>>3449927
>>Send in a couple of scouts.
>>See if we can work out a plan to isolate them from any civilians.

>>3449927
>>Be sneaky and careful


Oh wow I can't believe there has been 100 chapters of this. Thanks for sticking with this!

>>3449943
100 threads over 3 years. It's been a long road, but we're well beyond the halfway point. Cheers to all you guys who stuck with me this long.

>writing

"-scout it out" You say. "We don't know enough right now. What are their numbers? Where can we funnel them in? Are there civilians inside?"

"Sounds like you need an expert" Pip says.

"I do" You say. "Think you can manage it?"

"I've gone into hotter places" She says. "So you just want a headcount of demons and non-demons?"

"If you can get it, yeah" You say. "Take whoever you need, along with a sprite"

"Can I take you?" She asks.

>I'll be staying here

>Yes

>Other

>>3450026
>>I'll be staying here
>>I'm the commander and it'd also be bad if they notice me.

>writing

"I kinda stand out a bit" You say. "Better for me to stay here and coordinate"

"Yeah, stealth's not everybody's thing" She replies. "How bout you, Ilikitty... no that sounds weird... Ili... uhh... screw it. I'll come up with a nickname for you later. You know how to sneak around?"

"I'm no expert, but I can hold my own" Ilica replies.

"Cool. I'll take you, aaaaand... I dunno. Maybe Zaine when he's done buryin' the carts" Pip says.

"Why Zaine?" Gerard asks.

"He trained with those assassins didn't he?" Pip asks. "Plus havin' someone who can dig a hole real quick is good for this kinda stuff"

"You mean the Akotzal?" Gerard asks. "I trained there too..."

"Yeah, but you can't dig a hidey hole" She says. "Hang on, imma go ask him"

Pip strides off towards Zaine, and Ilica goes to ready her equipment.

"Right, I forgot about that" You say. "That's where the two of you first met, right?"

"Yep" Gerard replies.

"I know he went because he needed training for his weird demon-hunter kinda blade... but you use a regular sword" You say.

"I was there because my dad was trying to hire them to kill his older brother" He says. "We stayed there for a while, so I ended up getting into the training as well"

"How'd the whole... murder thing pan out?" You ask.

"Horribly" He replies. "Turns out that my Uncle had the same idea, and when he arrived they ended up killing each other"

...

>Have you considered therapy?

>Why?

>I'm gonna go talk to someone less depressing

>Other

>>3450079
>>>Why?

>>3450079
>>My sympathies.

>writing

"My sympathies" You say.

Gerard shrugs. "It was 20 years ago. I'm over it" He says. "Was kinda awkward to explain to the spiders though"

Zaine comes up beside Gerard and chuckles. "They'd seen worse" He says. "Kinda weird to think that Kanzka is the last of them..."

"Yeah" Gerard says. "You headin' with the mouse?"

"Yep" Zaine says. "Hold down the fort for me 'till I get back"

"I will, as long as you don't do anything stupid" Gerard replies. "Can't really get the carts out without you"

"You'll find a way" Zaine says, turning to Pip as she comes up with Ilica. "We all set?"

"Yep" Pip says. "We'll be in and out. 2 hours tops"

You pull something out of your pocket and hand it to Pip. "You probably won't need this, but take it anyway" You say. "A lightbomb. Use it to signal us if things get bad, and we'll come running"

"Gotcha" Pip says.

>Anything else?

>>3450122
>>No.

>>3450122
>>Nope.

>writing

"You've got 2 hours" You say, putting a hand on Pip's shoulder. "All we need is info. Number of demons. Presence of civilians. Presence of boons. Don't engage unless you have to"

"Relax, Yuyu. This ain't my first spy job" She says. "You might wanna tell that to Ili...cat? Does that work? Anyway, tell that to her. She's convinced that she'll have to use that crossbow"

"I was just making sure it's ready" Ilica says.

"I know" Pip says. "Let's move out. You can start timing us once we're out of sight"

"Alright" You say. "Good luck"

Pip, Ilica, and Zaine head off towards the town, keeping to the brush as best as they can.

After watching them for a while, Meyu pipes up. "Well I can't see 'em anymore" He says.

"I can" You say.

"Come on. They'll be alright" He says. "Let's find a spot to lay low. No use havin' them go in all stealthy if we're the ones who get spotted"

"Yeah" You say.

>Ask how he deals with this kinda thing

>Go talk to Quria

>Find a decent vantage point

>Other

>>3450159
>>Ask how he deals with this kinda thing

>>Find a decent vantage point

>>3450159
>Find a decent vantage point

>>3450159
>>Go talk to Quria
Maybe we can get some more information on the city.

>writing

"How do you deal with this sort of thing?" You ask, following Meyu back to the hideout. "You know... sending people off somewhere they could be hurt..."

"By reminding myself that I'm surrounded by competent individuals who can handle a simple scouting mission" He says. "Breathe deep and have some faith in the people who support you"

"I can handle that" You say.

"And failing that, go climb that tree and see if you can spy on them" He says. "Emi's already up there, so you'll have some company"

"That sounds like a good idea" You say. "Let me know if anything happens"

The tree stands out a bit, being pretty much the only tree around on the hilly landscape. But it's tall and it's evergreen, so there's cover to keep you hidden if you climb it.

So you head up using springboards instead of the branches, to keep the tree from shaking too much.When you reach Emi's level, you settle onto a branch below her.

"You as worried as I am?" Emi asks.

"Yep" You say.

"Think they'll be alright?" Emi asks.

"Would I be up here if I could answer that?" You ask.

"I guess not..." She says. "See anything interesting?"

"Buildings" You say. "Looks pretty much like the map. Only a few differences"

"Like what?" She asks.

You pull a copy of Quria's map out of your back pocket. She took some time to make a few of these on the ride here, since she didn't have much else to do. "The church is missing" You say. "That block of houses there was destroyed... and I highly doubt the statue of Mahron was here before"

"There's a statue of Mahron?" She asks.

"Yeah. Over in the town square" You say.

"Oh, I think I can see it" She says. "Steel head?"

"Yeah, 'cause of the mask" You say.

"Huh..." She says. "I wonder when they put that in"

>Maybe that's why they're here

>A better question might be why they put it in

>I'm just wondering how I'm gonna knock it down...

>Other

>>3450224
>>A better question might be why they put it in

>writing

"I think 'why' is the better question" You say. "Why put a Bane statue all the way out here where no one will see it?"

"... Bane?" Emi asks.

"Yeah. Bane" You say. "Because he wears a mask, and he's a big guy"

Emi doesn't seem to understand.

"Don't worry, I don't get it either" You say. "But the question stands"

"Maybe they were based here for a while" Emi says. "Or maybe they put it up to try and draw the resistance out, if they went to knock it down"

"Oh, come on. Who'd be stupid enough to fall for something like that?" You ask.

"Don't even try to tell me you don't want to knock it down" She says.

"Oh, of course I do" You say.

Emi sighs. "And now you know how others could get caught" She says.

"Yeah, but I have the power to also knock down anyone who tries to stop me" You say. "And by knock down, I mean turn to ash"

"You're a bit more level-headed than most" She says. "Which is something I never thought I'd be saying..."

"Believe me, it's something I never thought I'd be hearing" You say. "Especially after getting kicked out of the camp for beating a man with my shoe"

"You're making me want to take it back..." She says.

"I respect danger more than I respect authority" You say. "And technically speaking, I don't think anyone actually had the authority to kick me out of the camp. I left because it made things easier for Derrick and Altea"

"I never did ask this... why did you hit them like that?" She asks.

>I thought it'd be funny

>Someone had to

>I was mad

>Other

>>3450338
>>Someone had to
>>We don't have time to pamper all their egos with the end of the world trying to come and all. I was really rather restrained.

>writing

"Someone had to" You say. "I probably should have tried to tell them that we don't have time to pamper their egos while we're fighting a legion of demons bent on releasing a god that wants to eat our world... but I was impatient, so I hit them with my shoe hoping they'd get the message"

"You should have at least tried to communicate some of that..." She says.

"Yeah... well... they were just lucky we had only called for a scout" You say. "If lives had been at risk and they'd been too busy fighting over the good chair to provide air support, then I would have thrown them overboard"

"That might have caused even more problems..." She says.

"Or solved several" You say. "The crew seemed to have my back. They might even have been willing to cover for me and say the captains fell off of their own accord"

Emi seems a bit uncomfortable so you change the subject.

"Buuuuut that's in the past" You say.

"Yeah..." She says. "Anything else on that map?"

"Hmmmmm... Apparently this little town has a swimming pool" You say. "I wonder if Lutain has one of those..."

>1/2

You stay up and keep watch over the town, even when Emi decides it's time to head down. Only when you see the trio coming back do you head down yourself.

"How'd it go?" You ask Pip once she's returned.

"Well. Definitely something fishy about this place" She says. "You see the big Mahron statue?"

"Hard to miss" You say. "What else?"

"Signs of a civilian presence, but no actual civilians" She says. "And I counted 3 boons, along with around 40 demons"

"That's a lot for a simple search party" You say.

"Doesn't seem like they're searching" Zaine says. "I know a patrol pattern when I see one. They're guarding this place, but the Gods only know why..."

"Well if it's important, then that explains the statue" You say. "Resistance hideout?"

"Empty" Pip says. "Signs of a struggle, but no bloodshed"

"Holdout spots?" You ask, pulling the map back out.

"A couple..." Pip says, coming around beside you to point them out. "The armory is here, barracks is here, holdfast is here. All solid buildings made of worked wood and stone. Best place to funnel them towards you would probably be the town hall. Again, pretty solid. Lots of room to fight in, but only one entryway"

You nod and consider your options, now that you've got a bit more info.

40 Legionnaires is manageable if you get a good position. If you take them all out, then you can hunt for whatever they're guarding with impunity, assuming there aren't any hiding around. Plus most of your force is better suited for direct combat anyway.

On the other hand if you go in quiet you can thin their numbers, then let them raise the alarm and maybe the remaining legionnaires will unknowingly lead you to whatever it is they're guarding...

The last option you can think of is to try and find what they're guarding first. If it's some kind of weapon, then you'd rather not get blindsided. After all, you're pretty sure that augmented dragon came from the direction of this place...

>Go in hot

>Go in quiet

>Search the place first

>Other

Calling it a thread here. I'll leave this vote up overnight. Next run will be tomorrow.

As always I'll be sticking around for question/suggestion time.

>>3450468
>>Blast the statue from range and then move in.
Kind of worried it may be some kind of a trap that might trigger if we get too close.

>>3450468
>>Go in quiet

>>3450468
>Go in quiet

Hey, I thought of something recently that I want to clarify:
Wheres our Spider bodyguard?
I dont remember Yuu telling her not to follow him, so has she just been sneaking around this whole time?

>>3450669
Kanzka is back at the manor making sure Daria and the others are safe.

https://pastebin.com/cJN45Hy5
This bin happens about a month into the timeskip.

I was planning on procrastinating on this bin a while longer, but the irony of releasing chocolate bunny smut on Easter was too delicious to pass up. Lianna's interlude is still in the works.

>>3451767
If Yuu messes up on that time of the month will she make colored eggs? She also seemed more affectionate than I expected.

Rolled 38 (1d100)

"We should start out quiet" You say. "Remove as many of them as we can, and keep the strategic spots in our back pocket in case an alarm gets raised"

"Works for me" Meyu says. "Anybody else object?"

No one says anything.

"I'd also like to knock down that statue at some point. Maybe once we've thinned out their numbers a bit and want them to come to us, but we can talk about that later" You say. "For now, prep your stuff and we can move in"

Everybody gets to work, and within minutes they're all ready.

Pip shows you all the way she got into the town. The walls around it are stone, but there's a spot where the outside has crumbled in a way that lets you climb up.

You manage to catch a patrolling demon off guard, and Ilica puts a bolt into his head.

"Nice shot" You say.

"Thank you" She replies.

"Okay guys. Let's get this show on the road" You say.

>Roll 1d100 with focus

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>3452004

Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>3452004

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>3452029
>>3452004
Im rolling again if no else rolls

>writing

You move through the city, sweeping around and ambushing each different patrol in turn.

Of course, you end up doing most of the work. But then you can wipe out every group of Legionnaires, no matter the size, with little to no effort.

In what feels like almost no time at all, you reach the center of town where the statue is.

"I think we've run out of demons" Pip says.

"Why... did we come along again?" Gerard asks. "Kid seems to have this handled"

"Moral support" You say. "And speaking of..."

You turn to the statue and focus your energy into a massive wave striking it right in the head and toppling it.

...

There's a door underneath it, and a hidden entryway built into the base.

"Niiiiiice" Pip says as she slips over to the trapdoor. "Some kinda secret lair?"

"Not very secret if they're hiding it under a giant, suspicious statue" You say.

"Sometimes the most conspicuous place is the best" She says. "Who'd expect to find a trapdoor here?"

"I think a better question is why there's a Legion base out here in the middle of nowhere" Meyu asks.

"I say we find out"

>Peek down the hole

>Send in a scout

>Blast it wide open

>Other

>>3452124
>Peek down the hole

No reason to take unnecessary risks.

>>3452124
>>Peek down the hole

>>3452124
>Peek down the hole

>writing

You focus energy underneath the door, standing back a fair distance as you blow it up and off. The door goes flying off towards the next block, and you take a peek with bucklers at the ready.

"It's deep" You say.

"How deep?" llica asks.

"Very" You say. "Do you feel any more demons, Michaela? Specifically from down here?"

"Very few" Michaela says.

"It kinda feels like they have a generator down there" Meyu says. "The air here is definitely thicker than it should be"

"Well yeah" You say. "They'd need to power the elevator and all those booby traps somehow"

"It's trapped?" Meyu asks.

"I'm seeing... explosives, I think?" You say. "Kinda looks like the tunnel is made to collapse if somebody comes down uninvited"

"They'd collapse the only entrance?" Zaine asks as he steps up and puts his hand down on the rim. "Worked stone, too. All the way down. There'd be no digging this place out with magic"

You stand up and step away. "So they've got a generator inside a secret underground base that cuts itself off if somebody tries to break in" You say.

"How do the bombs know when not to go off?" Cheska asks.

"They might be rigged to recognize demons" You say.

"That's pretty advanced stuff, kid" Meyu says. "Even Leon's automatons couldn't distinguish demons until recently"

"You saw the dragon they sent after us. It's fair to say they're working with pretty advanced stuff" You say. "And I'd bet my left nut that they're doing that work right here"

"I'll take that bet" Pip says. "Think the bombs will recognize you as a demon?"

>Only one way to find out

>We should call for some specialists

>I could just blast them all...

>Other

>>3452188
>Only one way to find out

>>3452188
>>Only one way to find out
But only if we don't think this has a good shot of trapping us if it does go. Otherwise:
>>I could just blast them all...

>writing

"Really only one way to find out" You say. "I'll hop down first. If they go off, then I can make a new hole. If they don't, then I'll see what's down there"

"And if they explode while you're going past them?" Meyu asks.

You focus soul over the hole, creating a cylinder with a door. "I'll be well protected" You say, as you step in. "See you guys in a bit"

You shut the door and drop the cylinder, looking through the floor of it to make sure you can slow down before you hit the ground. You pass each series of bombs with no issue, breaking in an orderly fashion and letting your little elevator dissipate as you step out onto solid ground.

This is definitely some kind of facility. The walls are stone, pressed back and worked just like Zaine said. It's well lit, and much cleaner than what you expected from a hidden Legion base.

The entryway is spacious, with a much higher ceiling than you think is necessary. At the opposite side of the entrance there's a big vault door, and a couple less fortified doors along the walls.

It's odd that no one is on guard down here. Maybe they didn't hear the statue go down all the way back up on the surface?

>Head back up

>Go hunting

>Break into the vault

>Other

>>3452242
>>Check less fortified doors first. Just in case there's something in the vault we need to know about.

>>3452242
>Go hunting

Whoever is in charge of this place might have a boon, and certain boons can still fuck our day up. Additionally, capturing one of them is important to get intel on what the hell this place is.

>>3452242
>Go hunting

>writing

>>3452259
Important thing for us to remember is a vault is to either keep something in or keep someone out, and we don't know which yet. With ways to blast this place shut, I am worrying about a bio weapon or so on.

You pull Terry's mageblade out of your pocket and look it over. You never did give this back, but then he never asked before he left so you might as well use it.

It's a well made blade, with a long handle and an emitter on both sides. The blade practically springs to life on its own when you put energy into it, showing just how much room there is to improve your own blade.

You decide to let Terry's blade float around, while you keep your own in your hand.

Now ready for a fight, you step up to the nearest door and give it a knock before stepping to the side.

A blood demon is the one who answers. He has a boon that looks like a mace. You spin Terry's blade and bring it in to slice him up from his groin to his shoulder, letting the corpse drop away to either side as you pick up the boon and step in.

This looks like some kind of sleeping quarters. There's another Legionnaire here, who reaches for his weapon seconds before getting pinned to the wall by about a dozen soul blades.

Doesn't look like there's any more demons in this room, and it sounds like you were quiet enough to not raise any alarms.

There's a paper here with a badly drawn map. The room you're in is definitely the regular guard quarters. The one across the hall is where the generator is kept, and the other two rooms are labeled 'prisoner holding' and 'subject holding' respectively.

Nothing on this about the vault, so whoever drew this either doesn't know what's in there, or knew better than to leave that kind of info around.

>Go back up

>Go to 'prisoner holding'

>Go to 'subject holding'

>Go check out the generator

>Bust open the vault

>Other

>>3452299
>>Go to 'prisoner holding'
We shouldn't let any prisoners run free yet though. They might get too excited and run up the tunnel.

>>3452299
>Go to 'prisoner holding'

>writing

You put the map back and head out into the main section, destroying the boon as you head over to prisoner holding.

There are about ten cells in here, each with 4 or 5 people in them. Just by looking you can tell that there's at least 2 dead people in each cell, so there's only 2 or 3 people, really.

And there's also 2 guards, if you can call them that. Maybe off-guards, since you catch them off guard and turn them both into pincushions.

You consider putting together a quip about that, but the guards are already dead and the prisoners all look too tired to appreciate your humour. Maybe you should have brought someone down here with you...

Although there is one person awake here. You step over to his cell and get down to his level.

"Who... are you?" He asks.

"Name's Yuu. Y-U-U" You say. "I'm with the coalition, here to find a resistance cell that was hiding in this area, preferably before the Legion does..."

"Well... you found us" He says, coughing a few times. "Didn't beat the Legion... but here we are... what's left of us anyway"

"Any idea what this place is?" You ask.

"There's a... a doctor" He says. "Some kind of madman... he works for the Legion. Builds them weapons..."

"He does all this down here?" You ask.

The man nods weakly.

"Any idea why you're all being held here?" You ask.

"They take us out. One, sometimes two at a time. No one comes back" He says. "They use the boon to keep us weak... a mace... don't let it touch you"

"Boon's already taken care of" You say.

"Good..." He says, looking too tired to ask how you managed that.

The doctor's workshop must be what's behind the big vault door... but what could he be doing down here that would require so much security?

>Ask the man something else (Specify)

>Go to subject holding

>Go to the generator

>Go back up

>Bust into the vault

>Other

Taking a food break here. Will resume once I have eaten.

>>3452355
>>Ask the man something else (Specify)
>>Anyone left here need urgent attention before I keep clearing this place?
>>What killed your friends? Anything I should watch out for besides traps and guards? I see there's a vault here...
>>Any other prisoners that may be alive I should rescue?

>>3452355
>Ask the man something else (Specify)
>Do you remember how they got you down here? The main entrance under the statue had many explosives, and might be tricky to leave if they blow it up.

>>3452355

>>3452382
Gonna second this.

>writing

"Alright. I'm gonna check the rest of this place out. Before I go, does anyone here need urgent attention?" You ask.

"Take your-" He stops and starts coughing. "Take your pick... they don't feed us... I don't know who's passed out and who's dead anymore..."

"Shit... alright... Do you remember how they got you guys down here? I saw the traps along the main tunnel" You say.

"The bombs only go off if they don't detect a demon" He says. "If a demon takes someone with them, then the trap stays off"

"Good to know..." You say. "What's your name, buddy?"

"Charles..." He says.

"Alright Charles. Here's what I'm gonna do" You say. "I'm gonna go kill the rest of the demon guards, see if there's anything else out of the ordinary here, and then-"

>Bring my friends down

>Take you all back up

>Bust into that vault

>Other

>>3452439
>Take you all back up

>>3452439
>>Take you all back up
>>Then finish exploring vault etc.

>>3452439
>Take you all back up

>writing

"-take you all back to the surface, alive or dead" You say. "We can care for the living up there, and bury the dead"

"You have my thanks, Mr..."

"Gallant" You say.

He looks surprised. "Gallant" He says. "Yuu Gallant"

"The one and only" You say, as you stand back up. "Sit tight. I'll be back"

You head out and go to the generator, using a bit more precision on the guards here lest you damage the devices.

With just a cursory glance at the machine, you can tell that it's quite advanced. Its output would be far more than what a little place like this would need, which means that this doctor must be powering something big...

You'd love to stick around and take this thing apart to see how this thing has been improved over a regular generator, but your curiosity will have to wait.

Next stop is subject containment.

This room is more cages, and a few more guards who die shortly after you arrive. Within the cages are the same sorts of abominations you saw at the Spire and the Stronghold... but... different somehow.

None of them are fully transformed into monsters. For the lucky ones that means body parts with eyes and mouths where they shouldn't be, which could be fixed by amputation... possibly. For the unlucky ones it means a twisting of most of their flesh, leaving them looking pained.

"They're experimenting on the prisoners..." You say, going in to get a better look.

The prisoners seem numb to your presence, showing neither hope for being rescued, nor the hostility that you're used to from the abominations.

>Try to talk to them

>Go deal with the other prisoners

>Get a closer look

>Other

>>3452469
>Try to talk to them

>>3452469
>>Try to talk to them.
Remind me - what do we think we could do with our tissue work we got from the last Lord of Lutain? Is there any chance of healing them at all down the road if we just cut some of this off?

>writing

They're all awake, so you look for one that seems cognizant. Best shot seems to be the woman alone in the last cell. She seems kinda familiar, with brown hair, tan skin, and a big reptilian tail.

The left side of her face is twisted and disfigured, causing her mouth to go all the way back on that side. The corruption spreads down her shoulder to her arm, where she has an extra eye on her upper arm, a mouth on her forearm, and another mouth opening her hand between her ring and middle fingers.

"Hey, can you hear me?" You ask her.

Her normal eyes turn slowly, but the eye on her arm locks onto you immediately. As soon as it does, the extra mouths start trying to bite, despite being way out of range for that.

Despite what her arm is doing she definitely sees you, opening her mouth a little wider and letting out a raspy groan.

"I don't suppose you can speak, can you?" You ask.

"Shhhhhharl..." She says.

"I'll take that as a no..." You say.

She lifts her unmutated arm a few inches off the ground. "Shhhhhharl... shhhhhharls..." She says.

"Sharls...?" You say. "Hang on... Do you mean Charles?"

"Ahhh... shhhharl" She says.

You're not sure if that's a confirmation or not. "There's a Charles in the other room. Is he a friend?" You ask.

"Husssshpa..." She says.

"Hushp... hus-p...and? Husband?" You ask. "Is he your husband?"

She groans.

"He's alive. I've killed the demons who control this place, and I'm gonna get you all somewhere safe, okay?"

Tears start to fall down her face, but she doesn't respond. You can only imagine the kind of pain she's in... you hope there's some way to fix this...

...

And this woman definitely looks familiar, but you can't for the life of you recall where you've seen her before...

>Take the prisoners up first

>Take the subjects up first

>Other

>>3452503
>>Take the prisoners up first so we can warn everyone about what's coming and what they need to deal with (both prisoners and our friends).

>>3452503
>Take the prisoners up first

>writing

"Alright, you hold tight okay. I'll be back, I-" You say stopping short of making it a promise, considering what happens when you promise things. "I'll be back"

The woman gives no response, and you head back over to the prisoner holding. The cells aren't very well put together, so you forego looking for the keys and just yank the door off its hinges.

Charles has passed out by this point, but you still grab him and one of the other living prisoners, throw them over your shoulder, and head out.

You don't bother with the elevator this time, choosing just to make a platform instead.

"Welcome... back" Meyu says. "Who're your friends?"

"The resistance dudes we've been looking for, I think" You say, handing one off to Meyu. "They've got about 25 live prisoners down there, maybe another 15 dead, and another 15 or so... well I'll explain once everybody is here"

Meyu takes you to the town hall, which overlooks the square where the hole is. It's where the crew decided to hole up while they waited for you.

Once you're inside, Emi and Quria look over Charles and the other prisoner while you explain the situation to the others.

"So they're... experimenting with that shit?" Cheska asks.

"Yeah. You have any idea who this doctor is?" You ask.

"Never heard his name, but I do remember hearing something about the guy" She says. "Last I heard he was dead... but then I wasn't all that well informed"

"Well I'm waiting to get all the prisoners out before I blow the vault" You say. "You only need a demon with you to get past the traps, so I can take a few of you down to help... if anyone wants to volunteer"

"I'll come" Storm says.

"Good, that's one" You say.

"Hell, I'll join ya" Meyu says. "Average out the age of this group"

"Anyone you want down there?" Cheska asks.

"Well Emi stays here, since we're bringing all the wounded up to her..." You say. "Otherwise, we'll take-"

>Pip, to try and crack the vault

>Quria, to see who else is resistance

>Cheska, because she has experience with this stuff

>Gerard, because he looks to relaxed

>Other

>>3452544
>>Quria, to see who else is resistance

>>3452544
>>Quria, to see who else is resistance

>writing

"-Quria, just to confirm any other resistance members. Then you can stay up on the surface" You say.

"Alright" She says.

"The rest of you on guard, try and get this place set up for what we're bringing up" You say. "And Michaela, I don't suppose we could get the order to come out here as well, could we?"

"I can write a letter to them, but we'll have to send it later" She says.

"Good" You say. "Let's go"

You take your group back over to the hole, creating a platform of soul to stand on again.

"You uhh... you sure that's safe?" Meyu asks.

"Perfectly safe" You say. "I've been practicing this stuff for like 2 months now"

"Can it handle the weight of 4 people?" Storm asks, eyeing the platform apprehensively.

"It handled me and the two I brought up fine" You say.

Quria is the first to step forward, cautiously towing her way onto the red platform with her eyes squeezed shut.

...

"Glad to see you all have faith in my abilities" You say.

"Look, it's not every day someone asks you to entrust your life to a thin little energy platform" Meyu says.

Quria finally puts her weight forward and opens one eye, bringing her other foot onto the platform as well.

"It is solid" She says, testing it with a bounce.

"It won't move or dissipate unless I make it" You say. "I've used these to move heavy-ass furniture around the manor. It can handle a couple people"

Storm and Meyu exchange a glance, and they both step forward onto the platform.

...

"Well I'll be damned" Meyu says, stomping his foot. "It's more solid than it looks"

"Brace yourselves, we're going down" You say.

"Hang on just let me- OHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT" Meyu shouts as you start bringing the platform down.

...

You're not even moving it that fast...

>1/2

Meyu looks like you might have to carry him back up as well by the time you hit the bottom. He stopped standing about halfway down, and he rolls off the platform onto solid ground once you hit the bottom.

...

"You gonna help us?" You ask him.

"Gimme a minute" He says, holding the ground for dear life.

"You know, for someone who hates stairs so much, you don't handle all that well on elevators" You say.

"Let him be for a bit" Storm says. "We'll put him to work when he's ready. Where are these prisoners?"

You lead Storm to the prisoner holding cells. "Be gentle with the living, drag out the dead" You say, ripping off each door in turn. "I'm gonna be making trips up and down. Try to have 2 ready for me to take up each time I get back"

"Will do" Storm says.

"And Quria, you know what to do" You say. "Identify them and come back. Okay?"

"Okay" She replies.

You go into a cell and hoist a couple breathers up on your shoulders, then make your way back out. Meyu has propped himself up against the wall by the time you get back.

"You sure you're up for this?" You ask him.

"I'll be fine... but that man you brought up... he-..." He says lowering his voice right down until it's barely a whisper. "He ain't some regular joe. I was hopin' to get away from the elf, but then you brought her along..."

>We shouldn't keep secrets from her

>She won't be down here too long

>Write it down for me

>Other

>>3452635
>>We shouldn't keep secrets from her
>>Most of my citizens are Antolians, and the resistance is our ally right now you know? So unless there's a danger here...?

>Writing

"We're allies, even if some of the Antolians don't see it that way" You say. "We shouldn't keep secrets... unless there's some danger to it"

"You think they'll like you havin' their Emperor in your hands?" He asks.

You scowl. "Hang on... Charles" You say. "He's... Charles Navarren?"

"The fourth" Meyu says. "I'd know that face anywhere"

"He's WHAT?" You hear Quria shout from the other room, as she comes back out, nearly wiping out as she turns the corner.

"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you with her around..." Meyu says, as he shifts and sits up straight.

"The Emperor is that man up there?" Quria asks.

Meyu gives her a weird look. "You didn't know?" He asks.

"Of course I didn't know! If I had known I would have insisted on a larger, more urgent force" She says, turning to you. "Take me back up. I need to see him"

>His wife's here too...

>Finish your job first

>Get on the platform...

>Other

>>3452722
>His wife's here too...
>Finish your job first
>Besides, he's probably going to need some time to heal and eat. Man's been starved for a while.

I'd bet Alisette is their daughter

>>3452722
>>His wife's here too...
>>Finish your job first

>>3452730
Yeah, that was my thought with Alisette's speech patterns being so odd and the lizard mom remind us of someone.

>writing

This really kind of complicates matters though. My personal thought was we slice lizard's arm off, but then we get known as the guy who lopped the queen's arm off. There's going to be all manner of people looking for an excuse to be pissed at us, even if royals are not, and that will give them one.

"Well his wife is here too" You say.

"He has a wife? There's an empress?" She asks. "Where?"

You find it strange that Quria wouldn't know that sort of thing, but you wave her off. "She's in the... subject... holding..." You say.

Quria looks like she regrets asking that.

"Finish your job. The man will need time to recuperate before he's ready to talk to anyone" You say. "Go on. I'll be back"

The elf gives you a sullen nod, and goes back to where she was.

"And you, get off your ass and go help Storm" You say, nudging Meyu with your foot.

"Alright, I'm goin', I'm goin'" He says, hoisting himself up.

"Did you know that he was married?" You ask.

"Didn't have a clue" He replies. "Couldn't have happened too long ago, I reckon"

You nod, recreate your platform, and head back up...

>1/2

With two people bringing people to you underground, and two people waiting to take them above, the transport of the prisoners goes quickly and you can move onto the subjects.

You, Storm, Meyu, and Quria head into the other holding room and get a look at them.

"By the gods..." Quria says, hands over her mouth. "What sort of... madness could drive someone to do this?"

"Lotta different kinds of madness, girly. Could be any one of 'em. Just take your pick" Meyu says, testing the cages. "They hostile?"

"The people don't seem to be, but their extra parts do" You say, knocking on a cage. Its occupant takes no notice of you, but the extra eye on their chest does.

"We should put them out of their misery, and get Cheska to cleanse the bodies" Meyu says.

"They're not all gone though... not like the Inquisitors" Storm says.

"That's awfully optimistic" Meyu says.

"Storm might be right... if the corrupted flesh can be removed, then we could heal them" You say.

"Heal their bodies, yeah. But look at them, kid. You think they'll ever be right after what they've been through?" He asks. "And that's assuming their bodies can be fixed, without them trying to kill us"

>It's worth trying

>You're right...

>We can at least take the lady

>Other

>>3452776
>It's worth trying
I mean, it's a fair point if the subjects themselves ask to be euthanized, but that's something that should be left up to them instead of something we just decide out of pity beforehand. Not everyone who endures something horrific and crippling wants to die because of it. Some people will choose to endure and fix whatever they can, even if it's difficult.

>>3452776
>>I think it's their emperor's call. Or do you want to have to explain this afterwards when he can't see for himself anymore?

>>3452776
>>It's worth trying

>writing

>>3452776
>It's worth trying
Its not our choice what their lives are worth. Otherwise we're almost as bad as the guys who did this, just getting rid of them when theyre not useful or convinient.

"All we can do is try" You say. "If they wake up and ask for death, then we will give it to them. Until then they'll be treated as any other wounded person. Understood?"

"Yes sir" Meyu says. He may be a stubborn old goat, but he knows when to respect authority. "But uhh... I ain't touchin' 'em"

"That's fair" You say, testing the cells. These ones are much sturdier than the others, so you'll have to disintegrate the locks. But first you show Quria to the one you spoke with.

"She looks... a bit like Alisette..." Quria says.

You snap your fingers. "That's what it is! I knew she looked familiar" You say, before suddenly feeling down. "Ah... think there might be some kind of relation?"

"It is possible..." Quria says. "A sister perhaps? Alisette is... how old?"

"8" You say.

"Too old to be their daughter" She says. "Emperor Navarren wasn't married..."

"That we know of" You say. "Apparently there's a lot that both of us don't know"

"It would seem" Quria says.

"Enough talk" You say. "Let's see if some sunlight and food does anything for these guys"

You lean down and put the woman over your shoulder, and Quria joins you as you go back up. Meyu and Storm opt to stay down and keep watch.

"Ow" You say, as something pinches your butt. You check back and see that the mouth on the lady's hand is trying to eat you. "Not what I meant by food..."

"What is it?" Quria asks.

"Her hand is trying to eat my buttcheek" You say.

Quria looks. "Perhaps we should cover the mouths of the others before we bring them up..." She says.

"I've seen these things chew through clothes before" You say. "Trust me. It won't help..."

>1/2

You decide to wrap the others in a cloak before bringing them up, just to avoid any more awkward bites. These mouths don't chew very hard, but there's still something weird about getting bit by them.

Everything is quiet above ground. Zaine and Gerard have fortified the town hall, just like they did in your last holdout, and everyone is on high alert. The "subjects" are being put in a secure place separate from the prisoners, just in case.

None of the prisoners have woken yet, and you're holding off on disposing of the dead until you see if the living can identify them.

"How you feelin'?" Cheska asks.

You shrug. "Feelin' kinda down" You say. "Wondering why every time I go off to be a righteous warrior, I end up opening up a can of atrocities"

"And the honest answer?" She asks.

"Feelin' like I wanna bust open this doc's lab and kick his teeth in" You say. "Then maybe kick his balls in, and then break his nose too"

"Well we're all set up here for now..." She says.

>Stick around until someone wakes up

>Talk to Emi about healing the subjects

>Head down and get bustin'

>Other

>>3452904
>>Head down and get bustin'

>>3452904
>Head down and get bustin'

Not sure if we kill this guy quite yet (assuming we have the luxury of sparing him). His research could be helpful in returning these things, or in general black god knowledge.

>>3452913
Or at least, we can have some of the survivors awake and around to witness the execution.

>writing

"Alright. I'm gonna head down and get bustin'" You say. "Wanna come?"

"Nah. I'm on space heater duty" She says. "No heating devices or fireplace anywhere in this building, so somebody's gotta do it"

"Thank you for the hard work" You say. "Even though I can't really appreciate it..."

"That's a lie and you know it" She says. "I was a demon too, remember? The cold is still uncomfortable, even if you don't feel it. Otherwise you wouldn't use a blanket"

"Also true" You say. "See you in a bit"

You head back to the platform and go back down, finding Meyu and Storm waiting for you.

"Any movement?" You ask.

"Nothing" Meyu says. "How we gettin' in?"

You walk over to the door and examine it. "It opens from the inside..." You say, wishing there were some way to feel around with soul. "Unless..."

"Unless...?" Meyu asks.

You point up at the ceiling. "There's a mana line running to the door" You say.

"So the lock is some sort of device?" He asks.

"Could be another trap" Storm says.

"It'd be a powerful one, to have a line that thick" You say. "I can either try to brute force it from here, and defend against whatever trap it might be rigged with, or I could maybe finesse the lock from the generator"

"Could you?" He asks.

You shrug. "It's worth trying" You say.

>Go to the generator

>Blast it

>Other

>>3452950
>>Go to the generator

>>3452950
>Go to the generator

Yuu wanted to look at the guts of the generator anyway. May as well put the nerd training to use. If things look hairy at the generator, then you just revert to "Blast it" as plan B regardless.

>>3452950
>Go to the generator

>>3452950
>>Go to the generator

>writing

"So let's try it" You say, leading them off to the generator.

"And you say there's somethin' special about this thing?" Meyu asks.

"Yeah" You say, as you check out the controls.

"Looks like any old generator to me..." Storm says.

"You..." You say, fiddling with a few things. "... have no appreciation for the finer points of machinery"

"Alright? So what's different about it?" Storm asks.

"I dunno yet" You say. "Gods, Gretchen would kill to get her little green hands on this thing... and frankly I'd kill to have her help here..."

"Noted. I'll stand back here in case you feel like sacrificing someone to summon the little green goddess of machinery" Meyu says.

You snort. "If it were that easy I would've done it with the demons I just murdered" You say. "Alright... so these are the intake controls..."

"What's she like?" Storm asks. "I've only ever heard about her. She's awfully young for an engineer"

"Well she's got a natural talent for making lewd jokes, as well as designing heavy weapons" You say, fiddling another control that causes the lights to flicker. "Alright, that's the lights..."

"Let the man work, kid. We're here to fight, not to pester" Meyu says. "But just know that if you bring this place down on us, I will haunt you"

"If I bring this place down, then I'll be sure to get us all out... assuming I can" You say. "Alright. So if these are all for the lab, this is the lights, this is the alarm, then none of these are for the door"

"Does that mean we're screwed?" Storm asks.

"You ever heard of percussive maintenance?" You ask.

"Not really..." Storm replies.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Meyu asks.

"I'm not the expert, but yes" You say. "Help me find where that Mana line comes in, and I can get that door open"

That's all for tonight!

Busy next weekend, but I'll try to get a few posts in. I'll update you guys later on when I'll be able to do a full run.

As always I'll be sticking around for question/suggestion time.

>>3453028
So is there an Easter equivalent? Would people find it bizarre if we made rabbits give them eggs? And did what we learned from Lola about rabbit breeding tell us anything about past behavior from the *ellas?

>>3453042
Kinda. They have a celebration for the coming of spring. In Lubars it's known as he Festival of Fire, where they unknowingly celebrate how the Gallant kings of old would use fire to defy the Great Leviathan.

Other places have their own celebrations. Lubars' festivities are the only ones Yuu knows much about,

>Yuu remembers how to Banepost.
Should we just assume that he knows but does not understand every living meme in his previous life?

>>3453069
Thanks for running.