Chapter 50: Incursia, Part 1
As another gust of frigid wind swept by, kicking up sand and dust, Blake decided desert climates simply weren't for him.
It was just after midnight, making it the third of Larsson, and he found himself slowly riding alongside the assembled army as they headed toward their destination. He'd been trying his hardest to get some rest in anticipation of the fight to come, but any kind of relaxation was nearly impossible while riding a skeletal horse. His new steed was at least still obeying him; whether it was truly comfortable with a different master, he couldn't say.
"Tired, boy?"
Someone else had sidled up next to him, their chainmail armor lightly jangling with each step their horse took. It was the sketchy person Celia had given their emerald blocks to, Armand, and he didn't look impressed to see the group was still around.
"A little," Blake told him.
"Are you really going to be fighting with us? I hear you're with Countess Lumis, don't you think you should be getting her home instead?"
From anyone else the question might have been reasonable, but Armand's leering eyes and rough tone just made Blake feel uncomfortable.
"I appreciate the concern, but we are more than capable of joining the battle. We've had our fair share of run-ins with the Usurpation." Celia was on his other side all of a sudden, having caught up on her own skeletal mount. As usual, Melissa was riding with her. Both of them were smiling just convincingly enough that they wouldn't seem rude, but Blake could tell how insincere they were.
"Not sure what's the deal with this guy, but he and his crew don't seem too popular around here…"
"Oh, Countess, I meant no offense," Armand replied, "I just can't bear the thought of someone as young as you putting yourself in harm's way, especially after you were so generous to us. The Sandstone Fangs would be willing to provide you a little extra protection, you know."
"All I would ask is for you to ensure you do the best work you can during the battle," said Celia, her tone cool and composed.
Armand chuckled. "And we shall. Perhaps afterwards, we can discuss further business together? House Lumis could use our-"
Melissa, in a sharp voice, cut in. "I think we should focus on one thing at a time, sir. Business ventures can wait until the battle is over."
Apparently unable to come up with a reply, Armand instead gave a small bow from atop his horse and broke away from them to rejoin his own group. There was a nasty glint in his eye that he made little effort to hide as he left.
"That guy's a creep," remarked Cupa, who was riding with Felix behind Blake.
"He's a Sandstone Fang, they're all shady," Melissa told her. "They're the 'police' of the Needle Gardens to the east, but really they're just thugs. TOEC doesn't do business out there anymore, ever since our delivery personnel started getting told they'd need to pay for 'protection' if they were passing through the area."
"And thanks to me, House Lumis has directly funded them," Celia growled, clutching her reins.
Blake would have given her a pat on the shoulder if she were riding just a bit closer. "You did what you had to, and now they're gonna help us. Nobody will hold it against you."
As he yawned again, he heard a tinkle of glass. Melissa had produced five bottles of a pale blue substance and was passing them around to everyone. Blake took one, frowning at the cloudy liquid.
"Diluted swiftness potions," she explained. "Drink up, they'll keep us energized for the fight. I mixed them with water and added a pinch of extra sugar from the Network's stores."
Hearing that only made his frown deepen. "Is this safe?"
"Don't worry, it's good stuff! Really good! Mind if I have another? I could really use some more of this. Whoo, I feel great!"
Before anyone else could even uncork their bottles, Cupa had already downed the entire potion and was lightly shaking in the saddle.
Melissa scratched her cheek and stared at her own bottle. "Maybe a little too much sugar…"
"What the hell, it beats passing out in the middle of the fight," said Blake. He drank the potion in smaller sips, not wanting the whole effect to hit him at once like it had for Cupa. Once finished, he noticed his fatigue was gone, replaced by jitteriness and a mild sense of elation.
"So," Felix began, "how is everyone feeling with their Cores?"
Before leaving the oasis camp, they'd each taken a Genesis Core as planned. Celia had bound the yellow Fire Core again, being the most familiar with it. Felix, rather than reuse Herobrine's Diamond Core, opted for the yellow Stone Core. Melissa took the yellow Warp Core they'd found in the mansion. Some experimentation revealed Cupa was unable to bind a Genesis Core at all, but she chose to carry the purple Lightning Core in her cloak regardless.
"I'm a little nervous about using mine," Melissa admitted. "I just have to focus on a spot and I'll teleport there, right?"
"That was how the Bonemeal Core worked for me," said Blake.
He'd bound the purple Grass Core, hoping the similarity to his old Bonemeal Core would make learning to use it easier. To his relief, that turned out to be the case, and he'd gathered several clumps of grass from around the lake before they left.
"I've seen Ray use grass powers plenty of times, I think I can repeat what he did."
Ray. There was a chance they would run into each other again, and the thought made him shudder. Their brief truce under Tenebyss wouldn't apply this time.
The rest of their collected Cores had been given to the Netherrack Network for distribution, and various soldiers in the attack force were now wielding them. The sole exception, Notch's Soul Core, was still in Celia's shulker box, where it would be out of harm's way- and where nobody could accidentally be possessed.
"I've seen people back in Teras use ours," said Cupa, still sounding a bit too energetic, "so I bet the lightning one's just like it. And it won't even hurt me if it backfires!"
Celia cringed, and Blake remembered hearing how that very thing had happened to her in the mansion. Genesis Cores could still be incredibly dangerous if not used carefully, and the last thing they needed was an incident like the giant tree springing up in the middle of the fight.
A few minutes later, he heard Cupa speak again, this time asking Felix, "What're you doing there?"
Blake looked back and saw he was holding both the trackers, his eyes flicking between them.
"I'm trying to search for a Core. We have that one, and I'm using the Usurpation's map to search for its counterpart," Felix explained.
He recalled being told the trackers could locate Genesis Cores from afar if the corresponding one was present, near the very beginning of his adventure. However, Blake still didn't have a clue how to make it happen; he watched Felix tap seemingly random numbers and coordinates on the Usurpation device with no idea of the logic behind it.
"I think I've found it!" Felix said, and the rest of the team listened in. "The coordinates are… very far to the north of here, and a ways to the east. It's at a high altitude, too."
"The only high places north of the Igniz Desert are the mountains," said Celia. "It must be in the Aurora Range… you said it was to the east? That would put it in the vicinity of…"
"Mount Shroud," Felix concluded. "Talk about fitting."
Blake didn't have a chance to ask what he meant by that before the army came to a stop. Ahead, stone walls lined with torches and reinforced with iron bars towered above the desert sands. The fortress was a lone source of light in the desert's cold, dark night, but seeing the metal guard towers and the shapes of people taking positions at the top just made the place imposing. A firework shot up from one of the towers, bursting into orange sparks high above the city, and was followed by others around the walls.
"They know we're here now," one of the people near Blake said.
A hush blanketed the army as they and the Usurpation soldiers atop the wall stared each other down. Troops shuffled, clutched their weapons, whispered to one another, and a tension like he'd never felt in his life seized him as he stood in the middle of it. He nearly jumped out of the saddle when Celia tapped the back of his arm.
"A moment, please. I need to say something to all of you." Her voice was low enough that only their group would be able to hear, and she didn't continue until it was clear all of them were paying attention.
"I cannot thank each of you enough for all you've done. We have been through so much together, in so short a time, that… that it sometimes does not feel real to me." She looked at each of them in turn as she spoke. "Every one of you will always be a friend of House Lumis, and a friend of mine."
Blake couldn't help but smile despite his anxiousness. "It's been nice having a team again. Thanks for trusting me."
Celia returned the smile, yet her tone became somber. "Trust… yes, I do trust the four of you wholeheartedly. That is why I've decided it would be best for you to know this, should the worst come to pass."
"Celia?" Cupa asked, sounding concerned.
She looked around, saw that nobody was listening in on them, and whispered, "I need you all to repeat after me: 'May the sun forever rise above a peaceful world'."
They did as told. Afterwards, she nodded in satisfaction before explaining. "This phrase will identify you as an ally of the nobility. My father told me I was only ever to share it with those I trusted above all."
Blake realized what she was saying. "It's a password. If we say it to the right person, they'll know we're friendly."
"Exactly. Likewise, anyone you may hear it from has been deemed trustworthy by the nobility." A worried look came over her. "I do not know what is going to happen today. So, should I… well, if for any reason I cannot be with you anymore, then it is best for you to know this."
Life and death were on the line. Suddenly, nothing was certain, and any number of fates awaited them in the city. Blake didn't know what to say.
From somewhere in the distance, a yellow firework exploded in the sky, and then a green one. As if in response, red sparks shot up from the walls.
"That was the signal from Luxmouth and Spruce Roost!" exclaimed one of the soldiers nearby. "The battle's started on that side!"
"ATTENTION!" Blake heard Gwendolyn roar from not far behind him. "You all know your roles! Nether team, with me! Underground team, get digging! All others… TO THE GATE!"
Celia had spent the last month covertly interfering with Usurpation plans. That night, she would help strike a direct blow against them, and while she knew better than to assume the war would be over afterwards, there was a certain sense of finality as the troops charged ahead. She and her companions remained back alongside a few familiar Network agents, the TOEC and Tenebyss representatives, and various other soldiers she didn't recognize. Around a hundred in total began to dig beneath the sand.
"Leave the horses here for now!" Gwendolyn barked. "No room for them where we're going!"
As Celia dismounted and helped Melissa down, she gave her skeletal steed a pat on the skull. "Thank you for your help. Please wait here until we return."
"Only thirty of us?" Felix asked, counting the soldiers still with Gwendolyn once the underground team had disappeared beneath the surface. "Will we be enough to take over their Nether fort?"
"We'll have some help," Evelyn, Ember's fellow Networker, said as she slid on a diamond helmet. "My sister's made contact with someone who the local Piglins are apparently loyal to, and they've suffered at the Usurpation's hands too. We're joining forces with them."
That was unexpected, but Celia wasn't about to argue with more reinforcements. She turned to check if her companions were ready, and saw Galen and Melissa giving each other one last hug before the former left to join TOEC in the tunnels.
Melissa looked her way, paused, then grinned. "Let's win this, together."
Celia couldn't help but lean in and kiss her. Just as they pulled apart, Gwendolyn shouted again. "We have a portal ready under here! This way, quickly!"
The Networkers had dug out a small crevice in the sand and constructed a Nether portal just below the surface, into which their strike team was already disappearing. Celia and her friends rapidly donned the iron armor they'd been provided- the encampment's diamond supply had mostly gone to weapons- and followed Gwendolyn through the portal's purple miasma.
"Onward, Inland Alliance," she thought as she disappeared between worlds.
They emerged into a wide, boxy cave dug out around a central compound of Nether brick and basalt blocks. Celia could only imagine the scale of the city; the Nether fortification was at least six chunks long and wide. A battle was already underway, with Gwendolyn and her soldiers engaging the first line of Usurpation defenders around the compound's gates.
Celia drew her new diamond sword and started looking for a way to make herself useful. The Netherrack Network agents were staying close together, keeping a tight formation to fend off the enemies who drew near, but another squad of Usurpers emerged from around the compound's corner and were rushing toward Gwendolyn's group.
"We need to stop them!" Celia told her team. "They'll attack the Network from both sides!"
Melissa dropped a splash potion in their midst, and the fumes swept around them to instill a feeling of empowerment. "I gave you all strength, get moving- and be careful!"
Cupa was the first to attack, remaining at a distance but loosing an arrow toward their new targets. It struck a Usurper in the shin, and he cried out in pain and anger as he stumbled and fell. His remaining seven cohorts took notice of the group, shifting their attention away from Gwendolyn.
"Your invasion will go no further!" Celia declared. "Surrender, or face the consequences!"
"Just a bunch of kids," scoffed the leader, a man in a hodgepodge of armor pieces: iron, chainmail, and the strange red material seen on other Usurpation soldiers. His troops were similarly protected, if not less so- the man Cupa had shot wasn't even wearing armored leggings. "Take care of them quickly, we need to secure this area before the Marshal arrives."
"On it, sir. You've made a mistake coming here, Inlanders!"
Celia threw a fireball their way as the underlings approached, catching the one in front by surprise. He didn't take a direct hit, but the glancing flames ignited the ragged black cloak draped over one shoulder like a pauldron. While he broke off his attack, frantically trying to extinguish it, the others spread out in a half-circle around the team. Bringing up the rear was their leader, not drawing a blade like the troopers but rather flexing out his fingers as if warming up for something.
"He must have a Core. Careful, guys," Blake warned.
With Cupa and Melissa staying behind, that left him, Celia, and Felix to act as the defensive line against their six foes. A trooper rushed for Celia before she could aim a second fireball, and their blades clashed with a harsh metal screech as she parried him. Based on how they were arranged, she was anticipating her, Blake, and Felix each having to fend off two enemies before the leader stepped in, but it seemed he had other ideas.
"Four, Seven, keep those two busy!" he barked as two of them moved to engage Felix and Blake. "Everyone else, focus on the girl. We'll take them down one at a time!"
"Damn! They'll overwhelm me!" she thought as three more Usurpers closed in on her with their boss not far behind.
The one closest to her took a step to the side and swept up his blade, and Celia had to hop back to avoid the strike. She retaliated with a thrust toward his gut. He parried it aside, but the intent had never been to stab him- she'd just wanted to get close enough to bluntly punch the Usurper in the face, and her enhanced strength was enough to knock him back a few paces, clutching his nose.
Celia hadn't bought herself more than a second to get her bearings, as the three other troopers drew near with their swords raised. Another arrow whizzed right past her ear and glanced across one of their helmets; Cupa had taken a risky shot from almost right behind her. It managed to distract them long enough for Celia to ignite the netherrack in front of her, creating a small barrier of flames between them. To her left, Blake was locking blades with his opponent. To her right, Felix had managed to knock the soldier's weapon free of his hands and rammed shoulder-first into him, sending him reeling back.
"Slowness!" Melissa yelled.
Blake shoved the Usurper away, and the three of them backpedaled to avoid the splash of the next potion. Five of their six foes were affected, appearing fatigued and dazed. The leader and one other trooper avoided the fumes, but looked hesitant to continue attacking without support.
Celia swept her hand to extinguish the flames and advanced toward the nearest slowed enemy. He'd raised his sword again in anticipation, but it was clear she would be too quick for him to block for long. Yet as she prepared to strike, she hesitated.
"What am I doing? Why can't I finish him off? He's slowed, and I'm quicker… it's… not honorable…?"
But she knew that wasn't the problem. As Celia stared at his gray, wrinkled face, she couldn't stop herself from seeing the fear in his eyes. He knew he was helpless- he knew she could easily kill him. And she suddenly lacked the will to do it. Still, with time of the essence, she grit her teeth and growled, "Stay down."
She swung the flat of her blade against his helmet. There was a loud clang, his eyes crossed for a moment, and he toppled over. Blake and Felix seemed to get the idea and did the same for the enemies near them, until only three Usurpers were still standing: the one grunt who'd avoided the potion, the one who'd finally managed to tear off his burning pauldron, and their leader.
"Get them," he snarled. "I'll back you up."
The two underlings warily approached, only for one of them to be hit from behind when Felix pulled a basalt block out of the compound with his Stone Core. It knocked her forward, and when he sent the block flying into her back a second time she fell onto her face with a groan. Blake, extending some of the grass he'd collected, swung it like a lasso around the other until his arms were tightly bound to his sides. He swatted the Usurper's weapon out of his hands and simply kicked him to the ground where he could not move.
"What do you think you're doing?" the leader asked, glaring as he watched his comrades be knocked out. Further back, the trooper who'd been shot had effectively given up and was cradling his injured leg, watching the battle.
"We don't want to do this," Celia replied. "We don't want to fight. But you've left us no choice."
He scoffed again. "All these cheap shots and tricks, and you don't even have the guts to kill? I'll show you a fight!"
A pile of small sand blocks appeared from his inventory and collected around his hand. Blake was stepping around the side to surround him, but his movement hadn't gone unnoticed. The leader turned to face him and thrust his arm out as if punching the air, whereupon the sand blocks sprang out like an extension of his arm. The one at the end of the stack solidified into sandstone just in time to slam into Blake, who took the blow head-on and was knocked off his feet. Smirking, the leader softened it back into sand and retracted it into his palm again.
Celia moved to stab at his leg, but one of the sand cubes spread out in front of him and hardened around her diamond blade, leaving it stuck in the block. As she tried to pull it free, the sandstone slid into her shins fast enough to make her topple forward, and she landed at the leader's feet. She looked up to see another block hardening over her head, but it shattered when Felix rushed in and swung a pickaxe into it. The Usurper formed another sandstone bludgeon and bashed him away like he had Blake.
An arrow flew over Celia's head and struck the man's chestplate, not breaking through but making him recoil with a light grunt. That gave her enough time to stand again, but her sword was still embedded in the stone block behind her. Melissa, who it seemed had also taken an iron pickaxe from the Network, was busy digging it out while Cupa continued loosing arrows at the leader. He backed away, forming a wall in front of him while continuing to lash out at the sides with more sandstone.
Blake was struck again, and he hit the ground near Celia. He gasped for breath and clutched his gut, wheezing. Though he didn't seem too badly injured, the wind had been knocked out of him. "He's too quick! I can't get near him!"
"I've got one slowness potion left," Melissa said, equipping it once she'd broken the sword out. "Should I use it?"
"That's not going to work for you twice!" the leader chided. More and more sand blocks joined the barrier from his inventory, until it stood a chunk wide and nearly as tall as the cave.
"He'll crush us under that!" Blake exclaimed as he scrambled to get back up.
Celia fetched her weapon and turned to face their foe again, but she was at a bit of a loss on what to do. There wasn't much more room for the sand mass to grow before it would collapse, burying the group. Dodging to either side wasn't much of an option; he'd proven himself too fast to evade effectively.
"I know! Here, take this!" Felix had regrouped with them and was shoving the pickaxe into Blake's hands. He drew the extracting device from his inventory as he shouted more instructions. "Celia, Cupa, hit the middle of it together with your Cores- as hot as you can get. Melissa, get around the side and toss that potion when the sand starts to move. Blake, smash apart any extra stone!"
Celia tried to repeat the orders in her head but couldn't remember more than her own. "What are you-"
"No time, just get ready!"
"Hot as I can make it, you've got it!" Cupa answered.
The leader cackled, and the sand wave swept toward them, hardening into sandstone again. Celia tapped into as much energy from her Fire Core as she could, unloading a stream of flames right at the center. Cupa pulled out the Lightning Core from her pocket and followed suit with a strong, searing bolt that shook the cave with the sound. Both attacks struck the middle of the wall as it bore down on them, effectively smelting a circular layer of crude glass blocks inside it. The sudden change in substance was enough to disrupt the leader's concentration, as most of the wall fell short of them and crashed to the ground. What few sandstone blocks remained collapsed toward Celia, but Blake- moving impressively quickly- swung the pickaxe and destroyed them in one clean swipe.
"Felix… you truly are a genius," she found herself thinking once more.
His plan wasn't complete yet. Melissa vanished on the spot and reappeared with a stumble just a few blocks away from the Usurper. She threw the splash potion at him before he could retaliate, and his body slowed to a crawl. That gave Felix the chance to rush in and draw up the basalt block one more time, slamming it into the man's chest with brutal force. He staggered, dropped to one knee, then collapsed onto his stomach. Felix extracted the Sand Core- a yellow one- from him before he could stir again.
In the chaos of their skirmish, Celia realized she'd neglected to keep an eye on the rest of the battle around them. Fortunately, it appeared to be going well. The Piglin reinforcements had arrived as promised, and dozens and dozens of them were pouring in from the tunnels surrounding the compound. Some stood guard by any escape routes, others helped the Network agents storm the gates of the fortress. Despite none of Gwendolyn's forces wearing golden armor, the Piglins appeared not to care- their grievances with the Usurpation must have taken priority. They focused on detaining captured enemies, as well as piling up the dead. Celia was relieved not to see any familiar allied soldiers in the latter category, yet the sight still made her stomach twist up.
"We took such care not to kill these Usurpers, but I doubt we will always have a choice…"
She'd killed before- she vividly remembered striking down some of Tara's grunts on the island- but the thought of doing so again wasn't getting any easier.
"Countess, there you are! Is everyone okay?"
Gwendolyn was approaching, and in her weathered diamond armor and wielding a sword instead of her wooden cane she looked like a completely different person. Even the slight hobble to her walk seemed to have disappeared.
"We're a little battered, but not too seriously," she replied. Even as she spoke, Melissa was dropping a splash potion of healing around the team once they'd reassembled.
"The outside is secure, so we're pushing into the compound," Gwendolyn continued. "Most of the Piglins are already inside, and our troops are going to follow them. We need to capture the portals."
The fighting had only just begun, so Celia steeled herself for whatever would come next as the team followed her through one of the gates. More dead Usurpation soldiers and Piglins awaited in the first Nether brick-walled room, as well as a few Badlands militia fighters who were slumped on the floor. The sounds of a battle were coming from further on, so they wasted no time in charging ahead through the winding corridors until they reached an 'L'-shaped room with a lone portal in the corner. It was labeled with a sign, but as it was written in the Usurpation's language Celia had no idea what it actually said.
Ember was there too, tending to a gash on his forearm with a wince. Also standing guard by the other hallway were four Piglins and- to everyone's surprise- a villager wearing a full suit of golden armor. It wasn't spotless, already sporting a few smears of blood and dirt, but it looked to be in very good condition. All the more impressive given its material, Celia thought. His helmet was open at the front to reveal a wild, rugged brown beard and an impressive mustache beneath his large nose. He was giving a sideways glare at a pair of Usurpation soldiers bound in wads of string, sitting against the wall opposite the portal.
"You must be Diamond Gwendolyn," he said when they arrived. "I am the Golden King, Lance."
Celia had never heard of such a person, and the pompous way he carried himself- even jutting out his chest when he spoke- wasn't doing him any favors. Gwendolyn, nonetheless, responded politely.
"It's an honor to meet you. Your help will go a long way today, and we'll owe you and your warriors."
Lance didn't seem impressed by her thanks, simply nodding toward the two captured Usurpers. "You could start repaying me by letting us execute these Far Lands filth. Your underling isn't having it."
"They're beaten already," Ember said in a short tone. "They're prisoners now."
"You can't be serious! How many of my subjects have had to die, just for you to show them the mercy we never were? They are evil, surely you realize that much!"
Gwendolyn stepped in before Ember could shoot back. "The Usurpation Army will face justice for its crimes, but we will not butcher unarmed men and women. We're better than that."
Lance, though clearly unhappy, shrugged and made a gesture with his hands at two of his Piglin guards. They grunted and marched off down the other hallway, leaving a much more imposing pair behind to guard the portal. Brutish in stature and wielding heavy golden axes, their mere presence intimidated Celia even though they were on the same side.
"Other Networkers and our friends from the Badlands have already gone through here," Ember reported.
"Then we'd better join them. We will break out into the streets and join the team emerging from underground. Hopefully, the forces at the gates have gotten inside by now," replied Gwendolyn. "Countess, are your fighters ready?"
She looked to her four companions, each of whom gave her a reassuring nod. "We are. We will do our part to win the day."
With that settled, Gwendolyn stepped through the portal, followed by Ember. Celia thought she saw the purple miasma flicker a bit once they were gone, but wrote it off as her nerves getting the better of her.
"I'll go first," Blake announced. He jumped inside as well, with Felix and Cupa right behind him.
"Stay close to me," Celia told Melissa as she prepared to follow them. "No matter what happens, I will protect-"
She was cut off by horrible, agonized squeals from the other tunnel which quickly fell silent. Heavy footsteps echoed against the stone floors as someone drew near, and worst of all, the portal's gateway flickered again and disappeared completely. Celia, starting to panic, tried to reignite it with her flame powers to no avail; it was as if the portal frame itself was refusing to comply.
"Who's there?!" Lance spat as his two guards readied their axes.
"A fierce spirit. A lowly bunch of misfits instead of a proper security detail. And the light Fire Core, stolen from our very own Ruby Squad."
The speaker came into view. She was the tallest woman Celia had ever seen, covered head to toe in enchanted black armor that was so bulky as to appear impenetrable. Even the red visor in her helmet was tinted and didn't show any of her face underneath. A dirty brown cloak was tied around her waist, with a pair of Netherite swords tucked beneath it.
"You must be the Countess of Luxmouth," she continued in a deep, smug voice. "I've heard so much about you… this is her, isn't it, Twenty-Four?"
Someone else was approaching behind the woman, and the sense of panic increased tenfold when she recognized the newcomer.
"That's her, Marshal Crux," Tara said, her pale eyes locked with Celia's.
Ander wasn't sure how a place so warm could get so cold. The glowing ball in the sky had disappeared and brought with it the day's heat; the glowing white one was now making things chilly and dark. It also seemed to be summoning more beasts: they were crawling out from holes in the ground to prowl the surface, and numerous dark shapes were milling around in the distance. To Ander, of course, they were no trouble to deal with- some were even filled with more delicious meat- but she could tell Esme was worried by them.
She was worried about a lot of things, it was clear even though she wasn't saying much. Esme's mood only worsened when an enormous mass of shapes, silhouetted in the darkness, came into view at last. Red lights were bursting in the sky above it.
"A battle… are we too late?"
They stopped walking. Esme was looking toward their destination with wide, frightened eyes.
"Your friend there?" Ander asked.
"I think so… he's right in the middle of all that…"
"Okay. We go together. Find him."
She started to keep moving, but Esme grabbed her hand. "W-wait! We can't go into the city!"
Ander grunted, looking down at her. "No find friend? We stay. Find friend? We go."
Esme stared back, and the fear in her eyes had given way to something else, like surprise. She was stunned silent, but a moment later huffed out a breath and nodded. "Right… I guess we can't save him by waiting out here. We'll need to be careful, though. It's dangerous for both of us there."
She pulled out a black book with a glowing blue icon on the cover and flipped it open. Ander didn't know what it was, but she scribbled something on one of the rustling white pages with a feather and frowned. "I'm close enough to the city to connect to other books, and I see Ray's… but it's a weak link. Is he in the Nether?"
"What mean?" Ander asked, thumping her tail on the sand.
"Uh, I can explain another time. We just need to get closer before I can see where my friend is."
With that, they kept moving until they'd come near one of the stone walls. Ander could hear metal clangs and people screaming from the other side, and the noise made Esme turn a bit paler, but nobody seemed to have noticed the pair approaching.
"There are soldiers by the gates, so we can't get in that way," Esme said, still checking her book. "Through the wall, then."
Ander punched right through the cobblestone, clearing a gap large enough to fit inside. She passed into the city and found herself in another area full of buildings like the place she'd escaped. They were of all different shapes and sizes (some wooden, some stone), and no two looked alike, but she didn't have much of a chance to take in the interesting new sights before someone came across them.
"Sir Thomas, I- w-what is that?!"
More people like Esme, and dressed like the ones who'd attacked her in the prison, had found the pair. Seven in total, they each drew sharp metal tools and warily looked up at Ander. When Esme came through the gap in the wall behind her, however, one of the people paused.
"You…?"
"Esme, stay behind," Ander growled. "I keep you safe."
"Wait, no! DON'T HURT THEM!"
The rest of the bad people had stopped moving, though they weren't looking away from Ander even as her friend stepped out from behind her. "Jade Squad? You're all here… it's me, Esme."
"You have some nerve showing up here again," one of them spat. "You've been marked for death as a traitor."
"Please, everyone, listen to me!" Esme was in front of Ander now, her hands raised defensively as she looked around at the seven people. "Get back to the wall," she said.
Ander complied, fitting herself in the gap she'd made but ready to spring out to her friend's defense if necessary.
Esme cleared her throat. "I don't want to fight you, and I don't want to be your enemy. But… I'm not a Usurper anymore. I can't be, not when Fornax wanted me to sic the Titan on defenseless prisoners."
"Inlanders are our enemies," the soldier retorted in a flat voice. "Did you forget what 'usurp' means? We're taking over this place. We're conquering them. It's what we wanted."
"All I ever wanted was to get out of the wastes!" Esme almost shouted back. "I didn't want to wonder when my next meal would have to be scavenged out of a dead man's inventory, or to go days without sleep because something might have snatched me up from the dust if I let my guard down! I didn't want to see people in the distance and not be sure if they were going to try and kill me for scraps of food! Every day out there was hell, and I couldn't live like that anymore!"
"We all lived it too," said another soldier, though not quite with the same vitriol as his comrade. Some of the others were giving each other uncertain glances.
"Then you know what I'm talking about. You know what it was like, and you all would've done anything to get away from there too." Esme let out a slow, sad sigh. "But now that you have, does that include throwing away your morals for people who will throw you away if you stop being useful to them?"
"You didn't return to join the attack, I can see that much. So what are you after?" someone else asked.
"I want to get away from all of this. Together… we can run. We don't need to be a part of this invasion anymore, we can find somewhere to call home by ourselves. We can have real, peaceful lives."
Ander saw a few of them lower their weapons a bit. The leader, "Sir Thomas" as she'd heard him be called, dropped his sword arm to his side.
"Are there any of you who agree with her?" he asked aloud to his team.
One by one, the rest of them gradually loosened their stances and stopped pointing their blades at Esme. Before long, the only one still making any sort of aggressive gesture was the angry soldier who'd spotted them in the first place.
"She's a traitor! What are you all doing, letting her get away?!"
"Stuff it, Four," one of them snapped, "not all of us are in it for the glory."
They gathered around Esme, still keeping their eyes on Ander but no longer with any hostility. Their flabbergasted comrade just shot the group a dirty look and took off running away from them, deeper into the city. However, he wasn't the only one not to join Esme: the leader remained where he was, his sword still hanging at his side.
"Thank you all so much for trusting me," Esme was saying. "Jade-2… did I hear them call you Sir Thomas, actually?"
"You did. I was promoted in your absence."
"Right… I want to find Sir Ray and convince him to come with us. I think he'll be willing to listen. Has anyone seen him?"
Thomas pointed vaguely behind him. "The last time I saw Sir Ray was in the GCRB headquarters a few days ago. I'm not sure where he is now."
"I can almost fully connect to his book, but I think he's in the Nether. If I can just get to a portal…"
This time, Thomas pointed to his left. "The nearest one is in Storage A2, in that old farmhouse. The fighting has almost made it there, so if you want to get ahead of them you'd better move quickly."
Ander was growing impatient, but she wasn't about to upset Esme by rushing out of her gap in the wall. Concerning her friend was the last thing she wanted to do, especially now that Esme suddenly had a more hesitant look on her face as she stared at Thomas. "You're… not coming with us?"
The rest of the soldiers turned to face him as well. His head bowed a bit until he was looking at the ground. "You've been nothing but kind to us, Dame Esme, and I respect you too much to confront you here, but I will not be joining you. Everything I have, I owe to the Usurpation Army. I can't just abandon my duty."
"Come off it, Two, it doesn't have to be like that!" another of Esme's soldiers pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but my mind is set. I won't try to stop you all, but… I can't leave."
Thomas raised his sword again and turned around, marching off down an alley. "I didn't see you here, Dame Esme, and the rest of you were killed by Inlanders early in the fight. Go, quickly!"
The rest of them were silent as he moved out of sight, but their sadness- though Ander didn't quite understand it- was palpable. Esme, especially, seemed ready to fall to her knees, so Ander stepped out of the hole in the wall to approach her friend. That only made the other people look up at her again, taking a few steps back.
"Dame Esme?" one of them cautiously asked. "What… is this?"
"Her name is Ander. She's… I'm not really sure what she is, but she's with me." Esme must have mustered some resolve again, because she turned and gestured to the other strange ones around her. "Ander, these are other friends of mine, Jade Squad. You can trust them."
She thumped her tail on the sand- a few of them jumped- and looked around eagerly. "Okay! Esme, friends. Where lost friend?"
Esme flipped open the book again and began to write on another page. "I should be able to connect to him if I'm this close, even if he's in the Nether. Come on… please, Ray…"
Ander continued to listen to the terrifying noises coming from nearby, and she wondered if following Esme there wasn't so much fun anymore.
Ray knew Incursia's Nether fortification was close, because while he and Ulrich were still in one of the surrounding tunnels of netherrack they could hear the faint sounds of a battle echoing from nearby. The pair had moved as fast as they could, barely taking more time than necessary to rest in their trek through the hostile biomes, and even then the fighting had already begun by the time they made it.
"I hope you have a plan," Ulrich said as he began to break through the layers of netherrack with a pickaxe rather than continue to search for a way around.
"I do. I'm going off the assumption that neither side will be friendly to us… Commandant Red will probably be in the thick of the fighting, meaning he'll have the most attention from the Inlanders. That rules out taking him on."
"You said there were two in the city?"
Ray nodded, trying to work up the courage for what they were about to attempt. "Commandant Green should be in the main Industrial Division headquarters. Most of the security will probably be wrapped up in the rest of the fighting, so if we move quietly we could get to her unnoticed."
"I can see more than a few ways this could go wrong," Ulrich replied.
"You could try to pass me off as a prisoner who's willing to give up information to stop the battle. It wouldn't even be that far from the truth."
Ray knew full well Ulrich wouldn't agree to it, especially not when it meant potentially exposing his identity to the other Inlanders. His companion made some remark, but Ray was distracted by a chime from his communications book. Opening it, he saw he'd missed several notifications from Incursia since leaving Granitetown and making his way back. Most were general updates on the city's security, but one in particular made his blood run cold.
[Notice to all Usurpation Army members: OVS Fornax has ordered the immediate, on-sight termination of former GCRB Knight Esme. Charges against Esme include: willful negligence leading to the deaths of fellow Usurpation soldiers; denouncement of the Army; destruction of equipment in the field. Dispense justice accordingly.]
"Esme?" he whispered. "They want to kill Esme?"
Ulrich stopped digging and looked back at him. "Something wrong?"
More frantic updates were arriving to report the status of the battle, but Ray's focus was stuck on the most recent message sent directly to him. When he saw the sender's identification, he sucked in a breath.
[Ray, please answer me if you're there.]
He scrambled for the book's quill and began to write. [I'm here! What's going on? Why does the Army want you dead?]
[I need you to listen. Fornax wanted me to test a new weapon on unarmed Inlanders. When I refused, she tried to have it kill me. I couldn't do it… I CAN'T do it anymore. I'm not a Usurper anymore, Ray. Please, I don't want you to be one either. Jade Squad is with me, we can all escape together.]
A slew of emotions washed over him, with two rising to prominence. Firstly, his anger at Fornax increased several times over upon hearing what she'd done. Secondly, and more to his surprise, he felt proud. Esme was the kindest person he knew; if he'd chosen to leave the Army then it only made sense that she had as well. There was, however, one point she'd made which he didn't agree with.
[I left too,] he replied, [I was tricked into doing something terrible, and I realized how wrong this all is. But I'm not running away, not when so many lives are on the line. I'm going to confront CMD Green and take her down. Once I have her book, I can order at least some of us to stand down. There are good people here, Esme. They don't deserve to die for this.]
Ulrich kept digging, and a minute passed before Ray got another message.
[You're right. We need to try and put a stop to this. Jade Squad and I will meet you at the Industrial HQ, southern entrance.]
[Got it. We'll be there.]
["We?"]
[I have a helper. No time to explain, see you at the HQ.]
"We've got backup!" he announced, walking after Ulrich as he dug. "There's a squad that also wants to stop the fighting, they're going to meet us at our destination."
"You sure this isn't a setup?"
"I'm positive. There's nobody I trust as much as the leader."
That was true, yet Ray couldn't shake the strange feeling he was lying. As they drew closer and closer to the Nether fortifications, a thought occurred: there was perhaps one other person he might have trusted in that moment, one who Ray inexplicably wanted to see again. But there was no way he would have gotten involved with the battle, not while he was protecting the Countess.
"It's okay. It's going to be fine. We'll all stay together, and we'll get through this. Everything will work out."
Felix had been repeating such assurances in his head since the moment the attack began. The battlefield still terrified him, but fighting alongside the people he'd come to trust so much made joining the attack at least a little better.
Therefore, his concern couldn't be overstated when the Nether portal abruptly turned off behind him, without a chance for Celia or Melissa to get through. Gwendolyn and Ember were nowhere to be seen either; the only other people in the cramped cobblestone room were a trio of baffled-looking Badlands fighters in leather and iron armor, standing in front of an acacia door which was the only exit.
"You weren't with our squad, were you?" one of them asked while Felix turned to inspect the portal frame.
"We came through with Gwen," Blake answered.
"Gwendolyn? She's not here, we've been holding this room for a few minutes now. There were supposed to be others from our town coming behind us."
"Well, we didn't see 'em," said Cupa. "Do people usually get lost going through these?"
Felix spotted a gold-plated device with a lit redstone torch and a lever on either side, and a sheet of paper embedded in the top, sitting next to the portal. There were a series of numbers and arrows written on the paper, as well as a few words written in Usurper script. He may not have been able to read the text, but the numbers were unmistakable: they were coordinates.
"I think the portals are being sabotaged! Somehow, the Usurpation sent us all to different exits than we should've wound up at!"
"Then where are we?" asked Blake.
One of the Badlands fighters opened the door and peered into the stone hallway outside. He yanked his head back a second later, barely avoiding an arrow which embedded in the door. "Usurpers out there, a lot of them!" he blurted out.
Felix, on impulse, used his Core to tear up sections of the cobblestone walls Doing so revealed more hallways around the room, often with Usurpation soldiers nearby who looked alarmed at their presence, but he didn't stop moving. He tore up wall after wall ahead of him, using the excess stone to maintain a sort of bubble around the group while they "tunneled" through the compound.
"Celia will be fine," he told himself, replacing his earlier mantra, "Melissa's with her, and that area was secure. They will be fine together."
"You're doing great, Felix!" Blake said as he stuck close behind him.
"Yeah, keep it up!" added Cupa.
"Right now… I need to keep THEM safe."
Before long, he'd broken through the last of the stone walls and out into the cool nighttime air. The bland, blocky cobblestone building was in the middle of a village and Felix could see the walls of outer Incursia nearby. More urgently, they'd exited right into another battle: soldiers were everywhere, viciously clashing and filling the air with sounds of carnage. Several of those closest to them sported a familiar sun-and-river crest on their armor, meaning they had arrived near the city's eastern gates.
"We've joined Luxmouth's forces!" he announced. "Spruce Roost should be here too-"
There were three grisly slices to his left, and a splash of something warm hit his cheek. Felix shakily put a hand to his face, wiping a spear of blood onto the dark fabric of his crafting gloves. He looked left, just in time to watch the last of the three Badlands fighters weakly clutch at the wound in his neck. The man only had time to let out a gurgle, then he was dead before he hit the ground alongside the other two.
"Someone's here!" Cupa cried.
"You there. I think we've met."
What little confidence Felix might have built up when he saw the Luxmouth knights drained away in an instant. Commandant Red, still wearing his advanced burgundy Usurpation armor and with two long, curved iron blades swirling around him in a spiral, was approaching.
"If the two of you are here, then the Countess cannot be far behind," Red continued. "And if you were moving those stone blocks with your mind, then you must have the light Stone Core. That would mean you're the reason Emerald Squad never reported back to us."
About the only words Felix could compose himself enough to say were "Armor off," an instruction to Blake. He knew full well the Commandant's Iron Core could crush them both in their suits, so he immediately stowed his armor back in his inventory, and Blake did likewise. Cupa, once again going without armor to prioritize mobility, remained behind them and nervously thumbed her bowstring. The three braced themselves, but it was clear they wouldn't be a match for Red in their state.
"Get away from them."
Gwendolyn had found them after all, and while her diamond armor sported more than a few scratches and dents she still looked no less imposing as she approached from the other side of the street. Four dead Usurpation soldiers were left in a heap behind her.
"I am Gwendolyn, and I have laid scores of you invaders to waste. You'll be no different."
Red snorted. "You're the Diamond Knight, then? I expected someone with your reputation to be a little… younger."
She didn't pay any attention to his remark. Once she'd gotten to their side, a diamond blade drawn (and already dripping with blood), Gwendolyn gave the three a quiet look. Appearing to mull something over, she pulled a book bound in green leather from her inventory and handed it to Blake.
"I think… I need to talk to you all again when this is over," she said. "Until then, hold onto this. Head down the alley I came through, you'll find another portal in the blacksmith's store. Go find your friends again, and stay safe."
"What about you?" Cupa asked.
She didn't get an answer as Blake wordlessly accepted the book. Felix couldn't place the expression Gwendolyn wore before she turned back to Red and started toward him. "Face me, Usurper, if you have the spine."
He replied with a sinister chortle. "You'll be my finest kill yet, Diamond Knight. Please don't die too soon."
"Come on," was all Blake said.
They broke into a run, passing by the bodies she'd left behind and slipping between two of the village homes. The sounds of battle were still all around them, shouts and clangs and screams, but the skirmish behind the three could only be heard for a few seconds. Felix hazarded a look back and ground to a halt.
Commandant Red, his floating blades slick with blood, stood over Gwendolyn's corpse. She was face-down at his feet, but not for long: her body flashed a deep violet and vanished, leaving behind a pile of items and weapons.
"What… how…?"
"Felix! We've gotta go!" Cupa was tugging on his arm, looking ready to burst into tears but staying resolute nonetheless.
She essentially wound up dragging him along, for Felix suddenly couldn't focus on anything other than what he'd just seen. He didn't even really pay attention to the fighting around them, stumbling through the alley and up an adjoining street.
"There wasn't a Genesis Core… when we were giving them out, she'd refused to take one… but then, how did she…"
"Blacksmith's up ahead," Blake announced, pointing to a mixed wood and cobblestone building just up the road. Most of the fighting had moved on from there, but a number of bodies from both sides were strewn about the street. A knight from Luxmouth, critically injured, was dragging himself toward his fallen sword.
"We should help h-"
Cupa couldn't even finish the sentence before something landed on top of the man, jumping from the roof of the blacksmith's store. There was the crack of breaking armor, and the knight groaned and stopped moving.
"Aha, look who it is. I thought I might find you here."
Benedict's voice was unmistakable. He still wore his Ender Forge mask, but the black robe had been discarded in favor of an enchanted iron suit. In his hands, he loosely twirled a weapon the likes of which Felix had never seen: it resembled a hoe with an iron handle and a diamond head, but the blade was shaped like a crescent and even longer than a sword's.
"Impressed, children? It's called a scythe." Benedict rested it on his shoulder, and the blade gleamed in the moonlight. "Some regions use them for farming, but I find it cleaves my enemies apart too well to use it for such a trivial task. Now then, tell me where the Countess is and I'll make your deaths as painless as I can."
Seeing him and hearing his threat was enough to bring Felix's attention back to the present. He donned the iron armor again and drew his axe, ready to get back into action. "Not on your life, Benedict."
Cupa was looking more determined as well. "So, this is the guy who kidnapped Melissa's family? Let's take him down."
Blake, also equipping his armor, joined Felix with his sword ready. "I've got your back."
"Ha ha ha! This is going to be fun!" Benedict bounced on his heels, twirling the scythe again until he had it gripped in both hands with the blade facing their way. "I'll draw her out, then… by rending you limb from limb!"