The clean up.

When the sun begins to rise you're at least semi-confident that you've cleared most of the mansion, only suffering two deaths and few relatively minor injuries. Based on the number of **** women, there should only be another two or three that had gotten away if your admittedly addled reasoning was right. Whatever you did to interrupt the ritual, be it killing the Baron early or shattering the ring, it made the demons extremely brittle by demonic standards. They mostly seemed surprised or indignant before they exploded into fire, clearly not expecting to leave the mortal plane so soon after entering it.

Your forces are bolstered when Count Harrows and his men arrived, obedient but insufferably pleased with the mess the Baron had wrought. You assure the Count that the Baron died painfully, pleading for his life while torn apart by demons, then finally succumb to your men's insistence that you lie down to receive treatment. You're not sure when you passed out but when you come to Lady Vessa is looking down at you.

"Am I in heaven?"

She rolled her eyes, "Far from it and I suggest you don't speak your Majesty, your face is barely holding together as is."

You crack a smile with the half of your face that was up for it and pay her no mind, "What's the ssituation?"

"Lord Harrows and his men have finished clearing the mansion, there were no more demons inside."

"I'm ssurre he'll be quick to add 'demon-sslayerr' to hiss title rregardless. How arre you feeling?"

The court mage smirked knowingly, ignoring the second half of the question, "Actually, there's quite a lot of talk about granting you that title your Majesty. Your men are adamant you beat several to **** with your bare hands while defending my virtue."

You laugh and then almost cry when you feel the skin of your face and chest cracking. You compose yourself, "That wassn't exactly what happened." She raised her eyebrows.

"I ussed my ssword on the three with intentionss on your virrtue and the two I beat to **** with my bare handss were tiny." Vessa laughs and you fight the urge to join her. You're glad she's alive. "I figured as much, based on the condition of your sword. Finest craftsmanship in all the Kingdom, half eaten through by rust and fire."

"Yeah... took me a couple times to figure out they explode when they die." You glance towards the bandaged half of your face, "figured the first time was a fluke." Vessa laughs again and brings a much appreciated cup of water to your lips.

"But you didn't ansswer beforre. How arre you feeling?"

Vessa eyes you pensively, "I awoke to one of your entourage shaking me, blabbering about how you were dying and you'd killed a dozen demons. He barely let me wrap a sheet around myself. Your men think you're a hero."