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As the pain escalated, he couldn’t help acknowledging the risk. How well could she handle this? Better than he could? He was about to find out.

Agh. Even for him, this level of pain was a bit much. Not enjoyable. Disorienting. Excruciating, actually.

Then it was gone. His mind relaxed. Phew.

She’d relented.

“A quaint trick,” said the sister. “But you will need to do better than that, Little Fool.”

Huh. No effect? Unlikely. She wouldn’t have canceled her attack if that were the case. She was just putting on a brave face, trying to maintain her ego.

Good. He didn’t want this to be too--

Something else stole his attention. A sudden influx of intel from the Roberts on the western edge of the compound. They were engaged in battle autonomously.

Intruders.

“Ohoho!” said the sister, sounding suddenly quite pleased. “Finally noticed, have you?! The truth of the matter is that there is little I can do to you from this distant position. But a distraction was very much doable.”

Irritating.

A violent tremor arrived, freeing dust from the ceiling. He had a decision to make. Did he really need to go handle these intruders himself? The Roberts could handle almost anything on their own. So who--?

“Apologies for the use of trickery,” said Rasalased. “I do hope you do not die this day, Young Demon. There is more I would speak with you about.”

“Perhaps you will find these new opponents entertaining,” said the sister. “I suspect, however, that you already know enough about them to make you suitably nervous.”

What was she--?

Two of the Roberts just went offline at once. And more information was arriving. So much incoming data. Tough to parse through it all like this. The Roberts were swarming. Gathering intel en masse. And attacking. They needed guidance, though. More advanced and specific orders.

Uh-oh. Some of the intruders had already penetrated quite deep into the facility. Nearing the Vanguardian captives.

Couldn’t allow that, now could he? He started giving them new orders as he moved to personally intercept.

Who the heck had managed all this, anyway? Sure, he’d been distracted, but not for that long. This timing was quite suspicious.

And those silhouettes in the camera footage.

Ah.

One of them, at least, was very obvious. And from it, he could infer the others.

But the obvious one was the most problematic, he knew. He’d spent quite some time trying to learn more about that blasted creature after his encounter with it at Bellvine. Much of that battle had been hazy in his mind, but he’d remembered enough for it to leave a lasting impression on him.

It was that damn dog.