Chapter 395: Unexpected Results
“Where the fuck did she go!?”
“<strong><em>He</em></strong>…”
“Right, yeah, he, whatever,” Jay growled as she glowered at the rapidly emptying bakery. “I can’t believe the backstabbing bitch actually managed to escape.”
Jadis was furious. Beyond furious, actually. She was so angry that all remnants of her exhaustion had been wiped clean from her mind and bodies. As her mother used to say, if she cracked an egg on her forehead then she’d be ready to serve breakfast in two minutes.
The cultist had been under her nose the entire time. She, or rather, <em>he</em>, had been posing as the elven serving woman that Alex had been protecting on the stairs. In reality, the elf had actually been a human man who had disguised himself with an illusion.
Jadis didn’t me Alex for not saying anything. Why would she? She had no reason to suspect that the man posing as a woman was doing so for nefarious purposes. After all, from the Demon’s perspective, putting on an illusion to change your appearance was no different from putting on clothes. It was just the same kind of pointless window dressing that everyone who wasn’t a Demon did.
The person Jadis med was herself. She should have known, or at least <em>suspected</em> that the servant was rted somehow. Sure, it was possible that the illusionist could have cast a spell that made some random person look like Jadis so that Alex would be confused, but it made far, far more sense that they would make <em>themselves</em> look like Jadis, so that they could maneuver Alex where they wanted rather than relying on chance. She’d also been staying close to Dys the whole time. Not that she didn’t have cause to; she was a frightened woman who wanted to stay near the strongest person in the room. But Jadis saw now that she’d just been waiting for an opportunity to make another attempt at fucking with her mind. And she had gotten one, too, when she had helped Dys carry Sabina. It was the perfect chance moment of contact that allowed her to slip the pendant onto Dys’ wrist without her or anyone else noticing.
No, not she. He. Jadis trusted Alex’s perception. The cultist was a man wearing a disguise. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding and the guy was actually just a simple crossdresser or the like, but Jadis knew in her heart it was nothing so innocent. The fact that the purple elf had disappeared from the crowd of injured people wasn’t coincidence. The fucker had likely stolen the identity of some poor servant and worn her face like a mask. Jadis had no doubt that any person capable of casting illusions powerful enough to mess with both her and Alex, could certainly use a spell to appear as a different race and gender to everyone else if they wanted to.
“There’s still a chance we might find him.”
Jay nced at A, observing the calm way that she held herself, even in such a stressful, angering situation. The sight forced her to take a breath and try to calm herself. Flying off the handle wasn’t going to help anyone.
“Maybe,” Jay said in a more subdued tone. “But I doubt it. The shitbag probably snuck out of here the moment the Hero showed up. I’m sure he’s smart enough to get out of the area once he saw that people who could identify him were on their way.”
“<strong><em>Language</em></strong>…”
“When did you be so opposed to cursing?” Jay huffed at Alex. “It’s not like you haven’t heard me cuss a thousand times before.”
Alex leaned in close to Jay, two sets of arms and a few tentacles clinging to her side. She had her head nestled against Jay’s shoulder and had closed her eyes in apparent bliss.
“<strong><em>This is</em></strong>… <strong><em>Politepany</em></strong>…” Alex said without changing her expression. “<strong><em>Manners</em></strong>…”
“I don’t think any of the nobles care right now,” Jay rolled her eyes. “And even if they did, I wouldn’t care if they cared.”
Most of the nobles who had been gathered inside of the pastry shop had been escorted out. Lucia had been busy, using her spell to check each person in turn to see if they had any connection to Samleos. Once she had checked the individual, she had ordered them out of the building, so that they couldn’t get mixed back in with the rest. Less chance for an illusion specialist to use their spells to avoid detection that way, and Lucia could avoid scanning the same person twice. The spell did cost magic, after all, and apparently Amarantha’s magic restoration potions were costly and in limited supply. The less magic spent, the better.
“I’m with big stuff,” Kerr said as she crossed the floor to join Jay, A, and Alex where they stood against one wall together. “He’s not here. The only ones left are the badly wounded who can’t even move. No way he’d pretend to be one of those.”
“If he did, the first time a healer used their magic, they’d know he was faking because he’d be at full health,” A exined before Jay could ask the question hanging off the tip of her tongue. “Eir would have spotted him by now. She’s been healing everyone.”
Indeed, Eir had been running around the shopying her hands on every person, making sure that their health was as good as it could get with the power she possessed. Jay watched with a mix of pride, love, and concern as her tired elven priestess hurried back and forth between different patients. No matter how many people needed her, Eir was constantly checking on both Dys and Sabina, topping both of their health up to about half whenever it dropped below a quarter full.
The poison that was in both of their systems seemed to work off of their current health percentage. If they had more than half of their maximum health, the damage was greatly increased. But under the half mark, the damage was reduced enough that it was manageable. The poison never stopped eating away at their health, but it slowed.
While Eir kept up her healing rotation, Syd, Thea, and Bridget were searching the pastry shop from top to bottom. There was always the possibility that the cultist could have tried to hide in a cupboard or in a barrel, so they were making sure everyst nook and cranny was checked. They were even being careful to physically touch everything they saw, just to make sure there wasn’t an illusion blocking their vision.
“C’mon, up you go,” Sorcha told an older nobleman with some pretty serious damage to his leg. “Time to get you checked and then back to your house or mansion or whatever.”
Jay watched as the goblin woman helped two guards escort the man to where Lucia was. Despite herck of social standing, or manners, she was doing well keeping everyone calm and moving. Jadis figured it mostly had to do with how abrupt and matter of fact the goblin was, which helped keep the panicked and injured from focusing too hard on things that would just make their mental states worsen.
“What are we going to do after this?”
Jay nced down at A. Her redheaded lover hadn’t looked at her when she’d spoken. Instead, she was just staring out the front windows with an empty expression. Jadis knew that despite A’s impassive appearance, her mind was no doubt running overtime.
“Go back to the temple and drink my own body weight in wine and ale?” Kerr idly replied with a tired note to her voice.
“Definitely sleep,” Jay said. “Maybe after a drink or two. But sleep, definitely. I don’t think either of you can really understand just how much pain my Dys self is in right now, and just how exhausting dealing with that is.”
“No, I don’t think I do,” A agreed after a moment. “But I mean after we recover from this ordeal. What are we going to do?”
“I… don’t know,” Jay murmured as her mind shifted tracks. “I mean, on one hand, nothing about the ns we’ve already made really have to change. We can keep going with what we’re already doing.”
“Yeah, but on the other hand, I want to track down those cultists and rip their balls and or vaginas off and stuff them down their throats.”
Jadis absolutely agreed with Kerr’s crude sentiment. She wasn’t the type of person to let someone knock her on the chin and then just move on without doing something about it. She wanted to go after the assholes who had gone after her and her family. Leaving the investigation up to the Hero and his party, or imperial investigators, or whoever, was not an option.
“We’ll need to see how we can best get involved once things settle down a little,” Jay said with some judicious reserve. “We’re going to get the bastards. But we’ve got to go slow. It’s not like fighting Demons on the battlefield. We need to use some finesse, I think.”
“That is extraordinarily restrained of you,” Amented with one of her slender eyebrows raised. “I am d to see that some good sense has rubbed off on you after all this time.”
“Yeah, well, you and I do a lot of rubbing,” Jay said dryly. “Something had to rub off.”
Both A and Kerr chuckled at the joke, but there wasn’t much energy left for them to break out into full blownughter. Jadis was sure they were just as tired as she was. Everyone had been driven to the brink, but they’d survived. Having made it through the debacle of a dinner party, Jadis felt it probably was time for them to get some real rest. Just as soon as they were done confirming no hidden cultist lingered on the scene.
“On a more immediate note,” A said brightly after a few minutes of silence. “I leveled. Thrice.”
“Oh?” Jay said. “I’m kind of surprised. The experience point leech has to have been terrible with so many people in close proximity to all the fighting.”
“True,” A nodded. “But there were a lot of Demons, too. Many of them were quite powerful, including that huge wight. I would be shocked if we didn’t all level.”
“<strong><em>I gained</em></strong>… <strong><em>Four levels</em></strong>…” Alexmented, her eyes still closed as she continued to snuggle against Jay.
“Lucky,” Kerr groused. “I just checked and I only got one. I didn’t get to do much fighting.”
“<strong><em>You will</em></strong>… <strong><em>Grow strong</em></strong>…” Alex consoled the archer, even going so far as to pull her close with a few tentacles around her shoulders and waist.
“I’m already strong,” Kerr said, not pushing the Demon away and instead rxing into the embrace. “I could kick your inky ck butt in the ring, I guarantee you.”
“<strong><em>Maybe</em></strong>…” Alex replied with a distinct taunt to her tone.
Jay smiled at the two’s antics as she delved into her own notifications. There were literally hundreds of messages about Demons being in, but those were easy enough to dismiss. Once she had gone through the unimportant notes, she found a few that were of far greater interest.
<table>
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<strong>Level Up!</strong>
<strong>Mirror Knight has Reached Level 33.</strong>
<strong>1 New Skill Avable for Selection.</strong>
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<strong>Level Up!</strong>
<strong>Mirror Knight has Reached Level 34.</strong>
<strong>2 Attribute Points Awarded.</strong>
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Jadis had gained two levels in her primary ss. She was still a little surprised considering what she knew of the way bonus experience was spread inrge groups, but she supposed she <em>had</em> done a lot of fighting all in one night. She had encountered several new Demons types, fought and killed dozens of opponents, defeated a far superior enemy under disadvantageous circumstances, and just generally been using a lot of her ss skills. Apparently, that had been enough to role her over the top twice.
As eager as Jadis was to check out what new skills she had to choose from for her Mirror Knight ss, there was something even more momentous that she wanted to look at first.
“I leveled up too,” Jay grinned. “I’m at CLR sixty-one now.”
“Fuck, really?” Kerr grinned back up at her. “<em>C''est fantastique</em>!”
“Then you’ve unlocked your tertiary ss,” A smiled warmly. “I cannot even begin to imagine what insane nonsense you will have to tell us about. Please, don’t keep us in suspense.”
“Alright,” Jay continued to grin as she pulled up the new options she had avable to her. “Let’s see what’s on the menu…”
To Jadis’ surprise, there were four options waiting for her. Typically, there were only three new sses avable to select from, as well as the older sses that she skipped. However, A had told her that there were times when individuals might get more or less sses to choose from, depending on what they had qualified for. Apparently, Jadis had done enoughtely to warrant four new options for her tertiary ss selection.
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<strong>Bonded Harem Leader</strong>
<strong><em>You have many lovers, and all of them love you with enough fervor that they have bonded their fates to yours. This ss will grant you rituals that will allow you to both protect and empower your many lovers, with particr benefits for those who possess a ss that binds themselves to you.</em></strong>
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Jadis wasn’t wholly surprised to see a ss like this one. It felt like just the right kind of cheesy and perverted, while still being kind of sweet, that D liked to throw at her. She didn’t think it was a joke, though, like some of the other sses she’d been offered. The Bonded Harem Leader would probably give her some strong rituals to empower her lovers. That wasn’t anything tough at.
Rather than read the description out loud right away, Jadis decided to scan the other three options as well, just to get an idea of which one she wanted to tell the others about first. Some options were clearly better than others, in her experience, so she wanted to start with the weakest first and go from there.
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<strong>Champion of D</strong>
<strong><em>You have dedicated your existence to promoting the cause of Destarious. Oros needs a little chaos injected into it, and you are just the soul to do the deed. The skills and spells of this ss will allow you to warp the fates and fortunes of those around you; sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The choice will not always be yours to make, as any true champion of the God of Madness would know.</em></strong>
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That was interesting. From the wording, it almost felt like the ss was some kind of semi-hero ss. She guessed that the fact that she was being offered such a ss meant that D was pleased with her performance as ofte. The fact that the ss was focused on altering fate was intriguing, but something told her the ss was going to be more than a little chaotic in nature.
Jadis wasn’t sure whether this was more or less powerful than the Harem ss, but she felt like it was probably the bigger deal. She could picture other people getting a Bonded Harem ss. She couldn’t imagine many had been offered the… honor of being D’s champion. Either way, she kept reading.
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<strong>Cycle Breaker of the Gods</strong>
<strong><em>Your soul hase from beyond the veil to bring an end to the cycle of death and destruction that has for too long gued the world of Oros. More than one God supports you in this endeavor, and this ss will grant you pieces of their power to help bring an end to the endless cycle. </em></strong>
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Holy shit.
Jadis wasn’t even sure what to make of the second ss on offer. “Cycle Breaker of the Gods?” Plural? <em>Gods</em>? From the wording of the ss description, both in tone and content, it was clear that D wasn’t the only deity involved in the offering of this ss. This wasn’t a joke ss. It didn’t even look like one of those weird sses that was kind of cool but probably had a lot of weirdness to it built in like D typically offered her. No, this ss was just straight up an offer from the gods to empower her so she could end the cycle of Heros and Demon lords.
That was… a lot to process.
“Well?” Kerr said expectantly. “We’re waiting.”
“Oh, uh, one sec,” Jay murmured as she tried to clear her mind from the shock. “Just reading thest ss now.”
Jadis didn’t expect much out of the final new ss on offer. Clearly the gods intended for her to take the Cycle Breaker ss, and D probably wanted her to take the Champion ss so that she was solely dedicated to his will. Whatever was left was probably one of D’s jokes.
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<strong>Progenitor of the Subus</strong>
<strong><em>You have sessfully managed to breed a new species of sapient life into existence. Congrattions. Your offspring will need great care and guidance to survive on Oros. This ss will grant you skills and spells that will help your offspring thrive and earn their ce in the world.</em></strong>
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“Oh my god.”
“What?” Kerr asked.
“Something wrong?” A questioned her as she ced a hand on Jay’s arm. “Was a ss that surprising?”
“<strong><em>Jadis</em></strong>…? Alex prompted as she lifted her head to look Jay in the face. “<strong><em>You taste</em></strong>… <strong><em>Strange now</em></strong>…”
Jay just stared at Alex. Her other two selves had stopped moving as well. Jadis didn’t have the attention to spare anymore to direct her separate selves. She having too much troubleing to grips with the fact that she was… a mother?
Jadis wasn’t just a mother. She was the mother to a new species. A species that the system, or the gods, or maybe D, had named Subus. From what Jadis knew of what a subus was, that sort of narrowed down the possibilities of who the other party was who was carrying her child.
Jay’s eyes were drawn down to Alex’s t belly. There was no sign of anything different. It was the same stomach she’d been idly tracing with her fingers for the past few minutes. But now…
“I… I, uh…” Jay fumbled with her words, not even sure where to start with the startling revtion.
“Hey, Jadis!” Sorcha called out, cutting Jay off from what she was struggling to say. “You better get over here!”
“Why? What is it?” Jay managed to get out, though her thoughts were still racing over how she was going to broach the topic of what she’d just learned from her ss options.
“There’s a big procession of soldiers and knights and shiting down the street! I’m pretty sure Prince Hraustrekr is the guy leading them!”
“…D, you’re a fucking bitch.”
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