"Why would there be so many of them within a Maker's shrine? Don't the humans usually only have one or two dard lords, at most?" Fred whispers.

"I don't know. Let's just... be careful." Kay grumbles, her hopes, as faint as they may have been, of this last relic being easily obtained, rapidly dwindling. Stepping through the cracked wall, the building is dimly lit within, and not exceptionally large. The fact that the strong scent of assorted predators is all around them, but there are none within sight does little to comfort the trio. They have to be somewhere, after all.

As usual, Kay continues forward, not completely without hesitation, but similarly not one to allow potential threats keep her from herr final goal. The three group closely in the middle of the wide hallway, stepping across the now fairly familiar unnatural floors. With the eyes of the naked mouse forward, it's up to the knight and sorceress to keep their eyes to the sides and behind, the walls surrounding them lined with metal grills cutting off further passage. Mia lets out a surprised squeak as she sees motion behind one of gates, followed by a pair of bright, shimmering eyes. As the eyes of the mice adjust further to the gloom, the mystery of the missing lords of darkness is quickly solved.

Most are asleep or otherwise inattentive, but the intruders draw the attention of a few which spreads out from there, this place of darkness and silence suddenly springing to life. Within stacked metal crates sit large creatures of a variety of types. Some of these boxes are open, the mesh gates simply leaning against the hollow recesses within, but the vast bulk of them are closed tightly, some of the inhabitants within pawing at the solid bars, still more just idly curled up in rest, but almost all of the creatures gazing at the three with hungry, brightly-colored eyes.

"What is this place?" Mia asks, looking about, taking in every detail that she can.

"I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this." Fred replies, trying to remain as close to the center of the hallway as possible, which, by no coincidence, just happens to be as far from the cage doors as one can possibly be.

Mia, on the other hand, isn't nearly so cautious. While normally being a less than careless individual, her fascination with the dark lords gets the better of her. The young mouse has the sense to not go right up to the cage doors, but she can't resist taking as close a look as possible, and in the process slightly underestimates the reach of the imprisoned creatures. Kay pulls her away just before a claw swipe can tear through the sorceress. There's an angry hiss as a set of baleful green eyes glare out at the pair, but they falter and retreat back into the darkness, the eyes of the nameless mouse proving significantly more menacing.

"Um... thanks." Mia says, sheepishly, continuing to study the large creatures from a significantly safer distance. "A lot of them are wounded and bandaged. I can smell sickness coming from others."

"Maybe they put up a fight when they were captured, and got hurt?" The armored mouse says, similarly trying to watch the assorted cages closely, but finding himself constantly shrinking back when he tries to meet the eyes of the massive beasts. "Hey, either way, it's good news for us, right? They're all locked away, so we shouldn't need to worry about them."

"I... suppose." the dark furred sorceress says, meeting the assortment of gazes out of sheer fascination rather than bravery. She can't deny that it is the best case scenario for the three of them, but it still unsettled her. The eyes of such mighty creatures which all held so much anger, pain and fear, a reminder that the Makers could be far more frightening than even an army of dark lords.

Kay wasn't any more comfortable about the situation, but as usual played it cool. It wasn't entirely an act, of course, either, her top priority, as always, focused on the goal ahead. "Come on. There's no reason for us to linger here."

She walks ahead, the others following. She tries to pay no attention to her surroundings, but can't help it. The many creatures of different sizes and colorations, some with bandaged limbs, some unbearably thin, some with vacant and confused eyes, even those which seemed relatively healthy are wretched looking in their own unique ways. As much as she tries to look forward, her eyes can't help wandering from left to right, as even if her rational mind realizes the creatures, as powerful as they are, pose no threat, her natural instincts are screaming to keep her eyes locked on nearby predators. One by one the creatures, both large and small (relative to one another, of course, none are smaller than the mice) shrink back under her unnatural gaze, however. All except for one.

"Fresh... m-meat..." a feline growls. There is gauze wrapped about its head, between its ears and overtop one eye. No scar is visible beneath it, of course, but the fur is shaven all around it, and even aside from the obvious wound, its orange coat is balding in patches, the whole body twitching and shaking, a dark miasma rising from the twisted form. It simultaneously bears an oblivious expression, yet an unwavering intensity as it stares outwards, closer to the eyes of a corpse, yet the wide, unblinking eyes follow the trio closely. At the sight of this decrepit creature, Kay herself has to look away, the intense glare and twisted appearance not the only thing about it that intimidates her.

The hallway isn't an incredibly long one, leading to a large room devoid of such creatures. Devoid of their actual presence, at least. The scent proved, if anything, even stronger, combined with intense acrid smells of unknowable chemicals. Despite the smell, the place was very clean, almost unnaturally so, with gleaming steel surfaces and immaculate instruments lining the walls. There is similarly the usual furniture, desks, chairs, posters along the wall meant to try to give the place a relaxed and warming atmosphere, but it certainly didn't succeed in that for the mice, and likely did little to comfort the dark lords, either.

"I don't like this place." Mia says, nervously. The opportunity to study dark lords in such a safe and secure environment is a dream come true for many mouse academics, and in the past would have been one for herself as well. There was something in the air, though, beyond the dander and the chemicals. Something underlaying all of that. A lingering sense of fear and dread that hung within the otherwise sterile atmosphere. The belief, nay, the absolute knowledge that many, many creatures had died here. While, unknown to her, that wasn't the purpose of this place, quite the opposite, in fact, she wasn't wrong.

Kay, however, doesn't respond. Her eyes are looking upwards, onto the wooden desk, where a pink aura of light is focused. She gives little thought to the fact that it's rather familiar, and that it's strange that all of the keys were, originally in such environments, and likewise gives little thought to the fact that it's seemingly unguarded. She makes a point to look about, making sure it's not simply residual energy, like before, but nope, there are no signs of the pink light anywhere else.

"It's right up there." She says, looking up with wide, wondrous eyes. With the other two pillars of light having vanished once the artifacts were retrieved, only this one, intense pinpoint of light remains. For the first time, the aura doesn't fill her entire view, and yet she still finds that she cannot look away from it. Still, both Mia and Frederich hesitate.

"Are you sure? I don't see any Makers or guardians around. It looks a little too easy. This is the final one, shouldn't it be the most difficult?" The armored mouse asks.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Kay grumbles. "We've been over this. As far as the artifacts are concerned, there is no first or last one, we could have taken on the shrines in any order."

Fred reluctantly nods in agreement, but is hardly convinced. Not that it matters, as Kay has already begun to climb the desk. This isn't quite so easy, even if not what one would consider a desperate struggle. The second artifact was originally high up, but moved to a lower location. The first was on a similar desk, but there were high shelves which were seemingly designed for a mouse to easily climb. In this case, however, things weren't quite so convenient. There were no easy footholds. Still, it wasn't impossible. The individual drawers, while widely spaced apart, did offer some traction, with the biggest problem being the distance between them. Even if one could easily grasp the bottom of one, there still remained a significant height of slippery wood until the next, a distance which couldn't simply be reached by stretching ones limbs out, not even for the tallest of mice.

"I know, just... let's be careful." Fred says, looking about, thoroughly convinced that some manner of trap or guardian would be unleashed at any moment. Kay nods, dismissively, but pays little attention, instead continuing forward. While one couldn't easily reach the next drawers and work their way up through conventional climbing, jumping proves the easier option. Well, not for most creatures, of course, as relatively few are built with strong, vertical leaps. Kay wasn't either, normally, but the power of the curse mark strengthened her legs and arms as well. Mia and Frederich have little to do aside from keeping watch. Climbing as a group might be possible, but the more that attempted it, the greater the chance of one falling, and Kay is making short work of the incline. Within seconds she leaps up from drawer to drawer, having slight difficulty getting over the wooden protruding rim of the desk before finally finding herself standing atop it. Nothing there.

Well, that's not entirely true. There are many things there, in fact. Pencils, paper, a few glass bottles of colored liquids, cardboard packages containing simple, disposable tools, but the naked mouse only cared about one thing, the one thing she couldn't find. At first she fears that it is another rat situation... that it has been taken away somewhere, but she detects no signs of the energy anywhere else. It is supposed to be right here... right at her feet. She looks down at the precise position it is meant to be in, and still sees the light clearly, just no key. That's when she realizes. From the floor, it very much looked as though the key was to be found atop the desk. It was certainly rather high up, but she misjudged it slightly. In reality? It is slightly lower. The other two watch nervously as she scurries back over the rim of the desk, climbing down to the top drawer, but rather than using it as a foothold, she grips the small opening with both fingers and toes, yanking it outwards with all of her strength. The drawer doesn't want to move at first, and once it does, it doesn't want to stop. It nearly takes Kay with it as it's pulled entirely from the desk, bounces from the plush office chair and shatters on the floor in a pile of splintered wood, papers, office trinkets, and a single radiant pink metal key.

Both Mia and Frederich had dove away from the falling debris, but now their eyes are locked on the final treasure. It is Kay, of course, who finally claims it, leaping down from the desk with no concern for her safety, digging through the wreckage and picking it up in her furless paws. She stands silently, transfixed upon it. Her comrades are in a similar state, all watching as the final piece of their quest has been retrieved, both of them wondering what happens now, with Kay giving the matter no such mind. Finally, her eyes as no longer blinded by colors. For the first time in what feels like an eternity, she can see clearly. At least, until she can't.

She cries out, paws over her face as a new pillar of light appears, a blinding white radiance, incomparable to the others, which seems to flow from everywhere. It isn't just the unpleasant brightness, however, a piercing pain fills her skull, her whole body trembling as she falls to her knees, feeling as though her head is about to burst, and only the strength in her paws, tightly gripping about the numbed fur of her face is preventing it from doing so.

"Kay? Kay! What's wrong?" Mia calls to her, her voice sounding distant, even though she's right next to her, gripping her shoulder. She raises her staff, pointing the head of it to the skull of the nameless mouse, engulfing it in green, healing energy in a vain hope of it improving the situation.

"What's going on?" Frederich exclaims. "We've done everything we're supposed to, right? We've got all three keys and brought them together! Is this what's supposed to happen?"

"I-I don't know!" Mia replies, focusing her efforts on healing the naked mouse. This accomplishes nothing. Kay's entire body is flooded with intense pain, her senses muddled, disoriented. She's still acutely aware of the situation, however, and overflowing with frustration. Why now? She knows the issue isn't that she gathered the keys, it's the curse mark. Well, it would be flawed to imply that there's no connection. Whether due to sheer coincidence, or it resonating with the magical energies of the keys, each time the group claimed one, it's grown stronger, and even early on, the prognosis was pretty dire. Sure, it was only theory that the mark would eventually destroy her body and mind, and she never really doubted it, or even doubted it would happen soon, but again, why now?

That's when two of the three mice, Kay otherwise occupied, hear the intense banging sound. Then another. Then another. Followed by a loud, metallic crash.

"Fresh... meat..." the dark lord growls, awkwardly lurching into the large chamber. It doesn't look any healthier outside the cage, seemingly barely able to stand. Kay, unfortunately, knows better.

Damn it, she thinks to herself, barely able to open her eyes to look towards it. Why did it have to be that one? Mia raises her staff, Frederich drawing his sword, both pointing their weapons towards the ravaged dark lord.

"Y-you can't fight that thing..." Kay groans, barely getting the words out. The intense pain in her eyes makes her desperate to close them, but she can't, instead they're focused on the "Level: 154" label above the head of the beast.

"We don't have a choice. That creature is blocking the only exit, and I don't think it's going to let us pass." Fred says, both he and the sorceress guarding their collapsed leader. Frederich is about the charge forward, blade drawn, when a series of glowing orbs dart past him, shattering against the twisted beast. They burst with intense explosions, showering it in fireworks, but otherwise having no effect.

Not enough, Mia thinks to herself. The spell had grown more powerful over time, incomparably so from the days when it was just a simple ball of light, but it still had little stopping power. She furrows her brow, pointing the staff once again, launching a series or larger, more intense balls of energy, which catch the eyes of the dark lord, as they circle about it. She adds another spell she was working on, channeling a solid bolt of charged energy through the staff, it twisting through the air, splashing against the felines chest, as electricity surges through its body. It again shrugs this off, however, even as the energies spread to the orbs of energies which burst in waves of blue fire, completely engulfing the beast.

Still, it continues forward, with its twisted limp, eyes once again locked upon its prey.

Still not enough, Mia thinks to herself once again. Meanwhile, Frederich is frozen in place, having never seen such a magical display. She smiles. He hasn't seen anything yet. She's already got the basics down, now it just needs more power. A lot more power. Non-violent by nature, she can tell that there's no hope of reasoning with this twisted and unfortunate creature. She can't hold back anymore.

The young sorceress rapidly chants under her breath, staff raised over her head, the entire length of it shining blue. More orbs of energy appear over the feline, it again stopping to watch them, dazzled by the swirling colors. They do not move towards it, however, instead, they twist, distort, flattening into spinning, dark disks. They are no longer physical objects, quite the opposite. They are conduits, portals from which countless bolts of energy rain down onto the dark lord.

Mia grits her teeth, squeezing the staff tightly, whole body tensed. The energy changes from like rain to hail, each particle growing dramatically. Then they grow again. And again. What started as a drizzle of arcane energies has transformed into a full on meteor swarm, the massive, crystalline balls of solidified magical energies smashing against the body of the creature. And they don't stop. Ignoring them is no longer an option, each representing a size and weight which is no longer trivial compared to the dark lord itself. Each impact is clearly felt, pushing the massive body down towards the floor, and were it just one blow, immediate recovery would be an option, but no, it's a constant stream, crashing down onto the dark lord like an avalanche.

They smash into the ravaged body of the feline, leaving terrible craters in the once perfectly clean and smooth floor, singeing the frame of the doorway, leaving a cloud of smoke and falling debris. Frederich could only look on at the destruction in astonishment. "Wow! That was amazing!" he grins, but his grin falls away immediately. Mia is still standing on shaky legs, but her dark fur is now grayed, her eyes pink, her fingers gripping the staff thin and trembling.

"Heh... yeah..." she pants. "I didn't really expect that to work."

Frederich can only stare.

"Don't worry about me... I... I just used a little too much mana. I'll be fine. You need to take care of Kay." she grins, weakly.

He reluctantly nods, turning towards Kay, only to find her still collapsed and in obvious pain, and worse, her eyes still focused on the smouldering wreckage ahead.

"F-f-resh... m-eat..." the creature growls, stepping out from the smoke.

"No... it's impossible..." Mia squeaks, her eyes similarly locked onto it. The fact that the creature was clearly wounded by the attack gave little comfort, especially as the wounds began to rapidly close before their eyes as it steps out from the crater, it's intense, bestial eyes focused intensely upon its prey, the bandages having burnt away, revealing bald flesh and twisted dark stiching running up between its ears..

"Heh..." Frederich chuckles, shaking his head. "Sorry, I know you said that was my job, but you need to recover your strength, and take care of Kay."

"No..." Kay growls, struggling and failing to get back up onto her feet. "That-that thing isn't normal."

"Hey, you don't need to tell me that... but we're not normal either, are we?" He says, cricking his neck as he steps forward. "You know, it's funny. For a while there, I got so caught up on levels and numbers and, well, the idea of being powerful that I forgot why I wanted to in the first place. I didn't want to be the strongest to rule over others, or to feel big and impressive. The whole point of getting stronger was to become someone that others could depend on."

He smiles, looking back over his shoulder at the two mouse women. "You both have done enough. Too much, really, and, well, I don't have any delusions about being invincible or anything. I just know that I, all of us, have come way too far to be stopped here." he turns back to the lord of darkness, which continues its clumsy, lumbering gait. "Sorry for keeping you waiting, big guy, but my friends back there? They need a little rest. In the meantime, let me show you what a real, experienced adventurer is capable of."