Fractured God

Tens of hours passed and nothing of note was found. The only thing of concern found was the gate to hell Tibaut pointed out to Elizabeth but she felt confident forwarding that information to other parties and letting them deal with it. Based on what he said, it was essentially broken, so even they might not have any interest in this place.

Everyone in the dungeon was preparing to leave and the extra time they spent there had allowed Elizabeth to heal up more. (She crafted some horseshit explanation to the others that she could heal herself but at an inefficient rate to be viable in combat.)

“Huh, are we just gonna leave this place?” Tibaut asked as he walked with Elizabeth.

The pair were walking up a stairway.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, how are we going to carry our prisoners? There were a few cultists left alive after we attacked. There's like ten of them I think?”

“Oh, them. We'll carry the one most useful, then kill the rest. Thanks to our last encounter, we managed to remove the poison they placed in their mouths so we won't have to worry about him dying before we want him to.”

“...(It's a good thing I told them Agnes was a woman they enslaved.)”

“Are you against it?” She asked, noticing his sudden silence. “I want you to know they're all complacent. Even if they were raised to do this, evil like theirs isn't something that can be trained out of. You might think, “Oh but some of them have not even killed a man” But they support the deaths of their fellow men. If they can collect those crystals and see no problem with it then they're nothing more than dogs. And fortunately, the deaths of dogs are far more palatable than deaths of any more innocent people.”

(“I'd argue against that but I do think I'd be outgunned.”)

Tibaut didn't quite see things the same way as her but wasn't too stressed about having a few more of them dying. After all, they likely would have been killed in the initial struggle if not for their weakness. To Tibaut, he didn't see capturing someone to kill them any more cruel than killing them during battle. A person died at the end of it and that's what really mattered.

Well, even if he did say that, he was far more likely to try and get his foe imprisoned if he defeated them rather than killing them. Maybe it was his modern sensibilities?

They continued walking up and the light of the exit became visible.

It seems Elizabeth's comments had seemingly soured the mood. With each step, it weighed more and more on Tibaut.

(“Now that I think about it, he is still quite young. Younger than me even. Maybe I shouldn't have shot down his idea so harshly. He can handle bloodshed but he seems quite naive in a sense.”)

“Look, Tibaut, if we were close to a town with a prison of some kind then I would have brought them there but-”

“Elizabeth, it's fine. I know this is necessary. Who knows what kind of trouble they could get into if they managed to escape.”

They continued up the stairs in silence until exiting. A forest of pillars surrounded them and they were now no longer in the dungeon. The rear of the group was gathered outside, either playing around in the sun or resting in the shade of the nearby forest.

“Finally, what were you two doing?” Lily asked as they exited.

“Do you really want to know Lily? I'm sure it'll leave you feeling left behind. After all, Elizabeth is climbing the stairs of womanhood. If you want, I could train your little knight to increase his stamina, if you don't mind sharing?” Ruby said with a wink.

Elizabeth completely ignored her and continued walking, leaving Tibaut to deal with Ruby. And she pounced on the poor boy like a cheetah taking down a gazelle.

She wrapped her arm around him and brought her face close to his.

“Spill it, boy, what were you two doing down there? I know she wouldn't do something like that, but it must have been something right? Was it kissing, or were you two exploring each other's bodies? Ah, I remember being young. Or wait, was it “rubbing”?” She said like a giddy schoolgirl. The softness of her body left Tibaut dry-mouthed.

“We were just exploring, I swear!”

“You think I buy that? Come on just spill the beans, I need to know what she's like when she's swooning over you. Or maybe she left you unsatisfied?”

She asked while running her finger over his chest. Lily could only pray this experienced cheery hunter didn't take him before Vanessa.

(“So their "Lord " is likely a fallen angel.”) Elizabeth mused as she walked into the sunlight.

Elizabeth had asked Tibaut about the Lord of the cultists and although not confident he felt it likely this Lord was the owner of the dungeon. He showed her the throne room on the fifth floor and read a mural on the wall that showed to disdain for humans. After seeing the angel being surrounded by demons, she knew, in conjunction with Furor’s information the threat of this Lord was a very real one.

“If the church was involved hundreds of years ago then there's no doubt that the Lord of theirs is real. And the threat is massive. I think I recognised one of the demons that was looked to be subservient in the murals. If I recall that was the Demon Lord Beel-”

She was stopped by Furor. He walked in front of her with something over his shoulder. It was wrapped tightly in cloth. It looked about the size of a small child.

“Can't believe that pleasure boy of yours killed this bastard,” Furor said as he looked down at her.

“With how you talk, it's easy to see you're a former student of Ruby. I imagine the men of the parish will have to be wary if their women are around you. Or maybe it's the men that should worry?” She said with a completely straight face.

He scoffed and walked off.