Having just been dropped off near the battlefield, Raile took his time to approach the situation. He was far from a fighter, but he was a merchant, and a well stocked one at that. He intended to do everything in his power to help those who were hurt, and to aid those who would fight but lacked the equipment to do so. So, like any good merchant, he opened up a shop. This shop, though, would not charge for its items. Not this time. It was far more of a priority to aid the battle ahead.

He pulled out the Goddess Cube, one of his most useful items, and started to pull out items one by one. The first was a set of beetle horn tonfas. An unconventional weapon, but a weapon nonetheless. If someone were to fight, it would come in handy. The next was from the same haul, a set of chitinous armor from when Onnen was discovered and the other continents were invaded. It wasn’t quite plate mail, but it got the job done. He continued scrounging through his stock, pulling out a variety of potions with different effects. These would be used constantly, and the merchant hoped that he had a steady enough supply to keep everyone up and well.

Next, he pulled out a set of throwing knives that radiated an evil energy. If one had great aim, these weapons would pierce even the strongest armor, leaving not a trace of their existence. Dangerous weapons, yes, but against enemies of this calibur it would be more than fair to share these knives. The next item he yanked out was a classic. A powerful artifact, an eye that allowed its user to see all traps and secret passages. While it may not have the most conventional use at the moment, Raile figured it would be better to show everything he had. Someone might have a use for it.

Raile pulled a very special rune out of the Cube next. This one had saved him more than once. It held a small amount of magical power, something that allowed for emergency use of spells. It was a one off, and had to be recharged, but at the moment it was ready for use.

For those who used water related spells, there was a hairpin he had come across that enhanced the power of water. While the merchant had never tested this on his own, he had seen it in action before it was acquired, and could vouch for its potency. He next pulled out a strange, rose covered harp. As with the last item, as long as it was being played, it would enhance the power of magic around the user. Not that Raile could actually vouch for this one, but he figured it couldn’t hurt to toss it into the pile.

The last item that he pulled was a special one. A dagger, of sorts, that held a strange yin and yang power. One side of the blade harmed the undead, and the other which healed wounds. This would come in handy later, when the wounded needed help. It just wouldn’t be from Raile. He wasn’t one to go to battle.

But this was his way to help.

“Come one, come all to Raile’s Emporium. I promise you this…not a single coin will be spent for these items today. I am here to loan them as needed, for the fight ahead will be perilous. Please, be respectful to one another, and by the Gods, please come back alive….”

A high pitched battle cry pierced the air as a purplish blue crystalline ball ricocheted off various void beasts, blasting through their bodies and skulls with incredible force. The momentum didn't stop as it came speeding back, returning surprisingly clean to the hands of a small dark-haired girl. Mira was angry at the arrival of ugly, evil looking things who tried to eat her, hurt her, and separate her from her precious orb. She didn't understand what a 'World Eater' was or why it seemed as if a giant squid was poking down from the sky, but she was going to teach them a lesson! Flying high, the child raised up her treasure and called forth power from the deep. The peaceful surface of Jasumin Lake began to swirl, and a massive whirlpool began to form as water began rushing in from the sea. "¡Vete! ¡Fuera de nuestro lugar!" Mira shouted, as a massive wave slammed into the banks. Thrashing currents took hold of many creatures and dragged them out, then slammed them against the land again. The sea was angry. She was angry. How dare they come and cause trouble for everyone!

The waves pulled the monsters back one more time before a flash came from her orb. With a crack of thunder, lightning struck from the sky and electrocuted the waterlogged creatures caught in the undertow. The dead bodies were then tossed back onto the land like dolls thrown by a child having a tantrum. Mira was somewhat satisfied, but it wasn't enough. There were still more ugly things out there trying to hurt people, and she wouldn't be happy until they were all gone. She would use her Magnífico Cabezazo on them until they ran home and learned not to come into someone else's world! With her little face puffed up in a frown, she hurled the adamantine orb again, this time charged with electricity. It wildly bounced all over the place, squashing things this way and that. For the bigger monsters it only left a mark, but it did an excellent job of bowling through anything the size of a grown man. A stalker attempted to eat her orb, to which it yanked itself free and proceeded to bash the thing's head in until it was unresponsive. And when a discovered Chomper attempted to swallow it like a large hard candy, a powerful surge of electricity left it screeching in pain. It was the beginning of a very deadly game of dodge ball, with Mira's orb being the ball and the creatures as the opposing team. Those who didn't dodge were 'taken out', permanently.

Attie watched as her friend Mira was obliterating the enemy with her tsunamis and lightening. To say that Attie was impressed was an understatement. She knew that the child had great magic, as the girl had saved Attie from drowning. But this was far more magic coming from the child than what Attie had been expecting. Seeing as she didn't want to get demolished by the great waves and lightning that Mira was tossing around, Attie stayed further away and worked on killing the enemies around the edge. She raised up her hands which started to glow with a bright red. Then a ball of light appeared in the horde of monsters and exploded, sending pieces of the monsters through the air. A good portion of them had been obliterated. Flames burst from her fingertips as she sent a colum of flames towards a Chomper. In an amount of seconds, she had burnt several monsters to a crisp. She was not the only one on the battlefield, as there were many others fighting alongside her, though she was careful to not allow her magic to hit any of them. Realizing that she needed to allow her mana some time to recharge, she retreated to the safe area, relying on the other mages and soldiers to keep fighting. 

Attie was near the safe area and headed towards a shop that she had just noticed. The shop hadn't been there at the start of the battle so it was safe to assume that it was just put up recently. She suddenly realized that she recognized Raile. They had met a long time ago when the whole trouble with the old goddess of death was going on. Attie rushed over to the shop, waving to him, hoping that he would recognize her. The safe area was far enough from the battlefield that they wouldn't have to worry about being attacked right away unless the hold against them was broken through. 

"Hi!" She said to Raile, "Recognize me? It's been a while." 

“Business” was booming, although he realized at a point that, if they were to all survive, that he may not see a bunch of these items again. Raile had already determined that this was an acceptable loss for saving the world, though the merchant part of his heart felt a bit broken at that initial thought. This was no time to be greedy.

Off in the distance, he could hear the sounds of a fight. It was getting closer, and briefly he wondered if he would have to take up arms himself. He wasn’t much of a fighter, but he was adept in some minor illusion magic and sleight of hand. Not that it would do well in combat, but he didn’t really know what else to do if and when it came down to it. He was, though, surprised to see a whirling orb doing what could only be described as a hurricane of devastation, crashing through a variety of different Void beings.

Out of instinct, he wondered who’s weapon it was, and immediately had the urge to acquire it for his own collection. It would fetch quite the price for the right person. His thought train was interrupted, however, as an old customer arrived.

“Attie?” Raile said, surprised to see the younger girl. “It’s been awhile! What….are you doing here?” The last time they had met, the merchant had not thought her much of a fighter. Then again, half of his staff back home looked to be underwhelming in his eyes, but turned out to be powerhouses of their own right. “Ahh…nevermind the question,” he said hurriedly. “If anything here can help, please take it by all means.” He glanced back over the fighting, which had been pushed back farther from where he was stationed. Whoever was wielding that orb was doing a great job.

“Also…side note. If you happen to meet the owner of that orb-like weapon over there…please let me know. It’s…facinating….”

The hot-headed little girl wasn't holding back when she fought. With her orb and herself, she performed several devastating combo attacks that beat back the line of enemies. There weren't many things in the world that could stand up to her Magnífico Cabezazo, so one could forgive her for attempting to pull off her signature headbutt on a Rhino. But unlike an earthen wall, the Rhino had a thick and dense hide that could push back. Hurtling through the air like a speeding airship cannon's blast–Mira collided with the hulking beast's side with a loud crack! The impact was too much, and her child-like projection of a 'body' shattered. The purple-blue orb froze, then fell to the ground motionless. The magical sphere was kicked and knocked around by the feet of fighters and monsters locked in battle, spinning and rolling across the ground. It was the size of a personal watermelon, clear and glistening like a polished gem. The bright light that normally came from within was faint now, easily overlooked as a glare from ambient light. Despite the fall it suffered, the orb was undamaged. Tossed to and fro, eventually it tumbled its way to the front of Raile's shop. 'Mira' as Attie knew her, was nowhere in sight–something highly unusual given how protective the girl was of her precious treasure.

Attie was glad that her old friend had remembered her. It had been a long while since they had last met but it seemed that he was still doing well. 

"I'm here fighting!" She said with a smile, "Oooo you have a lot of stuff. Hmm….I need something that can help me with long range."

She knew that she couldn't since she didn't have much practice with it. Attie could aim but bows were meant for expert aimers. Her weapon needed to be a bit simpler. Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind.

"The girl? Oh! She's called Mira and she's my friend! That orb of hers is super cool! Its also precious to her cause she never lets go of it. I'm thinking that it might be something that her parents or a loved one left behind. She doesn't seem to have much of a family….Anyway, do you have a whip?' She asked, "I remember seeing somebody else having it in battle and it seems like it might be the sort of weapon that I could use. Its ranged but it doesn't require as much good aim as a bow and arrows might. It also will help me trap enemies and use fire magic on it. What do you think?"

Attie was busy with the merchant and she didn't realize that her friend Mira had fallen. However, when the little orb rolled rolled over to the stand, Attie's eyes widened with shock. She picked up the orb and realized that something must have happened to Mira. Carefully, she handed the orb over to Raile, trusting him with something extremely important. Her eyes were intense and her once happy smile had turn into a frown. 

"Raile." She said in a serious tone, "Guard that treasure with your life. Don't sell it. Don't let ANYTHING happen to it. I'm going to go get my friend." 

Attie ran towards the battle, with any weapons that she had and began to fight again. This time she was fighting to find her friend. Attie believed that her friend was alive, she just had to be! She was far too strong to fall to these monsters. Holding up her hands, Attie cast an explosion spell to remove the Eldritch Monsters from the scene. Ahead of her was a giant Rhino and she knew that she had to be careful with it. Attie chugged a mana potion before getting into her spell casting stance.

Holding up her hands towards the Rhino, she began casting the Gate Spell. The Rhino saw her and began charging towards her….right into Attie's little trap. She opened up the gatespell as large as she could and it grew to the size of half of the rhino. The Rhino monster fell in but was stuck, giving the chance for Attie to close it. The Rhino was cut in half when the gate portal closed, one half remaining on the battlefield while the front half would end up in an ocean.

Exhaustion was overwhelming Attie and her hands were aching due to the massive amount of magic she had been using but she chugged another mana potion and pressed on. She had to find her friend! Attie used flames to continue incinerating the enemy as she desperately searched for the little girl. The girl had to be here somewhere! Attie wouldn't rest until she found her. 

"Mira!" Attie shouted as she continued to burn the monsters. 

It was something close to a miracle that the two had met again under such strange circumstances, but as Lady Shiloh had blessed Raile with uncanny luck (or so many seemed to believe) , the merchant was hardly surprised that he would find Attie once more. It only took a few short words between the two before she noticed that the orb that Raile had been so interested in fell near the girl.

At once, she seemed to be shocked, and suddenly thrust the orb into Raile’s hands, going off on how it was super important and not to sell it. While any other merchant might take this as a boon of some kind, the merchant knew better than to betray the kindness of another, and started to stash it away in the Goddess Cube.

However, she said nothing about examining it. Perhaps if he could ascertain what made it tick, he could find out where it came from, or better yet, have the twins replicate it. He looked it over a few times, trying to note anything of worth from it.

The orb is round. Clean surface. No knicks. It seems to be incredibly durable. Bah…what I wouldn’t give for someone with a talent for magic right now. Maybe it channels? Ah, but even if I had someone, I wouldn’t dare do that to someone’s treasure. But whatever it is…it’s old. There’s nothing like it in any of the records I’ve seen to date, nor is there anything like it in circulation. It may very well be one of a kind… He sighed, and opened his Goddess Cube, and started to place it in the contraption.

But I wonder…. He pulled it back into his view, and looked clearly into it. Something about this feels…. bah. I don’t know/ Raile started to put it in the Cube once more, when a soldier came running up, yelling about needing a potion immediately. Feeling the urgency of the situation, the merchant sat the orb down next to a pile of shields, and immediately went to work procuring the tonic for the frantic soldier. It was at that point, that it was out of sight and out of mind, for the tide of the battle was turning once more….

The orb rested quietly as the merchant did business, gently glowing so faintly one wouldn't notice. Mira had overestimated herself back there, now she was forced to recover. However she wasn't entirely unconscious–the orb flickering when Attie's familiar voice was near. It went dormant after that. Without Mira's massive sweeping attacks, the swarms easily returned. But this time, things became much, much worse. New monsters fresh from the Void were here, and they added even more of a challenge than the first few. Namely one–the Banshee. While the Reanimators made fallen enemies and allies turn on the fighters and Amalgams quickly began reproducing out of control, Banshees were a new twist in that they could directly aid the injured Void spawn with their bloodcurdling screams. When one's voice pierced the air, the Twisted went into a frenzy. Those which were flagging suddenly attacked with renewed vigor and the rest would congregate around the ghastly thing. This made attempts to kill it off nigh impossible without raw unbridled force. 

The forces gathered by the deities were soon finding themselves overwhelmed by this influx of reinforcements, and now nobody was safe. Hideous compilations of limbs and flesh were tearing off parts of themselves and throwing the bits, which soon grew into new Amalgams, repeating the process. Slashing was futile and only exacerbated the situation. Fire helped a great deal, though many were woefully unprepared for this turn of events. The situation was even worse than before, and now the makeshift shop front was sitting in the middle of a massive infestation. The purplish blue orb began to stir, as if sensing something. Then suddenly a large mass of water enveloped the shop from the lake, creating a great bubble that kept a stray Amalgam from crawling its way in. More and more of them were slapping their gangly arms and legs against the wall of water, unable to advance. The orb itself floated up while the pulsing light within was restored, electricity crackling across its polished surface. 

A crack of thunder signaled the strike of several lightning bolts, electrifying the watery dome into a liquid deathtrap! All the monsters touching the barrier were instantly electrocuted, charred beyond recognition. Thankfully there was no Banshee nearby, though there wasn't much that could be done for the burnt piles of flesh. The water dome shifted to create a fluid 'arm' that scooped the corpses up, then flung them far away. Around the orb a humanoid form was taking shape, magic glowing and shifting until a little girl with dark curly hair reappeared. The orb was now in her hands, and she opened her purple-blue eyes in fury. Her friend Attie was out there looking for her, and she wasn't going to let these nasty things win! The banks of Jasumin flooded onto the plains as the child channeled magic through her treasure. This time she wasn't coming from above, she was grabbing from their feet. "¡Volveré pronto, Señor Vendedor!" She said to Raile, giving him a nod. Then her face frowned and she flew out into the sky.

Up above, she made the flooding waters grab as many monsters as possible and rolled them up into a wave. Swirling up, the wave curled until it reached its peak–then plummeted down. Several thousand pounds of pressure from the sheer volume of water crushed the Reanimators, Amalgams, and muffled the Banshees' screams. The pressure caused the Banshees' neck sacks to burst before their frail bodies were forcibly compressed. The wave then receded slightly, exposing a boulder of battered Twisted which was then smashed against the ground repetitively. If her previous outbursts of anger weren't enough, this surely got her point across. Leaving the pile of bodies for the mages to deal with, she flew overhead in search of the older girl. Her eyes anxiously scanned the land below, worried that Attie might have gotten hurt.

The swarms were getting stronger since the army didn't have time to process that one of their hard hitters was gone. Attie could feel herself becoming tired and she could see that the horde of beasts were starting to overwhelm the other soldiers. She was still searching for her friend but she also had to protect the other soldiers. Her heart felt conflicted and she tried to come up with some sort of plan. Suddenly, she spotted one of the giant Eldritch rhinos and she realized that she needed to take it down. The soldiers were barely holding on as it was, they couldn't deal with a giant monster. A plan began to form in her mind as she continued burning through the monsters. 

She started to run towards the beast avoiding some of the other Eldritch Beasts and leaned down to pick up a medium sized stone before continuing her running. Snatching her whip from her belt, she held it out as wide as she could as the rhino began charging towards her. Attie leaped into the air, using her bear strength to make the leap higher, and had managed to get as high as the Beast's horn. Using her whip, she managed to snag the beasts horn and swing herself onto its head. The beast opened its mouth to make some sort of roaring noise. Attie took this chance and used her right hand to shove the stone down its throat, casting a explosion spell on it before the stone left her hand.

The Rhino reared, throwing Attie off of its back before exploding, sending her flying even farther. The rhino was destroyed completely. She slammed straight into a tree, the impact sending a shock throughout her body before she landed, hitting her head on the ground. She tried to push herself off the ground but her arms and legs hurt too much to do so. Attie's eyes began to close as she held out her hand, trying to reach back to the battlefield. All she wanted was to find her friend. Mira was only a little girl! She couldn't die like that, in a crowd of monsters without anybody to help her. 

"Mira…I'm sor-" Attie's eyes closed and she was left unconscious. 

While Raile was busy trying his best to shell out his limited supplies, he couldn’t help but watch horror as the tides of the battle grew ever closer to him. There was nothing he could do but stand firm, and try to help those who came to him in need. By the time he noticed that the threat was far too great, it was already too late for him to escape. The merchant looked around him at the forces of Revaliir, who were fighting bravely, and failing.

This really is the end, isn’t it? he asked himself. It’s been a hell of a run, I guess… A Void beast lept up from his left, snarling as he aimed to eat Raile alive. Out of the blue, a soldier dove into view, tackling the Chomper, and throwing it out of Raile’s path. The soldier, who’s name Raile would never learn, died instantly as more Chompers devoured him piece by piece. The sight was one thing, a horrid mess of death and gore, but the smell was something else entirely.

The merchant’s heart was racing. This was truly it. He felt weak in the knees, and fell down, almost as if to accept his fate. Hey, Leilah…Kalina… He could see their faces clear as day in his mind. Leilah was smiling, as happy and cheerful as ever. Kalina had her usual scowl, and hammer in hand, ready for the forge. Did I ever tell you two…how much I love you both? Without you two, my life would have never been such a thrill of excitement and change. I may not have achieved my goal, but without you I would have never even taken a step towards it…

He could feel the Void closing in on him. The cries of the knights falling in battle were echoing around him.

He opened his eyes, and looked to the sky. If I may have just one more thing? Any God that may be listening…please let Leilah and Kalina live long and healthy lives.

There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere. Raile watched in utter shock at the makeshift shop was suddenly engulfed in a sphere of water from the lake itself. When Raile looked to find the cause, all he could see was the small orb that he had almost pocketed.

“W-what…what is this?” he asked aloud. Lightning raced across the surface of the orb, and suddenly Raile was filled with an urgent hope. It’s on our side! Whoever was wielding it before is back! The sphere around them suddenly crackled with electricity as the orb started to fight back, decimating the Void forces near instantly. The merchant could only watch in awe as suddenly a shape formed, holding the orb. She turned to Raile, saying something completely incomprehensible, and then went off.

Still in slight shock, he stood up as the water barrier faded, the aura of magic following the little girl holding the orb. That…that was something… He looked around him, the silence now filling the void. He could no longer hear their screams…the soldiers, nor the beasts. He shivered, and crossed his arms, feeling almost alone and abandoned.

So much death…