Amber was running through the empty city. The familiar layout of the brick stacks pretending to be houses was easy to navigate. The hunger she felt was amplified by the smells from each home. The tempting food with its fragrant spices made her salivate but she gritted her teeth and moved forward. Vanush was continuously babbling something she refused to listen to but he kept speaking anyway. Being submerged within a mindscape of something that dangerous wasn't going to end well. Even for her mind, reinforced by the unimaginable power of the World's Words and its promised immunity to many effects, it was dangerous. Everyone could be broken and this mindscape was a place designed to break the strongest will. Many times, Theon had proved people would break when he managed to convert enemy soldiers into zealous warriors whose loyalty was unflinching. However, he had never once used a mindscape and she questioned if he couldn't or simply didn't know how.

  Amber crossed familiar passages and not a single golem tried to stop her. The absolute lack of any details in this realm reinforced her belief that she was in the mindscape of a being which, technically, was the city. A city-wide network of connected golems seemed overwhelming but, according to Theon, quantity rarely beat quality. He had proved it many times through his conquests when his, often smaller, armies ruthlessly crushed armies a few times larger. Victory and Janet proved it when they emerged victorious over the Holy Navy of Berna after the battle of Lake Puella. These thoughts and more supported Amber’s resilience as she followed the same path she walked originally when, with her Sisters, they all faced Vanush in the Workshop. She smiled with growing confidence as she ran straight through a wall that wasn't in the same place in her exposure to Vanushka. It broke into glass-like pieces and she sensed the shocked anger of her captor. Amber focused on her happy memories, the time she spent with Theon and her Sisters. Her place in Avalon and the satisfying struggles of being an Empress of Arcadia.

  Those memories shielded her mind and gave her strength.

  "Why do you fight me?! Can't you see that the world is in danger?!" Vanush bellowed at her. Amber felt the pressure that fought her momentum and slowed her down.

  "The world won't end as long as good people will fight to save it. It won't end as long as my husband draws his breath." She answered as she stood in front of the Workshop doors. She put her hand on the door surface and focused. "The enemies of the world are hidden in their own plane, unable to cross the gates of reality. They corrupt the weak-minded with promises of power and glory. Like you, Vanush."

  "You know nothing!" He lashed out at her. "You should listen to me, Amber Na'laar!"

  "I was never Amber Na'laar." She shook her head and barely felt the fake crown in her fingers. She focused on it and managed to bring it into the fake world of illusion. The doors started opening.

  "NO! How?!" Vanush screamed, this time in fear.

  "I'm more powerful than you can imagine." She hissed and felt faint traces of familiar power. She smiled widely.

  "You are Amber Na'laar! An heir of the Balantican Empire!" He screamed at her. She felt his disbelief and anger. "You will submit to me and rule the world as my Queen!"

  "I will not. I have already chosen my destiny and I have done so willingly." She walked through the empty Workshop, stepping across the bridge she once passed. "You can't change who I am."

  "I will! I must take what is rightly mine and you are the last piece. By your and my blood a future vessel will be born!" He assaulted her mind when she reached the middle of the bridge.

  The attack was fierce and brutal but she was prepared for it. She shouted in defiance and managed to take another step forward. "The Elves want Irene, the crazy golems want me. I won't give you child!"

  "A child?" Vanush's voice was confused. His attack that was forcing her back ended so abruptly that she almost fell on her face. "I don't need your child, woman. I want your blood to unlock what's rightfully mine!"

  Amber blinked a few times. It was nice to know that she wasn't the object of this madman's desires but the part about her blood became even more alarming. If that sick fusion of a man and golem needed her blood for something, she was sure it wasn't a symbolic drop. If that were the case, the golems would have taken as much the moment they stole her mana to assault Theon. She dashed forward, taking advantage of Vanush's confusion, and almost managed to reach the central platform before she was again pressed by the immense force.

  "I won't grant even a drop of my blood!"

  "You, eventually, will submit to me..." The voice snarled. "You are strong, I admit. Much stronger than you should be, Amber Na'laar..."

  "There never was an Amber Na'laar, you empty vase." Amber chuckled and moved another step. With each step, she felt a more solid grip on her power. She clenched her teeth and kept her hand on the hilt of the sword on her hip.

  "Impossible! Then you are what?! A homunculus with the perfect soul of a person? Don't be silly, Amber..." Vanuch chuckled, but that only made her smile viciously. "You are alone. You can't beat me. But entertain my question! What are you then?"

  She ignored him, or it. She wasn't sure if she was speaking with a mad golem or an even more insane person. The voice was laughing as she was bombarded with images and memories that were never hers. The mindscape was a deadly trap for the unprepared and weak. But she wasn't defenceless. She felt a calming presence inside her soul, far more powerful than anything she ever faced in her life. The Silent Guardian was watching. Her God was looking at her in her moment of need. She smiled softly and offered a prayer but the calming presence never requested it. He always knew what she needed. The enemy attacks increased their power, sweeping her body with painful whip-like lashes of wind hitting her face and legs. With a titanic effort, she took a step forward. The last step.

  She managed to reach a central platform. The glass cylinders were empty or shattered. On the central throne, made of gold and mithril, sat a young Elf. His brown eyes bore into her with contempt and greed. He appeared a formidable warrior but he wasn't any larger than she was. His shoulder-long, brown hair was gathered in a very intricate hairstyle, full of small braids, and probably needed a ridiculous amount of time to make. He slowly clapped his hands and smiled. It was a repulsive smile, one that made her nauseous. The air was heavy with a sweet scent, making it hard to focus. Amber knew it was a crucial moment. If she were to fail right now, it would be over in the real world as well. But her strength was returning. It slowly but steadily seeped through the cracks in the mindscape and she knew Eriar was cheating again. With her power returning, she felt a single thought that wasn't hers, and she replied to it gladly.

  "You have, ultimately, come to me Amber Na'laar," Vanush said as he stood up from his throne.

  "Hrrin'a." She said with a chuckle.

  "What?" A sudden panic broke the victorious pose of the ancient Balantican man.

  "Just a year ago my name was Hrrin'a. I wasn't aware of my family name but, I guess, you would have called me, back then, Hrrin'a Na'laar." She said it slowly and with great satisfaction; seeing how Vanush's plans were ruined by that single mistake. "It was Theon Avalon who created Amber. My name is Amber va'Theon. He gave me a True Name because he couldn't pronounce the name my mother gave me. Oh, my Dear husband tried to learn it for months; he tried, to my amusement, to spell it right. He did it for me; only to see my smile. So, Vanush, if that's your name, to begin with, your plan failed. You really thought that you could force your way above the might of the World's Words? That you could defy the power of a True Name?"

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  He eyed her begrudgingly and slowly lowered his head with a sigh. "It doesn't matter what you’re called, stupid girl. You came right to me."

  "Of course, I came here." Amber laughed briefly and rested her arms on her hips. It became harder to think straight. The battle of wills was slowly exhausting her. "How else would I defeat you?"

  "You are standing in my presence without your magic. Lonely and scared. You should have run away, gained more time, and, perhaps, you could somehow free yourself..." He laughed as a loud thud announced that the doors closed and a rumbling noise behind her was the bridge collapsing. "You fool... You think you can defeat me?!"

  "You made a huge mistake, Vanush." She rested her hand on the hilt of the sword. "I'm not scared. Not by someone or something like you. Many times, in the past, I was chased by goblins and wild monsters and, back then, I was scared. You assumed that I was alone... Oh, how na?ve of you..."

  "Meaningless words..." The Elf waved his hand with annoyance but, suddenly, he perked up and looked worried upwards.

  "I'm not alone and never again will I be," Amber smirked with confidence.

  "Even the help of a Goddess won't save you!" Vanush focused his furious stare at her. "I don't know how you managed to get the help of Goddess Hestia but even she can't save you from my mindscape! This domain belongs to me!"

  "She married the same man as I did, which makes her my sister, Vanush." Amber smiled, feeling a roar of mana crashing upon the weakest spot of the mindscape that kept her captive.

  "I don't believe you." He shook his head and drew his sword. "Your time is up. I gave you a chance to help me willingly but now-"

  Amber laughed and drew a sword which caused the illusion Workshop's roof to collapse. Large boulders fell, seemingly to bury her alive, but she swept them away with a wave of her hand. Her wedding ring shone brightly as the seal that blocked her magic shattered.

  "But now it's over." Theon's voice came from above, landing heavily on the rubble and turning it into dust. He was holding the sword she had drawn and he stood between her and Vanush. "You had the audacity to threaten my wife, you persistent trash of a bygone era."

  "Impossible!" The Elf screamed seeing a man with one arm made of metal in front of him. "Even a God shouldn't be able to break here!"

  "How about ten of them?" Theon snarled and stared flatly at the Elf.

  Amber wasn't sure if Theon knew that he didn't need to fight Vanush physically. The whole point of trapping anyone in a mindscape was to subjugate their will to yours. In her case, she was strong but she doubted how much longer she could resist Vanush and his wicked whispers. Fortunately, creating a mindscape wasn't easy and could horribly backfire, like it did for the ancient Balantican Elf. The amount of beings knowing this trick was very limited. Trying to subjugate someone more powerful than the plane owner, themselves, risked a change of roles. She couldn't imagine how it would be to face someone like Theon in their mindscape. His iron and indomitable will was needed to direct thousands of his denizens. His mind worked in a way that escaped Irene's and Hestia's reasoning. Challenging a Dungeon within a mindscape dominion was like challenging a mountain to a staring contest. She was strong but her strength paled in comparison to the man who subjugated other Dungeons to his will and led millions of Mortals by mere suggestions.

  And yet... Her beloved husband had no idea what he was currently doing. She shook her head in disbelief as she noticed that he had prepared himself to beat Vanush physically in a place where no one had a real body.

  Theon's killing intent was like a freezing cold and violent beyond any imagination wind that struck Vanush with full force. Theon activated his auras and, ostensibly, slowly prepared himself for the fight. Amber smiled with relief, happy that her gamble paid off. Theon's body couldn't leave the boundaries of the Dungeons under his control but his mind constantly travelled outside, reaching through his denizens and observing Nilmerthis. Here, in the mindscape of Vanush Na'laar, a body was unnecessary. By creating something so vast by the fusion of soul and city-wide magi machines, Vanush unintentionally created enough space for Theon's mind to invade. She was the key he needed. He promised to always come to her aid and when she called him, he responded instantly. The ancient Elf couldn't run away and couldn't end the spell without risking a horrible backlash. Now, he was trapped within his own mind. He could only fight and, ultimately, die.

  "What kind of monsters are you?!" Vanush scowled and summoned a shield.

  "I am the Righteous Dungeon, you lowly creature." Theon dashed forward.

  Vanush had the advantage of being within his domain but fighting a furious Theon was like stopping the ocean using a bucket. The force of nature that intended to face the dark entities of Void and Chaos focused his baleful wrath on the Elf and found him wanting. The simple sword in Theon's hands flashed and chipped Vanush’s blade. With a quick feint, Theon smacked Vanush with the pommel, broke his nose, nearly incapacitating the Elf, and sent him tumbling to the ground.

  "You did well, my Love." Theon smiled at her. "Your sisters were worried sick but Hestia knew you would reach the core of the mindscape. I knew it as well."

  "For a moment I was so scared, Theon..." She felt her tears falling down on her cheeks. "I didn't want to admit to anyone, even to myself, in case he could use it against me. But, for a few moments, I was afraid that the last year was just some dream..."

  "It was a beautiful dream we dreamt together and changed it into reality, my Love." Theon smiled softly but his features hardened into a merciless mask as he turned towards Vanush. "I will make him regret that he tried to wake you up and take you away from me."

  Vanush wobbly stood up and wiped the blood off his face. He looked at Theon and power surged around him. "You dare?!"

  "Oh! Oh! I know that reference!" Theon chuckled in amusement as he blinked and violently smashed the pommel of his sword on Vanush's stomach. The Elf bent with a sickly face and vomited on the ground. Theon's voice was cold as he looked down upon the man. "But, you are not the protagonist of a cultivation novel, you bastard."

  "How can you hurt me within my mindscape?!" Vanush looked at Theon with fear and tears in his eyes.

  "Yours?" The Arcadian Emperor incredulously raises his eyebrow. "Hardly. You used the entire city-spanning network that was meant to be used by the descendants of the royal bloodline of the Balantican Empire. You twisted and warped something you had no idea about."

  "This legacy belongs to me!" Vanush cried. "I will kill you and then-"

  "Don't make me laugh." Theon interrupted him as he lowered himself and grabbed the man by his hair, ruining his hairstyle. "I could have killed you. I could still squish you like a bug under the sole of my shoe and the only thing that would change in the world will be a pair of ruined shoes." Theon pressed the pommel of his sword to Vanush's heart. "And there is nothing you could do to stop me. You have lived in an illusion of your own greatness and you should die in it. However, I decided to destroy your dreams and shatter the delusion you have. You see, I'm a spiteful man, Vanush. When your clay toys attacked me and cut off my arm, I considered it an adorable attempt. I’m an open game. But, the moment you threatened my wife? Oh... That was your mistake and, like anyone who planned to hurt my wives, I will do unspeakable things for their protection."

  Amber smiled as she watched the sloppy attempts of Vanush to free himself. The pressure that once stopped her was crushing down on Theon, who was as affected by it as he would be by a summer breeze. He lifted the shorter man in the air by his hair, causing him to painfully scream and try to lift himself to lessen the pain. Only, when their eyes met, Theon gently tapped the Elf's head with the pommel of his sword. For a brief moment, Amber saw Vanush's head explode in a fountain of blood but the man was still dangling in the air with a horrified look on his face.

  "You died..." Theon’s voice was like a whisper of a cruel god. He began to tap Vanush with the pommel of his sword and, each time, for a very brief moment, Amber watched the Elf die in a different gruesome way. Each time, Theon said "And again... And again... And again..." while Vanush began to horrifyingly scream.

  "Stop! Stop it! Make him stop!" Vanush looked at Amber who, instantly, felt an incredible anger.

  "Why would I?" She replied instantly. "You trapped me in this place and tried to mess with my memories and feelings. You brought this upon yourself."

  "What an incredible place, honestly..." Theon smirked. "It provides so many possibilities! But, unfortunately, every game has its end... Vishnu?"

  "I almost succeeded in breaking into the Vault, my Liege!" A happy voice reported.

  "You!!" Vanush bellowed and tried to look at the incorporeal voice. "It's your fault, you traitor! Die!"

  "Warn-" Vishnu's voice fell silent while Theon grimaced unhappily.

  In a series of various and extremely painful visions of death, he mutilated Vanush until the Elf started begging for mercy and forgiveness.

  "What happened?" Amber asked in shock.

  Theon slowly shook his head. "IBF Vishnu was destroyed. The ancient frigate had no chance to stop that beam. The aft half of the ship is gone."

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to who edited the chapter!

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