Blue

by Silenta-Atestanto

The history of our world is a simple one. An Overlord emerges to terrorize mankind, before a Hero rises up to slay him. So the cycle went, until it was broken when a succubus claimed the mantle, seduced the Hero sent to slay her, and created the stalemate we recognize today. But history is rarely ever so straightforward. I should know. I saw the events that would unfold for myself.

17. Chapter 17: Demon

Chapter 17: Demon

When the rain finally stopped, the sun was beginning to set. But even with nightfall fast approaching, Abel and the others picked through the ruined manor to salvage what they could. Among the ashes, Abel found his sword and belt, blackened but still usable, and- much to his surprise- Dragonslayer, though his other selection from the Promestein library hadn't been so lucky. He, and the others, had also found the metallic body of the flesh golem, lying where it had fallen, what little flesh it had to begin with burned down to the bone. It didn't react to any prodding, so, in spite of a few misgivings, Abel declared the creature well and truly dead. A few residents from the village nearby had come to investigate, having seen the column of smoke still rising from the manor, but a few assurances from Roland were enough to send them on their way.

Two people, however, had not joined in searching through the manor's ruined shell. Violet had descended into her laboratory as soon as Minze determined it was safe to do so, to "prepare a few things," and hadn't emerged since. The maid remained above ground, next to the remnants of the foyer's grand staircase, patiently awaiting her master's return. She stood with her hands clasped at her waist, as still as a statue, not appearing to even breathe… most likely because she wasn't.

A homunculus, Minze had called herself. In her own words, a living being created and given life through alchemy; immune to pain; and requiring no sustenance other than the absorption of ambient magical energies. The others had given the maid a wide berth since the revelation, watching her with wary eyes, hands never straying far from their weapons. But, though he too kept his distance, it was not because of any mistrust he held toward the maid. Had Minze intended to do them harm, she had more than enough time to do so. Nor was she some sort of obscure monster species, as a few of the others suspected- Abel's magic had healed her wound, something that would have been impossible if she were a monster, according to Claire and Prince Roland. And unlike with Zoyin, the maid's presence didn't fill him with a sense of unease, or wrongness. Rather…

As Abel's gaze lingered on Minze, Niel said in his head, "Abel-" But Abel ignored the angel's warning, and approached the ruined stairs. But as he stood in front of the maid, he suddenly found himself with nothing to say. What could he say? This wasn't a situation where a simple apology would suffice.

The maid however had seemingly some inkling of why he had approached. "Do you blame yourself? For what happened here today?" she asked, turning toward Abel. "If so… there is no need. It was an inevitability. It may not have happened tomorrow, or even in Master Violet's lifetime… but it would have happened all the same, whether in your presence or its absence."

She looked out over the ashes and the remnants- her face remained stoic, but Abel thought he saw touches of sadness in the maid's eyes. "If anything, I am in your debt, for protecting Master Violet in my absence," she continued. "Walls, if thrown down, can be raised again. Books, if burned, can be rewritten. But I've found that flesh and blood is not so easily mended."

"What… will you do now?" Abel asked.

Minze's gaze turned, and she looked out, as if to something distant only she could see. "Ultimately, that decision lies with Miss Violet. But we cannot remain here. The flesh golem claimed others would be sent, to finish what it started. I have no reason to doubt its words."

Heavy footfalls echoed up from the stairs leading down to Violet's laboratory. And from its depths, Violet herself emerged: her protective mask was secured over her face, a tool belt around her waist, a heavy pack slung over her shoulders. "In Ordnung…" she said, her words muffled almost to the point of being utterly incomprehensible. "Ich kann das… ich kann das…"

"My Lady…" Minze began. "May I ask what you think you're doing?"

"Light from the sun is dangerous," the alchemist replied. Abel had to strain to hear her words properly. "I am merely taking appropriate protective measures."

Niel emerged. "The sun isn't going to come down from the sky and bite you."

Minze concurred. "I'm afraid I must agree, My Lady. At the very least, the mask is unnecessary."

Violet stammered, before she reached up with trembling hands, and removed her mask. Beneath, her pale face was tinged red, though whether because of nerves or embarrassment, Abel couldn't say. She inhaled deeply a few times, before saying, "The air. It feels… different. And not merely because of the ashes."

That was a strange thing to comment on. But that, along with her excessive amount of preparations, made Abel think- "Have you never been outside before?" Niel asked.

"Not in the three years since I lost my memory," she replied bluntly, before stowing away her mask. "Sir Abel, I would like to make a request." Without waiting for a reply, she then said, "I want to go with you."

Minze seemed just as surprised as Abel, though she hid it better. "My Lady?"

"After being attacked in our own home, I imagine Guillaume would expect Minze and I to flee to safety, and hide some place in the hopes of remaining undiscovered," Violet said, before her face set into a hard glare. "But I will not run away from him. And you are seeking him out as well. With a common enemy, the most reasonable action would be to combine our strength against him."

Niel folded her arms over her chest. "You seem dead-set that Guillaume Rouque is the one behind this. But let's say you do go looking for him, and all you find is him resting in his grave. What then?"

Violet began to shake in anger. "Someone made that flesh golem, if not Guillaume Rouque, and sent it to my home with the intent of ending my life. I am going to find the one responsible. And I am going to find out why-" Violet suddenly shrieked, and clung to Abel.

Abel himself turned slightly, drawing his sword. "What!? What is it!?" He looked around, but he didn't see the flesh golem staggering back to its feet, or any other reason for Violet's outburst- just his companions scattered around the manor's ruins, looking his way in confusion.

Clinging far too tightly for Abel's liking, the alchemist pointed at something. "What is that!?"

She was pointing at a pair of sparrows hopping through the manor's ashes, stopping frequently to peck at something buried in the rubble.

For a moment, Abel was stunned into utter speechlessness. And it took several moments for him to find the words to respond. "…those are birds."

Several more moments passed before Violet's trembling stopped, and she released Abel. "I… suppose they are a bit too small to be monsters…"

Niel looked toward Violet with a disdainful eye. But before she could say anything, Raine awkwardly sidled up to the four. "Oh, uh, hey, Blue," she said stiffly. "Prez wanted to talk to you about… stuff." But without waiting for a response, she grabbed Abel by the arm and pulled him away, dragging him to where Claire, Roland, and a few of his other companions had gathered.

As soon as he was in earshot, Claire said, "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Just how many women will it take before you're satisfied?"

"Huh?"

"I'm afraid I agree with Miss Meltrose," Roland said. "There is a limit on whom the Right of Conscription may be invoked."

So that's what this was about. "I didn't force Violet to come with me," Abel said defensively. "I didn't even ask. She decided that herself."

Fiann held up her journal with a stern expression. [The girl is too soft. And I don't trust the golem.]

"I can accept your mistrust," Minze suddenly said. "But I will not tolerate disrespect to Master Violet."

"Pay them no mind, Minze," Violet called out, adjusting her pack. "If they will not aid us, then we shall set out on our own."

"Set out?" Raine asked. "Where are you two going?"

"I spent these last few hours analyzing a sample of rubedo I collected from the flesh golem that attacked us," the alchemist replied. "And I discovered it contains an extremely high concentration of monster miasma. The sample you brought me has a similar concentration level. There is only one region within a reasonable traveling distance that would produce such concentrations: Caral Marsh. If we assume that the rubedo and the flesh golems were made by the same person, then we will almost certainly find them there."

Internally, Abel balked. That was a rather timely coincidence, that both the creator of the flesh golems, and Alondight's altar would both be in the same place. Too timely. Such coincidences only ever happened in stories. And they always carried a heavy toll. But even so…

"And just what are you going to do when you get there?" Claire asked. "You don't even have a weapon to protect yourself. Or are you going to let your puppet do the fighting for you?"

Violet glared fiercely at the president. "I am perfectly capable of defending myself. And if you require a demonstration…" She drew something from her belt and held it up. Abel recognized the object: was a tiny cannon, similar- but not identical- to the one Amber had. "Do any of you have any coins you would be willing to part with?"

After a moment of searching, Raine presented a small silver coin. But Violet didn't take it. "I would like for you to throw it into the air, as high as you can."

Raine gave Violet an odd look, but complied, and threw the coin high into the air. It flashed in the faint light of the setting sun as it tumbled end-over-end. All the while, the alchemist kept her tiny cannon aimed at the coin. And when it began to fall, she squeezed the trigger. Fire burst from the end with a loud bang, and the falling coin shattered into tiny glittering shards that fell to the ground. Violet walked to where the pieces had fallen, and picked up one, as if to inspect it. All that was left of the coin was a small crescent-shaped hunk of silver. "Oh," Violet said, sounding rather disappointed. "I was hoping to put a hole in the middle."

"So you can hit a moving target," Raine began. "So can I. And unlike you, I can keep cool when things start going sideways. If you shut down again like you did earlier…"

Before Raine could finish, Violet marched up to the witch, glaring. But if it was an attempt to intimidate the witch, it was failing miserably- the alchemist didn't even reach Raine's shoulder. "Ich bin der Meisterin der Familie Promestein, und ich lasse mich nicht herabwürdigen. Ich kann mein Schicksal selbst wählen." I am the Master of the Promestein family, she had said, and I will not be talked down to. I can decide my own fate.

Raine tilted her head, eyes cracking open slightly as she glared down at Violet in turn, but said nothing. However, Claire was much more willing to speak up in the witch's place. "Care to repeat that in words everyone here can understand?"

"As head of the Promestein family, Miss Violet is perfectly capable of choosing her own path," Minze said bluntly. She then rested a hand on her chest. "And wherever she goes, I will aid her, as I always have."

Violet hung her tiny cannon from her belt and adjusted her pack. "Now, we will be on our way. Not that we require your permission. Lass uns gehen, Minze." She began to descend the hill, though curiously, Minze didn't follow.

But before the alchemist strayed too far, Abel called out to her. "Miss Violet."

"What is it now?" she said coldly, stopping, but not turning to face him.

"Will you… let us come with you?"

Violet didn't reply, but did turn to face him.

"What you said before… you're right. We have a common enemy. There's no reason for us not to help each other. And…" For a brief moment, an image flashed in Abel's head of… that day in Aglis. Only, his mind saw Violet lying dead on the ground with a hole pierced through her stomach in Erica's place. "…you saw for yourself how strong those flesh golems are. If Guillaume, or whoever made those golems really is in Caral, then he has to have more of them around for protection. You can't fight them yourself."

A hand gripped Abel's shoulder. "What do you think you're doing, degenerate?" Claire asked harshly.

"Abel is doing the right thing," Lailah cut in, pulling the president's hand away. "Letting a girl march off to her death wouldn't be a very heroic thing to do."

"Besides," Seth added, "having one of the most respected noble houses on the continent owe us a favor could open up all sorts of opportunities for us."

"My, how self-serving and opportunistic of you," Claire said, giving Seth a scornful look.

But Seth was unbothered. "I was a master thief," she replied bluntly. "And daughter of the founder of Lohan's most successful trade guild. It comes with the territory."

Abel's attention returned to Violet. "So… will you let us help you?"

The alchemist folded her arms over her chest. "Do you think I am unable to take care of myself?"

"No, that- that isn't it at all! I just don't want to see you get hurt! Is… is there something wrong with that?" Erica had been just one person, but that was already too many in his eyes. He wasn't about to let anyone else die, if he could help it.

Violet tensed, a sudden redness appearing on her face. She quickly turned away, and said, "You… have my gratitude. Now, let us be off."

But once again, someone called out to Violet. "My Lady," Minze said, "there is a small matter I wish to attend to before we depart." The maid then turned, and walked to the base of the tree that had stood at the front of the manor. Though its bare branches had been burned away, and its trunk had been blackened by the flames, it still stood. Minze sank to her knees beside the tree and… began digging. Though she dug with her bare hands, her labor was incredibly swift, and in less than a minute, she had unearthed a small wooden chest caked in mounds of soft dirt. Holding the chest in her hands, Minze returned to her master's side. "My Lady, if you would."

Hesitantly, Violet reached out, opening the metal latch and lifting the door of the chest. Inside was a thick book bound in brown leather. "What is this?" the alchemist asked.

"Due to the nature of his work, Master Valerian had concerns that the library, either in whole or in part, may be destroyed, either by accident or malicious intent. As such he tasked me with creating copies of the Promestein family's research notes, and stowing them where they would be safe from harm." Minze removed the book from the chest. "Within these pages is the cumulative alchemical knowledge assembled by your family over the past eight generations."

Violet took the book, and began rapidly flipping through it, a smile breaking across her face that widened with every page. "It… all of it is here…" she said. Then, the alchemist threw her arms around Minze's waist. "Oh, Danke, Minze! Danke! Du bist die beste Assistentin, die ich mir wünschen kann!"

Thank you, Minze. You're the best assistant I could have asked for.

Minze laid a hand on Violet's head. "I simply carried out the task Master Valerian left to me. Nothing more." But though her words were in the maid's perpetually emotionless tone, Abel couldn't help but notice that Minze wore a small smile of her own.

---

Though sunset was rapidly approaching, the group set out not long afterward, leaving the still-smoking ruins of the manor behind. Though it was unlikely the golem's creator would discover its defeat so soon, Minze thought it wise to place as much distance between it and themselves as possible. Fortunately, Caral Marsh wasn't far- after reviewing Abel's map, Raine assured the group that they would reach the Ermisian border after a day of travel, two at the absolute most. The road eastward was mudded from rain, meaning they didn't get far before finally coming to a halt to set up camp for the night- fortunately, a few of the others that had gone to town had the foresight to bring their packs with them, so not all of their supplies were lost in the blaze. They set out early the next morning, under a clear blue sky unbroken by clouds. The muddy road leading west eventually trailed off, and their steady pace slowed as they trekked over rough terrain. Their progress was further slowed when Violet shrieked in terror at every mundane animal they encountered: a deer, a herd of cows, a flock of crows, and- perhaps not unreasonably- a lone (but very skinny) wolf. Fortunately, they encountered no monsters as they crossed the rolling plains, and before long, the sun once again began to dip toward the western horizon.

As they set up camp, Abel found Violet seated in front of the fire, reading out of the book Minze had unearthed. As she read, she mumbled to herself: "…I wonder if there are any acid recipes… ah, I wish I'd brought a sample of that golem's armor for testing…"

"What are you up to?" Abel asked.

Violet jolted slightly, but didn't look up from her book. "I am looking for alchemical mixtures that would be useful in battle. I already know quite a bit about medicines, but I am not as knowledgeable about things such as fire bombs, smoke bombs, tanglefoot flasks… until recently, I had no reason to study them." She turned a page. "Hm, everburn torches… those could be useful."

Abel didn't know the first thing about alchemy, so he couldn't assess the usefulness of those recipes for himself. But… "You seem to know how to handle that… little cannon of yours well enough."

The alchemist looked away from her book. "Cannon? …Do you mean my gun?"

Gun. So that was what it was called. "Yeah," he replied, before taking a seat near the alchemist. "You know, I noticed that Amber had a… gun, too. Did you make hers?"

"Amber made her own, although she did use mine as a reference point." Violet drew her weapon- her gun- from a pouch hanging from her belt. "…would you like to see it?"

Abel took the weapon, holding it lightly in his hands. Despite its small size, it was surprisingly heavy. But before he could make a more thorough inspection, the gun was suddenly plucked from his hands. "I have to admit, I was curious about this thing, too," Raine said as she looked it over, before putting her finger over the trigger and pulling it a few times. But there was no bang or burst of fire- merely a few empty clicks with each pull. As he looked, Abel realized that there was not one barrel, as with a normal cannon, but several, all mounted around a central shaft- with each pull of the trigger, the whole mechanism rotated, shifting the barrel aside and moving a new one in its place. "This is pretty sophisticated," the witch said. "You made this yourself?"

Violet held out a hand, and said firmly, "Please return that."

"I will," Raine replied. She tugged the barrels, causing the front of the gun to swivel downward as if attached to a hinge, and inspected the ends of the barrels by the handle. "After you answer my question."

Violet glared, her hand still outstretched. But she eventually answered. "…my grandmother drew the original blueprints. But I was the one who completed them. And assembled the final product."

With a flick of her wrist, Raine snapped the gun's barrels back into place, and said, "There you go. That wasn't so hard, was it?" before extending the gun towards Violet. "But, I am surprised."

Violet quickly snatched the weapon back. "About what?" Her tone made it clear she very much wanted the conversation to be over and for the witch to leave.

"I didn't realize the Promesteins knew their way around machines as well." And with that, Raine finally departed.

"Ugh," Violet muttered, before pulling a cloth from a pouch in her belt and wiping down her gun, as if Raine had dropped it in mud. But Abel overheard something. It was Raine, muttering something in a language he didn't recognize. She likely hadn't meant anyone to hear her, nor to understand her words. But Abel did both. And he heard her say: "Fafahiye-fajkece? Mu, dah ojkama fhotasas bo fuvaca to asu jehke fhe uckha jajsodk yuha do adlodkej…"

A pepperbox gun? But our projections predict that firearms of that design won't be invented for another six hundred years…

---

Dawn came. Though the skies had been clear ever since leaving the manor behind, the ground was still strangely wet and muddy. Raine took it as a good sign, certain it meant they were close to the marsh. And after only an hour or so of travel, her optimism proved well-placed- in the distance ahead, the group saw what Abel thought was a thick forest. But as they neared… something was deeply amiss. The tree trunks were colored a solid black, with deep bloody-red leaves sprouting from their branches, twisted and coiled over one another as if they were a frozen mass of countless snakes. The trees and their branches seemed to form a solid wall, massing behind a single golden post with a pale blue light shimmering along its sides. There were other posts in a line both to the left and right, spaced evenly in intervals of about twenty paces, as if forming an invisible fence. The air above the trees seemed… darker somehow, before abruptly cutting off, forming the shape of a massive dome.

"There it is," Claire said. "Caral Marsh."

"And those posts…" Roland began. "They must be the perimeter fence that contains the miasma."

"Fence?" Seth asked, almost incredulously. "I don't see any fence."

Wordlessly, Claire extended a hand. With a flex of her fingers, her staff appeared in her hand. Then, slowly, she approached the nearest of the golden posts, before bracing herself, and prodding not at the post itself, but at the air next to it. Instantly, there was a crack like lightning and a flash of blue light, and Claire was pushed back several steps. Pale blue ripples spread across the air from the spot where she had touched, before fading away. The president glanced at her staff- the end was smoking slightly, but otherwise appeared undamaged- before it vanished with a wave of her hand and she turned around, and looked at Seth. She said nothing, but had a very satisfied expression on her face.

"Alright, you made your point," the thief said, trying not to sound unimpressed. "But how are we supposed to get through?"

"The Mage's Guild maintains a gate along the perimeter," Roland replied. "Their post should be somewhere nearby."

But, the gate wasn't as close as the prince claimed. The group wandered up and down the edge of the marsh, keeping a safe distance from the golden posts and the invisible fence, but by the time the sun began to set, they had yet to find it. And though the search hadn't been especially taxing, Abel noticed almost everyone else seemed inordinately exhausted after setting up camp. Only he, Minze, and Lailah seemed unaffected. Even Roland, who in their travels had never shown any sign of fatigue before now, was visibly drained. As the group sat around their small fire in utter silence, he eventually asked, "Are you guys alright?"

"It's an effect… of the miasma," Claire replied between breaths. "It… drains the strength… of any who breathe it in. That we're affected, even with the presence of the fence… shows how deeply Caral Marsh has been tainted." It must have been especially bad, since the president didn't insult Abel's lack of intelligence, or make any comments at his expense.

But, Abel felt fine. A little tired, but no more than he would have been after a full day of travel. And certainly not drained the way the others were. He thought it was because he was a Champion, but considering Roland's state, that couldn't be the case. "How come I'm not affected?"

The answer came, not from the president, but from the angel that emerged from within Abel. "It's because of my blood," Niel answered. "It gives you a greater degree of protection against the miasma, though as a mortal, it will eventually begin affecting you as well." Her attention then turned to one of the other members of the group not affected by exhaustion. "But, I'm more interested in why you aren't affected, priestess. The homunculus I understand, but you…" She fluttered forward, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Lailah wouldn't meet the angel's gaze. "Uh, well… I've always been told I'm hardier than most. So…" She gave a wide, awkward, and very unnatural smile.

Niel fluttered this way and that, trying to look the priestess in the eye. But every time, Lailah looked away. Until Minze finally spoke up. "There are rare instances of individuals with abnormally high resilience to the effects of miasma," she began. "But, as the angel said, no untainted mortal is truly immune to it. That said, Master Valerian discovered mixtures able to confer similar resistance to the miasma's more debilitating effects. It may be prudent to create a few doses for ourselves. Would you agree, My Lady?"

But there was no response. "Master Violet?" Minze turned. But Violet had slumped over, asleep, her tome still in her hands. In fact, everyone else had fallen asleep as well. The maid knelt down, as if to check that Violet was indeed merely asleep, before turning her attention back to Abel. "Apologies, but it seems Master Violet is indisposed at the moment. I will have to create the required potion in her stead."

Abel checked the closest of his companions- Raine, in this case. She was breathing, but… "They'll be okay, right?"

"Lethargy is the most prominent early symptom of exposure to monster miasma," Minze replied. "They will make a full recovery, given enough time to rest."

The maid stayed up all through the night and into the next morning creating her potion. And once everyone had awakened, which came almost at midday, Minze gave each member of the group three vials filled with a dark red liquid. The draught, she explained, would provide three days' worth of protection from the miasma. And with Abel's Relic guiding them, nine days, she surmised, would be more than enough time to find the creator of the flesh golems, stop him, and leave the marsh.

The second day of searching proved much more fruitful, as the group made their way south along the perimeter fence. They stumbled across a soldier patrolling alongside the barrier, clad in a uniform of alternating blue and white stripes separated by thin gold bands- a soldier of the Mavors Royal Army. At first, he tried to drive them away, but when Roland identified himself, his entire demeanor shifted, and he told the group they were expected, before escorting them to a guardhouse and barracks. There were more soldiers there, but Abel quickly noticed that all of them were either very old or very young- younger than him, by the look of it. It seemed whoever built this garrison wasn't expecting it to see much excitement.

But among the soldiers were two people who stood out- a young woman in a black uniform, and a young man clad in dark grey, the eight-pointed star of the Mage's Guild embroidered on the breast. "Master Roland, Madame President," the woman called. "We've been expecting you."

"Then you received my message," Claire replied. "But before we proceed, I need you to send a message to headquarters first. On the outskirts of a village east of her is a burned-down manor…"

As the president gave her orders, Abel asked, "I wonder how the guards knew we were coming."

Fiann slid alongside Abel, holding up her journal. [I know of spells that allow people to speak to one another, even over vast distances. I have even used some in the past.]

"I doubt the Mage's Guild would use such measures for routine communications," Minze said, after glancing over Fiann's journal. "The Promestein family has used passenger pigeons to communicate with the Ermisian royal family and the Kazas Alchemist's Guild for centuries. I suspect the Mage's Guild is quite similar."

Fiann tilted her head, and scrawled something new: [You can read this?]

After taking a moment to read over the message, Minze nodded. "Master Valerian studied the alchemical practices of many lands, including Brighid and Vinland. Through him, I became well-acquainted with both Brighidine and Vinlandic." Fiann quickly wrote something else. Abel didn't see what, but whatever it was made Minze scowl and furrow her brow. "That was entirely uncalled for."

"…understood, Madame President," the female mage said, then looked over to her companion. "Open the gate."

The male mage nodded, and hurried to a golden post set some distance from the guardhouse. It was different from the others the group had seen, covered in strange symbols that Abel couldn't read, even with the power of Niel's blood. The mage traced over one symbol with his hand, and the blue light shining from the sides of the post faded.

All at once, a rush of noxious air washed over Abel and the others like a wave. The air stank of rot and decay, and was strangely thick- inhaling it made Abel feel as though he were trying to breathe with a thick cloth pressed over his mouth. Everyone seemed to struggle to breathe in the foul air, but of the group, Lailah was the most visibly affected- her skin had gone pale, and she pressed her mouth shut tightly, as if she'd caught something and was desperately trying to hold it in. Perhaps she was more affected by the miasma than she'd let on. "Lailah…?" he began to say.

"I would advise everyone to take their draughts now," Minze said, the only one among them unaffected by the foul air. "Things will only grow worse from here."

The others complied, drinking down the maid's concoction. After a moment, the reek of the miasma diminished, and it became a little easier to breathe, though not by much. Abel glanced at Lailah again- the potion didn't appear to help her at all. "Alright, enough stalling," Claire ordered, before he could say anything. "Let's get in there." And with that, the group entered through the opened gate, and stepped into Caral Marsh.

Once everyone was through, the air behind them rippled as the post behind them was activated again and the gate was shut. At once, Abel was struck by how… dark it was. Abel could see the sun shining in the sky through the barrier above them. Yet, its light was diminished, and he could see no more than a few paces ahead into the marsh's depths, as if the air was too thick for the sun's rays to penetrate.

But Abel was suddenly pulled from his thoughts. "Alright Blue," Raine said. "You're up."

Abel nodded, but… didn't impel the amulet to find the flesh golems' creator. It wouldn't work. He'd tried at the Promestein's manor. And he'd tried as they traveled to Caral Marsh. But each time, it failed. Niel had said the gods, and their Relics, would provide no information about rubedo- it seemed information about flesh golems and their creators fell under that mandate.

The others noticed the delay. "Performance anxiety?" Claire asked, her voice carrying an ever-so-slight tone of satisfaction at his discomfort.

"I…" Abel scrambled for a moment, before finally settling on something to seek out. Instantly the amulet shot upwards, pointing directly ahead- westward, deeper into the marsh. And so, with Abel leading the way, the group began its expedition.

The group was forced to move slowly as they ventured forward, the ground completely overtaken with mud, thick gnarled roots, blood-red ferns covered with thorns, and strange black vines that almost seemed to reach out and grasp at their legs as they passed by. And it wasn't just the sun that the miasma dimmed. All of their light sources were affected: their torches, Niel's Daylight spell, and a strange potion Violet produced which glowed brightly when she shook it, which she called Glimmer. Even Raine's otherwise keen eye proved to be little help. Still, they pressed forward, trusting Abel to guide them; Abel in turn prayed his amulet wouldn't steer them wrong. It hadn't failed him yet. Hopefully, that streak would remain unbroken.

Eventually, the trees began to widen, and the undergrowth gave way, but it was quickly replaced by a new hazard: the mud had deepened, reaching almost up to Abel's knees. And it was thick, almost as if it were trying to draw him into the earth with every step. Abel was reminded of the nightmares he'd had when he first set out, of being swallowed up by the earth- and as soon as those thoughts came, he quickly tried to push them out of his mind, hoping that he and his companions would remain surefooted.

But, as the group trudged through the mud, Abel noticed something. Or rather, he noticed the absence of something. Other than the sounds him and the others made with their passing, the marsh was completely silent. In their travels so far, Abel had gotten used to the sounds of bird calls, insects, leaves and branches rustling in the wind, and small (and occasionally not-so-small) animals scurrying away through brush as they approached… he'd grown so accustomed to them in fact that he barely put any thought to them. But here… there was nothing. Not a single tweet or buzz from an insect. Not a single rustling of leaves from the branches stretching overhead. Not a single howl from some distant beast, hidden in the shadows. Nothing, but a heavy silence that seemed to drape over him like a cloak made from metal.

Was that an effect of the miasma, Abel wondered. Did the foul air here absorb sound as well as light? Or was the taint here so profound, so deep, that anything not hardy enough to survive had died away long ago? Or, had something else cleared the normal wildlife away… or at least, whatever counted as "normal" in this place, for their own purposes? Had it been the creator of the flesh golems? Or an unrelated monster, so twisted and corrupted that he couldn't even begin to fathom what it might have once been? And if something was here, where was it? Was it not yet aware of them? Or was it out there, lurking in the shadows at that very moment, watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike?

Abel was not the only one disturbed by the silence. "It's so quiet," Holly said. "Something doesn't feel right about this."

Violet looked around, her gun drawn- even though they had yet to encounter anything, the alchemist was trembling. "I always had the impression that regions infected by miasma were teeming with monsters. Should we not have encountered something by now?"

Abel agreed, though he held his tongue. He almost wished a monster would attack them. As terrifying as that would have been, it would have provided at least some relief- a break in the anticipation, in the dread of waiting.

Then, Niel spoke in his head, as if to confirm his fears: "Something's out there. I can feel it," she said. "Make no mistake. We are being hunted."

After a length of time that seemed both unfathomably long and abruptly short, the group stumbled across a small mound rising from the mud. It was incredibly small- only large enough for around four or five people to sit on, but it would have to do for a short rest. And given the circumstances, it was probably for the best that they not get too comfortable. An awkward silence had settled as the group gathered as closely together as they could around their small campfire, only broken when Roland suggested that everyone put some food in their stomachs. So, still silent, everyone ate a small roll of preserved bread, specially baked to stay edible for long periods of time. It was as hard as a rock, and had about as much flavor as one, but it filled one's stomach decently enough, so Abel kept any complaints to himself.

Others, however, were much less reluctant to voice their displeasure. "You know, I know I only ate it once," Raine began, "but I'm already starting to miss your cooking, Blue."

"This may be the worst thing I've ever eaten," Claire said. "I could eat a random rock off the ground right now and it would probably taste better."

"Should we really be eating at a time like this?" Seth asked.

"We need to keep up our strength somehow, Madame," the witch replied. "I know it's not great, but-"

"What about the miasma?"

"You are right to be concerned about miasma tainting your supplies," Minze began. "But whatever taint they accumulate will be far less than anything we might forage here."

What little of the sky that could be seen through the thick tangle of black branches overhead was also black, but much deeper, darker, as if there was nothing but an empty void where the sky should have been. Without the sun, it was impossible to say how much time had passed, but they couldn't have been in the marsh for more than an hour or two. Still, everyone already seemed exhausted, even with the protection of Minze's potion. Even Abel felt unusually drained- if, as Niel warned, an enemy was hunting them, and chose that moment to strike, he wasn't confident that they would be able to fend it off unscathed. And Lailah was looking even worse. She was even paler now, and sweating.

Silence once again settled over the group, and seemingly no one was willing to break it. But eventually, someone did. "Had we come here under different circumstances…" Violet began, "…this would have been a perfect opportunity to gather local flora samples for study. It is claimed that plants which absorb miasma develop unusual properties that are useful for alchemy. In spite of all his research, Grandfather Valerian had few notes regarding miasma-infused plants." The alchemist paused for a few moments, but there was no reply to her words.

Then, there was a sound: a long, lonely howl. Before, Abel would have thought little of it, but in this place, the breaking of the silence flooded him with a sense of dread and terror, as if he'd been dropped in a bath of freezing water. A second howl rang out from the darkness, closer than the first, before it was followed by a third howl that was even closer than the last. Soon, the black forest rang out with howls that seemed to come from every direction.

In an instant, Abel shot to his feet and drew his sword, though he was far from the only one. The group quickly closed ranks with their backs to the fire, facing out into the darkness in a circle. Violet was on Abel's right side, Holly on his left, though beyond that, the order of his remaining companions was unknown to him- he didn't dare turn away from the darkness, and give an enemy lying in wait an opening to strike. And after a few moments, beneath the howls and yowling, Abel heard rustling and splashing as shadowed figures on four legs crept toward their camp. They stopped at the edge of the campfire's light, the dim light giving only vague hints to their true forms. But their eyes betrayed their positions, glowing faintly in the dark.

Glowing in a now all-too-familiar pink-red light.

One of the creeping shadows snarled, and leapt at Holly, the smallest member of their group. For a moment, the beast hung in the air, as if suspended on invisible strings. It resembled a wolf, or a dog, or some other animal similar to them, but completely hairless, with grotesque, oversized muscles, and bulging, glowing veins. Its snout had been cut away, replaced with one made from a gleaming bronze metal, its mouth lined with thin metal blades in place of teeth.

Holly thrust her shield at the wolf-monster, trying to bat it aside. But, it grabbed onto her arm, snapping its jaws wildly at her face while trying to pull her back. It was then that Abel saw the beast's legs ended not with paws, but with what were unmistakably… human hands.

But then, Roland stepped forward, swinging his blade at the beast. It released Holly, trying to retreat, but the prince was too fast- one swing severed both of its arms, while a second cleaved it in half entirely, in a diagonal line from its neck down to the hip on the opposite side.

Abel didn't wait for another flesh golem to strike first. "Angel Fire!" He thrust his hand out, and sprayed a gout of white flame in an arc in front of him, revealing three more wolf-monsters lurking in the dark. But to his surprise, two of them fled- one before the flames even touched it, the other after being set alight, yowling in pain as it retreated into the darkness. It seemed that whoever made these golems either couldn't overcome their base animals' self-preservation instincts, or felt no need to. But one of the wolf-golems remainedAbel glanced around; using her own magic, Raine was keeping some at bay by spraying wide jets of flame from sigils she traced with her hand. One of the beasts leapt toward Fiann from the side, as if to strike at her blind spot- but before it reached her, the bard snatched the beast out of the air and threw it against the ground, before stomping on it hard enough to drive a hole into its chest, its pained yowls silenced by a second stomp that crushed its head. Roland had taken a few steps forward to draw the wolf-golems' attention. The beasts nearly surrounded him on every side, but every time one struck, the prince hewed through it with ease, and half-a-dozen of the wolf-golems lay dead at his feet.

But in all the commotion, one person stood entirely still, as if a statue. Violet. Her hand was at her belt, as if to draw her gun, but she was completely still, eyes wide. "Miss Violet!" Abel shouted. But she didn't stir. One of the wolf-golems noticed the alchemist had frozen up, and turned its attention to her- one that was almost entirely metal, with only a few patches of pale skin stretched over its ribs to prove that it had once been a creature of flesh and blood. It had no bladed teeth, or even a mouth- but it did have a tail, long and segmented, ending in a broad blade. It leapt at Violet, but Abel threw himself between the wolf-golem and her, its weight easily knocking him to the ground, before it stabbed its tail at his head.

Abel jerked his head to the side, and the blade just missed. He dropped his blade- with the wolf-golem pinning him down, its length would have made it too awkward to attack- and focused, calling a blade of light into his hand, though one much shorter than normal. Jerking aside to avoid another stab, Abel thrust the blade of light into the wolf-golem's exposed flesh. The beast screeched as Abel stabbed it again and again, its cries like sheets of metal being pulled apart, but it continued to pin him down. In desperation, he dismissed the blade and slapped his hand against the wolf-golem's ribs. "Angel Fire!" There was a flash as white flames burst out the monster's side, opposite from Abel's hand. It spasmed, letting out another metallic howl, before collapsing… directly on top of Abel. He strained, trying to shove the dead monster aside- made almost entirely of metal, the wolf-golem was every bit as heavy as it looked.

As Abel strained, he saw another wolf-golem creeping toward the alchemist. His legs flailed as he tried to push the steel-bodied creature off of him, and he cried out, "Violet!"

But then Violet blinked, as if awakening from a trance, before her face set into a hard glare. She pulled something from her belt- not her gun, but a glass vial filled with a dark liquid- and threw it at the wolf-golem. It shattered on the monster's body, spilling its contents which instantly burst into flames, spreading over the wolf and the surrounding ground to form an impassable wall of fire. It howled in agony, rolling over the ground as it tried to extinguish the flames, before fleeing. The alchemist threw out another vial behind her- but when it hit the ground, rather than releasing more fire, the vial exploded in a flash of light and a deafening thunderclap that made everyone stumble and the very ground shake. But the remaining wolf-golems scattered, fleeing into the surrounding darkness so quickly that one could almost believe they had never been there at all.

Abel finally shoved the wolf-golem's body aside and sprang to his feet, snatching his sword off the ground; he faced the darkness with his ears ringing, squinting to see against the flash of light imprinted on his eyes, weapon in hand, waiting for the wolf-golems to return… but they didn't. When he was sure they were safe, he turned around. "Is everyone alright!?"

The others were splattered with blood, some still reeling from the flash of light released by the vial Violet tossed out. But, at least at first glance, no one seemed seriously hurt. "What was that!?" Holly shouted. It seemed her hearing hadn't quite come back.

"A flash bomb I made before my accident," Violet replied loudly. Like Holly, the blast must have momentarily deafened her. "I must admit, I did not think it would work after all this time."

Cautiously, Seth approached one of the fallen wolf-golems, prodding it with her foot. It did not stir. "What are these things?" she asked. "Are they flesh golems?"

Claire crouched over the golem for a better look. "They are," she replied, pointing to a pink-red fluid flowing from one of its wounds. "Look here. Rubedo." She touched her chin. "I didn't think they could be made from animals, though."

"They look like… kobolds," a timid voice added. It was Holly.

"Kobolds?" Abel asked. He made a mental note to search for a book about different monster types once they returned to civilization. If they returned.

"A monster species created when dogs are corrupted by miasma," Roland explained. "They're stronger and more intelligent than your average hound, but at their core, they remain dogs. If reared and trained properly, they can prove to be very reliable companions. So much so that not only are they not marked for extermination by the Church, but the Crusaders regularly use them in monster hunting campaigns."

"Back in Vulkan, m- …some noble families raised kobolds as hunting dogs," Holly added.

Roland looked to the others. "We shouldn't stay. We may have driven them off for now, but kobolds are excellent trackers. And they may bring their master with them if they return." He turned his attention to Violet. "Miss Promestein, do you have anything that might mask our scent, before-"

But the prince's words were cut off when a cold, mocking voice spoke from the surrounding darkness. "My goodness. I was wondering what set the kobolds into such a frenzy."

Roland wheeled around, Durandal in hand. "Who's there!?" The others scanned the darkness, Abel included, but he saw nothing. At least, not at first.

The mocking voice spoke again. "I do hope you will forgive us. It's been quite some time since we had guests." The voice came from somewhere to Abel's left. And when he looked, he could see something: a glint of pink-red light. Without a moment of hesitation, Abel's wings lighted and he flew at the waiting flesh golem. He didn't bother drawing his sword, instead summoning a blade of light to his hand before swinging with all his might at the golem with a downward strike.

For a brief moment, in the light shining from his blade, Abel saw the golem's full form. Like Zoyin, and unlike the flesh golem that had attacked them at the manor, this golem seemed more flesh than metal. And it was a flesh golem- the pink-red glow in its eyes gave it away (or, eye, rather- only one was visible, the other hidden beneath a strip of purple cloth tied around its head). But this one was taller than Zoyin, slimmer, with a more angular face, its white hair much longer. But only its head was exposed, as it was clad in a dark suit with a black jacket, black trousers, even black gloves.

But without a moment of hesitation, the golem reached up and grabbed Abel's blade with one hand. Its glove quickly burned away, revealing a hand made from black steel rather than flesh, but he failed to cut through. Undaunted, Abel focused, calling a second blade to his other hand, before swinging it horizontally at the golem's neck, but as with the first, the golem caught the blade with its other hand. "Dear me," it said in its mocking voice, a small smile on its lips. "You didn't even hesitate."

Abel pressed his blades down as hard as he could, but to no avail. If this was a story, this would be a point where he'd banter with his enemy. But he was of no mind to do that. He focused and pushed down even harder, feeling the blades of light heat up in his hands, and the wings on his back blaze hotly. The golem's hands began to glow a deep red.

But all of a sudden, something tore its way out of the golem's stomach. Dismissing his swords, Abel focused, and his wings pulled him back and safely out of range. …or so he thought. A quick glance showed a thin cut in his shirt, just under his ribs, surrounded by a widening red stain. When he looked back at the golem, it was calmly tearing its jacket off and throwing it aside. But there was no flesh beneath its clothing, from its neck down to its waist- merely what looked like a ribcage made from black metal, with two skeletal arms attached to it. No… she had four arms- there was another pair of arms attached to the spine, where the stomach would have been. One of the lower arms was extended where Abel had been standing moments before, a short silver blade extending from its wrist that seemed to gleam brightly even in the darkness of the swamp.

"Interesting," the golem said, its mocking tone gone. It was looking at one of its upper hands, before turning its attention to Abel. The golem was no longer smiling. "You actually damaged me." With a flick, a gleaming blade shot out of each of its wrists. "My master would be-"

One of the golem's hands shot out, snatching an arrow out of the air. She glanced over- Seth stood with her bow in hand, shock clear on her face. Then she grabbed another arrow and fired. Rather than catching it, however, the golem dodged it by leaping up, and clinging to a tree nearby. She skittered up its trunk like a grotesque spider, climbing to the canopy overhead. "Blessed droplet, drive away evil in this name: Lightning Blast!" Claire thrust out her hand, a bolt of lightning flashing from her palm. It struck the tree, showering the group with smoldering shards of wood, but the golem had been too fast, skittering around the back side of the tree, and out of sight.

From somewhere overhead, the golem spoke. It's tone was mocking at first, but it quickly turned as cold as ice: "If you want my advice, you should make our collection efforts easier and just kill yourselves now. Run and you'll only die tired."

"Oh really? The way I see it, you're the one running!" the president taunted, shouting to the branches overhead.

"And just what are you looking at right now?" the golem's voice said.

From behind Claire.

The world seemed to slow as everyone turned. The golem lunged at Claire with one of its blades extended- the president wheeled around, calling her staff to her hand and knocked the blade aside as it neared her chest, narrowly evaded a second thrust, and deflected a third by whirling her staff around herself before striking back, swinging her staff with all her strength. The golem raised its arms defensively, and there was a great ringing sound as metal clashed against metal. Claire's blow didn't break the golem's guard, but did cause it to stumble back a few steps. The president lunged forward to press her advantage- at the same time, Roland, Minze, and Fiann charged forward to strike at the golem as well.

But then, the golem extended its arms, and its entire torso began to spin rapidly. Claire and the others stumbled to a stop; if they drew too close, the golem's whirling blades would cut them to pieces in a matter of seconds. But even with her body spinning like a windmill turned on its side, the golem's head faced forward, never taking its eyes off of Claire…

…until a sharp crack rang out. Violet had circled around the golem into its blind spot, took aim, and fired a single shot at the golem's head. Rubedo sprayed from the side of its face as the alchemist's bullet tore through her head, but it didn't fall. Then, the golem's head turned around to look at Violet, before it began rapidly marching toward the alchemist. Violet fired several more shots- but this time, the golem moved an arm, and there was a flash of sparks as it deflected the alchemist's shots. Undeterred, she kept firing rounds… until all that emerged from her gun were loud clicks. "W-What? Now?" she stammered, before pulling her gun open and causing several brass shells to fall out. With fumbling hands, she placed more rounds in her gun… but the golem was now only a few paces away. She'd be cut to ribbons before she could finish. Abel called a sword of light to his hand, and wings of light began to blaze on his back…

But all of a sudden, Minze rushed the golem. Her free hand shot out, and she grabbed one of the golem's arms, before pulling and throwing the golem to the ground. The golem stopped spinning and struck the ground on its hands, before trying to skitter away. But Minze reached out again, grabbing the golem's leg, and yanked it back, before swinging her sword directly at the golem's neck. The golem blocked with all four arms- the maid's sword bounced off, but she swung at the golem, again and again. The golem kept its guard raised, but that was all it could do- the maid rained down blows with such speed that it was left without any opening to retaliate… until the golem grabbed Minze from behind and thrust a blade into the side of her neck, and tossed her aside. It then extended a hand toward the golem on the ground. "Having trouble, sister?"

There were two. Two golems. Completely identical in appearance.

…almost. Only one- the standing one- had a strip of cloth tied over its eye. The golem on the ground- the one with both eyes exposed- quickly sprang to its feet. "I don't need your help."

Violet's gaze was fixed on Minze, eyes wide in terror. But the maid did not rise. And before anyone realized what she was doing, Violet began sprinting at the golems. They turned toward Violet, just as she pulled a vial filled with a white powder from her belt and threw it at them. Abel shielded his eyes- just before he did, he saw one of the golems try to swat the vial out of the air, only for it to explode in a flash of white light. He squeezed his eyes shut, recoiling from the blast, but his preparations let him recover more quickly- when he looked again, the golems stood with their hands over their eyes. Violet had closed the distance, and without a moment of hesitation, pressed her gun against one of the golem's faces, and pulled the trigger. It stumbled back, but didn't fall. She then turned the gun on the other golem- the one-eyed golem- thrusting it into its face just as it began to pull its hands away. As her gun's barrel hovered over the golem's eye, Violet pulled the trigger.

The one-eyed golem cried out as its head snapped back. But it wasn't a cry of pain, or surprise, but of anger. "Ah! Oh, you little bitch!" It swung at the air in front of it blindly, directly at Violet. The alchemist stumbled and fell back, her fall carrying her beyond the golem's reach. The now-blind golem stood, its head turned toward Violet, "looking" down at her as rubedo flowed from its eye socket like glowing tears. It drew back all four of its arms…

But suddenly, the other golem grabbed it by the back of the neck. Half of its jaw had been blown off, but was still alive, and said with slurred words, its pink-red blood flowing from its wound, "Thurfeen. Wur fahling vakk."

In a mocking tone, the blind golem replied, "Let go of me, Eight."

"Ai wavhhn' ahhkin." And before its comrade could protest, the golem wrapped two of its arms around the other, before leaping up to one of the trees and scuttling across its surface, quickly disappearing into the darkness.

A moment passed, before Violet climbed to her feet, stumbling in the direction the golems had fled. "Hey, where are you going!?" Abel called out.

Violet stumbled to a stop, almost falling in the deep mud. "Those flesh golems must be retreating to a stronghold of some sort. We need to neutralize them before they can raise an alarm."

"A fair plan…" Roland replied. "But we have wounded of our own to tend to. We should see to them and clear the area before reinforcements arrive. We can take up the pursuit once we're certain we aren't being pursued ourselves."

"Tend to…" Her eyes widened, and she ran back to Minze's side, stumbling and slipping all the while. "Minze!" She skidded to a halt where the maid had fallen. "Minze are you alright!?"

"I am unharmed, My Lady," the maid replied calmly, pushing herself off the ground- through the gash in the side of her neck, white fibrous masses could be seen twitching and flexing with her every movement.

Violet began to stammer. "W-W-When you fell, and you weren't moving, I-I thought-"

"I had hoped to take our foe by surprise. But you made the first strike." The maid's expression became stern. "My Lady, I cannot condone you putting yourself in danger so recklessly."

"Du warst verletzt! Und wenn ich dich verloren hätte-"

"Um-" Holly spoke up, pointing to Holly's arm. "I… don't mean to interrupt you Miss Violet, but shouldn't you do something about that?"

"Hmm?" Violet looked at herself. There was a deep gouge in her forearm, almost a finger's width deep, with blood flowing from it freely. The alchemist lifted her arm to inspect her wounds. "Oh? When did this happen?" she asked, sounding more surprised than anything- even seeing her own blood didn't appear to faze her.

"Let me get that!" Abel hurried to Violet's side to mend her wound. "This open wound would be bad enough. I don't even wanna know what the miasma would do to it." Abel had seen more than a few of the woodcutters in Seles get infections from open wounds. And that was without mentioning the warnings the foreman gave new workers to discourage them from venturing too far south of the village. Allegedly, there was an impassable swamp somewhere to the south, and going there would give you all manner of horrible diseases- one caused worms to grow in your blood; another gave you a fever that burned so hot it cooked you from within, causing you to breathe steam; and yet another turned your skin green and made your flesh fall off. In the interest of not frightening Violet however, Abel kept all those stories to himself.

As Abel turned to heal Minze, Raine looked out at the darkness, in the direction the golems had fled. "For what it's worth, Ghost, I don't think we'll have to go too far to find this stronghold."

"'Ghost?'" Violet tilted her head. "…Are you referring to me?"

"What makes you think that?" Seth asked.

"Well, if past experience has taught me anything, it's that if you're looking for an enemy base, if you keep running into bad guys, then you're going the right way."

"I find that line of reasoning questionable…" Minze muttered, touching the side of her neck once Abel had finished healing her.

A long howl sounded from somewhere in the distance. Everyone tensed, but silence quickly settled once again. "We've delayed long enough," Roland said. "We should move on before the enemy returns."

---

"This is fucking absurd," Claire complained in a low voice. "Can't we at least have one lantern out?"

"We can't risk it," Seth replied stonily. "Those golems know we're here, so any more out there will be looking for us."

"What if the enemy attacks us, and in the confusion we're all separated from each other. What then?"

"You know, I hadn't considered that, Miss Meltrose," the thief replied with a mocking tone. "If only one of us had some kind of artifact that lets its user find specific things." Her gaze briefly turned to Abel.

"Will you two cut that out?" Raine hissed. "If you keep mouthing off at each other, those golems won't need a light to find us."

After snuffing out their campfire, the group moved swiftly to disappear into the marsh. Or at least, as quickly as fatigue and the rough terrain would permit. Not helping matters was that the group had nothing to light their way- no torches, no lanterns, and no spells. Now that the enemy knew the group was there, any lights would only serve to draw their attention, Roland had reasoned. Abel agreed with the prince's assessment, though it seemed his other companions were not of a like mind.

The unnatural stillness from earlier had settled once again, but it did nothing to put Abel at ease. The group moved slowly, to not draw undue attention by breaking the silence, but every slight noise they made- the snapping of a branch, a particularly heavy footfall- made him twitch, fearing they'd been discovered. The golems' creator must have been alerted by now. So why were there no signs of pursuit? The marsh couldn't have swallowed their tracks so soon. Had the golems not yet reached their stronghold? Had their retreat been a feint, meant to misdirect them? Or were they already being tailed by some new foe, waiting for them to fall into a false sense of security before striking? More than the miasma, the dread was wearing him down. For the second time, Abel almost wished something would attack.

All of a sudden, the group's column came to a stop. They were traveling single-file, to ensure no one would be separated from the others- Abel had the rear, meaning he couldn't see what was up ahead. He leaned out, straining to see what had caused their sudden halt- since no one had shouted out, it must not have been an enemy. In the dark, he saw what he thought was a large wall, with a figure standing on top of it, helping another figure climb up. The figure must have been Roland, at the very front, and the "wall" must have been a fallen tree. A large tree at that- it stretched out as far as Abel could see in both directions. Roland must have decided it would take too long to find a way around, and elected to climb over.

So, one-by-one, the group climbed over the fallen tree. The others clambered over swiftly with the prince's help, and before long, it was Lailah's turn. Somehow, she looked even worse than before- her eyes were dark and sunken, and she was even paler, as if she were a ghost, drawing in and letting out long, slow breaths, as if she had to remind herself to breathe. Abel was tempted to pick her up in his arms and fly her over the obstacle, given her current state, but that would have doubtlessly drawn the enemy right toward them.

As Roland reached down to extend his hand to Lailah, he must have noticed something was wrong. "Are you feeling alright?" he asked in a low voice. "If you need time, I can-"

Lailah awkwardly swung her arm and grabbed the prince's hand. "No, I… I can m- …make it…" she said. "P… Pull me up."

Before the prince could respond, Abel climbed up onto the tree next to him, fumbling for a few moments- on top of almost being as tall as he was, the fallen tree was oddly slick, as if all the bark had been peeled away. "Give me your other hand," Abel said. "We'll both pull you up."

Lailah did as she was asked, and together, Abel and Roland began pulling the priestess on top of the log. But all at once, the log shifted under their feet, causing them to lose their balance: Abel lost his grip and fell back- Roland teetered for a moment, before he too fell. But as Abel sprang to his feet, he saw that the log hadn't just shifted; Lailah screamed as the fallen tree… coiled itself around her, drawing itself out of the mud. One end of the log turned toward them, a set of glowing red eyes gazing down at him and Roland- one on the right, and three on the left. It opened its massive jaw, revealing fangs as long as swords, and hissed loud enough to make Abel's bones rattle.

It hadn't been a tree at all. It was a snake. An enormous, monstrous snake, lying in ambush. It must have waited for Lailah to cross over before striking- either because it sensed she was weak, or because she had been near the end of their column.

Shouts rang out as the others began to draw their weapons, bringing up lights, no longer bothering with any pretense of remaining hidden. But the gargantuan snake didn't attack. Instead, it hissed, revealing its fangs again, before slithering away, Lailah still gripped in its coils. In an instant, the wings on Abel's back erupted to life, and he flew after the massive beast, guided by the pull of his amulet as he gave it a new, overwhelming directive.

Find Lailah.

---

By now, the coils of the snake would have crushed an ordinary human's ribs into powder as it wrapped around her. But though it made it a little harder to breathe, Lailah suffered no such injury. She hadn't expected a giant snake to be lying in ambush, but she was thankful it had targeted her over the others. No doubt it intended to carry her off and devour her in relative safety. But she wasn't worried- not about her fate, nor that the snake was carrying her further and further away from her companions. In fact, the further away they were, the easier this would be.

This snake was about to learn a very fatal lesson about who it was dealing with.

She waited to act until her allies were well out of sight. While the miasma did affect her, it did not affect her sense of sight, and she could see through it as if it were broad daylight. And once she was safely out of sight, she took in a breath, letting the miasma seep into her body. Abel must have thought it was weakening her, but in truth, it did the complete opposite: the miasma invigorated her, strengthened her, awakened instincts nearly forgotten. But with every breath, the temptation to give in, to surrender to those instincts grew stronger. It had taken total concentration, every scrap of willpower she could scrounge to keep from giving in.

But now, she didn't need to restrain herself.

Calmly, she turned her wrist, and pressed her palm against the snake's scales. "Ekheda."

Her hand was instantly swathed in flames. The snake hissed and jerked, writhing and twisting in pain, uncoiling just enough for Lailah to pull herself free. She fell to the ground, landing on her feet, and took in another breath. The snake turned to face her, but the priestess struck first, leaping up and striking at the beast not with her spear, but her bare hands. Or rather, claws, as her arms coated themselves with black plates that were harder than steel. Miasma twisted animals into monsters, making them stronger, larger, more aggressive. Even the sharpest swords would have struggled to cut through the snake's hardened scales… but Lailah's claws rent through them as if they were cloth. The scent of blood filled her nostrils… and with that, the final threads binding her instincts snapped. She tore at the snake with her claws, hollowing out its flesh with every swipe, and splattering her with fresh coats of blood, only fueling her frenzy further. The snake tried to slither away, overtaken by a primal terror as it realized its supposed prey completely overpowered it. But with ease, she dug her claws into its body and pulled it back, slamming it into a tree and tearing into its body over and over again as she climbed atop it. As she tore into the beast's flesh, she reveled in the absolute freedom she felt at that moment. In the fear that the beast-

"…Lailah?"

And then all at once, her frenzy was snuffed out like a candle.

---

Abel flew on, guided by the pull on his amulet. His face stung as stray branches whipped at him, and more than once he had to dart to the side to avoid crashing into a tree that seemed to spring up from nowhere, but Abel flew as fast as he could make himself go. He'd lost sight of his other companions, and he could no longer hear them calling out, but he still hadn't caught up to the snake. How could something so big move so quickly?

But after what only felt like a few moments, Abel began to dip toward the ground, a deep fatigue quickly washing over him. But the moment his feet touched the ground, he ran, quickening his pace when he heard a massive crash, and the ground underfoot trembled. It must have been the snake. A moment later, Abel tripped over what he thought at first to be a root. But it was a thin tail, coated in scales that gleamed like copper. He followed the tail, passing several splintered trees- despite how recently he'd heard the crash, the snake was entirely still.

Then… he saw Lailah. Somehow, she'd freed herself from the snake's grip, and stood atop its body, splattered with blood, ripping into its flesh with her bare hands like a wild animal. But, she was… wrong. She'd been pale earlier, but that paleness seemed to seep into her hair, turning it a ghostly white that almost glowed in the darkness. Her arms were black, as if coated with metal plates, ending in hooked claws that looked sharp enough to cut through steel. A single white wing, like a bat's, and a thin white tail with a spadelike tip had sprouted from her back.

But worst of all… was her face. Her mouth was twisted in rage, full of sharp, glinting teeth, and her eyes… Her pupils had lengthened into narrow vertical slits. And… they were glowing. Not in a pink-red light. But a pure, bright, angry red.

There was a twitching in the back of Abel's mind, some instinct telling him to run, that the girl standing in front of him wasn't Lailah, that it was a threat unlike any he'd encountered before. But… she had to be Lailah. His amulet was pointing right at her. And there was no one else there. Abel tried to step forward, but something inside his body pushed against him, and in his head, Niel ordered, "Abel, don't!" But Abel fought against the angel, stepping out into the open. Lailah took no notice of him. As he looked up at the priestess, in a trembling voice, he asked out loud,

"…Lailah?"

The priestess abruptly froze, before slowly looking Abel's way. The angry glow in her eyes faded, but they were still red, and her pupils widened from the hair-thin slits they had been just a moment before. "…A…bel?"

She began to reach out toward him, before looking down at her arm, as if seeing it for the first time. She looked at herself, horror spreading over her face. "No…" she said faintly, her voice rising in panic. "N-No… this is… don't-" Lailah collapsed, curling up with her hands over her head. "DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

Abel's head suddenly wrenched to the side, as if an invisible hand had pushed against his chin. And as hard as he tried, he couldn't look toward Lailah again- it was as if he were pressing his face against a wall. He couldn't even turn his eyes in her direction. Still, Abel stumbled forward blindly, calling out, "Lailah, what happened!? Talk to me!"

Niel emerged from within Abel, pointing in Lailah's direction, a light shining from her fingertip which cut through the darkness of the miasma. "Abel, stay away from it!" she ordered, before looking toward Lailah with a stony expression- it seemed she was resistant to whatever had affected Abel. "Tell me. How long have you worn that guise? Since we were separated? Since leaving Aglis? Since Lohan? …Was there ever a girl named 'Lailah' to begin with?"

"Niel, what are you talking about!?" Abel shouted, trying to look Lailah's way again. He strained for several moments, but the force holding him back didn't let up. Even so, he stumbled forward. "Lailah, please. Let me help you!"

"You can't!" she cried. "…You can't. No one can help me." He heard her climbing down from atop the snake. As she neared, his gaze was forced away from her further, but he could tell that she was close.

Niel tensed, her light shining brighter. "Stay back!"

"Abel…" Lailah said, her voice shaking. "I… I'm sorry. I never… wanted you to see me like this…"

In spite of himself, Abel pushed against the force turning him aside. Her voice, and the gentleness in her words… whatever was wrong with her, she was still the priestess he had met in the Abbey in Hokes. He would help her, no matter what was wrong. "Let me see."

Several moments passed, before she replied. In an almost inaudible voice, she answered, "…okay."

The invisible force pushing against him suddenly lifted. And Abel turned his gaze toward the priestess. What he saw earlier hadn't been his imagination. Her arms were coated with black, plate-like scales, ending with hooked claws; she did have a wing sprouting from her shoulder- her left, specifically- and a white, thin tail with a spadelike tip had sprouted from her lower back. But there was something he'd missed before: she had a single, curved black horn sprouting from her temple, pointing up to the sky. "Lailah, what happened to you? Did the miasma do this? …I need to get you out of here. Maybe a doctor-"

The priestess recoiled, as if prodded by a sharp spear. "No!" She stumbled back, before falling to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself. "This is… this is what I am, Abel. What I've… always been." She hung her head.

"I'm a demon, Abel."

That can't be true, is what Abel wanted to say. But… the wing, the horn, the tail… he didn't know if she was a demon, but she certainly wasn't human.

"A succubus, to be precise," Niel added coldly. She had kept her finger pointed at Lailah the entire time, a bright white glow at its tip. "Demons with the power to seduce others into serving their will. It's likely she's been influencing you this entire time. Possibly all of your companions."

Lailah recoiled again, crawling back from the angel. "N-No! I would never-!"

"And why should I believe a single word you have to say!?" Niel shouted, drawing closer to Lailah, the light at her fingertip glowing brighter and brighter. "Demons are liars by nature!" She brought her hand close to Lailah's face, the priestess's skin burning under its light. "Let me guess: you're an assassin. Or were you sent to lead Abel astray, perhaps? Or maybe you thought you could curry favor with the Overlord by killing a Hero?"

Lailah curled up as she cowered before Niel, as if she could wink out of existence if she made herself small enough. "No! No one sent me! I chose to help Abel of my own free will!"

Abel finally had enough. Stories had always described demons as wicked monsters who sought only death and destruction. But when he looked at Lailah, he didn't see a demon- all he saw was a terrified girl, cowering in fear. "Niel, that's enough!" he ordered. "If Lailah was an assassin, she had more than enough chances-"

"You stay out of this!" Niel shouted, before turning back to Lailah. "If you think for one second that I'm stupid enough-"

"I helped Abel because I want the gods to make me human!"

Niel had no reply to that. Silence hung in the air for several long moments, broken only by the sound of Lailah's breaths. She looked up at the angel, tears spilling from her eyes. "…when I found out Abel was a Hero, I went with him because… because I thought that if I helped him slay the Overlord… I thought the gods would reward me, by turning me into a human."

She folded her wing over herself, and gripped it tightly. "I… I didn't ask to be made like this! To spend every day afraid that I'd hurt the people around me! To be afraid to even look at my own reflection! I hate it! I hate it so much! So much that I…" Then, Lailah began to pull on her wing. At first, Abel didn't understand, even as the priestess's face contorted in pain. But then, with one final yank, a repulsive tearing sound, and an agonized scream, Lailah ripped her wing from her back.

Her scream was the most horrific sound Abel had ever heard.

Lailah tossed the bloody wing aside and collapsed onto her elbows, sobbing as blood poured from her back. The fallen wing began to dissolve in a black smoke, before disappearing, as if it had never existed at all.

Niel fluttered in front of Lailah, unmoved. "I'll admit…" the angel began, "you're a very convincing actor. But it isn't enough to fool me." She fluttered closer, the light at her fingertip beginning to shine even brighter. "Now, do you have any last words before-"

But before she could say anything else, Abel hurried to Lailah's side. He put his hand on her back, over the blood. He didn't picture the priestess's smile, nor Damia's. He simply willed Lailah's wounds to be healed… and a white light shone from his palm. In its light, he saw the wound on her back, the gaping hole where her wing had been, knit itself shut… and a ragged scar on her other shoulder blade, where a second wing must have once been. To tear off part of her own body… and to do it twice…

"Abel," Niel said firmly. "Get away from that demon."

But Abel remained at the priestess's side, and in a cold voice, replied:

"…No."

"Abel-!"

"I said, 'No!'" The wings flared on Abel's back. "I won't let you hurt her!"

"She's a demon, Abel!" Niel screamed in anger, trembling as small white flames sparked to life around her. "Your enemy! And as a Hero-"

"Then find someone else to save the world!" Abel roared back, the wings on his back blazing like white flames. Slowly, he rose to his feet, his wings still alight, breathing heavily. "…My responsibility… my duty… is to fight the Overlord. Not to fight demons. And if you try to hurt Lailah, or try to make me hurt Lailah… then it's over. Bacchus will have to find someone else to be her Champion." He glared. "I won't fight to protect a world… where Lailah and I have to be enemies."

The light at Niel's fingertip began to falter. "…why?" she asked. She almost sounded… pained. "Even seeing her for what she really is, how can you stand there and defend her?"

"Why?" Abel asked in turn. "Because… she was kind to me." Lailah had been the first person to care about him when he was injured. The first to see him as more than a nuisance, or an insect to be stepped on for entertainment. The first… to have faith in him. Why wouldn't he defend her?

For several moments, Niel's mouth moved, but no sound came out. "B-B… Because she was kind to you?" she asked, incredulous. "Of all… the basic, asinine, idiotic reasons, that's your whole reason for siding with that demon!?"

Abel stood silently as the angel tried to shout him down. Then, when she'd fallen silent, he replied. "…Lailah showed more kindness to me in the first few minutes of meeting me than people I've known my entire life. And more kindness than you've ever shown me."

Abel looked down toward Lailah. "Lailah, are you alright? Can you stand up on your own?"

For a few moments, the priestess stared up at him, mouth agape, streams of tears fresh on her face. Then, she shuddered and strained, but did not rise. "I… I'm sorry," she said weakly. "I-"

"It's okay," Abel said, before he knelt down and looped his arm behind her back to lift her up. "I've got you." He paused, debating if he should add on what he wanted to say in that moment. "I… I'll always be there for you.

Niel had hung in the air, frozen, an expression of sheer disbelief on her face. Then, her face contorted in rage, and lights began shining from her palms, and her wings began to blaze as if covered in white flames. "I'm not letting you do this, Abel!"

Abel focused, calling a blade of light to his free hand and pointed it at Niel, drawing Lailah against him to shield her. "I didn't ask for your permission."

Niel faltered again, fluttering back as if to retreat. Then, she gritted her teeth, the light in her palms beginning to shine even brighter. Abel braced himself…

…but the light at Niel's fingertip then dimmed, before going out entirely, and the white flames flowing over her wings went out. "This…" she began. "We… we're in the enemy's territory right now. The last thing we need is to be at each other's throats." She gave Lailah a hard glare. "But don't think for a moment that this is over. I'll be watching you. And if you so much as think-"

"If I said the sun rises in the east, would you disagree with me just because I said it?" Lailah asked, returning the angel's glare- Abel couldn't help but notice her eyes began to glow faintly, her pupils again narrowed into thin slits. "What I said before was the truth. Whether you choose to believe in it or not."

"Lailah, please. That's enough," Abel pleaded, the sword of light disappearing from his hand. "I know angels and demons are supposed to be enemies, but Niel's right. We have to hold things together until we stop whoever made the flesh golems and get out of here. After that… we'll…" …do what? he asked himself. When he could provide no answer, he shifted his focus, compelling his amulet to find Roland, and turned as it slid across its chain to point toward the prince. "We should get back to the others. Something could've happened to them."

"We should probably do something about that first," Niel replied, and pointed at Lailah. "It may not bother you, but I'm sure the others would have more than a few questions." Abel was forced to admit the angel had a point. But what could he do? Would healing her fix the problem? Or would it make things worse?

Then, Lailah pulled away from Abel's grasp, seemingly finally finding the strength to stand. "Just… give me a moment." For a moment, he was afraid she'd start tearing off more parts of her body. But the priestess closed her eyes, and began to breathe deeply, as if concentrating. Then, the horn, the tail, the claws… began to retract into her body, leaving behind no trace that they had ever been there. Her hair changed as well, turning from white to a bright gold. And when Lailah let out one final exhale and opened her eyes, they too had changed, from red back to a familiar deep blue. Looking toward Abel, she asked, "How do I look?"

Lailah looked like… Lailah again. A battered, blood-stained version of Lailah, but Lailah all the same.

Before he could say anything, there was a loud snap, and a rustling from brush nearby. "Something's coming this way," Niel said.

Abel drew his sword. It sounded like there was only one, but if it was one of the golems from before, or a different golem entirely… no, he couldn't think like that. He'd killed one golem already- he would do it again, if it meant Lailah would be safe. He braced himself, waiting until the enemy came into the open before striking…

…until he heard a familiar voice alongside the rustling. "Who the fuck does she think she is, ordering me around…" Claire muttered, and a moment later, she stumbled through the brush. "Goddamned fucking thief-" She jumped when her gaze fell on the three. "Aaah! Oh, you scared the fuck out of me. I saw something glowing and I thought-"

"W-W-What?" Lailah stammered. "I-I-"

"Your eyes glow in the dark, degenerate. Did you know that?" Claire drew closer, attention shifting toward Lailah. "…and what the hell happened to you?"

Abel was silent. He'd been so focused on reuniting with the others that he hadn't put a single thought into crafting a plausible explanation of what had happened after they'd been separated.

But a certain scratchy voice spoke up in his stead. "That snake managed to swallow the priestess," Niel replied. "But she managed to cut her way out of its belly. By the time Abel and I found her, she was free, and the snake was dead."

The president looked Lailah over again, before glancing over at the massive serpent. "…You definitely look like you just cut your way out of a snake's belly." She sniffed, face scrunching in disgust. "Ugh, and you smell like it too. I'd say you should wash yourself off, but the water around here would probably just make it worse." She then turned and headed back the way she came. "Well, I found you. Now that little sneak can't say I never did anything for her…"

Lailah and Neil began to follow, a visible gap between them. But Abel stood, frozen. Niel… she could have exposed Lailah then and there. But she hadn't. What's more, she'd actually covered for the priestess. Was the angel just biding her time, waiting until they were back with the others, where there were more witnesses? Or… did she intend to keep her word, at least so long as they-

"Hey!" a harsh voice called in Abel's face, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was Niel, hovering just in front of him with a glare on her face. "Are you coming or not?"

"Uh… sorry," he replied.

The angel gave Abel a puzzled look, before disappearing into his body. Lailah and Claire were standing a few paces ahead, looking back toward him. When he moved to follow, the president said to him, "Personally, I don't care either way if you stand around staring like an idiot, but I'm sure the rest of your harem would be upset if I came back without you."

"Harem?" he asked, confused. Was she talking about his friends? Abel didn't know why, but… he didn't like Claire using that word to describe them.

Claire scoffed. "Don't pretend like you don't know."

On the way back, Claire, Lailah, and Abel found Roland, following a distance behind the president. He'd ordered the others to stay put, both so everyone wouldn't be separated, and to improve their odds if another enemy chose to strike at that moment. And when they found the others, they were circled up with their weapons ready, in front of a deep trench in the mud where the snake had been lying in wait, but they quickly broke out of their formation upon seeing Roland and Abel approach.

"You're-" Seth began to say, before she saw Lailah and went pale. "God… are you… alright?"

"Don't worry," the priestess replied. "I'm pretty sure most of this blood isn't mine." She looked pale again. Lailah had seemed normal up until entering the marsh… was it the miasma? It must have some kind of effect on her… true nature, Abel assumed. …He had to hurry things along. The longer she was exposed to it…

"That snake…" Holly asked. "Was it a flesh golem, too?"

"I do not believe so," Violet said. "Every flesh golem we have encountered so far has had its blood replaced with rubedo. And I observe a distinct lack of glowing in the blood covering Miss Lailah. It was more likely an indigenous species mutated by miasma exposure. Though, whether it was wild or domesticated, I cannot say for sure."

Raine sighed, putting her hands behind her head. "Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not keen on wandering around until I get eaten by some monster. Let's just head for the golems' base. All we're doing right now is wasting that potion the maid gave us."

"That may not be wise," Roland said. "Now that they know we're here, they'll have fortified their position. They'll be expecting us."

"Maybe so, but I refuse to simply wait for those flesh golems to return," Violet said firmly. "I will find their stronghold, and their creator. And I will have answers from him."

"I agree with Lady Violet," Minze added. "The longer one is exposed to miasma, the more pronounced its effects become. We should face Guillaume and his golems sooner rather than later, while all of you still have the bulk of your strength."

"I'm not sure if-" Holly began.

Claire interrupted. "Well I am." She turned to Abel. "That's your cue, degenerate."

Abel focused, and followed the pull on his amulet. It seemed Claire's words were enough to convince the others, as they fell in line behind him without complaint. As he guided the others, Niel spoke up in his head. "I'm sure the last thing you want is for that demon to go berserk again with everyone watching, but you shouldn't be so hasty. Your life is far more valuable than hers. I won't let you waste it by trying to save hers." Abel didn't respond, instead gritting his teeth and quickening his pace.

The group trudged through the marsh, through thick mud, and gave every tree they passed a wide berth, fearing it could be another serpent lying in ambush. But soon, Abel realized something had changed, though with the darkness and him being riled by Niel's words, he hadn't noticed at first. The ground underfoot was now firm, while trees and other plants had been sparse before, now there was nothing at all. It was strange- unnatural, even. Something had cleared out this area. And because there were no trees obstructing his view, he saw something ahead which made him draw to a stop.

It was a light- a pale, but steady yellow light, suspended in the sky. At first, Abel thought it was a star. But as he looked closer, he could see a shape surrounding the light, a dark silhouette standing out against the pitch-black sky. It was a tower, but not a simple watchtower, like the ones he'd seen built into the walls of the cities he'd visited. It was massive- practically a castle unto itself- with enormous blades jutting from its walls, crowned by a circle of hornlike spikes. To Abel, the whole thing looked like a gigantic spiked mace, planted in the ground handle-first. And the light he'd seen was shining through a tall, narrow window, roughly two-thirds from the tower's top.

The others came to a stop behind Abel. "A tower…" Lailah said faintly.

"It must be a remnant built by Overlord Iskander," Roland said. "I'm surprised it's still standing." The prince's comment caused Abel to remember something: Seth had said a previous Overlord used Caral Marsh as a base to attack neighboring kingdoms. He had to admit, the tower definitely looked like the sort of thing a monstrous overlord would build.

"You think that's the flesh golems' base?"

"It has to be," Raine replied, leaning toward the tower to get a better view through the gloom. "It's the only building we've found so far. And someone left a light on."

For a moment, Abel concentrated again, before adding, "This is definitely the right place." His amulet was pointing directly at the tower- up as well as forward, toward the top. The pendant even shifted slightly, sliding across its chain as its target moved about inside the tower.

And that was because Abel had impelled his amulet to find the person Minze and Violet were certain were responsible for creating the flesh golems.

The person who, through creating Zoyin, was responsible for Erica's murder. And whose other creations had almost killed Abel, and everyone close to him.

A man who, despite both Roland and Niel claiming he should be sleeping in his grave, walked about freely at that very moment.

Guillaume Rouque.