Verdelith Castle, Sixth Floor, Lounge—
The sixth-floor lounge was dark, the lights were off, and the room was quiet…
It wasn't the oppressive darkness of a dungeon, but the soft and quiet darkness of a room where no one wanted to turn on the lights because the atmosphere felt too comfortable to ruin.
Cloud-blocked moonlight spilled through the wide windows that surrounded the walls of the lounge, casting pale silver light across the warm wooden floor. Beyond the glass, the intimate sight of the Emerald Ghost Tree stretched endlessly beneath the night sky, while a faint fog and formless clouds slowly rolled past the quiet castle. The room itself was quiet, except for the occasional rustle of blankets and the soft sound of someone chewing.
In the place where Petra had initially taken her seat—
The little green-haired girl had completely disappeared…
Mm, or rather, she had been buried alive!
An enormous pile of plushies had consumed the entire couch where she was last seen, and upon closer inspection, these were all large black doll versions of Petra's contracted beasts. They were scattered everywhere, piled atop one another like a mountain of oversized pillows, each possessing its own unique size and shape depending on their form. A giant fluffy wolf nearly occupied half the couch, while a massive curled-up centipede wrapped around the backrest like a long body pillow with dozens of small nubs to mimic its legs. Nearby, a chubby butterfly with transparent wings lazily drooped over the armrest, while a long snake had ended up tangled around everything. In addition, the fat frog was especially round, but that was currently being held captive deep within the depths of the mound, and hidden around these larger beasts were hundreds upon hundreds of 'smaller' plushies.
These extra little guys were all tiny fist-sized ant-shaped dolls.
Some wore tiny maid outfits that were quickly sewn, others had little scarves, some had hats, aprons, and swords, and one even wore a super cool eyepatch. There were six-legged guys, four-legged guys, and two-legged guys, but what they all had in common was that undeniable spark of wisdom hidden deep within their eyes.
The entire couch looked like an ant colony had exploded to fill its cracks!
…Mmgh~!
A soft grumble escaped from deep inside the pile.
If one were brave enough to approach, they would find that two large black eyes were barely visible between the plushies, while a glowing green light panel floated in front of the buried girl's face, illuminating the surrounding mountain of fluff with a faint ethereal green glow.
Apparently—
After Levy 'accidentally' taught a few of the more 'emotionally expressive' ants how to use the same projection technique that her main contracted beasts had learned, the knowledge had somehow spread throughout the entire ant colony without permission!
What did this mean?
Aside from the ants being incredibly bad at keeping secrets, the ant army, or at least those special guys with a bit more intelligence, had all collectively decided that they would join Petra and the eight big bosses during the night. No one knew why this happened, no one even knew how it could happen, and even Petra herself didn't understand why so many of the ants could learn this higher-level technique as easily as drinking water, but she accepted it very quickly.
After teaching a few of the ants how to properly scale themselves and form their bodies without becoming the living embodiment of hostile architecture, she proceeded to allow these 'proactive' ants to join her while she was lazing around.
It should also be said that this was just a simple projection technique, and these small dolls had no real combat power to speak of. Aside from being able to resist the occasional roll in the middle of the night, they couldn't do much more than bounce around and hang out.
At that moment—
The door to the lounge quietly opened.
Petra's eyes, without moving her head, immediately shifted towards the entrance.
Lilly and Luna were the first to enter, carrying trays piled high with snacks, and behind them followed Dorthy and Albery, who had already caught up.
The moment Lilly saw the couch—
Her eyes sparkled.
Without hesitation—
"Petraaa!"
Swoosh—Be-boing, woosh! BANG!! She dove directly into the plush pile, leaving her sister behind!
The mountain visibly compressed, and several screaming plush toys flew into the air while Lilly aggressively dug through the pile like a small animal that was determined to burrow into the snow.
Petra: "…Mgh?!"
Eventually—
Two pairs of sparkling, innocent eyes peeked out, then looked at each other at the same time.
Petra blinked.
Lilly blinked back.
Petra blinked again.
Lilly narrowed her eyes in contentment, then purred.
"…Mm~"
"…Mm!"
They both looked deeply satisfied, Petra because her snacks had arrived, and Lilly because she, erm…
Nearby, Dorthy chuckled softly behind one hand, while Albery stared blankly at the scene in front of her.
"…This is the Fifth Hero that everybody is talking about…?" she muttered quietly to herself.
She hadn't had enough time to properly talk back in the alley that day, but from what she could see, this was completely different from the terrifying rumors that had spread…
How was this a walking death machine?
Where was the calamity?
Where was the horrifying monster?
Why was she buried beneath a pile of plush toys like a sleepy child during the night?
If not for the quick tour through the fourth-floor laboratory, then she might really have been tricked!
Dorthy, seeing her friend's visible confusion, only smiled mysteriously before gently guiding Albery toward another seating space nearby.
"Come, come," she said lightly. "Let's leave those two alone before Lilly fully disappears into the nest."
"…Y-yes..?" Albery was pulled away to find a place to sit, entering a different part of the sixth floor…
-
Petra's couch—
Petra quietly hummed to herself while holding up the glowing panel.
Her stubby little arms poked out just enough to hold it up, a bit like a child drowned in blankets.
The screen shifted, changing between many moving images from all around the castle.
At the same time, Luna silently dropped off the majority of the food, Lilly's portion included, on the central table that had been repurposed to fit the nighttime buffet, then walked over and sat beside the plush pile while placing snacks onto the short table in front.
Not long later—
A few more footsteps echoed from downstairs, and soon, the door opened again...
This time, Lira was the first to enter, her energetic face bright and beaming, then Rose followed behind her with crossed arms and a face filled with a frustrated frown. Noah awkwardly stepped in last, but unlike the two sisters…? Noah was clearly a bit embarrassed about something that had happened offscreen, but what this was is impossible to know.
All three paused after entering, then they looked around the dark lounge.
After a moment, the sisterly duo simultaneously noticed the enormous plush mountain suspiciously vibrating in the middle of the room…
"…There she is," Rose muttered while stepping towards them.
Lira, also seeing them, jumped over dramatically, clearly overflowing with too much energy.
Noah stared blankly for several seconds before eventually following the two red-haired cats. Because it was so dark, and because he didn't have the same night vision as these two ferocious felines, he, like Lilly and Luna before him, was almost completely blind after initially entering.
The three naturally walked over and found places nearby to sit.
Meanwhile, Bell quietly wandered in behind them, carrying several books, before briefly hesitating. She looked around, then her eyes flashed with a magic light. After noticing Dorthy and Albery sitting separately to the side, her eyes lit up, and she quietly shuffled toward their seating space instead.
Soon—
The lounge became lively!
Petra snuggled even deeper into the plush pile before raising the Crystal Panel higher for everyone to see. Her big black eyes blinked, and after making sure that all the people who intended to come had come, she quickly spoke a few words. The girls gradually gathered closer together, while the glowing screen displayed the various unfortunate guests currently wandering around the castle.
* * *
Deep within the underground tunnels, but still above the spirit stone mine, dozens of black ants suddenly poured out from cracks in the walls like a living tide.
The two young girls, not knowing what to do, instinctively hid behind the old woman's dress.
The old woman smiled, but her smile was filled with a sinister sneer.
"Hehe…"
A faint grey mist spread from beneath her feet, and as the charging ants passed through, they instantly slowed down, eventually collapsing. Their legs stiffened, their bodies began to twitch unnaturally, and the shells surrounding their bodies began to petrify.
Meanwhile, one of the girls quietly raised her hand.
Thin black threads shot through the darkness and pierced directly into the heads of the ants, but as they connected, even before they could start to read, her eyes flew open, because not only were these ants not dead, but in addition to being immune to the poison mixed within the grey gas, they were already building an immunity to the petrification as well!
Her shock was caught by the other young girl hidden behind the old woman, and without even needing to be asked, she flicked her hand, and a wave of white light swept past.
The paralyzed insects immediately jumped up and turned on each other.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
The tunnel filled with tearing sounds, and seeing that it worked, the second girl happily clapped.
"Great-grandmother! Look, look! They're eating themselves! Hehehe! Do you like my new spell?"
The old woman nodded slowly, but deep in her eyes, an unprecedented seriousness began to show.
She looked forward, facing the thousands of newly emerged ants…
* * *
High in the sky, sealed within the vast and twisting maze-like canopy of the Emerald Ghost Tree, a swarm of red-striped fairy-dressed bees suddenly erupted from a massive nearby nest! They were like black skeletons hidden beneath white sheets, both looking breathtakingly beautiful and terrifyingly evil. These were a species Petra had played with shortly after the arrival of the Ash Fire Fairy, but unfortunately, she quickly realized that the ants were a much better genetic base.
As for why they were here, well—!
Let's just say that a lot of Petra's projects, successful or not, ended up sealed here after she was done with them, patiently awaiting the day she would come to clean them up…
As for if this time would come or not, who could say for sure, after all, Petra was pretty forgetful…
-
"Stay close!" the lion Beastmen roared!
Violent waves of spiritual energy burst out from around his body as he swung his claw outwards.
Boom!
Several bees exploded apart midair!
At the same time, the wolf cub excitedly leapt forward, releasing spinning wind blades from its tiny paws that sliced through layers of leaves and countless strange and unknown insects. Meanwhile, the long and lanky cat cub vanished into the branches, only to reappear at random.
Slash!
Slash!
Slash!
The lion beastmen stared blankly at his two little overachievers, shocked.
"…Why are you two better at this than me?"
The cubs proudly puffed out their chests!
* * *
Backyard, Poison Garden—
After the two stalkers were tossed into Petra's laboratory as poison testers, and everyone else was jettisoned outside, only three parties remained, the old woman, the beastmen, and the troublesome trio. If the old woman and the beastmen could be said to have been dropped into a battle-arena-type encounter, then the troublesome trio was much more unlucky…
-
"Why are my arms turning purple! Damn it!"
Spiky Red roared while desperately sprinting through a dense maze of poisonous flowers.
Behind him, the bulky man was currently hopping on one leg because his other foot had temporarily transformed into a mushroom-like nub. Meanwhile, the woman had somehow developed a strange condition that caused floating pink bubbles to spew out every time she spoke.
"I-I think I'm melting! Boss, I think it's spreading!" It was definitely spreading…
"Blub-blub-blub-blub!" Pop! A bubble exploded directly in the woman's face!
The entire garden was covered in a drifting white mist, while countless glowing plants swayed slowly beneath the moonlight. The whole scene looked like something out of a fairy's fever dream, but to these three, it was undoubtedly real, far too real!
What kind of hellhole did they come to!
Damn it!
Every few seconds, another strange symptom appeared and disappeared.
Sometimes their hair changed color, sometimes their sense of direction reversed, and at one point, Spiky Red even accidentally sneezed fire! Of course, this fire didn't burn, instead it turned whatever it hit into a block of ice! Worst of all, even after an hour of running, they still couldn't find the exit! This wasn't even Petras doing! For some reason, this garden, along with a few other places around the Verdelith Castle, had all become strange.
"…Boss…" the woman weakly whimpered. "I think the trees are moving…"
"…Don't be silly, that's impossible!"
"…Then why is 'that tree' in front of us now?"
"…"
Spiky Red looked up to see a very familiar tree with his initials arrogantly carved into its trunk…
Spiky Red slowly stopped, casually turned around, then began sprinting back the way they came…
Spiky Red held back his tears, not wanting the other two to see…
The trio immediately fled in the opposite direction.
As they ran—
Something pale silently slipped past in the background.
If they had taken a moment to stop, aside from regretting it, they would have discovered a tall white figure with long hair and no face.
Fortunately, the trio ran straight past it without noticing.
But, several seconds later—
All three simultaneously froze.
"…Did you feel something just now?" the bulky man muttered.
"…Nope! Nope-nope-nope!" Spiky Red instantly replied.
"…G-good! That's good! Let's never mention it again!"
"Mention what again!?"
"Right, …right!"
The trio immediately accelerated, disappearing into the endless maze…
* * *
Sixth Floor, Lounge—
"…Mm?"
Petra poked her head out of the plush pile and hummed.
She raised her little hand, waved it while slightly distracted, and with a faint flick, a thread of mental energy extended towards the central table and touched a bright red apple. The thin green string was wrapped around one finger while the fruit was pulled over and ended up hovering obediently above her hand. While chewing, the small girls stared at the screen.
"…What exactly is that ghost thing?" Noah asked curiously.
All of the girls knew about it, but most of them hadn't seen it in person.
Petra took another bite, then mumbled something with her mouth full. After being reprimanded by Levy, who had popped up at some point, "Mm, I think it may be a—"