"iF duCheSs wAs heRe sHe woUld haVe FouNd a Way ouT already," Baron said.
"For Gods' sake this is the nth time you are saying this!" Shulia snapped.
"I aM jUst sAyinG DucHess cAn geT uS OuT of HerE sO quICk!"
"I can see why she kept you around so long! You both have the same rotten personality."
Anatole turned to them in annoyance. "Both of you be quite!"
"Yes~" they chimed in union but exchanged heated stares.
"Tch! Surrounded by absolute children…" he muttered under his breath as he went ahead of them.
Cursing in his head on why he got a hot head always rearing to go on a fight and a demon with complete obedience and worship for that wench Claudina he led them through the Void Maze.
From the east area they slowly made their way outside an old pyramid shaped building and faced a vast shore with green sands, pink, blue rocks and shimmery black waters with small pools on the surface that closely resembled acid.
"Wow the sand is shivering everywhere I step on. It's like quicksand!"
Baron knelt down and scooped some sand up on his huge monstrous claws. It slipped form the edges. He sniffed it, then licked it before spiting it out. "ThEre's pOiSoN iN tHe sAnd. ANd," he shook his hand up and down. A neon purple snail like creature with two crab claws on its mouth fell down. He picked it and immediately ate it. "lOts oF rABbiTs wItH PoIsOn."
"You think a snail is a rabbit?" Shulia asked in disbelief.
"iT's a RaBBiT. NoT a SaNil."
She was taken aback and shook her head. "...That is a snail. A rabbit's a whole lotta bigger than a damn snail."
He picked up another one of those creatures. "THiS iS a RabbIT," he said with more convection.
"No it's not. It's a snail! Heck I don't think it can even be called a snail! Look at it! It's flying!" Sure enough the creature sprouted moth wings, wrenched free form Baron and took off.
Baron blinked at her. "...It"S StilL a RabBiT."
Shulia lost her cool and yelled, "You're a rabbit!!"
"nO. i Am a DemON."
Anatole smacked their heads hard. "One more word and I am shoving your heads in the sand. There you can have all the stupid debates you want."
Both of them were silent with Shulia looking flabbergasted and Baron wondering how sad his duchess will be if he killed him right now.
"Am I clear?"
They nodded and silently walked side by side behind him.
Due to how unstable the green sand under their feet was they started to walk slower all the while looking for their teammates. Beside them the inky water bubbled with hot sticky consistency. Overhead two raging sun scorched the earth. Yet they carried on.
Oriane was running through a maze of tall crooked hedges and scratching thorns.
Close at her heels was nine foot axe welding man dressed in white and red with a cat for a head. Behind him, she could hear shouts of the animal headed residents of Old Jolly Cage calling her to come back to the tea party.
Oriane didn't bother look back and ran faster. But no matter how much she ran the cat headed man was always close, brandishing his axe at her head while saying, "Your head's da purr-fect size for my human compa-meow-nion! Please do part with it!"
"No thank you! I very much like this head and would continue to like to keep it with me even after I cross over the afterlife!" she said in a hurry as she narrowly dodged a swing.
The cat headed man then said in a patronizing tone, "Surely you jest! After I and Polly Parrot did so much to prepare for your welcoming, I believe you want to give it me as co-meow-pensation fee, yes? Lady Penguin with da human head?"
She spun around with her sword. "For the last time I am not a PENGUIN!" The steel of the axe and the sword clanged loudly.
Oriane gritted her teeth as the cat headed man tut-tutted in distress and started to push her back.
After walking away from the broken chapel Claudina came upon a large river. On her side of the river bed was long lamppost with the light shinning the black water. This river seemed to be the only place where the putrid sludge wasn't present.
As for what lay beyond the river everything was obscured with a thick mist.
Claudina looked around for a way to cross the river when she heard it.
Soft chimes of a small bell. Ringing from the mist.
Slowly it appeared. A canoe floating gently over the rippling water. A dark hooded figure rowed the boat. Beside the person was a standing cane with a bell attached to the oar. The boat silently bumped on the river bank. Lithe skeleton hands put the oar down.
Claudina stared at the boat man skeptically. Their entire face was shrouded in darkness. Not even the light helped to see anything.
"Can you please tell me what's beyond the mist?" she asked after sometime.
The boat man didn't answer.
"Do I have to board the boat to know?"
They slowly nodded, the bell chiming ominously.
She gazed at the mist. It didn't seem like it was going to clear soon or ever. She signed.
"…Alright. Can you ferry me to the other side?"
CRACK. "…fEe…" A skeleton head was stretched towards her.
"…"
"…FeE…tO…cRosS…ThE…rIveR…"
She jangled her purse and asked in weary cheer, "Do you...take gold coins…?"
"…"
Deep within the Void Maze the Inquisitor watched from glowing orbs on what was going on throughout the place; Oriane stumbling open talking mushrooms who want to eat her liver, Claudina trying to escape from dungeon infested with rabid goats running around in human legs, Shulia, Anatole and Baron nearly being digested by a strange demon that resembled an upside down chandelier.
He was looking at the orb containing Sylvester and Sullivan (they seem to be the luckiest by far as they avoided any place with potential danger and also coincidentally the most closest to the tower where he was hiding) when Rosalinda stirred.
He turned just as she started to get her bearings right.
"So you are awake?"
"…What do…?" she started groggily, then gasped as she realized what was happening. She stood up in absolute furry. "YOU!" She stomped forward. "You back stabbing, boot licking, shameless HOB GOBLIN!" She swiped at his face and he allowed her to do so. The sound of the slap rebounded in the dimly lit room.
The Inquisitor calmly tried to settle her down but she exploded again. She slapped his other cheek.
"Where's my Grimoire? Return it! This instant!" Though her legs were shaking from stress she showed a fearless expression that clearly stated she could and would take on the world if she needed to. Something the Inquisitor found intriguing.
"…Are you done with your tantrum?"
"Return. My. Grimoire. Now!"
"Not even going to ask why I double crossed you and now my so called superiors? Or how you are alive?"
She only continued to scream like an unreasonable child while hurling obscenities at his face.
Tired of her screaming he signed and gave in. "Haaah…fine. Here you go." He lifted the Forbidden Grimoire.
"Now I expect-" "My Grimoire! My beautiful Grimoire is back at my arms again!" she squealed in delight. She tightly hugged the book to her heart as she twirled with happy Rosalinda sounds escaping her lips.
The Inquisitor only watched her with no expression. 'They were right. Her moods are so violate in nature I can't even tell if she will explode…' "…Are you finally done?"
"Yes~" She walked up to him and ogled at the orbs. "What exactly are you planning for you to betray the Arbitrary Abstractions? The Resonance will take no part of it."
"There is no need for your group to get involved. I will only have a bone to pick with the little white lamb of Lord Uranus."
"I see. So what are you going to do?"
"Easy enough with this Void Maze created through your Forbidden Grimoire, I made a maze game of sorts. I separated the saints in the four corners of the Void Maze with this tower being the core stone of this place. Slowly all of them will gather here and once they do I will kill them."
"Do you think they will allow you to kill them so easily?" she testily asked. "They are awfully strong. I kept on summoning monster wave after wave to keep them occupied while you made off with the Saintess. Also with that ominous power of the Uranus Saintess, can you really defeat her?"
"Aware of it. I have already analyzed her powers at our battle. This place was created as a restriction against her power. Also in order to weaken the other saints' souls, their strength I made sure to make the residents...mildly angry to say the least. With how exhausted they will be with dealing with them I doubt they can show the same fight from before."
"All that's left if for all of them to come together expect for Saintess of Uranus. I will kill all of the saints in front of her eyes...to let her experience despair. Despair that she is not strong. That she failed to save everyone just like how I did."
"Hmm...be as it what you say...but make sure to leave Claudina alone. She's mine."
"I intended to do so from the start. I will make sure not to get in your way and you will do the same."
Rosalinda nodded. "So how did you revive me again?" She spun to him with bright eyes. "With your saintly powers? Is that how? You are amortal now right? So you don't have any Holy power, so how? Anti Holy magic? Anti Demonic magic?"
He looked quite disgusted at her mention of his Holy powers. "Err…no. I simply shared some of the Amortal blood in me with you."
"Did you inject me with it? I hope it was sanitary. I don't want to catch something strange."
"I didn't have anything like that at hand so it had to do with mouth to mouth."
This time Rosalinda was the one who was disgusted. "I know the Arbitrary Abstractions do blood sacrifices but to stoop so low to commit necrophilia...You do realize necrophilia is considered an even worse of a crime?"
"I don't partake in such…low life activities." He rolled his eyes. "And...that is not a crime...At least not at my time."
"Ugh! Disgusting! Absolutely horrendous! Bunch of low lives that should be put down like strays!"
"...I hope you are finally done! Anyways...just so you know, being an amortal is a temporary option for you. You will die once you step outside the Void Maze so whatever affairs you have finish them here."
"Oh I will…" She gripped the orb where it showed Claudina's face and crushed it with a mad glow in her eye. "I will crush that vixen here and now!"
Sullivan stopped Sylvester. "Hey is that…?"
He looked at where he was pointing at and squinted. There at the far end of the draw bridge was someone dressed like a man. A slender man with long black curly hair and bottle green eyes.
Looking closely it was not a man at all.
Claudina saw them first approaching the draw bridge. At first she believed them to another illusion or one of the extremely hostile residents here.
When she was completely sure they were indeed Sylvester and Sullivan only then did she moved.
"Finally found someone," she said in relief.
"Miss Fairy you look like a wreck!"
"Huh? Oh…Yes I am aware." Covered from head to toe her clothes had slight tears on them with scraps and other open wounds on arms and face from traversing the unknown landscape. Dirt specked her rumpled hair. Being conscious of their looks she sheepishly tugged at her curls.
Sylvester quickly looked away. "S-so how about we continue to find the others?"
"Uh…sure…"
"Curses!" Shulia whispered loudly as she descended into murky swamp water. The water was near to her chin and she would have kept sinking in further if Anatole hadn't been holding on to her back keeping her afloat.
"Shulia keep it down."
"With this humongous blundering fool following us, we will be caught regardless!" she snapped back.
"ArE YoU sTilL bUtT HuRt tHat nOt mE bUt yOU StEpPEd On tHe trAp tHAt LeD uS HEre iN thE FIrsT plAce?"
"Quite, you! Hadn't it been for Claudina I would have slain you at first sight!"
"yOU ArE a CowArd iF thE oNly thInG stopPinG YoU fRom KiLliNg mE Is tHe DUchesS!"
"That's it! You're dead meat!"
Just as they were about to attack one other Anatole easily stopped them by punching their heads.
"OW!" "tHaT hUrt!"
"Do you see those?" he angrily whispered pointing at the bushes past the dark marshes. Profiles lit by firefly lanterns were three lizard headed men wearing blood red soldier jackets. They hissed to one another before separating each taking the lanterns away and casting hellish shadows on the swamp.
"We were about to get caught! I don't mind you two dying but not when you drag me down with you!" Anatole then turned his back at them and continued to swim forward.
Behind him both of them bared their teeth at each other.
Once they got out of the swamp they started to trek out of the humid jungle.
Faint rustling reached their ears.
"…SmElLs LiKe bLoOd…dEmoN BLooD…"
"Tread carefully here, you two…"
"Don't order around your elders, brat," Shulia snapped, still grumpy over getting hit.
Quite as a mouse they crept around the bushes with Baron's nose and ears picking up the slightest noise and change of smell. Inching forward they entered the small clearing where the sounds came from.
What they stumbled upon surprised them though. There lying on the dead grass were the three lizard guards with their throats slit open. Oriane stood over their corpses, the Bestial Purity dripping with demon blood. Her cold face had streaks of blood though they weren't from her own body. When she saw them standing shell shocked she eased her expression.
"I finally found you guys!" She put her sword away and smiled as how she usually did. Shulia flinched at her touch but got over it. "Say…are you okay?"
She smiled widely. "Why won't I be? Is something wrong?"
"H-huh? No, never mind."
Baron moved past them, picked up the carcasses opened his mouth wide and ate them all with a gulp. Shulia shuddered hearing the sound of bones being crunched. She flinched when a hand was on top of her own
"Don't," Anatole softly whispered. ""I understand your feelings well but don't."
She looked at where her hand was. It was tightly holding the hilt of her Holy sword. She scrunched her face in internal conflict but put down her hand in the end.
"…If you are fine Oriane let's move. I don't want them to find us."
They went about their way but not before extinguishing the firefly lanterns so none can trace their path.