"It's a damn hammer!" exclaimed Mai, reminded of her father's workshop. 

She sprinted over to Master Kjeld, bent down, and grabbed the hammer, shocking Master Kjeld and everyone else.

"What..." He shuttered in a hoarse voice, but suddenly he fainted.

The hammer felt light as a feather, and Mai squeezed it as she glanced over at Hilda lying on the grass.

She held the hammer in both hands and released her energy into her hands.

"Gate 10!" she shouted, and the hammer suddenly glowed and vibrated.

It became red-hot and felt warm. Suddenly, it turned golden, and she struck it hard against the stone, emitting a loud clang in the area. It drowned out all the screams and clattering of skeletons. It vibrated in her hands, and she held onto the hammer tightly. A large golden beam shot out in all directions, warming them all and covering them with golden dust that danced around them. A pleasant warmth spread, gently pricking their hearts, and they suddenly felt comfortable and broke into smiles.

The wave hit King Christian, enclosing him in a golden dust ball. He screamed loudly, and it exploded with a loud bang, revealing black dust that vanished into the air. There were countless loud bangs everywhere, and all the skeletons exploded, transforming into black dust that disappeared into the air. It was completely silent, and only the dancing golden dust remained.

Mai looked towards Hilda and asked, "Is he dead?"

"He's undead." She replied, grunting and gritting her teeth.

She was missing her left arm and her right leg, with blood gushing out violently, forming a thick red pool beneath her. Her clothes were smeared with Karen's remains, and there was a foul rotten stench in the air that couldn't be ignored.

Mai felt a pang in her heart, wrinkling her nose and brows at the sight.

"Does it hurt, Hilda?" she asked, worriedly holding her hand over her mouth.

"My mana is depleted. I'll manage." replied Hilda, coughing up a large clot of blood, spitting onto the grass.

Mai suddenly noticed something glinting in the grass near Karen's headless body and immediately searched with her fingers. She felt something soft and picked up Karen's gauntlets.

She furrowed her brows and said, "These belonged to Karen. Why are they still here?"

"Artifacts don't disappear when we die." replied Hilda, biting her shirt and trying to tear it apart. She clumsily tied the torn piece around her leg.

Mai helped her immediately, and afterward, she took Karen's gauntlets with her. It was a pity to throw things away.

With the help of the men, they managed to carry all the wounded onto the wagons, and with difficulty, they got Master Kjeld onto one with the aid of a plank used as a stretcher. Mai was the only one who could touch his hammer, so she wrapped it in a white cloth and placed it beside Master Kjeld, who slept like a baby with a smile on his lips.

"How can he sleep like that after what he's been through?" she muttered under her breath, shaking her head.

"The sun will soon be high in the sky, Mai." Liam suddenly said, reminding her of their situation.

Hilda reminded them that everyone had to be brought back, as she put it, "literally."

All the women were injured, and the men couldn't touch anything the skeletons had touched, so Mai got the job against her will. She bent over the area where Freya had been crushed and saw a bloody tongue wriggling like a fat worm. She bit her lip and regretted looking. She looked away, wrapped the tongue in a white cloth, and felt it still moving, sending a tingling sensation through her body. It was soft, tough, and felt rubbery. She moved on to the next woman, where only three bloody fingers remained, one of which had a thin silver ring.

"Was she engaged or married?" She whispered, feeling a knot in her heart. She felt queasy and tasted something sour, biting her lip.

The next woman had left only a bloody thigh, which was Mai's limit.

"I can't do this anymore. It smells awful. My stomach hurts." she protested, holding her nose.

"Does it look like the rest of us can?" Hilda asked in a harsh tone, lying in a wagon with her head out to make sure Mai did the job properly.

Mai looked around and saw everyone was quiet, sighing deeply, and all the women forced a smile as the men cleaned their deep wounds. One woman had bloody scratches on her left cheek, and another had a hole in her neck where it bled. There had been a tattoo there. She took out a light blue pill and swallowed it, and suddenly the bleeding stopped, but the wound didn't heal.

Mai quickly finished her work without complaining and gathered all the remains in a large woven basket, which looked grotesque with bloody cloth clumps, with a finger sticking out of one of them.

"I thought I could handle seeing this after watching so many movies." she commented, carrying the basket to a wagon and covering it with a white cloth.

The group hurried away from the maze without looking back.

On the other side, they were greeted by a large flat grassy area and a warm breeze playing with their hair, cooling them down. Far ahead, there was a beautiful view down to a massive white city with tall towers gleaming in the sun. Lizards and large birds flew high in the sky, and people flew around on magical contraptions near the rooftops.

Mai sat on the grass, feeling its softness. She ran her fingers through it, inhaling the fresh air and breaking into a smile.

Liam, standing by a wagon, looked over at her and asked, "Are you coming?"

She got up, smiled at him, ran over to the wagon, and climbed in beside him.

"You should become a Rune Master." Hilda suddenly said, sitting opposite Mai leaning against rice sacks while two women were tending to her wounds.

"That's only for men." Mai replied, pushing the dream aside.

"I'm sure Master Kjeld can make an exception. You touched his hammer." said Liam, covering his mouth and coughing.

The number of their group had significantly decreased, and now less than half remained. Mai felt guilty, even though no one blamed her, which frustrated her. She inquired about Laila's situation, and they replied that she was aware of it herself, even though Master Kjeld hadn't informed her.

"How did she know?" she asked, furrowing her brows.

"When Master gave her Avari’s Hymn, she knew." replied Hilda, eating a piece of bread with her right arm while crumbs fell onto her chest.

"What's that? Is it a bush?" exclaimed a woman suddenly, sticking her head out of the wagon.

They all stuck their heads out and saw a light green bush rushing towards them at full speed.

Mai's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly felt pain in her hands again, tasting something bitter.

"Get it away!" she said loudly, trying to hide behind some sacks.

The others did nothing but instead started discussing amongst themselves, concluding that the bush was a rare one that they believed was hard to find in Kahrlin.

"It's just a damn sour bush." commented Mai, still looking away.

"We can't chase it away, or its family will come after us," said Liam, scratching his cheek. "Actually, it's an ancient..."

Mai covered her ears and sang loudly, "Lalala..." She sang louder and louder, drowning out his words.

Liam stopped talking, and suddenly there was a loud hiss, and the bush silently leaped towards them, but no one pushed it away. It wriggled into the wagon and crept silently towards Mai, who suddenly felt a tickle on her neck. She scratched herself and felt the tickle again.

Irritated, she turned around and exclaimed, "What in the..." But she swallowed her words.

The bush sat in front of her, staring intensely at her with its black eyes. It wore a cheeky, wide dark green smile while it hummed.

"Why haven't you burned it?" she asked, feeling anger bubbling inside her.

"I said it was an ancient blueberry spirit bush. It's attracted to personalities, specific scents, and the female gender. That's probably why it's after you." Liam replied, furrowing his brows.

Mai became even angrier and asked why it wasn't after the other women present. Their argument was that she must have a specific scent it was attracted to, which she didn't buy.

"It injured my hand. I don't want it with me." she hissed at the bush and pushed it away, but it squeezed forward towards her chest and refused to disappear.

"It's not hurting you now. Isn't there something you've noticed about that bush?" Liam asked, struggling to keep a straight face, and breaking into giggles.

"There's nothing special about it. It's been stalking me since..." Mai stopped herself and swallowed her words.

"Since what?" Hilda asked, smirking.

Mai looked at the bush carefully this time and tilted her head. It looked angry, but upon closer inspection, it was only because its eyebrows were clumpy. She touched it gently with her right hand, and this time it didn't attack her. Instead, it rubbed its face against her hand, and she felt the tickle of its leaves.

"It's truly ancient if it can travel so far so fast. But it attacked me last time." she muttered, feeling the soft leaves with both hands and giggling.

"It tried to bond with you so it could mark you as its mate." Liam said, covering his mouth and coughing.

"Its mating method is very aggressive. I love blueberries, so it's perfect," said Mai, not giving further thought to his words.

She hugged the bush, smiled, and said, "Your name is Blue."

"Blurrrrrr." the bush suddenly said and burped loudly.

She smiled, patted it on the head, and commanded it to lie down. Then she lay on it and used it as a pillow.

She closed her eyes and murmured, "You'll be my new bed, Blue."

"First she touched Master’s hammer, and now an ancient spirit. What's next?" Liam said, looking at the group, who just shrugged and settled down.