Dina grimaced internally, as she saw the battle unfold, still drawing closer to Mariette. While her face did not show many signs of it, her ears were downcast, and her tail was curled. She clearly was not enjoying what was seeing. She would have interceded for the wounded girl, but that seemed to have been taken care of in a particularly callous manner. However, the real concern was the fact they were using human shields to clear traps, and brainwashed beasts as fodder.

"Utterly disgusting." She whispered harshly, as she kept her poise ready, the ghosts of her mind clawing at the back of her thoughts. Dina had briefly hoped that these daughters of sons and peace, that had been whisked away in a magical world, would have taken part of their child naivette and made this more bearable. But who she was kidding, this was not unlike the Great War as far as how low people could sink. Gingerly exploiting dangerous powers for what? Hollow honour and spite. Both Mariette and Justine seemed to have drawn quite the clout among what it amounted a personal enmity.

Her eyes darted briefly to Dan. You're such a tool, my lord. This is not spreading happiness at all, but misery. She sighed briefly, and pondered what to do next. For a brief moment, she entertained herself thinking back to Penny. And how was she doing. Penny would have been more suited for this battle than her. And she had left her in the area she was least skilled at. A true role reversal. Well, there was not much she could do about it.

"Mariette, I am going to summon a few fresh reinforcements. Seems they're able to penetrate further than initially expected." The catgirl said, as she focused what kind of creatures she could do. The mansion was labyrinthine, so movile trap-affinity monsters would do well. A mix between kobolds and faeries would help.

"Ruler's menagerie." She announced, as she willed the diminute troops into existence. But she needed more power. Still she could not overstretch herself.

"Kobolds... Fae." She said. Those two were affordable. "Masters of the maze, Minotaurs."A couple of minotaurs would be nice additions. None too bright, but certainly strong and superb in mazes due to their innate orientation. Dina then looked at Mariette. "I could summon stronger monsters if you could spare some energy." Dina announced.

Kitsune and Scorpion man were next in the list. While the former was too crash and too proud to be ordered around, she would be an excellent aide, and scorpion man, despite his dreadful appearance was actually a wondrous, faithful knight.

---

"You're a c**t, Biz Cereal" Sakura narrowed her eyes at Justine's glee to toss her own troops to clear the path among the blizzard, with the subsequent gory explosion. The whole issue did not help as there was a bunch of dog-wolf things who cleary had not been fed in a while attacking her from all sides, which prevented further remarks made towards the Vampire. It was fortunate, though, as five minutes in her company had made thought of ditching the mission, and strangling the bitch with her own leech entrails.

But, yes, lots of monsters, ice clones, weather and ... were those kaijuu? They did look like Kaijuu. Sakura's mood worsened as she felt being pelted in all directions by garbage tier opponents. There was also some asshole stealing mirrors and dropkicking people in the middle of it. At least Tuxedo boy was being a decent wingman. If she had been a girly girl, she would have been charmed. But beneath the ridicously puffy and pink coat she was wearing, she was simmering with rage. In her battle-oriented mind an idea was formed.

Also, was that a bomb? Sakura wasted no time in sniping the thing off with her own lightning.

"ENOUGH! I've HAD ENOUGH!" Sakura said, snapping as her electricity became more intense, and began to run up towards the nearest glowy ice fire bug. She made one hell of a colossus climb. "I will show you how to use f*cking giant glowy centipedes!" She claimed, as she did the mother of wall-runs climbing one of the Rhemoraz, before seizing both antennae with her hands.

She had heard once, half drunk in the Penrose Science Channel that you could use zappy things on bugs to create automatons. Well, It was worth a shot. Plus she always wanted to ride a Kaijuu herself. So she zapped the beast's antennae, intent on driving it berserk and steering it towards the clutters of enemy units to trample them.

---

Meanwhile, Tenebra seemed to twitch slightly. Upon hearing Mariette's voice, she was positively beaming, not minding the tentacle monster's gross nature at all besides dodging the gross appendages. Shoggy was far more clingy at times. "Naughty Mariette, I will spank your butt, ehehehe." She giggled. While most of her ailments from her era as the Star Eater's herald were gone, Umukamui had only done minimal patchwork to fix her mind, and the gears were creaking again.

Her disguise artifact activated, as she took on the appearance of Mariette herself, still giggling.

"One exit, coming up~~" She said, as she focused her gravity powers. The Void Room, as Mariette had claimed, had "thin walls". It seemed to be able to connect easily. But that worked both ways. Folding space here was easier. Tenebra smugly smiled as a jagged surface spreaded wide, deeper into the mansion's corridors.

She made no effort to mask that she could create portals, albeit in a cruder fashion than Mariette. She wanted Mariette to know. She wanted Mariette to play.

"Through here, heheheh."

---

Praying to Odin was usually messy. Reaver himself found startled a bit when the message to his mind had come, amidst cleaning the blood of the sacrifice he had just offered. He had been preparing himself mentally and physically for what could be one of the most unfavourable fights on his entire magical boy career.

Cindy's struggle seemed easy work compared to this, mayhaps. But he did not falter. Because he knew.

Odin would never choose a coward. And fear was the mind killer. Plus there was little to think about it. His life was already shit, with his few remaining strings of humanity being played forth and back. He sighed. At least the ordeal would give him allies.

"Let's go, mother." Reaver said, knocking on Viva's room gently. "It is time."

Being approached by Lily, Hilaria smiled. The girl wished to adopt a nickname for her. In her life, Helewisa had gone through many monikers. So one more did not cause her pause. "Hilaria thinks that would be wonderful~! Oh, but only if she can call you Lils!" Having agreed to the exchange of nicknames, the events of her prior post transpired.

...

"~?"

Hilaria caught Lils casting glances her way as she and Alex had begun conversing. In only a moment, she had caught on to what was happening. It was rather entertaining to see someone jealous over just about nothing. Hilaria had no interest in Alex romantically, she just thought he might be a reliable person to have at her side. Love was often to blame for bringing out the best and the worst in people, but that sort of clinginess could be a turnoff for some. Still, what could drive Lily to act this way over a simple invitation to camaraderie formed upon the field of battle?

It was only when she looked at what passed for Lily's chest that she understood. "Oh," she drew a cross on her chest and gave a small nod as if in prayer. This world was never a fair one. Still, Hilaria had been endowed with knowledge on how to change the course of fate, albeit only a little. With the power of friendship, someone else's hands, and a massage in two very specific locations, Lily might be freed of her deficiency and thus freeing her of this unhealthy envy.

When she was younger, she had attempted this ritual with another but to no avail. It would, however, probably elicit an entertaining response from Lils anyways, so she was still going to bring it up at some point.

In a continuation of her jealousy and perhaps as if to assert herself, Lily brazenly kissed Alex in front of her. "Oh my, how very bold of you~!" she giggled. Lily left in a hurry afterward and Alex seemed to be in a daze. When he seemed to compose himself, she smiled. "A prelude for what's to come later, Hilaria thinks~" she teased him before giving him a playful slap in the back that may have been a bit too hard and following him into the portal.

The scene changed drastically as they stepped through. Hilaria caught sight of the near-dead girl just before she had been whisked away but did not pay it much mind. She eyed the harpy giving Alex and her a solid rundown of what was happening and what was expected of them. "Hilaria will be the bulwark that sees you through this battle, she promises~!" she casually pumped her fist up despite the large, heavy shield that rested upon it. To the best of her ability, any attacks would land upon Mars and not these girls.



Silhouette had been watching Viridian as she made her brief appearance. Su had suggested that Sam make an effort to actually speak with her beyond what was absolutely necessary, but she had not done so just yet. Any time she looked at the girl, she felt a tang of anger she knew was irrational. Her personality could not be doing this as even Trixy didn't feel nearly as grating (with exceptions) when she first met the girl. What could be the cause? Maybe later, when she could finally bring herself to confront the girl, she would find the answer to this question. But now was not the time to fret about that. She worried about another thing, after all.

Samantha willfully chose to ignore Helga's retort and listened instead to Trixy apologize. The action had obviously pleased her as one could see a hint of a smile creep across her feature. She looked at Trixy's eyes. "Thank you," she said to her girlfriend while noticing a small weight leave her chest. For some reason, she had pointless anxiety over the incident and this put that to rest. And so now it was time to focus on more important matters.

"I would rather not be thrown again," Sam replied to Su. If it were for the fact that she had immediately fallen prey to Justine's attack afterward, she probably would have repressed that memory. Unfortunately, it was still vivid in her mind. But at least Su had stated she would not do it anymore and she did not seem to be the sort to go back on her word if her presence here was anything to go by.

Despite her cold attitude, she didn't exactly want to see Su or even Helga end up dead. So she was just a bit hesitant when Su declared that she didn't need Sam to babysit her. "That might not be the best idea," she made her stance known. However, Trixy claimed that she would watch over her, and though she still seemed against the idea, she caved. "If you're watching them, then I suppose that's okay." The assassin then shook her head when Trixy mentioned her rifle. "I have since traded it in for... well..." It was a bit embarrassing for her, but she summoned the magical basketball Veronica had loaned her a short while ago and gave it a dribble. Even though it looked like it was just some joke weapon, it actually was capable of channeling her powers, as well as her Stasis. It, funnily enough, complimented her quite well. "...Just don't ask about it," she asked of Trixy and became grateful when she, as well as Su and (presumably) Helga departed through one of Mariette's portals.

With them gone, Sam turned her attention back to Mariette, who was certainly a busy woman. Trying to coordinate a defense of this scale, even with the information her portals would provide her, was unlikely to be a breeze. Being a lone wolf, it was one of the few combat-related skills she wholly lacked. Her experience when she was a human was just with a team of five people, no bigger than that. Mariette would probably never be completely free until she or Justine fell, but after Dina would receive a reply, Samantha stated her intentions in a clear, concise way. "You may consider me a bodyguard until we part ways after the successful defense, Mariette. I can also ensure your continued survival at the cost of removing you from the battlefield if it comes to it. Merely ask if you feel threatened." For now, Mariette's survival was not her own choice to make. Samantha would go ahead and take her out of the fight if it seemed like she was going to perish, but Mariette would also be given the chance to throw in the towel herself if she wanted.

Lily looked a bit wary as she was spoken to by a strange, blond girl with puffy, wing-like sleeves.
”Hi, Suzette, I’m uh, Lily. Nice to meet-KIYAAHHH!”
She was suddenly ambushed by Mayra, who proceeded to tickle her bare belly, causing her face to be flushed from embarrassment.
”*Giggle*-Please-*giggle*-stop-*giggle*-tickling-*giggle*-MEEE!”
Lily released a charge of static electricity, shocking the mischievous monster girl to the point of causing her red, spiky hair to stand up even more straight and split up than before and her taloned fingers to turn mildly numb.
Lily covered her midriff with her hands afterwards, her face bright as a tomato.
”G-Geez, you scared me! Don’t do that!” Her cheeks puffed up as she cast a look of annoyance at Mayra who skipped away from her. The redirected fireball ended up hitting one of the support Nest’s shadow wolves at the snowfield, who jumped to take the hit, fading away. She sighed as she saw Eliza exit from the portal; she should have felt happy and enthusiastic to meet so many magical girls, but the prospect of making friends didn’t seem that attractive to her considering how complicated everything had become.
”But you did make me laugh so...I guess it’s ok.”
Lily thought back to the exchange of nicknames she had with Hilaria, and managed a small smile; she really seemed like a sweet and considerate girl, and she felt terrible about letting her insecurities get the best of her.
The two of them would be fighting together, and that would be fine, she thought, steeling herself emotionally.
What’s important is that I settle this fight as soon as possible.
She listened as Eliza explained her ability to see into the future to Mariette’s girls, amazed at how calm the girl seemed to be...Until she also had some kind of revelation based on her expression.
”So, uh, I guess you’re friends with Mariette too?”
Lily asked Eliza, biting the corner of her lip.

---

Justine’s glee ended in a scowl as she heard Sakura’s offensive words, not amused by her repeated mispronunciations of her name.
”Enough talk, child!”
She blinked as the foul-mouthed girl suddenly shot a lightning bolt, only to realize she neutralized a projectile; Taihei’s bomb blew up from the electric shock and created a great explosion, causing Justine to bare her fangs and briefly use a wing to avoid the shockwave of fire.
”Ah, that reminds me of the time I nearly succeeded in killing you, Mariette!”

Sally was in the midst of shooting at frost wolves when she looked up towards the explosion, looking a bit wary.
“Woah...I sense a great source of bad luck,” she mumbled. “Could it be...?”
Justine summoned a new blood spear in her hands, having noticed the change in Mariette’s portals.
”Oh, trying to be clever, are we?”
She once again predicted an opening portal, and chucked a spear. Just as Mariette expected, the spear did not directly hit , having been angled to hit a wall. But then, she heard numerous screams from the artillery line girls. At that exact moment, Alex and Hilaria would step in to see what had happened; upon striking the wall, the spear had ricocheted off it, splitting into numerous smaller spikes that, while less lethal, caused more splash damage in the line wounded four girls, causing two to stagger back from the pain and the other two to miss with their shots, their accuracy hindered. The monster girl giggled, brushing aside a stray shot that scratched her cheek in the chaos.
”Can you hear their screams, Mariette? You will soon join them in the chorus.”

The Red Nest members did not falter as they were assaulted by Victoria’s ice clones, matching her martial ability with bestial ferociousness not unlike those of werewolf kind. The Gunner Nest’s ears perked up as he blasted down portals, having heard the ice mage’s taunt through the howling blizzard, and turned to see a clone about to kick him. He laid down a volley of bullets, but the clone dodged, and from his flank another clone struck with a punch, hitting him in the back, and causing him to stagger and drop to one knee. However, that clone was immediately caught by the chain Nest; the shadowy shackles lifted her up and smashed her down on an approaching frost wolf, killing the monster and shattering the clone. The support Nest ran up to the kneeling gunner Nest, and growled as he laid a hand on him; he cast some kind of spell that seemed to infuse the gunner Nest with something, letting him stand up on his feet again. The support Nest’s shadow wolves guarded the two alongside the chain Nest; they attempted to catch the remaining ice clone, but the construct dove into the snow, disappearing from view. They proceeded to fend off any frost wolves attempting to pick on the two Red Nest members, the chain Nest using his weapon like a cracking whip.

The other clones closed in on Aurelio, successfully avoiding the magical blasts he sent out as. However, the moment they struck the illusion, the ice mage realized she fell for his ruse.
The two clones were cracked, blasted through their chests by Shamrock Sally, who twirled her trusty Shooters with a bubbly smile. “Whoops, you sure were unlucky hitting the wrong target!” She taunted, causing the clones to turn and swing their arms at Sally, only to hit each other instead, shattering them. In the snowstorm, one could see a glance of the yeti as it now went to harass Aurelio’s clones, striking out from the storm before hiding itself back in it.

The magician proved himself invaluable in Justine’s efforts against Mariette’s cold ambush, keeping Justine’s thralls in the fight with healing and distractions, allowing them to proceed further towards the mansion without being delayed too much by the frost wolves and the yeti. He was also assisted by Elora, who managed to provide some information on the battlefield thanks to their scrying and the surveillance equipment the Beacon members carried on their persons, such as cameras and microphones.

When it seemed like the fight would turn around for them, and they would be able to soon reach the mansion gates, Hyun Long felt something strange, as if the snow vibrated. Then, she was surprised as she suddenly felt the snow rumble. It exploded in white powder, revealing an unnerving, alien-like creature, insectoid in appearance but also somehow reptilian, towering over the magical girl. The remorhaz screeched and reared its head back, about to strike, when it was caught in a sticky, moss-colored web; Hyun Long turned her head to see Aurelio’s clone. The second remorhaz assaulted Kimble through her Cyclogenesis, belching forth a cone of fire; the Wind girl screamed upon seeing the terrifying monster, and attempted to dodge. At that moment Aurelio’s Rage clone came to the rescue, having struck the monster right in the noggin, causing the creature to flail. As a result, the flame breath did not land directly on Kimble, allowing her to escape with a jacket scorched black on her right side.
“‘Thank you Aurelio!”
Kimble yelled, and continued channelling her Cyclogenesis, knowing it was their only chance of getting through the blizzard without being picked off by Mariette’s ambush.

“Yeah, thanks!” Hyun Long expressed her gratitude as well, and flames gathered in her fists as the monster broke free of the net and screeched.
“Phoenix Strike!” Hyun Long screamed, and performed a fiery uppercut, her flames having taken the silhouette of a rising bird spreading its wings of flame. It hit the creature straight in the jaw, releasing her, but...It was completely unaffected by the fire.
“Wh-What? Why don’t they burn?” She exclaimed, and then screamed as the creature, seemingly invigorated by the fire, attempted to swallow Hyun Long, enveloping her upper body. However, she managed to take a hold of the creature’s jaws and lock them in place as she was shook in the air, preventing the creature from completely devouring her.
“Help!” She cried amidst pained grunts.
At that point, Sakura came charging in, her body crackling with yellow electricity as she leaped up and ran up the monster’s serpentine spine; she felt a great heat emanate from the creature’s spines, especially when she mounted the creature, grabbing it’s antenna; the monster trashed with Hyun Long still caught in its jaws, and its spines superheated, causing searing pain in her behind, exactly like if she was sitting on a pile of red-hot coals. Nevertheless, the former yakuza persevered through the torment with pure willpower, and charged the creature with high voltage; the electricity scrambled the beast’s brain and turned it into mindless screeching rage, allowing Hyun Long to drop down into the snow, covered in steaming hot drool.
“Eww...” She complained, and dried herself off with a coating of fire.

The third Remorhaz attacked Justine’s canaries, and successfully swallowed one of them. As the girls surrounded the monster, hacking away at it with their magical blades, hammers and projectiles, the creature swept it’s tail. However, instead of knocking them away, it struck against barriers the girls were enchanted with, courtesy of Aurelio’s protective magic. With five girls relentlessly digging into the creature’s hide, they managed to slay it with a final blow against the creature’s face from a flattening hammer strike.

The rest of the canaries continued rushing through, none of them attempting to fly up to the roof where a palisade of trees quickly formed thanks to Trixy’s magic, and her clones started shooting into the blinding storm. They managed to snipe one of the thralls who ran forward, a puddle of blood forming in the spot she fell. The gunner Nest joined the projectile thralls as they laid out suppressive fire on the roof, failing to hit the clones back; it was a frustrating battle for both sides due to the blizzard. Once again a trap was sprung, this time one that emitted purple waves that caused the brainwashed girl to clutch at her head, screaming her lungs out. Aurelio pulled this girl out of the fight, having been teleported back to Beacon HQ by confirmation with Elora. A Beacon medic was on standby to provide first aid to the girl wracked by the psychic assault.

“Thank you, Sakura!” Hyun Long yelled as Sakura proceeded to turn the monster around, directing it to charge right through a pack of frost wolves and a couple of ice clones, scattering them like bowling pins, straight at the mansion. Thanks to the whole team's efforts, they have managed to advance so far they could now see faint glimpses of the mansion’s front door through the blizzard; thanks to the monster’s swiftness and strength in its crazed state, Sakura could use the remorhaz as a battering ram, allowing her to break down the front door.

---

At Mariette’s office, Dina proceeded to summon forth various monsters to help bolster the mansion’s defenses. Her first wave of summonings were of smaller monsters more adept for trickery and trapmaking than the regular kind; the horde of diminutive yet inventive kobolds obeyed Dina’s will without hesitation, and rushed out of the office, spreading to every floor of the mansion to prepare new traps, check if they have been activated, and otherwise keep patrol of the corridors. They were accompanied by fairies who would provide assistance for handling magical traps, and for aiding the kobolds in their navigation.

Then, Dina summoned minotaurs; the hulking, brutish monsters snorted as they dropped to one knee to honor their mistress, and stomped off into the labyrinth that is Mariette’s home, able to navigate the place without any directions given. It was up to Mariette if she was willing to grant Dina’s request for more magical power in exchange for her promise of summoning more powerful monsters.

---

‘It is also possible the scrying magic they use won’t be able to pierce illusions, hiding our identities,’ Leena remarked at Ronin’s words, now sounding like Mariette as she took the one-eyed girl’s appearance. FanFan, now resembling Eli, nodded, her slimy body subtly slushing. She continued smiling and humoring Magical Dream Princess in this form, giggling alongside with her.

When the infiltration team entered the Void Room, the two of them stood still, eyes peeled around them for any signs of traps, though it was impossible to see in the darkness. It didn’t last long, as Alicia illuminated the room with her magic, allowing everyone to see for the trap it was.
‘Tch,’ ‘Mariette’ scoffed, gritting her teeth in a way that Alicia would find strange to see from one who she is accustomed to have a stoic expression.
Sonia however seemed to expect this as she arrived floating in the air with Joanna and Speedwagon, having grabbed them as they arrived last-minute. She gave a small reaction to the state of the room.
”As I feared...”
She was the first to tense up as she heard Mariette’s voice, having summoned a set of throwing daggers between her fingers. ‘Mariette’ and ‘Eli’ threw their eyes to the direction of Mariette’s sound, not saying a word as Alicia and the real Mariette exchanged pleasantries as much as a Beacon and Horror girl could. The group collectively took in sharp breaths on Mariette’s revelation of the Void Room’s purpose.

Then, a gust of wind blew out FanFan and Sonia’s candles among others.
‘Oh dear!’ ‘Eli’ yelped, amusing Alicia were it not for the horrible sight that soon revealed itself to everyone; the floor itself opening up in countless holes to a pit of tentacles and hands, seemingly formed of the essence of darkness itself. FanFan was the first to be grabbed by her legs and torso, prompting her to scream as she continued struggling, slowly sinking down to her waist.
‘Crap!’ Leena was also grabbed by a tentacle that wrapped around one of her legs from a portal next to her, causing that leg to sink down to knee level.
‘They’re coming from the floor!’

Alicia succeeded to jump up and avoid the appendages, having clear vision in the room, and laid out covering fire for her fellow Beacon teammates, blasting the tentacles that held them with arrows of light. Magdalene cut down the rest that bound FanFan, and helped pull her out of the Collector’s portal.
‘Oh, much appreciated!’ She thanked her rescuer.

Connie’s tentacles briefly wrestled with the Collector’s own, but the sheer difference in numbers quickly overwhelmed the masked girl as they started dragging her down until Anaya’s spirit Blake stabbed them with projectile scissors, allowing Ronin to cover her and Mia/Gaia as they the platform, while MDP summoned a cloud to ride on, eluding the grasp of the tentacles by confusing them with sparkling lights. Morgan stayed on the floor to provide support for her allies while Amalthea brought Anaya up to the platform, having created ice walls to block off blind spots, but as a result ended up grabbed by the tentacles, only to be rescued by Elaine, who was in turn protected by Sonia; she had flung her throwing daggers at the first tentacles that reached out to the broadsword-wielding spirit, followed by summoning a chainsaw that she revved up and spun around, dismembering them in a glorious display.
”I will defend us, so destroy the wall,” the maid stated, keeping her composure even as her chainsaw ripped and tore through the Collector’s menacing presence, freeing Tenebra who was caught up in them, the carnage illuminated up in all the colors of the rainbow thanks to MDP’s assistance.

A large set of mechanical arms burst from the slimegirl’s back; one arm extended like a metal wire to grab hold of the floating barrier Ronin made, pulling herself up while the other grabbed Leena. FanFan then reeled the wire-like arm up rapidly, launching herself up on top of the barrier. ‘Mariette’ was hanging on to her, having summoned two swords to cut down the tentacles that attempted to pry her from FanFan’s grasp.

‘Eli’ nodded, and picked out her lighter with her normal hands, lighting up her candle as her mechanical arms extended out to punch a wall as directed by Alicia. However, the punch smacked against the wall, with barely any damage.
‘The walls are magically reinforced! I can’t break through them fast enough!’
‘Mariette’ took a sharp breath, and thanks to Cinnie and Mia covering her with the masked girl’s tentacles and the flowery girl’s emerald rays, also climbed up on the platform.
‘Okay, I’m going to set it up! Vo-’
She was interrupted when Gaia commented on Tenebra’s ability to warp space, and nodded as Tenebra confirmed to making an escape route to them.
‘Sonia, help her!’

Sonia nodded as she finished rescuing Joanna and Speedwagon from the grasping dark hands, dropped the chainsaw, and teleported next to Tenebra. She placed a hand on her shoulder, and combined her Space magic with her warping magic.
”Yes, I feel it...There are paths outside this room...There!”
With a burst of blue magic, a magical portal was formed on the wall; it was haphazard and makeshift, more like a wormhole or a tear made in the dimensional fabric rather than a clean passage, but it served its purpose of allowing one to escape, as one could see a gothic corridor beyond it.
”Now go! I will return back to Mistress once you have passed, so this is farewell.”
Sonia summoned a hedge trimmer with a customized, longer blade, and proceeded to cut down the tentacles, allowing the infiltration group to jump through the wormhole.

---

‘Phew! That was too close.’ ‘Mariette’ spoke with an exasperated tone as her swords disappeared, her hands on her hips as she shook her head at a downward angle.
‘I guess Sonia would have pulled us out if we didn’t manage to get through, but it was still quite shocking,’ ‘Eli’ added, having retracted her mechanical arms back into her slime-looking body, back to looking just like the real Eli.
‘So, this is the mansion proper, huh? Let’s take a look.’

The group had arrived at a corridor that turned in a 90-degree angle, furnished in a gothic style fitting a noble. The floor was decorated with a carpet that seemed custom-fit, running the entire way with no end in sight. Tenebra would be able to tell that the corridor was directly south of the Void Room, and based on that could identify the passages to lead to the south on her right, and to the east on her left.



Looking around the corner, the infiltration team would see that the southern passage is quite short, and leads to a turn that abruptly ends at a door:



The eastern passage is much longer, and houses multiple turns; the two southern turns and the latter northern turn lead to doors.



However, the former turn north would lead to what looks like a set of stairs leading to a higher floor, as well as a door at the end of the corridor.



The infiltration team could hear from the stairs what sounds like scraping little feet, numerous tiny flitting wings, giggling feminine voices, and mumbling masculine voices, coming from a numerous group.
‘Sounds like a monster patrol,’ ‘Mariette’ commented.
‘They’re coming from the stairs. We got a total of five doors: three to the south, with two on the same corridor, two to the north, and stairs. Might be a good idea to split up so we’d cover more ground, but I guess that wouldn’t be smart based on that death trap we stumbled into. Alicia, we’re going with your decision regardless.’

---

Helga sighed at Su’s plan, and shook her head.
“Oof, it’s going to be cold out there...” But when Su reassured that she would use her wind magic to give them some protection, she lightened up in her mood.
“Really? And I thought you loved throwing fights,” she teased Sam, flashing her sharp teeth as Su departed through the portal. She waved back at Sam.
“Keep Mariette safe, okay? Bye.” She then followed Su to the roof, and took cover behind one of Trixy’s trees, keeping watch on the situation below. “I’ll cover ya Su, so get that spell going!”

---

Goblina nodded, having expected Penny to want more information on the subject. “Her Majesty will now cross-examine the defendant,” she announced. The crowd turned completely silent when Penny addressed Belladonna, and even the wolf girl herself seemed a bit intimidated by her cold, soulless stare, her growling having turned quieter.

She nodded to the first question. “Fresh, yes. It needs to be alive, to feel fear when I end its life.
Any other meat tastes...Like ash. Like, all the sweet succulence is gone, and there’s nothing but a dry husk. I can’t eat like that, I’d...I’d go bonkers.” She sighed as the crowd booed and claimed she was already crazy, pondering her next words for a while before she spoke. “Well, uh...I...I had a dog once. Stringy meat, but...It wasn’t horrible. I’ve also heard that chickens are good. But all you see is humans; only a few of them walk dogs, and they start yelling real loudly unless you kill them too.”

Goblina hung her head, not sure how to take her testimony. The crowd also didn’t approve of her way of thinking. “Do you think I’d kill for fun? I can’t afford luxuries like that!” She cried out, seemingly upset as she averted her eyes. “Every day, all I think about is how to eat, or how to distract myself so I don’t have to eat. I’d try chewing on a fruit and imagine it’s meat, and it helps, but...Then it comes back, so strong you’ll foam at the mouth. I hate it, hate it all so much.” She closed her eyes, seemingly finished with answering her questions. Goblina nodded, looking gloomy. “The defendant’s answers have been written down for review. Your Highness, would you like to take a five-minute break to think about the verdict?”

When Alexander and Hilaria reached the battlefield, it was already chaos. 'I'm starting to understand old war movies better.' While Alexander was no stranger to fighting, or even massed combat, something about this just felt more like trench warfare then any other time before. Not wanting to waste any time, he hurried over to the girls who had just been hurt by what he could only call a frag spear, while putting up chest high barriers in front of whoever he saw. Once he got to the first girl he put up another chest high barrier, crouched down, and made a few clones. Said clones rushed off to grab more wounded as Alex got to work. 'And once again, I'm stuck on healing duty. Fucking hell.'

Once the girl he was healing was back up, he gave her a quick back on the back while also slapping a forcefield on her "On your feet soldier" he said while channeling his best NCO. With a bit of time before his first clone arrived with another wounded, he spotted Hilaria and put a forcefield on her as well, along with all the others he could spot before then next patient came to him. As he was healing her, a thought came to him '...I wonder...' Once he finished the next girl and placed a forcefield on her, he made another clones and started channeling magic to it. With it's own supply of magic, the clone then placed a strengthening buff on Hilaria, and then did nothing but keep it up. In the few seconds he had before then next patient arrived, he replaced and/or repaired any barriers, while putting forcefields on anyone he could find without one on (or who had lost theirs) 'If she's going on the front lines, she's going to need all the help she can get' Alexander thought as he got to work on the third wounded fighter.

@FamishedPants

Viridian’s heartfelt laugh bubbled into the heads of the cradle agents, and also into a communication device Mariette had provided her with. ”Darlin’, we got some clowns bumblin’ their way into the fort.”

The report felt redundant, if unnecessarily. No spell could accurately replicate the inner workings of Mariette and Eli’s minds, and so no spell could trick Viridian. Even if that somehow had tricked her, all of the magical girls fighting under Mariette should be aware of where the portal witch was holding herself up. They were just briefed after all. Only a fool wouldn’t suspect a disguise was in play. It was a momentary distraction at best.

”Alright girls, the interlopers are gunna glow a nice bright blue for ya, so don’t hesitate to rough ‘em up on sight!”

Sure enough, the cradle agents would all see blue hues over their vision. It was a similar effect to the rave when Veronica marked targets she was interested in.

@PlatinumSkink@Ariamis@FamishedPants@Majoras End



Without the spectacle of eros, Dusty and friends weren’t having much luck gunning down the assault team. They were hesitant to be too rough with the brainwashed girls, but did their best to disable them. Once the storm let up, they would be much better off. Perhaps they could hit some other targets.

“Very good Helga. I will need you shortly.” She was putting most of her focus into getting her spell ready, but all would be for naught if nobody understood what she was doing. “I’m going to create a wind storm. You will join me in the eye of the storm to ensure we both survive. Trixy, your seeds will get pulled into it. I don’t know what you’re capable of, but I trust you can assist us from up here?”

”Don’t try to take on the whole enemy team yourself!” Trixy had an arm full of dandelion puffs. ”The foyer is loaded with magical girls.”

”Think nothing of it Trixy. While Justine is someone I’d like to have words with, I have learned to temper my anger. I am here to ensure Mariette survives, which I can’t do if I’m slain.”

Su had gone though quite the transformation. For the longest time, she thought that Amber’s death would be the single most defining moment in her life. She spent weeks ruing the day she let Justine escape, and cut herself off from everyone for a time. But but over the past few months, up into the last few weeks, Su had continued to change. As hurt as she was, she had started to heal. Somewhere along the way she learned to love again. She welcomed Mika into her life, she fell in love with one of Justine’s commanders, she could play tennis with a shady assassin. Stepping onto a roof where a hedge line was all that kept Justine away from Su was the bravest thing she had ever done. She felt empty when she heard Justine’s voice. Su’s goals were above petty things like her destruction. She needed to ensure Mariette was alive, as well as Helga, Samantha, Trixy, hell, she even felt like Lily deserved a fourth or fifth chance.

But now was not the time for reflection. Brainwashed girls were being beaten and killed, Justine was picking off magical girls left and right, and who knew what was happening inside.



The hotel manager took Helga by the hand and ran for the edge of the mansion. Together they jumped into the eye of the incoming storm. A wall of clouds fell all around them, and an updraft pushed them into the sky. They were suspended, upside down, spinning like two ballroom dancers.

Feilian was no normal tornado. The outside of the twister was a downdraft, bringing frigged air to the earth. The inside was an updraft, blowing everything in the twister’s path up into the sky. As a result, the tornado had a tendency to draw things into it, then fire them up past Su and Helga. All the while, snow, stone, and whatever else happened to be under Feilian was thrown into the sky. Smashed by the fist of an angry god, before being pitched into the heavens. Such was the power of this spell. The downside was that for Su to properly maintain it, she had to be in the center. Of the storm at all times.

”We’re being pushed up faster than we can fall.” Su explained to Helga. ”You should be able to move around, just don’t get too close to the wall, okay?” She slowly released Helga. ”See if you can use your sound magic to spot incoming attacks.” The walls of the storm were almost impossible to see through, but they weren’t sound proof.

The storm was presently headed towards the beacon girls. A tower of frigid clouds with snow and stone added to the mix. It seemed like everything was tumbling at the base of the storm, which meant that the clouds being pulled in from above would only get denser and denser. They could very well be dealing with giant ice chunks at any moment. Synergy between magical girls could be frightening.

”That’s gunna be a big yikes from me…” Outside of the storm, Trixy could only watch. ”Here are your seeds, hope you do something cool with them.” She threw the white puffballs into the air, and they were sucked directly into the storm, with no visible effect. ”Alright boys, let’s give Su and Helga some backup!” While her clones were bothered by the storm, the Spectacle of Eros made firing in such conditions much easier. It could adjust for wind speed automatically, and even let her know if a bullet was going to land ahead of time.

But it seemed like Justine’s cronies were getting pretty close.

”Gah!”

Trixy fired on the incoming cronies. When Trixy managed a hit, they would be bound with roots and fall into the snow below. Wounding incoming threats was something she left up to Dusty and the girls.

”Thanks for the warning, Eliza! A bit occupied at the moment but I’ll offer support as soon as I can!”

[@Ihavenoideawhototaglolz]



You know what every large storm needs? A gravity core that pulls everything in, but also conveniently hidden by illusion magic.

---

@DarkwolfX37

”I do find something endearing about that unshakable confidence, Shion.” The mint operative slid his hands into his pockets. ”I have a few things, actually. But let’s start with this: Makoto hasn’t been seen for several months now, and I know you know where she is. The Mint is interested in her and what she’s been doing.” he gave the school girl a sideways glance. ”Is that something you feel like talking about?”

@DarkwolfX37

---

“Epic!” Oros ran up to Summer and threw her arm over her shoulder. “So how does this work, do we just sort of teleport? Do you click your heels? ...Should I click my heels?”

@DarkwolfX37

"She's fine, thanks for asking." Shion crossed her arms. "I didn't know she wasn't in contact with you guys anymore. But she's working on something kind of important, so if you could just leave a message I'm sure she'll get back to you on it. Besides, I haven't really spoken to her in a while, our communication is pretty one-sided right now."

---

Summer blinked. Could she teleport? That was what this girl was implying, wasn't it? That... wasn't a bad idea. "Alright, sure. To Beacon then?" Summer didn't wait for a response, she pulled a saw out of her hammerspace handbag and began sawing a circle around Oros. When she finished that last cut, the rest of the world fell out from around the circle and the world reappeared, the area just outside Beacon HQ falling on top of them and causing them to imprint on the ground as they were crushed by it. Summer simply took the saw again and cut an opening in the deformed "ground" that was covering them and pulled herself through before grabbing Oros' hand and pulling her through as well, like butterflies from their cocoons.

"Convenient." Summer remarked at her new use of her magic.

---

@BrokenPromise

“It’s a good thing I cleared my schedules for today I suppose.” She would grumble to herself as she headed out to see what was going on.

“I didn’t know you” Penny would reply to Belladonna softly, waving off Goblina’s question as she did. “But I’ve known others of our kind who revel in the twisted mentalities we are sometimes cursed with.” Vixen came to mind, as did Chloe. “Because of that I needed to know, if you were like them or like me. Because I understand. The need that digs into the back of your skull slowly driving you mad. I used to have it as well, not for flesh, but to break. What didn’t matter I just needed to destroy, be it people, promises, or peaceful nights.” Understanding would leak into Penny’s eyes as she spoke. She often wondered how many other truly understood how painful it was to fight against the instincts and drives that becoming a monster could impart. In this moment though she knew that it was a trail that the two of them had shared.

Penny stepped forward as she spoke, slowly, gently, and rested her hands on the chains that bound the wolf girl. “You’ve been starving yourself. I know because I’ve been there.” The weeks and months that Penny did her best to keep the ever present urge to shatter something in check were not so long ago that she had forgotten what it felt like to be trapped by them and something told her that she never would truly be free of the fear of that twisted desire returning. “Because of that I can’t sentence you too death for losing control. That is simply not fair, but neither can I simply release you. You have endangered everyone here by drawing Beacon’s attention closer to us.”

The other truth was that Penny’s options for judgment were limited. Death, Exile, Other. That’s all she was capable of at the moment, as there wasn’t any space for imprisoning people here at the Sanctuary. To say nothing of how cruel it would be to imprison Belladonna for this if what she was saying was true and Gods did Penny hope that she was telling the truth.

But before I render Judgment, I have one more question for you.” She would go on to say just as gently “Is what you are now worth dealing with the hunger? Purification is an option if you want it, but I will never force it upon you or anyone else that resides under my protection” Regardless of the answer to that question Penny had an idea for what she could use as a sentence. Along side a few ideas to help Belladonna if she preferred to stay a Monster girl, but those were for later.

---

The door to Viva’s chosen room swung open at Reaver’s soft knocking. The room on the far side of the door a far cry from the drab spare room it used to be. Posters of horror movies, or scantily clad models littered the walls, while all the upholstery had also been changed out for a more gothic color pallet. Yet in contrast there was also what looked to be an operating table pushed up against the wall with a skeleton laid out on it, alongside various bottles of chemicals dotted across every open space.

The joys of hammer space. Makes settling in a breeze.

Viva herself hadn’t been the one to open the door, she just hadn’t close it all the way. She was sitting in front of the operating table carefully measuring out dosages of chemicals into various glass vials and beakers and would glance up at noticing the door swinging open.

“Time to go?” She would ask in confirmation before placing stoppers in the various vials she was done with. Before vanishing them into her hammer space. “Good timing just got done refilling my vials” She would remark before standing up and stretching. She would saunter over to Reaver a slight sadistic smirk eking on to her face as she did. She was looking forward to oncoming carnage after all.

“Tell me, would you like some assistance when you end up facing against Penny?” She would ask as they started their way towards the meet up. “I’ve got some drugs that should be able to give you an edge, if you want them.”

They had tried to explain this a bit last time, but Rachel had in her mind that Janet had placed Cindy in her head on purpose. The Ascendancy leader taking over the research department was a big issue. Should they succeed in making this weapon then it would only lead to further division. Well, probably. Forcing people to be purified was something they'd considered, but the risks outweighed the rewards. Making and securing it first off. Afterward though the implications and damage it would do to relations they were trying to forge. And with the Cardinal still largely out of the picture there was no telling when they might be able to be bailed out. They'd done their job a little too well.

Nodding in recognition to Rachel's orders the two stepped back. left the room. This was a problem, primarily because the making of the weapon could run a foul of the contract they'd made with Cindy. No, this wasn't going to work. At least not as things were currently. There weren't that many options at the moment. Leaving Beacon was one such choice, but would not really help with their goals. There were things that, if they worked out properly, would give them the advantage in being able to better coordinate things. Still probably wouldn't put them in a good position with Beacon though. They perhaps were going to have to rework the agreement with Cindy and come up with a better solution. Autonomy was the main issue at play here. The girls had thought they had more time to sort this kind of thing out but this really pushed up the timetable.

The meeting not being particularly distracting the two had kept up their monitoring of the area. A Beacon member, Summer, had popped up nearby accompanied by someone else they didn't recognize. Before moving anywhere else Janet contacted Summer with their mind. Hey Summer, Who is that with you? Even though they'd been given an ultimatum they didn't really plan on going to the lab today. Too many other things going on. Especially with a number of others already out.


Being lifted out from under the crowd, Melisa smiled. "Thank you. I kind of got mixed up in among the bunch of them." The beast she was placed on not seeming to entirely like her there the girl tried to avoid poking the cat with her limbs, opting to sit down. To her advantage she didn't weigh much. Free of being stepped on she looked up to Nuncio.

"I don't really know what Beacon is, so I'm not exactly sure what that means. Some other girls I met didn't seem to like them very much." She glanced around the room. "Seems a good amount share that feeling." Not outright asking about them, it was pretty clear she could stand to have things explained to her.

Nuncio explained things as best as he could to the smol dawl, but lol at retyping something so redundant here. He did have to be somewhat brief, as a tribunal was unfolding before his very eyes, and you could miss an important detail just by blinking.

"...that's it, more or less."

Nuncio's phone vibrated. He gave it a quick look before slipping it back into his pocket.

"Oof. Gotta go for a bit. Enjoy the seat, and let me know what happens when I get back."

The mafioso went deeper into the crowd, and eventually vanished from sight. Possibly even sanctuary. Even snoopy with all his snooping prowess could not discern where the mad lad had gone to. Rosa's back remained plush and soft, even in his absence.

pardon my early morning meme speak, someone in my household thought 4-5 AM was a great time to blast youtube out of their speakers.

@twave@Shifter_Master

Void Room - Infiltration Team

When Alicia gave her reply, “not until you let them go”, Mariette sighed slightly inside her room, unheard by the infiltration team but noticed by anyone still in Mariette’s office.

‘That is no longer within my power to do,’ she gave as a short reply, and then continued with her introduction of the Void Room.


Alicia flew into the air, barraging downwards at the foes available to her. However, as she rose into the air she found herself beset by limbs stretching for her from above as well as below, seeking to catch and crunch her between the two swarms. It became the same for Amalthea flying with Anaya, as they found tentacles coming out of the ceiling predicting their next location to grab them as they flew.

When Tenebra and Sonia opened a portal to slightly outside the Void Room that materialized in the wall, the tentacles seemed to realize what that was instantly. As soon as the gateway opened, an eruption of hands and tentacles shot out of portals in the wall around the portal to prevent the escape of the individuals involved, closing around the portal and thickening to keep them out. Meanwhile, sharp, pointy, hardened tentacles launched out of the floor from varying angles trying to skewer Tenebra and Sonia, having realized that they had the means to take their offering away from them. But, assumingly the group supplied teleportation or enough firepower to break through to the portal on the wall. Still, a stream of tentacles emerged from trying to stab and grab and injure any trying to escape their grasp.

As Morgan’s ice prevented tentacles from sneaking around Ronin’s barrier, a heavy, larger tentacle suddenly slammed out of the floor and shattered Ronin’s barrier from below, dropping anyone on top of it and making the girl yelp and had to create a bar above herself to grab to prevent herself from falling into the wide portal that had formed right underneath. However, assumingly something happened to rescue those who’d fall as they were then brought along with the rest to safety.

Numerous other tentacles and hands reached and attempted to grip the various spirits Anaya had around… though, spirits being somewhat incorporeal made that a challenge. Regardless, Elaine would find that there wasn’t much of a reply to her yell, and while she and Blake cut numerous tentacles, there were always more sliding out to snap around limbs or tried to grip their weapons.

Otherwise Ari’s post covers the events here decently accurately.

Basement Corridor - Infiltration Team

They got out, ending up in a dark corridor, nobody walking through these corridors meant they didn’t have to be well-lit. They probably had to close that portal immediately, or they’d find the tentacles would reach in behind them to grab them.

So, they entered the tiny 90 degree turn in Mariette’s basement…

and sudden hail of weak Light-element magical bullets immediately came flying at them, battering harshly into whatever defenses had been placed in the way.

Turns out this particular corridor had tiny energy-guns operated into the walls set to turn and fire at any key-less individual noticed within the area, one at every intersection and corner. They were operated into the walls at floor and ceiling level to immediately shoot down Sonia should she dare to appear within these corridors, and now they fired on them. This included one right behind them at short range, because Mariette didn’t know where their enemies would show up. To avoid most the shots, get out-of-sight of the long corridor and deal with the two sentries in the tiny south-going corridor.


‘Woa-!’ Ronin immediately raised her tiny barrier to block what shots she could, but she doesn’t have the Mag-stat to block all of this, somebody help her. What she could do, is spin and slice with her sword to take out the sentry in the corner, stabbing into the bullet-hole to ruin the mechanics. ‘Splitting up is dangerous, Mariette has portals and can ambush any team she figures she can beat, hah,’ Ronin reminds, but perhaps it’s for the best. Otherwise, she’s fine with whatever split she’s asked to do.

So, Ronin had a key. She’d sort of figured maybe she’d be safe from traps. But seeing how these turrets were firing at her, guess it was deactivated already. Should have figured. Hahaha…



@Ariamis@Flamelord@Majoras End@Ponn@AtomicNut@MadManMoon

---

2nd Floor - Mariette’s Office


Mariette nodded to Su, Trixy and Eliza departing, keeping some portals in corners watching over them so that she wouldn’t lose them somehow.

Mariette listened to Dina summoning her kobolds and faeries, and a couple minotaurs… ‘Esther,’ Mariette said into her communicator. ‘Create small tunnels in the walls for our kobolds and fairies to transport themselves through the mansion.’

There was some noise as the mansion itself readjusted itself. Wood moved, some corridors and rooms got the slightest smaller, as tiny corridors with openings were created for the kobolds to run through and create traps inside of. Esther made the openings slide open a bit by Mariette’s office, so they could enter them and explore from there.

‘We need all the allies we can get. Josefin, get over here and provide Dina with some excess mana,’ Mariette said, and…


‘Will do! I’m here!’ Josefin said, skipping out of a portal to Dina, holding out a hand for her. ‘A fresh dose of mana, coming right up!’ she said, and if let to touch Dina she’d feel a surge of mana from a different girl flow into her, allowing her to do that extra summon if so required. While she was here, Josefin also put a hand on Mariette and recharged some of what had been used in the battle so far, and then Josefin skipped away back to the firing line.

Mariette was still fighting as she listened to Silhouette’s words, nodding to her. ‘Thank you. That makes me feel safer. Still, you’re not alone,’ Mariette said, and took a brief moment to lift something up on her deck. It was Bunny, the stuffed animal, except he was coloured all black. ‘Bunny has put on his war-colours. He will protect me, too. I’m safe as long as he’s here,’ Mariette said, lifting Bunny up and squeezing him against her chest. Because this would definitely make a difference.

That aside. Mariette was getting a bit concerned with the outdoors. Su was whipping up a storm on the outside, which was making her concerned that their enemies might somehow make as short a work of her as they were making of Mariette’s monsters.

She wouldn’t let it happen.



@FamishedPants@AtomicNut

---

2nd Floor - Overlooking Foyer



‘Waaaaaaaaa~!’ Mayra made a happy noise as she got herself shocked, but otherwise just laughed about it and kept on what she was doing. So, when Lily said it was alright, Mayra just grinned, and then momentarily clapped a dragonic hand on her shoulder. ‘You’re alright! We should fight later!’

‘Hm,’ Suzette nodded to them, but still kept ready…

Meanwhile, Eliza said her piece to the communicator, and it replied.

‘Copy that. Start a sentence with “everyone”, and I’ll patch you through to everyone. Speaking of which,’ information girl said, and then spoke to everyone.

@Ariamis@Majoras End

---

Allies of Mariette - Everyone

The communicator spoke up for everyone.

‘Everyone. A powerful team of twelve Magical Girls led by Alicia has appeared in our basement. The team includes Sonia, making them able to teleport,’ everyone’s communicators told them. ‘Be advised that if they take the stairs up, they’ll arrive in the foyer. Some of them are disguised as Mariette and Eli currently, their forms may change.’

‘One of them is probably Leena,’ Mariette followed up, also through communicator. It didn’t make sense for them to attack known magical menace Mariette without bringing their anti-magic girl. That probably made another FanFan, they were rarely apart, but FanFan wasn’t a fraction as important. ‘Be aware that she can manifest a field within which magic doesn’t work. Be careful.’

Besides that, this all wasn’t having at all as much impact as Mariette wanted. There was also the threat of opening more portals just let Justine attack more of her girls. It was time for a change in strategy.

@Ariamis@Majoras End@FamishedPants@AtomicNut@BrokenPromise@Card Captor

---

3rd Floor - Artillery Line


‘Th-thank you,’ Alexander got as a confused reply from one of the girls he saved as she was helped up to her feet. She wasted no time getting back into the firing line. He then proceeded to put forcefields on people, which helped Mariette come to her next decision.

Ronja, ever the arachne, stood with protective barriers while using two unoccupied legs to shoot a spider-web to reign in one of the wounded girls, healed her, and then undid the web to kick her back into line. Eli also helped with the healing, because that’s what she does, and now for the plan.

Two portals opened, one linking the 2nd floor top of the foyer where Eliza and Lily was directly to the 3rd floor Artillery Line.

From the other one…



Three girls excited from a snow-covered Monster Room, because the Infiltration Team had showed up in the corridor right outside and they needed to move, Lea and Tullia still holding the Bifrost Staff that was causing the blizzard outside. Tullia looked a bit strained, having maintained a massive blizzard with her mana, while Lea didn’t look particularly worse for wear. Then there was just Victoria grinning and giving everyone a wave.

‘We’re dropping the blizzard! Everyone who can, get to the Artillery Line and prepare to fire out the windows! You can return to the foyer with my portals after! Movement is our advantage!’ Mariette called, and Suzette and Mayra didn’t have to be told twice. Suzette jumped on what appeared to be a yellow board of magic and swooped through the portal to the Artillery Line, while Mayra grinned, already summoning a fireball as she dashed in through the same portal up to the windows that were lining up the Artillery Line-side.

‘Tullia! Now!’ Mariette called.

@Ariamis@Majoras End@FamishedPants@AtomicNut@Card Captor

---

Outside - Assault Team



‘What are you talking about!? These are the best of circumstances! I’m so happy we get to fight again!’ the Victoria clone replied to Aurelio with a laugh before being shot by a lucky shot by Sally despite having tried to jump back into the snow before being attacked. But still, the rest of the Victorias shared her sentiment.

So, through conflict that has already been described in Ari’s post, the assault team otherwise fought their way through wolves, Victoria clones and also the sudden appearance of the massive Remorhaz, decently without particularly great problems and just a couple of casualties, probably the majority coming from Justine sacrificing girls to trigger traps, honestly. There were still fiery and psychic traps waiting around in the snow, for those unwary and stepping into unknown snow.

As they thought they were arriving at the front door, however, Su summoned the tornado Feilian and blocked the way, crossing forward at their numbers. However, whatever their reactions, they’d suddenly find that the massive blizzard was dying down, vision improving…

Among the 32 remaining kidnapped girls Mariette had, 21 had ranged capabilities. Of them, 8 were magic focused, 8 held ranged weapons, and the remaining 5 were balanced girls that supplemented physical ability with ranged magic. Of the 11 remaining girls not among those, there were 7 physically powerful girls incapable of range, two support girls with Reinforcement, one magically powerful Dark magic assassin that was currently useless, and a magically powerful Beast girl who probably just held back a couple of wolves for now.

The vast majority of the ranged girls were now pointing their guns, bows, magic staffs and charged spells at the enemy force that was probably somewhat scattered by Feilian, and at decently close range because they’d been fighting to get to the mansion.

‘Fire.’

A volley of lightning, fire, metal, ice and light came shooting at the assault team, in addition to some sound-blasts, some psychic shots and one girl with an empathic spec. Joining them was arrows and bullets, even Eli joining in having turned her arms into rifles to shoot at the incoming enemy.

Having dropped the blizzard, while gasping for breath a bit the resident Ice Beam shooter Tullia pointed forth her Bifrost Staff to join in, firing a blast of ice straight for Hyun Long. Suzette had recently joined the line, so with a little chuckle she revelled in the feelings of tension before blasting a ray of power directly for Sakura’s captured Remorhaz, that by the way should be burning her pretty badly due to the monster’s extremely high skin-temperature. Mayra’s going to throw her fireballs at whatever’s closest, albeit she’d be told that the Remorhaz is immune to fire so perhaps not that one.

While all that firepower was going, Mariette simply had to rely on Alex, Hilaria and Ronja to minimize the enemy firepower striking them in return.

Meanwhile, inside.

‘Lea, prepare to help save Su and Helga should things go wrong,’ Mariette asked the elfin monster girl, just as Josefin had skipped to them to recharge her and Tullia’s mana a bit by grabbing their arms, after they’d used a significant portion making a blizzard.

‘I remind that my survival is more important than-’ Lea started saying, but Mariette interrupted her with a very simple…

‘Please,’ Mariette asked, before opening a portal to the roof again, a place easier for Lea to reach Su and Helga from without taking fire. Lea gave Mariette an analytical stare, before simply complying by flying out through the portal and then kept a specific distance from the tornado below.

@Ariamis@Majoras End@FamishedPants@AtomicNut@Card Captor@BrokenPromise@Shifter_Master

---

2nd Floor - Taihei’s Room


… Why, of course someone saw her tiny, spherical bomb travelling through a howling blizzard made to hamper sight and managed to easily intercept it with a single throwaway lightning bolt. That makes perfect sense.

Assuming you’re Taihei, anyway.

Regardless, seemed like the time had come to simply throw projectiles at the enemy. Taihei would do her part. So, she used her gravity speciality to attract to herself some weapons she’d made specifically for that particular specialization. They were large, heavy lances, long and far too heavy to simply cast aside once thrown. They were basically artillery, and would provide more firepower than most the girls in the Artillery Line.

‘They’re just hunks of magically heavy metal. How could I be unlucky with these?’ she asked, obviously rhetorically on account she knew all kinds of things could go wrong. Regardless, she summoned her gravity magic, held up a monstrous hand forward, and sent a couple giant metal lances flying at the assault forces, targeting the largest masses. Just some giant flying metal lances to thin out the numbers a bit. The storm shouldn’t prevent their flight excessively.

[same as above]

---

???

Inside a small room with a bunch of screens, a girl was sitting clicking buttons to make cameras display across the mansion. A view showed her that the infiltration team had just entered the basement corridor and were currently being subjected to the sentries she’d had installed there. Wonder if they enjoyed the little taste? That was tech from a different world, more technologically advanced than this one, that she’d been bringing over with her Supplier perk. Very much fun for them to experience, her little automatic turrets. They were, of course, only the first thing they’d have to deal with.

On a different screen, though, she’d been receiving a warning. The phone she’d made for Mariette was saying it was being tracked. She’d taken the time to pinpoint where exactly it was being tracked from, because it could be that it was the technology girl they knew Beacon had, Elora… but unless the relations between the monsters and Beacon were much closer than previously thought, the source being within the Sanctuary seemed to strike contrary to such a claim. Still, the new monster queen had Beacon ties. Best block it to be safe. She absently clicked a couple buttons, and…

@Shifter_Master Penny’d find that her system’s could suddenly no longer find Mariette’s phone.

… She was absently listening in on the conversations of the Infiltration Team…

Oh? Were they splitting up? Sounded like fun. She flexed her fingers a bit and brought up the list of traps she could trigger from this room.

Where would they go? What traps would she trigger on them?

Time would tell.

---

2nd Floor - Mariette’s Office

All in all… it was looking worse than she’d hoped. She hadn’t imagined Beacon would show up, too. That team in the basement was uncomfortably powerful. There seemed like little would stop the assaulting group ahead of them.

Guess there was little choice. She’d hoped to avoid calling her, but if she was going to call her anyway, it made sense to do it as early as possible. Besides glancing with a bit of unsurety at those still in her office, she opened a small portal in front of her mouth to speak.

‘This is Mariette. It seems I’ll need your help, after all. Be ready, I’ll open the path.’

A slight shiver went through her as she focused her power through the Black Mirror, which was located somewhere completely different in the mansion, in order to summon a specific entity…

[anyone left in the office]

”I only do what my superiors tell me to do. I only know what’s required to complete my job. Though it is interesting that you think we can leave her a message when even your ability to communicate with her is spotty.” He shrugged his shoulders. ”It doesn’t matter. What does matter is how you choose to answer this next question: Do you feel like being a hero?”

”I never said it would get to her quickly. Do I feel like being a hero? Hmm…” Shion spent a few seconds thinking over her answer. ”That depends, I guess. Sure, I’ll be a hero.”

”Excellent, I have a personal request.” He adjusted his hat. ”You may be aware of the Penrose Outer Alliance’s existence? Sammy, Faith, and Nuncio. So long as they live in Penrose they will not be safe from the Mint or Beacon. I want you to convince them to leave.” He tipped his hat. ”Sammy and Faith will not be easy to convince, but Nuncio should see reason. Faith desires revenge, and Sammy is following a lead. Though I believe you have the ability to sway them.”

”I think I know them. Heard something along those lines at the Independent, but don’t know them personally. Why do you want them to leave, though?”

”Because the alternative is that I capture or kill them, and I don’t want that.” For once, the ever smiling Vermin Killer wasn’t smiling. ”They think they are going to be safe in sanctuary, but that is not true. Penrose is a war zone, and they need to leave before they get hurt.”

”Interesting. And why do you think I could help? I don’t know them personally, am I just the only person you thought would be willing to help? You did attack me before, after all.”

Vermin killer’s smirk returned. ”I do feel like we share a sort of kinship. We are both agents of darkness, obscuring our traces and assisting our side when requested. The playing field is constantly changing. Yesterday’s foes are tomorrow’s friends. Everyone is observing the queen of penrose, or Mariette, or Justine, while small fry like you are allowed to slip under the radar.” He nodded. ”The Mint is largely uninterested in you. Makoto is the bigger prize, a debt dodger who teaches others how to dodge their debt. I am aware of the time you fought alongside that cradle agent. You’re shrewd, but fair, and you aren’t one to go back on your own moral principles. Those have been my observations.” He leaned on his cane. ”You are the first person I thought of, but only because you seem like the perfect person to carry out this assignment.”

Shion paused. She wasn’t expecting that. ”... Alright, I guess. Don’t super like being called ‘small fry’ but I’m willing to help keep some people safe. Comes with the whole magical girl job, doesn’t it? How am I supposed to find them? I can’t use the PI’s resources since they’ve been silent recently, and searching on my own would take a while.”

”They are presently staying at the sanctuary, where I anticipate they will remain for the foreseeable future.. If you don’t know where that is, it would not be hard to show you.” Vermin killer pointed down the direction he had come from.. ”Left, right, left, right, right, left. Turn down every street you can, and repeat that pattern about three times and you’ll be there.” He placed his cane back on the ground. ”You haven’t asked for any kind of payment yet. Is saving a few magical children its own reward for you?”

”I’m assuming that you’ll just leave me alone after this, actually. But alright, I guess I’ll get started. See ya, or you know, hopefully not.” With that, Shion waved as she passed Vermin Killer and began following his directions.

”A hunter of vermin does not simply give up the chase. Yet if a vermin can be beneficial, is it truly a vermin anymore?” The magical boy who called himself vermin killer walked off, his cane clicking in the darkness. His small army of animals retreated into the darkness, saving a few owls that guided Shion’s way.

Rising upwards, Alicia reacted swiftly as she found tentacles circling downwards towards her and from all directions. The direct barrage ended as her bow shifted into a blade, light spinning and slashing as she cut down any appendage that drew too near.

A grunt escaped as FanFan warned that it would take her time to break through the wall, fully prepared to hold out and buy as much time as needed. But it turned out to not be needed as Tenebra and Sonia created a portal out of the basement. “Go,” Alicia called, unleashing more blazing arrows to clear a path for everyone to slip through.

Ending up in a hallway near where they had been, the group wasted little time in moving forwards. They couldn’t linger, not when Mariette knew of their presence. Reinforcements could be on their way even now. The only choice was to keep moving and push through any opposition. It was a point further confirmed as turrets opened up with light magic bullets along the next hallway, including behind them. Alicia grunted as they impacted against her uniform, taking at least a few blows before protective barriers went up.

Like Ronin she returned fire, her own Light magic allowing for accurate shots to hit the turrets and dismantle them. She nodded along with Ronin’s comment. “No splitting up. Besides the portals, we don’t know what Mariette’s numbers look like. We can’t afford to dilute our strength.”

That just left the question of what to actually do. “We need to go up,” she added, still firing. “Mariette isn’t going to be down here with the fight going on outside.” At the very least going up could let them aid the other assault team, and that would be just as useful. They just had to be careful of one particular detail, as she glanced towards the stairs and the incoming patrol. “I suggest we make our own paths if we can. The stairs are probably booby trapped.” FanFan and Tenebra would be useful for that, the only question was whether the walls out here were as reinforced as the ones in the Void Room had been.

For now her Third Eye activated as she scanned the walls, searching their immediate area to see if there was anything worth investigating first. With her bow at the ready, she prepared to hit the patrol the second they rounded the corner.

_{@Ariamis@Ponn@PlatinumSkink@Crusader Lord@Majoras End@AtomicNut}

---

Arriving at their destination, Reaver and Viva would find the occasional mental nudge guiding them in the right direction whenever they became uncertain about the path they were to take next. Eventually they wound up at a train shed, and would find the employee door unlocked to enter inside.

Inside, Louis was waiting for them. But he was not the only one present. The rest of the team undertaking this operation was there, a group of four. One was a busty woman with wild hair, pointed ears, and a long tail. She had on a flashy outfit to go with it, and had several weapons of varying shapes and sizes laid out around her.

Then there was a white haired girl with oversized ears, a fluffy tail, and an outfit that shifted between white and black and was very elaborate to watch in how it seemed to draw attention everywhere. She held a glimmer in her eye, one that spoke to the animal nature lurking beneath the surface as she eyed the newcomers cautiously.

A third girl rested higher up, floating in midair with casual ease. Though her hair was also a light grey, her eyes glowed with an offputting red color, though they might not notice her at first. But she certainly noticed them, and a smirk played across her features as she looked over the duo. “Oh, now things are getting interesting~”

Lastly a boy was off to the side, flipping a coin like some sort of discount Two-Face knockoff. You know, if Two-Face had magic powers. And wings. He also had red hair, with a long ponytail, and a generic green military outfit. But just like the previous girl, it would be easy to miss him if one was not paying attention.

With Reaver and Viva entering, Louis looked over to them and nodded. “Good, you’re here. Now we can begin.” He pointed to the first girl with blond hair. “Reaver, this is Seppa. She’ll be running distraction of Penny with you. You don’t have to die for the cause, just stall her as long as possible.”

Looking to Viva, he then gestured to the remaining trio in order. “Viva, these are Alma, Varjo, and Ilmarinen. You’ll be going with them to infiltrate the Sanctuary and make a mess of things for the daring rescue.”

Smiling warmly, Varjo clasped her hands together as she looked down at Viva, with a possessive look in her eye that all but reeked of danger. There was something wrong about her, and she made no effort to hide that fact. “Oh, you’re so cute! We’re going to have a lot of fun playing together Miss.”

Meanwhile, Seppa picked up a couple items and stepped over to Reaver. She handed him one after the other, while at the same time looking into his eyes. “Here. This one is a reinforced shield, and the spear drains Lightning magic and other forms of electricity. I made them myself, so you can be sure they’re the best quality. Just keep in mind that it’s a loan, nothing more. If they come out of the fight in one piece then I’m going to want them back, got it?”

_{@AtomicNut@Shifter_Master}

With Sonia’s help, Tenebra was able to create a rather crude, but nonetheless effective, portal. Unfortunately, before anyone standing on Ronin’s barrier platform could make their way through it, a gargantuan tentacle emerged from a portal directly below the barrier and shattered it with a single, mighty blow. Connie yelped in alarm as she and the others fell towards the portal below them. Things were looking exceedingly grim, but then she heard a cheerful voice call out.

“Don’t worry, girls~! Magical Dream Princess is here to save the day~! (giggle!)”

Enlarging her cloud to more than quadruple its normal size, MDP raced over to catch her falling friends and carry them over to where Tenebra and Sonia had made their portal. No small number of writhing hands and tentacles sought to bar their path, but MDP was having none of it.

“You icky wicky tentacle wentacles and handsy wandsies are, like, total wotal meanie weainie heads! Magical Dream Princess thinks you need to go bye bye~! Bye bye~!” she called, while sweeping her wand across the writhing mass. This sent out a mighty wave of rainbow energy, which disintegrated every last one of the twisted appendages in a shower of prismatic sparkles.

After racing through the portal, Sonia quickly closed the spatial tear, but not before a few tentacles managed to poke their way through. Having been severed by the portal’s dissolution, the tendrils squirmed on the floor for a moment, before MDP blasted them with a few glittery beams from her wand.

“Magical Dream Princess said it’s time to go bye bye, you nasty wasty thingie wingies!” She pouted as she finished off the last of The Collector’s severed appendages.

They found themselves in a gothic-style corridor, which branched off at a 90-degree turn to one side of them. For now, they all took a moment to catch their collective breath, before planning their next course of action.

“My sincere thanks, Tenebra,” Gaia said with a smile after they had made it safely through the silver-haired girl’s portal. “I, for one, did not wish to remain in that chamber of horrors a moment longer than I had to.”

“S-S-Same h-here,” a trembling Connie agreed, while clinging tightly to Gaia.

“And my thanks to you as well, your Highness,” the verdant magical girl added, while turning to face MDP. “If not for your timely rescue, I fear that very few of us would be standing here. I am truly in your debt.”

“Like, Magical Dream Princess was super duper happy wappy to helpsie welpsie~! (giggle!)” the childish magical girl replied with a big smile. “If her friendsie wendsies are in trouble wouble, she’ll, like, always be there for them~! That’s, like, her super duper pinky winky promise~! (giggle!)”

Before anything more could be said, bolts of energy started flying their way. The source of the attack was soon revealed as a series of gun turrets emplaced in the corridor walls. Ronin was quick to put up barriers to deflect the shots that might have struck Connie, Gaia, or MDP, but she couldn’t block them all, and her barrier couldn’t hold out for long… Thankfully, Alicia skillfully dispatched most of the turrets with several precise shots from her bow, while Ronin managed to slice another apart with her sword. As soon that had been dealt with, another threat made itself known: the sound of an approaching monster patrol. While the others prepared to engage them the moment they rounded the corner ahead, Gaia raised an elegant hand, calling for attention.

“If I may be so bold,” the verdant magical girl began, “Perhaps my dearest Connie would be best suited to seeing off these adversaries?”

“I-I’ve, uh, b-been g-getting b-better w-with my n-nightmare m-magic,” the masked girl explained. “S-So, um, m-maybe I c-can s-scare t-them off, s-so we w-won’t h-have t-to f-fight t-them…”

If everyone is in agreement, Connie will send a medium strength nightmare pulse in the direction of the approaching patrol, causing the monsters to experience their deepest fears/nightmares and hopefully run off.

Aurelio, Aurelio and Aurelio all kept to their respective tasks as the slow grind of the assault continued on. No longer afforded the luxury of thinking over what it was he was stuck doing he just kept on doing what he did best, supporting his side of the conflict.

Rage stayed near Kimble as burning red started to leak off of him. “Eyes on the prize, thinking is going to get rough.” He warned as he placed a hand on her shoulder from that point of contact Kimble would feel the fiery Rage that was the core of this clone’s existence flow into her and from there it would flow into her windstorm granting it the strength of their Anger. In fact, Kimble’s cyclone would start to draw in the anger of everyone on the battlefield or at least everyone that Aurelio had marked with his Magician’s mark. For everyone else, the wind would seem to ignite as swirls of red blead into it along with blistering heat.

Disgust would give Hyun a quick check to make sure she was alright before tailing after the Remorhaz, tossing blob of acidic sludge at things the semi-controlled monster was about to hit, weakening the targets to make the beast rampage even more effective. He would drop everything to try and intercept the blast of magic headed towards Hyun however. Even if it meant giving up its life.

The real Aurelio stayed in his cloaked state, but let all of his other illusions drop. The amount of support he could give and still stay relevant was not an easy line to walk. But with two Emoti-clones out and about he had to be careful about not expending too much Mana. Still he stayed with the Pack of Canaries doing his best to shield everyone he could without burning himself out which was much easier said than done. Neverthe less he made sure to stay in communication with Elora, giving her updates on what all of him was up to and an idea of how their side was doing with his Marks. If she needed him to move somewhere to act, he would.

And yet further still in the background of all of this there were still a few Clones simply evacing those who couldn’t be expected to assist anymore.

---

Viva turned her attention towards the floating girl as she slowly let her own twisted smile play across her lips “You’re not too bad on the eyes yourself.” She would reply giving Varjo a slow once over. “Shame we can’t play with each other too well, I only bite if you ask~” her smile was all teeth which would shift to being a maw of razor-sharp fangs for a moment. Viva always enjoyed those who never hid who they were, the air of danger surrounding Varjo acting more as a siren call for her then a warning.

Regardless she turned her attention towards the other members who were going to be joining her for this foray into chaos creation. The boy, got a simple once over but an appreciated look at his wings. The last girl, Alma, Viva had to hold back from licking her lips at the appraisal. She was everything that Viva loved in a woman, but now was not the time for play. Later perhaps.

Instead she would force her attention towards Seppa “You wouldn’t have anything else on offer for loan would you?” Viva would ask with a raised eyebrow “Something to manipulate water or ice would be rather helpful down in the sewers after all” She would add. It was a valid point but only half the reason why the dark nurse asked. Her weakness to flames needed something to address it, as she wouldn’t be surprised to learn of at least one girl within the Sanctuary that was capable of wielding such an element.

Hilaria was obviously accustomed to the chaos and brutality of war and combat, but that did not mean seeing girls be critically injured right in front of her didn't affect the ancient girl. It mildly upset her as each dead girl meant one less person she could enjoy the post-battle meal with, and that was perhaps the most important thing to her right now as she didn't care who won this battle, only favoring Mariette because that's who she was contracted to assist.

Outwardly, Hilaria retained her sanguine demeanor despite the cries and wailing from those who had been injured by the scatter-spear, or whatever it was supposed to be. She felt she probably didn't need to worry too much about herself -- those attacks sacrificed penetrating power for a larger area of effect and less predictable angles, which meant they would be less viable against an armored opponent, like herself. That said, not everyone was built to be a mobile wall, so she would have to look out for others instead. If only she had a skillset better for the situation right now.

Helewisa's kit was suited more for preventing damage than repairing it, so she wasn't exactly useful when it came to mid-combat healing or providing relief for those who had been hurt. Magic was often more potent and versatile and traditional emergency treatment, which was the only thing Hilaria could offer, so she instead focused on the portals. She would not be able to prevent things coming from the portal, but she could meet with any spears that attempted to ricochet off walls with her shield, sparing the others the misfortune of dealing with them. Either way, she gave her assistance to those still in fighting shape, stopping only to thank her companion for the buff. "Hilaria appreciates the help, Lexander~!"

She was now ready for anything they might throw at her. Hilaria was confident that she could hold a tide of them back with proper setup, at least if they acted with their heart instead of their heads. Justine being the kind of being she was would probably also utilize feral beasts with her assault, maybe monsters of some form, but she was prepared. Hilaria has had many years to hone her beast-slaying skills to the point where even hitting a wolf with a greatsword wouldn't be beyond her capabilities, and that was HARD. But, battle was ever-changing and this was no different. All she could do is what she could, no more or less.

Speedwagon'd had enough awareness to hear the turrets come to life in that hallway, but they started firing so quickly that she'd had to use her Reinforcement magic, defending herself and Joanna from the hail of projectiles. When Alicia took out the turrets that'd pinned the group down, Joanna thought she caught a strange expression in Speedwagon's eyes.

When Alicia mentioned booby traps, though, Speedwagon's attention shifted to the stairs. Speedwagon moved towards them, kneeling by the left side of the opening to inspect them more closely. Joanna decided to mirror her, taking up position on the right.

She watched as Speedwagon stared at the steps, sweeping her gaze around before fixing it on an unremarkable spot. "Look here," said Speedwagon. "There's a mark on this step, 'bout the size of a footprint. Looks like it'd have some kind of magical effect, but I don't quite know what. All I know is, we'd be wise not to step there."

Joanna looked closer as Speedwagon pointed. It was hard to see, but since she knew what to look for it merely took her a few seconds. "Do you think it's the only trap?" she asked the older girl.

Speedwagon gave the stairs another once-over. They were wide enough for two people to traverse side by side, but she couldn't spot anything else remarkable. "If there is another one, I can't tell from here," she admitted. "But it seems easily avoidable, provided you know not to step there."

Before Eliza could answer Lily, both of them alongside the rest of the foyer girls received a message from their communicators, causing Lily to lightly yelp, putting a hand over her ear by reflex. She then turned visibly pale in her face, having recognized her Beacon friend’s name as well as Justine’s maid.
”EEH?”
She was shocked by the idea that Alicia would actually work together with Justine. Then again, she was also in an unsure place, trying to find a way to resolve this situation without betraying any of her friends. Then, a new portal opened, causing Lily to jump in place.
”Ah, Mariette?”
However, instead of leading back to her office like she assumed, it lead to Alex and Hilaria, who were working hard to ensure the integrity of their battlefront. Then Mariette called out again, issuing an order to prepare a combined attack.
”Got it!” She replied with a nod, and ran through the portal, taking her position alongside the other ranged magical girls. She drew out her magical bow Ramuh, it’s electrical bowstring crackling with energy as she pulled it back.
Now that she was with Alex again, feeling his barrier embrace her again, her resolve was tempered. Her eyes glowed as she prepared her Barrage of paralyzing lightning arrows.

”Ready to fire!”

She would fight anyone, even the Beacon, in order to stop further bloodshed.

---

“Nghhh!”
As Justine’s forces drew near the front door of the mansion, Kimble struggled to keep up the protective barrier of wind, her teeth gritted as she held her hands outwards. “Just a bit more, Kimble!” Sally called out to her as she blasted at the few remaining enemies on their way, while Hyun Long blasted the last of the remaining snow blocking their path; she raised an eyebrow; the winds were beginning to gather stronger around them.
“You don’t need to make it stronger; it now starts to be difficult to move.”
Kimble groaned in response to Rage’s warning.
“‘I know! It’s just...Someone’s making a bigger storm!”

Aurelio continued advancing forward invisibly, keeping Elora updated on the situation. That was when Elora suddenly spoke back: “I’m detecting a spike in magical activity, centered on your location! Get out of there!”
A few seconds after, Su finished casting her great conjuration spell, and formed Feilian, a massive hurricane that dwarfed Kimble’s Cyclogenesis, so powerful it could lift the magical girls off their feet and shoot them up into the sky. Justine was unable to resist the howling gust as it caught on her leathery bat wings, and she was flung up the whirlwind.
”NOO! CURSES!”
Aurelio managed to barely escape by leaping to the side, having managed to escape using Elora’s warning.
The thralls were swept up into the air, only one of them managing to escape using Gravity magic. The support Red Nest and gunner Red Nest were caught by the storm, and struck by a chunk of ice that the storm had picked up. The chain-wielding Red Nest avoided the same fate by grappling a dead remorhaz and holding on to it, digging his heels in as he slowly pulled himself into cover. Sally was there, having been fortunate enough to find herself at the best spot in the battlefield. However, as she held onto the still-hot spikes, she grunted from pain. “Oh well, should have brought my mittens with me.”
Hyun Long however did not fare as well, having been lifted up, until she was rescued by the combined magic of Kimble and Rage.

“Cycloexodus!”

Kimble called out, and melded the clone’s Emotion spell into her Cyclogenesis, turning it red and allowing it to expand in it’s influence of gathering the magical energy of everyone’s rage in their radius, funnelling it more efficiently into the vortex. In return, Kimble would feel her mana be restored by the emotion magic channeling into her storm, allowing her to resist the Feilian’s crushing pressure for just a moment longer. Kimble had grabbed Hyun Long’s hand before she was swept away, and in turn the Fire magical girl hugged Kimble.
“Thank you Kim-!”
“You can thank me later! Hold on!”
She then made for one last push forwards, attempting to escape from Su’s terrifying twister as her magic was rapidly running out.

They were about to reach the door, when suddenly, the blizzard ended.
“Huh? It’s no longer snowing,” Sally commented obliviously, and Justine screamed while being whisked around:
”It’s a trap! Get out of there, you fools!”
However, that was when Mariette issued her order to fire. A great bombardment of nearly every element of magical arrows, bullets, shells, bolts, javelins, spears, darts and more exploded forth from the open windows of the Artillery Line, painting the air in the colors of a violent, relentless rainbow. Most of the the thralls were gunned down except for two of them including the Gravity girl, as was the support Red Nest, ruthlessly blasted by arcane might.
Sakura continued charging forward with the crazed remorhaz, gnashing her teeth as the beast’s back pained her butt fiercely, burning her lower uniform and forcing her to replace it with Eternal Style before she indecently exposed herself. The beast started to lift up just before she managed to reach the front door, and was shot by Suzette’s ray of power, killing the monster. However, as she saw Lily blasting the monster as well with countless lightning arrows, she got an idea: she began charging herself with the same positive charge as the arrows that were charging the beast. She then released the charge into the monster and punched it rapidly it with all her might.
“FUCK YOUUUUU! ORARARARARARARARARARAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Combined with Lily’s charge, it caused the beast to reject the positive charge by laws of electromagnetism, and launch forward; it left Feilian’s range, and smashed right through the front doors of Mariette’s mansion, the corpse sliding on the marble floor and activating most of the traps there, blowing it to smithereens but opening a path for the others to get through as she fell into the snow.

The gunner Red Nest was heavily wounded, but managed to survive the initial wave; seemingly packing his magic into one last burst, he blasted away at the window and killing eight of the Lesser Magical girls with cursed bullets before he was crushed by one of Taihei’s superheavy lances; Taihei would notice her luck to be more average than usual, and could feel the presence of someone in the distance who was the cause.

Using one Mariette’s vision portals, she could see Sally, who was with the chain Red Nest using the remorhaz’ corpse to absorb most of the projectiles including some of her earth-shaking heavy lances, and were left with minor injuries, aside from an emotion bullet that had struck the agent’s shoulder, causing him to uncharacteristically cry. Sally grit her teeth as she took cover, and took potshots at the window, managing to shoot down a Lesser Magical girl, only to be shot by a lightning arrow right in her chest, shocking her.
“Ahh! Someone’s bringing my luck down to average!” She cried, and then noticed the tiny portal by chance.
There, she saw Taihei’s ugly mug.
“You! You’re the one jinxing me with your horrible bad luck!” She shot at Taihei, causing her Shamrock bullets to hit her right in the cheek; while they failed to penetrate her tough scales, they hurt a lot.

“Damn! Kimble!”
Hyun Long suddenly turned the two so she would take the brunt of the shots as Kimble twisted the wind around them as much as she could, somewhat deflecting glancing shots. However, it was not enough to protect them from the sheer assault, and the Cyclogenesis broke, causing them to drop into the snow right on top of Sakura, bleeding profusely. However, just as Hyun was struck by tullia’s blast of ice, Disgust jumped in front of it, shattering into countless shards of ice as the clone courageously covered for her.
As the barrage continued, Rage was also destroyed, his last moment one of defiance as he used his construct body to protect the girls.
“I’m not...Giving...Up!”
Kimble, still determined to see this through, used a gust of wind to rapidly roll the two of them, forming into a ball of snow that absorbed most of the projectiles aimed at them. By the time it had melted from Mayra’s fireballs, the two had barely managed to reach the side of the mansion beside the front door, smacking against it from the velocity. Kimble blinked with weary eyes, and realized the three found themselves in shelter from the barrage.
“Oof...We...Did it, Hyun, Sakura, we survived...” Kimble then glanced at Hyun, and her eyes widened; she was like a pincushion, with numerous arrows and bolts stuck to the back of her body.
“Ngh…” Hyun groaned, holding her stomach; blood could be seen dripping from between her fingers..
“Hyun! Hold on!” She shouted over the roaring storm in a panic.
However, Hyun was calm.
“Kimble...I trust you...Alicia...everyone...Will see this through...”
She coughed blood. Kimble’s lips trembled, but Hyun shook her head. “Don’t worry, this is...Nothing. If it wasn’t for Aurelio, I...Might have died.”
As if on cue, Aurelio had appeared next to them, having managed to traverse the deadly gauntlet with only a few bullet and arrow wounds thanks to his cloaking and the lack of a snowstorm.
“Of course you made it too, huh?” She coughed again.

Justine screamed as she was swept up by the winds, her face gnarled knowing she would be unable to dodge the coming barrage. But then, she suddenly felt a serene air about her, and realized she was no longer in the storm. In fact, she now felt a familiar hand holding hers, no longer affected by Feilian.
”My Lady! Are you hurt?”
Justine was at first astounded, only to quickly shift to a fanged smile.
”Not as much as they will be~ My dear Sonia, let us strike upon them with with the terror of my wrath.”
Sonia nodded, a smile on her lips.
”Very well.”
Sonia teleported the two of them right up to the open windows of the Artillery Line, having summoned a shield beforehand that magically projected a simple forward-facing barrier. It would only last a second against the sheer firepower of the Artillery Line. But a second would be all Justine would need to take, as she held her palms cupped open, a look of utter malice on her face.

”Cross of Golgata -RE:BLOOD-”

Justine launched a sphere of crimson red into the Artillery Line corridor, and was immediately teleported high up into the sky after releasing it, suffering minor injuries from the few projectiles that had managed to wound her. The moment she was out, the blood in the sphere collapsed, exposing a black crystal that detonated with tremendous force, unleashing red beams of searing magical energy in every direction. The beams pierced the magically strengthened floor and walls of the mansion, and practically crumbled the entire corridor as it was turned into melted swiss cheese; Mariette would recognize this to be the same type that had destroyed her old Interdimensional Apartment. Out of all the magical girls, 13 remained alive including Lily and Mariette’s major girls, mostly thanks to Alex and Hilaria’s efforts to defend them while supported by Ronja and Eli’s protective magic; Hilaria had managed to bear the brunt of the attack as she succeeded in protecting Alex while he had granted her the protection she needed to hold her shield up, their combined iron will and astounding endurance having won out over the vampire girl’s sorcerous might.

However, just as Hilaria had predicted, Justine had one more surprise up her sleeve.
Combining her magic with Sonia’s, the two of them summoned a large, dark portal. Justine then spread her arms up as she intoned:
”Come to me, Father’s blessed, for I call you forth to feast on pure blood. Heed me, Greater Gorelions!”
From the dark portal, four large monsters dropped down with a floor-shaking rumble, landing through the open ceiling into the confined corridors of the former Artillery Line, forcing the people there to dodge out of the way and causing Hilaria and Lily to split from Alex to different sides of the corridor. Alex immediately recognized the monsters from the last time he had fought against Justine as one now stood in his way, blocking the way.


However, he could tell the monsters were different; they were equipped with bulky obsidian-colored armor that clearly slowed them down, but granted them more protection, as evident when a Lesser Magical girl before him struck it with her hammer, only to receive a slight dent before she was stabbed by the abomination’s harpoon tongue and swiftly devoured, dragged into it’s impenetrably dark maw.

”Ahhh!” Lily cried as she fell, and Hilaria saw why; she was stepped on by a Greater Gorelion facing her, who then shot it’s barbed tongue right at Hilaria, lodging it into her shield. The tongue then began to rapidly retract, failing to pull Hilaria off her feet. The other two Greater Gorelions behind the initial two also shot their harpoon tongues, angling them above the ones before them so they would curve and drop down, hitting a barrier on Alex’ side and and a gunner Lesser Magical girl right through her stomach on Hilaria’s side before they retracted, lifting the impaled girl up like a hooked fish.

”Remember my little pets, Mariette? Father gave me new ones just for you!” Justine taunted from high up.
”Now, stop playing games and come out! You can’t hide forever!”

---

“WHOAAAAHH!” Helga exclaimed in surprise as the Feilian formed, looking slightly disoriented as she flew upside down in the enormous tornado. “I didn’t know you could do something so powerful!” She yelled, and afterwards nodded as Su gave her orders. “Got it! Sonar Flare!”
She clapped her palms together, creating a sound-detecting field around her and Su that reached for a good distance. Mere seconds after casting it, Helga gasped upon seeing Justine perform her devastating spell. “It’s Justine!” She called out so Su. “She’s at the windows with Sonia!” She blasted her way towards her with her claws, ready to strike, only to see them suddenly disappear thanks to Sonia and reappear far above them.
”Damn it, you’re not running from me!” She yelled, and used Su’s Feilian to rapidly rise up for an uppercut. However, Justine summoned her trademark spear, and parried the blow.
”Well, if it isn’t Helga. So you have chosen to ally with Mariette? It seems some things never change~”

“That’s because I got to choose this time, Justine!” Helga yelled, and blasted at her with her sonic cannons, only for Sonia to avoid the attack with a teleport.
“Why are you after Mariette? Just for revenge?”
Justine swiped at Helga with the spear, and she parried it with her claws, causing sparks to fly.
”Because she destroyed Penrose, you fool! I won’t let her get away with that! Revenge is simply the cherry on top.”
Helga was stunned. “What? She never-”
That was when Sonia delivered a sudden kick, knocking Helga away.
”Enough of you, simpleton.”

---

At Mariette’s office, Dina’s summoned monsters quickly spread to all floors of the mansion thanks to Esther’s passages, causing disturbing noises of creaking wood to resound in the entire mansion alongside the slight noises of scraping feet, fluttering wings, and stomping hooves. Afterwards, Josefin provided the Beast girl with a new supply of magical power, allowing her to summon forth two new additions to Mariette’s defenses. Josefin also charged Mariette, but it wasn’t enough to fully revitalize the dark magical girl after the deluge of portals she had conjured for her Artillery strike.

“Come forth, Queen of Tundra Plains,” the cat-eared noble intoned, and from a magic circle a kitsune appeared; with the unearthly elegance and beauty of a human woman dressed in a provocative Japanese kimono that showed ample cleavage and thigh, one could miss the two fluffy white fox tails swishing from her back as well as the ears that flicked above her head. The monster lifted the back of her hand up to her mouth in a mocking laugh.

"OHOHOHOHO! So you come to grovel for me to help you? How laughable!"

Dina scrunched up her nose; as much as she loathed having to bring in someone as pompous as irritable as a kitsune was, she could not deny how capable they were in the ways of magic.
They were very high maintenance for a monster, even higher than herself, but they were needed.

“Listen, I need you to-”

“Bow before me!” The kitsune demanded, pointing at a downward angle with her long-nailed finger. “And pay your respects to your mistress!”

Dina sighed. “You’re just a two-tails. You have no right to-”

"OHOHOHOHO” she laughed again. “it's still better than being a mangy flat catgirl!"
Dina’s eye twitched as she held in her anger, causing the kitsune to giggle. “Oh, did that upset you? Ah, I am amused. So, do you have any cute men to offer to me? My services don’t come cheap, you know~”

Dina resolved herself, and spoke again: “If you aid us in repelling the intruders downstairs, I will let you play with the minotaurs. Sold?”

The kitsune’s sharp teeth flashed in her mouth as she grinned. “Sold.”

She waved her hand at Mariette, and sunk down into the floor. “Toodle-doo~” She playfully bid goodbye as she disappeared. Afterwards, Dina summoned a scorpion man; the large monster’s mandibles clacked as it bowed in respect to Dina.
“Your orders are to guard Mariette,” she pointed with her finger to the dark magical girl, “and to prevent anyone from entering the room unless she or I allow it.”

The scorpion man slammed the bottom end of his spear against the floor in acknowledgement, and took up a guarding position at the entrance to the room, spear held at the ready, pincher claws opened and stinger tail reared back to strike.

---

Tenebra smiled, grateful for the kind words Gaia and Connie gave to her. “It was nothing, haah...” She answered, still amazed at the magical power she experienced from Sonia’s assistance. “But it looks like we got company~”
Just as she pointed them out, turrets activated, and began shooting at the team. Ronin swiftly dispatched the one right next to them, while ‘Mariette’ dashed south with two katanas, slicing the turret there into pieces, though not without incurring some light injuries in the process.
‘Just like I thought, we gotta keep moving.’
‘Eli’ charged east, having summoned her metallic arms to block the light shots headed their way and allowing the group to advance north towards the staircase without too much damage, her chrome finish dissipating most of the weak light magic.
Tenebra followed behind until they turned north and saw yet another turret, and then sent her Eyes of The Cosmos to attack it; the magical drones flew around, confusing the turret, before shooting the turret down with magical blasts.

However, just as they were done dealing with the turrets, they saw a congregation of monsters arrive down the stairs; kobolds, fairies, and a minotaur included among them. However, the team had prepared ahead of time, and the moment Connie saw them, she unleashed a nightmarish spell of fear, pulsing out like a wave of cackling ghosts. The pulse struck the monsters, causing the kobolds and fairies to flee in terror, screaming their little lungs out as they did so. However, the minotaur, while visibly frightened, managed to resist the mental effects of the spell, and charged forward, axe brought up for a downward strike. However, before it struck, ‘Eli’ managed to parry the strike by slamming the palms of her robotic arms against the sides of the axeblade, stopping it.
‘Too slow, nosering!’ FanFan taunted, and performed a spell with her real hands, transforming the metal of the axe into a set of shackles that bound the minotaur’s arms to its body. ‘Go on ahead!’ She yelled to the others.

The Infiltration team moved up the stairs. However, Speedwagon was able to detect a lone trap on their way using her Awareness, likely set up by the monster group before them, and were able to swiftly pass by it without putting themselves in danger. They then found themselves at what clearly looked like the ground floor of the mansion, specifically the foyer; a beautiful marble-floored room, with a wide staircase at the center of the room that narrowed as it leads to the upper portion of the foyer. A magnificent chandelier hangs from the wooden ceiling, decorated with countless tiny mirrors. Various paintings are set to the wooden walls, depicting Asengav’s chosen.
There are doors to the north, west, and by peeking over the stairway, also to the east. The biggest door is to the south, clearly the exit out of the building.



However, before they could get a better look around, the door suddenly broke open, as the corpse of a horrible lizard-like monster slid into the room. The moment it did, various traps both mundane and magical activated, blowing it up and making a complete mess of the room.
‘I guess we’re going to the highest floor unless you have a better idea, Alicia,’ ‘Mariette’ suggested.

---

At the Sanctuary, Belladonna calmed as Penny spoke to her in a soothing voice, claiming she understood due to her former monstrous woes. A tear swept down her cheek as Penny recognized the pains she had went through and spared her from a death penalty.
“Th-Thank you, queen,” she answered hesitantly, unsure what would happen since she claimed she couldn’t be released either. She never saw any prisons here, so she wondered what would happen. Then, Penny brought up a question she didn’t expect, causing her to blink with a slack jaw.

“Huh? Purification?” The crowd started mumbling, seemingly concerned with Penny’s suggestion.
“I-I thought that was just Beacon bullshit, just some brainwashing thing they use to ‘fix’ us. But, if it really stops the hunger...” She sighed, and looked up at her with a tired smile.
“I guess I could try it. I don’t like it, but...Guess it’s not too bad if you think it’s a good idea.”
Goblina smiled, pleased with the way that Penny found a solution. “Are you now ready with your verdict, Your Highness?” She asked.

---

Reaver smiled, and gracefully bowed before the Mint operatives.
“It is my pleasure to meet all you lovely ladies...And him too, I suppose,” he added, glancing at Ilmarinen with a look of indifference.
He listened as Louis briefed them on the mission details, and nodded approvingly when he was assigned as Seppa’s partner, especially once she brought out the weapons. “Ooh, very nice. Thank you very much for these.” He winked, picking up the spear and shield.
“But I wonder...Since you are an artisan at craft, do you also enjoy making toys? If you ever want to test them out, I would love to lend you a supporting hand in sorting out any kinks in them.”

---

Rachel was pleased to see the Howell twins agree with her command, even if reluctantly, and even managed a slight smile of joy as they left her office, something that was rare for the Inquisitor to express. Meanwhile, outside the Beacon HQ, the guards greeted Summer, noting how an unknown magical girl was with them.
“Who have you brought with you, Summer?” One asked, while another approached them.
“What business do you have with Beacon?” The other asked Oros in a neutral voice.

Despite his best efforts, people were still dying. While Alexander was able to patch up anyone who his clones could drag to him, sometimes they didn't make it that far. Some were killed as his clones tried to drag them back for aid, and some were just outright killed. 'Dammit! This is insane! How long have we been at this, it feels like hours.' At the very least, Hilaria was fine...strangely so in fact. While she did get hurt, it seemed to take awhile for her wounds to build up, and he was able help her natural regeneration when they started to get to be too much. They were never severe enough that he needed to work up close. Alexander was starting to fall into a sort of lull as he reapplied forcefields, barriers, buffs, on top of healing. A lull that was broken by a familiar face "Lily!" on instinct, he slapped a forcefield and quick buff on her as well, before she began unleashing a storm of arrows. With that (along with a sudden surge in firepower from their side), Alexander took some time to catch his breath and recover what magic he could "Fuck...this has been going on for so long"

His body was starting to cool down from all the magic he had been using, when a strange red orb crashed into the assault line. The red part melted away to reveal a black crystal "Duck!" Alexander instinctually cried out as he threw up a barrier between him and it, as well as a bunch of other barriers surrounding it. Seconds later, it detonated, energy beams flying out like shrapnel and managing to cause significant damage to the room. His barriers managed to hold up for a few seconds under the assault, but eventually fell. "Fuck...since when were magic magical grenades a thing!?" he complained as he got to his feet when it was done. Before he had even finished standing up though, four very familiar looking huge beasts fell on them. "...Fuck" This was the closest he had ever been to these things before while they were alive, and they looked like they had gotten an upgrade or two. He put up a barrier, and began charging it with magic to toughen it up. Not even a second latter, one of their tongues jabbed said barrier, but was thankfully deflected. "They...they're trying to eat us alive" He realized as he noticed a girl speared on one of them flying into the mouth of one of those beasts like a snack.

And after all the blood and death that he had seen today, this was the straw that broke the camel's back, because something inside of Alexander snapped "That DOES IT!" The beast half of his magic flared in response to his anger, and outfit to his beast enhanced form. Acting quick, he ran around his barrier to the giant lion tongue that had tried to spear him. It hadn't retracted yet, so he had time to reach out and grab it. Moving his staff over to his mouth and holding it in-between his teeth, he squeezed the tongue with his now free hand, right before it started to retract. He took of like a jet, being dragged towards the waiting mouth of the monster. All the while, his anger grew, and as his Reinforcement and Beast magic flared in response, his body started to change. He angled his sword just right, so that when he got pulled in, it would stab the beast in the head. However, tongues aren't the easiest things to hold on to, so his grip failed him right before impact. This threw off his aim, and he was only able to cut into it's side "Fuck! Guess I have to do this the hard way" He readied his wand in his other hand and grew a barrier sword out of it, and charged at his foe.

@FamishedPants

The roof managed to survive Justine’s attack, and the tower had no problem sustaining a an indirect blow. It could withstand multiple shots from just about everything, save a direct hit from a killing blow.

”I imagine the li’l bastards are going to start piling through the front before long.” Viridian was sitting on top of the radio tower, one leg folded over the other. ”You can do what you like Mariette, but it might be a good idea to show yourself. Sonia ain’t faster than Silhouette, and dividing Justine’s attention could lead to her downfall. But I gotta stress that you’ve done a knock up job so far, so go with your gut!”

@PlatinumSkink@Ariamis@FamishedPants@Majoras End



When Su swept up Justine’s “canaries,” she attempted to fire them back and away from the mansion. They were mostly just a distraction, and she wouldn’t outright kill another magical girl if she didn’t have to.

Somewhere along the way, there had to be some confusion, because Su ended up Leeroy Jenkinsing that shit. Which wouldn’t have been that bad, actually. But Half way through Su’s attack, Mariette called for the storm to end.

“Well, that’s unfortunate...”

Without the other storm, Feilian had weakened significantly. Su had some of the strongest magic around, but what made the storm so destructive was how the cold and warm air fed each other, not to mention the asteroid-sized hail it would eventually generate. Feilian no longer had this benefit. It prooved to be the perfect time for Sonia and Justine to strike.

“I feel like if this was a just cause, you’d have less people people trying to defend Mariette. ” Arguing with the horror-serving girl was pointless. It was possible she wasn’t even in control of her own actions. Just another puppet dancing to a horror’s tune.

Feilian dispersed in an instant, and Su rushed to catch Helga.

“Mariette? I could use an extraction.”

Of course, Su couldn’t fully slow down Helga. Not without a serious expendature of mana that was dangerous with two opponents in close proximity. But they would be saved as they rebounded off the head of a giant dandelion. It acted like a spring, allowing Su and Helga to bounce harmlessly back into the air.

”Better make good on my promise to Eliza.” Trixy had lost a few clones when Justine’s attack pierced the roof, but all and all she was in great shape. She dove off the side of the mansion and coasted on a vine straight to ground level. Dusty remained on top. This time, they focused their fire on the remaining weretigers.

[@Ihavenoideawhototaglolz]

---

Mac wasn't a huge fan of the retreat strategy, but she'd use her gravity magic to give everyone a bit more time to escape, and maybe help Trixy polish off those tigers if she needed it.

Is what she'd think if smacking that gorelion wasn't more appealing!

---

“Wow! How many months is it going to take to get to the fuckin' good part?” Oros died a little inside. But that had more to do with the fact that their patron was incapable of double checking before posting even a few sentences.

“Alright, I'm busy, so let's make this quick.” Oros pointed at her face. “I want to weaponize my nose!”

@DarkwolfX37

Summer felt a new voice in her head. It was like a string-phone, a vibration traveling into her head. So she grabbed the "string" and talked back through it. "This is..." Summer paused as she looked at her new... companion? No, looked past her, before responding. "This is Oros, apparently. She needs some help? I don't really know what's going on here, but she seems to be-" She cut herself off. Perhaps it was best not to say that. Then Oros said something.

“Alright, I'm busy, so let's make this quick.” Oros pointed at her face. “I want to weaponize my nose!”

Weaponize her what? What was that supposed to mean. Well, she asked for it. Summer pulled out a small pirate's ship cannon from her hammerspace bag, grabbed Oros' nose and twisted it until it unscrewed. Then she screwed on the cannon. "Like that?"

@twave@BrokenPromise

---

Shion found herself at the sanctuary she was directed to. "Hello!?" she called out.