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Lightbringer

Chapter 12

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Otto Wyndham was once again wiping down the bar of his inn, like he had done for countless days, when a loud almost explosive sound, followed by the distinct thudding of something hitting the floor above him, gave him pause. Faint specks of dust fell from between the heavy wooden beams that spanned the wide ceiling as his gaze drifted upward.

The big man frowned, the muscles of his face tightening and pulling on his many scars. What in the world was going on up there?

Early that morning, Otto's gut feeling was telling him that the stranger who had come to sit at his bar at the crack of dawn was going to be trouble, but Otto was no stranger to trouble and figured if anything happened he could handle it no problem. In fact, a small part of him wished there was a little trouble to break up the monotony of his current existence.

The few customers who wandered in for cheap food and watered-down drink were too often quiet and kept to themselves, and they definitely didn't dare to even think of attempting anything that might upset the muscled innkeeper, who towered over most people.

The stranger that morning had been no different than the rest of those customers at first, although the innkeeper was halfway curious why the man had come in at such an ungodly hour to most people. He could count on his fingers how many times he'd had a customer come in that early in the past ten years. Then the man proceeded to stay at the bar for hours thereafter, and while he did order a drink every now and again, it seemed more out of obligation for staying so long than an actual desire to drink anything.

What irked the innkeeper, however, was that the man began to talk more and more as the time passed, asking Otto all sorts of questions that the innkeeper barely answered, if he gave any answer at all. Not that the man seemed to mind, nor did he seem to remember because sometimes he'd ask the same question again. And if Otto hadn't been so desperate for the business, he might've kicked the man out for his excessively annoying chatter.

Otto was not looking for any friends, and he was not what anyone would describe to be talkative or approachable. Something that the stranger appeared to either miss or ignore, but he was a paying customer and, while overly friendly and chatty, he wasn't doing anything offensive or bad enough to warrant getting kicked out. Not when Otto needed the money for that month's expenses, so he tolerated the stranger as best he could.

However, as two hours became three, and then four and five, the muscled innkeeper began to feel increasingly suspicious and uneasy about the fellow. He was well aware that his inn was nowhere near the best place in the city to spend time in, and yet the stranger made it seem like he never wanted to leave. In fact, the man had stayed at Otto's bar longer than anyone in recent memory, and his suspicions were further aroused when the man had even asked for a room. A room!

The Rose Moon Inn had seen far better days, and there was a reason his rooms were mostly empty despite the dirt-cheap prices, and yet the man – who certainly didn't look to be hurting for coins – apparently wanted to stay the night anyway. Not only that, but when Otto clearly charged him more for the room than it should have been worth, the stranger didn't even bat an eye.

Not that Otto was happy with the inn being in a rather rundown state like this, mind you. He did what he could to keep it going, but there was only so much one man could do on his own with an inn of this size. And ever since...

He growled and shook his head, forcing himself not to think about the past. That would be of no help to him now. There was definitely some kind of trouble brewing above, and the talkative stranger with curly dark hair who had gone upstairs only moments before was surely at the heart of it. He only hoped the fool hadn't damaged anything too badly, or else Otto would be forced to break a few bones to teach the hooligan a lesson. It had been a while since he'd had to break some bones, and the thought kind of excited him.

Throwing aside the now dirty rag that he had been using to wipe down the bar, Otto sighed and was about to leave his station for the first time that day when, to his surprise, the golden-eyed man who called himself Lucifer entered the inn with long purposeful strides. His face was expressionless, like it usually was, but his eyes glowed with power and the sight of it made him hesitate.

"Hello again," said the man clad in white and gold, giving the innkeeper a brief smile that didn't quite reach his golden eyes.

And Otto was absolutely sure that they were glowing. He couldn't recall them ever being like that the few times he had seen him before, and in the relatively dim light of the main hall, it was hard to miss.

"Hey," Otto managed to say in reply, his rough voice uncertain as he watched Lucifer stride on by and head up the stairs without another word.

The man had come and go several times before, but this time his steps were noticeably more urgent. And where was the girl, Kiah? Lucifer had left the inn earlier with that girl he had brought in with him the night they arrived, and from what the innkeeper saw she seemed too attached to him for her to leave his side easily. He hoped nothing bad had happened, and found some comfort in his instincts telling him that she was fine.

Those same instincts had surprisingly been silent back when the two of them first appeared at his inn, his gut neither telling him to let them stay or to tell them off, and eventually his need for their coin once again outweighed his normally more cautious nature when he agreed to let them stay for a week. But he had taken it as a positive sign that his gut wasn't telling him they'd be trouble, so perhaps, he thought, it would be fine.

And so far it certainly appeared to be fine. The dark-haired girl looked to be in good health, if somewhat thin, but perhaps she was naturally that way. She had been a bit cold to him when he had spoken to her earlier, some might even say she was rude, but he reasoned that it was because she wasn't comfortable talking to strangers, which was perfectly understandable. Especially strangers with scarred faces and hard eyes like him.

The way she seemed to take comfort in the presence of the man with perfectly white hair at least meant that he was taking good care of her. And it relieved the innkeeper to know that nothing nefarious was going on between them, at least from what he could tell.

The girl reminded him of... her. They were about the same age...

Sighing and willing those sad thoughts away, he remembered what he was doing and resolved to get a move on before those dark thoughts came tumbling out again.

Following after Lucifer up the stairs, his heavy boots elicited creaking from each step. Checking both ends of the L-shaped hallway on the second floor, and not seeing anyone, not that he was really expecting to, he made his way up the final flight of stairs to the third and highest floor of the inn.

He needed to have words with the stranger about the commotion he had caused but a few minutes ago. Lumbering over to stand in front of the door to Room Ten, he raised his burly fist and knocked heavily on the wood, the door shaking with a thump each time his knuckles made contact.

"Open up, stranger. It's Otto, the innkeeper. I need to have words with you," he growled, his tone implying pain if he was not obliged, but there was no reply. Not even the slightest sound of movement came from the other side.

Feeling uneasy at the silence, the big man pounded against the door once again, a little harder this time. "I said open up! You hear me? What are you doing in there?"

Quiet stretched on for a few seconds before his patience ran out and he tried the door. Locked. He fumbled for the heavy cast iron ring in his pocket to which were attached more than a dozen keys. He found the one he was looking for, small and thin in his massive fingers, and stuck it into the lock with surprising dexterity, twisting it, and practically flinging the door open as his eyes searched the room beyond for the stranger in question.

It was empty, and from the thin film of dust everywhere it appeared that the stranger hadn't even stepped inside the room at all.

Frowning, the innkeeper quickly figured that the stranger must have broken into one of the other rooms, hence the noise earlier. His face darkened. He couldn't fathom for what purpose the man would do such a thing, since there was nothing of much value in the rooms. Unless...

Lucifer.

Otto thundered down the steps, an avalanche of muscled meat and dense bone, and onto the second floor where he made it to the other end of the L-shaped hallway in record time, stopping – with his heart beating quickly in his thick chest – in front of the door to Room Two. Lucifer was probably in trouble. Had he been the stranger's target all along?

Wishing he had his hammer with him, Otto made to knock, but as his thick knuckles reached for the door they never managed to touch the surface of it, stopped by some unseen force about an inch away. He gasped, a shiver running through his musclebound body as an overwhelming feeling to get away from the door washed over him. He felt like he didn't belong here, like he shouldn't be trying to get into this room.

Was this magic? It had to be, he thought. Suddenly sweating, he took a single shaky step back as he tried to wrestle with this unusual feeling that gripped him and the confusion he felt because of it. And then, before he could get a hold of himself and attempt to break down the door anyway, as swiftly as it had come the feeling disappeared like a stifling blanket that had been thrown onto him had been hastily snatched away. And he could breathe easy again.

The door swung open unexpectedly, revealing a concerned-looking Lucifer standing in the doorway. "Otto? Is... everything alright?" he asked tentatively.

Otto was breathing heavily, heart still galloping in his chest, and the big man blinked several times as he tried to still himself. "I..."

"You don't look so good," Lucifer remarked as he stepped forward, peering at him with narrowed eyes. He carefully placed a concerned hand on Otto's big shoulder.

"I'm... fine," Otto said, the usual roughness in his voice diminished. His eyes looked past Lucifer into the room beyond and saw that it was empty. "I thought you might be in trouble," he explained.

Lucifer looked up at him, for even though Lucifer was tall, Otto was taller still by a couple of inches, and said with some amusement breaking through the worry in his voice, "I appreciate your concern, Otto, but as you can see I'm alright. No trouble to be found here. I'm more worried about you."

The big man nodded, that was obvious enough. He wasn't sure what to make of the situation, but his body still felt rather jittery and his mind was swirling with too many questions. "Did you see anyone else up here?" he asked.

"I haven't seen or heard anyone at all, other than yourself of course. Is someone else supposed to be here?" Lucifer's brow furrowed and he glanced down the empty hallway.

Otto was troubled by his answer and was quiet for a spell, mind churning. Something wasn't quite right here. "I should go lie down," he finally said with a little more of his usual gruff.

Lucifer gave him a faint encouraging smile. "That might be for the best."

Otto grunted and worked his way back down the hall, eyes attentive to each door that he passed for any signs of them being broken into. But there was nothing out of the ordinary with any of them.

Where the hell did that stranger go?

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From the doorway, Lucifer watched the sturdy innkeeper's retreating form until he turned out of sight around the corner. Closing the door, he took a few seconds to replace the defensive spells he had hastily taken down when the innkeeper had tried to knock on it. Once that was finished, his attention was drawn to the empty space in the middle of the room.

With a casual flick of his hand, even if the movement was rather unnecessary, he cancelled the [Maximize Magic - Turn Invisible] and [Maximize Magic - Silence] spells that he had thrown on the bound man on the floor who appeared out of thin air. He was lying on his side, back facing the windows, and his breaths came shallowly.

[Turn Invisible] was a Second Tier spell that you could cast to temporarily turn the target invisible for a short period of time. The length of the invisibility depended on the power of the caster, so the higher the caster's level and thus magic strength, the longer the invisibility would hold. The duration ranged anywhere from ten seconds to three minutes.

This spell was useful for when someone in your party didn't have any spell or item that could turn themselves invisible, and since [Invisibility] – also a Second Tier Spell, which was far more potent – and its higher forms could only work on the caster, this was a very useful spell to have in a party. The drawback of [Turn Invisible] was that the threshold for detection was slightly lower than regular [Invisibility], and the duration wasn't as long, even though they were of the same tier.

[Silence], as the name suggested, was a spell that didn't allow any sound to be made within a specific area. Lucifer hadn't been sure how long the innkeeper might stick around when he had come by, so he had added the metamagic modifier 'Maximize' to both spells to increase their power and therefore their length of effect.

Egg, unable to speak or move anyway thanks to being bound and gagged by magical bindings, could only watch with terror as the magic caster with golden eyes smiled at him.

"Now, where were we?" said Lucifer as he paced around the small room looking thoughtful, and Egg's eyes struggled to keep him in view as he moved. "Ah yes. As I was saying, before we were interrupted, your friend Derek – I think that was his name – told me everything! About who you both are and why you're here and who sent you. He was most cooperative. Wouldn't shut up, really, though I suppose dangling thousands of feet in the air had something to do with it."

Egg's mouth went dry.

"In the end, it wasn't as much fun as I was hoping for," Lucifer lamented, "And once it was clear he had exhausted all the useful information he could give me, I did let him go. After telling him to leave town and never come back, of course. Oh, and extracting a hefty... payment for my valuable time."

Lucifer grinned at the thought of the coins he had added to his coffers from Derek, the terrified man who had practically thrown his pouch of coins at him before fleeing. It hadn't been all that much, a few silvers and coppers, but it was still something to add to his meager supply of money.

Egg continued to eye him fearfully, sweating now as if he were in a sauna. There wasn't much else he could do.

"So you see, now that he's told me everything I need to know about you and your masters," Lucifer continued, hands clasped behind his back, "I find myself in the unusual position of having captured you and not knowing quite what to do with you." He stopped moving around and was now standing behind Eggert, who could only see the man's shadow cast over him as the light of the midday sun filtered in through the window slats.

Egg squirmed against his bindings and tried to say something, but all that escaped from around the gag were muffled sounds that were unsurprisingly incomprehensible.

Lucifer was quite enjoying the dramatic tension he was building. After all those years of role-playing games, and in particular YGGDRASIL, he now felt so in-character that he wasn't even sure anymore if he was even pretending. It almost felt like this was who he really was all along.

He was Lucifer Morningstar, and the man lying on the floor of his room was an enemy. A meager pawn perhaps, but an enemy nonetheless. One who tried to infiltrate his home – small as the room was, he considered it his own, at least for now – and one who was in league with the people who treated Kiah so very badly before he came along and freed her. Some measure of punishment was surely called for, and he wasn't going to pass up the chance to impose it.

An idea formulating in his mind, one that he thought would allow him to accomplish several things at once, Lucifer grinned deviously. "So here's what I'm thinking," he spoke up again, "I'll give you exactly one minute to think about what value you can possibly offer in exchange for your pathetic life. Does that sound like a plan?"

Egg struggled against his bindings again, and just like the other guy who Lucifer had dangled thousands of feet in the air, the man started to whimper.

"I'm glad you agree," Lucifer said humorously. He stepped over the bound man and turned around to face him. He had thought about summoning another angel, there were several who were surely up to the task, but figured he'd try to summon something else this time. Something a little more... down-to-earth.

"[Summon Beast - Second Tier: Black Mamba]."

A glowing magic circle formed in the space around him and seconds later the coiled up forms of ten dark gray snakes materialized into existence on the floor around Lucifer, each one of them about fourteen feet in length. There were five to each side, and they all reared their heads up, showing that their bellies were a lighter shade of gray than the rest of their bodies.

The snakes hissed almost in unison, tongues flicking out as they trained their coal black eyes on the one who had summoned them forth.

Whoa. He had never actually seen a real live snake before. Well, not outside of a zoo at least. And now there were ten of them at his feet! They were thinner than he expected, but certainly long enough. He found it interesting that he wasn't afraid of them at all despite their close proximity and the fact that he actually knew how deadly their venom was.

Perhaps he didn't fear them because he knew they were his summoned creatures and would never think to harm him, or maybe it was simply because he knew even if they did strike at him that it would be futile on their part. They were far too weak to get past his defenses. He estimated their level to be around only three at best.

Lucifer was not going to kill the man, he decided. Not when he was unarmed and helplessly bound like this. Instead, he was going to punish him by torturing his mind, and maybe his body a bit too. Make him feel true terror and despair and regret for his misdeeds in life. Then maybe he'd let one of the snakes bite him for good measure, healing him before he died. That would probably be a good enough punishment, and hopefully teach the man a lesson he'd never forget.

"These," Lucifer waved a hand lazily at the assembled reptiles, "Are Black Mambas. Poisonous snakes. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of them, or if you even have these here, but their venom is one of the deadliest among snakes of my world. It's said that one bite can kill an adult human in as little as twenty minutes. I wonder how long it would take for ten bites to do the trick."

Egg had gone completely still, as if hoping he might turn invisible again if he did.

To be honest, Lucifer had wanted to summon something larger, like a Direwolf or a Giant Spider, but due to the limited space he was working with he figured he'd do something small enough to fit comfortably. And snakes were pretty good at scaring the shit out of someone too, so they fit the bill nicely.

"You're probably wondering, why are they called Black Mambas when their scales are actually gray?" Lucifer said, taking on the tone of a professor giving a class lecture.

Lucifer could feel the mental connection between him and the snakes brought on by the summoning, and even though there were ten of them their connections weren't overwhelming to him at all. Their consciousnesses slithered, which was rather appropriate, at the edge of his own.

"While their scales are indeed gray," Lucifer admitted, "The insides of their mouths, however, are black little maws of darkness. See for yourself."

He sent out a mental command to all the snakes to bare their fangs at the man, and they all proceeded to hiss and open their jaws to reveal the black insides of their mouths that Lucifer had described. Each one had a pair of sharp fangs, ready to inject their vicious venom into any who were unfortunate enough to get bitten.

Egg didn't seem to appreciate that display, and a dark blotch around the man's groin spread across his pants. Liquid pooled on the floor beneath his waist as the pungent odor of a grown man's piss filled the air.

Lucifer wrinkled his nose and gave the man a look of disgust, but he probably should've expected something like this to happen. He was trying to scare the man after all. On the bright side, he was just glad that Egg wasn't actually shitting himself, and he begrudgingly gave him a minor amount of credit for holding that part of him in at least. He tried to ignore the piss for now, knowing that he'd have to deal with it later before Kiah returned.

It wouldn't do to have another man's piss on the floor and stinking up the room.

Bending down, Lucifer reached out to the closest Black Mamba on his left, and the snake moved its head closer to his hand. He gently rubbed the underside of the snake's head with a finger, and it flicked its tongue appreciatively. He could sense that this one felt pleased by his affections.

Smiling at the snake in amusement, he mentally ordered the nine others to make themselves comfortable on top of the captive enemy, but with strict orders not to bite him unless he said so.

The summoned snakes obeyed immediately, slithering the short distance to where Egg was now whimpering again, and when they were on him in a writhing mass of dark gray scales and flitting forked tongues, Egg screamed into his gag until his face turned red. It took him another few seconds to stop screaming as he realized the snakes weren't going anywhere, nor were they biting him.

"I do believe your minute is up," said Lucifer as he plopped himself down on the floor in front of Egg and crossed his legs. The snake he had been petting moved to curl in his lap, turning its head to face Egg. It flicked its tongue at him and Lucifer dispelled the gag he had placed on the man.

"P-Please..." Egg blubbered immediately.

"So? Do you have anything of value for me? Or should I just kill you and be done with it? Eggs are part of a snake's diet, you know."

"N-No!" Egg shook his head, eliciting a threatening hiss from a snake that had been partially resting on it. He whimpered and remained as still as he could after that.

"No you don't have anything of value for me?" inquired Lucifer dangerously, raising his eyebrows at the man.

"No! I m-mean yes! I h-have something. I can t-tell you something that Derek didn't know about our masters! I'm sure of it!"

"I'm listening."

"W-Well..." the man was suddenly hesitant, as if only now trying to think of what he could say to appease him.

At Lucifer's order, two of the snakes lunged forward, jaws opened incredibly wide and fangs bared as they sunk deep into either side of the man's exposed neck. The man recoiled a little, bound as he still was, and cried out in pain at the sting of the bite as some of the venom was injected straight into his carotid arteries. Blood started to trickle out from the puncture wounds as the snakes detached themselves.

Egg's eyes stared at him in shock.

"Perhaps this will be enough incentive to speed things along, I haven't got all day," Lucifer explained with hard eyes. "I can heal you of the venom that's now spreading rapidly through your body, but only if what you say is of some value to me. And just so you know, you probably won't last more than a few minutes before you pass out, and if that happens, well... I strongly suggest that you start speaking very quickly very soon."

Egg didn't have to be told twice. "L-Lord Rubeon! My master... He's... He's part of this cult. A dark cult! Involving death and... and necromancy. And... And d-dark magic! He's dangerous!" Egg revealed, sounding desperate to be believed.

"Is that so?" Lucifer asked, his lips pursed into a thin line. The other guy definitely didn't say anything about that, though this seemed a bit far-fetched.

"It's true! I swear on m-my life! They... They have meetings sometimes. Some other nobles. Other people I don't recognize who... weren't nobles, I think. They always give off a... bad vibe. They would come and stay late into the night too. I... I don't really know when they meet, but it's definitely on the grounds of Lord Rubeon's estate," the man continued, feeling a surge of hope that perhaps he would be spared, thinking that surely this was something worth his life.

"You've seen this firsthand? Their meetings and rituals?"

Egg blanched. "No..." he admitted nervously, but then he perked up a little, "But sometimes... sometimes the slaves would disappear. And never return... and we thought maybe they just ran away or were sold off... but... when that happens, we usually have to chase after them. Bring them back, you know? And yet some slaves we're not told to find at all, and we carry on as if they never existed in the first place... then there was one night some months back when I saw them bring some slaves to a house at the edge of the estate. And I never saw them again!"

Lucifer was silent as he considered this new information. While he thought it highly unlikely there was some kind of cult of necromancy or something creeping around, it wasn't impossible. What he figured more likely was that those women were being sent off elsewhere and this guy simply wasn't high enough on the totem pole to know any more about it.

Still, if what he said was indeed true, it was probably a good idea to find out more about people who wielded dark magic in this new world. What their powers and limitations were. And it was also prudent to know more about shadowy cults and organizations that could be dangerous to him.

"You have to believe me! Please... I... I don't want to die... I don't want to die..." the man sobbed.

"That is... interesting information," Lucifer conceded.

Egg breathed with relief, though it was only short-lived.

"But is that all you have?" Lucifer asked.

Egg, keenly aware of how little time he had left, abruptly began to spout more information about things Lucifer already knew from the other guy, such as how many men were serving under their Lord's banner and the locations of his Lord's properties, or things he didn't know but were useless to him, such as what kinds of tea people drank at the estate and the fact that Egg had actually gotten a room here at the inn.

Okay, he had to admit that last bit wasn't quite useless since the knowledge of it meant that Lucifer could just dump the guy in his room instead of some random alleyway like he had originally planned to do after he was done with him here. But the rest of it, to Lucifer, who listened attentively all the same, was nothing else noteworthy. He said nothing when Egg's word vomit of information came to an end.

It didn't take long after that before Egg's breaths became exceedingly quick and short. He appeared to be having great difficulty breathing. His eyes were moving around in panic as he realized the venom was really taking hold. Nostrils flaring, body straining against his bindings, he tried to talk but found that he couldn't form anything more than meaningless noises. He started to cough, looking pleadingly at Lucifer. His jaw muscles started to spasm.

"When you wake, you'll find yourself in your room," Lucifer told him as the man's grip on consciousness started slipping away, "Listen carefully. I expect you to be a good Egg from now on, and to move away from the Empire. I don't care where you go as long as it's not here. If I see you again somewhere in Baharuth after today, or if I find out you're still a bad Egg somewhere, I will end you. You will not get a second chance. Oh, and I'll be taking most of the coin on you as payment for my efforts. Call it a... survival tax."

Egg's slightly puffy eyes rolled into the back of his head as he passed out shortly after Lucifer finished speaking. He began to convulse and choke as the muscles in his throat and lungs began to swell a little, spasm, and freeze up. His mouth began to foam, tongue lolling half out of his mouth. He was probably going to go into respiratory failure and then cardiac arrest in another few minutes.

Lucifer was also pretty sure the man was about to piss himself again, or worse, and decided to intervene before that happened. It wouldn't do to have the room smelling like shit. He hoped that Egg would remember at least most of his words when he woke up. It would be annoying to actually have to kill him after going through all this trouble to let him live.

The snake on Lucifer's lap hissed in surprise as it was dropped unceremoniously to the floor when he speedily returned to his feet and cast [Heal] on the man. The effects were instantaneous as the green glow of magic washed over Egg's unconscious form and he began to breathe easier, clearly no longer in any immediate danger of dying.

Reaching down to once again pet the upraised head of the snake that had been on his lap, and receiving a hiss and what he thought was an affectionate lick from the scaly reptile, he cancelled the summon and watched them all fade away into nothingness. Taking note that regular creatures apparently disappeared as they should when he cancelled the summoning spell, Lucifer wondered why Bezaliel had stayed before.

Was it because the angel was a divine being? Or was it something else?

Shelving that mystery for later, he fished out the man's key to Room Ten from one of his pockets and then went upstairs. Once inside the dusty confines of Room Ten, he teleported back and forth to bring the unconscious man over, throwing him roughly onto the bed and kicking up a cloud of dust from his efforts. Checking the man's pockets for valuables, Lucifer kept about ninety percent of the coins he found. Finding nothing else worthwhile, he stepped back and equipped his fur-trimmed dark adamantite armor.

Lucifer glanced one last time at the passed out, dust-covered Egg, feeling no regret whatsoever about what he had put the man through, and wondering if that was a good or bad thing, before teleporting himself back to his room to clean up the mess the man had made on the floor. A few created rags, some water, and an [Item Restoration] later – he was surprised to learn it worked on the floor boards – and he had scrubbed out.

There might have been an easier way to do it, but he hadn't thought of it. After pulling up the shades and opening one of the windows just a crack to let in some fresh air, he was off with another quick teleport to that same secluded spot near the Grand Market that he had been to before. He had an adventurer plate to retrieve and a job to sign up for, but first he needed to pick up a probably worried elf at the market.

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The two women looked over their charge, after having spent several hours now dressing her in all manner of clothes like she was some life-sized doll. They had even fixed up her hair, which they thought was rather pretty, and it now fell straight like a dark waterfall onto her shoulders, where it pooled and cascaded down her back.

That had been a challenge, and a big surprise. They had to practically chase the girl down as she repeatedly refused that they touch her hair at all, despite their assurances that they were only trying to help her and that they weren't trying to do anything bad to it.

If she hadn't been so thin, Kiah might've been strong enough to escape Vela's grasp once she did manage to get a hold of the girl. And that was when they finally discovered why she had been acting that way. From all the commotion, Kiah's ears finally revealed themselves, and the elf girl quickly hid herself under one of the bigger racks of clothes, covering her ears up and seemingly folding in on herself on the floor.

She had cried and begged them not to hurt her, and the two women could only share sad looks as they spent the better part of an hour talking to the poor girl and coaxing her back out. When she finally did calm down and came out of where she had been hiding, and they proved to her that they weren't going to hurt her or treat her any different than they already had, both Vela and Lana asked her several questions that, while uncomfortable, they needed to know.

Questions such as if Lucifer was her master and if he had been abusing her or treating her poorly in any way, something that the elf vehemently denied. Apparently, he had actually saved her from such a life, and that had relieved both Vela and Lana to know.

They took things a little slower after that, and they seemed to be even more willing to spend their time and effort getting her the best outfits that suited her. And though Kiah continued to barely speak, she seemed to at least be a little more comfortable in their presence. That was significant progress considering how everything had started off, and how the elf was certainly holding a deep mistrust and fear of humans. Something that was unlikely to be shaken off so easily.

"Yes," Vela said approvingly, sweeping a critical gaze over the elf, "I think this will do nicely."

"I agree. Lord Morningstar will be quite pleased with this outfit," Lana added.

Vela grinned. "Yes, I suppose that does matter somewhat, but more importantly, what do you think, Kiah?"

Kiah looked at herself in the full-length mirror and could scarcely believe that the reflection was truly of her. She was wearing a simple white form-hugging dress that puffed out more below her waist. The dress went to a little below her knees and had long sleeves of white lace that showed some of her pale skin beneath the intricate flowery designs, giving her an almost elegant, ethereal look befitting an elf.

Over the dress was a leather corset dyed a royal blue with a pattern of thin gold stripes running vertically. A leather strap of similar blue rounded over each delicate shoulder and attached to the top corners of the corset on either side, making it look almost like a brassiere - except the corset didn't go over her breasts, covered as they were by the white dress.

And of course, on her feet, were the dark brown boots that Lucifer had given her. They were nice enough, fitting her perfectly, and she was adamant about not taking them off despite the suggestion of the two women to try on some other footwear.

"I like it," Kiah admitted, with the barest of smiles and continuing to admire herself in the mirror.

Lana placed the other outfits they had decided she would bring back with her into paper bags for easier transport. The blonde girl looked tired, their efforts that morning having taken both a physical and unexpectedly emotional toll.

Vela was about to voice her concern about whether Lucifer was returning or not, and a part of her had dark thoughts that there was a chance the noble had decided to drop the girl on them and leave her, when a knight she didn't recognize arrived clad in full adamantite plate armor the color of obsidian and trimmed with plush dark fur.

He strode in with purpose and Vela greeted him pleasantly, especially since he had come in wearing armor that cost far more gold than her entire inventory. The knight had ignored her though, much to her chagrin, and she was about to speak up again in case he had somehow simply not heard her when the knight broke his silence.

"Wow," he said in genuine admiration as he stared at Kiah, who was looking shyly at the floor, hands clasped behind her as if she wanted him to see how it looked.

Vela realized who it was almost immediately, and couldn't hide the widening of her eyes or the loosening of her jaw as she took a closer look at the armor. It was genuine adamantite, and it had to be enchanted given the dye alone was only possible through magic. It was blacker than night and seemed to reflect only the barest of light at any angle.

"Lord Morningstar," she finally addressed him properly, and Lana sucked in a sharp breath. Apparently the young girl hadn't come to the same realization until the older woman revealed it. "I am pleased to present to you, Kiah, the elf."

Lucifer's head whipped around to Vela and though she couldn't really see his face, she imagined a look of surprise had crossed his well-sculpted features. She saw the faint light of golden orbs through the eye slit of his helm, then his gaze drifted back over to the elf who had crept closer to him.

"How do I look?" asked Kiah a bit nervously.

Lucifer's reply was quick and honest. "You look wonderful. Truly."

The edges of Kiah's lips turned upward and she perked up the tiniest fraction, but for the two women who had spent the last few hours observing her form, it was easy enough to spot.

Vela and Lana shared a happy look, one that said they had done a good job. A slow smile spreading across Vela's full lips, she asked Lucifer a bit cheekily, "When should we expect you to return, Lord?"

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

A quiet chatter filled the air of the Guild Hall, populated as it was by only a scant few adventurers at this hour. A far cry from the boisterous crowd when previously Lucifer had been there. The angel reckoned it was because many of the adventurers were currently either out to lunch, since it was only a short time past noon, or were actually out on jobs. If it was the latter, he hoped there were still some jobs left for him to take on, and he briefly considered what the Guild could do to help any adventurers who couldn't find jobs.

A quick glance at the various job boards as he walked further in gave him some measure of relief as there appeared to still be plenty of postings available.

Kiah, as she had done most of the day, stuck close by him and held on to the sleeve of his robe where she could find it between his armor. Her wide eyes roamed freely, taking in the sight of the spacious interior of the main hall. She said nothing as they walked further in, but Lucifer could tell she had some questions.

"Kiah, if you wish to know something, just ask," he said, "I might not know the answer myself, but I can find out for you."

The elf merely nodded and continued to stay silent, glancing nervously at the armed strangers who were still around, few as they were.

He couldn't believe how much better she looked in proper attire, and couldn't wait to see what her other outfits – currently stored in his handy dandy dimensional inventory – looked like. He also noted that she seemed fractionally happier after leaving the store. Meanwhile, he had been pleasantly surprised that the two women merchants knew that she was an elf, and had treated her well in spite of that knowledge.

Like any society, there were those who were the worst of people when interacting with other races, like Kiah's former masters, and there were those who treated them no different than any other, like Vela and Lana. He was definitely pleased with that and, since they rose to the challenge, promised to come back to give them more business.

Lucifer approached the nearest available receptionist, noting that even their number was reduced compared to before, and thought that perhaps his theory of lunch time was even more probable now. He greeted the brunette woman with a flash of pearly white teeth, and received a smile in return, as well as an appraising look as the woman seemed to be admiring his armor.

"Good afternoon, sir, miss," the woman dipped her head, managing to beat Lucifer by a half-second.

"Good day," he said in return, "I'm here to pick up my adventurer plate. I was told it should be ready by now."

"Oh, fantastic! May I please know your names, sir?"

"I am Lucifer Morningstar," he introduced himself, then gestured to Kiah who was standing behind his left shoulder, "And this is my... assistant, Kiah." He realized he didn't really know how to introduce her to anyone and hoped that assistant would suffice.

The elf didn't seem to mind, keeping silent, and the receptionist gave her only a cursory glance when it appeared she was not an adventurer like himself.

"Well, sir, if you would please wait a moment I'll go and check on the status of your registration." With a slight bow, she turned and exited through a door behind her into what was likely some back offices where all the administrative paperwork and whatnot was handled.

Looking towards the nearest job board and feeling a sense of déjà vu, Lucifer motioned with his head towards it to Kiah, hoping to actually take a look at some of the jobs this time now that there weren't any big parties of adventurers in front of it that could distract him.

Thinking of River and her team reminded him that he still needed to check in with them before they left on their next job. He wondered what they were up to later.

Some of the postings looked fairly old, and a few were even covered by several newer requests. Lucifer noted that the board he was looking at contained jobs for Silver and Gold ranked adventurers, and judging from the descriptions of them, he was not looking forward to what the Copper ranked jobs were going to be like.

These jobs at least dealt with wraiths, an army of ghouls, packs of barghests, and trolls, among other things. There were more than a few escort or guard type jobs available as well in supposedly dangerous areas. A few harvesting and retrieval jobs. Pretty standard stuff for any veteran gamer. Nothing too exciting stuck out to him though, but he was certain the Copper plate jobs were far more boring than this so he wasn't about to complain. Not yet at least.

Oh well. Hadn't he said to Ria that he understood that everyone had to pay their dues? Hopefully he didn't have to pay his for long though. Maybe a couple of Copper jobs at most before he got promoted to bigger and better things. He wasn't sure if he could take such boring jobs for too long.

"Do you know anything about these monsters?" Lucifer asked the elf.

"Um... no," she replied hesitantly, apparently surprised she had been asked anything at all.

It was worth a try, he thought. Perhaps where Kiah was from there weren't any monsters to worry about.

"The only monsters I know... are humans." Her voice was really quiet when she said it, but Lucifer heard it well enough, and it made him stiffen up a bit.

Oh. He supposed that was to be expected, but he didn't know what to say to that and was attempting to formulate some kind of response when the receptionist saved him by calling out his name rather loudly.

"Lord Morningstar, sir?" There was an eagerness to her voice that wasn't there before, and a lot more respect in her tone. Not that she was disrespectful before. His file probably listed him as a noble lord, something Ria had probably included in her report, and the receptionist was treating him as such.

Giving Kiah a sidelong glance as he made his way over with her in tow, Lucifer sighed inwardly as he returned to the counter. The elf's distrust and fear of humans was certainly warranted. Hopefully, with time and effort, he could at least get her to see that there were humans beyond himself that were capable of being kind to elves. Proper humans like Vela and Lana.

"Is my plate ready, miss? I'd very much like to sign up for a job right away," he said, letting a tinge of impatience through in an effort to get her to be more expedient.

"Your plate is ready now, Lord," confirmed the receptionist, placing the Copper plate with a steel chain onto the counter. "All your paperwork seems to be in order as well. Let me be the first to officially welcome you to the Adventurer's Guild." She glanced briefly at Kiah. "If I may ask, do you have any additional adventurers to party up with?"

"Not at the moment." Lucifer had already grabbed the plate at that point and was attempting to put it around his neck. Struggling a bit, Kiah let go of his sleeve and moved to help him, clasping it around his neck easily enough, and he thanked the elf for the assistance.

"I understand, Lord. Please remember that a minimum of two adventurers per party is required in order to sign up for any jobs. And we do verify this when you are signing up for one. There are, unfortunately, no-"

"No exceptions. Yes, I know." Lucifer sighed. Rules schmooles. His gaze swept the hall, eyeing the other adventurers present. "While I'm making some friends, would you kindly find the most difficult jobs available to Copper plates for me to choose from?"

"Certainly, Lord," the receptionist said easily enough, bowing her head respectfully.

"I appreciate it," he said before leaving to walk closer to a few groups. He noted that they were all higher ranked than he, with their different plates, and were unlikely to want to partner up as a result. Grumbling, he wandered around the hall looking for anyone who was a Copper plate.

He approached a trio of Iron ranked adventurers, hoping that since they were close in rank to Copper that they might be inclined to party up, but they turned him down almost immediately.

"You've got nice gear, greenhorn, I'll give you that," said one of them, a warrior too, "But we've already got a full party and a job. We're just waiting for our fourth to get here. Sorry."

One of them argued that maybe adding one more wouldn't be a bad idea, but the other two were adamant that four was more than enough. Especially for the job they had already signed up for. Besides, the pay would be even less per person if they added one more, which made that third member suddenly less inclined to bring him on.

At least they were sort of nice about it. He couldn't blame their reasoning either. He'd probably do the same if he were in their shoes.

He thought about maybe trying to join River and her crew with their next job, but also realized that her party was even bigger than the four Iron plates and he would probably not be welcomed by a few of the members anyway, even if River herself agreed. He didn't want to cause any more tension than he already witnessed in their already established group.

Plopping down on a wooden bench in the middle of the hall, he crossed his arms and tried to think. Not that there was anything to really think about - he needed at least one other adventurer to party up with him in order to get a job, and right now there weren't any available. There was no getting around that. All he could really do was wait, or try his luck and walk around the city asking around. Maybe he'd bump into someone that way, as inefficient a method as that was.

He could, if he really wanted to bend the rules, try and get someone to say they were with him so that he could get a job, and then he'd go ahead and complete the job by himself and just give the person a cut without actually dragging them along for it. That could definitely work. He imagined it wouldn't be too hard to find someone to agree to such an arrangement. But he also wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep that a secret for long, and the Guild would likely frown on such a practice.

Still, it was an option that he'd keep in his back pocket for now.

The Iron ranked adventurers he had talked to linked up with their fourth and were on their way out when another one of their number, their cleric from the looks of her, came up to him, causing Kiah to stiffen up next to him.

"Hey there," she said in a friendly tone, "You're new aren't you? If you're looking for people to party up with, I suggest checking out The Lion's Tale. Most of the newcomers stay at that inn. And that's Tale as in a story, not tail like the one found on an animal. It's not too far from here." She proceeded to give them some pretty clear directions to get there.

Lucifer smiled beneath his helmet. "Thank you."

The girl smiled and wished him good luck before following after her departing teammates.

"Well. I really want to sign up for a job before we head home," Lucifer said to Kiah, who looked into his eyes briefly before staring back down at her lap. "How about we check out this Lion's Tale place and see if we can find anyone to get a job with? It's supposedly not that far. Then we can go home."

She gave him a strange look, then said, "Okay."

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

Head Priests were incredibly busy, what with running an entire city's worth of Temples, dealing with the often incessant nobility in their jurisdictions, and occasionally reporting to and coordinating with the High Priests and the Archon back at the capital. Their days were often full and it was quite difficult to find time for them to sit down with you on short notice. Even more so for the Head of the Inquisitorial Division, but somehow Father Carlos had pulled it off.

Julius had gone to his superior at the Temple of Water in the south quadrant of Oldaven with news of the appearance of an angel with black wings once he was able to gather more information from the injured boys, and Father Carlos had listened to him with rapt attention and an increasingly troubled expression. When he asked Julius if he really believed them, the young priest had confidently said yes.

Then Father Carlos had said that they needed to bring this up with Father Antonias, Head Priest of Oldaven, and Julius suddenly felt less sure. And he hadn't expected to be asked to come along either, thinking his task done after reporting it to someone higher up the chain.

Yet here he was in the Grand Temple at the heart of the city, waiting along with his direct superior for the arrival of the Head Priest. Father Antonias's assistant, Sister Marta, informed them that he would only have ten minutes before he had to go on to whatever else he had scheduled for the day. Father Carlos had said that was more than enough time, and Julius wondered why this was so important to bring up immediately with the highest ranking member of the Temple in the city.

Julius was only ordained a little less than a year ago, after spending time honing his ability to harness the various powers of divine magic and studying the many scriptures of the Temple. It was his calling, and he was happy to serve the will of the Gods, bringing faith and hope to the people while helping to ease their suffering through his skills as a healer.

One day, he hoped to be given the chance to take charge of his own Temple and give even more of himself to the community than he already was. However, he had yet to really understand the ins and outs of the Temple as an organization, and he hoped to glean some insight from the situation he now found himself in.

Both he and Father Carlos, dressed in their blue vestments, were patiently waiting on a bench in the hallway just outside Father Antonias's offices, when the older priest turned to him with wrinkled hands clasped on his lap. It reminded Julius of how a good schoolboy might look while he was waiting to go into the headmaster's office.

"How have you been, Julius?" His voice was warm and steady, and made Julius feel at ease simply by hearing it. "I realize we've all been so busy that we've scarcely had much time to chat lately."

"I'm well, Father Carlos," Julius replied, "Tired of course, but not enough to complain. There's much to do at our Temple."

The older priest nodded slowly. "Ministering to the people is no easy task. Know that being tired means you are working hard, and working hard for the people means serving the Four Gods well."

"Father Charlie is definitely putting me through my paces."

Father Carlos's laugh echoed down the hall. "Is he now?"

"Sometimes I feel like nothing I do is good enough for him," admitted Julius, pouting a little.

This time the older priest merely chuckled. "He is quite... passionate about our work. Don't take it personally."

That was one way to describe it. Julius sometimes thought that Father Charlie might even have it out for him, considering how hard he had him work and how he often was yelling at him for not doing something quite right or quickly enough. Or for forgetting something.

But he supposed that as the youngest and newest member of their Temple, he was only being trained and worked so hard because the older priest wanted to be sure he knew what was expected of him there. Thinking about it that way made him feel a little better about it.

"What about you, Father Carlos? How are you?" Julius turned the question back on the older priest

"Well," the priest was suddenly pensive, "It has been a challenging year..." was all he managed to say before Sister Marta came out to collect them.

"Father Antonias will see you now," she said as she held the door open for them.

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

They didn't make it to The Lion's Tale. Not all the way at least.

They were within sight of it when they heard angry yelling from a narrow side street nearby. Curiosity getting the better of him, having not really heard angry words being thrown around out on the street so far in his limited time in Oldaven, Lucifer decided to investigate, and Kiah tightened her grip on his sleeve as she had no choice but to follow him. A few people scurried away from the scene, not wanting to get involved, and soon the street was pretty empty of bystanders.

A group of four men, obvious ruffians from the looks of them, were towering menacingly over a petite blonde girl who was staring back at them defiantly. She didn't seem on first glance to be the least bit scared, which Lucifer thought was commendable. Most girls in her position would probably be begging for mercy and pleading for their lives.

"And what are you going to do about it, Copper plate?" remarked one of the men mockingly, and the rest of them laughed. He had a nasty looking dagger tucked under his belt.

"That looks dangerous, girl," said another, eyeing the short sword that she held tightly in her hands, knuckles white from the pressure. She was shaking a little, betraying the fear that was coursing through her despite the brave front she was putting on. "Give it here before you get yourself hurt."

"And give us whatever you've got in your pockets too," added another. This one was brandishing a heavy wooden club with metal studs hammered crudely into the tip.

"Yeah. Just hand over everything you've got, and we'll leave you alone," said the first one who spoke, "If you don't... well, that won't be the only thing we take from you today."

More laughter resounded from his friends, and their shared grins were predatory.

Lucifer rolled his eyes and sighed. These types of thugs were everywhere, it seemed. Did every world have these types of degenerates? He stepped closer to get a better look at what was going down and immediately narrowed his eyes at the girl. She looked very familiar.

"You're scum!" she spat as vehemently as she could muster. "And I'm not giving you anything."

"You hear that boys?" the first man looked around with a smirk and a dangerous glint in his eye. "Apparently we're scum."

"Scum of the earth," corrected the girl, and Lucifer couldn't help but smile at her spunk.

"Scum of the earth!" they repeated in unison. The men were laughing again, not taking her seriously at all.

Then the fourth man, who had remained pretty quiet throughout all this, said, "You ever kill anyone little girl?" His voice was as shifty as he looked. Daggers appeared in both hands then, the steel edges flashing in the sunlight.

Lucifer was surprised that they would be so brazen as to attempt whatever it was they were trying to do in broad daylight. Weren't there supposed to be guards patrolling the streets? And surely someone would've tried to find help. Right?

Kiah sidled closer to him, and he was reminded of her presence. This wasn't going to end well if he didn't intervene now. He took a step forward.

Before he could do anything, however, the men had apparently decided to stop playing around and tried to grab her without another word. The blonde girl, however, was faster and a bit more skilled than they expected. Reacting quickly, her sword swung through the air and slashed at two of them, bloody gashes opening where the blade met flesh, before the studded club slammed into her sword arm with a sickening crack and her weapon fell uselessly to the ground along with her. She screamed in anguish.

"Fuck! The bitch cut me!" roared one of the men, clearly in pain.

"You're going to wish you were dead after I'm through with you, girl," snarled the other with rising fury.

The one with the studded club and the one with the nasty dagger, who were unharmed, stood menacingly over the girl who had fallen to her side and was clutching her right arm, which was bent at an obscene angle.

She was whining with pain as she writhed on the ground clutching her arm.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" said the one with the nasty dagger as he kicked her in the head, opening up a new wound that bled easily on her face.

Lucifer told Kiah to stay back, and she reluctantly let go of him. He then walked towards the group and started to clap. Slow and steady. Mockingly.

That got their attention. The men turned towards the noise, and the sneers on their faces softened when they saw that the man who was clapping was clad in full adamantite plate and had swords strapped to his waist. Then their eyes beheld the Copper plate resting on his chest, and their sneers returned a fraction. They moved stiffly, suddenly aware that they were no longer in as much of an advantage as they were with the girl. But still, they glanced at each other, and felt strength in their numbers.

"Bravo," he said. "The four of you took down a girl in martial combat. Proud of yourselves?"

"Who the fuck are you?" asked one of the guys. This one picked up the girl's sword as he kept an eye on the advancing stranger. He had a shallow cut across his chest, his shirt torn and partially stained with blood.

"Well aren't you just a bunch of walking cliché's," Lucifer said casually as he finished with one last clap that echoed across the empty street.

"Get lost, stranger," growled the man with the cruel dagger, his dark eyes watching him warily, "This isn't your business."

His friends were fanning out across the street in case they got into a fight. Flanking him was definitely their best option, as well as hoping that their weapons struck him in the parts that his adamantite armor didn't cover. Because their weapons were definitely not going to even leave a single mark on it.

"This isn't my business?" Lucifer repeated, as if to clarify what he had heard.

"You heard him. Turn around and walk away," said the man dual-wielding daggers. He was bleeding onto the street from the cut the girl had made on his forearm.

Lucifer looked down at the girl, who the men had forgotten in favor of focusing on the newcomer. She was quivering, likely from pain and fear, and her face was a mess of tears and blood. Her arm looked quite bad, but she was in no immediate danger of dying so that was good.

"Unfortunately for you gentlemen," Lucifer said politely, but the edge in his voice was sharp enough to cut through their violent minds, "It is my business when you attack a member of my party."

The girl, even through her intense pain, stared wide-eyed at him from where she was lying on the ground.

The men were silent, and at least one of them looked like he wanted to back off and run away, but when his friends stayed so did he. They at least appeared to have strong camaraderie, which was commendable among such lowlifes. Usually, their type was more 'everyone for themselves.'

"She attacked us first," explained the man with the cruel dagger, playing with it nervously in his dominant hand. Lucifer decided he would be first.

"Pointing fingers now, are we? What are you, children?" asked Lucifer with annoyance. Then he shook his head. "It doesn't matter who started it. I'm here now to finish it. Unless you'd rather cut your losses and run. I'll let you get off with a warning not to do this shit again."

"Fuck you!" growled the one with the studded club, but he made no move to attack.

Lucifer shrugged. "Not the choice I would've gone with, but..." He lurched forward in a blur and then, to everyone watching, seemingly disappeared into thin air.

"What the-"

Lucifer's right hand was holding in a vice grip the wrist of the man with the nasty dagger, whose face went from shock to sudden fear as his scarred face went very pale. The dagger in his right hand slipped out from his weakened fingers, his hand slowly losing circulation, and therefore feeling, as the weapon clattered noisily to the stones beneath their feet.

The man with the studded club turned in surprise and then roared angrily with a wild swing at him. Lucifer dodged without much effort by ducking underneath it, but not before kicking the right knee of the man he was holding, and the thug's leg snapped sideways with a sickening crack. His scream of agony as he collapsed unnerved the other two, who stood still as the man with the club swung the weapon back around for another try.

Lucifer grabbed the shoulder of the man whose wrist he was still holding tightly and lifted him up enough that when Lucifer ducked underneath his arm, it was straight and fully extended as the club moved through the air, slamming into it with a sickening combination of cracking and crunching that caused everyone to flinch. The man who now had a very broken arm screamed in agony and then promptly went silent as he passed out from the pain.

The studded club was hastily brought back by its wielder and swung again as Lucifer threw the now unconscious man he was holding to the ground. This time the studded club harmlessly smacked against his adamantite helmet with a loud clang and the crude weapon bounced off instantly, throwing the man's balance off.

Lucifer didn't even really feel the blow despite where it hit him as he lunged forward, grabbed the front of the man's shirt, and then lifted him up as if he weighed nothing.

"Pathetic," Lucifer said with disdain straight to the man's face, who was still holding the club high above his head and then brought it down with a defiant cry, but the result was no different as the weapon simply clanged off Lucifer's helmet without causing any damage. There would be no follow up this time, however.

The club flew out of the thug's hands while Lucifer spun and slammed him into the ground with such force that he actually spat out blood. The wind knocked out of him, and with likely some broken ribs, the thug wheezed weakly as he bled from the mouth, and Lucifer proceeded to break his right arm as easily as snapping a twig.

An arm for an arm, he reasoned. Plus a little extra.

At this point, the one who had picked up the girl's sword immediately dropped it and ran away as fast as he could while the one with the daggers stood frozen to the spot, hands trembling so much it was impressive he was even holding on to them still.

"Drop it," Lucifer said menacingly, and the man complied without qualms before running away too. Thinking humorously for a moment that this was usually the part where such thugs said 'it's not over!' or 'you'll pay for this!', but not hearing anything of the sort, he set his attention to the injured blonde girl.

She had at this point passed out from the pain, and he knelt down and carefully took her into his arms. He was sure there were people watching, even if he couldn't quite see them, and he didn't want to heal her out in the open and thus reveal his secret. It wasn't ideal, for her at least, but he was going to have to get her somewhere more secluded before he could deal with her injuries.

Moving towards Kiah, who had crept closer once the fighting was over and was now standing with wide eyes taking in the scene, Lucifer told her to follow him and started walking. There were probably easier and less violent ways to gain party members, but he wasn't about to complain now that he had one.

"Welcome to the party, Julia," he said with amusement as he glanced at the blonde girl in his arms. Hopefully the girl's sister wouldn't mind joining either, wherever she was.

=x=x=x=x=X=x=x=x=x=

The office was large but was only modestly furnished. Several glass cabinets held various trinkets and objects of precious metal that Julius didn't quite recognize. The far wall had four massive stained glass windows depicting the Four Great Gods in all their splendor. Each window had the base colors of each God, but of pretty much every hue of that color. The light that shone through mingled and the room was awash in brilliant color. It was a sight to see, and also, in Julius's opinion, quite distracting.

How did the Head Priest get any work done in here?

Father Antonias sat behind a heavy desk, various parchments and ledgers strewn across the surface of it. The holy lightshow danced atop his cleanly shaved head. His mouth was twisted into a deep frown, his face lined like a crumpled up piece of parchment, as he read from some kind of missive in his hand. Heavy dark brows hung like thunderclouds over iron-clad steel gray eyes. There was an intensity there that made Julius gulp. The other hand rubbed at the neat silver goatee around his frown.

Both Julius and Father Carlos were ushered in and promptly seated by Sister Marta, who introduced them aloud before departing. Now they waited to be acknowledged.

Such was the quiet in the room that Julius could hear the breathing of the two other occupants, and he wondered if his breathing was just as loud. The thought of it made him keenly aware of his own breathing and he tried to control it, with only a little success.

The Head Priest finally stirred, the rustle of parchment announcing that he was, at least, moving. His intense gaze landed first on Father Carlos, and then moved on to Julius, who couldn't look away as the man seemingly stared into his very soul, as if judging the worth of his very existence.

This was Father Antonias Galvan. Head Priest of Oldaven. Fourth-Tier Divine Magic Caster. And Grand Inquisitor of the Temple of the Four Great Gods.

"What is it, Carlos? You said it was urgent." His voice was deep like the rumbling of a mountain.

Julius felt a pressure seemingly release off him as the steely gaze swept back to Father Carlos, and he was surprised at the apparent friendliness, if that was even what it could be called, of the two older priests.

"It's been some time, Anton."

"You certainly look a little older than last I remember."

"You're even worse, my friend." Father Carlos smiled warmly.

Father Antonias let out an amused grunt. "These things tend to happen when you're in a position such as mine."

The other priest simply nodded sadly in understanding.

"So? What have you come to tell me that was so urgent you couldn't simply write me a report like everybody else?" It was said only partially in jest.

Father Carlos was unperturbed as he turned to Julius, who suddenly felt very small. "Father Julius here has discovered something that might be of great interest to you."

Julius swallowed hard, then after a moment to collect his disparate thoughts and summon some courage, he shared what he learned from the boys in the Healing Ward.

"Hallucinations," said Antonias dismissively, like it was obvious and they should've known it from the start. "Visions. Or a joke."

Julius wanted to say that it wasn't any of those things, that he believed it to be a real event that occurred, but words failed him. Thankfully, Father Carlos was there.

"I thought so too at first, Anton. But I spoke to these boys myself, and impressed upon them that it was imperative they tell the truth," replied the older priest. "Their story did not change. I looked into their eyes and saw they spoke the truth. If you were to meet with them yourself, you would conclude the same. Of this I am certain."

Father Antonias placed his elbows on the desk before him, his hands clasped together, fingers interlocking, while he leaned forward. The full weight of his gaze settling on Father Carlos, who did not yield an inch. Julius was beyond impressed, seeing the older priest in a new light.

"Hmm. Theocracy?"

Carlos shrugged noncommittally. "Perhaps."

Another long silence that had Julius feeling very uncomfortable, like he didn't belong there. It seemed as if he were being privy to things that were beyond his right or responsibility to know.

"Very well," Antonias lowered his hands until his forearms were resting on the desk. His voice was commanding. "Father Carlos Torren, you will be personally responsible for this formal investigation. An Inquisitorial Squad will be at your disposal. Try and be discreet."

"Understood. I'll do my best, old friend."

"Oh, and take the young one along. He seems useful."

Julius blinked. His eyes moving back and forth between the two older priests. Were they talking about him?

"I was planning on it," said Carlos, sounding amused.

Antonias grunted dismissively as he picked up another parchment full of writing, no longer interested in the two other priests in his office.

"Inquisitor." Father Carlos bowed respectfully, Julius copying him, and they made for the door.

Julius's mind was reeling all the while. What had he gotten himself into?

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AN: AS OF YESTERDAY (March 28th) IT'S BEEN ONE YEAR SINCE THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED! Crazy how time flies. I guess I'll go hibernate again now for another year... hehehe

As always, I appreciate each and every one of your reviews, favorites, and follows, and very humbled by your continued support. :D I'm honestly not overly satisfied with this chapter... can't quite place it, but I feel like I didn't do this one properly lol hmm or maybe it's the stir-craziness affecting my mind. Barely left my house the past week due to Corona concerns...

I am not a fan of overly long Author's Notes, but there are some pertinent things I'd like to address. Do know that I will not make a habit of this. Thank you for your patience:

- As a reminder, this is an Alternative Universe (AU) fic, so please don't expect me to follow established canon to the letter for everything. Some things are (or should be) exactly as canon, but some are deliberately not canon at all.

- FYI I've partially rewritten and edited chapters 1-8 to make corrections, clarify things, and to improve quality (I think earlier chapters were all rather poor compared to recent ones), with approximately 9k words now added to the story across those chapters. It should read better now as a whole!

- Just a little more explanation on currency values: I decided on $10 for 1 copper because according to canon, 1 copper = ~1000 yen = ~$9, so I rounded it up to $10 to make it easier. As for the YG:NW exchange rate, I realize it's 1:2 (I vaguely thought it was 1:2.5 so I rounded up to 3 before), but thankfully we haven't used any YG gold so far so there's nothing to worry about. I'll be sure to keep that in mind moving forward, thanks Silver566 for pointing this out!

- Religions and angels: Jubil makes a valid point. I was aware of the whole angels thing, as an overlord nerd-lite myself, but I personally thought that since angels are divine beings and the gods are supposed to be the highest form of divine, that they all should consider them servants of the gods. Especially since the angels don't even exist naturally and have to be summoned from another realm (heaven) where the gods live. But upon thinking on it further due to his review, especially in the context of each of the gods being affiliated with different elements and not the "divine" element per se, then I suppose what he and canon says makes more sense. I've edited that part to reflect this change, and there are some things slated in future chapters that I've had to tweak because of it. Thank you!

- I haven't decided yet whether I want to include Ainz and co. It's definitely possible to weave them in, but I'll have a better idea once we get to that point. There's a lot of story to tell and time to pass between now and when they should arrive so I definitely don't have to think about that yet.

- As for Lucifer's bio/stat sheet: I'm keeping it a secret for now because there's some stuff later that might be spoiled from revealing it. Though I may be persuaded to put a partial bio up... we'll see. How badly do you really want to know his stats? haha

- Elf ears in my version of the New World aren't as long as the ones in canon. They're only slightly longer than humans and obviously sharp and more pointed (kind of like LotR elf ears, though maybe a bit more pronounced than that). Long enough that it'd be easy to tell if someone was an elf or not, but short enough that it's possible to hide them if hair is positioned well enough or was thick enough.

- Special shout out to Jonh137, DeOPOrange, pickled, therealrane, sonic, Ahmet Celepciolu, and xtribe for supporting me for a while now through their kind words and reviews :)

- I'm not so sensitive that I won't accept criticism, so feel free to do so. There's much I can improve on as a writer. As long as you can give me your reasons and not just say it sucks without explaining why lol

- Antonias (Ahn-Tohn-i-As)

That's all. Back to our regularly scheduled programming!