My rampage ends with the setting sun.

As promised, the once magnificent city has been pulverized. Most of the damage is concentrated along my direct path, a trail of rubble that starts at the Teppin estate and stops before the western gate of the city. The rest of the destruction was caused by my large limbs. Not as severe as my rolling over buildings but enough to leave large swaths on either side of me shattered. There are some places that remain untouched, but they are few and far between.

The hunters stopped flinging spells at me hours ago. Saints, it’s been hours since I’ve seen or heard anyone. The city feels like a ruin, long abandoned with an air of dread lingering in the streets. The silence has an edge to it, one that almost feel like it can cut if I linger in it too long. Which is a ridiculous thought. If today has proved anything, it’s that I can’t be cut.

There’s no need for me to be upset. This is me, what I’ve done, what I’ve destroyed, what I’ve created. It can’t hurt me. Keeping that thought close, I call on that special list is always present at the back of my thoughts and call on my prime form. My body ripples, the world shifts, and then I’m once again a monster masquerading as a human woman.

…huh. It all seems so much bigger when I’m like this. Almost overwhelming…almost. I did everything I could for the people of Quest. I gave them so many chances, practically drowned them in patience and sincerity. I did this, I won’t deny that, couldn’t even if I wanted to, but they brought us here. Gave me no other choice outside of abandoning the interests of my favorite knight and her family. I feel guilt, but I shove it aside, refusing to let it take root.

This will not haunt me or change me. I made a promise to Alana but even if I hadn’t, I’ve realized the price of passivity. I don’t know if Kierra’s right and power attracts trouble or if I have an unlucky fate, but my dream of living a quiet life of debauchery is a fantasy. The world has made it clear that if I don’t stand up for what is mine, idiots will line up to take it from me. There are two paths before me. I can fight for myself and my clan or I can fight for the world.

The choice is obvious.

It’s obvious…but I still linger in the silence, letting the moment wash over me. Until I’m interrupted by something running toward me. The cadence of the steps is familiar, so I continue to stare at nothing. It only takes a couple of minutes before something, or rather someone, lands beside me.

“Dedia.” Kierra straightens from her crouch and stretches before coming over to me. She’s splattered with blood and worse but the fingers that brush my cheek are clean. Her eyes, an even mix of gold and green in fading light, flick over me. I don’t know what she’s looking for, but the corners of her lips turn up. “Are you well?”

“I’m fine.” I notice the strange blade in her opposite hand. Never seen black metal before. “What’s that?”

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“A tool. An artifact, I presume. Do you remember the prey that escaped the night we rescued the halfling? The one you asked me to spare as they were precious to the kingdom.”

What is she—ah. Yeah, I remember now. The null caster that I swatted aside reflexively when they appeared out of nowhere. Kierra wanted to track them down and finish them, not one to let prey escape, but null casters are rare and precious. “They showed up?”

“He did, with a fun toy.” She twirls the blade, flipping it into the air before catching it by the hilt. “It gave him an interesting trick but there is no replacement for mastery.”

“Let me see?” I accept the dagger from her and examine the blade. Normally, it’d be hard to detect given the color of the blade and the dried blood on its surface, but my eyes have no trouble seeing the finely engraved spell on it. The affinity stone at the end of its pommel is incredibly obvious. I don’t know much about enchanting, but two things are obvious; this thing is a masterwork and incredibly valuable.

To my knowledge, Harvest doesn’t have null affinity stone deposits or weapons with black metal. Maybe the guilds have the enchanters hidden away with skills far beyond their public and independent counterparts. Or maybe it’s a relic from the Great War. Either way, I bet this is what they were trying to hide. The secret assets they don’t want revealed by the March.

“All of this for you, huh,” I mutter to the blade as I turn it back and forth. “You and whatever other secrets they’re keeping. And in the end, it wasn’t worth it.” I know about it now. Since they’ve made me go this far, there’s no way I don’t turn over every shattered stone in Quest to find the rest of their treasures. “How’d it go?”

“If they were worth the honor, our walls would have many more skulls to decorate them.”

That gets a surprising laugh out of me. I hand her back her dagger. “We definitely struck a blow. The city is going to be rebuilding for a long time. The guilds might never recover.” Especially once we’re through robbing them. Before, I was going to take just enough to settle the March. Now? I’m going to take it all. Even the spoons they use to stir their pots.

“Our missions were successful. What of the pets?”

“Geneva hasn’t checked in.” A part of me doesn’t want to contact her. I…I really don’t want any bad news. But this isn’t something that I can run from. “Come on.”

Together, we head north, toward the Myriad Zone. That’s where we agreed Alana would hide out once she finished her job. I like the Zone. It’s fun and we’ve had good times there. Besides that, the Hall has more control in the area and I’d rather not antagonize the school too much. I still respect what they do and Dunwayne.

As always, it’s disorientating when the world is suddenly painted in strange colors. The usual noisy streets are quiet and empty, but I can feel gazes on us as we walk down one of the main streets. I wonder what they’re thinking. What they see as they watch us.

[Here, my summoner.]

Along with the succubus’ voice, a direction is projected into my mind. I grab Kierra’s shoulder and guide her to change directions. A few more directions later and we’re standing in front of an inn called the Sleepy Spell. The same place Earl found when searching for safety the night the estate was attacked. I figured that if it worked once, it should work twice. A silly bit of coincidence that I hoped would bring us good luck.

And I’m glad for it. It might be stupid, superstitious, and utterly irrelevant to what happened, but if it has anything to do with me opening the door and seeing Alana, Talia, and Yulia safe, I don’t mind being silly for the rest of my life.