Sular left and Goulash arrived soon after, one must say in a much better mood. However, he sat down on the steel-plated ground and closed his eyes without a single word. Bread wanted to touch Goulash, but he flinched back. To Bread, it was for the first time something like that happened; Goulash was always there for her and when she tried to be there for him, he retreated and she did not know why.

A tear appeared in her eye as she adorably pouted and forced her arms around struggling Goulash, pulling him into a hug.

Vlad, however, knew. Goblins were possessive and Goulash had seen her naked in his bed. Za’Dek had certainly tried to subdue these instincts when he was raising them, but could never fully succeed.

Vladimir thought that the way Za’Dek raised was an experiment from the church of steam to see if the goblin race could be modelled to be more… pro-family and loyal like humans.

“How are your limbs?” Vlad inquired, squatting down and closely examining them. Then he realized he just did not need to squat; through his analyser module, he was able to zoom in almost to the cellular level. He guessed he just needed a few levels and training to enhance the NSS and CAC. Strangely, he could not use the analyser as a telescope.

“Good,” the one-word flat answer came back with his rough voice. The goblin did not even look at him or Bread.

A heavy frown emerged on Vlad’s face. He really did not want to deal with a high-school drama in a fantasy world while being hunted by devils, their minions and nobles who would take his head only for shit and giggles. He sighed and touched his hand to feel the muscles and bones. He was no expert in anatomy and was aware that the priestess had to already check him, but he wanted to have clear conscience on this.

Goulash eyes snapped open as Vlad’s hand neared him. His new hand unexpectedly caught Vlad under his neck. Then he stared into his eyes, mouthed something and released him. Vlad just laughed and stood up, shaking his head once.

Bread looked at him with her big eyes with a question in them, but he shook his head again and went to another side of the room. He sat down and started to meditate, not even daring to practice the HBB technique.

“Vlad, Bread, Goulash!” Sular shouted out of the doors, “Pack your belongings. We are leaving. Now!” Her voice was pervaded with firmness mixed with anxiety.

“What happened?” Vlad asked, confused.

“Another devil arrived in the city! Something is up! We have to move, NOW!” She urged them.

The next few minutes were filled with frantic packing. Vlad packed everything he could into his newly bought backpack. He even bought one apparatus and a few sets of resources. He wanted to try to create a proper Potion of Cure Disease, or at least to be able to suppress his cancer. It had taken his finances down to 5450 gold but the backpack was lightly enchanted to keep the glass safe.

Bread and Goulash were made to wear the temple guards' full armour with closed helmets.

The temple was in utter chaos, at least in the inner courts, where the public was not allowed. Many priests, acolytes and goblins were flowing in and out of cellars, carrying crates.

Before Vlad could ask, he was forcefully shoved into a crate, slightly towering over him, they covered it with a desk on which they poured coins and placed it onto the back of a tank-truck. He felt like an illegal immigrant… Wait a minute… He could not stop laughing inside the box and the nearby goblins thought he had gone mad. Bread was again confused by the strange human and Goulash just completely ignored him.

Vlad could only hear muffled sounds in his dark coffin. He knew they had stopped a few times, his crate opened and the content checked. Luckily, nobody even dared to touch the gold before the priestess Sular, who was known for being quite… ruthless when it came to money.

Who was the new devil and why had Sular looked so panic-stricken? Why did they strip him naked? Who were the three orcs on the tank-truck before he arrived?

These questions spiralled in his head when he heard an explosion. It sounded like a bomb. Bomb! Why didn't he think of it before? He could easily make gunpowder or even nitroglycerin. His thoughts were yet again interrupted as the large tank-truck was tipped over. The several-ton weighing monster was tipped over…

The crate broke and confused Vlad rolled out of it with a banged head. His blurry eyes quickly cleared.

The surrounding was in utter chaos. Flying bullets were tearing ground all around, the side of the tank-truck oozed into a metal sludge as the inner heat crystals were out of balance. The three orcs, Sular and temple guards were already massacring the attackers; a company of orcs and goblins in diverse armours.

As his head cleared, he saw Bread struggling against three goblins; Goulash was nowhere to be seen. He hastily looked for a weapon and saw an alchemical steel bardiche stuck into the ground just three metres away from him. It was around two metres long, a two-handed axe. Except the head was slimmer and stretched upwards. Above the blade and the butt were two spikes. The whole weapon was from one piece. It was a simple design and there were no enchantments or decorations.

[Alchemical steel bardiche

2-H bladed weapon. A butcher axe used in the 14th century on Earth. Alchemical steel made the weapon strong enough to damage 30 levels and below beings, except a few outliers. There is a hidden compartment on the top spike where a Poison/ Potion can be put and administered to either an enemy or an ally. Can be enchanted.]

A green, bloody hand was still holding the handle with the rest of the owner nowhere to be seen.

The still-naked Vlad grabbed the handle in the middle and pulled with all of his might, expecting heaviness. However, the weight was ideal for him and it even fitted his hand perfectly.

He removed the now-pale hand from the handle and smiled. He was naked in the middle of the battlefield, only with a looted weapon, bullets flew all around him, one or two even grazed him, one on the shoulder and another on the thigh, yet he felt good. Maybe it was when he hit his head as the tank-truck rolled or the Loony was in the end still active and messing with his emotions… He did not care much. He distantly felt a warmness on the back of his head as he examined the simple, yet deadly weapon.

Then he saw Bread to be hurt. Her arm was chopped off by a goblin’s sword who was finally able to sneak behind her.

Vlad saw red and a very faint golden glow could be seen in his eyes.

There was a flash of the screen from his Onyx system, but he disregarded it.

The sneaky goblin was just stretching his hand with a sword to land another and last blow on the weakened, kneeling Bread but was stopped by a protruding spike in his neck. His steel armour was pierced like a knife through butter and Vlad lifted him up. Flicking his arms, he threw the dying goblin on the other two, staggering them.

It was so sudden that the goblins weren’t able to react. Vlad used the brief confusion and bardiche’s blade to decapitate the second goblinette with a swift strike. A short incredulous expression emerged on her face as her head dramatically slid off the neck. The third goblin finally reacted, screeched and promptly retreated. Vlad stretched his hand with bardiche back and threw it. The goblin was already 10 metres away, but then the backwards-thrown, bloody bardiche hit him directly in the lower back, piercing through him and pinning him to the ground as the simple steel armour did not even help.

Vlad’s eyes turned back to their natural hazelnut state as he calmed down.

[You have gained 38.45% Essence]

The screen appeared but was swiftly dismissed as Vlad kneeled before the bleeding Bread. The bullets were slowly dying down as the three knights supported by the priestess were making a sliced, scarlet-green salad out of the ambushers.

He stripped her of her helmet. She looked pale, but she was conscious. She survived only because of her superhu… supergoblin body. Where the hell was Goulash?!

He was angry. That goblin should have protected her. Vlad shook his head and lifted Bread. He hastily pulled her near the tank-truck. The furnace was slowly overheating as the water from one of the tanks was cut off. He searched for his backpack and his luck did not leave him; it was there and undamaged. He just had to go out of hiding to grab it.

Another bullet deflected near his throbbing head.

The outside was calming down, the battle shifted away from the tank-truck away, certainly because they noticed the overheating engine. He and Goulash were on the other side, well hidden. They were in a rocky desert with a road. He could smell and even see the Weeping Sea. They had to be close, hopefully, this was just a random robbery.

He hastily walked to the other side and grabbed his backpack. The apparatus was broken but the vials buried in the herbs survived. He groaned at this sight, cursing whoever made the enchantments.

He poured his last Potion of Regeneration and one of the two remaining Potions of Light Healing into Bread’s mouth. She lightly coughed and her colour turned better almost immediately. He bandaged her stump with a toga from a nearby fallen goblin.

She was in pain but he could not do anything now. He wondered if goblins could go into shock, similar to humans when they get hurt.

The battle raged for another three minutes but ended with their victory. Sular, now only with two orcen knights, their faces still hidden behind masks and two remaining goblins, one of them, Goulash, came back to look for survivors.

Goulash's face visibly paled at the sight of Bread.

“She will live and I will brew her potion later. I have enough gold for herbs and apparatus, so calm yourself,” Vlad tried to calm him down.

The steam engine started to fiercely hiss as the atmospheric moisture was evaporating upon contact.

He picked up Bread and they all retreated as fast as possible. Their path went near the bardiche, so he asked Goulash to pick it up. He could not as he was still princess-carrying Bread, who had her face scrunched in pain.

100 metres away, they heard an immense explosion. The steam engines were not as safe as Vlad thought. The explosion turned the whole vehicle into a few scraps and a hole in the road.

“What was it?” Vlad asked, heaving. After his adrenaline high ended, his wounds were calling for attention all at once. He chugged the last Potion of Light Healing, alleviating him, but now much. He will have to train those resistances too. So much to do, so little time.

Sular, with a bleak face, replied before anyone else, “Mercenaries from the harbour,” she heaved. The fight had not been easy for her, a lot of her spells were depleted and had a bullet wound in her abdomen. It was superficial for her but still took a little bit of her vitality.

“Mercs? So, somebody hired them,” Goulash deducted.

“Yes. Somebody, who knew who to look for. This was prepared in advance,” Sular angered voice penetrated everyone's head; they knew what that meant.

“Does it mean devils decided to go on the full offensive? Against a god?” One of the knights asked with worry.

“I don’t know… Nonetheless, it’s certainly offensive on the church. We were properly marked as a gold transfer belonging to the church of steam,” she replied with a heavy tone.

“Kids… Village…” Bread weakly said. Now, Vladimir noticed she had a bullet wound in her back as his arm brushed on the edge.

“Sorry, Bread, no time. They should be safe. There is no interest in them and the goblin breathing technique is already distributed… Devils would have to murder all of the goblins and that is something Staumaz would not allow…” She paused for a moment, contemplating something, “I hope,” she added.

Bread slightly nodded and closed her eyes.

“Do you have a spell to heal her? Or at least enough to stabilize her? The Potion of Regeneration is wearing off,” Vlad worriedly asked.

“I have the last five spells for this year… I could use one, but it could hurt us later,” she stated, her face in dismay.

“Priests... Fine use one! I will owe you one…” Vlad offered before Goulash could say anything. He looked at Bread, then him and then at Vlad’s bardiche he still carried. A flash of anger went through his expression but knew this was not the time for this.

Sular nodded, “Fine, lay here down,” she ordered with a firm voice.

Vladimir did as instructed and Sular started to pray. White steam appeared around Bread’s body. It fully covered her and when it dispersed the wounds were healed, except for her arm. Now it was a stump with fresh skin over the wound. Her face was relaxed and her breath steady. She was just sleeping, so Vlad picked her up again.

“So, where now?” He asked with a smile.