Fractured God

“Haha, these things are just so disgusting I don't want them near me you know? Who knows the sort of-”

“(Well, I can't just say they were drawing dicks and writing curses on your face so I had them bother someone else.) Uh, they were doing something they weren't supposed to, so had them hang out with Tina. She seemed ready to spar with them but when I came back,”

Tina's face had gone red but with the pale women so close to him, she couldn't bring herself to go over and shut him up.

“She had a few bruises and was clutching onto her spear…” He just now realised how embarrassing this might sound from a muscle brain like Tina's perspective.

Elizabeth turned back to Tina.

“...Its bullshit how strong they are.” She pouted before laying her head down in Elizabeth's lap. “Hey, um, could you heal me? I can still feel some of those punches.”

What kind of humbling did they put her through to leave her like this!?

Elizabeth relieved some pain, and Tina gave a soft sigh and loosened up. She felt quite stiff when she went into Elizabeth's lap.

As the image of how she appeared outwardly became apparent to Tina, she pushed herself off Elizabeth's lap.

“Thanks.” After getting that out of the way she quickly shifted topics. “But man, when are they gonna come back?”

“...”

How could she have forgotten? She felt her stomach sink and tried getting back to her feet.

“Elizabeth?” Tina asked.

Tibaut was too preoccupied to spare his attention.

“The man in black! We have confirmed whether he's here or not!” She tried to sprint towards the entrances but Tina grabbed her nightgown and tried to stop her.

“Hold on, Liz, it isn't what you think.”

“(Right, of course, they would have confirmed something like this when I was asleep.) So did anyone die while I slept?”

She could easily see Tibaut omitting this information if they inquired about some losses in a battle against him and his men.

“Well, no, but, sigh, Tibaut could you stop trying to glare at their bodies and hand over the letter!?”

“I'm doing no such thing!” He should before reaching into his pocket. One of them decided to cut his pocket open and grab the letter for herself.

“Hey, what'd you do that for?”

She paid him no attention and walked over to the duo to hand Tina the letter. She leaned away but with Elizabeth by her side, she felt it was unbecoming of her to show any cowardice. She gritted her teeth and reached her hand out.

(“What cruel women.”) Elizabeth thought as she reached for the letter instead.

The pale woman pulled it away and wagged her finger. She once again pushed it towards Tina.

She slowly brought her hand out and gripped the letter with only two fingers.

She tried to pull on it but the winged woman's grip was not to be underestimated. The horned woman giggled slightly, watching her struggle.

“Stop fucking with me and hand it over.” She shouted nearly on the verge of tears.

With some help from Tibaut, she eventually let go, grinning all the way through.

“Just read it,” Tina said, looking as though she had just lost a loved one.

(“I suppose there is more to these things than killing.”) She thought as she received the letter. She unfolded it and read through the paper.

She scoffed and put it down after the first paragraph.

The rage slowly covered her face until she looked no different than some of the demonic murals on the floor of the dungeon. Even the horned women started backing away from the blood lust saturating the air.

“That worm!” Her voice oozed with vitriol. She sounded like a scorned lover recounting the fool she once gave affection towards. “He thinks he has the option of running away back to his allies? After what he put us through!?” Her tone was flooded with contempt. Every living thing in the room, although safe, rightfully perceived her as a threat to their very existence.

She calmed down when she noticed Lily on the floor gasping for air in a cold sweat.

“Sorry about that, but is what this piece of toilet paper saying true?”

“We searched around and why couldn't find any trace of him,” Tina responded. “Based on how it's written, he didn't even come here. That in addition to what we heard from the lackeys and the only person worth a damn in this place was that pint-sized priest.”

“I… see.” She said through strongly gritted teeth, gripping the paper tightly.

The paper, in summary, was a letter from the priest. To the man in black. They didn't know if he was the “Alpha” who the letter was addressed to (that was the name used in it). But based on context it was obviously him. This letter detailed Alpha going back to their home country, simply referred to as the “motherland” after cleaning up the priest's mess. Cleaning up? What a laugh, he ran with his tail between his legs and left the priest to deal with the fallout. Was he not anticipating this amount of push back or was he simply content with harassing those involved with Saito?

Regardless, that meant they wouldn't be getting revenge for Ezekiel for quite some time.

“I can hardly imagine how you felt hearing this, Tina,” Elizabeth said, trying to calm herself down.

“As long as I get to kill that bastard, he can keep running all he wants. My spear will cut his chest open.” She said, now holding her spear in hand. “But I'm not sure I'll be strong enough by then. So… would you finally-”

“Don't worry. You've grown strong enough for my training, Tina.”

Tina tried to hold back her smirk. “About damn time.”

With the now awakened Lily, Elizabeth decided she had gained enough information out of Tibaut and allowed the two women to check up on her.