Heiligdom is a huge city!

I guess it's not just cathedrals, it's also where all the highest church officials and their servants live, and then all the people that make their life possible.

Since we have entered through the southern gate, the carriage has been going for two hours and we're still not at the holy place.

I mean, Heiligdom doesn't have the quick monorail transport of the capital, but with my mechanical horses you'd think we'd be there by now.

The buildings we're passing have become fancier at least. An hour ago we were on a bridge over top single and two story buildings, white as chalk with colorful accents. The buildings here are just as white, but none less than five stories. Every inch of them is decorated with stone plants and gargoyles. It's almost like there's nobles living here!

Wahnzin is looking at the surroundings nervously. She's biting her thumb again.

[It's fine,] I say, [we've got an official invite for you. You're allowed here.]

[I know, I know.]

Lothar pipes up. [You're nervous because witches aren't normally allowed in Heiligdom?]

[So. Many. Witches. Were burned here.] She says under her breath.

[Even if you had snuck in, I don't think they're burning any witches nowadays.]

[You play Whisk?] She asks.

[No... a bit?]

[Burning pyre is the most common non-creature whisk card in Blurich. You can buy it in bulk for 2 copper a piece. That's how many witches have been burned in Heiligdom over the ages. Walgis remembers their deaths, the dreamworld is thick with it.]

[It's alright,] I pat her hand to comfort her, [those were all evil witches.]

-

The pope's estate is really high up as well.

After reaching our destination, we're led up the stairs to the garden terrace, and the horizon isn't even visible until you get really close to the edge.

[Hey, shoulf we follow him?] Lothar points to our guide walking further into the garden. I was so occupied with the view that I hadn't even noticed!

[M...mister priest, please wait for us!]

The garden is really nice as well. I think there's rare flowers being cultivated here. I don't know botany, but Wahnzin's eyes are getting really big looking around!

Suddenly we stop in front of an old man tending to the roses. The priest kneels and the others are saluting! I better salute as well.

[Please, be at ease.] He says. [I am incognito.]

[Oh, sorry. Does it hurt?] Lothar asks.

The man ignores him and turns to me. [You must be the young Stahl. Please remember, this conversation never happened.]

This... this old gardener is the pope?

He's turning back to the weeds. [As you know, officially, the church remains neutral in the war.]

[What war? You mean between Blurich and Reddington?]

The holy city of Heiligdom stands within the country of Blurich. Lots of nobles from Blurich have high ranking family members in the church. They probably don't want to seem any more biased than they already do.

[Yes. The royal house of Reddington have been faithful servants to the goddess for generations, we do not wish to antagonize them and break their faith. However...]

[However they haven't been as faithful lately.]

The pope snips off the underdeveloped buds of a rose. [This palace is the only place in which communion with the gods is routinely achieved. And the gods tell us the Eston Promise must be destroyed. Yet the crown protects it.]

Lothar slaps me on the back. [Don't worry! Thanks to Diedrich we're about to win the war, and the kaiser can demand any concession he wants!]

The main flower of the rose gets snipped, leaving only a thorny stem. [I'm not so certain about that.]

[Eh? Why not?]

[Your Kaiser may prioritize territory over virtue. The Reddington king may be seeing some hidden value in the subhumans, and exchange their safety for another concession. If peace is declared without the destruction of the Promise, our window of opportunity may close for a long time.]

Wahnzin swallows a lump in her throat. [Then... what are you asking of us?]

He stands up. [I should take my leave. I can not be away from the holy choir too long without raising suspicion. Please... take a walk through my garden. The statues of the gods are more... lifelike, than any in the world.]

[Wait, what do you mea-]

[May the goddess watch over you.]

We probably shouldn't run after him.

[I guess we have to take a walk?] Lothar asks.

Wahnzin sighs. [It would be a waste turning around now, when it took so long to get here.]

I nod. [It's not just to appreciate the flowers, the pope said we should look at the statues. There's probably some message there.]

[Let's split up, we'll cover more gound that way.]

-

I take the eastern path, which means I should get to see the statue of Sonma first.

There it is!

It's one unbroken piece of marble, but it's been sculpted to look like real pliable flesh.

I say a little prayer. [Thank you, god of machines, for giving us siege harnesses.]

Oh, but forma lines are grown. So maybe they're plants?

By the way, there's twelve gods in this world.

The leader is Benesant, goddess of light.

Sonma is the god of machines.

Noruk is the god of beasts.

Rhada is the goddess of fire.

Geros if the god of earth.

Histolf is the god of water.

Dower is the god of air.

Guth is the goddess of magic.

Dronk is the god of war.

Dither is the goddess of love.

Vreem is the god of knowledge.

And there's a god called Walgis, who keeps a record of everything that happens in the four realms. It's called world memories.

Because people in Blurich usually have affinity for air magic, Dower is our patron god. But I think Dronk is prayed to more!

-

The path through the garden is peaceful, but there's no sound of birds or insects or anything.

Only the distant chanting of the holy choir.

Before I know it, I'm standing in front of the statue of the god of war. Wow!

[Diedrich Stahl.]

Eh? Who's talking to me?

[Akio Takanaka.]

Ah! It's the statue. [The statue is talking!]

[Be not afraid. I am the god Dronk. I have come to guide you on your adventure.]

[A god, what an honor!] I quickly salute him.

[Yes, don't- don't hail me like that. I must applaud you on your efforts in this conflict.]

[Oh. You mean the war between Reddington and Blurich?]

[Of course! You must be wary and shocked by the human cost of war...]

[...Yes.]

[But as the god of war, I must tell you how necessary it is that there is war in this world. It is war that keeps the sovereign honest! Allowing corruption to fester, or oppressing the populace, these are irreconcilable evils. Sovereigns must be punished or prevented from doing these things. And only a military assault by another realm can do this.]

I make sure to nod understandingly, he's a god after all. [I understand... I think. So king Reddington is evil?]

[Akio... why did you come to this world? Just to work a job like you did in the last?]

Why did I come here? That dark god... (But I like making mechs).

[You possess the power to change this world's fate. It is up to you to decide who it is that must be held to account.]

[Don't the gods want the Reddington goblins killed?]

[That is indeed the will of Benesant...]

[And yours?]

[Benesant is the mightiest among us. It is her that your pope will have wanted you to speak.]

I'm not getting this at all. [Please tell me what to do. Am I not doing what I'm supposed to?]

[Diedrich Stahl... there are others like you.]

Now he's turned to stone again! This doesn't help me at all.

Who are the others like me?

Even the least capable brood mother could rise to the challenge of a shed.

There were always 'big brother' goblins around to provide some experience cutting and placing wood, and even newborn could manage something with enough elbow grease.

But the next wyrm shard in the second segment to be tamed sat in not much more than a hole in the ground.

Dirt was actively crumbling from the ceiling when Scratch was led down into the darkness, only held up by some upturned planks and mycelium.

"She has called to me," the young broodmother explained in a reverent tone. She was knelt down in the darkness, wearing more dirt than clothing and uncovering the shiny surface of the wyrm shard.

"It spoke to you?"

"The dungeon core has been inhabited by an evil god. Pharik... speak to us Pharik." She pleaded into the lifeless stone.

"I don't have time for this. How about you get some spawn and get a proper industry running before I come back and-

"Wait!" She said. "Just wait. The kishin shall show itself."

And indeed, as she said, the wyrm shard shook awake. It shed the thin layer of dirt on its face, and the motion threatened to collapse the entire burrow.

A shining crystal beamed out at the goblin. In some abstract way, it an eye-like quality. The way it shined he felt as if it were looking at him.

I see you it spoke inside his mind.

He threw up his hands, making a show of his magnanimity staying around to hear the rock out, and he sat down. "I assume you want to negotiate?"

What makes you say that?

"Why-? Well you're not really in an ultimatum position, are yah? This wyrm shard, which- not for nothing- is my property by the way, completely naked and undefended. You'll be wanting to hang on to it, because that's the one thing all evil gods are desperate for, but the only one on your side is a failed brood mother."

"Failure? Aren't I a dungeon master? Failure my goddess!"

A clacking mechanical laughter came from the wyrm shard. Very good, very good Papa Scratch. Indeed I have come to make requests of you. But be not mistaken, this is not my only dungeon core.

Something began to seep from the shard, something glowing and fluid crept over the floor walls and ceiling, and where those things seamlessly blended together.

Only now did Scratch realize he had entered a possible trap with no defenses or plan. The presence of mind of an old soul could not protect him against the fearless nature of a goblin, or he would have felt something stepping into the darkness.

You have served my sibling before, in the warm water well not too far from here.

"A... sibling."

Indeed, and as Eriad and I are but two heads upon the same well of power, her dungeon is mine also. And I have observed you there before... As she spoke, the magic completed. It had formed a glowing membrane, keeping the soil in place and preventing a cave-in.

"Eriad is... Ah I see, okay." He sighed. "And the girl is another demon, isn't she?"

The broodmother's demeanor flipped on a dime. "How could you tell?" She said in a sultry voice.

"It's not that strange for a prospective brood mother to get cold feet about actually mothering any brood. But they usually lie about it. I've picked up an ear for people trying to mislead without stating any outright lie. You were consciously avoiding Cyclophan. My guess is, you didn't spawn goblin children because you can't, and you couldn't have the god of lies catch on to that fact." He leaned back. "Besides, only dark sorcerers call you kishin."

If she has displeased you, I can have her removed.

The demoness didn't protest.

"It's alright, state your business."

You follow Cyclophan. Why?

"It's a mutually beneficial arrangement."

I shall speak your language; I believe the five-headed god can make for a more beneficial arrangement for your sake. You want to be a demon king? You will be. Three families of demon sing the infernal praise of at least on of us.

"Each of... the five heads?"

"When the kishin fell from the wyrm, indulgence was split only halfway." The succubus exposited, draping herself over the wyrm shard, "Lust, gluttony, wrath, ambition, comfort. These are one goddess, but different minds."

That is right. We may kibble from time to time, but we are united in purpose. And we see you as our next champion.

"Oookay, I see what's going on. I get your seal of approval, I can summon demons without worrying about getting backstabbed. That's the deal, right?"

In one fell swoop, the threat of mortal armies will disappear. An army of stone devils will march from these burrows and secure every inch of the second segment. All these lands will be one sprawling citadel, without thieves or outsiders, where your goblins can live safely.

He scratched behind his ear. "That's quite a sales pitch."

It's not an opportunity that comes around every day.

"Too good to be true, more-like. I imagine if you could do all that you would have done something like it already, but..." he looked around at the poor excuse for a dungeon.

I do need an... enterprising... follower such as yourself to set the conditions for it.

"That would be the catch."

A resource that is considered plentiful and cheap to one such as yourself...

He raised an eyebrow.

Human sacrifice.

"Indeed, human sacrifice." The succubus later recounted, through a pursed smile. "A new reminder that the give heads of indulgence are the most agreeable to our kind.

She poured Youthere some black liquid out of a teapot. Something vile they drank for the taboo of it, rather than taste or nutrition.

"Ever greedy to steal more power for themselves, are they?" The incubus said.

"Oh no... well, yes of course. The consuming of souls takes in their divinity, and selfish gorging is most unvirtuous. But more agreeable to the temptation family, it sets the follower down the strongest path of damnation."

"Oh~?"

She placed the pot down. "Most certainly! It is a guiding principle of temptation that great acts of taboo will commit a sinner to their path."

"Aha, I catch your meaning. Indeed, murder, betrayal, these are irreversible acts, and the perpetrator awaits the prospect of great moral anguish if they were to disavow them. So they must double down, stay the course, for their peace of mind... Great acts of taboo and little slipping of habits, these are the two avenues by which we engender evil."

"Mhm. Knowing this, and that sacrifice is more irreversible than even death, Pharik the evil goddess of ambition is our greatest ally."

He paused with the cup to his lips. "Scratch has long since embraced evil as a source of strength. There is no doubt in my mind that he will eagerly trample on the weak for his ambition. But he has not yet embraced evil for the sake of evil, we must engender some thirst for the suffering of others to complete his journey."

She put her hands together and leaned forward. "The taboo is redundant?"

"The promise of more sacrifice will entangle the five heads of indulgence ever further in our schemes. Very soon his wretchedness will make acquaintance with Grint, of wrathful indulgence. That will provide us with an opportunity towards bloodlust."

"Indeed. Perhaps some campaign of revenge..."

"....could build him a tolerance for suffering..." they were both getting excited, finishing the other's thoughts,

"...and make habit out of cruelty!"

Youthere stood up, seemingly resolved on something. "In the name of our future demon king, this sacrificial rite must go through. We cannot give him time to explore doubts. The sacrificial altar and ritual implements must be prepared as soon as possible. It is time my wavering master obtains the patronage of a true evil god."

"The Cyclophan will be kept in the dark."

"Cyclophan will be powerless to stop it."

The magic for human sacrifice was orderly, clean, and efficient. The kind of sorcery a god would provide, rather than the messy jerry-rigged knots of mortal sorcerers.

Scratch's witch eyes scanned the green lines of the magical sanctum. A great clockwork flowed through the grooves of the stone floor, or perhaps a bear trap, something that could spring and collapse itself onto the poor sap that would die on the central altar.

It had been completed surprisingly quickly. Suddenly, all sorts of neighboring colonies had heard about a project going on, and had sent goblins to help out. And it was already time to supply the victim.

The sacrifice must be placed upon the altar before the candles are lit. Pharik commanded. If their death is under my eye, I will absorb them. The more powerful the sacrifice, the better.

By the baronet's own direction, the wyrm shard had been suspended directly above the altar, looking down on the proceedings.

"I hadn't forgotten. Bree!" He gestured at the troll. "Open the doors."

The corrugated slate curtain slid open as the troll pulled on its side, letting in the orange light of a blazing forest fire.

"She's early," he groaned.

-

'She' was Sanadora, who had been predicted to arrive at the Promise a bit after sunrise, based on the path of firey destruction she had carved into the countryside.

However, the apostle had somehow sensed the preparation of sacrificial rite and adjusted her route to point more directly at the new sanctum.

A poison ent collapsed to the ground, crumbling into pure carbon sand, and she was standing on top of it, scanning her surroundings.

"I could smell your sin." She said. "It is a thick miasma from here to the faraway mountains."

Scratch stepped forward into the choking ash and simmering heat. He was wearing a rubber glove to handle burning materials. "You just killed three dozen of my children like it was nothing."

Her eyes shot open with pure hateful disdain. "Their death is on your conscience, for you have put them between yourself and your rightful judgment."

"Fall back!" He commanded the remaining troops. "Her magic can't hurt me, stay out of the way."

She avoided the flames flaring up from the ent body by jumping off and gently floating down. She was remarkably small. A new entrant in this world. "The spell hath slain you in Cradle avoided old souls, my newest weapon knows no such weakness, but..." she glanced at the wand palmed in his off-hand. "You had guessed that already."

They stood across from each other, both tiny creatures in a large world, in an ephemereal moment of impasse.

If she were to attack now, he might counterspell and return the attack.

This time it'd work on her too.

-

Scratch slowly stepped to the side like a swordfighter, turning her away from the hole. "I've money here. You could have whatever you want. What's Benesant paying you?"

"You insult me deliberately." She held up her hands, ready to cast her magic. If the goblin were to lower his guard, even for a moment, she had a clear shot. "It matters not. And it matters not how ignorant you are about the true nature of sacrifice, I will destroy you before you can complete it."

He took a few more steps to the side, and she turned to keep him in view.

Her eyes took a quick glance at the sacrificial altar and back. "Where's the victim?"

He smiled, and for a brief moment she felt the gaping maw of the cavern loom at her.

The corrupt goblin knew exactly the true nature of sacrifice.

The horrible, blasphemous reality of consuming the soul itself.

And how she was the most valuable soul to be consumed in the world right now.

The chilling realization that she had been lured there lowered her guard for half a second. Then she jumped to the side.

A fireball twice her size singed her arm coming from behind.

She stumbled to her feet to see a wolf woman lower her arm a few dozen paces away. Evidently, they hadn't all fallen back.

She was about to react but was suddenly engulfed in flame.

Papa Scratch had bounced the same fireball back using a counterspell.

-

Sanadora struggled, fighting immense pain from all sides, but she managed to dissapate the swirling flame.

It wasn't holy fire.

Now Scratch had cleared the distance between them and knocked her to the ground with a leap and a punch.

His strategy was to give her no quarter for getting her bearing and thinking up her next move.

He twisted her burning arm with his gloved hand, so that she couldn't move. And when she tried to chant a spell, he stabbed her with the back of his wand, knocking the wind out of her lungs. "If you'd waited a few more years you'd be too strong for me now. But this size... I can handle it."

The wolf woman, Lydia, already stood over them as well. Having cleared a much larger distance in even less time. "Goodness, Scratchie, she's just a kid."

"No, she's not. Help me restrain her."

"No! Don't sacrifice me, NO!" The apostle suddenly yelled out in panic.

Scratch's glove closed around her head and he turned her face towards his. "Benesant has poured herself into you, right? So she can see and hear this. If she does, I have a message for her; 'It's over with. You had your fun, but it's no more me against the big wide world. From now on, it's my big wide world, and it's you that's up against us.' ... That's all." He fidgeted with his pockets and pulled out a small blade. With that, he slit her throat.

-

You Fool! The goddess of indulgent ambition thundered from her suspended position. The sacrifice must die on the altar. On it! You have let the prize get away!

The couple did not seem as remorseful as they could be, as he led her into the cavern.

It's not too late to earn my favor. The... the brood knight would make for a suitable first meal. Yes, the first in a line of many. You shall provide humans I will... Scratch.

The goddess' voice petered out when she realized she was not being listened to.

There was a sound of ropes unwinding and shovels scraping when, suddenly, the wyrm shard was dislodged from the ceiling and crashed directly onto the altar.

What's happening?

"We are of course very grateful for the offer." Scratch said sweetly, as Lydia used her magic to light the torches of the sacrificial circle. "And we are glad that you thought of us."

S-stop!

"But we have decided to focus on developing our relationship with more established partners. I hope you understand."

Guth and her friends were rewarded for their faith that day.

The essence of the evil god was consumed via ritual sacrifice, her power and domain returned to the celestial realm.

Stone Devil

Family: Demon

Threat Level: D

Reward: 1 gold piece

Stone devils are demonic soldiers consisting of rock and stone. They can be told apart from gargoyles by their upright gait, cracks, and weakness to holy magic.

One may expect stone devils in the lair of a dark sorcerer, or a rocky hills zone corrupted by sin. Their rocky exterior provides deceptive camouflage among natural stone.

Unlike gargoyles, stone devils can suffocate, so elemental magic can be used to bury or drown them. However, they can not be hurt by weapons with a lower weapon grade than steel. When fighting a stone devil, ranged attacks a recommended as they possess a petrifying touch and are often encountered in squadrons of eight.

Adventurers can retrieve the reward for slaying a stone devil by presenting the ruby heart taken from its body. No alchemical components can be retrieved from its body.