The group arrived back at the fortress. Mei was sleeping on a makeshift bed made of boxes and discarded camp supplies.

A sheet was draped over her body, keeping her warm. Blaze was stood beside her bed, he adjusted his cloth blindfold and turned to face the group as they arrived.

"Welcome back, Mei will be out of action for a while, luckily her injuries are only surface level, she'll recover soon enough."

He nodded towards Mirage. "What did your group learn out there?"

Mirage opened his mouth to speak when suddenly Ghost interrupted. "Heya, glad everyone is back together, listen, as I said before, Charlotte went rogue, something big attacked her and then her Abyssal Energy levels suddenly spiked to critical levels." Ghost sighed. "She's an Abyssal Lieutenant... The Witch... somehow I didn't notice earlier, do whatever you must. I'll leave this mental connection up. Ghost out!"

Mirage chuckled. "That Demon was The Witch all along? Interesting. I'm going to kill her, you're free to join if you desire, it makes little difference to me. I'm taking Claude though, that's non-negotiable."

Claude looked at Mirage. "Don't I get a say in this?"

Mirage shook his head. "No. You don't."

Claire nodded and walked to where Mei was sleeping.

Her voice echoed through Ghost's mental link. "I'll stay with Mei. This is my fault as her captain, she's injured because I didn't keep her in our group when needed. It's unfair of me to expect Mister Hunter to protect her at all times."

Michael nodded. "I'll stay too Miss Regent."

Claire shook her head. "No Michael, I need you with the main group, to make sure Claude is okay, he's a member of my squadron and my subordinate, so I require you to keep him safe."

Michael sighed. "Understood, I'll make sure nobody is hurt, keep Mei safe Miss Regent."

Michael bowed and then stood up properly and turned to Mirage.

Blaze approached the group. "If all is in order here then I'll join you out there too. You're gonna need all the manpower you can get. Demons are no joke, especially Demons that The Monarch chose to be his Lieutenants."

Mirage nodded. "I was wondering when a Lieutenant would show up, all six survived forty years ago, though Arhke's public statement says otherwise. I didn't expect this to be their first appearance, after forty years."

The group walked out of the stone fortress. The fiery rain continued to pour uninterrupted.

The dim crimson light from the eclipsed, blood red moon, cut through the clouds and shone down dimly onto the ground below.

The four of them walked beneath a large mirror shard created by Mirage to shield them from the flaming downpour.

"This is irritating, I can't save my powers for combat because I have to maintain this barrier."

Blaze nodded. "You focus on defence, between us four we can beat whatever comes our way. Try and rely on the rest of us for a while."

Mirage sighed. "My talents are wasted like this."

A long, thin stream of blood crept slowly along the ground, a small flame flickered from drop to drop.

Claude looked at the flame cautiously.

"It looks like it's trying to guide us."

Michael turned to Claude and shook his head. "It's likely a trap. The Witch is luring us to her."

Mirage chuckled and waved his hand. "She's taunting us. I'm following the flame, there's nothing she can throw at us that I can't handle!"

Blaze placed a hand on Mirage's shoulder. "Julius, you need to be careful. I know that we're here to hunt Hecate, but the reason she's lasted this long is because she's always a step ahead, her methods are cruel and unpredictable, we have no idea what's waiting for us wherever she's leading us."

Mirage shook his head and brushed Blaze's hand off his shoulder. "I'm going to follow the trail, you can come with me or you can burn to death without my mirror to shield you from the rain."

Mirage began to follow the trail, the others followed closely behind him.

The flame danced along the line of blood, it sped up and zipped across the red tinted landscape. The group followed swiftly behind.

The flame slid under a rock which was covered in blood and then faded. The group approached the rock.

Mirage nodded to Blaze. "Blaze, if you would."

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Blaze nodded and fired his bullets at the rock, they bounced off it and suddenly turned to fly back at it.

They lodged themselves in it and energy exploded from them. The rocks shattered to gravel around the area.

Suddenly without warning the gravel rose up and formed a huge humanoid golem, the golem towered above them, around the size of a small house, the blood between the shards set alight and the golem stumbled towards the group.

Mirage smiled. "I'll keep the shield up, you know what to do Blaze!"

Blaze nodded and called out to Claude and Michael. "You two, stand beside me, we need one unified attack to take this thing down quickly! On my mark."

Blaze loaded his revolvers with bullets and opened fire at the golem. The bullets hit the stones on it's body, causing flaming blood to spatter from it.

"That's the signal! Attack!!" Claude nodded and pointed his hand at the golem.

Michael kept it focused on him as he ran around it's body.

Claude focused and the golem exploded, causing Claude's hand to be pushed back by the recoil.

Mirage nodded. "Let's go, it'll reconstruct itself and that gives us a chance to escape."

The group ran past the destroyed golem and further along the blood trail.

The crimson tinted air thickened into a deep fog and the fiery rain subsided.

Mirage lowered the mirror shard. "Looks like I can fight again. Good."

The fog thickened to the point that all visibility was lost.

Blaze called out through the shroud. "Careful guys, we don't know what Hecate is planning, she could be hiding in this fog."

The group stumbled around through the fog, the ground began to crumble as they tried to find their footing.

Mirage noticed what was happening and shone one of his mirror shards through the fog. "Follow my beacon."

The ground collapsed behind them as they stumbled through the fog.

The group left the fog safely, Michael, Mirage and Blaze stepped through the mist. Claude was nowhere to be seen.

Blaze looked around. "Where's Claude?"

Michael sighed. "Not again."

Mirage looked at Michael. "Again?"

Michael nodded. "Claude disappeared a little while ago, when we were in Arhke, we didn't manage to locate him for a while."

Mirage nodded. "I see... anyway, let's move on, we've got a Demon to catch up with."

Blaze stood in front of Mirage before he could walk away. "Julius, we need to rescue Claude."

Mirage sighed. "Do we? He's likely dead already. People go missing out here all the time. It happens."

Michael walked up to Mirage. "I know that the Demon must die, but Claude comes first, we need to find him, that's non-negotiable!"

Mirage chuckled. "What, are you his lapdog now too? Regent not enough for you?"

Michael glared at him, his hands balled into fists. "Don't you dare speak ill of anybody from the Regent Household. I am not their lapdog, I simply owe Regent a debt I can never repay. Not that you'd ever understand, you've always had an easy life Mirage. I'm keeping Claude safe because he's a member of my squadron. Oh but of course the likes of you would know nothing of loyalty!"

A voice rung through the area, Hecate's voice. "Hey fellas! You want your friend back right? Right? I know you do. You should come see me, I'm in a special location to the north of your position, that'd be... that way!"

A spurt of blood fired from the ground and landed pointing in a straight line.

"Your friend is with me. Don't worry, I'm a gracious host, I'm not gonna hurt him just yet, you guys should come see me... oh but time is ticking, if you don't come pick him up by the time the eclipse ends, I'll have no choice but to get rid of him... sorry, I don't make the rules... oh wait, yes I do... and I wanna kill somebody, so come on already!"

Mirage sighed. "She's taunting us, let's go. She wants a confrontation and that's precisely what we'll give her. Show her what happens when she underestimates humanity."

The group began walking north.

Meanwhile inside an enormous black hive, the size of a large warehouse. Dead Abyssal Hive monsters lay everywhere, doused in flaming blood.

Hecate walked through the hive, her solidified blood boots clicked against the solid ground.

Her finger traced a black marble wall, it glowed a strange dark hue. "Oh! An Abyssal Wall!" Hecate turned towards it.

A voice echoed from it. "Hecate, it's been a long while. The Empress is displeased with you, as are we. You fled when The Monarch fell, traitorously cowered as that pathetic girl." The wall boomed at her.

Hecate shook her head. "The Empress? So that's what Astie calls herself now huh?"

The voice took on an angry tone. "Use her proper name, we don't have time for nicknames Hecate!"

Hecate sighed. "Fine, fine, How is Astarte doing? She's The Empress now? I thought she was The Princess."

The voice calmed down. "She was The Princess, however after The Monarch perished, she took over his empire, becoming The Empress, our new leader."

Hecate shook her head. "Why do you serve her Al? You've always been prideful as The Apothecary."

The voice responded. "Use my full name Hecate, it's Alaunus, you know this by now, and as for my pride, since we lost contact with the Abyssal Wardens, we've lost The Oracle's prophecies, so I have to improvise, which isn't effective, as such, The Empress has appointed me her new and slightly worse oracle."

Hecate nodded. "I see, sorry though, I only answer to The Monarch, and I'm gonna bring him back, the Abyssal Crown should be around here somewhere... I hear it calling out to me. Also, I'm gonna kill my other self, just give me some time. I'll get rid of her properly very soon."

"You said we lost contact with The Wardens? What happened?"

The voice spoke up again. "After The Monarch perished, The Wardens decided to return to The Abyss, awaiting the arrival of The Monarch all over again."

Hecate nodded. "I see, well' I'm gonna do my thing, thanks for checking in on little old me."

An audible sigh came from beyond the wall. "Fine Hecate, last chance. You're lucky you got me talking to you, the others may not be so understanding."

The wall darkened and the voice faded away.

Hecate filled the room with blood and walked through it, lost in thought.

"I gotta find this crown. As it stands now I can't return to the Lieutenants like this. Come back to me Monarch, I need to be careful about this. I can't afford to mess up. The Monarch's resurrection is at hand, I need to find him and deliver the crown safely to him. This is something he tasked me with before he died, only I can do this!"

"Monarch... I miss you so much... please come back and make everything alright again, I want to serve you again... you made my life so easy... just told me who to kill and where... and I'd do it... and you'd be proud of me... I'm gonna bring you back. I promise!"

Hecate stopped in her tracks as she heard the sound of sloshing footsteps in the blood.

Mirage, Michael and Blaze entered the main chamber.

Mirage looked around. "An Abyssal Hive? Interesting choice for a base."

Hecate tilted her head to look at them. "Oh, guests! Yay, you made it to my little party! Thanks for coming!"

"Where's Claude!?" Michael glared at Hecate.

Hecate giggled. "Oh, your friend? I don't know where he is. I lied to you to get you here. Isn't that just hilarious!!?"

Blood rose from the floor and solidified at the entrance of the chamber, sealing it off. "Let's fight!" Hecate's eyes glowed bright orange with exhilaration.