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“Kostner! I got a reaction over here!” I decided to call him. Better to have some backup than confronting a daemon alone. He pulled away from her dissection. Her gloves and robe were drenched with blood. Then a group of guards nervously arrive. One of them visibly gagged from the sights.
“Just in time! Guards, pile the bodies then burn em!” Audible groans rise from them.
“Now lead the way!”
Then he turned to Ludwig and Maria
“Both of you follow a distance away and ready your weapons!” He said as he unsheathed his rapier and pistol. Seeing that I am the only one without a weapon, I picked a sword from one of the dead mercenaries. Gotta find some excuse and opportunity to bring out my soulbound weapon soon.
I lead the party through the alleyway. Taking one random turn on forked roads. Turning back and taking the other turn if the necklace response grows lax. The trace is new based on how far we traveled. My necklace range is only 20 meters or so. But we have clearly walked further. As I took another turn, the necklace started shaking wildly. I saw two people crouching beside a building. Kostner approaches them silently before I call them out. Following closely behind, I start to hear multiple grunts and one moan inside the building near the two crouched figures. Someone is getting gangbanged.
As we are a few meters behind the two crouching figures, one of them looks back. Her eyes grow wide before she suddenly starts screaming.
“It’s her!” The sound of sex stops as she screams.
“It was her!” She points inside the building while screaming hysterically.
“The daemon is inside!” The other figure hugs the other in a consoling manner in vain.
I recognize them. They are the nuns of Shallya. Kostner kicks the door open. Ludwig barreled past me while growling like a maniac. Maria stands before them in a protective manner so I enter the building following Kostner and Ludwig.
Three half naked men and one nude woman. I recognize her too. Another nun of Shallya. Her dress is neatly folded on a table nearby. One of the men starts running in fear to the front door. Kostner immediately shot him.
BANG!
The sound of gunshot. A dull thud as a body falls to the ground. The smell of gunpowder. The late scream of the nun
“By my authority as a witch hunter, all of you are under arrest! Resist and die!”
The screams died out. Replaced with fearful whimpering.
“I will handle them, search the place!”
Ludwig began thrashing around the place. Following behind him as he breaks doors and furniture, sniffing around. He seems angrier than usual after seeing the chaos spawn with many wolf heads.
“Calm down.”
“Calm down!?” He growls back
I just made a mistake. His anger is without direction so far. Now his anger is directed at me.
“They MOCKED my Brother!” He stomped towards me. Becoming more and more animalistic with every step. He shouts something again but it has become unintelligible as his face starts morphing.
“Ludwig!” Maria screams from outside. But Ludwig is poised to pounce.
“Strength” I chant as quick and silent as I can
BOOM!
A loud and dull thump sounds as I punch Ludwig with all my strength and magic power. My right hook sends him flying through the wall to the next building. My foot made a clear print on the ground as I stomped forward for the hook. Turning my eye to Kostner, I saw he almost pulled the trigger on Ludwig. Surprised by my feat of strength, it seems like he didn’t hear my chant.
“I will calm him down.” I said confidently as I walked through the hole in the wall.
Huge antlers immediately rams to me. Managed to grab them before it could gore me. But I lost the contest of strength.. Pushing me back with the same velocity as the initial charge. Walls after walls after walls are broken as he continues to push. Feeling my own anger rising, I lift one of my arms and slam my elbow as hard as I can. Breaking one of his horns as he finally falters and both of us fall to the ground. We are now back outside the back alley.
“Calm,” I stood up first, raising my clenched hand. “Down!” Another dull thump sounds as my fist connects to his face again. A flare of pain stings on my flank as he is thrown to the back and me thrown to the side. Something cracks inside even though my metallic skin mutation still protects me even in mimicry. Then I saw a huge and very long reptilian tail that must have struck my side.
Adrenaline numbs the pain as I stand up. A strange exhilaration envelops me as I am finally fighting again. Then I saw that he was completely turned. A mix of a bear and a moose. One antler broke. Then a huge serpentine tail. I raised my hand and readied myself.
“I can do this all day.”
Ludwig let out a roar. Sharing the same sentiment as his roar reverberates throughout the city. We both move at the same time.
“No, both of you will not do this a whole day!” A female voice intrudes. Authoritative and out of place.
I was already hanging upside down when I blinked. What the hell just happened? Looking around, a tree breached through the dirty pavement. A twisted branch grabbed one of my legs and now I am hanging upside down. Ludwig, still in his chimeric form. Multiple trees and branches holding him in place. Maria in front of his face.
“Taal, turn back. Now.”
I blinked in surprise. Ludwig is Taal? But thinking about it again, it does make sense. Taal is the god of nature and beast. Disguising as an amber wizard is the easiest choice.
Slowly Taal also returned to his human form. The left side of his face was still swollen from my two punches. Silence stretches for a while as the two stare at each other. Who is Maria that made her calm Taal? Then it finally clicks in. Taal and Rhya are married. Their relationship is also good as far as I know. That’s the extent of what I know since the worship of Sigmar and Ulric overshadow all else. The god of nature and beast disguised as an amber wizard. Then the goddess of earth and nature disguised as his wife who knows healing magic as healing is her domain too. The disguises are so obvious now that it is revealed. They are not even subtle. Did I get Clark Kent-ed?
“Rhya, I—” Then a slap landed on his right face.
Oooo, shit. I covered my mouth. Bet that one hurt more than my punches. Emotionally.
“You broke your promise!” Rhya said. killing any Taal’s attempt to make excuses. Then silence again.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” I finally said as the silence stretched too long. “But can you put me down?”
Rhya gasped as she finally remembered that I am here.
“I am sorry about that.” The tree branches gently lowered me down and returned underground. The pavements also start to mend itself. She even healed my broken rib. Taal is still sulking silently behind her.
“I have to ask, are you Ulric?” Rhya suddenly asks.
“What!? No!” Surprised with this sudden line of questioning.
“Then are you Manann?”
“Who?”
“I will take that as a no. Well, he is our son, the God of the sea.”
“Then forgive me for not knowing, I’m from the south.” I made some excuse for my ignorance. Also that another God I just know of.
“Understandable. Sigmar’s followers do not really like when the people worship another God.” She said with a tinge of pain
“Then can you add this as another secret between us?”
"Sure"
“What secret?” Taal ask in surprise
“Nice. Thank you.” Rhya smiled radiantly, ignoring her husband.
“Oh, if you are confused why I’m asking if you are Ulric or Manann, it’s just that you fight quite well for a mortal.”
“I will take that as a compliment.” But cold sweat now drenched my back.
Very good me, very good. You just fistfight a God. It is not even subtle. Plenty of witnesses. Kostner is the most problematic. It’s good that the two Gods do not instantly mark you as a daemon in disguise. But it only takes time for the jig is up if you continue like this. Not to mention you did this while you are supposed to be disguising.
Then as if on cue, Kostner arrived. Followed by a group of city guards and even some knights.
___
“Hey there. Fancy seeing you here again.” Howard greets me as we are now in prison again
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