When Lilith, with Milo and Gabriel in tow, opened the church doors and walked through, they weren’t expecting the glares from Kass and Amelia they received.

“Hey, Lilith,” Amelia called.

“Y-yes?” Lilith replied, worried about what was making the siblings angry.

“In case you forgot, again,” Amelia explained, with Kass’s voice joining hers, “We still can’t speak Goblin.”

“Fuck- sorry about that,” she said, mentally kicking herself. “Anyway, the other knights went away, and I brought Gabriel and Milo back here so we can ask Gorse some questions.”

“In that case,” Amelia said, “Let’s get to asking those questions.” Gently shaking Gorse, Amelia woke her up from her momentary nap.

<Do you mind if we ask you some questions?> Lilith said, leaning down to talk to Gorse.

“Is that what Goblin speech sounds like?” Milo asked.

“I’d assume so,” Gabriel said. “I mean, to me it just sounds like gargling rocks, but those two seem to be able to communicate just fine.”

<If my knowledge can help, I’d be happy to tell you anything you want to know,> Gorse said.

<Thanks.> Shifting back into Human- hey, does the human language have a name? Goblin language just seems to be called ‘Goblin’, but- Hey, off-topic. Catching her train of thought before it thoroughly left the station, Lilith turned to Gabriel and Milo. “She’s alright for any questions you guys want to ask, so just tell me and I’ll translate between you guys.”

“In that case, I’ll go first,” Milo said. “Why were you kidnapping our villagers in the first place?”

“I think I can answer that one, myself,” Lilith replied. “At the camp, we talked a bit, and she told me about this ‘darkness’ that took hold of her and the other goblins. Said darkness was, I’m assuming, what later killed them and created the wyrm.”

“Ah. In that case, some questions about this ‘darkness’- when did it start, what effects did it have on them, is it still affecting them, and similar questions.”

“Alright,” Lilith said, turning back to Gorse. <Is the darkness still affecting you?>

<Not to my knowledge. Once the wyrm stopped draining me, I felt like the darkness had entirely left me. I assume that, since it couldn’t fully control me, it couldn’t drain everything from me; and now, I feel much better, albeit still a bit weak.>

<Alright.> Switching back to Human, Lilith translated what she had learned for Milo.

“The darkness isn’t affecting her anymore. When the wyrm appeared, it drained away the corruption within her- unfortunately, it also drained most of her blood. The other goblins were more corrupted, and therefore had more or less everything consumed, I’m guessing.”

“Why was she less corrupted?”

“Two reasons; first off, she was sick and in quarantine when the darkness first started spreading, so she wasn’t infected immediately. Second, when I first was at the goblin camp, I used my magic against her to escape; our theory is that my magic sort of… counteracted the darkness’s influence. The combination of these two meant that she wasn’t drained enough to kill her, and since we managed to heal her, she survived.”

“What effect did the corruption have on her before the whole… wyrm thing?”

“Let me ask.” <How did the darkness affect you?>

<At first, it was a slightly uneasy feeling. Then, a voice in my head. But, as time went on, it got worse. I felt like I was losing control of myself. My mind was being unraveled at the seams. Then, one day, I was the voice in my head, and the darkness was in control of my body. When I felt like I would lose myself entirely, you came along.>

Gorse continued. <Your magic was like a massive shock. It managed to get the corruption back to a manageable level, at least for the time being. I was still being controlled, though, but it was at least not by the darkness, and once your magic expired, I was back in control of my body. Over the following days, I did my best to delay the corruption by sequestering myself, so when you returned, I still retained some of myself. Then, when your friend found me, their… direct contact helped flush out enough of the corruption for me to speak with you now.>

<So, would that ‘direct contact’ have worked on any of the other goblins?>

<I doubt it. I only survived due to a number of lucky happenstances. By the time you people returned, all the others didn’t even speak- they were like mindless puppets, controlled by some dark entity.>

<I’m sorry that had to happen to you,> Lilith said.

<It didn’t have to happen,> Gorse replied, anger in her voice. <It was horrible- and senseless- and if I can do anything to prevent anyone else from having to go through it, I will.>

<And I’ll help you with that goal.>

Turning back to the humans, Lilith relayed what she had learned to them.

“‘Direct contact’?” Amelia asked, looking at Kass curiously.

“One of my skills is called [Blood Lust],” he explained sheepishly. “It gives a temporary boost to my combat ability, but… well… you know.”

“We actually don’t know,” Amelia said. “Neither me nor Lilith have that skill, and these two-” she vaguely gestured to Gabriel and Milo- “have no connection to Medenta.”

“Yes, but it’s embarrassing,” Kass protested.

“You worship a sex goddess,” Gabriel pointed out. “If talking about sex embarrasses you, that might be a bit of a problem.”

“Fine. It boosts my combat ability in exchange for making me so horny I can’t think straight unless I’m actively having sex.”

“That sounds… inconvenient. How would you use the benefit of that while having to deal with the downsides?”

“Well, the downsides took a bit to fully kick in, so I managed to dispatch a few goblins when I used it initially.”

“And then I suggested he tie Gorse to his chest so he could fight and fuck at the same time,” Lilith added.

Gabriel contemplated what that would look like. 

And feel like.

From either end.