Help and trot; to a bloody spot.

After crossing out into that familiar open field where we rested; post battle with Un-Oz, we snapped back onto the road, with dusk fast approaching. The road itself was actually a short jog from where we emerged, having saved a few hours of travel by cutting out the civil walkways. I couldn't really appreciate the scenery, however, as I was still being hounded with questions.

"Which members of your party have you slept with? Are any currently pregnant?" Whispers the humming voice of the Compuro Clinician, jotting down more notes. "What sexual positions are most often involved? Missionary? Wargen Style? The Icky Wicky?"

"Ok, that last one isn't real..." I whisper-shout back; cheeks blazing hot. "... and I've been with Cilla, Ashes, Zana, Sammy, and Trix. None of them are pregnant; I have a Warmth blessing. I... don't really know which positions are which."

Eve scratches ever more notes down; only stopping to ask more questions once we reenter the tree-line near Bounty. "Ah... a Warmth blessing. You say you've been around these women for a few weeks, and you've mated with five of them? Any other partners?"

"None I'd like to speak of." I grumble; thinking back on my time with the Emissary possessing Carnachias, as well as the disguised Haligcarnassus.

Why do they're names sound... similar...

"Unrelated." I say, rubbing at my cherry-hue cheeks. "What do you know of the Pope of Pleasure, and her connection to Carnachias; besides the religious status."

Eve cocks her head, a question mark taking up her screen. "Didn't you know? Haligcarnassus is one of her daughters; one of the Demi-Gods. As is that author I mentioned earlier, Un-Carna; a celibate Monk of Illustu."

My jaw pops open; no sound, just awe.

A looping animation of a simple face laughing appears across her screen. "Hehe. You truly must have been born weeks ago to not know this. Such an oddity, you are..."

Shaking my head free of it's stupor, I ask. "What other Demi-Gods are out there? They can't all be as... scary, as Mortigan; can they?"

"Of course not." Says Eve, her calm tone finally fitting the subject matter; de-escalation. "Firstly, all Demi-Gods besides the God Hunter are naturally sterile, and any divine blessings of fertility are strictly monitored and regulated by Ihsrom as to not effect Demi-Gods. Secondly, they are much weaker than the God Hunter, and are excluded from invitation to the Pantheons; no divine lineages allowed after all... well, besides ****'s. Third, and this is the big one, they have a natural inclination against their parent God's rules; despite their inherit powers being attuned to that God's sphere. It's why Haligcarnassus made such a name for herself; a Demi-God Priestess of her own mother? It's a wonder it took so long for her to defect to this new sect I've been hearing of."

"New sect?" I ask, just as the sun finally begins to set. "You mean the New Lords?"

"Yes, whatever they call themselves." Answers Eve, slowing the pace of her jog considerably. "New sects of the Dark form constantly; it's in the Dark's very nature to subvert, betray, defect, and dominate. The idea they would have any sort of control over their own versions of the Chosen is laughable, at best... we're here, it seems. Oh my."

Indeed, the smell and sight of rotting blood was everywhere on the road; seeped into the mud, rocks, grass, and bark of any nearby tree. Strangely though, the bodies were gone; even the box baring the corpse we were searching for had gone missing. With all the dried vita sprayed across the place, seeing where the bodies were taken may be impossible.

"Well... shit."

Cilla pulls down her hood, her fluffy, pointed ears listening closely as she ducks down to examine the area. "Look around for signs of where they went! Bent bushes, broken branches; anything! I'd rather not have to sweep floors for gold..."

Eve parts from my side, waving in farewell as she rushes over to Cilla. Ashes sits with Zana on the Boomstick, floating up above to check for signs of flight. Trixie and Gabriella check the bushes, as Scott and I head further up the road towards Bounty checking for cart tracks, hoof-prints; any sign of someone using the road since we left. Sammy... falls down a hole; the same one dug by that strange Mole-Man who attacked us with the Black Hood.

"Ew! There's lots of blood down here..." She cries, quickly oozing her way back up. "Lots and lots of it."

Hearing this, Cilla waves at Trixie. "Could you check down there for a possible path?"

"Oh yeah, let me just have a wee gander in the ****-hole!" She chides. "Goopy Gal can handle it; she's not full of organs that can get minced."

I think back to when the shooting began; where the rumbling started... I dart over a few old rotting logs and outstretched roots in the general direction of the first rumble. What I find has me call out to the others.

"Found the exit!" I shout into the tunnel. "Over here!" I call past the woods.

An entry-point where the Mole-Man first dug under to ambush us, now with a trail of dried blood stretching out from it. The others gather; spying what I had seen, and silently walking after the trail.

Eve whispers gently, but in the silence, it may have as well have been a shout. "Careful. The trail may be trapped; to catch scavengers, of the animalistic, or humanoid kind..."

Gabbie takes in a short breath, and stops us; beginning an Incantation.

"Ariel."

"Angel who fell."

"Immortal. Deceased."

"Soul released."

"Each of us dies."

"In Ariel's Eyes."

Her own two sight-jellies soon erupted in golden light; no longer visible through the beaming radiance. "I shall lead; nothing will trick me, or my Lord Brother, ever again."

I see she's still sore about Haligcarnassus. Me too, Gabbie. Me too...

We follow the Emissary of Martyrs across the road of blood; leading not in the direction of either Bounty, nor Bludbag; instead moving South-West within the woods. Eventually, we reached a new opening in the treeline, where the blood caked itself in gushes as it led into a cave; centered in the clearing.

"A Dungeon." Says Ashes; sounding confident in her knowledge on adventuring. "We had better... Head... in."

...

Zana giggles, and Sammy joins her; even though she didn't get the joke. I cross the tree-line proper, and feel a familiar odd sensation in my chest. As Ashes had said, this was a Dungeon; it's Core had registered my presence.

Now... is it smart, or stupid?

Holes burst in the ground, and the skeletal remains of armed and armored humanoids are launched outward onto the surface. Around Twenty, if I had to guess. The bones then begin to float through the air; assembling of their own will into full bodies. One skeleton, covered in a black hood, begins to yell out something quite familiar in a raspy, echoing voice; brandishing a pistol.

"Tonight! We drink!"

Well, we found our bounty...

Shit.