Hera and Neria were walking towards the building, which was being used as the command center while talking. The triton wanted to eat as well, but she wanted to confirm how things were going with the rampage before anything else.

"Sorry to take you away from that group. Do you know them?" Neria turned to the Empress.

"Not really. I was walking by, and they wanted to know about who or what I am," Hera said as she looked over at Neria; her blue eyes were a bit red. Signaling that the healer didn't have the best night of sleep.

"I see… does that happen a lot?"

"Honestly. Less than I thought it would. Today was the first time people actually stopped me to ask ever since I met you all. Also, there was something weird. I got a bunch of notifications telling me that I had been observed. I really can't explain why that happened. But I'm more worried about how I acted."

"Why?" Neria tilted her head.

"I mean. Since I'm this strange new species and can't say everything about what I am, I default to being more blunt than usual. Almost to the point of being rude."

The healer chuckled, "You? Being rude? That's a first. Hera, you are one of the sweetest people I know."

"Thanks for the compliment, but seriously. I don't know why I felt I shouldn't be my usual self. Like I had to be more… intense? Imposing? I don't know how to describe it. My court calls me Empress, and I'm not saying I should act all noble, stuffy, and such. But maybe I should be more… Regal? Have that dignity of an actual Empress. So I tried doing that."

"And it didn't work?"

"I think it did. Or at least a version of it. I still have to figure out how to do this properly, but it was a good first step."

"Then what is the problem?"

Hera looked to the floor, "I kind of liked it."

"You liked acting like that?"

"Yeah, not worrying about being nice or whatever. Just swaying what I wanted and biting back any time someone tried to pull something against me. But not just being angry, you know. Twisting their words to make their argument crumble. I'm saying all of this, but it was nowhere near as interesting as I'm making it sound like. A dude asked me if I was the Hera that started everything. You know, the one that, according to the guild, was a terrorist."

Neria raised one eyebrow, her ears fins shifting slightly. She was aware that both Heras were the same person, "And what did you say?"

"I said I'm an Ophidianite. And that if he can give an explanation of how someone died and came back as a different species, I would like the laugh about that."

Neria chuckled, "That wasn't the best comeback, but it wasn't a bad one either."

"It was better how I said it. Then Daskka started making jokes, and I smiled a little."

"But why is that all a problem?"

"I don't know. I am me, so changing that feels… Weird. I don't know how to explain it."

"Oh, please. You know better than most that people change. If you think you might enjoy being like that, go for it. Just be ready for people to treat you differently," Neria rolled her eyes and stopped walking.

They were in front of the command center. It usually was an auditorium. A place for presentations, large meetings, and the occasional company party. There was a lot of traffic coming in and out of the building, and the two of them joined the small crowd. It didn't take long for them to be able to talk with someone responsible for assignments. All they had to do was wait in line for a couple of minutes before reaching one of the people sitting at a desk taking care of the logistics behind the rampage defense.

"Hi, we arrived before the rampage started and should have our shift in," Neria glanced at a close in the wall, "About four hours. Where should we stay?"

The clerk nodded without looking away from his notebook, "Hi. What's your team name?"

Neria and Hera exchanged a look, "We don't have one."

The clerk let out a long sigh, "Fine. You should get one. Makes our job easier," he tapped a few keys, "OK. Who is the leader of your team? No, scratch that. Who is the most influential person on your team? The name the people who set you all up would use to refer to your team."

Neria looked at Hera, "Probably yours, right?"

"Maybe, if not, I think it would be Skyler or yours. We are the only ones with a connection with the leadership. Well, I'm not sure about Vash," Hera crossed her arms.

"That's great and all. What are the names," the clerk asked.

"Try Hera's first."

"It's Hera Quetzaveth," the Empress replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You have been observed.

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Hera frowned as the clerk stared at her. Seeing that reaction, he just said, "It's easier than asking you to spell it. And honestly. After dealing with Count Zevad's name. This is more practical."

"Count Zevad? Never heard of him," Neria said.

"Me neither," the Empress added.

"While I'm checking that one, just for fun. How do you think that name is spelled?" the clerk continued tapping away, trying to find the team in the database.

"Well… it starts with a Z-" Neria began but was instantly cut off.

"Nope. It starts with a silent K, then an M, and a hyphen."

"What the fuck?" Hera gasped.

"That's why I use observe. But your name is not here. Who is next?"

"Let's try me. Neria Seichal," the healer said.

"Seichal? That's a pretty last name," Hera added.

"Thanks!" Neria smiled, "It's supposed to be something related to waves, but the explanation was too complicated. I never understood."

"That's not it either," the clerk sounded a bit annoyed, but that wasn't aimed at them for now.

They said every single name of their group. They even had to call Flint and Roan to get their last names, but none worked. After a moment thinking about it, Hera let out a loud groan, "Please, let me be wrong," she turned to the clerk, "Try Empress."

"Empress?" the clerk frowned.

"Yeah. Just humor me. If it doesn't work, we will try to figure something else out."

The clerk shrugged but soon got a result, "There is one here. Ophidianite Empress."

Hera rubbed her eyes, "If that wasn't going to cause a political conflict, I would smack Typhera. Yeah, that's us. I'm an Ophidianite."

"Oh, so that's what you are? Never heard about it," the clerk looked back at the screen, "And you are their Empress?"

"Sort of… not really. Look, it's complicated. Don't worry about it," Hera was feeling embarrassed with every fiber of her being.

"Well, I can confirm that this is indeed your team. All the names you mentioned are listed here. So let's see…." He paused for a moment, double-checking everything he needed before nodding, "Ok, you will be assigned to the cave on sector 3B, 87th floor," he showed a hologram of the entire spire with the location they were supposed to protect.

"87th floor? How far is that?" Neria gasped.

"Not that far. Every 10 meters you climb the spire, you go up a floor. We are on the 98th floor. The cave in question has 3 tunnels leading to it, and those are the places you should defend. Stay in front of the metal doors. You are free to make traps or whatever you want to help your defense. Just make sure to warn the next team about them when your shift is over. You should go there in a few hours. So eat, rest up, and be ready to go. Also, I just have to ask. Does anyone in your team have a skill or something that could help a large number of people? Maybe some wide area buff or something."

"Vash might have something. I just don't know the duration," Neria said.

"I have one spell, but it takes a while to prepare. Could you give me access to that hologram? Just a simple map. I might be able to make it work. But I need to draw the spell circle first and see if it would function."

The clerk shook his head, "Undermine then. We don't have enough people to make a large spell circle."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I have an item that lets me make some snakes, and they can handle that part," Hera replied.

"Your snakes can make spell circles? Ok then, if you manage to make it work, let me know. I'll send a message for people to let your snakes alone as they travel around the place," the clerk shrugged and pulled out a miniature book, "Here is the compendium for all the monsters that are part of the rampage. Try to keep them in mind, but there are too many for anyone to remember, so try to focus on what you are facing. Compare it with the rampage quest, and let me know if there is any missing. I don't think that's the case, but you never know."

"Will do, thanks!" Neria took the compendium and walked back.

"Good luck out there, and try not to die."

"Thanks, you too," Hera said with a smile as they left the command center.

When they arrived back at the hotel, the rest of the team was already getting something to eat for everyone.

"Did you manage to figure out the team name?" Skyler asked.

"It was marked as 'Ophidianite Empress.' We need to come up with a new one," Hera replied before starting to eat her pasta.

Neria quickly noticed the devilish smirk appearing on Roan and Vash's face and before the conversation could get to where it was going. They had a lot to do, and having them tease each other didn't feel like the best idea, "By the way. Did you get the rampage quest? It's… a lot."

"Yeah, I saw it. This place is a mess," Flint nodded.

"Oh, right. I forgot to check. I remember seeing the notification when I woke up to go to the bathroom, but I was so tired that I just waved it off," Hera said, pulling up her tablet to double-check the notification.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monster Rampage - Core Spire

Protect the city from the waves of monsters that will attack the settlements. Any damage to the structures of the room will be deducted from the basic reward.

Rewards: 250 000 gold

Killing a monster will give you increased rewards based on the type of monster.

Cloudwing Striker - 600 gold

Magma Construct - 850 gold

Void Weaver - 700 gold

Gloom Bat - 30 gold

Cloud Serpent - 100 gold

Magma Crawler - 200 gold

Ember Wyvern - 3 000 gold

Ash Gremlin - 300 gold

Soot Golem - 650 gold

Magma Spider - 50 gold

Whispering Crystal - 350 gold

Ash Reaver - 700 gold

Molten Elemental - 4 500 gold

Smoke Weaver - 500 gold

Cinder Hound - 900 gold

Forge Magma - 800 gold

Sky Leaver - 900 gold

Skystone Watcher - 3 000 gold

Ember Garuda - 6 000 gold

Forge Lord - 30 000 gold

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"Holly shit. Those are a lot of monsters," Hera gasped.

"Yeah, and from what I heard, that's not even all that can appear in the room. There is another half a dozen or so that are missing from the quest," Roan replied.

"Really?" Neria tilted her head, but before she could ask why, the beastmen continued.

"Yeah. We talked with someone who lives here. Apparently, the ones that are missing will appear to try to plug up the lava waterfall during the rampage. The reward attached to the monsters also can signal their strength. The more money we can get from it, the stronger they are. Some of them would really spell trouble for us. The Forge Lord and the Ember Garuda, specifically."

"The guy also said that there is one other strong monster that should appear. Something called a Cloud Cragshard. It's supposed to be another bird, but stronger than the Garuda. Losing only to the Forge Lord."

"Oh great, I'll see if my court can look over the compendiums, and maybe Lurize can yell out the dangers of any monsters we see," Hera suggested.

The group continued talking about the rampage and coming up with plans based on what they knew. At the same time, she was using her tablet to draw the spell circle around not just the spire but the city at the foot of the volcano. Since she was going to try something this big, she might as well cover everything. If the spell worked, it would be a massive boon for everyone. Even if she was limited to only getting twice as many attribute points, the reduction in the stats of the monsters would save lives.