Immediately, Pneuma's massive blade came wailing her towards Pythagoras. Right swing, left swing; With Every move the enemy fiend parried each attack. For a moment the blade nearly grazed his teal pigmented flesh, only cutting through the fabric that clung to his skin. He smirked, seeming to be enjoying this a little too much.

"You bastard!!" Pneuma cried out in rage. "How could you dare harm such a sweet little girl?! Molliana never hurt a soul, but that pure little child is dead because of you!! You're nothing but heartless monster!!" She sobbed angrily, continuing to violently swing her sword his way.

"Come'on, I know ya could do better than that. Words don't mean nothin' bitch, so quit squawkin' already. If you really wanna hurt me, you gotta try harder than that!" Pythagoras scoffed, continuing to move out of range of every slash of her blade, as if he were toying with her.

Finally she tore open a section of his chest. "OOOOOOOooooohhahahaha!!!! I might just have felt somethin' WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!" He cackled, dashing Pneuma's way with ferocity.

Nye and Ashe quickly summoned their wraith-edge and dragon armor, but just as they were about to join the fray, Pneuma evaded his attack, and came crashing back with another ferocious strike. This time the blade struck downward and connected in between Pythagoras' giant claw hand.

Pythagoras continued to grin sadistically. "Come on! CUT me!! DO IT!!!" He cackled, with deranged excitement in his tone, his claw gripping tightly to the sword.

Nye and Ashewyn proceeded to intervene, rushing inward. However their path was quickly obstructed by a monstrously masked man with blue hair, fashioned like a samurai. He had appeared from no where, as if he was a phantom. His skin pigment seemed odd, almost as if he were no longer living, and carried a massive scar on his left shoulder that didn't seem to have healed well. The faded green flesh even seemed to web between his clawed fingers, and his ears elf-like. His face however was completely concealed by the jarring masked he bore over it. This man wielded what seemed to be a bow-staff, and it was aimed their way, with both hands gripping to it. He appeared to be a fiend, who was once one of the Templar's forces; the mercenary named Enoch.

"Pyth. You're drawing too much attention from the onlookers. Do what the Queen asked of you, before you stir up something worse." Enoch insisted sternly, with focus poised on the duo. They grew hesitant, understanding there was more to this, but they weren't ready to back down just yet.

"Oy... Always one to kill a mood, eh Enoch? Fine." Pythagoras groaned, his eyes shifted back to the struggling female before him. "As much as I'm enjoyin' this, I got other matters to deal with back home. You got your invitation." He chuckled, crushing the blade with a tight squeeze of his serrated crab hand.

Pneuma could only watch as the blade of her massive sword crumbled into tiny fragments of metal shards.

"We'll be seein' more of each other soon. Don't keep us waitin' now." Pythagoras grinned before hammering Pneuma backwards, letting her crash right into Nye and Ashe.

Within a matter of seconds, spiked shadow tendrils bursted up from the ground at his feet, ensnaring completely around him before transporting him back into the underground. He continued to cackle all the way down, before his voice fell silent. As he vanished, Pythagoras left behind a cavernous hole in the soil. Enoch glanced to Nye and the others through a cloud of dust, before jumping into the pit after Pythagoras.

As the debris cleared, Nye and Ashe quickly helped Pneuma back to her feet, disengaging their weapons and gear. They were unable to pursue Pythagoras or Enoch now, but Pneuma needed their support more than ever. They knew if they didn't watch over her, she could succumb to grief and surly perish.

"..." Pneuma had proceeded over to Molliana's disintegrating body, and collapsed to her knees. Her head was held low as particles of the young child's corpse floated off into the air like dust, while quickly evaporating into nothingness.

".... Those Cultists have gone too far! It pisses me off that we let this happen... The nerve of that one getting in our way..." Ashewyn clenched his fist tightly, as he let his eyes trail over to what remained of Molliana's bloody corpse, as it continued to disappear into the air.

A hand was placed to his shoulder. "Even if we pursued either of them, there's no way to guarantee we'd even catch them. Right now, Pneuma is at risk." Nye said, looking over to Pneuma. "We should form a strategy before proceeding into enemy territory, but only after we ensure Pneuma won't die of heartbreak."

"Right. You're right... I'm letting my emotions get the better of me." Ashewyn peered over to Pneuma. "Mom...." He softly called.

"I should have protected you from this... you were so young... so innocent and pure..." Pneuma whimpered, faintly, as her teary eyes watched the dust of her adopted daughter quickly turn into nothing, but ash. "It was hard enough to learn Vex disappeared... now even you?...My little girl."

Ashewyn placed his hand to her arm, as he knelt down beside her. "You did the best you could... that stunt though... it was risky. You care too much mom, You let your motherly needs take over your judgement... but there's nothing we can do now... She's gone... If we let ourselves become stricken with grief... we'll be quick to follow..."

"..." Pneuma didn't reply, as a tear rolled down her cheek, watching Molliana disappear from existence.

"We need to tell the others what happened... and dad... He's not going to take this well either." Ashewyn sighed.

"Runfaust's going to be furious with me for letting our little Molly succumb to... such circumstances..." Pneuma's voice cracked, as she tried not to cry.

"I know... it's hurting right now... Trust me. She was my sis, but we'll get through this, mom. I promise..." Ashewyn hugged her, resting his head against her shoulder.

Pneuma leaned her head against his, placing her hand to the top of his. "..."

"...." Nye glanced away from them, to the opening in the ground where the fiends had fled. She knew they would be paying a visit to Wynorex soon enough.

Eventually Nye and Ashewyn managed to get Pneuma back to Knothole, and make it inside the front entrance door. Nye stood there holding it open, as Ashewyn helped lead Pneuma down the stairs. As they got a distance ahead, Nye slowly followed after them, letting the door softly close behind her. Pneuma reached the bottom level, and Runfaust was quick to reach her.

"Did you find her?" He asked in such a frantic tone, you could tell he truly cared about his adopted daughter. His eyes darted behind them, while peering around urgently. "Where is she? Why isn't Molliana with you?" Runfaust questioned, as he quickly turned back to his lover.

Pneuma felt it challenging to look at him, her eyes beginning to form tears that fell down her pale cheeks. "Runfaust... I'm sorry... I couldn't protect her... Molly's gone..." She forced out, her voice cracking from the strong emotions flowing through her. "I wasn't able to save our little girl." She explained in such a distraught tone.

"Molly is...." Runfaust appeared in shock, as he took a wavering step back for a moment. His attention however, suddenly shifted to Miles.

The feline was already shaken from the news, as he stopped in his tracks. "They got Molly?..." Miles muttered, uneasily.

The towering fiend turned in Miles' direction, his hand raising up into the air, as it to hit the feline. "Ever since you showed up, you've been nothing but trouble! You led the Templar right to us!!! Now my daughter is dead because of YOU!!-"

As the hand of justice came crashing down, it was quickly obstructed as Nye intervened. "He had nothing to do with this, Faust. Besides that, it wasn't the Templar who got to Molliana. It was the cult." She said, standing between him and the cowering feline behind her.

"Get out of the way, Nyghtmare. If he hadn't shown up with those women, then Molly wouldn't have been out there... she wouldn't have been at risk!" Runfaust snapped, but Nye didn't even flinch.

Ashewyn however got beside Nye, his gaze on his father. "You know how Molly was dad. She could have been out there at any given time, she's always been at risk. No one could have predicted this. Listen to yourself, you sound like a raving lunatic!"

"...She-" Runfaust began, but was caught off quickly.

"-No. It's in the past, we can't help her now. Just like we can't do anything about Vex taking off to join the cult... If we keep focusing on this, someone else might not make it through this." Ashewyn interrupted, motioning over to Pneuma.

"..." Faust seemed to understand the direness of this situation, and gave up on arguing with them. "Alright, you win Ashewyn. Just... Just let me tell Pneuma about Vex, Understand?" He sighed, before going over to comfort Pneuma.

"Alright, if you think she can handle it." Ashewyn replied, watching Runfaust walk from them.

"...Uh hey, thanks for that." Miles timidly looked up to Nye and Ashewyn.

"It's fine. " Nye patted Miles on the head, before looking to the redhead. "Ashe, can I speak to you for a moment." Nye inquired, taking him a distance from Runfaust.

"Miles? Is something wrong? I heard that fiend shouting again." Minerva approached him, having been in the other end of the hideout with Talis and Djinn. Her eyes shiftily glanced Runfaust's way.

"Huh? Yeah, he's always like that with me. I'm fine. Though, we got a problem..." His words trailed off, as he glanced over to Nye and Ashewyn who got to a distance from them.

Nye was looking seriously to Ashewyn. "The cult is expecting a counter attack, and deliberately invited us to their lair. We need to gather the others to figure out a strategy. The Cult is bound to have numbers and we're limited on allies."

"Our new friends may be able to help with that." Ashewyn stated, but he wasn't fully confident in tone, as if something was bothering him.

Nye brushed it off, assuming it had to do with what happened to Molliana. "I was just thinking the same thing." She replied, trying to avoid drudging up painful emotions in her friend.

Ashewyn seemed to pause for a moment, before glancing to her. "Nye." He almost hesitantly spoke up. "Let me talk things over with Eclipse. She's in no condition to be on the battlefield, and moving her from that bed isn't the best idea while she's recovering."

"I do have to agree. If we can at least get in contact with her forces, we should be able to handle our end in this discussion." Nye crossed her arms, as she leaned against the nearby wall.

"I'll see about getting in touch with her contacts then while I'm at it." Ashewyn replied, turning for the staircase.

"Alright. While you handle preparing that, I'll debrief everyone else on the situation." Nye glanced to him.

"Sounds good." He said, proceeding up the stairs. He glanced to the lower level as he was ascending to the upper level, seeing Nye having Miles help with gathering together the others.

Ashewyn continued up the stairs, passing by Zyron.

"What's going on?" The canine asked, skeptically.

"War's coming. You might want to head down for the debriefing, Fluffy. I need to check on Eclipse, but I'll join you guys in a bit here." Ashewyn explained, proceeding to the room where Eclipse was.

Zyron seemed greatly concerned, but turned off to go get Solitaire, so they could join the meeting downstairs. Ashewyn gently opened the door to the room, before peering over to the wounded elf. She still laid in the bed resting, but her eyes opened as she heard Ashewyn draw near.

"You came back." She spoke softly.

"I said I'd check in on you." Ashewyn sat down at the foot of her bed, looking to Eclipse.

Eclipse smiled softly, before looking seriously to Ashewyn. "I overheard yelling downstairs. Is everything alright?" She inquired, with concern.

"Not really. We just lost my sister to the cult." Ashewyn lowered his head.

Eclipse tried to sit up, as she looked to him with furrowed brows. "Maker... I'm so sorry... That's just terrible... Are you going to be alright?..."

"I'm more concerned about my mom honestly. She's taking this a lot harder than I am." Ashewyn sighed. "That's not the only thing though. These bastards deliberately invited us to their domain... There's only one outcome to this."

"War?..." Eclipse spoke, as if reading his mind. Ashewyn turned to her again, listening as she continued to speak. "Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked, leaning closer to Ashewyn, to place her hand on top of his. "I remember the things you told me about those people."

"No. I can't let you do that, you're still recovering. I rather you stay here, and have the other two stay to make sure you're alright. There's no telling what'll happen or if we'll even make it out alive at this point. They have us out numbered." Ashewyn averted eye contact, retreating his hand from her touch.

"That's only more reason you shouldn't count me out. I can help you, Ashewyn. Please, just let me." Eclipse softly pleaded with a concerned toned.

"Haven't you been hurt enough!? I'm not going to risk your safety like that!" Ashewyn snapped, startling Eclipse.

Both of them fell silent for a brief moment, but after a temporary pause, Eclipse made herself speak up. "Why does my well-being matter so much to you?" She asked, in a hushed tone.

"You should get your rest." Ashewyn got to his feet, turning off from her.

Eclipse quickly grabbed his hand, but his back remained turned to her. "No matter what has happened since I met you, you've always been there to make sure I was safe. Why is that? Why are you always protecting me?" She asked, more stern in tone.

"Does it matter?"Ashewyn replied, without pause.

"Of course it does. You have to tell me what you're thinking. I know well enough about Amygdala and what happens when-" She went on, but was quickly cut off.

"That tone... You have no idea how that makes me feel." Ashewyn scoffed, keeping his gaze away from her.

He stood and she sat there for a moment quietly, before Ashewyn finally looked back to her. Eclipse seemed hesitant by his response, but she hadn't yet pulled her hand from his. He didn't force his away either, and yet they just stood and sat there in silence.

With a soft grimace, Ashewyn let out a soft chuckle. "I guess you've grown fond of me too, huh?" His tone was much softer this time, making Eclipse lighten up.

She shyly smiled, peering up at him. "Then you-? Well... How could I not? I feel safe when you're around. So please don't hide things from me, I worry about you as well."

"I've honestly tried to avoid getting attached to others my whole life, after seeing so many other Amygdala die from it. I'm a lot more paranoid than I let on. Right now though, I'm fully committed to our cause, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you." Ashewyn tried to explain.

"I completely understand. I was not trying to impose on you, especially since your sister just-" She sighed, pausing a moment. "-Please forgive my rudeness. I just seem to have... well, fallen for you." Eclipse meekly admitted, before growing silent.

There was a delayed reaction in Ashewyn, but he tried to give her a smile. "If I make it out of this, I'll consider the idea of there being an 'us', alright? Priorities and all that." Ashewyn replied, stepping a bit closer to her. "You really should rest though." He went on, trying to help her get back into bed.

"Fair enough. Should I send a raven to the others? You will be needing reinforcements after all." Eclipse asked, allowing herself to lay back down to recover from her previous injuries.

"I was actually planning to send one for you, but if you feel up to it, then that would be great." Ashewyn stated. "I really should join the others now though. Just try to rest."

"Be safe." Eclipse replied, watching as Ashewyn took his leave of her.

Ashewyn closed the door behind himself, holding his hand to his chest as he closed his eyes. He took a breath, before peering them open to notice the group formed downstairs. He walked to the edge of the railing, seeing Nye explaining the situation to the others. Amongst them was Miles and Minerva, as well as Zyron, Solitaire, Adam, and Nikolai, as well as Jackyn who was keeping distance as usual. Ashewyn took notice that Talis and Djinn weren't far from the meeting, listening but trying to keep their voices from the discussion. Trailing his eyes from them, he noticed Runfaust and Pneuma absent, perhaps they were behind the bar in the kitchen hallway again? He pondered, before taking steps down the stairs.

"This makes me sick..." Adam muttered, softly.

"How could those arseholes nick away Molly's life like that?!" Solitaire exclaimed in irritation. "This really brasses me off!

"Those cultists are fucking heartless bastards obviously. Shit though, so how are we supposed to pull this fucking thing off?" Zyron crossed his arms.

"Good question." Minerva added.

"What can we really even do? There's more of those guys than us. We're screwed here." Miles sighed.

"Not if we just kill them." Jackyn groaned, boredly. "Numbers are meaningless without strength to back it."

"Wow, so like you to suggest a reckless massacre." Miles grumbled, with a sarcastic tone.

Jackyn's eyes sharply focused on Miles."Got any better ideas, cat?" He asked in a harsh tone.

"Uh... well... uh... N-No?" Miles got chills up his spine, before quickly grabbing to Minerva's arm for protection, which she seemed to like, as she pulled him closer.

"There is no sense arguing about it, but I suppose it can't be helped." Nikolai said, his words falling short of the others, before looking to Nye. "What do you think, mistress?

"Jack does pose a fair point, though there is a slight possibility we may not need to kill all of our enemies. However, If we invade this way, I think it might be best to split up our forces." Nye explained, clearly taking Jackyn's side on this.

"Seems like a sound idea, the less attention we draw to ourselves, the better. Not only will we cover more ground, it could give us opportunity for a preemptive strike." Ashewyn spoke up, as he joined the others.

"Glad you could join us." Nye glanced to the redhead.

"Sorry to keep everyone." Ashewyn stated. "I spoke with Eclipse, she'll get word out to her friends. I also think it's best we have Talis and Djinn remain here to look over her while we attempt this counter attack." He said, looking over to them.

"Fair enough. You focus on the threat then, and leave Eclipse to us." Djinn replied, in a confident tone.

"We'll make sure she recovers." Talis added timidly, as she gripped to Djinn's hand.

"Good." Ashewyn nodded, his attention returning to the others.

"If that's decided, then let's plan for who will be paired off for our return trip to Wynorex. We should be able to divide evenly into groups of three, however due to the crucialness of this operation, I might have to recommend pairings who won't be a distraction to each other." Nye made her suggestion, after noticing Miles and Minerva's behavior together.

Jackyn didn't seem keen on the idea however, walking up to Nye. "You can't just expect me to pair off without you. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you that I could have prevented." Jackyn stated, clearly frustrated.

"Jackyn. I'm not happy about this either, but you need to understand I'm making this call to ensure everyone is focused on task at hand. If we make any mistakes, we're all done for." Nye explained, trying to get him to understand.

"That's exactly why I need to be there. I know how these bastards operate by now." Jackyn argued.

"Then you know they'll take advantage of our emotions. This is the safest bet. You know that." Nye tried tor reason with him.

"..." Jackyn averted his eyes, growing silent. "I know, but ..."

"I'll be fine." Nye said, hoping to reassure her lover.

"..." Jackyn hesitated again, knowing well enough he already drew a lot of attention to himself with this scene he made.

Zyron was about to argue his point on being with Solitaire on this mission, however seeing that Nye could even shut down the most feared of their party, he slunk back and remained silent. Miles was also quick to avoid his disagreeances well, he knew Nye meant business.

As the room quieted down, Nye took out the map she acquired from Lenault, and laid it out on the table for all to see. The others gathered in, looking upon the parchment.

"Solitaire and Minerva, you're with me." Nye looked to the girls, as she pointed suddenly to the nearest city on the map. "We'll be heading for the Belmont entry point."

"Alright mate, I'm ready for this. Those cunts are gonna pay." Solitaire nodded.

"Count me in, I'm ready for some action." Minerva smirked.

"Glad to hear. Alright, Jackyn, you take Zyron and Nikolai with you." Nye said to her raven haired sweetheart, as she slid her index finger over to another location on the map. "You three will take the entry where the Cultists made an escape route."

"Fine." Jackyn begrudgingly accepted.

"Not excited about this crap, but we're boned if we don't do anything." Zyron stated.

"As you wish, Mistress." Nikolai bowed.

Nye smiled, "Then that leaves Ashewyn, with Miles and Adam." She said, placing a finger over the farm lands. "Kamano ranch will be your entry point."

"You got it." Ashewyn said, accepting his role.

"Leave it to us." Miles tried to be brave, holding up his bandaged hand like a fist, but shifted as he grew self conscious about it.

"I'll do what I can to help." Adam added.

"So, here's what I have in mind. After we split up, each our parties will transverse the underground, taking the deep road passages ways to regroup at Wynorex to find this 'Queen' who's pulling all the strings. We have no idea what we'll be up against down there, or how large her army has grown. Push has come to shove, and we must strike back before they can do the same. There's no guarantee all of us will make it out alive, but if we stay determined we might be able to pull this off." Nye explained, while using markers on the map to show her thinking. She kept her tone serious, trying to to prepare everyone for the worst.

Footsteps approached them suddenly, as Runfaust came up behind the meeting from the kitchen portion of the base. "Nyghtmare, if you're truly planning to take on these cultists, I am going with you. When we first met, I vowed to fight by your side. Queen or no queen, that promise remains. More than anything though, I want to get back at those who stole away two of the kids I raised."

"Dad, you have to stay here to look after Pneuma. I'll deal with them and Vex, alright?" Ashewyn stated, trying to stop him.

"He won't have to, because I'm going too, and there's nothing you can say or do that will stop me from doing so." Pneuma interrupted the conversation, as she approached from behind Runfaust. "There's nothing more powerful than a mother's scorn."

"We already talked things through together, and both of us want to get a hand at these scum." Runfaust added.

"..." Ashewyn seemed hesitant.

"There's no arguing with them, Ashe. They could easily go against our wishes after we left for the chasms. It's better we know." Nye explained, understanding how adamant the two were.

"I get it. It's just-" Ashewyn was about to give his end of the argument, but was quickly cut off.

"I'm past my prime, kid. I don't have many years left in me now, just listen to Nyghtmare. She's right." Runfaust stated.

"I know that." He sighed. "Alright, fine. I won't stop you. Just go together, and keep each other safe." Ashewyn gave in.

"We definitely will, don't worry, Ashe." Pneuma said.

"The two of you can take the swamp entrance here." Nye stated, placing her finger to the marker on the map.

"Very well." Runfaust agreed.

"If there aren't any other matters to discuss, we should get ready to depart to our destination. Take this time to prepare yourself, and say what needs to be said to anyone who you feel needs to hear it. What lays ahead remains unknown, and so does the outcomes of everyone involved. War is now upon us, but we can succeed if we put our minds to it. We won't give up, and we will fight on. No matter what happens, this must come to an end. If we can defeat the cult, then we might stand a chance against the true threat. The Templar." Nye spoke to encourage her friends and allies, overlapping the moments they took to speak to their loved ones before their departure.

As soon as everyone said their well wishes and farewells, they parted ways at the cross roads. Showing from an overview angle in the woods, the four groups split up in the direction of their destinations, making their journeys forward.

Following Nye's group, of her, Solitaire and Minerva; the girls reached Belmont, and entered through the secret passageway. Upon stepping in, they ventured down into the dark abyss, traveled through vast dank chambers within the chasm. Wandering deeper in, came to a fork in the road, discovering a mangled corpse pinned to the wall by a blade that stuck through their red stained chest. Solitaire seemed unnerved but Minerva approached to examine the body. It was definitely a dwarven man with a hefty body and flowing ginger-colored beard, this man however was clad in Templar garbs.

"This dwarf, he's a templar? What's a Templar doing down here in a place like this?" Minerva glanced back to the others, from the mangled mess on the wall.

"Nye?" Solitaire looked to the blonde, hoping desperately for an answer.

"We may not be the only ones the cult is fighting." Nye stated, her tone cold.