Happy Mother's Day people, and welcome back to Goblin Slayer: The Team Year 2. I'll bet no one expected what happened at the end of the last chapter did they? Anyway...yet another trip to Hell is in order, and this time...it's personal.
Review response: That's a damn good backstory for that relic...I might even make it official.
Yeah, Abbot is no slouch either in the church if anyone recalls his backstory; the guy was Gold Ranked, just like Her Grace was. Lizard Priest AND H.E. Druid's homelands were secured, and Cow Girl becoming Sapphire Ranked really should've been obvious all-things-considered. The cloning was a pretty sordid affair but...what are you going to do?
I think we all know how the good Ranger is going to handle the rescue...
"Ladies...you're looking at the War God's power manifested." Summoner said as Guild Girl and Inspector stared at Ranger's form that was practically bursting with intense energy that looked like an entire forest fire condensed into a human-sized candle. Guild Girl then rocked and shushed the crying baby in her arms.
"Demon Lord...I don't know how many people you've captured, or why, but you ensnared the two people who brought me into this world, gave me as much love and power as they could, and more. I've been injured myself, witnessed others go through hell on earth more times than I can count, and even saw my wife's mind shattered, but this...this time you have gone too far. Heed my promise now: I don't care if you put every goblin that's ever lived in my way. I will free those people, and you yourself will pay for it so steeply, that even your foolishness will be stunted...as will your home." Ranger said with his voice deepened by the Army of One miracles before jumping into the Hell Rift.
"We should go after him..." Fighter said.
"Are you crazy? He just jumped head-first into the jaws of Hell itself!" Female Knight exclaimed.
"That's my husband, and he went after his parents; I would do the exact same thing." Fighter said seriously.
"And we've been to Hell before, and I made my fair share of a difference, as anyone in my family can tell you, and we're much stronger than we were back then." Priestess said.
"Well, I for one wish you the best of luck. There's no telling what you'll find down there." Summoner said as he gave them a tablet. "That should let you know how to make a Hell Rift yourself, so you can get out of Hell."
"Thanks." Fighter said before the two ladies jumped into the rift after Ranger.
"In the meantime, we should go back to killing goblins." Heavy Warrior said as his team left to join the defense.
"And...I would advise we go somewhere else; chances are, there's going to be alot more goblins showing up here soon." Summoner said.
"Let's go to my house. There's plenty of places they could come from we'll see them coming from." Guild Girl said.
"Sounds like a plan." Summoner said as the three went there, got jumped by some hobs, and Summoner's ice elemental froze them solid, formed an ice ball the size of a person, and slammed it on them, before distracting the rest of a horde, then blowing itself up, freezing the whole place solid as the trio went inside, locked the door went upstairs and the girls sat on the bed as Summoner kept a lock-out. "Luckily, there's plenty of elementals out there, but we should keep the noise down regardless."
"I can't believe goblins are attacking here...again." Guild Girl whispered as Inspector side-hugged her.
"Hey, Ranger went to Hell to get everyone back, and he's not alone. Nor are we for that matter; Goblin Slayer and company are dealing with the goblins, and we've got a big, tough demon hunter to protect us." Inspector said before winking at Summoner, who smirked...before a Hell Rift opens in the room, then a dagger gets thrown out just as Summoner summons a stone elemental who tanks the thrown knife as Guild Girl screams and out comes Rhea Scout who calls the thrown dagger back to him.
"For all the good it's going to do you." He said.
"You?!" Summoner exclaimed.
"Yes, me." R.S. said as he looked Guild Girl over. The stone elemental got in front of the ladies, and Summoner drew power from the elemental. "Seriously? I fought Ranger and almost killed him. Ranger! The roughest, toughest guy in your little army of adventurers. You're just a Gold Rank."
"I have nothing to be afraid of. You however..." Summoner said before his armored cloak gets reinforced with bits of stone.
Fighter and Priestess exited the Hell Rift in the same place they were the first time they entered Hell, and Priestess lit the chamber made of flesh and bone with her staff as they walked through the blood-drenched floor, and when they got outside...the place was infested with demons as a meteor came down from above, and they left to investigate. Priestess then hitched a ride on Fighter's back as she climbed up a wall with her morphed claws...and they saw the demons gathered around the meteor, which wasn't a meteor: it was Ranger. He then got up from the kneeling position he was in, his heavy armor, greatsword and masked face were revealed when the smoke cleared and he casually walked toward the demons as a large one snarled, then roared at him.
Ranger whirled his massive sword around, chopping and bashing down dozens of demonic soldiers as they got too close, or after he went after them. Fighter and Priestess could barely keep track of his movements the whole time; Ranger was pretty fast even with his greatsword, but with Army of One...they could barely see the sword clearly, let alone keep up with where Ranger was during the massacre. He then spotted another horde coming his way, and yelled before slamming the greatsword into the ground in their direction, shattering the ground in a straight line that fans out and sends the demons flying, if the raw force didn't shatter them. He then looked in the distance to see a building, and ran off in that direction with speed that equaled Fighter's when she opened her chakras, and got empowered by Priestess.
"I don't believe it...no wonder he crushed the vampire queen and then some." Fighter said in awe.
"How are we going to follow him?" Priestess asked.
"Just follow the trail of destruction I guess." Fighter said as Priestess got on Fighter's back and she ran off after her husband...who was punching an archdemon across the field into another one, then stopped a pair of fireballs from a pair of archdemons that weren't hit, turned them into holy fire, and doubled their power/size with Immolation, threw them back at the archdemons, blowing them and the soldiers around them to pieces. A swarm of imps engaged him from behind...only for him to morph his light armor and twin swords, and rapidly slice down the imps while spinning like a living tornado that was throwing blades around, only with more precision, and flinging the dismembered imps all over the field.
Then he broke his swords into whips, and lashed down the rest. He then morphed his heavy armor and gauntlets, punched a charging Wrather into the ground, grabbed a Glutton's tongues, yanked it towards him and punched it so hard it literally popped like a watermelon, and he absorbed it's pulp before letting off a yell to the sky so loud that Fighter and Priestess covered their ears, and watched several mountains the distance crumble a bit, while the shockwave made their skin crawl.
"That was new..." Fighter said as they uncovered their ears and Ranger looked around at the hundreds of demons he butchered, then looked at the structure in the distance, and ran off as the ladies followed him.
"How many fucking goblins are there?" Wizard asked as she looked over the smoldering pieces of a small horde she blasted.
"It doesn't matter. We'll kill them all." GS said as he removed his sword from a goblin's head.
"Eh, nothing new there." Warrior said before Rhea Fighter and Wizard's brother showed up.
"Ah, just in time..." Wizard's brother said.
"Yeah, just in time to kiss my ass." Warrior said dryly.
"Hey, we went around the entire perimeter of the town, and saved at least a hundred people from being dragged to Hell." Wizard's brother said before Female Knight arrived.
"And your leader's gone to Hell to get the ones we couldn't save." She said seriously.
"Damn...that explains the noise." Rhea Fighter said.
"Unbelievable...he's only to raise Hell...in Hell." Warrior said.
"Clever..." Wizard's brother said.
"Let's just get going before the number of people who get captured gets too high for it's own good." Wizard said.
"Right..." Cow Girl said with a determined face before cocking her shotgun.
Heavy Warrior meanwhile was cleaving through goblin after goblin with his greatsword, if he wasn't punching their faces off. Rookie Warrior, and Apprentice Cleric weren't doing much worse; R.W. put his ice axe to use by chopping down goblins with an ice blade over his metal blade, which doubled the size of the axehead, and he swung it downwards at a diagonal, the best way to use an axe. As he did, the goblins either lost their heads, got their skulls or chests split open, or some lost a limb or two. R.W. even threw his axe threw a small horde after charging it up, and freezing the whole group solid. Any goblins that snuck up on him were either stopped by his lamellar armor, if not killed by H.W., A.C., or by R.W.'s blade-edged, foldable shield.
A.C. for her part was bashing down one goblin after another with her mace, stabbing them with the small spearhead on it, and bashing them with her own foldable shield, or just plain kicking them. She used Holy Smite on a group of goblins every now and then, and even Holy Light to blind and burn the goblins...which let her two companions crush even more goblins. H.W. then engaged a hob...and the hob got a familiar spear jammed through it's chest.
"Long time no see..." Spearman said.
"Nice of you to join us." H.W. said before yanking the spear out and tossing it over.
"Hey, our home being invaded by a fuck-ton of goblins? Hard to say "no" to that." Spearman said.
"Even ants, for all their vast numbers, must defend their nest." Witch said as she looked over the dead goblins.
"Poetic as ever..." Spearman said as she smiled at him.
"Why the hell has he not married her yet...?" R.W. asked quietly.
"No idea..." A.C. whispered.
"Anyway...you kill any goblins other than this one?" H.W. asked.
"We just got here." Spearman deadpanned.
"I'll take that as a "no"." H.W. said.
"Take that as you will. We really have arrived a minute ago." Witch said.
"Anyway, we're here now, and ready to kick some goblin ass." Spearman said before another series of rifts opened.
"Well, there's no shortage of that going on..." R.W. said as the group got ready as dozens of goblins poured out, charged the group who yelled and charged at the goblins.
Rhea Scout dashed to the side over and over, and eventually threw both knives at Summoner who made a stone shield appear out of nowhere, then formed a gauntlet out of the shield as R.S. called the knives back to him, then Summoner grabbed him, and tried to slam R.S. into the ground...only for R.S. to make a Hell Rift that saved him from being slammed into the ground, then he reappeared over the two ladies, and the stone elemental grabbed him before he could stab either of them.
"You damn coward. I'm your opponent!" Summoned yelled before the stone elemental threw him at Summoner and rifted away before Summoner could punch him...then R.S. reappeared at Summoner's feet, then Summoner finally grabs R.S. by the throat and pins him to a wall as R.S. desperately tries to free himself by stabbing his arm over and over with his knives, for all the good it does as Summoner kept tightening his grip on his throat. R.S. then threw a dagger into Summoner's leg, before getting thrown across the room as Summoner removed the dagger...and got woozy. "What...what did you do to me?"
"What I tried to do to those two whores, and in about a minute...your body will figure it out." R.S. said as walks up to Summoner, and kicks him in the side of the head. The elemental approached, then R.S. narrowly evaded a punch from the elemental...then Summoner grabbed R.S. leg, tripped him, and slammed his face into the floor several times.
"For the record...that voice of yours grates on my nerves..." Summoner growled before snapping R.S.' neck. "And next time...stay dead..." He then passed out.
"Summoner!" Guild Girl yelled as the two looked his body over, especially his leg.
"Poison...we need to get him to the temple!" Inspector said.
"But the goblins-" Inspector cuts Guild Girl off.
"It's him, or the town." She said as Guild Girl looked at the elemental who was still standing.
"Let's go..." Guild Girl whispered as they carried him out of the house...
Meanwhile, Fighter and Priestess followed Ranger to a temple of sorts embedded in a mountain, which is where the captives were brought. Ranger then dropped down from above after climbing and grappling up over the guards' headed...and dashes between them so rapidly he appeared to be a blur of motion as he sliced them all apart with his twin greatswords. He then severed the arms of the largest guard just as he spotted Ranger...then got both legs sliced off, bot chopped in half at the waist, then got it's head split open with a gauntlet before Ranger went inside.
"Army of One only lasts an hour right?" Priestess asked.
"I think so...here's hoping he gets to the hostages before then." Fighter said as they went after Ranger...who was showing the dozens of guards in his way no mercy as he literally pulled them apart, shattered their heads with stomps, punches, and even their on weapons, threw them into groups of their friends, used larger versions of his claws to shred them, sometimes as he ran along the walls, or punched them so hard they flew across the wall and splattered against the wall as it broke apart and buried them under rubble.
He then got to a circular room ringed with cages full of goblins as the demons brought the captives in, and left the area with Ranger's father struggling to get free as the cages opened...then Ranger jumped down with his pistols just as the goblins got to work undressing the girls while laughing and snorting, and the ones who were getting ready to forcibly mate with the the girls...again, were the first to get their brains blown out as Ranger unleashed a storm of bullets.
"Son?!" Ranger's dad exclaimed as he watched his son gun down the lustful monsters by the dozen. The demonic soldiers behind him were all stunned by a burst of heat and force from Ranger's charged-up guns, before Ranger morphed him into gauntlets, grabbed the two demons, raised them up, slammed them both into the ground, and held fast until their throats were crushed by the impact. He then turned around and grabbed a goblin who was missing an ear as it pounced at him...then tightened his grip around it's whole body, and it's pained screams and the sickening crunching of it's bones breaking fell on deaf ears as Ranger turned it's insides into glue. He then looked at the girls who were all drenched in blood and shaking in terror...then looked at his stunned father.
"I'm here to get you out of here father." Ranger said calmly despite his previous anger and the rush of power he was feeling, as his father kept staring at him.
"Is this...what the War God gave you?" Ranger's dad asked in awe as Ranger looked himself over.
"Yes...as the vampire queen learned the hard way, as have these gob-" Ranger shut up the moment he saw his mother who was among the girls, and also missing some clothes before tightening his grip.
"Ranger!" Priestess yelled as he snapped his head to see her.
"What? What are you doin-" Fighter cuts him off.
"Helping you." She said.
"Fighter..." Ranger whispered as she approached...then they looked over the girls.
"I cannot believe they'd go through this again." Priestess said somberly.
"I stopped them before they could, but there's no way this is all of them." Ranger said.
"There isn't, but at least they're safe for now." Ranger's dad said.
"We'll stay here with them." Fighter said as Priestess looked the girls over.
"I'm going to get the rest, and I will return every blow these abominations have struck!" Ranger exclaimed before running off.
"Please...get us out of here... I...I can't go through that again!" A girl said while shaking, weeping, and curling into a fetal position.
"You'll be o.k. The goblins are dead, and the others are being sought out." Priestess said softly as she knelt next to the girl who calmed down.
"Good..." the girl whispered before smiling a bit.
"Kill them son. Every last one...!" Ranger's mom growled...and Ranger must've heard her because he heated his greatsword before swinging it into a group of demonic elites with a fierce yell.
GS meanwhile was still chopping the goblins apart with Rhea Fighter, and a team of Warrior's clones backing him up. The Wizard siblings even put some traps to use...by sealing a lightning rune on a rift or two so any goblins that came through would be either vaporized, or stunned. Cow Girl kept blowing the goblins' brains out with her shotgun, and switched to her sword if they got too close. The massacre of the waves of goblins ended when Female Knight casts Holy Light to blind and burn the goblins, then GS severed and split heads left and right in one crowd until they were dead, then moved on to a second one, then a third one, and blew up a fourth one with his last bomb.
"That's 416..." GS said before watching Rhea Fighter spin around in mid-air, while upside-down, to behead several goblins, then bisected and finally kneed the last one in the chin so hard it's throat tore open. "437..." Warrior's clones then smashed in the heads of more goblins with their hammers as they were coming through a series of rifts. "458...472...509...518..." The Wizard siblings joined into and used Firestream at the same time to reduce another horde of goblins to ashes as they poured down the street.
"How many is that?" Wizard asked.
"At least 645." GS said.
"Unbelievable..." Rhea Fighter said before sealing a rift with her sword., and F.K. did the same.
"Well, that should be all of them. Let's get back to the tavern to see what's going on." Cow Girl said.
"Me and the boys will check the rest of the town." Warrior said as he led his clones down the street, as the others went back to the tavern...and saw Summoner being carried out with a bleeding leg.
"What happened!?" Wizard asked.
"He's been cut by a poison dagger!" Guild Girl said with watery eyes as a water elemental showed up, which surprised quite a few people. It then looked Summoner over, then touched his wounded leg...it then poured it's essence into the wound as it disappeared.
"Of course! Water elementals have healing powers..." Wizard said.
"Why did I not know this sooner?" Guild Girl asked.
"He probably meant to tell you, but this is hardly the first time we've seen this. Hell, the first time we met, he said water elementals are the most useful. Now we know why..." Wizard said.
"Of course you know why..." Summoner whispered.
"Summoner!" Guild Girl exclaimed as Summoner got on his own feet, then she hugged him tightly while burying her face into his shoulder as the two sat their holding each other. "I thought you were a goner..."
"Sorry I didn't tell you about water elementals sooner." Summoner said softly.
"It's o.k..." Guild Girl whispered as the rest of the group watched their moment.
"I hate to ruin the moment, but you three really should get back inside." F.K. said seriously.
"Right. Come on big boy." Inspector said dryly as Summoner and Guild Girl got up and went inside.
"Don't call me that..." Summoner said as Inspector giggled.
"Nice to see them have a moment, but I've got to get back to my team..." F.K. said before turning to leave...and getting stopped by a pair of champions.
"Look out below!" Warrior yelled before charging up his blade and cutting one champion down the middle halfway, then falling on his back, then Wizard knocked it down with a fireball.
"Clumsy oaf..." Wizard said with amusement before giving GS more bombs, then he and Rhea Fighter charged at the second paladin from different angles, and GS froze it's side with one bomb, as Rhea Fighter ran up it's other side and severed it's head.
"That makes 647..." GS said.
"Seriously...I've killed giants; these things might as well sever their own heads." Rhea Fighter said dryly.
Back in Hell, Ranger ran through the temple's lower levels, and found a pit filled with lava, with a massive dome overhead pouring lava into it from a single value in the middle from underneath. On the sides, two massive archdemons were holding up an equally massive boulder with rubies on them, that also poured out lava from the sides...all over the archdemons as well. Ranger morphed his greatsword into a massive harpoon, and was about to hurl it, when he heard a voice he'd know anywhere.
"Wait!" Hero yelled as Ranger turned and saw her holding her hand out with a spooked look in the face.
"What in...?" Ranger trailed off.
"Those archdemons are holding cages full of the captives." Sage said.
"How do you know that?" Ranger asked.
"I found out myself." Cherub said as he flew out from behind them.
"You?" Ranger exclaimed.
"Surprise." Cherub said with a smirk.
"So...you used the Army of One miracle again?" Sage asked.
"Yes I did, my parents are here, and two of my teammates are looking after them while I get the rest...and get some revenge in the process." Ranger said.
"What a coincidence, I brought these lovely ladies here to save those people as well." Cherub said.
"Can we please free those people, kill those archdemons, and get out of this crazy place?" Sword Saint asked.
"Right..." Ranger said as he grappled up to where they were and climbed up a flight of stairs.
"We heard what happened to the Sword Maiden...and Storm Mage." Sword Saint said somberly and Ranger sighed.
"The Cambion that killed her is going to pay for it too..." He whispered harshly.
"Cambion?" Hero asked before stopping and looking right at him.
"A human-demon hybrid, and no I don't know what the deal with that is." Ranger said.
"Well...if it's important, we'll find out." Sage said as they kept going and Ranger noticed a sad expression on Sword Saint's face.
"Is something wrong? Well, aside from what's obvious." He asked.
"To go along with what you said...no, other than I wish I could have apologized to Storm Mage for being unfair to him." Sword Saint said somberly.
"I'll be sure to let him know next time I get to Heaven." Cherub said and she smiled.
"Thanks." Sword Saint said.
"Eh, that's what I'm here for, other than watching you humans' backs." Cherub said.
"Now, this is probably none of my business, but did you...like him?" Ranger asked.
"Yes I did...before I found out he just wanted to get between my legs and move on to the next girl. I'm not going to say anything against Her Grace...but I still think she was too good for him." Sword Saint said.
"She actually needed his affections; she was ensnared by goblins once, and it went about as far south as you'd expect." Cherub said which stunned the entire party.
"What...?" Sage asked in disbelief.
"Storm Mage did everything he could to ease her pain; he admitted he was still greedy, but...if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been given the War God's blessing, the Sword Maiden would've been captured...again, and she never would've known what a lover's touch would be like." Ranger said somberly.
"Damn...this got heavy, even by Hell's standards." Hero said.
"Ohhhh, not even close." Cherub said seriously.
"Now...can we please, for the love of all that's good and logical...get those people out of here?" Sword Saint asked.
"Right, we'll save the rest of the questions for later." Ranger said before they kept going up the stairs...then they got to the cages full of people who were all crammed into cages too small for them.
"What the hell?!" Sword Saint exclaimed, then Ranger popped chains out of his armor, which latched onto all the cages, and absorbed them all, which freed the people.
"Nice use of the armor." Cherub said with pride before hitting the people with holy energy and their bodies were restored...and they got new outfits, before they disappeared.
"Let me guess: they were sent back to Earth?" Hero asked.
"Sharp girl." Cherub said.
"There's a first..." Sage said, and Hero laughed dryly.
"Now the other one..." Hero said before Cherub waapped them there, Ranger absorbed the cages as well, Cherub heals, clothes, then sends them back to Earth, then...there's a problem.
"Uhhh...I can't use my powers anymore!" Cherub exclaimed.
"Get out of here!" Ranger yelled.
"I'll be back if I can!" Cherub said before vanishing.
"Well, at least the people are back home-" Sword Saint shut up the moment the archdemon shook the boulder they were in, then Ranger smashed them a way out, then Hero leaped at the other archdemon, cuts it in half, then Ranger hurled a harpoon at the other one, hitting it in the heart with enough force to knock it down just as Sword Saint, and Sage jumped/flew out of the boulder...then demons swarmed in from Hell Rifts, before Sage charged up a Mana Blast, launched it into the middle of the room,and streams of energy latches onto the demons and they all blew up from the inside out. The Mana Blast orb then causes an explosion that heavily damages the centerpiece of the room...which inspired Hero to rapidly swing her sword at the edges of the hole to make it big enough for them to all to jump/fly through...then they looked around.
"Damn! That's alot of demons..." Sword Saint exclaimed as they saw a literal field full of them.
"Bah, they're just more kills." Hero said with her usual pride before jumping up, charging up her blade and smashing down onto the crowd, causing a burst of holy light that scorches the field, and tears a chunk out of their numbers. Ranger then morphed his guns, charged them up, and loaded a stream of bullets into the mass of demons and each bullet causing it's own explosion strong enough to blow up the demons hit, and stun the ones around them, as Sage fired one Mana Blast after another into the crowd. Sword Saint then joined Hero in chopping down the demons that get too close...then Ranger morphs a ball-and-chain, hurls it into the distance, sets it on fire, lands on the other side of the army, and makes a decent-sized crater when he lands with an explosion.
"Sheesh...overzealous much?" Sage said dryly before unleashing another Mana Bolt. Ranger then got his bearings, morphed his heavy armor and two greatswords, then charged through the army, splattering any demons that were in the way, and bisecting any on the sides with his blades. He eventually stopped in the middle of the crowd as Hero and Sword Saint split off to hit the ones on each side, and Ranger sliced apart the ones in the middle.
Hero swung her sword around like a chef in the kitchen, and sliced up demons by the hundreds, even if they were far from her. Sword Saint jammed her sword into scores of demonic soldiers so rapidly, that her kill count was racking up just as rapidly as Hero's was. Ranger gets the idea of making his greatswords have whip functions, and craved up not only the demons, but the very ground they told on, and his vertical strikes caused the ground to upturn. A miscellaneous result was the chunks of rock and body parts being flung around to stun or hurt more demons in the far distance. They all regrouped at the spot Sage held during the annihilation, as the ladies were exhausted while Ranger had no signs of fatigue.
"How...are you...not worn out...?" Hero asked.
"Either this blessing raises my stamina as well as my power, it decreased my stamina requirements...or I just don't feel fatigue." Ranger said thoughtfully.
"O.k...I know you married and all, but you sound really good when you have this miracle on you." Sword Saint said as Ranger smirked.
"I wonder what my wife thinks of it...?" He said thoughtfully before looking back at the ladies.
"Well, that's your business. Anyway, the people are free, the demons are down, and we're none the worse for wear." Sage said.
"Now all we need-" Cherub reappearing cuts Sword Saint off.
"Present and accounted for ma'am." He said dramatically.
"Just get us out of here..." Ranger said dryly.
"Killjoy..." Cherub said before snapping his fingers, and next moment, Ranger was back at the town...with the girls, and his parents, all there and accounted for.
"Mother...father..." Ranger whispered as he walked up to them, then it sunk in that they were all wearing clothes again. "If...if you're all here, then where's-" Fighter cuts him off by speaking to him from behind.
"We're here too love." She said softly as he turned to face her and Priestess.
"Fighter...Priestess..." Ranger whispered before the two women embraced their husband/older brother figure.
"Did you put this power to good use?" Priestess asked cautiously before Ranger huffed.
"Me, and the Hero's team, slaughtered thousands of demons in one sitting...and wrecked several of the Demon Lord's temples, so...what do you think?" He asked before Fighter gave him a quick kiss.
"I think, you really are an Army of One...and you need to shave." She said while smiling brightly, and he chuckled at her, before turning to the captives.
"They're o.k...and so are your parents." Priestess said.
"And so are we boss." Warrior said as the rest of the team showed up.
"What about the rest of the people that weren't kidnapped?" Ranger asked.
"Some other adventurers joined the party-" Cow Girl shut up the moment Summoner showed up...with a surprise in his hand.
"And this little bastard tried to kill me, and the two ladies." He said before dropping Rhea Scout's corpse on the ground...and GS went to look the body over.
"This is the same rhea that tried to kill me several months ago. How was he still alive?" GS asked.
"Must've been that damn Cambion." Wizard said.
"Well, let's just put this mess behind us. Priestess?" Fighter said and Priestess knelt and put her hands together.
"O Great Supreme, Ruler of Heaven, Master of the Scale, and overseer of all that is righteous. A piece of this world has been left in tatters, and as a carrier of your will, I decree this place worthy...of a Restoration." She prayed and a light from the sky parted some of the gathering clouds and the city and people were patched up. Guild Girl and Inspector were so moved by the vision that both their eyes watered.
"Will this ever get old...?" Fighter asked as Priestess smiled at her and Fighter hugged her, before looking at Ranger, who joined the embrace.
The various groups went around town to see how the people were, and how much damage was repaired. Luckily, out of the thousands of people that lived there, only a few dozen died; the rest were kidnapped by the goblins, but they were all given treatments by Priestess, the Wizard siblings, and even Female Knight who put her paladin arts to use by empowering the trio, and the rest of the healers for that matter.
Summoner went around to look for any traces of hell energy to get rid of, or make use of, but Ranger's rampage with the Hero's group made a bigger impact than anyone thought; according to the Sword Maiden, Hell's forces were knocked on their backs so hard, it will be some time before more goblins invade from any more Hell Rifts.
At the end of the day, the entire town and it's people were mostly recovered from the damage the Restoration didn't repair, which wasn't saying much, but...Restoration only repairs physical damage; mental trauma did to be done personally. Everyone involved went to the tavern to celebrate...but Wizard went home without a word, with Warrior following her.
"Are you alright baby?" He asked as he went into their room...and found her forming a red dress like she wore at the festival when they were promoted to Gold Rank, looking herself in the mirror.
"Come here and hold me..." Wizard said as Warrior came in, then hugged her from behind as her breathing became deeper as she leaned back into him, closed her eyes, and focused on his frame supporting her.
"Did you just want to feel pretty?" Warrior asked.
"Yes...and no. The real dress is still in the closet, I just wanted to see if a copy could do the same thing...I was only half-right." Wizard said.
"What do you mean?" Warrior asked softly.
"My dress...my real dress, I love it as much as the others; each one is there to mark a special occasion in my life." Wizard said.
"I remember. The multi-colored one is one you got for your birthday, the blue one was for Noble Fencer's birthday..." Warrior trailed off before Wizard looked at him, and pulled him into a kiss, that she deepened after wrapping her arms around his neck as he held her thin waist.
"And the red one is what I wore after we became Gold Ranked...I'll never forget the look on your face when you first saw me." Wizard said with amusement.
"You still are a walking pile of "take me now", even when you're not wearing it." Warrior said while caressing her smiling face.
"Then take me now...after you tear it off of me." Wizard said sensually as Warrior gripped her collar with both hands, ripped her dress open with one tug, making her large, luscious breasts spill out of their confines, as he de-morphed his armor and kept tearing her dress off while they mashed their hungry mouths together, and lashed tongues as he kept tearing her dress off, while she chuckled into their kiss...especially when he removed the dress from her round, supple buttocks and gave it a hard but loving squeeze, then he slid his hands up her sides to give her breasts the same treatment. She then turned around, and he took advantage of that by sucking on her neck and continuing massaging her breasts from every angle... then listened to her moan her lungs out while he rolled her nipples between his fingers.
"Would you like some clones in on this?" Warrior asked.
"Oh yes..." Wizard breathed out as Warrior made six clones, and she laid down as one held her up from her upper back, while two held up her arms and head, the last two went back and forth between squeezing her breasts and butt, massaging her thick legs, licking her nipples...and stroking her womanhood while the real Warrior watched his wife tense up and moan, and eventually wail her lungs out while his clones worked her body from head to toe for at least a minute. "Alright...that's...enough I...can't...take much more!"
The clones then set her on the bed and merged with the original who knelt next to he bed as Wizard laid there with a look of pure peace and bliss on her face as he watched her catch her breath, as her heaving breasts went up and down, and different parts of her body, especially her limbs flexed slowly and enticingly as her blood flowed like a river throughout her body. She eventually caught her breath, opened her eyes and looked at him, as he lovingly ran his hand through her hair.
"I love you so much..." Warrior whispered before kissing her as softly as he could.
"And I love you...my dear dragon-killer." Wizard said as Warrior smiled.
"Should I take some potion?" He asked.
"Please..." Wizard whispered as Warrior went to go take a swig, then Wizard spread her legs, and waited for Warrior to crawl onto the bed, then he kissed her as softly as before before joining their bodies as Wizard gasped a bit at the contact before wrapping her legs around his ass. He then moved in and out of her womanhood slowly but forcefully before picking up the pace as her groans became more labored. She then let out blissful throaty moans as her had her opening pounded by her beloved monster-killer, and they both let out an elongated moan of euphoria before he collapsed on top of her. The two then laid there drunk on their pleasure and catching their breath, and Wizard even chuckled a bit from the afterglow.
"You really are in a good mood aren't you?" Warrior asked before kissing her cheek and neck over and over while she kept grinning .
"That's what happens when a girl lays with a man who's just too damn good at this." She said before kissing him deeply and sweetly.
"I love you too..." Warrior teased before slipping out of her womanhood with her gasping and then the two laid there rubbing their bodies together and sighing in contentment. "What about the rest of the team?"
"We can ask about what we missed later. For now...let me just rest with my loving husband." Wizard said softly as Warrior tightened their embrace.
"Ho...ly...shit..." Spearman said as he watched Ranger's rampage in Hell with the event recalled with the others watching as well.
"Holy shit indeed." Wizard's brother said.
"Well, they don't give Platinum ranks to just anyone." Summoner said as he stood against the wall with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.
"No kidding...but just like the Hero, there's no way he can be everywhere at once." Spearman said.
"Otherwise, why we be here, right?" Witch asked.
"You are never going to let me live that down are you?" Spearman asked as Witch chuckled before spinning her pipe around.
"To be able to give the forces of Hell, a mauling like this, over the unfortunate event of having one's parents taken. It's both a tragedy of epic proportions, and beautifully poetic." She said before inhaling some smoke.
"It was tragic alright...for them." Summoner said before the people all went back to their meals and gossip.
"I never thought his parents would get taken like this..." Priestess said somberly as she leaned into Fighter's side as they watched Ranger hold the baby at a distance while watching the people talk about the rampage.
"We all know how far loyalty can go; our ranks are proof of it afterall." Fighter said.
"Any of us would do the same thing I'm sure." Priestess said.
"Would you?" Fighter asked and Priestess looked right at her.
"Of course..." She said before the two smiled at each other and held hands before Priestess leaned on Fighter's shoulder some more. "I still think we could've stopped the kidnapping in the first place..."
"Don't...those goblins snuck up on us, and if they hadn't done what they did...my dear husband never would've crippled the forces of Hell, and anyone they captured...well, it would've been the Sword Maiden's plight all over again for countless people." Fighter said seriously.
"You're right...and I don't even want to think about that actually happening." Priestess said.
"Me neither." Fighter said.
"It's too bad we never found out why this happened." Priestess said.
"Does the Demon Lord need a reason to cause trouble? Besides, we can find out later if it's important." Fighter said.
"Right..." Priestess whispered before Fighter kissed the top of her head.
"Even if this happens again, we'll just floor them all again." Fighter said.
"Right." Priestess said before snuggling into Fighter's side.
"I love you..." She said.
"I love you too...sister." Priestess said...then the two noticed Inspector approach Summoner, then pull him upstairs, into the main office.
"So...what's this all about?" Summoner asked.
"I just...wanted to say thanks for saving our lives, and how glad I am you made it." Inspector said.
"Hey, I'm Gold Ranked for a reason." Summoner said seriously.
"It's no wonder why. Wait...just how much of a difference did your elementals make? O.k...I know you said there's hundreds of them, and as you know, I can tell when someone's lying, but what I don't know is how big that difference was." Inspector said.
"Hmmm...I didn't keep a kill count, but the number of goblins my summons killed could easily be in the hundreds maybe the thousands." Summoner said and Inspector's eyes popped out of their sockets.
"What?!" She exclaimed.
"This invasion was nothing to laugh at, and just one of my summons can take on a pack of goblins with almost no help; imagine what hundreds can do." Summoner said.
"Point taken; glad that kind of power is on our side...the Storm Mage wasn't much weaker was he?" Inspector asked and Summoner sighed.
"We actually fought once, and...he completely floored me with almost no trouble, even with my summons backing me up." He said.
"I know..." Inspector asked.
"What?" Summoner asked.
"Guild Girl and I share...alot of things; we're about as close as sisters can be. She even told me about your encounter with Sword Maiden, what she said to you...and how you acted on it." Inspector said as Summoner stood there staring at her.
"What...?" He said in disbelief.
"O.k...I'm just going to come out with it: she's not the only one who was interested in you...and still isn't." Inspector said honestly.
"But...I'm with her already..." Summoner said.
"I know, but...I actually talked to her about...well, both of us-" Summoner cuts her off.
"I'm not going down my brother's path; did she not tell you what he used to be like with women?" He asked.
"Yes, but you're not him are you? He may have been a womanizer, but by definition, that meant he slept around without their consent. Think about it: the three of us are hardly strangers, you yourself said we're both adorable, and to top it off...you're a Gold Ranked demon hunter. Trust me...she's o.k. with this, almost as much as I am." Inspector said.
"So...what? You want to go out with me like she and I did?" Summoner asked.
"Technically, you and I go out all the time; you even saved our lives, nearly at the cost of your own. Do you have any idea how many women have a wish for a knight-in-shining-armor? Guild Girl sure did, the Sword Maiden apparently did, and deep down...I do as well. Granted, that's not always the case, not by a long shot, but still."
"Alright, alright, point taken...and he did throw Her Grace a bone- o.k. terrible choice of words, but you know what I mean." Summoner said.
"Of course...now, will you give us a chance?" Inspector asked.
"Oh what the hell..." Summoner said.
"Alright. So...would you like to come to the beach me and Guild Girl went to to celebrate with Goblin Slayer, and Ranger's teams when they killed the leviathan? We had heaps of fun." Inspector asked.
"It's a date..." Summoner said before she hugged him.
"I'm sure you'll have fun as well, the kind that doesn't involve demons." Inspector said before Summoner pulled back a bit, they stared at each other for a bit...then he pulled her into a kiss that they broke a few seconds later, and he saw that it left her a bit stunned. "Wow..."
"Impressed?" Summoner teased.
"Very..." Inspector said with a smile, that made him stroke her cheek.
"At the beach, I may even let you both see a World Spawn, the toughest summon in the book, and even send it into Limbo." He said.
"That...would be impressive." Inspector said.
Well...Ranger got his parents back, he and the Hero's crew went Doomguy on the demon's asses, and Summoner's getting some loving from the ladies. But on a serious note, this is one of the shorter chapters because of how much of a pain in the ass it was to write, but...who can blame me? Anyway, there's not much to tell about what's next so...you know the drill by now, so...stay tuned.