A silhouette glided from the ceiling, underneath the well of light. A harpy and a warlock were knit in an embrace.

Lorely held the purple warbanner, while Violet held a grimoire.

Slade longingly gazed at the gallant figure of his Sovereign. He had never felt so happy seeing someone.

Sixteen harpies swooped down from above. Unlike the harpy hag, their arm was fused with their wings. They dove into the flanking beholders, mauling them with talons.

“We’re saved!!” the gnoll-borns cheered.

The beholders kept pouring in the cave. They shot at the flying harpies, but their attacks wouldn’t connect because of the great distance.

Helped by the warbanner, the winged pawns tapped into Lorely’s skills to dance in the air. They dodged the rays effortlessly, mocking the enemies.

A volley of rays aimed at Violet.

Lorely threw the warbanner in the air, freeing a hand.

Her arm swung as the rays struck them. Her movements were so fast, her limb blurred.

“Ksshhhh? (What the fuck? She parried all our shots!)” the beholders yelled.

A bluish translucent barrier flickered on top of Lorely’s backhand. Cracked, it emanated blue wisps and a plume of smoke.

She had just swatted the attacks with extreme accuracy.

“C-can we go home, now?” Lorely asked.

She snatched the warbanner hanging from the talons of a passing harpy.

“Not yet, we have to rescue our comrades,” Violet said.

Boom! Boom!

Rocks fell as the disintegration rays struck the background as the harpies effortlessly dodged.

“What a waste of power for such a coward,” Milia muttered.

Oh shit, maybe I should have let Milia level up… Slade thought.

Violet landed in the middle of the gnoll’s defensive circle.

“Please! Can you help me heal my friend?” Metiva asked, holding Ranna’s head in her laps.

“Uuuh… Sorry, I can’t cast anything but Earth Magic,” Violet said.

“Oh no... I only know haste,” Lorely said.

Cure is just a low level water magic, can’t you make an effort? she swallowed her thoughts.

Metiva fiddled with the floating teleportation sigils to cast Cure on the fallen Ranna. Tears welled up; she wouldn’t make it in time to save her.

“Do you think you deserve help after betraying us?” Shaki asked.

She approached, supporting Milia on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Metiva said, lowering her teary eyes.

“For now, let’s cooperate together,” Violet said.

The gnolls nodded.

“The reinforcements are here… Ranna, please stay with me,” Metiva said.

“Metiva, don’t cry. I will watch ov-” Ranna muttered.

“Grannyyyyy! You’re awesooooooome! So pretty! You tied your hair in a ponytail!” Milia interrupted.

Violet was flustered. She staged her cool entrance to win the heart of her rebellious minotaur. She cast her spell when she noticed that the gnolls and her rooks had an internal conflict.

It was a success. Even Lorely wiggled in pride for Violet, as Milia kept showering her with praises.

“Hmpf! Don’t worry, they’re just small fry,” she said with a smug smile appealing to Milia.

Bruh, didn’t Milia hate Violet? How quick does she change her mind? Slade thought.

The beholders continued to gather around the collapsed gate, helping the Evil Eye up.

“How did you know about our situation?!” Shaki asked.

“I told you I’d check with View Earth. You weren’t moving for days, so I built a harpy loft and summoned them with your rewards,” Violet said.

“But you’re risking your life for our sake?!” Milia asked.

“Of course, I’ll save you. But Lorely was mad at me, so I waited until Monday to summon another batch. Where is Slade by the way?” Violet asked.

The slime left Milia’s head to jump onto Violet’s chest.

Hi honey~! he thought.

“Oh, there you are, good boy!” she said.

[Mana transfer activated.]

What the fuck?! Not here, please!

The panicking slime absorbed the warlock’s sweat.

Wait… Could it be that the skill…

[Mana transfer: Exchange mana. The rate of transfer is based on the target’s mana pool and the freshness of the fluids.]

So it was just fluid after all! He stared at the well of light with dead eyes.

“So, what’s the plan?” Lorely asked, tense from exposing her sovereign to the dangers of battle.

Sixteen harpies wouldn’t change much against the countless beholders.

Shaki glanced at the palace behind her back.

“They collapsed the palace’s entrance while shooting at the harpies,” she said.

Retreating inside was no longer an option.

“Surrender or I implode your Pillar!” Violet shouted.

“Proposal… Rejected. Mutual destruction assured,” the Evil Eye calculated.

Violet needed to be static to draw the sigils. Her current forces could only buy enough time for a single implosion. A second implosion would require sacrificing the gnolls and a couple of rooks.

Retreat would be inevitable, but the beholders would drown the ceiling’s hole with disintegration rays during Violet’s passage.

In conclusion, she would checkmate herself by using Implosion on the Pillar of Eyes.

She fumbled, flipping the floating grimoire open to the Implosion page.

“There’s no other way, I’ll throw another Implosion at them,” she said.

“Younglings retreat. Eliminate priority target.” The Evil Eye said.

The older beholders adorning a developed spinal tentacle focused their fire at Violet, while the smaller ones left the cave.

Shaki left Milia to a harpy and reached for the buckler artifact.

“It’s still sizzling!” she said, settling for a wooden shield.

“Brothers,” Metiva said.

“Seems like we have one last job,” the gnolls warriors said to his four rermaining companions.

They nodded, planting their feet in front of the group. They received the disintegration rays, covering Violet with their body and shield.

The rays entirely focused towards the warlock.

“Argh!”

A gnollborn agonized as the rays of light pierced his shield and bore countless holes into his body; three gnoll warriors left.

The harpies landed in a line between the beholders and Violet. They closed their wings in a defensive position, awaiting their death.

Those pawns are freaking fearless, man! Slade thought.

An impressive column of rays was entirely directed at Violet.

She had spent a lot of concentration to cast the initial Implosion, and had to fight against her sluggishness.

Violet’s hand trembled. Screams from pawns and gnolls filled her with anxiety. Who was going to fall first? Her meat shields or the beholders?

“I’ll help!” Metiva said as she read Violet’s spellbook.