“What?” I almost gave myself whiplash with how fast I turned toward Maron. If what she said was true, I'd been stupid not seeing the obvious before then. 

“Don't make that face, sweetie, you might wrinkle your face and it doesn't need it.”

“Whatever! I don't have time for this.”

The wall surrounding the town was down. It was a fast development considering that the alarm bell had just rung. Demons surrounded the town. Their numbers were ridiculous. I could beat a few of them but hundreds were just too much. I didn't have any delusion. 

The reason I beat them before was because of surprise and luck. There had only been one demon who could see me. The others couldn't and that had been there downfall. At the time, the demon who could see me couldn't touch me but I needed to be careful. They could have found a way to deal with me. 

Even from where I was, I could see that half of them were like the first demon that entered Sevarin's camp. They were larger and their skins were different from the normal horned red skin demons. They were more textured. From their raised hands, jets of fire engulfed anything that stood in their way. If they were like him, then they could see me. I had a choice right then and there: fight or flight. I chose flight. I ran back to the Cathedral.

“Saffron!” I yelled as soon as I passed the door.

“What?” She came running out of the kitchen. The expression on her face told me that she didn't like me using her first name without honorifics.

“We need to flee. Can you use a cross to whisk us away?” I remembered the cross transported me from wherever town the Pope had been to the front lines. If Saffron could use the one in this Cathedral, I could leave my pursuers in the dust. There was no way, they could find me again if I used teleportation. And even more, I hoped that they would stop if I were too far.

“Why do we need to flee?” Saffron was playing dumb forcing to me to state the obvious.

“Demons are attacking the town! We need to leave, now.”

“The guards are strong men. They will take care of it with no trouble.” Her voice was condescending and the way she looked me from head to toe was demeaning. 

“They are freaking immortals. The strong men as you put it are dead or on their way to death.” My forceful tone let out my displeasure. 

“Who are immortals?” She asked me in a sarcastic voice.

“The demons. They're the same that attacked the camp three days ago.” The look of condescension on her face disappeared like it had never been there and was replaced by a worried expression.    

She rushed out of the Cathedral. With a sigh of exasperation, I followed her. We didn't have to go far. Chaos had already reached the town proper. When I caught up with her, Saffron had stopped in her tracks in the middle of town. 

Tears streamed down her cheeks. The heat from the burning buildings made me sweat. Citizens ran screaming from their houses. Some were on fire. Others had cuts from where the buildings had collapsed on them. Smoke, blood and sweat dominated my senses. 

I tugged on Saffron's arm. We needed to go but she didn't budge. Her eyes were fixed on the demons. They were but a few hundreds feet away.

I knew that she wanted to fight but I dragged her with me. Back at the Cathedral, she came out of her shocked state. She dried her tears and ran to her office. 

“Saffron! We need to flee.” 

“No!” She screamed. 

I joined her in her office. She took a crystal orb from her desk. 

She stroked it and said: “Oh! Althasia! Goddess of light, please let my message reach my intended. Priest Solan, Tion Town is under attack. We ask for reinforcement. The demons are the same that attacked the camp 3 days ago.”

Leaning on the door frame, I watched her as she sent her message.

“Aren't you going to tell them that the demons are immortals.”

“No one knows if it's true. I don't want to give them unconfirmed information if I can avoid it.” 

Her reasoning was flawed on many levels but I didn't have time to say anything before she left again to go somewhere else. I still followed. She was my best chance to leave; I didn't want to lose her. 

She went upstairs to another room. I lagged behind a little. I wondered what she was up to. Shouldn't she be scared or something? And why did she ask for reinforcement? The demons were immortals. Even with reinforcements, they wouldn't be beaten. I didn't understand her way of thinking. Deep in my thoughts, I opened the door she had just closed. Seeing what was behind, I stopped moving.

“Sorry.” I said with as much sincerity as I could muster. It was hard with a smile on my face but I did the best that I could. 

She stared at me. She was bent down removing her socks. She had already removed her dress. Her pink panties were assorted with her bra. Her white supple skin were a delight on the eyes.  She had stopped moving, her eyes fixed on me. I could hear the ticking of the bomb that was going to blow up but I couldn't prevent myself from not caring. 

“You... You...” Her face was red. Steam came out of her ears

The silly smile on my face widened as she lost her balance and fell down on her knees. Her chest was on the ground. Her butt was up. She made quite the erotic picture. 

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

She tried to get up but she fell down back again. I didn't try to help her, I was enjoying every second of the show. 

“Althasia! Oh goddess of death punish this fool for his impudent actions!”

“Oh Shit!” I lunged on the side as the door blew up.  A second explosion happened just above my head. I put my arms up to protect myself from the splinters.

When no other attacks were launched at me, I raised my head in dread. Saffron stood in the doorway, fully dressed. She had a black aura around her that gave me the creeps. 

I had to think fast. Her blinding smile didn't bode well for me. 

“Demons. Don't forget that the town is under attack.”

“I didn't forget. I never forget anything.” She said with a very intense look. Then, she moved away, going back downstairs.

I sighed in relief. I got back on my feet and trailed behind her. I didn't stick too close as the dark aura around her hadn't subsided. 

She went to the cross used for teleportation. It was the first time I approached it since I came here. It was in a room at the back not far from Saffron's office. The door was nondescript. I thought that it was a storage closet that was why I never bothered to look into it. The cross stood on the far end of the room.

Its shadow was a swirl of colors. Out of it, knights in plated armor rose from the ground. There were twenty of them and more were incoming. 

“What is the situation?” One of them asked. His armor was golden contrary to the others that were silver. 

They seemed to be elite knights. In the camp, the knights' armor had been copper. I didn't talk to them. They looked prideful and the condescending stares they leveled at anyone who wasn't a warrior made me stay away from them.

“The demons are in town, they attacked anyone, man, woman and child.”

“We'll take care of them in the name of our great goddess Althasia.”

“Please, for our Goddess of Life.”

It was getting sappy. When all was finished, 73 knights, 10 priests and 40 acolytes crowded the room. I stayed on the side as they talked among themselves.

“Sergeant Boris, take a small team and assess the situation in the town.” The golden armored knight ordered.

“Yes, sir!” A small group of silver knights left the Cathedral. I didn't follow them. The situation outside was obvious. The demons couldn't be killed and that was not the case of the townspeople.

“Priestess Saffron, you will be in charge of the injured.” I didn't listen to what he said after that but everyone left the room one after the other. 

I was the only one left. As an acolyte, I should probably go with Saffron but I wasn't in the mood. I wanted to leave, not to fight an impossible war. As I left the room, I heard a clamor in the front of the building. 

The townspeople had retreated to the Cathedral who was at the center of the town. I went upstairs to get a bird view of the situation on the ground. On the third floor, I went to one of the windows. 

Most of the town had been destroyed. As far as my eyes could see, the Cathedral was the only building left standing. Rubble, smoke and fire dominated the view.  

Townspeople were running to the Cathedral in a panic. Some made it. Others burned under the demons' attacks. They were just a hundred feet away from the building. From this distance, I could see the expressionless eyes of the demons. They didn't feel anything despite the chaos that they brought. 

“True form.” I change formed and jumped from the window. Before reaching the ground, I activated my float skill. I deactivated it just as fast. I landed on the ground softly. 

“Human form.” I reappeared but no one noticed with the confusion reigning around. I helped a fallen woman to get up. I directed her inside the Cathedral and went around to help the others. 

The knights sent to assess the situation in the town returned back to the Cathedral. Their faces were somber.  Their moral was at their feet. Their eyes were filled with fear. I sympathized with the feeling. I fought the demon before. Hopefully, it wouldn't be long before they ordered an evacuation. 

For the next few minutes, I kept helping the townspeople inside the building. I wanted to gain as much faith as I could before the evacuation. I didn't thought of it before but helping the townspeople to flee those demons should give quite a good haul of faith.  

With this, I was closer to help my pets heal. Thinking about it, wasn't something missing? Where the hell were my pets?

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A.N: Hey there! Thx for reading and for your comments. I seriously doubted that I could release this chapter as I had writer's block for a while now but it seemed to have passed (let's pray for it not to come back). After reflexion, I'm going to keep my thursday release schedule; it's less stressful and easier to keep.