Chapter 154

I stretched just outside the Ruby Vixen. After we finished up the conversation with Oceane I went back upstairs and put on my gear. I wasn't expecting more than a conversation with Nathaniel about the 'Order of Lilith' but I wasn't sure what the plan for after that is. I'll probably leave town soon once we finish up at the Brothel, as much as I've enjoyed my time there I still felt like we had put off the capital trip much longer than I meant to.

When we approached the castle, it seemed busy at the moment. Lots of guards were running by and what looked like a large group was gathering in the courtyard. Before our group could even approach the gate, Jasper noticed us. He quickly said something to the guard he was talking to and started heading our direction. I may have been cautious under the circumstances but he looked relieved to see us.

"Lilith! A word please." The gate guard stood aside as Jasper corralled us into the courtyard. "Lilith, Nathaniel found a location on the cult of Amphores from that book you gave him. We're organizing a raid and having your group as part of the team would be reassuring, we don't know if there will be any demons or summoners still there but having you along will allow us to get an idea about what we're facing. I would have sent a messenger to deliver a message to you this morning but no one seems to know which inn you're staying at."

"A raid? Is it really a good idea to have us along for something like that?" I asked.

He nodded. "You'll just be with us as specialists, if anyone is still there we don't want you fighting this time. We just want to know if there will be demons, give a little support at our rear line, and heal anyone who's injured."

I turned to my group for their opinions.

Bella nodded without hesitation. "I'd like to help."

Torien, Mimi, and Silva all nodded a moment later.

Morrigan looked grim. "I want to see all of this through. After seeing the castle... I want to stop them."

I turned back to Jasper. "Looks like all of us want to help."

He smiled. "Great, that's a relief. Of the healers that are still in the city after the attack, none of them will work with us in the field right now. And it'll be great to know if there are any demons before we go in."

"You don't have any healers in the city guard in a town this large?" I asked.

A flash of anger crossed his face. "All of the city's healers were killed during the initial attack. Ah! But we'll work hard to keep you safe during the raid of course!" I got the sense his anger wasn't directed at us but it was still a bit scary to see that expression on the man.

"Sure, that's good to hear." He looked relieved to hear me say that, he looked scared we were going to change our mind on helping him after his outburst.

"Wait here for a little while, I need to finish getting the teams prepared." He ran off when I nodded in reply.

I turned to my friends. "When we came to this city I didn't expect for us to get as wrapped up in all of this as we are, even after what happened to Fae."

"Yeah," Morrigan agreed. "But this kind of thing happens a lot when you have rare titles like [Demon Hunter] or [First Explorer]."

Silva nodded. "True enough."

"What do you think Silva? You said you didn't trust him," I asked.

She cocked her head, eyes searching the ground. "I'm not sure. Maybe whatever I was feeling was misplaced. I don't see how this kind of thing could be a trap though. If he was going to do something, it would have been when we were clearing the castle."

I scratched the base of my horn. "Well, we'll keep an eye out regardless. Maybe your gut was wrong but it doesn't hurt to be wary."

Jasper waved our group over so we joined the large posse that was forming in the courtyard. The guards weren't as numerous as the group that retook the castle but I recognized some of the notable guards that fought the dullahan with us. Bertrand the armored ox beastfolk and that fox beastfolk with the rapier stood out in particular. She nodded to me when she noticed me looking over so I returned the gesture.

We jogged in time with the group out of the courtyard towards a familiar part of town. We were headed to the same affluent neighborhood where I found the coded book. My eyes widened when Jasper pointed out the building we were about to raid. It was the original house I noticed demon miasma coming from, the one that was locked and we turned away from.

"Jasper, the likelihood of this place having demons is high. I noticed this place when I was hunting demons in the neighborhood, I found the journal in a building just down the street."

He nodded. "Understood, can you still sense any miasma from here?"

I squinted as we got closer. "Faint, if there are demons they probably aren't right behind the door. I would prepare for them being further in though."

"Good enough for me." He ran a bit ahead to the front of the group. "Crowbars! We're going in right away!"

The group of guards formed a loose semi-circle in front of the door while a smaller group of mages stood back with our group. Two guards standing by violently crammed crowbars in the cracks of the door and heaved. Splinters flew as it burst open and fell off its hinges to the side. The first group of guards ran in, Bertrand the ox beastfolk was once again out in front with his large shield. I could smell the musty scent of the building from here.

Sounds of fighting could be heard right away and additional guards ran through the doors until there were only four guards and the group of mages left outside with us. The tension was heavy and only thickened once the sounds of fighting inside quieted. Guards began pulling people out of the building and threw them onto the brick road on their stomachs.

"Bella! I could use your healing please!" Jasper waved us over so we followed Bella over to the prisoners. I looked at their faces but I didn't recognize any of them and none of them matched the descriptions Matilda had given us. They were all wearing plain clothes but the air of miasma around them was unmistakable, at least some of these people were demon summoners.

Bella healed two of the guards who had gotten injured and one of the prisoners who had taken a nasty stab wound to the gut. Most of the other injured prisoners could be left until the raid was over and she would need her mana for the guards that were still fighting.

I could overhear Jasper talking with one of the mages as Bella worked. "The building is connected to others in the city through tunnels, we're not sure how large the complex is yet but they've clearly been in the city for a long time. Some of the tunnels look older than others, we'll need your help to make sure the tunnels are stable enough for us to travel through."

The mage nodded. "Yes, Captain, I can do that. Is it safe to go in yet?"

"Not yet, I'm waiting on word. Ah, now it should be safe Bertrand just signaled me. Wait until the next batch of prisoners are pulled out first, then we'll take you in."

"Yes sir."

Once Bella finished healing the last guard we were motioned to move away from the entrance as a second larger group of people were pulled out and smashed onto the brick road. These ones looked more severely injured but so did the guards that came back with this group. None of the cultists were on death's door this time though so Bella focused purely on healing up the guards.

Once the second group of prisoners were tied up, all the rest of the guards went back inside leaving only the mages and two others to watch over the prisoners. They looked thoroughly beat up though so I don't expect any to run—

Just as I thought that I was proven wrong, one of the cultists nearest to the edge jumped up using some kind of wind magic and started to sprint away before the closest mage shot the running man in the back with a fire lance spell. The man was impaled through the chest and lit on fire as he fell to the ground screaming.

"No running," the angry-looking guard said emotionlessly to the group of remaining cultists. One of the other mages doused the fire while the non-mage guards dragged the man through the dirt and back to his spot on the ground. He had 3rd degree burns covering his body and the outfit he was wearing was partially melted onto his skin.

Bella looked at the guard next to him and he nodded to her. Bella was quick to get close and heal him up enough that he shouldn't die from his injuries. He will still be in a lot of pain though. The guard stopped her before he was fully healed, the hole in his chest was closed and his burns were now looking like blistery 2nd degree burns instead of leathery 3rd degree ones.

"Save your mana, this guy will live."

"But he's still in pain," Bella protested.

The guard shook his head. "I'm sorry but you need to conserve your mana and he shouldn't have run. With all due respect, that's enough healing for him. You might need it for the next group that gets pulled out of there. You can heal him after the next group comes back if you still have the mana."

Bella almost looked like she was going to keep arguing but just clenched her fist and walked back over to us. She awkwardly rubbed her arm as she kept looking at the man sobbing into the dirt, still covered in painful-looking burns.

"I don't like this," she whispered to me.

"I know... I'm sorry," I replied.

She leaned her weight against me but didn't say anything more as we waited for the next batch of guards and prisoners. It was a long ten minutes watching the man sob in the dirt before the next people came.

"Bella!" Jasper was carrying the fox woman, both were covered in blood and a tourniquet was tied tightly above the stump of her left arm. He was clutching the loose arm in his other hand as he rushed over to us. The man was moving at such a fast speed that I would have been scared he would crash into us had I not seen people move at even greater speeds before.

He laid the fox woman on the ground in front of us, she looked pale, unsurprising from the amount of blood she must have lost.

"Quick! Hold her arm in place. I need to heal her now before she loses too much blood!" A flow of green mana was already flowing from Bella's scepter into the woman's wound. Jasper did his best to align the torn arm with the bloody stump as Bella's healing worked to reattach the arm. Already small strings of skin, muscle, and bone reached out to connect the pieces together.

"She's going to be okay right? You're a powerful healer, she's going to live right?" Jasper was babbling despite his sturdy hands holding her arm perfectly steady.

There was a long pause from Bella as she kept working, deeply concentrating before closing her eyes for a moment. "I don't know, I need to focus. I've never reattached an arm before."

All of the guards were silent, the only noise was the burned man sobbing off to the side. Finally, after a tense few minutes, Bella leaned back and exhaled. "If she hasn't lost too much blood already she'll live and her arm will be fine. If she doesn't wake up by tomorrow... she won't wake up again."

"What about a blood transfusion?" I asked.

Bella looked over at me with a confused look. "A what?"

"Can we give her someone else's blood?"

"Blood from others is usually poisonous..." Bella replied.

"Oh, uh, different people have different blood types. It has to either match the same type or come from someone that has a specific universal blood type."

Bella looked back down at the fox woman and then back to Jasper. "Get her somewhere safe for now. She should be okay to move." Then Bella turned to me. "Lilith, tell me more about this—"

Before she could finish a loud distorted howl came from the building.

Jasper set her back down, hands tightened into fists. "I have to go back in. Please watch over her."

The guard captain ran through the door and back into the fray.