The tunnel they traversed led to a larger room, something that looked almost like a ruined underground city. They all found this rather surprising, another layer to the secrets of the monastery. "Well, I think we can safely say that this is the best thing we could've done tonight." Claude mused, something Cetanu found himself agreeing with.

Led by his nose, the group continued to travel through the underground area, which they noticed narrowed and twisted and turned like a labyrinth, something that Cetanu assumed was a defensive measure. He hesitated, hearing something in the distance. What exactly was it?

"We're about to be ambushed. Do not kill anyone." Cetanu said, and they all seemed surprised. They weren't armed, so how could they fight? "If you aren't confident in your own physical ability, let me know so I can make you a weapon." he said, and they all looked to him. "They smell like random civilians. They don't even have the same strength as the other students." Victor noted.

As if responding to his statement, a small group of masked mercenaries charged them, Cetanu and Victor taking the front of the line to defend the students. One of the men came down with a blade that struck Cetanu's mantle, bouncing off and allowing Cetanu to throw a stiff left palm, knocking the man back.

Victor caught and snapped the blades of his would be attackers, grabbing them by the skull and slamming their heads together to knock them out. He sighed, noticing that Cetanu had already disabled a few more men, his stance incredibly relaxed, the students watching the two monsters move quickly and decisively.

"Come on out you cowards! I just wanna talk." Victor said, the duo able to still sense movement in the shadows. Cetanu didn't like this. It was obvious that they came in peace, and unarmed, so why were they beset by a horde of unequipped men who couldn't scratch them? Cetanu heard another noise, something that was similar to a sigh, or a yawn.

When he did, the ground in front of them exploded open, and a huge, worm like monster rose up, hissing at them and spraying acidic saliva in their direction. Cetanu frowned at this, finding that their underground hosts weren't very hospitable. He rolled his neck, and he glanced to Victor. "You and Ashe take everyone deeper in. I'm going to deal with this thing." he said, and the cat man whistled before nodding, the quintet moving on without him.

"We can't just leave him behind like that!" Hilda said, and Dimitri chuckled, an almost nervous sound. "I wouldn't worry about him. He's going to be fine." he said, glancing back and seeing Cetanu simply stare at the monster. It was such an odd look, like a scientist looking at a caged animal. It was horrible.

"Where did you come from?" Cetanu asked, the beast lunging at him with it's mouth open. Cetanu caught it by the chin, smiling at the fact that he made physical contact with it. "Whoever your master is, they aren't very smart." he said, the creature spasming and twitching as Cetanu reworked it's innards, the creature dying from the pain it was in, overwhelmed by the demon with nothing but a simple touch.

The group of five came to a larger room, and they all seemed rather worried, since the room held a viscous aura, a dark feeling that accompanied an odd chill in the room. "Finally, I've been waiting for someone decent to fight!" they heard, seeing a man wearing all white approach, cracking his knuckles with a smile on his face.

"You might want to hold back. I still want to get some information out of them." they heard, a second man, this one younger and much more feminine with purple hair. "They're going to die either way. Why bother?" came next, a girl with blood red hair and dark brown skin coming next.

"Because we have to see if they have any information that may aid us, of course! We have a sacred duty as the guardians of the Abyss!" they heard, a haughty snobbish girl with oddly colored hair arriving next. They numbered four to the Monastery's five, but something told them that they might not be the favorite in this clash.

"You kids the ones that sent that monster after us?" Victor asked, and they all had a different reaction. "You got past it?" the largest of the four said, almost surprised. Victor shrugged. "Our leader decided to deal with it. He should be here soon." he noted, and the brown skinned girl frowned.

"If you think some random merc is gonna get passed one of those monsters, you must be stupid." she said, and Victor shrugged. "Why don't you tell us who you are? We didn't come here to hurt you guys." Claude said, and the purple haired boy rose a brow.

"Really? Then why is there a Blood Demon with you?" he asked, and they all blinked. Ashe frowned, narrowing his eyes. "I came here because I smelled you four. I don't see how that's relevant." he said, and the haughty girl frowned.

"If you think that we aren't aware of the Church's desire to be rid of us, then you must peg us for bigger fools than yourselves!" she said, and Dimitri frowned. "We had no idea any of you were down here, much less that the Church has anything against you." he said, trying to get through to at least one of them.

"Really? Then you wouldn't mind putting your fists up and proving that?" The taller male asked, and Dimitri frowned. He didn't want to fight any of these people, regardless of who or what they were. They were just curious, surely they could come to a peaceful compromise?

"I think I'd rather do that you damn cave dwelling buffoon." Victor said, the two coming face to face and frowning. They looked like two titans ready to throw earth shaking blow after blow. "Victor, stand down." they heard, turning to see Cetanu approaching, looking rather relaxed given the scenario.

The four white and gray garbed individuals looked to Cetanu, and they could tell that he was the strongest of this group by leaps and bounds. It was rather surprising to feel such a presence in their abode, and he met them with a kind smile. "Pleasure to meet you all. I'm Cetanu Eisner." he said, and they all seemed to recognize that name.

"The Demon Lord of Wrath!? Truly you jest!" the haughty girl said, seeming ever so slightly afraid. Cetanu shrugged, seeming even more relaxed if that was possible. "Not at all. I simply came down here because I wanted to see others of our kind. Surely you feel the same?" he asked, an oddly genuine curiosity in his voice.

"What are you? We've seen a lot of our kind, and none of them feel as disgusting as you do." the purple haired boy said, and Cetanu chuckled. "I've never seen any besides myself and my progeny, sadly. So to see the four of you brings me a sense of happiness." he said, ignoring the question completely.

"Listen, Chatterbox, you better start answering our questions. You're in our territory." the brown girl said, and Cetanu looked to her. For some reason, he felt compelled to be kind, as if the ideal of hospitality and being a good host or guest had an influence on his inhuman nature. He bowed slightly. "My apologies. I'm Cetanu Eisner, and I'm the son of The Fiend, the first Blood Demon and mother of the Fleshcrafters." he said, and the four of them cast looks between each other.

"I think it would be best if you turned around. We might be monsters ourselves, but we will not play the host to something as abominable as you." the haughty girl said, and Cetanu rose a brow.

"Come now, Constance Von Nuvelle, is that any way to treat a guest?" he asked, and the girl felt her inhuman heart skip a beat. She was sure that none of them had ever mentioned their names, and yet, this man knew her name, and what House she was from.

"How do you know her name, buddy?" the larger male said, and Cetanu looked to him. "I'm a Fleshcrafter, Balthus Von Albrecht. If scaring someone doesn't work, I can simply restructure their brain to tell me what I want to know. It's hardly a challenge for someone like me." he said, and they all seemed rather nervous.

"What do you want? If you weren't sent here to kill us, then why did you have to bother us?" the brown skinned girl asked, and Cetanu sighed. "I merely wish to interact. I have never met another Blood Demon, and my students here are rather curious to see what weaker, and different… 'clans' of our kind are like." he said, and they seemed to almost relax. "If you promise to leave our people alone, and to remain benevolent, you can stay for a while. But if you do anything out of place, we will stop you." the purple haired boy said, and Cetanu laughed.

With the group split up in a more casual area that also had random humans ranging from soldiers to the homeless, Cetanu found himself spending time with the leader of this entire underground society, the purple haired boy, Yuri. He found this to be the best outcome, as no one would have more information than the leader.

"You said that the Church has something against you all?" he asked, and Yuri nodded, a frown on his features. "Each of us ended up down here for a different reason. Avoiding would be assassins or hunters, lack of wealth and so on. The four of us are essentially in charge because of our strength, and nothing more." he said, and Cetanu felt like that wasn't true. There had to be another layer to it, something he wasn't being told. "But what reason would Rhea have to kill any of you?" he asked.

Yuri cast him a look, and Cetanu felt like he could understand it. It was a sad gaze, one of a tormented soul. It was the kind of look that Ashe used to wear at all times, a blatant hatred for one's inhuman circumstance. "We're monsters. We can barely survive snacking on the weak and downtrodden here. It's only a matter of time before one of us snaps and gets all of us killed." he said, and Cetanu hummed.

"What kind of Blood Demons are you all? As a Fleshcrafter, I can suppress my hunger with this dagger I wear." he said, and Yuri glanced to it. "I don't think that'd work for me. I'm an Artist. It might not make much sense to someone as incredibly vile as you, but I have a harder time suppressing my urges around those I deem attractive." he said, and Cetanu tilted his head.

"Which, since you're an Artist, means most people, am I right?" he asked, and Yuri nodded. It was odd that the slightly older Blood Demon seemed to know a lot of their kind. Even they themselves weren't the most aware of what they were or what they could and could not do. If there was someone that could enlighten them, teach them, that might be to their benefit.

Separate from Yuri and Cetanu, the rest of the two groups intermingled. They had come to find out that Balthus, the brawn of the underground group, was the former heir to House Albrecht, a noble house in the Alliance, and that Balthus personally was good friends with Hilda's older brother, Holst.

"What the Professor said about you being some kind of monster was a joke… right?" she asked, and he sighed, scratching his head. "Sadly, it wasn't. That kinda part of why I'm down here. Between my bad financial skills and being something that isn't human, you can imagine how many enemies I've garnered." he said.

"Sounds to me like you're better off out of the public eye." Claude said, and Balthus nodded to him. "Yeah. See, while my Crest comes from my father's side of the family, very few people knew it, but my mother was a Blood Demon. She was from a clan called 'The Beasts', so you can imagine how that went in private meetings with other nobles." he mused.

"I must extend my condolences to you. It must be hard to be stuck down here, deprived of most of life's pleasures." Dimitri said, and the grappler shrugged with a sigh. "It's better this way. Now I can avoid bounty hunters and would be Demon Slayers. Lots of people don't take kindly to creatures like us. How'd it feel when you guys found out?" he asked, and they all thought about it.

"Well, I still don't believe some of it." Hilda said, glancing away from her childhood friend. "I myself grew accustomed to it rather quickly. It's a bit odd, but I have friends that are a great help." Dimitri said, sounding much more confident.

"I think it's pretty cool. Plus, getting bitten isn't the worst thing in the world." Claude said, winking in Ashe's direction, somehow making the Blood Demon that moulds flesh the uncomfortable one. "I figured out about it when I was Embraced, and it took quite some time to get used to it." he said, and they all blinked.

"Hey, Freckles, what are you talking about?" the girl with the brown skin, who was named Hapi, asked. Ashe blinked. "Which part? I mean, I think it'd be a little odd if I wasn't accustomed to it by now." he said, and they seemed arguably more puzzled.

Constance, the haughty girl that didn't sit well with anyone besides Hilda, and of course Victor, frowned. "Do not play the fool! What do you mean 'Embraced'? Are you claiming that you were turned into one of us and not born!?" she shouted, and he blinked. He nodded slowly, as if surprised. "You mean you guys are all like the Professor, and born this way?" he asked, and they all seemed a bit unsettled. "Kid, we didn't think it possible to make more of us." he said.

"Really? It was the first thing I did." they heard, turning to see Yuri and Cetanu approaching, the purple haired Blood Demon seeming slightly unnerved at the conversation. Balthus narrowed his eyes. "How, and why would you do it?" he asked, and Cetanu glanced about, as if searching for something. "How, I'll show you if need be. Why? To save his life of course. I could cure the poison ailing him that not even my friend Lillith could cure with her Crest, and while he fed, I was able to restructure his missing arm." he said.

"Missing limbs? Don't you have any boundaries?" Hapi asked, and Cetanu nodded. "Of course. Although, you won't often see them, much like right now." he said, and they blinked, on edge at how threatening those words sounded. "What's that supposed to mean?" Yuri asked, slightly worried as he was the closest to Cetanu.

"I was wondering if we could do a little trust building exercise. You see, I can sense a large number of mercenaries sneaking into this place from one of the upper tunnels. If you'd oblige me, I'd like to leave my people here to guard your… 'Abyss', while the five of us head to deal with the riff raff above. Does that sound acceptable?" he asked, and all of the Garreg Mach students nodded quickly.

The Four other Blood Demons were rather hesitant to trust this man. He was incredibly powerful, and he had knowledge of things they didn't expect, and he wanted to be left alone with them and a bunch of mercenaries. It was quite the grim scenario, and yet, they couldn't turn away. Yuri looked to Cetanu, his eyes slightly narrowed, fangs bared in a snarl.

"We'll go with you, but if you try anything, and I mean anything, the four of us will strike you down and feast on the remains." he said, and Cetanu smiled as he looked to the leader of this motley crew. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. It'd be rather messy when I regenerate."