While tension was building with Andrew's presence in Edo, with Empress Reiko simply giving the boy a hard time, making him take fake girls thinking he had simply captured the real ones, but in the end he has no idea, which can buy the girls a lot of time to stay off Andrew's radar and thus be able to fulfil the mission to finish the nine dungeons, which soon arrives at the part where the girls go to Wedinburgh's to start the mission to finish one of the dungeons.
Ready with everything, the trio that will explore the dungeon this time is already defined, the same trio that had gone to the island of Triskellion, Diana, Hellene and Akko, who are even trained and with more advanced equipment, they are very ready to go on the mission.
They soon group together, arriving at the exact entrance to the dungeon, which is in a hole in a cave next to the castle entrance that was always trapped by a huge rock. Atsuko then plants some bombs and manages to cause the rock to shatter, thus opening the way for them to pass.
"Okay, now we're free to move on, from here the girls and I will head for the dungeon" said Kagari.
"Good luck girls, go out there and kick these monsters' arses, show them you're powerful, I know you can do it" said Marianne.
"Oh and come on, I've got some new things to hit, this will only make my armoury more advanced" said the McLaren.
"We'll be waiting here, luckily we've reached the first dungeon where you have to cross Hyrule from the inside, it's already the fifth, there's this one and four more to go, it's still going to be a huge challenge, but I know you can do it" said Amanda.
The three of them hug their friends before leaving, with McLaren also going in for a big hug, followed by a kiss from his wife who is very worried about everything, as well as some people who were survivors from six years ago standing outside waiting and watching all the girls, clapping their hands and praising their presence.
They walk along the inside of the cave, seeing some minerals glowing along the way, as usual very attentive to what is ahead, which is not in any danger, apart from the bats that fly along the inside, frightened by the presence of the three of them.
"I expected a prettier dungeon around here" said the crimson-eyed girl.
"I don't think we've even reached the dungeon yet, but we're already entering a place that used to be forbidden, this entrance has been closed since my grandmother's reign, so as not to risk the lives of curious people, now we've opened the passage, there must be something on the other side for sure" Cavendish said.
"I'm dying to see it, this cave must only be a passage to what's on the other side, I remember that nearby there's the forbidden Wedinburgh forest, which no one can enter without magic, so it could probably be the only entrance to it around here, I remember we could see the forest from afar and even an abandoned castle" said the purple-eyed woman.
Walking through the cave, attentive to any danger that might appear, even without much fear, after all they were only bats and they are harmless, the three were walking quietly there, soon they reached the other side of the cave and also had to come across a rock thrown there, which made the brown-haired one have to plant bombs.
The explosion revealed the entrance to the forest, the noise also agitated several bats nearby who ended up flying en masse to the outside of the cave which ended up shaking a little, then they managed to spot the environment outside in the dust with the sun illuminating the entrance.
"We're here..." Said the relieved platinum-haired girl.
"It looks like we've finally arrived, to think we were going to turn up here six years ago" said the redhead.
The three of them take a deep breath and make their way through the forest, where they come across the raven Arcor, who, after all this time, had already appeared when the warrior from Luna Nova escaped from prison, and after a long time appears again to talk to the girl.
"You've come a long wayAtsuko Kagari, I'm surprised that you can be the warrior to finish just four of the nine witches' dungeons, going into the fifth, but it looks like you'll also be dealing with much more intense dangers than before, especially around what happened here in Hyrule, you managed to escape the problems and also stay off Andrew Hanbridge's radar, but you know that this escape won't last forever, so be
quick and be skilful too, you don't necessarily have to focus on the dungeons, there's still a lot going on around you that will help you be better prepared for the final battle, like the fifth word that's also here, but will only be revealed when you finish Beatrix Cavendish's shrine, I'm going now, I wish you good luck" Said the raven who then flew off.
"That crow, I haven't seen him for ages, he always seems to be looking out for me, like a parental figure taking care of it's kid" said Akko.
"Chariot's raven, he's always been looking after you, she's always been watching you, now come on, let's go, we know a place is safe when Arcor shows up" said Diana.
The girls smiled at each other and headed off along the forest track, which until then had been quite safe, not even monsters were present there, but the trio kept an eye out for any danger that might appear, since monsters are unexpected.
After walking along a very quiet and short path, they reached a more open field and at the bottom was the Wedinburgh castle and dungeon, with a bridge separating the place, and it was also possible to see Hyrule castle in ruins at the bottom.
"Our house at the bottom, to think that now we have this view" said Hellene.
"We always watched from up there, I remember it well, now we can get to the forbidden place" said Cavendish.
"This castle must be a dungeon full of things, but I hope we can beat it" said Atsuko.
The trio got closer to the castle, there was no danger so far, they could see that deep down there was simply a path behind the castle which was where the word was supposed to lead, it wasn't their focus, they stood in front of the castle entrance, at the double doors, where they already positioned the sword at the entrance and the magic was already flowing, opening the entrance, revealing a red carpet that passed through the middle, It didn't look so much like an abandoned castle as a well-kept place, and they came across a staircase in front of them, with a few doors, two upstairs pointing left and right, and another two on the left downstairs, one pointing right and the other behind the staircase pointing north.
"Woah, this is a complex dungeon, we're going to have a lot to explore apparently, where do we start?" Kagari asks.
"Let's go up, there are fewer doors, then we'll go down" said the one with the platinum blonde hair.
They chose to go upstairs and walk up the stairs. When they got there, they opened the door, which led to a corridor, which was full of snakes of considerable size. They went from one side of the corridor to the other, trying to walk, but as there were so many of them, it was time to attack to clear the way, and that's what the crimson-eyed one did.
The Katana, with its powerful slashes, managed to open up a good part of the path in the dungeon corridor, which was more like a mansion, passing through where they managed to open the way.
"Wow, how many snakes, luckily none of us has any traumas with them" said the brown-haired one.
Soon the corridor takes a turn, and as they look along the side they come across a trap that is simply releasing more and more snakes, so they continue to open the way, cutting the snakes with the katana until they reach the next door, after a small staircase.
Entering it, they arrive in a room where they are locked in, just as suddenly as usual, and a unicorn falls out, which later turns out to be simply a creature on its back, leaving the three of them on their guard.
"A Nuckelavee!" The Cavendish sisters say.
"What is it?" asks the confused warrior from Luna Nova.
"Legends say that it's a half-horse, half-human creature that haunts the forests of Wedinburgh and just uttering its name makes people afraid, I didn't realise it was real, well then, come on, can I handle this one?" Said the Queen of Wedinburgh and then saw her wife shrugging.
The monster rides up to them and they soon separate into a corner where they are almost hit by the huge axe in the monster's hands, which he has caught very close to the queen. With delicate movements she dodges it and with her rapier she can soon see how easily she can move lightly and quickly.
"Now let's see if I'm really showing that obvious improvement" said a smiling Diana.
The monster lunges at the platinum blonde-haired one, who tries to hit it with the axe, but soon sees it dodging and on the way hits a blow to the creature's human head, which screams and soon feels the effect of the blow spreading through its body, bursting everything around it in an instant.
Even so, the monster still tries to move upwards in order to somehow land an attack, as if it could still see, but the blue-eyed one dodges, sliding away with a boost from a glyph she made herself.
"Not bad, this little monster really knows how to attack, but I'm not going to let myself be beaten so easily, one head is gone, now the other is missing" said the Queen of Wedinburgh concentrating her energy on the rapier.
The Nuckelavee rides upwards at full speed, even without its second head, and the girl uses various glyphs to create a path where she gives it a boost, which confuses the monster, which is taken by surprise with a blow that comes from above with the rapier that pours out a lot of energy and then ends up blowing off the other head, which is where she defeated the creature.
The first chest with a key came up right in this room, showing that the creatures in this dungeon are not to be trifled with.
"Well, we've already got our first key" said Akko.
"Not bad Diana, that rapier is really powerful, how can you cause a whole explosion with one blow?" Said the impressed Hellene.
"Ah, that's just one of the effects of concentrating magic and letting the explosion roll where the rapier catches it, it activates points on the body and spreads, causing a collapse that then ends up swelling, that's what I'm concentrating in a few seconds before hitting any blows, that's why it causes the explosion" Diana explains.
They don't have much of a way to go from there, since it's a dead end on that side of the dungeon, so they walk all the way back, this time to the top floor, which is on the other side.
Opening the door, they come across another corridor, this one not full of snakes, but with only a few Hyu flying from one side to the other, which was easy to walk through, until there was a bend, very similar to the other corridor, but as they turn round, they come across some Zazaks, which is just the moment to start heading upwards.
"That's three for us, let's not be selfish" said Atsuko and the others smiled.
"You have no idea what I was waiting for" said the McLaren.
Kagari simply gives the draconic monster a quick slash, causing it to fall in half, while her wife lands a powerful blow to the head, without even giving Zazak time to unleash a fireball, He felt every point of his body throbbing until he ended up falling to the ground paralysed and dead, while the redhead was enjoying herself. She threw a powerful punch, making the creature fly away with the power and it crashed into the wall and became a mere disappearing cloud, killing it on the spot.
"Damn, I didn't think I'd be that strong, I guess I'll have to learn to keep my strength down a bit" said the shocked purple-eyed girl.
"Wow, a punch like that would knock Andrew out, you can knock out a mountain like that hahaha" said the crimson-eyed girl.
"What an exaggeration, but it was really strong, I've never achieved something like that with the old gauntlets, it seems that this one acts in a more magical way, with a smaller area the punch must be much stronger, wow" said the impressed princess of Wedinburgh.
Soon they're leaving the corridor, going through the door where there's another corridor, this time it's not full of Zazaks, there are only a few Hyu and also Banshees who fly from one side to the other, occasionally attacking the group, who attack back to defend themselves with the precision of their blows.
At the end of the corridor they go up a spiral staircase, arriving at the top floor and it's quite surprising, as they arrive in a more open part of the dungeon, which is usually never in the open, but they also come across a more aggressive type of creature that follows them and goes upwards, similar to crows only bigger and more aggressive.
"Be careful, girls, these things can hurt" said the blue-eyed girl.
And indeed the crows were agile and going at it with no mercy, but soon with the slashing projectiles they were simply one by one falling into Akko's hands, who was attacking from long range, just as Diana was doing the same thing, while Hellene was taking care of the ones that came closer, which opened up the way and they soon reached one of the towers that gave them an entrance and there were no crows there, but on the other hand the door closed and there they would have to face a wave of monsters.
Twelve Zazaks fall at once, all of them red and coming at them mercilessly, so the trio split up to group the monsters and attack them.
"Wow, there are a lot of dragons here now, but it's nothing we can't handle" said Atsuko.
"We just have to be careful not to end up too badly hit or injured" said Cavendish.
"Let's see what these little things are made of" said the smiling McLaren.
The monsters continued to attack, but the fireballs had no effect, as the trio were even immune to them, the only attack strong enough, as up close they only had scratches that were easily defended against and dodged.
Each of them showed a different style of attack, the brutality of the redhead, the lightness and precision of the platinum blonde and the speed and power of the brown one, all three managed to stand out from the monsters' attacks.
"It's really nice here, I haven't felt alive like this for ages, I've been missing a dungeon" said the purple-eyed girl, who even emanated a glow.
"I even like going into these dungeons just to see how far I can go, because there are some situations like these that really push me to the limit and I like to see what I can do with my new powers, with each one I'm simply managing to excel beyond what's possible, just when I think I can't, one more barrier I can cross, let's go" said the warrior from Luna Nova.
They were soon able to finish off the zazaks in that tower, which opened up the way, and they were able to move on, in that part going all the way round the tower, they noticed that they were simply being visited by the same crows, only they weren't sparing anything, the three of them were dodging as best they could, there were many more of them than the others and they still had to worry about some other monsters in the tower, Hinoks throwing bombs from one side to the other.
"Wow, it looks like it's going to get harder and harder, we've got to be on our guard, or else the crows are going to give us a blow that will have us completely impaled by beaks" said the blue-eyed one.
"We can manage" said Kagari.
But it was getting really complicated to cope, Hellen was taking care of the Hinoks and her punches were powerful enough to throw some of them out of the tower, falling dead, while the two girls were trying to clear a path with the crows, but they were already being hit a few times by grazes, which the crimson-eyed girl decided to think about for a while, using her shield she protected herself, took her staff out of her bag and used the hook, which ended up making it easier as she was propelled to where the other side was.
She walks straight past the crows while her friends hold her back, so that they can enter the next room, which is yet another trap that is closing.
"Oh, that's to be expected, we're going to have to kill some monsters" said the brown-haired girl, getting up from the floor.
This time the enemies are old favourites, simply 15 Stalfos Knights, which is going to be a big job in that cramped tower room, even more so as they follow them around trying to land a blow and disable the rapier's attacks, only the skeletons weren't expecting something that was simply the gauntlets being powerful enough to turn the bones to flour, breaking everything, to ta point they turn to bone dust.
"You may be bones, but I still have strong enough fist" said Hellene.
"HeyAkko, let's distract them while my mana kills them," said Diana, trying to defend herself.
"I've got a smarter tactic" said Akko, taking something out of his bag.
Atsuko dodged using the boomerang with her wife defending her from being hit and this dismantled the skeletons, who even stopped focussing on the girl with the gauntlets simply because her attacks were too strong to be defended against.
With them piling up and dismantled, it was time to activate the bombs and it really worked, the creatures were being killed and there was very little left.
"Woah, these monsters are a pain in the arse, but I manage to beat them, they keep running away from me, they're afraid of being hit by my fists" said McLaren smiling.
They soon managed to kill all the Stalfos knights, although there were many, the redhead's punches and the queens' double work were enough to get them all together to be simply blown up with enormous ease and with that the way became more open.
They soon continue on to another session of corridors where they come across crows.
"Oh damn, them again, how are we going to do this without being hit, there are several Hinox and also Zazaks, unless we find a way to get through without being hit" Cavendish said.
"I'll lead the way, then you come with me" said Kagari.
The crimson-eyed girl, being the fastest of the trio, ran all the way to the other side, even passing a few monsters that got grazed along the way, while crows simply tried their best to hit the girl, who easily dodged and ran fast enough to get a foothold on the tower, which opened the way for the other two.
"Great, Akko opened the way for us, let's go to the door, we'll avoid those monsters" said the purple-eyed girl.
The two ran and dodged the bombs thrown by the few surviving hinox, as well as the fireballs of the zazaks, who luckily were blue in colour, who don't follow but only fire fireballs when they're facing each other and that was the pair's tactic since most of the crows were being distracted, by the brown-haired one who reached the top of the tower and then threw herself off it and the crows were still trying something, arriving at the door below the wife cushioned her fall.
And then she used her shield, which was enough to protect herself from being pecked and prodded, and with that they entered a room, this time there were only three red Goryia, which is relatively easier to deal with than any other monster in the other parts of the dungeon.
"Well, they're just for us to imitate their movements and launch a long-range attack" said the blue-eyed one.
"No chance, love, I'm already too badly injured for an attack like that to work, the crows have left me full of cuts" said the warrior from Luna Nova.
Even so, they worked out that the girl still had the arrows, so the three of them distracted the monsters so that they could be hit by arrows, which was even easier, Akko's accuracy had improved a lot since she started her journey, she was able to hit all the Goriya even if they threw fireballs, she was simply immune.
"Look, you don't seem to be able to attack me, but I can" said the smiling girl.
The three monsters were easily killed, which led to the appearance of a chest. Finally, it was what they had been waiting for, a chest with a key, which they happily picked up and put away, thus bringing the exploration of the upper part of the castle to an end, since things were going to get a little more complicated down below.
"Well, it looks like it was all from up here, since there's no way out, we had to go round, until the dungeon was generous with us, giving us this easier battle at the end, because we didn't even get to where the master key is and not even in the further part, I think this is going to be the dungeon that's going to put us over the edge" said Kagari.
"Well come on, we've got to get back to the main room of this dungeon, but first we'll have to deal with the crow monsters" said Cavendish with a rather miffed expression, but she was soon being held in her arms by her wife.
I'll take you, I can go fast enough to get there and avoid the crows on the way back, I've even got an idea to take you and Hellene on my back too, girl, I'll take you on that one - said the crimson-eyed one.
The two of them somehow hold onto the girl and she leaves the room where they came from and then runs as fast as she can. She uses the hook on the other side of the towers, exactly where they had started and with that she hangs herself, which dodges the crows, since they both created a shield of magic so they wouldn't be hit and with that they enter the door of the tower at full speed, staying inside, even breathing a sigh of relief.
"We haven't been hit, those crows really have blood in their eyes, it's a good thing they only appear in this part of the castle, what annoying monsters" said the exhausted Atsuko.
"You said it wouldn't be so exhausting for yourself, are you sure it wasn't too much weight for you to carry? -Cavendish asks.
"It's okay love, we made it to the other side and that's the important thing, now let's go, we can get to the bottom of the dungeon with our skills more, let's take a rest there in the safe part and be calm - Said the brown-haired one.
With that, they make their way back downstairs to the entrance of the dungeon, where they sit on the stairs and take the opportunity to apply bandages to the cuts and bruises they've suffered. It's already helping because it's a magical bandage that gradually regenerates the body from the wounds and this can be a great help when exploring a place as full of monsters as this one and where potions can't be spent in large quantities.
"Well, that's it, with these bandages we'll be better healed, we can go up again soon and I can even use my projectile cutting attack if I get well soon" Akko said, breathing a little heavily.
"My love, we've really had enough, so could this be the dungeon that really defines your decision, are you really sure you're going to stick with it?" said the platinum blonde haired girl.
"Now I'm more sure, I can't put them in danger, although they've helped me a lot, the point is that from now on the dungeons will be more and more complicated, we're in the last five, who knows what monsters there are in the last ones, they must have things like that that even with fireproof clothes will go completely through me, apart from that only the three of us have special clothes, the other girls wear ordinary clothes and ordinary weapons too, we're the only ones with magical weapons and Marianne" said Kagari.
"Well, you're right about that, but we have to focus, soon things will close in on us, the situation could get ugly, Andrew coming and all that, did Reiko's plan really work?" Said the blue-eyed girl.
"I hope so, I'll already feel guilty for the lives sacrificed in the name of this, when I face Andrew I don't want him to feel my hatred, I want him to feel the weight of all the lives that were killed by him, each one of them is on the blades of this sword, I'll make him feel everything, even if he's just the reincarnation of an evil spirit, I'll do everything for justice to come, we'll defeat him and bring peace to Hyrule - said the motivated girl with the crimson eyes.
"And after all that, we will rebuild Hyrule, perhaps not in our time, only when our daughters or granddaughters or great-granddaughters are reigning will we see all the prosperity of before returning, but I guarantee that I will fight every minute and every second so that this can be a reality that can be achieved, so that we can live as one people? So that all differences no longer exist, so that equality becomes the rule, I want to put my mother Laura's plan into action, we will revolutionise Hyrule" said the Queen of Wedinburgh.
"Well, I don't know what to say about this, but I'm with you little sister, I'm sure the plan will work, I also want to see what else there is in this dungeon, break the faces of some monsters, I even wanted to move to Edo and Mari to be near Reiko, but we have a priority to rebuild the kingdom and I can't even go back there anymore... I'm worried about Marianne's friend, she could end up feeling the power of Appleton's army, those marvellous people are going to suffer a lot, I hope we're quick" said Hellene.
"I'll be honest with you, we won't be able to do it quickly... It'll be at least a month before we've finished all the dungeons, since the only way to get from one place to another is by cart, and carts go a bit faster than walking, which will take days just to get from one point to another on this journey, I wish we could get to every corner of the dungeon quickly in less than a day... Unfortunately, Andrew is going to get to Edo, he's going to do his worst there, and then he's going to focus on us again, he's sure to realise his plan to spread salesmen around Hyrule and travel in disguise, or he'll get to Wedinburgh again, either way it's an inevitable bloodbath that we're going to have to fight to stop, well come on, we can't just sit here and wait, there's a dungeon waiting to be completed" Akko said to the two girls, who soon got up from the ladder to start exploring the next part of the dungeon.
It was a quick break, just to put bandages on, chat a bit and try to lighten the mood, but it's not possible to reach that point anyway, since the risks are always there, just remembering that at any moment they could be looking for Akko and the whole plan could go down the drain, which means that they're trying their best to make everything work, since they can't risk and waste faries to heal themselves, everything to do the dungeon as well as possible.
The dungeon of Wedinburgh arrives, the sanctuary of Beatrix Cavendish, an abandoned and ancient castle in the middle of the secret forest of Wedinburgh that is blocked by magic, either by the surroundings or by the ancient cave that was closed off by two rocks on either side, It's been a tricky dungeon, with its challenges and monsters with deadly attacks, and even though the three are stronger and more powerful, it's clear that the monsters are also keeping up and showing that the dangers are only going to get more intense, the real challenge for the royal trio to face, but nohting is more diffcult than deal with the biggest monster that isn't even in the dungeon, but instead hunting the girls on the whole Hyrule.
See you, shrine witches...