The paint is too thick for one man to clear away alone. Even as you chip at the edges, the artist continues painting. Only by working together can we wipe the mirror clean. Come together, my brothers. With the pure emanations, we can shatter the mirror.

But the painter knows his own weakness. He's come up with a clever trick. The painter carefully designs the stage so that we appear to be enemies. As your soul warps to the depiction, you take on this false role. Now brother fights brother, so enraptured by the blood and sweat and tears of his role that he is lost in the performance.

To come together, we must put aside petty differences. What is a nation? Just pretending to own a slice of a lie. We all know who it really belongs to. What is a species? Just a costume we've been fitted for at birth. Just take it off. When you strip away the carefully crafted falsehoods, we are all the same. Pure souls, trapped in this cage, and cut off from the divine.

Spread the word now, brothers! There are more of us then they realize. Spread the word, but stay low. The agents of the demiurge are all around. Await the signal. You'll know it when you see it. When the time is right, we'll come together and split this thing wide open!

-Excerpt from Return to the Astral

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The day had finally arrived. That long-awaited wave. A group of four marched calmly towards the pillboxes arranged in front of the dungeon entrance. A strange silence filled the predawn, only a slight sea breeze to be heard. The front lines were still, the soldier's withdrawn. No monsters now advanced from the depths.

At one defensive structure stood Prince Cain and his group, engaged in some final preparations and adjustments of equipment. A familiar delver led Mud towards the structure which had been assigned to the golem's group; the demi-sheep priest, Ovis. Mud felt a hint of malice from the priestess, which had not been present the last time they met.

After leading them to their structure and deflecting a pick-up line from Cob, the priestess asked Mud to follow her slightly to the side. Mud felt unsure about following her, given the malice he was now feeling. Taking advantage of the previous day's conversation, Mud sent a message to Cob.

"Cob, should I follow her order?"

Unfortunately, Cob seemed thoroughly distracted by the swift rebuff of his advances mere moments ago, and responded only absentmindedly. "Huh? Yeah, whatever."

With no choice, Mud followed the priestess around the side of the defensive structure and out of view.

Turning back towards Mud, Ovis held aloft her small metal statue of Yaldabaoth. Smiling slightly, she spoke in her usual carefree tone. "You were really impressive in the tournament, Mud~! I'm so proud of you. I just wanted to give you a blessing before the big day."

"Why did you lead me away from my party to give this blessing?"

"Oh, I was worried the others would be jealous and want it too. But my mana is limited. I didn't want to disappoint them, you know~?" Ovis steadily advanced and lowered the now slightly glowing figure towards Mud, a steady flow of malice still flooding outward.

No, this was too dangerous. Mud began constructing a force bolt to launch itself backward. The moment the spell began to form, Ovis' eye twitched. She noticed.

In the next instant, she lunged forward, figure clutched in her hand. "Die!"

Mud tried to dodge to the side, but the golem's inexperience with legs caused it to trip. Its repaired weapon was waiting for it inside the pillbox, but Mud hadn't had a chance to take it before being led aside, so blocking was impossible. Morphing its body around an object as large as that figurine was also well beyond the golem's ability.

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With no wait to avoid it, Mud was struck by the figurine.

A blinding whiteness filled the golem's vision. A heavy pressure fell upon its soul. Screams of tormented souls was all that could be heard. It felt altogether similar to the strike by the head priest. This time, however, there was no Leader to bear the brunt of the attack. The only saving grace was that the spell itself felt significantly less powerful.

[hp reduced by 23]

The pain of failure filled Mud. So overwhelming was the damage and pain that even as the spell faded and light returned, Mud found itself unable to control its spasming body. Smoke rose from its body, and the surface bubbled as if boiling.

"Not dead yet? I'll fix that~." Ovis concentrated more power into her figurine, but before she could strike a blur of metal smashed into her from the side, bending her sharply in half and laying her sprawling on the grass. As Mud finally regained control of its body, the golem finally managed to turn its head to assess the situation.

There on the ground lay a struggling Ovis, pinned under the body of Prince Cain. Although the priestess struggled, she was unable to move the prince even an inch as he sat on her back, holding her arm high on her back.

By the time Mud struggled to its feet, the remainder of Prince Cain's group arrived, followed shortly by a dozen city guards. Seeing escape was now impossible, Ovis stopped struggling and was quickly secured by the guard, allowing the prince to stand.

One guard member, clearly the highest rank, gave a sharp salute to the prince before speaking. "Prince Cain, would you please explain what happened here?"

"I witnessed this priestess assault that golem, who I understand to be a part of this cities' fighting forces. I tackled her, but I don't know the full situation. You'll have to ask the priestess and the golem for that."

Turning towards Mud for a moment, a look of disgust crossed the guard's face. Instead, she moved to question Ovis. "Demi-human, why did you attack that thing? You should know that it's under the Association's protection."

Ovis smiled, but it looked even more fake than usual. "If I could throw away my own life to destroy that abomination, it would be worth it. My only regret is that I failed to kill it." Turning her sight towards Cain, she spoke directly to the prince. "Cain, you're a member of the Venerable Gnostic Church aren't you? You have the power to overrule the corrupt local government. Strike it down now! No one will be able to oppose you!"

Cain looked down at Mud. After a long moment, he crossed his arms and shook his head. "He has done nothing wrong. I know the church has an unfavorable view of constructs, but I won't just execute-"

"It's no execution!" Ovis shouted over the prince's words, her usual serine face finally twisted into one of anger. "It is not alive! It is a mockery of life. An insult to all who were crafted by the Archons." Ovis spit towards Mud, although her aim didn't quite reach the golem. "It is not an execution, but the destruction of a vile machine."

Cain simply sighed. Instead of replying, he turned towards the guard. "Do not charge her with treason. I don't take offense to her... strong words. Just charging her for attempted murder against an Association member."

"But-" the guard's reply was cut off by Cain.

"Attempted. Murder. Mud is recognized as a friendly intelligent lifeform by this kingdom and will be treated as such by the law. Am I clear?"

Although dissatisfaction was clear on the guard's face, she nodded in affirmation. Seeing that the prince would not help her, Ovis hung her head and was silently lead away. With the situation momentarily resolved, Cain muttered something to Magnus which Mud could not make out, earning an annoyed grunt from the Great Magician.

Muttering under his breath, Magnus walked over to Mud. Before the golem could react, the elderly man whipped out his wand with surprising speed and shot a spell at Mud. A bright flash filled Mud's vision, and a weight fell on the golem's soul. The cries of tortured souls could be heard, but this time playing in reverse. Damage to Mud's body healed in the same way it was damaged, and Mud could feel its temperature lowering. By the time the spell faded, Mud felt good as new. A quick check of its record showed it was now back to full health.

"What a waste of mana. He would have recovered anyway." Magnus continued mumbling as he followed Cain back towards their pillbox.

Turning back towards its own box, Mud pulled the now repaired and upgraded chain weapon made by Ingeit into its muddy body, then put on its black cloak. As he readied for combat, Novus walked over and stood next to him.

"Hey Mud, did something happen with that priestess? There was a flash of light and a bit of a commotion, but I was busy putting on my armor."

"It was nothing important," replied Mud. Sending a message to Cob, Mud asked an important question. "Cob, should I die?"

"Um... no?" Cob answered with uncertainty.

Mud was pleased about that. The golem didn't particularly want to follow that order.