"Dominik, you have a lot of explaining to do." Diana said as she offered him a hand.

"Me!?" Dominik pulled himself up and wiped a smudge of blood from his mouth. "Principal Valentine, respectfully, but what are you doing here? Like, seriously, you’re probably the last person I’d expect to see here."

Diana began to open her mouth when a soft flicker of emotion crossed her sharp features. "I’m here for Rosie. Mia told me that you’re–"

She abruptly stopped when she turned her head.

The children, seeing that their captain wasn’t being killed, all broke out from their hiding places. A tidal wave of small bodies erupted from the corner of the corridor and the shadows of the pillars. They flooded the courtyard, splashing through the crimson-stained puddles with no regard for the corpses scattered around.

"She’s so pretty!" a girl squealed, tugging on Diana’s cloak.

"Are you a princess?" a younger boy asked, his eyes wide with genuine awe.

"Look at her hair! It’s like moonlight!"

Within seconds, Diana was completely surrounded by nearly two hundred children. They swarmed her, gushing over her appearance, her glowing sword, which she had fortunately vanished back into her chest, and the sheer, commanding aura she radiated. Diana looked genuinely horrified as she held her arms awkwardly at her sides while tiny hands tugged at her.

"Dominik!" she shouted over the cacophony of high-pitched voices and childlike wonder. "Who are these... these children!?"

"Oh them?! They’re the kids those zealots kidnapped from all around Eldoria! Me, Emelie, and Kurt... we’re here to get them all home!"

"Rosie?" Diana stopped resisting the children’s tugging. The name Kurt acted like a grounding wire. She looked down at the kids and her expression softened from mildly irritated to a fierce, protective maternal instinct.

"Where is he?" She moved closer to Dominik. "Where is my Rosie?"

"I don’t know. Emelie said something about him chasing a cat. By the way, Emelie is currently at the western courtyard, holding off what I believe to be the main force of this fortress to buy us time to reach the ship. Now that you’re here, you can help her, Principal."

Even more children pushed forward. A toddler nearly tripped over the discarded halberd. Diana saw the exhaustion in Dominik’s eyes and the shivering frames of the wet, cold children. She raised a single finger to her lips.

"Shh. Everyone be quiet. Lest you want your adventure at sea to be canceled."

The effect was instantaneous. Two hundred children flinched, widening their eyes as they simultaneously clapped their hands over their mouths. The courtyard fell into a silence so profound that only the drumming of the rain remained.

"Thank you. Now, Dominik, they are freezing. If you move them now, the cold will kill the younger ones before the zealots do. Take shelter and dry them. Now."

"Dry them? Principal, I—"

"Chop chop, Dominik. "Use your fire gently to create a heat pocket. I will be back in five minutes."

Before he could argue, she vanished.

"Huh? Where did the pretty lady go?"

"Aww. I wanted to play with her..."

"C-Captain! W-Was she a g-g-ghost?"

"A ghost?!"

Dominik sighed and set to work. He guided the children back to the corridor and channelled his mana into the air around the children, creating a dome of warm, circulating air. Steam began to rise from their soaked tunics as they huddled together, looking at him, like he was a miracle worker.

"Captain, aren’t you going to bring those people who are sleeping in the rain, back inside?"

"Them? Those aren’t people. They’re all... advanced training dummies. The pretty lady was training until I interrupted her. So she got angry and fought with me. But that’s all cleared up now because I invited her to go on the adventure with us, haha..."

"She’s coming with us?! Yaay!"

’""YAAY!!!"""

"SHHH! You still have to be quiet!" Dominik hissed.

Exactly five minutes later, Diana appeared back at the courtyard, her arms laden with four massive rolls of red sheets.

"Principal Valentine, what are those?" Dominik helped take the load off her when she came to him.

"Just some sheets I got from my mansion. These are heavy enough to repel the rain. Everyone, divide into groups of four. Fifty to a group. Hold these over your heads like a roof. Do not let the edges drag."

"""OK!!!"""

The kids moved with surprising efficiency, fueled by the excitement of a new "mission." Soon, four giant red rectangles moved through the courtyard, supported by dozens of tiny hands.

"Lead them to the ship, Dominik," Diana commanded, her gaze turning toward the smoke rising from the west. "The path to the pier should be clear. I’ve already dealt with the perimeter guards. For some reason they were drunk, so they were easy to take care of."

"Oof. Rip... What about you?"

"I’m going to find Emelie," Diana said, resting her hand over her heart where her sword was sheathed. "And I’m going to find my man. Now get moving."

Dominik nodded and towards the children. "Alright, crew! Hold your red roofs steady and let’s march to the ship!"

"""YES, CAPTAIN!!!"""

.

..

...

While Dominik led the children toward the docks, the western courtyard of the fortress was a scene of utter carnage.

Emelie stood in the center of a wide, stone-floored mess of bodies, breathing steadily. Around her, was a sea of black cultists. Some armed with maces, others with the specialised brother daggers. There were at least a hundred of them left, their faces twisted in a cocktail of religious fury and genuine terror.

"You can’t kill us all, witch!" a cultist screamed, lunging forward with a spear.

Emelie didn’t even look at him. She flicked her wrist, and the spear-tip stopped inches from her throat, suspended by an invisible force. With a sharp twist of her fingers, the metal head snapped off and flew backward, burying itself in the throat of a man behind him.

"You’re right," Emelie remarked with dry sarcasm. "I probably can’t kill you all. Eventually, my arm will get tired from all the waving. But I think I can make it through at least another sixty of you before I need a snack to recharge. Then, it’s back to business."

"Grrr! "Kill her! For the Goddess!"

"""OORAAAH!!!"""

A wave of cultists surged forward. Emelie’s eyes flared with a brilliant, psychic light. She then slammed her palms toward the ground, and the fallen weapons of each dead body rose into the air. And with a violent outward gesture, she sent them spinning like sawblades.

"Gah!"

"Aargh!"

"SCRIOUAHSGAAaaah..."

The weapons smashed into the front line, the sound of breaking bone, splintering wood and flesh being stabbed, echoing throughout the courtyard. Cultists were tossed aside like ragdolls, all the while Emelie danced through the chaos, her movements a blur of telekinetic precision.

When a man tried to grab her from behind, she simply increased the gravity in a five-foot radius around her, slamming him into the floor with enough force to crack the stone.

"Is this the best your brotherhood has?" Emelie teased, catching a volley of thrown daggers in mid-air and hovering them in a halo around her head. "I’ve had harder fights with my morning coffee. Come on, I thought you guys were supposed to be the Goddess’s children! Where’s the ’unending fervor’?"

She launched the daggers back with each one finding their mark.

The cultists were beginning to falter. The floor was slick with blood, and the air was thick with the scent of death. Those in the back were no longer screaming. Instead, they were backing away, their eyes darting toward the exits. They finally realised they were fighting a force of nature.

"Oh, don’t run away now~" Emelie stepped over a dead body and jumped all the way to the cultists who were running away, blocking their escape. "Is the Goddess not answering your prayers? Maybe she’s busy. Or maybe," she leaned in with cold, playful eyes, "she just doesn’t like you~"

The remaining cultists broke. They dropped their weapons, stumbling over each other to get away from her. Emelie let them run past her and once they thought they got away from her–

SNAP

THUD!

They all dropped flies, heads twisted lethally.

"How long are you two going to stand there and watch?" Emelie asked, looking towards the shadows. "I know the opening acts are usually boring, but surely the main stars have better things to do."

"...."

Clap

Clap

Clap

Two figures stepped out of the darkness.

The first was a man who radiated an insufferable arrogance. He wore a dark priest’s uniform, but it was made of fine silk, adorned with gold thread that shimmered like snake scales. His violet hair was slicked back, and a cruel, knowing smile sat on his face.

She wore a provocative black and white interpretation of a nun’s habit that featured a plunging halter top, a short skirt with high side slits, and a sheer veil. The look is paired with ruffled wrist cuffs and sleek, thigh-high patent leather boots. Her eyes were covered by a thick, white cloth tied behind her violet head, yet she moved with a predatory grace that suggested she saw the world better than anyone else.

"Bravo, Emelie Herst," the priest said condescendingly. "A truly magnificent display of parlor tricks. It’s almost a shame we have to put you down."

The blindfolded woman didn’t speak. She simply tilted her head as she squeezed what looked to be a bible close to her chest.

"Ah yes. Violet’s little siblings and Tobias’ personal pets. I was wondering when the lapdogs would come out to play. Tell me, does he give you treats when you kill people, or do you just enjoy the taste of the leash?"

The priest’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. "We shall see who wears the leash by the time the sun rises."