Chapter 22

The site where the portal is going to appear is a massive clearing that has obviously been artificially, or magically, leveled. All the trees, rocks, and boulders had been used as construction material for the fortification and earthworks surrounding the center of the clearing large enough for thousands of people to get in as no one knows how large the portal will be.

The fortification itself reminded Taylor of some historical siege she once studied but couldn't remember the name of; It was a dual-line fortification with one set of wall, towers, and a moat facing outward, and another set facing inward to contain whatever that will come out of the portal in case they were hostile.

The outward-facing fortification didn't make sense at first glance to Taylor, considering the expedition composed of freelancers hired by an internationally acknowledged organization and the local defense force, there should be no opposition that would attack this place... until she remembered how aggressive the wildlife especially those with magic and literal superpowers are and appreciated the construction crews' and their supervisor's foresight.

But then again, they were born and lived in this world much longer than she, that should be a given.

"They built this place in just days?" Taylor questioned after she got permission from the garrison to take to the sky and get a good look down on the surrounding alongside Yumeko and Shinki. Paying no heed that the vulgar people down below would take this opportunity to look up their skirts.

After all, they both had a more pressing matter to deal with, and as one of the professors from Pandemonium once said; they might as well never fly at all if they think their modesty is more important.

"Magical constructs, dear." Shinki explained with a smile; "They provide instant manpower with just a few casters. Lets the fighters conserve their strength while erecting fortification in record time."

Taylor eyed the site below with apprehension. Despite living in this realm for years and occasionally saw professors and apprentices at Pandemonium academy using this power before, her mind still felt uncomfortable at the thought of people of this realm nonchalantly using one of the powers that her birthplace fears the most for trivial matters, or no one seems to fear them at all.

It was ironic, as she has started learning this kind of magic too, albeit not as impressive as her medical skill and its… derivatives, due to having sporadic time to practice.

"As much as I'd like to chat…" her fellow maid and blooded daughter of her mistress intoned; "…shouldn't we go back down? I'm not keen on giving those vulgar people a show."

"Even when they won't be able to see it anyway, my dear Yumeko?"

Yumeko almost scowls at her mother's teasing smirk before schooling herself; "Better not give them the idea in the first place, Milady."

Despite all of them beginning to descending to the camp, Shinki made it clear that Yumeko's concern wasn't the reason considering her amused giggle on their way down.

They were greeted by a being who Taylor could only identify as merfolk, with a pale white human-shaped upper torso, dark purple reptilian feet, and green fish scales that covered their lower bodies complete with a fishtail. They didn't seem bothered with being so far inland without any large body of water, nor did they care about the stares from the adventurers around them as they began conversing with Shinki as soon as she touched down.

"…It's not a big deal for us to get this far inland, Lady Shinki." A deep masculine voice rumbled from the beak-like mouth of the larger merfolk. His yellow reptilian eyes locked with Shinki's silver ones as they finished exchanging the greeting; "This's a rare chance for me and my partner to broaden our horizon and reconnect to some familiar faces. It's been a while since we graduated from Pandemonium academy after all."

A cough was heard from Shinki's head maid, drawing the attention of the merfolk before she pointed to the side; "Pardon my intrusion, but does your partner happen to be that lady over there?"

Taylor instinctively followed Yumeko's finger and has to resist the urge to sigh. Indeed, another merfolk was a few dozen meters away from them, and her 'feminine charm' seems to have attracted the attention of several familiar people…

'I guess these Casanova wannabes will hit anyone with any appealing feminine features, however little they are. Different species be damned.'

And that wasn't inaccurate at all; considering that said merfolk, just like her male counterpart standing near Shinki, was nothing like the old cartoon's depiction she watched in her previous life aside from her finely proportioned chalk-white humanoid figure; From the multiple white-thick tentacles flowing down to her ankle in place of hair. To the seal-like hands holding an ornated ceremonial rod. Or shark-like teeth that she was baring at the harassing adventurers who remain oblivious to her displeasure.

Her partner who was standing next to Shinki shrugged nonchalantly at the sight; "I'd be insulting her if I barge in on a problem that she could solve..."

The air suddenly turned frigid as soon as those words left his beak-like mouth. It didn't take a genius to deduce the source of such disturbance for Shinki's entourage as all eyes were on the female merfolk almost in unison. But they were even more surprised by the fact that those Casanova adventurers were still oblivious to the problem and tried to woo the merfolk!

"…Lady, please put this coat on. It's freezing here and you're covered only in your scales. That would be too chill even for merfolk like you."

The team leader was offering a winter coat that he probably pulled out of his backpack to the merfolk, whose smile was replaced with an incredulous expression mirrored by almost everyone in Shinki's entourage and said merfolk's partner…

…except one who chose this moment to walk straight up to the three oblivious Casanovas and put herself between them and the merfolk with a mischievous smile on her face and hands behind her back.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Does your thirst for women know no bounds? If you're like this, is it any wonder why no one has taken up your offer yet?"

Shinki's not-so-innocent smile made the trio sweat bullets as their eyes darted between her and the merfolk, trying to find an excuse but finding none. Thankfully for the trio, one of the city representatives showed up to summon them back for the assignment, inadvertently saving them from further embarrassment in front of the ladies.

The merfolk, on the other hand, didn't get offended by Shinki's intervention, but whether it was out of respect for her authority or genuine gratefulness it wasn't important enough to question and everyone accepted it as what it is and move on to a more pressing matter, namely the transparent outline of some kind of object starting to materialize in the center of the fortification.

"It seems the time for leisure is over now. Faster than I expected." Shinki said quickly as a warning horn rang through the camp and people began rushing to their positions.

"Shall we requisite a watchtower for observation?" Yumeko dutifully asked as soon as Shinki's word left her mouth, while Taylor was waiting silently.

After observing the controlled chaos inside the camp for a while, Shinki shook her head; "There's no need for it. The gatehouse will do. Leave it for the marksmen and those that can take better advantage of it in case of emergency."

And so Shinki, Yumeko, and Taylor all ended up on the gatehouse alongside several hired muscles and the merfolk pair overlooking the emerging structure which looks more like a cut-out section of a cliff as tall as the watch tower and covered half of the area inside the wall. A stone archway covered a cave entrance at the center of the cut-out cliff, pointing directly at where Shinki's group was standing.

Behind the wall, adventurers were anxiously standing by with several soldiers from the city. Some were frustrated at the prospect of waiting behind the wall which constrained them from gaining glory and fortune, seemingly forgetting that they were hired as security, but were kept in check by the 'employer representatives' and their fellows.

As the 'gateway' was solidifying, Shinki turned to her 'younger' maid and instructs; "Taylor, could you please deploy familiars and surround the gate?"

At the surprise request, Taylor asked back nervously; "Haven't the professors from the academy already done so? I mean, I'm still lacking in the practice of this spell even after years of learning now."

"There's no such thing as too much information-gathering capability. Especially with an unknown such as this." Shinki casually explained without dropping her smile. She gestured toward the materializing otherworldly gate; "And who knows? Your different upbringing may shed insights into what people of this realm overlook. And this's also a good opportunity for you to practice it as well."

Taylor has no refute to her reasoning and immediately gets to work. A moment of concentration later, dozens of magical constructs resembling glowing dragonflies the size of an index finger emerged surrounding the trio. Their ethereal wings fluttered in the air as they took to the sky toward the emerging otherworldly gate and surrounded it.

Taylor closed her eyes in concentration and let the visions from her familiars trickle in slowly, shifting from one familiar's perspective to another with no rush. She had learned her lesson about being impatient and trying to process everything from multiple familiars at once, and determined not to worry Shinki again if she could help it.

It was not fun being on the edge of insanity from information overload, after all. This makes her wonder how Haku could've done it with an information network that apparently spanned the entire world and probably watching them even now. It's probably something to do with her species' unique traits, her centuries of experience, or both.

Shinki placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly while whispering into her ears as if to stop her thoughts from drifting; "See Haku as an example of what one can accomplish given enough time and effort, not as someone you must surpass, for that is impossible so long as those that came before does not slack off and still keeps improving their skills."

Taylor's concentration faltered for a moment, indicated by the glowing dots around the gate suddenly plummeting before quickly correcting themselves as she opened her eyes to look at Shinki who took the chance to impart her wisdom; "No one was born equal in the infinite multiverse, my child. But freedom of choice is given equally to everyone, including the choice to resent things that one couldn't have, or as an ideal and inspiration to strive for. Which one of those will you choose, my child?"

There was no outward reaction to Shinki's question, but the girl decided to refocus on the current event once again, which was just in time for the gateway to finally solidify and for shadows to be seen inside the archway approaching the exit. Faint mutters of something sound like "Finally, I was starting to get bored." Or something to such effect was heard from among the hired adventurers, signaling that the most boring part of this outing will be over soon.

The chatter among the denizens of Makai soon gave way to the sound of a marching group, or rather, army, echoed from inside the archway, before rows upon rows of beings emerged from the darkness, feet thrummed the ground in lockstep with one another…

"Is that… a man-card?" Yumeko muttered as she set her sight upon the first row of beings which could only best be described as playing cards, each with a pair of arms and feet along with an empty metallic helm hovering over where their head should be. Their torso is painted in either black or red spade, heart, diamond, or club, like their inanimate counterpart. Their hands held various weapons expected of the old civilization, from clubs, spears, shields, bows, or even metal gauntlets.

And at the back of the formation, a large figure gleaming from head to toe in metallic grey armor atop a metal horse appeared. Beak-like protrusion of their face, probably symbolizing their nose, turned around from left to right, surveying the wall surrounding their landing site, eyes on the helm malevolently gleaming red as the metallic being took in the sight.

Then, the gatehouse beneath Shinki opened and one person emerged from it; Revealing a figure in the likeness of Michael who should be staying back in the city now trudging his way toward the army arrayed in front of them with a flag in hand.

"A long-distance wooden puppet control." Yumeko mused as she observed the 'puppet mayor' approaching the army of card soldiers. "But better safe than sorry I suppose."

The Michael lookalike stopped just a few dozen of meters before the army and start talking in an enchanted voice as if coming out from a loudspeaker, trying to get the attention of the figure on the metal horse or the card soldiers.

But then, the metal armored being on the horseback pulled out a sword from the sheath at their back and pointed at the wall before a sound escaped their armored head, unintelligible voice boomed forth, yet everyone present could hear the actual meaning of said voice in their minds with little difficulty.

'A product from either Shinki's dominance over her world, or a product from research into sentient minds that people of this realm conducted.' was what Taylor was thinking while concentrating on her familiars watching the proceeding from all angles like a hawk, looking for the slightest foul plays from the otherworldly army which intensified once the words from that peak-nosed armored man registered in her mind.

"-Look! A new world, a new land to be conquered in my name! And that of Her Majesty of course! What's this? Do these barbarians think that these flimsy walls and the cowardly men on them will be able to contain my Royal Troops?-"

Still, there was a chance that this might be a misunderstanding, a translation spell malfunctioning. But sadly, Taylor's hope was dashed instantly as her familiar caught sight of that tin-man leader shooting a fireball the size of a grown man from the back of the card-soldiers formation and vaporizing the puppet controlled by Mayor Michael in an instant.

"-Scratch one nuisance. Peace? They will have their peace as sacrifices to Her Majesty! Go forth, my Royal Troops! No survivor! Our conquest begins now!-"

If there was any doubt about the mistranslation of these otherworldly beings before, it was vaporized the moment the gauntlet-wielding card soldiers lifted their hands and shot a multitude of spells at the walls before them as their brethren surged forward with weapons brandished and killing intent filled the air.

Despite all the preparation in case the beings from the other world prove hostile, the defenders were stunned at the sudden escalation of the conflict that the opening barrage would've wiped the wall clean had Shinki not deployed her barrier to intercept them.

The sound of explosions of fire, ice, lightning, and exotic energies next to their faces, stopped from blowing them to chunks of meat by only a thin transparent barrier, spurred the defenders into action. But before the first arrow could be nocked and the first syllable of spell left magicians' lips, the front ranks of the card soldiers rushing for the fortification were torn apart by spikes of ice erupting from the ground alongside freezing hailstorm that appeared out of thin air blasting back those that survived to collide with their comrades behind or impaled by ice shards carried by this unnatural turbulent wind.

"Thank you, for your quick action."

The female merfolk who stood stoically next to Shinki said nothing at the remark, only inclined her tentacled head as acknowledgment while her male counterpart bowed his head and remarked back at the ruler of Pandemonium, seemingly disinterested in the carnage below the wall that begin to intensify by the other defenders on the wall joining the battle; "So do you. Lady Shinki, for the barrier. Or my partner wouldn't be able to cast the spell safely as she has."

Yumeko sighed, though her lips tugged upward slightly; "Please spare us your humility. You wouldn't be holding the rank of Deep Sentinel if you can't at least protect your partner."

The Deep Sentinel let out a merry laugh while his partner smiled slightly.

But their joyous mood evaporated seconds later as battle cries reached their ears and draw their eyes toward the battleground… and saw a group of adventurers – for there was no way to mistake them for the disciplined soldiers of this country – charging down the two flanks of the card soldiers.

Yumeko again lead with a comment as the newcomers crashed into the card soldiers; "Who let them out? We don't need extra casualties this early when these outworlders can have another army in reserve to swarm them."

"The more reason to rout the current invaders quickly." The Deep Sentinel opined; his reptilian eyes surveyed the battlefield that now devolved into a chaotic melee as the hired adventurers clashed with the card soldiers with neither coordination nor discipline which resulted in those on the walls toning down their long-range fire for fear of friendly fire, and large-scale bombardment like what the merfolk did earlier became completely unusable.

Still, after a moment of watching the carnage, the adventurers did well for themselves despite the undisciplined nature of hired muscles from different backgrounds, which puzzled Shinki's two subordinates greatly.

Not that they want the adventurers to get slaughtered by the hostile outworlders, however.

As if sensing questions from her two maids, Shinki elaborated as the defenders intermixed within the card soldier formation and small-scale spells flying around the chaotic battlefield below; "We'd have to thank our Prelate for this opportunity, my children…" her eyes drifted toward the female merfolk; "Her spell sow confusion and disarray among the enemy's ranks and the bombardment from others further prevents them from properly regroup…"

She paused a little before continuing; "…but that confusion will only last so long. I doubt that our dear metal invader will let this state of affair continue"

"-What-what-what are you doing, my-my-my Royal Troops! Regroup and crush-crush-crush these in-in-in sect-sect-sects! Or we-we-we face the wrath-wrath-wrath of the Queen-queen-queen! -"

Just as Shinki spoke up, another command from the enemy leader reached their mind-ears, and the shift in the battlefield was quickly noticed by those on the wall; the rear line card soldiers that the adventurers haven't reached yet began to consolidate as their out-of-formation comrades tried desperately to obey the command of their leader.

The adventurers on the ground were oblivious to this shift, their sights blinded by the chaos surrounding them. Those on the walls, however, could only watch helplessly as the core of the enemy began to consolidate and prepare for a push…

…all except one…

Shinki lifted her hand silently, her silver eyes narrowed at the battle with a small displeased frown on her lips. Visually, the battlefield and its surroundings were unchanged, but those with magical sight could notice the shift of invisible power gathering around and above the battlefield, pulsating and growing by the second.

And then, without warning, that power was unleashed in form of countless light bullets that appeared out of nowhere and rained down upon the battlefield. Each light bullet seemingly has a mind of its own, seeking out and hitting the card soldiers with such power that their entire body vaporized on impact, while actively leaving the native defenders unharmed even when it had to make multiple sharp turns to do so.

The leader of the invader was the only one spared from the carnage by the combination of card soldiers sacrificing themselves by jumping into the path of the bullets and Shinki seemingly trying to avoid fatal strikes on them, which said tin-man took the opportunity to scramble back toward the gate which he came from, all while yelling stuttered profanities that their magic could barely translate as cursing his 'Royal Troops' for their incompetence making him fail and promise of revenge as he disappeared under the shadow of the gate.

To their credit; despite their leader deserting the battlefield so quickly, the few remaining card soldiers fought on, albeit unorganized like a feral animal that relied on instinct and try to kill anyone that was not their kind, heedless whether some of their spells caused casualties amongst themselves as the adventurers dove into the midst of their formation once more.

"What a beautiful sight." A sigh escaped the shark-like teeth of the merfolk lady who moved next to Shinki as other defenders on the wall were still watching the chaos below closely; "Remind me again why you choose to help us now, Lady Shinki?"

"Well, I have to assert dominance once in a while, so those who think with their muscles instead of brains still understand the significance of the Pandemonium as a place for peaceful negotiation." Shinki replied smoothly as she turned to face the merfolk with a smile; "After all, we cannot solve everything with words alone, especially against muscle brains, can we?"

"As you say." The Deep Prelate agreed before she pointed toward one of Shinki's maids; "But, is your maid alright? Her face isn't looking good for a while now."

True to the Deep Prelate's words, Shinki's youngest maid seems unwell judging by her sweat-covered paling face and trembling hands clutched together so hard that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes squeeze shut, but everyone there had a good idea that she was probably seeing through her familiars at the moment…

…until Shinki's hand landed on her left shoulder and squeezed it, jolting the maid out of concentration. Her eyes darted around in fright before laying on her mistress who looked at her with concern on her face. Golden dots around the perimeter faded without anyone noticing.

Without saying a word, the ruler of Makai pulled Taylor into a hug, the latter's protest was muffled by her face getting buried in Shinki's bosom. Yumeko rolled her eyes at her mother's antic, while the merfolk lady shot the pair a smirk, and her male counterpart chose to focus on the battlefield which at this point is just a mop-up of remaining invaders.

"Deep breaths, my child. Pull your eyes away from your extra sense and look at me… and calm your mind."

Soothing words from Shinki barely registered in Taylor's mind, but her body complied with the instruction nonetheless. Her mind, however, took a while to pull away from the sights she saw on the battlefield, and thus she remained silent for many minutes until the sound of battle no longer reach her ears before she could try to converse again.

"I'm sorry. That was unsightly of me."

A voice barely louder than a whisper escaped her lips, but Shinki simply put her hands on her shoulders, making the girl look at her in the eyes before shaking her head; "Some may say that getting scared is a sign of cowardice, but those without fear are fools that will die one day to their arrogance and recklessness."

"And those that don't find these bloody sights repulsive should not be trusted on the battlefield..." Rumbled the Dark Sentinel, his yellow eyes bore into Taylor's who turned to look at him. "…For once they tasted blood, sooner or later their thirst for it will become unquenchable. Morality will be worth less than the air they expel to speak the word, and good people suffer for it."

Taylor muttered something that sounded like 'Thanks' before she extracted herself from Shinki's embrace. And then, as she tried to think of something to distract herself from the event on the ground, a thought struck her which she voices to her charge immediately; "I thought you said that the one opening the portal was in distress. I don't think that what we saw counts as being in 'distress' in any way though…"

Her question made everyone there make thoughtful faces except for Shinki, whom the question originally aimed at, who gave her 'youngest daughter' a sad smile as she replied ominously; "While I have my hunch, there's nothing to gain from pointless speculation without evidence. I think that we should find our answer at the other side of the gate."

"And how are you going to do that, Ma'am?"

Shinki's smile didn't fade against Taylor's question as she gestured toward the gate and answered cryptically, as she always did; "Now that the gateway is opened, more abilities to surveil across dimensions have become available to us, including more mundane means, which should prove useful in gathering more information."

"I hope that you're not suggesting sending people through now, Milady," Yumeko warned out of concern, with the two merfolks nodding in agreement with her. However, before Shinki could respond, Yumeko glanced to the field below them and said; "…Those invaders should've set up a perimeter on the other side of the gate just like we did. I don't think sending our people into that will be a wise choice now that they're proven to be hostile."

All eyes except Shinki's were on Taylor almost in unison, which cause the maid to blink owlishly before Shinki came to the rescue; "There's no need to force yourself, my child. I can take it over from here…"

Part of Taylor wants to let Shinki handle the scouting beyond the gate and knows that she wouldn't begrudge her for shirking out from this request, and neither the people gathered here for they still had many who could take on this burden. But another part of her also demands that she see this through to the end and contributes to the expedition.

The latter part won out and she told Shinki about it, and Shinki responded by ruffling her hair a little with a knowing smile and told her that they'd be doing it together…

…and there's a condition to it;

"I wouldn't turn down your help. However, for the scouting mission beyond the gate, I'd like you to make your familiars suppress their power and not emit too much waste energy on the light show like earlier. No point in alerting the hostiles on the other side after all. Can you do it?"

Taylor couldn't help but wonder how Shinki could've fit such a contradiction in the same sentence; caring for her yet daring her to rise to the challenge. Or was it her mind overthinking thing…

Wordlessly, glowing dragonflies emerged from the ether around her once again, glowing brightly. But as Taylor concentrated, the glow dimmed until they were just regular dragonflies at first glance.

The merfolk Prelate nodded in approval of the spellcraft shown before her, however, as the newly summoned dragonflies were about to approach the gate, a new development on the ground below halted their advances and take the choice out of their hands.

"Those fame-seeking idiots…" Even Yumeko couldn't help but swore loudly at the sight of over half of the so-called adventurers, both human and otherwise, down there made a dash into the dark shadow under the otherworldly gate and disappeared to another world beyond with the remaining half of the hired hands either too busy looting the remains of the invaders, or too apprehensive to plunge head-first into the unknown.

"I'd be appreciating their enthusiasm if the situation isn't too dangerous for my liking…" The Deep Sentinel muttered, and then turned to Shinki; "Lady Shinki, I think this's a good time to ask for reinforcement from Mayor Michael."

"You're too slow." Shinki shook her head while gesturing to the battlefield, specifically where the 'Puppet Mayor' once been; "He's not incompetent and has already started assembling troops as soon as his puppet was destroyed, they will be here by nightfall."

"And in the meantime?" Taylor chimed in, concern etched on her face as her eyes kept glancing at the otherworldly gate where more and more adventurers disappeared into, while the small contingent of soldiers in armor rushed in and tried to stop more from rushing in with little success.

But surprisingly, from what she saw with her 'eyes in the sky' the Casanova trio that annoyed them earlier were among those who stayed behind, and even more surprising was that they weren't busy looting, but patrolling around and knocking some senses into their fellows within reach to stop looting or rushing into another world.

Shinki looked at her daughter, her gentle smile turned bitter as she answered; "You continue as planned earlier: Scout the other side of the gate and tell us what awaits us, and what response the enemy will levy upon those that crossed over there."

Taylor didn't like that instruction and it shows on her face, but Shinki wasn't one to be angry over the disagreement and settled with an explanation; "Much as both you and I want to do more, the sad fact is that these people were hired on a contract with the mayor that promised loot of whatever they'd find in return of the security they provided to this expedition. To try and stop them would be equal to us interfering and denying them of their rightful rewards."

"Even if it led to their deaths?"

Shinki sighed at Taylor's question; "Remember the contract earlier? They didn't specify anything more than keeping the clients safe and alive during this expedition. They are acting within the boundary of the contract, at least from their interpretations that could satisfy their desires."

Taylor avoided eye contact with Shinki, her hands balled into fists and her dragonflies began flickering; "So we're a tyrant who curtails their freedom if we try to stop them?"

Shinki nodded; "The better question is; It is their life to live as they see fit, and they're adults, who are you and I to dictate what they should do with it when everyone is not negatively affected by their choice and they already fulfilled their part of the deal?"

Part of Taylor's mind knew that Shinki was right, but the other part wished that Shinki should further reveal her might and pull those idiots back. The thought lasted but a second before she remembered Shinki's talk about using almighty power to solve problems many years back, that for all that power, using it frivolously would only make people fold to her whim not out of the goodness of their heart, but out of fear…

…and Taylor was smart enough to acknowledge how tenuous and short-lived this kind of obedience can be when the main enforcement role rested upon a single individual, God or not.

Then the silence was broken by the Deep Sentinel merfolk who interrupted her with his signature rumbling voice; "Why should you brood over those who can take responsibility for their actions, when there're people right here that are counting on you to bring information from the other side back so that they can prepare for the endeavor ahead?"

That snapped Taylor out of her thought as she quickly directed her dragonfly familiars toward the gate just in time when other mystic art users and scholars from Pandemonium scattered around the fortification also sending in theirs to scout the other side of the gate for information to aid in the crossing.

Everyone involved hoped that the impatient adventurers that rushed into the gate in search of fame and fortune will be safe or had enough sense to run away from the fight they cannot win in the meantime.

Author's Note: Finally, this story has an obligatory Khorne worshiping that almost all Worms Fanfic must have. (with violence and bloodshed, as any proper Khornate would tell you.) Also, if you're not notice, we will be seeing another face that's missing from Shinki's retinue in a near future.

With this chapter, this story finally catch up to what I posted on Spacebattles, so next one will have to wait a longgg while...

See you next time.