“Move them into the maze!” Crusader shouted and doubled back towards the walls of Harbinger’s maze. Behind her was a small pack of over a dozen of the oversized hounds that lingered in the outer parts of the monster-infested city. They snapped their jaws and roared, scampering forward as fast as their legs could carry them. Overhead she heard a screech and tapped her earpiece. “BLF, we’ve got incoming flyers!”

“On it!”

As BLF’s arm stretched towards the sky from within the maze, Crusader dove through the opening and spun around, planting her feet as the hounds were forced to follow a narrow path. She held her broadsword out in front of her and took her first swing. The weapon drew up and across the attacking creatures, severing the head of one and sending another shrieking to the ground with a grievous wound. She stepped back and swung again, taking one down at a time while flying monsters fell from the sky.

She kept her eyes forward, trusting that BLF would be able to handle the dive-bombing monsters. The sound of a crunching jaw was all she needed to know that he was well on his way to building up more mass. She took another step back and allowed some of the growing horde of hounds to bleed off into a side passage rather than face her. “They’re heading further inside, Snow, you’re up!”

”It’s gonna take a second to figure out what they’re afraid of. I’ll get them to Harbinger, though!” Snow said into her earpiece.

“No worries! I got this,” Crusader replied and took a step forward. She switched her grip and shifted into an aggressive stance. One arching swing after another drove her forward with methodical steps, each monster succumbing to her wrath as she turned the hallway into the interior of a blender. Even with all the damage she was putting out, there were always more of the enhanced hounds to flood in and start pushing her back. She retreated with the flow, letting them come in and scatter into the adjacent halls again like releasing a pressure valve. “Second wave coming!”

”They don’t like big lizards! Ha ha! They’re on your way, Harbinger.” Snow cheered.

”I’m ready for them. Just send them to the heart, and I’ll clean up.” Harbinger growled.

”More flyers incoming, gonna need some backup, bird lady!” BLF said.

Crusader glanced up briefly as a hound fell to yet another swing and saw a small cloud of the winged monstrosities heading their way. She clicked her tongue and held out a hand towards the oncoming wave of hounds. “Just a sec!” She grasped the air, pulled back, took a step forward, and released. A wave of golden flame washed down the hall, and the monsters screamed in agony, their numbers dwindling in a flash as she dipped into her stamina. More mana drew towards her body, and while she had a few seconds of breathing room, she turned her attention to the sky. “Al!”

Power passed from her to her companion, and far overhead the golden hawk began to glow. Alphonse multiplied in size, and he let out a screech of challenge as more birds raced into the sky to join him. Soon a blackened cloud of local fowl was flying towards the incoming monsters. Alone they would be helpless, but soon each and every bird began to catch with golden flame. The two approaching clouds collided, and bodies began falling from the sky.

“How’s that?”

”Perfect! Thanks! I’m about ready to hop the wall!” BLF said, ”Just a bit more!”

ROOOAAAAAH!

She whipped her head towards a thunderous roar, and her eyes widened. A pair of the massive brutes were charging towards the maze. If it had just been them, it would have been fine, but the armored one behind them was an even bigger problem. Snow noticed it as well. ”That thing’s peak Epic! What the hell is it doing in the outer ring?”

“No idea! BLF I hope you’re almost full!” Crusader shouted and broke into a run. While the hounds were easy to deal with in the halls of the maze, the brutes thrived in it. The last thing she wanted was three of the big things in a space where she couldn’t move around. She kept running and leaped over a pair of hounds that charged her, stepping on one head and kicking off. She could see the brutes' eyes now beneath their hooded, hulking brows. “BLF!”

A shadow hurtled overhead, and two enormous hands launched down from above, grabbing the two forward brutes and pulling them into the air. Crusader popped her neck and picked up speed as the armored brute tucked in and charged at her in response. She leaped off the ground and raised her sword over her head.

You’re not getting past me! 

”LILY! YOU NEED TO RETREAT!”

Crusader descended. She was well aware that going one-on-one with a Peak-Epic monster was inadvisable for a ‘mere’ Epic tier like herself, especially after they’d been fighting all day. It didn’t matter, though. Harbinger and Snow were dealing with the remaining hounds, and BLF was engaged with two brutes. If this thing jumps into the mix, we’ll have problems. I can’t let that happen! She brought her sword down, and it collided with the hulking beast’s armored hide. Blade scraped against metal, and before she could blink, she felt the impact of its fist driving into her gut. Her eyes bulged, and she was thrown up into the air.

Shit! She gasped, her vision blurring a little. “Alphonse!” she shouted, and a flash of gold caught her by the sword arm. She hung in the air, the enlarged hawk keeping her aloft as she placed a hand at her gut and ran some healing through it. The beast that had expected her to return to the ground turned and looked up, bellowing a roar of challenge. She glared back at it and gave it the finger as she shifted her grip slightly on her weapon. She glanced up at her hawk companion. “Thanks, big guy. Time to let me down.”

Al screeched at her, and she frowned. “I’m doing this.”

Her hawk screeched again, and she shook her head. It gave one last resigned screech and released its talons. She clenched her jaw and called up a mental image of her teacher’s fighting. She’d seen Black Lotus use her entire body to provide speed and momentum to her weapon before, spinning until she created a whirlwind of cutting force. She’d seen Harbinger do the same with a somersault-like move. Crusader didn’t need to go that far; she just needed to do damage. She threw her shoulder forward and gritted her teeth, grabbing her weapon with both hands and spinning with her descent. 

Crusader came in sideways, like a top. Gold flame caught on the edge of her weapon as she collided with the armored brute. At first there was a pause of resistance, then she felt her weapon sink through and carve metal and flesh. She hit the ground with a crouch and took a step, and swung up and to the right, alternating her grip and knocking away a haymaker punch. She took another step, and her weaving blade cut across its original path, sending the other hand back. Soothing heat spread beneath her skin, and she pushed forward, harder; she needed to push harder. She adjusted her weapon and planted the tip against its gut.

Her shoulder slammed into the creature’s chest. Its hands clamped down on her. She gritted her teeth and took another step. It didn’t budge. She took another step. It tried to push her off. She took another step and another and another. It started hitting her. Slamming its fists into her back and shoulders as she covered her face against its stinking metal body. She pushed and pushed and pushed as a roar rose up in her throat. “MOVE!” she bellowed, and, finally, it slid just a little. Then a little more.

“MOVE!”

The tip of her sword sunk just a bit into its thick chest armor as it slid across the ground. She felt the world passing by beneath her as she pushed it back, further and further, as its attacks on her body became more desperate. She responded by igniting herself, the flames soothing her injuries as they chased off her foe. It tried to pull away, but it was already caught up in her momentum. She couldn’t even hear herself roaring anymore; every sense was focused on pushing this thing until there was something for it to collide with.

Then came the sudden impact, and her sword slid all the way through. She planted her feet and followed with a long stroke upwards. A step to the right, her entire body burning, her eyes searing, a feeling of something bubbling up in her chest, and she raised her weapon like a baseball bat. The horizontal swing that followed left a streak behind it as blood sprayed over her and everything else around her. She took a few panting steps back, and the armored brute fell apart in three cleanly cut pieces.

Thunder rumbled overhead.

”Ho-holy shit! That’s some Heroic-tier bullsh-” BLF started before he gasped in her earpiece. ”Crusader! Look up!”

Crusader blinked and looked up at the sky, where a storm cloud was forming. She shook her tired head and narrowed her eyes at it as that feeling in her chest grew more intense. She closed her eyes and exhaled, “It’s gonna be A-okay, buddy. Just let it happen.”

”What?”

KRAK-OOOM!

The visions came again. Just like they had last time. Before there hadn’t been a tribulation, but she knew that was to be expected. There was a certain kind of self-awareness that came with rising along this particular path. An odd sense of self-recrimination as her mind flashed through every reckless thing she had ever done and every mistake she had made. She knew they were clues and committed them to memory, but she did not wholly focus on them. There were other things to see, other things to try to understand. Insights, concepts, and truths that were just beyond the reach of her comprehension. Knowledge of something fundamental that wrapped itself like a skin around her soul.

Mana burned in her meridians, cycling constantly, moving with a steady and perpetual flow. Circulation gave way to formation, and she felt that tiny flicker of a seed of something special forming just beneath her navel. It drew mana in and stored it, the true calling card of a cultivator. She allowed the visions to carry her away even as her body was blasted, cells broken down and repaired in an instant. Lightning continued to fall from the sky, and she simply allowed it to pass through her. 

Then the visions truly became clear.

She saw a man in armor standing with a shield in one hand and a painfully familiar battle standard in the other. He stood proudly before another man in resplendent golden metal. The man bearing the standard took a knee and bowed his head before the man in the crown. The man, the king, drew his sword and placed it on the kneeling man’s shoulder. “I name you Sir Galahad, my knight. Gather that strength within you and follow me. We return to Avalon.”

The vision blurred, and now there were many knights standing with the king. They knelt on the ground, even their leader, as an old man sat before them with a wrinkled smile on his face. Around him were books upon books stacked together. Yet in his hand was not some heavy bound tome but a thin book tied with thread. He opened it and set it down before him. “Our old enemies, Oberon and his Queen, are on the rise. I have traveled east and seen the ways of Asgard and Olympus. I have laid eyes upon the techniques of the warrior sages in the lands of the Jade Emperor. I have recorded these things in my gray-bound grimoire. Now, you will begin a new tradition, Arth-”

Lillian came out of the vision with a gasp and doubled over, heaving as the impurities still within her body were expelled violently. Sickly black slime dripped from her skin as fresh strength exploded in her muscles. She coughed as the strength turned into pain and back again, and she fell to her side. Her mind barely processed what came next, just flickers of movement and distance, steam, heat, water, lights over her head, warmth, a bed. Confusion blurred the memories, and she couldn’t quite place where she was until she opened her eyes.

Lillian sat up with a start, and she heard a squeak and the sound of someone hitting the ground.

Static came next, “Shit! You scared the hell out of me!” Snow barked, “First you go and get yourself zapped and covered in shit-oil, and now this! You’re totally on the couch tonight.”

Lillian blinked and held her head. “Huh? What? We’re okay? What happened?”

“Uh, you got hit by lightning like a gajillion times, and all the monsters went running? Also, you diced up an armored brute, nice by the way,” Snow said, and Lillian looked up at the girl frowning down at her. Snow crossed her arms before letting out a sigh. “Everyone’s fine, Captain Crazy Badass. Maybe next time warn us before that happens? Kind of a dramatic way to get a tattoo and color added, but you do you, babe.”

Lillian just stared at her before finally reaching up and tugging on a strand of her hair. She saw blue out of the corner of her eye. She groaned. “Awh, not again.”

Snow snickered. “Welp, the others are resting, and you should, uh… consolidate your gains or whatever. I dunno, I don’t read that stuff,” Snow said with a shrug. “We got a week off cuz you got blasted so enjoy it.”

“But I’m fine,” Lillian grumbled.

“Yeah, well, I’m beat so, I’ll be chilling. There’s a Pandora group covering for us for a few days, then we’re back to it,” the petite girl said and turned away, walking to the door. She stopped at it and glanced over her shoulder. “Listen to me next time, okay?”

Lillian sighed and nodded, “Okay.”

The respite was short lived, with Team Crusader back in action before the fireteam from Pandora had even finished their first loop around the outer portion of the Exclusion Zone. A few days later, they received a sudden phone call that would change the course of their lives forever.