Surprisingly, the newcomers didn’t immediately attack. The deer woman had taken a few tentative steps towards us while the eagle man remained standing at Henrietta’s old location at the well. I scanned them both, starting with the deer woman.

Jane Doe

2-Star Native

Level 55

She loves Mother Nature. Like, she really loves Mother Nature. You think you know how much she loves Mother Nature, but you don’t. You know how much you loved that one video with the young man on the secluded island with the elf girls? Yeah. She loves nature at least ten times more than that.

Icarus Blackfeather

2-Star Native

Level 47

This guy prefers music and engineering over combat. That doesn’t mean he can’t keep up with you in a fight. On the contrary, combat is his cardio routine! No wonder he’s so ripped.

“Grim Hearts, Opix Gale,” The deer woman, Jane, began. She spoke with a songlike lilt that reminded me a bit too much of the Isekai cultists. “It is truly unfortunate that it must come to this. Please understand that you are not our enemy. We simply require the Heavenly Gem for more altruistic reasons than you do.”

“And how do you know that?” I tried.

“Do you not intend to use them to return to Earth?”

“I… My goal is simple! Once it’s been granted, you guys can use it for whatever you want. I literally won’t be here to stop you from doing that. We can all share the Gems, can’t we?”

Cerus: thrall you wanted to help right

Grim: Yeah, what do you need?

Cerus: activate a quest in my vicinity

Cerus: i wish to feed these swingtails to the monster that spawns

Grim: Holy shit, Cerus.

Cerus: getting eaten is an instakill regardless of level or star count

Cerus: study up kid

Opix: You do that while I distract Jane. She’s stalling us because they think Cerus is gonna die easily.

Cerus: do they now? i see…

I activated a Quest a couple of blocks away from Cerus that summoned a 3-Star Boss Mob called a “Muncher”. It was apparently this slime creature the size of a small house that could grow to consume anything it approached, like that “magic sand” shit from my childhood. While I was in the menu, I searched for Quests near Opix and me. I ended up focusing on one called “Sneaky Serpent” that spawned a 3-Star Komodo Dragon.

“I agree with Grim’s sentiment,” Opix had been saying. “My personal goal with the Gems is to kill Final Testament. Is he not the true root of all of the Ellalara Belt’s evil? Whatever your goal is, it is made substantially easier with his death.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but the odds of you accomplishing this goal are zero to none. If Henrietta can experiment with the Heavenly Gems as Clover Lockheart recently has, she can create weapons capable of challenging Felzian Queen in mere months!”

“And you think the Felzian Queen will just let you do that?”

“Will Final Testament allow you to conspire against him? No plan is without its risk, as you must know by now.”

As Opix and Jane’s conversation got more heated, I turned my attention towards Icarus. He’d sat back on the well and looked about ready to fall asleep, so I decided he’d be the one I targeted with this Sneaky Serpent Quest. Before I popped it, I pelted him with Hidden Fists. Between each hit, I’d look away or give my own two cents on Opix and Jane’s argument to seem inconspicuous.

It’d taken four solid hits for him to finally get up from the well and look for the source of the attacks. Naturally, nothing was there when he turned around. I made sure to hold his gaze when he turned back around, just so he wouldn’t focus on the 3-Star Komodo Dragon spawning behind him. That worked, though he was obviously communicating with Jane over chat. Jane’s eyes turned accusatory as she continued to convince us to stand down, but her tone hadn’t changed to match her face.

Icarus finally started walking towards us, towards me, when the Komodo Dragon opened its mouth and shot its tongue like a javelin straight through Icarus’ heart. Blood spurted from the impact, and I winced as it stained his blue shirt. I recovered quickly, though, hitting him with Taunt before he could attempt to fight the creature off. His health, while not fully depleted, may as well have been. He was in the red, and if I had to give him a percentage I’d say he was hovering above 5%.

He tried to speak, only for blood to spew from his mouth with the attempt. Jane turned to him in horror and rushed for him, but Opix beat her to the punch. He was at Icarus in a blink and blasted him with his new Fire Burst ability. It was just like the Wind Burst; a fiery shotgun at point-blank range. Icarus’s top half was blasted to burning bits before he faded to mist, forced to spend the rest of this Territory Quest in the Beyondverse.

Cerus: They discounted me, and now they are no more.

Cerus: How long has it been I have languished in the sights before me?

Cerus: The solemn understanding that I am their superior… that they are at my mercy. The instinctual resignation to my will. This is what it means to be Cerus Rose. I dominate, I destroy, and I rule. I love this. Truly, I love this.

Cerus: The cow woman and the fox man remain. They have turned their focus from me towards the mob, and I am using this reprieve to replenish my energy. Once I have, I will destroy the fox man.

Cerus: I expect you two to kill the deer woman and the eagle man within ten minutes. Do not disappoint me.

Grim: Since when can you use punctuation? Is your chat hacked?

Opix: We took care of the eagle man. Don’t wear yourself out on Henrietta, please. We only have so many potions between us.

Cerus: Attempt to guide my blade again and you will be my next target, Opix Gale.

”Ah, I understand,” Jane said suddenly, her tone wistful. “The Galerose Alliance has no regard for the natural world. No respect for the living. Your ally Cerus Rose brutalized poor Sying and Ares and fed their still-breathing bodies to a Boss Mob. You two set Icarus up for that pitiful end, and now you two conspire ways in which to kill me, correct?”

“Don’t try to play the moral high ground. You two were stalling so your crew could come back and kill us!” Opix said through dodges. Thankfully for him, the Komodo Dragon mob wasn’t nearly as fast as that Ancient Sabertooth Spectre.

I cast Hidden Fist on Jane to try and give Opix some sort of opening for an attack. She didn’t react to it at all. Instead, a phrase appeared over her head – one I hadn’t seen before. I examined it.

“Battle High”

This person has sacrificed defense in exchange for a substantially higher pain tolerance.

Jane raised her palm and focused on the Komodo Dragon. Vines sprouted from the ground, holding the creature in place by its nubby feet. It snapped at her as she approached, and she covered its mouth with another vine. “We would have defeated you with honor. With dignity. You would have been given a death that nature would approve of.” She grabbed hold of the Komodo Dragon’s mouth and tore the creature in half with the effort of ripping a sheet of paper. Without looking, she summoned vines around both myself and Opix, locking us in place. She threw the now dead mob onto the ground and turned to me. “Now, it seems I must inflict Mother Nature’s wrath upon you.”

You have been DEBILITATED! This debuff only pops up when you’ve been hit by a unique type of poison. I’d tell you what it is, but you’ve been getting your Quests poached! Sowwy.

Come the fuck on!

The vines holding Opix and me in place sunk back into the ground just as quickly as they’d arrived. My HP and MP were still full, and Opix’s HP hadn’t even popped up yet, so we decided to take our chances against Jane. Too bad for us, that was when we learned what Jane’s poison did to us.

It sapped HP, MP, and Stamina from you, but only while you were in motion. It didn’t take small percentages like Cerus’ Pollination, either. No, this ability took chunks away from HP and MP, and I only knew it sapped my Stamina because of how labored my breaths were. I had three health potions and three mana potions left, but I wasn’t sure whether I should pop either of them in plain view of Jane. Before either of us could make a move, she started spouting some more nature nonsense.

“There is still yet hope for you two! Nature is both a loving mother and a firm teacher. Accept her discipline and come back to her. She will embrace you with open arms so long as you swear to love her and all of her creations!”

As she went on, I looked into my pack’s inventory to see what weapon would benefit us right now. What we needed was to find a way to kill her to hopefully force deactivation. If my plan worked, though, we wouldn’t need to take it that far. I opened my chat window and texted Opix my idea. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he met my eyes from across the way.

Opix: If this plan fails, we’re gonna die for sure.

Grim: It’ll work… probably

Opix: In that case, don’t use a Quest against her. I’ll pop a strength potion to bridge the gap and do it myself. I’ll be weakened after it wears off, though, so you’re gonna have to work double duty against Henrietta.

Grim: Can’t wait.

“You see, Opix? This is what happens when we listen to your plans! I told you we should’ve done things the right way!”

I’d filled my voice with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. I sounded like an angry teen in a commercial because that was all I could think of when the plan came to me. Like clockwork, Jane turned to face me. She didn’t say anything, she just… observed.

“Naw, you kiddin’ me? Allat nature shit is stupid. If we need that Gem, we’ve gotta kill, kill, kill!”

Opix spoke with the worst Boston accent I’d ever heard in my life. I remembered he wasn’t from Earth, though, so I imagined he might’ve been doing a perfect accent from some Ellalaran city I’d never been to.

“Nature is not stupid! We fight, we lose, we learn! Someday, when we’re ready, we fight and win. That’s just how it goes!” I glanced over at Jane for some sort of indication that I was on the right path and felt relief to find her nodding along at my words.

“Fair, shmair,” Opix sneered. “All I care about is givin’ out knuckle sandwiches and death blows.”

Grim: Death blows?

Opix: I’m fucking trying. I’m a fighter, not an actor.

Grim: Try thinking about your past or something you’ve seen before. I’m just acting like the people I saw in commercials.

Opix: Alright. It’s almost time anyway, isn’t it? She’s eating this stuff up.

Grim: Yeah, let’s take it home.

“Why are you like this?” I sighed, filling my voice with mock sadness. “Is it because you were hurt in the past? And now you want to inflict that hurt onto others?”

“I… I…” Opix blubbered, burying his head in his hands and “sobbing”. “It’s all so lonely! I only feel like I’m worth something when I’m hurtin’ and fightin’! It’s my purpose! It’s the only time I feel like Opix! I don’t know who I am when I’m not livin’ in my purpose…” He wiped fake tears away and turned his back to us. “This world ain’t gonna remember old Opix, so I’m gonna make 'em remember it with blade and blood!”

“Opix, stop it! This isn’t you! What would the world think about that?!” I roared. It was my turn to tone it down, now.

“Yes, Opix!” Jane pleaded. “It is not too late for you to embrace the light. Mother Nature will accept you as you are. Think of your friends. Your family! What would they think of you if you abandoned this world to quench your blade’s thirst?”

“It’s too late for me, toots,” Opix turned to face Jane. He smiled softly and approached her, losing health with every step. “I can’t be better than I am. Not when I don’t know who I am.”

Jane shed a single tear and deactivated her poison spell on us. It was time to strike.

“I forgive you, Opix Gale. Embrace Nature. She will provide you the answers you so desperately–”

I cast Taunt on Jane. The moment she turned around I opened my inventory, pulled out the skinned Spotted Deer carcasses, and threw them to the ground with a disgusting splat. It’d only just occurred to me that Jane herself was a deer, but I didn’t think that fact would’ve made a difference by this point.

A cavalcade of thorny vines sprouted around me in all directions. She didn’t say a word, but her face was filled with pure, unadulterated venom. I kept my eyes on hers, even as Opix sliced through her neck, bringing the vines crashing down along with her head. They remained venomous even as they went milky, even as they faded to mist with the rest of her body. We both stood there in silence, looking down at the blood we’d spilled, staring at the spot where Jane had just been. Opix was the first to speak up.

“Everything has an instakill condition so long as you have the Strength or Intelligence to pull it off.”

“Like us with the Spotted Deer and the Tucaby, right?”

“Yup.”

We exchanged an awkward glance. “I didn’t get any XP from that.”

“Because I landed the killing blow. On both of them, actually. I’m pretty close to 60 since they were a star above me.” He laughed. “Cerus is gonna be pissed.”

“I bet she is.”

The air had changed around us, just like it did when we’d fought against Ysnik. Strangely, I could understand what Opix was thinking. These aren’t the enemies. We had no choice but to fight them, and we had no choice but to go all out, but these weren’t the people to scheme on. To plan against. The Felzian Queen. Her Rangers. People like the Silent Hand. They were the ones to behead. To blast away. To slaughter.

“Were competitions always like this here?” I found myself asking.

Opix gave me a wistful smile, the same one Henrietta had earlier. “They were from what I’ve heard. I wasn’t alive at that time. From the stories I’ve heard, though, the atmosphere was always… playful, you know? Like playing a competitive game with friends. Yeah, it’s violent, but you’re only in it for bragging rights.”

Once again, I thought about the man I wanted to become. Up to this point, I’d been chasing general traits that I wanted to embody; strength, confidence, and charisma chief among them. Now, though. I felt something new forming within me. This wasn’t a trait, but an ideal. It was still in its infancy, so I couldn’t exactly word it, but it was there. When I thought about the Felzian Queen, and what we were doing because of her, that ideal demanded action. I needed more strength to see it fulfilled. Far more. Unfortunately, we needed to get through Henrietta to get it.

Opix had been watching me, observing me as I attempted to unravel this new part of myself. I wondered what face I was making because he looked at me with a look of utter sincerity before he spoke up.

“I’d say you get used to this feeling, but I don’t want to. I don’t want you to get used to it.” That look of utter sincerity turned to one of intensity that reminded me of Mrs. Gertrude. “Get sick of it. Hate it. Be disgusted by it! If you want to get strong, 10-Star strong, you’re gonna despise it more than you’ve despised anything in your life.”

“...It’s… oppressive,” was all I could say to him. I desperately wanted to say more, but I couldn’t.

He smiled. “Good.”

Cerus: okay im normal again i had to lock in

Cerus: its been ten minutes though where are you guys

Grim: We’re on our way. What’s it looking like? We need to take care of Henrietta. If that fox man is still there, leave him for me. I’ll kill him myself.

Cerus: bloodthirst are you?

Grim: There’s nothing fun about having to fight these people, but I need to get stronger. I can’t afford to be a 0-Star forever.

Cerus: i fed the fox to the slime thing before henrietta killed it

Cerus: sate your hunger on her

Opix: We’ll be there in a minute. You’ll be fine, right?

Cerus: of course haha i mean hit henrietta with MAMUDOON like five times and she just heals then buffs the shit out of herself

Cerus: she is literally unkillable and i have no more potions but i have this under control haha

Cerus: take your time actually i wish for you two to go back to the village and take a nap while i handle her

Cerus: if you do come for some reason please bring potions haha like a lot of potions haha not for me though just for you guys so you can be healthy and watch me totally own her

Cerus: make that decision fast though please

“Let’s get her out of there,” Opix said.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

As we turned and left, I couldn’t help but overhear Opix whispering to himself. I glanced at him over my shoulder, and he was staring up at the sky.

“For what it’s worth, I appreciate your concern, Jane. I truly do.”