Isher Notra

"YER GOING TO SUPPER!"

Grýla swung the enchanted ladle. From the utensil, a gooey, purple substance spilled throughout the floor. The giant giggled while she got more goo from the cauldron and made a mess in her kitchen like an unruly toddler.

As some drops of purple goo flew towards them, the Knight wrapped his hand around Stella's shoulder and jumped back a few feet to avoid the purple rain.

After a few more seconds, Grýla stopped her childish games. The girl watched in confusion as a ton of purple puddles littered the floor.

Actually, two things were on her mind. First, this smelled delicious! Second, what did she mean by they were going to su-

"Oh, I get it!"

She might have understood the pun but not the real threat of Grýla's messy tactic. The witch held the large spoon with her two hands like a baby, and her hands glowed in a faint pink aura. The instrument reacted by its symbols glowing brighter.

While Stella was distracted by whatever was Grýla doing, the Knight stood before her. "Stella, stay behind me!" He held his open palm towards her.

The girl leaned sideways, and she saw what was going on. The gooey puddles started to expand, wiggle violently, and... morph? The gelatinous lumps slowly shapeshifted into a vaguely humanoid shape, and a symbol was branded onto each lump. It looked like an X, but each leg was bent to almost form a polygonal 8 or an hourglass.

After achieving their final form, the lumps' purple color darkened, and their skin became a hardened shell. Their feet were toeless and round-shaped like they were naturally wearing shoes, and their hands and fingers were shaped into pointy claws.

They seemed naked but had nothing on their crotches to cover. Another thing they lacked was faces, replaced by a rough surface. However, the most flashy detail on them was the strange rune carved onto them, so expansive that one end resided on their chests and the other was down to their abdomen. The symbol glowed in a hot pink light, probably a gateway to their insides.

"Since my family was so useless..." The witch gloated. "How 'bout I create my own helpers?!"

An entire battalion of these gooplings (the name Stella gave them in her mind) dominated the kitchen floor with their overwhelming numbers. They slowly marched toward the duo with sluggish steps, almost like zombies.

One was dangerously close to them, ready to swing its claws, but the Knight counterattacked with a roundhouse kick on its left side. Before the goopling could get up and resume its attack, the hero exploded its head into tiny purple globules with a well-placed blaster shot.

The golem then dissolved into the gooey puddle that it originated from. One down, 999 to go. That was not an accurate number.

The horde advanced. The Knight was fighting about ten of them at once. Stella would be impressed if it wasn't for the goopling coming to get her.

The Human readied her fist for a swing. That was when the Knight's voice could be heard.

"Stella, don't-"

Whatever he was warning the girl, it was too late. Before the goopling could catch Stella with its claws, the girl countered it with a powerful punch on its rune. Even with the Deheater™ in hand, the girl winced with the searing heat from touching the golem.

How hot was this creature? In the literal way, of course.

The bright side was that the gooey construct started to dissolve with only one attack from the girl.

"Stella!" The hero immediately came to her aid. Looking at where he was before, she saw four melting gooplings. Impressive.

"That's it! Tactical retreat!" The hero put Stella in a bridal carry and dashed with his lightspeed to the beginning of the giant stairs in mere seconds. It was an unforgettable experience, including the dizziness and the urge to vomit afterward.

While Stella fought against that urge, the Knight tended to her hand, very concerned. "Is your hand okay?!"

After ten seconds of almost vomiting, the Human managed to speak again. "It burned a little, but it's fine now." Then, her attitude brightened. "Hey! I beat one of those guys with one blow! Cool, right?!"

"Indeed. Not even I was able to do that..." The hero was pensive. "Where did you hit him?"

"In that symbol they have," Stella explained. "It was a glowy spot. Isn't that where the weak spots usually are?"

He facepalmed. "Of course! How could I have forgotten such a fundamental aspect of weak spots!?" The girl expected a hint of sarcasm from him, but there was none.

Stella and the Knight watched as the army of gooplings slowly descended the rock path. They were still at the beginning.

Stella pointed out, transfixed at them. "Wow. They're super slow."

The Knight nodded and pulled out his blaster. "Perfect! Now I can make my way towards Lien!"

He turned to Stella. "Look, I beg you to stay here. I'll carve my way through these constructs and rescue your friend. Can you do that for me?"

The girl didn't like being sidelined. However, what else could she do? She knew the weakness of the gooplings, but this wouldn't help much against hundreds of these creatures.

She was brave but not stupid. Well, not THAT stupid.

The girl barely nodded, and the hero already went in a flash of light. She sighed and hoped for the best.

"Please, don't fuck this up."

The Silver Knight:

He really went over his head on this.

Wanting to meet the infamous Jólasveinarnir, the hero took the Human girl with him to not diverge from his primary duty. It seemed like a great idea at the time!

And now, he saw how foolish he was.

Here he was, charging at an army of constructs made of pego jam. A delicious yet dangerous predicament. His visor detected almost 600 golems that composed the battalion.

Thanks to his lightspeed, he would dodge and weave over most of the golems to reach his objective. However, he must dwindle their numbers to create such an opening.

He plunged into the jam battalion, using his "LIGHTSPEED BARRAGE!" to destroy tens of constructs with precise blows on their weak spot. He still chastised himself for not picking up on that sooner.

That first onslaught greatly repelled the golems' advance, ultimately buying Stella more time. However, he couldn't waste energy destroying every opponent, lest he become worn out and vulnerable against the witch.

Two constructs tried to attack him at once, but the hero jumped above them, and while they stumbled on each other, he blasted them with a single shot midair. Other good news was that only a single Saniya blast is enough to turn them into jam puddles.

With each construct defeated, the hero carved his way through the sea of living jam. Punches, kicks, the occasional Saniya shot, and long jumps with the aid of his rocket boots. After long and arduous minutes, The Silver Knight crossed the entire army! And now, it was time to rescue a scared Wolf pup!

Thank goodness he conserved enough fuel for the boots because he had enough to propel himself up to the top of the giant table quickly. After pulling off another flawless superhero landing, the guard could see the imprisoned Wolf.

The hero called out. "Lien! I'm here!"

He knew about Lien's heightened senses, so he was sure this was enough to get her attention.

"Knight! Over here!" She shouted.

Before he could prepare himself for another lightspeed dash, a massive wave of jam surrounded Lien's cage.

"KNIGHT!" Lien cried, which was quickly muffled by the thick, gooey pego jam.

The substance hardened and changed color, just like the constructs. It formed a protective dome all over the cage. The hero could see a rune carved into the dome, a circle with a horizontal and a vertical line inside it, forming a cross.

The guard had zero experience with rune magic, but he knew the meaning of a few symbols. The runes in the constructs meant 'puppet' or 'golem', and this one meant 'shield' or 'protection'.

The witch laughed from afar, taunting the hero. "Ya thought it would be that easy!? Good luck with my pego dome!"

The pego fruit was naturally filled to the brim with Saniya. Transforming into a jam only enhanced its potency. This dome wouldn't be easy to break.

However, it wouldn't be impossible. Even if the Knight had to waste all his energy on this, he must uphold his duty! For Stella! Lien! Her mother! And justice!

Pouring much of his energy into this attack, The Silver Knight dashed and bombarded the dome with his Lightspeed Barrage! Like the humanoid constructs, attacking the rune hastened the process. That is until the rune broke and disappeared, yet the dome remained in place.

That put a wrench in his plan until something crossed his mind. He ran around the dome, and he found another rune. The hero resumed the fast barrage against the symbol, and then, when it was gone, he attacked the other runes that would pop up.

He felt the jam barrier cracking and getting closer to their pulverization. When he was striking a rune on the top of the dome, he saw at the corner of his eye five projectiles coming towards him.

Five purple meteors were propelled by a pink flame.

"Watch out, 'hero'!" Of course, Grýla was taunting him at a distance.

The Knight stopped attacking the wall and dodged all projectiles by jumping off the dome. However, his relief was short-lived when the errant projectiles redirected themselves at him.

They were HOMING magic missiles! Fantastic...

The hero ran for his dear life, but the missiles were faster than him. He could jump over them, but his only means of dodging would be using the rocket boots to redirect him, and he needed to spare some fuel. The same went for his Saniya.

So, the only option left would be to quickly sidestep as a dodging tactic just before they reach him. However, it demanded colossal attention to timing.

After a few dodges, he found the perfect window to destroy one of the comets with his blaster. Little did he know that this only made the four remaining missiles faster, making his arduous task even more difficult.

Damn it! These missiles seemed very potent! If they hit him...

Wait, that was it!

Something clicked in the hero's mind. Using his special footwear, the Knight propelled himself towards the top of the hardened jam shell and the rune. Then, he waited for the projectiles to find their way to him.

"Lien, get on the ground!" The guard shouted at the Wolf, hoping that she could hear it.

Right before the four magic comets could hit him, the Knight jumped the highest he could. The missiles crashed against the rune, finally demolishing the dome into tiny pieces.

After the dust settled, the guard immediately searched for the kidnapped Wolf. He didn't need to open the cage since it was also broken due to the deliciously deadly comets.

Thankfully, Lien had followed the hero's instructions. She was lying on the ground, shaking in fear. The sound of the explosion was almost ear-shattering, so it must have been scary for the pup.

The Knight slowly approached and knelt next to her. "Hey, Lien. It's me, the Knight." He whispered.

The pup raised her head, and when she saw it was really him, she quickly clung to him. "You're here! I'm so happy!"

The guard gently tapped her shoulder. "It's alright. You've been a brave pup, haven't you?" He broke off his heroic voice, deciding to go with his natural tone.

Lien nodded. "I'm so sorry! I will never step a paw out of home, promise!" Her grip on him tightened.

Considering her track record, the guard did not believe much in her words. But that was the most trouble she ever took part in, so there could be truth in her words.

The hero returned with his signature voice. "Hold tight, Lien! Because The Silver Knight will-"

Before he could finish, the guard looked upwards. A wave of pego jam, more massive than the last, encased most of the table's surface area. They were left in total darkness until the dome was illuminated by runes that littered its walls. The bright pink light was overwhelming to his senses.

The runes were the same as the ones carved on the golems. Could that mean...

His suspicions were proven true when a ring of jam constructs were spawned from the walls, surrounding the Knight and the Wolf.

This was far from over.