Treachery and Talking 2

Sporting his usual disguise – which he really needed to change, since the person he was pretending to be had supposedly been assassinated on the order of the Kingdom of Belzerg – he stared up at the imposing castle. It was dark, gloomy, and he could feel eyes boring into him.

He smiled at it nostalgically. It reminded him of the castle he had just left, minus the barrier that surrounded the Demon King's residence.

In other words, it was exactly what Ragcraft assumed Verdia would do with his castle.

He walked up to the front, and knocked on the door. "Hello? I've come to see Verdia! He's probably received word of my arrival?" he shouted.

While it was hard to move armies and people across Belzerg, sending messages was fairly simple, especially since he could assume the guise of anyone he desired in order to get it sent.

Nothing happened immediately, but the great gate that he was standing in front of eventually shuddered…

And the door right next to it opened. A beckoning hand drew him closer, and Ragcraft found himself whisked through the castle by four undead, each of them appearing to be strong-looking knights.

Soon enough, he found himself in some sort of study. While not nearly as opulent as anything he had known in his time as Ragcraft the Prime Minister, it was clean. Books dotted a number of shelves, and shining marble made up the floor.

"Welcome Ragcraft, Leader of the Demon King's Intelligence Division," intoned the deep, reverberating voice of the Demon King's Dullahan. Ragcraft smiled back. "Verdia. Wonderful to finally meet you."

The headless knight gave a hearty laugh that told him either his lungs hadn't decayed very much or his voice was dependent on some other apparatus for functioning. "Indeed. And, in a roundabout way, we're on the same side again."

Ragcraft smiled. Verdia had been a particularly tricky opponent for the Demon Generals back then, but he'd come around to their side. It was nice that they could be cordial.

Verdia gestured his head about the place with one arm. "So, the place is nice, yes? I've spent some time on it, and besides one setback, it's ready to contain a grand army."

Ragcraft smiled thinly. "Yes. About that… while you claim that to be true, the halls certainly weren't filled with undead. The Demon King wants to know if the 'double blessed' Hero Candidate has been located and if you've increased the size of your army yet."

He might have been surprised about the existence of Hero Candidates – he had been out of contact with the Demon King for nearly thirty years, after all – but they were some of the biggest spenders in Elroad.

He'd gotten very used to their appearance, and how oddly proficient at some of Elroad's exclusive card games they were.

The Demon General sitting on the leather couch grasped his head in both hands and slumped downwards slightly. "Yes. Well, the problem with that is it is hard to acquire corpses."

He raised an eyebrow farther than humanly possible in an attempt to display his skepticism. The Dullahan placed his head on a rag on the table and crossed his arms. "It's not my fault. I can't exactly get close to the town when there are Priests everywhere. Plus, an enormous Heal was cast in the city. There must be some super-powerful Archpriest there."

Ragcraft massaged his temples. "Fine. I assume you have some idea of who the 'double blessed' is?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "Not really. Only one adventuring team has dared to approach, and none have since. I assume they've probably moved on." Ragcraft continued to massage his temples.

Then the Dullahan spoke up again. "As is, the team that did approach us was the one to leave that giant hole in the side of the mountain we're on." That gave Ragcraft pause.

He nodded. "Alright, that suffices on that front. But you should have moved in by now. He ordered you to kill everyone who resisted our rule the moment you confirmed the absence or presence of them."

'Those who resisted' was a very specific term, since they had sworn to Wiz not to hurt the non-combatants. They needed her to help maintain the barrier, so they were stuck fighting those who fought them directly.

Ragcraft continued chiding the more physically imposing Dullahan. "He gave you and most of your soldiers' equipment buffs that can resist any Priest's attempts to cleanse you. A single Archpriest, regardless of power, can't do anything to you."

He sagged. "It just doesn't seem fair…"

Ragcraft sighed deeply, clasping his hands. "Verdia…"

The being seemed quite upset, so Ragcraft attempted to make his tone softer. He didn't need to take out his shame at forgetting his goal and being discovered by Vanir on Verdia.

"Regardless of fairness, we need to stop the flow of new adventurers. With Axel gone, the only area completely safe for young adventurers to level up is in the Crimson Demon Village, and that's only applicable to their own kind. The sooner the war is over, the sooner you'll get your revenge."

Ragcraft grinned internally as her heard the Dullahan's jaw tighten. Things were progressing. "Now, I'll go to the Axel cemetery for the next week and bring you back bodies. I have money, and I can look like just about anyone, nobles included, so finding some lowlifes that can be hired to cart them away from Axel shouldn't be too hard-"

KABOOM!

Ragcraft tried not to squeal at the loud noise, and Verdia jumped up and pushed passed the undead knight who had likely been trying to tell them of the invaders, and Ragcraft shook his head. Even thirty years ago, he'd been more inclined to fight than to think.

That was fine. With Ragcraft here, they couldn't possibly fail to take over Axel.

-OxOxO-

Chris was panicking.

Instead of her usual guile and tact, The Atheist had, at the insistence of Viktoriya, said something about 'not particularly caring' and flung some sort of explosive spell at the main gate of the castle.

She wanted the Atheist to die, but she wasn't exactly sure what would happen to her if her mortal vessel was killed.

Thankfully, they were all still concealed by her own and Tanya's Lurk. Maybe they should come back later-

Out of the door they'd blown down, numerous undead began to sprint towards them. Chris was confused, and then she remembered that Lurk didn't work well on the Undead.

Darkness, always unaware of the dire context of their current status if it meant she'd get a bit of pleasure, charged to meet them, face bright red and sword swinging haphazardly.

"Wait!" Chris shouted. She didn't want her Crusader to die too…

Viktoriya took aim with her rifle, urging Tanya to do the same. A moment passed, and then they began.

Viktoriya's expression darkened as she watched. None of their bullets seemed to be doing much. They could pierce their bodies – some were limping and others had dropped their weapons – but all of them were still coming.

Chris swore and she began weighing her options. Darkness, or The Atheist? Which would she choose…

Her love for her followers won out. She wouldn't sacrifice anyone else to try and kill or convert Tanya, and letting them get close enough to kill The Atheist would also mean letting Darkness get captured or killed. "Tanya, try using Heal on them!"

Both turned to her, and Chris explained. "The undead despise healing spells, along with other skills learned by Priests. It's why they're so sought after when exploring dungeons."

Tanya nodded slowly, and then paused. She began to shake again, and Viktoriya dropped her rifle to stare at her as she began to mumble again. "P- Priests? I'm a Priest?"

Her hand fell from her weapon, and Chris was confused by the confused, hurt expression on the girls face.

In the first place, she was the Devil of the Rhine. Why was she feeling anything but hatred and pride?

She turned to Viktoriya, who shot her a helpless shrug and gripped Tanya's hand again. "I might have pointed out that her hate-fueled obsessions with religion makes her just as bad as someone who's obsessed with praising religion. She might have come to the realization that she's let religion define a bit too much of her life."

Chris inhaled deeply. She needed to focus if she wasn't. Now was not the time to break out into laughter.

Even if she really wanted to.

"Can you use some sort of explosion spell?" she asked Viktoriya.

She nodded. "It's not nearly as powerful as Tanya's-"

Chris rolled her eyes. "I don't care just save my- err- I mean, Eris's follower!"

Viktoriya nodded, aiming down her rifle. A muttered 'Enchant Bullet: Artillery Shot!' and a pull of her trigger sent a piece of high explosive towards the oncoming hordes, blowing through the first ones.

As Tanya was raising her own rifle – still going through the motions and trying to work through her swirling thoughts – a voice rang out.

"HALT!"

Viktoriya lowered her gun and Chris stood still, unsure who the order was for. Tanya had stopped, not lowering her gun and just muttering to herself. Darkness, on the other hand, didn't stop, intent on rushing towards the army, who had begun to fall back towards the castle.

Chris rushed forward, using her greater speed to catch up to Darkness and jolt her out of the daze she'd worked herself into. Both retreated closer to the tree line and watched as a figure was revealed by the opening of one of the giant doors of the gate.

The Dullahan. A General of the Demon King's army. A former Knight.

Verdia.

Chris felt her hatred stirring against someone who would defy the Gods by becoming the antithesis of life and joining the Demon King. She did realize it was sort of hypocritical, if she was associating with The Atheist, but she was working to fix the latter problem permanently.

She didn't charge forward, however. She knew she didn't stand a chance in this form. She began to smirk as she looked Tanya and her cohort.

They were what she had come to end, one underestimating the danger and the other unaware of her situation.

The thing began to monologue, and Tanya's eyebrow twitched, the first sign of anything other than self-doubt she had shown yet. "Foolish adventurers! Approaching my castle without a Priest and with the knowledge of the dangers inside was foolhardy! Considering your weakness, I will let you off this time. It seems-"

The clearing of a throat was heard, and the Dullahan looked off towards the side. Some faint whispering, too faint to hear the words of but present enough to identify its being there, took place between the Dullahan and some unseen figure, and the Dullahan sighed dramatically.

"Oh, very well. Sorry, but we won't let you guys go. It's nothing personal, we just… have to do this…"

The thing readied its sword, brandishing it towards them, staring at them with just a hint of sadness in the angle it was holding its head. Still, it began to pace forward-

Ragcraft was debating if he should order the knights to help their master or if he should go inside. He wasn't made for fighting, and while turning his body into armor and his hands into blades might work, it hurt to do that and every blow against the makeshift weaponry doled out further pain.

Still, he should help dispose of the low-leveled trash, at least-

Viktoriya got her spells ready. It looked intimidating and she was sure she could feel some sort of bizarre energy radiating from it, but Tanya said she should always be through in testing her enemy's weaknesses-

Darkness was panting heavily, and bringing her own sword to bear. Oh, she knew she couldn't hit anything, but she'd put up a valiant fight, and then be held down in his dingy, dark, dungeons and drained of life-

Chris was getting herself ready, trying to think of what to do. She wanted to kill the undead, but she wanted Tanya to die, but she didn't want Darkness to die-

Unseen by any of them, Tanya had begun muttering 'personal' under her breath in a variety of tones. Flatly, confusedly, hopefully, and then, finally, she shouted, "PERSONAL!"

All of them paused in readying themselves, staring at Tanya.

She was smirking, still unaware of her surroundings. "My conflict with that self-proclaimed god has moved far passed a simple battle of philosophy and religion. For everything he's done to you, to me, our countrymen and opponents, and to the countries we hailed from, the conflict is now personal."

Viktoriya stared at her, blinking slowly. Chris and Darkness looked to each other, just as confused as the pair of Demon King affiliates that opposed them.

"I'm not obsessed with religion; I'm obsessed with proving him wrong and living my life peacefully!" she declared, nodding to herself.

She rested her gun on her shoulder, staring amusedly at Viktoriya. "I hope that answers your question, Viktoriya. Now, where were we…?"

She trailed off, noticing for the first time where she was. Her eyes widened in realization and her triumphant grin became decidedly more fixed as she stared at the Dullahan across from them, the people around her, and the mass of decaying limbs and body parts sent flying by Viktoriya's spells.

"Uhh… what's happening right now?"

Before the others could explain, the Dullahan began to shout. "What do you mean?! I was just about to slay you all, despite my misgivings, and you don't even realize what you've done?"

Tanya turned and looked at him. If she remembered correctly, people didn't usually carry around their heads like groceries, meaning this was probably the undead General, considering the castle they were at.

She shook her head, ignoring his monologue. He was saying something about not wanting to do it, and her pushing him over the edge. She took advantage of his distraction to motion towards Viktoriya.

She nodded her head, showing she still remembered the small little motions she had taught her so they could communicate silently, just in case. This broke the trance the Dullahan seemed to be in. Meanwhile, Viktoriya looked to Tanya, and Tanya spoke softly.

"Cast Reinforcement spells on Chris. We're not fighting him."

Viktoriya seemed conflicted, for the briefest of moments, and then saluted. She walked over towards Chris as casually as one could when being lectured by a Dullahan, and began to cast her spells.

Tanya did the same on Darkness. She nodded her thanks, and as the Dullahan paused for effect, Tanya stopped him.

"I'm sorry about interrupting your day, Mister Dullahan. I'd pay for the door, but I assume you don't pay your undead legions and don't really need money. Goodbye!"

With that, she and Viktoriya took off towards the forest, while Chris and Darkness sprinted towards the Dullahan, intent on destroying the undead. Seeing as both Viktoriya and Tanya had gripped onto their partners arms, this meant both pairs snapped back into each other, sending them sprawling.

The Dullahan, confused by her words of apology and enraged by her attempt to flee, now felt very empty inside.

He turned towards Ragcraft, who was concealed just inside the castle's door. "Are you sure we shouldn't just let them go?"

Seemingly as weary as he was, Ragcraft nodded. "Yes. It's obvious that none of those… adventurers are Hero Candidates, and that small one said something about not being obsessed with religion. She couldn't be double blessed."

Ragcraft, remembering the last time he had seen them, disagreed. He didn't want to kill them, though, so he couldn't say anything without probably having to do that.

Without a word, they retreated inside, conversing as the party outside bickered. "So you'll help with the graveyard, yes?"

Ragcraft sighed. "Yes, I'll get your corpses. Just start preparing to attack the town. They obviously know you're here, and we will only remain free from harassment from the Capital's knights by relying on Sylvia being consistent in her attack on the capital."

Verdia grimaced. He… she… whatever. They were the very definition of inconsistent, and if they were still trying to fight Hans for leadership, anything could send them back to the castle, intent on bickering with the slime.

Verdia nodded, and then turned towards the gate. "Well, I'll be ordering the undead to begin clearing more of the forest to fix the front gate. Prepare some believable personas, preferably ones that don't use your actual name."

Ragcraft frowned at the implication that his last disguise had been lackluster, but he shook his head regardless. He did need to prepare.

As Tanya and Viktoriya dragged the undead-hating Chris and the pain-seeking Darkness back to Axel, Tanya began to think about simply going back to their room and going to bed.

-OxOxO-

Tanya prepared for bed, making herself comfortable. She fluffed the pillows, readjusted her blankets, and took off all of her clothing – besides the Type 97, since she needed to protect herself and it wasn't a relic that had the possible dubious ability to affect her mind.

Outside the room, Viktoriya, having changed before her, was waiting.

Tanya had promised not to look if they both changed in the same room, but Viktoriya wasn't exactly trusting her. Tanya couldn't really blame her, either.

She sighed unhappily. Just the reminder of her strict rules when they were in Axel's baths – no turning around, no lounging, she had to take them as separately as possible unless unavoidable – made her long for the days when she could look as much as she wanted without getting in too much trouble.

The Eris Cult didn't like same-sex marriage, after all; she'd done a bit of digging in-between robbing the Reincarnates of their weapons and power, and those who were raised with its values were sure to think such a concept was impossible.

Tanya had used belief to stare at Darkness for as much as she dared.

She finished, and called out to Viktoriya. She came in, and both settled into their beds.

Tanya was cursing herself for getting so distracted. She'd probably given the Dullahan a bad impression of her, and… one in her situation might want to talk to him amiably about the possibility of an alliance.

"Goodnight, Visha," she muttered. Viktoriya nodded, and turned her back to her, saying nothing.

Tanya clenched her teeth. This had been her routine since she'd asked if Tanya could live with what she'd done.

And it still did bug her, but she'd hold out a week. She only had two days left. She definitely could, and wasn't contemplating, daily, how grand an apology she should make.

Tanya rolled her eyes at her own actions. Who was she kidding?

"I'm sorry for taking advantage of you, Viktoriya. I'd… never do something..."

She sighed. "Even if you didn't know, I really shouldn't have done something like that. Alright? You know that I'd never try and…?" she asked, trailing off and trying not to have to voice the end of her sentence.

The last part was just… in case Viktoriya had been harboring thoughts about what Tanya might have done. Tanya's fears about Viktoriya thinking Tanya might have ever rap…

She shook her head and dismissed her own memories with a grunt,. Regardless, Tanya's worries had been growing since that second day, and-

Viktoriya turned over immediately. "Of course I know you'd never do anything like that! I was joking, but you took it too seriously, and I wanted to see how long you'd-"

Tanya felt her worry begin to dry up, and Viktoriya sighed. "Thank you for the apology, and of course I know you'd never do anything like that." With that, she laid on her back.

Tanya, also, turned onto her back, staring at the ceiling and waiting for sleep. She was tired from a day full of using magic and thinking very hard about her identity and her sixteen-year battle with Being X.

That her hair twitched occasionally at the thought of Viktoriya's joke went unnoticed.

-OxOxO-

Three distinct voices, each muttering in the dark, broke Tanya's sleep light sleep.

She fought the urge to clench her fists or to shout; if intruders had gotten this far, it would be wise to hear what they might let slip in a room they thought was silently sleeping. Through her eyelids, she could see a light, likely from the hallway.

"You're sure, Dust?"

Carefully keeping her face still and trying desperately to quiet her heavy breathing, she thought furiously. What did Dust have to do with this?

And if he did have something to do with this…

Her breathing calmed. Even Dust wouldn't sink so low as to make deals with rapists. He would have probably joined some kind of criminal gang by now if he was okay with that.

"Yes, yes. She's the one you're looking for. It might have taken you days to find her without my help; don't I deserve a reward?"

A long, drawn out sigh snuck into her ears. "Fine. Go and fall asleep; you'll get triple what you were promised, at no extra cost."

Tanya tried to think about what reward he would want enough that he would gleefully shout about getting that also involved sleeping, but she put that aside. She'd be calling in his debt tomorrow, and she'd relish in whatever pleading he had to do.

Maybe making him relive whatever painful past he obviously had would be enough revenge?

His gleeful giggling drifted away. Speaking, this time closer to Viktoriya, broke out. "This is her partner?"

Tanya wasn't so concerned with their words. She was much more worried about the lack of another sound. None of the floorboards had made a peep while they moved. That meant Thieves – not unlikely, considering she'd earned a million Eris, and she couldn't think of anyone else that could be that silent.

"Look at her…" said one. Their voices were closer now, directly above her. She fought hard to keep her breathing even.

"I wonder what this barrier is…" trailed off another. Tanya's eyebrow's moved slightly, and Tanya cursed herself while wondering what kind of thieves could sense the mana in her Passive Barrier she constantly maintained, now that she had her Type 97.

"What are her dreams like? Just a quick peek wouldn't hurt, right?" asked the first one. Tanya couldn't help the confusion that crossed her face.

She heard gasps, and she shot up. The jig was up; now it was time to fight.

She began pouring mana into her Type 97, and, despite being covered by cloth, it lit the room up. Unfortunately, she was a touch too slow, too unprepared.

"Sleep!" shouted the higher voice that belonged to the smaller one. Tanya's Passive Barrier, only fit for deflecting debris and in place to detect that something had tried to attack her, shattered.

Tanya began to feel very, very, verrryyyyy sleeeeepyyyy…

She shook her head, lurching out of bed and fumbling with the top of her bed stand. She collapsed to the floor, but her prize was in her hand.

"Ohhhh go… god… please grant this ser… ser… sleepy one the power to vanquish…"

Her voice was beginning to strengthen, and Tanya could feel the tiredness fading. Anger began to build. She wouldn't be kidnapped.

Not again.

Never again.

But the pair seemed to have recovered. One was shouting sleep, over and over and ovvveeeerrr…

And as Tanya finally lost consciousness, she saw that Viktoriya had been put to sleep as well.

A flash of anger disturbed her drifting off, and she tried, feebly, to struggle, to try and resist she always had.

However, mana was a very effective tool in the right hands, and Tanya wasn't full rested from the day's activities. Another moment of struggle passed, and then she finally succumbed.