“So? These are the, ah,” I inspected the sacs. A lot of them dotted the walls of the burrow. To my surprise, most were still breathing. The Fuzzy Butts seemed to have largely ignored them, save for a few unfortunate ones that ended up tumbling down into the Spider Feeders’ den. They reported that they tasted better than humans!

“Orcs,” Attor confirmed. We stood in front of a few cowarding and sniveling ones, where I got a good look at them. Unfortunately, they were not as cute as the fuzzy butts so my interest waned. The one closest to me had folded, yet floppy ears near the top of his pink head, and a massive snout with fangs large enough to swallow a Sweet Juicy Berry whole. His whimpering intensified when I looked at him, but I was certain that was my Horrifyingly Terrifying buff doing the work for me.

— Nameless Orc, level 12

— Orc Leader [Rare]

Leader in name only, as the original Chieftan has expired.

“Speak,” I insisted, but I turned to Blanche. “Or can they not speak?”

“W-We mean no harm, Y-Your Majesty,” the Orc Leader whined. I realized that him being hung upside down was probably making it difficult to communicate.

“Let him down,” I summoned the Weavers. “Matter of fact, let them all down.”

They were Monsters, yes, but I doubted they would lie to me. Even if they were taller than me, but I was used to everything and everyone being taller than me now! I think humans grow taller eventually! Besides, this Orc and all the other ones’ paltry Stat could not even harm the Workers passing by. The Weavers undid their webs at once, before I realized I could have done so without their help. I meant to order them on purpose! Soon, we were gathered in the large cavern where my Dark Stone was found.

“W-We were on the retreat. Those left behind became encased in eyes,” the Orc spoke again. Eyes? “There’s trouble… at our villages. Humans hunt us from one of their nearby Settlements. We were not after any of your territory, but we fear the sickness may spread its way here.”

“Humans? Sickness?”

“It’s the Star Sickness!” Another Orc blurted, but several of his cohorts elbowed him. “Y-Your Majesty.”

“Forgive him, Your Majesty!” The Orc Leader fell to his knees. The tangled webs beneath him dug into his skin, but he ignored it in his sincerity. It seemed like I would have to investigate this strange sickness.

“Is that not dangerous?” Attor asked me. “A Sickness brought from the Celestial could play by its own rules.”

Is that so? Still, if it spreads to my fuzzy butts the situation will be dire. I can at least die at worst to it and figure a way to escape upon reviving. Attor sighed. Okay! I’ll stay as far away from it as I can!

“We’ll offer ourselves to serving you, Spider Queen!” The Orc Leader begged. The others looked at him in shock. They truly were in a dire situation, knowing that the Spiders and its Queen could eat them at a moment’s notice. This was a final gambit.

We could eat their first born children, right? I looked at Attor. That would be Witchy enough!

“No, I don’t think it would be,” Attor groaned, but he looked hungrily at the Orc Leader. “They would provide excellent meals.”

“We can build weapons, traps, anything you need, just let us stay here and live, Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty!” The rest of the Orcs bowed before me. Change of plans, I decided. Eating their children would be cost ineffective, since we could use the extra hands building this place up because most of the Spiders were located inside the Dungeon. Plus, I liked being called Your Majesty.

The wave of Orc’s faces twisted into fear when they noticed my evil smile. I should probably fix that, but I broke the silence.

“We look forward to working with you all,” I spoke to them coldly. The dread growing on their faces only made my smile sharpen. The Spiders cheered in their own hissy ways, but I did not know if the Orcs and Spiders would get along. I simply gave them a command: Build with them, do not eat. Blanche would know how to lead them, so I trusted her to make use of these Pigmen effectively.

As I soared on my broom, I went over the Spellpages I had. It’s been awhile since I prepared them, but it seemed I could change them if I leveled up. Currently, I had already changed them for mostly battle, but I had kept one of Geer’Sha’s spells for back up even if it used up a Tier 2 slot. Despite being level 13 I only had seven Spellpages, plus an extra Tier 3 Spellpage from the Space Stone. If that Sickness had something to do with the Starfall, then it should help me out, right? The list of spells did not have much in the way of defense, but I slotted in them anyways.

Spellpages

Tier 1

— Dark Bolt

— Arcane Missiles

Tier 2

— Travelers’ Feast

— Dark Flame

— Arcane Beam

— Blood Boil

Tier 3

— Lightning Strike

— Eldritch Beam

The Hexes, on the other hand, were less clear to me. Unlike a neat list, their entries were blotted out in a cluster of unknown letters, some even in spiral patterns. Even while clutching onto the Focus, I could only see one or two decrypted letters in the jumble of the symbols. It seemed like I needed more information on those before I learned how to hurt someone with those, unfortunately. Perhaps I needed a Pact as well or level up, but the Status Windows would fade away every time I tried to read some of the Hex menus. Bah!

As I got closer to the Orc village, a Messenger Spider informed me of a dangerous substance fogging the area. Blue fog? What’s with this Realm and its fog? There was the crimson fog of the Starfall and now this? I could see the mist covering up where the village should be, so I landed nearby and prepared to walk.

“This could be bad,” Attor remarked.

“Have you seen anything like this?” I asked him.

“Only when I traveled in the heavens,” he admitted. “It was an ethereal cloud stretching as far as the eye could see in the darkness. I dared not enter its domain.”

“How comforting,” I whined. The fog wall was so heavy that I could place my hand on its damp perimeter, but it gave way as I swished my arm inside of it. I withdrew my hand quickly, but nothing happened. Haha! Fear me, blue fog! Attor grunted in protest, but I huffed in a mighty breath and marched right in. I did not last very long, and soon I found myself wheezing while leaning on a branch. I could breathe the dangerous substance at least. Why? A voice played in my head. Wisdom!

— Wisdom’s Intervention activated. Charlotte is immune to the Enlightened Status Effect.

That Status Effect sounded like it belonged to Cru’Zha, since the Space Stone mentioned something about that in its description. Could the Abyssal God really be the reason the Orcs fled? Or was Wisdom apart of this sickness as well? Was she trapped with that God? There was no use pondering over that now. I moved quietly over infected plants covering the ground in their blue tinged tapestry, while my Space Stone allowed me to travel inside the fog. It seemed to activate whenever I was around anything not from this Realm. The more I thought of the heavens, the less I wanted to actually know.

“There,” Attor’s ghostly green brightened. “Someone, or something, is up ahead.”

“Do you really have to put it that way?”

I crouched behind a tree and listened for any threat, but all I heard was a strange squealing followed by soft thumps. The thing seemed to be moving aimlessly as more twigs snapped under its weight. Gurgling and flesh tearing blurted out over its steps, creeping into my ears. It was drawing closer towards me and suddenly the tree I leaned on started to shift.

“Watch it!” Attor warned me. I jumped back as the bark became hard as stone. The tree cracked apart as it began to transform. Many eyes formed beneath its leaves and bark, all staring in different directions.

“Yeah, eyes means that God is definitely up to something here,” I groaned. “Hey, Wisdom, can you tell him to leave my Forest alone?”

The thing around me groaned, as if in response to the noise I made. Well, I prepared my Martial Arts Skill. It definitely knew where I was. The tree began to harden into a blue crystalline substance, but I knew I could punch through it if I had to! I won’t let it get the drop on me! I turned around the eyeball tree and almost stopped in my tracks at the sight of my apparent attacker.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Oh,” I looked at it in disgust. The creature was in the shape of a pale blue Orc, with many azure crysral tendrils with eyes punctuating their ends jutting out of its skin. It groaned and gurgled out blue liquid as its eyes blinked along its skin and tentacles. “Couldn’t Cru’Zha make its Status Effect less gross?”

“I don’t think that’s what you should be worried about,” Attor sighed. I checked myself and despite being covered in the fog, there were no eyes growing on my arms. Our friend, however, was getting worse.

The Orc’s jaw and chin split apart as a new tendril grew out of its skull. Shattering, like boulder’s crumbling or glass crashing against itself, resounded from within its body as it gurgled something. Words? I listened to it speak again closely.

“E-END M-ME,” a voice came out of it. I could see its gums and snout becoming eyes. An Abyssal God that makes its worshippers suffer, huh? I cracked my knuckles and struck the former Orc. Wish granted!

Instead of blood, it simply shattered into crystal shards and chunks. Even the eyes that were attached to it seemed like they were made of glass. I waited to hear from Wisdom or Cru’Zha, but nothing happened. Not even an Intervention? What an odd space! I continued on my way past blinking trees and eye covered plants. Even the rocks had eyes growing on it. Attor’s head floated down the path, leaving a nice glowing green trail for me to follow. I stepped on a small stone, realizing it had a massive eye glaring at me.

Sorry for stepping on you, Cru’Zha, I shuddered and quickly jumped back onto the dirt grass. Stony eyes was not something I expected to see in this realm! How exciting! The village was up ahead, I could see it through Attor’s vision. Eyes stared back at me on the walls of destroyed buildings.

What a surprise.

“It appears that another God came along with the Starfall,” Attor remarked. “That Cru’Zha seems to not be able to connect to this Realm just yet.”

“I wonder why he wants to be here,” I pondered. “Could he also be trying to escape from the Great Conflict like Geer’Sha?”

“There’s probably more to his agenda than merely escaping,” Attor muttered. I found a completely crystallized Orc. Its regular eyes tracked me. More Orcs were fused to the walls of their homes and also attached together. All of their Statuses were inscribed with low health percentages and the Enlightened Status Effect. “He’s a lot more powerful than Geer’Sha. Why is this Wisdom so silent on the matter?”

“Hey,” I switched the subject. “Wouldn’t these guys like to be freed of whatever Enlightened Status Effect is infecting them?”

“Free Stat Points,” Attor muttered.

“Now you’re talking!” I pulled out my Crystal Wand. “Third Spell: Eldritch Beam!”

My wand shook with power as the translucent Tier 3 Spellpage ripped the air in front of me. It shook my hand a bit, but the Eldritch Beam let out a dark ray that matched the color of the nights. All I had to do is aim it at these unfortunate Pigmen! The energy cleaved through everything I could see, leaving behind a trail of illuminated debris. Together, Attor and I watched the experience points and Stat Points fall upon us. All of the points and the fog was lifting!

The beam took half my Mana Pool away, but I sensed that was the end of it. That was until something was left standing in the middle of the crystal ruins. I could barely make out its shape!

— [Redacted], level 20

— Class: [Redacted]

Curse: Eyes of the Faceless

“Is that the Boss of this Starfall?” I did not like my odds against whatever it was. “What does ‘Redacted’ even mean?”

“Stay focused…”

A low humming came from somewhere, but the figure was gone. An incoming Skill? From where? I should have used my Stat points! No time, now. I shifted my vision through the blue tinged trees and felt the skin on my head tingle as it crawled up my hair. Above!

— Skill: Steel Web Conjuration!

I waved my hand above in a guard over my head, letting the Steel Webs buy me time to dodge. The area glowed with Chaos Damage, which easily lowered the Web’s Health to zero. I didn’t even know it had Health! A shadow shifted in the branches above me!

— Skill: Steel Web Conjuration!

I knew I could use my spells to annihilate the surrounding trees, but I had only 50% mana and using a Tier 3 spell would wipe it all out! I could substitute that energy with stamina. My Web Skills and Martial Art Skills will do the trick! More Chaos infused bolts slashed my Webs apart, knocking me back for cover. I will kick off the ground and meet the ranged assassin head on! A glowing light revealed itself in one of the branch. Now was the time to strike!

I crashed through crystalline branches easily, grin on my face and ignoring Attor’s concerned face as I flew through his spirit. The shadow was unleashing its Chaos attack, but waved one of its limbs and another glow manifested in front of it. Your little barrier won’t stop me!

— Skill: Martial Arts has increased Charlotte’s Attack to S+ (2400/2400)

Oh yeah, that extra Attack feels good, I laughed as the shield melted my hand. The Shield seemed to be made out of the same Chaos Element, something I was not immune to. The fist connected with the shadowy figure’s head, or at least what I thought where its head would be, and sent it flying! Before it landed on the ground, its Status trailed behind it and vanished into a pool of darkness amidst the broken ruins of a shattered house. I chased after it! I won’t let you escape on me! Its health was dropping from my blow, but I was not sure what a Redacted class could do to heal itself. Therefore, I had to finish it off quickly. I searched the surrounding forest for a faint hint of a Chaos glow or a Status Effect. There!

Further away was too troublesome and teleportation is cheating! I supposed I’ll have to use my Lightning Strike to beat out its spell. I used the webs to build a wall quickly and pulled out my wand. The webbed crystallized barrier was melting quickly from whatever Chaos spell it was using, but I was prepared!

“Third Spell: Lightning Strike!” I lept from the cover and aimed in the spellcaster’s general direction. A dark cloud burst from my target and it disappeared, but I predicted it would try to teleport behind me! That was the only natural place an assassin would go, especially that I was standing right on where it would have landed! “Boom!”

I swiftly changed my wand’s aim behind me and shielded my eyes as the bolts enveloped everything. I would have taken damage from its ripping magic, but I spent hours zapping myself a long time ago! The shadow screamed a high pitched noise as the lightning continued its blast. The body lay convulsing on the ground while I remained unscathed. Webs, come to me! My fingers shot the steel webs to capture this strange creature, but to my surprised the charred assassin I had wrapped up was a human!

“How did you predict its attacks?” Attor asked me.

“I fought the Sniper in the Demon Realm enough to know all about an assassin’s tricks!” I grinned. “Now what is this thing? Shall I kill it?”

The creature looked like a human, but I could not make out its face even if the lightning bolt sent sparks streaking up and down its body.

“Whoa! Did I zap its face off?!” I looked at its weapon. A small crooked twig with a deep azure shard similar to the Enlightened Status Effect’s work around this place. As I stared at it, an eye opened and looked at me. This thing was a wand, I determined, and it was getting infected by the Status Effect. This thing was a witch? Why was this thing not getting infected? Attor looked at its face, which had no features despite being ashen from the burns. The assassin twitched, but did not struggle in my Steel Web’s bind. Instead, its face parted and revealed bisected folds covered in fangs.

“Cool!” It looks like a flower with its petals open. A blooming flower, covered with fanged petals. “Hey Attor, can I kill it now?”

“Wait!” It hissed, before Attor could speak. It had an otherworldly echo to it, like someone was speaking through it. “You’re interesting.”

“Well, I heard worse,” I told it. “To what or who am I speaking to? This puppet is gross!”

“I sent her here to investigate this empty place, but you…” the creature trailed off. Despite its gross and torn up face, I could tell its master was observing me through it. “You’re speaking to a Familiar, are you not?”

“No! I, uh,” I stuttered. “I talk to myself! All the time!”

“You are a strong Witch, but you don’t have her Markings,” the creature remarked. It chuckled. “Powerful enough to stop this useless puppet. I shall punish her for her misdoings! In the meantime, Witch, you shall be perfect for the Forest. As perfect as She once was... I’ll be watching you with great interest. And should I require your presence, you shall hear from this thing again.”

“Are you the one behind all these eyeballs?” I asked the gross thing.

The faceless creature’s fanged face sealed apart back to looking like a regular, featureless smooth plain of skin where its head should be. It was difficult to look at, even if my mind could register it didn’t have a face. It was like staring at the sun and looking away, then back at it again.

“No, little Witch,” it confirmed, as shadows began to envelop it. I decided to not slice it apart and let it go. “I suspect you already know who is behind this Star Sickness…”

The mysterious shadow vanished in the shadow, leaving me all alone in the woods. Well, victory was mine! I scoffed and summoned my broom. It was time to get report back to the Orcs!

“What about the Awakening Ceremony?”

“Oh , yeah! The Ceremony!” I had to launch myself straight to the Tower daily to see if they would arrive. It would be suspicious if I was gone all of a sudden! If Blanche needed me to inform her, she would ask me, right? Daylight should be coming soon, so I had to get ready to see if the Humans would show up on my doorstep! Oh Geer’Sha! I forgot that this broom goes too fast! The Tower’s roof came way too fast and I braced myself for impact! Guh!

I felt my head splat against something soft. Frampton? I felt it, but it was definitely fuzzier than him, and much larger! A small droplet of drool landed on my cheek and the face of a Spider Assassin looked down at me with a quizzical expression on its face. Well, at least the crashed roof didn’t kill me. The Crystal Broom taunted me as it floated energetically in the corner. The Fuzzy Butt Assassin faded into view and an alert appeared on its Status.

— Skill: Invisibility has worn off.

“You can do that?” I asked him, but of course it chirped excitedly and did not use words in response. I figured I should sleep and wait for them to show up. If the Humans do not, I could go and investigate their Settlement. Decisions, decisions! I grinned. This was exciting! I will stay up all night in anticipation! I was about to cackle but I blinked! I suddenly heard something rolling beneath me.

Gah! I must have dozed off! The Spider Assassin was invisible, but I must have used him as a pillow since I could feel his fur. He was growing excited at the prospect of new food entering my territory, but I told him no. I peered through out the newly smashed opening I created by accident and saw a row of armored men riding along with a wagon. I guessed the teleporter did not work? This Tower was quite damaged from my previous crash, but now was made even worse from my most recent one! I felt nervous, but I was ready. No matter what happens to me, I was ready so long as that Elaine woman does not discover she could kill me! I am a Witch and I am strong! I moved down the steps to greet them when I heard a familiar shrieking voice.

“Charlotte!” Becca screamed for me. “Lady Charlotte! Oh, there you are!”

She looked nervous at the sight of me, but she gestured to the carriage.

“You look dreadful in that noble’s dress,” she remarked. “Your Father has called for you, and you shall not look like that before you meet him so let us go!”

“Yes, servant,” I hissed with a deadly smile on my face. I quite liked the expression of fear and horror this terrifying buff caused. “Let us go meet him.”