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Nefer looked confused as Finn attempted to clarify the chaos of the situation to her, and looked at the damaged artifact in her hands. “Eh, why not. But give it back once you’re done. I might still be able to get a couple of coins off it over at the Bazaar.” She tossed the Runestone up and caught it on her palm in a casual manner, and then tossed it over to him. The moment Finn got a hold of it, he could tell that the artifact possessed a vast storage large enough to store a Killing Blow or similar spell, but in it’s fractured state would be dangerous to use. “As for this whole mess,” she turned to Akhenaten, who nodded back with a grumble, his arms crossed. “I suppose we could lend our services for a modest fee. Let’s say…five Gold coins. Three if you let me keep all the Wonderland tech.”

Lily looked relieved as Oliver sent forth his own contribution to the evacuation effort, as more duplicates as well as spirits possessing artificial bodies joined the ranks of rescue. [color=fff200]”Thank you, I appreciate it,"[/color] She thanked the Crimson Cradle member. However, she frowned when she heard Nefer’s offer. She looked frustrated, her fist trembling.
[color=fff200]”Fine, we’ll pay you! But please, help us evacuate the townsfolk!"[/color]
Nefer shrugged, and shook her head. “Nah, that ain’t my style. I think I’ll go have a look at these Wonderland weirdos instead. That sounds more fun. Come on, Aten. Let’s go.” Akhenaten grumbled, and the two of them ran off towards the fields. [color=bc8dbf]”I’m going with them,”[/color] Justine spoke to the other CC agents.  
[color=bc8dbf]”I’m more useful in a fight anyway. Keep me posted.”[/color]
She then followed after them, having summoned her spear. 

Lily and the others continued pushing civilians out the door from building after building, healing the injured as they cropped up or pulling them out from a few collapsed buildings. With Oliver granting one final push of sheer rescuing numbers, the civilian rescue effort rose to a staggering fourteen emptied buildings on the east row, and twelve emptied buildings on the west row. Now, only two houses remained.
[color=fff200]”We’ve nearly…haaah…done it!"[/color] Lily cried out, panting hard as the strain of maintaining the Chronos Crosser spell had taken a toll on her physically. She jogged over to the evacuation shelter, where Annabelle ran up to her, embracing her in a hug. She then addressed the evacuation group. “Thank you so much, everyone! I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for you!”
[color=fff200]”Don’t…haah…mention it!"[/color] Lily gave a thumbs up and a bright smile amidst her breaths.
[color=fff200]”Now all we gotta do is get them out of town…Wait, how are we going to do that?”"[/color] She asked Annabell, but she could only shrug.
“I don’t know, but I’m feeling better now. I better head back and see if my towers have held up.” Annabell then took off on a run using Lily’s speed tiles, leaving a trail of flowers. Lily sighed, and placed her hands on her knees.
 [color=fff200]”Wait for me…I gotta just…Take a sec…"[/color]

[hr]
Finn called forth and imbued the local farm animals with the call of the wild. As a result, the chickens flapped their wings and clucked with vigor as they headed out as a swarm, feathers scattering in every direction. The bull was also roused into a bestial fury, it’s bellow like the sounding horn of battle as it charged into the battlefield. As more squads of card soldiers advanced alongside a couple of tanks, one of the tanks was knocked over by the bull, followed by trampling over soldiers, shrugging off volleys of fire as if they were mere nerf bullets on its magically toughened skin.

The enraged chickens reached the Lion the moment it got within range of the frontline, and distracted it long enough for Mayra to dodge the blade and for Kiyome to teleport out, leaving only Penny as the single recipient of the attack. However, she had abandoned the very idea of retreat, having lost her grip on the Engine of Destruction as it unchained itself and assumed control. She slid back on the black, charren grass as her heels dug in from the massive impact of the Lion’s blade, having successfully stopped it with her hands before her head was sliced off. Drawing strength from the power grid of Bolorton underneath her, she proceeded to hold on to the monster, covered in glowing electricity, and charged forth, grilling the surrounding chickens into a fine, microwaved dish.

The Lion, unable to escape the shocking grapple, proceeded to bite and tear into the Engine’s shoulder, the monster’s megaton bites capable of ripping out a hefty chunk out of her crackling form before it was slammed into one of the APCs that had descended to the foot of the hill, causing it to howl. The Engine then passed over the beast, seemingly shifting in focus to the hapless card soldiers inside who saw the side of the APC being blown open by the impact; they only had a moment to scream before they were shredded alongside their transport.

The closest Club soldiers opened fire on the Engine at first as it approached the second APC past the hill, while others were occupied with Kiyome’s summoned Minions that ran amok in the enemy ranks, disrupting their advance to Bolorton. With their close proximity and sheer numbers, they managed to punch through a couple of spots in the Engine’s armor, though only incurring light damage. But then, the Hearts quickly issued a command, and the rest of the soldiers changed their tactics. At that moment, when the Engine stepped over the hill, she saw as multiple grenades were thrown at her, followed by…static. 

She was unable to see or hear anything but distorted, black-and-white scramble and hiss of radio waves. In fact, all of the Engine’s senses were consumed by the disruption, as some kind of ferric solution similar to chaff heavily pervaded through her immediate vicinity, disrupting her electrical sensors. In that moment of weakness, with the Engine solely relying on mechanical functions, she couldn’t detect the Lion closing in on her, ready to stab her in the back like a dirty coward.

Gaia released the enchantment cast on once-verdant fields on Bolorton’s border once the fire had fully reached the botanical traps; vines, venus flytraps and fungi alike dissipated into green spore-like sparkles and glowing root-like streams, which proceeded to travel back to Gaia, allowing her to restore some of the mana she had used to cast the spell before the ever-hungry inferno consumed the grass. She saw as Iron Mouse peppered the Tin Man with bullets, and they clanged with little effect against the monster’s metallic body. At the time, Mac felt a slight tingle against her skin, unsure whether it was simply the thrill of combat while she had Iron Mouse’s illusion dig underground.

In a brilliant move, the emerald-hued maiden then proceeded to channel the water-drawing power of plants into the cob cannons; they bloomed in sapphire sparkles into blue-bulbed hydro cannons. The cannons were charged with Gaia’s magic, and roots quickly spread underneath to the closest source of water, which she recognized to be a river to the northwest. The hydro cannons’ bulbs swollened, preparing to launch a deluge of dihydrogen oxide at the Tin Man. 
At the same time, Mayra set her sights on the scarecrow, and it’s flammable straw body, and charged right at the scarecrow once it passed around the Tin Man’s foot.

However, while the Tin Man initially ignored the signs of attack, the scarecrow was quick on the uptake. With surprising speed for a single-legged monster, it pogo-jumped around the foot, and screeched an order at the Tin Man; the Tin Man stretched out its free arm forward, and attempted blocking the splash of water with it’s palm, managing to protect most of its body from the hydro cannons before it swung down with it’s axe; with a single slice, the sunflower tower was easily severed, as if plantlife was mere timber to the woodsman, and began to fall. However, Gaia then saw as the Tin Man’s free arm, the axe arm’s elbow and patches of it’s front rapidly rusted, immobilizing the spots in place. The burning fields in the proximity were also extinguished from the water sprays, causing smoke to accumulate and obscure the view.

At the same time, the Tin Man had lifted a foot, allowing the scarecrow to pass under just as Mayra slashed, forcing her to dodge and back off as a follow up before the foot stomped back down, shaking the earth. However, the attack succeeded to hit; she cut off the scarecrow’s rake arm and burned it to cinders, and set the straw construct on fire. However, that was when the water from the hydro cannons rained down after it struck the Tin Man. Not only was the scarecrow extinguished as a result, but Mayra also was hit by the water, drenching her. While not enough to actually harm her, the water slowed her down just enough for the trunk of the severed sunflower tower to collapse on top of her with a resounding thud, crushing her legs and tail and trapping her under the massive sunflower.
The scarecrow cackled as it absorbed the water on it into its straw body, seemingly boasting about its tactical genius through body language.

While the Tin Man recovered from it’s swing and readied another, Iron Mouse suddenly burst from the ground, and struck it right in the central hatch with a boulder that scattered on impact into rubble. As a result, the heart-shaped lock was cracked, and some of the chains holding it in place got loose. However, that was exactly when Mac felt pain in her chest as if someone had punched her, nearly knocking the breath from her lungs. She tasted blood in her mouth, and noticed how the glowing light inside the monster had intensified, and was now pulsating like a heartbeat. That was when she realized it; the monster was magically reflecting the damage it took.

Gaia, who was located on a neighbouring sunflower tower, then shifted her attention to the armless girl; though it was difficult to see through the clouds of smoke, she saw as the strange creature had passed the first couple of swerves on the golden bricked road in her merry skipping, about to head for the loop. The green-haired girl surprised the monster by summoning entangling vines on the sides of the road, which wrapped around her body and legs, stopping her in place. Gaia felt that her mana reserves had dropped to 80%, some of it saved by her spell salvaging. She saw as the girl’s smile turned more wicked, and golden bricks around her trembled, as if she was at the center of a tremor. 

Suddenly, the armless girl coughed out blood, and the vines were cut down. Gaia then realized she had been struck with three swords, or rather three sword strikes, courtesy of Kiyome, who had stepped onto the gold road right next to her and performed a fearsome Focused Assault. It was an expensive technique that together with her summon spell earlier claimed 15% of her mana, but it was seemingly worth it; the armless girl knelt down, seemingly unable to stand, and Kiyome leapt further back down the gold road before the Angel of Hope placed a barrier around the armless girl, attempting to keep her further in place.

However, the armless girl lifted her head, and continued smiling despite the dribble of blood that dripped down the corner of her mouth. “Vines and warriors and walls, oh my!” She spoke out, and once again the golden road shook with tremors. As Kiyome attempted to teleport out, she noticed she was somehow unable to escape. She then looked down, and realized the golden bricks were animated as they opened up a hole underneath her and enclosed on her; her feet were grinded and crushed by the golden bricks, as if chewed on by a giant with gnashing golden teeth, causing moderate pain. Then she started to sink, first from the ankles, then to her knees, and then to her thighs. The kneeling armless girl giggled inside the barrier amidst the occasional cough, delighted by the sight of Kiyome descending down the horrible golden trap. She kept descending and descending…

Just as it seemed like all hope was lost, Kiyome saw an imposing black shape rushing in at the corner of her eye, and she was met with the terrifying sight of a large black golem of Egyptian design standing above her, sand swirling around him like a cloak. He reached out to grab her by the hand, and pulled her out of the teeth, having punched and stomped down on the golden teeth so hard they cracked into pieces. Once she was out of the trap, she could see a girl in a red suit walking in from Bolorton’s direction, wielding some kind of glowing gun. The golem grunted at Kiyome, and punched a block of golden bricks that the armless girl had shot at the two of them, pulverizing it.

[hr]
The Spade soldiers, undeterred by Gaia’s cob cannons, advanced through the sky, and were now right above the Angel of Hope. One Spade opened fire on her with a hail of minigun fire-!
[color=bc8dbf]”Look out!”[/color]
Suddenly, a shield of crimson blood appeared before Angel, blocking the shots, and she turned to see Justine, her hand outstretched and a magic circle having appeared out of it.
[color=bc8dbf]”I’ll take care of the fliers, you focus on ground support!”[/color]
She ordered, and dashed up with a flap of her white-feathered wings towards the Spades.
The Spade wielding the rocket launcher aimed at the base of the tower Gaia was standing on, and blew it up, causing the tower to collapse with Gaia still on it. The remaining members had moved ahead, and were laying down fire on the barrier itself; they failed to destroy it, but wore some of the defenses down. Justine chased after them before they finished reloading, launching red beams at them as she pursued them across the sky.
[color=bc8dbf]”Take this!”[/color]

[hr]
Hatwington scoffed at Jelena’s answer, seemingly offended as he adjusted his monocle. “As I expected, foreigners are rather boorish.” The Marquis and the hooded girl were also not amused by Jelena’s abrupt exit, though they did not chase after her. Instead, they simply kept watching her like she was a party crasher who had ruined their fancy dinner.

Meanwhile, the Queen of Hearts placed her palm on the handle of the croquet mallet, and dismissively waved her hand in denial at Mariette’s question. “Oh, it took some time to build this place, seven or eight months, it might have been. It was quite tragic...But never mind that, my dear Alice. I wouldn'ät wish to reawaken those painful memories just yet. Now, let’s see…” While the Queen was focused on her game, Mariette attempted using Absolute Direction to find the supposed Alice that she had heard. However, as she wasn’t sure if Alice even existed in the first place, and without a decent mental image of what she would look like, the spell fizzled out.

“Huzzah, we have won!” Mariette’s thoughts were interrupted by the Queen’s proclamation; she had successfully scored enough points to win the game. Smiling widely, she tossed the mallet in celebration at one of the card soldiers on guard duty, knocking their helmet off; that was when Mariette saw that the soldier did not possess a head, only a black, smooth stump where the neck would have been located. That was when Jelena arrived, having also seen the missing head on the soldier.
“But don’t worry, Alice. I’m sure you’ll do better with more practice. Now then, we are feeling a bit peckish, so let’s move on to the catering. I’m sure you’ll feel better once you’ve had some crumpets and tea, Alice.”

[hr]
Hyun Long bit her lip at Alicia’s reassurance, and then averted her eyes with crossed arms, seemingly still bothered by Serenity’s social faux pas despite Alicia’s claim. Still, once Vivianne was properly introduced and the group had walked over to the teleporter room, she seemed to turn less tense. Gabriel on the other hand seemed to not be interested in the slightest, and silently chewed on her toast as she listened to the conversation. When Serenity brought up the idea of joining them on their mission, Hyun Long protested. “Sorry, but the mission parameters have already been set for four members, Serenity. Besides, our assigned vehicle is a four-passenger.” 

“But it could fit five if three squeeze in the backseat,” Gabriel chimed in. “I could also drop out of the mission; Rachel assigned me to hold a few drills to the newbies, and I’d rather get those done.” Hyun rolled her eyes. “The Paladin Seraph has priority in command for being assigned by the Cardinal. Whether you are from the Ascendancy or not does not matter” she reminded Gabriel, hinting at some animosity between the two as they exchanged leers. “In the end, it is her call as commanding officer”. Alicia and the others then heard Violette’s voice on the communicator: “The teleporter is primed and ready to go. Please hurry, the situation in Bolorton is turning more dire by the minute”.