As the adventurers passed by within the streets, Jack was looking from left to right. He felt like a child in a candy store. Although he already lived and knew what a city was, it was the first time visiting a medieval city.
Wherever he turned from left to right, he saw different types of people. One's with horns, tails, wings, different type of skins, even those with animal bodies.
'Woah!'
'Cat girls! Cat girls! Woahh!!!!!'
Clearly the despicable weeb was internally screaming for feline females.
'Goblin... Orcs, Ogres, Centaurs, Elves, even Demonkins... Holy f*ck, you seeing this Dan?'
'Yeah.'
'You know what this means?'
'That Elves are beautiful and sexy!'
The hyperventilating demon who was astounded by multiple races, screamed with excitement and joy.
'No, Steph. It means that there are most if not all of those fantasy monsters.'
'So?'
'It means that fantasy monsters exist, which could also mean that dragons, giants, and maybe even gods!'
'Didn't we just literally met Satan? You're surprised that we're seeing these monsters?'
'I was hoping we were just going to kill certain individuals but remember our job Steph.'
'What does our job have to-... Oh... Oh no.'
It was only then did he realize that he might, sooner or later, kill beings similar or are dragons, gods, or titans for Satan's biding.
On the corner of his eyes, Jack saw fully armoured men patrolling the city. He figured those were city guards, and they were walking in pairs of three. He spotted several adventurers with bizarre clothing, some had way to vibrant and colorful equipment. Another was multiple people in hoods and cloaks, most likely assassins or smugglers.
"So i've been wondering... "
Jack said with a calm voice, his eyes observing the surroundings. This piqued Rosan interest.
"How large is this city and how long do we still have till we get the cathedral?"
Jack's eyes was wandering from left to right, it was clear as day that this was his first time in a city. Rosan doubted that he never came to a city as a hunter but seeing Jack's reaction truly confirmed that this was his first time.
"We'll it's pretty large. The entire city is divided into several districts like layers."
'Heh like an ogre.'
"Each layers is categorized by the status if the citizens that live within it. First layer is the Commoner district or as we like to call it 'The one that actually matters'. The large amount of commoners make up more that 80 percent of the population, people around here tend to be more useful than the inner districts. The next district is not officially a district but sort of an intersection. It's called the market or traders district where everyone sets up shops, it's just outside the inner walls of the city that divides the commoner and nobility districts. The next one is as i've said, the nobility district. A lot of stuck up nobles with inferiority complex live there."
While Rosan explained the structure if the city, Jack was both listening and looking around for any important places.
"Aren't you nobles as well?" Jack asked.
"Yes but we don't make others live a living hell just cause they're better than us!" Rosan answered with a slightly angry tone.
Jack merely nods, he knew himself how petty humans themselves could be.
"Anyway, the next district is more or less a place where the city lord resides. Sometimes even royalty stay there."
"I just saw a blacksmith and tailor shop back there, i though it would be at the market district?"
Of course Jack didn't know what a tailor nor a blacksmith shop really looked like and just used his brain to guess that a sign with a hammer and an anvil was a blacksmith, the tailor was just a piece of cloth and a needle.
"Not all of them are located in the market district, there's little to no room left there for more shops. Some just start their own shops near their homes."
"Uh huh."
Off in the distance was a large building. While Jack's ears concentrated on listening on Rosan, his eyes was looking at the large building he presumably guessed as the cathedral.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Khert asked Jack who was slightly mesmerized.
"Yeah..."
It didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination, to Jack at least. Up close it was more beautiful, the pure white walls covered with statues and bizarre carvings from an unknown language, the colorful glass windows made of different colors which painted a picture of what Jack presumes as Jesus. And lastly the aura that surrounds the church making his body tremble, it was nothing short of a master piece.
As soon as thet were about to enter the gates and walls that surround the cathedral, a knight presumably from the church itself walked towards them.
"What business does a demon kin have within the cathedral?"
The knight or better yet the templar wasn't hostile to anyone however, a demon entering a church was very suspicious. Though all templars welcomed those who wish to preach the gospel of the lord, they would still prevent any form of problem towards the church.
"We wish to see Bishop Ferdinand, this demon kin here is our captive due to certain reason which has connection to the new 'monster class' threat." Khert responded to the templar.
"WHAT!? Nonsense! There hasn't been a 'Monster class' threat in decades!" The templar was quite startled. Jack didn't know what 'Monster class' meant but he knew it was Sura/Stephen.
"Evidence say otherwise. Now please, we need an audience with the bishop. This is a serious matter and as a high priest i order you to carry out my request to the bishop as soon as possible." Khert demanded at this point. Although they might have been templars, his authority within the church as a high priest was still higher than templars even if there were hundreds of priests and high priests.
"I understand, i terribly apologize for wasting your time high priest." The templar bowed, and order those behind him. The gates opened and they were escorted by the templars to the office room of the bishop within the cathedral.
Inside looked no different than an office. It had a desk with a very neatly piled stack of papers, a few chairs and tables, bookshelves, and paintings of several people.
"High priest Celth, i better be given an explanation!" His voice was deep, with a tone of anger and fear. Bishop Ferdinand was someone within his 50s-60s, he had a mole bellow his right chin, a wrinkly face, and his hair was a mixture of black and a few white lines. He wore a white robe that covered his upper torso while he sat on his chair behind the desk with an unhappy expression.
"It's just as you've heard lord Ferdinand. This individual here is mr. Jack Lucifer who has fought the 'slaughterer'. He excels in hunting and took it upon himself to hunt said beast only for him to lose his weapon. He himself is an Arch Demon with a True Demon ranked yet as i've said he himself failed to kill the beast." Khert explained to the bishop which attracted the attention of the bishop to Jack. His brows borrowed and his eyes became into slits, he was thoroughly examining Jack.
Suddenly multiple ethereal chains made of light held Jack in place preventing him from moving. Some people might struggle but Jack chose to stay still and cooperate, his still has valuable information or so what the bishop thinks.
"This... The chains have never been this strong before." The bishop flicked his wrist and the chains vanished. "You've proven to be a pure blooded demon, Mr. Lucifer i recommend you don't do anything rash. I might not look like it but i have ways to purge demons if they overreact. And please take my apology for testing you." The bishop said with a smile that wasn't a smile.
'He's a definitely playing with us.'
'Mental note, old church guys are extremely dangerous.'
'We need to act properly, things just got very complicated.'
From their initial plan to enter the city with the adventurers, to proving their innocents to the individual that hired the adventurer team, to surviving an old monster with enkidu.
'We shouldn't have acted to passively.' Stephen spoke out his opinion. He was partially true, now they were in the belly of the beast for following Daniel's instruction. 'Hey, we just confirmed that the church is and might have a very strong force. If we made a more aggressive move then we would have alerted the church, or any form of world government. Steph, were in the dark here and the sooner we get information about everything, the better.' Daniel didn't just needed the information for their target but also the world they are currently in. For all they knew a large organization would hunt them down for an unknown reason that they do not know. This was a fantasy world that was beyond the normal of regular people, anything could happen and unless Daniel figured out what the 'normal' of this world is, he would rather choose the same path they took then randomly walking into a dragons nest, becoming a target of large forces, offending young masters, or outright preventing themselves from walking to a spacial rift if that might exist within this worlds natural phenomenons. The unknown is one of the greatest source of fear for sentient life.
'Alright, how bout we deal with the situation in front of us for now.' Jack defused the soon to the argument.
"Hmm... A new 'Monster-class' threat. This will be troublesome. It has been years since the last one came up. Alright, You can all go except for high priest Celth, we have much to talk about." The bishop didn't need anything else from the others of the adventurer team and only needed Khert for the proper details regarding their mission report. As all of them left, the templars guided them out.
"Um, what's this 'Monster-class' thing they've been talking about?" Jack asked Greght. He himself couldn't understand why it was called monster class.
"We you see mr. Lucifer. The church's most lethal and biggest threat is the "Monster"." Greght answered, however this only confused Jack. "The monster is made up of seven different individuals, Martial Mummy, Oculus Mage, Nameless Shadow, Skeleton King, Toxic Corpse, Eternal Spirit, Royal Demon. No one in history has faced them and returned alive, they are all scattered around the world however their strength and capabilities far exceed any mortals who have fought them."
Seven different entities that was both feared and respected throughout the world.
'This... sounds interesting.'
"Are they strong?" Jack asks and Rosan, Yve, Greght, and even Rigeria stared at him.
"Well to answer your question, yes and no. Martial Mummy is strong, capable of destroying continents with just a stomp if it wanted to. Oculus Mage has and currently is the peak of all mages within the ice element. Nameless Shadow was once said to be a sword saint which is confirmed by it's swordsmanship, Toxic Corpse has at most beyond average human strength however when it comes to poison, acids, and toxins then no one comes close to his knowledge. Eternal Spirit has an army of undead ghosts, spirits, banshees, specters, and wights from the large army it once commanded. Lastly the Royal Demon is the current leader of the demon country, which is surprising that you did not know about." Greght explained to Jack.
'So people not to mess with, got it.' Jack mentally said to the others, although playing passive was a long journey towards reaching their goal he did not mind it at all. Just like Daniel, he wanted to know the situation of the planet first before jumping straight into the fray.
"Currently, Martial Mummy, Skeleton King, and Eternal Spirit is within the labyrinth bellow the main cathedral of the church. It took them centuries just to capture one of them." Greght spoke with pride. "You're only like that cause your ancestors joined the crusade for capturing the skeleton king." Yve commented which made Greght snort and Yve only rolled her eyes.
"Why did they capture them? If they're such a threat, why not kill them?" Jack questioned. Killing them would prevent them from being a threat and not only that, sealing or just capturing them would mean they can be released and freed.
"Well... they cant, even if the church wanted to." Rosan answered this time.
"What do you mean 'can't'?" At this point Jack didn't understand what Rosan said.
"You see, they're all transcendent beings. Those who are within the steps of godhood only bellow demi-gods. Martial Mummy was once a hero of an ancient civilization in the dessert continent. He trained and trained to become strong in order to protect his people earning the attention of the Martial God. He was already blessed with the four heavenly beasts when he was born and now he was blessed by the Martial God. His prowess in martial arts was unrivaled in the living world and he protected his people time and time again until an unnamed demi-god appeared. By making a deal with the king who was envious of the Martial Mummy for being so gifted, he would give him a gift of his own if he killed the Martial Mummy. The king tried assassination attempts but the blessing of the green tortoise prevented him from being damaged and even if he did the red phoenix healed him instantly. The Martial Mummy retaliated by killing the assassin who was the king's brother. The king accused him of treason and sentenced him to death, of course the Martial Mummy did not agree and resisted. However as time went on, the king framed him from all misfortunes within their country until all people were against him. Having to choice left, the Martial Mummy finally accepted execution. He felt betrayed and alone, when his body was mummified, his soul transcended into the heavenly world while his body remained within the sarcophagus. Overtime his last feeling of betrayal painted his body with anger and hatred, his body began to move it's own until after hundreds of years, he had awoken and brought destruction. The cloth that covered his body was painted red with his will and hatred, no mortal blade nor divine artifact has been known to harm nor damage it. In other words, he is invincible." When Greght was done story telling, Jack couldn't help but love the story. It was tragic but that was the beauty of it. All of the old stories about heroes in ancient greek was sad and tragic, it didn't show the perfection of the hero in the ending but rather the pain of the flaws of the world and mankind.
"If he is that strong, how did they capture him? How are they even holding him?" Jack wanted to know, his curiosity was piqued.
"They've found an ancient divine artifact that invoked the original seals on Martial Mummy's seals. As for capturing him, he isn't the only one who is blessed by the Martial God. He was captured by a total number of 80,000 templars, 10,000 paladins, amd finally 20 Arch bishops, and 3 saint classes." Greght beautifully explained. Jack wanted to asked what saint classes were but decided not to as he had his brain being in pain from hearing all what he just heard.
When they were on the front gates once again, they told Jack that they would depart and to don't cause any havoc to which Jack agreed. Although he was an excellent talent in assassination and hunting it was all due to his [ Talent ] that he had yet not to master as he failed to notice several spies following him.
****
"Are you sure he's harmless?" Bishop Ferdinand told high priest Celth.
"Im sure of it, he is dangerous yes but if we send someone in to help him control his miasma then he wont be a problem anymore." Khert spoke with his hands behind his back. He may not act much towards his adventurer team however his dignity inside the church as a firm believer and keeper of balance was unshakable.
"Then we will use him as a bases, his skills could help us permanently remove monster class threats. I will send several watchers to observe him and send in... The light bearer. It will take some time before she'll arive so i do hope you can prevent him from causing any form of trouble within his stay." Bishop Ferdinand told Khert which gave a bow and took his leave. He stood there and stared behind his window towards the stars.
"The attribute of death huh... This is the first demon to be as close to the Devil himself. Let's see how this new age unfolds."
He smiled to himself and began to open a bottle of fruit wine.
"To the coming of a new age!"
The bishop smile to himself, enjoying his glass of wine.
Ch: End.