Chapter 197: Disaster Relief

A pitch-black sun made of evil energy floated below the arched ceiling of the dwarven ritual chamber, the truck-sized sphere radiating a bright pale light despite its colour.  

Eyes blazing crimson and skirt whipping in the wind, Ami stood directly underneath the concentrated dark energy, her arms raised towards it. With her will, she forced the ball of magic to contract even as it struggled to escape her grasp.  

The wind emitted by the sphere intensified, pushing dust and debris outwards, across the magical circle surrounding her. Pebbles burst into splinters as they touched the glowing diagram, except for those lucky enough to cross the section that had just blown up.  

Ami clenched her teeth as she considered the sizzling scar that marred the intricate designs on the ground. She shouldn’t have rushed so much and tried to force the issue.  

“Almost done,” Mengolin shouted in his phlegm-choked voice. “A little bit more. Done!”  

The scraping of stone against stone cut off as the chamber’s rising and lowering half pillars locked into place. Circuits inscribed onto their surface at different altitudes linked up with the main arcane pattern on the ground, compensating for the damage.  

The ball of dark magic above Ami stopped seething and threatening to burst out of its containment.  

“Thank you,” she replied in relief, breathing deeply. “Good work.”  

With a faint smile, she stared up at the concentrated mixture of Metallia’s energy and chaotic magic, feeling the satisfaction of a job well done.  

Smoke and sparks rose from the curved scar on the ground where crystalline lines had burst under the strain of too much power coming in too fast.  

She revised her assessment to a job done quickly, which amounted to the same thing in this case. By co-opting the city’s amazing infrastructure, she had been able to suck the magical contamination out of the environment within a matter of minutes. It would claim no additional victims.  

Cries of awe came from the entrance to the chamber, where a crowd of youma eyed the ball of contained magic with longing gazes.  

At their sight, her satisfaction faded, replaced by dread. The transformed dwarfs in the city would not be happy that she had just snatched away their food.    

The frost patterns on the walls shrank and faded as if the stone was sucking them in, the mist cleared, and the puddles on the ground drained away with a slurping noise.  

Tilia’s sharp senses noticed the oily pressure of dark magic rapidly fading from the area, leaving the air dry and empty. She should have felt relief, but instead she felt an unfamiliar void in her stomach.  

Judging from the loud wailing that echoed all around her, she wasn’t the only one to notice.  

The hand she was holding twitched in her grasp, trying to pull away.  

She looked down, suppressing a wince at the sight of her yellowed, ridged skin that reminded her of a chicken’s foot. With practice she had gained over the last few hours, she pushed aside her disgust and despair. It could have been worse. At least she could still think clearly, unlike her sister. The one sister she had managed to keep track of in this mess.  

Melissa tried to pull away again, and Tilia tightened her grip.  

Bones, soft and malleable, gave way underneath her fingers as flesh yielded to the pressure. The first time that had happened, Tilia had a small panic attack, believing that she had seriously injured her sister.  

Melissa had been fine, though. While she looked relatively unchanged, aside from being a light shade of blue all over, her body now had the approximate consistency of a sponge. Her flesh compressed and stretched as easily as it popped back to its initial shape after being deformed, apparently without causing pain or lasting harm.  

At least, the mutated fairy wasn’t showing any discomfort from having her wrist squeezed down to the approximate thickness of her index finger. She was examining the surrounding walls with a searching gaze and trying to move in the direction of a humid-looking corridor with an arched ceiling.  

In that direction, two groaning mutants were lying on the floor, their limbs showing large tooth marks.  

“Wait. No! Why would you even want to go that way?” Tilia said, maintaining her grip.  

Her sister turned her head and growled at her, baring pointed teeth and narrowing her eyes.  

Her lips twitched, ready to twist into a snarl. How dare she challenge- no, stop, calm down. There was no need to fight. It was only the stupid dark magic making her angry. Calm down, calm down, calm down. She focused on her breathing until she was sure she could control herself before she met her sister’s eyes. “Why don’t we go that way instead?” she suggested, pointing down a less ominous passage. “There’s no more magic around here, and I think there’s a temple in that direction. We could get some help there.”  

Melissa blinked at her a few times, as if confused by her sister’s hopeful tone. After a few seconds, she turned away, her expression blank, and continued looking around.  

“A temple is pretty magical. There might be food?” Tilia tried again.  

A sudden voice in her head distracted her from her efforts.  

“Everyone, this is Empress Mercury speaking,” the owner of the mental voice introduced herself.  

Melissa’s arm jerked in Tilia’s grip, and the mutated fairy’s spongy wings lashed around like flexible whips as she twisted and turned, searching for the speaker.  

Tilia ducked her head as one of the wings flew right at her face, elongated by centrifugal forces. She sighed. Leave it to the dark empress to make her life more difficult again.  

“If you have been affected by the transformative magic, then you may be feeling hungry right now. I am going to place sources of magic that can satisfy that hunger at…”  

Tilia listened as Mercury named a number of locations that the locals would presumably recognise, but that meant nothing to the visiting fairies.  

A moment later, she stumbled when Melissa made a far more enthusiastic attempt to run off.  

“Stop! Wait!” Tilia ordered, getting an angry hiss and a glower in reply.  

“And don’t fight each other, there should be enough for everyone,” Mercury continued. “Also, please don’t fight or hurt the unaffected dwarfs if you encounter them. Or, um, at least bring them to the magical crystals.” Her voice was wavering a little as she continued, “Those should have the same effect as the water had. Just don’t kill anyone, please!”  

“That fiend!” Tilia shouted. “She’s trying to get even more people corrupted!”  

An angry snarl came from Melissa as she struggled harder to pull her along.  

“Wait! Where are you going?” Tilia protested. “You don’t know how to get to any of those places. Just come along with me, the temple will be easy to find!”  

Melissa slowly raised her free hand and pointed at a few transformed dwarfs in the distance, all of whom were moving in the same direction.  

“You want to follow them?” Tilia asked, disturbed by the way her sister’s extended arm was sagging at the middle like a wet noodle. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of any good reason why that plan wouldn’t work. “Oh, all right,” she conceded. Melissa didn’t look as if she was willing to budge on this, and she didn’t want her to get them both lost again with that gross slime wave dashing ability she had somehow acquired.  

Satisfied, the blue-coloured girl took the lead, stomping after the creatures more familiar with the area.  

Still holding her wrist, Tilia followed, keeping an eye out for her other sisters. She wasn’t actually opposed to feeding, but she worried about the cost. This was the dark empress offering them food, which could be seen as a kind of payment. Wouldn’t accepting turn them into minions, just like poor Camilla? No, they would have to render some kind of service to Mercury for that to happen, if she understood things right.  

Melissa started pulling harder when Tilia’s steps slowed and her expression grew more worried.  

The dark empress had given specific instructions. Don’t fight and don’t hurt anyone. Could going along with those instructions count, even if it had been your intention all along?  

Tilia felt that would be evil and unfair. Given they were dealing with a Keeper here, that was enough to make her believe it would indeed count. “We can’t go along with her orders. We’ll have to beat someone up on the way,” she thought out loudly, which earned her a confused look from her sister. “And- yes! It’s not payment if we steal it!”    

When the pulse of flame-shaped magic faded, a gust of warm and humid air hit Duke Libasheshtan’s face. His surroundings had changed, and he was in a dungeon. Empress Mercury’s dungeon. A shiver ran down his neck even though he knew that he shouldn’t be in danger. Nevertheless, the three warlocks standing at equidistant points of the magical circle he found himself in didn’t exactly make him feel safe.  

He couldn’t help wonder if the three men really were warlocks when he took in their appearance. The ornate staves and the beards fit, though their clothing didn’t. They were wearing what was either large loincloths or very short skirts – he couldn’t tell the difference under the mass of the garish glass beads and feathers covering them.  

As their scrawny physiques and maggoty complexions assaulted his eyes, he instinctively took a defensive stance, his hand moving to his sword.  

In response, the warlocks backed away, lowering their staves at him as they created distance. A few spear-wielding orcs that had been standing further back suddenly looked more alert, their stances less slouched.  

The Duke’s eyes darted about as checked his surroundings. He wasn’t looking for a fight, but if one was inevitable, he didn’t want to be blind-sided. The room itself was large, with a wide-open area for the magic circle on the ground, and a high ceiling. No cover near him. No shadows for enemies to hide in either, as the place was well lit by a number of lamps protected by cages of icicles. He did spot two closed doors with metal inlays, noting them as potential exits.  

“Stand down. No fighting!” a female voice ordered from behind him.  

He whirled around, reluctantly taking his eyes off the potential enemies before him.  

A woman was sitting at the head of a long table laden with candles, books, and other odd tools of the warlock trade. His first impression was that she looked like an older version of Empress Mercury who had picked up weightlifting as a hobby and had fallen into a vat of orange paint. For a brief, incredulous moment, he actually mistook the black strips of cloth that formed her leotard for a part of her stripe pattern, and heat rose to his cheeks.  

“I am Tiger, Mercury’s sister,” she introduced herself, the corners of her lips moving upwards as she noticed his blush.  

He noticed two short horns on her head as she nodded in greeting.  

She looked at the warlocks and the orcs and made a shooing motion with her hand. “Leave us. Your presence is no longer required.”  

“At once, Princess.” The creatures bowed and filed out of the room closing the door behind them with a heavy thud.  

They had left him his weapons and followed her orders without hesitation, even if that meant leaving their unarmed princess alone with him. Obviously, they believed her to be more than able to defend herself if necessary. She was dangerous, so politely averting his gaze wasn’t an option even though her relative lack of clothing made him want to cringe.  

“Your Highness,” he replied with a terse bow that was just deep enough to satisfy formalities.  

“Please, have a seat,” Tiger said invitingly, gesturing for him to come closer. There was an unoccupied chair at the corner right next to her.  

He approached her cautiously, unsure whether or not he could trust her. She had pleaded for the safety of Empress Mercury and looked similar to her sister, but did she share the latter’s convictions?  

“So, my sister told me that you are aware of her true alignment. Don’t tell the other minions, most of them aren’t. They probably wouldn’t believe you anyway, but there’s no reason to cause unnecessary problems.”  

Well, that answered his question. “Agreed.” He paused for a moment. “What, exactly, is my current status here? Am I a prisoner, or am I allowed leaving?”  

“Huh, Mercury actually didn’t specify. Bringing you here was simply the fastest way to get you out of that box.” She shrugged. “Consider yourself a guest for now.”  

“In that case, I would appreciate transport back to my city as soon as possible,” he stated. Salthalls was going through the greatest disaster in its history, and he wasn’t there to help.  

“Oh. I was hoping I could convince you to stay and negotiate on our behalf first. Mercury still wants a truce with your kingdom, or at least with your Duchy. Even a ceasefire long enough to leave your lands would do.” She pointed at a large rectangular mirror that was resting against a pile of books. “I have a variant crystal ball right there,” she said, sounding hopeful.  

“Negotiate? This isn’t the time for that! I need to know what’s going on at home. I need to get back there, aid my people, and get the situation under control!”  

Tiger’s expression softened. “I understand that you are worried and want to do your duty, but the best way to help your people is to get the other dwarfs to back off,” she said.  

“I don’t-” he began, but the princess raised a hand to stop him.  

“Please, let me explain. Mercury is already doing everything she can to bring the situation under control. She would be much more effective and could bring more resources to bear if she didn’t have to worry about her dungeon being attacked.”  

He shook his head. “That may be true, but you are neglecting important aspects of the situation. First, the people who haven’t been turned into mindless monstrosities won’t cooperate with your sister. I need to be there to keep them from charging off into danger. I’ll also need to contact the dwarfs who managed to flee and arrange for supplies, food and shelter from the surrounding villages.”  

The black-striped woman didn’t look entirely convinced yet.  

“Second, there were over thirty thousand dwarfs in the city, and she turned almost all of them into demons! Do you really think there’s anything I can say that will prevent the King from trying to stop her before she can do it again? Especially when my credibility is shot because I’m contacting him from inside his enemy’s dungeon?”  

“Oh. That’s…” Tiger trailed off with an embarrassed sigh, her fingers drumming the top of the wooden table as she thought. She looked up suddenly. “Turning them back might help?”  

He sucked in a sharp breath. “Turning them- you mean curing the transformed people? Is that even possible?”  

Tiger nodded. “I think so. I have an idea that would get them back to normal. More or less.”  

“What?” That qualifier didn’t exactly reassure him. He searched her face for any hints of deception, unwilling to allow himself to hope just yet. “Please, do go on.”  

“Putting them into a temple should restore their minds. At least it did for me.” She paused, putting a finger to her chin and looked thoughtful. “Well, at least I think the Avatar’s mantle counts as a temple, so there’s that.”  

“Wait, you were…” The Duke trailed off, observing her more closely as he pondered the implications. Had Tiger been turned into an insane monster just like the transformed citizens? He imagined her without her horns and her odd colouration, which left her looking like a normal human.  

However, she didn’t have any of the strange deformities, protrusions, or extra limbs that afflicted his poor vassals, aside from her horns.  

He inspected her more closely until he realised that staring at her body like that might give her the wrong impression. “You used to be human?” he asked, his thoughts racing. It would explain how she could be Mercury’s sister despite looking demonic. It would also mean that the empress had been experimenting with the foul magic that had contaminated his city before.  

“Oh, no, I was never human. I’m adopted,” Tiger explained, completely derailing his train of thought.  

“But the family resemblance!” he protested, gaping.  

“That’s more complicated. I’m a magical being called a youma – which is what your citizens have been partially turned into. Anyway, we youma have malleable forms.” She perked up. “Which is actually the second half of my solution. The body fits the self-image. Restore their minds, and their bodies will snap back to their original forms. The only thing stopping that is partial transformations and chaotic mutations, but we could probably turn them into full youma with a sufficient dose of dark magic.”  

“They would only appear like normal dwarfs, but they would still be youma, wouldn’t they?” the Duke asked, not nearly as enthusiastic about her plan as she looked.  

“Well, yes, it’s not a perfect solution.” Tiger shrugged. “But you have to admit that sane and normal-looking would be a great improvement over their current condition. Oh, I have to tell my sister to try this!”    

The large park in front of the dwarven palace’s east face was crowded with youma. They circled a tall spike of black crystal that jutted out of the ground, trampling the flowerbeds as they basked in the magic it gave off.  

“Everyone new, move to the fountain and follow Mareki’s instructions,” Ami shouted from the balcony overlooking the area. “She’s the one waving the big blue flag!”  

A number of youma who had just entered recognised her from the huge posters of empress Mercury she had positioned at all entrances. New minion links formed, and the majority of the group moved to follow her instructions.  

A new group of youma rushed towards the remaining feral mutants and started luring them away with splinters of the tall black crystal.  

Ami’s gaze darted towards the centre, where more of her recently hired help was carrying wounded and weak youma towards the source of magical power. She swallowed heavily when she spotted the baby and toddler-sized creatures that some held in their arms. “Widen the lanes! They need to stay open at all times!”  

The crumbling of rock behind her distracted her. Tiger stepped out of the dust cloud, letting go of a coughing Duke Libasheshtan. “Did my idea work?” she asked, looking around curiously as if expecting to find a cured dwarf somewhere near Ami on the balcony.  

She shook her head. “I need to run some experiments to see if it’s safe before I try it on people. The idea is sound, but I have to address the more urgent problems first.” She gestured at the crowds below.  

The Duke uncrossed his arms, nodding in approval. “I won’t complain about putting the safety of my citizens first. What’s the situation and how can I help?”  

Ami hesitated for a moment as she wondered where to start. “Well, the magic that contaminated the city is over there now.” She pointed at the black crystal. “At least part of it. It is no longer a threat.”  

The Duke’s clenched jaws relaxed slightly.  

“Pacifying the youma- I mean the transformed citizens – is the most urgent remaining issue.” Her shoulders drooped. “They need mana to live, they are aggressive, and when there isn’t enough mana, they fight each other for it. They also join my forces and follow my orders if they meet me in person.”  

The Duke grimaced at that, visibly unhappy at the idea.  

“I’m managing a few sites like this one, but most of the city remains outside of my reach. They ignored my telepathic messages, but I think you may have more luck. They should be used to listening to your orders.”  

He nodded. “That makes sense, but I can’t send telepathic messages.”  

“I’ll have a solution for that in a moment,” she replied.  

An imp appeared with a burst of green magic. The coverall-clad creature was small, her helmet coming only up to Ami’s waist, but she immediately invaded the larger girl’s personal space and started doing a strange sort of dance.  

Ami raised her arms awkwardly to avoid the imp bumping into them and shifted left and right as the small worker cavorted around her. She almost lost her balance when she was bumped in the side while she was trying to avoid her left foot getting stepped on.  

“What are you doing?” the Duke asked with a dubious expression as he watched her undignified dodges and stumbles.  

“Claiming territory to build on,” Ami explained, bending sideways to prevent a small elbow from colliding with her belly. “I always count as a piece of my own land, so the imp can claim a piece of terrain right next to me while I’m touching the ground.”  

The small creature giggled and waved her arms more frequently, forcing Ami to dodge and twist at even more awkward angles.  

“The evil little critter is being annoying on purpose, isn’t she?” the Duke growled.  

“Probably,” Ami admitted. “The imps are quite mischievous when- ah, here we go.”  

A puff of aquamarine steam rose from the ground around her feet and dissipated before it could billow out much further. The floor itself had also gained a bluish tint that was more pronounced between the seams of the precisely cut dwarven floor tiles.  

With a pout, the imp moved further away from Ami and continued her claiming dance in order to expand the young Keeper’s new territory.  

“I have a little terrain now, which will last for as long as I remain on it,” Ami explained as she focused on her treasury. “It’s just large enough for a tiny scavenger room. Please step back.”  

A muffled swear came from the Duke when a head-sized bulb shattered the recoloured floor from below. Shaking off the broken shards, the flesh-coloured knob shot upwards on a fast-growing, veined stalk. Two lids peeled back completely, revealing a glassy eyeball that turned to stare at the Duke.  

He took a few steps away, his cheeks paling as he stared at the undulating construct. “What the hell? How is that- that gross thing going to help?”  

“That’s a scavenger room. Touching the eyeball allows the user to send mental messages,” Ami explained, “It’s usually used to lure in potential recruits. I hoped you could use it to contact your citizens.”  

“I see,” the Duke replied, approaching the eyestalk with a blank expression. “Do I have to take my gauntlets off?”  

“I don’t think so,” Ami replied, giving him an encouraging smile.  

“Small mercies…” He placed his right palm on top of the glistening orb, which ducked and quivered under the weight. “This feels odd, but- yes, I think I understand how it’s supposed to work.”  

Another imp ran up to Ami’s side, pulling a crystal orb from her backpack and offering it to the blue-haired girl.  

Making sure to keep at least one foot touching her claimed territory, Ami approached the Duke. “Here, I’ll show you where I placed the big crystals,” she said as she held the glowing device up for him. “That way, you can explain to your citizens where to find them. I hope you can convince them to stop fighting and to bring the injured, too.”  

The Duke slid his fingertips over the giant eyeball, minimising contact despite wearing gauntlets. “I can certainly give it a try.”  

Cathy’s voice spoke up in her mind, “I’m getting reports from several warlocks that the youma have suddenly started moving towards your crystals.”  

The Duke twitched in surprise and looked up, not having expected the mental message.  

“We aren’t sure whether that’s because they respect the Duke’s authority or whether he’s simply better at describing the way,” Cathy added.  

“Well, that should only take a moment to test,” Tiger said. She looked at her adopted sister. “You’ll have to hide yourself.”  

Ami’s face lit up in understanding. “Ah, you are going to make him confront a feral youma face to face? Right, just give me a moment.” She moved into a claimed corner of the balcony and created a cheap room with three thin but opaque walls and a door.  

Tiger disappeared as the walls grew around Ami, smoothly rising from the ground. A few seconds after the construction finished, the black and orange youma teleported back in. As usual, she was covered by a rapidly disintegrating rock shell, but this time, it was larger than usual.  

As the crumbling stone covering peeled off, it revealed Tiger and a slightly smaller humanoid with a pink exoskeleton.  

The new youma had been grabbed from behind and was hissing and spitting as she tried to wriggle free from the restrictive bear hug.  

“Hurry, this thing is pointy!” Tiger shouted at the Duke, head held sideways to prevent spines from digging into her cheek. “Any day now!”  

The dwarf turned away from the huge eyeball, stood straight, and met the captive’s eyes. “Hold!” he said in a commanding voice. “I am Duke Libasheshtan, the rightful ruler of this city. You are safe, so cease your struggling. You will not be harmed.”  

The captured youma’s head turned towards him, eyes with cat-like pupils narrowing as they looked him up and down. The creature growled at him and struggled to break free.  

“Doesn’t look like it’s working- ow!” Tiger flinched as her captive managed to jab a thorn-tipped heel into her shin. Reflexively, she withdrew her leg and lost her balance.  

With a burst of strength, the pink youma broke free from her loosening grasp. She leapt forward, out of Tiger’s reach, and snarled at the Duke again. Her next leap carried her towards the armoured figure, claws extended.  

“Definitely not working!” he shouted as he ducked behind the questionable cover of the undulating eyestalk, perhaps hoping its sheer repulsiveness would ward away the attacker.  

The youma landed in a crouch, teeth bared. Her muscles tensed as she readied herself to pounce on him, but then she went still for no discernible reason. Blinking in confusion, she slowly rose back to her full height – just in time for Tiger to land on her back and tackle her to the ground.  

The tiger-striped youma let out a surprised yelp when the pink-shelled creature underneath her vanished without warning and she dropped the remaining distance to the ground.  

“I’ve got her!” Ami shouted from behind the walls surrounding her. “She got recruited somehow,” she explained in a puzzled tone, absently selling off her temporary shelter.  

“Recruited?” Duke Libasheshtan asked, turning to face the rectangular construction that was melting away like heated wax.  

“Yes, I noticed a new link with the dungeon heart forming and placed her into my storage,” Ami explained, stepping over the last remnants of the fading walls. “She is safe; I’ll let her out later.”  

“Why would she suddenly choose to become your minion when she couldn’t see you?” he asked.  

“It happened when she landed on the claimed ground,” Tiger pointed out, tapping the floor next to where she was sitting.  

Ami nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. The dungeon heart must have treated her like a mindless neutral creature, such as giant beetles and flies. They get recruited when they enter dungeon territory.”  

“Mindless creatures…” the Duke muttered angrily under his breath. He shook his head, squared his shoulders, and sighed as he looked at her. “I can’t believe I’m suggesting this, but my poor citizens would be safer as your minions than the way they are now. Could you please send out your imps to claim more of the city?”  

Surprised, Ami blinked and looked over at the imp that was still doing her claiming dance, barely a few metres from where she had started. “I could, but the city counts as enemy territory. They would make barely any progress.”  

“I see.” He watched the capering imp proceed at a snail’s pace for several long moments, stroking his beard with a conflicted look on his face. His shoulders slumped as he seemed to reach a decision. “Guess there’s no choice,” he said, almost too quietly to hear.  

Ami turned towards him in alarm as he stepped before her and bowed deeply.  

“This is a terrible idea, but it is also simply acknowledging the facts. Empress Mercury of the Avatar Islands! I, Thol Libasheshtan, Duke of the city of Salthalls, formally surrender to you. The city of Salthalls is yours by right of conquest.”  

She gaped at him in surprise and dawning horror. “What?”  

“Usually, there would be more of a formal ceremony, witnesses, and all that. Nevertheless, this seems to have fixed your ownership problem.”  

The territory-claiming imp was now barely pausing between stops, making soft whooping noises as she darted from place to place.  

“It- it certainly did,” Ami murmured, noting that the claimed territory was slowly starting to expand on its own, just as it had on the Avatar Islands back when she had gained the title of Empress. She met the Duke’s eyes. “Th-Thank you. This can’t have been easy for you. I’ll make the most of this opportunity!” she promised.  

A horde of imps appeared around them, filling the air with a green snowstorm of motes. They darted off in every direction, claiming terrain as they moved in long, straight lines to cover as much distance as possible.  

Tiger chuckled as she watched the differently-coloured paths slowly grow wider on their own. “So this is how one accidentally conquers a city,” she teased.  

Ami winced. Right now, she neither wanted nor needed to think about how this would give everyone who didn’t know the details the wrong impression.

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