The moment she turned Claudina had the most displeased look. She groaned rubbing her temples. "...It sure is hard being me." Suddenly she noticed Baron staring at her.
"You are up? Good. Help me down the tower then."
"...dUcHesS iS coLd?"
She was silent for a long pause. "..I can't say for sure but it is true I am very apathetic."
It didn't look he understood but regardless he tottered ahead.
Collecting the Grimoires she swept towards the broken ledge.
Leaning on to the side she peeked out. Since she was a saintess she wouldn't die but a fall from this height is sure to break her bones. "So how did you climb up again?"
"raN thRouGh ThE stAirs fiRst beForE cLiMbIng oUt thROugH thE wInDow. StaIrS bRokEn."
"Hmmm...KAAAAAYYYYYY!!"
Baron hoisted her up and quickly placed her over his upper two arms then leaning back on his lower arms and hind legs he leapt off the ledge. Claudina leaned forward, enjoying the wind rushing through her hair. The surprise of being grabbed suddenly wearing off.
Though out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the flock of red butterflies had followed them when they jumped.
Baron too noticed them as he immediately turned midair and grabbed onto a banner with one hand and hanged on to it like a monkey.
He saw they were following his every moves.
"hOld tIghT." He slacked his jaws from his shoulders and breathed out a stream of fire. As they briefly burned he swung forward and jumped from window ledge to ledge till they safely touched the ground.
Yet they followed them down and flapped their wings, mocking.
Claudina got up from his fur and groaned. Baron growled.
"Persistent much?!"
The smallest one which Claudina assumed was the leader flew up to her face and waited for her. "Go away," she said when all of a sudden the butterfly's head twisted. The weird swirly patterns now in a different angle turned into the most grotesque image of a creepy man smirking at her.
Claudina was disturbed. "...I have seen many thing in my life but is just...goodness me...General Raphael would have surely cursed you out..."
Baron shifted his gaze from Claudina to the butterfly and back to her again.
"What is it?" she asked,
"i thOuGht tHe dUcheSs WouLd scReam iN feAr."
She chuckled. "Fufu~ Baron it takes a lot to scare me."
"iT sAt oN yoUr fAce aNd haiR."
Claudina paled. Baron flapped his ears shut.
"AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
In a dense neon purple jungle with low-hanging branches among the five saints, one of them came to a stop.
Sullivan looked from right to left before saying, "I think we are trapped."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Shulia retorted. "We are not trapped!"
"You say that but we have yet to come up to an entrance or exit." He jumped and stopped to turn into a puddle-like structure. "Alright, Ana give her to me. I'll carry her from here."
Anatole carefully deposited Oriane on top of Sullivan. Two large appendages shaped like hands secured her. "Wow, she's getting heavier~"
"Sullivan you shouldn't say that about a girl. Even if she's unconscious." Sylvester glanced at Anatole. "Because if you do, you would be no better than a certain someone~"
"Alright. Do you have something against me?!"
"None whatsoever."
"Hey! Quite down!" Shulia motioned for them to come closer as well as to be quiet. "Look over there."
From the tall grass, they were hidden behind they peeked out.
A large portal was open on the other side of a cliff. All around there was dried blood like sickly yellow skin with angry red patches.
On the ground, a large bat scurrying about on it's tiny feet while the wings that were larger than it's body acted as a cape of sorts. A long bush tail protruded from under it's folded wings. Strangely enough, the bat was wearing a tiny top hat alongside a monocle glass on its right eye.
Though it didn't appear outright violent towards the surroundings it didn't mean it wasn't harmless either.
Sylvester frowned. "...I am sensing an ominous power from that portal."
"Tell me 'bout it. But this may be a way to get out." Shulia flinched. "Wait. Did you hear that?"
They crouched lower so they wouldn't be seen.
From a different side of the jungle, a bloody torso dragged its body with its skin-stitched arms.
"....Curses! Curse those blasted saints!"
"Hey! Why's he still ali-Hmph, mmph?!"
"You're gonna blow up our cover!" Anatole hissed clamping Sullivan's mouth shut.
The Inquisitor laid flat on his back heaving for breath and endlessly murmuring.
"Look what the cat dragged in~" a gruff but mocking voice drawled.
The Inquisitor snapped open his eyes. He looked to his right and saw the bat with it's arms crossed.
He narrowed his eyes. "...Why are you here?"
The bat twitched its snout. "Now, now. Shouldn't you speak with more respect to someone who came to help?"
"Get out of my territory!" He got smacked in the face with the bat's tail. "Be quiet brat. It's not like I want to be here in the first place. It's the council's orders. But," The bat shifted. "...It seems to be the right choice to send me here. You don't even appeal to Calliope. Tell brat, what has become of the Forbidden Grimoire user?"
"...Ugh…heavens knows. She was fighting with a saintess, something about seducing or other. I somehow managed to escape from those saints." He clenched his fist as he bristled with anger. "Those accursed saints, they think the world is their oyster with their gods backing them…just wait I'll kill th-" He got slapped one more time.
"I expected only this much from the youngest and lowest member of the 12 heads. You even allowed those pests to eavesdrop too!"
The Inquisitor looked up in shock. "What…?"
From the grass, a barrage of arrows was released as soon as those words were uttered. The bat took flight leaving the Inquisitor to deal with it himself.
Before he could move the arrows hit him with a loud bang.
Flying above the bat taunted, "Tsk, tsk! He couldn't move from such an obvious assault. He brings great shame. Oh? He's still alive."
The Inquisitor spat out blood with his hand outstretched in front of him. The shield had cracks and soon crumbled. "Shit! I am already at my limit!"
"Brat!"
He glared up. "So much for your 'help'."
"I need some time to arrive at the portal so deal with your unresolved issues with the Uranus Saintess. That is if you can hold up till now."
Then a disembodied voice spoke. "Come back, Calliope. Let him deal with this himself."
The bat screeched, flew towards the portal, and vanished in black lighting.
"....Ha…ha…ha…Egh!"
"It's gonna take more than a few arrows to take this bastard down." Shulia, Anatole, and Sullivan stepped out. Sullivan was holding his Holy sword above him like a horn.
The Inquisitor smirked uneasily. "A three against one eh? Right when I am so weak?"
"Can you blame us? Only when you are weak can we beat you," Anatole commented.
He fell silent as his eyes drifted from one saint to another. "It seems we are missing two. Where's the Siantess of Uranus?"
"Safe. Unlike you."
"...I see. But that is also the same for you." His broken spinal cord ripped out from his bloody stump. The bones acted like his cables but they didn't attack the horrified saints. Rather it just got longer, longer, and longer till it reached a height of 20 feet. His sewed skin around his stump grew scales that joined together with the long bone.
"...HaaaAhhh…" He ran his hand through his hair. "To think I would use this form…"
"You are no longer human."
He glanced down to see the armed saints frowning in displeasure.
"Yes, well when you want to survive you will grasp at any straw thrown at you." He raised his tail. "But you see this form was meant as a last resort." An ice spear grazed his face. Blood trickled out. "...So that is your stance."
Sullivan launched himself at his face while Anatole and Shulia attacked him separately. The Inquisitor was temporarily blinded but managed to smack Sullivan down while pinning Anatole down with his tail. "Wait…where's the girl?"
"Right here!" A sword priced through his heart. "I still have to get you back for Sullivan's eye!"
"Foolish girl…"
"What…? Whoa!" He reached his hand, grabbed her collar, and flung her across. "Kheuk!"
"Didn't they teach you to be gentle with girls?" The Inquisitor hurled Anatole at the bouncing Sullivan.
"Apologizes but the only thing I see in front of me are enemies." Anatole rushed up and bolted straight at him. The slash of the sword was blocked by his tail. "Allow me to show you what the Vessels of Ri'sh are capable of." He felt thorns pricking his skin. Glancing to the side he saw Shulia grinning while touching a tree. The roots had transformed under her ministrations to act as ropes.
Sullivan immediately attacked from the side.
It was a long battle.
Earth golems created by Shulia crashed and crumbled underneath the giant snake's tail while Anatole and Sullivan fought the Inquisitor head-on. Clashes of metal on scales echoed. Magic and spells clouded their vision like a blindfold. The roaring tempest of the black water below crashed against the cliff spraying them with droplets.
As the battle continued the saints sneakily maneuvered the Inquisitor near the cliff's edge. He on the other hand didn't realize it as he angrier and angrier by the second.
The Inquisitor finally realized what they were doing yet he continued to be ignorant. Before they could push him off he unfurled from his coil and gave a giant jump shaking the ground. The saints, clearly surprised stumbled over. With a clever swipe, he dragged his tail under their legs and attempted to push them off the cliff.
Shards of ice pierced through his abdomen. "Keuk-" More shards came and drilled open his heart.
The magic circles disappeared behind Sylvester as he stepped out. "...Should've kept an eye out for ambushes." He looked up. "You alright?"
"You think?!"
He sidestepped over the Inquisitor's body. "...It took a while for me to get back from there to here again."
"Did you find Claudina there?"
He shook his head. "I doubt it. The tower was beyond recognizable."
"Dear me!" Sullivan exclaimed "Just what has Miss Fairy gone up to? Destroying a tower! Goodness! I have never done anything as astonishing as that before."
"No, you did."
"Eh? W-why is everyone ganging up on me?!"
"...Haaa…so that's where she is…" The Inquisitor rose.
Shulia looked aghast. "You're not dead!?"
"Kekeke~ You can't kill me. No one can." He uncoiled his snake tail and slammed it down throwing them off. Anatole tripped and fell down the cliff but held on to a rock. Casting them a venomous stare he slithered into the woods and disappeared.
"Anatole!" Sylvester rushed to the cliff and helped him up with great struggle.
"Come on pull me! Put some muscle into it!"
"...Easy…for…you to…SAY!" With a single giant tug, he pulled Anatole up. "...Ha…ha…ha…"
".... Should we go after him?" Shulia bit her lip in worry.
"No need. Oriane is…" He glanced at Sylvester
He caught his eyes and nodded. "Don't worry. The only thing waiting for the Inquisitor there is a trap."
"Alright-y then!" Sullivan melded into a puddle revealing Oriane sound asleep. A water bubble was around her mouth to allow her to breath inside Sullivan. "Gosh that took a whole lot of energy from me~ Fighting with a person hidden inside me, wow~ I guess there's a first for everything huh?"
Shulia pressed her hand on Oriane's temple and closed her eyes. Focusing her mana she gathered it on her hand and let it flow inside Oriane before back again.
"..."
"...What is it?"
She opened them again and let out a breath of relief. "She's alright now. I am sure she'll wake up soon."
Anatole uncrossed his arms. "...In that case we should continue to move on."
"Yeah...I hope Claudina's alright."
"No, no Vessie You should be worried about her enemies more than her."
"...."
"You need to understand that girl is worse than demon."
"...Um, I suppose you are right..."