“We’re not going to the hall today?” John asked, when Wendy led them towards the front exit. It was the second to last day of the challenges, and he was rather thankful about that fact. He almost missed the paperwork at this point. Spending every day wondering what insanity would await him wasn’t exactly de-stressing, despite the beautiful environment.

Especially this morning. He had spent the time from waking up until now wondering if he should use the Vision of Calamity again. Since the Quest had already given him a warning that there was something nasty coming his way today, knowing what it would be could have been advantageous. That he would have to sacrifice accuracy in his sight to gain that knowledge, however, made it a trade-off he wasn’t willing to take. Whatever he would be facing, he would face it whether he knew what it was or not. If he had to survive five minutes around it, a short vision of what it looked like and how it could harm him would do relatively little good.

Much better to keep his eyesight at superhuman levels.

“Nah,” Wendy answered.

“…Well, where are we going then?” John asked. “I’d appreciate it if you would at least tell me where you’re going to put me into life-threatening danger.”

“Wat?” Wendy responded in a memey way. “Today is going to be chill, dude, no need to be so paranoid.”

John raised an eyebrow and used Observe to verify that she was saying the truth. Nothing about her emotions indicated that she was lying, but otherwise the window was pretty nondescript. In other words, the Gamer didn’t get a confirmation either way. ‘Slightly frustrating, but Observe has never been the most reliant tool,’ he thought as they left the building.

Outside waited Vita, Moira and Lorelei. The presence of the seer served to somewhat calm John. If something incredibly dangerous would have happened today, she shouldn’t have been present. Unless, of course, that threatening thing was specifically tailored to him. John weighed his options again. If this was some sort of third-party involvement that threatened him, then using Vision of Calamity made perfect sense again.

‘But why would it be part of my Quest then?’ he wondered and decided to walk over to the two members of the Order of the Golden Rose. Before he expended any of his own resources, it was best to request some information from the person with actual foresight around. Alternatively, he could have asked Vita, but he didn’t expect to get anything more than a non-answer and a headache when he tried to confirm things with Observe. “Hey, ladies,” he greeted and got himself a surprisingly warm welcome by Moira.

Which only meant that, rather than stare at him like someone she considered changing the side of the road for, she gave him a patient nod. “A good morning to you too, John,” she said and then looked over to his entourage, “Rave, Aclysia, Beatrice, my greetings.” The maids were actually positively surprised, Aclysia much more so than Beatrice, that Moira had taken the time to learn their names and actually greeted them as well. In unison, they bowed.

“’Sup?” Rave asked in greeting and grabbed her boyfriend’s arm. “I notice ya aren’t keeping to some corner today.”

“We were assured that there would be no cameras,” the Shield Warden answered, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Like usual, she wore her hair open and some practical summer clothes hid as much of her body as she could compromise with the heat. “Thus, there is no reason for us to hide ourselves.”

‘Wonder if that extends to our little seer here as well,’ John thought, devouring Lorelei with his eyes. The usual, ritualistic clothes were gone and replaced with a white summer dress with a pencil skirt. She had way more in the hips and backside department than he would have originally guessed. This type of dress was already cut to sit rather tight and her butt stretched that to the limits of what could have been comfortable for her to wear. He also got to see a bit more of her face, although that extra bit, her forehead, wasn’t exactly something he would call enticing. Her eyes were hidden between large, pitch black sunglasses and her braided hair was covered by an illusion, masking the white as platinum blonde instead.

Like almost always when John’s attention focused on her, Lorelei started to blush. Cutely, she folded her hands in front of herself, pulling her shoulders together and lowering her head. What was meant to make her look as small as possible made her breasts stand out tremendously, as they were framed and partly squished between her arms. There was no escaping from the Gamer’s lecherous gaze.

John opened his mouth to continue the conversation, but was interrupted by Wendy. “You can chat on the way. If you could follow us out of the barrier, then I would believe you have the very basic abilities of an Abyssal and half a brain.”

“Alright then.” The Gamer obeyed, and all of them left the barrier. Wendy and Vita marched ahead, one looking like a cosplayer and the other completely invisible to the public. “Where is Jeff, by the way? Did you tell him the wrong time again?”

“No, he said he didn’t want to bother tagging along for something he couldn’t commentate on. Can’t blame him, he was busy having a threesome with Nashara and some other slut,” responded Wendy swiftly, causing Moira to cross her arms.

“Fornicating with demons is tasteless,” the Warden declared.

“She’s just a bitch in permanent heat, that girl won’t hurt anybody.” The goddess of fast food stretched, clearly bored by that discussion. “No need to get your panties in a bunch and apply hammer diplomacy. I know, I know, that’s really hard for someone who is the exact opposite of delicate like a golden rose, but some things actually look better if you don’t flatten them with a weapon.”

“I didn’t say she was in need of purging,” Moira returned. “If you were allowing demons of clear malevolence to live with you, I wouldn’t be so courteous. I said it was tasteless.”

“Whatever.” Wendy waved off, leaving the Warden to pay attention to John again.

“To speak of tasteless things, I must say I was rather put off by the trial I first witnessed in person. Seeing you so eagerly have sex with a woman you barely know in front of your already considerable harem is not exactly behaviour I condone.” John could have interrupted her with a quip there, but he felt that there was a follow-up incoming. “However, your conduct during the last two challenges I, personally, found rather admirable.”

“Really?” John asked with a raised eyebrow. “I collapsed in one and spent like ten minutes inspecting a simple door in the other.”

“If you break it down to such simplicity, your actions seem pretty mundane or downright paranoid.” Shaking her head, Moira made it clear that she did not see it that way. “However, given what you collapsed in front of, I begrudgingly admire your resolve. The blessing the Lady has seen fit to give you has clearly made standing up to one of these void catssss-“ She reached up to her head and sharply exhaled. “One of those things even more challenging than for the average person. By the Lady, it’s like someone is distributing glass shards inside my brain.”

“Try thinking about something you like – visual at best,” John advised her. “The less you try to recall something you aren’t equipped to understand, the less it will hurt.”

Rubbing her temples for a few seconds, Moira then nodded and sighed in relief. “That does make it easier, thank you. Where was I?” Blinking, she recalled and continued, “Ah, yes, while your decision to inspect that door in so much detail looked rather silly, it was nice to have it confirmed that you actually do think a lot about what you do. It makes it easier to believe what you told me earlier this week.”

“Well, glad it was somewhat useful then,” John told her.

“Alternatively, ya could, ya know, just trust me and my tiger here,” Rave chimed in. “We still did more good than harm on the world stage. WAY more. Fact alone that we helped stomp out the commies and stopped the one-eyed battle maniac should count for something.”

“There really is no saying when Sigmund would have decided to make his merry way over to you,” John added with a joking smirk. “In a way you owe me something.”

“Maybe, we never encountered him so we do not know how much a threat he really was,” Moira retorted and there was a moment of silence.

John used that to pivot the topic towards the thing he had wanted to know originally. “Lorelei, would you mind if I pry a little bit?”

“That depends on the subject, honoured Gamer,” she responded swiftly, her diligent tone unbothered by her earlier embarrassment. It looked like she had gotten a handle on it by now, she even smiled visibly while she spoke. “If it is not covered by confidentiality, I’d be happy to assist you.”

“I would say it’s about as covered as your curves are today,” John took the opportunity for a little flirt. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. The dress suits you.”

“I- thank you, Gam-“

“We had this already, call me John, Lorelei,” he told her with his most charming smile. “There is no need to be so formal.”

“I will attempt to be more friendly with you, J-John,” she said, everything perfectly normal, if a bit embarrassed, until she suddenly stumbled over his name. Afterwards, she turned a bit red. “I usually wear more modest clothes or those befitting of a ritual. It pleases me to hear you enjoy my sight.”

Moira opened her mouth for a second, looked at the seer, at John and then just shook her head. ‘What was that about?’ John wondered. It had all the signs of the Warden wanting to say something. ‘Did they have a talk about her reactions to me, perhaps? I can’t imagine Moira to be particularly approving of any potential relationship I have with her seer.’ A confrontation on the topic was very unlikely to get him any answers, so he stayed with his original inquiry. “To the point, I have reason to believe that I’ll be in danger during today’s challenge and I would like to confirm that it’s not coming from any third party. Have you seen any complications for today?”

“My own future is secure, to search for more, I’d need your permission to scan your aura and ask for the Lady’s guidance,” Lorelei answered, her body shifting noticeably at the mention of his aura. “If you’d like me to, I could try, but I’m afraid it might leave me… distracted.”

John wasn’t sure if she actually meant that such a use of her powers would have a short-term detriment or if the detailed tangling with his aura would leave her panties soaked. With his current state of knowledge, the latter was a lot more likely. Which just motivated him more to do this. “If that’s the only drawback, I’d like you to try – if you don’t mind, of course.”

“It… could also be that I receive visions of your written past, not just your potential future,” Lorelei warned. “I might come to know things you would rather keep hidden. If I keep my touch light and only search for a general feeling in the future, rather than clear images, then I can minimize the risk.”

“Ah.” John reconsidered for a few seconds. What was there to hide in his past? A lot of government secrets, but nothing so shady that he would be more than slightly irked if the Order came to know them. Otherwise, just embarrassing stuff, basically anything that was older than fourteen months. “As long as I’m agreeing to it, I don’t mind sharing some space in my mind,” he slowly said. It wasn’t the entire truth, he still was uncomfortable with the idea, but he wasn’t angry as he was at paparazzi or other forms of spies. “If you want to, I would be willing to take the risk.”

“It would be my honour to aid you, chosen of the Lady.” Lorelei bowed her head. “To serve someone such as you is the privilege of a Varnik.”

‘I really like her,’ Aclysia chimed in for a second. Her approval of the seer grew with every interaction she had with John.

“Give me your hand and we can begin,” the white-haired woman continued. “This is not a ritual those unaware of the Lady’s children can notice.”

John extended his right towards her. The moment she took his hand between hers, he felt something odd around it. Her aura intertwined with his, calm, warm and friendly. For a moment, he expected that this connection would grow until he could share the vision with her, but she let go before the feeling could grow any more intense.

Her steps wobbled for a few moments, as if she was drunk or otherwise confused. Letting out a number of excited breaths through her open mouth, she seemed almost as turned on as she had been following the oil wrestling challenge. John wanted to offer her his arm. Protectively, Moira got herself between John and Lorelei.

“If you touched her now, there would be a scene,” the Warden justified her action, although it was pretty obvious she was just universally unhappy with how overtly sexual their interactions were in tone. Shrugging, John let her do as she wanted. Not only was he certain he would get more chances to test what kind of interest Lorelei exactly had in him (and how his own in her would manifest in time) but those two were obviously friends. Pushing himself past Moira to help the seer would likely have done more harm than good in terms of the Relationship Score.

After Lorelei somewhat stabilized, John asked, “Did you see anything?”

“The Lady showed me nothing of importance,” Lorelei responded, which only confused John a whole lot more.

‘Okay, so Wendy seemed honestly surprised at the suggestion that there could be danger today, Observe was extremely neutral, Lorelei hasn’t seen anything for herself or me, but the Quest makes it pretty clear that there is something that I need to survive. The only connecting element here is Gaia… wait a second, could it be…’ He had spent so much time talking and pondering that he only now noticed that Wendy and Vita were already on the steps of a small church. “Is this where we’re supposed to go?” he asked, having an extremely bad feeling about all of this.

“Yeah, we’re going to make you do a confession,” Wendy grinned. “Can’t imagine you’re going to like that very much.”

“I wouldn’t, but I think something else entirely is going o-“ he started, only to be interrupted by a sudden change in the air, coinciding with Vita perking up and a window appearing in front of him.

The entire group was gripped by an irresistible force that not even Vita could neutralize. They were pulled into the church, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that space was warped around them so they suddenly found themselves inside the church. Whatever it was, they all landed at the end of the aisle inside the small hall.

It was barely big enough for 40 people, the benches lined up between a small number of columns that gave the hall that Christian faith charm in decoration and placement. A stained-glass window behind the altar cast light down onto the hallway.

“You always figure things out, don’t you?” Gaia asked, manifesting out of a momentary tear in space, directly in front of the large, wooden cross. The supernatural grip on the group faded and left them stand on their own two feet. “A tad too late today, however.”

The supreme deity hadn’t changed since John had last seen her on the morning after his birthday. A Mediterranean tan gave colour to the smooth skin of the relatively small woman. Her black dress was covered in ever-shifting lines of ever-shifting colours, three of the four strands of its skirt hovering aimlessly around her, just like the illogically curly, wild torrent of green hair. It was like her very own tornado followed the movements of her head.

The last strand that covered her modesty was pressed between her crossed legs, specifically her beautifully meaty thighs. Part of that truly divine ass of hers was visible through the slits of her dress, even more of it was visible thanks to the angle. It was the only ass in existence that John felt rivalled the one of his girlfriend. When it came to the chest department, she had more moderate equipment, which was a charm on its own. Her face was drop dead gorgeous, mostly southern European with slight Asian undertones. The green eyes with the two black circles, crossed by seven lines each, stared at him, waiting for a response.

“To be fair, I don’t usually make you a suspect in the things going on around me,” John said and pulled his shirt back into position.

“My Lady,” Lorelei’s voice was filled to the brim with veneration. “I-I… your radiance overwhelms even the snippets of your vastness that I perceived in my dreams.” Next to her, Moira didn’t even have words, simply falling to her knees like a knight before a king.

“Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot,” Gaia answered and smiled benevolently. “Not as much as I should, though, you’re a good girl, Lorelei.”

“Thank you, my divine Lady!”

“This next part isn’t for you though, so I’d ask you to stay put elsewhere. You can ask me that question burning under your nails over there.” It wasn’t exactly a request, as Gaia just snapped her fingers and Lorelei was gone as if she had never been there.

“I’m just going to assume you split yourself into two entities, given that you’re still here?” John asked the supreme deity.

“I’m omnipresent, I can be wherever I want at different or the same time,” Gaia confirmed the Gamer’s theory on the matter. Not that it had been up for debate. “Anyway, I decided to weigh in on this insanity you call a series of challenges.”

“Sounds like a bother,” John sighed.

“A giant bother!” Wendy echoed.

“You should be honoured to be tested by the Lady herself!” Moira reprimanded more intensely than she had ever before. “With what arrogance do you dare to dismiss her like that, you he-“

“Calm down, Moira,” Gaia interrupted, and the Shield Warden immediately fell silent. “This guy has never been much for respect towards me, he’s a lost cause in that way. Luckily, he’s also entertaining, so it’s alright. Not that I can say the same for grease queen over there.” Wendy would have possibly responded with something, but Gaia made a casual pinching gesture and the fast food goddess’ mouth was glued shut. “There is a misconception you have, however, Shield Warden. This isn’t just a test for the Gamer – I decided that you’re all due for a reality check.”

Golden light filled the entire church for a moment, then quickly began to coalesce into a shape. One that John had never managed to get a clear view on, but was now granted a lasting presence in the material world.

The angel was a woman, that much was clear. Although her body missed most details, the form of it was clearly feminine, a balanced hourglass figure with nothing about her immediately standing out too much. She clearly wasn’t completely present, her skin was of a metallic gold, radiated softly and overall reminded John more of a mannequin than a flesh and blood human. Her hair was a white streak between fire and water, less a bundle of strands than energy attached to her scalp. Only her eyes seemed human, verdant orbs, the same colour as Gaia’s and of life itself.

“Now then, Lucifrena, I have a task for you,” the supreme deity stated and exchanged a long glance with the angel. “It would be unbecoming for you to disobey, wouldn’t it?”