Beautiful yet simple glass crown. Stained with blood and turned translucent red. The moment it rested atop Carol’s head, everything changed. Like all the pieces of a puzzle falling into place.

  “I think red suits me well lately…”

  Our eyes crossed just as she said that. Ahhh… Carol… What’s that confident smirk for? Are you trying to seduce me even more? What you mean is obvious, but you’re wasting your time. I can’t be more into you than I already am…

  “Carol…” What can I say? It suits her…? She looks really cool. I’m proud of her. But can’t say I like seeing her bleed so much. The hand that seized the crown was covered with thin cuts and a big gash on her palm. Was that really necessary?

  But no matter how beautiful my Carol was, the battlefield didn’t wait.

  “Keep your eyes on me.” I received that message through her eyes as she turned to face a charging werewolf.

  It was the one my finishing move failed to finish. These damn things turned out to have some kind of damage resistance. Probably something all the fairies have in common. The pigmen were as much of a pain to damage. Even worse is the fact that it seems like the resistance is getting stronger. Dealing damage was not that hard before we got into the plaza.

  Carol waved her hand in front of her, and a lot of illusions started to take shape. The illusionary mist formed swords, spears, halberds, and all sorts of pointy weapons.

  But her mist this time was different. Instead of resembling the foggy white mist like the one that surrounded us in this town, hers was red. The rows of weapons finished materializing in the middle of the air before she swung her arm again.

  “Go!”

  Without breaking formation, every weapon she created flew straight at the charging, wounded werewolf.

  “They’re… They’re not illusions…” Every single weapon produced sharp little sounds as it pierced the werewolf’s fur. They were so resilient before, but this time, he didn’t even put up a fight. He was instantly dead. She did it.

  When the body hit the floor, the illusions turned red and fell like a liquid. Splatting into bloodstains around the monster.

  “Wow…”

  The stage was hers. Carol went on the offensive this time. Two weapons, one in each hand. They appeared when she stretched her arms while running. On her left was a great sword, too big for anyone to swing. On her right, an axe, also too heavy to be swung with just one hand.

  Yet she moved then without any hassle. The second werewolf tried to attack when she got too close, only for the axe to glide at his claw and interrupt the attack. She let the axe go. With her other hand, she swung the sword diagonally through his chest. And she also let go.

  The two weapons carried their momentum for a second and turned into blood splats as they hit the ground.

  But she wasn’t done. She already had a new set of weapons in hand, ready to go. A halberd and a spiky mace. A naginata and a second sword. Hammer. Spear. Scythe. Another axe. Hahaha! She’s not stopping!

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  Not a single inch… Whenever the werewolf tried to move, she would hit him with something sharper and heavier than before. He got completely overwhelmed. This cycle continued until the monster couldn’t move anymore and fell limply onto the floor. Even then, she still stuck a few more spears into his body for good measure.

  “Usurper?” “Queen?” “Don’t understand…” “Confusing?” “Kill?” “Die?” “Don’t know.” “Don’t know.” “Don’t know…”

  The remnants of the undead faction were already in disarray, and now the Fairy faction joined them. The last of the werewolf trio charged forward, salivating more than we had seen up to this point. Carol created a line of three differently designed spears in his path. The werewolf stopped. No other choice. But…

  “Come on…” Now you’re just showing off… The werewolf wanted to find a way around, but he was completely surrounded. She made a dome of weapons all pointed straight at him.

  She raised her hand in front of her and moved her finger like there was something fragile in her palm. Then clench!

  *Splat!*

  The monster was completely torn to pieces. Can I even clap at that? What a show that was, but also… “Gross…” Then again, I’ve done worse.

  “Whew~” Sarasa whistled. “That was sick!”

  “I- I can’t believe it…” She took it… She really took the crown… Flanne tried to warn against it, and she couldn’t quite close her mouth after seeing what just happened. Who could have seen that coming? “W- we can leave now… The path’s open…”

  With the Fairies in disarray, the undead without direction, and Flanne and Sarasa’s efforts at culling down their numbers, the path out of the plaza was practically empty.

  Everyone started to run away, but Carol couldn’t turn around.

  “*Cough… cough…*” She leaned forward in place with one hand on her leg and the other covering her mouth. Her crown gone. A bloodstain that wasn’t there before appeared on the back of her hand.

  “Carol!? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  “It’s nothing… I’m just… More tired than I expected…”

  You’re not fooling me like that… “What do you mean ‘it’s nothing’? You’re coughing up blood! You pushed yourself too hard!” I placed my hands on her shoulders. “Can you move?”

  “Of course… Guhh…” She tried to take a step but stumbled. It’s better if I lend her my shoulder. “Yeah, maybe I can use a hand…” Her pride’s adorable, but she swallowed it for the moment.

  “What are you doing?” The others were a bit ahead of us, unsure of whether to keep going or come back for us. “There’s more of them coming. We have to hurry!” Flanne pointed behind us.

  Another group of werewolves popped up from the mist. Okay… We do have to hurry.

  “Carol, sorry!” I swept her off her feet and carried her in my arms.

  “Hey! I don’t need all-” She stopped as she noticed the werewolves and clung onto my neck.

  “You’ve done well.”

  I joined up with the others and we all followed Flanne. “Where to now?”

  “Should be close… I don’t see any passages…” We passed by many houses, but I didn’t see any obvious doors to go through like before. “Ah! That caravan! Just hop onto the back.”

  The entrance was dark, and it was impossible to see inside. We jumped in, and we were once again surrounded by that crazy darkness. We did it…? We left that crazy town. Hopefully this darkness takes us somewhere we can rest. Carol needs to rest…

  We arrived at some kind of clearing in the middle of a dense forest. Are we back in the first layer of the forest? There’s no way…

  There was some kind of cliff to the side, but strangely enough, there were trees on the other side. It was more like a hole. A huge circular hole. There was a small wall around the drop to prevent people from falling in. We were also standing on some kind of trail, which led to a small wooden cottage not too far away. This really feels like the end of the road…

  “How long until you put me down? I can stand on my own, you know?” Carol’s arms were crossed, and she pouted while blushing adorably. Should I let her down?

  “No way… I’m taking you home like this. Too bad!” I rubbed my cheek on her, and she fought back.

  “Hey! Stop that! Let go!” She bit me… She bit me, so I had to put her down. Now I have bite marks on my cheek…

  Wait… Wrong perspective. She kissed me. What’s on my cheek are kiss marks! Hehe… She’s the best… Bitemarks count as kiss marks, right?

  “Carol, Carol, what did you do back there? It was so cool!”

  “I’ve never seen anyone using powers like that before! It was so cool! What skill was that? Are you an adventurer? What do you specialize in?” Sarasa, then Abby, immediately hounded her. “Ah! What happened to your crown? It’s gone.”

  “Yeah… You could say it’s in my pocket for now…”

  Galene pulled both girls by the collar like she was their mother. “I get that you have questions, but now’s not the time for that. We don’t know where we are, so stay alert, please.”

  “It’s okay now…” Flanne was lagging behind, and she practically didn’t move since we got here. “We made it. This is it.”

  “You mean… the Pillar?” Galene asked and received a faint nod.

  “Nyahahahahahaha! We did it! We conquered the world!”

  “Woah… I can’t believe it… We’re actually making history!” Abby trembled with excitement. Before she could get herself in trouble, Galene grabbed her shoulder.

  I couldn’t hold it against them for celebrating. After all we had been through, we deserved a break. Everyone started giggling and smiling, and it felt great to breathe easy for once.

  *Step… step…* Oh no… I remember now… A faint rustle approached from the direction of the cottage.

  “Uhmm… Girls…” I immediately drew my sword. If we’re near the Pillar, then it makes sense that they’d show up….

  The Pillar’s avatar… A woman wearing a grey, worn-out hood that covered her face showed up. Orange locks of hair poured over her shoulders as she slowly approached. If she’s anything like the avatar of the Pillar of Silver, like Endell’s big sister, we’re in trouble.

  Yet, I didn’t feel a single ounce of hostility. She got as close as she could without getting too close and stopped. Her body turned toward the girl staying furthest at the back.

  “Sister… Is that you?”