II.

"House Dalion! Where the bloody Abyss are they?!" the irate leader shouted.

Madoka wanted to groan. Did she jinx it? Although she had endless complaints inside her head about the trouble they were apparently going to get into, she still looked to Audrey. To her shock, she was staring back to the barrels where a glimpse of King Hei Meng's yellow glowing eyes were watching. It was as if the dangerous gold ranked party before them was someone else's problem to her.

Madoka could even hear the cat's scornful, mocking scoff whisper beneath it as he slunked back further in the darkness. That Orange Demon's provacations were not the main issue mounting stress in her heart, nor did the noisy and nosy party's apparent animosity towards them stir much inside of her after she assessed their strength. The Knotting magic surrounding them seemed faint somehow, and they had no idea what she had gone through in the last few days.

No, what truly made Madoka's panic hit full force under her skin was that the princess was still distracted under this violent intent. Kind gods! She wanted to shake Audrey back to her full attention! She elbowed Audrey before the crowd had grown restless, looking at each other. The contact spooked Her Distractedness, causing her to jump. At the same time, the angry leader of the party let out another bellowing shout.

"House Dalion! We demand you show yourselves to us!" He rolled out a scroll.

Apparently, the crude letters were describing them by appearance. Madoka could only connect the shabby drawing with the fact that their hair colors matched. Red and blonde, one girl was comically taller than the other. At least they got something right.

"Oh, shit," Audrey muttered. "T-That's us, isn't it? What did you do to bother them?"

"Me?" Madoka felt a sense of incredulity. She had no idea who these people were. "What's the play, Audrey?"

The crowd, sensing that no one matched the description, slowly parted and were now looking at them. A clear path between them and these four hostile strangers now stood. Madoka gritted her teeth, while sensing magic forming around Audrey, who also sensed a conflict.

She stepped in front of Audrey protectively, letting Magnolia fall out of the portal. She considered the smaller human pistol, remembering how devastating guns were, but figured since they were up against something dangerous she should save those weapons for monsters inside the Angel's Harp. The axe embedded itself into the Guild Hall's stone floors like a meteor, interrupting the offended party leader's approach.

Knotting magic jolted inside of her like a rising tide of shock and energy like an eager friend. She felt the man's gaze shifting up to her, and realized she was glaring down upon him. The battle of stares quickly became one sided as she ripped the axe out with a single hand and took a step forward.

"That is us," Madoka said flatly. The man's accusations died in his throat as he and his whole party backed away slowly from House Dalion as they should have done. Dead silence fell upon the hall. "Who's asking?"

The man's bravado regained itself somehow. He looked over his shoulder as if confirming something, his fury becoming more intense. "Otanor, it's these two, right?"

Otanor? Madoka pondered. Who?

A shorter man she did not notice before limped out from behind the irate party. He looked thoroughly shaken, as if he was facing a monstrous ghost. Audrey's magic remained between them, the Knotting strands becoming taut like a wall of bowstrings. Madoka thought at him, trying to pry into his mind but realized that he was a man insect, not just an insect she could crush.

Why did she think that she could do that?

"T-That's them! They were the ones who ripped my arm off and destroyed Gladeban!"

"Arm? Destroyed?" Audrey asked Madoka.

She shrugged. It was the Guardian that did that. The leader of the so-called Otanor suddenly reignited, the scales on his face turning red and teeth baring. He started to approach Madoka, under the shocked gazes of everyone. Not even the Guild Ladies, who each had hands over their mouths, made a move to discourage the furious and foolish Adventurer from his doom.

He did not even have a moment before Madoka moved. He was quite light in her grip, already lifted off and limp. A low growl rumbled out of her, but it was from exerting a severe effort in not crushing his throat outright.

"Troublesome fool," Madoka hissed through gritted teeth. "A single word out of you, and I'll break you in so many pieces you'll be crawling around on the ground searching for your bones."

"Wraythor!" The mage on their party screamed helplessly.

It was too late.

A burst of invisible Wind magic shoved everyone surrounding them back violently, causing the crowd to immediately descend into chaos. Bodies toppled around them, with panicked screams of people scrambling away from whatever was happening behind them. A translucent barrier shot up, surrounding them with a violent hum. Audrey was making a move!

Wraythor's eyes started to bulge and his face was turning into a fascinating shade of purple. He did not even have the strength to kick at Madoka. Terror began to well up inside of them, when Madoka realized he was looking at the rune on her shoulder pulsing with a faint red light beneath her clothing. At the corner of her bloodshot vision, the other girl made her move. She was not the mage, but instead was the one who had a bow on her back. She was the Gold Ranked ranger of their party! A pitiable one indeed!

The girl drew a glowing dagger and pounced. However, Madoka could not sense any killing intent coming from her. Even a bird outside displayed more hostility. Why? Was the ranger looking down upon them? She sensed that the attack was quick and presumably strong, but knew it was ultimately useless against Audrey's barrier.

Soon, the shattering of metal pierced the air, followed by a shriek. When she looked again through the flurrying crowd, she realized that the pouncing girl was now on the ground a distance away. Her arm was bent in an unnatural way.

"Madoka," Audrey's voice was nonchalant, but was ethereal and disembodied from using her magic. The unnerving chill in her tone silenced the crowd once again. "Why is it, that every town we go to trouble approaches us?"

That was Madoka's cue to move. So she lowered the helpless Wraythor to his feet, picking up Magnolia II and slinging it over her shoulder as he struggled to recover. The spectacle and the power she displayed, admittedly, was getting to her head once again. As he gasped for air, her shadow loomed over him.

"How about we use our words, shall we?" Madoka suggested, using her servant's Commoner tone. She was fighting the urge to destroy him. "I really, really, don't want to break another person's arm for offending my Lady."

Wraythor, being a seasoned Gold Ranked adventurer, was now more sensible after hearing Madoka's persuasive politeness. However, she did not miss his entire body's trembling as she watched him back away from her, only to bump into Audrey's barrier. There was no escape, and he did not even have enough room to leave the radius of her shadow. Madoka was patient like a hunter enjoying its prey struggle, and so was Audrey.

The other members of his party were now supporting the broken ranger up. Her arm was hurriedly healed, but she could not move it. More importantly, her morale was shattered completely. Otanor, for his part, was shivering behind the other man like a wilted leaf. How could such a weakling get a Gold ranked tag?

"You brought ruin to Gladeban, our home! And you expect us to remain calm and not seek justice?" The other man yelled.

Justice? Madoka wanted to laugh. Her shoulder was now burning a menacing crimson against the crowd of adventurers and commissioners. She knew that if they did not cease their ill intentions that the rune would make her lose control. They were gathering around them tightly, but most of them were smart enough to not raise their weapons to fight them yet.

They were weak, and Audrey was powerful. A wave of doubt rippled through the crowd, most now wondering if they truly were the reason why the entire Petal and Gladeban was leveled was because of them. Audrey spoke up, her magical voice quieting the crowd once again.

"How exactly is it our fault? Blame the big monster that blew your stupid town up!" She retorted. Then she added. "If it were up to me, I'd do it in a much more clean manner."

"Not helping," Madoka growled.

"Right." Audrey revised her tactic. So she raised her volume to max and, to Madoka's shock, she put on an even more pitiful act than the Otanor fellow. "How could you blame us? We're just two girls, we— we can't destroy a monster and save a whole town all by ourselves. Where were you people then? Why was it just us shouldering all the work. Waaah! Madoka! He's being mean to me!"

Audrey pointed a shaking finger at the enemy party, and wiped away nonexistent tears as she shrieked. That was certainly not what she meant by "not helping." Madoka instantly put on a motherly act, shielding Her Actress and stepping in front of her once more. With the moral high ground now suddenly shifted back onto the offending Gold ranked party, they were left bewildered.

The crowds began murmuring to each other in a discordant symphony, but most were now considering that the monster was not after them exclusively. Wraythor heard nothing, for he was too busy trying to find a way out of the barrier.

"You lie! We heard the Sky declare your guilt!" The man shielding Otanor declared righteously. "Our Dead want you held responsible, House Dalion!"

The weakling decided to pipe up again, letting out a whimpering cry. "Brother Braythor, don't blame House Dalion. I should have never had come seeking help from such powerful people like them. I should just leave."

"Nonsense!" The mage shrieked. "Dear Otanor, your Sister won't let these two get away!"

Brother Braythor shook his shield in anger. "Even the news has traveled here has declared your wickedness!"

He grabbed a scroll with his free hand and held it up. It presumably depicted the evidence of their guilt to the crowd. Things were spiraling out of control, and not one Guild Official seemed to be anywhere. Madoka wondered if she should start causing trouble, but she also could not understand how such a weakling survived the Guardian's attack in the first place. Did that Lady Fate really break the rules for him or even protect him, just because he was her brother?

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Madoka sighed. Now that her burning shoulder was slowly losing energy, she wondered if they should have sought out Sir Drezgor or Lady Theonys for assistance. Audrey, still at full volume, had no such plans. She roared again and declared righteously.

"Ever heard of libel and slander?" Audrey barked. Then, if suddenly realizing something, she switched her tones again. "Probably not, but still!"

"You—" Braythor roared, but heavy thuds of boots descending the stairs plunged the standoff into silence.

Only the disappointed purr of King Hei Meng came from somewhere on the rafters. "No bloodshed? You are still so, so very weak."

Madoka ignored the cat's amusement, and the barrier from Audrey lifted. Wraythor stumbled out of it and rushed to his party's side, or was it Braythor? She had already forgotten who was who.

The person on the stairs cleared their throat loudly, and she recognized that it was Acting Guild Master Drezgor. His face was all shades of unamused and a hint of anger. Kind gods, was he here to cause them trouble?

"Yo. It believe this is a place where Adventurers gather, not a tavern, no?" He said, glaring at the opposing party. His gaze swept over the crowds, who immediately began to go about their business, only now with perked ears. Then before Madoka could feel relieved, he shot them a look. "Can't you two avoid getting into trouble everywhere you go?"

"Hey, they started it!" Audrey pouted. "We were defending ourselves, okay! And we didn't even break an arm!"

"Actually you did break that girl's arm," Madoka muttered. She shrank back when Audrey elbowed her side.

Sir Drezgor sighed and looked at the irate party for an explanation. Otanor, the wilted flower, suddenly stood up and started his act again.

"Sir, we— we apologize for our actions today," he bowed to the whole crowd. "It's just that, we, we wanted to make amends and they suddenly lashed out at us."

A derisive snort came from Sir Drezgor. "You apologize by provoking a party who is clearly stronger than you? What did you think would happen?"

Audrey was about to shriek back, but something the weakling Otanor said caused her to stop. She drew the commission out of her bag. "Amends, huh? Why didn't you start with that?"

All the party's eyes turned to her. Otanor pointed to the large emblem stamped on the commission. No one, however, was telling them that they could not undertake a Platinum ranked commission. Either that, or none of them caught on to that fact yet. Madoka was obliged to not divulge that information and accidentally deny their chance into getting into the Angel's Harp.

"T-That's the Angel Harp Commission! From Faragor the Apothecary! How did you get such a valuable commission?"

Drezgor, seeing the supposedly amazing scroll, looked at Madoka with a hint of surprise in his eyes. To her shock, Audrey was also looking at her. Why are they both expecting her to explain something. When she turned to face the party, she realized everyone also had eyes on her. Kind gods, help me, she groaned. She had no choice, so she cleared her throat and decided to follow the princess's lead.

"Otatini, right?" She asked the wilted flower with blatant dismissiveness. She even deposited Magnolia II back into the storage portal. "You'll lead us to the Angel's Harp's entrance, right? Then we'll call it even."

Audrey looked like she was about to pop from Madoka's purposeful mistake from laughter. She, on the other hand, was bewildered how they somehow had roped this foolish party into helping them. Otanor huddled with his team of irate adventurers. They suddenly dropped their hostility after they jointly reached some kind of decision.

It was obvious that they did not have any good intentions, but after an inquiring look from Audrey, she figured it was all a part of her plans anyways. However, someone was disatisfied with her.

"It's Otanor!"

Wraythor shoved Otanor aside and was the first to make his move, bowing to her slightly. The others followed suit, bowing to them and then to Drezgor as he spoke. "I apologize for what happened back then. We went too far. We'll show you the entrance to the Angel's Harp. Then we will depart and assist in restoring Gladeban."

Madoka pondered over what they meant by restoration, but figured it was all empty words. Drezgor grunted, shooting the maid and her princess a look of warning. She could not decipher what it meant, until he opened his mouth.

"Settle it outside this Hall," Drezgor grunted.

Well, that was that. Madoka was taken aback by the strange lawlessness of this Adventurer's Guild, but she figured the situation could have gotten much worse indoors. She was even amazed that somehow through the giggling princess's nonsense they had appointed these shameless fools their unlikely guides to the Angel's Harp. Ill intentions and warnings aside, she was confident in crushing them under her heel should they trick her. Amidst the quiet crowd of adventurers, House Dalion had not only emerged unscathed from the Otanor party, but had actually managed to harm one of their members with ease.

The tension in that hall was suffocating, but soon, the airy freedom outside greeted them as they passed through the Guild Hall's doors. Otanor's party lead them into the alleys. This path matched King Hei Meng's memories that she took and saved her the troubles of finding the Angel's Harp entrance herself at least. Despite their shifting eyes and ill intentions, they were probably expecting to settle the score with Madoka and Audrey now that they were out of the eyes of Sir Drezgor.

Despite it all, Madoka still had no idea why they were so bent on their own party's destruction, but feared Audrey might take it too far.

"Do you think they have more waiting for us up ahead?" She whispered to Audrey. Her question elicited a scornful little scoff from Her Highness.

"Duh," Audrey sighed. A vicious glint in her eyes flashed briefly, before returning to normal. Madoka realized she definitely was going to take things too far. "What? Don't you want a little exercise before we enter the dungeon?"

"Exercise?" Madoka asked. She was sweeping the empty alleyway and the buildings surrounding them. She used the thoughts of a passing bird to scan the rooftops. No one was up above. But she knew they were headed straight into danger. Were we that confident in our abilities to just walk into a trap like this? She thought.

She looked at the irate party leading ahead of them. "I thought we had enough of that inside the Guild Hall."

"It seems like," Audrey started to slow. "Like we're about to get some more exercise, huh."

Madoka turned her attention back to the alleyway, which had opened up to a ruined landing that had clearly been abandoned. A massive and round green colored stone gate was embedded into the site, with ancient carvings of dragons engraved on both halves of its doors. Rushing water pooled out from above it, down into the ravine next to it behind stone railings. It was a breathtaking sight, if only there were not more of Otanor's party members gathering in front of them.

Each member had that serpentine logo on it. Wraythor and the others had dropped their act, putting on a hostile appearance and pointing at Madoka's nose while speaking with a powerful looking Sovos woman. Her hair was blue and she had a massive scar snaking down her left cheek.

"House Dalion," she growled with a low voice.

Madoka immediately stepped between him and Audrey, ready to cause trouble. There were a few archers, with their bows not yet drawn, but they were ready with just a swift movement. Had it not been for the princess's magic, she would have felt a lot less confident in this current situation.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the saviors of Gladeban," the blue haired Sovos snorted. "I heard you even have our second Leader Drezgor defending you. Did you use your bodies for favors?"

A wave of laughter spread across the hostile adventurers. They did not seem to be aware of the thin film of light forming in front of them. Madoka felt a jolt of energy gathering inside of her eye. She could see what Audrey was looking at. Otanor, amidst the jeering crowd, was sneaking away while the blue haired Sovos adventurer was taunting them. He was carrying something important looking in a small sack.

She knew what to do.

"…But on behalf of Ikushi and our Lady Fate, I won't allow you to pass."

A flash of a blade pointed at her, but Audrey had already made her move. "Get that green tea bitch!"

Eh? Madoka's body moved on instinct, ripping the Crystal out of her chest as she built up speed. The violent thrum of its transformation stifled the words out of the blue haired Sovos. The archers had already lifted their bows to shoot at them, but by then she was already charging straight to the sneaky Otanor. Arrows bounced off her shield as she ran headfirst into several foolish adventurers daring to stand directly in her warpath. As predicted, they were flung over her shield and trampled underfoot while their weapons were useless.

His ugly, horrified face was quickly seized in her grip. Madoka ignored the enemies that chased after her, instead squeezing Otanor's throat as she lifted him high in the air. The sensation of life slowly thinning jn her grasp ignited the rune in her shoulder, threatening to make her lose control.

"Y-You want the key?" Otanor spat out blood on her face. A twisted grin formed on his own lips as he struggled to breathe. "W-Well, now y-you don't get it!"

With that, he hurled the bag over the railing down the cliffside. Madoka wanted to laugh in anger at his foolishness, but Audrey's voice shouted over the ethereal rasp of magic crackling in the air. "Get it! I'll handle things here."

"H-Handle?" Madoka suddenly got nervous.

That was why Her Highness's magical power was savaging the air. But the Knotting strands were already wrapping around her back and she was ready to bolt. Her wings whooshed into existence behind her, followed by an intense ray of white light. She inspected the fool in her hands. He was completely limp. She scowled and threw him to the side with great force, ignoring the crunching bones on concrete. That pouch was hers! She leaped over the balusters without hesitation.

The moment she cleared the railing, the sound of a bursting explosion boomed above her. Madoka flinched, but there was no time to worry what trouble Audrey was causing. The mountain's cold air whipped her face, and there was nothing but a white fog awaiting her. Luckily, that made locating the falling pouch with ease, though it was a tiny speck now. She pushed through a flock of strange insect-birds and swooped straight to her target.

A little more, Madoka's face stung a little from the cutting wind. She also felt liquid slicking her face, but she pressed onward. Her hands had just snatched the bag, when she noticed something odd in the atmosphere. It was warmer, humidified and sticky, though the white fog still clouded the whole place. A pale green and gold light glowed below her, like a lantern luring her with warmth. It was odd, but a jolting feeling in her eye brought her back.

Madoka saw nothing but a blanket of fog clinging to the mountain's cliffside from Audrey's vision as she peered over the stone balusters. But the magic faded, indicating that the princess was checking to see if she was alive and had the so-called key within her possession. With that, she threw the the bag in the storage portal and forced more Knotting Strands into her flight.

She pierced the fog's veil, and the sticky warmth that clung to her was instantly replaced by the crisp mountain current. Madoka found Audrey standing by the railing, but the landing itself was suspiciously empty of people. She frowned as she hovered over Her Highness, who had a sheepish smile on her face.

"Hey, cutie," Audrey said cheerfully. "Are you an angel dropping by? Did it hurt when you—"

"What did you do to all those adventurers?" Madoka growled.

"Eheheh— who?" Audrey whirled around, playing dumb. "I don't see anyone here, nope, definitely not a single— gwak!"

Madoka stopped caring about the fate of those fools. Instead, she swooped down and seized Her Highness in her arms, flying upward over the landing and the stone gate, holding her in the sunlight. They had survived another fight and were unharmed! Even if it seemed like they had the upper hand the whole time, the relief had settled Madoka's uneasy heart. Audrey stayed still for a moment, but then she suddenly jerked back, wiping herself vigorously in a panic. She saw red on her hands. Blood?

Audrey immediately detached herself from Madoka, floating all around her at a dizzying speed as she inspected her. "Are you hurt somewhere?"

"Not my blood," Madoka remembered that the bastard Otanor spat on her. "It was that—pfft!"

A stream of splashed her face, followed by frantic wiping of a cloth. Madoka sputtered, trying to swat Audrey away but froze. The soft cloth the princess was using was blinding her! She realized it was woven from Knotting strands. Why had she not thought of such a way to dote on the princess? Why was she the one being cared for?

"All clean!" Audrey dabbed a small spot on her chin and then had the audacity to kiss Madoka. She was already stunned by the horror of being cleaned, and the kiss had dowsed her spinning thoughts completely.

Madoka let go of Audrey and floated down to the entrance of the Angel's Harp. The two looked up at the massive gate, craning their necks. It reached all the way up to the Living District in the clouds near the summit.

"Quite the gate, huh," Audrey remarked. "I wonder if it's built for those big flying guys."

Madoka felt her lips, but shook put of it. She rummaged through the storage talisman and fished the tossed bag out. Sure enough, it contained a strange artifact composed of a blue stone. She remembered the Gladeban Mines, where the true entrance for people was a side door and a key like this worked on it.

She glanced to the side, and found the entrance for people. Audrey followed without hesitation, and the two found themselves standing before the locked door. The red slot on it hummed, as if it sensed the artifact in Madoka's hand.

"Well, Madoka?" Audrey asked. "You ready for this dungeon?"

Madoka gulped, then hardened her resolve and pressed the key into the red slot.

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