“You’re going to kill us!” Amalyse shrieked.

“We will be fine,” Rieren said as they sailed through the air.

“It’s at least an exhilarating way to—”

She was cut off when Rieren landed on the tiny outcropping of rock she had aimed for. The touchdown was rough.

For one, she had jumped from far higher than her body could normally bear at her current level of strength. Her leg buckled and her ankles flared in spiking pain. For another, the small ledge wasn’t the most structurally sound platform to leap atop of. It didn’t give way, but Rieren’s heart did lurch at the way cracks appeared all over it.

“As I said,” Rieren ground out against the agony pulsing out of her feet. “We will be fine.”

The leap wasn’t as much of a leap of faith as Amalyse had thought. Rieren had invaded this dungeon once before in her last life. She hadn’t explored every nook and cranny, but she had obtained enough knowledge about the general layout of the underground structure to know where she would have to go, even if her apparent path was blocked.

When the dungeon had been carved out in the depths of Lionshard mountain, the same force had hollowed out entire sections to leave an array of actual tunnels running through the internal space. Aside from larger internal chambers, most of the dungeon consisted of those tunnels.

But not all the tunnels could be traversed easily, or at all. For some, one had to find alternate means of bypassing the obstacles set before them. Sometimes, this involved taking a different passage that intersected with the current one.

At others, it meant breaking through the dungeon’s walls and finding a way around its exterior.

“Could have fooled me,” Amalyse said. “But thank you. That was quick thinking.”

“Thank Batcat.” Rieren patted the kitten atop her head, which had apparently gone back to sleep now that their immediate safety had been assured. “It spotted the opening and reminded me that there was a path through the exterior of the tunnels.”

“Good cat. But where do we go from here?”

Amalyse’s crimson crystal was still glowing fitfully, but they didn’t need as much light anymore. After Rieren had landed on the ledge, lava had started pouring in from a distant wall on the mountain’s exterior. It was filling up the deep pit underneath. The light was low at the start, but as more lava filled up the hollow, their area was slowly revealed to them.

“There.” Rieren pointed to their right.

The small outcropping they were upon was sticking off the side of a dungeon tunnel. Rieren could actually jump atop the passage. They wouldn’t have been able to traverse along its roof for long as the tunnel curved steeply upwards, but there was a convenient hole in the ceiling not far from their location.

“Then let’s go,” Amalyse said.

Batcat hopped up first, flapping its tiny wings before settling down and pretending to go nap again.

Amalyse tutted. “Such a helpful kitten.”

“You expect a tiny kitten to pull us up?” Rieren asked.

“Well, if it can fight off a mountainous Anachron, then yes?”

She had a point there. Nevertheless, as no help was forthcoming from Batcat, Rieren and Amalyse had to climb up on their own. It was a bit difficult now that both of their legs were in bad shape. Thankfully, Amalyse was tall enough to reach up without too much difficulty, even if she couldn’t summon a red crystal ladder.

Keeping their profiles low to maintain as much stability as possible and reduce the risk of toppling off the tunnel’s side, they quickly headed to the hole. Amalyse might have her whip, but the plummet towards the growing lava would not be pleasant.

When they reached the hole in the tunnel’s roof, Batcat jumped in without hesitation. That assured Rieren that it was more or less safe. As such, she and Amalyse followed the winged kitten inside. With care, of course. The short trek hadn’t granted enough time for Divine Resilience to heal up Rieren as quickly as she would have liked.

Unfortunately, it looked like Batcat’s judgement was misplaced. They weren’t safe in the new tunnel. Someone was already waiting for them.

A guardian of the dungeon, awaiting its prey.

“Well, well, well,” a tinny voice said from the gloom around them. “What have we here? The perpetrators of this new disaster, I assume?”

Rieren frowned. That strange voice sounded familiar.

“Who’s there?” Amalyse shouted. The crystal atop her staff changed from a small orb into the greatshield. “Show yourself.”

The speaker came into view with a series of small clicks and clanks. An automaton, as Rieren had thought. Its—his?—body was skeletally thin, the tall, humanoid metal contraption covered with plates of brilliant white ceramic that housed many wires, gears, pipes, and other mechanisms that allowed him to function.

Amalyse was clearly doing her best not to take an involuntary step back. “What in the world? Are you… an automaton?”

“What I am matters not,” the Ceramic Automaton said. “What matters is that you are intruders—more intruders—and if I cannot rid my home of the others, I will certainly ensure that I get rid of you.”

Something told Rieren that he didn’t mean the rest of the Sect when he said others. But she could determine what exact that implied later. First, they needed to ensure safety. There was no way neither Rieren nor Amalyse could fight the guardian in their current condition. He would have been more than a handful in normal circumstances too.

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“Tea,” Rieren said, slumping to the ground, as much in the growing pain emanating from her ankles as to prevent the automaton from attacking. She knew enough about him and his twisted sense of honour that she was certain he wouldn’t attack someone who couldn’t fight. “I was under the impression you offered hospitality to your guests?”

The automaton’s face was a ceramic mask not unlike that of the Masked Avatar. But instead of having properties that resembled human facial features like nose, ears, and eyes, all his mask held were far too many holes. Each was the size of a nail, but there were enough that Rieren judged there were more holes—revealing cables underneath—than ceramic.

And certainly no expression to judge anything from.

“Strange,” he said as he faced Rieren. “I was beginning to think I recognized you from somewhere, and now I do.” He straightened to his full height, which was head, shoulders, and narrow chest well above the top of Rieren’s own head. His posture was suddenly several times more menacing. “You’re the one who killed me.”

Amalyse laughed. “You stand before us, sound and whole. Unless you automatons define death differently.”

“I meant the past timeline.” The dungeon guardian raised a threatening finger to point at Rieren. “I ought to cleave you in two right this moment.”

Rieren tutted. “Tea.”

The automaton made a sound that sounded dangerously close to a sigh. “Gah. Fine then.”

A thin hatch opened up in the centre of the automaton’s torso. He pulled out a small cup, artfully crafted and painted, filled to the brim with what appeared to be green tea.

Amalyse blinked. “I’m surprised it took me this long to ask but what in the world is happening?”

Rieren grinned at her. “’Tis teatime.” She patted the ground beside her. “Come, sit.”

Batcat had already returned to Rieren. Apparently, it sensed no danger in their current circumstance, going by how it relaxed atop its perch on Rieren’s head. That made her feel a little more confident.

Amalyse took her seat upon the little spot Rieren had patted. She waited until the guardian set the teacup before her. The thing about the guardian—and she was starting to bash her head mentally for not recalling his name—was that he had a very strict code he adhered to.

According to his weird sense of honour, the dungeon guardian couldn’t simply murder everything that happened to enter the dungeon. Even if it was at the behest of the dungeon itself, he refused to murder blindly. However, a defence was still necessary. If he stayed polite and only acted when someone began to the plunder the dungeon, it would be too late.

As such, he had devised a little act that somehow allowed him to carry out his defending duties while still sticking to his morals.

He would offer his “guests” a somewhat unassuming cup of tea. Normally, one didn’t have to demand him of it. The guardian would offer it directly as soon as he saw it.

Those who refused his hospitality would be immediately assigned as unruly and likely carrying ill-will. As such, they would immediately suffer his wrath. But if one accepted the tea and drank, they would find themselves poisoned. The automaton would simply be mildly surprised that a concoction that was perfectly safe to a construct such as him was fatal to others.

“What made you change your stance?” Rieren asked as she pretended to take a sip, raising the warm cup to her lips.

The automaton watched her with what she supposed was whatever shrewdness it possessed. “I have found that Abyssals do not understand the concept of tea.” He paused. “Or hospitality, for that matter.”

Amalyse snorted. “Hospitalitea.” Rieren and the guardian both stared at her. She flushed a little, the effect exacerbated by the crimson light from the ends of her stuff. “Don’t mind me. Do go on.”

Rieren used the distraction to surreptitiously spit out the bit of tea she had sipped in. Batcat reached a paw down as though if to try the tea. She pulled the cup away from the kitten. There was no telling what exact effect the liquid would have upon a Spirit Beast, but she had no wish to risk anything. “Abyssals are certainly an unruly bunch.”

“They are nothing more than monsters.” His voice grew angry, the tinny effect magnifying as though someone was yelling from within a metal barrel. “Vicious beings. I don’t understand how—”

He cut off. Rieren’s eyebrows rose. Interesting.

“What don’t you understand?” Amalyse asked.

For a moment, it looked as though the automaton was going to answer Amalyse’s question. Rieren thought she wouldn’t have to continue pretending to sip tea anymore. He might just be too distracted by telling his story.

But then his face turned sharply to face her. “You drink tea at a rather agonizing pace.”

“Will someone please explain to me what is going on with this tea of all things?” Amalyse asked, staring between Rieren and the automaton.

Rieren pretended to take another sip. “Care to oblige my friend, automaton?”

“Enough.” The guardian took a clanking step towards them. “You are simply wasting everyone’s time. I have no wish to entertain this farce any longer.”

Amalyse had tensed at the threatening approach of the dungeon guardian, but Rieren calmed her with a hand on her shoulder.

“I wished it hadn’t come to this.” Rieren set the cup on the ground and stood up. “Your hospitality has clearly degraded, but I do not truly blame you.”

“What was the point of wasting my precious hospitality?”

“Time.” She twisted her foot, wincing a little. The pain was still there. It had decreased significantly, though. B-Grade Divine Resilience had healed much of the injury quicker than it would have before. “I am now ready to face you and kill you, if needed. However, if you are willing to listen, I do not think such an act will be necessary.”

“I have no intention of wasting time on futile words.”

“As proven by your refusal to even refute that I will be killing you again. I appreciate that you do not appreciate blustering and blathering. So, I will make it short. We wish to exterminate the Abyssals—”

“We do?” Amalyse asked.

“—and mean no ill will towards you or the dungeon itself. I suspect you have much the same goals. As such, it would be more effective if you joined us instead of wasting your time, energy, and life trying to kill us.”

The automaton paused. “What reason do I have to trust you?”

Rieren shrugged. “None whatsoever.” She took a step forward as well. “Whether you join us or not, I will not be stopped. Not by you, nor by the Abyssals, nor even by your dungeon. It is up to you to decide what you believe and what you intend to risk. My outcome will remain unchanged.”

The laugh that burst from the automaton sounded like someone tapping a hammer against a metal cage. “I remember the bravado as well. But I do think I believe you. I am pragmatic enough to know that our goals align, and it makes no sense to kill you when I can have you do my dirty work for me. As such, intruders, you may live. For now.”

“How gracious of you,” Amalyse said with as much scathing sarcasm as she could summon up.

The automaton nodded in agreement. “I am nothing if not polite.”

Rieren retook her seat beside Amalyse. “Now that we have taken care of that business, we should plan our next move. I have many questions I need answered.”

“But we’ve wasted enough time already,” Amalyse said.

Rieren nodded. “Agreed.” She looked up at the guardian. “What is your name?”

“I would call it rude that you do not recall me,” the automaton said. “But it is true that I cannot for the mechanical life of me determine what you were called either. Strange, considering you were the one who killed me. But regardless, I am known as Kervantes.”

“Alright, Kervantes, can you be our guide, at least until we find one of our companions?”

If the automaton was a little miffed at having been turned from a valiant defender to a glorified dungeon tour guide, he didn’t give any indication of it. “I will do my best to assist in your Abyssal-killing endeavour.”

Rieren blinked. Not exactly what she had asked, but then, their deal had been about defeating the monsters. “Good enough. Then let us get going.”