[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/72bEcUi.png[/img][/center]

Lily blushed in embarrassment as the others caught up to her and Rachel, the latter having taken a moment to adjust her glasses as Alex addressed her, having expected the rescue to be successful. “Yes…You are correct, mister Shields. Stopping the Queen of Hearts is our highest priority. Miko, what does the Super Map reveal about the enemy base?” She inquired, having placed the head of the hammer on the ground and leaning her elbow against the pommel.

As the shrine maiden-esque Mahou observed the scrying artifact, she realized that an enchantment of some kind was disrupting the artifact’s operation: instead of showing separate floor plans, the map instead placed them exactly as they would be located as layers on top of each other, resulting in a mess of lines and shapes, with the most visual chaos being present in the middle of the map, and lessening at the borders. Similarly, the markers for residents were in a jumbled heap, with names overlapping with each other. However, the Super Map still retained the power to differentiate between allies, enemies, and neutral people. Specifically, there was one neutral person and one allied person near an enemy…And the allied person suddenly disappeared from the map with the enemy, while the neutral person began to move away from the location.

Meanwhile, Branch Nose hesitantly nodded to Gaia’s request. “Farewell then, everyone. I will be praying for your success, and that we meet again.” After the somber words were spoken, the tree walked back to join his non-sentient kin, his eyes leaking tears of sap. Lily bit her lip as she saw their tallest ally depart, and Rachel sighed as Connie asked about their pastel-colored friend. “Magical Dream Princess stayed back at the factory to look after the rest of the allies we have recruited as part of our crusade: given her capability for magic, I wouldn’t be surprised if she will swiftly find some way to quickly return to us.” 

Lily bit her lip at Miko’s question. 
[color=fff200]”Uhh…She was kind of…Grabbed by Mayra, who proceeded to…distract the guards. Anyway, we don’t have time to wait! Mariette, no, everyone’s counting on us. Let’s go!”[/color] She transformed her bow to scepter form to better accommodate combat in a tighter space if necessary, and ran towards the moat. Rachel observed as Lily easily hopped over the moat of water next to the wall, and approached the passage. “I suppose we could also take this hidden passage. Then again, a pincer attack from multiple angles could prove fortuitous. What do you think, Alicia?”

[hr]
[i]Pen-Ken? Penr-Rose? Oh no...It's already starting. The Lunar Council's appearance seemed to be an isolated case, but with this...Even the Authors are starting to feel the effects. I need to hurry, before it is too late...[/i]

[hr]
Nefer raised an eyebrow as Mac scried using her artifact, and puffed her cheeks. “Well, this is disappointing. Oh well, I suppose the exciting times have to wait for now.” She looked towards Akhenaten and nudged her head upwards. The very next moment, The black golem stepped next to Mac, and picked her up the arm, not too gently to intentionally hurt, but also not gently enough to spare her feelings. She was lifted just enough that Nefer could roll from under her and stand back up. She dusted off her clothes as the golem then let go of Mac, who saw from her vision of a scene that happened back at the factory:

Penny’s attention was grabbed by a strange machine, like a hollow cylinder with plenty of knick-knacks and doodads lining its circular interiors. Her spidery arms welded electronics and drew new cables into the guts of the machine, while she herself held a glowing gem, seemingly observing its effects when placing it into the machine. She sent a chessbot to gather scrap metal from its fallen comrades outside, and placed them inside the cylinder. Meanwhile, Justine was pouring what looked like a potion flask with a golden-hued liquid over Caroline’s stony body.
Cracks began to form on the statue, and a finger popped out of the statue’s hand, followed by another a moment later: slowly but surely, the younger sister was recovering from petrification.

Meanwhile, the false Penny rotated its head in a manner similar to a human expressing a negative answer with a head shake.
[color=9e0039]“Let me prove that I have not forgotten or misunderstood.”[/color] Her chest plate opened up just like the past Penny’s, revealing a lowered gun-like weapon. She dismantled the weapon with a spinning hand that unscrewed the bolting of the weapon at the base, and then removed the weapon, leaving her insides hollow.
[color=9e0039]“As you can see, the interior space of my design can only accommodate very small insects,”[/color] she clarified.
[color=9e0039]“I could also dismantle the weapons I have installed in my wrist and ankle slots, but I have deduced that this is sufficient evidence to prove my earlier statement as fact.”[/color]

[hr]
The Queen of Hearts did not flinch even as Esther’s vines and branches threateningly crept closer…Until Mariette de-escalated the conflict. She gave a subtle smile towards the tree monster, and then a warmer one to Mariette.
“I am glad to see you have such stalwart yet diligent servants to watch over the mirrors, Alice.” 
She then raised an eyebrow as Mariette requested a moment to convene with the monstergirl.
She cocked her head to the side.
“Very well, my lovely daughter…But do make it quick: we may run out of paper before we reach the back cover if we tarry.” Having said that, she created a portal, took what looked like a strange lavender-plumed ostrich-like bird…And sat on it, causing the creature to slightly hunch from the woman’s weight, its head drooping low. Another smaller portal retrieved a plate and cup of steaming tea, which she began to sip. “You have until this is empty, dear,” she stated.

[hr]
The Mermaid Princess beamed as Mayra agreed to join in the war effort, and clapped her hands together in joy. “Ah, those words, it’s music to me! Now then, lead on, o dragon!” Brittany, seemingly elated by Mayra’s enthusiasm for her singing, nodded. As she and Mayra sped off, the river began to be magically shifted and bent towards the castle, the merfolk army flowing towards at unicorn speed. Then, Brittany began to sing, complete with rhythmic drums appearing out of thin air, and the merfolk and even the fish soldiers naturally joining as vocal backup:

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9MfuWSQoWc]
Be a fish
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a whale
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a dragon
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark depths of the sea!
[/url]

[hr]
"Understood", Viper curtly answered Chloe's orders. "Returning to infiltration." She then disappeared from the vision of her orb. Chloe then began to scry the Queen of Hearts as the target. To her surprise, she actually managed to get a bead on her: she was in an underground cave of sorts, full of dark, twisted flora, and dimly lit by phosphorescent fungi. She was sitting on a strange emu-like colorful bird, sipping tea, while Mariette was some distance away, conversing with Esther. Suddenly, When her eye glowed purple, she turned her head to look at Chloe's direction straight in the eyes with a cold stare.