Ateia managed to help Agedia to her room once she started to calm down. She then went to kitchen with Taog as planned and they found some bread for a quick snack. At that point, the fatigue made itself apparent, so they turned in for the night.

The next morning, everyone but NSLICE-00P and Ateia woke up late. Ateia glanced around as she, NSLICE-00P, and 00B were the only people in the dining room at first. Eventually, Taog shuffled in while yawning, and Agedia just groaned and held her head as she slowly slithered to the table.

The group finished breakfast in silence, then moved to a private room. Agedia took a deep breath.

“Ok, now that Ateia’s condition is stable, we should probably think of our next move. Consul Hiberius may owe you, shiny girl, but he’s also a strict and crafty dog who guided the Senate for years. Once the debt is paid, you better believe he’ll be keeping count, so we shouldn’t overstay our welcome.”

“Acknowledged. Statement: Hostile forces with effective means against this unit remain at large, and this unit is unable to determine their location at present. This unit intends to withdraw to a secure home base until the targets are located and effective countermeasures are developed.”

Ateia frowned at that.

“Seero…are you ok with putting your quest on hold?”

“Explanation: The threat of termination to this unit and friendly units is currently at unacceptable levels and would hamper the primary directive. Addendum: Current efforts to pursue the primary directive via the Empire’s assets are predicted as having a low probability of success, and this unit’s personal investigations can continue in any location. As a result, this unit has concluded that terminating the threat is a higher-priority task.”

Agedia crossed her arms and frowned. She took a deep breath.

“What about you, Ateia? I know what my uncle said at first…but under the circumstances I believe he would be willing to tell you where your father went. It is no longer possible for you to remain safe in anonymity, and if those demon-lovers are still active in the North, your father would need to be informed regardless.”

Ateia bit her lip.

“I…”

She closed her eyes and went silent for a moment. Taog frowned.

“Ateia?”

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

“…I didn’t just want to find my father. The reason I searched so hard for him…was because I wanted to repair our broken family, and go back to the way things were.”

Her eyes moistened slightly.

“That…isn’t possible anymore, it seems. Maybe…it was never possible.”

She wiped her eyes. She looked at Taog, and NSLICE-00P, smiling at them both.

“But…things have changed. We’re not stuck in the village anymore. We have friends now, and I have a pretty good idea of why my father left us behind. So…”

She took a deep breath and then made eye contact with Agedia.

“I still want to see my father again someday. But I will not risk my friends on that quest any longer. From now on, I want to focus on the people who are here, and not the ones who aren’t.”

Agedia took a breath of her own and then slowly nodded. Ateia’s eyes narrowed.

“And…I want to burn that Aesdes-forsaken cult to the ground.”

Agedia and Taog’s eyes narrowed at that. Ateia paused, tilted her head, and then turned to NSLICE-00P.

“Um…if that’s ok with you, Seero, that is. Um…it looks like…I’m your subordinate now, or something?”

“Affirmative. Affirmative Statement: This unit has already stated termination of the hostile force is now a significant priority.”

Agedia scowled.

“I’ve wanted to murder those apocalyptic maniacs for years.”

She turned to Ateia and her expression wavered.

“And…I won’t let them touch you again.”

Taog nodded as well.

“You know I’m with you wherever you go, Ateia. And well...what they've done to you, neither my mom or my dad would have taken that sitting down. So I won't either.”

The group turned to Estrith. She glanced around at them.

“What? You Imperials want me to speak as well?”

She sighed.

“Imperials. Always making things so complicated.”

She bared her fangs and saluted to NSLICE-00P in Dobhar fashion.

“It is a given that we should slay our foes. Say the word and I shall bring you their heads, My Queen.”

B rose to his feet and roared at that. Ateia smiled.

Then…her robotic eye started flickering. Ateia’s organic eye blinked.

She hadn’t noticed it before…but she could hear other voices as well…

In the hangar, 01R and the other monsters began to shout.

“Yes yes! We will murder-slay all who dare strike at you, Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen. So swear-vows this 01R!”

All the other monsters cried out their agreement…save the rat monster Snuan, who was trying to slowly and quietly back away from the crowd, and the former dungeon-masters in their own rooms. Even 02S giggled as she imagined all the things she would do to those horrid man-things.

As for the dungeon masters…

Lilussees frowned. Mostly at being awake, but also for other reasons. She rubbed her mandibles.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“Well, like, I guess I did want to try man-flesh at some point, or something. And it’d be, like, hard to sleep if some crazy humans keep interrupting. So, like, I guess we should kill them, or something.”

In his own room, Rattingtale rubbed his paws. Once upon a time, he would have been overjoyed to learn there was some group capable of threatening the boss-queen.

But now? Now he had realized…and accepted…that his survival was contingent on the boss-queen’s protection.

So…it would be in his best interests to ensure they didn’t ambush her again.

Then he froze.

“Wait wait…the boss-queen is strong…but these foes are clever-tricky, yes yes. The boss-queen…will need clever-tricky allies to defeat-destroy them, yes yes…”

Slowly, he began to smile. Perhaps he had a way to earn the boss-queen’s favor after all?

As for the metal slime Melion, they were occupied working on some wires, attempting to form one of those ‘electrical circuits’ NSLICE-00P had described, and so didn’t actually notice any of this. But if they had…well, killing threatening humans is a given!

At that moment, a woman opened the door to the room, carrying a tray of teacups. She smiled softly at the group, and made eye contact with Ateia.

“It seems you have decided what to do from now on?”

Ateia nodded back.

“Yes. Thank you for all your help, Miss…”

Ateia’s eyes widened slightly and then she flushed.

“Um, I’m sorry but…it seems I never got your name.”

The woman chuckled at that, before tilting her head, and then nodding.

“Yes, I suppose now is a good time to introduce myself.”

She placed the tray on the table and took a step back. She waved her hand and a barrier surrounded the room. NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye narrowed on her, while Agedia and Estrith both stood to their feet. 00B growled and moved in front of Ateia. The woman smiled at them.

“Not bad reflexes, but unnecessary. Fear not, I am only ensuring our privacy, for what you learn next should not leave this room. That goes for all you watching from the hangar, as well.”

With that, the woman began to glow, flooding the room with golden and silver light. She grew taller, and the small wrinkles in her face smoothed out. Her hair grew longer, and turned golden. Her humble servant’s clothing turned into robes of shimmering silver, a golden sword appeared on her back, and a crown of leaves formed around her head. An aura of light remained around her.

The hearts of Taog, Agedia, and Estrith pounded. NSLICE-00P’s organic components felt as if there was a software intrusion, yet reported that it did not appear hostile. Her cybernetic half could only perceive a great deal of non-standard energy readings, at magnitudes that indicated a concerning level of power.

And Ateia’s eyes went as wide as they could go as her visible organic parts began to glow slightly.

“I am Colleöne, Lady of Courage and Victory, She Who Guides the Champions of the World. I am known as Victoria in the Imperial tongue and as Ardith among the Dobhar.”

As the group froze solid, Colleöne turned to Ateia and smiled softly.

“And…I am your kin, Ateia. Though it is not under the most pleasant of circumstances for you, it is my joy to be able to meet one of my descendants in-person. I have been sent to guide you, the newest of the Aesdes, the one who still walks the world.”

Ateia stared at her, blinking for a moment. Then her face turned expressionless.

“Warning: Blood levels among organic processing hardware have dropped below acceptable limits. Initiating emergency standby-sentry mode.”

Emperor Lucius stared blankly. He was currently sitting on his throne, surrounded by Senators, the majority of which were shouting at either him or each other.

Things…were not going well.

Magister Appius had explained the situation to him almost immediately after he had become aware of it. Apparently, Consul Noxisius had ambushed NSLICE-00P with a request for reconciliation, reportedly banishing her to the Realms of Mana, and then making some sort of play in his own home. Given the heavy mana signatures detected in Corvanus that night, it had likely been some sort of ritual that would have done terrible things, at a time when most of Corvanus’s troops were away.

In the worst case, perhaps he knew how to create corrupted dungeons, or something worse, and would have done so that night. The only thing that was clear was that Consul Noxisius was almost certainly a member of their mysterious, and apparently deadly, cult.

Then, NSLICE-00P had somehow returned from the Realms of Mana on her own, and responded to the situation in the only way a reasonable person of her might possibly could.

By wiping Consul Noxisius from the sight of the Aesdes. Along with his entire villa.

That wasn’t a pleasant situation but one Emperor Lucius could approve of. Consul Noxisius being a member of a doomsday cult trying to destroy the Empire and beyond was not a situation the Emperor of the North was capable of dealing with. He was practically a figurehead, removing a Consul was not within his power, even if he could prove the allegations. So he couldn’t complain if NSLICE-00P had taken it upon herself to annihilate the problem.

The next problem was that there were a great many Senators who would.

“Your Majesty, this…this barbarian attacked the leader of the Senate’s home, right in the heart of our capital! This…this cannot go unanswered!”

Emperor Lucius held back a sigh.

“An investigation of the circumstances is underway.”

The Senator’s face went red.

“Investigation?! What sort of investigation is necessary?! She burned his house to the ground! There were no survivors, not even the night custodians made it out of there! The Consul himself is still missing! Likely fearful for his very life, if he even still draws breath! Will the Empire let an unprovoked assault like this go unanswered? At the very least, withdraw her honors! No matter the circumstances, anyone who would do something like this is no friend of the Empire!”

Emperor Lucius quietly took a deep breath. On the surface, the situation was bad. The only interactions between NSLICE-00P and Consul Noxisius had been indirect hostility via Senator Balbus, and that situation had been supposedly handled. There was no obvious reason why she would attack the Consul, and so in the minds of these senators no justification for her actions. And the idea that Consul Noxisius was a member of some cult? At present, the Emperor had no evidence of such things. Even he could only take Magister Appius’s word for it. The Magister Exploratores was searching as they spoke…but unfortunately, NSLICE-00P had been extremely thorough in her destruction of the Consul’s villa. They hadn’t even found the Consul’s body yet, assuming it wasn’t mixed with the ash. She had also used Holy mana in her flames…which meant that anything related to the Realms of Mana would definitely have been destroyed in the blaze. Magister Appius was not optimistic on what he would find.

Even the massive mana signatures in Corvanus that night were not conclusive proof because unfortunately there was another explanation for it. After all…no one had seen anything going on in the privacy of Consul Noxisius’s home. Everyone had seen a strategic magic circle light up the night sky when the Consul’s villa went up in flames. It did not help that NSLICE-00P had subsequently vanished without a word.

Of course, NSLICE-00P had not actually resorted to violence even against Senator Balbus’s shenanigans, and had been cordial and cooperative with the Empire in all her interactions with them. She had even cooperated with the Legion to destroy a corrupted dungeon. If anyone spent longer than a few moments of thoughts, they’d come to the conclusion that something out of the ordinary must have happened to set her off like this.

The problem being none of these Senators were thinking more than a few moments. Or they were, but they didn’t care. Emperor Lucius was fairly certain most of them were just trying to throw their weight around. They knew his situation was precarious, Consul Noxisius was still unaccounted for, and this was an attack on one of their own. So…the Senator who could take advantage of the shock and outrage and command the Emperor to turn on the woman he had declared his friend could very well take the Consul’s place. And with Consul Hiberius still out of play since the fall of his daughter, whoever took the other Consul seat would have the preeminent position in the Northern Court.

Of course, none of them were thinking what would occur to them, and everyone else, if they did turn the Empire on NSLICE-00P. They either convinced themselves NSLICE-00P was not the absolute terror she could be, or they just wanted to put the Emperor in a position of resisting them even if they never intended to make any real moves on her.

And they were succeeding. Emperor Lucius would have to prevent them from antagonizing NSLICE-00P. They would use this to spark outrage, claiming he was defending a barbarian who had attacked the Empire’s leadership. Even if he could keep them from moving against NSLICE-00P, at minimum he would have to stop favoring her, and would lose whatever support he had in the court and likely the people in the process.

Aedile Hortensus wouldn’t get involved, not wanting to antagonize either side. Magister Verrucosis wasn’t here, and would likely side with the firebrands if he was. The Emperor had no allies here.

Emperor Lucius had made his play throwing in with NSLICE-00P…and now he was going to lose whatever power he might possess. Unless the Aesdes themselves descended to condemn Consul Noxisius, he didn’t see any way to salvage the situation for himself. He would consider himself fortunate if he could keep this court from trying to arrest the girl who could wipe out entire legions.

It was then that the doors of the Court quietly opened, no one noticing amid the din as someone entered the hall…