"Jack! Reina!" Barnaby called. His voice echoed in the empty stone room. "You're alive. Great! We tried to co as fast as we can."
Jack kept his expression neutral. He adjusted his cuffs. "We're fine. Reina and I have handled two devils after we split up. One called himself the Chef of Flavor Haven. The other was the Piper of Golden Haven."
Sister Riverre stepped forward. Her eyes were scanning the empty vault. "We've t again, Mr. Night. Mrs. Night... in another unfortunate situations. Have you discovered the missing children?"
Jack greeted her with a smile. "Sister Riverre. Unfortunately, not yet. We've only encountered two devils."
Reina nodded in acknowledgent.
High Priest Mountaine asked straight to the point. "How did you defeat the devils?"
Jack looked the High Priest in the eye. "Devils are tricky. But once you know their tricks, they were not hard to handle. The Chef forced us to finish a table of food laced with poison and curses. I simply use my tools to do that. Not touching the food at all."
He looked around. "The Piper filled this room with fake treasures and gold. All cursed. Then he used his flute music to lure us to touch them. Well, it didn't affect us. Probably because we both received the blessing from Symphony Garden."
"Barnaby should've been fine too if he had been here." Reina added. "He also received the sa blessing."
Jack didn't want to tell them about his puppet incarnation. And Reina knew that. So, she supported his lie without even blinking.
Inquisitor Lantern remarked. "Two devils. No, three devils... You encountered three devils. And you have a way to handle them every ti. You two are vey lucky."
"They are resourceful." Father Lynx said. Still in his stern expression. "They are the ones who dealt with the Deep Silence in Songstress Village."
Sister Riverre added. "And I'm pretty sure they are also the ones who devised the unique way to kill the undead pirate in Sapphire City."
Inquisitor Lantern raised his eyes. "The one with the concentrated healing blast? It was just a few days ago. You've been very busy, Mr. Night, Mrs. Night."
"We are indeed involved in many troubleso cases this year." Jack said bluntly. "And there are so many problematic things recently. I wonder if the churches know the cause?"
Father Lynx frowned. "True. So many problems have been appearing recently. Sister Riverre and I have been sent everywhere without any decent rest. Those Royal Faction..."
High Priest Mountaine cleared his throat. "Let's focus on our current problem, Father. We still have devils to handle."
"It should be three other devils." Jack replied and looked at Mirella. "Isn't that right?"
"Yeah. This is a conclave of six devils." Mirella nodded. "There should be the Prince of Charming Haven that either replaced or possessed Viscount Loreclay, the Lady of Amorous Haven that captured Riff, and another one we don't know."
Sister Riverre chid in. Her voice was soft but firm. "And we still need to find the missing children."
"Very well..." Mountaine said. "Let's continue exploring. Sister Riverre and I will provide the sanctified support. Father Lynx and Inquisitor Lantern will be the vanguards. The others need to join with the vanguard team or support team depending on your specialty. Mr. Night, they said you can track the target?"
Jack nodded. "Rune!" Jack called.
The fairy guide floated forward. Her magenta glow fading into a steady, guiding amber. She flew toward the other door out of the vault.
"That way!" Jack said. He quickly led the others. Following Rune.
The group moved in silence. Jack led the way. His eyes were scanning the stone walls for traps or hidden chanisms.
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Rune floated just ahead of him. The fairy's amber glow illuminated the stone-walled corridor.
Behind Jack, Reina walked with a graceful, predatory gait. Her eyes were sharp, reflecting the light of Rune's glow.
The four acolytes and the three artists followed behind her. Their footsteps were heavy against the stone.
Rune led them further down the dungeon. They descended a long, spiraling staircase. Each step took them deeper into the earth. Far beneath the foundations of Viscount Loreclay’s mansion.
The air started to grow thicker. The scent of expensive perfu started to reach their olfactory sense. The temperature rose. Sweat began to bead on their foreheads.
Finally, they reached the bottom of the stairs. A pair of massive tal doors stood before them. They were carved with intricate, unsettling scenes of revelry.
After looking at the others and making sure that they were ready, Jack made his move. He pushed the doors open.
The hall beyond was majestic. It was a vast chamber supported by pillars of white marble veined with gold. The floor was polished black stone. Covered by thin, pink-colored mist. Reflecting the flickering light of thousands of candles that floated in the air.
At the far end of the hall, two thrones sat upon a raised dais.
Two figures occupied the thrones. On the left sat a man of noble countenance. He had golden hair and dark eyes. Ones that seed to hold a swirling galaxy of purple light.
"That is him." Mirella whispered. "The fake Viscount Loreclay. The Prince of Charming Haven."
On the right sat a woman. She was very beautiful. With skin like porcelain and hair the color of midnight. She wore a gown made of translucent silk that left little to the imagination.
Riff, the minstrel, narrowed his eyes. "That's the Lady of Amorous Haven. Damn! So, she was a devil indeed. Such a succubus temptress."
The Prince smiled. It was a cold, predatory expression. He didn't stand. He simply leaned back. His fingers tracing the armrest of his throne.
"Welco, Mortals!" The Prince of Charming Haven greeted calmly. "Reaching this floor, huh? How... unexpected."
As the group stepped further into the hall, they started to feel strange aura pressing them from all side. The pink mist on the floor was getting thicker. Jack felt a crushing wave of desire. Aphrodisiac! But his immunity imdiately negated it.
He looked at his companions. Reina's eyes were hooded. Her breathing had turned slightly shallow. The others were worse off.
Father Lynx was gripping his mace so hard his knuckles were white. The High Priest Mountaine had closed his eyes. His lips moving in a frantic, silent prayer. The rest were in the sa situation.
Jack activated his [Eyes of Judgent]. It was the sa case with the Jester and the Chef. The hall was under a devil law. The [Devil Carnal Temptation].
High Priest Mountaine summoned his faith power. Launching divine light to strike the devil pairs. A golden light appeared. But it quickly fizzled and disappeared.
The Prince laughed. "In this hall, violence is a dead language. Here, only the acts of the flesh hold power."
"If you wish to strike us..." The Lady chid in. "You must first surrender to your most primal urges. Here, we make love. Not barbaric violence."
It was a trap. A spiritual field that enforced a specific set of rules. Under this law, the devils were untouchable by conventional ans.
Jack felt the weight of it. Every ti he thought about aiming his steamrune shotgun, a wave of lethargy and heat washed over his mind.
"You have no other way but to follow the law." The male devil chuckled.
"Not today!" Sister Riverre said.
Her voice was surprisingly steady. She stepped forward. Reaching into a hidden pocket of her grey robes. She pulled out a large, heavy ankh made of cold iron and etched with silver runes. It pulsed with a dull, rhythmic light.
"I knew you devil would play with your pathetic devil law." She said in calm manner. "The Church of Redemption might offer forgiveness. But, we are not stupid enough to follow twisted laws. By the na of Redemption, awaken [Devil Law Breaker]!"
She held the ankh high. The silver runes suddenly flared with a blinding, white and grey brilliance.
A shockwave of pure, divine energy rippled outward from the artifact. The pink mist was torn apart. The heavy, carnal desire atmosphere of the hall shattered like glass.
Jack didn't feel anything as he was already immune to aphrodisiac-like effect. But the others felt the weight lift instantly. Their mind was instantly cleared.
However, the Prince and the Lady didn't look defeated. They looked changed. Their skin turned a dark, bruised violet. Their eyes glowed with a fierce, infernal heat. Curved horns appeared on their forehead.
The broken law had a backlash. By shattering the restriction, the latent energy of the law had been absorbed by the devils themselves. They no longer looked like refined humans. They now possessed the raw, terrifying physical presence of demons.
"You've traded a cage of bliss for a rciless slaughterhouse." The female devil hissed. Her voice was no longer lodic, but eerie and spooky.
Wings of shadow and fire erupted from the Prince of Charming Haven's back. Dark smoke curled from his fingertips. "You want a painful fight rather than a fulfilling sex? Very well..."
The Lady raised her hand. A ball of flaming darkness, black at the center and violet at the edges, ford in her palm. The Prince did the sa with both hands. Producing two balls of flaming darkness.
High Priest Mountaine clapped his hands. Producing loud sound. "By the na of Prosperity... let there be light! [Light of Prosperity]!"
A sphere of golden radiance erupted from the High Priest. It didn't just illuminate the room. It burned with the intensity of a miniature sun toward its targets. The power of darkness.
The flaming shadows that the devils were using shriveled and vanished. But it didn't an that the devils were helpless...
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