Seero and company traveled underneath the Empire of the Sun for a while after that, purifying the corrupted dungeons one by one. Ultimately, the Realm connected to a given dungeon or the strength of that dungeon didn’t matter. The mechanics of the Source meant that the Equalizer-Holy mana combo was always effective, and the dungeons, corrupted dungeons especially, could not defend themselves when cut off from the Source. Seero and Ateia’s range grew as well, and now they only needed to enter the general area of the dungeon to purify it.

It was not long before they reached the end of Nolnyth’s info, given that she was only knowledgeable on the territories immediately surrounding hers. But that wasn’t a problem. There was a constant stream of monsters headed towards the Eastern Empire, so it was a simple matter to follow them back to their origin dungeons.

And so one by one, the dungeons continued to fall…

The Herald of Rain stared at the messenger from the Heralds of the New Dawn.

“What did you just say?”

The messenger gulped.

“Someone has been destroying the corrupted dungeons.”

“That’s…”

But the Herald of Rain didn’t have time to finish before High-Archon Vommik burst into the room. His eyes were bloodshot and his mana was glowing all around him, the air thrumming with power barely contained. He locked eyes with the Herald of Rain.

“Explain yourself.”

The Herald of Rain grimaced.

“I have just learned of it myself, so I know as much as you at this point.”

The High-Archon’s mana flashed briefly.

“You told me you knew this NSLICE-00P. You told me she would not hesitate to assault our frontlines, and that she would be easy to draw into a trap. You told me you had measures to deal with her.”

The Herald of Rain narrowed her eyes and stirred up her own mana.

“And clearly, we both have underestimated her. So…would you like to waste time attempting to punish me or do you want to deal with the hero wiping out your horde?”

High-Archon Vommik glared at her.

“I’ve had just about enough of you, human. We will deal with this threat. But this discussion on your failures is not over.”

With that, he turned and stormed out of the room. The Herald of Rain heaved a sigh as a vein bulged on her forehead. As if she were responsible for planning this invasion and all of its strategic failures.

But she shook her head, and rubbed her chin. She had other things to worry about than a mere High-Archon. After all, the Heralds of the New Dawn had been brainstorming methods of dealing with NSLICE-00P ever since they learned of Ateia’s identity, brainstorming that had only intensified after their defeat at Corvanus. Each of their members who had volunteered to bind with a corrupted dungeon had prepared rituals and traps and special monsters, each ready to trial their ideas on how to stop the deadly hero.

And, more importantly, each had prepared to send messengers to the others once NSLICE-00P began her assault. The entire cult would thus be aware of if NSLICE-00P managed to defeat them, and could rule out the methods trialed by that dungeon. And yet…the Herald of Rain had not received a single message. NSLICE-00P was destroying corrupted dungeons without giving them a chance to send word, and at a speed that implied she spent mere hours, maybe even just minutes on each one. That was beyond even the Heralds’ wildest expectations.

And, of course, implied that every one of their brainstormed methods had proven entirely ineffective.

So now…the Herald of Rain had one short trip back to the Empire of the Sun to figure out how exactly NSLICE-00P was attacking them…and how they could possibly deal with her.The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

She quickly walked over to the Herald of the New Dawn’s communication device, and attempted to send word to the corrupted dungeons’ masters. Each was instructed to dig a large pool of water by their entrances, assisted by members of the cult for those without access to Water Magic.

The Herald of Rain gave them a bit of time and then closed her eyes, stirring up the mana of Deluge. She let the mana wash away her presence, carrying it through the torrents of water across the world. Her mind swam through a large river carrying her back east, before linking up to the invisible movements of water in the skies above. She winced and grit her teeth…the arid climate of the Empire of the Sun left very little of her medium to work with, but she pressed on. Soon, she arrived at one of the hastily dug pools, and expanded her senses out.

She found nothing save the horde of monsters streaming west.

So she moved on to the next one, and the next. She furrowed her brow. She could find no sign of NSLICE-00P.

Until, finally, she did. She still did not see the cyborg or any of her companions, but she found that Holy mana the cyborg used streaming towards the dungeon from underground. The Herald of Rain froze.

She already knew NSLICE-00P was powerful beyond belief, and would only continue to grow stronger. But flinging strong spells around and assaulting a dungeon from the outside were two entirely different matters. Neither the High-Archons of the Empire of the Sun or the Immortal Sages of the Celestial Elves could affect a dungeon from the outside. Not even she, a mighty mage blessed by a Realm of Mana itself had the knowledge and power to do such a thing.

The only beings that possibly could…perhaps some of the most ancient of dragons might be capable of it. Beyond them…would only be the Aesdes, or the Domides who ruled the Realms of Mana.

And if NSLICE-00P could match one of those three…

The Herald of Rain moved her presence underground. She had to know exactly what NSLICE-00P was doing, and how she was doing it. She tried to move along the moisture deep underground, finding a tunnel just above. She peered up into it…and saw her quarry. NSLICE-00P stood in the tunnel, with her glowing red eye that the Herald of Rain still saw in her nightmares at times.

NSLICE-00P was looking right at her.

Her heart froze for a second before she came to herself. She was not truly there, after all, so there was no way NSLICE-00P could…

“Warning: Priority hostile detected. Engaging termination protocols.”

The Herald of Rain paled as the Holy mana in the cavern turned and began to flow towards her position. She immediately cut her spell, her presence rushing back to her body. She gasped and clutched her chest, her heart was pounding so hard it threatened to leap from her body. She was drenched with sweat.

She knew.

Somehow, she knew.

NSLICE-00P had somehow detected her presence. And that meant that NSLICE-00P was now aware of her survival…and possibly her location. The Herald of Rain shivered.

That was supposed to be impossible. Her connection to the Realms of Mana allowed her to form a connection between Deluge and any body of water in the Material Plane, which she could then use to dip into the Realms of Mana while remaining connected to the world. It was this ability that allowed her to move vast distances in an instant, or to spy unseen on even the most wary of foes. Any normal counterspells, even a Holy spell, would lose track of her once it reached the boundaries of the Material Plane. No one could follow her into the Realms of Mana…

Unless they had a similar method.

The Herald of Rain paled even further. Because she recalled that they had sent NSLICE-00P to the Realms of Mana directly…and she had managed to return. So NSLICE-00P had, in fact, displayed some skill at moving through the Realms of Mana. She had assumed that NSLICE-00P’s status as a hero would preclude her from being blessed by the Realms of Mana, and there was no one who could safely navigate the Realms without the blessing of their lords.

But what if that assumption was wrong? Or rather, in one way or another, it clearly was.

And now, NSLICE-00P knew she was coming. The cyborg might even know her current location. The Herald of Rain clutched her head.

But she took a deep breath, and calmed herself. She was still the Herald of Rain, one of the inner circle of the Herald of the New Dawn. Trained personally by him from the days of her youth, and one of his most skilled followers. She was blessed by the Domides of Deluge, granted powers incomprehensible to normal mortals that made her a match for even the arrogant Sun Elves. She had risen above her circumstances to become one of the most powerful women in the world, among all species.

And the Herald of the New Dawn was counting on her. He needed chaos and conflict throughout the Material Plane. And most of all, he needed time in order to complete his grand design. And if he completed his work, then none of the rest of it would matter. Empires, dungeons, heroes, none of it.

She did not know how or even if she could defeat NSLICE-00P at this point. But she still had High-Archon Vommik’s cooperation, and the armies of the Empire of the Sun. She still had many corrupted dungeons and a horde of monsters. She still had what of her brothers and sisters of the Heralds remained after they were purged in the North and evacuated from the South. She, at the very least, could still buy time.

The woman who had rejected the Aesdes above and embraced the Domides below…could only pray that the time she could buy would be enough. For her great mentor to complete his design and usher in a new age. A new world, one that she would rule at his side for all eternity with power beyond imagining.

And should she fall…she would at least make sure that this broken old world would fall with her.

So the Herald of Rain got to work, and prepared to face the greatest challenge of her life.