"We are fucked!" Diana yelled in anger.
"Don't worry... It will be fine—"
"It won't be... Mr. Devil. Seeing you, itches my decayed cheek," Nnij interrupted him. He drew his sword from his scabbard.
"Okay, my soldiers... Kill the Devil and bring the woman... A good flesh is always a woman's flesh"
"Gross," Priest sighed and looked up towards the opening of the 'Well'. He took a few steps back and dragged Diana close to him.
He whistled. And the sound echoed all around the cave, hitting the sides of the 'Well' and reached the Ghoulimals. The Ghoulimals pack's leader - a Tiger, roared, signaling its underlings and together all of them swarmed into the Well, immediately surrounding the Priest and Diana, defending them from the Ghouls.
"What the fuck is this?" Nnij stepped back, as did his ghoul army as they well knew the wrath of a Ghoulimal. Diana lost the grip on her reality for a moment, seeing Priest forming his own personal army to tackle the Ghoul army.
"Yeah, they bowed to you, which means—"
"They are still loyal to me..." Priest sighed in relief while Diana adds another new revelation about Priest to her personal library.
The number of Ghoulimals only seemed to increase, raining down from the Well's opening and the Emperor's frustration grew more than his hunger for human flesh.
The horde of Ghoulimals growled against the Ghouls. Nnij perplexed about the situation, gave up after a lot of thought and raised his left arm, signaling the army to lower the weapons.
Priest gently patted the Tiger ghoul and stepped forward to voice out his message to the Emperor of the Ghoul.
"Mr. Emperor of Maneaters A-K-A Ghouls... It's time for you to repay my favor."
Emperor clenched his fist, dropped his chin down, closed his eyes smouldering with anger and embarrassment in front of his people. He inhaled a deep breath and finally opened his eyes. Realizing that fighting the Ghoulimals a fool's errand, he nodded to Priest's invitation, agreeing to repay the favor.
"What was that favor?" Diana asked curiously.
Priest simply shook his head, smiling at her and moved forward to meet the Emperor, answering nothing.
"Hey! Tell me... Mr. Priest! Father!"
Priest and Diana, accompanied by the Ghoulimals and the army, entered the glorious world of the Ghoul Empire.
Diana was baffled by the revelation that a city of Mythical Ghouls was just under her feet all this time.
While Priest was no stranger to the Ghoul City, Diana cherished her experience of witnessing the city, observing each and everything the place has in its landscape. She came across a few Jewellery Shops selling some rare jewel designs she only read in history books.
"Oh! look at that... Is that Kohinoor—"
"Just a Replica... It's just a Replica. Don't look too much, they are good businessman and you might end up losing all the money in seconds..." Priest clarified and warned her.
Diana shrugs it off and enjoyed the view of the marvelous work done in the city's development. Giant drawings on the walls which were telling a story of its own.
"Hey darling, wanna bite?" a gorgeous lady in the brothel wearing a very revealing Kimono teased Priest, joined by other ladies who shouted.
"Ooh, looks like you are famous– Oh my! That woman is flashing her–," Diana sighed.
"Mr. Devil is a very famous icon among our girls..." one of the Ghoul soldier with a broken accent informed Diana, "My daughter is one of them too..."
"How are these girls and most of the people look exactly like normal humans?"
Diana crossed the sorcery shop where the billboard advertisement said as,
'Potions and special artifacts to beautify yourself. Any type of human face... it will be yours in seconds. 15% discount'
"Guess that explains," Diana looked annoyed as the concept of beauty and difficulty of acceptance haunts even the Ghoul's world.
As they reached the Emperor's castle, Diana noticed how a separate area has been reserved for residence to the people and camps for the soldiers to rest and train, and numerous lamps hanging on the roof, spreading light all over the underground cave.
"I have to say, whether it is potion or what... The women are gorgeous... and sexy"
"You may try some...might help in exploring your bisexuality," Priest trolled her, chuckling.
Diana hit him in the arm, "You are really insensitive when it comes to such stuff"
"Chill" Priest winked at her and both of them stepped into the castle. He signaled the animals to standby and do nothing until he orders them to do so.
The Emperor welcomed them but gestured to stop.
"What now? If you don't want us to enter, then just get me a good wooden Katana..."
"It's called Bokken," Diana playfully mocked Priest, annoying him.
"Yeah, about that... To get the sword, you might want to fight us..." Nnij threw a real steel Katana at the Priest.
"With a sword," Nnij completed, grinning as he knew very well that Priest vowed to never touch a real Katana again.
The Katana went up in the air and was falling towards the Priest.
Priest was completely in a dilemma about what to do. The PTSD kicked in. All the trauma he went through because of his sword flashed in front of the eyes. Suddenly he felt like cold touches of palms and thousands of hands grabbing him.
The blood, the wailing of the poor souls, the pile of corpses he carried, and the tortures he went through because of his immortality, everything squashed his consciousness.He suddenly felt difficulty in breathing, time moved slower, his legs felt weaker and he crumbled, kneeling on the ground.
Suddenly a hand appeared above the Priest and grabbed the Katana in mid-air.
"Tchh! Disturbance..." Nnij was annoyed at the turn of events.
Diana, having caught the Katana, walked forward and raised it, pointing against the Emperor. Priest gasping for air, reached to her to say something. Diana stopped him and gave a look. The look said it all for the Priest. For some reason, he felt like believing her.
"I will fight you... Mr. Emperor!" she declared the duel.