That's Not Artoria-It's Jeanne the Country Bumpkin, Right?

"This... this is too much..." Her voice was choked with sobs. Even though she knew these fairies were no good, such naked cruelty and betrayal still shook her innocent heart.

"Everyone, let's split up and look around. See if there are any survivors." Mashu forced down her discomfort and made the suggestion. Her purple eyes were filled with determination and sympathy, while she kept her shield in hand, alert for any possible danger.

Lily nodded hard, as if trying to drive the horrific scene from her mind. She took a deep breath and began searching carefully among the ruins. She climbed over collapsed roof beams and checked the insides of damaged houses, leaving no corner where someone might be hiding. In a soft voice, she called, "Is anyone there? Is anyone still alive? We're here to help you..."

Yet the only response was the howling wind and deathly silence.

Hope faded bit by bit as the search area expanded. Beneath collapsed houses and beside scattered debris, there was nothing alive but cold corpses. Lily's heart gradually sank, and the bright eyes she once had became shrouded in gloom.

Just as she was about to give up and turn back to rejoin Mashu and the others, an extremely faint rustling sound, as though something were rubbing against another object, drifted from behind a half-collapsed forge.

Lily stopped dead. She held her breath and listened intently.

"Whimper..."

Another tiny whimper came, like the cry of a small animal, or perhaps... a person?

Hope flared anew. Lily carefully stepped around the tools and charcoal scattered across the ground and made her way behind the huge, already-cold furnace. "Um... hello? Is anyone there? Don't be afraid. We're not bad people..."

Before she could finish—

"Waaaah!"

A black shadow suddenly sprang from the darkness behind