It's been way too long since I've updated. But my old computer finally carped it after so many years and I had to take some time getting used to the new one. (I have a laptop now! ) Regardless, I was in the middle of writing this chapter when the big crash to end all crashes hit. Luckily only a handful of paragraphs were lost, enough that I could re-write from memory.

That said, please enjoy.

Numerous adventurers, all of them at least above silver rank, were gathered in the castle grounds, along with George and Gyro. Lakyus stood to address the group. "Listen up! Tonight we have eight strongholds of the notorious criminal organization Eight Fingers to raid. Our goal is to hit them all at once. This way we will at least cripple them heavily. I want everyone prepared to fight whoever is guarding each stronghold." "We'll be hitting the center of the drug trade," George noted to his old friend.

Gyro nodded. "As I recall from the report, the head of that division is a former prostitute named Hilma. She's used to using her feminine wiles to seduce men and either control them or kill them. Half the Noble Faction is wrapped around her finger. There's also the possibility of confronting Six Arms. Shouldn't be a problem for us, since they aren't Stand users. Though I wonder why Eight Fingers wouldn't consider hiring Stand users for security." "Probably because most Stand users are adventurers," George noted, "But they tend to be focused on clearing out traveling roads."

Lakyus then walked up to the duo. "Some of the other strongholds might get cleared out before you even show up, so it's likely that you'll get reinforcements. That said..." She smiled at Gyro. "I hope you stay alive out there." Gyro grinned, his grill flashing. "Not to worry. A Zeppeli doesn't go down easy." Lakyus smiled as she sashayed off. George chuckled. "Something... Going on between you two?" Gyro smirked. "You start talking about your relationship with Starlight, and I'll start talking about Lakyus." George just gave his old friend a quick jab in the shoulder.

Meanwhile, Herohero and his group entered their estate to find it burglarized. "This doesn't look good," Sebas noted, "Tuare was left here to look after the estate." Touch Me noticed a note on the ground. He picked it up and read it. "I see... Seems Eight Fingers has lost patience and wants retaliation. Well, at least this gives us an excuse to up our timetable in regards to them." Herohero nodded. "I'll contact Momonga. I believe he and his group are nearing the capital for a job, so this works out nicely."

George and Gyro arrived at Hilma's estate only to find a bizarre sight. A swarm of insects were flying away from the mansion carrying several items, and waving at them was what looked like a young girl wearing Japanese maid clothing, a dismembered arm from a man held in her hand. Or at least, they assumed she was using her hand, since the sleeves of her outfit were long enough to hide her limbs. "What in the heck is that?," came Gagaran's voice. The duo turned to see her walking up.

"Finish your own assignment then?," Gyro asked. Gagaran nodded. "Tia went to make a report. She should be joining us soon." They heard something crunching and turned back to the maid. She was holding the severed arm up to her face and eating away at it. Creepier still, she wasn't holding it up to her mouth, but just under her chin. "Some sort of man-eating monster?," Gyro asked. That got the girl's attention, as she turned to look at the trio. The signs that she wasn't human continued, as her face had an unnatural stillness to it, and both her mouth and hair didn't look natural.

"I didn't know Eight Fingers employed monsters," Gagaran said. "I don't think she works for Eight Fingers," George noted, "We were the first ones here, so that unfortunate victim must be someone who works here. Meaning we're not the only ones after Eight Fingers." "Well, yeah," the girl said, though her mouth wasn't moving, "I'm sorry, but could you just pretend you didn't see me?" Gagaran chuckled and readied her hammer. "Sorry kid. But as an adventurer, it's my job to deal with monsters, no matter who they work for."

She swung to attack, only hit something solid. It was a beetle, large and durable enough to act as a buckler shield for the girl. She giggled. "Hard Armor Bug. I'm an entomancer, you see, so I call all kinds of insects to my side. Here, watch." A flying mantis approached and latched onto the girl's other arm, configuring to become a sword. "Blade Bug!" She swung to attack, but Gagaran was ready. "Indestructible!" The Blade Bug hit a solid barrier surrounding Gagaran. The girl gave a sound that showed she was shocked. "You're a Stand user?"

"You know about Stands, huh?," Gagaran noted, "My Stand is pretty aptly named. Indestructible creates an unbreakable barrier around my body. A simple but effective power, the only drawback being I need to stay still to use it." The girl turned her attention to George and Gyro. "Maybe they'll be more killable. Hard Bullet Bugs!" Thinking quickly, George pulled out a few strands of his hair. "Hamon Hair Attack!" He threw up his protective barrier just as the barrage of bullet-like bees hit it. "Time for some return fire. Tusk Act 1!"

He aimed both his index fingers like guns and fired off several fingernails. The girl quickly moved to block with her Hard Armor Bug, though a few nails were able to tear through her dress, revealing disturbing black flesh underneath. "I'm starting to think this girl's just a hive queen," Gyro noted, "So tell me. Do you go by a name?" The girl stood up. "I'm known as Entoma, a servant of the tomb." She held up her shield again to block Gagaran's hammer attack. "That won't work. My Hard Armor Bug is as durable as your Stand."

"Not quite," Gyro said as he got between them, "Indestructible can't be affected by this. Ball Breaker!" He Stand struck the Hard Armor Bug with one of its spheres. Entoma gasped in shock as the shield instantly rotted away. Quickly she leapt back. "I'd better keep this one safe just in case." She held her forearm up to her chin, and a pale worm with a pair of lips slithered out of her chin. Gagaran's grimaced. "That's a Lip Bug, a type of worm that devours the vocal chords of a human and perfectly mimics their voice."

"I normally don't like revealing my true form," Entoma explained, her voice now much deeper with a distinct echo to it, "But that power of yours is a danger to me. The Lip Bug is the most valuable part of my disguise, since it's not easy to replace, unlike the rest of the insects disguising me." She sent a flying insect to carry the Lip Bug off, then whirled her head around as she quickly dodged a few throwing knives. The source of them soon became apparent as Tia dropped down from a nearby branch. "I see there were some complications in the mission. Everyone else is cleaning up."

"Entoma," came a deep, imposing voice. The group looked to see a humanoid man in a dark orange suit and wearing glasses descend on leathery demon wings. From his pointed ears and reptilian tail, it was clear he was not human. "It's clear these forces are too much for you," the demon said, "And we are already prepared for the next phase. Retreat for now." Entoma nodded. "As you wish, Master Demiurge." A large flying insect flew down and attached itself to her back, allowing her to fly off. "Are you gonna fight us instead?," Gagaran asked.

"I got the impression from your fight earlier," Demiurge noted, "And while I might be able to win, I certainly wouldn't get out unscathed. I merely wanted to pass on a message, to all the heroes of this city who are out tonight. A circle of hellfire will soon cover a section of the city, one that holds an item that I am looking for." "Why warn us about this?," George asked. "I'd rather not cause more suffering than is needed to fulfill my mission," Demiurge explained, "And I assure you that anyone who enters this ring will suffer a slow and painful death. Well, farewell." And with that, he flew off.

Demiurge soon landed where several of Momonga's group was positioned. "Well, I delivered my warning as instructed. Though I did have to evacuate Entoma from a sticky situation. She stuck around for too long and caught the attention of some local adventurers. Seems we're not the only ones targeting Eight Fingers." A man in a green cloak, Punitto Moe by name, smirked. "Well, it matters not. By the time our plan is finished, no one will suspect a third party. Ready, Bellriver?" Bellriver, a young man in armor, nodded.

"Then let's begin," Punitto said, "Welcome to the Masquerade!" A large, plant-like collection of vines appeared, spraying mist in all directions, which seemed to create the ring of hellfire Demiurge mentioned. Bellriver conjured his own Stand, a humanoid creature with multiple mouths all over its head. "Offspring!" The various mouths emitted smoke, from which various demonic creatures emerged. Welcome to the Masquerade was a Stand of illusions, while Offspring was a Stand of summoning. Between the two of them, they intended to cause enough confusion to cover their groups tracks.

The appearance of the ring of fire sent a silent panic through the city. Luckily, Rener was able to gather the city's adventurers and make ready to enter the illusion and deal with the demons within. Starlight headed for the armory to get her chainmail when she spotted Zanac donning his own armor. "Zanac you can't fight," Starlight pointed out. "Maybe not," Zanac admitted, "But I really don't have to. The sight of a royal prince in armor assuring the people should be enough to quell everyone's fears. Besides, I may be conniving but I'm no coward. The only member of the royal family not leaving the confines of the palace is Barbro."

Starlight realized the implication of those words. If Ramposa were to travel to the front lines, the royal guard would be obligated to go with him for his protection, meaning they would be free to attack the enemy. She smiled as she inspected the chainmail Zanac tossed her. "Looks like everyone but Barbro is doing their part. Makes me wonder about him. I think we both have our suspicions about his intentions." They hurried out to join the others involved with the defense of the city, their brother's suspicious actions still on their minds.

The battle was a little touch and go. The various demons just to keep on pouring in as the front line adventurers kept them busy, while a small detachment went to look for the civilians that were trapped and likely held prisoner. Lakyus struck through a large group of hellhounds before calling out, "Call of Justice!" Her Stand, which took the form of nine floating weapons, struck against the winged gazer demons, destroying them instantly. She looked over to Gyro, who was focusing more on his Stand instead of his Hamon. Lakyus noticed he was breathing heavily.

"This fight is wearing me down," he said, "My breath is getting more ragged, cutting off my Hamon supply." "Between that and the healers running low on mana," Lakyus said, "We're starting to run low on forces. I hope George can reach those Stand users." George and Gyro had detected the presence of at least four Stand users within the fire ring, and most likely they were the source of all the chaos. George went on ahead to track them down. "I didn't know that special power of yours could track Stand users," Gagaran noted.

Gyro smirked. "Hamon is life energy. And Stands are the power of the soul, of our fighting spirit. Meaning they are full of life energy. As it happens Stand users tend to have more life force than normal humans or even Hamon users. As such, a well-trained Hamon master like myself or George can track down a Stand user just by feeling out their life force." He was finally able to catch his breath while talking, letting his Hamon flow once more. "All these monsters... I can only assume a Stand user is behind this endless horde."

George soon reached where they presence he felt was. He already knew Momonga was busy in the central square, fighting with the demon Demiurge. Meanwhile Brain was leading Climb and the thief Lockmeier in rescuing the captive citizens. He saw a man standing on a roof, dressed in a black suit, a humanoid figure with a goat's head and dressed in similar manner behind him. The man looked at George and the goat man, clearly a Stand, made to attack. George scoffed. "Tusk Act 4!" His Stand effortlessly knocked the enemy Stand aside, knocking the man off the roof.

'That was too easy,' George thought, 'I hope I'm not falling into some sort of trap.' He then approached where he felt the other three users. "Well, well," Punitto said, "Looks like our friend, Ulbert Alain Odle, was messing around again. Yamaiko, we need to buy a bit more time." A tall female dressed in a large overcoat and hat that seemed to protect her body stepped forward. She raised one of her arms, and George saw both of them were equipped with massive gauntlets. "Sixx AM!" Parts of the gauntlet moved to reveal a large revolver chamber.

The large projectiles that were fired off looked too large for George's normal barrier. "Time to improvise," he decided, and breathed deep as he concentrated his Hamon. "Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" His fists moved at blinding speeds, knocking the projectiles out of the way. Yamaiko kept firing at a higher rate, prompting George to take further countermeasures. "Tusk Act 4!" Now with two sets of fists to work with, George started moving forward as he parted the wave of gunfire. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

The last attack managed to strike Yamaiko in the face, knocking her out. Bellriver got up. "Damn it. I'll just have to step in." "No time," Punitto said, "I just got word from Demiurge that the item we were looking for has been found. We have all we need here. Let's grab Yamaiko and Ulbert and get out of here. Welcome to the Masquerade!" The plant-like Stand grabbed their two allies before emitting more mist, allowing them to disappear. George scoffed. 'What could they have been looking for here? Just what is Momonga's group up to?'

The aftermath of the chaos was bittersweet. The horde of demons was cut off and obliterated, and most of the citizens that were captured were rescued. However, several had been taken away, all of them single men and women between the ages of twenty and thirty. Climb mentioned that Six Arms was finished, most of them killed by Sebas, save for Succulent who was captured and arrested. If there was any trace left of Eight Fingers, it was all underground and not likely to emerge anytime soon.

In the meantime, it was safe enough to unlock the next section of the Spirit Tracks, which would lead to the nearby sea. "This could prove tricky to negotiate," Starlight noted, "That region is close to the Slane Theocracy, and we have several non-humans with us." George scoffed. "If they think they can do anything to us, they're welcome to try." Gyro looked at his friend. This was a little more aggressive than normal. In the meantime, a new connection for Ticket to Ride was activated. Roberdyck was granted use of the Stand Peace Train, a more melee oriented train car. "Keep an eye out," the Ancient One said, "By now the people's gratitude is charging the Spirit and Tracks and can expand them." The group nodded, and made ready to head out.