While Hei and Torgrak tore through the cult head-on, Tolan, Xera, Tessa, and what Resistance members capable of fighting moved through the streets and towards the back end of the cathedral. Yet they were all surprised by just how easy it was to get there. Chaos and death echoed all around them, and even where they moved wasn’t unscathed, but whatever was causing it definitely was giving the cult a run for its money.

Damien was already at the fencing that surrounded the cathedral with his forces. They had already cut a hole in the fence and were just waiting for the others to catch up. It astonished Xera to see a hole ready for them to pass through.

Xera asked, “Guessing you didn’t meet any resistance?”

Damien responded, “Between the commotion going on out here and what’s going on inside, it was easier than expected.”

“‘Inside’?”

“Seems Tessa’s companions got here before we did and went in the front door. The cultists barely know we’re here.”

Tolan commented, “Oddly convenient. Though it proves your description true, Tessa.”

Tessa didn’t want to respond, turning her head away and looking at the ground.

Damien continued, “Xera, this is the time for anyone uncertain to turn back now. Once we go in, we’re headed straight for the Archbishop. Tessa’s companions will buy us the time we need, but we can’t have anyone backing out midway.”

She agreed, “I understand, and you’re right.”

Turning to face her compatriots, Xera gave a speech.

“For too long, the Archbishop and his cult have held our town in an iron grip! That ends tonight! We shall topple them from the top and rise out of the shadow this false prophet has cast over us all! However! This is the time for those who fear for their lives or families to turn back now. It is likely that many of us will fall. And once the battle begins, there won’t be an opportunity to turn back. So, I ask that any who question their chances to leave now. There is no shame in caring about your own life.”

Xera waited to see if any didn’t have the resolve, but none left. Her confidence redoubled, she drew her sword and raised it high.

“Then let us save our home! For Crimsonvale!”

“For Crimsonvale!” they cheered and chanted.

With their morale high, Xera led them forward towards the cathedral. Damien guiding them through a side-entrance that went under the building and deep underground.

Damien said, “This passageway leads to the where the ritual is taking place. My scouts are ahead of us and acting as lookouts.”

Xera was ecstatic, “Perfect!”

Tolan asked, “How did you find this route?”

Damien answered, “One of my men did some time ago. We explored it, but deemed it too risky. But now that there’s someone else keeping the cult occupied, it’s perfectly open for us.”

“I see…”

Tolan looked at Damien, concerned, but refocused on the task at hand. Keeping pace with the others as they ran through the corridors. Soon enough, they exited the constructed passage way and went down a pathway that spun around a giant cavern. In the middle was a giant flame in the center of a giant pit with a precession of cultists around it. Carts of things were also being brought down on the opposite side. One cart had its contents dumped into the pit, and the other had its contents unloaded by hand. Each cultist carrying something around the fire before putting it down.

Tessa stared at the whole situation. She didn’t know what was going on, but instinctively knew it wasn’t good. Then she winced. Her injury throbbing lightly.

“Something in your eye?” asked Tolan.

“N-no. Just something about this feels familiar, and very, very wrong.”

“Hmm… Some scales on the back of my neck are standing up, so your gut feeling and my instincts may be in sync.”

“You have any ideas why? Mine is more of a hunch than anything.”

Tolan subtly looked left and right before whispering.

“Damien said he sent his forces ahead of us, which makes sense. But they should’ve met some kind of resistance along the way. You don’t just leave a secret passage like this unguarded, and I haven’t seen the slightest sign of a struggle anywhere. Not even small spattering of blood. It feels too easy.”

“That makes sense…”

“If we were trying to sneak in and sneak out, I could understand keeping things as spotless as possible. But we’re just charging in, so no reason to avoid leaving a trace.”

“Have you told Xera or Damien?”

“No. Xera would probably assume it to be too late to worry about this kind of thing. And Damien…”

“Something wrong about him?”

“I’m not sure, but he seems too relaxed about this.”

Tessa took Tolan’s words into consideration, as well as rethought about what she saw back at the Resistance’s base of operations.

Maybe I didn’t imagine that smirk.

“Let’s set that aside for now and focus on what awaits us.”

Tessa nodded.

As everyone neared the bottom, they could now see the Archbishop. He stood atop a small set of stairs that led up to an altar, his back to where they would appear. And as the Resistance ran out into the area just before the altar, Xera called out to him.

“Archbishop! We have come to end your tyranny! Turn and face us!”

The cultists all slowly turned to face the members of the Resistance, but the Archbishop just stared into the fire before him. Then he spoke. Addressing Xera without bothering to look at her.

“Is that so?”

Xera continued, “Today is the day your fire dies out and Crimsonvale returns to its people! I hope you’ve given your last sermon and prayed to your god, because tonight you shall fall and tomorrow’s morning will be our triumph!”

The Archbishop continued to keep his back to Xera and stood there in silence. Then he raised his hand. Xera prepared for an attack, but he coughed and cleared his throat before taking an overly dramatic position. Bending backwards with one hand on hs forhead as if he felt faint.

“Oh, whatever shall I do!”

His words drenched in sarcasm.

“This young girl of the Resistance intends to slay me! Truly I despair, for this is the end of the line for me! Oh, woe is me! Her burly and misguided brutes shall tear me limb from limb before casting me into the fire! This is the worst!”

Xera stood there, dumbfounded.

She asked, “What in the gods’ names are you doing?”

The Archbishop straightened his posture and turned to face her.

“Was that not what you were expecting me to do? Or do your foes throw themselves before you in surrender? I could easily do that. It would probably add to the amusing look on your face at the moment.”

Xera pointed her sword at him.

“Is this some kind of joke to you?! We’ve come for your head!”

The Archbishop chuckled. Then so did the cultists. The laughter quickly increasing level by level until the Archbishop raised his hand.

“With how you monologue, I’d say a ‘joke’ is what this situation has become. Or did you hope I’d do the same and make a show of it? I could right now, but the serious atmosphere you had appears to be ruined.”

Tessa recognized that way of talking all too much and knew something wasn’t adding up. And combined with her feeling from earlier, she knew it was best for everyone if they ran. Quickly, she whispered to Tolan.

“Tolan. We need to get out of here!”

He kept his voice down, trying to not alert anyone else.

“Guessing you noticed something I didn’t?”

“Not until just now. The way he talks is just like my mentors. Overly confident and smug.”

“Couldn’t he just be bluffing?”

“It’s possible. But I know of only two people who would relish in ruining a serious mood like the one we were in. And if the Archbishop is anything like them, he’s a lot more powerful than he’s letting on.”

Tolan was silent for a moment, processing what she’d just said.

“I don’t know if I understand. But if you’re comparing the Archbishop to your mentors, then this may have been a trap for us.”

Xera demanded the Archbishop to take her seriously.

“This isn’t some play! Stop acting so smug and fight us seriously!”

The Archbishop laughed, “No. I don’t think I will.”

Turning his back on the Resistance, the Archbishop stared back at the fire. Unable to handle more of his taunting, Xera charged forward and swung with all her force. Aiming to cleave the Archbishop’s head from his body. Unfortunately, just as she was a step away, Damien stabbed her in the back. His sword stabbing straight through the back of her body and out the front.

Tolan cried out for his friend, “XERA!!!”

The Archbishop happily congratulated his follower for good work.

“Excellent timing as always, Korlos.”

Damien drew his sword out of Xera and let her body fall limp to the ground.

“I couldn’t let this rat get away with raising a hand against you, though I wish you’d allowed me to strike them all down sooner.”

Xera stared up at Damien as he ran a hand over his face. His blonde hair turning black and revealing his true appearance.

She asked, “Why… Damien… Why did you… betray us…?”

Korlos kneeled before her, “The Archbishop knew some people wouldn’t like that we took over every facet of the town, and that it was just a matter of time before they started gathering under one banner. And now that you’re all here, we can slaughter you wholesale and offer your souls to Nencog. I’d say it was nice to be your second-in-command, but it wasn’t.”

With that, Korlos stood and turned his attention to the remaining members of the Resistance. His forces joining the cultists in surrounding them. Tolan and Tessa back to back with no exit in sight.

Korlos addressed them, “Tonight was definitely unexpected. I didn’t expect any of you to make it farther than the fence, but I guess your companions must be something else to cause such a distraction, Tessa.”

Tolan growled, “Why did you turn on us, Damien?! I thought you swore yourself to our cause!”

Korlos looked at Tolan, confused.

“I don’t know what you’re expecting me to say, Tolan. My entire mission was to kill you all from the inside. I’d say this was all expected from the start. After all, how else did you expect to sneak your bits of information out of the cathedral? Did you think the Watchers left blind spots?”

The Archbishop yawned, miming a hand over the end of his beaked mask.

“Execute them quickly, if you wouldn’t mind. I’d like to begin the ritual.”

With a bow, Korlos accepted his new assignment.

“With pleasure, your Holiness.”

The traitors and cultists began to close their encirclement. Tessa looked about the cavern for a way out while Tolan was ready to fight his way out. The only obvious way out was the way they’d come in, but it was an uphill run and completely exposed.

Tolan apologized while his eyes watched for any opening.

“Sorry for dragging you into this.”

Not seeing any available options, Tolan summoned his lightning. And just as he was about to cast something, there was a loud boom and crash. Everyone paused and looked around, wondering what was going on. Then bits of stone and dust fell from the ceiling, and suddenly Tessa had a feeling she knew what was about to happen.

She didn’t want to admit it, but it was probably her best chance of getting out alive.

“I don’t think it’s over for us just yet.”

Tolan didn’t understand, but noticed she was staring up. And it took only a moment to put the pieces together.

“Do they always appear at the last possible moment?”

“I only met them a few days ago, but I have a feeling they’ve got a knack for it.”

Then another boom rang out, this time much more obviously above everyone. With their attention all focused on it, they waited and saw the ceiling of the cavern start to give. Seeing this, Tolan and Tessa quickly started looking around for any cover or way to avoid falling debris. Unfortunately, the encirclement made that impossible.

“Tessa, I’ll make a barrier. But I’m not sure if it’ll hold.”

“I’ll empower you as best I can. Hopefully, it’ll be enough.”

With a plan figured out, the ceiling collapsed and chunks of rock and stone fell upon everyone below.

Tolan chanted, “Gamawel def Barrier!”

Whipping winds encircled them, sending any falling debris away from them. Tessa followed it up with a spell to reinforce it. Blessing Tolan with Aeon’s divine light.

“Alsanct ble def Empower!”

The holy light of Aeon mixed into Tolan’s barrier, increasing its effectiveness and helping break some of the falling rocks into smaller pieces. Seeing this, the cultists cast their own barriers. But some were too late or didn’t put enough into their defenses, the debris crushing them. As for the members of the Resistance, many tried to run in the chaos but fell victim to the rocks all the same. None of them were casters and soon enough, it was just Tessa and Tolan amongst the cultists.

As the debris settled, a cloud of dust filled the cavern. The particles of dirt contrasting against the giant flame at the center of everything. Tolan let the barrier fall, and the two looked around. The Archbishop was still there, though seemed distracted as he stared upwards. Korlos wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but quickly popped out from beneath a pile of rubble. But what surprised Tessa was that she didn’t see Hei or Torgrak anywhere.

Did they not come down with the rocks?

Then two figures fell from above. Their feet slamming into the ground.

Never mind, they just felt like being dramatic.

The Archbishop had his gaze fixed on them.

“Well. About time you finally showed up.”

Everyone’s heads turned to look at the two who dropped in.

Torgrak groaned, “Next time, ve’re goin’ vith my plan.”

Hei agreed, “Yeah, that’s fair. Whoever came up with the ‘hero’ landing ought to be shot. It’s killer on the knees.”

The two stood up straight and began stretching. Popping their joints back into place before staring back at the Archbishop.

Hei apologized, “Sorry for that. Didn’t feel like taking the stairs, but didn’t expect it to be such a long drop.”

The Archbishop chuckled, “Good to know that even the strongest beings are weak to falling. I’ll make the hole even deeper next time.”

Tolan whispered to Tessa, “Did those two just fall 30 meters?”

“They did.”

“And they shrugged it off like it was nothing?”

“Seems that way.”

“… What are they?”

“No idea.”

Hei dusted himself off and looked around the area.

“Well, seems the child is here. That’s a surprise. Didn’t think she’d willingly come to the forefront of things.”

Torgrak agreed, “Aye. It is unexpected. At least ve don’t have to go lookin’ for her now.”

“That is true, but seems she also made a friend.”

Tessa refused to make eye contact with either of them.

“Not going to introduce us to him? That’s quite rude, you know.”

Tolan now realized what Tessa meant earlier by the Archbishop talking similarly to her mentors.

He whispered, “I now understand what you meant earlier.”

Hei and Torgrak walked over to the two, Hei getting in Tessa’s face.

“Are you pouting? That’s unbecoming of a lady. It’ll attract the attention of all the wrong kinds of people.”

Tessa gripped one of her fists, her anger slowly boiling over.

“Come now, won’t you talk to me? Your mentor’s gonna cry if you keep ignoring me.”

Tolan tried to intervene.

“Um, sirs, could you lay off her? It’s not exactly been an easy evening for either of us.”

Hei looked Tolan in the eye, smiling.

“Sounds like you were stuck babysitting her. As the one responsible for her, I’m sorry you had to take care of such a troublesome child. She wasn’t too much of a handful, was she?”

Hei kept pushing the envelope. Teasing and patronizing Tessa.

“She said she dreams of becoming a Hero, but I think she’s far from being one if she just runs away when it gets difficult. After all, what kind of Hero would run when the going gets tough?”

Tessa snapped.

That’s it…!

Gritting her teeth and raising her fist, Tessa threw a punch at Hei. Hitting him square in the chest, though hurting her hand on his armor.

“You two were the ones who dragged me into this whole mess!”

Hei met her eyes and smiled the entire time.

“Weren’t you the one who agreed to be our student?”

“Yes, I agreed. But what kind of mentors bring their apprentice to a battlefield?!”

“The effective kind. Or have you not noticed how much stronger you are?”

“You forced me into risking my life without my consent! What does it matter if I get stronger but wind up dead?! Or was Torgrak being a hypocrite during his lessons?! Well?!”

Hei was about to respond when the Archbishop re-announced his presence.

“Are you done yet? I’d like to finish my ritual before it gets too late. Need to get some sleep after all. No rest for the wicked and all that.”

Hei looked at the Archbishop for a moment, and then back at Tessa.

“For now, yes.”

Tessa fell to her knees as Hei and Torgrak moved to face the Archbishop and his cult in her place.

“Where were we? Was a bit distracted. You understand, right?”

The Archbishop chuckled, “You always were distracted by the fairer gender, weren’t you?”

Hei looked him up and down, flattered that someone knew even that much about him.

“You make it sound like we know each other. Who are you?”

The Archbishop took a bow, “It is I, Juvi! How long has it been, Hei?”

“Juvi? Is it really you? Didn’t you die some three hundred years ago?”

Puzzled, Korlos asked, “Are you… familiar with him, your Holiness?”

Hei laughed, “Familiar? More like long lost former friends turned enemies.”

Juvi agreed, “An apt way of putting it. But I was not much more than a jester learning how to entertain from you.”

“And you were a quick learner at that. For every instrument and trick I taught you, it would only be a matter of days before you had it down.”

The two laughed like old friends.

Hei asked, “So. Why are you the head of your own cult now? Seems like big shoes to fill for a meager Jester.”

“That they were. After you killed our leader and left, the Heroes of the time quickly found us out and attacked. Thankfully, I was able to kill one of the militia members with them and get out in disguise.”

“I’m guessing everyone else was slaughtered?”

“Wholesale! But that’s to be expected. After all, Villains and Heroes are forever fated to be in eternal conflict.”

“Ah, yes. The eternal tug of war the gods use for their own entertainment.”

Stuck on the sidelines, Tolan tried to make sense of what was going on in front of him. Absolutely bewildered by how familiar Hei and Juvi were with each other.

Tolan asked, “Who in the hell are your mentors, Tessa?”

Tessa recoiled at the thought of even considering them as her teachers anymore.

“By the way. If you were aware of my machinations, why’d you appear now? Couldn’t you have stopped me any time you liked?” asked Juvi.

Wait… what?!

It just hit Tessa, but she wondered why she hadn’t realized it earlier.

Hei shrugged, “I only learned about your cult’s shenanigans a couple days ago. Though I doubt I’d have done anything, even if I knew about them.”

Juvi chuckled, “Ever the aloof one, aren’t you?”

Hei could’ve done something, but he chose to ignore it?! Why?!

Tessa yelled, “If you have the power to stop evil, why didn’t you stop the cultists sooner?! Or even better, why not use your strength to help others at all?!”

Hei’s face became openly annoyed.

“Seems the child still hasn’t finished her tantrum yet. Could I have toppled this cult in a matter of hours? Easily. But why should I bother? It would be nothing more than a means of killing my boredom for but a moment. I’d rather spend my eternity doing nothing than waste my time saving people who’ll be replaced in a matter of days.”

Juvi asked, “I assume the same goes for you as well, Torgrak?”

Torgrak shrugged. Confirming Juvi’s claim, but in far fewer words. However, Tessa was stunned by Hei’s complete disregard for other people’s lives. And Juvi can’t help but find it funny.

Juvi chuckled, “Evil knows evil. Isn’t that right Hei?”

“Guilty as charged. But we should probably get on with things, shouldn’t we? The Adventurers’ Guild has assigned us the task of handling you. Can’t keep reminiscing about the past, as nice as that’d be.”

“Yes, it is unfortunate. And as the leader of this cult, I too must take action in handling the unaccounted variables before me. You know, when I heard they had executed you, I thought everything would go smoothly. Manage to talk your way out of another situation?”

Juvi summoned rings of fire around his hands as Hei readied his sword. Torgrak loaded a fresh round while Korlos and the rest of the cult prepared to brawl.

“I now have a collar around my neck, but I didn’t feel like dying just yet. And what organization would pass up such a useful tool?”

“That is disappointing, but explains why you’re here. But at least I shall be able to make your soul into the perfect sacrifice for Nencog. I’m going to miss your ugly mug while it suffers eternal damnation, Hei.”

Hei scoffed, “Can’t say the same about yours, Juvi.”