"Let's dance!" Hera hoped that her taunt would make the kobold sisters act first. However, they were still very guarded, not making a move. Hera wasn't used to fighting against people, not really. Her only real experience with all that was the dungeon in the Charring Wastes. Sure, she would practice with Alex, Blue, and Nimbus, but she was used to their fighting styles. This would be different.

She thought about triggering one of the rattles from her bracelet, but if other guides were affected by it, they could decide to come to join the battle. After about a minute of intense staring, Hera decided to make the first move, 'Nimbus, you Core, and Ooze will take care of Nina. Talpa's weapon is more troublesome. I'll take it with Lurize and Frost. Armory, Scythe, stay in the back and give us support. Daskka, do you mind healing us as we fight? A battle of attrition might be a good play here.'

Before Daskka could reply, Nina dashed forward. Lunging at Hera. However, the Sentinel was ready for that. He blocked the attack with his tonfas and redirected it to the side, making the heavy sword slam against one of the pillars. Seeing an opening, Hera pulled some of the stone from a pillar to block Talpa's head and dashed forward, already wielding Fang and Claw. Frost and Lurize were right behind her, moving to flank the moving armor. Talpa wasn't just going to wait for Hera to attack. She jumped back and started spinning her mace, getting ready for a strike. She first saw Frost coming from under the wall that Hera had created, but instead of attacking or blocking the blade, she stepped back even further. The kobold knew about all of Hera's blades, but this was a new addition.

With her change in position, she could now view all the incoming attackers. Hera to her right, Lurize to her left, and the glaive coming from below. Another unexpected factor was the purple mist that was starting to spread. Unsure of what was going to happen, Talpa spun around, making a circle on the ground with her foot before taking another step back out of this circle she had created. When Hera got close, a large plant emerged from the trap, vines lashing out and trying to grab her and the flying weapons.

Thanks to the [Acrobatic Movement] training, Hera was able to duck and dodge the attacks while still keeping her momentum. She also asked Core to lob one of his lava attacks at the plant so it would be neutralized. The Empress continued moving towards Talpa, who was about to attack her when she realized the explorer was going past her. Worried that she might be trying to run to the exit, the kobold quickly turned around only to realize that Hera wasn't aiming for the corridor. She was going towards one of the pillars behind Talpa that now had a few bricks sticking out, almost like a set of stairs. That distracted her enough to allow Frost to come with an upward slash, making a small cut into the back of the armor. Hera also made sure to coat him in a paralyze mana reinforcement, but, for now, it still wasn't enough to affect the kobold. Talpa glanced back to the glaive, only to see Lurize going straight for her face. She took yet another step back, which only aided Hera, who was now flying through the air and landing with her knees on Talpa's shoulder. Using a move that Blue taught her, Hera spun to the side, forcing the kobold to move. Following that up, Hera tilted her body backward, trying to use her legs to launch the armor back towards one of the pillars.

The maneuver worked well, throwing Talpa off balance and giving Frost time to charge at the enemy while, at the same time, letting Hera do a flip to get back in position. However, Talpa was quick to recover. As soon as he was thrown, she spun around, pulling herself back together and slamming her mace against the glaive, who started spinning with the impact, struggling to regain its balance. That was one of the biggest weaknesses of the Court of Blades. Since they didn't have someone holding them, when someone parried an attack, it would be much harder for them not to be thrown away. Hera got back on her feet and tried to give a spinning kick to the armored kobold, but Talpa grabbed her leg and pulled her closer for a strike with her mace. Lurize came to intercept the attack as Hera activated her earth elemental armor to protect herself. Thanks to that defensive combo, the mace only grazed Hera's leg instead of hitting her knee with full strength.

As the Empress grunted in pain, Nimbus got a little distracted from his fight. Nina was much faster than he expected while wielding this two-handed sword. He swung his blade down again, only for it to hit nothing. Nina dodged the swing easily by using the pillar she was leaning on as a shield. That's when Nimbus noticed the glinting metal between her fingers. He told Core and Ooze to force her hand away so he could take a better look at whatever she was carrying. Maybe it would be what they were looking for. But it didn't take long for him to realize it wasn't the case. There were metal chains wrapped around the sword, attaching it to the right hand of the armor. This also meant that the kobold couldn't move as freely as she wanted. Armory started to call out how Nina was moving, and soon, Nimbus, Core, and Ooze delivered a flurry of attacks that seemed to push the armor back. The Sentinel also triggered his Frozen Ash aura to increase the damage he would deal with while protecting himself at the same time. With a mighty swing, Core was able to force the armor to loosen her grip on the sword despite it being stuck with a chain, which allowed Nimbus to come for a stronger blow.

Nina dodged the next attack and used the opportunity to jump on top of the pillar and then onto the wall above, jumping from there to the floor below. With that, she managed to get to the other side of the room without Nimbus having any clue where she went. Armory also ended up losing track of the kobold, but before she could do anything, the heavy two-handed sword came crashing down on top of its form. Breaking the tiara apart and sending Armory back to the legacy. A moment later, Nina vanished again and appeared from the shadows, where Nimbus was already preparing for another swing aimed at Talpa. She struck the Sentinel with a powerful punch, only to find out that she couldn't push him back. Her gauntlet didn't have the speed she was expecting, courtesy of a slow elemental armor that Hera cast on Nimbus.

Talpa noticed that change and started to beatbox while getting closer to Nina, which confused Hera until she noticed the mana around the armors becoming denser. It was to the point where she could see the layer of magic around them taking shape.

'Nimbus, get back!' Hera called the Sentinel and pulled some rocks from the room to block their path. One of the pieces that she pulled down from the ceiling created a hole in the upper floor, causing some of the furniture to come down along with the stone. She glanced back and saw how now they had swapped places, and the kobold sisters were no longer between her and the passage, 'Everybody to the tunnel! Daskka, hide us,' Hera told the court and started to create more walls between her and the sisters.

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She made several split layers and tossed a few spells and lights around the room to distract as everyone dashed to the corridor. Hera herself was the last one to go in, and she blocked the passage with a giant stone wall behind her.

'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Daskka asked.

'We are still under the house. I can make an exit anywhere. Besides, we never found the tower. I'm guessing it has something to do with this place,' Hera replied as they kept running through the passage. They couldn't see the end, but everyone hoped it would lead somewhere important. Some noises started to come from behind, probably the kobold sisters trying to break through the wall. Luckily, Hera made it five meters thick, so it would take some time for them to pass. Unfortunately, she failed to notice that the noise was actually morse code and the sisters were calling for help.

After about 30 more seconds of running and the continuous noise, a figure appeared in the corridor. It was another armor that seemed to be sad, but it was running towards Hera and gaining speed. Nimbus moved forward with the intention of stopping it, and Hera made low stone walls to slow it down, but the moment the armor touched those obstacles, it broke through them like it was a battering ram. Some of the light from the torches was now illuminating it, allowing Hera to notice the ram horns on its helmet and the fluffy wings on its back. However, it wasn't the light from the torches but the light created by his armor. The faster he moved, the stronger the glow was.

'Shit! That's Capri!' Hera used her stone shape spell to make a groove on the wall so she could hide behind it. It looked like the Cloud Sheep guide was using some sort of charge skill, and she didn't want to be caught in the middle of it. Nimbus didn't feel like hiding, but Hera recalled him and most of her court as she hid in this small alcove she created in the walls. Capri passed by like a train and continued at full speed toward the other room.

'Is he going to help Nina and Talpa?' Daskka asked when Hera started running again. While moving, the Empress also called her court back and kept going at full speed. This tunnel was much longer than she expected, and it was clear that, by now, they would be far from the house. After a few seconds, a loud rumbling came from behind her, and the ground shook. It was likely that Capri had managed to rescue the kobold sisters.

The shaking stopped after a few seconds, and the Empress was able to see that the tunnel opened into a large underground courtyard. The sound of multiple feet echoed in the distance, but they weren't that close yet. As Hera and her court stepped inside this new area, two new armors appeared out of nowhere. One of them didn't have any decorations like the kobold sisters or Capri, but the armor was light green colored, and looking at it, it was as if the armor was confused. Just like all the others, Hera had no reason to think that. The armor wasn't behaving differently in any way, but it was how she felt when looking at it.

"Hey, Peaches," Hera smiled at the statue, who just nodded in response and took a fighting stance. He was carrying a simple bo staff. To his side, there was a white armor with boxing gloves that should be the one Calina was using since it was the only guide Hera knew that had a passion for boxing. That armor wore a pair of boxer shorts and a champion belt and gave off a feeling of being in pure terror, "Calina. Any chance you two can just let me pass?"

In response, both guides attacked. Hera was able to dodge the punch and the staff, and Nimbus intercepted it to stop them from attacking. However, none of them was expecting the spells that came from behind. A bolt of lightning came flying so fast that not even Hera's blades were able to give her a heads up. It slammed on her back, causing her to move forward and get punched in the face by Calina. Nimbus tried to jump in to protect her, but Peaches was too skilled with his staff. He blocked every attempt to move while still attacking the Sentinel. To make matters even worse, he was using some sort of telekinetic ability to fling rocks at the rest of the blades and keep them at bay. He wasn't hurting them, but the attacks were strong enough to push the court back.

Calina was relentless. She kept attacking without giving Hera a chance to move while more spells came flying from behind. To make matters worse, Capri's footsteps were getting closer and closer, and the glow from his armor was stronger than before. Hera managed to dodge one of Calina's punches and swipe her leg to make her fall to the ground. She threw a couple of Bloody Claws toward Peaches, hoping it would give Nimbus a break. Unfortunately, that didn't faze the guide at all. He shifted his staff to parry the incoming attacks while at the same time hitting the Sentinel's legs and forcing him to fall back. Without missing a beat, he swung the staff back at Hera, hitting her square in the jaw. Calina jumped on her and started to punch repeatedly, turning her face into a bloody mess.

Feeling woozy, Hera just tried to bring the rocks from the ceiling down, hoping that the light from the sun would distract them enough to allow her to recompose herself. Unfortunately, she didn't consider what was above her and when she broke the courtyard structure, the entire ceiling collapsed, bringing the hill on top of it down.

'Empress!' Nimbus yelled as he jumped toward Hera, now that Peaches and Calina were distracted.

Thinking fast, Hera pulled a few rock slabs from under her to make a bunker. She recalled her court and Daskka, hoping that they wouldn't get hurt and braced herself from impact. She barely had enough time to get ready when a voice reached her ears.

"Damn, kid. I didn't expect that one."

Hera opened her eyes and saw some light coming from beyond the gaps of the bunker she had created. She pushed the stone walls to the side and realized she was back in front of the fountain, and all the pain she was feeling was gone.

"What happened?" Hera looked around with a confused expression.

"You killed yourself," Calina had her arms crossed and was staring Hera down.

"What?"

"She's exaggerating. But it reached the threshold of danger that we felt comfortable with. So we decided to stop," Peaches replied.

"So, did I win?"

Calina scoffed, "Of course not. You didn't complete even half of the challenge. And you cheated to get away from me."

"She didn't cheat. She caused a cave-in that would even hurt you, man," Johnny added.

Calina clicked her tongue, but Hera just looked to the guides, "Any chance you guys let me win? I'm kind of trying to get out of here."

"Unfortunately, no. It's part of the rules not to pull any punches, even if some of us are a bit too excited," Peaches side-eyed Calina, "But now you have to leave before trying again. That's how it works. You can rest a bit here if you want, but we can't give you anything to drink.

With a sigh, Hera lay down on the beach. She was tired, and it sucked that she lost. Not to mention, this was really dangerous. Causing a cave-in could end up killing her, and she had no intention of dying here. But it wasn't all bad; she already had a few new ideas about what to do inside the challenge, and things might go very differently on the next try.