Vermin Tide Quest

Chapter 29

As Alice and Luka made their way to the Haunted Mansion along with the court mage, a red-headed man by the name of Samuel and his retinue, the three were exchanging small conversation, until they came across the Mansion itself.

"By Ilias!" Samuel exclaimed upon seeing the ruins that were in its place, as his escort took up positions to watch the clearing around them for any sign of the intruders that did this. Alice and Luka in the meantime watched as Samuel looked at the ruins, and Alice noticed that Luka was sweating slightly. As the Lamia leaned over him to whisper in his ear, she could see his breath was ragged, and that the area felt, tainted for lack of a better word, and seemed to have a similar effect on the Humans around them, though Luka was more affected by it.

"Is something wrong?" Alice asked.

"It must be Chaos, I can feel it." Luka replied, much to Alices' surprise. She could hear a hint of dread in the boys' voice, and saw that the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Angel Halo seemed to be affected by it as well, as it made a subtle groan only Alice could hear. "I can see sort of black energy, stuck in the ground and ruins, and infecting it. I only felt this kind of feeling back when that Crab Girl was infected by one of those Plague Demons. But it is different." Alice then looked around at the other Humans around them, and saw that none of their group overheard him. She then placed a hand on Lukas' shoulders, and continued to whisper to him.

"Alright, Luka." when the boy turned to her, a look of nervousness in his eyes that reflected her face, she continued. "Remember that I said I would not intervene in any fight between you and other Monsters? Well, I will get involved in anything that involves Chaos, since whatever force is behind it clearly intends ill-will towards us all, be it Monster, Human, and maybe even Angel. So, I want you to calm down, and breathe slowly." Alice proceeded to watch over Luka, as he meditated until he calm down, and Alice could feel a faint surge of magic flow through him, until he collected himself. "I'm never going to get used to that."

"Huh?" Luka asked, as a crashing sound could heard as Samuel used a levitation spell to lift some rubble to clear an entrance to the basement of the destroyed mansion.

"Nothing." Alice said, as she and Luka watched him going down with a torch, while one of his escort soldiers followed him down and into the basement.

"I found something!" Samuel cried out from within a few seconds later. "It appears that a necromancer was here, and may have had an accident in their lab that burned everything." Alices' mouth twitched, as she tensed up and got close to Luka. "Wait, what is that?" Samuel asked, likely speaking to his guard. "Ma'am, are you- AAARRGH!" he screamed, as a roar of rage was heard from within, followed by an exclamation of horror.

"WHAT IN THE HELL, YOU MURDERER! BURN IN THE NAME-" Suddenly the man cried in pain, as a chopping sound was heard. Then, a beast-like cry of hate and hunger was heard OH GOD, GOD NO-" Alice practically jumped in shock, while the other man screamed in terror, while the rest of the escort drew their weapons, hearing the sound of something mauling their comrade.

"Samuel!" someone screamed. "We got to help them!" with that, Luka and the others ran in with their weapons drawn, while Alice shook in fear, noticed only by Luka as he ran back to the Lamia and grabbed her by the wrist.

"Come on! You said that you would get involved if I found something related to Chaos!" he said, tugging her with a surprising amount of force, snapping the Monster Lord into reality and shock that Luka could actually pull her.

"Wai- WAH!" the other guards could be heard fighting the thing downstairs, which snarled and screeched in anger. As Luka and Alice entered the room, they paused at the sight of the thing before them. To Alice, it was looked like one of the Vampires that resided in their castle hidden in the mountains of Sentoria due its fangs, but with clawed and bloody hands as well as having no skin, showing its red sinews and muscles atop of pearl white bone while being almost too big to fit in the room. It also was dressed in furs, with skulls arranged in a necklace in a grim display. Two dark gray and blue eyes stared with clear hatred at the Humans before it, who had formed a semi-circle around it, the space cramped as it was by the wreckage of a laboratory that they somehow surrounded its' bulky body, and Luka saw Samuel on the ground, his chest slashed opened by something else other then claws, while the guard that was with him was ripped open to his and Alices' shock at the level of brutal violence it unleashed. As they looked, Alice sensed something, and turned to see a horned woman with pale blue skin had suddenly jumped out of the shadows to attack Luka from behind with a giant cleaver, her eyes glowing with the same rage as she raised it.

"Luka!" Alice shouted, as she intercepted the blade with her arm, which slammed with an impact that made her grit her teeth from the pain of it biting into her arm as she braced and took it full force. As the Human boy jumped back from it, she dragged it down, and Alice screamed as her arm was slashed. The woman also turned her attention to Alice, staring blankly as the Lamia realized she recognized her attacker.

"Shirome!?" at the sound of the name Alice said, the Monster jerked, then growled as her face turned into a grimace of rage showing a similar set of fangs as the Vampire that was reeling back to swipe at them. Luka then shouted to the guards while he blocked Shiromes' attack, but was too late as the creature tore through their armor like tissue paper, flaying four of them and wounding the others.

"You murderous bastard!" Luka shouted drawing the attention of the Vampire as it glared at him. "What do you do to this place?" the creature simply growled, as it crawled towards him on all fours, intent on ripping his flesh and blood body, moving with a speed that belied its large form. However, as he brandished Angel Halo, it screeched and reared back at the sword, which suddenly glowed a holy light as the Vampire covered its eyes. Shirome had a similar reaction to the glow, recoiling as though she was being shocked by a lighting bolt of Ilias' holy wrath. Taking advantage of this, Alice grabbed Luka by the wrist.

"Come on, we got to warn the King!" she shouted, as Luka was pulled along with her. The screams of the guards who were still alive could be heard alongside the sound of the two Vampires tearing them apart, to which Alice stopped when they reached the exit, and began to channel a spell. With her eyes glowing, she then proceeded to create a ball of fire. "I'm sorry." she muttered, as Luka realized what was happening.

"Alice no!" the Monster immediately launched the ball of fire, which exploded and collapsed the entry way. Luka stood there, with his mouth agape, as he shook. "Alice!" he stopped as he began to shout, as he saw Alice shaking while holding onto her arm. He was visibly surprised by this, as Alice was genuinely terrified of the Vampires that were in the basement, and was on the verge of hyperventilating. Paling at the thought that she the Monster Lord could feel fear, he approached her carefully. "Alice, what was it?"

"Her name was Shirome." Luka knelt to the Lamia, who now shed her illusion to reveal that she was curling up into a ball.

"Shirome? The second one right?" Alice nodded in confirmation.

"Yes. She was part of the Artiste family, an ancient line of Succubi who practiced necromancy for my family. Some centuries ago when my mother reined, she had cast them out in shame from her castle, due an accident that wounded a number of the Monsters that served as her maids, and killed one of their own. When I saw her and recognized her from a painting of the Artiste family, she looked at me with such, pure hate. And seeing Shirome turned into something like that, it just made me freak out, as she was the one who died in the accident." Luka watched as the Lamia shuddered as she explained this to him. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned to seeing him sitting next to her. As he replied, he showed her Angel Halo.

"Well, if anything, we know that Angel Halo was able to affect them just by their being near it. They are viscous, but so far we have the time to warn the King what happened, and get Slyph to help us fight them." at that, the Monster Lord nodded. However, as she left, she noticed that she could sense that they were restless, yet Shirome and her new Vampire partner were not making any attempts to break out of the rubble...

**POV SHIFT**

Shirome could be heard growling in the darkness of the basement, cursing Promestein and Morr in every manner she could think of, while her new master, the... Strigoi Ghoul King as he called himself was not bothered by the fact they were discovered. "We need to make our way out of here, yet the sun will still be in the sky master, why are you not frightened by our situation?" She said, fingering her sisters' bone cleaver, one of her precious mementos left of Chrome, including her hat which she kept in her pocket, Chromes' left hand, and the melded brain and skull of her sister merged with her own, transplanted by her master of the necromantic arts to replace the ones that were destroyed when Promestein shot her in the head. When the strange Light beam blew it apart, she unfortunately survived, but was paralyzed in the process. She wanted to scream, and cry at the loss of her sister. Shirome had intended for Chrome to become a Seeker of Truth, even hoped one day she would restore the Artises' name. Instead, that bitch Angel slewed her in cold blood, and then at point blank range missed hitting the vital parts of her brain, burying her alive without even confirming that she was killed.

No, Promestein did know she was still alive, and just wanted her to rot away with her dead sister as the Artiste screamed internally for the next decade or so it would've taken for her Zombie body to rot away into dust without being fed with semen. However, if not for a stroke of fate, she would never have been rescued by this Vampire. According to the Strigoi, he had been in the basement at the time, having been stuck in San Ilias when the Green Sky Burst happened. He was awaiting for an event like it to happen in Reikspiel, and so spent the next few days and nights laying low like he had done on his world for many thousands of years, feeding on the corpses of the graveyards to sustain himself. Shirome herself noted that this Vampire was able to do so without even Ilias noticed. After a while, he noticed the Skaven had been moving in and feeding as well, and saw the writing on the wall to seek new shelter before things went haywire. Thus, he found Chrome, who had allowed him in just the night before the Chaos Sorcerer attacked.

"Because youngblood..." the ghoulish creature said in between crunches of bone and the sounds of fresh blood being noisily lapped up from their new supply. "I have a plan to get us out of here, since those two are leaving by now. They will still need to organize their extermination squad, and if half of what you told me of this world is true, you alone could handle it."

"And if they make the connections that you and I can't enter the light of the sun like the Vampires of this world, who only get weaker?"

"We run once they crack open the entrance for us, split up to elude them, then reconvene at our agreed destination." her master said, as he turned and pointed to her. "Remember, don't engage any other Monsters, feed on anyone who is isolated..."

"...and don't get caught in daylight." Shirome said. "Care to explain the plan?"

"As it is still in the works, here's what I have down."

**POV SHIFT**

Hours later

As night fell, and Luka and Alice approached the remains of the Haunted Mansion, a formation of San Ilias' militia formed around them. Luka was able to explain the situation to the King there of what was happening, and that he had to go to the Fairy Forest north to acquire something to aide him in the fight against the Vampire that was there. Which was also why he could hear Slyph singing a tune in his head. One she had been singing since Luka passed her test, and making him want to scream.

...this is the song that doesn't end!. Yes, it just goes on and on my friend! Some people started singin' it not knowing what it was, and-~

ALRIGHT! FINALLY, WE'RE HERE, so you can stop now! Luka cried out mentally, as he visibly shook for a few seconds as he breathed in relief. By Ilias, he never knew what it was like to be insane, but he felt like he got a glimpse into the experience of losing ones' mind from the accursed song Slyph had been singing.

Oh, ok... did you at least like the song? Slyph asked, the Spirit of the Wind sounding as ditzy and cheerful as ever.

Nooo...

Oh... oh... I'm sorry. Slyph said, as Luka seethed. Alice looked over at him, examining his expression.

"Yeah, from what I read, Slyph can be a handful. Sorry about not warning you." Luka just held up a hand.

"No, no. It's fine, I just got her to stop singing for once. I want to cry now from the sheer silence." Luka moaned joyously, as he breathed deeply while looking at the night sky. "Are you sure about this? Vampires have a tendency to be stronger at night, even I know that." Luka gestured around to the other Human soldiers, who all had garlic necklaces and torches along with a number of items that would be useful in fighting a Vampire, such as spears to impale and immobilize it, along with stakes to finish it off.

"Which is why we got all this stuff." one of them said, gesturing to their gear. It was then they heard one of the Vampires, the one that Shirome was apparently following roared. The entire party jerked up in shock, surprised by the noise. Another roar was then heard, this Alice realized came from Shirome, as a burst of baleful purple and dark red light suddenly engulfed the graveyard. Alice then remembered what Leopold described the Vampires of his world. 'They are a blight upon the Empire with the Dark Art of Necromancy, raising legions of Undead.' Alices' eyes widen in shock, and she cried out to a man that reading a headstone.

"Back away from there!" she yelled, as the dirt in the graves suddenly began to burst and explode outwards, drawing the attention of the group. Due to the late reaction of the one the man was near, he managed to back up and avoid the limb that shot out in an attempt to grab his ankle.

**BGM: CLERIC BEAST FROM BLOODBORNE**

"Oh fuck!" he yelled, as a decaying and rotting flesh covered skull peered at him with a blank look of anger, when he immediately stabbed it in the eye.

"The dead! They raising the dead!" someone yelled. Within moments, the graveyard was swarming with zombies and skeletons, and much to the shock of Alice, she saw that these Undead included male cadavers, as they pushed against the gates, which the soldiers tried to close up on them. They managed to slam it close, but a mangled limb managed to grab at one mans' neck. As he cried out, the zombie in question pulled him towards the gate, slamming him into it.

"Jared!"

"GGYAAGH!" Jared cried out, as several limbs began ripping at his skin, while the the Undead howled and raged. More of them began to gather on that part of the gate, both on noticing the man just barely in their grasp, and due to several spear men rushing to help him.

KKYYAAHH! What kind of magic is this?! Slyph cried out, as Luka ran over to help Jared. He could feel the sensation of the Dark Magic which animated these Undead, and felt repulsed by it.

Slyph, now is not the time to dwell on this! Luka exclaimed, as he called on her power. As he felt the rushing of the Wind, he could feel it blow though everything, and that was when he paused upon how it felt wrong when he sensed how it flowed through the Undead. That, and he felt something coming from the direction of the basement. "Guards, they're a distraction!" he yelled, pointing at the basement. Almost on cue, the rubble that Alice had put to keep the Vampires trapped exploded, and two shapes ran out in a blur. Shirome was the smallest of the two, and ran with her cleaver in hand at two soldiers as they tried to block her.

"Oh Ilias! GYA-" one mans scream was cut off as she chopped off their spears' pointed heads before they could impale her, followed by a second strike which bisecting both on them at the waist. Seeing Alice and Luka, Shirome grimaced, before running with a speed that only Alice could keep up with out in the direction of San Ilias, while the other Vampire ran towards the guards that struggling to save Jared, and leaped over them. As it sailed in the air over the fence, it grabbed a guard, who screamed as he was pulled away along with the beast of the night. Upon landing in the graveyard, it then ran on all fours as if they were some demented Hellhound, charging through the fencing and smashing through it like a battering ram. With that, the Undeads' weight began to make the gate buckle.

"Get away from them!" all the guards there then backed up, as the gate came loose and the pile of corpses fell upon Jared, crushing him underneath their weight as they also lurched forwards to go after the other Humans. Luka rushed forwards to fight the Undead, while he turned to Alice. At first, he did not see her, then saw a flickering tail disappear into the brush, and realized she was chasing down Shirome. He heard a growl, and slashed a zombie the ran at him, which immediately collapsed and fell apart.

Meanwhile, Alice was speeding through the forest that surrounded the Haunted Mansion, cursing internally. Dark Goddess damn me if I let another one of the monsters of the other world cause more problems ensuring peace! She thought. As the Monster Lord crashed through the trees chasing Shirome, she sensed a a feeling of baleful energy similar to the one that emitted from the Vampires when they raised those corpses. She immediately dashed to the side, as her target tried to grab her with a magic-enveloped hand. The Vampire turned and snarled in fury, as she drew the cleaver that she carried from her back. As she made her first strike, Alice dodged under the bloody blade, which sailed over the Monster Lords head.

"Enough!" Alice screamed, as she grabbed it with her healed arm, and punched her attacker with the other in the torso. The force launched Shirome into a tree, and a branch suddenly shot out of nowhere, impaling the Monster on it, and she preceded to let out a pain-filled scream. "What has become of you! Why are you trying to slay your Lord!" Alice demanded, throwing down the cleaver.

"You are not my Lord!" Shirome snapped, trying to break the tree branch, only to let out an exasperated gasp as several vines wrapped around the Vampires' limbs. Roaring in anger, the Vampire kicked at the trunk, screaming in rage. Alice, trying to calm her down, slithered up the tree trunk, then grabbed Shirome as her eyes began to glow. However, the Artise Necromancer snapped, trying to bite into the Monster Lords hand. Alice was too fast however, as she pulled back her arms, and grabbed the Vampires' fangs. As Alices' grip tightened, Shirome widened her eyes for half a second.

After a snapping sound was heard, Shiromes' scream of pain could be heard echoing throughout the forest, as Alice effortlessly pulled it out with a spurt of dead, rotten black blood, which took the Lamia off-guard. As she inspected the branch ran a quick simulation of Shiromes' impalement, she realized it went through one of her stomachs, and was covered a mixture of her blood and in its contents.

Alice then recoiled at this, as the Vampire screamed even louder while holding her mouth, as she noticed that up close, her body was like one of the zombies she raised from the dead, but akin to one of her world. Not only that, but her arms bore similar claws to the one that was from the other world. "What is this? What pact did you make with creature?" she demanded, as the sobbing Shirome broke.

"Lord help me... not again." she cried, shaking in fear of Alice. The Monster Lord then grabbed her by both sides of her head, forcing the crying Succubus-turned-Vampire to look her in the eyes.

"Shirome! Answer me!" She roared in anger. "What is that beast planning to-" she stopped, as she heard something leaping from tree to tree. As she she turned to see what it was, the Vampire that was with her captive leaped in the air, mouth opened like a maw as it howled, its' eyes flaring red like blood, and hands outstretched to rip into the Monster Lords' flesh while flying like a missile through the air.

Alice uncoiled partway around the tree trunk her snake half was wrapped around, both dodging the attack, and getting behind the Vampire. As she shot an arm out, the Vampire turned with a speed that matched hers, and caught the fist at the end of it. As a shock wave resounded, the bone in the Vampires' arm burst from its' elbow, but it held on regardless. "What?!" Alice cried out, and then grunted as the Vampire punched her back, recoiling at the sheer force it put out as she felt the skin on the right side of her face tore open, while the beast reared back to strike her again. Several vines wrapped around its arm, distracting it long enough for Alice to charge her magic and blast the Vampire at point blank range in the head with a gout of flame spewed from her mouth. The Vampire screeched in rage, an aura of black and purple surrounding it like a shield of ablative armor as it struggled against the vines holding its arm from retaliating and Alice holding its mangled limb, while Shirome cried out.

"Lord Strigos!" she yelled, before chopping at the vines, releasing one of its limbs. Alice, noticing this from her peripheral vision, stopped and turned to the Artise.

"What are you doing?!" the Lamia yelled in anger, when she then turned at the sound of wood being smashed. Alice then saw the second Vampire had punched threw the tree, and the same magic aura it generated began to channel into the tree, which suddenly started dying. Alice quickly unwounded in an attempt to pull the Vampire off of the withering tree to save it while its avatar began to form, crying out in pain. However, instead of being pulled along with her, she felt the arm she was holding onto get ripped off entirely from the elbow, and the Vampire cried out in pain as the sound of ripping flesh was heard, but it did not cancel the spell. As the tree rotted from the inside out, the vines keeping Shirome tied to the branch sticking out of her stomach shriveled up, and she tore her way out of the trap.

Both Vampires quickly leaped off, and landed on the ground worse for wear, as Alice then fired off a chunk of ice which blocked off their path as they ran. As the two looked at Alice, they saw she had dropped the limb she tore off, and that she was still more then able to keep fighting. "Surrender or die." she said, eyes narrowed and threatening at the two, looking back at the tree with what looked to be a look of empathy and regret as it continued to wither. When she turned back, she said, "I will not suffer you to continue with whatever plans you have intended to fulfill, especially if it involves slaying the very land itself." With that, the Vampire that saved Shirome stepped in front of her when she tried to retort, and then smiled, making a twisted and distorted maw of fangs. Alice felt a chill run up her spine, and turned to see a phantasm floating near her. When it took the shape of a man, it suddenly howled and screamed while flying at her, and Alice suddenly froze in fear when she realized it was a ghost.

As she screamed in response, Luka rushed out from the brush with Angel Halo, letting out a war cry as he struck the spirit, which burst apart as the sword slashed it. As he turned, the large Vampire suddenly wrapped its hand around the Human boys neck, only to recoil as its hand burst into bright blue flame that burned away the flesh, and shrieked when Luka cut into its stomach. As he prepared to cut vertically, his opponent slapped the blade, causing the bone remnants of its hand to explode everywhere, then kicked him with enough force to send all the air in his lungs rushing out as he skid across the ground, then fell face first while his eyes rolled back much to Alices terror. Then she saw the Vampire stomping towards him, eyeing his body hungrily as its fanged maw opened up.

With a grunt, Alice launched herself at the Vampire, having recovered from the shock of the ghost attack, and attack the Vampire with a punch to the head while it was still focused on her travel companion. Unlike when it hit her face, which which was only grazed, she felt its jaw break, and it also staggered from the force of her blow, followed by another two, then four and more as she unleashed a barrage upon it, screaming as she did so. As the Vampire was sent flying away from the two, Shirome caught her new master, and stared at her former Lord with a look of rage, and possible fear as she held out her cleaver. The fact she was still willing to fight despite her injury frightened Alice combined with the fact the Vampire with her was still in one albeit battered piece, but she did not let it show as she took comfort in the fact that while this newcomer was vicious and aggressive as par for the course of everything that came from the other world, it was not invincible. And that was when she heard the cry of the San Ilias guards, as they were apparently left behind when Luka came to help her.

**BGM ENDS**

"There! One of them went that way!"

"Move! Move!" Alice quickly put on her disguise, while the Vampires ran away, knowing it was a fools errand to stand there ground. Alice quickly ran over to Luka, checking on him and laying her head on his chest. Much to her relief he was still breathing, though clearly pained as he coughed.

"Alice, get off my chest." Luka wheezed, and the Lamia realized she was clinging a bit too hard. As she let him go, the soldiers burst forth from the bushes, and surveyed the scene.

"What happened? After the Zombies and Skeletons fell over, Luka ran over to you saying that you went after one of the Vampires, and he booked it." the man said. Alice then explained what happened as Luka got up, changing the story slightly to make it believable that the Vampires got worn down, and fled the scene when the soldiers came.

"If I had to guess, they could not sustain a even longer and more drawn out fight with you joining in. I more or less was only keeping them pinned down for Luka, who did most of the damage." Luka looked at Alice, visibly confused.

"What?"

"Ah, as befitting a Hero of Ilias, she must've blessed you indirectly boy!" one of the guards said, as Alice composed herself at how ridiculous that line was.

Oh bother. Alice muttered internally. What a bunch of fools... As if she was involved.

**POV SHIFT**

Ilias smiled, sipping a glass of wine as she heard one of her worshipers praise her while she had sat and watched everything unfold. When she heard Alice internally mutter to herself about Luka being blessed, she smiled even wider at Alices' doubt about Luka being blessed despite not being a Hero. "Ironic."

"Hmm?" a passing Angel inquired, hearing the goddess.

"Nothing."

**POV SHIFT**

As Luka woke up, he found himself in a bed, while Alice was inside his room with him, having just finished speaking with Slyph. He wasn't sure what it was about, but he could tell that it was daylight out, and rubbed his head.

"Hey!~" Slyph said cheerfully, manifesting herself before him. Luka looked at the Spirit, which looked like a Fairy with long pale yellow-green hair, shoes with white puff balls on the end, and a dress that just covered enough of her that resembled a pale fuzzy leaf on the same color. Breathing deeply to calm himself, he sighed out his response.

"Hi Slyph." Alice seemed to almost chuckle at the response as she rubbed at the dark circles that formed under her eyes, and seemed pleased that Luka seemed to have recovered from the fight. It still unnerved her how he regenerated his body when they went to sleep, and making crackling sounds all the while, leaving her unable to sleep. "Alice, shall we continue with our quest to enlist the aide of the other Spirits?"

"What about the San Ilias King? He wants to speak with you, as so far the Vampires have not been seen in the cemeteries of the city, thus they must have been chased away and make a banquet in your honor for your bravery last night."

"Quest and Spirits first, banquet after." Luka replied, then focused his thoughts on Slyph to speak with her mentally. Slyph, are the other Spirits like you?

No.

Oh Thank you Ilias, for granting me this boon! Luka thought to himself, as he and Alice prepared to continue there journey.

**POV SHIFT**

As Saltzpyre stabbed his rapier threw the eye of one of the Mutants, he drew out a pistol from his coat, and shot one of its angry kin as she rushed at him in the chest. "Onwards, for Sigmars sake, push onwards to victory!" he shouted above the din of shouting, screams, and moans of the people around him, while Sienna could be seen unleashing a gout of flame ahead of her, burning a path through the enraged Mutants. "Follow the Bright Wizard, she will form the path to level justice upon this towns' traitorous Witch of a mayor!" the Sigmarite Priest shouted in the tongue of the Ilias Kruez order, rallying them to fight back against the corrupted and fallen Mutants. It also stood out that Ulboro mentioned Ilias, likely to ensure that the name of local deity of this peoples' worship would draw their attention, and it seem to work as they eventually began fighting off their corrupted counterparts with a fervor that grew in proximity to the Warrior Priest of Sigmar. While the women that Lily turned into these Spawn of Chaos were capable of over-powering multiple opponents, the lack of coordination, tactics, and occasional tunnel-vision that occurred from them focusing on one man or another meant they were slowly but surely being overwhelmed by Ilias Kruez and the people they came to rescue from them.

One of the Mutants, for example was intent on wrapping up a man as she tried to run away from him, and didn't notice Kerillian running up behind her until the Wood Elf sunk two daggers into her back, then liberated her head from her shoulders. As the man got back up, the Way Watcher of Athel Lorens leaped up into the air, kicking another of the Monsterized villagers whilst simultaneously throwing a knife at another, not missing a beat as she slipped in and out amongst them. Krieg was covered in fresh scars that were bleeding, breathing heavily as she looked at an equally battered Monster of some kind which resembled a pot with tentacles and a mouth, shielding a boy of around five or six years with body as it tried whip her away from its prey. Markus Kruber then jumped in, great sword in hand as he swung downwards.

He yelled out something the Ilias Kruez fighter didn't hear, as it tried to dodge sideways, only to lose two of its tentacles. Krieg then swung her ax, as it made the mistake of getting close to her, and bisected the thing. One of the grown adult women that was kidnapped by Lily saw this, and she visibly paled in shock and horror, much to the confusion of the two who noticed that this was a departure from how uncaring they were when one of the others like her were injured or killed.

"What have you done?!" she cried out upon witnessing the beast being killed, as Krieg and Kruber readied themselves for a fight. As she started to tremble as though struggling with something, Markus switched to his handgun, and took a shot at her, getting behind Krieg when the Mutant fell over, reloading while she watched his back. However, she saw that the parts of the dead Monster from earlier was warping into something, and backed up to higher ground, carrying the crying boy up in her arm. Markus saw it, and jumped to another piece of rubble to get away in case this was an attack. As the Monster corpse finished shifting, the three stared wide-eyed, as Krieg muttered under her breath.

"Move! Move! We got to catch Lily before she escapes!" Lazarus yelled, as he and several others followed Saltzpyres' zealous yelling to Sigmar, translated by the Warrior Priest. As they ran through the town grounds, they could see a number of the town guard running towards them.

"Help us! Please!" one of them cried out, as another Worm Village Woman smashed through a wall and tackled them. "NO!" Sienna threw a fire bolt, which blow out a chunk of the Monsters' head. "Oh god thank-" Ulboro interrupted him by smashing his hammer into the ground next to his head, then picking up the panicking militiaman by the collar of his shirt.

"What you have been doing to let these thingsgrow so numerous despite your duty to the people of this town?!" he roared, the mans' feet barely able to touch the ground.

"No please don't me! I didn't mean to help her I swear by Ilias!" the man squealed, trying to wrestle out of the Sigmarites' grip, while his companions looked on in horror as the crowd of angry townspeople surrounded them.

"What is happening?! What you mean help Lily?!" Lazarus yelled above the din of angry shouting. Ulboro then turned to the leader of Ilias Kruez, his eyes burning with fury.

"Don't you think it odd how many of the townswomen have turned out to corrupted by Chaos? That it happened to be going on for years that we have not heard a single thing about these women being turned into Monsters, and for a large number of them to suddenly all come out of the woodwork after hearing nothing about them save they disappeared?" with that, the Sigmarite looked deeply into the town guards' eyes. "Tell me everything that has been on, now."

"Ok, ok, I'll tell them everything! Ask the villagers, they confirm it!"

"Sam, don't tell them!" one of his comrades yelled, only to be beaten by one of the menfolk.

"DO IT! TELL THEM WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" the man raged, veins bulging outwards. With that, Sam broke down, and began to emit everything, about how he and the militia had conspired with Lily in collecting the people there by falsely accusing them of witchcraft, rigging tests to ensure no one questioned them. By the time he mentioned paying off the town priests of Ilias in particular with the money made off of selling the accused villagers possesions to take portions of children that had been orphaned as a result every now and then at Lilys' word, Lazarus' hand was trembling in rage at the corruption that had led to this moment.

"You bastards!" he snarled, venom dripping from his words as he glared at the cowards that never stood up to the madwoman. "I ought to have you thrown out to the Monsters outside this village! Spread the word!" he called to the villagers around him. "Have every single militiaman still running around here still to be captured alive, along with that bastard that defiled the sanctity of this towns' church when he allowed those kids to be taken!" with that, most of the crowd scattered to do as the leader of San Ilias said. "Keep these men somewhere were we can deal with them later. Where's Ulboro going?" he asked while giving orders to those who remained, as he noticed that the Warrior Priest had run off.

"He asked where the church to Ilias was, what it looked like, then took off as soon as I told him." a woman from the village said. "I think that bribe accepting bastard is about to have a very angry visitor, since he made the mistake of locking himself in the church, assuming the Monsters haven't got to him yet."

"BOSS! BOSS!" the voice of Krieg yelled, as she and Markus Kruber appeared. "It's worse then we thought!" she said, tears in her eyes as Lazarus grabbed her by the shoulders...

**POV SHIFT**

**BGM: IN THE NAME OF GOD BY POWERWOLF**

Ulboro was running through the field of battle, holy wrath coursing through his veins as the Warrior Priest sped through the village, knocking over Mutant and Monster as he barreled like a cannonball through a wall of straw. He was screaming with absolute rage that a fellow holy man would dare to take part in the sins of the Chaos Cultist that defiled this place, and his hammer smashed aside a Monster as it looked and froze with fear. As he found the church building in question, he saw that it was closed, but the door had a number of Monsters trying to claw into the door.

"Oh come on out there, we know your in there!~" one of them cried out seductively, making a lewd moaning sound as she tried to entice the cowardly priest out into the open.

"We just want to play!'~"

"Yeeesss!~ We know you-"

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" the Warrior Priest of Sigmar screamed, his voice projected by the holy power Sigmar granted his mortal servant that it sound like a booming thunder blast. As the Monsters jumped, startled by the power and emotion put into it, Ulboro slammed through the partially knocked over gate, his armored form instantly blasted one of them into red mist as he body slammed it, then punched another hard enough that she flew into the thick oak doors of the church. The doors were blown apart into splinters while the Monster crashed onto the ornate marble floor, as the Monsters ran in terror at the champion of Sigmars wroth incarnate seeking shelter in their former center of worship. Ulboro seethed in anger, and ran after them. "OUT! GET OUT OF THIS CHURCH AND MY SIGHT!" he bellowed, grabbing one of them and throwing her like a missile out of the building. A distant crash could be heard as the Mutant disappeared behind the wreckage of the houses nearby.

"Wait! He's just one man!" someone cried. "GET HIM!"

"Are you insane? He just made Julia explode by running into her, and punched Sarah through the doors!" another yelled. "I'm getting out of here!" most of the Monsters remaining did not have the sense to scramble out of there like that one, as she and two others slipped out during the following minutes of slaughter that happened. As one of the Mutants rushed out at the Sigmarite while carrying a pew, he grabbed, yanked it out of her hands, then smashed her body with it. As another jumped from the ceiling, he pivoted and knocked out of the air with what remained, sending her flying into a pillar. When he looked, he saw around eight to ten more of the Mutants looking at him, backing up slowly as he dropped what remained of the pew, and pulled out his hammer.

"GGYYAAHH!" one of them raged, then charged in desperation to get out. Ulboro delivered a blow to the head, pulping it as he whooshed past her body towards the others, slaying them within but a few seconds. When he was finished, he looked around the area, his heart pumping in his head and ears at the worldly filth around him, finally gazing upon the decadent and lavishly decorated interior. He saw paintings that were of fine quality and pigments, depicting the creatures the worshipers of Ilias called Angels in their glory, fighting Monsters. A Golden chandelier was hanging overhead, as he examined the painted ceiling.

"Oh, have you come to save me, sir holy man? That is what you look like yes?" an elderly voice asked, as Ulboro paused, and glanced using the mirror in a corner which showed himself and the man he was looking for. The priest clearly did not notice it, as the Warrior Priest could not hide the pure hate for this worldly wretch on his face. As the man approached, he gave a look of disgust as he looked at the ruins around him. As he looked in the mirror, he also saw the man was holding a bag full of something, the clanking indicated it had to do with gold at the very least. "Well, now that the way is clear, I suppose- ACK!" Ulboro cut him off, as the man suddenly found one of the Warrior Priests' hands wrapped around his neck and lifted into the air. Shocked, he dropped the bag, and a number of coins and golden objects fell out.

"You. Traitorous. Bastard. When I am done with you, your going to wish the Mutants got you first." the Sigmarite snarled softly. It was at this point, the man gazed in fear, not of being made a prisoner of Lilys' creations, but of the promise of a great amount of pain at the hands of a Warrior Priest of Sigmar, and made a fearful whimper...