Zayir kept at it, in this second day of fighting the undead who rose from the ground again, while a streak of light passed by overhead and landed not far away. From his sense, it seemed maybe someone living landed in the impact to the ground.

'Well, I certainly did call out to my goddess Chae-Won, for her to help me today too-'

Continuing his fight, he dare not let up, Zayir kept watching the place of impact, in hopes it did not bring more problems. The figure which emerged from the dust was a human, a female ― wearing her toga like a goddess, no less; such an odd way to travel. And why here, of all places? What purpose did the female human have in this place?

The woman seemed to shake herself awake from the brief stupor of how she landed, and look around ― at him and the mass of undead choking up the clearing.

"Human! You, human woman! Help me! I call forth with the Oath of Unity ― let us fight these, together!"

---

Maya sat, shocked at the sudden call from a strange being ― to realize, this must be what they call a minotaur. Yet he called out to her ― in request for assistance, too.

She could consider their separate goals might mutually coincide; she'd wanted to fight an undead thing, sooner or later; why not now as a first chance? Besides, this minotaur may be able to handle himself, but he could not last much longer, not alone. Together, though-

The old saying, 'strength in numbers', came to her right off the bat. And why shouldn't she leap to the aid of another, especially one who sought help? Such chances were maybe few and far between, if the world population was truly so low, these days.

Dusting herself off, she tugged at her inventory to take her staff weapon in hand, the one Chae-Won had made. Raised lettering on the fanned head gave an endearing attribution, but it did not tell her how to use this weapon. Instead, she'd have to rely on dumb luck, or maybe just hope those ... skeletons? And zombies too? She hoped they didn't have the advantage.

"Human female! By the Oath of Unity, I beg of you-"

Odd to be so called to by race and gender, she jumped up and ran toward the nearest undead. Swinging the staff wide, its fanned top slashed through a bony mass ― correction, three bony masses-

"Oho! We shall win yet, human friend! Chae-Won has not let us down!" the beastly fighter bellowed. "Goddess be praised!"

She saw he sought out zombies to attack more than skeletons ― but then understood why he did so. When he hit the skeletons, just they fell. But when he hit the zombies, whole swaths of skeleton forms would crumble ― indicating the zombies somehow 'led' or 'were linked to' hordes of skeletons.

With this thought in mind, she also tried for them.

---

Zayir fought on, but also kept an eye out for his new friend. She did not seem trained in any way ― a strange thought to think. Why would someone not trained to attack or defend be this far away from civilization? Even the town he came from was a good ten kilometers south of here; yet she looked like she just stepped out of a safe place and into this battle.

Only the once did a zombie almost take her down; but with a loud curse of 'fucking undead mobs', she surged back with a counterattack.

Hmm; something was not the same as it should be, but Zayir held off saying his thoughts, in lieu of pressing the attack. In minutes the two were in the same area, fighting back to back versus the crush of bones with no brains.

Wait no, it actually ended ― with the two of them slumping down to the ground, amid the bone dust and monster drops. Both just dropped to their seating positions on the dirt, to face each other in wary silence. This girl learned so rapidly; going on the attack seemed to be her style. Zayir had to give her credit for her ability to adapt.

---

Maya's energy almost ran out by the time the last creature fell; but she was glad it could finally be over. "Oh what a day-"

The minotaur let loose a hoarse chuckle, to her apparent surprise, and spoke. "That was a good battle, my new human female friend. By my Oath of Unity, I am glad to have met you, this day."

"As am I, to have met you."

"This staff of yours looks to be well constructed. May I examine it?"

Maya tried to regulate her breathing; either this was a ruse to disarm her, to get the advantage ― or he merely had a curiosity to see this object. Well, even if he did overpower her and take it ... he might face Chae-Won himself. But since he had mentioned her friend's name at the onset of their battle together, she felt he ... may be trustworthy.

"Certainly," she gave a nod and held it forward.

The minotaur turned the staff in his hands, looking it over from many angles.

"It seems well built, friend. A very prized object, something a practitioner of the staff arts would want as their sole piece. If I am not mistaken, back in the town of Tivo, this would sell in a weapons shop for no less than ― fifty thousand denary. No, sixty thousand, if you could so much as provide a written certificate of its own history-"

Maya did not know how much this was in relation to other purchases of similar weapons; but this was beyond the point of asking, so soon. But to his cautious glance, she held back from confirming its manufacture.

"And filled with such a sense of power and purpose, too. Perchance did this staff come from ― ah no, sorry, I should not ask this."

'Oh, what the fuck. He is probably as much as guessing its origin, if he is going to estimate its value by high numbers-'

"You do not have to say it; I will say it anyway. Chae-Won did create this, for the purpose of being a help to me."

His eyes bulged wide in wonder, if not sudden awe, as he held it back to her. "Praise Chae-Won. She has not forgot this world-"

"Of course she has not! She sees and feels every bit of its pain, and wants to see it healed!"

---

"I am thankful to hear this, friend. I am believing Chae-Won did not want me to lose this battle," Zayir gave in subtle response to this challenge.

"I believe so, too," the woman spoke to him ― and then her staff just vanished, as if it were placed somewhere out of view.

He chuckled again, and took a deeper look to what she was. A dark skinned human female, eyes with deep brown irises and black pupils, pure black hair to her shoulders which now looked as messy as could be. Just short of one point eight meters when standing, to his own almost three meters height. The toga she wore had remained clean, without wrinkle, as if it had a touch of Chae-Won upon it. He felt a touch of familiarity about her, as if she were somehow part of the tales brought by Chae-Won herself.

For a mere second, he imagined the tales of Alemayehu, the First Champion-

"Say, human female friend. By my Oath of Unity, let me introduce myself. I am Zayir Zoarah, a member of Unity Upon All, and former member of an old adventure group NAMUHORP."

"I am glad to meet you, Zayir. I ... you can call me Maya. I am new to this world, just arrived in the last day or so." She cocked her head. "Wait, former member? I think, you have a tale in this."

"Indeed you are correct, Friend Maya. I was ... betrayed ― for no other reason than I am not human-"

He fell silent. For some reason he felt he should trust her; however this story was just too new, too fresh in the mind, to just freely tell. Not without knowing more of her.

She must have foreseen this bit of private feeling; she added her own casual sentiment. "My apologies, if I asked or said too much. I, too, have my own tale, having come from another world. So, what makes humans so great? To me, if I were here in your place and you came upon me fighting the undead ones alone ... would you have come to my help as well?"

"Hmm; well said, Friend Maya. I see how we may not be so different, you and I. Very well then. Let us come to know of each other's stories."

"Yes, we should tell our tales. I tell you mine, if you tell me yours."

He waited a second, but she did not start with her story first.

---

Maya held her breath, as her new minotaur friend took a brief pause, perhaps to collect his thoughts before he began his tale.

"Since the beginning of the Plague, all races had to unite or split up. Nearly all the villages in this world would fall from the sudden siege of undead. My village was no different; fortunately due to a local hero, most of our villagers could escape through a break in the line of undead, and go to a city. Father stayed to fight alongside the human hero, a welcomed friend, and we can only assume he fell too ― neither my father nor the hero returned to us. Instead my mother, five siblings― four sisters and one brother ― and I had to run through one day, night, and one more day. On the run, my eldest sister also fell to the vile undead. All of this, just to arrive at the outskirts of a small city, a capital of a barony ― at least until the baron and his family were assassinated by dissidents from the slums."

Maya understood this; he had to run from home, at a young age. She imagined herself in the same type of run to safety, but felt she would fall long before running through the first night.

"But, about half who'd left our village fell before the first day ended; those few who arrived at the city still had to wait for permission to go inside it. The gate guards bickered over whether they should let us in, or even which of us to let in. Some of the women offered themselves in the way you might expect ... if their loved ones would be allowed to enter. Some guards would take them up in the offers, while yet others had enough compassion to allow some in, if only to work for them as a slave, or mistress perhaps. For two days and nights, the rest of us stayed outside, begging for a way in, or fighting off the approaching undead while the gate guards or soldiers ignored our pleas."

Maya could only nod her understanding to this. Would she have even made it alive at this point?

"Humans were always the first ones allowed to enter; some of them call those of my race 'cattle'. A nonhuman 'creature' such as myself and my family ... maybe not so welcome to that place; even though in our old village we were respected blacksmiths. Don't think we were oppressed; our family went to a city slum, but was happy to have thick walls to protect us, we could deal with taxes and poor health. When I hit puberty, I had a tough time of it, but I came to the attention of the group Unity Upon All, which we believe to have been blessed by Chae-Won."

Maya thought to ask a question about this organization, as Chae-Won had not told her of this group; but Zayir went on before she could add it.

"And they taught me this oath, the Oath of Unity, which formed my hope beyond this weakness of the flesh I dealt with. Before long, I met another member, a female minotaur like me, my same age as it happened, who had been out often with her adventuring group NAMUHORP. She had looked at me like I looked at her, so we both knew we could see ourselves together. Now, I heard odd things about this group, and so had my friends among Unity Upon All. They asked me to join the group and learn more of their goals and objectives, then report back."

She thought something in this story made it seem as if this world was even more dangerous than she'd been given to see. Even the idea of a group based on promoting unity made it seem parts of the world had zero unity, no peace or structure of society.

"So before long, myself and Kaida were mated, and I also joined the same team as her. I would have begged to be there, even if I were not tasked with this quest by the Unity members. Both of us endured a half decade of adventures, with me secretly spilling the team's secrets the whole while, and meanwhile remaining in love with my mate. This would not last; the team leaders split us up, two years ago ― then I saw her never again. Until these last two days, among the skeletons I fought."

"Oh, I am so sorry for you, Friend Zayir," Maya soothed, using the address format he had used for her.

"Don't be worried, I have not given up hope," the minotaur replied. "Both with my faith and hope in Chae-Won helping us, and thankful for the few years I did have with Kaida through the past. I do not think I will meet another who matches my life with hers, and hers with mine, in a long time."

"But then, what of this team, and the betrayal you spoke of?"

"Due to the disappearance of my mate and from other things I had reported in past years, I began to think they were involved with much more than anyone suspected. So I dug deeper, to reveal even more. At the lead of the team were two summoners, who both had traits of being involved with necromancy, controlling the dead. They did use undead monsters from time to time, but did not rely only on them. Still, only just the day before last they gave me the mission to inspect this area for undead. Though it pulled me from further direct inspection of their assets and goals, it was important to fight and plot the advancing of an undead horde across the land."

"I see."

"And so an exploration of this area began. I see the mana in this place; it would support any summoner's or necromancer's call and use of mana. I thought the team leaders were looking for a place to setup a new settlement or backup hideout. They have at least half a dozen in various sites ... that I know of, at least. But to my surprise, I was soon attacked by bands of skeletons and zombies ― I also saw my former mate Kaida, as a skeleton among them. come to attack. In two successive days, these came to fight. When they are defeated and fall, they will rise again the next day ― until a cleansing ritual will be performed on their remaining essence ... if they have a soul left to cleanse. The rest, you know."

At this point, he fell silent; this might be his indication he expected her to take her turn.

And so, she began the tale. "Once upon a time, two young girls from different cultures on another world met, and united for the things which made them separate and for what made them similar. Me with my dark skin and her with her white skin; Maya and Shay could be friends for life. My family had wealth and my father an important job, which provided my family with a great chance to get knowledge and assets too. On the other hand, Shay was abandoned by her family maybe ― she never said she remembered family, only how she knew the streets and she was alone without me. This was a curious match to my family ― me with a chance to prosper, and Shay with the chance for next to nothing, except in handouts from kind strangers."

She paused, but unlike how she had nodded acceptance of Zayir's tale, he did not give a hint of acceptance, only one of rapt attention.

"So we stayed the best of friends; when puberty hit, we thought of each other as our first loves ― two girls tasting each other in our first kisses, and more. When we turned thirteen, this love of ours came to light when my father stormed into the room and threw Ch, um, Shay out in the street. And what was more, he forbade me from seeing her. But yet we did seek each other out; for another week we met in secret, but even this was revealed to my father by someone trailing us."

With a brief glance, Zayir for once did nod.

"Now my father may have been prosperous in this land which was not his homeland; and he also had no end to the employment opportunities. One such job offer would take his whole family to his homeland, and also separate me from Shay for good. But on the last day before I left, he let me go tell this bad news to her ― a touch of mercy, or not, I am not certain. We walked that one day, among the slum she called home. Before we knew it, we were followed by four men, four chasers who dragged us deeper into the depths of the poor neighborhood, where nobody would answer our cries for help."

Zayir's eyes brows rose, as perhaps part of her story confirmed something in his mind, that maybe she was more than what she'd told him earlier. But she had come this far; she would not let in any lie, but only what amounted to the truth of her and Chae-Won's life together.

"And so we two girls were assaulted by these four men, but in a strange way I got free, and ran for the law to go rescue my friend. When I wanted to run back to her place too, they held me back, but did not hurry where I told them to go. Only later in the afternoon I heard a report of my friend, she had been beaten, raped, and left dead in that dark alley. And with this, I was torn from my friend's existence at my side; and also moved away from the places there."

No further motion came from Zayir, who sat still, but a moment of deep concern, and consideration of her tale crossed his face.

"I fell into deep depression and even came to hate my own life. What good was living life, if I did not have a friend to live life next to me? For many years I tried to pull myself from the dark recess of my own mind, and thoughts of ending things. Upon turning nineteen, determined to live as my own self, I left my family and a certain job they offered me, and moved around other lands, to do other things. Eventually, I ended up in the land where I and Shay had once thought of as our home, to visit the places I had remembered. She might not be there, but my memories of the place pulled me back to it."

She could stop here; but to complete the story, Maya pressed on and went into the points which led her to this world.

"I had little to no professional training in many fields of work, but I took job after job just to feed myself. I also did other things which I do not want to recall. Humans are as cruel to fellow humans as they can be, you know; they can even use each other in their depravity. I maybe allowed myself to be used too, but in the end I would find myself in a slew of jobs, at most lasting a few weeks at a time. Just a day before coming to this world, I had applied to a good job, and was asked to return for a deeper interview. After this, I found myself going to the place where my friend had died, just to whisper those happy words of having found a job! When, out of the dark alley, I did hear a struggle and a cry which indicated those four men who chased after girls had a new target. In a moment of sheer daring, I leaped to action, right or not, but found myself at no advantage. If they were the same guys who did this act thirteen years before, they had long since perfected their techniques. They took me too, and ― did what they did not, before-"

She shuddered at the memory.

"But ... then I died, with little to no benefit in the moment. First, there and suffering; then, here and in this situation."

Maya fell silent, to the minotaur letting out his held breath too. He seemed to close his eyes for a second, to open them again.

"My own youngest sister had a time like this happen in a dark alley, as well; though she lived, and lives still. My sympathy, Friend Maya."

"Even if too late, I accept this sympathy, Friend Zayir. An unfortunate side effect, but a good thing for me, is now I got summoned into this world, for the purpose of returning it to the way it once was. To do this, I am to find allies, friends, and even followers who will be of use to restoring this world."

Zayir's eyes bulged. "For a certainty ― I have prayed to Chae-Won for many years, for me to find my life's purpose! Without a doubt ― let me be your first follower!" He dropped his head to the dirty ground, to let it be as dusty as the skeleton dust could make it. "Mistress Maya. Please, use this life in your mission of mercy upon this world!"

"Wait, what? What the fuck, dude." Maya queried him for his motives. "Why as a follower?"

"Mistress. Because my own life has been saved by your actions here. Because your own tale leads me to think you are more than you are saying. Because if your statements are correct, you will need allies and friends. Because I cannot be an ally, an ally indicates someone who has something of value, and I have nothing but my own life to offer. Because in this world, for as long as I have lived in this world, it is said, only a human can be an ally to a human."

"Eh ... it may be the way of this world, but not my way. I choose you as a friend, not a mere follower. Even if I accept you as a follower, which might make our adventure easier, I want to see you as an equal, not less than I am."

"Mistress. I am happy you wish us equals. But for now, it should be this way. I am only happy to be linked to you and to your mission. I will make your mission, my mission!"

Maya sighed, with it clear he would not stop calling her this, unless she did something to modify his perspective.

"If you want to start as my follower, be assured it is only for as long as necessary, until you can free yourself of any need of bowing to me. Even so, I may have rules."

"Yes, Mistress."

"First. I may have introduced myself as Maya; but my full name is ... Alemayehu. I understand this name is already popular in tales of this world; but for this reason, I would rather be called Maya. Yet this world does not need to know me as Alemayehu ... until it is unavoidable to say it, or appropriate to tell it."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Second. To be specific, the purpose for me to be here is to setup settlement sites separate from the cities, towns, and villages which currently exist in this or that place. Part of the reason is, so many of the lives who are bound up in living in one place, they are reticent to change. They remain static, accepting of who and what they are. By setting up new settlements, people will be forced to choose to alter their stationary lives. Upon hearing that they could be part of this, a person has a choice: if they want to remain in their static lives, or if they want to help this cause. You too have this choice."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Third. As part of the purpose of undoing the scourge of undead, my sponsor to this world has created a special orb which acts as the core of a settlement. Like this." She pulled out an orb, to show him, then put it back. "It will have a radius of safety from undead attack; but it also has an additional property ― some undead ones might have a capacity of being rescued from their state. Aside from the infected who can explode to infect others ― most skeletons and a few zombies might be capable of such."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Fourth. I have a number of these settlement cores, which I must place in multiple places around the world. This means, a fair amount of travel. Fortunately, my sponsor has given me a true way to ensure this. This sphere of light in my hand now, this is the surface of this world, as seen through her eyes. With it, I can expand my view to see an area, and select a spot to go to. In the near future, I might be able to share this with you; if you wish it and I see you are capable of using it to fair purpose."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Fifth. As much as it's necessary for you to understand, my sponsor is a goddess in this world, but one who some people might not respect, nor worship. Now, I shall admit deities gain their power and abilities through worship given them by mortals, not what acts they do. When I arrived in her domain, I saw how powerless and desperate she felt ― I knew it hurt her when people spit upon her, or throw things at her. But in my compassion for her, and disgust at the mortals for their abuse of her, I want to bring them to again worship her in unity."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Sixth. You keep calling me mistress, yet I have no interest in commanding you to do something as a master or mistress would a servant or slave. Instead, I wish to as much listen to your words and ideas on the things of this world as much as your own experiences. It may be I have a good plan but not know the particulars of this or that location, or of this or that group of peoples, but you may. In my words, I would always hope in our friendship, for you speak up in the things where you have experience, just between us."

"Yes, Mistress."

"And maybe a last of these words for now. When we are among other settlements, cities or towns, I again don't want to be know by my full name. Nor do I want you to call me mistress. Because, are others only see me as yet another oddly named person trying to draw them into some endeavor, just another person who has a servant to back them up? But if you are your own person, you can speak of your own accord, to answer their questions or accusations."

"Yes," he said, at last not repeating the term. He looked at her for a few seconds, then continued. "Friend Maya."

"This is good. Friend Zayir."

Both of them relaxed.

"But can you explain for now," Maya asked, "beyond the exhaustion of battle, do you have a reason for staying in this place ― not just one day, but two? You did say something about the undead coming back if they weren't dealt with ― cleansed, I think you said."

"Because, I wanted to see Kaida once more. Even if this put me in danger, here."

---

Zayir admitted his internal thoughts so easily. How could he dare hold back these thoughts to one he now trusted?

"The truth is, Friend Maya, since you mention this settlement core, I would ask if one can be placed near here, and I would consider it as my new home. If my mate could be one of those skeletons 'rescued' from the undead state, I would be thrilled. Of course I do have a home and family at a nearby city, and things to report back to Unity Upon All. But if I may ask, are you serious about rescuing the undead?"

"Yes. Although I must give warning, I have not any idea what the percentage of success is for this, as I have not done it yet. If you wish a settlement to be located here, I can consider this; we might as well start with a settlement site somewhere. You are not going to fall to pieces if it turns out your former mate is not rescued, or even if she is but has no memory?"

Zayir paused in thought. "Strange but interesting phrase, my friend. I won't 'fall to pieces', as you say. Friend Maya, I did express to you my happiness in having shared what life Kaida and I had together, did I not? This still stands. Even if Kaida is rescued but has no memories of me, or us ― or a will to return to that life ― am I not allowed to try my part?"

"If it comes to this." He saw Maya taking this as the moment to start with the new task. "First, let's see to finding a spot to place the settlement core. After this, we will see about where to go."

---

Maya looked around where they sat. Standing, she had a better view of the area.

"All of these things which dropped as undead are defeated ― are they okay to pick up?"

"Yes, friend. In this way, a fledgeling adventurer gains their equipment, or might carry enough items to trade to merchants once they return home. I see many things here, too many things to take them all. But let us pick some of the better things, and-"

"Oh, this will not be a problem. I have an Inventory space," she smiled. "This is a hidden space which has a massive amount of capacity. Think of it like a vault in another domain. For the purposes of being honest, it is one billion cubic meters of space; this is a cube of space, one kilometer to the side. I can share a small amount of this, just one thousand cubed meters; this is a cubed space of ten meters to a side. You might even be able to take a whole small hovel or hut, plus all of your smaller possessions. But for a certainty, I should be able to store each and every item dropped from the last battle. If the undead come back, do they pick up and use these things? I don't want to leave anything they can use behind; plus the new settlement should start out with a few goods."

"I have neither seen nor heard of an undead creature doing such. Sometimes they come back with the item again, sometimes without the item. Then, allow me to retrieve the items, for you to store."

For the better part of an hour, they worked together. At first Maya reached out to touch and store things in her vicinity, bones too, to have Zayir dropping armfuls of the items at her side. But soon she stood in her place, to store the items he brought. It seemed clear she still felt the tiredness of the battle, while he had regained some of his stamina. Maybe this was one of the differences between a human and a minotaur in this world?

Plus, her inventory gave her new reasons to store things: at times, when adding bone pieces, she would get a notification of a 'skeleton set' or a 'zombie set' being finished. When she looked within, it held a properly arranged skeleton or zombie creature; for what purpose she should carry around a skeleton, she did not know. Maybe if she gathered enough skeletons, the number of them who came back to attack a following day would decrease? Telling this thought to Zayir, he nodded and also went to collect recognizable bones.

After two hours of taking stock, item retrieval was done, to a tune of a twenty meter radius around the center of where they had sat. One brief meal of dried meats Zayir shared later, with a deep burp bellowing out, they were rested. She nodded to her friend, then extracted the settlement core. "Now, where should this go," she whispered. "Do the undead reappear in the same place, or-"

"Friend Maya. No they do not. At least, in the last two days, they have reappeared the second time in a place several dozen meters from the spot they did at first. More precisely, it seemed the spot I went to had less of the mana supporting their regeneration, but was still within range for it to happen. It is as if the necromantic summoners were forcing them to keep their target upon me. Will this settlement core be able to hold them back?"

"I believe so; but I'm also going to do something bold. Point out where this mana is the strongest, the center of the effect. This is where I will lay down the core."

His brows raised, but he went ahead and led her to the point where he felt the mana these summoners had used emanated from the ground the strongest. "Right here, Friend Maya."

She set the orb in place where he cleared more bones, read the instructions which Chae-Won had put upon it, then turned back to him. "It is set in place but must still be activated. Because the raw effect deep within the ground is dangerous, we must meditate to give our prayers and respect to Chae-Won. Once I activate it, will you join me in saying your own words to her? It may take some time more, but it will be to good effect."

"Naturally, Friend Maya. I am ready, even if this takes a day, even if I must forego the needs of the body, I shall do my part."

---

Kervan watched from high above here, seeing this duet come together and fight the things the agents of chaos had brought forth. Were they going to be able to set up this settlement thing? Not if he could help it-

Upon the activation of the settlement core and their kneeling to pray for Chae-Won's favor, he sent out a call into the ground at this spot. This call he meant for one purpose: to force the undead to regenerate more than ever before, even though it should be many hours until the time for them to come. The minotaur had thoughts of his former mate? Ah good okay then, strengthen the effect upon the soul of that one, and set the female minotaur skeleton to be persistent.

If these two wanted to make this a safe place, why not defeat it before it ever came to be?

He let loose another loud raucous cackle from the sky. Whether they heard or not, he felt satisfied this would remind souls in the area ― they were not to trifle with him; his own purpose would surely become their reality.

Yet the duo continued to pray in solitude, as the object's effects pushed its own mana into the soil.

'Wait, what is this? Made by mana only taken from Chae-Won herself, or from her own home domain? Bah, I cannot affect this so easily. But these undead minions, they might still break through if left there-'

He pushed the undead, freshly generated but not focused on the duo yet, like never before. Maybe not so perfect ― Kervan did not tend to the necromantic arts ― he got caught unaware as to the nature of these things, and he'd already overused his limited power since the little threat to Chae-Won and her playmate. But they could not enter this bubble of space where this orb emitted a barrier.

Settlement core. Such a unique device, even if he opposed its use by such a young goddess. Not just to merge machine and magic; it had just a portion of its creator's own self. Maybe this was some last shot at taking back the world, from Chae-Won's perspective; but from Kervan's position it did not seem like it could last. What could two praying fools do, truly ― store enough mana to provide only enough for two to live another day?

But no; this felt strange. The effect went on for an hour, two hours, and on into three hours. With the goddess' orb growing in power, what could he do?

Ah damn, he felt the orb push out a force field, one of the few effects the goddess had learned due to her training in this world. This force field pressed Chae-Won's mana out from its center, in both the air and underground as well, in an increasing radius. Anything which went counter to Chae-Won would get ejected from the area, if not defeated by her essence stored in this orb.

What was this? It became harder for Kervan to see inside this bubble too. Bah, he'd have to abandon this place of watching this settlement, then. It seemed like the settlements would be small bubbles of space which would become removed from his ability to affect or even see.

So, he let up on his attack, and left for other chances to ruin the world.

---

Chae-Won felt thankful for the moment she had watched having passed, of the entity resembling Kervan moving onto another form of chaos.

Then, she returned in private to her own realm, paused time, and wept again.

She knew she was broken, she just knew it. Never before than in Alemayehu's arms and in her bosom had she cried so much. Did this make her broken, or some way far too fragile, Yes. Maybe so. But for now she continued to let loose the tears from the past two centuries, of yet more things she hadn't told Alemayehu, things she might hate her for, if and when she finds out.

The biggest fear is, obviously, Alemayehu might say she wanted to leave; Chae-Won couldn't face being alone once more-