Crowding Energy

The further down into the basement Roko dove, the louder the cultists' chanting became. From what he could tell, they weren't chanting in a language that he was familiar with. Coming onto the bottom of the stairs, Roko crouched down and silently intruded upon the illicit ceremony. There was nothing but a platform with some railing directly in front of the stairs. Moving onto the platform, Roko could see it stretch around the sides of the room before leading to another set of stairs further down into the basement proper. Peering down through the rails, Roko saw a group of five people in robes standing around a magical circle with an unconscious girl tied to the ground in the middle. The cultists were completely absorbed in their ritual, chanting words that sounded otherworldly as the magical circle glowed beneath their victim. Roko watched, curiosity gripping him to the ground as he pondered what on earth they were trying to accomplish. There were no monsters like the two types that Roko had seen before anywhere. Were they trying to summon one then? It seemed strange to summon one of those eldritch creatures like one might a demon but it wasn't impossible. As Roko continued to speculate, the girl opened her eyes and cried out in shock once she realized what had happened to her.

"What's going on?! Who are you?! What am I doing here?!" She yelped.

The cultists continued to chant except for one who stopped and sneered down at their victim, "Welcome. You're about to used to bring forth the great god."

"What?! What are you talking about?! The Gods abandoned us! Why are you praying to them now?!"

"The Unborn God is different. His power is supreme, beyond the mere Gods of magic that we used to pray to. Though he has yet to be born, we are filled with his power and we will work to bring him into this world as its new ruler!"

"Y-You're the ones kidnapping women recently then! Who are you?! Let me go! I'm not going to help you birth this crazy 'God' of yours!"

"Your consent is not necessary. You will be used, over and over again if we must, until the vessel for our God is born!"

The chanting and light began to hit a fevered pitch as the light from the circle became blindingly white and from it emerged otherworldly tentacles.

"Wh-What's this?! What's going on?! Someone! Anyone! Please! Save me!"

The cultist just laughed as the girl pleaded for her life.

Having seen enough, Roko stood up, ready to intervene but with no weapon to use, he hesitated. Five versus one wasn't going to be an easy fight. He needed something to even the odds. Looking around, Roko spotted a bucket of water lying on the corner of the platform.

As the cultist continued to laugh, water suddenly poured down from above nearly drowning the man as he sputtered and coughed in surprise. The water spread out and washed away parts of the magical circle, disrupting their spell as the tentacles flickered and disappeared.

"W-Who's that?!" The cultist cried as he coughed up a bit of water, "What's going on?!"

"Now that's no way to treat a lady." Roko said as he looked down on the group, from the edge of the railing.

"Who is that?! We've got an intruder!"

"Obviously, captain." Roko said as he jumped down from the railings.

The cultist cried out in terror as Roko landed on him, knocking him to the ground and knocking him unconsciousness.

"Who are you?!" One of the cultists cried as they backed away from Roko, "What do you want?!"

"Pizza delivery. Your pizza's here."

"Oh great, really? Wait you don't have any pizza on you!"

"I left it upstairs."

"Oh."

"You guys ordered it with pineapple right?"

"You monster!"

One of the cultists ran up to punch Roko but Roko dodged it and smacked him in the face with the empty bucket.

"Augh!" The cultist stumbled back, holding his face, "Do you know what you're doing? We have the power of a God on our side! We'll obliterate you!"

"Scan."

The cultists looked confused as Roko studied the information he received, "You have no spells and your strength is a 9. You're probably a shut-in. Do you even have jobs?"

The cultist cried out in anger and moved to attack Roko again. Roko slid the bucket over his fist and punched the cultist in the face, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.

"So should I be expecting a tip after this or..." Roko said as he lazily spun the bucket over his hand.

The other cultists cried out in confused outrage as they charged at Roko as well. Roko met the first punch head on with his own. Unfortunately his hand was armed with the bucket so the cultist's hand received much more severe recoil. As he was crying out in pain, Roko decked him in the face, again with the bucket, knocking him out as well. The next cultist slid behind Roko and tried to kick him. Roko flipped the bucket around and caught his kick with the inside of the bucket. Unable to dislodge his leg, the cultist tried hopping around on his one foot before Roko just pushed the bucket forward, sending the cultist falling backwards and into the wall where he cracked his head and slumped down, unresponsive. The final cultist tried to attack from behind Roko again but Roko easily dodged the noisy attack. The cultist tried to move about like a professional boxer to try and intimidate him but his movements were too amateurish. Seeing his intimidation being ineffective, the cultist tried to attack again. Roko parried his attempt and slammed the bucket over the cultist's head. The robed man stumbled around, stunned and confused until Roko picked up a chair and smashed it over his head, dropping the last cultist to the ground as the bucket rolled off his head.

"And that's all their plans ruined." Roko dusted his hands as he turned to the girl shackled to the floor, "You okay?"

"Are you here to save me?!"

"Sure. How do I get you out though?"

"The leader has a key. I saw it on him."

"This guy?" Roko pointed at the guy he had landed on to make his dramatic entrance.

The girl nodded and Roko went to rummage through the man's clothes. Sure enough, he managed to find a ring of keys and with a bit of trial and error, he managed to free the girl.

"Thank goodness!" The girl shuddered as she sat up, "I had no idea what they were going to do to me."

"Certainly didn't sound savory." Roko nodded.

"Who are you? Did my dad send you to save me?!"

"Does your dad own a potion store?"

"Yeah!"

"...With unmarked potions?"

"Yeah!"

"...While sitting behind the counter with a newspaper?"

"Yeah!"

"...Well then I guess he did."

"Wow! I didn't know my dad knew a person like you!"

"Neither did your dad probably."

"Eh?"

"Nevermind." Roko sighed as he stood up, "If you're fine, go ahead and get out of here."

"What about you?"

"I have to make sure there aren't any other victims."

"I-I'll come with!" The girl stumbled up on her legs, "If there's more victims you'll need help getting them out."

"I suppose that's true." Roko shrugged, "Now..."

Roko turned around, to the wall of the basement right below the stairs where a simple looking door that he couldn't see before lied. After trying out a few more keys, Roko managed to get the door unlocked and seeing that the path in front of them was poorly lit, fetched a lantern from one of the basement tables. Together with the girl, he walked through the hallway beyond the door, quickly recognizing the twisted tentacles that began to line the walls, floors and ceilings.

"What's all this?" The girl shivered.

"Well looks like I'm onto something after all." Roko muttered.

"What?"

"Don't mind me."

Before the girl could inquire further, the hallway ended and an horrific sight came into view. Trapped behind iron bars were a few girls, around the same age as Helena, naked and shackled to the wall. They seemed too weak and disoriented to respond to anything.

"W-What is this?" The girl covered her mouth, "What's going on?"

"We can ask questions later." Roko said as he set the lantern down on a table, "For now we need to get them out of here. Hopefully before any of the cultists wake up."

Roko quickly made a habit of fumbling through the keys, first to open the cell door and then to open their shackles. With the potion maker's daughter's help, Roko managed to get the girls up to the house's first floor though with five girls in the cell it took them three trips. Once the girls were safely resting, Roko threw the unconscious cult members into their own jail before returning to the surface.

"They all seem to be alive." The potion maker's daughter said as Roko returned, "They're pretty weak but they can hang on until help arrives."

"Then it's time we got them help."

"I'll call the police." The girl nodded as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone.

"You have one of those?" Roko said.

"Yeah. My dad likes to spoil me."

"Ah. Well if you can call the police, I should probably get going then."

"What?! Why?! You're a hero! Don't you need to talk with the police?"

"I don't know anymore than you probably do. And I'm not interesting in being hailed as a hero."

"But...I haven't even gotten your name."

"It's best if you didn't know that either."

"But if I don't even know your name...how will I ever repay you?"

"I got enough help from your father already so it's all even."

"Will...will I ever see you again?"

"...Tell you what, if I ever find myself in need of potions before I leave, I'll visit the shop."

"A-Alright!" The girl brightened up, "I'll be waiting then!"

"Stay strong." Roko waved as he walked away.

By the time Roko got back to the center of the city, the sky had turned a deep shade of crimson. Roko yawned as he began to return to the castle. While fighting the cultists seemed easy enough, moving the victims and the cultists was a lengthy endeavor that left him feeling tired enough to anticipate the end of the day. It was dinner by the time that Roko got back to the castle and as he went to the cafeteria to grab his last meal of the day, he kept an eye out for Helena or Roland though he wasn't able to find them. Slightly worried about Helena's condition after the extensive test that Roland told him about, Roko couldn't help but feel worried as he fell asleep.

The next morning, Roko wasn't woken up by Roland or Helena and when he went to eat breakfast, he couldn't find them either. Now thoroughly concerned, Roko tried to push it out of his mind as he went back out into the city to continue his mission. But who should he find waiting for him at the castle's courtyard but Helena and Roland. And of all things, Helena seemed to be waiting for him with a giant and slightly smug grin on her face. Roko immediately felt a sense of foreboding.

"Morning?" Roko greeted them normally.

"Morning." Helena replied with a knowing smile, "How was your day yesterday?"

"Oh you know." Roko shrugged, "Went out. Took a look around the city. Didn't do much else. How was your day? I heard you had a big test."

"Oh, I aced it." Helena smirked, "Don't worry about it. It's really nothing special."

"Uh-huh..."

"More importantly." Helena's eyes grew wide with anticipation and excitement, "Did you hear the news?"

"What news?"

"Some cultists were caught yesterday."

"Really?"

"Yep! Witnesses say some strange man came in to save all of them!"

"Well...isn't that convenient. Wonder who that guy was. Guess we'll never know."

Roko couldn't looked Helena in the eyes as she looked ready to burst with excitement, "It was you wasn't it?!" Helena finally cried.

"No, no it wasn't!"

"Yes it was!" Helena said giddily, "Don't you lie to me now Roko!"

"I have no idea what gave you that idea."

"A girl at the scene of the crime was able to give a very detailed, if not exaggerated, description."

"Dammit, I knew that was a bad idea." Roko muttered, "Goddamn information networks. Uh...so what did he look like?"

"Take a look for yourself!" Helana held up an artist's rendering of his face though with slightly more handsome eyes, sharper chin and probably better hair.

"That looks nothing like me."

"It looks exactly like you!"

"It looks like me but I am not nearly that good looking."

"Hey man, don't sell yourself short."

"It's probably just a coincidence." Roko insisted, "I have no idea that this happened yesterday and I have nothing to do with it."

"Come on Roko, don't ruin this for me!" Helena pressed, "It was you wasn't it?!"

"No, no way, no how!"

"I know you asked the merchant about the cult beforehand."

"..."

"..."

"I don't know what you're-"

"Dammit Roko, just admit it!"

"It wasn't me!"

"You're not keeping me away from this! I don't need you protecting me from this! This is my city you know!"

"Okay but I really had nothing to do with this!"

"The father of the girl who gave this description said he gave the man some healing potions. Mind if we check your pockets?"

…

"Okay it was me." Roko muttered.

"I KNEW IT!" Helena jumped in joy as she slapped Roland on the shoulder, "See?! I knew bringing Roko here was the right choice! Oh things just got so much more exciting!"

"Hooray..." Roland muttered, enervated.

"I can't believe you stopped a cult on your own! And I heard you used a bucket?! Oh I wish I was there for that!"

"Yeah, sure. It was...great..." Roko sighed, "So uh...what now?"

"Now?" Helena grinned, "Now we track down the rest of the cult and eradicate them from this city!"

"We?"

"Yep! You're going to need an army to stop me from getting in on this!"

"I don't suppose I can borrow Aporia's?"

"Come on Roko! We're going to interrogate one of the cultists down at the precinct!"

"You are way too excited about this."

"This is literally the most exciting thing that has happened to this city in the years I have lived here."

"Really? Nothing else happened?"

"Oh stuff happened but they were not nearly this exciting."