487: Bat Crash
“JESUS HOLY FUCK!” was all that Beatrice could think as the world spun and shook around her while the giant bat creature crashed through the Shadow Woods, mowing down countless thick trees and all plant life that dared stand in their way.
“Ugh,” Beatrice groaned, aching all over as she crawled from under a giant sleek wing.
When all was said and done, Beatrice saw a long, cleared path behind them with turned up dirt and destroyed trees that looked like a sight of a plane crash. Far in the distance, the royal palace stood tall and proud atop a rocky terrain, elevated above the large city it governed, with a clear night’s sky in the background. The hole in the wall through which they broke through was barely more than a speck on the white façade.
That overpowered bitch is in league with the demons!? Beatrice finally had the time to process everything that happened. A ‘bastion for humanity’ my ass! No wonder the king snorts drugs all day and laughs at the idea of ‘Saviors’! And even if he somehow is unaware that his wife has a demon in her dress that’s because he probably hasn’t been sober in years!
“LUCARAD!!” Helen screamed and rushed to the High Priest who saved the small group of survivors from the clutches of an overpowered Queen B. The priestess dropped to her knees at Lucarad’s side and gently held his head as his bat-like monster form reverted back to his familiar huma appearance.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Beatrice tried to process ten things at once. “That guy had his head chopped clean off!”
“Lucky for me, Annie didn’t know that just cutting my head off doesn’t quite get the job done,” Lucarad laughed, even though he was clearly in a bad shape and struggled to move.
As Lucarad regained his human form, all the damage that he sustained from Merillia’s one attack was retained by his human body. The Queen had damaged Lucarad’s bat form’s left wing, but now the damage was revealed to be more severe. Not only was the High Priest’s arm barely a step above minced meat, the left side of his torso was also bruised, cut, and bleeding all over.
“Please, hang on!” Helen begged with tears in her eyes and put the palms of her hands on Lucarad’s arm and side. A dim but warm green light shined weakly beneath her arms. “If only my healing skills weren’t this pathetic! Elen was better even at this.”
“You’re doing fine,” Lucarad smiled and coughed.
At least he’s not coughing up blood, Beatrice thought, concerned more with the tropes of battle wounds than real medicine. After seeing a man survive getting his head lopped off, transform into a bat, and then witnessing healing magic, reliance on conventional medical knowledge seemed to be all but pointless.
“Well, so much for your little eunuch group,” Ember said as she stood up and dusted off her generic roguish leather armor that Samantha gave her earlier.
“Oh, right,” with everything that had happened, Beatrice almost forgot the treachery of the three sniveling cowards. Only one of them proved loyal to his convictions. And he instantly paid for it with his life. Though Beatrice would not hesitate to slaughter her former minions the first chance she got, she understood why the poor cowards made the choice that they made in their desperation. They did follow her for the promise of cocks and sex, after all. Now, hardly different from the very demons they fought against back in the Forge of Champions. “Didn’t their transformation look similar to the monster form that the couple transformed into back during the tournament?”
“There were some similarities, yes,” Ember nodded. “The Queen was behind that too?”
“Who knows at this point!” Beatrice wasn’t even sure where to start. “Maybe her entire family has the ability to transform people into monsters! Did any of you know this about this so-called Queen!?”
“No, that one caught me by surprise, or I wouldn’t have led us directly into her lair,” Ember said.
“Something happened,” Lucarad uttered weakly, under Helen’s care. “Selirius is a dear friend of mine. He wasn’t always a powder-snorting senile bastard that he is now. The Queen was always a bitch though.”
“Wait, where’s Olivia?” Beatrice asked as she looked around.