Chapter 7

Bree sat in her throne room; Winnie and Belin had handled all of the paperwork that came with the birth of a nation easily. As she had spent several days with Zoey and could almost feel the jealousy from the other two maids, she had assigned Vi to help Zoey build a new bathhouse, who had enlisted the aid of her new task force, six Female Axol-mights from the original village who found Vi to be adorable.

Upon being given the task, Bree upgraded Vi's basic clothing with white gloves, white heeled boots, a green shirt and green skirt with a plain black belt, and a Red hooded cloak. Vi was insistent she be allowed to keep her staff, so Bree silently recycled a few dozen duplicates of the staff to upgrade the level of Vi's.

"I wonder why she's so attached to the staff?" Bree pondered, "It's just a basic mage weapon; I have hundreds of them," Having upgraded Vi, Bree now felt Bertram and Belin were underdressed and had called for them to come to her.

Bertram had received a white tank top, a camo jacket, cargo shorts, and dark green Combat boots.

Belin got a simple black tank top and shorts before he threw his robe and sash back on.

Before leaving, Bree summoned a small arsenal of random weapons and placed them in a box. She told Belin and Bertram to try some out and then hand the weapons to the protectors and the Axol-mights after they both picked one. They thanked her and rushed off to experiment with the weapons.

Once they had left, Bree stood up and looked at Annie and Bella. "I'm going for a walk. You two enjoy your day, okay?"

"Happily, my lady," They both replied curtly. Bree cut a hole in the air and walked onto the front lawn. As they were now a literal island, Bree had re-assigned Silver and Orion to guard the inland side of the Bridge. Bree was about to walk down it when she saw an orange in the grass of her front lawn; Inky was sitting unattended, attempting to eat a rock. Upon closer inspection, she was shocked that the small orange slime had gotten relatively larger. 

Instead of a red and orange blob with nubs, he was now a tiny orange blob with the shape of a humanoid upper body. He had a head, a neck, and then a body that ended where the midsection would be on most creatures. He had long ears on either side of his head, although they melted slightly at the end.

What had once been nubs were now arms with four fingers on one hand. The other looked more like a tendril, although it looked as though he was trying to sprout fingers on it. He even had teeth forming in his mouth as he chewed on the rock.

"Inky," Bree cheered, getting his attention. He lost all interest in the rock and seemingly found the inspiration he needed for his tendril arm to properly morph into an arm with a hand and four fingers. He waved his now matching hands at her; being only slightly larger than his original size, he was easy to pick up, "Where are you mommies at? Do they know you've escaped your crib? and that you've sprouted arms on us?" Inky failed to reply as he began chewing on her arms like a teething puppy. Keeping him in her grasp, Bree used her communication spell and called out.

"Minerva? Sheepy? Could you please meet me out front?" Bree sat down and put Inky in front of her before raising her hands and teaching him the art of patty cake. By the time Minerva and Sheepy arrived, she had succeeded in at least teaching him how to clap.

"My Lady," They both said as they came into view from behind her, "How can we assist you?"

"I couldn't help but notice someone had escaped his crib," Bree said as she got up and moved out of the way of Inky, who was still trying to master the art of clapping. The look on the couple's faces almost made Bree feel bad.

"What happened?" Sheepy demanded as she rushed over and picked up her baby, who lost all interest in clapping upon seeing his mothers. Squealing in delight, he held his arms out to signal he wanted to be picked up. "When did this happen?" Sheepy inspected her child's new form, and Minerva just stood in place with a look of confusion.

"He's in the middle of an evolution," Bree noted, as she recalled part of Inky's bio that at the time had been nothing but her using her own NPC's as a tool for fanfiction, but now looked to be coming to fruition, "Inky was made using your genetics, so he was bound to evolve from a simple Slime to a Minotorian Satry Slime at some point, I guess the air of this new world helped kick start the process at last,"

"But...but I'm not ready!" Sheepy cried out as she hugged her child. Her reaction confused Bree to no end before Minerva spoke up.

"Could…we maybe stop it?" Minerva asked nervously. I mean, obviously, he has to evolve and get stronger to serve you, but…I'm not ready to see my baby go into the battlefield yet." The fact that Minerva sounded like she was about to cry was too much for Bree to handle.

"Both of you Calm down," She instructed "He's not gonna just become an adult man and demand he fights in my next war; if anything, this is just him going from a baby to a toddler; you'll still have plenty of time before having to worry about your baby becoming a man," The two seemed to calm down slightly, but went back to freaking-out when Inky sneezed and, after shaking his head, now had a nose and part of his head was mimicking the shape of hair.

"What do we do?" Sheepy demanded in response to the sneeze, "Is it still safe to rest him on his hot plate?"

"Oh yeah," Bree muttered, "Slimes do have problems with cold weather," Bree thought for a moment as Minerva took her baby and cradled him in her arms, making sure to face her back to the wind as she did so. Inky, for his part, seemed delighted at all the attention.

"Minerva," Bree declared as she decided on a course of action. You and Sheepy are to go to the third floor, contact Winnie, and tell her you will require her aid. I have many Yiggmire frost beast fur coats; they are the absolute best at providing artificial cold immunity. Have Winnie help you take as many as you can to the creation chamber and…" 

Bree took Inky as she spoke and took a small piece of slime he was using as hair and handed it to Minerva; the dent buffed itself out pretty much instantly, "...have her infuse it with this piece of Inky, doing so tell her she can make a jumpsuit that will keep Inky safe from the cold and will be just as elastic as he is so we don't have to worry about him outgrowing or slipping out of it," Bree tapped her staff to the ground and a shimmering bubble formed around her and Inky.

"Until then, I'll personally make sure nothing interferes with Inky during his evolution; this bubble should keep him plenty warm and help him be less melty,"

"Thank you, my lady," Minerva said, sniffling as her wife patted her on the back, "Words aren't enough to thank you with,"

"Come," Sheepy said simply, "We have to hurry, we don't wanna be late for Inky's full evolution,"

"Ahh! Minerva turned on the spot. Winnie, meet me on the third floor by order of the Mistress. We have an urgent matter to take care of and must do so with great haste!" Minerva ran through the front door, breaking the hinges off in her hurry.

"I'll make sure to get that fixed," Sheepy called as she ran after her wife. After a moment, Winnie flew from her tower and saw the state of the front door.

"What has happened?" she demanded before noticing Bree and Inky. "Is that young Inky?"

"Yes, he's evolving; go to Minerva and Sheepy. I've already told them all that needs to be done,"

"At once!" Winnie said before flying into the front of the building.

"Well then," Bree said as she held up Inky, who had begun the process of growing legs and had been trying to get into a standing position, "How about you and me go into town and grab a bite to eat while we wait for you momma's and aunty Winnie to finish up?" Bree turned her staff into a ring so she could use both hands to hold Inky. She left him to fumble with the part of her cloak that covered her shoulders as she walked down the bridge to town.

"My Lady," Silver said when he saw her. Upon seeing Inky, he did a double-take so fast that he had to use one of his hands to reposition his head after it started spinning. "Is that Inky!?"

"Why yes," Bree replied. "He's begun his evolution. Soon, he'll begin exhibiting traits of Sheepy and Minerva, but he still has some time before that happens." Bree walked past Silver casually, who shook his head in wonder.

"Wild," Silver muttered, mystified at what he had just heard.

Bree continued walking through town before seeing three familiar faces. Gunter, Vern, and Gale were having lunch at Belin's favorite lunch spot. Upon seeing them, she quickly activated her glamor, much to Inky's amusement. She managed to catch the sound of Gale's voice as she began boasting.

"Seems the elf asked for my Wife personally," Gale said with pride, "You can imagine the absolute pride-filled speech of acceptance that followed that news; she's busy at work with those Axol-might guys building a forge; you know dwarfs, above ground area is for selling, but all of work has to be done beneath ground so there digging out an area near the lake," Bree, now Billie, walked up to them and Vern and Gunter looked at her in shock, Gale turned to see what had gained their attention and her eyes sparkled.

"OH my stars, that is the cutest thing in the world!" Gale declared when she saw Inky, who turned to her at the sound of her voice; after babbling at her for a moment, he turned back to play with the shawl that now lined Billie's shoulder.

"Billie!" Gunter said in shock, "What a lovely surprise! I do apologize for the whole Slave Trader thing. But seeing as you're not imprisoned, you were cleared of all charges. And thus, we owe you an apology. Feel like lunch?"

"I'm good on lunch, and no hard feelings, I promise," she waved their concerns away without a second thought, "Argit came down and cleared me in no time,"

"Oh, well, that…" Gunter cut off his own words when the name of the Demon lord clicked in his head, "...Hold up, Demon Lor Argit? Do you work for him?" Billie looked at him for a second.

"I work for the Elf you were speaking about," Billie noted, having decided it would be best to keep using her Billie disguise around them, just in case she needed it in the future, "I'm her stand-in for political visits; and issues that require a non-monster to be present, since there aren't a lot of cities, in fact, none that I've heard of as of yet, that bare humans from entering,"

Billie smiled at the look on their faces, "I was supposed to go to Ozama to set up peace between the Demon lord and my Lady, But thanks to you three, Demon Lord Argit also gave us all of the land bordering Irenfell due to some trouble with one of his subordinates," Billie chuckled before adding "And since two of you were planning to come here anyway and I'd sure miss Gale I decided to drop a name or two and mention we required a blacksmith,"

"You fucking legend," Gale said, her shock turning into a smile, "I owe you a drink, but don't tell my wife about this; the fact that she thinks an Elf found her work worthy has put a pep in her step the likes of which I haven't seen since I said yes to her proposal,"

"I won't say a word," Billie promised.

"So, you and Zoey have a baby slime?" Vern asked, momentarily leaving Billies at a loss for wordy.

"Zoey was simply to most human people on staff," Billie repositioned Inky while she spoke. We were unsure how welcoming Ozama would be to monsters since my lady has never been herself, so it was just to be on the safe side," Billie leaned in and added with a grave expression.

"Please don't spread rumors that Zoey and I are a thing; the other staff members are irritated enough as it is that she got to be alone with me for several days. I don't wanna think about what would happen if they thought she was in a relationship with me,"

"Oh, I see how it is," Vern said confidently, "You have a fair number of fruits to pick from, but if you do pick one, you'll break the bush,"

"That made no sense," Billie shook her head, confused at Vern's choice of analogy, "Anyway, this young lad is Inky,"

"Why hello, Inky," Gale said, "Are you going out for a walk with your Auntie Billie?" Gale looked back at Billie with a fair question: "One or both of his parents work for the Elf, I presume."

"Yes, His Mommies Minerva and Sheepy are crafting a jumpsuit to protect little Inky here from the elements. I'm just making sure he doesn't get into too much trouble during his evolution,"

"Oh, I was unaware a slim could evolve," Gunther said in interest. "Is that why he looks so humanoid?"

"Yes, the Elf infused little Inky with Miverva and Sheepy's essence; he is about to become a Minitorian Satyr Slime,"

"So his moms are both Minitorian Satyr's, are they?" Vern asked. That sounds cute, but even that couldn't compare to just one Mary." Vern started swooning over the Minotorian Donkey, which, from Billie's experience, was the only thing that made him happy.

"Well, Minerva is a pure-blooded Minotar, and Sheepy a pure-blooded Satyr,"

"Pure blooded!?" Gale demanded, "The hell did you guys come from with all these dead races? Next, you're going to tell me a Harpy is living in that mansion or something,"

"Well, Winnie lives in the tower, not the mansion," Billie noted nonchalantly; Gale just looked at her in silence.

"I can't deal with this," She decided, "There is too much being thrown at me," Gale turned on the spot and waved. "I'm going to go help my wife build a smithery. Have fun living with your death maids,"

"I will," Billie assured her.

"I suppose we must be off as well," Gunter decided as he judged the position of the sun with his hand, "Else we be late for Olu's training,"

"Oh crap!" Vern turned and ran away. "Bye, Billie, sorry I punched your lights out," Gunter followed suit, and Billie smiled.

"I like those guys," she decided as she looked around. "Now then," she said, paying attention to Inky, "let's try to find something other than crab to eat, shall we? I'm growing weary of their flavor,"

On the outskirts of Greenwater, a cavalry of horses was making its way down the road. A banner bearing the mark of Irenfell dictated who they worked for as they marched toward the town; their numbers were around three hundred.

"Hmm," One of the several leaders noted; he was a lean man with only one eye, he had chestnut scruffy brown hair that fell just past his shoulders, and was wearing plate mail adorned with the Irenfell seal on his chest, he had a shield on his back with the same seal and a sheathed sword on his belt. Next to him was a larger, muscular man dressed in the same armor but with a large zweihänder greatsword on his back; the third in line was a muscular woman with two kukri knives on her belt. 

"The town is still full of monsters," The lean man noted. "it's safe to assume Doren has failed in his task,"

"Of course he did," the larger man said, "That idiot was always too big for his britches," The Man turned to the troops and began speaking; he raised his hand and formed a fist with it as he talked, "Surround the town, we'll enslave any monsters with strength and kill those who are weak along with those traitors who would dare call themselves human, once clear we'll have a solid foothold as we wait for the holy church to send some of of the seven heavenly saints to put an end to the Demon Lord Argit," 

The man turned his horse and looked at his men. "Remember this day, for it is the last day that monsters will be allowed to desecrate our lands. Soon, all monsters will either perish or bow beneath us as we Humans will claim our rightful place as the superior race." There was a cheer, and the horses moved out.

"8th battalion, ride with me," the lean man declared as he and his men rode towards the town on horseback. The larger man rode towards the side of the town without several others, and the woman rode towards the Lake alone, eyeing the mansion specifically. The army split around them and surrounded the entire town to prevent anyone escaping.

After a moments thought Billie desided to stay Billie in the hopes she might be able to defuse the situation without having her eyes mocked, she stood in silence as she watched the large number of horses riding towards the town.

"Attention everyone," she declared, "An army has come to lay siege to my town, with the exceptions of Winnie, Minerva, and Sheepy; everyone is to drop everything. Don't let them kill a single person; This is my town, and there for everyone here is mine,"

The man leading the 8th battalion rode into the rapidly clearing streets as most people ran for shelter; Bree and Inky stood alone on the roads.

"An old lady," The man noted in a bored tone, "Holding some sort of revolting slime creature," The man held his hand out and declared loudly, "I am your master now; kneel before me, and kill the slime to prove your loyalty to Irenfell, failure to comply will result in your death,"

"No," Billie replied, " As the current representative of this town, I must warn you that if you don't leave, you will all die; of course, we are not evil, so we will graciously spare your horses, but you and your men will die slowly for daring to go around trying to conquer my town,"

"Kill her," The Man said simply. Two archers on horseback knocked their arrows; Billie fully prepared to stand her ground before realizing she was carrying Inky.

"Anti-artillery," She declared as she put a barrier around Inky to keep him safe before snatching the fired arrows out of the air with one hand. Inky laughed as Billie set him down and smacked the protective barrier with glee.

"A defense spell?" The man questioned as Billie turned back to him, "Clearly you've spent your long life well, your skills have impressed me, yes you will make a fine servant once I've burned the holy teachings of the church into your skin, lay down and surrender or be forced into submission,"

"Okay, you no longer get the option of not dying," Billie decided, mildly irritated at being called long-lived even though her face looked more tiered than old. "The same goes for you two archery boys back there who aimed those arrows at Inky. The rest of you, leave now or die." After a moment, the Man got off his horse and pulled out his sword.

"Guess I'll have to force you down," the man said as he equipped his shield. Men start kicking down the doors of all the buildings." The Man took one step when a voice screamed out.

"Orion is best mount of all!" As the giant cat slid into view with Silver riding on his back.

"By order of my Mistress, you are all to be slain," Silver proudly declared. "Rejoice, as I am sure Orion will find you all delicious." Orion bore his fangs and hissed at their foes.

"Soul-bind," a female voice responded confidently; the spell hit Orion and shattered, making her falter.

"A Volunteer," Silver cheered as he jumped off Orion's back and withdrew his great sword. Come and face your death with honor. For your bravery, I will grant you the luxury of being dead before I feed you to Orion." The woman held up her hand again and failed to Soul-bing Silver.

"Attack him as a group," the leader said. His soldiers proceeded to draw their assorted arms, and Silver nodded.

"Obeying your leader even to your death, I must give you more respect," Silver held out his hand and pointed directly at the women who had tried to soul bind him, "I shall leave you for last," Silver took his great sword in both hands and took a defensive state, "Now come at me with all your heart and soul," 

Billie had been looking at Silver when she felt death approaching her. Swiftly, she dodged a strike from the leader's sword.

"Well now," She said as she looked at the blade, "That is no ordinary sword,"

"This divine blade can cut through all," The man replied. "Now give in to me or die,"

"My, how horrible, it would seem you can kill me," Billie decided, taking care to say her peace while activating the message spell. Instantly, she felt the earth begin to rumble as something shot out of her mansion like a cottony bullet, "Sadly, I can't fight you without instantly killing you, and you have proven that you need to suffer for your words; I grow tired of everyone insulting my face upon meeting me,"

"Funny that you think you can escape," The man said as he raised his sword to swipe, only for something to slam into his side. Suddenly, he slid across the ground and, after picking himself up, found what looked to be a woman made of plush holding a needle and a button.

"Hello," Annie said as she held her needle at the ready, "You will pay greatly for your attempt on Mistress Billie's life,"

Annie waited as the group group leader picked himself up. Silver was still silently waiting for the armed soldiers to finish surrounding him and Orion.

"Somewhat cowardly trying to bring my cat into this," Silver noted. "But this is a battle for survival, so feel free to be as cheap as you would like; it will not save you,"

"Split," The leader commanded his forces, "and kill this doll," Billie responded faster as she raised her right index finger and trapped the twelve soldiers in a giant bubble with Silver and Orion.

"I will allow no such thing," Billie declared, "They have already challenged Silver, and I'm sure he's itching to try and see how well he can perform while trying to save that one girl for last," 

"You coward," The man shot back, "Too afraid to fight in a fair match?"

"That's stupid," Billie noted. "You have an enchanted sword that can cut through everything; what kind of a fair fight involves a seven-on-one fight, and why should I care if you call me a coward when you're an invading force who did not announce their plan declaration of war before attacking? Not to mention you waited to attack me with your sword until I wasn't looking at you,"

Billie just shook her head before turning to her maid, "Annie, do your best to make it slow," Billie turned and picked up Inky, "I'll just have to take Inky here to Boris and Manfred for lunch,"

"That's Inky?" Annie chuckled as Inky again began playing with Billie's shawl, "How cute; I bet Minerva is having a fit," Annie turned sharp as a dime and blocked the sword with her button.

"Impossible," The man said as he jumped back with panic in his eye "This sword can cut through anything,"

"My Shield can block anything," Annie countered "When an unstoppable object meets an immovable force, they will be stuck in a deadlock, and since nothing will happen, my shield will always beat you, even if only on a technicality,"

"So all I have to do is get past your little button," The man replied before running at Annie, Who held her needle in a downward position, doing as her mistress had said and making sure to draw the battle out.

The same could not be said for Silver, as he had already incapacitated six of the thirteen armed soldiers; an assortment of men and women lay upon death's door before him, and the remaining six all stood back in fear as their comrades pleaded for aid.

"How interesting," Silver muttered, directing his words to the seventh living person in the group. The woman whom he had sworn to kill last was the most active of her peers; while the rest tried to escape, she was actively using his vow to get in the way of his attacks.

"I almost don't want to kill you," Silver turned to one of those still standing and ran at her with a swing, only to back off just before it hit as the Woman ran in his way and blasted another spell at him, much to his utter delight, "Wonderful, willing to die for your fellow followers, you should be proud of your dedication, I'm wanting to kill you less and less to be honest, but am I allowed to is the real question," Upon hearing his words the Woman was grabbed by the solder she had just protected and shoved to the front.

"Let me go," She demanded as her comrades used her like a meat shield.

"Shut up, "another woman said as she held her lance to the woman's throat. Let's see you try and get me now without breaking your little prom—-"Before either of them could react, Silver slashed his sword at an angle, avoiding the first and splitting the other in half. She fell to the ground, barely alive; the one Silver had sworn to leave for last stood without a scratch on her armor.

"Never have I seen such cowards; truly, you deserve better comrades," Silver growled before noticing the remaining soldiers had all turned their weapons to her.

"If I die, you're going down with me," A man screamed, having realized Silver was talking himself into sparing her; he lunged and Silver jumped in front of her, and, with a single slash, took down the remaining soldiers before turning to the woman, Under Silvers gaze, she simply fell to her knees, and hung her head down, clearly waiting for him to fulfill his promise to kill her before feeding her to Orion.

 Silver raised his sword and stuck it downwards. After a moment, the woman opened her eyes. The sword had been implanted into the ground inches away from her face. She looked up and found Silver holding his hand out for her to take.

"Take my hand and swear your fealty to Mistress Bree," Silver demanded, "Swear on your soul to serve her, and I will offer you the chance to beg for her mercy, and should you grant you that honor, know you will serve with comrades who deserve your willingness to die to protect them, and that they will grant you that same honor," 

The Woman looked at him momentarily before crying, taking his hand, and doing as he asked. "Wonderful," He declared before picking her and his sword up effortlessly, sheeting his sword and holding the woman like one would hold a princess, "I shall hold on to you, and once your former allies have all been dealt with, Mistress Bree shall decide what is to be done with you. Until then, Orion and I will keep an eye on you, so do behave," Silver began walking away before calling back, 

"Oh, I almost forgot! Orion, dinner," Orion cheered and began haphazardly eating the half-dead soldiers as Silver effortlessly dispelled the barrier.

The Leader gritted his teeth. His battle with Annie had gone nowhere as she moved around him without swinging her needle. He ran past her and aimed his weapon forward, aiming to rush down Silver and the traitor, only for Annie to raise her needle and surgically remove his fingers from the hand holding the shield. The man let out a howl of agony and dropped his sword and shield as he tumbled to the ground while grabbing at his bleeding stump of a hand.

"Pick up your weapon," Annie snarled, "I hold a hallowed belief that one can not claim a weapon without winning it in fair combat,"

"Do you know who I am?" the man demanded. I am Barney Razzor, brother to Arlow Razzor, captain of King Odren's guard; you will regret ever…" Annie moved her hand, and Barney flinched. After a moment, he looked at his hand and found his fingers reattached, blood staining his hands where they had been severed.

"That was just to get your attention," Annie informed him, "Now pick up your sword and Fight me, or I will take you apart and put your back together until you're too damaged to fix," Barney took his sword, rage evident in his face as he swung his blade at Annie, who blocked it with her shield, he then attempted to punch her in the face while she was blocking. She proceeded to slice his arm off. He screamed, and she just looked at him before reattaching his limb at speeds too fast to see.

"I will give you one more chance," Annie said. Fight me, and your death will be honorable. Run again, and it shall be as a coward you are sent to your gods." Barney grasped and swung his sword, slashing magic at Annie, who just sidestepped it. Instead of dissipating the magic condensed into a ball behind her, he smiled and began slashing at her wildly.

Annie dodged every attack, the ball of magic growing in size. When it became clear her patience was running low, Barney swung his sword away from her, and the magic shot at her; Annie looked back at it and failed to move.

Annie watched as her arm holding her shield fell to the ground.

"Now," Barney cried as he pulled his sword back, "Die!" He slashed down, only to find Annie had already reattached her arm. She slammed into his sword with her button shield, having been going as hard as he could. Hitting the button caused the sword to slip from his grasp. Annie used her shield to smack it to the side. It turned to light and vanished from the field. Barney took a step back in fear as Annie slowly approached.

"No, I…I surrender," He cried out, "Stay away; I'll do whatever you want," He got on his hands and knees as he begged, "Kill the rest, but spare me; I'm worth more alive than dead!" Annie raised her needle and pointed it at him; without warning, he threw dirt at her before turning and running to his horse; he made it only a few steps when Annie appeared in his path and slashed her needle sword, lobbing off his feet.

"No!" He screamed out as he tumbled across the ground and attempted to crawl away from her, "No! No, go away, I'm too important to die here, go away, you'll regret this if you…" Annie slashed once more, and his head fell to the ground.

"That should be sufficient; I believe that was very drawn out," She decided before gathering the horses.

Olu and Jaden waited in silence with Belin and Leafolio. Belin wanted to master his new weapons, and Leafolio had followed Olu for several days.

"The Plant thing kind of scares me," Jaden decided. Leafolio's head slowly turned to look at her; she shivered under their gaze, "It's mostly because it can turn their head three hundred and eighty degrees, but their skills at being silent also kind of get to me,"

"I rather like them," Olu said merrily, "It's nice to have some company that doesn't go around crying about how I hit too hard,"

"You would use that thing as a training partner," Jaden said, shaking her head as she looked at Leafolio. Does it have a name or…"

"Hush now," Belin said as the large, muscular man drew near. The Enemy comes for us." The Man showed no signs of slowing down as he charged them. Jaden was ready for a horse-drawn battle when Leafolio raised their wooden arms and began charging a spell.

 The spell turned into a glowing orb and shot out something reminiscent of lightning, hitting one of the horses and sucking them into the orb; the man fell to the ground, getting trampled by his comrades behind him. The Large man saw this and jumped from his stead as it was struck with the spell. After a moment, Leafolio removed most of their front line by removing their horses. The rest began getting off their mounts.

"Ah yes," Belin laughed as Leafolio continued to steal their mounts. "Mistress Bree did ask us not to harm the horses, didn't she?"

"Alright, respect where it's deserved," Jaden noted. Leafolio waved their arms once it ran out of ponies to plunder, and the orb disappeared into their inventory. "That said, there are still about a hundred or so men,"

"Charge," The large man declared. "Kill the Golem first," Leafolio took visible offense at being called a golem as their eyes turned red; they held their arms forward, and thorns burst to life on their arms at a forward-facing angle before running in front of Belin and shooting the thorns out, the thorns pierced through the enemy's armor and took down any who were hit, however due to Leafolio's poor body design they were unable to aim very well and had to fall back and allow it's allies to take the forces.

"I thank you for your aid, my friend," Olu said as he unsheathed his katana. "I'll have to remember to investigate the matter of your name," Jaden summoned her mace and shield with flames, and Belin put on the weapons that had interested him personally, a pair of Red Boxing gloves with a large Yellow Star on both of them.

"I have never seen these weapons before," Belin noted, "but they were among the ones Mistress Bree gave to me to test out, so I trust they are weapons fit for a true warrior to use,"

"I must agree they are unlike any weapon I have ever seen," Olu said before moving at high speed to intersect part of the army; Jaden swung her Mace above her head and ignited it before slamming it towards the ranks and sideswiping it away from Olu, neatly splitting the army in half. While Olu and Jaden began slaughtering the foot soldiers, Belin ran to the man with the great sword.

"You think gloves can beat me?" He laughed as he swung his sword at him; Belin felt the tingle of danger and dogged the blade, he turned and punched into the man's chest; hoping to put a dent in the armor, only to instead leave a large crack running across the chest plate, sending the man flying back, the man caught himself and ended up on one knee as he held his chest, having just managed to avoid being seriously injured. His zweihänder still in his hand

"I see," The man said. "They look like oversized mittens, but they must be enchanted," Belin looked at his glove and realized they were glowing faintly,"

"Wow," Belin said in awe, "Enchanted weapons, I must honor this reward by giving her your sword!"

"A good Idea," Olu said as he casually fought several men at once without paying much attention. "I have heard she likes that." Upon seeing his men easily overwhelmed, the large man gritted his teeth.

"This is bad," He decided. "I could lose,"

"Most likely," Belin agreed. "But if you bow before our Mistress, she may spare you; you may even be allowed to serve as a protector if you prove your worth," The Man clenched his teeth.

"I am the great Balphazard Greeir," he declared. I am an envoy of the holy church, and in the name of the gods, you must be slain." He raised his sword and smiled as Belin ran to him.

"But I'll start with the weak one," Belin realized too late that Balphazard had been charging a spell and turned just in time for Balphazard to teleport behind Leafolio, who attempted to turn and fight, only for Balphazard to drop his sword and grab Leafolio by the arms.

The sound of piercing flesh and metal could be heard as thorns shot out of Leafolio's arms, but Balphazard did not flinch. He snapped both of Leafolio's arms off in one quick movement, and with a single kick, Leafolio were sent sprawling across the ground.

His armor began glowing brightly as Leafolio's arms were absorbed into the armor. He clenched his fists, and metal thorns began to pop out of his armor.

"I'll absorb all of your powers and use them to destroy this town," He declared. "I'll have several days before the magic degrades, so I'll take my time and enjoy this holly quest properly," He raised his hand, and all of the thorns aimed themselves at Belin. Before he could shoot, he was sent sprawling across the land. Jaden lost interest in the weak soldiers and slammed her mace into Balphazard's side.

"You mother fucker," She called out in rage. "I was just getting to know that guy; how am I going to tell Mistress Bree that I allowed one of her original followers to be crippled," She attempted to recall her mace, but Balphazard grabbed it; she let it go and grimaced as he absorbed it.

"Come now," he declared as his arms set alight with flaming thrones. "I shall send your beast to the fiery pit you crawled out of." Before he could move, the entire battlefield shook as a large object hit the ground. They all looked at it and were met with a face unfamiliar to all but Leafolio.

"Who the fuck dares?" The newcomer demanded as she swung a Kanabo from over her shoulder and hit the ground with it's end as though it was a walking stick. "Who dares to harm one of Mistress Bree's most loyal followers?"

"It was that guy," Jaden responded dutifully as she pointed to Balphazard.

"You must be Jaden," Bella noted before frowning, "Why do you only wield a shield?"

"That guy's armor ate my weapon," Jaden said, flaming with rage, "and it was a gift from Mistress Bree; how am I gonna tell her some dude in magic armor ate the mace she gave to me,"

"She'll understand," Bella replied in a reassuring tone as she turned to Balphazard and noticed the sword on the ground, poking it with her Kanabo to see if anything was preventing her from taking it.

"Fool," Balphazard said as he held up arms. "I am an envoy for the holy church; you're just some monster running around dressed in some silly maid's outfit." Bella stood without speaking momentarily before her Kanabo slammed down on the sword and broke it into pieces, leaving a small crater on the ground, the broken shards of the magic sword let out little magical whips of smoke as the enchantment died.

"Silly?" she demanded with rage in her voice. "This outfit was crafted by Mistress Bree herself. She spent months working tirelessly to make it for me." Bella walked towards him calmly, hitting her open palm with her Kanabo as she did so.

"Another enchanted weapon, obviously," Balphazard decided as he looked at the Kanabo. "Once I have that one, I'll begin wiping them all out." Bella raised her Kanabo as she grew closer. "Pathetically slow," he gave a confident grin as Bella swung her Kanabo down. He dodged it with ease and grabbed it.

"Now then, let's end this!" He began absorbing it, laughing. Bella simply let go of it and started walking away from him calmly.

"Mistress Bree makes copies of our weapons," Bella said to Jaden as she reached into her Inventory and pulled out an exact copy of the Kanabo Balphazard was absorbing. She turned and watched as he absorbed it.

"Now then," he held his hand and cried, "Behold my might!" He stood still, panting with excitement, before looking to his arms, where nothing was happening. "Wha…what is this?"

"I am Mistress Bree's tank," Bella replied. "I have high Defense, health, and damage. But this leaves me open to magic attacks, so Mistress Bree infused all of my equipment with Anti-magic so I can cut through magical barriers and block magical attacks,"

"Anti-magic," Baplhazard demanded as he looked at his armor and attempted to activate it.

"Don't bother," Bella said. By absorbing my Kanabo, you have essentially neutered that Armor. Now come, face your death with dignity, and the pain will be far less than what you deserve." Baplhazard took a step back before turning, attempting to flee. "Obviously," Bella noted without a hint of surprise before holding her Kanabo up, moving at high speeds.

Balphazard heard the sound of her running and turned just in time to see the Kanabo as it slammed down upon him. Bella picked her Kanabo up and shook the blood from it; all that remained of Balthazar was a small crater, his corpse nothing but a few broken pieces of bloody armor.

As she walked back, Olu and Belin helped Leafolio to their feet. They wobbled violently, and Olu had to keep his arm around them to keep them standing.

"Come," Bella told them. "Mistress Bree will repair him and replace the mace with ease,

Bertram, who had simply been helping the other Axol-mights adjust to their new lives when the invasion had started, arrived at the bridge; having seen Silver and Orion rushing down the street, he realized the bridge to Bree's mansion had been left unguarded, he met no opposition on the bridge and ran down the length of it, coming to a stop on the grounds upon seeing the broken door, concerned that someone had broken in, only to see Boris and Manfred walk out shaking their heads.

"Minerva was in quite the hurry," Boris noted.

"Quite so," Manfred agreed as he looked around, seeing Bertram and greeting him with a wave.

"Are my sister and Ms.Zoey here?" Bertram questioned, earning a head shake from Boris.

"Zoey and Vi are currently on the Ozama border side of the town in the event some of them are going the long way around to catch us off guard,"

"Dammit, why didn't I think to do that," Bertram said. "I came running up to the most well-protected place," Bertram huffed at his lost opportunity to prove himself useful.

"Well protected?" a female voice asked. Bertram turned and barely dodged out of the way as two blades swung at him. The female officer made her way down the bridge with a smile. "What, you don't have any guards?"

"It would seem Silver left his post," Boris noted before walking forward, "I must ask that you leave, enemy or not, we will not stand for you trespassing on…" Boris stopped talking when pain erupted from his body; the woman moved faster than he could see and slashed her blades into his chest. Boris took a step back from the pain only to be kicked in the jaw as the woman jumped up and spun in the air, sending him sprawling across the ground. He slammed into the wall of the mansion and came to rest; blood and a slightly purple fluid flowed from the wounds.

"Pathetic," The Woman said simply, "I was hoping to find a new toy, but you're too weak to play with," The Woman slid out of the way as Bertram swung his fist at her, having failed to find a weapon he liked from Bree's prize box, Manfred ran and attempted a swing at her as well. She moved at speeds neither could see and appeared behind them.

They fell to their knees, holding the slashes she had left in their sides; she ran back at them before they could turn and slammed both her feet into the back of Manfred's head, slamming his face into the dirt and sliding across the ground a short ways atop of him, taking him out of the fight, Giving Bertram just enough time to face her again before her next attack.

"What a shame," Bertram said as he turned to her. "But this is to be expected, all of the strong warriors left to go deal with your comrades; if only I had proven capable of wielding a weapon," Bertram shook his head in shame. "To think I failed to protect the cooks, truly what a disappointment I am,"

"Oh, that's so sad," The Woman said in a mocking tone, "But I guess I should have expected the weaklings to hide away and leave the strong to fight; oh well, torturing you will be a fun way to pass the time until someone stronger shows up if you can last more than twenty seconds that is," 

She flipped her knives and shot forward; Bertram, having been watching the knife, expecting it to fly at him or something, was undefended as her fist struck his stomach multiple times in an instance before she returned to where she had been and caught her knives before it could hit the ground. Bertram fell to a knee and looked up to her just in time for a slash to the face. Blinded in one eye from the blood, Bertram swung at her only to gain another slash to the chest; he felt like the world was shaking; he grabbed at his numb wounds and, upon inspecting his hand, found a purple liquid mixed with his blood.

"Ah," he realized, "A poisoned blade and hyper-speed, you're a weakling yourself. Lady Bree will—" Bertram was kicked in the face and fell to the ground in defeat, the poison too severe for him to keep moving his body. The Woman spat on him and turned to the mansion. She approached it and was about to enter when a voice spoke up.

"I did not permit you to enter my home," Bree noted. Having turned off her Billie disguise, she set Inky down as she spoke and looked to her fallen followers. "My, you work fast," Bree turned to look at Woman and found her an inch from her face. 

"Oh, Dam it," She noted as he realized she couldn't dodge or block and instead did her best to ensure only one part of her body was damaged. Bree slid to the side, and the woman passed her; blood pooled on the ground as Bree's severed left hand and part of her arm landed on the grass; she bent her elbow and frowned at the tingling feeling of unbearable pain, having a passive skill thanks to her maxed out botany skills, she was able to bear through it without too much effort on her part.

"Poison and speed," She noted as the pain was mixed with an odd numbness, "Pathetic."

"Call me all the names you want," The Woman said. "But that was supposed to be your face. Let's see how long you can keep dodging." The woman threw her blades up, and Bree watched as she ran at her, swinging her fist. Bree simply let her. There was a bone-breaking crack and a scream, and the Woman slammed into Bree, her arm breaking in several places as she hit Bree, who grabbed the broken arm as the blades fell to the ground.

"That would be the problem with having no power to back up your speed," Bee noted before ripping the arm off; the woman screamed out and fell to the ground, crawling away from Bree and crying. "You liable to hurt yourself with it,"

"I surrender," She said at once. "You win!"

"Oh?" Bree asked. "That truly is sad." She turned away and then turned back instantly, grabbing the thrown Kukri knife between her fingers. "Hm." A Red Aura coated Bree's hand. After a second, it spread to the knife. The metal rusted, and the leather strap began rotting. After a few moments, nothing remained of the blade.

"Ah, absolute severance," Bree noted as the Knife turned to ash, "That explains my missing arm; good thing you like to play with your prey. You could have killed our poor boys," The woman scrambled away from Bree, her face having scrunched into an expression that sent a chill down the woman's spine. Bree simply followed after her.

"Wait," The Woman said as she backed away from Bree, "You win, you can have whatever you want, my blades, my body, you can have whatever you want,"

"Nothing you could offer me would make me spare you after having my friends assaulted and getting my arm lobbed off," Bree walked towards the woman when the ground began glowing; she was enveloped in flames.

"Suck it bitch," The Woman laughed as she started getting to her feet; Bree walked out of the fire and raised her hand, pointing it between her eyes.

"You suck it," Bree shot back before smacking the woman across the face with the back of her hand; the woman was sent flying into the lake, she emerged for a moment flailing and screaming for mercy before her lack of an arm, and her bleeding out caused her to start sinking.

"Who even was that?" Bree pondered as she picked up her severed arm and reattached it. "Oh, who cares?" She tapped her staff and her fallen comrades. We healed, and the poison was pulled from their systems. They were still unconscious, and parts of her front lawn were eaten away at the pools of poison. As Bree had yet to figure out how to reconsider someone without injuring them slightly, she would have to return for them after she handed Inky off to his mother.

She picked Inky up out of his protective circle and was about to go inside when she was stabbed in the back; the blade injected her with a concentrated dose of poison as she fell to the ground, dropping Inky as she fell.

"I'm Eva Greeir," The Woman declared as she pulled her remaining kukri from Brees's back. And I am a master of speed, torture, and poisons." Bree looked back and found that the woman had healed her stump to stop the blood flow, though she still looked pale. 

"Dammit," Bree muttered as she made to get up; the woman laughed before stabbing into Bree's back, using her speed to stab into her multiple times, the wounds themselves healed almost faster than Eva could inflict them, but the poison began to gnaw away a Bree, Inky started crying as Bree stayed hunched over. "Oh, are you protecting a widdle baby," Eva made to kick Inky, and Bree instantly moved in the way, getting kicked in the gut before latching onto her leg.

 She was repeatedly stabbed in the back for her efforts; she attempted to crush Eva's leg, only for her hands to fail her as absolute severance helped inject the poison directly into her, finally overwhelming her poison resistance skill, her entire body going numb.

"Go ahead," Eva laughed. "Make it easier for me! Once you're dead, I'll drown that sludge in the lake," Eva raised her hand and aimed for the back of Bree's neck when a set of hands grabbed it and her midsection and proceeded to pull her arm off with about as much effort as one would exert picking a flower; she howled in agony as Minerva tossed her arm along with the kukri knife into the lake, tossing Eva across the grounds. Minerva looked down at Bree and kneeled.

"I can never thank you enough for doing this to yourself for my son," Minerva said softly. Bree looked up and saw Winnie pick up Inky. Sheepy stood in the doorway, holding a bow made of glowing yellow magic. Her eyes began glowing, and she aimed at Eva.

"Tripple shot," She whispered; two blunt arrows and one with a razor tip formed in her bowstring. She drew it back and waited for Eva to get on her knees before firing; they twirled in the air; the first one hit the woman in the side and forced her back to her feet, the second one flung her in the air, and finishing the display the Razor one cut her clean in half. She gave a final scream before falling into the lake; blood and bubbles disrupted the surface for a short while before going still.

"Sheepy went to the water's edge and stood at the ready, just in case Eva somehow pulled herself back out. Bree got up and used Minerva as support.

"I do apologize," Bree said as she used all her willpower not to hurl, "but I dropped Inky," Winnie was cradling Inky in her wings, who was laughing as he ran his fully formed hands through her feathers.

"I doubt he noticed," Winnie replied. "He was probably crying because you were bleeding," Minerva picked Bree up and carried her up.

"Would you allow me to take you somewhere to rest?" Minerva asked of her.

"Yeah," Bree agreed as her vision began getting hazy. "All…that poison is making me sleepy. I need to relax and let my natural resistance purge it." Minerva simply began gently rocking her in her arms, and Bree let the motion soothe her as she started slowly slipping into unconsciousness. They made it to the second floor, and Minerva rushed to her destination.

"I'm sure one of the battle maids will have the perfect bed for you to sleep in," she decided. Bree was too far gone to reply, and she simply murmured sweet nothings to the world around her. She felt herself being placed in a large bed and blankets being placed over her gingerly; it was the last sensation she felt before fading into unconsciousness.