"U-ugh," Olivia groaned as she slowly came to. She slowly opened her eyes only to have dust instantly trickle in. An irritating pain that hastened her return to reality.
After somewhat dealing with the layer of dust on her face and confirming that her arms and hands were not compromised, Olivia tried to get up. Her head felt as heavy as a mountain and her body ached all over, but nothing felt broken.
Looking at herself and her immediate surroundings, Olivia vaguely managed to appreciate how lucky she was to not have her head caved in during the mysterious earthquake. Just ahead of her she saw the large muscular body of Steve with a giant boulder where his head should have been.
The dust that thoroughly covered Olivia's body had already mostly settled down or dissipated with the help of the light winds that blew through the massive opening right in front of Olivia. The opening reached from the damaged floor all the way to the ceiling in height and all the way to the crumbling separating walls on both sides.
If memory served Olivia correctly and judging by the position of Steve's body, the opening was right where the stairway used to be that Olivia took to this floor. This meant that an entire part of this fortress had collapsed without taking the rest of the structure with it. And that part of the fortress had to have landed right on the districts that stood next to the base of Belmot's fortress.
Most that chose to live there were either Purple Capes themselves or those with close relations to them or Belmot's faction, so Olivia did not grieve for their fates. But what worried her was whether all the captives they freed managed to get out in time.
The rubble was obviously out of sight and Olivia had no interest of stepping any closer to the edge to take a look. And even as light as she was, Olivia did not want to test when whatever support remained would give out. The only surprising part to Olivia was why it did not do so already.
"Huh!?" Olivia gasped when a strange ethereal red and black aura suddenly emerged from Steve's body and flew out the opening. "What in the…"
Guided by curiosity, Olivia almost walked closer to the edge, but she stopped herself when she saw countless other auras fly by the opening.
What the actual fuck is going on in this city!? Olivia backed off until her back hit the wall she woke up next to, and she watched how the aura from Steve joined countless other auras that filled the sky above the city around the fortress and flew away somewhere out of Olivia's sight.
I'm taking Emily and getting the fuck out of here! Olivia resolved as she moved sideways, brushing against the wall in search of more stable footing and a way further into the fortress. Ever since Olivia ran across Beatrice just a few days ago, she discovered involuntary and voluntary cannibalism, the pleasure of dicks receiving and giving, demons under the city and the—No, that was just a nightmare—apparently the Queen herself is in league with the demons, Beatrice can turn humans into demonic abominations… It's just too fucking much!
Did Beatrice survive? Olivia wondered. Did Ember catch a boulder with her skull like Steve? Olivia imagined Ember looking up with that disgusting smirk on her face only to have a brick crush all her teeth. She'd flail her arms and run around like an idiot while choking on a brick and her teeth while everyone would stand there and laugh their asses off.
But pleasant fantasies aside Olivia couldn't even hazard a guess to the fate of those she left behind. Olivia took so many turns one after another that she had no idea whether Beatrice and the others were in a safe area or in the epicenter of the collapse. Despite everything that had happened, Olivia certainly did not wish death on the lewd busty weirdo. For better or worse, Beatrice also helped Olivia discover a part of herself she never could have imagined she had. But Olivia also did not regret her decision to leave.
If everyone did end up dying, then I'd be dead and buried right beside them, changing nothing. Olivia reasoned. If they all luckily avoided the collapse, then they're probably still fighting each other. Two captains, dozens of Purple Capes, that gigantic brute form the Tournament—even if Beatrice and that fire bitch somehow win, who knows when the fighting will be over and whether anyone will be in any condition for anything else. And if it goes as it usually does with Beatrice, they'll all just end up fucking each other first or after the fight.
There was not even a question in Olivia's mind that she made the right decision. After so long, she could not let the opportunity pass where all the strongest enemies were either dead or too far to keep her from her goal.
Hold on, Emily! Olivia thought of her sister as she moved past the precarious area and deeper into the remaining fortress. It quickly became apparent that she wasn't the only survivor. Neither servants nor the guards seemed to care about her in their panic. This made it all the more easy for Olivia to snatch up one decently dressed male servant that looked like he'd be allowed near the higher class and order, "Take me to all the kidnapped kids!"
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