Shit. Shit. SHIT.

He cannot tell Agnes about this! I let go of Felandria and grabbed the cauldron, running after him.

I felt a fast breeze rush past me as Felandria took off, shooting down the stairs like a dart, malicious intent almost palpably emitting from her body.

I raced after them, before tripping on the stairs. The cauldron flew out of my hands and went flying down to the ground as I fell down the stairs like a cartoon character. And let me tell you, it HURTS.

After prat falling for what felt like an hour, I picked myself up off the ground and grabbed the cauldron. It's dented a bit, but thankfully still functional.

I carefully dashed down the hallway, ignoring the sounds of ecstasy from the rooms beside me.

I burst through the doorway into the main chamber, and found Agnes sitting alone in front of the Demon Realm... Seed, I guess?

Akil was standing just a few feet away, ignoring Felandria, who seemed to be hovering over his head, her talons raised to strike.

Agnes turned towards me, and smiled. "You found a cauldron!" She clasped her hands, "quickly, bring it here!"

I set it down in front of her, eyeing her expression.

"Hm? What's wrong?" She looked at me, concerned.

I sighed with relief. Looks like Akil didn't tell her... yet.

"It's nothing."

"Hm." Agnes stared for a moment. "Well, I suppose we should get on with it."

She cast Create Water, and from nothing, water poured out into the cauldron.

"Now for the ritual. This does involve a bit of prayer... so, maybe perhaps..." she looked down at the water, "you would like to take time to practice with me? I'm sure if two of us servants of God bless it, it will be even more potent... or something..."

Akil was now intently watching us, with the biggest knowing smirk on his face. I need to punch that bastard again, right now, but I can't. Not in front of Agnes.

Agnes looked up, and her face soured. "You can't be present."

Felandria was hovering over us. "And why not?"

"A monster's prayer would just taint the ritual, plain and simple." Agnes smirked, "you don't have the purity to conduct something like this."

"I'm plenty pure!"

Akil snorted. Felandria and I both shot him a glare. Agnes looked at us, confused.

That being said... would I be pure enough for this ritual? I did just, well, grope a woman... Well, my virginity is still intact, so maybe? I don't know...

I was shaken out of my thoughts when Agnes grabbed my hand.

"Here... hold you hand out over the water like this..." she did the same with her other hand, "and take your holy symbol, and hold it up in the air..." I did so, "now, we need to recite a prayer."

"Is there a particular one we need?"

"Not really. Prayers are really just a way to commune with God, so as long as our intent is clear and our faith is strong, any prayer should do."

"Then what do you suggest?" I asked her. She smiled.

"I can't suggest prayers. Just speak from the heart, and God will surely answer."

That doesn't really help me.

"Here, I'll start." She clasped her hands together, and began to pray.

"Dear Heavenly Mother, I beseech thee, lend your humble servant thy power, purify this water, so we may use it to help fulfill thine divine will, and prevent this scourge of Demons from spreading." Her holy symbol started glowing a faint white, but the light flickered, and faded almost as quickly as it came. Nonetheless, the water seemed to sparkle, even in this dark room.

Okay. My turn.

...

This is harder than I thought! Agnes is sitting there, smiling at me like I'm some type of saint! What am I supposed to do?! I can't repeat her prayer word for word, that'd make me look bad! But she's just staring at me, smiling. The pressure is intense!

"Um... Hey God, remember me? I'm your humble servant, the Paladin... uh, could you help me out a little bit here? It's kinda important, you know, saving the world type stuff and all. Sound cool? Good, really appreciate the help here."

I looked down at my holy symbol. Nothing.

"W-well, I suppose everyone has their own way of praying," Agnes said, smiling, "but maybe we should practice a bit more before the next-"

Then my symbol starting glowing.

My hand was almost entirely incased in a dark blue light, and the holy symbol began to grow warm from the touch. It grew brighter and brighter, until the whole room was cast in this dark blue light.

Akil looked up sharply, his eyes alight with interest, as Felandria watched me, her eyes wide.

Agnes's jaw dropped as the water began to swirl around, glistening with newfound power.

The light then faded, and the room was cast in shadow again.

No one said anything for a few minutes.

"I guess God's will works in strange ways..." Agnes said softly, glancing at the ground.

I feel bad. Seriously, your showing some obvious favoritism God!

"Um..." there really isn't a way to spin this to make her feel better, is there?

"It's fine, I can understand God's willingness to give greater support to one who has sworn a Paladin's Oath of loyalty..."

God, I think you have your priorities a little mixed. Becoming a nun is WAY more difficult and worthy of praise than whatever I did to get my Paladin powers...

"Well, a-anyway, I suppose the holy water is ready." Agnes said, grabbing the cauldron, "now all I need to do is pour it out like this..."

She tilted it over, and began circling the Demon Realm Seed, pouring water onto the ground as she did so. Then she poured the rest onto the encircled area, before chanting an incantation.

"Hallow." She muttered, and her holy symbol glowed a faint white color.

The holy water on the ground began glowing, and in a flash of light, a magic circle had formed on the ground, with the Demon Realm Seed in the center.

She sighed. "There. That should contain the Demon Realm." She looked exhausted.

"Are you alright?" I stepped towards her.

"Yes. It's just, Hallow is a powerful spell, it needs a lot of mana to cast..." she wavered a bit, but kept herself standing.

"Don't overexert yourself." I walked over to her, "here, lie down for a second."

I pulled my bedroll out from my pack, and set her down onto it.

Felandria was now hovering very close to my side, I could feel it.

"Thank you." Agnes lied back, sighing, "you know, with all this fighting and exploring... today's been a little exhausting."

Akil walked towards us. "I agree. Let's rest for a moment, and then determine our next move. I'd like to leave before nightfall, so we don't attract anymore unwanted attention, though."

I nodded. That seemed fair. Still, we have three women we need to carry with us. My strength is pretty high, so maybe I could carry two of them, but from what I've seen, Akil might be too frail to even carry one person...

Agnes was already asleep before I even finished that thought.

Akil looked down at her for a second, then back up at me.

"So... do you want to talk about what happened?" I asked.

"What happened?" He smirked, "well, as fun as it is to meddle in one's romantic life, we do have a mission to accomplish. Not to mention, but she was key to sealing that Demon Realm away. If I had let her attention waver and that ritual fail, the whole kingdom may be swarming with monsters, and I can't do that to my- THE people of this country."

I blinked for a moment. "Well, I'm glad you're dedicated to this mission of yours."

"It's only natural. As one of the Sultan's esteemed adventurers, it is my duty to ensure this country is as safe and peaceful as possible."

We fell into silence for a while. Felandria pressed herself up against my back, wrapping her wings around me as she rubbed her cheek against mine.

"From what I saw, I assume you haven't taken it too far yet?" Akil said, earning another death glare from Felandria.

"We're waiting for when we're ready." Felandria said, "we want to take this slow."

"'We?'"Akil smirked at me, "my goodness, are you two an item now? Oh my, what would your God think?" He teased.

I could smack him... send him flying into the wall again...

Felandria seemed to be going through a similar thought process as well.

Akil raised his hands, his mischievous 'I'm just a silly little guy' smirk making him look even more punchable by the second, "what? I'm just saying."

Felandria squeezed me tighter. "How loud would we have to be to get the attention of the Gnolls in the hallway?" She asked me quietly.

Akil seemed to notice the rising animosity in the room towards him, and he shrugged, chuckling a bit before reaching into his pack and pulling out a thick book. "Well, you lovebirds get to... whatever it is you want to do for a bit. If you're in need of privacy, I will gladly turn around and turn my listening ears off."

I threw a piece of rubble at his head.

"Ow!" He rubbed his temple, "what was that for?"

That smile's getting real irritating.

"Alright, alright." He opened his book, "I'll leave the two of you alone. For now."

Silence fell over the room. Well, aside from the very loud and very audible wet noises and cries of ecstasy from down the hallway. Which once again reminds me of where we are. Hopefully Agnes's cat nap doesn't take too long...

"Anon..." Felandria began.

"Yes?" I turned to her, and she pressed her lips up against mine.

I was taken off guard, which allowed her to take the opportunity to knock me down onto the ground.

It lasted maybe around five seconds, but it felt like forever.

She finally separated from me, a trail of spit dripping from her mouth as she smiled sheepishly. "S-sorry. I just... you were so close to me, and, well..."

Akil seemed even more interested in his book than ever.

"Well, it's not the first time I've had a kiss stolen before..."

"So I wasn't your first...?" She tilted her head, looking slightly disappointed, "then who was?"

"A, um, a Ghoul was..."

"So where is... oh." She got off me, her ears lowering a bit.

I felt bad, and I placed my hand on her head.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know." She smiled a little, and I noticed one of her fangs slightly poking out of the corner of her mouth. That's actually kind of adorable, in a weird way.

She leaned forward, "I'm sorry for doing that so suddenly, but if you don't mind..."

"It's fine. I've already stolen second, so I don't see how first base is an issue."

"Huh?" She tilted her head at me, confused.

"Just... you know what?"

"What?" She began, before I grabbed her shoulders and kissed her.

I know this is incredibly stupid, considering who is sleeping right next to us, but her lips are so soft, and she looked so cute...

"Mmmh..." Felandria pressed up against me, and I felt her body begin to gyrate against mine. I was l once again pushed back down, as Felandria began to poke at my lips with her tongue, trying to push it in.

Then I heard her cry out.

She went flying off my body and slammed into the wall, a dark mark on her stomach.

Agnes was now sitting up, clutching her holy symbol.

"Do not. Attack him. Again."

"She didn't-" I began, and she turned to me.

"Stay out of this." She stood up.

"I'm telling you, she didn't atta-"

She shot me a glare, and I let out a little squeak.

Akil was now practically buried in his book. He slowly peeked over the cover, and Agnes wheeled around towards him.

"And you just let it happen?!"

"Now look, I-" Akil began, but he shied away from her glare.

"Agnes. She wasn't attacking me." I began, and she wheeled around to look at me again. I flinched.

"Then what was that?" She held her holy symbol out at Felandria, who was now pulling herself off the ground.

"We were, well, we were... kissing. Consensually!" I said, as I saw her grip her holy symbol tighter.

"And why... why would you do that?" She muttered.

"Because we are going to be married!" Felandria piped up, and Agnes turned her attention back to her.

I kinda feel like my thoughts on this are going to become an afterthought in this argument...

"Do you even understand what that means?"

Felandria flew through the air, landing right beside me. She wrapped her wings around my body. "Of course I do! We're going to get married and have a whole new colony of pups together!"

Woah woah woah. Wait a minute.

"P-p-pups?" I sputtered out, and Felandria smiled and hugged me tighter.

"Of course! We're going to have the cutest little colony in the whole world, just you wait!"

I am not ready to even THINK about kids right now.

"And who are you, to dictate a holy man's life!"

-Is that what I am?-

"Anon, I must simply interject in this. It is not proper for a Paladin to behave in this manner, especially not with a monster. The mere fact that your Paladin powers still work is nothing short of a miracle."

Still waiting for my chance to interject.

"Please cease this debauchery at once. It is not proper for any member of God's devout servants to have feelings for anyone, no matter how muscular, kind, sweet, and handsome they are!"

I blinked for a moment. What?

Felandria blinked. "Well, that was certainly interesting, but Anon doesn't love anyone like that, as you can see." She gestured to her body with her wing. "I'm lean, cute, sexy, and beautiful! The full package."

"Well I can be all of those things too!" Agnes puffed her chest out, "you're not special!"

This is getting into dangerous territory. For me, that is.

"Uh hey... I don't mean to burst either of your bubbles, but you're kinda being a little loud." Akil said.

"Stay out of this!" The two of them turned to him.

Akil raised his hands. "Alright alright, just warning you. You know, with the savage monsters down the hall and all..."

Naturally, that was the cue.

We heard cackling laughter from down the hall, and Agnes and Felandria froze.

Several Gnolls entered the room, blood coating their claws and fangs as they carried what appear to be the corpse of a cow into the room.

They noticed us, and dropped the carcass to the ground, their laughter becoming even more deranged.

Hey, at least this'll stop the infighting, for at least a few minutes...