Lilith enters the hideout through the stone door, followed by her four other companions. The stone door had a security seal on it, so only the people belonging to the 121 sparrows could open this door.
Entering the door, they immediately saw a stairway, leading down.
Lilith figured the hideout to be once a natural cave, that was altered to now feel like a livable space. The traces of the old cave could still be seen.
'They didn't do a good job with carving the cave to their liking' thought Lilith, evident by the moss growing in the corners.
Lilith and the group started walking down the stairs, the lanterns hanging from the ceiling giving an eerie feeling to this place.
Isabelle started having goosebumps over her body, her eyes wandering off in all directions. Noticing the nervousness in Isabelle's body, Vivian came from behind and put her hands over her shoulders.
But Vivian just didn't think things through, her hands were still bloody from her previous act of brutality.
Seeing the bloody hand over her shoulder, Isabelle opened her eyes wide and got a nauseating feeling. But she somehow kept it inside, because the feeling Vivan was trying to convey successfully reached Isabelle.
'She's trying to help me in her own way' though Isabelle, and smiled at Vivian, who also returned a bright smile.
At the bottom of the stairs, they saw an iron gate. Behind this...is probably many people.
Lilith halted in front of the gate and turned around to address the group.
"Okay, Ladies, it's time. Aastha, the weapons"
Immediately a thought came to Isabelle's mind, 'Yeah...where are their weapons? I thought the were somewhat crazy for coming her barehanded....'
To her surprise, Aastha pulled out four small, thumb-sized weapons from her pant's pocket.
"I-is this a joke....?" was the only thing Isabelle could say, with an awkward smile on her face.
"Just watch" said Lilith, smiling and licking her lips.
'Miss Raven has a habit of licking her lips it seems like' noticed Isabelle
Aastha handed each of them their respective weapons.
A miniature sword for Lilith
A miniature Hammer for Vivian
Two sets of chains for Emhel
and a set of Bow and Quiver for herself.
At first, she focuses her eyes on the sword.
"Expand!" suddenly her eyes go pitch black for three seconds and the sword grows back to its original size.
Isabelle shocked by this magic, her jaws dropped. Now that little harmless sword looked like it could reap anyone's soul away in mere seconds. Lilith was wearing a simple Purple Gothic dress, no sign of any armour or protection on her body and just held the sword in her right hand, the left hand on her back.
"Expand!" next Vivian's hammer grew, Isabelle shocked by the mere size of this hammer. It was almost as big as Vivian, 5.4 foot in size, Vivian being at 5.6 foot. Clearly, an enormous strength is required to even lift this hammer. But Vivian just casually hung it on her back, supported by the leather strap.
"Expand!" now was the turn for the chains, they expanded and started looking like a deadly snake. Emhel wrapped the two sets of chains on each of her arms, ready to be thrown and wrap around anybody.
"Expand!" and the final spell was chanted, making the bow and the quiver go back to their original size. Aastha hanged the bow on her back, the quiver strapped above her hips.
But this time, Isabelle noticed Aastha's eyes going pitch black for three seconds. Earlier she was too focused on the weapons growing that she didn't notice Aastha's eyes going completely black.
"Why do her eyes change colours like that?"
"Hmm...maybe I should tell. Gotta start little princess's training someday.......so in simple words, that was the consequence of her using magic. Every person has to face some consequences when they activate their magic. More advanced the magic, the more noticeable the consequences, and vice-versa of course" explained Lilith
But before Isabelle could speak, Aastha spoke, "In my case, I go blind and deaf for three seconds whenever I use my size changing magic"
"Wha!?...isn't that like really bad!!???" yelled Isabelle in a low tone.
"Yes...but that's how useful her magic is" (Vivian)
To which Isabelle went silent, a number of thoughts going through her head.
"Anyways, Emhel, you next"
"Yes, Sis"
Emhel touches herself and chants "Dispell!"
A few bright particles of light start coming from her upper body and after a few seconds, Isabelle notices chainmail now covering Emhel's upper body.
"Wha......was that now!!????" again, Isabelle's eyes opened wide, her jaws dropped.
"Emhel uses Illusions, she just hid the armour"
"Then...there has to be a consequence then, right?"
"Correct, good girl. In Emhel's case, whatever she hides becomes useless and her illusions are only limited to objects. Also, she has to touch the object to activate and deactivate any illusion"
"I see..." to which Isabelle again gets lost in her mind
'What the hell is she thinking so much about?' contemplated Isabelle
Emhel dispelled her illusions and now everyone was ready...of course except Isabelle.
Vivian wore a slim steel plate, two belts wrapped around her waist having four small leather pouches attached to them, what was inside them? only Vivian knew. A hardened leather pant protecting her lower half and a huge hammer strapped on her back, looking like a berserk.
Aastha is wearing full black leather armour, embroidery of a beautiful spiked rose on the back. Few pieces of hardened leather sewed on top of the armour at some critical spots. Various leather pouches hanging from the two belts wrapped around her thighs, giving the feeling of a ranger or assassin with the bow strapped on her back.
Emhel is wearing a simple full sleeve white shirt, the arms of the shirt bulging because of the chains inside, the back of her shirt tucked inside the leather pants and the front loosely hanging over the pants. A simple chain mill covering the upper body, the white shirt still seen through the holes of the chain. Along with a few small leather pouches strapped to her left arm, Emhel gave off a feeling of a fashionable but a deadly fighter.
Isabelle in awe, seeing their appearance.
But that awe soon returned to complete confusion when she saw Lilith
"Wh..why isn't Miss Lilith wearing any armour....?" Lilith was the only one, who was just wearing a simple purple looking gothic dress along with a sword on her right hand
"hahaha, it's uncomfortable, that's all" while licking her lips.
To which Isabelle jaw dropped for the third time but for some other reason.
"Alright, I will be the front. Vivian and Emhel will support me in front. Aastha will remain at the back, supporting the three of us and the little princess will remain between us, protected from the front by us and from the back by Aastha"
"d-Do..I just stay there" instead of fear...a little excitement and curiosity filling up Isabelle's heart.
"Yes, the little Isabelle will just watch the whole thing carefully. I will not hear a single word coming out of your mouth once I open this door, you will just observe carefully. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes...." replied Isabelle in a low tone
*FWIP!!*
suddenly Isabelle's heart skipped a beat and she gulped her saliva down. Sweat forming on her face.
Lilith's sword was just few centimetres away from her throat.
"Do.I.make.myself.clear?" no trace of a joke in Lilith's voice, her eyes deadly serious
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" and bobbed her head upside down repeatedly after the sword has retreated back.
They have been standing outside this door for five minutes now, completing their preparations.
Lilith puts her hand on the door's handle and pushes the iron door. A loud creaking voice filling the air.
'Rusty fucking door' complained Lilith and opened the door completely and walked inside.
There was now a big hallway stretching in front of them, various rooms along the side of the hallway.
Hearing the loud creaking of the door a single woman came out from one of the rooms, rubbing her eyes from sleepiness.
"Damn that Stewart, what took him so long to bring that wench inside....!!!"
the woman expecting Stewart to come along with Vivian got shocked, surely the wench was here....but who are these three other people?...and one child?....
"Oi! what did you do to Stewart!!???" shouted woman, realizing what happened and unsheathed her sword.
"Oh! I killed him" smiled Vivian, waving her arms in the air energetically
"!!...you....how...n-n..no...no...you....You!!!" her expression quickly going from shock, to surprise to tears forming in the woman's eyes, her eyes red with rage and sadness.
"Hmm...so you are his lover or something like that? Well, not that I care. Anyhow, I just need to talk to your boss, so would you be kind enough to tell me...where is he?" said Lilith, while showing a kind smile
Seeing that smile more blood boiled inside the woman's heart, she and her husband were just talking about the name of their unborn child. She had been pregnant for one-month now, Stewart was so happy, talking about the name of their child.......that is until they heard Vivian calling out to them from the outside.
Thinking about the love of her life and the smile on the woman's face, more blood boiled and in complete anger, she thrust her sword towards Lilith's heart.
"HYAAAAAGHHH!!!!"
*SHLUCK!*
the next thing the woman noticed was that she was flying in the air, she looked down and saw her body, the sword stopped a centimetres away from Lilith's heart. The next thing she saw was the stone ceiling, and then the cold floor.
She hit the floor and rolled a few meters, finally stopping. What had happened? it became clear to her.
Her entire body was standing a few feet away from her, it's head missing. Enormous blood gushing out of from the spot her head got sliced off, marking the surrounding area around her body with blood.
The edge of Lilith's sword painted dark red with her blood, slowly the body, without the support of the brain stopped functioning and fell backwards.
*Thump*
The lone head a few feet away, with the nervous system, cut off, also started closing its eyes.
The last thing she saw was Lilith driving the blade through her stomach
The last thing she heard was Lilith saying, "I'm kind enough to let the baby also join its parents"
And that last thing she thought was 'demon'
Even Isabelle knew that this woman was pregnant, evident by the small bulge on her stomach despite the slim legs. Isabelle saw Lilith swinging her sword in a flash, slicing the woman's head off cleanly, but she didn't think of Lilith to be this heartless and cruel.
'To kill even an unborn child....' her heart was pounding like crazy with fear, but she knew better than anyone to not voice it. Otherwise, next would be her head to be sliced off.
'Miss raven was serious when she said not to speak anything'
Hearing the noise in the hallway, more people started emerging from the rooms. Some of them shocked seeing a lone head having an expression of dread written all over it and a single body, whose blood decorated the surrounding walls.
Some even looked unfazed by the scenery.
But everyone's eyes were locked onto the group of five people in front of them.
This clearly was an invasion, a breach into their territory.
Among the crowd, four people emerged. One in the front, the three following him from behind.
The one in the front rushed forward with a sabre in his hand, he lifted his other hand to chant a spell but before he could get his words out *Fwip!* *Clack*
Emhel skilfully throws her chain, wrapping them around his legs and pulled them, making him lose his footing and fall on the ground, his sabre leaving his hand.
Vivian grabbed the chain and with raw strength pulled it. The man started getting pulled towards them and tried to grab the sabre but before his hands could reach it he was pulled too far away.
The man shocked by the amount of strength Vivian was showing, pulling a man like him with such speed and ease. 'Wasn't this woman weak?' complained the man, but that was the only thing he could do.
Vivian pulled him close enough with the help of chains, and Lilith stabbed the fallen man through the heart, instantly reaping his life away.
Seeing this as a chance, the three behind also rushed together. One jumped at Lilith, her sword still buried inside the man's chest
"Gotcha!!" he yelled, pointed the tip of his dagger at her head.
*Fwoosh*
suddenly an arrow came from behind Lilith, stabbing the man's eye but that wasn't enough to kill him, his brain still undamaged. He smiled but it immediately disappeared.
"Expand!"
suddenly the arrow increased in size and came out from behind his head, leaving a small hole through his brain.
While the man was still in the air, the two beside him swung their sword together at Lilith.
Lilith retraced the sword back from the man's chest and parried the swing coming at her right flank but now her left flank was open, the other man's swing sped up with force but it didn't manage to reach.
The chain on Emhel's left hand was still wrapped around the man's legs....but her right chain was still free. She swung the chain, wrapping it around his moving sword and immediately pulled it away from his hands. Now the man was weaponless, the earlier smile disappearing from his face, he immediately began to step back but before he could take his first step back, Vivian has already punched her fist through his chest, grabbing the intestine inside and pulling it out.
Entrails, blood, and flesh covering her hands.
The last one though was not given a quick death, after getting his swing parried by Lilith, she immediately brought her sword down, cutting off both his arms. Blood gushing from his sliced shoulders, falling on the man's head who just had this intestine pulled out.
"Ah...aggghhh....ahgghhhh....AHHHHHHGGG—.!" but even his screams were cut short.
Lilith swung her sword diagonally, entering the man's neck from the right side at an angle of 90 degrees and coming out from under his left armpit. After a few seconds, the sliced off part moved along the lower part and fell down, sideways. The lower part soon following it.
Lilith swung her sword rightways, the blood and flesh sticking to the sword leaving it and getting stuck to the stone wall beside her.
Emhel retracted her chains and the group got back to their original position.
Lilith leading stepped over the corpses in front and again stood in front of the crowd, Isabelle making sure to avoid any contact with the corpses.
"Now only 114 of you sparrows left. The other seven already killed by me...except one, but you don't want to be like him, I swear. So, I can also just kill every single one of you and then go to the boss or let's politely talk and save your all worthless lives, shall we?"
the crowd bobbed their heads upside down
"Good, Take me to the boss" said Lilith with a smile, splashes of blood decorating her pretty face.
The crowd started moving, Lilith and the party following behind.
Isabelle's heart shaken from the scene, just a few moments ago everyone was showing contempt for them, taking them jokingly, not listening to them......
.......but now they did.
They listened to Lilith, took her seriously, showed fear towards her, didn't dare to mess with her...
Even believing that she could easily kill all 114 of them left....
taking her insults just like this......
......
...
'Is this.......Power?'
and a new dark flame rose inside Isabelle's heart.
Vivian's Hammer
