Vermin Tide Quest


Chapter 21


As Erubetie slithered and slid under and around the tables and chairs of the room she was in, the Slime Queen was panicking. Balthasar had reduced her to a single blob of slime, almost evaporating her entire body and slime core in one single stroke. Thankfully, he was predictable enough to not notice when she ejected her core, but now fear had gripped the Slime as the Human Wizards voice spoke once more.

"One of the Knights of the Monster Lord has been crippled, and is weak to poisoning. Get out the mixture I prepared, and start lacing the drapes and tapestries with it, line the windows and doors, spread throughout as much of the castle as you can, and do so as you hunt the abomination down and spread the word. If we fail to finish it off, the Monster will recover. Now go and slay it, but remember that a cornered animal is the most dangerous one." the Human knights that were serving Gelt then gave their affirmations, and she could them spread out to follow her orders. "The rest of you with me."

By the Dark Goddess, I need to get out before Balthasars' men trap me in here! Erubetie thought. As the door to the reading room was smashed open, she managed to get behind one of the tapestries depicting ones of the battles that took place during the Great Monster War of a Human village being taken by the Monsters, and slithered up it as quickly as she could, using her innate powers to scry the room to keep track of the Imperials. However, she realized too late that it was a mistake, as Balthasar suddenly cried out.

"There, behind that infernal tapestry, I felt her presence!" the Human yelled. Suddenly, the Slime Queen let a garble cry, as the tapestry was pulled from its railing by one or two of his soldiers, and a tearing of cloth and fabric. She looked her single eye down and saw the knights fall to the ground, loud metallic clanging sounds echoing in the room as part of the fabric art piece fell on top of them. The rest of the Imperial knights aimed crossbows at her, likely from the armory in the castle based on their design and crossbow bolts upon seeing her looking at them. Erubetie then screamed, as the projectiles were loosed in a volley, some of which grazed her body. She began to bob and weave, evading the bolts being shot at her and embedding themselves against the wall. The tapestry was pegged against the wall as well, which likely meant that Erubetie moved, she left a bump that the soldiers were no doubt tracking, but she no choice but to continue upwards if she was to survive.

These Humans, they are like wolves drawn to blood! She thought, fear fueling the Slime Queen to move faster and quicker despite the drain on what little nutrients she had left in her body. Eventually, Erubetie got into the rafters, swallowing up a rat as she landed on it. As she quickly consumed the creature, Balthasar yelled.

"Damn, she got away! Attacking this beast while it is up there is too dangerous!" he cried out. Erubetie dared to peek at the Imperials, and saw them gathered around a piece of paper. She then realized they were blueprints, and stretched her senses. "If we take the stair way here and here, we can form up into two groups and trap her in the rafters."

"But sir, wouldn't the creature just drop down to escape? She is not going to need to worry about broken bones."

"I doubt it, that ceiling is at least fifty feet up, and with how little of her there is remaining, it would likely be more dangerous for the Monster to fall down as she won't have enough of that fluid to protect her most vital organ. You will these five soldiers, and split up to block off the creatures' escape, you four are coming with me. In order to make sure we finish it off, there is a purple orb of some kind we need to destroy in her body. I realized I have forgotten to mention this, so tell the other Greatswords and State Troopers assisting us as you cross paths. May we send this accursed being to Morr and his wife Verena for judgment of her sins." Gelt said, causing Erubetie to shiver in fear as the many women, both Human and Monsters she had assimilated into her conscious were awoken by the Slime Queens' lost composure.

Morr is their God of Death, so who is this Verena? The one of the many women thought. Similar thoughts of panic and despair of possibly being judged by this new Goddess then began to override Erubeties' own thoughts and mind. After a few seconds, she managed to regain her control. Be silent, all of you! She commanded. Damn that Gelt! I'm starting to lose cohesion, and if that happens no amount of food will bring me back. I cannot let myself panic like that again... with that, Erubetie consumed the last of the rat she caught, and moved onwards, slightly bigger then before. I'll need to find this rats' nest. From its memories I gathered, there is both a community of these vermin that have gotten into the cellar, and plenty of food to recover...


**POV SHIFT**


When Lazarus and his group arrived in the headquarters of Illiaz Kruez, he immediately noticed by the way one of the men walked up to him that something had happened. While the others were busy cleaning up their arms and armor, the raven haired man pulled his comrade to the side.

"Something happened while I was away?" he asked. The other man shuffled in place, then cleared his throat.

"Well, yes and no. While you were gone, four more Imperials appeared through a portal, along with an Elf." Lazarus stared blankly then sighed. "I know, but so far they have mostly been complaint in waiting for help, especially with a particular middle man that requested to speak with with you, Ulreik and Ulboro by name." the man explained. Lazarus turned and called to the Witch Hunter and Ulboro.

"We have new arrivals, and apparently one of them wishes to speak with and you two. They referred to you by name." with that, the three were lead to the room that Illias Kruez reserved for medical purposes. The man explained on the way that one of the members was an injured Wizard of what the Imperials recognized as being of the 'Bright Order' as Ulboro referenced. Oddly, the two did not seem to like the prospect of this particular person much to Lazarus' surprise, though they shared the look of disgust when the Monster known as an Elf was mentioned. Though now that Lazarus noticed it, the Humans seem familiar with Elves, unlike with other Monsters like Minotaurs and Kitsune that were widely recognizable to the Humans of this world. As a result, Lazarus decided now would be as good a time as any to bring it up.

"I noticed you seem to have had dealings with Elves before. Would I be correct in assuming that you have them in your world." Ulboro scowled as he replied.

"Yes, in fact there are three kinds. The High Elves, who reside in their continent island known as Ulthan, who helped the Emperor Magnus the Pius found the Colleges of Magic. They can be prideful and arrogant jackasses at times, but at least they won't back stab you, or rape you to death like the ones from this world will do, and make some of the finest wine you will ever taste. The Dark Elves on the other hand, will do so just like the Monsters which plague this world like a cancer. There is also the Wood Elves, who nobody likes, and generally do whatever they think they can get away with just to watch the world burn." Ulboro replied. "Ulreik and I have had to work alongside a High Elf once. He was hunting down a member of his Dark Elven kin, who-"

"Wait, there are male Elves on your world?" the Sigmarite looked at Lazarus for a moment.

"Oh, that's right, the Elves on this world are another Monster species... yes there are male Elves, and they generally tend to look down on others. Even so, they are at least somewhat helpful in keeping the Dark Elves off our coasts." Ulboro replied. "Anyways, this particular Elf was hunting down a Dark Elf, who had been trying to find a place where she could lay out a network to start her own slave trade, and we had several... interesting conversations with him about said Dark Elf. After we found and killed her, the High Elf left, though he was generous enough to leave us a bottle of red wine from his homeland. As insufferable as the High Elves can be at times, they do have some redeeming qualities." the man continued, a slight smile on his face.

"Are men of the cloth like yourself allowed to drink alcohol?" Lazarus asked.

"Maybe, maybe not." the Warrior-Priest said, leaving the Illas Kruez leader to stare at him with a slightly annoyed look. After that, the Warrior-Priest translated what had been said to his Witch Hunter companion, who simply breathed another drag from his pipe as he listened. When they reached the door to their designation, the man opened it, and the three walked in.

Inside the room, the most obvious one who stood was the Elf, who was sitting cross-legged in a corner, not bothered by the Humans who looked at her with suspicion and fear. On one of the beds, a women wrapped in bandages who looked like a mummy was sleeping, and Lazarus winced upon hearing that she was suffering a large number of burn wounds, leaving the man to wonder if a Dragon attacked her. There was also another Witch Hunter, the apparent leader of the group, who upon locking eyes with Ulreik stared intimidatingly in mutual but silent accusation. Apparently these two had some history. Another man was standing about with his hands on a great sword leaning on his body, and a larger version of the pistols' as Ulboro called them on his back. He was in conversation with some kind of stout, bearded, and very short man who carried an ax and shield, along with two strange and possibly enchanted pistols, if the glowing runes said anything. However, it was the sixth person who made Lazarus pause, as he only heard stories about them.

He was clearly a Druid, with their emblem of concentric rings of white and emerald green on a crucifix that was currently wrapped around his wrist as he tended to the injured woman. He wore a brown robe, though one could see what looked like tree bark growing where his skin should be, and his hair looked more like straw then anything, his glowing green hand passing over the Human Wizard slowly, likely healing her gradually to not disturb her rest. When they all looked over at Lazarus and the two that were with him, the strangers and the Druid looked at each other.

When Ulreik and Ulboro saw them, the two clearly recognized them. "Well now, it's a small world after all." Lazarus muttered to himself, as the other worlders started talking to each other. The Druid stopped with his healing spell, said a quick word to the Warrior-Priest, and left when Ulboro knelt and began to pray to Sigmar, pulling Lazarus to the side.

"What is a Druid doing here?" he asked of the man, who looked around before replying.

"I was sent to ensure these people survived. As you are no doubt aware, the Human Luka is going to cross paths with you." the man responded. Lazarus frowned slightly.

"I know, my boys and I met him back at Natalia Port chasing a group of Skaven. Is there something you know about him and his girlfriend?" the Druid nodded.

"Yes, there is something, but not that you won't find out yourself. I managed to save these servants of Sigmar from the Spring of Undine." Lazarus grimaced, being aware at least of the Four Spirits existing as well as how they are infamous in the group for how they have limited what magic can be being used against the Monsters, especially after the death of the last Monster Lord.

"What were they doing in the Spring?" Lazarus asked of the Druid.

"They were purging a Skaven base in Plansect Forest, and were driven into it when a group of the Monsters there came after them for killing several of their kin." the Druid replied, his face neutral and impassive. "It was quickly seen by those of us who watching this that their experience is necessary to ensure the Skaven are destroyed."

"Are there other Druids? You mention that others were watching them. If you are still around, why are you and the other Druids not helping us?" Lazarus interrogated the Druid, some amount of anger welling up within him. Realizing his place, the man stopped himself and calmed down. The Druid sighed, and placed a hand on Lazarus' shoulder.

"You are right to be angry that we never lifted our hand against the Monsters. While we have had wanted to do so, my kin and I lost the power to defend Humanity. The reason we can not fight back, was due to the fact that we having been on the run, unable to muster any defense as we would be found and destroyed by the Monsters. But ever since that day the sky became green, I and several others know have a plan, though I can not discuss the details of it, not yet." the Druid then turned around, and created a portal. "I will be taking my leave now. May we find one another again." the Imperials watched on as the Druid left, and then Ulboro walked over to Lazarus.

"What did you talk about?" he asked, as Lazarus turned to the Sigmarite towering over him.

"Just a general reinforcement of going and taking care of the Skaven problem, as well as some personal stuff I rather not get into now." the man said, scratching at his stubble. He then turned and saw the women was unwrapping her bandages, and noticed she was rather elderly. "Who is she, and what is her story?"

"That is Sienna Fuegonasus, a Bright Wizard as I have said before. Think of her as a mage who specializes in Fire magic."

"She is a Witch?!" Lazarus cried out, getting the attention of the entire room, and several other members could of Illias Kruez ran over.

"Not in the same sense of this worlds Witches, but yes. However, she was licensed and tasked with purging the enemies of Mankind, and thus if you are willing to trust us, you may find she is more then worth an army if deployed correctly." Ulboro said. "Besides, we have two Witch Hunters to keep an eye on her should anything go wrong."

"And if the Spirit Salamander tries to take control of her Fire Magic?" the Sigmarite laughed, as Lazarus did bring up the Four Spirits once when asked why none of Illias Kruez could use magic, who Ulboro mentioned in kind as sounding like Daemons or something to that effect.

"Considering the adventure our friends here had in a place called Plansect Forest, it is safe to say that this Salamander would find Sienna too... independent to just let her will and whims decide when and where Sienna can burn Monsters to ash, and their nesting sites to the ground. She ended up like that because they got attacked by some sort of semi-liquid Monster. Now then, let me introduce to the Ubersreik Five..."


**POV SHIFT**


As Alma Elma flew to the castle through the trees, she brought with her several Kuinoichi Elves and Succubi to help find and extract Erubetie. On the way there, Alma Elma repeated her instructions to the Monsters.

"Listen here, finding Erubetie is our main priority, so we're going to ignore any patrols the Imperials have put up. If we have to fight, just incapacitate the Human soldiers as swiftly as possible and move on. We'll enter through the roof top entry ways under the cover of illusion spells, and work our way down to find the Slime Queen. Are you clear on that?" after they gave their affirmation, the group continued on. As the Elves slipped and jumped from tree to tree, one of the Succubi flying alongside Alma Elma suddenly made a loud gagging sound that drew the attention of the rest of the party, and she fell to the ground spraying blood from her neck as a kunai made of green glowing magical stone had embedded itself in it. As the Monsters paused and looked around, Alma deflected several throwing stars with her arms and the Monsters found themselves in the midst of a number of rat man creatures wearing tattered hooded uniforms.

"Skaven Gutter Runners! What the hell are they doing here?!" Alma Elma cried out. As she felt some sense of fear of fear through her vein, the very back most Gutter Runner pointed at the monsters.

"Kill-Stab the Mutant Breeder-Things!" it screamed, as they began to leap after the Monsters, flinging kunai and stars at them with their tails. Alma Elma began to channel the power of the Wind, and found the Skaven somehow were eliminating the the presence of their mana. One of the Succubi then launched a fireball at one particularly bold member of the rat men, burning it into ash mid-air. Immediately the Monsters rushed to meet their opponents, The Elves tossing their own kunai and stars, while the Succubi fought at range to provide ranged support. Alma Elma recomposed herself, and began shouting to the group as she launched a barrage of Wind attacks of her own, blowing two of the Skaven assassins screaming into a tree trunk, while whipping a third that tried to stab her from behind with her tail.

"Hold them off, watch your backs, and don't let them hit you with that green stuff they're carrying!" she yelled, realizing that the green weapons the Skaven were using was Warpstone then turned to her sister Monster that got hit, and saw that she was being attacked by another Skaven, who was biting into her arm as it clawed at her chest, ripping several gouges into her flesh, and trying to stab her to death with its tail holding a kunai. One of the kuinoichi flew down from a tree top, and ran the Skaven through from behind with a nodachi, then reached for one of her own kunai, slicing its throat open. As a dark gout of red blood bled out onto her sister Monster, the Elf shoved it off, then the the dagger she held at a Skaven that flew down with a pair of Warpsone claw weapons as it screeched. When the elf saws the Succubus was still alive, she reached down to get the kunai made of the same material out of their neck, as she sensed that it was reacting somehow to the Succubis' Dark energy. "No! WAIT!" Alma Elma yelled but was too late. As soon as the Elf grabbed it, the Warpstone was overloaded by both Monsters' energy, and shocked both of them.

The two Monsters began to scream in pain, as their bodies were fused together and then were disintegrated by a second blast wave when the Elf tried to force the Warpstone to reverse the changes with her Dark energy. The second blast wave then struck the two claw weapons of the Skaven that tried to kill the Elves, causing them to explode, and sending a plume of green energy that sent both sides flying away from each other. The Skaven began to rout, terrified by the explosion and seeing green flames burning the forest floor.

"Mortar-Bombard cannons! Slip-Squeak tricked-deceived us! RUN! FLEE!" one of them yelled, as the Skaven began to scatter. "Run-flee to the nest!"

"After those rat man bastards! We need to find their base!" One of the Elves screamed, but Alma stopped her.

"No! We must press on to the Monster Lord castle, and get Erubetie first." Alma Elma said, before several of the Monsters already ran off. "Oh come on! Can't you just listen for second!?" Suddenly a bang sound was heard, and Alma ducked just in time to dodge a lead bullet.

"Monsters! Get them, Sigmar demands their blood! Hans, shoot the flare gun!" the Imperial carrying the fire-spear that he shot at with yelled, as several more appeared from the brush firing off their weapons at the Heavenly knight and the Monsters still with her. One of them pulled out what looked like a smaller version of it. When he pointed it to the air and pulled the trigger, Alma proceeded to fly at the Imperials. However, just before she reached him, a small bright red ball of sparking fire flew up and into the air, right after which Alma struck the Human with a right hook. When it burst in the air, she looked up, and panic set in.

Damn, we lost the element of surprise because of those assholes! She realized, as she turned to evade one of the soldiers swinging an ax at her, followed by a quick jab at his throat that sent the man sprawling onto the ground. As the Monsters began to push back against the small group of Imperials, a number of shouts could be heard as Human reinforcements came out of the nearby brush, attracted to the sound of fighting and yelling.


**POV SHIFT**


As Tamano looked at the bag that held Granberias' soul, she had went over the battle she had with the Wizards and the men with them. She was puzzling over it, the Dragon the soul belonged to effectively comatose when she should be dead just like Gelt said. She had been scrying the bag, and puzzling the threat Balthasar made to kill Granberia. She was confused on why Heram, despite having the opportunity to kill Granberia tried to put some distance between him and the fight. It either came down that Balthasar left out a crucial detail about how this spell works, or Heram was simply trying to get away from Erubetie at the time, and gave up. Eventually, she started to get a feel for the magic within the bag as she concentrated on seeing what was going on with Granberia.

The Dragon herself was resting on a mat that was laid out for her, and she too was glowing with this energy. Tamano concluded that this was the Element that Leopold used to manipulate souls, and then noticed a line that connected the two. Curious she picked up the bag and moved it closer to Granberia, and watched as the connection grew stronger. This made an ear twitch, as Tamano got up and walked away and out of her wagon, part of a convey of Monsters that were moving slowly to allow Alma Elma time to scout and disable any patrols. Her aid Feria looked over, and followed the Kitsune.

"Mi'lord, have you found something?" she asked, as several Monsters watched on in curiosity.

"I'm testing something, my child. I think I'm on to something." Tamano replied, focused solely on the bag. After stopping, she turned around and went back in, when Feria followed her in, she saw Tamano was about to open the bag.

"Tamano, what are you doing?!" she yelled, when Granberias' soul suddenly came out. The Dragon looked around for a second, then turned around to see her body. After making a face of what looked shock and then recognition, she proceeded to go back into her body, and woke up.

"So Granberia, how was-" Tamano was then interrupted by Granberia as she was shot up in rage, grabbed Aries, and ran out the tent.

"I AM GOING TO GOUGE OUT HIS EYES WITH MY FINGERED NAILS!" Granberia roared in rage, her voice loud and deafening as Tamano watched her ran out the wagon and past a group of confused and startled Monsters, then sighed as her ears flatten and she grabbed the bridge of her nose.

"Oh for Mother Alices' sakes." the Kitsune muttered under her breath (thankfully the exclamation was a common saying in Monster society, and thus Illias was not going to jump on that, assuming Sigmar kept his mouth shut.) and then teleported in front of Granberia. "Hold on there, let's calm down there. First off, I know that you don't get this pissed unless Balthasar Gelt got under your skin." Tamano replied, placing a hand on Granberias' chest and around her shoulders. "Why don't we discuss this in private? Feria, we might have a very confidential discussion ahead, so make sure everyone else is continuing ahead, yeah?"

"Yes, Mi'lord." the seven-tailed Kitsune said, her blue and orange tails swishing as she bowed. Tamano then took Granberia to a nearby clearing, and made sure no one was around. After putting some distance between them and the convoy, she turned to the stewing Dragon Knight of Fire.

"What happened? Did he do anything to you that was that bad?" she asked. Granberia shook her head.

"No, I found Gelt speaking with that Priest of Morr you and Alice mentioned. He had a conversation with them that revealed a lot of information about the Empire, as well as this... 'Chaos' as they call it. Speaking of which, where is the notes I wrote, Did you retrieve them along with Aries?" Granberia asked.

"No."

"Damn. Moving on back to the topic at hand, it was some of the things Gelts said about the Dark Goddess, her daughter the Six Ancestors, and Monster-kind in general that angered me, and I allowed my emotions and pride to cloud my judgment. That, and Gelt did something to my sword." Tamano listened carefully, seeing the Dragon tighten her hands at the memory that led to her being captured. "How did you rescue me?" Tamano proceeded to give a brief rundown on the situation, her rescue, and the fact Alma Elma went ahead to retrieve Erubetie and how Gelt discovered Tamanos' lab.

"Great, now the dung heap is getting higher." Granberia muttered angrily.

"Why, what was it he said about us?" Tamano asked.

"He considers Monsters to be a disease that is blighting Humanity, more so then Illias and her Angels, who he is not impressed with at all. Apparently, in his eyes, our reliance on semen to breed and live makes us little more then parasites, and even thinks that the idea Dark Goddess being a better creator of creatures then Illias to be folly. We must warn Lord Alice of this fact, as this is a view seemed to be shared by Leopold, and possibly the Imperial State Troopers. Therefore, I see no way we can make peace with them, as they'll almost certainly jump in with Illias if she offers them aide to exterminate us." Tamano sighed again.

Damn, things are just going to keep spiraling at this point if I don't get a hold of this situation. "But they refused when Promestein came to do just that."

"Yeah well, he didn't look into our history yet, and thus was not aware of what was going on." Granberia countered. "I hope Erubetie has at least cowed them into compliance for now. So far, they don't seem to have anything that can fight her off..."


**POV SHIFT*


As Erubetie slithered through one of the hidden passageways to get the food storage rooms, she began to calm down. She felt excitement, as she knew she was saved by the grace of the Dark Goddess, she just had to go these last few meters with a drop tight there for her to land in front of the granary. The Slime Queen managed to make it to one of the vents that was built into the walls of the Monster Lord Castle, and was laughing mentally to herself. While they were dusty, her membrane was more then thick enough to keep it out of her body.

I made it, I made to survival! She thought, reaching the edge of the of the vent... When it suddenly shifted away from her. She made a gurgling sound, then a sense of dread filled her as she realized what it meant. As the Slime looked behind her, the Shadowmancer was looking at her, somehow fitting into the too tight space for most of the other Humans. Erubetie, realizing she had no choice but to fight, Erubetie jumped at him, only for the Human to disappear, and a vent opening replaced it.

Before she could process what happened, she fell into a container, and the lid was snapped shut on her. As she began to panic, it was held aloft by Balthasar, the golden mask filling her eyes' vision as he brought her close to her face to exam her closely. She looked around, and saw Heram along with several Imperials gathered around him. She realized she was baited into giving herself away, and began to scream in rage, as she began to froth while turning her mass into an acid. However, the container was not melting fast enough, making her stop in confusion.

What the hell? Did Gelt enchant this glass? Balthasar started to chuckle, as he brought it down and carried it somewhere. As he walked, Erubetie was shaken and tossed by the motion, leaving in a state akin to motion sickness. His voice was barely audible through the glass, but she could just make out the words.

"As you may have noticed, the glass in this vial does not dissolve in acid. My peers and I use it when handling similar substances, and it just so happens I keep my personal alchemy kit on my persons in case I need to investigate certain substances, like say a living acidic creature like you." Gelt explained, as he turned left and away to the main hall of the Castle. As Erubetie looked on through her dizziness and sickness, the Human continued. "It will be a shame not to have any samples to study your chemistry, but I don't have the equipment to keep you permanently contained, and given your dietary requirements such a thing wouldn't be possible anyway, and I do not normally keep prisoners. Your friend was an exception, as she was an opportunity to send fear into the hearts of your accursed kin." Fear gripped her core, as the Slime Queen found herself being over a pot killed with a cloudy substance, while one of the prisoners stood by with a rod to stir it with. As she looked around she saw Leopold had a book open, and a purple aura suffused his body as he said some kind of prayer to Morr. She could sense the presence of the deity in question, and when she scryed to look around the room, she saw what could only be the Imperial God of the Dead standing over Balthasar Gelt, staring at her with a piercing gaze that bored into her soul. His hood was drawn, leaving most of his face in shadow, and the lantern he held was glowing brightly, opened and glowing as he hooked his scythe around the pot, ready to hook in Erubeties' soul. Gelt looked in the direction of Morr that she did not understand, then back to the Slime Queen who exchanged one last look with the Supreme Patriarch.

"What do you see in that painting?" Gelt asked. When Erubetie looked back, she realized that Morr turned translucent, and she saw that there a painting of the Six Ancestor Lords. "I suppose even Monsters will pray to their god when faced with mortal peril. Now then, Erubetie, Champion of the Monster Lord, it is time you were saved by Morr, and judged for your crimes by Verena." with that, Erubetie was dumped into the lye almost as soon as Gelt opened the container of glass he held her in, and Morr returned to his normal form. As the rod the Human prisoner held was stirred, it forced lye into Erubeties' body, dissolving it as she felt intense and horrific pain. She wanted to scream, as it was not an instant death, her core reflectively trying to save itself as the mixture got closer and closer. As the God of the Dead reached his hand in, he grabbed the purple object, and Gelt and the Humans who were watching this cried out as a bright light beam shot into the sky.

The Slime Queen began to feel the grip she held over the millions of women she absorbed and forced into her consciousness being pulled out her core, and a feeling of cold numbness began to overtake her.

NO! NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! She screamed telepathically to Morr, who simply showed the various souls the lantern he held, not listening to the plea Erubetie gave. Not like this. Not like this. Please, stop. Morr then looked at her, and scowled.

You are already dead Erubetie. And as for your request to stop, Verena and you are going to have a long, long talk about those who begged you to stop before you killed them. Erubetie made an exclamation, and found herself looking at her arms.

Whuh? She turned around, and saw a gate, one side white and the other black snapping shut. Around her a large cluster of souls were looking around them, and fear began to grip them as they say an endless landscape of graves, along with a city and a road leading to it. As she realized that this was the so called Garden. Many of the souls of the women she absorbed looked at Morr,who was already walking to the city.

Come... I will not force you, but I would like to attend to your rest. was all Morr communicated with them, as the souls then felt themselves gravitate to him, driven by what they felt was an almost fatherly aura. Erubetie however, fell to the equivalent of her knees, and began to sob. She was now alone now, and she knew that whatever the women following Morr were going to get, she was not to be with them, and was not going to see the others again. Not unless they died...


**POV SHIFT**


As Illias was watching Luka head to San Illias, a bright beam shot out from Hellgondo. She was startled by this, went see what was happening. Morr appeared a little later, and the goddess spoke up.

"What the hell is that?" she asked as the light beam disappeared as quickly as it did appear.

"That, was the result of the Queen of Slimes being drawn into my Garden along with all the souls she contain all at at the same time." Morr said, as Illias looked at him incredulously.

"That jackass of a Wizard Gelt actually killed her?!" she cried out in shock, her face taken aback, as she didn't think Gelt could pull it off. After a moment, she calmed down and spoke in a more collected tone. "You planning to do anything to her soul?"

"We'll see what Verenas' judgment of her soul is going to be." Morr replied cryptically, before leaving. As Illias looked on, she began to laugh. Promestein then walked in, rubbing her eyes while wearing a set of night ware.

"What's going on? I seemed to miss something, as everyone is talking about some light beam..."