Mash looked down at the people and couldn’t help but wonder how they were still alive. The five people were pushed into the corner and left on the obviously dirty ground. All of them were missing sections of their body, and he knew that some of them shouldn’t be alive. His father was one of those people, as most of his lower body was missing. Everything from his lungs down was turned into a mass of indiscernible flesh. Similarly, most of the people had been disfigured in such a way. However, that alone was not the worst part, the worst part was the fact that they were still alive despite that. The mass of flesh moved oddly, and it pulsed like the beating of a heart. Blood was leaking out of them, and the smell made Mash’s nostrils flare.

The things that he thought were chains were actually tubes or veins that connected them to one another and to some kind of substance that was in the crates. It was probably what was keeping them alive. Unable to continue to look at the revolting scene, Mash turned towards the others. Despite the people’s conditions, they were still alive which meant that Luke had a pretty good chance of healing them. Mash was worried about their condition but didn’t know if they could feel anything. All of their gazes seemed to stare off into space, and he quickly turned to Jill.

“Can you get Luke? I will give him the signal to come outside.”

Jill nodded and teleported away as she understood that this situation was probably more important than hiding that ability. Mash commanded the wooden imitation of Pricilla to move around. Even at a distance, he could manage something that basic. Luke would be here shortly, and Mash turned towards Edward and Robert, but he didn’t need to command them. They were already moving.

“Stay here with the kids, I will deal with the so-called demons. I will detain them, and let Jill check them afterward.”

Edward’s tone was flat, but Mash could feel the anger that was hidden beneath his words. It seemed like he had a bit of an anger issue and he moved quickly. Mash didn’t even have the time to protest before some clones of Edward swarmed the building. Mash could feel a few demons in the building. His draconic domain seemed to work for identifying the monsters. At the very least, that was a good thing to confirm. It was a strange sight within his domain. The monsters were covered in black miasmic magic, even their transformation was corrupted by their disgusting magic.

Mash wanted to question the demons since he knew they could speak but decided he would leave it to Edward. With Jill around, questioning the monsters wasn’t really necessary. There was little chance that the demons would be spared, though Mash was more concerned with keeping these people alive. At the same time, Mash looked at the others and noticed one of them wore some very distinctive clothing.

“Robert, do you recognize her?”

Mash gestured towards a girl who was similarly deformed. Even half-melted, he could tell that her dress was identical to the one Red had. Robert’s grim expression told Mash he was right, and that the situation was much worse than initially anticipated. If the demons had fully infiltrated the house already, then what about Robert’s father.

“You don’t have to worry about my father. He could probably kill thousands of demons without breaking a sweat.”

There was a certainty to Robert’s voice, but Mash still remembered the power of the high-level demon. He didn’t actually know who would win but hoped that Robert was right. Mash wanted to discuss their next steps, but he saw a little bit of recognition in his fake father’s eyes. Slowly, Mash approached the man, taking a seat beside him. It took a lot of effort to hold back the smell, but he still remembered what he had read. His father was a good man and deserved to have his son around. The ground was wet, but Mash ignored it while he took the seat. He looked at his fake father but didn’t say anything, unsure of what he could even say in this position. Although Mash saw the man slowly reaching towards him, he grabbed his hand. The man’s hand felt unnaturally soft.

“Thank you.”

Mash didn’t know why he said those words, but it felt right. Slowly but surely, he could feel as the people died. Whatever magic that had been keeping them alive had faded, and they died silently. Oddly, he didn’t feel as sad as he expected he would. Instead, he was just angry. It was his fault for so many reasons. If he hadn’t gone to the mansion, then he would’ve seen what had happened or maybe even been there to prevent it. Furthermore, he had wasted hours reading the journal instead of looking.

Despite all of that, he expected to succeed. That they would be able to save the man. Even after seeing his condition, he still expected to be able to save him. That thought made him wonder what was taking Jill so long. She should’ve been able to teleport right to the church, and it shouldn’t have taken any longer to return. Shaking his head violently, he met Red’s eyes before speaking.

“Jill and Luke are probably in trouble; we should go help them.”

Her eyebrow’s tilted ever so slightly, and he saw the genuine concern on her face. She decided not to press him though and only nodded her head. Robert simply followed her lead, and he obviously trusted his brother to deal with the situation here. Mash was the first one out of the storehouse, his feet carrying him even faster than before. Robert was a bit faster than them and rushed ahead of the two of them after some prompting.

With Robert running ahead, Mash matched Red’s pace. He could run ahead too but didn’t want to leave Red by herself. Robert should be able to handle anything he encountered, and Mash still wasn’t certain how strong Red was. Her skills sounded powerful, but they hadn’t been put to the test yet, and he didn’t feel comfortable leaving her on her own. Plus, they weren’t slow either, running far faster than even a horse could manage. Buildings passed by in a blur, and they kicked up dirt as they stepped.

“How are you feeling?”

The question surprised Mash, and he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She must have noticed how he felt back there, but he didn’t really feel like responding at the moment.

“Later.”

He knew that he didn’t sound very convincing. However, Red let the subject drop and they ran in silence. It only took them around two minutes to find their way back to the temple. They would have arrived even sooner, but Mash continued checking if he could feel any demons. After it had worked in the warehouse, he wanted to make sure he didn’t pass any more of the monsters. He didn’t care as much for saving people and knew that he just wanted to let his anger out. It was not going to change anything, but he still wanted to do it. He was even hoping that something was happening at the church as he would be glad for the opportunity to let out some of his emotions.

They ran in silence for a short while and saw Jill waiting outside when they arrived. A gathering of people surrounded her as she stood there. There were around twenty children among the group and a few adults too. They were wearing blankets or loose robes, and the people looked around with an empty gaze. They were staring into space blankly. Mash and Red ran up to her, a questioning glance being enough to get her to explain the situation.

“Luke figured out what was going on and did something a little crazy. These are the people he’s saved so far. There are still a lot more down there. A lot of the church was transformed, and the scene down there was pretty bad. Luke killed all of the demons, and even stole the souls of two of them.”

She whispered that last portion, speaking only loud enough for the two of them to hear. Mash nodded, not really caring about Luke stealing a demon’s soul. It was something he hoped Luke would do more, as it would increase his power drastically. Then the real meaning of those words was processed in his mind.

Souls!

Wasn’t this dungeon supposed to be artificial? How could the monsters here have souls? What about the people? They had picked this dungeon so that they could be freer in their actions, but that was under the assumption that none of this was real. That didn’t make sense, while this specific scenario was unknown the location had been well documented. Did the dungeon trap the people within it? Or had the demons snuck into the dungeon somehow?

If the latter was the case, then he could just kill the demons and be done with it, however, if the former was the case, he had no idea what he should do. If the people were alive, what did it mean for him to take someone’s place? What about the people that knew about him, like his fake father and the maid from the mansion? Was the dungeon controlling all the people here, and how did that even happen?

Then the deaths really hit him. A man, who had been a good father, had his son replaced and died without ever seeing him again. All he got was Mash, someone who had replaced the person who actually deserved to be with the man. Mash could feel his face grow stiff and his heartbeat increase. His anger was growing rapidly, and his thoughts grew more frustrated. These people didn’t deserve this fate and he hated whatever force created it. The dungeon was designed to use these people, and who knew how many other people were similarly trapped. There were a lot of scenarios, and only a few of them contained people. Still, this village alone would fit more than a thousand people.

Was there even anything he could do to free them? He didn’t really know them, and he knew that he couldn’t save everyone, but he still wanted to free them. They should be able to live their lives, especially people like his father here. In the future, he, or more likely Jill, might have the power to free these people. He would come back here once he was stronger. For now, he pushed the thoughts away and headed into the church. He wanted to find Luke and see the situation, even if it bothered him.

That was an understatement, as he headed into the basement. The inside of the church was bright though everything was shaded slightly red. There were red-tinted windows on the ceiling and light poured through from above. It was colored by the glass, and the lighting made the shadows of the church feel like pools of blood. There was a steady stream of people coming up the staircase. Mash walked by them, and none of them even reacted to his passing. They looked blankly at the exit as if disbelieving that this was reality.

Rushing down the stone steps, the lighting changed to more traditional torches. Once in the basement, he saw Luke walking to a cell. The basement was designed almost like a prison, and there were metal grates sectioning off large rooms. Inside he saw people who were in a similar state to his father, but the people here obviously had a purpose. Mash could see as demons were birthed from the masses of flesh that were attached to each person. Some of the sacks of flesh had noticeable indentations of hands and legs that matched those he saw on the demons earlier. Mash looked away, gagging as he stopped himself from vomiting. He bit his own cheek hard enough to draw blood, but the pain and flavor of the blood managed to stop him from vomiting.

Luke was healing the people, and Mash saw Robert moving from cell to cell checking on the remaining victims. Red had come down with Mash and was moving towards Luke, but Mash couldn’t bring himself to follow. Instead, he turned around heading back up the stairs. He would stay with Jill, though the image he had just seen would not leave his mind.