In the darkest pits of the underground passages, right under the main Faran's cathedral, there was a vast spherical hall. Massive glyphs, carved right into the black obsidian, illuminated the freezing premise with a crimson light. The aroma of blood, meat, and rot made the already stuffed air literally unbreathable. Yet, a tanned man clad in a green robe cared nothing for such a thing.
Keziaz carelessly strolled forward, toward the heart of the room. In the center, there was a red boiling pool, a living essence which spewed colorless toxic fumes just for them to disappear should they approach the warded ceiling. The archbishop arrived in solitude. He had a mission that couldn't be done by anyone else.
The priest extended his left arm, rashly rolled up his massive sleeve, and revealed his scaly forearm. Serpentine flesh shone with writings in ancient, forgotten tongues. Then, he drew a sacrificial dagger made from sharpened dark glass.
"Let me honor our deal, Catherine." Keziaz muttered with zealous enlightenment. Then, he stuck his weapon between his wrist bones. Crimson blood flew to the scarlet pool. Bluish energy fueled the ritual — the essence of the soul. And then, the sinister puddle rippled. She returned!
After a few seconds of gurgling, a woman stepped toward the archbishop. Her long orange hair dragged along the cold stony floor. Blood leaked onto her young naked body. Neither curvy nor slim, her face was plain and flat, neither spectacularly beautiful nor somehow unsightly. Her red eyes expressed nothing but boredom. After all, in just a couple of moments, the body started to melt, exposing bare muscles and the skull. Catherine, Bloodbringer herself, turned out even more of an undead than her former husband. The gruesome fencer could be called a lich, for she had a full-fledged phylactery.
"Quetzalcoatl." The Champion greeted her god with a single slight nod. The archbishop dropped his green robe to reveal a pair of wings protruding from the scaly skin. He offered his majestic attire to the woman stuck between life and death.
"Do not fret, as long as I hold upon your soul, you shall live." The serpent said, dropping his mask of humanity. Even so, his voice remained the same, devoid of any hissing. "I presume your reconnaissance was not in vain."
"No." Bloodbringer shook her head, wearing the green mantle. That was but a gesture of respect. "Hemay be worthy of putting Ahriman down."
…
After a whole day of hellish heat, the sun finally decided to go behind the horizon. The golden disc had long since disappeared behind the endless trees and fields, but its light would remain above them at least for an hour. Finally, after a whole week of endless traveling, the raptor carried the trio right next to the Jioral's border. And was it a sight to behold.
Right after the seemingly endless forest ended, cut as if it was a divine will and not the work of thousands and thousands of woodcutters, Keyaruga saw a wall. And quite a massive one.
"Well, well, well, just how much money went into this crap?" The Hero of Healing mused, recalling the flying hordes of demons that could easily overpower that feeble defense line. Still, with countless kilometers of magically fortified stone and ramparts, filled with mages, ballista operators, and even gunners, that wouldn't be that easy for the ma-zok tribes. Even if that entire project was just an excuse for milking the surrounding countries for money, the main function was complete to its fullest.
"My lord, how high is that thing?" Freia wondered, grabbing the man's back. With her malachite staff somehow repaired by the red-haired lad, the princess always carried it horizontally on her waist.
"Ten meters. I think I could leap it on my own." Keyaruga shrugged. While that was but a trivial task for the hero, doing so would definitely attract some unwanted attention.
"Setsuna can. Setsuna can climb with claws." The she-wolf boasted happily. After all, her ice gauntlets easily pierced even stone by that point.
"And I can fly across." The sorceress spoke phlegmatically. She remained that way ever since the fated day in the colosseum. After all, she loved her man. Even though he was brutally tortured by Flare and then the latter paid for that. But if such things could remain in the past, then the fact that Keyaruga somehow knew `a winged woman`, who could call her a daughter, along with his future encounter with Norn, made the caster quite uneasy. "I doubt I could transport Kelly, though." The pink-haired girl added with a small smile.
"Ugh…" The lad growled. Of course, she gave a name to their raptor. "Yeah, we'd have to raise it with a rope. How dumb would that look…"
"Not `it`. She. Good Kelly." Et tu, Setsuna?
"Gh, whatever. Listen, see that bulky watchtower? That's our goal." The lad pointed toward the massive rampart.
"Will we breach it?" Freia asked, with a note of rejoice, no less.
"Well, we could, but that's the last option. I don't want an entire garrison tailing us afterwards, so unless we have to, let's not do something reckless." The healer replied, feeling his toy spellcaster sulking behind him.
"Wait, the gates are closed. Damn it, another night in the wilds?" And Freia's frustration grew worse and worse.
"Setsuna don't care. Survival is Setsuna's power." The huntress, in turn, remained absolutely positive about every outcome.
"Oh calm down, see that town under the gates? We're sure to get some accommodation for a night there. Yeah, it's a bit crowded out there, but it doesn't look like a problem we can't solve with money." Keyaruga said with a calm tone.
"Finally! Thank you so much!" A week full of regrets and anxiety? Forget it, the simple prospect of simply sleeping in a proper bed filled Freia with a much needed dose of positivity.
"Weak." And the ice warrior already made a few notes in her mind about how to make her pink-haired rival suffer during their next training session. Unfortunately for her, the princess was eager to disappoint the gray-haired girl with her success.
…
And so they decided to stay at an inn. A two-storey building right next to the massive wall was everything but cheap, but such options were all but taken. And it's not like the company struggled with a lack of money in any way. Hundreds upon hundreds of travelers, merchants, priests, and refugees wished to cross the border, and every one of them had to go through a long and tiresome filtration procedure to move forward. The guards kept an eye out for escaped slaves and enemies of the crown. Keyaruga was technically both, but he had a plan for tomorrow. Today, though…
"M-m, that's so good!" Freia shared her delight, as she munched on the fried fish, covered in the brownish crispy crust, manners be damned.
"Yeah, the food is good here." In turn, Keyaruga almost emptied a bowl of garlic soup with mushrooms and chopped pork. Not that his own food was any worse, but the feeling of novelty made local dishes feel twice as good as they really were.
"True, Ranalitta served only sea fish, and not even that fresh. Here, though, I got to taste one right from the river." The sorceress told. Strangely enough, fish was her favorite dish, right after sweets. It's not like the healer was surprised by the fact after spending more than four years at her side, but still.
"Uh-huh. And boars here are good. We almost had none near Taretanbi." Setsuna deadpanned, swiftly ripping the roasted meat right from the ribs. The huntress literally glittered with happiness.
"You actually did, it's just they're a little hard to cook." The lad pointed out, recalling the soup he made from the green monster's flesh.
"My lord…" Freia, though, after leaving nothing but bones from her fish, put down her tableware and winced at the hero. "Are you sure you don't want to tell her that we're crossing the border?"
"You mean Kureha?" Keyaruga asked, receiving a swift nod from the girl. "I didn't expect you to worry about her."
"I don't. She's just strong and we can use her for our cause." The princess deadpanned, frowning upon remembering their talk. "But you do. Otherwise, we'd have had an easier time dealing with that lump of flesh back in Ranalitta."
"Please, Freia, don't be so mistaken." The healer sneered, even if he did have certain feelings toward the Swordmaster. "I sent her on a mission. I need her to report to Norn about us moving to Buranikka. Don't you think she wouldn't expect us to actually go there after this?" The red-eyed lad spoke, looking right into the blue eyes. The magician lowered her shoulders upon hearing about her sister, but otherwise remained determined enough.
"What if something happens again? What if you need her help there?"
"Then, I'll just send her a letter." Keyaruga shrugged. "As long as I know secure information routes, my coded messages can reach her, even in the royal palace."
"Heh, how can you be so competent?" The pink-haired girl chuckled, lowering her gaze. Of course, he replied with nothing but a cheeky grin. "Just be careful, my lord. Even if…" She wasn't given a chance to finish. At that moment, the party was brought a massive serving dish with three mugs of ale and two dozen boar ribs by a massive balding man, the local innkeeper.
"Eat, then talk." Setsuna ordered, and the tension between the two heroes faded out. The gray-haired girl remained cold and distant most of the time, but that did put her in a neutral position from which she could quench the potential conflicts. Like with Kureha. And now. I wonder, what am I for her? A master? A benefactor? Or just a walking power source? Why would she even need that slave game? Oh well.
Instead of further reflection upon his relationship with the she-wolf, the healer grabbed a mug and made a not-so-little nip from it.
"Damn, when was the last time we drank it?" Keyaruga pondered, loudly slamming the table. A common masculine gesture for a whole bunch of guests there. Of course, his sheer power drew another wave of curious eyes. After all, he was a wealthy young man with two charming female companions.
"Never? I only remember us drinking wine." Freia shrugged, moving her chair closer toward her beloved. "Say `a-a`, my lord." And there she was, trying to feed a boar's rib to her man instead of at least trying out some ale.
"What's the meaning of this?" The red-haired lad stumbled a bit.
"Come on, it's for keeping pests in check. Please, amuse me a little. The last time a jerk tried pestering me, I had to kill that prick with an icicle." The princess explained with a sour face.
"Fair enough, then." And so, the man decided he should make it clear who those girls belonged to. It's not like having his princess feed him was something to complain about. Not long after, Setsuna joined their little game. And boy, was there a more extravagant way to make yourself known. Instead of showing another piece of meat toward the healer's mouth, she just vulgarly licked his cheek.
"Sauce remained." The ice warrior said, with no trace of hesitation.
"Yeah, thanks for that." Keyaruga answered, feeling himself slightly blushing. Still, with the demi-human beauty tightly grabbing his shoulder, the risk of someone flirting with them severely dropped. Well, someone could, but he'd have to leave with broken ribs at least.
"…you know, after we're done, we could visit Trimmit and see the local circus troupe…" The Hero of Healing spent his time speaking about trivial matters with his girls. Still, he also bent his ear toward the guests, listening to the rumors. Apparently, news that he and Flare had fought Bloodbringer in Ranalitta had not yet reached these lands... But something else, much more interesting, did.
"Hey man, heard of that expedition from Capital?"
"No way? Where?"
"Buranikka, they ride to Buranikka! Motherfucking demons hold our folk enslaved there. And you know what? It's led by that princess girl!"
"Uh, that creepy hoe? Those poor fuckers..."
After listening to a couple of wealthy-looking merchants, Keyaruga couldn't help but grin. His plan worked, and soon he would rejoin his love. But… she was no more. That old Norn was already bloodthirsty enough, and now there was no chance she'd just accept him in her life. And neither the man could just forgive her for what she had done to his home.
"Don't listen to them. Buranikka is a peaceful city; humans and ma-zok live in harmony there, whatever they have to say about it. I'm sure they have a wonderful culture and food out there." The red-haired lad spoke, eager to see that miraculous city with his own eyes for the first time.
"I'd like to see it. I bet it's beautiful out there." The pink-haired sorceress said, leaning on Keyaruga's shoulder. Yet, even with that, the man felt no intimacy with her. The magician remained awfully thoughtful, quite likely about her sister.
"Setsuna wants to eat there." The Ice warrior, though, cared little about the aesthetic parts of the new city. All she ever wanted was power, tasty food, and Keyaruga's affection. Either way, with all of that, the trio now craved to see and visit that unique city.
Still, the Hero of Healing couldn't help but notice just how much of an impact he had made on the world. No gods tried to help Ranalitta's slaves previously, especially with the epidemic literally desolating the city with no miraculous stranger to present it with a cure. Bloodbringer never set a foot in the Colosseum. And much more than that, Princess Norn never moved to Buranikka without the four heroes and Jioral's forces pushing the border first. Something that would normally take a year to achieve.
With all of that, Keyaruga quickly lost his advantage of knowing what awaited them ahead. But that was fine. After all, shifting that rotten world for good was the first and foremost goal for the god-chosen hero.