The Dungeon, once situated on top of a massive hill, was now surrounded by an even more massive wall. Looking like a dam, the wall was constructed from blue dungeon brick, ridged with lethal spikes, and the Steampunker reported it seemed to be rigged with lava-dropping defences and who knew what else.

Nobody was sure how such a big wall had seemingly appeared overnight. Or overday, since the Wizard thought it had been constructed under cover of the solar eclipse.

"Robyn must be up there," Sid said.

William looked to his friend and ally. "I know."

"If her curse works anything like what James's did, there might be some being... some master, contained within her that can be unleashed. If we defeat that, maybe it will free her from the curse."

William tried to find hope in his words, but the wall dominated his thoughts. "We tried that with James, but he still has Skeletron inside of him."

"True," Sid agreed. "But he was able to control him in the end."

William still wasn't sure. There were similarities in their curses, yes, but he felt as though there were differences, too. They did not yet know what was controlling Robyn. And while James had told them exactly how to break his curse, Robyn had yet to do so.

He could only hope that there was a way to free her.

***

At dawn, a small group was seen approaching the Dungeon walls from the Hallowed plain. About twenty strong, every able-bodied citizen had set out. Merlyn the Wizard led them, his staff a guiding light, but for the one who stood at the top of the wall, watching over the snowy valley, it was also a banner, depicting an oncoming invasion.

They were mere dots below, but Robyn could see them as though she were only ten blocks away. Her possession granted her certain powers.

The Wizard led them onto a low peak close to the base of the wall, and a pink-dressed girl stepped forward. Compared to the wall, the peak may as well have been an anthill, but it gave the Princess a vantage point to speak.

"To the inhabitants of the Dungeon." Her voice was amplified boldly up the wall by a combination of acoustics and the Wizard's magic. "We are the citizens of the Land of Terraria, and I am their royal subject, Princess Faye. We arrive today to declare war upon your land. You may try to rule us through fear, building walls and unleashing curses to dominate over us, but we will rise. Your wall is little more than a bunker for you to hide in, like a coward."

Robyn could almost laugh at the girl's naivety.

"So courageous, but yet, so foolish," she spoke. "There is no chance for you citizens. Go back, and never return, and you will be spared until Cthulhu's return."

"We refuse!" the Wizard shouted. "We will fight, to stop whatever you ungodly Cultists are planning!"

The rest of the citizens shouted up similar threats and taunts.

Robyn could only sigh. If they wish to die so badly, so be it. She held up an item, which looked like a large, flaming torch contained in a beige band with some green spikes ringed around it.

Suddenly the dawn became morning, then noon, then afternoon. The sun was racing across the sky, as though the entire sky was the interior of a sphere and somebody was spinning it from the outside. The sun soon disappeared, and the moon jutted up a little bit to the east and stopped there, setting the time to dusk.

She reached into her inventory and got out two more items. One looked like a medallion depicting a smiling carved pumpkin, the other was a grey present wrapped with a purple bow, a picture of a skull plastered on its side. She held both items into the air.

"Arise, creatures of nightmares, arise, servants of festivity! The Lord of the Moon commands that you come forth, and purge those that threaten us!"

At the foot of the wall, the Princess almost lost her footing as she felt the ground rumbling.

Ahead, in the shadow of the wall, she spotted several enemies emerging from the darkness. They arrived in two major groups – the ones on the left comprising of hopping Scarecrows, creatures made from dark purple wood, some ghosts with furniture rotating around them in their hands, and a very large gnarled tree that walked on two large flat feet. It smiled with a creepy, orange glow.

The other group looked more colourful but didn't look any less dangerous. There were elves dressed in red and green outfits, walking gingerbread men the size of actual men, spinning Nutcrackers, roaring abominable snowmen, and another walking tree – this one a pine tree, with two spindly branches posing as its arms. It was decorated with yellow baubles, including two placed in such a way that they were probably its eyes.

The Princess had never commanded an army before, but luckily battle strategy was just one of her many hobbies. Life as a royal subject was surprisingly uneventful, after all.

"Stay on the high ground," she said calmly. Her army stood ready.

Ahead, the various creatures and other enemies roared and made a cacophony of other noises. Above, Robyn pointed an arm forward.

"You may massacre when ready."

The opposing army began lurching forward. The Scarecrows hopped forward. The Hellhounds charged. The Elves with archers notched their arrows.

"You know what to do," the Princess said. She had sat down with every individual citizen beforehand and gone through how they could contribute to the battle. "Attack!"

Merlyn the Wizard cast a volley of bouncing fireballs forward, which impacted against the charging Hellhounds. Red Beard the Pirate began mowing them down with his gun. James the Clothier transformed into Skeletron and rose up from the back of the group, then flew forward. He began by picking up two Hellhounds in his skeletal hands, bashing them together, then throwing them at the oncoming army. He then broke the line of Scarecrows with one sweep of his arm, smashed into the Splinterlings with his skull, crushed the Zombie Elves with his hands, and probably would have eaten the Gingerbread Men if there hadn't been more bloodshed to be had.

"Eighteen!" the Demolitionist yelled. "Nineteen!"

"Better keep up, old man," the Arms Dealer said. "I'm at twenty-six."

"Oi! Don't forget we've both got to beat Luigi!"

Some of the citizens ran forward and into the melee fray. Most of the Hellhounds had already been defeated in the initial attacks, leaving the slower infantry. The Zoologist tore the wooden Splinterlings to bits with her claws. The Dye Trader beheaded each of the Gingerbread Men with his Exotic Scimitar. The Party Girl blew up the Zombie Elves with her Party Grenades. The Goblin Tinkerer littered the battlefield with spiky balls that the Scarecrows trod and slipped up on.

Though the opposing side wasn't going to go down without at least attacking. The Poltergeists began hurling chairs and tables at the citizens and the Elf Archers launched a firestorm of arrows into the air, but the Dryad extended her green aura of blessing, disintegrating all of the projectiles before they could hit anyone.

Of course, that wasn't the only firepower they had. The two trees – the Mourning Wood and Everscream – opened fire as well. The Mourning Wood shot flaming wood at them rapid-fire, which soared over the oncoming army and towards the citizens. The Dryad's shield wasn't powerful enough to block them, but the citizens were able to get out of the way. Everscream moved forward, leading a lot of the larger enemies, and when it got close enough it began assaulting the citizens with volleys of pine needles that forced the citizens to take a step back down their hill. Then it clambered on top of the hill, standing where the Princess had addressed Robyn, and began hurling forth a cascade of baubles that rolled down the hill and exploded into shards upon getting close enough to a citizen. Gilbert the Merchant had been the first citizen to arrive, but was subsequently the first to fall as he got engulfed by flames from the Mourning Wood's attacks. Luigi the Painter kept his paintball gun trained on the Everscream as it charged down the hill, but too many baubles exploded near him, and he was eventually stripped of all his life, falling to the ground dead.

"Noo! Our competition!" Durim cried.

Tony grit his teeth. "We need to both get a high score. For Luigi!"

"Fall back!" the Princess yelled. She fired at the Everscream with her Resonance Sceptre, creating an expanding pink energy field that damaged it, but knew it would take many more blows before it would go down.

The Mourning Wood reached the hill also and began thrusting out Greek Fire that landed on the snow around them and set it on fire, making the ground treacherous to cross. Some Elves in helicopters appeared and began firing bullets rapid-fire into the citizens. They were pushed further and further down the hill, towards the icy lake at the base of the valley.

***

William could see the battle from where he was currently grappled. He, Sid and Meg were currently climbing the wall, close to the left end of it, using invisibility potions in hopes that Robyn wouldn't spot them. From what he could see of the battle, things were not going well.

"They could all die down there," Meg murmured. "We need to help them!"

"They're diverting the forces so we can scale the wall, and reach Robyn," Sid said. "They knew the risks going into the battle, and they all agreed to step in."

William could tell from the look on Meg's face that she was still worried.

"Sid, I think I understand now why you're so impulsive sometimes."

She let go of the wall.

"Meg!" Sid shouted.

William watched as she glided down like an angel.

***

Meg's invisibility potion was still active even as she reached the battle, so she had the element of surprise against the enemy. She got out her Razorblade Typhoon, the spell tome that Duke Fishron had dropped, and fired. It cast forth aquamarine rings that flew down and began bouncing between the Everscream and Mourning Wood, dealing massive damage. And the more she cast, the more damage was dealt. Soon they both fell, toppling over like the trees they were.

"Timber!" the Demolitionist yelled, charging forward. Several other citizens followed.

Meg's invisibility potion wore off around that same moment. She saw the Princess approaching her.

"I appreciate you coming to help us," she said.

"Don't mention it," Meg replied. "Sid and William will deal with Robyn. I'll help you down here."

"Meg!" It was the Wizard. "The Everscream dropped a weapon you might find useful."

She ran up and saw it amongst the pine tree's remains. The Razorpine. After firing it for a few seconds, seeing it fired pine needles at the rate of a Megashark, she turned to face the opposing army and charged in.

***

Sid and William soon reached the top of the wall. The top was a flat plane of dungeon brick that extended to the natural hill. William saw some blue-robed people holding bows stationed in small groups, the closest of which spotted them somehow and began firing arrows. Their labels distinguished them as Blue Cultist Archers.

About time we see some actual Cultists!

He and Sid ran forward. William's Terra Blade and Sid's Terraprisma – the Terra Duo, as Sid had coined it – tore through the robed archers. William had been impressed when he'd heard that Sid had beaten the Empress of Light during the day, all without getting hit once, and had been rewarded with such a powerful weapon. The Terraprisma summons were floating prismatic swords that would seek out and automatically slash at enemies. Sid could practically fight with seven swords at once.

The two of them made their way to the centre of the wall. The Dungeon entrance was some distance away, but William couldn't see Robyn anywhere.

"She might be invisible," he muttered.

They'd figured out the blue armour she'd had on when she'd attacked prior to summoning Duke Fishron was Shroomite Armour, which she must've crafted using the Autohammer she'd bought from the mushroom man. And according to the Guide, it gave her that very ability whenever she stood still.

"Let's check the Dungeon entrance," Sid said. "Looks like those Cultists over there are up to something."

At the entrance was a larger group of Cultists, but most were unarmed and were raising their hands at what looked like a large, floating tablet. It was round, with some sort of engraving upon it, and its outer edges were flickering with yellow flames.

"Do we take those guys out?" Sid asked.

William nodded.

The two of them charged forward. A few of the Cultists around the outer edges of the group spotted them coming and raised their bows, but they were quickly swept away by one (or both) of the Terra weapons. Within seconds they had killed everyone in the group, the Cultists barely even getting to defend themselves.

"You feel like this is too easy?" Sid murmured.

William agreed, but said nothing.

That was when Robyn appeared.

Still clad in her blue Shroomite Armour.

"Robyn!" William found himself yelling.

Her cursed eyes locked their gaze on him. "William."

William. Hearing his name come out of his mouth, he was suddenly brought back in time.

To before she'd been possessed.

To when they'd just been friends, allies, perhaps with feelings for each other.

That Robyn was so close.

But so far.

"Allow me to introduce my accomplices," she said.

That was when two large forms rose up from the ground behind her.

One had the head of a jack o' lantern, wore a dark cloak tied with a skull locket, and had two spindly arms made of vines with scythe blades tied to the ends of them. The other was a floating woman, completely made of ice, with icicles formed around her head to look like a crown.

Pumpking and the Ice Queen.