The sun ascends over the endless, pristine sea, casting its golden light upon a quaint cottage nestled in the Ordan countryside. An elderly woman, weary from her recent competition with fellow seniors, slowly approaches the door. Her steps are heavy, but triumph lights her eyes— She has won. In her hands, she carries a basket covered with a fancy blanket, adorned with a light blue dragon, its serpentine body winding like an eel, long flowing fins trailing down its back. A smile touches her lips as she notices the empty dish on the desk and her sweet granddaughter, still sound asleep on the bed.

Gently, she places the basket beside the bed and tenderly shakes her awake.

Margaret "G—Grandma?! Oh no! Did I miss school?!"

Gala "No, you silly pumpkin. It's Saturday. I guess that pie was perhaps too sweet— It knocked you right out."

Margaret "No, it was fine! I think I just overslept, that's all. How was the meeting or whatever you ever doing yesterday, grandma?"

Gala "Just a little something that took me back to the good old days. A small marathon, just for us older folks. The winner gets a one-of-a-kind prize. Behold..."

Her hand delves into the basket, emerging with a rectangular box, its surface lined with shiny glass, faint red handprints barely visible along its surface.

Margaret "Are these chocolates? They all look so cool!"

Gala "Not just any chocolate. These were crafted by The Grand Chocolatier who hailed from Mindan. Legend has it that he studied twelve ancient books, each said to contain the most exquisite chocolate recipes known to Walteran kind. He didn't just taste them— he recreated each one, perfecting them with his own touch. But his life ended tragically just as he completed the final chocolate."

Margaret "What happened to him?"

Gala "He made a vow that he wouldn't taste his own creations until all twelve recipes were mastered. But fate had other plans. The last ingredients left him gravely injured, yet he clung to life just long enough to perfect that final chocolate and seal them all inside this box."

Margaret "That explains the bloody handprints. But which book was his end?"

Gala "Heh. Seige of Six Dragons. Quite the coincidence. Isn't it, Margaret?"

Margaret "Yeah— Wait... you did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Gala "I have not the slightest idea what you are talking about. Would you like a chocolate?"

Margaret "Yes, please."

Gala carefully opens the container and hands her two pieces of chocolate.

Margaret "This one looks like those one-eyed monsters that turn you to stone if you look at them. And this other one... it looks like some kind of measuring tool. Granny, are you sure you don't want any?"

Gala "Age has pushed me beyond the point of enjoying sweets like these, so it's best you savor these treats."

Without hesitation, Margaret pops both chocolates into her mouth, and an explosion of flavors overwhelms her senses like a tidal wave.

Margaret "Oh my All-Mother! It is so sweet! But not sweet enough to make you sick! That's... impossible."

Gala "Nothing is impossible, my dear. Now that you have your treat, are you ready for the next chapter of the story?"

Greeted by a playful, Gala chuckles and opens the book beside her.

Sarah paces in tight circles around Diana, biting her thumbs as beads of sweat gather on her forehead. Hours have passed since they forced the antidote down Sai's throat, but her lifeless body remains still, showing no sign of recovery. To stave off the growing dread, the Scholar turns her attention to the books that line the walls of their hideaway. Carefully, she pulls one from the shelf, just enough to steal a glance outside, half-expecting chaos. But there’s only an unsettling silence, as if their destructive actions yesterday had gone unnoticed by the world. She slips the book back into place and offers Diana a glance of tentative relief.

In stark contrast, the Brawler’s face is a storm of frustration, her patience fraying to the edge. Just as she’s about to snap—

Sai's body jerks to life, gasping for breath.

Sai "Where am I?! Is this the afterlife?!"

Diana "Does this place look heavenly to you, sis? Glad to see you’re awake. If you hadn’t come around soon, I would’ve knocked you awake myself."

Sai "That would be quite unpleasant, given how strong your punches are."

Sarah "Yeah, Diana. She would’ve died for real, you know. Anyway, let’s not waste any more time. Where’s this book you mentioned? I’m itching to fight some fucking dragons."

Sai "Err, let me think... Wait— That's the book!"

She points at the very book Sarah had just placed back on the shelf.

Sarah "Ah, sweet. Looks like luck’s on our side today, girls. What are we fucking waiting for? Let’s go in!"

Sai "Wait, shouldn’t we come up with some sort of plan before diving in?!"

Diana "Nah, sis. When you’re with us, there ain't gonna be no planning. We just wing it! Let’s go!"

The Scholar flips open the book, leaping inside with a confident grin, quickly followed by Diana, who grabs Sai and pulls her along. Sai lets out a startled cry, but before she can protest, the group is swallowed by the book’s pages. Just as they vanish, the barrier of books hiding their presence explodes outward, sending the scattered volumes flying, though none are damaged and merge back to their original forms. Moments later, twenty robotic Castastrian soldiers climb onto the shelf, their heads tilting around like a gyroscope as they scan the area. They quickly lock onto the lingering heat signatures leading to a specific book. Feeling accurate with their assessment, the soldiers march into the book and emerge in the middle of a peaceful rural village.

The village's residents, with their distinct Ordan features, are thrown into a panic at the sight of these unfamiliar intruders. They flee to the safety of their homes, leaving the village square eerily deserted leaving only eyes filled with hopelessness through foggy windows. Diana and Sarah, spotting the soldiers, immediately go on high alert. Their appearance mimics the imperial soldiers they have fought before but without the presence of a helmet and having a fully mechanical body along with ten arms. Diana tosses Sai to Sarah’s side, and as Sai lands, she checks her rings, noticing with relief that all their charges are fully restored. Bolstered by this, Sai draws her poison daggers, clumsily attempting to mirror Sarah’s poised stance, who holds her own daggers with ease.

The Brawler's menacing laugh echoes through the village as she charges at the soldiers. The Castastrians’ arms morph into shields in response, but they are no match for Diana’s raw power. With a mighty palm strike, she releases a crackling shockwave that blasts the soldiers through the village’s front gate and sends them hurtling miles into the open grassy field beyond. A yellow aura flares around Diana’s feet as she leaps into the air, descending with crushing force onto one of the soldiers. Pinning it to the ground, she unleashes a relentless barrage of punches, each one driving the mechanical foe deeper into the earth.

The soldier beneath Diana crumples under the relentless force of her punches, unable to adapt quickly enough to withstand the Brawler's sheer power.

Recognizing the threat, the remaining bots recalibrate, splitting their forces. Ten of them swiftly encircle Diana, spiked cleats forming on their soles as half their arms revert to normal. In a coordinated motion, dozens of energy swords materialize in their palms, humming with lethal energy. Diana, quickly grasping their strategy, darts toward one of the soldiers, leaping over it to escape the tightening circle. Her mind races as she considers the spiked cleats, and a plan forms.

With a quick focus of energy, a yellow film spreads from the ground beneath her, extending outward to cover the area where the soldiers stand. The bots pause, analyzing the sudden change, and realize too late that the ground beneath them has drastically increased in friction. Their cleats, once an advantage, now trap them in place. Reacting swiftly, the soldiers retract their cleats, only to find that the friction has vanished, leaving them vulnerable. Before they can react, The Brawler is upon them, her fist driving forward with unstoppable force, landing squarely in front of one soldier's face, sending it crashing down with a deafening impact.

A powerful blow also sends the nearby soldiers tumbling onto their metallic butts.

Channeling Newton’s third law into her leg, Diana unleashes a devastating kick at the nearest soldier, sending it careening into four of its comrades. The impact shatters the vital circuits of two soldiers, leaving them sparking and lifeless. But five remain, and as she gears up for another kick, a searing pain slashes through her concentration. Both of her hands are sliced open, with small strips of flesh clinging to her arms.

Panic surges through her as she skates away at blinding speed, fumbling for a syringe from her inventory. She injects it into her right hand, watching the skin knit itself back together. Glancing over her shoulder, she spots seven blurry figures racing toward her, their movements too fast for the eye to track. Instincts honed from Kanji's training kick in as she anticipates their attacks, dodging just in time before digging into the ground. She uses the earth to cover her entrance, buying time to think.

With both hands healed, her mind races for a strategy. Then— DING!—an idea flashes in her mind. Bracing her arms in a cross formation, she steadies herself...

Diana erupts from the ground with explosive force, sending massive stone pillars shooting up around her.

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There’s no time to waste; she immediately starts digging up more pillars, drawing them closer and closer together. Clapping her hands, she releases a wave of yellow energy into the air, reducing the friction and destabilizing the soldiers' momentum.

Without the friction to control their speed, the soldiers spiral out of control. They slam into the stone pillars, colliding with each other in chaotic crashes. Seizing the opportunity, Diana charges forward, her leg charged with energy. She delivers a devastating stomp on the remaining two soldiers, crushing their heads with brutal force. Yet, despite the damage, their bodies continue to writhe and convulse.

As she prepares to strike again, ten energy blades converge, skewering both of her legs with sharp precision and leaving 3 seared holes in each leg. The attack causes her to kneel, sending jolts of pain throughout her body.

Diana plunges her hands deep into the chests of the remaining soldiers, crushing their cores with a tight grip.

With the last of the mechanical foes vanquished, she finally allows herself a moment of respite. Settling onto the ground, she uses a syringe and four bandages which is surprisingly enough to tend her wounds. Just as the peaceful scenery settles over her, it is shattered by the thunderous sound of enormous wings flapping overhead.

Diana "Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me!"

The entire scene is enveloped in a sudden light blue mist. A deafening crash reverberates through the air, followed by a thunderous roar that shakes the very ground.

From a distance, Sarah hears the commotion, causing her guard to momentarily weaken. Seizing the opportunity, one of the soldiers swings its shield with immense force, knocking her daggers from her grasp to the side. Another soldier converts its shields into sabers and dice up the daggers before quickly rejoining the team. The bots quickly transform their shields into lances and close in on her, circling with precise, calculated thrusts.

Sarah, catching their pattern just in time, leaps away as the lances stab where she stood moments before. In mid-air, she throws her ring, its arc slicing through the air. Two of the soldiers manage to dodge, but the other two are caught by the ring, their torsos sliced cleanly in half and their severed cores exposed. With a sharp click, the remaining soldiers reconfigure their equipment into rifles and open fire. As plasma bullets streak toward her, Sarah activates her shadow form.

The bullets phase through her, but she still feels the sting of the energy, a sharp reminder that even this form has its limits.

Clinging to the last vestiges of her consciousness, Sarah pushes forward, sprinting with a fiery spear gripped tightly in her hand. With a determined thrust, the metal tip drives into a soldier's metallic chest, and golden flames erupt, spreading rapidly from the injury. The soldier retaliates, delivering a powerful kick to her stomach that sends her reeling backward, bracing for another attack.

But the anticipated onslaught never comes. Instead, the soldiers freeze, their focus shifting to their injured comrade with evident confusion. Sarah watches in alarm as the soldier’s body morphs and swells, struggling to contain the spreading fire. Her gaze locks onto the core— a glowing green sphere encircled by three rotating gears and three faint light green rings running horizontally along its equator. The core pulses between red and green, and The Scholar's instincts scream at her to fall back.

Before she can react further, an enormous explosion erupts, engulfing the soldiers in searing flames. The blast hurls Sarah through the air, and the intense heat incinerates her shadowy form, leaving her consciousness a blur of agony and darkness.

Not so far from this unfortunate sight, Sai is eyeing down the soldiers who seem wary of her. Noting their wary demeanor, she infers that they might be her friends' enemies, which could mean they have information about their powers but not hers. Spotting an opportunity, she devises a cunning plan.

Sai lets out a fierce battle cry, though to the soldiers it sounds like the wail of a child. Despite this, they swiftly transform their shields into long swords, preparing for combat. Sai charges at one of the soldiers, but as she gets close, a blade stabs her through the head. Her pupils fade, and her body goes limp, collapsing to the ground.

As the glow from one of her rings dims and then extinguishes, the soldiers notice it and encircle her, their weapons poised and ready.

They deliver a slight kick and analyze the body— No motions or breathing. Confirming her death, they turn around only to be stabbed through their chests with ghostly rapiers. Her attacks vanquish three cores but the last missed but an inch so the soldier delivered all ten of its long sword down. Sai tries to roll away but her right arm is caught and decapitated, losing all of her weapon rings. Her left hand forms a symbol and it gathers all the moisture in the air to cover her injuries, congulating the blood and blocking any more from spilling out. Acting fast, Sai swipes one of the rings and puts it on.

The soldiers give Sai's limp body a tough kick, their sensors confirming that she shows no signs of life— no motion and no breathing. Satisfied with their assessment, they turn away...

But before they can move far, ghostly rapiers materialize out of nowhere, stabbing through the chests of the soldiers. Three of the soldiers fall, their cores vanquished, but the fourth manages to evade the attack by mere inches. Enraged, the remaining soldier retaliates, bringing all ten of its long swords down upon Sai.

Sai tries to roll away, but her right arm is caught, and the soldier decapitates it with a brutal swipe. Now that she has lost all of her weapon rings, Sai quickly forms a symbol with her left hand. She gathers all the moisture in the air to cover her injuries, coagulating her blood and staunching the flow.

Acting swiftly, Sai grabs one of the remaining rings and slips it onto her finger. With the ring's power activated, she conjures a gravity hammer, using it to block the next incoming swords. She then leaps back, pondering her next move.

Sai’s breathing grows increasingly labored, and the pain intensifies with each passing second... She feels her consciousness slipping away, on the brink of fading into nothingness. Desperately, she causes another glow to fade from the ring on her left index finger. Drawing on her last reserves of strength, she sprints, her burst of speed catching the soldier by surprise. With a powerful swing, her gravity hammers flatten the metallic foe.

Without a moment to spare, Sai scans the area for Sarah and finally spots her lying between two boulders. A relieved smile crosses Sai’s face as she removes the ring from her left thumb and places it on Sarah’s right index finger. With her final act complete, Sai collapses, succumbing to the darkness.

Sarah awakens to the sight of Sai’s bleeding shoulder, her eyes wide with fear and confusion.

Sarah quickly assesses their medical supplies in the Universal storage, recalling the importance of conserving what they have. Determined, she races to the battlefield, following the blood trail left by Sai’s struggle. She finds Sai’s severed arm and retrieves it, returning to her friend’s side. With careful hands, Sarah attaches the arm to Sai’s shoulder, injects a syringe filled with a healing serum into the gap, and wraps a bandage tightly around the wound. The Scholar then retrieves the ring from her index finger and carefully places it back onto Sai’s finger. Once she’s done, Sarah props Sai’s body comfortably against a boulder, giving her a reassuring nod.

Sarah "You’ve fought well, Sai. Leave the rest to us."

Sarah dashes toward the light blue mist.

A blast of icy air slams into Sarah as she steps through the mist, and her heart sinks at the sight before her. Diana lies bloodied and unconscious, her lower body grievously injured as if an enormous beast had taken a bite out of it, leaving behind a frozen shell that covers the wound. Tears stream down Sarah’s face, and her focus remains solely on Diana. She rushes to her side, leaning in with her ear pressed against Diana’s chest, relieved to hear a faint heartbeat.

Amidst the chaos, Sarah notices a string of characters written in the snowy dirt— "Don't worry about me, you idiot! Go smoke that stupid frost dragon! Careful, that fucker likes to use ranged attacks!"

Sarah "She had the time to write all of this. What an absolute unit—

Without wasting another moment, Sarah grabs Diana and leaps away, narrowly avoiding a hail of diamond-shaped icicles that rain down from above.

Sarah retaliates by hurling the ring into the air, hoping it will strike the unknown creature. A pained roar echoes in response, and the ground trembles as four colossal feet land, lifting her slightly off the ground. Through the dissipating mist, she glimpses a colossal silhouette. Enormous wings unfurl from the figure, their structure formed from massive ice crystals and interlaced with a unique web of diamond-shaped patterns. As the wings flap, they whip up a fierce torrent of cold wind that freezes her feet in place.

With the mist clearing, the dragon reveals itself in all its terrifying glory. Its back is covered in icy blue scales and spikes that gleam like polished gems, extending to a snowball-like spade at the end of its tail. The dragon’s reptilian eyes are a deep, menacing blue, with glowing cyan pupils that pierce through the mist. Its claws are rough, razor-sharp, and oversized, capable of eclipsing anything they touch. The dragon lowers its head, showcasing its jaws lined with jagged, icy spears reminiscent of stalactites found in the depths of a frozen cave.

As the dragon opens its maw, Sarah sees that its teeth are hollow tubes, from which freezing flames pour out forming fangs and emitting more mist.

Sarah rolls to the side, narrowly avoiding the dragon's snapping jaws, just as her ring returns to her hand. She takes aim and throws it toward the roots of the dragon's wings. Despite the dragon’s efforts to dodge, its massive size makes it too slow, and the ring strikes, causing one of the wings to crash to the ground and create an enormous iceberg. The dragon lets out a furious roar and retaliates with a blast of frozen flames.

Reacting quickly, Sarah twirls her spear, conjuring a barrier of contrasting fold flames that slowly devours the dragon’s icy breath. Seeing that its attack is being neutralized, the dragon slams its tail into the ground, causing it to erupt beneath Sarah’s feet. The snowball at the end of the tail slams into her chin, sending her sprawling, and then attaches to her chest, expanding and pinning her down.

The dragon retreats, using its remaining wing to unleash a storm of icy shards. The ring returns to Sarah and she begins carving through the snowball, but before she can fully escape, two ice shards strike her stomach. She stumbles but manages to shift into her shadow form to evade further damage and the pair of shards drops to the ground. Focusing intently on the dragon’s shadow, she teleports and hurls a ring that slices through its hind legs, causing the dragon to topple.

However, the dragon’s tail lashes out once more, hitting her with brutal force and giving it just enough time to rise back to its feet.

It sees the ring returning to Sarah and so it fires its icy breath the weapon with all its energy, just enough to trap it out of reach of Sarah. The Scholar panics switching from her shovel to daggers to carve away the snowball but it remains impenetrable. Out of options, Sarah takes her spear and prepares to stab the ball only to hesitate wondering if the flames could hurt too. Her hesitation is met by a giant foot, stomping at her body and crushing her legs.

The dragon, noticing the ring returning to The Scholar, unleashes its icy breath with all its energy, encasing the ring in a frozen prison and trapping it out of Sarah’s reach. Desperation sets in as Sarah takes out her shovel, attempting to dig away at the snowball encasing her, but it remains impenetrable.

With no viable options left, Sarah grabs her spear and readies herself to stab the snowball, though a moment of hesitation grips her— The Scholar wonders if the flames from her spear might cause further harm. Her indecision proves costly as the dragon’s colossal foot descends, stomping down with tremendous force and crushing her legs.

As Sarah's vision starts to fade and blur, Sarah sees the dragon’s maw opening wider, preparing to devour her. But then—

??? "HEY! YOU BIG UGLY LIZARD!! OVER HERE!!!"

Sarah, barely conscious, recognizes the voice and manages a weak, "Sai! But how—" before she falls unconscious. Sai, now face to face with the dragon, her face half confident.

The glow from the ring on Sai’s left ring finger fades, and her vision zooms in on the charging dragon. As she scans its form in a panic, she spots something unusual— a miniature draconic face embedded in one of the dragon's scales. Taking a deep breath, Sai waits for the perfect moment, then leaps into the air as the glow on the last ring of her left hand vanishes.

With a precise aim, she conjures a lightning bolt and directs it at the strange scale. The dragon emits a pained roar and collapses to the ground. Seeing that the scale is only cracked, Sai switches to her Gravity Hammers and delivers a crushing blow, shattering the scale completely.

The dragon’s eyes close, and its massive body begins to disintegrate into snow.

Sai "Fuck... we win. Let's get you guys back to the village."

With every ounce of strength she can muster, Sai drags Diana and Sarah toward the village. The villagers, initially shocked and disbelieving, soon shift to expressions of relief as they see the heroes returning. They guide Sai and the unconscious party members to a cozy cabin, where the group can rest and recover.