I woke up to a kick in the hip. Not a subtle one.
"Get up, mortal. The universe is misaligned and you snore like an ogre with sinusitis."
I opened one eye. Liriel stood beside my bed, impeccable as always, but with a crease of concern between her brows. Her infinite wine glass was already in hand, though the sun had barely risen.
"Starting the day with existential threats already?" I asked, rubbing my face. The smell of mold in the inn seemed stronger today.
"It's not a threat. It's a fact. Look at this nonsense." She pointed toward the window.
The sky wasn't blue. It was… mixed. Streaks of purple, orange, and green, as if a child had spilled paint across the firmament. A bad omen, no doubt.
"Looks like something Melina would do," I muttered, stretching. "She probably bought new paint."
Liriel didn't find it funny. "That's dimensional rupture, you idiot. Something—or someone—is trying to pierce the fabric of reality."
I went downstairs to the tavern's lower floor, where Elara and Vespera were already engaged in their usual morning argument.
"…and if I had a mana ring, I could sustain the spell for ten more seconds!" Elara argued, stabbing a piece of bacon with unnecessary force.
"And if I aimed before shooting, maybe we wouldn't have burned down old Jorgen's barn," I shot back, sitting at the table. The memory of that 15-coin fine still hurt.
Vespera shrugged with a carefree smile. "He laughed afterward. Said he'd never seen an arrow set a hay cloud on fire from thirty meters away."
"He laughed while handing us the fine, Vespera."
Before the argument could heat up, the first boom came. It wasn't thunder. It was a tear. The entire building shook, and Torin's empty beer mug fell from the counter and rolled to my feet.
"What was that?" Elara asked, her face paling.
"The sky fell?" Vespera looked oddly excited by the possibility.
Liriel appeared beside me, her face grim. "Worse."
We ran outside. The Vaelor marketplace—normally a cheerful chaos—was in panic. Creatures made of dull light and solid smoke were descending from the sickly sky. They didn't roar or attack in fury. They moved with mechanical precision, like soldiers following a manual.
"Heavenly insects," Liriel explained, with clear disgust. "The most basic form of divine soldier. They're sent to… cleanse anomalies."
"Anomalies like what?" I asked, feeling a chill crawl down my spine.
She looked at me. "Like a goddess living in the mortal world. Like the mortal who dragged her here."
Great. I was a cosmic anomaly.
Vespera was already in action. "Let's see if they like iron!" she yelled, drawing her bow. Her arrow flew—and embedded itself in the wall of our old friend Kael the blacksmith, who was watching everything from his doorway.
"Hey! Who's paying for the plaster?" he shouted, pointing at me.
"Put it on my tab, Kael!" I yelled back, pulling my borrowed sword—which now had more accident dents than sharp edges.
Elara tried a containment spell. "Wind, hear my call!" A whirlwind formed, pushing one of the creatures away from a fruit stand. It worked for about five seconds. Then she staggered, face pale. "Mana… gone," she gasped, collapsing forward. I caught her before she hit the ground.
"Are you okay?" I asked, feeling her warmth against me.
"Just… need a minute," she whispered, her breath hot against my neck. My heart skipped, but Vespera's shout yanked me back to reality.
Liriel stepped forward dramatically. "Enough of this farce!" A beam of silver light shot from her hand, vaporizing one of the creatures. But she staggered back, as if punched in the gut.
"Liriel?"
"It's… heavier than before," she admitted through clenched teeth. "The world is pushing me out."
Then, the air three meters in front of us began to warp and shimmer. A woman emerged from the light, so perfect and immaculate that she made Liriel look… human. She wore a simple white outfit, her hair tied into a bun so tight it hurt to look at. Her eyes were the color of a frozen sky.
"Liriel," she said, and her voice was the sound of ice cracking. "Your unauthorized stay in the mortal realm has ended. You are a destabilizing variable. Return. Immediately."
Liriel crossed her arms. "Celine. Sending the intern to do the dirty work? Some things never change."
Celine — the assistant, from what I understood — didn't even flinch. "I am the highest authority now, Liriel. I have taken the throne temporarily. And my first order is your arrest."
"She's not going anywhere," I said, stepping forward. My sword trembled a little.
Celine looked at me as if I were a grammar mistake. "The chosen one. Your illogical decision began this chain of events. You will be restrained as well." Her gaze swept over Elara, still gasping for air, and over Vespera, who was readying another arrow. "And your… associates. A collection of process failures."
"I like to think of myself as 'fun collateral damage'!" Vespera shouted, firing. The arrow whizzed past Celine's ear and struck a water jug behind her, which shattered into a thousand pieces.
Gorrin, the owner of the pottery stall, yelled, "That jug was a family heirloom! It's on your tab, Takumi!"
Wonderful. Now I owed Gorrin too.
Celine ignored the chaos. "Do you really prefer this… dysfunction… over your legacy?" she asked Liriel, with a vague gesture that encompassed all of us.
Liriel looked at me, at Elara, at Vespera. A tired but genuine smile appeared on her lips.
"Celine," she said softly. "You never understood. A throne is cold. This… this burns."
For the first time, Celine's mask seemed to crack. There was something in her eyes… envy? Anger? I couldn't tell.
"Then burn with it," she replied sharply. She raised her hand, and the air around her literally froze, frost spreading across the ground. The creatures of light stopped and turned toward us, synchronized.
"Looks like the party's about to heat up," Liriel remarked, and the wine in her glass began to glow with an intense light.
"Excellent!" Vespera shouted, pulling another arrow. "Finally, a boss worth fighting!"
"It's 'boss', not 'chefa'!" Elara corrected, struggling to get up.
"Focus!" I ordered, feeling the weight of the sword — and the even heavier weight of the debts we were racking up. If we survived this, it would take a lifetime to pay everything off. But looking at the determination in Elara's eyes, the madness in Vespera's grin, and the stubborn spark in Liriel's gaze, I realized it might just be worth it.
The sky tore open a little more, and the battle for Vaelor — and for my wallet — truly began.