Anput PoV
Currently Leone and Kat were scanning the wall of the central building, while Jahi and I stood behind them, protecting them as they tried to decipher anything.
Clenching the handle of my longsword, I observed our surroundings, goosebumps sneaking around my arms as the eery silence of the city slowly got to .
As a Jackalkin; no, Beastkin, I was proud of my senses.
My ability to sll things that others couldn't, hear things others couldn't, was sothing I relied heavily on, and yet here...
The incredible silence and scent of ash and dust was all my lauded senses provided for , making antsy.
However, standing beside Jahi made feel a little more comfortable, safe.
Her tall, broad fra was reassuring, that master forged blade in her large hand lowered my fear slightly, and finally...
She smiled down at , ruffling my ears and scratching behind them.
Peeking up at her smile, I blushed lightly as I realized just how safe she made feel...
Especially when I was being held by those muscular ar-
Shaking my head, I returned my gaze to the buildings around us, my blush deepening as I heard Jahi chuckle.
Taking in the square around us, I focused my attention to just this area around us, tuning out the rest of the deathly quiet city.
Kat growled in frustration behind us, making Jahi and I turn around.
The curvy Dogkin was staring intently at the wall, her lips drawn into a frown as she massaged her temples.
"Let's go inside... I don't think there's anything out here."
Leone nodded beside her, sighing before looking for a door.
"The only notable things are that there is an almost reverent tone for a 'Lord Pele', and that the people who inhabited this city believed the monsters were going to be sothing to them, that fire would show them sothing, and a few lines about the dead's rest..."
Kat glared at the wall before reaching the corner of the building, saying "Entranceway over here!"
Approaching her, we looked at the dim archway, one door laying on the ground while the other hung on the hinges.
Silently pushing the door open, Kat peered into the large lobby, before motioning for us to enter behind her.
Fanning out inside the building, we looked around, and I half expected it to be as empty as every other building in this city, but couches lined the walls, paintings hung crookedly on the walls, and a tattered rug led up to the broken stairs.
There were a two doors on either side of the stairs, leading deeper into the building.
"Left or right?"
Hearing Jahi, the rest of us observed the two doors, Kat and I sniffing the air.
Besides the cloying scent of ash that perated the air everywhere in Zhu'Rong Caverns, there was a sickly sweet sll of... sothing wafting from the right door.
Kat also stared at the right with furrowed brows, her nose twitching again before she said "The right door has so kind of sweet sll, while the left is just... normal."
Jahi pursed her lips, looking between the two doors before pointing to the left.
"Check out 'normal' first, before investigating that sll. I'll lead, Anput bring up the rear."
Nodding, I waited for the others to open that left door, turning around to scan the empty lobby.
When I heard them walk into the room I followed behind them, still facing the outside.
Keeping the door open behind , I turned back around, taking in the small room we found ourselves in.
It was of similar size to the houses outside, but instead of being utterly empty it had a large desk in the back, yellowed papers scattered over the dark wood surface.
Kat and Leone approached the desk, carefully and gently moving the papers around as they tried to read them.
As for Jahi and I, we searched around the rest of the room, finding little more than a decaying leather chair, bare bookshelf, a titled blank painting, and an empty wall mount, likely for a sword of so kind.
"Anything?"
Leone sighed, while Kat just frowned, moving away from the desk.
"Nothing. Each page was either blank or so old that the ink had faded..."
Jahi sighed as well, giving the room another rudintary scan before approaching the door again.
Stepping back out into the lobby, Jahi lead us over to the other door, Kat and I wrinkling our nose in disgust at the putrid scent wafting from the shut door.
"Gah... Even I can sll it now..."
Jahi grimaced as she placed her hand on the door handle, taking a quick breath before swiftly opening the door.
However, instead of opening it with her hand, Jahi stepped back and used her foot to nudge the door open, her blade readied as she waited a mont.
Seeing and hearing nothing moving inside the room, the Demoness moved inside the room her eyes flickering gold as she swept her gaze around the dim space.
Kat and Leone followed her in, Kat holding her dagger in a reverse grip while a ritual circle glowed on Leone's palm.
Repeating what I did earlier, I held myself from turning even as I heard the others let out low gasps.
Finally entering the room behind them, I turned to see a decaying corpse of a Lizardkin, it's crimson scales chipped and shedding from its body, revealing dried up muscle and flesh.
So bone poked free of the brownish pink flesh, while the most notable aspect of this corpse was the lack of eyes.
Approaching the corpse warily, we all stared at the decaying corpse before I returned my gaze to the rest of the room, making sure we were alone and 'safe'.
Not seeing anything besides the kneeling corpse of the Lizardkin, I continued to watch over the doorway, listening to Kat and Leone as they muttered to each other.
"Does that say-"
"Mhm... So if that's-"
Monts passed, the two won exchanging murmurs as Jahi and I protected them, waiting for their consensus.
"Alright... Sounds plausible. Jahi!"
Approaching the two kneeling won, we stood beside them as Kat started explaining their findings.
"There are runes inscribed on the ground around this Lizardkin here, and so were carved into it's flesh. The quick summary is that this poor soul was an offering."
Wrinkling her lip in disgust, Jahi asked "To who, or what?"
"Whatever this Lord Pele is. Apparently Lord Pele needed a... 'donation of the ocular orbs of one of the faithful'. Which explains the eyes..."
Leone nodded, before tapping her fingers on one of the sequences on the ground.
"This here also says that the 'resulting fla of the faithful's soul will guide the rest to evolution'. Which could an that all the Lizardr we've fought and seen are actually..."
She gestured towards the corpse, and I frowned.
"'Evolving' into a monster? Why? The base monster has no sense of reason, no consciousness; they act on base instinct, just like animals."
The Vampire shook her head, shrugging as she said "They were fanatics; who knows what their beliefs and stories ingrained into them. This Lord Pele could also be the one who brainwashed them into doing this; maybe they had so archaic magic that could empower them or sothing."
I furrowed my brow, staring at the dead Lizardkin before freezing, feeling sothing staring at .
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a pair of crimson eyes peering at , before moving around the corner, out of sight.
"Just saw sothing!"
Readying my blade, I slowly approached the door, only for my ears to twitch as I heard the stairs creaking as sothing scurried up them.
"It went upstairs!"
Jahi nodded, staring at the broken staircase before saying "Sa as before; I'll go first..."
Stepping onto the broken floorboards, she slowly scaled the stairs, before reaching the top, standing guard.
Leone and Kat went up together, and I followed behind them quickly.
The next floor was a long hallway, and we saw a shadowy figure slip into the door at the end of the hall.
"It's leading us there..."
We all nodded at Jahi's words, before following behind her as she crept towards the door.
Like before she opened the door with a kick, only to frown as nothing happened again.
Pushing the door further open, a large, coiling reptilian tail was revealed, as well as multiple floating pairs of crimson eyes, embedded in a floating shroud of darkness.
"Ah~! They arrive, finally! I've been waiting..."
The voice that greeted us was deep and raspy, and as we filed into the room I grit my teeth as I took in the giant scaled body of a Lizard, the only difference being the front half of it's body was that of a man, the red skin glistening in the candlelight.
"It took you all so long to get here... I thought I might have to just kill you out in the city like the others!"
We all remained silent, making the Lizard sneer.
"Very well; stay silent. You're naught but a al for , Lord Pele! You shall be my stepping stone to reerge into the world! I shall conquer this decaying Empire, turning it's pitiful inhabitants into higher beings!"
Ah...
A fanatical idiot...
Strong though...
Readying my blade, I held back a grin as I felt the monstrous mans mana wash over us.
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