[IC] The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

[Pyromania99]

That situation worked itself out for the most part it seemed. Lyssa seemed to convince him which was great because Katherine wouldn't be able to coax a child like that. "I wouldn't plan on telling your father. I wouldn't want to get fired." The firbolg said with an attempt at a genuine smile. She didn't say much more just in case she opened her mouth and sabotaged them in the process. It was sadly something she was fairly aware she did to herself. For now, all she had to do was follow the kid and hopefully something came of it.

[AzureKnight]

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

---

Havershel Estate

---

Lucrecia was pleased that Polina had agreed to her suggestion on getting information out of Havershel, albeit a bit reluctantly. Honestly, Lucrecia couldn't blame her, she wasn't necessarily fond of his ilk either. Although, her true feelings of hate were reserved for another certain disgraced noble.

Lucrecia turned to Lady Livia at her inquiry. As she looked in the corner, the two church officials were no longer present, having gone off somewhere. "...." Lucrecia tried to hide her discomfort. Their absence didn't bode well for the plan she had made with Myrilla, she immediately concluded that the two officials had begun their own mechanizations for taking the relic out of Havershel's hands. It seemed that a monkey wrench was being thrown at her at every given turn...

"I not not, Signora, but it's possible that they were summoned elsewhere. If I had to guess, they may been planning something against the head of the house." At that moment, a realization came to Lucrecia: the maid from earlier! Perhaps when she and Polina turned them down, they went over to the church officials instead. It was admittedly a bit over presumptuous, but anything's possible.

"Er...well, there was this servant who approached Polina and I earlier, stating that Havershel's wife, the lady of the house, wanted to meet with us about something..."

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location
Havershel Estate

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“The lady of the house asked to see you?” Livia frowned. “If Madam Havershel asked to meet with you…then may I ask why you did not?” The noblewoman frowned, brusquely clicking her tongue in mild annoyance. “She might have valuable information or might have something she needs to tell us in private. I’ll go visit her myself, then while Polina you-”

A scream from just outside the doors of the exhibition hall.

The doors were flung open, swinging off their hinges as a mass of black tar and lava barreled through the room, crushing several noblemen in its path and staining the floor with burned, sanguine red color as the Living Furnace only stopped as it slammed into the far wall of the exhibition hall.

A quick look over to the lord could only be one of horror. Without saying a word to the maids or Livia, he bolted out of the room just as a flood of other creatures stormed in. They looked almost like bipedal salamanders, toothless maw dripping lava with hollow eyes. Smooth scales covered their body, while stubby tails dragged on the floor behind them from their unusually long bodies that hunched over.

“Polina, Lucrecia.” Livia did not miss a beat, calmly stepping forward as the Nobles fled from the room. “After Havershel. I’ll deal with things here. Drag him back here in pieces if you have to.”

They’d need to get through the bipedal salamander-like creatures first, though.

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

“That's right. You’re smarter than you look.” He’d respond as he’d start walking, heading down the hallway towards the far end. “It's where my dad keeps all his good stuff. Everything magical or things he gets that might be a little odd or that he thinks are too valuable to display.”

“Oh yeah? Does he keep records and stuff there too?” Lyssa queried.

“Mnngh, I think? I saw a book and some papers there. Looked like…a lot of numbers and names and an address?” He shook his head. “A-anyways! What’s it matter to a maid, huh?”

“Ehehe, maybe I’m just a curious little imp?”

“So…what do you three want with the collection anyways? If dad finds out you’ve been in there he’ll be super mad. He’ll do more than fire you…” As the group reached the end of the stairs, they’d find themselves on the first floor of the annex. At the far end of the hallway, a woman with blond hair could be seen lavishly dressed, walking slowly down a hallway at the other end before disappearing down what seemed to be a stairwell. A servant seemed to be with her, a somewhat timid looking maid that was constantly looking over her shoulder.

The bottom of the maids dress was splashed with a crimson color.

“...M-mom?!” The kid frowned, proceeding to run off after the woman.

[Pyromania99]

"My, did that maid's dress have blood on it? Or was it just a strawberry jam?" Katherine questioned, looking to Lyssa and Eliz before calmly heading toward where the kid ran after his mother. It would be hard to stop the kid from going to his mother at this point. Well, for Katherine at least. Eliz could probably manage it. Besides, the cat-eared maid was quite interested in what the kid's mother was doing with that timid maid. A secret tryst? How doubtful. More likely she was going to punish that maid for breaking or spilling something during an important party. "Beautiful mother, isn't she? Havershel did well for himself it would seem." Katherine mentioned before making her way over to see if she could listen in on the kid talking to his mother. Worst case, she just had to use one of her dolls to help. That is, unless someone stopped him before that.

[AzureKnight]

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

---

Havershel Estate

---

Livia didn't seemed none the bit pleased at Lucrecia's explanation, wondering why in the world she and Polina didn't honor the earlier maid's request and pay a visit to Lady Havershel. A single sweatdrop began to roll down Lucrecia's face, who was having issues keeping her composure at Lady Livia's annoyance. Before she could think of an answer, the doors to the hall were torn and blown away as a boiling mass of lava and tar barreled into the room. The mass had already devoured some of the estate's patrons, and many more were panicking and fleeing for their lives. The good lord of the house wasted no time in counting himself among the fleeing guests, his face twisted with fright. The salamander-esque demons drug there long and slender bodies across the floor, looking for more victims in this mucky display of carnage.

Livia ordered Lucrecia and Polina to run after the bolting Havershel, authorizing to capture him by any means necessary. Meanwhile, she alone would deal with the rampaging monsters in the exhibition hall. "Ovviamente, Madonna, it shall be done." Lucrecia replied, fully trusting her master could dispatch some low-level demons with little effort. "We go, Polina." She stated to her compatriot.

Lucrecia would quickly take off in the direction of the fleeing Havershel, making nimble strides to quickly catch up with him. Dashing down a hallway, she saw him as he frantically ran for safety. "Un momento, Signore!" She yelled after him. "The Madonna would like a few words with you, as would I!"

To keep him from getting away, Lucrecia took Livia's directive into full consideration and decided to disable his legs by throwing a couple of daggers his way. She wouldn't aim for any vital areas, of course, as she only intended for them to hit him in the legs. If her projectiles hit their mark, she would pounce on him and bind him in place until it was safe to take him back to Lady Livia.

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina refrained herself from frowning as well. Personally, there were both merits to both accepting and declining, and the two of them had made the wrong bet in Livia’s eyes. Not the most ideal, but obviously it wasn’t something critical—

Until it was.

Certainly, the Farisian maid hadn’t expected things to escalate so quickly. Within seconds, she had a defensive array of knifes up around her and her two companions, most of them bladed cutlery from the evening’s dinner setting. She grumpily realized that she would not be finishing dessert today…

“On it,” she acknowledged, drawing her sword. While Lucrecia focused on running down the lord Havershel, Polina turned her attention to the petty beasts in their way. With a flick of her sword, the bladed weapons shot forth and sank into the otherworldly creatures as the still disguised maid maneuvered around the room and the fleeing nobles.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location
Havershel Estate

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

Polina’s swords found themselves embedded in the soft, almost gelatinous feeling insides of the salamander-esque creatures. Searing hot liquid spilled from the wounds, but otherwise none of them immediately went down. Thankfully most of the horde ignored Polina, going for easier targets - the nobles. Only two would immediately stand in her way, but they were certainly not as fast as she was and could easily out maneuver them to continue the chase.

One attempted to vomit up a ball of lava, lobbing it towards her while the second attempted to stab her with its weapon.

Lucrecia’s own endeavors would find themselves…completely ineffective. The daggers flew towards Havershels ankles and harmlessly…bounced? Off. There was the clanging of metal on metal as though they had been deflected but it would have been difficult to do such a thing, ignoring the fact he hadn’t even drawn his blade.

He’d continue down the hallway, ignoring the shouting maids.

Strangely, there didn’t seem to be any servants present in the halls any more.

Polina and Lucrecia could hear a door being slammed open from the direction he had gone.

“I take you whelps in and this is what I get?!” His voice wasn’t far behind. To say he sounded angry, was an understatement. Once Lucrecia and Polina caught up, they’d find Lord Havershel standing over a maid that seemingly had her arm broken and a painful looking bruise on her face. She was begging for mercy.

Taking a quick look around the room. Two other servants' bodies were on the floor, bloody and eviscerated. The bed looked as though it had been recently laid in.

“Where is that thing pretending to be my wife, you pathetic creature!?”

”Bzzt- Seems things are getting interesting, Lucrecia. Don’t forget our deal. Bring that idol to me. Might be best to lose Polina in the chaos.”

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

“That definitely looks - and smells - like blood.” Lyssa responded, as though identifying the smell of blood was definitely a normal thing. Lady Havershel’s voice could be heard once the maids got close enough hiding just beyond the door.

“Mom! What are you doing up! Dad said you were sick.”

“Oh, yes I was but I am certainly feeling much better now.” The young boy wrapped his arms around his mothers legs.

“....Lady…Havershel we need to continue. The Idol is just a little further.”

“Bzzt-Come in infiltration team, come in infiltration team. This is Viatrix. Lady Fiore has reported demons in the exhibition hall. Civilian casualties are confirmed. We need to hurry and find the idol. I’ve got eyes on you from the Clemantis and my rifle is ready to assist.”

“Hm…first, I think…we need to get rid of our guests.” The door that the pair had disappeared behind opened as Lady Havershel stepped out again, her son wrapped in her arms and lifted. The maid was standing meekly behind them.

“Ah, yeah they wanted to play with me but then we saw you.”

“...Kat? Eliz?” Lyssa frowned, quietly speaking. “...I think she's possessed.”

“Goodness, is that so? Well, aren't you lucky to have some friendly maids with you.” Lady Havershel seemed...fine. But Eliz would be able to easily confirm what Lyssa had said. With just a glance.

[Pyromania99]

Demons? How frustrating. Well, nothing ever goes smoothly does it? And the kids mom was possessed? There went the hope that this would be an easy assignment altogether. Still, they couldn't be too rash and throw out accusations while the kid was in her arms. The Firbolg took a breath in to play a naive maid. "Lady Havershel, are you alright... Is that blood? Are you injured?" Viatrix mentioned the idol, that maid had mentioned an idol. It was nice for the thing to practically fall into their laps at such a time. "Do you require medical aid?"

That said, if there was a possession of the demonic variety... Perhaps the demon would know that Eliz was one as well. In the worst case, perhaps she could send a singular doll off to collect the idol while they distracted "Lady Havershel". "I'm quite adept at first aid, My Lady." The cat mentioned, making sure to keep a respectable distance from the woman. If she found a good time, she would summon one of her dolls behind the maid and supposed Lady of the House to go find the idol if that's the way they were going. It was either that or fight her which could have rather dire consequences for everyone involved. Perhaps Eliz would come up with a better plan.

[VitaVitaAR]

"Tch."

Of course it was possession, wasn't it obvious? And now she had the kid in her arms, too...

"No more sneaking around--!"

Raising up her leg, her shoe snapped as her clawed feet reappeared, teeth sharpening once more as Elizstrazia's demon features unfurled from her body, regrown tail waving. Her nails sharpened as the scales on her shoulders and lower arms re-emerged, too, curling horns sprouting from within her white hair as the scales ran from her feet up to her thighs.

Pouring strength into her right leg, she sent it slamming down, the floor fracturing explosively and tossing chunks of tile into the air.

She didn't give a damn what the kid would think of her, her wings stretching from the cutout in the back of her maid outfit and flapping once, to give herself an extra burst of speed.

The thing inside of his mother could absolutely consider keeping him as a hostage, or worse. So that meant that had to be dealt with. Like hell she was going to just let this happen.

Not because she cared about the kid in the least, but because she wasn't about to fail. A scale demon didn't fail, that was that.

The debris tossed up by her stomp would make the best distraction she could muster, as Elizstrazia tore towards the possessed mother and child, aiming to snatch the boy away as quickly as possible.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

[AzureKnight]

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

---

Havershel Estate

---

Lucrecia clicked her tongue as her knives clanked harmlessly from Havershel's ankles. These demons... She thought. Are they protecting him? Thankfully, Polina's sharpshooting allowed their chase through the halls to remain, for the most part, unimpeded. Darting down the hall and out of view for a moment, the pair of maids could hear the sound of a door being forcibly opened. Good, Lucrecia thought, that means that he's now cornered.

As Lucrecia and Polina caught up, they were greeted with the scene of the Lord standing over an injured and pleading maid, shouting at her. Two other bodies laid to the side, Lucrecia could tell they looked fresh. The comment Havershel made was quite telling: Was the Lady of the house that maid from earlier mentioned a demonic pretender? What had Haversehl wrought on this estate...

Myrilla, still nudging Lucrecia in her ear, suggested that she should take advantage of the situation and split away from the fellow agent. Even if she did, she wouldn't know where the real idol was being kept. However, Havershel himself or perhaps that injured maid did. She felt that the lord wasn't in the mood to be cooperative, but the maid was another story.

Two demons had made a direct gambit towards Polina, perhaps this was a chance to do a Myrilla suggested. Hoping that the demons would keep Polina distracted for long enough, Lucrecia pulled out a gun and shot a chandelier that was above the pair of the Lord and the maid. Using it as a diversion, Lucrecia would snatch the injured maid and rescue her from the Lord.

If her gambit worked, she would ask: "How has all of this happened, and where is the real idol the Lord has in his possession?"

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina frowned at the way her sword and knives buried themselves into the demonic creatures. Unlike the previous demons she had encountered, these seemed to act more like a liquid. It didn’t take much for her to guess that using high explosives would probably be more effective… then again, few things were immune to cordite applied correctly.

Although she continued to go after Havershel, the Farisian maid wasn’t so callous as to completely ignore the security of the man’s mostly innocent guests. She was capable of multi-tasking enough to attack some of the creatures from behind as they pursued, to better allow them to escape from the demonic horde and give them a fighting chance. Dodging a lava ball and parrying an attack with her sword as she spun around the blow, she finally made it into the hallway along with Lucrecia.

Bursting into the room at the end, she was greeted with a grisly scene.

What had happened to the Lady Havershel?

She felt conflicted. What would have happened if she had met with the lady? Could they have helped? Unfortunately, what’s done was done. They needed to get the bigger picture, and Polina began to move in to assist her fellow maid when Lucrecia brought the entire chandelier down towards them. Her eyes widened at the uncommunicated and reckless move. Thinking quickly, she grabbed a set of metal trays nearby with her powers and immediately inserted them above the surviving maid. If Lucrecia’s little gambit failed, then the maid would still be protected, though no doubt the silverware would be rather banged out of shape afterwards.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location
Havershel Estate

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

A shot rang out, the bullet impacting the chain that held up the chandelier.

The chandelier fell, the Lord not taking his eyes off the maid that he was still holding by the hem of her dress collar - but the chandelier would never hit the ground. As the lightning decoration fell, it would seem to be sliced near instantly into many small parts, harmlessly then bouncing off of Lord Havershel and the maids as the pieces would scatter to the ground. The only saving grace, perhaps, was that the minor surprise had caused the lord to loosen his grip on the maid allowing Lucrecia to pull her away.

The only noticeable movement Lord Havershel made, was his free hand moving deftly to the blade that hung from his side.

“If you know what’s good for you, dog of the maison, you’ll release that thing before it bites the hand that fed it again.” His voice was even, but cool and sharply confident.

“U-uh…I-idol?” the maid weakly asked.

“Don’t bother asking it for information.” Havershel rebuffed. “And I have no intention of asking you to get out of my way and return that thing to me. Now move aside or you’ll be in just as many pieces as this chandelier.”

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

It happened rather quickly, the possessed lady of the house expression shifting to annoyance as Eliz made her move. The floor under the demons feet cracked, breaking tiles and the ground beneath her. The woman, was completely unfazed it seemed and irritation seemingly turned to amusement as Eliz rushed towards her-

Only to be intercepted by the timid maid at her side.

The maid let out a throaty, wet hiss as her neck stretched impossibly far, her features elongating the mouth taking a more lizard-like shape much like the demons back in the hallway as her skin became slightly more transparent and wet. The salamander like demon-maid gurgled and made a move towards Eliz, using its maw in an attempt to chomp down on her head.

“You care about this boy, heh. How cute.” The possessed woman said, pulling the lad close and giving him a kiss on the forehead. “You don’t even know what he is do you? Can’t blame you, even the kid doesn’t. That idiot Havershel has become far too human in his time here. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on keeping him as a hostage.”

She moved fast, grabbing the kid by the head.

“Mom what’s going-ack-”

Faster than expected, her body twirling and slamming the boy head first into the wall enough to crack and splinter the well kept wall.

“Tch-!” Lyssa moved first, sprinting across the floor and around the demon occupying Eliz, and proceeded to slam her own head right into the possessed woman's chin, earning a grunt of pain from the woman as blood would pour from her nose.

“Grrr, you irreverent brat!” A mote of fire bloomed in the womans hand, crimson fire dancing in her palm before it erupted upwards, slamming into the ceiling, charring it. Lyssa barely managed to stumble backwards, tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground from the unexpected action.

When the fires died down, the woman however, was gone, disappearing down the hallway.

The Havershel boys' clothes had been torn in the altercation, and part of the fires had charred his clothes around his ankle.

Revealing a blood-red tattoo that looked like two drops of blood connected at either end with a horizontal line going through the middle.

"Waaa, I was almost burned cotton candy." Lyssa grumbled.

[AzureKnight]

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

---

Havershel Estate

---

The main part of Lucrecia's gambit was successful, Havershel's grip on the maid loosened, allowing Lucrecia to snatch her up and put some distance between them. She was a little shocked that the entirely of the chandelier was ripped to pieces before it could even make contact with the Lord's body. Having heard the Lord's peculiar words, and ignoring his threats, Lucrecia looked at the maid she was holding. Unfortunately, it also seemed that she knew nothing of any idol either...

"Are...are you a demon?" She asked the maid. As for the lord himself, it was clear that he made some sort of pact with them. Lucrecia quickly jumped away from the maid, putting more distance between herself and both of them.

Lucrecia still wasn't well versed in it, but perhaps this would put things in their favor. "Polina, hit the bastardo with magic!" She said, generating a plume of small fireballs that darted toward the lord of the estate.

[VitaVitaAR]

Damn it...!

She'd made her move to get the kid away from her in the first place, and now...

She didn't care about humans.

Elizstrazia wasn't the type to feel those kind of sympathies. She was a scale demon, after all. Down to her very core, it was something antithetical to her nature.

At least, that was how she felt.

And yet seeing the boy's head slam into the wall filled her with rage. She'd already been angry. Angry at the whole situation. Angry at being forced to pretend to be some ordinary maid. Angry at having to hide her nature.

And now, the sight of the boy she'd tried to snatch from the possessed woman being slammed head-first into the wall made that fire burn even more intensely.

The salamander-like demon that had concealed itself in the form of a maid was trying to bite her.

Fine.

It was time to teach it one more lesson before it died.

Its jaws were poised to snap shut, so she caught them, gripping them tightly. Its body was soft, slick, but she used her clawed fingertips to dig into its flesh and hold its jaws open in her hands.

And then she pulled, her arms tensing as she wrenched the demon's jaws in opposite directions from one another as hard and fast as she could.

Transluscent skin stretched and tore, followed by muscle. From its head, to its neck, to its torso, and further down.

Gore splattered across the hallway floor as Elizstrazia ripped the demon in half, blood spraying across her maid outfit as well.

"I'll kill you, you bitch...!"

The possessed woman was gone, certainly, but that didn't stop Elizstrazia from screaming her rage-filled declaration down the hall all the same.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

The Farisian maid had been expecting a few things, but certainly not for Havershel to eviscerate the chandelier together with her plate shield. Polina drew back slightly, if only in surprise, before narrowing her eyes. This man was hardly as harmless as he had presented himself. No, he rather dangerous, and it took only a split second for Polina to realize that her skillset matched very poorly with how this man apparently fought, especially when she hadn’t prepped the area, nor had her full combat kitout. She didn’t want to test how well his blades held against whatever foul magic he was relying upon, and there was little else in the room harder than her steel.

Nonetheless, she couldn’t let him escape, or allow him to harm the other maid—especially when they dearly needed more information.
Although she knew it was likely futile, she didn’t need to be reminded by Lucrecia before she threw everything she could at the man. Everything, being whatever else in the bedroom could be moved and thrown at the man, in addition to some of her blades she had stored upon her body. If anything, it would distract and slow him down.

Let’s see how he likes getting a mattress in the face.

[Pyromania99]

The boy just got smashed into a.... "Tch." Katherine complained, summoning her dolls to aim at the legs of the woman running but she was gone down the hall. "Boy." Katherine asked as she got closer. "Are you alive?" She asked, that mark on his leg making her think that he might not quite be fully human. "Hello?" She summoned her dolls to keep an eye out around and some to scout the hallway she dissapeared down.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location
Havershel Estate

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“You fools…!”

The barrage of clutter from the bedroom proved nothing else, if effective in distracting the lord. He finally drew his blade, yet he moved far faster than seemed as from simply drawing it most of the objects were cut cleanly in twain and were deflected from the lord's person. Rather shrewdly, instead of slicing the mattress though he instead grabbed it right out of the air, swinging it around and blocking the fireballs with it and tossing the now singed object to the ground.

“You didn’t even know that much? I’m almost disappointed in your lack of information on the situation, dogs of the Maison. Now, I ask you once more to stand aside and get away from that thing before it does something. We are short on time!”

The maid that was quietly standing by Lucrecias side was muttering and mumbling something now. Her body was convulsing oddly as she’d give Lucrecia a rough, hard shove enough to knock her over, the maids head contorting in on itself as it became more demonic, taking a visage of those salamander like creatures from the exhibition hall earlier!

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

The demon struggled, and it might have easily overpowered a normal human but for a scale demon like Eliz, a simple beast class like it, was no match. It struggled, its jaws pulled wide and then…ripped apart like paper, its corpse tossed to the side. Lyssa was still sitting on the ground, the gruesome display having covered not just Eliz in gore and blood, but also Lyssa who had been barely a few feet away.

“Waah…now I’m cotton candy covered in strawberry jam…” Lyssa grumbled. “...I wonder if I’d taste good if someone ate me now?” Lyssa giggled to herself, mood shifting from mildly annoyed to her normal self as she’d stand up. “Ahah, good job Eliz, Tiki’s gonna kick our butts for getting covered in demon guts, though I don’t understand why...”

The boy, at least, seemed alive and remarkably intact despite having almost had his head smashed through the wall. The scout dolls would immediately report back to things. The possessed lady of the house had fled down another set of stairs and it seemed most of the servants of the house were these bestial salamander like demons and were quickly running amok in the place.

Secondly, and more concerningly, a pair reported two members of the Oros church converging-

“GRAAAAGH!” A fiery battle cry as a woman wielding a halberd came around the opposite hallway, swinging the implement right towards Eliz. It was not something she could simply block either - the weapon was clearly blessed by the divine.

“Madeline calm down, I do not believe they are with Lord Havershel!”

The two dolls were barreled over, knocked aside as Madeline charged at Eliz. One managed to hang on for dear life by grabbing a nearby potted plant in the hallway, but the other was carelessly punted right back into Katherine's arms.

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Yeah, it was fairly obvious to Polina that they had a deficit in intelligence for this mission. Whether or not that was a personal failing of her own, the maids, or something engineered by Havershel or another party, that was moot. This situation demanded a solution, now, but she didn’t have very many good options.

With the tools she had, it was impossible for her to stop the lord. She supposed she had to eat some crow, there. Polina had been badmouthing the man verbally and in her thoughts for the better part of the day, after all.

On the other hand, the maid was a demon, even if still a somewhat cute one. She felt more inclined to trust the cute axolotl demon maid on account of her dress, but she knew better. Not every demon was going to be like Eliz, as acerbic as she was. Polina grumbled, but decided it was better to communicate here. Information, she needed information.

“If you have the time to badmouth the Maison, you have time to explain. Now.”

[Pyromania99]

Katherine caught the doll as it was launched at her with little to no recoil from it. "Hey, rude priests. Would you like to calm down?" She asked, aiming her gun at the one with the halberd. It was frustrating to have these priests show up now. "It's bad enough when you get so into your fanaticism that you can't see two feet in front of you but I'd like if you didn't kick my little precious babies aside." The firbolg seemed irritated. "I'd also appreciate it if you would stop trying to mutilate my companion." The woman mentioned, "Stop swinging and I'll happily put my weapons down." A few of the nearby dolls would aim at this Madeline as Katherine lowered her own gun to set the doll back down so it could stand on it's own.

She then turned toward the other member of the clergy, not threatening her at all. "And you're right. We're not with Havershel. Think what you will of why we are here, but we wish to solve the little conundrum here as well. "His possessed wife went towards these steps and I believe that's where we shall be. And this here is his son. Poor little guy is worse for wear." Katherine added with a smile. "Luckily he's alive for now." With that, she started to walk toward the stairs since they needed to find the wife. Her dolls would lower their weapons on Madeline if she stopped trying to attack her teammates and they would follow her.

[AzureKnight]

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

---

Havershel Estate

---

Having been shoved onto the floor, Lucrecia quickly got back on her feet with a spring flip, not missing even a single beat. As she witnessed the woman's transform, it seemed her question was answered all right. The woman she just got through saving had taken on a peculiar axolotl-like appearance. The the unassuming, almost blank smile-like expression that she wore on her face created a tonal dissonance with the new menace she now emanated.

Lord Havershel, on the other hand, was unfazed by Lucrecia's and Polina's combination attack. Interestingly, instead of allowing whatever force had defended him prior to do its passive work, he used the mattress Polina threw at him to block Lucrecia's fireballs. That made her think she was on the right track.

"Ficcatelo nel culo, bastardo." Lucrecia spat back at the lord, having become short on patience at this point. "One of you idiotas is going to give me the answers I'm looking for! What do you mean we're short on time, what did you fuck up, exactly?"

Lucrecia held throwing knives in one hand, and a pistol in the other. She threw knives at the demon maid in order to subdue her, but made sure to miss any areas that would result in a killing blow. Depending on Havershel's answer, she'd let loose a salvo on him. She feint him into thinking they're just regular bullets, but actually they'd be a storm of embers that would rain down on him. Magic seems to be effective enough for him to change his stride.