That’s right. He eyed the Saintess, who was still speaking with the Boleria officials. She caught him looking at her and waved cheerfully at him. It’s the same thing, he thought.
If he could apply that same logic to her— if he could keep Saintess Lilith happy, while keeping her under the control of the Holy Xan Empire— then what was wrong with doing this?
It made sense to him.
The group of six arrived in Bys less than a week later. They had been traveling nonstop, and finally arrived in the destroyed Free City the day before. Of course, they did not charge right in. They made camp a few hours away, and scouted out the area to make note of any discrepancies with the information they had and the actual situation.
To Edith’s relief, there had been no anomalies. Nothing they did not account for even when they were assigned this mission. The Abominations were lurking about in the city. Not just thousands or tens of thousands of them. But hundreds of thousands. And at the center of the Free City of Slaves— at the ziggurat that was the only grand structure of the city left standing— the Amalgamation awaited them. It was not moving.
Just... waiting. Incubating. Growing.
From her seat on Edith’s horse, Lilith whistled. "Well that’s a big one. No wonder it’s taking so long to consolidate itself. It’s almost a quarter the size of the Oligopolis!"
"Lilith, we’ll support you by covering your flank. But you’ll have to take care of it yourself," Edith said, getting off his horse. He held out a hand, helping the woman down from her seat on the horse.
"Are you sure about this? Can the Saintess really take that thing down?" Hadi asked, voice uncertain.
"I’ll be fine," Saintess Lilith said cheerfully. "I’ve taken down even bigger ones that crawled straight out of Hell. Although I did do it with the help of the Holy Knights… more Inquisitors... and a supporting army! Still, this is nothing to me. Especially since it’s currently dormant, it’ll be much easier to take out as it is right now."
"But—"
"She said she’ll be fine, Hadi. Just follow your orders," Edith interrupted the Elf with a snap of his fingers. He had been getting tired of her constant questions. Elves, they just can’t listen.
The Inquisitors readied their weapons. Edith drew his sword, as Hadi pulled out a large longbow. Another Inquisitor drew two small sickles, one had a giant war axe, and another carried Alchemical potions alongside an array of mana tools and weapons.
"Look out for the Atrocities. They look like regular Abominations, but they’re much stronger than them. You’ll know when you see one because they’re the only ones that actually glow." Saintess Lilith drew her spear, grinning as she did. "Now, let’s do this."
The six individuals ran for the city, straight at the gates of Bys. They were going against hundreds of thousands of Abominations. They were so terribly outnumbered, even with the first group of Abominations they saw. Dead Monsters and dead Humans turned to face them. The blue bulbs sticking out of different parts of their body, pulsing a dim yellow light that was almost invisible in the day.
The Abominations reacted quickly. Thousands of chirp-like sounds echoed as they ran almost mindlessly at the incoming targets. At the small group of Humans and one Elf. Dozens of them led the first charge, going straight for the young woman at the front—
And they vanished.
In an instant, the first rank of Abominations were vaporized. The Saintess continued running past them, red lines spreading throughout her body. She swung her spear again, and there was a flash of light. Another hundred Abominations disappeared, taken out by the Saintess’ miracle.
More Abominations came for her, but this time, Saintess Lilith did not engage them. She ran past them as the Inquisitors came up next to her. Supporting her from behind. None of them were stopping.
"Take out those Abominations," Edith bellowed.
Hadi began loosing arrows at them. Rapid firing her explosive munitions at the incoming horde. They fell by the dozens with each blast, being torn apart by the volley from the Elf woman. More explosions came from the other Inquisitors aiding her. A beam of energy coming from a mini cannon shredded through the Abominations like it was nothing.
The Inquisitor with the sickles dashed forward. Drawing his two blades, and he began to slice through them like a whirlwind of blades. The Abominations dropped like flies, dying by the hundreds as the Inquisitors engaged them.
"Horrors to the left. And a group of Amalgams are coming from the right!"
From the rooftops, a group of Abominations began hurling what appeared to be yellow liquid at them. They were not like the other Abominations in that the bodies there were inhabiting were more deformed into a single large rotund blue creature. They launched the projectiles out of their body, their core growing smaller with each attack.
Edith raised a gauntleted hand to block it. The yellow liquid sizzled on his armor, as if it was trying to eat through the metal. Edith was certain that it would have worked if not for the mana crystal enchantments on his platemail.
The Horrors continued raining down their projectiles at the Inquisitors from a distance. The Inquisitor with the cannon however, had enough and decided to put a stop to it. He grabbed a potion and threw it at them. The vial exploded right in the middle of their cluster, engulfing them in a large green web of sticky liquid.
The liquid quickly hardened over them, pinning them against the ground. The Horrors tried to move, but they could not break free. As
