Chapter 151: Third Event, End.

As the battle in the vault occurred, outside was no less dangerous. The assault had only intensified when the fight had started, and the very moment the Ancestor had finalized his ascension, though flawed, the horrors had gone into a frenzy.

Serenity had a bit of a headstart, she and the others, following Prima’s advice were rapidly able to start evacuations in spite of the ministers and generals’ interference. Yet, even as a majority of the citizenry had evacuated, many more still laid within danger’s reach.

The first problem arose when commands simply stopped arriving. Caught without orders, those on the wall began to fear the worst, and all it took was just one soldier to start the collapse. One soldier started a cascading collapse of the line.

Without the soldiers keeping them at bay, the monsters flowed freely onto the walls and into the inner city. Forcing the other magical girls to constantly fight while escorting civilians, while also contending with rogue soldiers seeking escape.

What kept the last line of defense from simply collapsing were the terracotta soldiers. Still beholden to their duty, they held their ground and beat back the seemingly endless waves of monsters, just long enough for the various clan leaders to gain some measure of control, but even they were at a loss as the threat expanded and grew.

Fliers were obliterated en masse by Faust and his magic. Serenity sent out whips of water that carved and slashed through monstrosities as she guided a seemingly endless stream of refugees. Terra opened paths, moving entire blocks to create new avenues of retreat, especially as larger horrors broke through the walls and flattened buildings in their pursuit.

Soldiers made of stone and ice held the main gate into the palace as an endless flood of people and monsters came swarming in, just barely managing to hold their ground as the gatling gun provided intermittent support as the captain struggled to produce new munitions to keep up with demand.

All the while the knights, Fathom, Luna, and Estrella used their larger forms to hold off the stronger monsters, giving a chance to other magical girls to finish them off. Lance was instrumental here, his magic allowing him to hit the beast’s cores with unerringly accurate thrusts that defied space and time. But even that had limits.

To make it even worse, the large courtyard was the sight of a giant battle. Where the bone golem actively tussled with a gold rank that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The golem held its ground, but with every clash its form would shudder and quake. Already, the main courtyard where they fought had been devastated, with numerous buildings stamped down into nothing.

There was no end in sight. And as the leader of it all, Serenity felt as if she were in a bog or mire. Trapped and quickly sinking and the more she fought it, the faster she was pulled in.

It bothered her, it bothered everyone. It felt hopeless. Especially when they began to sense the unmistakable surge of another gold rank on the far horizon, slowly making their way forward.

They needed something to turn the tides, and even when a sudden deluge of starlight flowed into them from out of nowhere, they knew for a fact that wasn’t enough. They all had ideas as to where it came from, they’d all felt the surge, the sudden change in the air.

Likely, Prima and the others succeeded, only… it did nothing for them. After all, at this rate they’d still fail, they’d all die.

One by one, the soldiers began to fall. The golem accrued greater wounds. With every second the noose tightened more and more. Putting them in an ever more precarious position with no way out.

There was no miracle here. No sudden turn about. No, Prima had leveraged what she could, gauging who she brought with based on combat potential and something else. Granted, it was intuition based, but she’d leveraged everything on a single fact, that they were all rabbits.

When cornered, when faced with no other way out, a rabbit will attack as a final solution. Faced with the Ancestor’s oppressive presence, forced to confront what felt inevitable, and yet, still, there was a sliver of hope. Something that had resulted in each and everyone present awakening their uniform, even Joan despite her own misgivings.

After all, as long as there was a slim chance of survival, a rabbit would fight back, a rabbit would push forward….

This, was not like that situation. It was more akin to being on a sinking ship. Trapped within the hull, with water rapidly flowing in. With no escape, no hope. Forced to acknowledge the rising water line, that would eventually submerge them all.

There was no salvation, no miracle. Only cold reality. Even the knowledge that Team A, headed by Prima had succeeded meant little overall. After all, all she’d done was handle the rogue captain of the ship. Which mattered little when the ship itself was already doomed.

Something each and every magical girl present hated with every fibre of their being. The familiarity of it stung, reminding them of their own lives, their own failures. Which is why, even with the inevitable rapidly closing in that they didn’t lose hope. That even now they were still trying to find some means to survive or escape with prize in hand.

“How long can we hold Terra?” Serenity asked as another group of refugees made it past the palace gates. In the distance, another building was crushed under the golem and horror’s clash.

“Not much longer! The wall’s foundations are being dug out by a large number of these things that managed to get into the underground networks.” Terra yelled while swinging her shovel, batting aside a monster that came too close.

And so it went, as Serenity asked for more information, as more pieces fell in, the painful truth came to the fore.

They were going to fail…

“We need to see how the others are doing!” Serenity announced after some thought. “If they’re in fighting condition, maybe they can help turn the tides?”

Nobody disagreed with that line of thought, only, their chances were slim. Even if they were fighting fit, how much more would they be able to contribute.

Still, she had to try. Gathering up who she could, she prepared to venture into the palace and below, towards the vault, only to be cut off by the clan leaders, headed by Liu Chou.

“Let us come with.” He said, the other two nodded along.

They should have been on the front, but the leaders were all aged, and much like Liu Chou had their own limitations caused by old wounds and injuries. They did what they could, their faces pale, and they looked ready to fall over, but even still, much like the magical girls, they weren’t quite ready to give up.

Serenity didn’t have to think very hard about it. No, she didn’t even have the energy to argue with them. She simply agreed, taking them with her as they ran into the palace.

The central building was in chaos. Refugees had flooded into the building, but they’d mostly been sequestered in side buildings and reinforced barracks. The main palace had been left alone.

Which is why, upon entering they were taken aback to find bodies strewn about. The bodies belonged to palace servants, ministers, and even the palace guard.

Worried, Serenity pushed forward, working her way further into the palace where she encountered a new deadly foe. They looked human, but not quite. Twisted, wrong, their bodies looked like they’d been dipped in ink. Leaving trails of writhing black in their wake.

At a glance it became clear what they were, corrupted humans, only, how had they made it this far? Serenity wasn’t sure, but the best she could do was to press forward.

With others at her back, and with the clan leaders as well aiding her, they easily smashed through the small gathering of creatures. Breaking in further, closer to the vault, their numbers grew, as did the casualties.

Each and every one of these humanoid monstrosities were at minimum bronze ranked. Moving absurdly fast, using skills that could almost pass muster with spears and swords. They moved with a cunning intelligence and purpose.

They coordinated and seemed to be aware that they mustn’t let Serenity and company pass them by, so they met her head on, trying to stall her. To no avail.

Serenity would not let herself be stopped. Not now, not here.

Breaking into the underground, she encountered not only humanoid horrors, but also something else, a gaggle youth, the young masters, the upcoming talents of each clan holding the line against the horrors as they struggled. With many dead and injured, with those clinging to life thrust into a corner.

They barely stopped to confirm their condition as they smashed through the horrors and rushed towards the vault. The thick magic rippling out of the open door made their open wounds itch and yet, it seemed so much less compared to earlier.

Inside the vault itself, Joan was struggling to keep the few humanoid horrors that slipped through at bay. Unleashing rays of light that made them scream and vaporize into ash. Thrusting into them with her knife that had them screaming and following over before they stilled and rotted away.

Serenity and company arrived just in time to sweep away the stragglers before Joan could collapse. The instant the last one died, her uniform faded, and she fell to her knees exhausted.

Nothing was said, not even the clan leaders spoke as they grimly looked over the situation. What happened was clear, especially when they saw the burn-out husk of the Ancestor, or the ruined engine sitting at the center of the vault.

None of the clan leaders were surprised by the Ancestor’s foolish gambit. They’d all known what kind of person he was, the kind of person that had willingly sacrificed his clan before to extend his own lifespan.

They’d hoped that over the years of isolation, that having been sequestered away, that he’d understand the greater picture. But, apparently, he hadn’t.

The Exodus Engine was done for, having been irreparably damaged during the scrimmage.

This should have been expected and yet, nobody had thought he’d be that foolish. With quiet desperation, with nothing else left. They did their best to rouse the injured and come up with a plan…

And almost like it was inevitable, the clan leaders came to a decision. To surrender. To give up ownership of the realm to the magical girls. With them being the effective leadership of the realm, with everyone else dead or missing, they were in the unique position of doing so.

In sensing that change, Sheep appeared with their now signature laugh, and now back to their animal form. “Baa!~ Baa!~ Baa!~” Sheep laughed. “I love when a plan comes together, and you lot did wonderful!” Sheep says, “Truly, exceptional rabbits you are!” Sheep announced but nobody was happy, nobody was thrilled.

They were just tired and exhausted. With a final agreement from the clan leaders, a portal came into being. The realm shuddered one last time, and everything stilled. Before all of their eyes, the clan leaders began to break apart into motes of stars and vanished before their eyes.

Along with everyone else.

Leaving only us, the magical girls and Sheep..

Pleased as punch Sheep went on and on about how amazing we were, how we’d fulfilled all the criteria, how we had gone above and beyond. Nobody cared. We all felt used, we all wondered if this was even necessary, if we’d just wasted our time.

Nobody spoke as the others showed up, as we finally all gathered together and shared our experiences, quickly bringing us all, including myself up to speed.

Once that was done, Sheep made a final announcement. “As a reward for doing so well, I won’t immediately take you back to your city, no! Rather,” With a pause, a flourish, a tap of their cane, a portal came into being at the center of the vault, where the Exodus Engine had sat. “I’ll give you all some time to loot to your hearts content!” And with a final laugh, Sheep left as they came, as if pulling back a curtain, vanishing from sight.

With Sheep gone, the world felt, eerily silent. Nobody was sure what to say, to do…

“So… it’s over, just like that?” Morrigan was the one to speak up. “Like… what the fuck…” She continued and everyone couldn’t help but agree.

It felt lacking… Like, it was missing a special kind of panache.

“I think… we’re forgetting something.” Ruth speaks up, causing all of us to look in her direction. She avoids our gaze, a slight blush on her face. “I mean… Don’t we have this whole palace to ourselves?”

It takes us a moment to process that. Rather, we all just kind of blank.

“Where do you think they keep the gold?” Diana was the first to say. And with that, we bolted despite our wounds. “We have no idea how long we have, so, get looting! Knowing that crazy sheep, we might not have long!” Diana spit out each word like an expert auctioneer as we ran.

That… lit a fire under everyone’s ass. Everything was stripped. Barely anyone paid attention to how the realm had changed. Gone was the sky we had grown used to over this time. Replaced instead with a starry night as far as we could see. Not a single moon, or sun visible.

There were so many stars though, that it was anything but bright. All too quickly we noticed, Diana had been right. We didn’t have long. The realm was rapidly breaking apart, the edges of it joining and flowing into the sky as a river of stars.

I gathered my soldiers, or what was left of them. The bone golem was somehow still alive, though severely damaged. Of the terracotta soldiers, none of them heeded my orders. Rather, they all seemed content to die with the realm and couldn’t be convinced otherwise.

Well… they did help me loot the place, mostly out of gratitude for helping save everyone, and for putting my life on the line like I did. They had mixed feelings about the whole situation, having been somewhat aware of it all through our connection, yet, they were for the people, not the leaders. And as such, decided who cared about the palace? After all, what was a palace without a king? A king without subjects? Just a building, just a man.

We packed everything we could. Gathered up our luggage, and began stuffing everything through the portal, hoping, praying Sheep wouldn’t screw us over once again. It wasn’t until the final bit was in, as the world around us rapidly decayed, that we all finally took that final step into the portal. But not before giving this dying realm one, last, final glance.

Only then did we finally leave.

I didn’t arrive at the port. Or the ship, but it was a familiar place, nonetheless. The Celestial Fleece.

I’d never really given my coins a look. Trying to keep track of them all was, kind of impossible in the moment. I had a vague idea of how many I had on me at all time, but…

Yeah. That number didn’t seem right. A second look over and…

Yeah, still didn’t feel right. There was a lot. And if this was right, I could easily purchase a big-ticket item. Only, what did I want?

Walking into the store, I eyed the items. The specialty area was notably empty, save for the monthly coins on sale, that and the strengthening ampoules.

The options before me were… Interesting. Only, I could only afford one with my current funds. Occult knowledge, Alchemy knowledge, or… I could get the membership card.

Each were about the same price, I could buy one, with some peripherals, or some smaller items to pad out my knowledge.

It was hard to decide, but… if even a quarter of the stuff came through, I’d be rather well off. I’d have plenty of money to upscale with. Only, Alchemy was akin to chemistry and natural science. Occult was closer to physics in terms of magical knowledge.

Which would suit me more?

Which would better relate to my current knowledge?

The answer… was surprisingly simple. My own knowledge, granted to me after the first event, necromancy, had a lot of knowledge. A bit here and there, but most of it was heavily involved with chemistry. Most of the stuff I learned was, incidental, which means, I don’t fully understand the how of why certain reactions occur. Or how certain formulas act as they do.

Case and point, Shi. They were supposed to be a revenant, instead they were a blood sucking monster.

Having knowledge of alchemy would be a boon for sure, especially when it came to upscaling. And improving my soldiers.

With that, I made my decision. I had some left over, which… mostly went into buying bronze coins, leaving some leftover, just in case. With that, I left.

The moment I did… I found myself on the dock. Almost as if I’d just disembarked. I glanced about, noticing that like me, everyone else was rather disoriented by the sudden shift. Only to be distracted by the wave after wave of loot being unloaded, off the ship.

There was a flurry of activity, gains were accounted For and stories were shared. As it all wound down, Diana ended up stopping near me. Her eyes focused on Joan.

“You should keep an eye on her.” Diana mentioned.

We weren’t the only ones looking at her. There were a few others, the girl was pulling into herself. Only, when Liche showed up did she even crawl out as the woman immediately began to brag and show off, easing the burden off her.

“I will, you can be sure of that.”

“I am. Haa…” She sighs. “Honestly, A part of me wishes I had someone like you at my side back then.”

“Before getting to this city?”

“Yeah… maybe if I did, everything would have turned out differently.”

“Honestly, I think you’d hate me as a subordinate.”

“Yeah, I’d always have to keep an eye on my back. Though… I don’t think you’d be as bad as some people.”

“I’m not sure that would be the case.” I answered back.

She laughed, “You have no idea…” She paused, considered. “Do you want to know what led to me being here?” She asked, I wasn’t sure how to respond, but she continued.

“My parents died on a hike, I told you that much.” She said, I nodded. “Well, when I was older, before I was to properly inherit the company, after years of dealing with my uncle and shareholders, I was finally at the point where I could take the reigns, only, once I did, I knew I’d never be able to hike again, or climb another mountain. Not with a fiancée, and especially not with me knowing what would happen the moment I left.” She said and paused.

“So, in celebration, or rather, as a final statement, I swore I’d climb the mountain my parents died and retrieve their corpses. That I’d bring them back home and give them a proper burial. I gathered a dependable crew, my own fiancée even came with me…”

She trailed off, swallowed.

“At first it went well, ya know. We made good time, and it wasn’t long before we found them buried under the snow. The problem came to our descent. Storm after storm hit us. Supplies dwindled rapidly, what should have been the easiest part quickly devolved into a nightmare.”

I frowned, but I kept quiet. Doing my best to listen.

“The guides were the first to say I should leave my parents behind. That their bodies were holding us back, slowing us down. I disagreed. Eventually, my own fiancée made the same argument. Again, I denied and you know what happened?” She asked.

“They abandoned you.” I answered.

“Yup. They took what they could while I slept and fled. I don’t remember much. Fighting starvation, dehydration, all the while descending a dangerous mountain with two corpses strapped to my body. I’m not even sure how I made the descent, but funnily enough, somehow we made it to the base of the mountain at about the same time…”

She trailed off, a deprecating laugh left her lips.

“And you know what I did? In that moment? Do you know what happened?”

I shook my head.

“My fiancée, he looked at me like he’d seen a ghost. Our guides, the guides that had abandoned me, looked at me like I was some kind of monster. It was all a blur, but it happened so fast. He lunged at me, and I swung my pick at his head. Killing him instantly. One of the guides pulled out a gun, the other fled. I think I might have been shot, but I wasn’t sure. I just knew that I was on him in the next moment, smashing his skull in and before I knew it I was running down the last guide before I lost my footing and slipped…”

Again, she paused, took a moment to compose herself.

“In that moment, I thought I saw something flash in my vision. Against the white landscape, a rabbit, watching me, judging me. And then, next thing I know, I found myself waking up outside the city, and trekked my way inside and well, found myself where I am today.”

“Do you think…” I started, paused.

“I don’t know… I don’t know if he intended to leave me from the start, if it was a plot to kill me, or if it really was a coincidence. Regardless, it… it really messed with my head. I wasn’t sure where I was, where I was going, but talking with Tabitha, living in the women’s home, spending time with you during the event, and now, everything that happened during this event, I think I know what I want now.”

“And that would be?” I asked, though, I had an idea.

“To be free of all this, bullshit. I don’t want to be at the top of any corporate ladder, nor part of a larger group, I just, want to be by myself. All my life, I’ve been living in my parent’s shadow, trying to reclaim what they had built, thinking that was what I wanted, but really, I could care less. I’m just, done, ya know? I’m here now, I can be what, who I want. I can be anywhere, do anything, so why am I putting myself in the same circumstances as before? I don’t want to surround myself with snakes, I want only those I can trust standing at my back.”

“And you trust me?” I asked back.

“I trust you enough to know, that in a pinch, you’ll do what needs to be done. And, honestly, you won’t believe how refreshing that is.”

“I suppose I can understand that much, at least.”

“Right? Though, it’s not like I can just up and leave now…” She said and sighed.

“I suppose not, but… you can still start doing so, make preparations and plans for when you do.” I say, and Diana pauses to think on those words.

“I guess you’re right, though, I do guess we have this to figure out.” She gestures to the piles of loot, and everyone milling around them.

“Have any ideas?” I ask.

“Yeah, but, first, I think we’ll need to talk with everyone and hammer some details out…” She sighs, “Think you could help me out with that?” She asked, almost begged.

“That won’t be an issue.” I reply back and she gives me a wide smile.

“Glad to hear… Now, I suppose we should get started?”

“Yeah, I suppose we should get started. If we wait too long, they might start fighting over the loot.” I say with a knowing smile and she laughs. And so, we start the process. All the while, my own mind whirrs and works over what Diana said, of her own realizations, her own dreams.

I sighed. Considered everything that happened, reflected and… I honestly didn’t know. My goal was to climb to the top, and yet… why did it always feel like I was spinning my wheels? Or making the worst decisions?

Was I right? Wrong? Maybe Diana had a point and yet…

“Hey, boss! How about we get something to drink to celebrate!” Liche yelled, energetic, alive. Nothing like she was before. Even Joan, though tired, still raw from her transformation, seemed uplifted by Liche’s mood.

And really, who could blame them?

“Sure, why not. And… you know what, drinks are on me.” Liche shouted and hollered, garnering attention. Soon enough, others joined in. Even roping in Diana as everyone came together to have a discussion about organizing a celebration party.

Luckily, for Liche others started to pitch in, quickly creating a combined pot for the upcoming party. As more people joined, more pitched in for the impromptu party and drinking.

A part of me was itching to get started, but… It was currently morning, and I had work tomorrow, among other things. A strange thought, considering I had gone what must have been months without worrying about any of that inside the other realm.

Still, I deserved this much. Especially after that hell. After nearly dying, after all that pain and agony, pain I still felt, as my own mind and soul ached from the abuse.

Even if I had work tomorrow, today, I’d drink myself into a stupor. Even if it meant missing a day of work, after all, I could afford that much, I deserved that much.

And so, with discussions winding down, we officially marked the end of the third event…

Only, we all knew without a doubt, this was only the beginning. After all, this event was only just the beginning. From here on out, we would no longer be in the tutorial phase, from here on out, we’d be considered fully fledged magical girls, uniform or not…

For better or for worse.

End of Book 5…