?


    The dreaded day of the battle finally arrived, and the soldiers dutifully bound to protect their tribes had all either gathered in the Larian ins or were hiding throughout the thawed tundra. At the helm of thend army, Margarette had adorned herself in a suit of ming armor made by the Gremlin ves and enchanted with fire by the goblin queen''s magic.


    Her shoulders aze, she held a sword of dark matter infused with her own fire spirit familiar, and if that wasn''t lethal enough she had numerous other jewels with trapped spirits resting on her fingers. Like a phoenix transfigured into a maiden, she appeared angelic except for the demon horns protruding out through her head.


    "How long do we have?" She asked, her fingers squirming with angst.


    ncing at her from the edge of his vision, Haruki could see through her facade of brilliance, and know exactly what was going on in her mind.


    "You''ll make it out alive, Margarette, so don''t worry you''ll get to meet Riley again after the war is over," Haruki assured.


    Huffing a sigh with a mocking tone, Margarette put the ming sword back into its sheath and turned to Haruki to confront him about something.


    "Things may have been different when I was a ve to you, but now, I care more about my daughter than you or anyone," with a frown, she pressed her lips shut for a moment as if she regretted the sentence that had juste out of her. "Fuck…I…"


    "She''s safe with Fay, Ste, and the others, the otherworld will take good care of her, especially since they''ll have Asmodia''s pets as their guards," feeling sympathetic towards the mother, Haruki didn''t let her sharp words spat in anger get to him. "You don''t have to worry, she''ll be safe, and I''m sure she''ll delighted to see you once this is over."


    Letting down the hood of his cloak, Haruki took a deep breath and raised his attention to the clouds. Seeing the shift in his gaze, Margarette nced up as well wondering if something had appeared in the skies yet.


    "Nothing," she muttered as a cold breeze washed over her body.


    Having the de drawn out so far she''d not felt anything but warmth, however, now that it was sheathed even her zing armor couldn''t keep her from feeling chills run down her spine.


    "A blizzard, I can smell iting," sniffing it in the air, Haruki transformed his upper body into his frost dragon form just to make sure he wouldn''t sumb to the cold and begin coughing out more blood.


    "You think that''s the Valkyries?" Margarette asked, conjuring a ming bow in her hand just in case.


    "Flying through a blizzard? I doubt the Valkyries will take that step," replying to her, Haruki nced down from the elevated teau ofnd the two stood on. Scanning through his soldiers, he made sure that they were all wearing armor infused with solidified darkness and weapons with elemental enchantment as well as runic jewels that provided additional bonuses to their stats. "The goblin queen, she did a great job mass producing the equipment with the Gremlins in such a short time."


    "Considering how she''d been hiding in the forest with her troops, it was the least she could do for the frontlines," Margarette''s response almost sounded a bit condescending.


    "I suppose so," Haruki replied, shifting his attention back towards the sky.


    ***


    Tucked away from all threats in the otherworld and surrounded by creatures of the dark acting as their protectors, Riley, Fay, and the children of all tribes were wasting their time wondering how long until someone came to get them out of this ce. Despite having only spent a few hours in the darkness, none of them wished to stay there a minute more even if it meant getting in a dangerous situation after beingnded on the battlefield.


    "First you said father will die soon and now you won''t even let me help him!" Ste was no exception, and as it stood, she wanted to leave this damned ce more than anyone. Now even taller than Fay, she stood before her mother, her hands folded, and a look of pure frustration was riding along her forehead.


    "Ste, it''s for your own good, and remember your father wants you to take over him onc-"


    "Listen to me!" Grabbing Fay by the arms, Ste shook her with a jolt while looking straight down her eyes. "I want to take his ce! I want him to be there for me! I want him to not die in this stupid war!"


    The memories of the Hestemian war were still fresh in her mind, reminding her of the carnage and the blood that had been spread across the pavement under her father''smand. Even back then she''d rebelled against the bloodshed, but now that things were about to be much more brutal in this war, she didn''t wanna take any chances of losing anyone she loved.


    "Ste!" Screaming into her daughter''s face, Fay pped her hands off of herself. "Stupid, you say? Do you think we''re some war-hungry morons to take these extreme measures, huh?!"


    "Both of you, shush it!" Appearing between the two out of thin air, Riley separated them further with her hands. ncing at the two, he brought their attention to the other kids who''d been scared by their bickering. "We do what we do to survive, Ste. And sooner orter when your reign begins, you''ll understand why sometimes the violence of war is necessary."


    "I don''t care, I just want to be with him, maybe help him somehow!" Steined, not willing to let this matter go. After all, just like Haruki was never there when Asuka passed, she didn''t want the same thing to happen to her father. "I wanna be there if something happens to him you know!"


    Trying to keep her cool, Riley shut her eyes for a moment before looking back into Ste''s squinted gaze.


    "There''s plenty of people with him who are morepetent than you to help him," meaning every word of it, Riley grabbed Ste''s hand and tried to have her back off. "The only thing you could do is heal, but Serena is there along with other decent healers. Apart from that, you''ll only be in their way, making things harder than they need to be."


    Tightening her grip on Ste''s hand, Riley moved in her direction to get her to back further away from Fay. Keeping her eyes fixed on her niece, the spy noticed her countenance drop into a look of doubt.


    "Remember the time you healed me and attached that blessing to my body? Do you have any clue how much trouble that caused us all?" Riley''s intimidation seemed to be working as Ste''s stubbornness was being shattered by self-doubt.


    "But-"


    "But what?" Not letting her finish, Riley jerked Ste''s hand. Bobbing her head lightly, she gestured her to join the kids and stay there in the corner until everything was done.


    However, it wasn''t yet enough to demotivate the girl from trying to protect her father. Simmering in thoughts of self-doubt she was just about to give up, however, looking past Riley and onto her mother she was reminded of a memory that pulled her out of that dilemma.


    "Mom, you took me to that facility in Laira even though you knew everyone would be mad at you," hearing Ste bring up that memory, Fay turned to her daughter with just the slightest haunting clue of what she might be thinking. "You did it to help father get a new body, didn''t you? Even though it would''ve risked my life, and possibly your own, then why can''t I risk my life again when it''s on my own terms and when I can possibly save him from dying?"


    "Ste wait," gulping the bitter taste from those memories, Fay moved around Riley and tried to get close to her daughter. "You don''t understand, it was a mistake okay? I shouldn''t ha-"


    "No…" Taking a few steps away as the pets of the otherworld crawled closer from behind, Ste dejected her gaze for a moment before looking back at Fay in defiance. "I''m not a little girl anymore, or even a doll that you can move around however you please, and just like you I''m gonna do something if it means father makes it out of this war alive!"


    To the surprise of everyone, the creatures of the otherworld surrounded Ste''s body, almost as if they were protecting her from Riley and her own mother. Ordered to keep Ste safe above all by Haruki, the monsters made sure not a finger reached her body.


    "What the hell are you doing?! Get away from her!" Riley screamed at the top of her lungs before lunging at the creatures surrounding her niece.


    "Goodbye…" Following Ste''s words, a sharp shriek from the void eaters deafened all those present in the otherworld, and even Riley couldn''t help but cover up her ears.


    Taking advantage of the situation, the Ballerinas, the only pets capable of traveling back to the real world without assistance, slipped Ste away to the other side just as the girl had desired. Although having taken over Asmodia''s pets, Haruki nced right over the fact that the creatures of the other world weren''t exactly known for their obedience and often acted out of their own vitions instead of their master''smand.


    Every so often they''ve even tried to devour Asmodia whole or even torture her by taking her angelic form to torture her mind. But s, with pups andpany of each other, they''d learn to get along, and hearing Ste''s plea to protect her father had resonated with their dead heart.