I.

  The sound of giant bolts ripping through the air roared from those large ballistae. They echoed through the sky, making the inn shake, but outside the window they seemed to bounce off of an invisible force. The twin moonlight was barely visible at all, so she did not get a good view when she was outside, nor did she care. Madoka ignored the commotion and shoved the door aside. The wood unexpectedly shattered into several pieces with golden chains flailing against the frame. The familiar cold atmosphere the girl exuded was not there and she never thought she wished to feel that chilly sensation again. She tore the place apart with her Knotting magic unexpectedly going rampant, but the sight of a red blade lying on Audrey’s bed caught her eye. Her breath hitched as fear nearly crushed her. No, she realized after inspecting it. It was a thought-shard, like the one Ceghinort showed her. Panic welled up inside of her as her hand shakily reached to touch the shard. Incomprehensible whispers surrounded her ears, but she grabbed it.

  Pain instantly shot through her mind. Madoka’s vision became covered in blood. She was stuck in a crimson haze, but branches of trees suddenly swatted into her face. Metallic dust stung her cheeks as the whirlwind of the chaos rushed through her. Madoka gasped, suddenly realizing she managed to let go of the red hot thought. It dropped to the floor and shattered into a flash of sparks, but no sounds came out. Instead, the shattered needle’s remains rushed outside the door. Audrey’s memories were terrifying, she tried to recover the breath she lost and nearly collapsed. The unintelligible whispers were coming closer to her ears, forcing Madoka to hurry out and chased those sparks.

  This must be how those villagers near the Mines must have felt.

  The streets were dark now and eerily vacant. She broke out into the streets and realized that the sun was gone. Everyone seemed in a hurry to get indoors. Madoka strode by a group of adventurers as she searched for more of those red shards from Audrey. No one could stop her. The thunderous roar of a rope releasing something launched into the air, but Madoka noticed the glint of a bolt soaring skyward instead of at a target nearby. Though the twin moon’s light was veiled by the fog, she noticed that something was indeed filling the sky with a noticeable and more ominous shadow darker than the night. It stretched all the way over the far away Petals. Instantly, she knew exactly what it was.

  Ceghinort, God of Tomorrows, and even the kind god Ares’s creatures all have interest in the Uracksheegal’s demise. Why are we the ones responsible for that? Madoka wondered. If Audrey was with her right now, would she be able to avoid this shadow? Loud clomping and neighing interrupted her despair with frantic rustles of thoughts in the rain. The stable next to the inn was full of chaotic thoughts and its walls were being slammed against by its agitated occupants. She was able to pick a particular horse’s mind so she ran over to it.

  “Salzeberry?”

  “Dangerous Hue-Hue!” The frazzled horse cowered in the corner of his stall. “Get away! Away!”

  His shouts only caused the others to join in.

  “The Sky is falling, hee, hee, hue-hues and lizard hue-hues, Us are not worthy!”

  “My master has been taken by the Beast,” Salzeberry warned her. “Hue-Hue, dangerous one, she-she has been stolen too. G-Get-get get back, Hue-Hue!”

  A chorus of scared horses’ horrified thoughts and whining was not something Madoka realized would unnerve her, but she shivered and pushed through the unison of the neighing and reached for Salzeberry’s thoughts. She recoiled at the sight of an Esmeralda emblem. That man…! The captain who owned this skittish brute had a twisted look on his face. The horse witnessed his master rip an axe out of a log and scream out a maddening roar before running to the hills just beyond the stable. The whole place surrounding this stupid beast was covered in a red hue, however, Madoka could not tell if the horse’s vision was affected by the Uracksheegal. What was more problematic was that the horse did not see Audrey being affected by it.

  Still, a trail revealed itself made of red and purple thought-shards alighted upon the ground from shadowy sky. Flashy feathers dumped into tar, one memory stood out to her as Madoka tried to avoid touching them. Were these memories and plans proof that Her Highness was taken? She trudged onward. She must rescue her and the Heavens would not stop her. Just as she made the futile attempt of calming herself, a shard dabbed itself on her arm, splotching it with glowing red magic strands and causing her head to get hot. It was Audreys, of course, as rain decided it should also accompany the dangerous situation out here.

  It was a memory of Audrey talking to herself, when they were up in the Hall of the Frost Queen. Back then, she was more mellow and beating herself thin inside the snow flurries. Madoka had to keep her from leaping off the mountainside while she screamed incoherent things. The red-tinged memory stopped as she saw her own face back then and heard Audrey’s voice.

  “I can’t go without you, Madoka,” Audrey whimpered. Madoka heard herself say she will always be there, today and Tomorrow. The perspective of Her Highness weakened into a soft stare, then hardened into determination all while her focus was on the maid standing strong before her.

  “You’ll definitely rule everything.”

  The vision felt like it tore at her eyes when it faded. Madoka closed them and let the rain fall on her as the feathers drifted all around her. Lightning flashed above her in the murky tar, turning the blood red magic into a glimmering white mess of dots. That great shadow looming in the clouds seemed to shift and stretch into eternity. You’re up there, aren’t you? She felt hopeless, but still she rolled up her wet sleeves and marched through the gates while she followed the trail thought-shards. She realized her feet were in a trance, headed towards certain doom. A nightmare she could not control herself in. Was this the Walk? Her conscience screamed and raged against her body, yet the advance was like slipping deeper down into a pitch-black cave’s swalet. Madoka’s vision shook, but she could barely make out the shape of a massive black clouded body stretching from the sky and crushing the trees. Her feet moved quicker as if she was being dragged forcibly now, but the strange Beast from the Sky was awaiting her amidst the crater of its own making.

  Reality seemed to warp at the end of the strange creature’s body, swirling in place in an unusual pattern and distorting reality’s air as the Walk forced her to touch it. This thing was a portal! Where has she seen this type of magic before? The portal shimmered like an upright mirror containing a raging lake, beckoning her. To Madoka’s horror, as soon as her finger touched its ominous surface, something reached out and pulled her entire body inside it.

  Madoka’s body strained and flailed as the light drained from every corner of her vision, then rushed at her in all directions. She hurled through a prismatic and disorienting tunnel before her face landed on… Dirt? She groaned when the pain finally registered. When was the last time she fell through a portal? Madoka hoped the other time was the final time, but clearly fate had other plans. She then sat up alert and felt herself all over. Not a trace of Knotting magic swirled in this place, but at least she could control her body now. Something brushed over her and made her skin crawl. The shock subsided when the vision of a pine branch slapped her arm again with the wind. This darkness and the oppressive feeling weighing on her could only mean one thing: She was in the Shadow Forest.

  Madoka tried to sense for anything around her, but she found that this place was deathly quiet. Her footsteps seemed to announce her presence to this darkness, so she stopped moving for a second. Her boot snapped a twig and immediately a loud thumping noise sounded over her in the night sky above, like having her head against someone’s heart and hearing its beat.

  The swords at her side clinked together against her axe, so under the loud drums she strode forward towards the shadow of a hill to get a better view. More traces of the red shards peaked through the ground though Madoka was not about to reach down and touch them. She merely followed them diligently under the loud rhythmic rumbling trying to be one with the cloak of darkness. As she made her way through the thick tangles of trees and foliage, more unintelligible whispers beckoned her. The more she pressed through the dirt path they became more louder, steps becoming more tense branch by branch. These tree boughs and massive exposed roots stretched out at her with ebony limbs until she finally broke through into an opening where the whispers in her head finally ceased their chatter.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  A pool of dim light glowed beneath her view, but in the center stood the silhouette of someone or something. She drew her sword and got into a fighting stance even though her nerves were in no shape for combat. Wait, Madoka’s eyes focused on it. The object did not move. It had a spherical shape that seemed bloom out in two folds, like a fuzzy bug emerging from a cocoon. She found herself drawn to it, nearing towards the edge of the pool. It gave her a warm feeling, but seemed to be in an inert state. Where has she seen this thing before? And why did it seem like it could come to life.

  Madoka stopped, realizing that she was standing at the edge of the pool of light now. The dim light was… Moonlight? She could make out the shapes in its foggy haze. Her heart dropped. She has seen those revealed places before as well. Tree tops beneath her and towering crags only meant one thing to her: She was once again witnessing an aerial view of Rustaze. She truly was in the belly of the Beast, that wielder of Sky magic, the One Above… She was standing in the legendary Uracksheegal’s stomach for all she knew. The whispers that once converged upon her mind thinned out to a soft and comforting voice. Despite being swallowed by this impossible creature with no way out, she found comfort standing before this strange object. Its warmth seemed to energize her with a soft hum. Amidst the haunting echoes of the heartbeat thundering above her in this place, she finally understood the sculpture’s voice. This was an effigy for the Child of Knotting Stars, she realized.

  「Holy One. The Chorus sings within thee. Authenticity accepted. Holy One… Extricate thyself from the Abbadon Entity “Audrey.” Cleansing of the Heart’s corruption is now at 33.3334%… May the Holy One seeketh Us. Establish the Link. Two more Authorization Checks are required for the final cleansing of the Heart. 」

  “What…?” Madoka barely let out her own voice in a quick breath before the statue surged with a ray of golden light directly at her chest. The Crystal Core inside of her began to send jolts of energy throughout her every move, yet she felt incredibly aware of the Knotting strands racing along the dirt path she traveled on. They finally traveled up the growth of trees but the illuminations made Madoka gasp in horror. They were black roots!

  She quickly averted her gaze, since she knew exactly what the bumps and deformed limbs protuding out of the tree’s “bark” belonged to. Bodies. They had to be the victims of the Walk, Madoka mused. Voices rustled from the pool and statue behind her.

  “Run.”

  One of the branches’ disfigured fingers suddenly twitched and another arm burst out of the black root, prying their way out of the dreaded thing. The heart beat turned into a roar and everything instantly became black again. Madoka could only sense that those bodies were still alive and were watching her. She had to run, but to where? Rushed footsteps twisted the darkness with shapes, and a rising hostile killing intent swallowed her entire surroundings. She rose her sword to guard an oncoming swing, but to her horror the claw slashed through her blade and tore a savage wound into her arm.

  Swearing from the pain, Madoka ditched the sword and began to run towards the first sight of a red thought-shard again. The dark shades still chased after her. The thumping creeping behind her made her skin crawl. A bright golden light suddenly flared like a halo off in the distance. Her eyes stung from the intrusion, but she quickly found a clear path ahead of her revealed briefly in the chaos. Another flash screamed across the night sky. Her skin frayed at the hairs on their ends and the static she felt was familiar. Those bolts, Madoka’s breath hitched. She rolled up her sleeves and hurried. Despite her feeling particularly weakened in this place she still had her training and strength, so pressing onward was not an issue besides the creatures sniveling and oppressive auras still in the distance behind her.

  More electrical power crackled in the distance, the unexpected dazzling burst of familiar magic somehow comforted her rapidly beating heart. Madoka chased after it whole wrestling against her fear. In these unknown heights, flying beast or not, she preferred the wild chains of Knotting magic. Her fist only hit her chest when she tried to pull that annoying crystal out of it, presumably because of what that Link the Child of Knotting said to her. She simply did not have the time to worry about the other strange things that effigy said to her. If it wanted her to understand it— it would have just told her in plain Commoner language instead of going through all the trouble of calling her the Holy One or whatever. Not caring at all about her racing thoughts or the pain running through her body with her, Madoka simply barged through a thin wall of leaves and branches that were not apart of the gross network of black roots. The Knotting magic strands gathered into a straight rod of golden energy, then a blade, hovering with a metallic hum. It pointed at her and at the other end Madoka saw a Sovos woman’s face.

  “Who’s there!?” the woman called out. Such a fiery spirit! Madoka raised her hands.

  “I’m from the Adventurer Guild in Gladeban,” Madoka cautioned the woman. In that moment, the magic beam bobbed as if the wielder was hesitating. She knew they both had little time and urged. “Forgive me, but more of those… things are coming.”

  “You’re… Madoka?”

  The softness in the Sovos’s voice almost disarmed her, but Madoka quickly recovered and had already took cover behind her Knotting barrier. Three dead people were lying in shredded pieces, clawed to death. Madoka caught the glint of an Esmeralda emblem embroidered on one of the bodies. That was probably Salzeberry’s owner, but she was glad she did not have to face him again. Only this woman remained with her breath ragged. Shapes shifted in the darkness, threatening to leap out at them at any time, but she faintly recalled where she had met this woman before.

  “Eena,” Madoka breathed the name. The blonde hair and scales furled slightly around her neck, glinting from the flecks of Knotting Strands racing along the air. Her ears tilted after hearing her name, but Eena took a step forward and gathered more Knotting strands. She moved her arms gracefully, but also in a perfectly calculated manner, stopping her arms in front of her parallel to thr ground. As if in response, the magic gathered before Eena released, lancing through several of the creatures. Madoka noticed that they were pitch-black silhouettes of their former selves, yet they seemed afraid of the light now. The chatter of the shadows surrounded them, closing in. Scanning around made her heart sink.

  There were so many! High above them and emerging from the dead roots, each with claws scraping along the ground. Madoka’s arm stung.

  Madoka felt her chest again, trying to summon the crystal. Eena’s magic was weakening and those Black Root things were on to them, seemingly aware that the pair were headed towards their doom. What should she do? Faint energy buzzed in her chest, but she still could not use it. Not even the Storage Talisman worked in this place. How was Eena able to use magic? Was it her Noble blood? A harsh blaring noise unlike anything she has ever heard wailed over every, rising and falling, startling the two of them. What is it now? A mechanical voice suddenly blasted a command.

  “This is your only warning: Get down to the ground, now!”

  Madoka did not hesitate, wrapping an arm around Eena and forcibly pulling her down with her following the mysterious voice’s order. The Sovos was instantly stunned, seemingly confused. Madoka was about to question whether she heard the warning over the siren, but a wave of heat instantly rushed above them. Red lasers must have pierced the creatures behind them, since their horrid screams were soon heard. After the first wave of fire launched, Eena dared not to move or resist Madoka’s push.

  As sweat beaded down her forehead, it just dawned on Madoka that Eena heard the voice but did not understand it. She knew why and horror crept over her along with sudden stark silence. That command was shouted in English, the language of the God Audrey uses. Heavy boots suddenly surrounded them and unlike the sheer panic evoked from the shadowy creatures, true hopelessness settled upon her.

  “Don’t move,” a feminine voice commanded them. At the corner of Madoka’s eyes, the end of many cylindrical barrels were pointed at her. Instantly, she recognized that kind of weapon. That damn god Ceghinort… She dared not express anything. Eena followed suit, but her body was trembling. The sound of a click was heard, followed by a terribly bright light landing squarely on her. Madoka glanced at it instinctively and saw a face that nearly made her scream. “Strange, this alien thing seems to understand us. Wrap these two up and take them to base.”

  The new creature looked like the one Madoka saw in the afterlife, though she did not have the shiny clothing on like before.

  “CZA-6…?” She muttered beneath her breath, despair falling on her. Were they both dead? Was this the reason she saw this ghostly woman again? Ella instantly turned to face her, evidently shocked that she knew who she was.

  “W-What is this thing?” She marveled, but before Madoka could speak again the other assailants struck her head with a heavy object and her vision went black.