Elma held out her hands and released a cloud of her mana into the lounge, much to the surprise of the revelers. She grabbed her daggers and sent her hands toward the nearest two. Before the first scream left anyone’s lips, Elma had slit two more throats. Incidentally, the first to scream was the woman who had the blood of the man she was riding squirt onto her face. 

Elma didn’t mind the woman, recalled her hands, and went for the next man, slitting his throat with one quick swipe. The fourth man shot up and threw the woman off himself, but Elma jumped on him and took him down, where she stabbed him in the chest five times. That she didn't vocally curse the victim was a testament to her self-control. Her rage spilling out blinded her, however. The fifth man threw a vase at her from outside the cloud and hit her forehead. She fell backward into the cloud, and the man hollered.

“GUARDS! QUICKLY—BWAH!”

Elma’s hand had flown out toward him and stabbed him right in the throat. Unwilling to waste any more time, she sent her other hand and another dagger toward the sixth victim and stabbed him in the eye. The seventh, who was right next to the sixth, tasted the same dagger when it flew right into his screaming mouth. 

The eighth and ninth were going to make a run for it, but their drunken senses weren’t helping them. Elma, a mighty gash in her forehead, descended on them like a hungry jackal and knocked them to the ground long enough for her hands to fly in and stab them in the back of their necks.

Meanwhile, Dorthaunzee had run up to the entryway she assumed the guards would pile in through. The first two she saw were the ones that guarded the door.

She said a short prayer for them as the goatman lunged at her. The moment Dorthaunzee winced, a thin tentacle shot out like a metal wire and bisected the goatman, leaving the young human staring. He turned the other way and ran past the four other guards that had arrived.

Dorthaunzee closed her eyes as the tentacles lashed out toward the guards, destroying the walls of the entryway.

On Elma’s side, she was on her fourteenth man. He, unable to run because of a bad leg, held a screaming woman between himself and Elma. Right before he gloated, Elma’s right hand flew in from the side and sank into his left ear. The fourteenth fell over. She turned her gaze to the fifteenth and found him cowering in a corner along with the last three—the three Elma purposefully left out.

Before any could beg, her left hand flew up from their feet and ran the dagger up through the fifteenth man’s chin. He fell over as the others screamed, backed into the corner like helpless animals. One accentuated his scream by vomiting everything he had eaten.

Elma heard the sound of destruction approaching and pushed the three down as a tentacle tore through the air above them. Elma looked around—thankfully, no girl seemed to have been hurt. 

“Move, fools, move!” she screamed.

She grabbed onto the three and pushed them to jump over the destroyed wall.

Once on the other side, Elma glared at the three as the sounds of destruction started to wane behind them.

“Listen up, ingrates. I’ve spared you because of a gut feeling.”

Truly, Elma’s mercy was predicated on the observation that these three men, in particular, did not have clear consciences about what they had been party to. They still breathed because they showed shame at the critical moment.

“Listen closely. I am the Will of God, made flesh. I am here in retaliation for you fools thinking you could have the Hero assassinated.”

One of the men immediately got the message and got on his knees as he bowed before Elma. 

“Mercy! Mercy, Madam! I’m sorry! I was coerced—“

“I don’t care! All I need from you fools is to make sure you tell all who hold the reins of power what happened here today! Expose Fergus and any accomplice he has and make sure it is known—those who profess to be allied with the Hero cannot so easily scheme in the dark.” Elma stood proudly. “From now on, the gods are watching.”

“I-I-I understand, ma’am!” screamed the bowing one. The other two followed suit and bowed before Elma.

Elma looked to the side and saw Dorthaunzee turning the corner and then running toward her. Elma sprinted and picked up Dorthaunzee, carrying her like a bride as she went. 

“Something’s feeling weird—it feels like a bell’s going off in my head,” Elma said.

Elma didn’t want to stay in the area any longer. She had been filled with an inexplicable desire to return home.

She looked at the nun. “Good use of the tentacles there, partner—oh, thank you,” she said, surprised that Dorthaunzee’s first move was to use healing magic on her. 

Elma ran down a hallway and spotted a window. She looked down at Dorthaunzee and smirked. “I might need your healing magic in a second.”

Dorthaunzee responded with delighted eyes and nodded. 

Just as Elma leaped, the two disappeared into thin air.

Sebas_Guzman

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! The Story's Over!...

Just the story of the Elma and Dorth in this world. Elma and Dorth have been whisked away to the Hub, most likely!

Friday we'll have the continuation and we'll find out what rewards come, hopefully. Maybe some of the eagle-eyed readers might notice something concerning though... Speaking of readers, big thanks to you dedicated few that leave comments. It really makes my day. I hope my replies get you excited for the future at least XD

Anyway, I wanted to address one point regarding the speed of which this unfolded. Yes, very fast and I assure you, its purposeful. On one side, I want to make sure the story doesnt drag. On the other hand, I want to have a certain logic in place for the missions.

When I sit down and ask, how long should the girls be showcased, the go to answer I have is, they should be away for as long as is required to introduce story elements, but I also have to be mindful that people are also here to see Fainn get along with them. Balancing these two things has been a fun challenge.

I think I have a good logic for why things work the way they do with regards to mission time. The length of time alloted for a mission depends on its rank and type.

This mission, because its an Auxiliary Mission, really isnt meant to go on for long. These types of missions are the types that create the myth of "The strange helper who appeared a critical moments." Will there be long-term missions in the future? Maybe ones that require subterfuge and heroes who are good at diplomacy? Yes.

There's many missions coming in the future, many that will drastically affect the progression of the story and I can't wait to get there. But for now, we're still in the 'Origins Saga' and won't be going to the more complex missions for a while. I hope you all will still be there when we get there though!