A hell under the city
As the grate crashed to the floor, a loud bright sound rang through the corridors and hallways, startling the men in the next hallway and making them look in the direction where the action was taking place. Meanwhile, some of the men were still dragging women out of the cells. Suddenly a door opened and a man with gray hair and the build of a miner slowly approached. He exuded an aura as if he owned everything here and had no worries. Although he wore simple clothes, his eyes were full of anger, which gave the men in black robes a terrifying fear. Who are you? Asked a man in black robes.
"It is not important who I am. But what is important is you and what you are doing here. You're keeping women and children prisoners in cells, but I'm going to make you talk, and after that it's straight to hell," Mortis said as he walked toward the men. He rolled up his sleeves and tensed his muscles, making the men even more nervous.
Mortis smiled darkly as he came closer and asked, "What's the matter? Against women and children you are brave, and I don't even have a weapon in my hand, but you are already afraid. Wait and see, if you don't tell me what I want to know, I'll give you a reason to wet your pants." At the same time, another door to the hallway opened and six more somberly dressed figures came in to see why no women had been delivered yet. This brought some courage back to the first three men. But when Mortis saw the new guests, who looked even more menacing, he made a decision. Using his skills and speed, he bridged the distance in less than a second and struck the foremost man under the chin with such force that he lifted off the ground and was instantly unconscious.
"What?" asked one of the newcomers, but before he could make any further sound, he already received a fist against his neck to silence him. Mortis attacked all the newcomers to teach them fear and eliminate the threat. Before the newcomers knew what was happening to them, they saw only stars and were sent to the realm of dreams. This caused the first ones in the hall to close the door on the women and push them back into the cells. Then they ran in the direction from which Mortis came to escape from him. But no sooner had they reached the door than one of them went down, and two were grabbed by the collar and held in the air. A voice rang out, making them more and more desperate.
"Where were you going? I told you I still had questions. Besides, I need your keys. The next cells are yours," Mortis said as he pushed the one lying on the ground to the empty cells and took the other two with him. As he put them in a cell, he had them undress and hand him the keys. He then took the others and locked them in a cell as well. He then put on a hood to continue through the vault. Before that, however, he lowered the hood so as not to frighten the women and children. He reassured them and told them to be patient until he could give them freedom. To make sure the caged monsters didn't get the idea of escaping, he left Sarah in that hallway for surveillance and then went on his way.
"I thought you were going to question us!" roared from the men's cell. But Sarah appeared in front of them and just laughed at them. When the men saw the ghost, all color drained from their faces and they immediately fell silent.
In the next two hallways, Mortis saw no guards or others in black robes. It seemed as if hostages had been brought here only recently, or perhaps only today. The women and children were crying all the time, but they seemed healthier and purer than the others Mortis had seen. This place disgusted him more and more and sparked his anger. Those he had left alive so far would continue to be alive. He thought such monsters among men should be exterminated, but not until he had found the head behind this vault.
When Mortis entered the next door, he almost vomited. On the sides were small cages with mana beasts fed with human bones and body parts of children and women. The animals helped themselves to them, but the strange thing was that there was not a single drop of blood to be seen. All the corpses were gray and seemed to have been fading for a long time. "What on earth is going on here? This scale can't be escaping the count. How can he let this happen? What is happening in this land?" wondered Mortis as he tried to avert his gaze from these hideous images.
Filled with rage, Mortis continued to run down the path, but he simply kicked every door out of the wall that stood in his way. Finally, he came upon a group of other cowl-clad men who were in the process of dragging women in another direction. Filled with rage, Mortis charged at them, jumped up and kicked the first one in the face with his knee, causing him to immediately sink his teeth into his throat and fall to the ground, dead. Mortis had had enough. With his scythe, he killed all but one of them to rid this world of monsters.
The women were horrified by the carnage, but at the same time relieved that their tormentors had suffered such a fate. Only one of the cowl bearers was shocked and less happy about the situation. Mortis grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air while saying, "You will take me to your leader at once, or believe me, you will wish for death." With the last of the air in his lungs, the cowl-bearer brought out an approving yes before Mortis dropped him to the ground.
"You women had best return to your cells until I wipe out this cult. I can't get you to safety yet, but don't worry, I will," Mortis explained. "Oh, and one more thing, have any of you seen my scythe?" The women unanimously answered in the negative and took shelter in a dark corner, while Mortis grabbed the cowl-bearer by the collar and let him show him the way through this strange labyrinth.
The further Mortis walked, the more enemies he met along the way. It wasn't just 2 or 3 enemies in different places, but often groups of 30 men. Mortis became more and more disgusted and he realized that this could not be possible without the approval of the Count or other organizations. Especially when he had already gathered over 300 souls without missing a single enemy.
As Mortis continued upstairs, the cellar changed and they came to cells filled with tortured and pleading men. When they saw Mortis, they didn't even notice that he was dragging another cowl bearer with him. But they were struck by the strange odor that drifted through the halls and befuddled their senses. Mortis, however, was immune to poisons and substances entering his body due to his marriage ritual with Lumina. His system merely warned him of an attack on his nervous system.
After a few more doors, Mortis saw large beds on which sat women in leather clothes. But they too seemed to have lost their humanity, and small bat wings and pointed teeth made that clear.
When Mortis entered the room, even the cowl-wearer seemed to have lost his mind, dragging him along with him. He appeared completely confused and was close to insanity as he desperately tried to get to the women. The cowl wearer barely noticed that he had no chance and his eyes were only on these women who attracted him like mosquitoes to light. Mortis wondered if they were succubi or similar creatures, given the behavior of the cowl bearer.
"Come here, men, let your urges guide you. With us you are welcome to act out, My sweet ones," sounded a harmonious voice of a woman approaching Mortis. Mortis let go of the young man who, it seems, does not know where the master of this hell is and decided to force one of these demonesses to show him the way, but first he had to get rid of the rest, so he pulled a scythe out of his ring and went on a demon hunt.