The sudden message she received form the DHO was a nice change of pace and scenery for Kosara. After receiving a mission to go after a rogue demon hunter, she felt strangely refreshed and wanting to spread hugs... and mostly sword slashes, destruction and piercing crossbow bolts~

The fact she was with an ally in the form of Mary with whom she barely interacted before was also interesting to the half demon. She openly studied the woman, glancing at her from time to time as if to see how she was reacting to things that happened around them or even how she simply just walked.” So, your name is Mary, right?” Kosara finally asked with a smile.” Guess we will kind of work together from time to time, so let’s be friends~ My name is Kosara.”

She said to the other woman before Nero finally finished his display of fighting prowess over the demons he was slaying. When he finished, Kosara gave him thumbs up.” NICE Style! Your powers seem hella fun too!” She said in excitement, wondering if she could ask him to spar later on. She knew Devil Triggers can manifest in multitude of different ways, but Nero’s was the only one she had heard or seen to manifest like that. Her own was rather classical one.

“Alright, I’ve heard enough, I’m going after the leader of this merry group that’s opening gates~” She whistled, pulling her headphones from a pocked of her short jeans and putting them on. The music started almost immediately as she did so.” I take him out and the gates should stop from opening up. Meanwhile I will kill any demon between met and that bastard that’s going to prove me with quite the fun now.” She giggled devilishly.

“So I’m guessing you have info on which gate was opened last and which one will be the next likely target in the vicinity? Actually nevermind…” She said with a smirk, the air around her suddenly turning violent as she activated her devil trigger even as briefly as it were. Her second sight ability allowed her to see the flow of energies. Natuarlly she could see the differences between the gates and recognized the one which was opened last even from distances. After all gates were rather surging with energy to allow transport through the realms.

“Tell them to send me the data on the possible targets on my phone anyway~ By the way it's fine if a building or two get demolished in the fight right?” She whistled and used her brief transformation to run up a wall and reach the roofs. After that she sped away, in the most likely position where the target would be as her transformation vanished and she resumed her normal body.

Midori had been at the Forge for quite some time together with Mary and Souta. Souta didn't really get into conversation with her but she didn't really mind. They would likely not have much of a conversation since they were both so different. Instead Midori watched Souta work on this weapon for Mary. She enjoyed watching since she had never seen something like this before. Meanwhile she had also gotten some food, well not some food but a lot! This gave her plenty of energy to heal quickly so she was happy she could move her arm around again in the span of over a few hours only. It was still a little hard to move completely but she was happy it was free of the cast again. One of the watchers quickly came by again informing her on a few things. She gave a happy nod at the watcher.



Midori listened to the watcher a while more and gave a confirming nod. She silently walked behind Souta after giving Mary a quick wave of goodbye. It didn't take long before they arrived at the World Tree. Midori silently took a place close by Souta, her hands packed in front of her lap. From observing she could tell that there was a taller watcher among the other watchers. She wondered if he was something special or something. She lightly peered up at him as Panoptos began to speak.

The problem with a captive audience, Lily reasoned, was that you could not necessarily guarantee their interest.

Waiting for news to arrive from the council regarding their next objective was not particularly riveting, and the near desolate Citadel itself held little in the way of entertainment.

In a flight of fancy, as she waited for news to come from the Council on their next objective, the shapeshifter had begun trying on the outfits she had bought at the stores on Earth, making use of a tall mirror she had pilfered from one of the other abandoned rooms in the fortress to admire herself. It didn’t take long for the silent task to become monotonous. She had tried on all the clothes in the stores, and even if she was free to alter her features and see how she could change to fit the ensemble with relative freedom in her own room, it was nothing she had not done before.

It was convenient that there was one she could show the clothing off to nearby.

Fenn had taken to sitting at the end of the hallway, his girth almost making him seem boxed into the tunnel. He was just far enough that he would not block the doors of the nearby rooms, but anyone walking into the hallway had to contend with the large demon’s intense stare until they left or sidled into one of the adjacent rooms.

She roped the dog into being playing audience to her little fashion show. She would walk out of the room, leaving enough of an opening to the room that the clothing and shopping bags strewn around the chamber were easily visible, do a little twirl and talk about the clothes, how she had found them and what she liked about them. Idle chatter filled the space between her room and the hallway.

“This one actually came in three different colors. I couldn’t decide which one I preferred, so I bought all of them. Give me a moment and I’ll show you.”

The dog had made to protest, irritation clear as day, but Lily simply ignored him, Rather, his aversion encouraged her. It made the little exercise infinitely more enjoyable. Soon enough, the demon had little choice but to glare at her sourly, playing along with the occasional grunt and pithy remark to the few questions she threw his way.

The creak of hinges, a rustle of shifting cloth, an exchange of words. Growing apathy in the large demon’s responses.

“I feel like something was lost when humans took to sewing with machines. This one has quite a distinctive flair to it, though. Feels very smooth too. Want to touch?”

A grunt, too close to a snore for comfort. She glanced at the hound to see its eyes closed, ears splayed back against its head.

Lily’s lip curled down. “You could at least pretend to be interested.”

The dog opened a single eye, lazily rolling it down to regard her annoyed expression. "I fail to see the point, Imp. They offer no protection, you have no need to conceal weaponry, and your shapeshifting does quick work of most of it."

"It's not about practicality, you brute,” she said with a mock, haughty voice. “Unlike some of us, I have an eye for the finer things in life."

Fenn tilted his head, one ear tilting upwards, and gave her the kind of dubious stare only a dog could pull off properly.

“Headlong is the hound in its stubborn indifference and stubborn is the hound in its headlong ignorance!” a reedy, giggling voice interrupted them, and Lily glanced down between them to see the face of a Watcher staring at them from the floor. “Fortunately, such thick headedness can prove useful.”

A large fist suddenly obscured her vision of the Watcher, and the hallway shook under the force of Fenn’s blow.

Silence returned, only to be broken by the thin laughter coming from the wall to her side. The Watcher emerged, a sneer visible on her features even through her mouthless face, and regarded the demoness.

“I set before you a quest befitting of your… talents,” the Watcher asked through a malicious chuckle, as though she had just told a joke only she understood, but in her next words, the thing’s tone sobered. “You have been called to the World Tree. Do not tarry.” Its message delivered, the Watcher disappeared into the wall once more.

Lily frowned. “Is that the Watcher that found us on Earth?”

“Aye,” Fenn growled.

“I think she’s taken a liking to you.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the dismay in the dog’s expression.

---

As they had been told, Panoptos awaited them at the World Tree. Unlike last time, where only she and Fenn had been chosen for their mission, a few other Council ‘recruits’ were assembling before the Watcher. Lily fell into place with a curious glance at the mechanical being sharing the stage with them, while Fenn settled behind her, silently towering over the others.

Once they were all gathered, Panoptos began his briefing. He explained the next seal had been found in a separate realm, and that the stranger among them was to be their guide.

She did not miss the dimming of the being’s eyes, though even as a shapeshifter she had trouble placing the emotions of a mechanical visage. Resentment, perhaps, if such beings could feel such a thing. Or perhaps it was just bored and resting what passed for eyes among its kind.

But wouldn’t it be a treat if the thing was bound against its will and decided to make our jobs harder out of spite?

Perhaps the most interesting idea was that the Seal itself was not on Earth. That particular detail surprised her. She had expected the seals heralding the End War to take place in the Third Realm to also be located within it. That was, unless this new creature heralded from some place on Earth hidden from human eyes.

She paused in her musings as Panoptos finished his explanation, pausing to field their questions. It seemed the lead Watcher would be joining them to set up the transferral of the Seal to another, undisclosed location.

A better solution than simply stationing us as guards, she mused. Which was not to say the location of a seal could not be used to bait their opponents, particularly once it was moved. If others happened upon information placing the Seal in its current location, it gave them a chance to set up a trap once it was moved.

Then again, that is only if the information placed in a young man’s head by an eldritch abomination from the Abyss can be trusted. Not that she was particularly inclined to call attention to that.

“Fenn?” she prompted, glancing behind her.

The dog looked down and shrugged ponderously, staying silent.

Lily bristled inwardly at that. It reminded her of the aloof reluctance he had displayed in the roofs of Vigrid. If the Chained Hound thought she had bargained solely for his muscle, she would need to clear that misconception. Away from prying eyes, preferably. Nevertheless, she had a question of her own.

"Why do you need protection from us?” she asked the Watcher with an almost mocking smirk. “You've shown yourself plenty capable of defending yourselves. Or, should I say, incapable of being harmed."

"You can say that. Lord Mundus will be quite pleased in the very least." grins Blair as she doesn't speak a word about what she did.

To the half-demon general, he simply frowned, not simply with her keeping him in the dark about what she did, but also to the fact that she might've done something more significant then him. But regardless, as the imp scampers away from telling him about Nabal wanting to see him, it will unfortunately have to wait for just a little longer. For now he has to go on yet another new mission...

---

It turned out the morph's information was right. There was indeed a powerful Devil Arm here, he saw it on the gang leader while he was reconning from a high position. Next was to enter, and retrieve that Devil Arm for himself. The Morph also mentioned demonic research within the Order of the Sword's headquarters... With it, the Morphs might be able to construct something, or new demons can be made back home. It was all synthetic and demonic technology, but given past encounters with this technology according to the Morphs, they were quite powerful, and could slay lesser demons on their own unless they were swarmed.

Still, that was merely an extra objective, Gideon's main one for now, was that Devil Arm.

As he enters Fortuna City, the recked and ruined place as it is, he then senses the presence of several other beings from within the nearby city location. One was almost too familiar of a scent, the other being the scent of Angels. They happened to be nearby, and possibly for the same goal in mind. Or it simply could be that they were going after the gang leader... he didn't truly know. As he treads through the ruined city, he keeps an eye out for any potential signs of the Devil Arm's location as he walks towards it's last known location.

Just then, a demon portal opens beside him, unleashing several demons from within and passing him with wrathful fury. One of the imps happens to stop by General Gideon's side.

"Fortuna City is almost captured my lord," he says with a snarl, "However, reports have come in that an Angelic force provided by the Hierarchy have recently touched down, the generals we hear being Iscah and Iacobos. Furthermore, reports of two Demon Hunters have also been spotted in the same area, though we cannot identify their names at this time."

"Thank you for the update," Gideon replies as his blades began to spiral around him, "However, my mission is more on the stealth side... or so I believe coming from Mundas. Keep pressing the attack and wipe the Angel and DHO forces out of this city, and kill anyone that gets in our way."

"With pleasure my lord." hisses the imp with glee as his squad began to head towards the opposing forces from beyond.

With that, Gideon turns towards a nearby alley way, keeping himself out of sight from the enemy, and getting slowly closer to his target... or so he assumes.

---

As soon as Kushiel was healed in the church, and as soon as he began trying to search for the third seal, he was ordered to be called back by his superiors and was given another mission. Here he is accompanied by Lumen Sage, Silas Wolfram, to the Backwoods Cathedral. Their mission is to investigate the incident happening here, this "worship" and "ascension". In short, their objective was to kill heretics and demons, while helping those who were truly pious. And this time, the Archangel will have a better ally to help him fight, compared to the Champion that is, despite him doing fairly well until his untimely demise. As they approached the cathedral, an unsettling fog began to set in. It didn't feel natural, thick, yet thin, like an illusion, along with a slowly increasing stench of blood, and pretty soon there was a slight burn to it, charred like ash. It made Kushiel's skin shiver and his blood turn cold, being on high alert within this place.

They then came upon a graveyard, with a long path leading up to a cathedral they can make out in the silhouette. It also seemed to be night time, even though when they set out, it was broad daylight... Something was definitely not right here. They both should know it. As they entered the gates, they could see flashes of fire in the distance, dancing flames, and as they drew closer, it was a lady fighting what looked like monstrosities. Before either of them could rush to her aid, the battle was over, charred black and brittle. This was likely the source of the charred smell they began to pick up.

She turned quickly towards Silas and Kushiel, and after a tense moment she made an exhale of relief.

"Oh man, I thought you two were more of them.", she said, her flames put out as she began to speak.

"I know because you two look very out of place here. That fancy white-gold garb and... And you just look really pretty not gonna lie. I'm Fiametta. So who're you two? I don't think you're here for this strange cult going on here... I know I'm not", she was very chipper, for someone who just fought eldricht monstrosities. They looked unlike any demons these two in their careers, both long and moderately experienced, had ever seen. Even Kushiel had to admit he didn't see these types of demons before.

"We aren't." Kushiel kindly explains, "Rather we're here to see what's going on. Oh, and I'm Archangel Kushiel. And he is~"

But before he could announce his partner, an elderly groan was heard from behind them.

"Silas."

Kushiel turns around to see a rather old man walk towards the two. He looked at the archangel for a few seconds, as if trying to identify him, and then to the woman.

"Greetings Fiametta. Archangel Kushiel." the man greets, ignoring Silas as if he knew him already, "My name is Akoni. I'm here under the authority of the DHO to investigate..." He glanced down at the charred, blackened bodies of the creatures that had been recently slain. "Probably those things."

"So you're a demon hunter," replies the archangel with a sigh, "I guess us four are on the same page. According to Fiametta, it seems that there's some sort of cult happening around here. We're here to investigate what exactly is going on here as well."

He then glances at the dark corpses of the bizarre-looking shadow creatures.

"Do you know what these creatures are?" he asks Fia as he inspects them visually, "For the hundreds and thousands of years that I've been working within Heaven, I've never come across demons such as these..."

Mary walked in silence to the center of the city with her new partner. Originally, Mary was planning on taking a trip to the Undersky, although she wasn't looking forward to it. Lily and Fenn were there, so she jumped at the chance to do something else. According to the watcher she had sent off to tell the Order to send the soul off to Regalia, something was happening in Fortuna. A couple of the other watchers took interest too, so she was able to transfer over and deal with this instead. There was also the secondary benefit that she would be able to pick up her weapon while she was here, and after everything was done, maybe visit Hunter.

Looking over to her ally, Mary noticed she was being stared at. The DHO member seemed to want to study her, looking her over, seeing how she was reacting. Something about it was a bit unsettling. She was about to tell the woman to stop, but as they neared Nero, she introduced herself. Mary curtsied, and said, "Yes, I'm Mary. Could you please stop staring at me?"

Kosara didn't get a chance to respond, as the two were interrupted by Nero's amazing display of skill. He blew through the demons at the gate with a blinding speed, amazing strength, and impressive skill. After that, Nero caught them up fully on the situation. He and the Order knights were staking out at the church, but somebody needed to shut the gates, and someone else needed to stop the gang that was opening them in the first place. Nero also said he was glad too see her. That was nice.

Kosara took off, being odd all the while, and even revealing her Devil Trigger. So she was a half demon? That would explain her gleeful attitude to murder. As the woman left, Mary sighed in relief. Now she could talk to Nero. "It's also very nice to see you, Nero. I'll take care of the gates, which one do you recommend I tackle first? Also, that new weapon, would it happen to be here?" She asked. She was also curious as to if Hunter was in the church himself or if he had evacuated, but that could wait for later. She had the people of Fortuna to protect.

After arriving at the destination, she saw for herself how strange the area was. It's weather cycles and sense of time was also beyond warp and according to the morph's, this was all done by a lone demon. If that was the case, that's the kind of power Lord Mundus would want to have on his side, which made this mission ever the more important.

However, it's going to be a pain getting in. It isn't something like an overly powerful enemy, but more along the lines of irritation and unnecessary delays like how it was last time. They were unruly, maddened and completely mindless, well, they had to have been if they attacked her of all people. So while she isn't big on sneaking around, she dislikes having her time wasted fighting trash even more so.

Since it was decided for her to go in through the back, according to the information given by the morph's, there seemed to be a garden here that she could move through to get to the cathedral's backdoor. Picking the path she felt the least presence from, she headed right. Whether she'd succeed in avoiding fodder, remains to be seen.

With interlaced fingers the first among Watchers awaited the replies of those agents assigned to him. Very little patience lay available to him; half of the queries he expected to be inane, and the other half he just knew would be attempts by the more egotistical members of his little tour group to mock him. He could understand disdain for the lesser servants of the Charred Council, since most of them commanded comparatively small power or authority but kept their inflated pride fit to burst nonetheless, but Panoptos wielded real strength and commanded real respect. With this in mind several of his eyes shone an emerald gaze on Wrath, the Council's sole active Nephilim and the first to speak up.

”Have you no faith in my abilities? Such a complicated and dangerous arcane task would take a troupe of magic-inclined humans, demons, or even angels days to complete, but I can have it done in about fifteen minutes. Of course, every second can seem like an eternity when under attack. Not balking at the prospect, are you?” In such a manner Panoptos turned the seed of doubt back around to land squarely at the feet of his questioner.

He did not bother rewarding the comment of Midori with a reply. Her meager utterance seemed more like self-reassurance or an exercise to make sure she understood than any sort of real confusion on her part, so one of the others could reply to her more or less rhetorical question in the affirmative if they felt so inclined. Panoptos, however, need not acknowledge it.

Now, the demoness called Lily brought up an intriguing question. Could it be that she figured it out? In the domain of the Council, its servants were untouchable. Even in realms that they held at least some sway, it would take considerable arcane ability to damage a Watcher in any respect. In a remote and forbidden world like the Undersky, however, the Council's protection did not hold quite so firm. Actually, Panoptos yearned for a chance to 'stretch his muscles', so to speak, and make sure he hadn't let any of his own abilities stagnate while he relied on his masters' protection. It would not do, however if one of the agents of the Council, particularly one of the more ornery ones, got an inkling of this situation. Panoptos believed wholeheartedly that he could take both Lily and Fenn on at once if need be, and he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that a truly nightmarish fate would await them should they betray the Council at any level, but like all Watchers Panoptos despised pain.

These thoughts swirled around in his head before he clasped his clawed hands behind his back and leaned down toward Lily from above, like a teacher bending down over a young pupil. The very gesture reeked of condescension, but Panoptos' tone held fairly neutral as he replied, ”You may consider it a test of your abilities. Of course, I could not be touched, but if my concentration were to waver I'll wager you lot would be unhappy indeed with the results. So try not to let me down, would you?”

After this, no poignant concerns remained, so Panoptos wafted toward the World Tree. In a depression in the wood, an aperture that might have been a portal appeared to be boarded up. Strips of interwoven bark covered in etched symbols shrouded it like a curtain. He beckoned to armored Uhelei. ”If you would?” With as much reluctance as he could without seeming expressly disobedient, the techno-organic warrior made his way to the barrier and laid a hand on it. A small light in the center of his chest, just above where the pectorals would be on a human, pulsed a brighter green. In response the symbols lit up, and the next moment the bark crumbled into dust to reveal a swirling yellow-tinged vortex. Panoptos appeared suddenly by Uhelei's side and shoved him into the portal. His eyes leered at the agents of the Council. ”Come along, now.” Then he disappeared as well.

On the other side of the portal lay a bizarre realm. At first, the new arrivals would experience spinning heads and shaky legs, their inner compasses and senses of balance completely reversed. This feeling of disorientation soon became apparent: this place was upside down. On an ordinary world, gravity drew everything toward the planet's center, but here the exact opposite was true. In the Undersky, gravity pulled away from the earth toward the golden atmosphere and presumably out into space. Here, all life existed on stalactites clinging to the ceiling of a cavern with no bottom.

Fortunately, this disorientation did not last as the agents grew accustomed to it with merciful speed. Souta approached the edge of the stony landing upon which his group arrived and peered into a yellow abyss. He gave a low whistle. ”Pheeew...this place is nuts.”

Panoptos gestured to a path stretching out from the landing over the abyss, which wound like a snake through the air with no visible support toward other pillars of stone attached to a rocky ceiling above. ”No time for sightseeing, toymaker. We're headed that-a-ways, right after we get through with the welcoming committee.”

The Watcher's words elicited a furrowed brow from the smith, not just because of the belittlement thrown his way. Rather than questioning him about it, he occupied himself looking around, suddenly wary of some kind of imminent threat. Sure enough, he spotted something—a strange and unsightly form attached to the roof above. As it detached, the shape resolved to be three separate creatures, monstrous beasts both animal and machine with wicked claws. The echoing screeches they uttered sounded like metal being torn apart, and Souta shuddered as his Trawlers appeared in his hands in streams of rushing water. ”Okay then. I'm ready to scrap.”

A test of our abilities. It was a weak, yet somehow obvious answer. To expect the council to trust them all immediately would be folly, even if they were all but ensured loyalty in return for their generous offer of continued existence. But even then, something about it didn't sit well with Lily.

She had been given no reason to believe that the Watchers could even be touched by anything; might or magic, and so when the supposedly most powerful of them all required them to keep enemies at bay? Not to mention his claim that getting hit, even if such an attack would just go right through them. Whe Watchers that had been 'hit' by Fenn's slaps and half-hearted attacks up until now had shown no signs of even noticing them.

That means that he's either telling the truth and it's just a test of our abilities, or there's something more to it, and the Watchers can be harmed. The only question is how. Lily pursed her lips as Panoptos went about getting the portal opened, with the aid of the sentient tin can. It was a question worth pondering, but, for now she had a task to do.

She glanced behind her at Fenn, cocking her head towards the portal before she entered herself.

Immediately after entry, a sense of vertigo assaulted her senses. A profound sense of wrongness came over her, and the source was revealed as gravity pulled her up, rather than down. She barely caught herself with her hands, tumbling gracelessly to her feet, gritting her teeth as dizziness continued to assault her senses for a few moments afterwards.

Her senses about her once more, the Demoness glanced around, and suddenly understood why this place was called the Undersky. She'd glanced enough about the concept of Mass and Gravitational force in Earth's science books to know how gravity functioned, but evidently the Undersky had decided to well and truly shit on all forms of continuity with other planes, and so had decided that you were repelled by great masses of matter, instead of actually making sense.

Her silent rant about the lack of logical physics in the Undersky was cut short as the sound of creaking, screeching metal reached her ears. She looked up in time to witness the arrival of three beasts, more machine than anything alive.

She didn't even hesitate.

Right eye and scar lighting up pre-empted her body bursting into flames, body remade into that of a fiery manifestation of herself, hovering a handspan above the ground. "FENN!" She shouted before firing an explosive orb of concentrated fire magic, aiming for the very middle of the three beasts.

Wrath laughed heartily at Panoptos' comment, shaking his head. "Oh I'm sure you'd just LOVE to see a Nephilim run from a fight, wouldn't you?" Still shaking slightly with mirth, he followed the watcher to the boarded up part of the tree and frowned. The Nephilim had done his share of research on the World Tree when he was still wandering the multiverse, since he did need to use it to reach some worlds, but none of that research had indicated that this was even remotely possible. It indicated that either no one else had known about it, or the Council didn't want their charges knowing they could shut out their agents from their realm. In either case, it called question to just how absolute the power the Council held was.

However, before he could take that train of thought, the emerald green Watcher had their guide, as he was called, opened the way for them and Panoptos lead them through. Wrath was not far behind, but before he could really get his bearings upon exiting, he was hit with a wave of nausea and vertigo struck him at the exact same time, forcing the Nephilim down onto one knee while he fought through the sensation, which lasted several moments. Oh damn. Why did I sign up for this again? Oh right, to not get hunted like a dog. He focused on not throwing up the food he'd managed to eat while waiting for their next assignment, and the feeling eventually passing on it's own.

He stood up as it vanished and looked around, noting that the others were just starting to recover as well, however, before any real questions could be asked, the sound of screeching metal sounded above them and Wrath looked up, already reaching a hand up to pull Rage Bringer free of it's resting place on his back. A burst of heat caused him to pause as the demoness known as Lilly sent a fireball sailing at one while calling out to the hell hound. "Oh no you don't." Wrath withdrew his sword quickly and moved to intercept the one of the right, swinging his great sword around in a vicious arc towards the creatures head.

Being accompanied by an Archangel was still quite the novel experience, even though it had happened to Silas at least once before. Hopefully this mission would give him the opportunity to communicate what he'd done and why to his superiors in Heaven, and perhaps have the word spread back to his Sage brethren. It wouldn't do to be traipsing around the world for the Charred Council and not inform those who really mattered. He turned sidelong at his current traveling companion. He didn't look like much, if he was being honest with himself- young in appearance, though that was anticipated for an Angel. His garb was what truly stuck out, almost like a school uniform.

Interesting, mused Silas. Not that it matters so much what he looks like, so long as he can help with this... situation. He looked around once again, feeling a sense of unease at his surroundings. Oh, he'd seen worse before, of that there was no doubt, but there was an unnatural cast to this place- the mist, the stench, the rapid onset of night... something wasn't right here. Good thing, then, that he and Kushiel had both been sent there to deal with it. He patted the new weight in his coat- Polaris, he'd dubbed it. A new weapon to wield against the forces of darkness.

Perhaps I should thank that Abyssal for giving me the idea... assuming our next meeting is more civil than our last. He paused as he noticed firelight in the distance, glanced at Kushiel again, and hurried onward to aid whomever might need their help. He needn't have worried so, as it turned out, as the woman ahead finished her work against... whatever these creatures were, quite decisively. He took another step forward as the woman turned sharply toward them, then relaxed as she noted their appearance.

"Oh man, I thought you two were more of them", she said, dousing the flames that surrounded her.

Handy trick.

"I know because you two look very out of place here. That fancy white-gold garb and... And you just look really pretty not gonna lie. I'm Fiametta. So who're you two? I don't think you're here for this strange cult going on here... I know I'm not."

He opened his mouth to answer, before his companion spoke for him. That rankled him slightly, but he let it slide- the Archangel did outrank him, after all. Then, of course, there was someone else about, behind him.

"Silas."

Silas turned toward his name being called, then inclined his head in greeting.

"Akoni. Good to see you." The mage didn't respond further to his greeting, and instead introduced himself to the other two here. Understandable. When the topic of the conversation turned to the creatures, Silas thought about Fiametta, and her weapon of choice. He turned toward her.

"In addition to what they are, perhaps you could give us some insight into their nature? I notice you use fire- is that a personal preference, or do the creatures have a weakness to such?" He tugged on the awareness of Kazfiel and Sraosha, getting them ready and alert, should he have need of summoning them.

The two angels descended upon the city, one wreathed in flame, the other in lightning. Though they seemed to be on their own for the moment, they had access at any moment to a small but reasonable number of other angels to assist them in battle, not to mention the additional units Iacobos could summon in at any time. Despite what such a level of reinforcement might suggest, they had not been given any specific missions beyond eliminating the demonic threat within the city... a goal somewhat hampered by the need to find a way into the city in the first place.

Alright, Iacobos, Iscah stated- mentally, of course- as they landed on the outskirts of the place, the easiest way to get into this forsaken city would be via a demon gate. We could make an effort of brute-forcing our way in under our own steam, naturally, but that could well go wrong rapidly, especially if we get dumped somewhere random by such a gate.

That was established in the briefing, her partner responded bluntly. That said, I think the best way to find a gate of that sort would just be circumnavigating around the place until we find something. Unless you can sense some degree of activity that I can't?

Not specifically, no. The whole place reeks of Inferno even from here, though. How sickening. Though the Grace's mask of marble didn't show it, her true face snarled up in disgust, the emotion felt and reflected by Iacobos in turn. I can't wait to cleanse it. Shall we?

Let's. United in purpose, the two set off at a rapid pace befitting their physical prowess, in search of whatever gate would allow them access to the city of Fortuna proper.

"Kosara huh? Well we can talk about introductions later. There should be three gates. The main gate, the port gate, and the eastern gate. You should start with the port gate, demons are pouring in there from Fortuna Castle... The eastern gate should be next, and save the main gate for last, unless you want to get swarmed from all sides. Also sure, if you think it'll help you do what you do Mary", he suggested. They can either start with the eastern or port gate. The eastern gate is obvious as to where it is, eastern part of town, and main gate was seen on the way here. The port gate was definitely small, it sealed off the port, which had a tunnel leading to Fortuna Castle, a castle in a frigid climate.

"Anyways, I don't know where that gang leader has gone, up until this whole town when to shit I was chasing him. He's a real good runner I'll give him that...", Nero seemed to be a bit irritated about that, still, this meant trying to assassinate the gang leader would be the best option. Unfortunately he could not give Kosara any info on his location...

"But, he's not far behind his gang members, just see if you can find a bunch of them. They should usually lead you right to him", but at least she has this bit of info to get started.

@BCTheEntity

The pair came upon the Eastern gate, a clean gate that went into a nice stretch of road, no landmarks around it whatsoever, so it wasn't any special kind of gate. The main gate on the other part of town was much flashier definitely, so that must be the main gate. Still, they only needed a way in and this was their ticket. They got reports from one of their angels earlier that a smaller way into the town existed, but it was smaller, and further away. Considering the pair's size, the eastern gate would be the best option. The first thing to do was to clear the crowd of Scarecrows that were rushing into town and blocking the way. There seemed to be quite a number, and it definitely won't stop, so they only needed to clear a path and keep going.

@Lmpkio

Gideon was on the trail of something, or someone. He heard some talking around the corner... Humans? He peered over and saw just that, a bunch of scoundrels breaking into stores and taking what they could. If he remembered the Morphs' reports, these were part of the gang whose leader he was to hunt down and relieve him of his weapon. So should he brutalize them and interrogate them, tail them, or something other...? Stealth was what he said he would prefer for this mission, but it would be quite simple to catch these completely normal humans and interrogate them for what he needed. Still, it wasn't like the area was clear too. The Morph warned him of angel presence, and that demon hunters were in the area too.

---

Fiametta seemed to be a little jovial, but she avoided looking at the monstrosities she had slain earlier. She seemed to be covering up her emotions a little. Though soon she was asked about her powers,

"Oh, this? It's a personal preference I guess. Holy flame, I got it from my mother, channeled with dance. It's especially effective against anything demonic, the fact that my fire burned these things away quite well means the powers here are definitely demonic, but they don't match any demons in any archive I've ever seen", she began.

"I believe that these are demon-made demons, using humans as a base... While I hope I'm wrong there's... A lot of evidence", what she had just said was quite disturbing, but as soon as Silas, Akoni and Kushiel looked at the charred corpses from earlier, all the grotesque bits were burned away, leaving a wide-eyed screaming face without pupils. These were... Humans? At least, they were human once.

"I've... Killed a lot of them, but I like to think I had rid them of their suffering. This all started as some kind of cult, apparently this state they described is "ascending", but obvious to me it's just some demon tricking people", she explained.

"I've actually been here for quite some time, looking around and investigating, but I believe there may be some survivors too, so just short of you guys getting here I was going to go right in there and see if I can rescue them. Maybe if I understood these circumstances better I'd be able to find more demons like this tricking people".

@I-Am-X

"Eyes... Eyes to see beyond... To ascend... Hehehahahahahehehahaeahehaehaehaehaahaheeeee... Hehe... Yes... I see it... I'm almost there...", a raving madman. So... These were probably human... What beheld to Blair was a man with living, writhing tumors on his head, covering his eyes and entire skull, these tumors were a sickly white with pink flesh, each ending of the pores would open and occasionally vomit some kind of disgusting liquid, but all the same they seemed to feast at seemingly nothing... They were hungry, they seemed to react to sound and any stimuli besides vision. Ironic he would talk about seeing, yet it seemed as if this thing could not see, only hear. As soon as she made another step, the humanoid... Thing, turned towards the sound.

"Is it? Is it more? Food? I'm so hungry...", slowly the eldricht horror began to move towards where Blair had decided to stay... This side path was certainly much less populated, but now she realized why... This thing was here... She noticed corpses in the corners not far off. It had been feasting off of others of it's kind... She didn't move an inch, what was this... Fear? A demon feeling fear? No, this was something else. Not fear... But disgust. Should she stay in hiding? Or should she try and slay it?

Akoni ignored Silas's greeting. He did not reciprocate the feelings that it was "good" to see him. Of all his potential allies, Silas was by far the one he was most disappointed to run into outside of a Council mission. Still, he had already worked with the sage once before, so if Akoni had to go into new territory and investigate this unknown threat it was good that he had an associate to work with he already had some experience with.

The old mage remained silent for a good few seconds, first as Kushiel established the base information Akoni already knew, primarily that some sort of cult was known to be in the area. The archangel then went on to speak of how he had never seen demons like these in his extended lifespan, a claim which the old demon hunter found difficult to believe, but made no mention of it. Silas then asked Fiametta about her fire, a topic which grated Akoni's nerves. Holy flame, mid-tier fire magic, long since mastered by the human even if he was out of practice. A Lumen Sage like Silas should have known at least that much. Thinking on it, Akoni realized that his physical body was now beyond a simple fix that proper exercise and training could provide. If he was going to be of critical use in this war, then he would need to regain his old magic. The elderly man made a mental note to practice his own fire magic again when the time was right.

Akoni had to hold back an audible sigh of relief when Fiametta brought the discussion back on topic, being that of the strange and unusual demons she had immolated not too long ago. When she brought up her own theory that these things were made from human beings, he decided to finally interject. "That's my analysis as well. I'm surprised none of you have seen these before; there is precedence. The particular brand of demons are not one I have seen with my own eyes, but it's not an unheard of ritual. It wasn't that long ago that the Order of the Sword was converting diehard members into demons with the promise of angelic ascension, though in that case the subjects maintained their free will. Not to mention, the package fit the description as they at least looked like angels. It's hardly a stretch of the imagination to conclude that there's a lesser form of the ritual that would rob the subject of their soul and free will in the process."

Silas cringed slightly as he realized what was so odd about the dead creatures at his feet, grimacing at the dead bodies, with their wide-eyed, screaming expressions. Monstrous... He called Kazfiel and Sraosha to his side, his hands clenching into fists. He glanced over at Akoni, who was still pointedly ignoring him for some reason. He ignored the old mage, preferring not to get himself caught up in such a childish situation, and turned back to the demonic-hybrid corpse.

"I've... heard of things like this. Never seen them in person, though," he said, speaking generally to everyone present. "In this case, it's been very crudely done, growing the demonic flesh from the human like some kind of cancer. It's consuming them, rather than changing them like some other methods I've heard of. It's disgusting, is what it is." He turned to Fiametta, manifesting Pleiades floating in the air behind him.

"All right, first things first. This cult- is there a building, or even an area, that they center on or congregate around for their meetings? It would be advantageous for us if we could finish them all in one fell swoop, or at least come close enough that we can mop up the rest more easily. Secondly, we should rendezvous with your associates, whomever you came here with- it will be easier if we can all organize and plan together, as a group. And we should do it quickly; every second we waste is another second this cult could mutate someone else, or their... abominations could hurt innocent people."

Fenn listened quietly to the conversation, bored eyes surveying the smaller beings arrayed before him. He himself had no questions he wished to voice. Those relating to the mission itself would become evident in due time. An honest answer could not be expected to come from the lead Watcher for the rest.

Aye, he was convinced the many-eyed specter heading the expedition would deny any sort of vulnerability regardless of its existence. What fool would willingly entrust this motley group with any information that could be used to harm its kind?

The answer it gave to the Imp did not disappoint in this regard. It still managed to irk him. He and the Imp had been sent to face an army of angels and cut off its head. He could not speak for the rest of those gathered here, but if that first mission was not a test meant to gauge their usefulness, he knew not what to make of it.

There was a reason for their presence that seemed more reasonable Fenn’s mind. It was no secret that those tasked with finding the location of another Seal of the Apocalypse had run into the snake that had destroyed the first one. The Watcher could not protect what had already been removed. If the enemy had come across the same information they had, preventing this Seal from sharing in the fate of the first one fell to them. The spindly thing had failed to acknowledge the possibility, choosing to make light of them instead.

It irritated him enough to make him entertain the idea of turning on Panoptos the moment they took their first step out of the Citadel.

Regrettably, fantasizing was as far as that went. Small acts of rebellion were tolerated as long as they failed to bear fruit, but the moment he succeeded in wounding a central agent of the Council, as long as the Imp’s aims aligned with theirs, he would be going against their agreement.

Instead, he focused on the task at hand, following the group into the World Tree. A brief spell of nausea struck the demon as it passed through the realms. His nose and ears twitched at the smells and sounds of a new world. His eyes blinked, looking out into the distance, to the large stalactites that lined the ceiling of the enormous cavern they were in and the dizzying shape of what he could only identify as the horizon illuminated by the light coming from the numerous cliffs and ravines running through the floor, but did not think terribly about the implications. As long as he could exist in a realm, the specifics mattered little to the warrior, and he quickly regained his bearings.

A sound like cracking rock drew Fenn’s attention, and he craned his neck upwards just as the lead Watcher revealed the presence of enemies. The dog tensed as he caught sight of the beasts on the ceiling. True to their lead’s predictions, metallic ridges and carapaces lined the beasts’ figures as though they were machines. The sounds they made as they detached from the roof were loud and obnoxious.

Fenn began drawing forward, a bass growl reverberating in his chest. The portal must have dropped them into these things’ territory, as he could not imagine hungry predators attacking so many unknown prey so readily, or belting out roars to warn—

His musings were interrupted by the sudden sight of the imp setting herself a flame and, without a shred of hesitation, sent a plume of fire into the midst of the creatures.

A bark of harsh laughter escaped him, and the hound propelled itself forward with eager eyes even as Lily’s lips formed his name. Good. There was no need to think for such a thing. If the way was blocked, the obstacle need only be removed. If a presence offended, nothing more was needed to let the blood flow.

Fenn ploughed through the explosion’s shockwave as though it was merely a light breeze and lunged towards the nearest beast with an outstretched claw. He had a mind to pin one of them and see what kinds of entrails would spill from a mechanical beast.

For the moment, the wooziness and nausea troubling Souta prevented him from taking action, but his allies pulled themselves together quickly enough to make the first move in this sudden skirmish. Even as they surged forth to attack, the smith was determined to recover and lend a hand. Water swirled around one of his hooks, and he lay the metal against his forehead to douse himself in the refreshing liquid. In his mind, athletes always soaked their faces with water whenever they needed a quick pick-me-up, and this line of thinking seemed to work for him. Though he still felt a little light-headed, he shook himself off and prepared to join the assault.

Of course, by this time the battle had already begun. First off the start line was Lily, wreathed in a startlingly ferocious blaze. A tremendous amount of power concentrated into a singularity of destructive heat between her fingertips, which she then hurled at the enemy. Unfortunately, they felt that heat as well—from the outset, anyone with half a brain could tell that this would not be an easy fight. One of them recklessly hurled itself away from the incoming firebomb, landing on its side and rolling back to its feet without losing momentum. Its opposite on the right simply pounced, crashing toward Wrath. Lily's fireblast hit the remaining monster straight-on, however, and the violent blossom of red and orange consumed it.

But when the short-lived inferno faded away, the creature still stood, though its metal armor had partially melted and its head looked like a scrapheap. On its head, the two horns glowed with heat, but rather than dying down like the heat of a blacksmith's newly-smelted metal, it increased in intensity. All at once, the brilliant, fiery light in its horns vacuumed into its body, and something within the creature changed explosively. Ports blew open all over the thing, and from them gushed streaming flames. When it opened its brutalized mouth, napalm dripped out like saliva. The picture of a charging bull, it careened toward Lily, intent on mashing her into the stony ground.

At the same time, the rightmost beast scrapped with Wrath. As any good creature would, the monster did not simply stand there and take his punishment, but ducked and dodged around with deceptive speed. It waited for the Nephilim to leave an opening, which the use of his enormous and slow-moving sword couldn't avoid forever. When an opportunity presented itself, it punished him for it. In a controlled circumstance, such a cunning creature would have made for an excellent punching-bag with which to improve oneself, but here it presented a deadly threat. Of course, Wrath's physical ability and martial prowess did not leave the beast unscathed. Though swords by nature found a hard counter in metal armor, which could not be cut, Wrath quickly grew better at finding and exploiting chinks in his adversary's shell. Beneath the metal exterior and under-armor were masses of cables and wires which, bunched-up, passed for black flesh. Soon, the creature discovered that continuous damage to its flesh was starting to slow it down, which it could not allow to happen. It hopped back, issuing a low growl as it did so, before bulling forward in a vicious attempt to gore Wrath on its horns.

Monster met monster with tremendous force, but neither the creature nor Fenn gave up an inch of ground. As one might expect of the machine-animal, it was both extremely heavy and strong. Fenn's own remarkable strength outmatched his enemy's, but the situation played out like an elephant versus a bulldozer. One could not truly move the other. In this scenario, Fenn's wits would be the deciding factor.

That, and one other thing. Bellowing like a man possessed, Souta charged in from the side. His Trawlers latched onto the edges of the creature's armor on the opposite side, and with two big tugs the smith vaulted onto the top of the creature. The next moment the chainhooks ensnared the corners of the beast's mouth, causing it to rumble in anger. A series of clicks sounded out from inside its head, and very abruptly its horns tilted up and back, moving from a forward-facing to an up-facing position. The bladelike natural weapons pivoted with such speed that Souta was caught off guard and forced to bring up his water-covered chains to block. The impact stung his hands but did no other damage, though the instant chain met horn the latter began to glow a brilliant blue. Ports popped open all along its body as its core began to shine with the same light. "Yeah? Nice try!" The adrenaline rushing through Souta's veins prevented him from immediately connecting the dots, but by a stroke of luck he switched from his Trawlers to his warhammer Escre, with which he intended to bash away at the creature's face and hopefully give Fenn a good opportunity. He did not take notice of the pressure building inside the monster's body.

Wrath, having face enough enemies to know better, was still somewhat surprised when the creature opted to fight cleverly instead of tanky as it's body suggested. The fight was fierce, with Wrath gaining plenty of new cuts and scratches as they went. If he failed with a slash or thrust, he got hit in the side or front. However, in return, he started figuring out where the creature's weaknesses were, inflicting wounds to it as he received in turn. Locking Rage Bringer with the creature's horns briefly, barely managing, he gave a once over where he knew he'd found weaknesses and nodded to himself. Time to change gears. Pushing the creature to one side and knocking it off balance momentarily upon it being forced to turn around, he sheathed his great sword and swapped out for the bladed Wrath Dealers, the gauntlets' blades appearing as he once more closed with the beast.

When he swiped at him from the left, he juked right, coming in and punishing it's mistake with a quick slice to a previous wound, both making it deeper and wider. This was met with a small headbutt into Wrath's gut, stumbling him back. The beast followed through with it's momentum, making another swipe at the Nephilim while he recovered. Grunting, he rolls under it and delivers an uppercut to the creature's jaw, knocking it even further back than before. He rolled his shoulder, the impact having jarred his shoulder a little, before sliding into a ready stance and jumping back into the fray.

Mary nodded as she mentally took down the order she should close the gates in. Port, east, main. She also took note of the fact that, if she saw a large congregation of gang members, than the gang leader was probably near them. With that, she nodded to her boss and quickly ran over to the church.

As she entered, a few colleagues and friends greeted her, shaking her hand and hugging her. Hunter, too, was there, and the two hugged for the first time in a long time. They all asked her where she had been, to which she responded that she was on some business not specifically related to the Order, but had enough free time to help out at home. After a light conversation with Hunter, unboxed her new weapon, which he was holding for her.

Mary looked it over as she walked out of the church and began trekking to the port. It was a long jitte, a tool useful for striking blows and deflecting attacks. It was also quite lustrous and reflective, not a spec of dirt or rust on it. Mary was quite impressed with it, overall, and apparently, it had a special ability, to vibrate. Admittedly, she did want to test it out, and almost hoped some demons came at her just so she could see what it was capable of.

Her attack impacted with a satisfying boom, and although she hadn't hit all three as intended, one was enough. As the Nephilim and Fenn took on the other two beasts, Lily carefully watched the third with narrowed eyes. It emerged damaged, certainly, but not as much as she had intended. Fire and heat was seemingly sucked into it, a glance upwards revealed the most probable cause: The horns, glowing brighter and brighter like heated metal.

So fire won't work. Not anymore at least. A grimace flashed across her face, noting the streams of fire eruption from all over its body. Assimilation? She guessed. There was little time to find out, however, as the beast abruptly started its charge towards her, the sound of metal grinding against metal accompanying ever movement of its monstrous body.

A dozen options ran through Lily's mind in fraction of a second: Continue her fiery assault, meet it head-first with brute force, dodge and hail down blows, and many more. Each was discarded the instant they were conceived, neither being efficient enough. But combine them? That was a possibility.

The beast was almost upon her. Her gaze sharpened and she leapt into the air, her body changing even as she did. Fiery skin became scales, her slender form growing thick with muscle; wings and tail erupted from her back, clawed feet forming, legs becoming digitigrade. With slitted, draconic, eyes she gazed down as the beast charged at the place where she had previously been, too much momentum to stop itself.

It served her well.

With a powerful beat of her wings, Lily propelled herself downwards at terminal velocity. Like mist coalescing, a large warhammer formed in her hands, poised for striking even as it came to be. Roaring in defiance, Lily descended upon the beast. A sound like a thunderclap split the air at the moment of impact, followed by the dull thud of the metallic being hitting the ground, it's head having been caught between the draconic Lily and the very ground underneath them.

The Demoness stood up from where she had fallen, the thing's momentum haven sent her rolling when she hit it. Nevertheless, it was prone for the moment, wounded. Armoured it may be, but when faced with weapons designed to tear through armour, its advantaged was nullified.

As Gideon walks down the winding alleyways and side streets, he suddenly picks up a conversation coming from around the corner. It sounded like the voices were coming from the mouths of mortal humans. What could they be doing in a war torn battlefield like this? Curious, the half-demon quietly peaks from behind the corner to check it out. Indeed, what he saw were humans breaking into stores and taking what they could. Thieves. They must be gathering all the supplies they can from the now abandoned stores. They were desperate, and they happen to wear clothes that affiliated with a gang of some sort.

Normally, the general would ignore these folk, being easily able to kill them in one swift strike and not being worth his time, however... their insignia was what caught him. It was the exact one that the Morphs described to him before he was sent on this mission. If he remembered their reports, these were part of the gang whose leader he was to hunt down and relieve him of his weapon. But it seems as if these were simple goons. He can't see and identify the leader of the group.

The question now is how to find this information. He could either simply trail them and eventually be lead into their base of operations, and then having the ability to surprise them... or he can brutally interrogate the goons, murdering them after he has what he needs. At the same time, he must be aware that it could draw attention to any surrounding Angels or Demon Hunters if they happen to be within the area. So it was either choosing the boring way, or the fun way. Decisions decisions...

Eventually, he finally makes his decision.

With a swift and fluid motion, he rolls into sight and pulls out Lucifer's Wings, and fires upon the goons. Two of his bullets immediately strike the two closest guys, with a surprised call to action being initiated by the other members. But even as they tried to fight back, it was simply futile. As a woman begins firing a machine gun, the demon uses his super reflexes and speed to dodge the bullet rain, ultimately putting a well placed shot right at her forehead. Three down... four to go.

Another member issues a battle cry as he attempts to knock Gideon down to the ground, only for his neck to get slit as a sharp point of the general's gun rips through his neck clean. Then with relative ease, he shoots down two other goons with a bullet going in one's heart, and another into the man's groin. It was indeed a brutal sight to behold, with blood pouring out of their bodies as their mangled corpses lie dead on the ground. Only one goon was left, cowering in fear as he begins shaking in his knees, sweat gushing from his forehead. He suddenly drops the gun and attempts to flee the area, only to find a hand gripping tightly at his throat. He finds himself being lifted off the ground, eventually meeting eye-to-eye with the Inferno general's red and soulless eyes.

"GAH! G-GAK!" croaks the goon from the grip, "P-PLEASE, DON'T K-KILL ME!"

Gideon eyes his opponent coldly for a second before asking his question.

"Where is your base, mortal?" he asks, growling at him.

There was some struggle, as if the person was trying to croak something out.

"T-The base?" the goon croaks in question, "W-What base? We don't have one!"

Gideon's eyes squint in annoyance as he throws him to the ground, having an energy sword form and pierce his right arm. The man screams in agony as he attempts to get it out with his opposite hand, only to have it be stomped by the general boot. Gideon bends down and grabs his head by the hair.

"I said... WHERE IS YOUR BASE?" Gideon booms more aggressively with his voice getting louder.

The goon continues to struggle, only to gasp until finally answering.

"I-I told you! We d-don't have one!"

Then, two spears rise from the ground, as if they were going to pierce the man in the eyes, only to stop just before they could brutally blind him.

"AHH AHHHHH!" the man cries in panic, "OK OK! I'LL TELL YA!"

The goon then quickly explains the location of the base, almost crying at the end of his answer, pleading for him to be let go. The general then pauses, until removing his boot from the man's opposite arm, removing both the sword and spears as well, and begins to walk away. As Gideon walks towards it's location, the goon nervously laughs as he slowly kneels and grips his arm. But just before he was going to run and be free, a spear rises quickly from the ground, piercing him from the groin up as he is rewarded with a quick and painless death, his eye slowly going into his head as he breathes his last sigh of eternal relief...

---

"I believe that these are demon-made demons, using humans as a base... While I hope I'm wrong there's... A lot of evidence." answered Fiametta.

And as soon as Silas, Akoni and Kushiel looked at the charred corpses from earlier, all the grotesque bits were burned away, leaving a wide-eyed screaming face without pupils. They were indeed humans... or what was left of their humanity if they even still retained them. At least, they were human once.

"I've... Killed a lot of them, but I like to think I had rid them of their suffering. This all started as some kind of cult, apparently this state they described is "ascending", but obvious to me it's just some demon tricking people", the woman explained.

"I've... heard of things like this. Never seen them in person, though," Silas then said, speaking generally to everyone present. "In this case, it's been very crudely done, growing the demonic flesh from the human like some kind of cancer. It's consuming them, rather than changing them like some other methods I've heard of. It's disgusting, is what it is."

Kushiel had to agree with his statement. Like him, he too had heard of such disgusting and mortifying things such as these... but never did he see them in full detail, both in person, or in books. Silas turned to Fiametta, manifesting Pleiades floating in the air behind him.

"All right, first things first. This cult- is there a building, or even an area, that they center on or congregate around for their meetings? It would be advantageous for us if we could finish them all in one fell swoop, or at least come close enough that we can mop up the rest more easily. Secondly, we should rendezvous with your associates, whomever you came here with- it will be easier if we can all organize and plan together, as a group. And we should do it quickly; every second we waste is another second this cult could mutate someone else, or their... abominations could hurt innocent people."

And once again, Kushiel full-heartedly agrees.