Almost a full week after obtaining the legendary ore Escudo at the Spring Eterna, our heroes finally had made their way back to the Forest of Silence. The travel time had been shorter this time, due to there being fewer monsters and the path being familiar to them.

As they reached the forest dotted with pointy mountains, it was noon, and much like the sun, their spirits were high. However, they were all halted by something they hadn't felt in a long while.

"What?" Hikaru flinched.

"An earthquake?" Umi yelped.

The ground beneath them shook violently for a short time, causing the birds of the forest to take to the skies. Although earthquakes were nothing new to them since they had all lived in Japan, there was something ominous about it happening in Cephiro.

"In Cephiro's case, is it not true that monster encounters are more frequent than earthquakes?" Fuu pointed out.

"Don't say freaky stuff like that!" Umi pleaded.

"When in Rome," Hotaru quipped in English. "Not like we know how common earthquakes are in this world."

Truthfully, Hotaru knew just how major of a thing it was that they had felt their first earthquake. In order to hide the fact that he had reincarnated with memories of his past life, it was good to play dumb every now and then. The girls had been getting slightly suspicious of his actions recently, so it was best to take a few wrong turns.

"PUUUUUUUUU!" a sudden roar came from behind them.

Umi screamed in terror as Mokona suddenly jumped onto her back, taking the blue haired girl by surprise. She threw the little troublemaker off of her back, at which point it was caught by Hikaru, who laughed and hugged Mokona.

Ready for a fight, Umi looked at Mokona angrily, her hair a mess, "Do you think it's okay to surprise people like that? Hikaru, you need to discipline that thing!"

Hikaru laughed awkwardly, not sure what to do, "Uh, I don't think that is the problem…"

"Nor do I think that is even possible," Hotaru pointed out.

Before Umi could scold Mokona herself, the little rabbit-like fay's ears twitched before it jumped out of Hikaru's embrace. It stood still on the ground, staring at the sky, before the red gem on its forehead began glowing. A white light shot out of it to a point in front of them, which then spread into an oval shape.

The oval gained a black border around it, before the center of it glowed purple. Not long after, an image formed in the center, showing them a familiar face.

"Clef!" the Magic Knights gasped simultaneously.

"Long time no see!"

Without blinking or moving its lips, the image started speaking, "The ground shaking is a sign that Cephiro is starting to crumble. Hurry, the children from another world."

All of them looked at the image with serious expressions, realizing that time was starting to run out.

"If Cephiro completely crumbles, you will not be able to return to your world."

Hikaru and Fuu were taken aback by this revelation, while Hotaru was mostly bothered at the prospects of the following months.

Umi took the news the hardest, "You've got to be kidding! Trapped forever in this world with no convenience stores, ice cream shops, or book stores? I won't take it! I won't take it at all!"

"I highly doubt you will have time to miss those things if this world crumbles," Hotaru pointed out, watching the girl panicking.

"To recall convenience stores now… Ms. Umi is an amazing person," Fuu smirked with Hikaru.

"Hurry, but take the utmost caution," Clef warned them. "One of Zagato's minions awaits you in the Forest of Silence. If Cephiro completely crumbles, you will not be able to return to your world."

With those last words, Clef's image disappeared.

"Clef!" Hikaru yelled and ran over to Mokona. "I wanted to hear more about you too, Clef.

Umi and Fuu looked from the side, seeing Hikaru hug Mokona. It was clear she was worried for not having heard from Clef in days, nor were they aware of his fate.

"Well, you heard the man, let's keep moving," Hotaru blurted dismissively.

"Hold on! You could be a bit more sensitive than that!" Umi scolded him.

Hotaru turned towards her with a serious expression, "If this world really is crumbling to nothing, then I gotta hurry up if I want my dream to come true."

Hikaru stood up upon hearing this, still holding Mokona, "Do you really intend to stay in Cephiro after we defeat Zagato?"

"That's right," he said and turned around.

"But why Mr. Hotaru?" Fuu asked. "If you stay here, we will never be able to see you again."

Hotaru sighed, amused by the irony of those words, "Look, I am certain you three all got wonderful lives and families to return to in your world. But I don't really got anything to lose by staying here."

While Hotaru could not see them, the girls listened to his words with sympathetic expressions. They knew Hotaru was an orphan, but he always had such a laid-back and confident air about him. It took a moment for them to truly realize how little Hotaru had left behind when being transported here.

"Sure, this world is a bit medieval and has monsters roaming about, but at least I can use magic," he continued. "If Cephiro is truly a place where heart and will make all the difference, then I am better suited here. Unlike say, in a world where money, status, background, and education are the keys to success."

We can help you out. My family has connections. You can surely gain all that despite being an orphan. You're not alone. These thoughts and more ran through the minds of all the girls. However, they could not deny that Hotaru seemed suited for Cephiro in his own unique way.

Eventually, Hikaru walked up to Hotaru and hugged him from behind, while Fuu and Umi placed their hands on his shoulders.

"We will miss you!" Hikaru cried out.

"Make sure to take care of yourself, Mr. Hotaru," Fuu chuckled.

"And don't forget about us," Umi smiled.

"Aren't you girls being a bit too hasty on goodbyes?" Hotaru asked awkwardly. "We still got to get to Presea and that's just the beginning."

Although it will be somebody's end…

It was a quiet and peaceful evening at Presea's manor. The sun had just come down and the birds were still singing outside. Presea herself had just a moment ago turned on a few lights in the mansion, so that its dark corridors wouldn't be pitch black.

Having finally finished cleaning up her study earlier today, Presea decided to catch some fresh air. She walked over to an open window in one of the hallways, looking outside into the nightly Forest of Silence.

"I don't hear the screaming of monsters lately," she thought out loud. "What's going on?"

Though she didn't miss them, she did find the voices of the monsters comforting. She had been alone in the mansion for years, with no one around but Mokona. Now that Mokona was gone, she truly was alone. Without the sounds of the monsters, she felt like she was the only person left in the world.

Before she had time to sigh, the ground quaked forcefully as if a giant monster had put down its foot. But with not a single monster in sight that could cause such a quake, it didn't take long for Presea to realize what was going on.

"Cephiro is starting to crumble just as Master Mage Clef said!"

Her thoughts flashed back to a time when she was still at her old workshop. She could still clearly remember each weapon and suit of armor she had made in her old shop. She had been in the process of polishing the said weapons.

"Really, these soldiers lately," she muttered annoyedly. "They just order weapons and never come pick them up."

While she was complaining, she could hear ringing behind her. As she turned around, a short mage stood behind her.

"Y-You're… master mage Clef!" she gasped and knelt before him.

Without any honorifics or small talk, the most powerful magician in Cephiro had gone straight to the point.

"Have you heard from the previous master smith?" he had asked, without any context.

"Huh?"

"About the Magic Knights."

Understanding what he meant, Presea had bowed her head, "I'm so sorry. I have heard about them. I was told to make weapons for them when Cephiro faced danger."

"Unfortunately, that time has come," Clef said with a heavy voice. "Are you ready?"

Having trained for years, her mind had been set, "Yes!"

"All right. Take my hand."

The short man had offered his hand to her and she had grabbed hold of it, which was followed by a bright flash. Before she knew, they had teleported to the old mansion.

"This is…" Presea had started, but was interrupted by the voices of monsters.

"The Forest of Silence," Clef had filled her in.

"The one where monsters roam about…"

"High Priest Zagato has taken Princess Emeraude captive."

"What?" Presea gasped.

"You are the only one who can create weapons from Escudo. I cannot allow you to fall prey to Zagato," Clef had told her with heavy set words.

"Yes."

"The Forest of Silence is horrendous, but magic can't be used here. Even Zagato can't lay hands on you easily. Only the Magic Knights can open this mansion's gate. Although if Zagato were serious, entering would be as simple as taking candy from a baby."

"I will not die," Presea had promised him.

"Presea…"

"Not until I create the weapons that I can entrust to the Magic Knights."

"I'm glad that you are the master smith," Clef had smiled at her. "I'm sure that you will do the job wonderfully."

"I am honored."

Before Clef had taken his leave, Presea had knelt before him once more, and kissed his ring. As he made his way out of the forest on foot, Presea had watched him go from a window, only to later realize he had stolen her heart.

Being woken up from her memories by bird song, she stared silently forward, feeling an old longing that she had felt for years now.

"Master Mage Clef…"

About a mile away from Presea, another short magician was spying on the mansion. A young boy with brown hair was standing in the air, on top of a floating rock with small pebbles hovering around it. He had heard that the Forest of Silence was full of monsters, but he had not seen any on his way here. This disappointed him greatly.

Awwwh, I would have wanted to make some new friends to play with.

"Well now… I wonder how I should play with those big sisters… I know!"

The green gem on Ascot's right-hand glove glowed bright green before a blast of energy shot out of it in front of him. It turned into a flaming golden pentagram, pulsating with energy.

"Beast Summon!" he yelled happily, holding his hand forward.

Out of the glowing pentagram crawled out a large, yellowish-brown caterpillar with an orange beak, and two large pale-yellow eyes with red pupils. It fell to the ground with a thud, laying motionless, except for the slight wagging of its tail.

Ascot descended lower and stroked the caterpillar's cheek, "Atalante, I'm glad you came. Let's play a fun game today."

The monster let out an approving screech.

"Look at my hands."

Using a bit of simple magic, Ascot created a red, glowing ball of energy in his hands. It solidified to a point where he was able to grasp it like any ordinary object. Atalante screeched again, confirming that it liked the ball.

"Good boy. Now go get it," Ascot smiled, before throwing the ball at the mansion.

The red glowing ball soared across the sky, flying far into the distance. As Atalante raised its upper body, it could see the ball land somewhere around the building in the distance.

Atalante started crawling down the hill, inching its way towards the mansion.

In the meanwhile, the red ball of energy finally landed, hitting Presea in the back. Instead of knocking against her, it gently pushed her forward and sunk inside her back.

"What?" she turned around confused, thinking someone pushed her.

Thinking it was just her imagination, she figured it was time for her to head to be. As she stood up, a piece of candy with a pink wrapper fell out of her blacksmith's apron and onto the ground.

She picked it up and smiled at it, "I hope they're all right. I hope that they're not hurt."

As she looked at the candy, she could remember Hikaru handing it over to her with tears in her eyes, when she thought she had to pay for her services.

She giggled and started unwrapping the candy, "At first, I couldn't believe that those girls were the Magic Knights."

As she removed the wrapper, it revealed a round, white piece of candy, and put it in her mouth. She barely had the time to enjoy its flavor, when she heard a familiar sound behind her.

"Puuuuuuu!" Mokona chirped, jumping onto Presea's back.

Taken by surprise, she almost choked on the candy, but managed to swallow it the correct way.

"Mokona!" she yelled furiously, before chasing after the small creature. "You made me waste the food that Hikaru gave me!"

After catching Mokona, she laughed and held the fay by the scruff of its neck, "How should I punish you? Shall I pull on your ears to see how far they stretch?"

Hearing herself speak, she had to do a double take on herself, "The fact Mokona is here means…"

Hearing a slight cough behind her, she turned around, seeing Mokona hop into one of the dark corridors. She could see four familiar faces smiling at her, one of them a bit more awkwardly than the rest.

"Hikaru! Umi! Fuu! Captain Hotaru! I'm so glad you're alright!" Presea rushed over to them.

Did she not realize that the captain part was a joke!? all four of them thought simultaneously.

Before they could correct her, Presea talked over them, "Your armors. They've changed!"

"They changed when we touched the Escudo at Eterna," Hikaru explained.

"Master Mage Clef gave you that armor, correct?"

"Yes," Hikaru nodded.

"Master Mage Clef provided you with armor that evolves. They'll grow like your weapons."

"We kinda figured as much," Hotaru stated, having already presented that theory to the girls.

"Wait… your armor has also evolved," Presea said, noticing the armored bracers on Hotaru. "Does that mean you also managed to obtain Escudo?"

"He was the first to do it," Fuu smiled proudly.

"It was also thanks to him we could get to Eterna," Umi admitted, talking to Presea with an honest expression. "Without Hotaru around, the monsters and Zagato's minion would have finished us off on multiple occasions."

Hotaru scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly, feeling immense guilt from all the praise he was given, "It was the least I could do. I am sure they would have made it without me. However!"

Hotaru pointed his finger at Presea, and talked with a clear voice, "Since I now have Escudo, I expect you to make me a weapon out of it as well! Preferably something ranged, like a crossbow, a hand cannon, or maybe a gun-sword. Musket with a bayonet will do if the above mentioned are too complex."

Presea shook her head, "I am sorry, but weapons made out of Escudo take shape based on their wielder's heart. I have no control over what your weapons will be."

Hotaru lowered his arm and his shoulders drooped upon hearing this. He let out a deep sigh and looked at the floor under him, feeling he was doomed for melee combat.

"With my luck it's going to be a dagger… or a knuckle duster."

"At least you can always throw it!" Hikaru tried to encourage him.

"Better it than us…" Umi pointed out.

"In any case, hurry and follow me," Presea requested, feeling full of energy. "I want to make the ultimate weapons for you right away."

"Right!"

Presea led them through the many maze-like corridors, until they reached the central dome of the mansion. Unlike the dimly lit corridors and rooms, the round room was brightly lit, and empty.

The walls of the dome looked like mother-of-pearl and the floor was blue enough to be pure lapis lazuli. Overall, the room looked pretty, but not the sort that one would expect to yield weapons.

"This is my forge," Presea confirmed their doubts proudly. "The place where I make weapons."

"Here?" Hikaru asked innocently, having seen a real sword smithy before.

"You do not need tools to create weapons, I see," Fuu complimented Presea.

"Right, all you need is a strong will. Now take the Escudo out."

"Right!" they all agreed and raised their fists into the air.

With four flashes of light emerging from their four glove-gems, the Escudo crystals soon emerged into the air. Like back at the Spring of Eterna, the crystals floated in the air, about ten feet above the ground. Unlike in the dark cavern of the spring, the Escudo could truly shine in the well-lit dome.

While Hikaru's, Umi's, and Fuu's were solid in color and shined like a ruby, sapphire, and emerald respectively, Hotaru's looked a bit different. It was slightly darker in color and looked like smoke quartz with streaks of grey and yellow. Or if one was being generous, gold and silver.

I hope that damn thing isn't faulty. That's the last thing I need.

Hotaru's thoughts were interrupted, as he heard something being unclasped. As he turned around, he could see Presea undressing before them. All of them blushed a little, until Presea revealed a long white dress underneath her orange outfit. Around her neck, she wore a large golden medallion.

"P-Presea…" Hikaru stuttered at the sight of her.

All of them were taken aback by Presea's beauty, which had all but been hidden by her usual attire. While the girls were all admiring her beauty, Hotaru held back his melancholic feelings.

I'm sorry Presea, but things have already changed too much…

Seeing Presea's white dress, Hotaru was reminded of a painful memory in his original childhood. Tonight, would be the night that Presea would die, after creating the weapons for the Magic Knights. It had saddened him as a child, but as an adult, he realized that Presea's loss had motivated the Magic Knights on multiple occasions. For more than a week now, he had weighed his options on whether or not he should let Presea be killed. Sure, he had promised to save Alcyone, but he could not save everyone now, could he? And unlike her, Presea didn't die in every iteration she was in, nor without a good reason.

I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue if you were left alive.

"Watch closely," Presea smiled at them. "Ultimate weapons are made like this."

With simple yet elegant movements, Presea started dancing in front of them. With graceful and slow motions, her dress moved around and began to spread. Its many silken veils wrapped around the escudo crystals, at which point they all glowed yellow.

"So that's how weapons are made…" Hikaru said, awestruck.

"Years of workshop classes wasted," Hotaru quipped, trying to distract himself from the guilt.

In the middle of Presea's performance, they could all hear a loud screeching sound from outside.

Presea stopped her dancing, looking alert, "What was that?"

Hikaru turned towards the others, "Let's go look, Umi, Fuu, Hotaru!"

The three girls rushed outside, as Hotaru walked behind them at a brisk pace.

"Wait, I'll go too," Presea said.

"No!" Hikaru denied. "Presea should do what Presea is supposed to do. Your job is to make weapons."

Presea was taken aback by this, as was Hotaru.

"So, leave everything else to us," Hikaru smiled. "That's why we're here."

"What you say makes sense. Alright, I'll leave it to you," Presea smiled.

Oh god this is going to be so much more painful than I remembered!

Hotaru gritted his teeth; the idea of watching little Hikaru eat those words later on made him scream internally. How could he look her in the eye in the future? How could he eat at the same table as her from now on?

"Right! Let's go guys!"

"Yeah!"

As Presea watched the four of them leaving, she felt like a proud mother, "They've become much stronger in the little while I haven't seen them."

"Puuuu!" Mokona drew her attention. "Pupupu pupupu puuu!"

"I know. I have a job to do."

Having made it outside to the front yard of the mansion, our heroes could hear something trying to scale the wall surrounding them. The ground shook as something heavy was making its way over. Soon a large shadow appeared over the wall, as they could see the face of a goofy looking caterpillar.

The caterpillar let out strange screeching and thrilling sounds, as it stared at them. The girls looked at it, trying to comprehend what they were seeing.

"What is that thing?" Hikaru asked.

"Well it sure sounds like Mothra," Hotaru joked. "Perhaps it is a kaiju?"

As the monster crawled its way forward, it was struck by the protective spells of the mansion. Its body was covered in tiny yellow explosions and sparks, before it fell off the wall, onto the courtyard. The monster let out one last screech before collapsing on the ground.

"I hope they never make a monster movie that anticlimactic," Umi shook her head.

While they were all smiling, the caterpillar started all of a sudden spewing orange lightning bolts. Its body then glowed red hot and began to expand, growing about 50% larger. Once done growing, it stood back up and raised its upper body for a mighty screech.

The screech was followed by the caterpillar's orange beak opening, and dirty sewer water colored liquid spewing out of it. They all jumped out of the way, before the liquid struck the spot they were standing on. As the ground melted away from underneath them, they could smell the scent of rotten eggs.

"Sulfuric acid…" Hotaru gasped, not sure if his Tungsten Defense could protect from that.

"Umi, Fuu, let's go!" Hikaru gave the command.

With all of them in agreement, they all prepared their spells.

"Flame Arrow!"

"Saphire Whirlpool!"

"Emerald Typhoon!"

The fireball set the large insect on fire, the water slashed against its body and the wind added to both of them. The caterpillar was battered, burned, and cut up, and fell limp on the ground before them.

"We did it!" Umi cheered.

But not long after, the same orange lightning and red-hot glow surrounded Atalante, causing it to grow larger once more. While the caterpillar had been about the size of an elephant at the start of the battle, it had now grown to the size of a large dinosaur. Atalante roared at its enemies, sounding a lot more intimidating now.

"Ms. Hikaru, once more!"

"Yeah!"

The three girls fired their spells once more, this time with more force. The elemental forces carved up the yard as they surged towards the monster. But as they hit the grown caterpillar, it barely even flinched, only looking at them with its big yellow eyes.

"The magic didn't work!" Hikaru yelled

Fuu fixed her classes, trying to figure out things, "It builds a resistance to spells after being hit once. And grows larger from damage."

"This isn't the time to be impressed!" Umi shouted.

The gargantuan caterpillar started moving towards them, until it came to a sudden stop.

"Steel Strength!" Hotaru shouted from behind the monster.

He had grabbed hold of Atalante's tail and was digging his feet into the ground behind it. He was pulling back with his entire upper body, trying to keep the monster at bay. Despite his best efforts, the monster was still moving forward, but a lot slower.

"This would have been so much easier a size category ago!" he gritted his teeth.

You can kill Presea if you want, worm, but you will only do so over my dea— badly bruised body!

Atalante continued waving its upper body around, spewing more of its acid. With Hotaru keeping the beast at bay, the Magic Knights had a much easier time dodging its spit.

Seeing that Hotaru had the enemy pinned down, Hikaru and Umi prepared to use their strongest spells.

"Ruby Lightning!"

"Water Dragon!"

The two spells were aimed at the monster's front half and scored a direct hit. The red lightning crackled and exploded against the monster, and the dragon shaped waterspout crashed down on it. This time the damage was so severe, that instead of lightning, the monster's body shot out beams of red light.

This time, the monster's outer shell burnt away, revealing an even larger, more frightening caterpillar. It had large mandibles on the sides of its beak, its eyes were now fully red slits, the claws on its feet were longer, and its body was covered in hard spiky chitin plates. It had two horns above its head and fuzzy hair growing from its cheeks behind the mandibles.

With its increased strength, Atalante had no difficulty flicking its tail and lifting Hotaru off the ground. Hotaru held on tightly, but the monster's tail had turned into two tapered spikes, causing his grip to slip. He was sent flying over the courtyard towards the mansion at high speed.

"Tungsten Defense!" he yelled before crashing into the building.

Like a cannonball, Hotaru was sent right through the wall. Seeing their tank get knocked out, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu started running away from the monster, trying to gain distance.

"If magic doesn't work, then weapons!" Hikaru suggested.

"Got it!" Umi agreed.

As the monster roared at them, the Magic Knights summoned their starting weapons. Fuu took the initiative, knocking back an arrow and firing it at the monster. The monster quickly responded by spraying acid, causing the arrow to melt mid-flight.

"Oh my!" Fuu gasped.

The monstrous caterpillar charged at the three of them, using its beak and pincers as battering rams. Its large body knocked them aside with its momentum, scattering the girls across the courtyard.

Not yet ready to give up, Hikaru grabbed her sword, charged in, jumped, and slashed at the monster. As she flew right past its head, she was able to deliver a deep cut against Atalante's throat.

As Hikaru came down, she could hear the monster screech and collapse to the ground behind her. But before she could celebrate, the familiar red glow lit up the entire courtyard. The monster grew even larger, with a large red gem on its forehead and a large crest on the back of its head.

Atalante charged at Hikaru once more, with her barely able to avoid enough, for her to be only knocked aside.

"Weapons don't work either!" she despaired, trying to get back up.

A little while back, Ascot was following the fight from afar. Atalante was already large enough for him to see it clearly from a distance. To him, the Magic Knights were just specks of colorful dust next to it.

"How stupid," Ascot chuckled. "There's no way they can beat Atalante. They're so stubborn."

Having said this, Ascot yawned deeply and felt his eyelids growing heavy. The fight was getting boring and it was far later than he was used to staying up. He descended down closer to the ground, before hopping off of his floating rock.

He walked over to a nearby tree and leaned against it, "I'm getting sleepy. I'll take a nap until Atalante wins."

It did not take long for the pint-sized summoner to fall asleep.

With all of her allies down, Hikaru was trying her best to hold back the monster caterpillar. Its hide was now too tough for her to cut it and it was able to send her flying by just playing with her. As the giant caterpillar was once again charging her way, she could not find the strength to move.

Feeling the ground tremble beneath them, Fuu and Umi opened their eyes.

"Hikaru!" Umi yelled.

As the monster approached, Hikaru closed her eyes, preparing for the impact.

To her surprise, the monster ignored her, heading towards the mansion instead. Like a runaway train, it charged past her, shaking the ground as it crawled forth. It started burrowing through the building, as if the stone walls were nothing but plaster.

But by the time it had only gotten its head through the wall, it came to a stop, as something heavy landed on its neck.

"Hotaru!" the Magic Knights yelled.

"YOU! MANGY! LITTLE! INSIGNIFICANT! WORM!" Hotaru shouted angrily, punching the back of Atalante's head.

Although he didn't have Steel Strength active, Tungsten Defense was enough to partially pin the monster down. Due to his massively increased density and toughness, even his normal punches could be felt by the giant caterpillar. Straight punches, hammer fists, body blows, double hammer fists. He was throwing everything he had at it.

"HOW! DARE! YOU! THROW ME! THROUGH! A FUCKING! BUILDING!" he continued raging, not caring if he was speaking English.

Atalante squirmed underneath Hotaru, able to move its head, but slowly. It tried spewing acid and curling its tail, but nothing it did could reach the back of its head.

"I've never seen Hotaru this angry before…" Hikaru said worriedly.

"Yeah, it is kind of scary, is it not?" Fuu pointed out.

"He must have hit his head again," Umi figured from his use of English.

Seeing the monster getting more and more upset, Hikaru raised up her weapon again, "We must still help him!"

"Right!"

As all three of them prepared to charge at the monster, their weapons disappeared all of a sudden.

"W-What happened to our weapons?" Umi stuttered in shock.

At the same time, Atalante was finally able to shrug Hotaru off. By rolling around on its side, Hotaru was pinned underneath the monster, and pressed into the ground. With him off of its back, the caterpillar continued its journey.

"It seems that it has a target other than us," Fuu interpreted.

"Hotaru, you okay?" Hikaru asked, seeing her friend flattened into the ground.

Hotaru sat up out of the indentation on the ground, and spat out a piece of outer wall, "Yeah, but the same can't be said about Presea's funhouse."

Struck with a moment of realization, Umi yelled, "We have to go save Presea!"

Hikaru and Umi rushed inside after the caterpillar, while Fuu helped Hotaru up. They followed Atalante's trail of destruction, seeing the monster create a straight line through the mansion. Despite the structural integrity of the building getting worse and worse, the four of them rushed after the monster as fast as they could.

"It's just a caterpillar… Why is it so fast?" Umi panted.

"Hotaru, run ahead of its path and distract it! We will attack it from behind!" Hikaru commanded.

"Roger that!" Hotaru ran forward, activating Steel Strength to catch up with the monster.

Since the monster was going through walls, Hotaru decided to follow its example. Running around it, he started smashing through the already crumbled walls, until he made it to the front of the monster. He summoned his axe and jumped on top of the monster's beak, wrapping his arms and axe handle around it, and clenching it shut. The monster started shaking its head to try and get him off, as its acidic spit could not get out.

The girls should soon lose their weapons, which signifies that the Escudo swords are finished. After that… well I don't remember how Presea died but…

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard several impacts against the back of the monster. The Magic Knights were firing their spells at full power at the monster. However, they barely even left a dent in the giant caterpillar.

"Use your weapons, not your magic!" Hotaru commanded them.

"We can't! Our weapons disappeared!" Umi yelled before firing another Water Dragon.

"What!?" Hotaru yelled. Already? But I still have my axe… Oh no, don't tell me she left mine last! …Woah!

Due to his momentary lapse in concentration, Atalante had managed to flip Hotaru in front of it. With its beak free, it tried to run him over once more, but this time Hotaru was prepared.

"Tungsten Defense!" he yelled, before grabbing hold of the monster's left sideburn.

With several metric tons of weight pulling back on its feelers, Atalante screamed in pain, unable to move forward. It spewed acid and gasped, sounding like a wounded animal.

Sorry Ascot, but if it means getting my Escudo weapon, I am fine with a little bit of animal cruelty!

As he was struggling with the monster, he heard a voice calling for him, "Captain Hotaru!"

"Presea?" he yelled in amazement, seeing the blonde woman from underneath the caterpillar.

Atalante saw the young woman also and spewed acid in her direction to the best of its ability. Because of her voluminous dress, Presea wasn't able to dodge as deftly as normal, causing some of the dress to get soaked in acid. Seeing her dress's long skirt start dissolving, Presea grabbed hold and tore it off.

With Presea's legs now almost completely visible and the dress full of holes, Hotaru was close to letting go of the monster's whiskers.

Presea yelled over the monster, "Hikaru! Fuu! Umi! Call out for your weapons! Escudo!"

"Escudo!" Hikaru yelled.

A longsword with a red grip, a silver blade with a golden tip, and a gold and red guard that looked like two croissants appeared in her hand. Both the guard and the pommel were decorated with round pink gems. The sword felt sturdier than her previous longsword, and yet lighter.

Hikaru jumped up and slashed at the back of the monster, creating a large gash across its armored plates. The monster screamed in pain and shook hard enough for its whiskers to get pulled off by Hotaru. At the same time, Umi and Fuu had called in their swords.

Seeing that the monster was loose, Hotaru rushed out from underneath it. As he ran towards the forge, he picked up Presea who was in his way, so she wouldn't get run over. It wasn't until he had run all the way to the forge, that he noticed he had her in a princess carry.

"Ummm… you can put me down now," Presea blushed, the situation with her dress making this all the more embarrassing.

Before Hotaru had time to comply, realize that he had saved her, or even blush himself, he heard a loud crash from behind him. Atalante had broken into the room and its dome-like structure was collapsing. With no moment to waste, Hotaru curled over Presea, protecting her from falling debris.

Seeing Hotaru get pelted with massive pieces of masonry, Presea yelled, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Hotaru grunted, covered by pieces of ceiling. "Alcyone hits harder than that. Steel Strength!"

He started moving rocks away from him, as Umi and Fuu attacked Atalante. Umi slashed the left side of the caterpillar, with a thin sword with a silver blade, a blue grip, and a gold and blue guard that had an egg-shaped gem on it. Fuu took care of the right side, slashing with a shortsword with a silver blade, green grip, and gold and green guard and pommel. The guard was shaped like two small round wings and had a round green gem in the middle.

The two cuts traveled the sides of the monster, leaving it immobile on the ground. By the time Hotaru had managed to dig himself and Presea out of the rubble, he thought the monster was finally dead. Instead, the red-hot glow surrounded the monster again and dozens of orange lightning bolts erupted from it.

The caterpillar's body became shorter, its legs and claws grew longer, and its beak developed into a mouth. Its whiskers changed into skin flaps, and it grew a pair of ginormous yellow moth wings. The monster spread its wings and slowly took flight, whipping up a major gust of wind as it ascended.

"Ah, the final form," Hotaru remembered.

"The wind's so strong!" Umi yelled, almost getting blown away by it.

"I can't see to attack!" Hikaru shouted, trying to cover her eyes from the dust.

"It is too far away for me to attack!" Fuu yelled, using her glasses to protect her eyes.

Well, I already saved Presea's life, might as well metagame something royal.

Hotaru put his hand into his chest pocket, and pulled out a pair of sunglasses he had taken with him to Cephiro. They had been fixed by Presea during their last visit and were now a bit more durable. After putting the sunglasses on, the gusts of wind bothered him a lot less, and despite it being night time, he could see the giant moth.

With Steel Strength still active, he jumped at full force into the air.

Despite the powerful wind, Hotaru was able to jump to and over the giant moth. He landed on Atalante's back and grabbed hold of its antennae. Once he had taken a position where it would be hard to shake him off, he looked down at the others.

"FUU! Throw me your sword!"

"Right!" she nodded before throwing her shortsword at Hotaru.

"No! The Escudo weapons can only be wielded by—!" Presea tried to warn them, but there was no need.

As Hotaru grabbed hold of Fuu's sword, the light-weight weapon turned immensely heavy. He had to use all of his enhanced strength to get it to its position, which was pointing downwards at Atalante's head. Atalante struggled to stay airborne, as the sword weighed him and his passenger down.

"Tungsten Defense!" Hotaru switched his buffs, causing the sword to pull his arms down.

With both Hotaru's super dense body and Fuu's sword weighing it down, Atalante came down like a shooting star. Its body struck the ground, leaving behind a massive crater, and the red gem on its forehead was pierced by the sword.

It was only after Atalante's body turned into red glowing sludge and slowly disappeared, that Hotaru let go of Fuu's sword. As he sat on the ground, he leaned back against his arms, breathed heavily, before starting to laugh like a maniac, staring at the moon through his sunglasses.

"Oh that… that took me by surprise," he laughed while lying, covering up his intent.

"Hotaru!"

"Are you okay?"

"Did you get hurt?"

The girls all rushed around him, perplexed by what had just happened and worried if their friend was okay.

"You were being far too reckless," the half-naked Presea scolded him. "I was trying to tell you that Escudo weapons can only be held by their wielders. You were lucky that the sword only got heavier and nothing more dangerous."

"Nah, I'm lucky that Fuu wears glasses," Hotaru chuckled as he brushed himself off and stood up. "So, where is my Escudo weapon?"

Presea looked a bit awkward upon hearing the question, before staring at the remnants of her dress.

"About that… it's a bit hard to explain," she hesitated, before pointing upwards.

As they all looked up and Hotaru took off his sunglasses, he realized that what he had seen before wasn't the moon. It was a perfectly round glowing sphere that gave off golden yellow light similar to the Escudo crystals at the beginning of forging.

"What's going on with it?" Hikaru asked.

"I have no idea," Presea admitted. "I have never heard of Escudo acting this way before. I tried my best but the ore just refused to turn into anything beyond that. Without my dress, I can't continue forging it."

Hearing this, Hotaru's left eye started twitching from anger. He stomped over to the shining orb, ready to dish out every single swear word he knew in five different languages, when suddenly its glow intensified. Everyone gasped in surprise as the glowing ball split into fragments that all shot out at Hotaru, peppering his body.

Hotaru tried blocking the fragments, but instead of them hitting his body, the golden pieces struck his armor. His armor began to glow bright silvery light and started expanding around him.

Once the glow faded, the difference was clear as day. Instead of the smooth, cream-colored armor similar to what the Magic Knights wore, his armor was now dark silver in color, layered, and jagged. Just like before, only his shoulders, forearms, feet, lower legs, and upper torso were covered by the armor. The armored pieces were ornamented with curving golden decorations, trims, and highlights. On each of his pauldrons there were large, lime-green orbs, and his bracers had smaller ones. As he looked at his hands, his left hand's glove had disappeared.

The armor looked a lot more what Hotaru would have expected a suit of armor to look like in a fantasy setting than previously. Judging by the gasps of the girls behind him, it seemed that they were impressed by his appearance as well. This however brought him no comfort at the moment.

I changed the past and risked unforeseeable events because of this!?

"Presea…" he turned towards the ladies with a forced smile. "I ordered a weapon!"

Though upset, his anger quickly turned to shock as he saw Presea laying against the arms of the girls. The blonde woman was breathing heavily and looked somewhat feverish. Her cheeks were flustered, her expression was pained, and sweat was dripping down her brow. It was clear that this was what the girls had been gasping at.

"What's wrong, Presea!" Hikaru asked, worried sick over her friend.

"I'm sorry…" Presea panted. "Forging weapons out of Escudo… takes a lot from one's soul. I never dreamt of making four of them at once… I'm… feeling sleepy…"

Hotaru rushed over to Presea and grabbed hold of her shoulders, "Don't you dare Presea! Stay with us!"

If you die out of exhaustion after I saved your life, I will kill you!

"Do not worry…" Presea uttered weakly. "I just need a bit of rest, and I'll be fine."

With those words, Presea passed out. Everyone feared for the worst, but after Fuu checked Presea's pulse, they all let out a sigh of relief. This was followed by Mokona popping out from underneath the rubble, without a single scratch.

Despite them all feeling worn out, Hotaru knew they couldn't stop here, "…We need to go."

"Go? Why Mr. Hotaru?" Fuu asked.

"That giant caterpillar was way too powerful to have come here by accident," Hotaru pointed out. "This forest is no longer safe from Zagato's attacks, so if we wish to keep Presea safe, we need to get moving."

"Right," Hikaru nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. "Let's take what we can and go."

After having a long and refreshing nap, Ascot stretched his short arms and wiped the dirt off of his white robes. He was excited to see the results of Atalante and whether or not any of the Magic Knights were still alive. But then he realized that the end result could have been messier than he expected. So, he figured it would be best to call the hungry caterpillar back instead.

"Come back Atalante!" he called for his friend.

But nothing happened. Usually, he would have heard Atalante screeching to let him know where it was. If it was sulking, he could hear its footsteps. Ascot started moving around the forest, thinking that perhaps his friend was too far to hear him.

"Come back! Atalante! Come back!"

Instead of Atalante, a proud male voice answered, "No matter how much you call, it won't come back."

As Ascot turned around, he wasn't all too surprised to see Inouva behind him. The pale, elf-looking right-hand man of Zagato had the tendency to do this when checking on the progress of other minions.

"Atalante listens to anything I say!" Ascot said confidently, knowing his beasts were loyal. "If I call, it will come back!"

"That's if it's still alive," Inouva said grimly.

Ascot gulped slightly, "What do you mean by that?"

"See for yourself," Inouva said dismissively, before returning to whence he came.

Ascot stood there in silence for a moment, unable to believe Inouva's words.

There's no way Atalante could be dead. It is almost immortal and always adapting. Inouva is just jealous.

But despite his faith in his friend, Ascot could not help but to feel a bit of doubt in this heart. He got on his floating rock and flew over to the mansion at the heart of the Forest of Silence. He was expecting to arrive at the scene of a carnage, but all he came across was rubble from the broken building.

"Atalante! Atalante!" he called again.

There was no response, but even in the dead of night, he could notice that some parts of the central dome's blue floor were darker than others. As he flew close, Ascot let out a sharp gasp, hopping down off of his rock. As he stepped on the dark spot, it became clear that it was the black blood of magical beasts.

"Atalante!" he yelled as he fell to his knees, tearing up. "What have they done to you?"

Unable to hold back his tears, Ascot fell down on his hands and knees, bawling his green eyes out. The young summoner could not believe one of his best friends had died due to his own negligence.

I should have been there to help him; I should have taken the Magic Knights more seriously!

"I'll make sure to avenge your death," Ascot swore, his voice trembling as he gritted his teeth. "I'll never let them get away with doing this to you!"

By the time morning had broken, our heroes had made their way out of the Forest of Silence. They had gathered Presea's regular clothing out of the rubble and had asked Mokona to give them a stretcher to carry the blacksmith. Hotaru and Hikaru had also tried checking Presea's armory for weapons for him, but the armory had collapsed and ruined most of the weapons.

Seeing the sunrise, Hikaru, Umi, Fuu, and Hotaru felt dead tired, as the adrenaline that had kept them going finally wore off. They had stayed up twenty-four hours straight, having traveled and battled most of that time.

"I think it's best we try and rest till Presea wakes up," Hotaru suggested, putting Presea's stretcher down on the ground with Fuu.

"Are you sure that is wise?" Umi asked worriedly. "You said there might be more such monsters coming for us."

Hotaru nodded, remembering himself saying that during travel, "Yes, but if we don't get rest, we will be in danger regardless. Besides, it won't be safe for Presea to stick around with us. It will be for the best that we go our separate ways when she wakes up."

"But what if something happens to her?" Hikaru whispered worriedly, not wanting to wake her up.

"She will be in more danger with us," Hotaru insisted calmly. "We are now more powerful than she is, by a wide margin. I know she is our dear friend, but it will be best if she goes into hiding instead of traveling with us."

Hikaru thought about Hotaru's words, weighing both options, "But what if someone targets her when we are away?"

Hotaru's expression was conflicted, but eventually answered, "Then you can blame me for it. However, her mission was to give us our weapons, and it has been done. Our enemy has no reason to target her."

Hikaru was comforted by these words a bit, and nodded understandingly.

"Although there is the possibility that our enemies will kidnap her and use her as a hostage to make us surrender," Hotaru rambled, thinking about the possible moves he would do as a villain. "But that is a risk we face with all our friends and allies, like Clef, Ferio, Mokona, every single villager we come across…"

"Please stop Hotaru!" Umi begged. "You are making Hikaru worried sick!"

Without an exaggeration, Hikaru really was looking pale and turning blue from worry, as she shook and mumbled something.

"Lack of sleep affects us all differently," Fuu said motherly, stroking Hikaru's head calmingly.

With that, the group decided to rest up at Mokona's shelter.

Author's Afterword: This episode has always been an emotional rollercoaster but I think I managed to add in well fitting twists and turns to it. For me the 6th episode of the anime holds a special place, as it was the first episode I ever saw. Not the worst spot to start the series if I do say so myself, for the reasons I hope I highlighted well enough in this chapter.

Seeing villains sending their underlings to do the fighting was nothing new to me, but having Ascot actually cry afterwards, was something new. I actually felt bad for the little guy when writing this and killing off his monster again.

As for Hotaru's Escudo "weapon", it does raise more questions than it answers, doesn't it? If you've read all the chapters up to this point, you know I often make sure to point out how much Hotaru stands out from the main three. Half of it is for plot related reasons, the other half is to keep you guys guessing. All I can say is that there is more to this armor than you might think.

As always reviews and feedback are appreciated!

PS: If any one of you can either confirm or deny whether Cephiro has a moon or not, please let me know.