The dilapidated hall was near identical to the other side. The cracked pillars lined like soldiers as they crossed the rugged carpet. Uru led them, carrying a sack of the green ore and a few extra chunks in her gaping stomach cavity.

Bailey and Allen were held by Khaos and Exrite as they followed the naked demon. Frosty maintained her guard as she kept close to Exrite, staring daggers into Uru’s back.

A wry smile formed on Exrite’s face. Even Frosty knew that they were alive solely because of Uru, and their limeite haul was also thanks to her. Khaos was in no state to carry something of his own size, even though the green ore was far lighter than any other conventional metals.

For now, time was of the essence. They weren’t sure about the extent of the damage caused by the beam, and they didn’t want to stay to find out.

The soft rumblings from above shifted the loose rubble with a silent hiss. Exrite gulped as she tried to shift her focus.

“We really can’t get the carbodix?”

“No. Only raw strength can break that metal, or extremely powerful magic.” Uru quickly answered Exrite. “But all that metal would only amount to the size of a fist, and I doubt there’d be a blacksmith in Colight who could mould that into something useful, let alone armour.”

“We can just come back here and take it if we ever need it.” Khaos chimed in, but Exrite wasn’t as optimistic as he was.

“Not if it’s buried this deep. You can hear that, right?”

Khaos raised an eyebrow as he wandered his gaze around.

“Hear what?”

“… Frosty, you can hear it as well, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Are you still angry at me?”

“No. I’m just annoyed. Exrite, I sincerely hope this place collapses.”

Frosty avoided her eyes, knowing that she’d break into a smile if she saw her face. Her sarcastic, yet serious voice made Exrite quietly sigh.

Soon, they entered the broken entrance of the hallway. Many vines hung from the ceiling of the tight passageway, which licked their faces and brushed their hair as they passed through. They followed Uru towards the green light at the end with minor occurrences.

If you can exclude Frosty slashing any plant that dared to touch her.

As they exited the passage, the scattered skulls across the floor greeted them with grim smiles. Their ancient skeletal remains littered the glowing-green room from every direction.

It was a graveyard – one that Uru pleasantly admired and hummed in their presence.

“They were weak to the sweet nectar of their desires. Once they had a taste of my pleasure, they couldn’t go back. Dwarves, elves, humans – they’re all the same.”

Their broken bones were embedded with countless weaponry and exposed the traumas of the past.

“Did your illusions do this to them?”

“My illusions only work so long as I’m in proximity. The entire prison fell to the curse of Desire like a plague. In order to reach me and sate their desires, they needed to kill each other.”

Her words were gentle, yet they held an unknown power within them. As she stared at the graveyard, Exrite curiously asked:

“You mentioned the curse of Desire earlier. What exactly is it?”

“It’s a powerful illusive magic that strips a person from their senses entirely. Their superficial desires become their reality, and only few can resist it on their own.”

She briefly glanced at Khaos, the only one who seemed to be unaffected by the illusion.

The moment he entered the treasury, he should have been entranced by the illusion, but for some reason he was able to resist it. The strange phenomenon left her intrigued as she softly smiled and continued to lead them through the tomb.

Their steps were careful, save for Uru who found pleasure in crushing their bones beneath her bare feet.

“Khaos, I thought magic was your weakness.” Exrite hummed, also curious about his resistance to the powerful illusion that captivated even herself.

“Hey, I also saw something in that room, but I was too busy trying to wake you up to give a damn.”

“Impossible.”

Uru tried to keep a steady face to the absurd reasoning he gave as Frosty mumbled something under her breath.

It couldn’t be the only reason. Surely, he had some sort of secret.

“What did you see? I’m curious as to why you ignored it.” Uru persistently asked.

“I’m not sure. Maybe I’m not dreaming big enough.”

He joked, making Exrite suddenly crackle as Frosty hid her face and uttered:

“Idiot.”

Her shoulders slightly shook as she tried to hold back a laugh.

The demon refrained from pursuing him any further. Annoyed, she brought them up the damaged, stone staircase. She didn’t know what to make of his response, but for some reason, he strangely avoided answering directly.

She didn’t want to create more friction between them, and kept her mouth shut for the time being.

As they reached the top of the staircase, a large chunk of the wall and balcony seemingly vanished. The path they had entered during their descent was replaced with an empty void.

Khaos kept his distance from the newly formed pit as Uru leaned over to see what was above. Unsurprisingly, the tunnel howled with a chilly breeze as a dim light teased from the other side.

“The remnants of the beam. We can get out from here.” Uru turned to the rest with a confident smile.

“But you can’t carry us all and that giant chunk of limeite.”

Exrite spoke as she took a step forward and too wanted to check the hole for herself. Carefully, she leaned over and admired the sheer depth of the hole and reeled herself back.

“I’ll carry you all first. The limeite can wait later.” Uru heaved the giant bag of ore onto the ground with a hefty thud as she slithered a hand onto Exrite’s back.

She slightly jolted to the strange sensation, but largely ignored it as the soft rumbling from above returned.

“What about the cobalt?”

“We have plenty of time before the deadline. Even if this place collapses, there are surely other places to find cobalt.”

Exrite answered Frosty, who silently gazed at her before humming in agreement.

Indeed, there were many places to buy metals and ores from across the Capital. If the main road stores didn’t have them, then perhaps the street markets would have a supply somewhere.

If all else fails, they would have to consider asking from the king, which was something Exrite wanted to avoid doing. Like Acacia said; no favour is done from the bottom of anyone’s heart.

And she didn’t want to abuse her position as the Exrenity, let alone the Maiden of Time, to extort the king from his possessions. It wasn’t something she could justify, but she feared that one day, she might give into the temptation of her newfound power.

After all, she was still ‘human’.

As she stared at Frosty and Khaos with warm eyes, she figured that the two would help her if she ever succumbed to corruption. And because of that, she inadvertently tried to lift a hand in front of her, only to realise that Bailey was still asleep in her hold.

“One month. I can’t imagine us getting strong enough for them.”

Exrite wasn’t so sure about that either. Granted, they were Frostbitten with already powerful specs to back them up, and she was the Exrenity and the Maiden of Time – however, there was a stark difference between having powers and knowing how to use them.

In fact, apart from the abnormal mana capacity and lightness of her body, she didn’t feel anything else. It was just a female version of himself, as far as she was concerned.

“Maybe for me, but you guys should be fine. Khaos has his strength, you have your haste and magic, and I’m still here with my crossbow.”

“Yeah, for now at least- “

The rumbling from above cut Frosty off and sent frightening chills down Exrite’s spine. Quickly, she turned to Uru who had already sprouted four thick tendrils from her back, which harmlessly hovered by her face.

“Save your chatters for when we get out. It wouldn’t be strange for the noise to be explosions set off from the library.”

Exrite, fearing that was the case, allowed Uru to tightly wrap a tendril around her waist. The strange softness, yet rough texture was oddly comfortable. From her arms, Bailey too was wrapped and carefully held in front of her.

While Uru tried to secure the rest, Exrite stared out into the chasm once more.

It was certainly wide enough for them all to fit through without any issues. But even so, she couldn’t help but to tremble with every breath she took. Her fear of tight spaces kicked in, made worse by the ever so deep hole left by her beam. Or so they claimed.

Uru glanced down at the near petrified girl with a perplexed face and asked:

“What’s wrong? Is the eye showing you something?”

“… Sorry, I’m fine. Just cold feet.”

She answered, an obvious lie that Frosty saw through. As much as she’d love to reassure Exrite of her safety, she didn’t want to expose her fear to the demon. She couldn’t bring herself to trust her just yet.

Her jarring shift from wanting to kill Exrite, to now wanting to follow her was suspicious. For some reason, she needed them more than they would ever need her.

She figured it was because Exrite was the Maiden of Time, which further infuriated her. A demon who only sought power wasn’t someone she could wholeheartedly entrust her life to.

“Fuck. Hey, any chance you can close my eyes as well?”

The voice came from Khaos, who realised just how far they’d have to travel through the hole.

“You have hands, don’t you?”

“I don’t feel safe with my hands alone. Uru, this is tight, right? You won’t drop us, right?”

His voice was concerning for Uru, who slowly realised why he was behaving in such a way.

The towering man feared heights.

Not wanting to smile and make fun of him, she hummed:

“Why would I kill you now? Rest assured, my body won’t break – unless you happen to break them with that ridiculous strength.”

Her voice was also a warning. She didn’t want the man to clutch onto her tendrils like Exrite was. If things became rough, he’d undoubtably crush them.

The lines of her body suddenly shone a soft white as the limeite chunk on the ground flickered momentarily. Exrite wanted to avert her eyes, but she was too intrigued by the phenomenon.

Limeite was a metal by nature, but it also held biological properties. In essence, the reason why she could harness its energy, was because it was compressed biomass. The glow was the mana of those who had been buried deep within the depths of the world.

It was disgustingly beautiful.

Once sated with enough mana, Uru gently hovered into the gaping chasm and stared at the group with striking pose that matched her demonic beauty.

“I’ll be moving fast, so please don’t flail around. When we make it out, I’ll see if I can return for the rest of the limeite. Are you ready?”

Before anyone could answer, the tomb suddenly quaked with a thunderous rumble. Exrite growled as she struggled to maintain her composure. The prideful demon clicked her tongue when she immediately shot her gaze up into the chasm.

A blinding firestorm exploded from the floor above and invaded the hole. The tomb trembled once more, and this time, crackling and powerful thuds began to emanate around them.

“Hold on tight!”

Uru’s warning did little for the group as she shot straight towards the blazing cloud above. Khaos’ silently screamed for his life as the floor suddenly turned into nothing but an infinite abyss. Dragged through the tunnel at such a speed rendered them speechless as they instinctively clutched onto the tendrils, save for Khaos and the unconscious adventurers.

Before they could enter the scorching fireball, Uru wasted no time to create to create a cone-shaped barrier in front of them. Her glowing lines shimmered and contested the luminosity of the flames as they pierced through. Exrite held her breath as their surroundings became enveloped with nothing but a swirling red.

When Uru felt that the flames were no longer pushing against them, she yelled at Exrite:

“Create a barrier underneath us! Quickly, before we burn!”

As ordered, she began muttering a chant. A large, light blue magic circle followed them from beneath as their blood began to boil with every passing second.

“Hurry! We might be able to endure it, but what about the humans!” Frosty became desperate as she watched Bailey’s breaths become congested and painful.

With a powerful voice, the Maiden cried out her first magical chant:

“- Barrier!”

Immediately, their speed increased as they sailed the roaring flames from below. The insulated barrier completely neutralised any passing heat, allowing the group to recover as the opposing wind thrashed against their bodies.

The dim exit drew near, sparking unanimous relief as Uru proudly smiled.

For the first time in over a thousand years, she would witness the beauty of the night sky through own two eyes. Prepared for it, she moistened her lips and intently stared out into the world beyond.

They were unceremoniously thrown from the peak of the highest mountain, where Uru paused and held her breath.

Everything became silent.

The gorgeous plains and the valley were far different than she remembered. The desolated lands from long, long ago was now teeming with rich life and golden grass. In the distance, the many stars riddled the night sky as she stared off at the Capital with mellow eyes.

“I’m free.”

The world turned upside down, her white hair flailing above her as the gaping eye of the clouds witnessed her descent. Flames erupted from the mountain as many adventurers fled from the cracked entrance of the dwarven ‘city’.

Animals and flocks of birds ran as a thundering tremor shook the valley for a split second.

As she continued to freefall, she noticed a few strands of black invading her vision. When she reached for them, Exrite suddenly straddled her in mid-air.

“URU! KHAOS IS GOING TO LOSE IT!”

She violently shook her by the shoulders, causing the demon to snap back into reality. But even so, she didn’t show a fragment of fear like Exrite. Her happiness was far, far too empowering than any of her other rational senses. With only a mischievous smile, she embraced Exrite and tumbled above her.

“AHHHHH! FROST! DO SOMETHING!”

“Why’re you yelling at me!?”

Khaos’ deafening screams, prompted the demon to slow their descent into a smooth glide. For a moment, Allen had awoken from his slumber, only to see the quickly approaching ground and faint yet again.

The darkness hid them from the eyes of the adventurers as they stared up at the flaming column. Both fear and awe spread like a plague as some fled from the valley, and many more scurrying down the ancient staircase.

The ground was soon upon them. The eye of the giant lake remained silent until they approached. Uru and Exrite landed heavily onto the shallow waters of the lake, while the others were safely placed on the shorelines.

Khaos immediately dropped to his knees and grasped the sands with utmost relief.

“Thank fuck we’re on the ground again!” He cried with moistened eyes as Frosty stood beside him with folded arms.

As much as she wanted to make fun of him, she kept herself silent and smiled. Bailey croaked as she roused awake to the sight of a giant boulder, which strangely shivered to the winter breeze.

“Bwah! Uru! I can’t breathe!” Exrite tried to struggle free from the demon’s embrace.

Their splashes and commotion woke the few surrounding boulder crabs from their rest. But at the sight of the demon, they instinctively shifted away in a somewhat adorable manner.

Uru’s hands tightly grasped around the Maiden as she pulled her onto her knees and leaned over her. As Exrite moved a hand to push herself away from her, Uru spoke.

“I’m finally free.”

Her hands froze midway.

Uru dug her face into Exrite’s neck, the comfort of her ticking heart mellowed the surge of emotions that threatened to leak from her moist eyes.

Exrite let her hand fall beside her, succumbing to the motherly hold as she stared at others with gentle eyes. She didn’t want to disturb Uru’s moment of respite – her freedom after a thousand years of solitude.

Whatever those words entailed, she knew that they came from the bottom of her heart.

For a little longer, she agreed to stay in place as she wondered if the ticking of her heart, or the Heart of Time for that matter, affected others in some way. So far, everyone had mentioned that it was ‘calming’ or ‘soothing’, and she also agreed with them.

Perhaps Uru knew about this and was why she kept touching her in the first place. Was she using her to contain her emotions to a certain extent?

Exrite didn’t know for certain. But that didn’t matter. Slowly, she lifted a hand and placed it on the girl’s head.

From the sides, Bailey was curious whether she was still dreaming or not. With a pinch, she confirmed that it was the latter and wondered who the new figure was.

“Fuck… fuck. When we finally meet with the Maiden of Wisdom, I’m going to ask what’s the best method to destroy every mountain in this world.”

“Just punch them, Khaos. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”

“Ha ha. Funny, no- wait. You might be right actually.”

Frosty sighed and sat herself beside the roused Bailey, who repeatedly shifted her gaze between each person.

Her brother’s idiocy wasn’t something she could handle without Exrite’s help. As she stood beside Bailey, the girl slowly spoke:

“… we’re outside?”

“Somehow.” Frosty hummed as she brushed her sight across the plains in search for their caravan.

And oddly enough, she couldn’t find it.

“Bailey.”

“- Yes?”

“Do you have a caravan we can use?”

“… I think? No, I’m not so sure actually.”

“Excuse me?”

Frosty strangely looked down at the girl, who stared down at her knees.

She didn’t know what was going on anymore. The dwarves they met in the Capital felt so real, and for it to be just an illusion was heartbreaking. Her uselessness against the demon, and her close call with death only added to her miserable state.

Frosty sighed and sat herself beside the girl, her knees tucked into her chest.

“Are you scared of me?”

“N-no! I’m just… mmm. Maybe… yeah, maybe a little.”

Frosty’s eyes softened as she gently leaned onto the girl. She cutely chirped, making the leaning girl lightly chuckle.

“How old are you?”

“S-seventeen. Why?”

“Just wondering. Honestly, I don’t think it’s worth it to feel down at this point. You’re still young, and there’s plenty more hardships to face in the future.”

Bailey softly groaned. Hearing that the future would be worse than it already was wasn’t something she took lightly.

But when she looked up at Frosty’s face, she became enraptured. The crescent moon shone onto her body as her crimson eyes shimmered with gentleness. There was experience behind her words, and because of that, she managed to painfully digest them.

“Hardships are meant to be overcome, but sometimes it’s just too hard. I know that feeling, Bailey. Believe me, I know.”

Bailey’s voice froze, but she urged herself to ask:

“… did something happen?”

Frosty smiled in response, looking at Khaos who continued to praise the sand beneath.

“Kinda.”

Left in silence, she savoured Frosty’s warmth for a little longer.

Splashes from the side revealed the finally parted Uru and soaked Exrite who stood in the ankle-deep water. Exrite stretched her arms high above her head with a loud groan.

“Uru, aren’t you cold? Wait- put some clothes on!”

“Clothes? Ah! That’s right, the races of these regions have a different sense of modesty.”

She replied to Exrite’s cry of realisation rather calmly. The markings of her body lit up as black fabric quickly wove across her body, forming a tough robe which was similar to that of Frosty’s. Except this was clad in absolute darkness.

“Those tendrils – just what are they?”

“My body.” Her reply was immediate and simple.

Exrite hummed, somewhat unsatisfied by her response. With a tilted head, she could only imagine what they truly were.

Perhaps it was her real body, or she was some sort of plant succubus – if those even existed. Whatever it was, she was intrigued by it.

Six Point was far too large for that to not be within the realms of possibility. At least she hoped.

“Exrite, our caravan is gone.”

Frosty unceremoniously claimed, immediately causing Exrite to hum as she stared off into the distance. When her eyes scanned the place they had left the caravan, she softly chuckled.

The caravan was still there, and even the horses were still resting at the front. They were most likely hungry from waiting all this time.

Bailey stared up at the girl with a shocked face as she immediately denied her very existence. Frosty had called the girl ‘Exrite’. It was surely a mistake –

“Frosty, I can see the carriage from here.”

Her response to the name made it clear that she was somehow Exrite. Whether it was another illusion or something else remained a mystery. In fact, when she thought hard about it, it didn’t matter. Their encounter with Uru was far more riveting than a mere gender change.

Frosty’s eyes squinted as she stared around the hilly plains and found nothing but the bright light of the now subsiding flames of the mountain.

A curse slipped her lips as she rubbed her eyes and still couldn’t find anything in the dim distance. Her night vision was atrocious, much like Khaos’.

“… lead the way then.” Frosty heaved herself up and offered a hand to the young girl.

Khaos held Allen above his shoulder as he found his footing.

Following Exrite up the plains, they admired the expansive beauty of their surroundings once more. Uru found herself exploring every nook and cranny of the valley, baffled by how much it had changed over the course of a thousand years.

“It’s spectacular how this world works. No matter what happens, the world’s always moving. And if you blink, you’re left behind, wondering what happened to the places you once knew.”

Exrite keenly listened to the demon’s sentiments, a soft hum leaving her lips as she softly smiled.

She couldn’t empathise with Uru, other than her mistreatment, but Gaia seemed to come into mind. Surely the ten years she spent waiting was nothing but a minute in her eyes.

It was something creatures with long lifespans could only empathise with, but even so, she pitied them for it. To be able to live for so long was a curse in itself.

While the thought lingered in her mind, they eventually met with the caravan with relieved faces. Many adventurers frantically passed by either on foot or by horse-drawn caravans.

But they were in no rush, as they knew the nature of the explosion was due to the ridiculous amount of stockpiled explosive powder within the mountain. The fleeing adventures must’ve thought it was a volcanic eruption, and they couldn’t blame them for thinking so.

An amused Uru held Exrite back as she allowed Frosty and sceptical Bailey to take one side of the front carriage.

“Something wrong Uru?” Exrite asked as the demon brought a charcoal hand close to Exrite’s cold, damp neck.

There, she felt the irresistible ticking and soothing gears.

“I just wanted to feel it again. You have no idea how captivating that is, do you?”

“Is that supposed to be one of the Maiden of Time’s traits?”

Exrite was curious as to why that was the case.

“I’m not sure. I only know of the ticking and the gears. Not once had we been taught about it being calming like this.”

Guess this is something I need to ask her then.

She concluded as she followed Uru onto the carriage and sat across the other two. Allen peacefully slept in the main caravan space, courtesy of Khaos. He also realised that the horses were rather well fed when he roused them, finding the patches of golden grass beneath to be significantly shorter than their surroundings.

Regaining control of the leather reins, he placed his charred back against the cool, wooden seat with a howl of relief.

“Wooh! We’re finally out of this place!”

Bailey chuckled at his enthusiasm as Exrite smiled. While it was unfortunate that they couldn’t find any cobalt, or bring the remaining limeite chunk, they at least came out a clearer picture of their future, no matter how miniscule it seemed.

“Yeah, but we lost so much, no thanks to Uru. But I’ll admit, things could’ve gone a lot worse.” Frosty stared at the demon with slightly narrowed eyes and sighed. “Thanks. You really helped us there.”

She awkwardly scratched the back of her head and averted her gaze.

Khaos had a stupid grin on his face, which caused her to knit her brows in irritation.

“Just go Khaos! You’re wasting time!”

“Haha! You’re never honest with yourself, are you sis!”

“Just wait till we’re back at the capital.”

She threatened with a silent yet deadly voice, only adding fuel to his enthusiasm. As Khaos flicked the reins, the horses roared into the night and trotted off across the vast, golden plains.

In the darkness of the night, the crescent moon caressed the lands with its gentle blue light. The many stars shimmered as they reflected on Exrite’s moist eyes.

She remembered the astronomer and his lecture about the stars. Slowly, she was changing. For better or worse – she couldn’t tell just yet.

And while lost in her thoughts, she finally sneezed.