Chapter 24

It took a few hours before the Makai's mages received an order to direct new sets of familiars to the castle following the information provided by Taylor. But the sortie didn't happen until the next morning as they had to rest after a long stressful day stopping the invasion and crossing to the other world.

Taylor was worried that it'd be too late and Duc Beauregard would strike the adventurer camp first during the night. It was a concern shared by the Merfolk and Yumeko, but Shinki seems to think otherwise and cited that organizing such a large army takes time, regardless of how independent of the supplies they apparently are, and thus practically ordered all of them to turn in for that night.

Once the next morning came around, Taylor was surprised to find Shinki awake first and conversing with someone she did not expect to see again once she stepped out of their shared tent.

"Ma'am… and Lady Eiki… I'm sorry for not waking up earlier." Taylor and Yumeko greeted the two as they turned to look at them as soon as they exited the temporary shelter.

A soft laugh escaped Shinki's lips while the diminutive green-haired Judge of the Dead responded to them with a stoic unreadable face and voice. "It is not your fault. I wished to discuss with Shinki about a… certain private matter… So I asked her to set up a private meeting for us."

Now that she mentioned it, Taylor and Yumeko were suddenly aware of the lack of waking people around this section of the camp. While the sentries along the walls were doing fine, they were too far away to pick up anything the two were discussing conventionally, and supernatural means would probably not work judging from the state of the area around them.

Yumeko recovered first and she quickly fell back to her duty; "Then please let us prepare breakfast for you and Milady. It wouldn't take too long."

However, as the maids were about to go to the pantry to prepare breakfast, Eiki spoke up first; "Just prepare it for your lady. Now that we've covered all the topics needed discussing, there's no reason for me to stay here…"

She paused as her eyes looked at both maids contemplatively before saying; "Unless you want me to lecture both of you about your conduct in life so far."

Yumeko recoiled at the response. However, while Taylor tried to recall what 'sins' she committed over the past five years or so, she was not entirely against the idea of getting a lecture from Eiki either.

…After all, just like what Shinki said many years ago; not everyone is lucky enough to have the one whose job is to condemn sinners to Hell and warn them about sins they committed so that they get a chance to steer away before too late.

As if she read her mind, Eiki looked straight at Taylor before shaking her head; "But then again, all of you are about to go on a mission with lives at stake. I'm not one to put doubts and stray thoughts into the minds of people preparing to undertake such a task."

Unfortunately, her honesty had the opposite effect on the reincarnated maid, who now sports a troubled look as her thought ran into a certain dilemma that she tried not to think about since the first battle.

The Judge of the Dead noticed Taylor's discomfort almost immediately and sought to rectify it. She turned to Shinki who was about to sit down on the log prepared by Yumeko and asked; "May I borrow Taylor here for a bit?"

Shinki gave two of them a knowing smile before she waved them off; "Of course you can! And come back for breakfast before departing all right?"

The diminutive Judge made a noncommittal shake of her head in response before beckoning Taylor to follow her.

Instead of leading them to a secluded alley between temporary supply tents or somewhere suspicious, Eiki led Taylor up to a section of a wall overlooking the battlefield of the previous day.

The clean state of the battlefield came into view as a testament to the efficiency and diligence of the reinforcement from Michael, who assisted in cleaning up the battlefield by removing the remains and burning the dead, however little that was left after the adventurers thoroughly looted all that they deemed valuable. The field was now prepared as a choke point in case the enemy from beyond the world pushed the expedition back.

The state of the field did little to ease Taylor's discomfort. But as they took in the sight of the rising sun on the horizon, the Judge of the Dead spoke up first; "It's been a few years since you were given a new life in this universe, isn't it?"

It took almost a full minute before Taylor finally answered nervously; "It is, Lady Eiki. And I am grateful that you let me have this second chance." She paused, looking at the rising sun briefly, before continuing; "But I am sorry that I am in no mood to appreciate the view right now."

"Understandable..." Eiki nodded in agreement "Then, to bring us back to the topic at hand, I have a question for you, Taylor Anne Hebert."

Her full name being called has earned the maid's undivided attention. Her head snapped toward the diminutive Judge of the Dead who stared back with an intense gaze that she probably used to look upon sinners and saints alike throughout countless millennia of human history.

And then the question came forth; "Do you know why humans receive judgment for their sins in the afterlife? Why do we not judge wild predators for the sin of murder? Why do we not care if ants from different colonies killed one another for the spoils instead of seeking the plentiful harvest around their homes?"

Eiki's voice wasn't loud, yet during this quiet morning, and the tone she used made it sound like she was almost shouting in Taylor's ears. She thought that it was quite fitting of her station. But that idle thought was short-lived when faced with her question.

Just like many debates and discussions she had with Shinki over the time she lived in Makai, Taylor felt that the Judge's question was equally frustrating to think about, not because there was no definitive answer, but because she felt that the answer should not be as simple as; "They are animals."

Ultimately, she decided on a slight adjustment to that original answer; "Because they only live by instinct to feed, survive, and breed?"

Eiki nodded; "I would say that it is all they can think of. Even if they can learn, ultimately, their right and wrong are determined by whether such action results in them surviving and giving more offspring to continue their lineage."

She paused for a bit and looked toward the relatively silent campground behind them; "But sentients like humans are different. They can voluntarily make unreasonable choices to protect or to help not just their kinsmen, but also strangers, or fellow living despite having no stake and no gain to be had. They know to extend kindness and love to others for nothing. And they can also choose to make others miserable for no reason but their enjoyment at the suffering of others."

Taylor couldn't help but ask with a frown on her face; "So you're saying that it is fine to take lives in some instances?"

Eiki shook her head; "Whether killing in defense of one life or defense of others should be a sin… in an ideal universe where non-violence options are always available and everyone eager to take them that is…" she paused a bit and turned around and gestured at the killing field on the other side of the well; "Sadly, the path of non-violence is always a two-way street; both must agree to it. Most of the time, one with powers usually let their baser instinct take over… and we know the rest."

Silence reigned as the maid took in the words from the celestial bureaucrat who had sentenced countless sinners to Hell, pondering the implication of this impromptu lecture as she stared at the ominous gate to the other world.

"In the end, it doesn't matter…"

"Huh?"

Taylor's puzzling face turned to look at Eiki at that statement, questions formed up at her lips but were pre-empted by the Judge of the Dead first; "All living beings in the universe… nay, multiverse, are not omniscience, let alone omnipotent. They can only act based on the information they received, their interpretation of that information also formed from their knowledge and experiences, and their limitations."

Sighing, Eiki gestured her hand toward the otherworldly gate to emphasize her point; "Sometimes, there's no other choice but to commit the sin of killing, if only to protect their loved ones or themselves from the threat they perceived. Are you not sinning by standing by and letting innocent people die to a remorseless murderer? Are you not committing a sin by letting an unrepentant murderer live when you have the power to kill them? How can you know that they will not one day return to terrorize people again and would that be your sin for letting them go?"

The last question struck a chord with Taylor, who was reminded of the unchanging status quo in her old hometown where the superpowered heroes utterly failed to keep the superpowered criminals off the street, and it was the common people that suffered the consequence.

Seeing the conflicting look on her face, Eiki patted the taller maid on her shoulder and said gently; "Let all you've learned over your whole life guide you, not your baser instinct. And regardless of your choice, always take responsibility for the consequences and grow from them instead of blaming them on others, no matter how good or ill they might be." She paused for a moment before continuing; "After all, someone who cannot take responsibility cannot learn from their mistakes, and will keep repeating them again and again…"

This time Taylor seemed to get what the Judge was trying to say and replied hesitantly; "Thank you for the advice… I suppose…"

Eiki nodded slowly; "I think Shinki probably told you this thousands of times before, but it bears repeating; No one is ever free of mistakes."

Suddenly, the Judge's form began to fade away, no doubt returning to her place. But before she disappeared, she bids her farewell to Taylor; "I pray that you find success in this endeavor and accept responsibility no matter the outcome."

Taylor stood silently, looking over at the spot where Eiki had once been for almost a minute before she remembered that she had a duty to perform and walked to the nearest supply tent to fetch ingredients for Shinki's breakfast. The question about why Eiki was here, and what she was discussing with Shinki were completely forgotten by her, for now.

After breakfast and more delay, finally; the rescue team began assembling. Taylor couldn't help but note that the number of the members in their rescue party was somewhat depressing; consisted of Shinki, Yumeko, and herself. The Merfolk from yesterday have joined up with half of Michael's troops that marched to the other side of the gate to oversee the adventurers and some scholars there. The rest of the scholars and soldiers will be fortifying this side of the gate as a fallback in case the second wave from the Queen proved too much for those on the other side, and to make sure that the invader from the other side could not infiltrate this world.

Overall, it was a solid defense at the expense of offense. But given the resources and manpower they had and the scale of the impending second attack as scouted by the familiars deployed by scholars over there, the offense is not feasible now.

Once Taylor finished double-checking her inventory to make sure that the medicines and potions for as many maladies and ailments imaginable, along with all medical equipment she had, were all packed and ready, she joined Shinki and Yumeko who were standing in front of their tent. Yumeko seemed resigned to joining Shinki on her quest, just like how she was when Shinki first suggested their monthly family time years back.

But despite the look, Taylor was sure that her senior would still give it her all to rescue those poor souls just like she and Shinki would.

"So, you got everything?" Shinki asked as Taylor joined up at the front of their tent.

Taylor nodded, before voicing her opinion; "I did. But do we really need them? Shouldn't we just get in, break them out, and quickly teleport them back to the town that has better equipment so it's easier to help them?"

Shinki shook her head in response before replying; "That's the ideal case. But we have to prepare for a case where the prisoners will be too weak to survive such magic or even regular travel on foot or flight back to the gateway. If that's the case, it will be our duty to nurse them back to health for the journey."

"This's the first time I heard about teleportation's limitation on sick people."

Shinki smiled sheepishly at Taylor's comment before replying; "It doesn't come up that often. Most of the time, the line between patients who need urgent treatment on the spot with no time to go elsewhere and the threshold of people who can handle being teleported are so close together that they might as well be on the same line. Will you forgive me for forgetting this, my child?"

Taylor was so caught off-guarded at the sudden apology that she quickly held her hands out and shook her head frantically as she replied; "Eh, no, Ma'am. If it is as you said, then you have nothing to apologize for!"

A small giggle escaped Shinki's lips at Taylor's reaction before she addressed her maid with a smile; "Thank you for understanding." And then her face turned serious as her eyes roamed over both of her maids "Now, all we have to do is wait. Let's get up on the wall and sightsee, shall we?"

There was no need for further explanation as the trio made their way to the wall overlooking the otherworldly gate and sat on the parapet, seemingly enjoying the morning view of the forest surrounding the camp while being on the lookout for a messenger that they were certain would come out of the gate sooner or later.

It wasn't long before the guards detected a movement at the gate and a human messenger emerged from the shadow of the archway and made straight for the main gatehouse. Once he was let in, he went straight for the command tent. The conversation seemed short, as he emerged once again and made a beeline for Shinki on the wall with a knight in command of this camp in tow.

"Lady Shinki." The knight and the messenger bowed respectfully at the ruler of Makai before quickly reporting; "Ma'am, the scouts detected a massive army of card soldiers led by two armored knights approaching the camp on the other side. They greatly outnumbered us and the general has ordered us to begin a retreat to this side."

The two maids looked concerned, but Shinki inquired further; "Am I correct in assuming that they are so large that our scholars and magicians cannot stem the tide, or they have magicians of their own?"

"If they have ones, they didn't show it yet, Ma'am. But the general felt that it is prudent to not assume anything until shown otherwise."

The answer satisfied the ruler of Makai as she nodded at the messenger; "Very well, don't let me hold you when you have preparations to make. We cannot let Michael's land be ravaged by these hostiles and give them the beachhead to spread, do we?"

The messenger and the knight bowed to Shinki one last time before hurrying off to the camp inside the wall. Soon the alarm horn was sounded and the bustling of the camp increased tenfold as soldiers prepared to assist their comrades who would soon be retreating from the gate, probably with the enemy in hot pursuit.

But all this controlled chaos in the camp and soon this fortress was not a concern for Shinki and her maids, as their appointment was elsewhere…

Taylor knew what Shinki wanted her to do before she could say it. She closed her eyes, concentrated, and connected to her familiars scouting the Queen of Heart's castle in no time.

Meanwhile, Yumeko decided to speak up with a concern; "I don't think those adventurers will obey the order to retreat easily. I fear that their demises might bolster the other side's forces and put us all in jeopardy if you are not going to stay here to control the situation like yesterday, Milady."

Shinki didn't look concerned when Taylor took a second to glance at her. However, the unreadable expression on the ruler of Makai's face sends a shiver down her spine for some unexplainable reason. It was even more disturbing when her generally warm and caring voice gave way to a cold, almost indifferent tone that barely concealed her fury in her next words, or rather, statement;

"The Queen will not consume any more worlds, whether my Makai or any other worlds in this or parallel universes that she could get on to. The world she is on right now shall be her last."

Taylor almost flinched when Shinki's attention turned toward her despite the coldness receding and her smile returning as she spoke up; "Sorry about that unsightly display, my child."

She paused for a moment before turning to address Yumeko's concern; "And are you not underestimating our friends and comrades too much? And even you cannot be everywhere at once, my child. So is it a bad thing that we have to rely on others for tasks that we cannot attend?"

Yumeko's lips pressed into a thin straight line but offered no further argument. Shinki took the opportunity to offer her a solution; "If you're worried about it, how about you stay behind while I and Taylor go to rescue the damsel in distress?"

Yumeko's eyebrow twitched. Taylor couldn't help but wonder if Yumeko was trying to weigh the options presented to her. Both fall under the job requirement of being a maid under Shinki's employ after all.

But unsurprisingly, Yumeko decided to trust her mother's judgment and said with a resigned voice; "Then I have to make sure that we finish this task quickly and come back to assist."

And then her attention shifted to her junior; "Taylor, how's their stronghold?"

Dutifully, Taylor concentrated on her familiars' senses before replying; "Minimal guards around the perimeter, and none inside that glass tube hall…"

Taylor paused as Shinki's mind brushed against hers and both shared visions from the former's familiars, sifting through all of them deployed at various hiding places around and inside the Queen of Heart's castle. True to Taylor's words, the glass tube hall holding the Queen's "Food" was undefended, with only a pair of Card Soldiers with Jack's face standing sentry outside the door.

"It seems the Queen is going all-out on retaking the gate." Shinki vocally commented while still connected to Taylor's mind. "Let's go then."

With a signature blinding light and tugging sensation, three of them disappeared from the Makai and emerged inside the 'Glass tube hall' right in front of the three prisoners in an instant.

Whether it was because Shinki's powers and authority were so far beyond the Queen's, or this castle didn't have any anti-teleportation barrier to begin with, didn't matter to the three invaders. Once they got their bearings straight a second later, they moved to the glass prison closest to them and began freeing the prisoners, whose complexions were paler than yesterday, no doubt from the Queen's drain on their life and magic.

Taylor was the first to challenge herself with the rabbit's prison, while Yumeko was standing guard and Shinki watching her fumbling with the glowing rune that appeared on White's glass prison as her hands touched its cold surface, trying to decipher the prison's workings and how to release the prisoners. She was confident that given time, she could have cracked the secret of this foreign magic and release the poor souls.

But time ran out quicker than expected when she tried to force this foreign magical array to shut down; As the invisible barrier on the glass faded away, the double wooden door at the end of the long hall open was flung open, and she could hear two pair of metallic footsteps rushing toward their position.

Taylor was about to stop her attempt at freeing prisoners when Shinki gently laid her hand on her shoulder, signaling her to continue, much to Yumeko's exasperation as she readied her sword.

"I know what you are thinking, Milady, but this should be my duty."

Shinki nodded and then decided to occupy herself with studying the runic array on the girl's and the Cheshire cat's prisons while Yumeko dashed off toward the incoming Card Soldiers.

The sound of combat was surprisingly short and almost not registered in Taylor's busy mind in trying to release the sentient rabbit not because of the inhuman screech echoing through the hall, or rather, throughout the castle as the alarm was raised with the death of those two Card Soldiers.

Luckily, both mother and daughter cracked the locks and released the last surviving prisoners of this castle just in time to hear the rumbling sound of approaching footsteps growing closer by the second. Glass tubes shattered with shards began to rain down, but a quick wind spell from Taylor caught the rabbit and gently laid him down on the ground while protecting them from the glass shards.

Taylor wasted no time checking on the limp form of the rabbit in rag next to her; Boxes carrying medical supplies were pulled from her dimension storages as she continued examination of the poor White.

After a moment of concentration, acupuncture needles flew from the pocket into her hand as she carefully and precisely poked White's pressure points, trying to stabilize him.

Soon enough, the rabbit started thrashing about, causing Taylor to briefly panic that she had done something incorrectly before she noticed a strange stream invisible to normal eyes tethering White to the remains of his prison and began to curse inside her head.

Of course, she had to forget to sever the chain, tube, whatever it was that was drawing energy from him to feed that Queen below them! But Shinki beats her to it by invisible power that erases the connection without even looking her way.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am." Taylor muttered an apology as she momentarily looked at Shinki "I should've checked for that before beginning the treatment…"

Her apology was cut short as her instinct honed from years of training took over. Needles meant for saving lives in her hand flew in the direction of the entrance, and the explosion rang when they collided with fireballs hurtling her way.

Shinki's telepathic message rang in her mind as Taylor manifested Yuuka's parasol in her now empty hand and opened it to shield herself and White from the remaining fiery projectiles that exploded on it; 'A lesson to be learned, my child. But for now, can you go and help Yumeko? I will help Mr. White in your stead.'

Rage began surging in Taylor's mind at Shinki's request along with irrational thoughts such as; 'Why shouldn't she, who's so powerful to create an entire world from nothingness, just do it herself?' or the feeling of contempt toward her senior for letting enemy's attacks slipped through, or even at the now unconscious sentient rabbit at her feet…

Taylor reigned in her thought before it turned into action. She spared a glance at her weapon/gift from the certain green-haired monster masquerading as flower seed shopkeeper and had to suppress a shudder as Taylor realized just now the difference between wielding this parasol in the safety of training ground and wielding it against real enemies where violence is the only option.

But the doubt of her ability to reign herself in was squashed a second later as she raised her parasol and blocked a lightning bolt; She didn't have room for hesitation anymore, not since she decided to embark on this quest to save the last remnant of the civilization of this doomed world…

Shinki entrusted this task to her, and she will not disappoint her second mother, or let their charges die without doing her utmost to save them!

With that resolve, Taylor stood up. In a second, more acupuncture needles were summoned between her fingers, and in the next instant, she disappeared in a burst of wind and dust, which prompted a mirthful remark from Shinki which she could barely hear; "Show them what you've learned, dear!"

Soon enough, the maid arrived at the entrance. Piles of armor in various states of destruction, mostly from something stabbed through them, and ashes, littered the surroundings. Her senior was like a white and red whirlwind with flashes of silver continuously lashing out at the incoming tide of Card Soldiers while nimbly avoiding their counterattack, either by projectiles, magic, or close combat in a display of skill and grace that was almost mesmerizing.

Taylor didn't get the luxury of spectating, however, and soon sprang to action and joined the fray. Coincidentally, Yumeko also let some Card Soldiers slip through her and they immediately make a beeline for Taylor. Or rather, they were going toward where Shinki was treating the prisoners and Taylor happens to be in the way.

It wasn't deliberate as far as Taylor could tell, as some Card Soldiers that tried to slip through the red-clad maid on the opposite side of her were skewered by swords to their back. But not before a few of them let loose some spells toward Shinki at the far end of the hall. She was dancing on the edge of getting overwhelmed all this time!

And it was her duty to relieve some of the pressure from her senior.

The frontmost Card Soldier with a club pattern raised the club in its hand high and brought it down like a falling comet, intending to crush Taylor before she could react.

Except that she was ready and moved out of the way, with her parasol met the rapidly descending blunt object at a right angle and redirected it to the floor next to her.

'Never contest your strength with the opponent.'

The teaching from one of her mentors had never been truer than this moment, just the sight of that club cracking and sinking deep into the solid stone floor told Taylor enough of what fate awaited her should she block it head-on.

As the first Card Soldier tried to pull its weapon free from the ground, Taylor's parasol struck forward, hitting various points on its literal paper-thin body at the pace no normal eye could follow before she had to break off from the attack to dodge a sword swing from another Card Solider that caught up with them.

As she switched her attention to the newcomer, the club-wielding Card Solider wrenched its weapon off from the ground and tried to strike Taylor from behind. However, as it rose its weapon to its zenith, its body started quaking. Its limbs grotesquely pulsating and wobbled in place until its club loose from its hand…

…and then its limbs and various spots on its body exploded with a popping sound as invisible energy ruptured them and the Card Soldier crumpled into a heap of metal and paper scrap-like substance when Taylor just successfully poked her parasol at its comrade's midsection.

But Taylor had to click her tongue in disappointment a moment after when her opponent blocked her follow-up attacks with its large rectangular shield. A clanging sound rang out from the impact of the parasol with the shield before Taylor had to twist her body to the side and avoid its retaliating strike from a stream of fire blasting at where she was a moment ago.

The Card Soldier, this time with a Jack of Spade print, tried to turn and bring the fire stream toward its opponent without care of what was in the line of fire. Several glass tubes melted from its heat and the stone floor scorched black.

However, Taylor was disappointed again when she tried to bait it to roast its comrades who were too busy fighting Yumeko, it cut out the fire immediately. And even with that distraction, it still raised its shield to block her strike from the back!

'Is this because the former being that turned into this Card Soldier was a skilled warrior?' Taylor thought while frantically shoving herself to the side to avoid its shield from bashing her. 'So this's the difference between practice on the training ground and a real fight…'

Her musing was cut short by another attempt to roast her alive from the Card Soldier she was fighting. Taylor deftly dodged low and let the flame stream over her head as she summoned another set of needles and threw them at the Card Soldier, barely slipped through the gap below and struck one of its spindly legs causing it to collapse, bringing the Card Soldier to its knee.

But despite her opponent has been crippled, she still couldn't finish it off due to having to dodge a barrage of fireballs thrown by the enemy reinforcement, whose increased number and their leader, a suit of armor with a metallic wolf head, tied up Yumeko's attention forcing her to let half a dozen of them slipped through and making a beeline for Taylor.

Suppressing a frustrated growl, Taylor resumed her fight. But this time she struggled to get a hit on any of her assailants as they all coordinated to make sure that she couldn't focus on a single Card Soldier. With no way to gain consecutive strikes on the same target to deliver a fatal attack, she could do nothing but keep dodging while tripping the enemies up whenever a brief opportunity presented itself either from her parasol or her needles…

…and try not to get pushed into the corner herself…

She didn't know how long she danced this deadly waltz, but while she took another swipe at a leg of one of the Card Soldiers with her parasol and tripped it up, she saw out of the corner of her eyes that a pair of Card Soldiers tried to break off and rush to Shinki while Yumeko was busy fending off the wolf armor's equally ferocious attacks.

Her opponent tried to take advantage of Taylor's distraction as one of them rushed at her with its rapier held forward to stab her.

With a flash of inspiration, the maid dropped to the ground with her leg stretched out and tripped the Card Solider while simultaneously casting wind magic to propel it into the path of the unsuspecting pair of its comrades who crashed and fell to the ground in a heap.

The other Card Soldiers seized the opportunity when they saw Taylor on the ground. But she threw the parasol into the frontmost soldier's leg and tripped it as it charged at her, causing it to sail over her head and collide with another Card Solider who was trying to flank Yumeko and fall into a heap.

The other Card Soldiers that followed behind the first one swung their weapons at the maid who couldn't stand up or avoid the attack in time. Almost on instinct, she cast a magic shield just in time to intercept two war hammers that would surely cave her skull in had it connected and then used the opening to telekinetically call her parasol back while rolling away from the two hostiles. She swung her weapon horizontally and redirected one of the hammers into colliding with another, making them miss her again as she could finally stand up.

The Card Soldiers wrenched their war hammers up from the floor much faster than their comrade that Taylor dispatched earlier. They were onto Taylor a moment later before she could try to single out the nearest one forcing her on the defensive again…

…Until a magic sword sailed through the air and impaled the one that was about to hit Taylor's back through its helmet, allowing her to finally gain the upper hand and defeat the final Card Soldier with a flurry of acupuncture needles, causing it to explode and crumpled into a pile of paper its original form suggested.

Taylor let out a sigh of relief when her senses told her that they had beaten all the enemies present in the area. But she had to use her parasol as a crutch to stay upright.

"There's no shame in resting and conserving your strength for the fights ahead you know?"

Yumeko chimed in as she approached Taylor from the side. Her posture seems relaxed in contrast to her watchful golden eyes that continuously look at the surroundings. Her hands clasped in front of her apron as she came to a stop next to her junior.

Taylor took that as a sign to drop down on the floor with her hand still holding her parasol. Yumeko meanwhile was standing vigilance and struck up a conversation with her; "Stressful, isn't it?"

Taylor's attention was instantly on Yumeko at the comment, before the latter elaborates as her hand gestured at the remains of the Card Soldiers; "I mean your first time fighting outside of practice drills..." She paused a bit, her eyes showing concern as she continued "…as well as taking lives."

The question made Talor avert her eyes from her senior and stare at the parasol in her hand in contemplation. A moment later, she replied; "Eiki already talked to me about it earlier…" she paused to take a deep breath before continuing; "… But even knowing that sometimes we do not have a choice, I'm not comfortable at all…"

Yumeko nodded at her reply; "And hopefully you will never get comfortable with such a thing. I am not either."

"You don't seem like that from the way you fight earlier…" Taylor countered tiredly. "You didn't hesitate at all."

"I never consider myself a hero or anyone's savior, Taylor…" Yumeko admitted; "I only fight for the one I believe in, that is my mother. For that, there is no room for hesitation."

Taylor was about to launch a counter about what if that decision was wrong, but she paused when the conversation with Eiki just hours ago came to the forefront of her mind and she could not find it in her to criticize Yumeko.

But when Taylor was about to talk, a loud screech echoed throughout the castle causing her to surge to her feet with her parasol in hand, and all tiredness was forgotten as it was followed by a voice that she heard through her familiars yesterday, but hearing it in person was a thousand times more chilling.

"Volpe you useless mutt! Just a bunch of sewer rats that dare come to steal what is mine and you failed to deliver them to me as sacrifices!?"

As the Queen in the chamber below raged, a wispy cloud rose from the pile of metal and ashen paper that were once her Card Soldiers and seeped through the solid floor as if they were ghosts.

A moment later, the ground violently shook. Cracks ran through the floor, collapsing empty glass prisons/tubes. Yumeko immediately floats to avoid the shaking ground, with Taylor following soon later after she regained her wits.

Two of them looked at one another and then made a beeline to regroup with their mistress. Upon arrival, they saw that Shinki had been carrying the three last living inhabitants of this doomed world and was flying to meet with them.

Before any of them could utter a word, the floor gave way, collapsing in a shower of debris, glass shards, and dust into the gigantic chamber below. The Queen of Hearts was sitting on her throne just out of the way of the collapsing floor. Her baleful eyes glaring at their flying forms but have yet to do anything more than that.

Taylor thought that she should have been more careful about tempting fate like that. Because the scowl on the white-faced Queen deepened before bellowing; "How dare you stand above the ruler of worlds? Down to the ground now, mongrels!"

A wave of invisible crushing pressure pressed down hard on everyone, almost making Taylor, being the most inexperienced, plummet to the ground. She was saved by the counterforce coming from her mistress decelerating her fall.

As she looked at the ground while slowly descending, Taylor gulped at the power being expressed by the giant entity below causing even the pebble-sized debris to create craters the size of fully grown men when they shattered to dust on the floor! Some of the flying pieces of shattered stone floor pelting her hastily erected barrier did little to comfort her from the thought of facing the monster in front of them.

Her fellow maid didn't look much winded as she landed next to her, with Shinki and the rescued prisoners following close behind, with the unconscious sentient rabbit and cat being held afloat in the air close to her and protected by another barrier.

But surprisingly, the young daughter of the deceased Sir Longarm was now being carried in Shinki's arms. The girl was fully awake with her hands clutching tightly on Shinki's dress, and her eyes were looking up at the Queen of Heart's cruel visage as they joined up with Shinki's maids.

Whatever Taylor was thinking about the malnourished blonde girl in Shinki's embrace was shelved as the Queen's voice boomed "Vermin. All of you. Wrought destruction to this Queen's property. Defying this Queen's demand of thy life force. Your guilt is undeniable. Unforgivable!"

If that proclamation was to intimidate the intruders into forfeiting their lives without a fight, it had the opposite effect. While the rescued little girl in Shinki's hands seems to be shaking in fear, her eyes glaring back defiantly at the Queen seem to contradict that notion. Although Taylor was getting a feeling that her curse magic and martial art wouldn't perform as well as her fight earlier with the Queen's lackeys, she was still putting on a brave face and certainly wouldn't start begging for forgiveness any time soon.

And the less said about Shinki's and Yumeko's reaction, the better.

The Queen seems to realize that her strategy of 'scaring the interloper to death by applying magical pressure on them' didn't work. A crack of lightning impacted a transparent shield that sprung out from Shinki a moment later. Taylor almost fell on her back at the sudden attack with part of her mind berating herself for not seeing this coming, and another part also telling her that the air was so saturated with magic power emanating from the Queen and Shinki that detecting magical attack with her magic sight was going to be ineffective, never mind the fact that both the Queen and Shinki didn't move a muscle during this entire exchange.

Taylor watched in awe as the giant Queen of Hearts conjured various projectiles; from ice, fire, lightning, and even laser, each easily the size of a small house, that bombarded to absolutely no effect against the transparent barrier that Shinki effortlessly conjured protect all of them.

Both maids were brought out of stupor when they sensed two objects approaching them. They turned around just in time to catch the two unconscious prisoners; the cat Cheshire went to Taylor, while Yumeko got White the rabbit.

'The two of you should carry your guests and go ahead first.' Shinki's voice rang in their mind amidst the sound of a relentless magical barrage against the impenetrable barrier. The two maids looked away from the two prisoners in their arms just to see a magic circle forming right under their feet. But what was alarming for them, especially Yumeko was that only two of them were included in the circle that was supposed to send them back to Makai. Shinki and Sir Longarm's daughter in her arms wasn't inside it.

'Milady!' Yumeko cried out through the telepathic link 'What about you? Why don't you come with us?'

Despite the barrage from the Queen of Hearts still ongoing with no sign of stopping, the reply from Shinki to the two maids was still calm, as if everything was under her control… 'I have a business to settle with this Queen first. Please be a dear and care for White and Cheshire in the meantime all right, my dear?'

As the teleportation magic was about to activate, Taylor and Yumeko looked at the blonde girl in Shinki's arm who was staring at the colorful barrage of lethal magic hitting the barrier all this time, and asked almost simultaneously; 'But what about the girl?'

The girl seemed to notice and understand the conversation between them as she turned away from the barrier to look at the two maids carrying her father's retainers before silently shaking her head. But as the bright light of the teleportation spell filled Yumeko and Taylor's vision, Shinki's voice was heard through their links before they were back on the wall overlooking the Gate on the Makai again;

'She wants closure to her and her father's struggle, and it is within my power to give her one…'

Author's Note: Happy new year to everyone, hope for a happy and productive year.