Glenn allowed himself a few seconds of respite, his throat aching and his heart throbbing madly. Once again, he had been thoroughly unprepared to face whatever this whole mess was. He was expecting some Thorn's Cult shenanigans. Instead, he got a horrific, short journey in Hell, a sight he'll probably never forget, another Earthling who went insane, and providence saving him at the last second.

"Plot armor, Glenn, plot armor..." Nelg whispered, making his host chuckle.

If only there was plot armor. Perhaps he could have used said armor to save these kids, instead of... Glenn shook his head and forced himself up. He didn't have time to ponder over his ineptitude or whatever misplaced guilt this was. Redan needed him.

He hurriedly scrambled next to the unconscious old man, putting his ear on his chest. He listened carefully, tense.

...

...

Ba-bump...

The young man felt his shoulders relaxed slightly as he confirmed Redan's survival, before pressing his left hand on his wounds and casting C.P.R. The little Mana he had left bottomed down in a second, without succeeding to treat any of Redan's wounds. Glenn gasped, squinting through a blurry sight to try and find the nearest alive priest.

"You!" Glenn called out weakly a handsome priest clutching at his throat, struggling to breathe, his eyes still filled with fear and pain, "...Get your ass here and save this old man!"

The priest remained unresponsive, staring at his hands with shock and fear. Glenn swore and stumbled on both of his feet, before punching the priest in the face.

"You dumb fuck! Come help the living instead of... doing whatever this is, damn it!" The young man cursed, waking the priest up. The product of Glenn's anger looked at the one who punched him, then at Redan, whose breathing was weakening with each passing second. The priest swiftly ran next to the old man, clenching both of his hands together in a prayer.

"Onnea, Dame of Harmony, I implore you, save this old man and delay his passing..." He mumbled under his breath incomprehensibly, and a golden, almost white light came out of his chest, radiating toward Redan. The still bleeding wounds over the old man's mistreated chest closed over, and his pale skin began recovering some of its colors. The expression on Redan's face, which was previously void of anything, now became peaceful, at rest.

Glenn sighed, relieved, before patting the priest's back.

"...Sorry for shouting and punching you, but I had to do something," He apologized meekly, before lying down on the floor. He wanted to Meditate to try and gather his Mana back, but it was way too risky. There was no guarantee one of the knights hadn't survived and was waiting for the occasion to stab one of them. Perhaps an archer was hiding on one of the balconies, spared by Javier, and could shoot a well-placed arrow in one of the survivors' hearts.

'No time to relax, Glenn. You should go and verify everything's fine with your teammates,' Diamanes recommended calmly, his mocking tone nowhere to be seen. It seemed like in serious occasions like those, the entity could indeed restrict himself from taunting and annoying his host. Glenn didn't have the energy to deal with that, so such a break was welcome. He closed his eyes, breathing in and out for a few seconds, before grunting and pushing himself back up. The priest was still busy healing Redan, so Glenn chose not to disturb his work, and instead follow Diamanes' recommendation.

Sahro was sitting against a huge chunk of stone, busy cleaning out his curved sword with a bloodied piece of cloth. Milena was lying down right next to him, somehow sleeping peacefully.

"I didn't see most of the fight, but seeing how she doesn't have any wounds, I guess she does know how to fight, huh?" Glenn remarked as he went and sat in front of Sahro. The Black Heir glanced at Milena, thinking for a few seconds, before shaking his head.

"She's probably on our level, with less stamina and scarier spell work," He said, sneering when he saw Glenn's disbelieving expression, "...Tell me you have anything scarier than mind-control in your spell repertoire, and I'll take back what I just said."

Glenn's eyes widened, and he pointed at Milena in awe.

"She can do mind-control stuff? Shit...We really shouldn't annoy her, then, I suppose? Oh man, I was threading death so closely each time I taunted her..." He realized, paling slightly. He rubbed his forehead, before shrugging dismissively. So far, it didn't seem like the Fallen Noble wanted to kill him, so it was probably fine.

Probably.

"...How are you doing?" Glenn asked as he stretched, grunting painfully. Once again, even though he hadn't taken many hits to the body, if at all, he was feeling like a total wreck. Wasn't he supposed to be stronger than normal humans, due to the Beast Blood and breaking the Wall, and all that?

"I'm dead tired," Sahro sighed, sheathing his sword back with a trembling right hand. His thunder arm, which was previously more than visible, was now dim and could be almost missed if one didn't concentrate specifically on it. Glenn scrunched at the sight of his friend's missing arm, and Sahro noticed it.

"At least I have two arms most of the time," The Black Heir joked, before looking down at the stump darkly, "...But it's not a real arm. I can't use my sword with both hands or even grab anything with my left arm. But, on a slightly more positive note, I can completely attack people with it. So that's that," Sahro tried to cheer himself up, failing miserably.

Glenn chuckled, trying to lighten the mood despite his fatigue. 'We'll grow it back, don't worry,' he said seriously. Sahro's eyes flickered with doubt, but he forced a grin. 'I’ll hold you to that."

Glenn patted his friend on the shoulder, before pointing his thumb to his back.

"I'll go and talk with the leader of the Church of Onnea, to try and understand what's going to happen next."

Sahro nodded slowly, still absorbed looking at where his left arm should have been. Glenn's eyelids twitched, but he remained silent and turned away, off to do exactly what he said he was going to do. The gray-haired paladin was kneeling in front of one of his dead companions, praying with his forehead pressed against the hilt of his sword. Glenn stood a few respectable meters away, waiting patiently for the man to be done.

The gray-haired paladin sighed deeply, before closing the eyes of the corpse. A few more seconds of silence passed until the man noticed Glenn standing nearby. The paladin grunted and stood up, blood oozing from the interstices of his once-silver armor without disturbing him.

"You must be the famous Hand of the Devil, huh?" The gray-haired man asked dryly, his eyes wet and bloodshot. Glenn nodded slowly, before bowing his head with respect, choosing not to mention anything about the annoying nickname.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I am truly sorry for your losses."

The paladin's sharp gaze softened, and he looked away, sniffling. After regaining his composure, he pressed his clenched fist to his chest, bowing his head slightly.

"On behalf of the Church of Onnea, I, Norstan Vendor, thank you deeply."

Glenn moistened his lips and grinned.

"You're welcome. Now, I'd love to know what the hell is going on if you have the time to spare for me?" He asked shamelessly, earning a tired chuckle out of Norstan Vendor. The paladin glanced at his surroundings and shook his head. The scent of rotten egg was gone, but replacing it was the metallic smell of blood. After all, there was blood everywhere, beneath the bodies lying down, on the walls, and even on the balconies dominating the theater. Yet another visceral mess.

"I apologize, but now..." He trailed off, and Glenn's eyes widened as he hurriedly raised his hands in front of him.

"Oh, no, don't worry, I didn't mean right here right now, I just wanted to have a discussion with you about everything that happened here, later on."

The paladin smiled softly and gave a short nod.

"In that case, there should be no issue sharing with you all the information we know about this case. You're already a well-known benefactor to the Church of Onnea, so I believe it is fine to trust you..." He glanced at Sahro and Milena, "...you, and your companions, of course."

Glenn smiled, "It goes without saying."

He then looked at the surroundings and rubbed both of his hands together, wincing at the macabre bloodbath laying there. Somehow, he could only think of "how it could have been worse" than that. Laurance had drawn almost all the enemy corpses to him to join them in his spider-like amalgam, so there were mostly friendly corpses to clear up.

Okay, no, this couldn't be worse. They couldn't even spit on the bodies of the bastards that created this mess. When there were only friends to pick up, that probably would make the matter much worse. Glenn hesitantly stepped toward the corpse, but Norstan Vendor stopped him. He shook his head slightly with a dark expression.

"I...We appreciate the intention, but those are our comrades...We..." The paladin gritted his teeth, "...We'll take care of it. If you could go to the local Church and have them send some help to bring back the bodies, it'd be great."

Glenn took a step back and smiled gently.

"Absolutely. We'll just be taking a quick look around, and we'll leave. It was a pleasure meeting you, Sir Vendor."

The paladin glanced at Glenn, before pressing his fist on his chest once more.

"Likewise, Sir Glenn. I will be seeing you at the local Church in a few days."

Norstan Vendor excused himself and turned back toward his dead comrade, a few of his surviving colleagues joining him. Glenn sighed and looked at the theater/summoning room, both of his hands on his waist.

"I wonder where Javier is..." Glenn muttered, before walking back to check on Redan and the priest's progress. The sudden appearance of the silent hunter right behind him stopped the young man dead in his tracks. Glenn stared deeply into Javier's dead eyes, breathing in deeply before shaking his head.

"Javier. Seems like you didn't get too hurt..." Javier turned around emotionlessly, surprising Glenn with a large wound going from his left shoulder to the right side of his lower back, burning slightly with emerald flames. Glenn froze, before rubbing his chin.

"I'll, uh, try to get someone to help, give me a minute..." he muttered. Usually, Javier always treated himself with his own C.P.R., but perhaps since the wound was on his back, he couldn't heal it. That was probably the reason, yeah. Glenn shivered, feeling strangely disturbed by the fact that the Pale Son was asking for assistance. This was more than unusual.

'In the end, there are some things you simply can't do by yourself. Javier knows his limits, so, knows when to demand help. He's a smart man under this dead persona,' Diamanes remarked. Nelg chuckled dismissively.

"I'm not sure just this small thing is enough to prove Javier's intelligence, but I do agree that the creep is smarter than he let on. Well, he's on our side, so whatever, you know?"

Glenn dismissed both of the voices and asked one of the priests to heal Javier. The priest, a bald guy with a wide-eyed stare almost cursed out loud when he saw Javier's still-burning wound and hurriedly began the treatment. With that done, Glenn went back to Redan, sitting next to the priest he had forced into healing the old man. The handsome priest sighed and leaned back, the bright holy light he emitted disappearing.

"I made him stable, but he needs more care. He has lost way too much blood, it's a miracle he is still alive, even more, so when considering his age..."

Glenn rubbed the back of his neck, before turning toward the priest.

"...Thank you for your help, even though I kind of forced you into giving it," he joked in a faint voice, the adrenalin that was keeping him awake gradually wearing off. The priest sneered and fell back, hugging his knees as he watched over his patient.

"It's...It's fine. I'd rather save a man than continue feeling sorry for myself," He said, before holding his hand toward Glenn, "...I'm Nicolas. It's a pleasure to meet the Northern Town's Crazy Hero."

Glenn shook the hand, smirking at the title.

"I'd rather have you call me Glenn than this stupid nickname."

Nicolas laughed, "Glenn it is, then. Thank you for saving us," His expression darkened, "...We'd probably all be dead if it wasn't for you and your companions."

Glenn smacked his lips, not replying. He looked at Redan, the old man sleeping peacefully, all of his apparent wounds treated. He looked scrawny and had more scars on his body than Glenn could count. Nicolas noticed the look and shook his head slightly.

"As I said earlier, he's going to need further treatment. This man, and I don't mean it wrongly, shouldn't be alive right now. It's a miracle that his heart's still beating..." Nicolas frowned and looked at where the Gate to Hell previously was.

"And he even sat in the Beyond for five days..." He shook his head again, before muttering in awe, "...a miracle. A true miracle."

Glenn moistened his lips. So, not Hell, but the Beyond. Alright, that'd work too. Less cool, but less Earth-like too. Or perhaps there's another Hell, a religious one, and the Beyond is some kind of parallel dimension? He had no idea. So he did the logical thing.

"What's the Beyond?" He asked the priest, who raised his eyebrows toward him. Nicolas rubbed his forehead, frowning.

"At some point in time, the Gods, our Goddess included, sealed away a specific race living in this world. The demons."

Glenn pressed his lips together, squinting.

'...The demons live in the Beyond, and not Hell. Should I ask what Hell is? No, let's see what the Beyond is first. But fuck, demons exist too then? As if all the eldritch and evil god stuff wasn't enough...'

Nicolas noticed Glenn's expression and smiled gently.

"The demons are not exactly what the public believes they are. In reality, they're only another humanoid race, like the elves, the Black Heirs, or the draconians of legend."

"They ended up being sealed away because the elite demon fighters, with the support of the Forgotten God, tried to commit the worst blasphemy," Nicolas drew a deep breath.

"Killing a god."

Glenn's raised a curious eyebrow, earnest to know more about the subject. Nicolas shook his head dejectedly.

"There are many legends of what happened. Some believe that the demons killed the Forgotten God, rendering him "Forgotten", while some think the gods found out about their plans and sealed them away while punishing the Forgotten God by making everyone forget his name and his beliefs. It's all very blurry, and it's all rumors and hearsay, so take it with a grain of salt."

The priest grunted as he pushed himself up, throwing a look at the theater. Glenn hurriedly stood up as well.

"Wait, then who were these guys opening the Gate to the Beyond, to the demons' world?"

Nicolas rubbed the back of his neck and bit down on his lower lip.

"You'll have to wait for the official investigations to be sure of this information, but between us, I believe they're demon worshippers. Fools who steal the power of demons to try and become ones themselves."

Glenn gestured confusedly.

"What? But why the hell would someone want that? Becoming a demon, I mean?"

Nicolas smiled.

"Because they're rumored to be capable of hurting a god. And for some people..." He stopped for a few seconds, thinking.

"Trading their humanity for this power is more than worth it."

Nicolas turned away, leaving Glenn to go heal other wounded, or grieve his comrades. Whatever he was gone to, it wasn't Glenn's business anymore. But the young man couldn't be bothered with that. After all, he had learned some deeply shocking truths with this quick, casual conversation.

Hell existed, but it was called the Beyond. Demons are not monsters, but they're still very very dangerous.

Laurance, the new Seventh-Circle monster, was probably a part of the organization that worshipped and stole from the demons. These two concepts, "worship" and "thievery" didn't seem like they should go together, but whatever.

And the most important thing:

There was an elven race in this world!

'A literal civilization of hot people! Finally some good news!'