Cless was pushing the leviathan in the room to a corner.
"Then I got Frederik confused because he couldn't believe he was seeing my real status. He thought it was a layer of forgery he wasn't getting to pierce through. It made him stop using his fear Skill on me and agree to my silly, childish game. It was that what made both him and Trevor fall after all."
She spent the next day after her rescue crying and resting and the next one retelling her antics inside the Inquisition camp. The only thing that stopped the two most hot-headed heroes from going to the Holy City rampage and attempt - and probably fail - to murder the Patriarch of the Church was the fact that despite the abuse, neither Trevor or Marion touched Cless' special place. The annihilation of the Inquisition camp was not without consequences, however. Some soldiers probably escaped and now Cless had no convenient fodder to throw inside the gnome Dungeon. They sent Trevor's body with the pocket watch to be embalmed and shipped through the Association's courier system to the Holy City as an olive branch.
She finished her tale, showing off the Skills and loot she pilfered. Earned. Stole. Won. Extorted? Acquired? She wasn't going to delve in sophistry. It was hers and that's it. If anyone would contest, they could deal with the Priest. She thought that given the level of crap the Church did to keep her under surveillance, she had to make up for the ones hurt. The nuns and Lyle's family.
The breach of confidence was one of the things that hurt her. She thought Lyle cared for her despite her horrendous appearance and he was just doing his freaking baby-murdering job. She helped him! She was even going to give him a chance. Maybe.
"Since all of this is Church's property, father, I think it is right to have you decide what to do with them."
The Priest browsed the loot, a dozen magic items and picked an ornate metal-bound book. "I'll keep only this one as it is too dangerous," he said. The book was linked with another at the Inquisition HQ in the Holy City. It would synch all the writing on the even pages with the odd pages of one another once per day. It already had a demand for a report from Trevor.
"Take all the coins. Use it to give the nuns some respite." She got five of those white metallic coins. She had no idea what they were made of but each was worth a hundred crowns from her [Coin Sense]. There's also Marion's money at the bank. Since she was a nun in the Priest's church, he inherited it.
It left eleven items from Trevor plus the ones from the dungeon. Josefine identified them. First, the items they gained from the Dungeon.
> Seal of Midgard: A Symbol representing affiliation to Midgard. When worn by someone with the same affiliation, grants 50% increased recovery inside Dungeons.
>
> Syren's Harp: Minimum Level: 30. A harp enchanted by the people of the ocean. Allows the user to breathe and speak underwater. Music created using this harp goes twice as far underwater.
>
> Ragefang Amulet: Minimum Level: 40. An amulet made from the fangs of scores of beasts. Whenever the wearer is wounded, Increases movement and attack speed by 50% for 5 seconds.
>
> Serpentfire Scepter: Minimum Level: 30. You can swap the element of your attack spells for poison. Stores 20 points of Power for spellcasting.
>
> Golden Lion Sling: Minimum Level: 30. Indestructible. Attacks made using this sling deal 50% more damage to creatures aligned with either Infernal or Celestial Realms.
Seal of Midgard:
[https://i.imgur.com/Aui5IFe.jpg]
Cless was impressed at how custom-tailored some of the items were. It was like the Dungeon could see their deepest wishes. Kurt said his feathers were going nowhere near water even though he loved the harp.
Next, she identified the items taken from Trevor. Even though he explained what they did, Trevor "forgot" to mention all of them had a ridiculous level requirement, the lowest of them being 120. Cless looked at that one just to see what she was not going to use so soon.
> Torc of Might: Minimum Level: 120. Increases your base Strength by 50.
Cless dumped all of Trevor's items on the Priest. She wouldn't put them up for sale because it would attract too much attention. Until Balthus snatched the Torc and then it became a free for all and the heroes split the loot among themselves. Cless laughed with them and put that behind her. They spent almost two decades of their lives on her. If she could pay back something, she would.
Loot split, tales told, it came the time to slay the beast. She was scared of asking.
"Are you guys still bound by whatever stupid vow you had to do with the Church to keep me safe?" Cless started to fidget with her clothes while she waited for an answer.
Karen was the one to break the awkward silence. "Well, considering we are almost at war with them..."
"Almost?" Josefine asked. "If only that stupid Patriarch would set foot outside his precious Holy City..."
"Calm down, you two," George patted the Elf's head and Josefine pouted. "No. The Church broke its agreement from their side the moment Trevor hurt you, Cless. We are as free as birds."
Olson reached for Cless and guided her to a chair. "Sit down, Girl. We are going to tell you about our tale and everything you want to know about your origins."
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They were naive adventurers and delvers of renown. Their group of nine did many great feats, reaching levels past the two hundreds. They were showered with glory and fame. Everyone across the land knew them. Job offers and pampering from Kings and many others were laid at their feet. They had fortune, fame, status.
Josefine founded a magic academy in the border between elven and human lands. Olson was the warden of the world's greatest forest. Karen had the world's most expensive and posh inn that could drive an emperor's palace to shame. The Priest, who still had a name by them, traveled the land spreading hope alongside Lucia the Holy Maiden. She was not considered one of the nine as she joined them only after their rise to fame. She was the second most important person in the Church of the One God.
Balthus, George, and Cortez the Spellblade traveled the world searching for a good fight, good liquor, and good stories. Tristana the Sharpshooter kept hunting monsters on her own at the far corners of the world just like she was surely doing all the time and Claressa the Sword Queen inherited the throne of her Kingdom.
One day, they were invited into the Holy Town, the heart of the One God's Church. They were led to meet the Patriarch, the supreme ruler of the town and the man who could hear the One God. Patriarch was worried about the encroaching monster hordes, that in the last centuries was coming from the deep corners of the world and into the civilized lands.
Humanity was aggressively taking land from the other races, cementing their power and forcing the non-humans to the edges of civilized territory to fight while the humans grew in power. Oblivious to all that, they heard the Patriarch's proposal. Venture into the Infernal Realm and slay the Devil. With his power gone, monsters would soon vanish from Midgard and everything under the sky would belong to humanity.
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Intoxicated by their success, the Nine Heroes took the quest. They delved into one of the deepest dungeons known and at the lowest level, broke the heart of the dungeon, the core. Using the pieces in a ritual, they opened the way into the Infernal Realm. Their first loss happened right there. A mishap in the ritual forced Lucia to sacrifice herself to open the way for them. She was always a fierce believer of the Church.
"Now I understand why the Inquisition was so keen on having a new Holy Maiden after all these centuries," Cless commented.
Once in the Infernal Realm, they fought battle after battle, cleared trial after trial they earned the right to do battle face-to-face with the Devil, the ruler of the Infernal. They were outmatched. They thought that the two hundreds would give them power enough to challenge what can only be considered a true god. The Devil wiped the floor with them, toyed with their hearts, their minds. They decided to escape. Cortez kept the Devil occupied while the other eight opened the way back home. Cortez was weighed and found wanting by the Devil. After killing the men, he went after the beaten Heroes.
It was then that Claressa offered herself. She would trade her life for the other seven's safety. She would become the Devil's wife and live faithfully by his side if he let the other seven go. The Devil, charmed by her beauty and majesty, accepted to take her as his wife in exchange for their escape. And so they returned. Beaten, defeated, disheartened. Of the heroes, only seven escaped. It was only after they returned to the surface that the true horror-struck.
The passing of time between the Realms was different. They spent a few months in the Infernal Realm, but in Midgard, more than two centuries went by. The Church, either took advantage of the Heroe's absence or just expanded aggressively. Several races were destroyed. The elves, always recluse in their forest, were slaughtered and extinct by the Church fanatics. Josefine's academy laid in ruins. In Claressa's Kingdom, all dungeons were destroyed. Monsters rampaged freely and the Kingdom fell. Humanity cut any ties with the other races, labeling them monsters or demis and pushed them aggressively out of their lands.
Everything they knew was gone. Even their reputations passed into history as almost forgotten legends, as they couldn't stop the monster onslaught. Ashamed, the seven toiled for decades, mercilessly hunting monsters wherever they were and liberating lands for the humans. They never dared visit Claressa's kingdom and relive their shame. To that date, the land remains a monster nest. They grew stronger. But not wiser.
The lingering shame was too much for them to bear. They left one of their own behind, a dark bargain or so they thought. So after earning even more power than before, they decided to return one more time to the Infernal Realm. The seven descended into another dungeon and committed another crime against Midgard. They broke another dungeon. The way opened without the need for a sacrifice. They went inside, brimming with anger and power. And in the final battle, killed the Devil.
They searched the Realm for Claressa and found her in a tower of the Devil's palace. She was weak, sick, and pregnant. They took her back to Midgard and learned of their folly once again. After a period of courting, Claressa fell in love with the Devil. He fulfilled his side of the bargain, and the Queen of men and dwarves found love in the darkest of places. She never forgave them for killing her husband.
This time only seventy years elapsed on Midgard, but the Church was even worse this time. Learning that they brought back a pregnant Claressa, the Patriarch disavowed the Heroes and called a crusade against them. They hid Claressa in a border town and fought against the Church. The battle reached a stalemate.
Nobody, not even them could challenge the Patriarch in his Holy City. His A-rank Skill, [Holy Dominion] makes him more all-powerful and immortal inside his Holy City. Laying siege to it was also fruitless. The city was self-sufficient. They reached an agreement. The Patriarch would not persecute the Seven Heroes and they wouldn't attack the Church anymore. That day the Priest relinquished his name.
However, the Church betrayed the Heroes. Two years later, they declared a Witch Hunt all of a sudden. They didn't know where Claressa was hidden but they knew the general description. A manor at the outskirts of a frontier town. The Church had power enough to attack all such places. They did and in one of them an angry mob burned down the house and the Inquisition killed Claressa. Karen and Balthus arrived only in time to save a baby.
They vowed to keep the baby safe. But the Church was not about to leave baby Cless alone. The Inquisition went on a crusade and to avoid what would amount to genocide, they made another deal. The girl was to remain under the Priest's custody until her fifteenth birthday. If she did not manifest her demonic heritage by then, she would be free to live her life. Six of the seven decided to move and live in secrecy.
For them, thirteen years living as commoners were only the first step in their path of redemption. All six of them renewed their vows. They would do anything for her.
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"There you go," Karen finalized. "Now know your story, Cless. You are the legitimate daughter of Queen Claressa of Myrkheim and the entity known as the Devil, ruler of the Infernal Realm."
Cless was sitting on a chair with the elbows over her knees, head clutched between her hands. She could only cry. After her eyes could not shed any more tears, she looked up and met their gaze one by one.
"My mother. Did she talk to any of you after her return? Did she say anything?"
"She told us her story," Balthus answered. "But before that, you must understand how the endless rivalry between the Infernal and Celestial realms went on for eons, with Midgard as their battlefield. The wars were waged in secret until the Celestials decided to make a pact with the people of Midgard. In exchange for magic, they would go there and join the Celestial Host in the battle against the Infernals. It was a long-term strategy but eventually would cement Midgard as allies of the Celestials, forever shifting the balance of power.
"To counter that, the Infernals created Monsters. Different from them, these creatures could live and breed in Midgard, effectively turning Midgard into a breeding ground for the Infernal Horde."
Cless picked up. "Then the Ruler of Midgard awakened and granted people Skills and levels to fight against monsters, in the process severing the link between Magic and the Celestials. But the monsters were too strong so he created the Dungeons to contain the monsters."
"Was that all the knowledge the gnomes gave you, Cless?" Josefine asked. Cless nodded. "Then I'm afraid they left the most important part behind."
"The Dungeons do contain the monsters but they have a second function, more important than that," Olson picked up. "The reason why the Church wants them all gone."
"The Church is aligned with the Celestials," Cless spoke what she knew from the teachings of the Priest. "The Celestials and Infernals used to come here all the time before the Dungeons but not after. You had to break an ancient Dungeon to open a gate to the Infernal." She could not go on, the conclusion was too terrible.
"Yes, you are correct," Josefine picked up where Cless left off. "The Dungeons block travel to and from the other Realms. That is what Claressa told us regarding what she learned during her short stay in the Infernal Realm. The Church wants to exterminate all Dungeons to open the path for the Celestial Host. They will go to the weakened Infernal Realm and conquer the place. Then they will kill the weakened Lord of Midgard and rule over everything."
"For some reason, I doubt the Celestial assholes will share the cake with the humans," Cless mused. "Maybe only with the upper echelon of the Church."
"That is what Claressa told us," Karen continued. "I don't think she forgave us, Cless. But she could see a silver lining. That you at least would be able to live among humans. But the fire did this terrible thing to you."
"This?" Cless asked showing the twisted skin of her arms. "I am like this for as long as I know myself. It is other people that have a problem with how I look."
It was a little dishonesty that she allowed herself. She wanted to have a smooth and unblemished skin like the other women. Cless shared the same standards of beauty as other people around her. She was proud of her stomach and chest, the only parts of her body that escaped the fire because she was crawling on the stone floor. But if neither the Priest or Josefine with all the magic they commanded couldn't restore her skin, she would keep lying to herself.
"I can't hold a grudge against you. You are all I have and know. When I was picking my Priestess spells, I thought about getting the sacrifice one to trade my life for hers. But I knew she would be too sad to live on because of my sacrifice. So, no. I can't forgive you because I, Cless, hold no grudge against any of you. With mom gone, only you can forgive yourselves."
"Thanks, Cless," Balthus of all people wiped his eyes. "Your feelings mean a lot to us, Princess."
"I'm no Princess!" Cless protested. "Wait, do I have any siblings in the Infernal Realm?"
"No. The Devil never had any children before you," The Priest answered.
"Why do you deny being a Princess, Cless?" Josefine asked. "Your mother was a Queen, your father, the Ruler of a Realm. That makes you a Princess on both counts."
Cless tried to smile but she couldn't. She gave her answer. "Because they are both gone, Josie. And if I am the heir, that makes me not a Princess. Not since the fire. Even in exile, I'm Queen Cless of Myrkheim and the Infernal Realm."
She was startled by what she heard next.
> Status updated. Your name has changed. You unlocked some classes. Check the text notification for more details.
She looked at the text notification and pinned it. The notification was going to stay there for her to check any time she wanted to. Even so, she couldn't smile.
"One day far away from today, I'll avenge my parents. The Church will pay. That day, I'll call you to fight by my side."
Nobody spoke. Everyone present just nodded. Venaris looked out through the window and gasped.
Excited, the gnome shouted, "It is snowing! Winter arrived!"