Meera carried the wailing head down the Mantle, and as expected, all she saw was a blood bath when she reached the bottom. His body had been blown into so many pieces that hardly anything coherent remained. It painted the ground red in such a wide range that she didn't think it was possible. Bits and pieces of his body yet remained that rolled away from the crash. Valan sobbed at seeing the condition of his body as he knew that he would never be whole again.

Good. Now, you know the pain of the people that you mercilessly killed and devoured.

"Enjoying the view," Meera couldn't help herself. "I think it's a fair punishment for your crimes."

"You're a monster," he hissed.

"Look who's talking."

"You'll pay for this one day. Your day will come. When you go against my master, he will tear you apart."

Meera raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had no master."

He quieted at that.

"But don't worry, you'll be telling us how to beat him."

"I would never betray him. Never."

"Never say never."

Meera tightened her grip on his hair and blasted above the treeline and headed back to the village. The princess and her measly force were still there. If anything, they looked like they had made camp in the village. It wasn't a bad idea since the village was empty now, but Meera felt it was in bad taste since the villagers had just perished.

The longhouse was no more. Her dark flames had consumed it all. In its place was nothing but a smoking hole that the women were avoiding, as if they went near it, they would be erased from existence as well.

Meera landed in front of the princess and plopped the head on the ground before her.

"An immortal head for your friends and an informant for our enemy," she declared.

Rehia raised an eyebrow but had an impressed smile on her face. "My, my, and I here thought you had gone to your death."

The sorceresses had gathered around, seeing the big head that was still alive. The first one that pushed through the crowd was none other than Firaan. Meera knew she would never pass up an opportunity to experiment on the immortal head.

"You underestimate me, princess. Just like they did." Meera jerked his head to the sorceresses. "And look where it brought them."

Rehia nodded as she circled Valan, studying him. Valan's eyes belched fire, as it wanted to devour the girl, but he could do nothing but glare at her.

"Does it speak?" Rehia asked.

"It does," Firaan replied, looking like a little girl who had gotten the best Christmas present she could've asked for. Then, after a considerable pause, she added. "Your Highness."

"And he's truly immortal," Meera said. "Unlike you lot, he stitches himself back together when you cut him."

Rehia frowned lightly. "Then what did you do with the rest of him?"

"Threw him off the top of the Mantle."

That response stumped everyone. Even Firaan pulled her eyes away to stare at her. She must've been reading her mind to see how exactly she had done it, because her eyes kept widening with each breath.

Meera had the urge to punch her again, but she controlled herself and let her see through her mind so she would know what exactly Meera was capable of. And she would do the same to them if they came for her.

So, you better tell your sisters to back the fuck off.

Firaan gave Meera a slight nod, which said all she needed.

Rehia broke the silence by laughing. "Oh, that's just absurd. You're truly terrifying, Reverent Lady. Remind me never to go on your bad side."

Firaan stepped forward. "Your Highness, let me take charge of interrogating this Valan. I will make him sing in a few hours."

"Sure," Rehia replied. "I'm expecting some proper usable information that we can use to bring down their infernal wall."

"Where is Ingdis?" Meera asked.

"We're having her rest in her house. It was the only place that made sense. After all, it is her home."

Meera nodded and started to make her way towards her home. It stood in a lane to the left of the smoking emptiness where the longhouse stood. Even now, the only thing that Meera saw was the small body of Drysa impaled by all those spikes and frozen solid on the floor. The sheer terror the girl must've felt in those final moments.

Meera mentally kicked herself for not taking care of this beast on that first night. If she had, all this wouldn't have come to pass. She could've spared the village their gruesome destiny. They would never have fallen prey to this thing. Her anger rose, and she wanted to rip him to shreds, but she knew this was a far better punishment, knowing he couldn't do anything but endure the torture of that wicked woman.

"Meera, a word, please," Rehia called.

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A look of irritation passed her face for a brief moment before she turned towards the princess. "Yes?"

"Can we talk in private?"

Meera shrugged and followed her into the biggest hut in the entire village. Of course, she would take the biggest hut.

Despite its enormous size from the outside, the inside was nothing but simple. There was a single room, and the kitchen was separated from the rest of the hut by a half wall of wooden planks. There was a bed whose sheets had been thrown to the ground as the occupants of this hut had most likely run at the first sight of the giant's blizzard. There was a fire blazing in the fireplace, warming up the place.

"What can I help you with, princess?" Meera asked as she shut the door.

"You can help me by not blasting off to chase an undying monster just because you feel like it." She said it in a calm tone, but the vitriol behind those words was clear.

Meera drew a deep breath. "Do I report to you?"

Rehia frowned, thinking it was a rhetorical question, but when Meera stayed silent, she replied. "No. We're partners."

"No. We're partners," Meera repeated with a nod. "So, I don't have to report anything to you, do I?"

"Being partners doesn't mean that you get to do whatever you want," Rehia snapped. "That's how partnerships break."

Meera drew a deep breath, controlling her anger as best as she could. "Is that what you want, Princess? Because I'll be more than happy to go support one of your brothers."

"No, you won't." She waved a dismissive hand. "You need me as much as I need you. You and I both know that neither of us can do this without the other's help. You cannot kill Elrasil on your own, and I, despite the sisterhood, have a feeling that I will need the help of an Ascendant. By the way, why do you hide your true nature? If I were an Ascendant, I would've loved to show off who I was."

"And make yourself a target for the rest of the world," Meera stated. It came out far worse than she had intended. "Because whoever kills you becomes an Ascendant themselves."

Rehia looked at Meera like she had more than a few choice words for her. Meera knew she was pushing her luck with her. Right now, only she stood between her and the rest of the sorceresses. And as much as Meera would like to try testing her against the rest of the sisterhood and putting to bed what she started on Gethys, the princess was right, she needed them.

Meera sighed. "It's not your fault, Rehia. It's the company you keep. They irritate me with their presence. After all, they put me through on Gethys, I want nothing to do with them."

"And the fact that I'm also a sorceress factors into all this, I'm sure," Rehia replied. "Well, if it's any consolation, I was never really truly part of their sisterhood. I merely had my father strong-arm them into training me. After all, a princess of an empire as vast as ours needs the means to protect herself when she's eventually married off to some far-off kingdom."

Meera nodded. "Sure."

"So, let's try not to step over each other and do things together from now on."

"Okay. "

And keep those witches as far away from me as you can. But Meera left that part out as that was not feasible. She had, after all, agreed to work with them as they were an extension of the princess.

"What do you have in mind as our first step?" Meera asked.

"Well, now, we wait for our scouts who should be coming in to report any moment now," Rehia said.

"Oh, they're not going to like me very much. After all, I did kill their mother."

Rehia ordered food to be delivered, but like the last three days, Meera hadn't touched anything that the sorceresses had prepared. Ever since her encounter with Basilisk, she had discovered that there were poisons her Greater Vitalize couldn't heal. She had been more than wary of the group of murderous witches, who she was sure could concoct any poison in the three worlds.

Thanks to her Ascendant body, she didn't need food to recover. A few hours of sleep every couple of days was enough to be in top form. She figured that as she grew stronger, she could push it out even more. And she desperately wanted to get stronger. She had hardly gained any levels ever since she got here.

She was about to open up her notification to check what levels she must've gained when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Rehia called.

The door opened, and in walked a face that Meera thought she had killed for good.

The daughter of Aksha immediately drew a dagger and hurled it at Meera.

Meera didn't even budge from her spot and intercepted the dagger, which was dripping with a purplish poison, with one of her chakrams. The dagger must've been of particularly shitty quality as her chakram cut it in half. Then her chakram flew through the air and stopped just an inch from decapitating the poison sorceress.

"The only reason you live is because of the information you carry," Meera said, not even looking at her. "Speak. The longer you speak, the longer you stay alive."

Rehia didn't look the least bit bothered. She kept eating her meal, waiting for Aksha's clone to say her piece.

"The Reverent Lady issued you a command," Rehia said.

"I don't report to this treacherous whore," the daughter said.

"Actually, you do," the princess replied. "The Reverent Lady and I are partners in this endeavor. So, you and your sisters are to treat any command from her as if it had fallen from my lips. I understand that you and your sisters were out in the wilderness when this latest development happened, but now you know. The Reverent Lady asked you to report, so give your report."

She glared at the princess and literally sweated poison from her pores. If it weren't for the death at her throat, Meera was sure the poison sorceress would've tried to kill the princess as well.

"Speak," Meera asserted. "Or I know many other ways to make people talk, courtesy of your mother. I'm sure you would know about that."

The daughter trembled with rage, and thanks to Meera's Essence attribute, she could see the storm of Mana brewing inside her, waiting to burst forth at any moment.

It took a few long moments for her to speak, but when she did, she spoke through gritted teeth. "We scouted out the Winter Spire. Their ice walls are solid and are unmanned at all times."

Rehia raised an eyebrow. "You were here for two weeks, and that is all you could discern."

"The Cultists hardly ever leave," the daughter shot back. "They stay holed up in that ice tower of theirs all the time. And if you haven't noticed, we can't climb the Pale Mantle, so what do you expect us to do?"

"I expect you to watch your tone," Rehia said. "Don't forget who you're speaking to. Now, what could you discern about the tower?"

"The Tower stays lit from inside at all times. People were milling about, but we couldn't get close enough to see who they were. They've cut down all the trees several hundred yards from their boundary wall. There was one sorceress amongst us who could've seen that from any tree but this bi—"

"Say that word, and I will cut your throat here and now." Meera inched the chakram until it was pressing against her throat.

To her credit, the daughter didn't show any visible sign of fear, but she did step back. "Tavelia could have seen that far, but you killed her."

Meera squinted her eyes. "I don't remember killing that one. As far as I remember, she ran away from the glade."

"You might as well have. She was set upon by dragons soon after."

"So, I control the dragons now. Did you hit your head or something? The dragons were after me as well." Meera rolled her eyes. "So, in essence, you were useless. Did you not even try to capture a cultist or two and torture them for information? It is your specialty, after all."

The daughter looked to the princess, who answered for her. "I told them not to. I didn't want the Cult to become wary of our plans before we made our move. However, we did interrogate the one who attacked the professor, and he wasn't much help. Ended up biting through his tongue rather than speak."

"So, you're useless at scouting as well." Meera sighed and stood. "Guess I have to do everything myself."

"Where are you going?" Rehia asked.

"To do her job."

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