Into the Depths of the Church

A pattering of footsteps came from behind Fleur, who sat with her head down, no longer struggling to free herself. "It's too late..."

Before long, the party found themselves surrounded. Countless black-robed and hooded figures looked down on them in silence, lined around the edge of the terrace.

"What the hell. Were y'all just up all night waiting for us?" Kamiro said.

"How did they even know we were coming?" Ayu said.

Earla stood in place. She tried to avoid the many stares fixed on the party. "T-They must have been alerted somehow."

"So... I'm guessing you won't give us back our friend, and just let us leave, right?" Kamiro said.

Fleur looked up with a subtle, saddened smile upon hearing his comment.

"..." The cult members stood mostly still and silent; a couple of them glanced at each other for a moment before returning their gaze to Kamiro.

Kamiro chuckled. "Of course not."

A loud yawn came from deep in the hall behind Fleur, while the torches' light showed a shadow of a man coming forward. "What is with all the ruckus?" He clapped twice, and the clanging from within the three large cells below seized.

The man stopped next to Fleur, and all the other cult members put their fists over their hearts and turned their attention toward him. He wore the same outfit as the rest of them, except his was mainly white, with some red trimmings, and he held a leather-bound book under his arm.

"Oh, goodie, visitors!" The man curtsied to the party below. "I am Lesorugus DiLacon. Welcome to our humble... abode." He spread his arms out while he looked around the dungeon. "It grows on you."

Guess we know who's in charge... Kamiro didn't know what to make of the eccentric man.

The party glanced at each other, and Ayu made a circling motion with her index finger at the side of her head.

"Huh? What are you—" Two of the black-robed cult members stepped up and restrained Fleur's mouth again.

"Oooh, so this is her," Lesorugus said. His eyes widened when he looked over Fleur, visible through the small holes on his hooded mask. And he probably had a creepy smile underneath, too. "Why did no one wake me when she arrived!?" His calming voice flipped, and even some of the cult members seemed startled.

"..." But they remained silent.

"Just kidding! Who knows what cutting into my beauty sleep might have caused?" The man rubbed his face over his hooded mask.

What the hell is wrong with this guy?

Lesorugus massaged Fleur's shoulders, and she refused to release her hate-filled glare. The man didn't seem to mind; he gave an audience to the party below who had the same glare as Fleurs' locked onto him.

"It had been quite a while since the branding spell had been activated on one of the members." Lesorugus broke out in deranged laughter. "The poor fool never would've guessed what would happen if he spoke of us!"

"...You are a sick man," Earla said.

"Sick? But on the contrary. This world is sick." He snickered. "I'm only trying to help cure it. The Demon Lord has been away for too long. Once we awaken her... everything will get better." He poked Fleur's nose while he spoke with an upbeat tone. "And your sacrifice will help us achieve that."

Fleur almost toppled over while she struggled, tied on the chair.

"Now, now, settle down. It's not anger you should be feeling. ...It's despair."

Fleur froze when she turned and saw Lesorugus' crazed eyes.

"I don't know what nonsense you're spewing, but you'll regret it if you underestimate us," Ayu said.

"Well, you see..." Lesorugus' own snorting laughs interrupted while he spoke. "Pure elven blood is most potent when in a state of despair..." He clapped and hopped in place. "Which makes you three being here just perfect!

"You bastard..." Kamiro said.

Fleur's eyes teared up. She looked at the deranged man and shook her head.

"Ha-ha, yes, that's it. Now, just relax and enjoy... the... show." He gestured as if conducting a musical, and the clanking of metal chains rang out.

The large cell to the left of the party had been opened. Small tremors ran across the ground and tickled Kamiro's soles. A large silhouette of a creature began to emerge from deep within the dark cell. The party stood like mannequins, unable to do anything but wait in silence.

"No... No, please. No." Kamiro's voice trembled while the creature's appearance was further revealed with every step it took outside its cell. Are you kidding me?

He scrambled behind Ayu and Earla as the appearance of the creature was fully revealed. There was no other way to describe it; it was a giant spider. Come on, couldn't have been more original? And of course, it was the creepier hairy kind.

The girls gave Kamiro the same look of disappointment; even Fleur joined in from above with an icy stare of her own. Kamiro trembled behind the two girls.

"Well, at least this time, it is somewhat understandable. That monster is at least two rankings above our own," Earla said.

"Come on, deep breaths." Ayu patted Kamiro's back and gave a caring gaze.

Oh, she's actually being nice about it.

"We need that 'status up' ability of yours after all."

"How can you say that with such a caring smile?" Kamiro sniffled. Is that all I'm good for? "...Fine." He inhaled and exhaled a few times deeply and abruptly grabbed the girls. "Let's get to it then."

"H-Hey, be gentle..."

Ayu's soft, cracking voice made him want to hug her tighter. Earla shut her eyes tight with a blushed expression.

"Invocabo Liber: Status Up." I wonder what it feels like to them... They always get so fidgety once I activate the spell. And why do they make those cute moaning noises? Are they trying to kill me?

Once complete, the girls stood panting for a moment with blushed faces, while Ayu glared at Kamiro with an embarrassed look that made his heart race. But the spider had waited long enough; it shot a web attack and forced the group to dodge. It crawled toward them. The sight of its eight legs moving like fingers on a keyboard made Kamiro's skin crawl.

"Invocabo Glacies: Frozen Plane." Ayu pointed her short staff-forward, and with a quick glow, the ground underneath the creature turned to ice. It slid across and crashed against the stone wall. Ayu wasted no time; she bombarded it with her 'Ice Javelin' spell and staggered the creature.

"Great job, Ayu! Now is your chance Kamiro, go paralyze it," Earla said.

"..."

Ayu continued her icicle onslaught. "Hurry up, idiot. I can't keep this up forever."

"R-Right!" Kamiro said. But his body showed otherwise. He stood unable to move; his legs trembled like a newborn antelope.

Ayu glanced back at him. "Again?" She grunted. "Why are you useless when we need you the most!"

"Sorry." Kamiro chuckled and forced a smile.

"I-Idiot..." Ayu said. Her look showed no hostility, rather it seemed a bit bashful.

"Keep distracting it with your attack. I should be able to take out its legs," Earla said.

Despite its size, the spider was agile. If not for Ayu's ice attacks, it would've easily been able to avoid Earla's sword.

Overlooking the party, the white-robed Lesorugus would occasionally add an "Ooh," or "Aaah," throughout the battle. But the moment he saw Ayu's ice attacks, his tone changed to one a bit more serious.

"I wasn't expecting an ice magic-user. I should've started with another monster," Lesorugus said. "Oh, well! It's nice to have a little hope before it's completely crushed, right?" He grabbed Fleur's head and forced it toward his face.

Her glare was intense. If looks could kill, Lesorugus would have long been dead. One of Fleur's slightly pointed ears poked through her silver hair while she struggled free from his grip.

Lesorugus narrowed his eyes. "What is this...?" He violently snatched her ear. He measured it up and down with his eyes while he pulled on it.

Fleur was visibly in pain. "S-Stop it..." Her muffled voice was barely comprehensible.

"T-This is..." The disturbed man became more and more fidgety while he inspected Fleur.

She tightly shut her eyes while he pressed his white hooded covered face against her own and sniffed deeply.

"Disgusting," he muttered.

His wet tongue pressed against his mask and onto Fleur's skin while the saliva sopped through the fabric. Fleur could only keep her eyes shut and squirm.

Lesorugus gagged. "Disgusting! This... thing is not pure-blooded." He turned to two black-robed members that stood by, but they just looked at each other and shrugged.

"Ha... That deceiving rich scum." The white-robed leader paced around. "If that fool thinks he can deceive me and get away with it, he has another thing coming. You two, gather a group, and take care of that man. I do not want any future suitors to misconstrue how we do business."

"Understood."

"...Well, we can still recoup some of the cost." Lesorugus turned his attention back to Fleur and grabbed her cheeks. "Consider yourself lucky. You might still be of use to someone, even if just as a lab rat." He broke into erratic laughter.

Fleur's glare could've cut through steel at that moment. She headbutted the man and made his white hooded mask stain red. If anything, he should've been thankful that it matched with the red trimmings of the robe.

"Ha! Well, aren't you quite fiery? Don't worry, you'll still get to enjoy this wonderful show." He forced Fleur's head back toward the party's continuing battle.

The spider shrieked with every ice attack that landed. It didn't even seem to have noticed that its eight legs were no longer attached. Before long, Fleur and Ayu finished off the monster.

"Great job, guys. Sorry I wasn't able to help," Kamiro said.

"No worries. The 'Status Up' always helps considerably..." Earla's face slightly reddened. "Anyway. We got lucky that the monster seemed to have had an elemental magic weakness."

Ayu pouted when Kamiro turned to her.

"C-come on." He scratched the back of his head. "You know I'm no good with those types of monsters."

"It's not even about that..."

"Huh?"

Ayu looked away while she muttered. "You could at least warn someone when you're going to apply that spell..."

"Oh." Kamiro let out a weary chuckle. "Sorry."

Ayu sighed. "Whatever. Let's just hope the next few monsters aren't bug-like, so you can actually help us."

"I'm surprised they didn't release them all at once," Kamiro said.

A familiar sound of chains clanking rang out once again, and before the party realized, the two remaining cells had been opened.

"You're just all kinds of useless today, aren't you?" Ayu's narrowed eyes locked to Kamiro, who at that moment felt like he wanted to disappear.

The cult leader leaned over the terrace overlooking the party. "This is where the fun really begins!"

***

Kamiro's relief that the two monsters they faced were not the bug type was short-lived. According to Earla, they were at least Silver Rank level monsters, and it showed.

"Hurry up!" Ayu said. She and Earla held off one of the monsters, a three-horned bull-like creature with a bloodthirsty gaze.

The creature snorted and scratched the ground with its hooves while preparing to deliver another bone-crushing tackle. Kamiro's job was to paralyze it, but he was having trouble fighting the one they'd left for him to face. They assumed it was weaker because of its appearance.

"Hold on, I'm trying!" Kamiro said.

The monster he faced was deceiving. Though no bigger than a toddler, it was fast and physically strong. A snow-white coat of fur covered its body, Kamiro would've been tempted to pet it, but he was sure it'd break his arm like a twig if he did. Standing on two lanky legs, it had long bulky arms, big floppy ears that drooped on the side of its head, and a long snout full of ragged teeth that would come into view when it roared. The strange creature was a freakish mix of a bunny and a reptile. But far more dangerous. Who would've thought there was Digimon in this world?

Kamiro tried to slash it with his twin daggers, but even with his speed increased, he found himself slashing at empty space. He looked around, having lost sight of the creature, a moving shadow underneath alerted him.

The creature crashed down from above, Kamiro narrowly avoided it. It struggled for a moment to free its fist from the crumbled ground underneath its attack before gazing at Kamiro with an unnerving smirk.

"H-Hey, any chance you guys wanna switch monsters?" Kamiro said.

"What are you talking about? We left you the easy one, remember? Hurry up so you can help us," Ayu said.

The reptile-bunny-like creature walked toward Kamiro. He heard a strange sound come out of its mouth, but instead of a roar, it was more like an incomprehensible distorted voice. The monster stepped side-to-side as it crept closer, and with every step, strange negative afterimages lingered.

"What the hell...?" Before Kamiro realized, he was hurled backward and crashed against the stone wall behind. Even with the 'Status Up' buffs, it still hurt like hell. He crunched over, clutched his stomach, and wiped the blood from his mouth. When did it...?

"Kamiro!?" Ayu and Earla appeared more confused than him.

Earla's eyes widened upon seeing the reptile-rabbit's lingering negative afterimages. "T-That's a..." She acted quickly. "Ayu, run straight to Kamiro and shut your eyes!"

"W-What?"

The monster crouched down, and the ground underneath it rumbled.

"Now!"

Ayu didn't hesitate after she saw Earla's expression. She sprinted toward Kamiro and closed her eyes.

"Inovacabo Lux: Blinding Light!" Earla followed right behind while the bull-like monster grunted loudly from the overwhelming brightness. "Invocabo Lux: Barrier!" No more than three seconds passed between the spells, and a loud crash was heard along with a shockwave that disturbed the area.

The flash of light cleared in no time and revealed Earla kneeled in front of Ayu and Kamiro with her shield on the ground and a barrier of light that surrounded them. In the blink of an eye, the short creature had gone for the kill. Its fist still pushed against the barrier, which cracked on the dent it made upon impact. The creature's inertia ran out, and it fell back down on both legs.

Kamiro panted while he tried to recover from the blow the creature dealt him, and Ayu knelt beside him.

"I owe you one, Earla," he said.

"No worries, and it is partly my fault. I-I was wrong about that one," Earla said. "That white-furred creature is Gold Rank level at minimum."

Ayu's eyes widened momentarily. "No way..."

Kamiro struggled back up while he fought through the pain. The two monsters slammed against the barrier with enough force to make him shake. Or was it his fear?

"How in the world did they manage to get something like that?" he said. Was it a summoning? Kamiro glanced above at the cult leader, who was laughing like a maniac. He focused on the book that the man clenched tightly under his arm.

Fleur continued strapped on the chair and still fought to free herself.

"I-I cannot say. Regardless, we must defeat these monsters," Earla said.

"I have a bad feeling that our usual combo attack won't be enough this time around," Ayu said.

With the barrier on the brink of shattering, Earla nodded. "The bull monster is already weakened from when we fought it. Ayu, Kamiro, you two take it down. I will try to buy you as much time as I can."

"Are you sure?" Kamiro said.

Earla smiled. "There is a new spell I have been learning."

"Alright. Let's go, Ayu," Kamiro said while the barrier shattered.

Earla faced the white-furred monster, called a Malepus. It stood still, but in the blink of an eye, it crashed its bulky arms against her shield. The impact made the area shake. "You are my foe now."

"Invocabo Liber: Ice Javelin!" Ayu's ice pummeled the bull-like monster, called a Tarnum, and made it grunt in pain.

Kamiro rushed toward it from the side and activated his paralysis spell. "I've got you now!"

Before he could make contact, the creature released a powerful roar that blew a gust around it and made Kamiro stall for a brief moment.

What is this, some kind of ability?

The onslaught of ice seized when Ayu's movements also faltered. The Tarnum didn't hesitate to charge.

"No..." She shut her eyes.

"Ayu!" Kamiro's stiff muscles finally listened, and his body acted before his mind. He pushed Ayu out of the way and took the full force of the bone-crushing tackle.

Compared to the blow from the Malepus, it was much weaker, but still, Kamiro shouldn't have been able to stand. He was sure there were a couple of bones broken by then, and even with his adrenaline on full blast, all he wanted to do was go into the fetal position and cry the pain away.

"Kamiro!" Ayu rushed over.

"Don't worry, I'm not... dead yet," he said.

"Idiot." Ayu's worried expression contradicted her words.

The Gold-Ranked monster seemed more intelligent. In just a moment of distraction, it appeared in front of Ayu and Kamiro. Could it not have seen that they were having a moment? By the time Earla realized that her battered shield had stopped taking a beating, only the creature's negative colored afterimages remained in front of her.

There was no time. Once Kamiro and Ayu looked up in front of them, they saw the mighty fists of the Malepus about to slam against them. The creature's fists stopped inches from impacting their faces. Kamiro could still feel the sheer force that the punch had behind it. If it wasn't for Earla, they would've been out cold.

"Invocabo Lux: Fortitude!" Her words made the monster freeze.

"Earla..." Ayu's eyes widened.

Earla stood slumped with a subtle golden glow. Shield grasped tightly, she was ready for the incoming impact as the monster changed targets once more, but this time not by choice.

"Hurry, you two, I won't be able to hold this for long," Earla said, while the sound of heavy blows against her shield shredded the air. Still, her defensive stance was solid. "This ability temporarily doubles my defense, and it makes me the target to any enemies in my vicinity."

Ayu looked around quickly. "Then... the Tarnum too!" The large bull-like monster had its gaze locked to Earla as well, but it struggled to move. "But how?"

"Well, I wasn't gonna let it hit me without anything in return," Kamiro said. Still, the paralysis is not as effective as I'd hoped, it's already beginning to move a bit. It must be due to its size.

"Come on, Ayu. Let's finish this and help Earla."

She nodded.

Ayu and Kamiro finished off the weakened Tarnum, just in time to help Earla before her 'Fortitude' ability stopped. With the Malepus unable to focus on anything except Earla, Kamiro was finally able to paralyze it.

Lesorugus stomped around like a child throwing a temper tantrum while he screamed. The battle was intense, but somehow, the party prevailed.