The three party members made their way down the paths that Iadre led them until they came across a door at the end of the maze of hallways. The door was made of thick metal and there wasn't any sound they could hear. "It was past there that I saw the Birdian," Iadre said. "But, be careful. There were quite a few other monsters in there that hadn't noticed me when I came through."

Garrett nodded and turned to Plex. He huddled himself into a corner by the door and gestured to the door. "Plex, you go first. Report the situation in there first, then take care of anything that would be immediate threats to me or Iadre."

"Hey, I can handle myself pretty well," Iadre said proudly. "I had just gotten caught off guard before by those goblins." She took the small marble out of her net pouch and held it up. "As long as I have this, I can do some serious damage."

Garrett was curious as to how a tiny marble would be able to do any damage, but he's already seen much stranger here in Asuria. Especially since he was starting to understand the randomized nature of this world, nothing was ever quite the same as it was the last time or even the time before that. "Still, let's let Plex go in first, then we'll go in." Iadre nodded and fluttered over to Garrett's shoulder.

Plex stood in front of the door and slowly creaked it open. Immediately came the sound of monstrous hissing and growling. "Boss, there appear to be mostly dire bats and cave spiders within this room. No other creatures are in the room. There are also no traps that I can spot."

"Excellent. Let's take these things out," Garrett said, gripping his sword. "Plex, prioritize keeping us safe."

"Affirmative."

The three of them charged into the room, Garrett swung his sword and cleaved one of the bats in half, causing it to drop an orb of Helioxene. Plex tossed some knives, pinning down a few spiders and bats to the walls and ground. These were pretty weak enemies, though it was the first time that he had encountered these bats. Still, this meant more fighting experience for him, and more Helioxene to drop.

But, what caught Garrett's attention was Iadre. She chanted something, which caused her orb to glow a dark purple, and her tattoos to glow a bright purple. She smiled wickedly and aimed her orb forward at some enemies. A burst of dark energy channeled through her tattoos down and out the orb. The blast hit one of the dire bats, causing it to screech as the energy course through it, reduce it to ashes.

"What was that?" Garrett asked, both surprised and terrified.

"A taste of the power of Dilun, the World Feaster!" She smiled widely and proudly at the name. "All shall learn and hail his power, for he shall be our salvation!" She held her orb up above her head in praise, shooting another bolt of energy at a spider, killing it.

Garrett stared at her, stunned at what the tiny pixie was talking about. "Boss, look out!" Plex said as he pinned a dire bat that was inches from Garrett's head against a wall. Garrett shook his head to focus.

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'...Deal with the monsters first... then handle Iadre...'

As he brought his sword down, killing a spider, something strange happened. As the spider rolled over dead, a brown chest emerged from its body, almost the size of the spider. Curious, he picked it up, sticking his sword in the ground. The chest wasn't even covered in blood or guts, and it didn't have a lock on it. Carefully, he opened it up. Inside was a small gray marble, similar in size to Helioxene. As he picked it up, it glowed white and transformed in his hands into a small hand axe.

"Look out!" Before he had a chance to properly examine it, a spider leaped at his face. Not having the time to grab his sword, he slashed the spider with the axe, knocking it to the ground. It curled over, dead, and dropped an orb of Helioxene. Swinging the axe oddly felt almost natural to him, despite having never used one all his life. It was similar to how he felt when he had charged in and saved Min-Tul.

'...Is this Otris' doing?...'

He barely had time to think. There were still a few more monsters to deal with. He threw the chest on the ground and continued helping his companions slay the monsters. After a few minutes of fighting, the battlefield was covered in blood, guts, Helioxene orbs, ashes, and monster corpses. Garrett went around collecting the orbs and his sword while Iadre flew around the room, looking closely at the monster remains.

"Ooo," she cooed, "This one has some lovely wings. That'll make for a great stew." She chanted something, and a tiny dagger came from her orb. Quickly, she began to slice apart one of the bat's wings.

"So, Iadre," Garrett said, approaching the small pixie. He noticed that her tattoos were no longer glowing. "Who and what is Dilun?"

"Ah, he is but the savior and reason why we continue to live in this world," she said, a smile like a fangirl talking about a celebrity crush. She continued to slice apart the bat and somehow stored the pieces in her orb.

"Can you explain?" Garrett asked, one hand loosely gripping his axe. He nervously gulped and anxiously awaited her response.

"Of course!" she with a gentle purr in her tone. "Our world is but a small fleck of dust to greater beings that exist beyond us." Garrett wondered if she knew about Otris and the Duken. "And there is one known as Dilun, the World Feaster. It is said if he is ever unsated, he consumes worlds without mercy, obliterating them in his endless void of a stomach." As she talked, she never stopped smiling. Iadre finished up slicing apart the bat and fluttered to Garrett's eye level. "That is why we of the Felsins Clan make it our solemn duty to feed Dilun, the World Feaster."

It took Garrett a moment to figure out the connections. "Oh, so if you feed Dilun-"

"Then he doesn't consume our world!" Iadre said with a gentle clap. "As long as we provide him something once a day, then he shall remain sated."

Garrett gave Iadre a gentle smile and relaxed his grip on the axe. She wasn't evil, crazy, or out to destroy the world, but rather to save it from annihilation. Though knowing of Otris and the Duken, he couldn't help but wonder how much truth there was to what Iadre was saying, but it would be better to not question it right now.

A gentle growl echoed through the room. Plex looked around, curious as to the source. "Is there another monster?"

"No," Garrett said with a goofy smile, "That was just my stomach." He only now had realized that he hadn't eaten anything in the past two lifetimes, or his time with Otris besides a cup of mathematics.

Iadre clapped her hands happily. "Then, I think we take a small break and eat something to gain our strength back." The other two nodded in agreement and set up a small rest area.