An awkward pause hung heavily in the dimly lit room.
"My Lady," the High Priest finally spoke. "How much do you know about the state of this world?"
"I… Well, you see," Beatrice tried to come up with some half-believable excuse as fast as possible. "The summoning has messed with my memories it seems! It's as if I am in this world for the very first time."
"What!?" Lucarad exclaimed. He then paced back and forth, mumbling to himself, "How can this be? A savior was promised. A savior has arrived. But yet the savior has no idea what needs to be done? Was I wrong—no, that is impossible! Ah, her powers! Victoria!"
Lucarad shouted and pointed at the blonde that was now dressed and remained close by Priscilla's side.
"Victoria, you never answered my question!" Lucarad accused his priestess. "How did it feel to have the savior inside you!? What was the experience like!?"
"Ah, well," Victoria stalled and looked away. It was obvious she had hoped that everyone would forget about her. "It felt really great! More than that! It was…"
"Amazing!" Priscilla added.
"Who asked you?" Lucarad glared at the petite blue-haired twin-tail girl.
Lucarad pulled a misshapen skull out of his robes and walked toward Victoria. He put it up close to her face and stood motionless for several seconds.
"Still there," he said somberly. He quickly put the skull away and said loudly, "We must hurry to the king at once!"
Lucarad walked up to Beatrice, bowed slightly, and said, "My Lady, please follow me! I will explain further on the way there."
"Alright," Beatrice agreed. It's not like I have that many options. And I need to find out what exactly is the deal with this place.
"Ember!" Lucarad called. A young woman with short red hair rushed to the High Priest. She was dressed in the same blue robes that everyone else, but Beatrice remembered her cute, freckle-covered face and the mouth that she used to service the priests' cocks not even twenty minutes ago.
"Follow us!" Lucarad commanded the girl. "Cindy, Mindy, watch over Victoria! Notify me immediately if there are any changes! The rest of you clean up and return to the Tower of Meditation!"
Then Lucarad hurried to the only door in the oval room and opened it. With a long, annoying squeak the door opened. Ember and Beatrice followed the High Priest out of the room.
"Light of the dying Phoenix," Ember whispered and a small flame formed in the palm of her hands, lighting the path forward.
The path took the trio through the dark and narrow stone corridors. The ceiling was so low that the high priest had to slouch all the way to a winding staircase up. The air was noticeably fresher here and Beatrice took a deep breath.
"Yes," Lucarad said as they ascended the stairs. "The Chamber of Sacrifice has ventilation shafts built that bring fresh air from the outside. But in these tunnels, many of those shafts have collapsed. We are deep under the Royal Palace.
We had to perform the ritual in secret because there are many who are fine with the way things are now. Others simply refused to believe and—well, it doesn't matter now. We will stand before the king and will present the Savior of this world."
"You keep calling me "the Savior", but what do you expect me to do?" Beatrice asked.
"The demons from Beyond are terrifyingly strong in their own right," Lucarad said. "But what is truly deadly about them is that many posses the ability to corrupt even the strongest and most resilient of our warriors! They are able to unleash, what I call 'the Taint'. It robs our warriors of their strength, their will to fight, their will to resist."
The trio ascended to the next level of the dark tunnels and proceeded forward. The corridors, twisting and turning, steadily lead them upward while Lucarad continued his explanation.
"The scrolls have foretold that a mighty hero will come to this world. That hero would possess the power to resist even the most terrifying powers of the demons from Beyond. The Savior's fluids could combat the effects of the Demon fluids. Though the scrolls were not clear on how much fluids would be needed and how long before the effects would take place. "
"They also were not clear on exactly which of the Savior's fluids would possess the cure," Ember added.
"True, the scrolls were not clear on a lot of things," Lucarad nodded. "That is one of the reasons Ember will be staying with you, My Lady."
"It is a great honor," Ember said.
"As well as being an exceptionally skilled bodyguard she is also skilled in many other areas," Lucarad said. "It is her duty to always be by your side to satisfy your every need. I would also humbly ask you to consider experimenting on her!"
"What?" Beatrice asked, shocked at the proposition.
Ember looked back and explained, "If you used me to test the limits of your abilities, perhaps you could discover some hidden powers within you. We may need to explore… More unconventional techniques."
"I-I see," Beatrice said, trying to keep track of all the strange directions her knowledge of this world expanded to.