skeleton and smiled beneath her veil. "Feed him to the horde."
Armored Skeleton in turn smiled as he and his subordinates dragged the screaming demon away to be fed to the undead. In her throne room, Lich Queen pondered to herself what the demon had come to warn her about.
"The Demon Lord must be truly desperate to stop this potential change if he actually came to warn me. My army numbers in the thousands and even if one falls another will take its place, there is no way any can enter my castle. The only one who knew of my weaknesses has been dealt with, she'll never utter another word again and her brother…I've taken measures to ensure he remains where he is. Still…I too can feel a sense of unease, I shall have my army ready to face any who are foolish enough to attack me."
xxxx
Nearly every adventurer agreed to come along on this quest, even though they knew this was going to be a one way quest for all, if not most of them, but with the prospect of changing the things for the better and bringing back those that had been lost through the years, they were ready to put their lives on the line. Spearman took charge of the other adventurers instructing them to gather any and all supplies for the long journey and difficult battle ahead of them. Heavy Warrior and Female Knight would coordinate with the merchants around the town to procure all wagons and horses to carry the adventurers to their final destination.
"We'll make sure everything is ready by tomorrow morning, the sooner we're ready the better." Spearman smiled as he nodded toward Priestess and Half-Demon Thief.
"Thank you."
"Then that means tonight we have one final feast to celebrate our success in this fight ahead of us." Heavy Warrior too smiled as he closed his eyes.
"A feast?"
"For many of us, tonight may be the last time we see each other, so why not end it all with a big bang?" Heavy Warrior smiled as he then looked over toward Female Knight.
The normally calm and poised knight found herself blushing and looking toward the ground as she nervously fidgeted, the sight made Spearman and Heavy Knight chuckle.
"Sounds like it will be a lot of fun tonight. We'll take care of things on our end and meet you all tonight." Half-Demon Thief smiled as she nodded back towards the trio.
The adventurers split into their groups to take care of all the necessary thing before that night. Light Wizard had left his room the moment he heard things down below, he knew of their plans to prepare for the journey ahead of them, but also knew he had to tell the girls of what lay ahead of them if this spell was to be used.
"I feel better knowing that it will be more than just our party going as well." Priestess smiled as she looked toward Half-Demon Thief.
"I do too, but we need to focus on making sure this plan of ours works. I doubt the Lich Queen will just let us stroll across the field and into her castle."
"On that note, I need to speak with…"
Before Human Wizard could get a chance to speak with them, the two oddly dressed armored figures approached the girls. He growled in frustration but opted to allow the girls to speak with these two adventurers, there would be another time for him tell them.
"In fact, this will give me some more time to see if there is any other way to use this spell."
"Oh, did you need something from us?" Priestess called out as she watched Light Wizard slowly walk away.
"It can wait."
With that he walk away to return to his room, leaving the girls to speak with Goblin Slayer and Demon Slayer.
"So you two are the ones who saved my village that night?" Demon Slayer's voice did not carry any malice in it, it was the same dispassionate voice the two girls were so used to.
"Yes, we were transported to your village by accident." Priestess said with a weak smile as she looked at Demon Slayer.
"Like we said earlier, we had no idea that doing something like that would affect so much. I'm…I'm sorry about what happened to your family." Half-Demon Thief bowed her head towards him.
Demon Slayer was silent as she stared at the two young girls, whatever expression was on his face was hidden behind his helmet.
"Is she still alive in your time?"
"She?" Half-Demon Thief at first confused by the question then quickly realized he was referring to his friend.
"Oh you mean her, yes she is." Priestess add, but was hesitant to tell him that they were not yet married in their time and there was no young child.
"All the more reason to make sure you are all successful in this quest. Thank you both for saving me and my sister at the time." Demon Slayer bowed his head toward the young women.
"Th, there's no need for that." Priestess nervously held up her hands to stop him.
"Yeah…we're not quite used to seeing you act this way."
"Then does that mean you are the same Priestess who was a part of my group sometime ago?" Goblin Slayer was the one who spoke now, making sure to remove her helmet as she spoke with them.
"I am."
"You survived the attack…did I?"
"Yes, another adventurer took on our quest and came to rescue you and I. The other two did not make it." Priestess sighed as she looked down toward the ground, recalling not just the death of Warrior and Wizard, but the look of defeat on Fighter face as she left.
"Then as he said, we need to make sure you both are successful on your quest. I am glad to see you are okay and that I was not the only one to get out of that situation." Goblin Slayer had a light smile on her face as she nodded toward them.
Both young girls were delighted to see that these two did not hold any grudge against them for what had transpired in this timeline and would be among those who would help them. That evening, the adventurers had themselves a massive party, not since the celebration of the defeat of the Goblin Lord or the New Year's party had Priestess and Half-Demon Thief had so much fun as they laughed, ate and drank with the rest of the adventurers. By the next morning, more than a dozen wagons, some with carts attached to the wagons, were set up down the main road by the guild hall.
"Wow…would you look at it all." Half-Demon Thief was surprised by wagons and then saw all the adventurers slowly exit out of the guild hall.
"It reminds me of those who went to help during the goblin raid two years ago." Priestess smiled as she watched the various adventurers load up on the wagons.
The girls saw Demon Slayer and Goblin load up on the second wagon from the front with Spearman. The girls were ready to load up on the first with the rest of their party but were stopped when they felt someone's hand on their shoulder; the girls turned to see Elder Sister behind them smiling warmly at both of them.
"I'm so happy I found you."
"Oh hello."
"How are you this morning?"
"I'm well thank you." Elder Sister smiled but then frowned as she looked toward them. "This…this will be the last time we are able to speak isn't it?"
The two girls were saddened as they realized what Elder Sister was hinting at, but before the two girls could say anything, she leaned in and hugged both girls.
"I am so happy to have met the both of you and know that you will take good care of him."
"I…I…"
"You don't need to say anything. I will pray for your success." Elder Sister the reached into her pocket and pulled out a small letter before handing it to Priestess. "Here, please take this."
"What is it?" Half-Demon Thief asked.
"Something for my brother, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could deliver it to him."
Priestess took the small parcel and could feel something heavy within it, she carefully placed it within her pouch before turning back toward Elder Sister.
"Thank you again for everything." Elder Sister smiled as she bowed toward the girls.
Both girls smiled before joining the rest of their party on the and with a final wave good-bye the wagons set off the toward the Lich Queen's castle. Guild Girl and Elder Sister watched as the convoy of wagons set off to try and change things in this timeline to a better one, but after everything they had seen they were both hopeful they would be successful.
xxxx
After a few days on the road, the large convoy of wagons finally entered the cold barren dead woods. The horses were restless as they moved through the forest, for Priestess and Half-Demon Thief they knew it was because of the presence of the undead through the woods.
"Our only saving grace is the fact that we don't see large numbers of them around." Half-Demon Thief cautiously looked around the area.
"Do you see any of them?" High Elf Archer looked around the area as well.
"It's the horses, they're afraid." Priestess did her best to try and maintain a calm presence among the others.
"The road forks up ahead, shall we head left or right?" Lizard Priest looked back toward the girls as he held the reigns for the horses.
"Left, the right would only take us to the dwarven fortress, which by now has been left in ruins." Priestess sighed as she thought about how not to long ago she and the others had come to help the Dwarf Shaman's uncle. "We should hopefully be reaching the clearing near the castle soon. There we can meet up with Beast Master."
"Do you really think we can trust this Beast Master?" Half-Demon Thief did not know Beast Master as well as the Priestess but could tell he was one to keep a very close eye on.
"We don't have much choice, we need only get into the castle and find this altar and then we can fix everything that was ruined."
After a couple more hours on the road, the wagons came to a halt and the various adventurers disembarked. It was night now and their primary goal was to keep themselves warm as they began to strategize on their plan of attack. In less than an hour many of the adventurers were huddled around small fires while Priestess and her party traveled ahead to scout out the lay of the land. From a hidden snowbank, Half-Demon Thief and the others saw what lay before them and the sight nearly took the fight out of many of the adventurers. Before the castle were thousands of the reanimated undead, each oblivious to the cold and before them was a few thousand skeletal warriors led by the Armored Skeleton.
"You want us to get through that?" Spearman nervously clenched and released his fists as he saw the horde before them. "I hope you have some kind of plan there Thief?"
"Th, there are so many more than what we had to face. All of that won't matter if our own army doesn't arrive."
"According to our schedule we're here at the right time…you don't think his army was already wiped out do you?" Priestess grew nervous as she too saw the army before her.
"We'll know soon enou…" Half-Demon Thief gasped as her eyes caught sight of one of the undead within the horde.
This undead was dressed in thin leather over her chainmail, but there were clear signs of multiple bites along her body. Their short pink hair stained and dirty from what, no one could guess. Their bright yellow eyes were now gone, replaced by dead lifeless eyes that seemed to lock onto her own. Half-Demon Thief found her breathing increasing as she found her alternate self…now one of the undead within the Lich Queen's horde.
"Are you okay?" Priestess was concerned by the sudden change in her friend.
"I…I'm fine, it won't affect my abilities." Half-Demon Thief crawled back from the snowbank to join the others. "I was afraid I'd have to see something like this…now more than ever we need to restore our timeline."
The group of adventurers rejoined the others who after a bit of resting stood ready to hear what had been told to them.
"I won't lie to you, the enemy before us has a force well within the thousands." Spearman sighed as he thought back to the horde then smiled. "The smart thing would be to turn and run, but fortune favors the bold."
The other adventurers nodded in response, each had resigned themselves to the certainty that this would be a battle many would not be returning from. Soon enough the group heard the sound of someone chuckling and as they looked around saw two new figures emerge from the shadows to join them.
"Good instincts boy, however you will not be facing this army alone."
"Beast Master." Priestess found herself smiling as he saw him and Fallen Magician alive and well, yet knew this was an odd sensation for her. "In my time, I was so scared of him as he drew near, now I find comfort in his presence."
"We arrived a day earlier than expected and had a chance to scout the area as well. As you've probably seen, that wall of corpses will not be an easy one to get past." Beast Master smiled as he thought about the coming battle ahead.
"Rest assured, my Disintegration will make short work of many of the monsters." Fallen Magician was as cold as ever in her reply.
The adventurers soon heard snow crunching and as the looked around realized that they were now surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of goblins, each little creature cackling with wicked glee as the licked their weapons while eyeballing the adventurers. Goblin Slayer instantly tensed up, wanting to charge forward to attack the monsters, but was stopped by Half-Demon Thief who placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What are you doing? They're goblins!" Goblin Slayer was barely able to contain her rage.
"They're our army to break through. He has each and every one of these little devils under the control of that ring of his."
"A Goblin Master?"
"Hardly little one, a goblin is little more than a stupid, filthy beast, and I am Beast Master." Beast Master chuckled as he held up his left hand and watched as the ring glowed in the light of the fire.
The goblins instantly bent a knee to the Beast Master as they heard his command. The adventurers were shocked by this and soon all eyes fell back to Beast Master and Fallen Magician who both smiled at the sight.
"Now we have an army." Spearman smiled then turned back toward the young girls. "So what's the plan?"
xxxx
Armored Skeleton found himself annoyed as he and his horde had been waiting for nearly five days for this supposed army the demon had warned them about. None of his soldiers nor the undead were tired, exhaustion was something they could no longer feel, but there was still a sense of boredom.
"A lingering sentiment from when I was alive, but my warriors blood hungers for bloodshed. How funny since I am a skeleton and can not eat."
Suddenly the sound a wolf drew his attention, as well as the horde's, toward the tree line and there they saw a lone wolf with a small rider atop it.
"A goblin atop a wolf?"
Soon multiple wolf howls could be heard and little by little more goblins emerged; from goblin riders to goblin champions, the small army itself now numbers well into the thousands as well. Before this army were four particular individuals, a tall goblin in a red cape, a large mangy warg, a human male in dirty brown leather armor and a beautiful spell caster in a black gown.
"An army of goblins…what does he hope to accomplish with such a ridiculous army" Armored Skeleton was confused by this force before him. "Are you minions of the Demon Lord?"
"Minions of the Demon Lord, don't make me laugh…I've come for the head of the lich!"
"You wretched worm how dare you threaten my queen! What can your pathetic army of goblins do against her horde?"
"Pathetic…don't you know that goblins are actually pretty fearsome opponents?"
It was a new voice that drew the attention of Armored Skeleton and from further behind the tress were dozens of adventurers of different races now standing beside the goblins with weapons ready. Although many of the female adventurers were disgusted by the mere presence of the goblins, they at least knew that Beast Master was keeping them in check.
"My, my…what an unusual army before me."
The female voice drew everyone's attention toward the castle, there upon one of the balconies overlooking the field was the massive form of the Lich Queen. Her mere presence was enough to make many, goblins included, tremble with fear but this only made the Lich Queen laugh.
"My queen!"
"So you're the Lich Queen, you're far uglier than I would have thought and my imagination is pretty vast. Have you come to fight us, or do you prefer to stay there where it is safe?"
Armored Skeleton growled with frustration as he heard this mortal insult his queen yet needed to only look upward to see the Lich Queen was as calm and poised as ever.
"You human, I could easily cast Fear over all of you and simply watch as your fears destroy your bodies."
"You could indeed, but then that would imply you wished to deal with us as quickly as possible because you feared us. Is that the case?"
"My love is insulting her really the wisest thing to do?"
"Wisest, far from it, but it is indeed the most enjoyable thing I can do."
The Lich Queen was silent as she looked back at this human, she angrily clenched her fist, cracking the knuckles in the process then slowly sighed as she released her grip.
"Kill them. Leave not a scrap of flesh on his bones."
"At once my queen. All forces…charge!"
The skeletal warriors screamed as they charged forward, the horde of the undead wailed as they followed behind the warriors to approach their next meal.
"Just as planned, now my love!" Beast Master smiled as he looked toward Fallen Magician.
Fallen Magician nodded her head as she raised her magic rod toward the horde and cast her most destructive spell.
"Disintegrate!"
The blast of swirling light flew forward tearing through the skeletal warriors and undead with ease until it collided with the side of the castle with a thunderous explosion.
"There's their opening…the rest of you charge!"
The goblin army and band of adventurers charged forward, crashing into the army of the undead. Ordinarily, the goblin army would have run in fear or immediately turned on the adventurers, but Beast Masters' orders were absolute.
"You will fight to the last goblin, any who even think of taking one step back shall cut their own throats!"
While the horde was busy engaging the army, they failed to notice the trail of footprints moving through the snow beyond them. Half-Demon Thief struggled to maintain her Stealth ability while holding hands with the rest of the invasion party. They slowly walked forward as they neared the horde, but with the Disintegration spell in affect they could now run forward through the opening to reach the moat and sewers. The moment they were out of sight of the Lich Queen and her horde Half-Demon Thief undid her spell so the group could move much faster. With Half-Demon Thief and Priestess were the rest of their party members, in addition to them were Spearman, Heavy Warrior, Female Knight, Goblin Slayer and Demon Slayer.
"We'll enter the same way we did the last time, but this time we'll stay together while the Lich Queen is distracted."
The party of ten entered through the kitchen and just like before found the area free of any undead.
"Okay we're in, so what now?" Spearman looked around the area and outside the kitchen, thankfully finding no signs of opposition.
"The altar I saw was in the highest tower of the castle. With her and the army distracted we should be able to move more freely." Half-Demon Thief gave a quick nod of her head towards him.
"Are you sure she would not have moved the altar? That army was ready for us." Female Knight was concerned that their plan might fail if any further unexpected events occurred.
"Not unless she decided to tear that giant stone slab out of the floor. The altar is part of the floor, there should be no feasible way for her to remove it."
"Um, Thief…out there among the horde…I saw…" Priestess found she was unable to finish her sentence but had now seen what it was that worried Thief earlier.
"I saw it too, but it doesn't matter. We've got a job to do and have come too far to turn back now."
The group was ready to move on, but even as they pressed forward Light Wizard still had an uneasy look about his face. The others believed it to be the current situation they were in, which in part was true, but there was something more serious weighing on his mind.
The party of ten easily moved through the castle, nearly every undead and skeletal warrior was out on the battlefield. If there was any opposition to be found they would be guarding the horcruxes, thankfully the path they needed would have them go by any of her horcruxes. Higher and higher they climbed the winding staircase until they finally reached the tallest tower, but the moment they reach the hallway leading to the altar room they found more than a dozen skeletal warriors guarding the way.
"What the hell are they doing here?" Half-Demon Thief was taken aback by the sight of them here.
"Trying to stop us, but it will take more than this!" High Elf Archer let loose an arrow which pierced through the skull of one the warriors.
The others who could fight joined in and in a few moments, they had destroyed all the skeletal warriors.
"That takes care of that. Hardly worth my time." Female Knight was brimming with confidence as she looked down at the shattered skeletons.
"But…why are they here. There's nothing to protect on this level unless…"
There was the collective fear that the Lich Queen had gone and destroyed altar as the demon worshipers had done before. The group charged into the room with weapons ready but found it empty, there off to the side was the large stone altar undamaged.
"Is that what we're looking for?" Spearman allowed his spear to rest upon his shoulder as he looked at the giant stone slab.
"That's it, now I…I can begin drawing the figures for the spell." The Human Wizard frowned as he tightened his grip on the black tome as he walked toward the altar.
Half-Demon Thief looked around the room, the altar was still intact, but that could not have been the only thing the skeletons were guarding. Her eyes suddenly caught movement off to the side and as she turned with daggers ready, found it was someone shackled to the wall.
"No…" She felt her heart sink as she recognized the figure imprisoned here in the tallest tower.
Priestess and the others turned, for most all they saw a demon who resembled Half-Demon Thief, but for Priestess she was able to recognize Thief's brother right away. The weakened demon groaned as he opened his eyes and saw the various people before him, but to his surprise saw his sister there.
"It, it's you…I thought…the horde had consumed you." Half-Demon Assassin struggled to speak as he looked over his sister with a weak smile. "I'm…glad you're okay. You were right…we should have run…a long time ago."
"Brother…what…why?"
"To ensure…her final horcrux…would not leave? What I thought…was an honorable task…has become my eternal sentence."
"Just a moment, I'll cut you down and…"
"No…it would only…leave her with another horcrux…please…kill me.."
Half-Demon Thief and the others were shocked by his request, in particular Demon Slayer drew parallels to his own sister. If they were in reversed roles, could he kill his sister, or would his sister be able to kill him?
"Please…as a final…favor…"
With tears in her eyes, Half-Demon Thief screamed as she plunged her dagger into her brother's chest. There was a gasp from the others while he grunted in pain from the blade in his chest, yet there was a small smile on his face as he looked back toward his sister.
"Thank…you…" Half-Demon Assassin gave a final sigh before his head hung down, his chin resting on his chest.
Elsewhere, the Lich Queen watched as her army was slowly starting to encircle around the army of goblin and adventurers when she felt a great pain. With a scream that echoed across the battlefield, all eyes looked upward to see her gripping the railing of the balcony to keep from toppling over.
"My queen?" Armored Skeleton was immediately concerned as he saw her in so much pain.
"You…you stay on the battlefield and finish these worms!" Lich Queen's eyes flashed red as more than a hundred of her skeletal warriors turned and ran back toward the castle. "My…my horcrux! The filth is already here in my castle!"
"I'm so sorry." Priestess placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"With one of her horcruxes gone, she'll be coming." Half-Demon Thief wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked back toward her comrades. "And I doubt she'll be alone."
"The Lich Queen." Priestess was pale as she though about that imposing figure storming through the door to slaughter all who had defied her.
"Right…then we know what we have to do." High Elf Archer sighed as she looked toward the others.
"We all knew what kind of fight we were in for." Spearman smiled.
"Wait…what are you…"
"The seven of us will hold off their forces while you three finish the spell. No matter what happens keep this door closed." High Elf Archer smiled as she looked over the two young girls, she'd only met a short while ago but had come to treasure their friendship.
"You can't, she'll kill you all!" Half-Demon Thief looked at them all with wide eyes.
"If that is to be our fate then so be it. It all goes well, our sacrifices here will mean the world is again at peace and we along with our friends shall return." Lizard Priest too smiled as he looked over the young girls.
"But…what if we're wrong?" Priestess knew it was foolish, but did not want to lose anybody.
"If we're wrong, we'll be dead anyway so it still won't matter would it?" Spearman smirked before he headed for the door.
The other adventurers followed behind him while Priestess, Half-Demon Thief and Human Wizard stayed behind. Goblin Slayer and Demon Slayer were the last two out and as they turned to shut the door, gave the girls a final nod.
"Bar the door from your side…we'll do all we can." Demon Slayer shut the door tightly, the final time the girls may get to see him.
For the two young girls there were a mix of conflicted emotions as they knew their friends would buy them the precious time they needed to complete the spell and restore the timeline.
"We're going to get through this! We will fix everything!" Half-Demon Thief had an unsure smile about her face as she looked toward Priestess.
"Yes…you're absolutely correct."
"The proper figures are drawn and I'm ready to begin casting the spell, but…we have a big problem." Light Wizard went about barring the door as Demon Slayer had instructed before turning toward the girls. "I've scoured the tome in hopes of finding any alternative, but for this spell to work properly…there is one key thing that is needed."
"What's missing? What do we need?" Priestess was in a panic as the thought of the spell failing and everything they were doing would be for naught.
"A sacrifice…the blood of a pure soul is required to cast the spell." Light Wizard found he was unable to look either girl in the face as he spoke.