Headed by a Snake

In the morning, Tycon took Invictus to Brume's local temple.

Sasha had been appeased early that morning, with a hearty meal of Tycon's specially made bacon, eggs, and potatoes crisped in pork fat. The young elf stuffed herself until she was bloated. Tycon took her by the hand and they walked about-- he wouldn't let her revert to snake form until she had digested a bit of her meal.

"Guild Invictus! Thank you for visiting our temple," a balding, middle-aged temple priest greeted. "The local saviors of Brume. You honor us with your presence."

"It seems word travels quickly, Sir Priest." Tycon politely introduced himself as Invictus' leader and elf-Sasha as his young ward.

The small temple was able to fit a congregation of 100 in its main hall, though Guild Invictus were the only visitors. A large central shrine held a retinue of major gods and a collection bin was set out, filled with a few paltry silver and copper coins. Tycon found it odd that the Tempe wasn't the largest building in Brume. Religion seemed a slight more important in the Free Nation and the Holy Country.

"Please, my name is Villiers." The priest smiled, a perfect picture of affability. "Are you searching for the half-elf that went messing a moon prior?"

[Villiers, Unranked Human Priest]

"We are here for a different issue." Tycon prodded the white-haired chocolate elf, "Go ahead, Sasha. Just like we practiced."

The young girl pouted, trying to hide. Tycon kept a gentle grip on her wrist and humanely held the back of her coat so she couldn't escape. The priest, as a credit to his profession, patiently waited, watching with a good-natured smile.

Sasha shyly looked up to the priest, her long ears twitching, "Sssss... Snake god. Offering."

She held up a squirrel skull. Tycon had guided her the previous night to melt the flesh away with elementary magic, leaving only the ivory.

The priest clapped his hands, "A wonderful offering, little Miss, to the... snake god, you say?"

"That's correct." Tycon nodded, carefully gauging the priest's reaction, "The young lady has come from far away. Is there a problem?"

"Oh, no, not at all. It's just quite rare."

The priest led Tycon and Sasha to an open room adjacent to the main hall. A shrine was set inside, far smaller than the one built for the main pantheon. The symbols inscribed upon it belonged to the various dark gods, not to any one in particular. Sasha respectfully placed her offering upon the shrine and closed her eyes to hiss a small prayer.

"The young girl is quite devout," the priest lauded.

Tycon shrugged, "She's had a troubled life."

"We must all go through trials and tribulations, young man," the priest nodded serenely.

Tycon did not bother correcting him. The priest did not use age as disrespect. On account that was about to ruin the poor man's week, he decided to remain polite.

Tycon stepped into the main hall with Sasha's ears bobbing as she hurried behind. Priest Villiers' jaw slackened as he saw dark candles set and lit on the shrine and the seats.

The stink of iron filled his nostrils. Blood had profaned every surface.

Lone handed Tycon the bucket of ram's blood and a brush, giving Tycon an anxious look of uncertainty. Tycon ignored it, "Thank you, Mister Lone."

"Wh-whaaaa-- WHAT are you DOING?!!" Villiers grabbed what was left of his hair as he yelled. "Invictus?? Please tell me what is going on!!"

Tycon painted a massive eight-pointed star upon a blank wall, then began to inscribe some infernal runes from his System-assisted memory, "I'm opening a Gate, Mister Villiers."

"You're opening a WHAT?!?"

Tycon paused. He turned to Villiers with furrowed brows, "...A Gate. I apologize, was I unclear?"

"Why are you opening a GATE in MY TEMPLE?!?" Villiers screamed.

Tycon frowned as he finished drawing the runes. It was a simple ritual-- which is why he was confident in its effectiveness, "This particular ritual has a higher success rate if it is performed upon profaned holy ground."

Lone's face was set into a deep grimace, "This sounds like a reeeeally bad idea, Boss."

Tycon hesitated, "Yes... yes it does, doesn't it?"

Turning to Sasha, he ruffled her white hair until a clump stuck upward, "Did you prepare that Sanctuary spell I told you about?"

Nodding obediently, she quietly muttered to herself. A thin film of protective light shrouded her. Tycon barely registered the mana disturbance. It seemed Sasarame was a naturally stealthy caster.

Tycon would have suggested Villiers do the same... but as he was Unranked, it was highly unlikely that he had a single First-Circle spell.

He took a deep breath, ignoring the priest who was holding onto his arms and pleading.

« System, display the recorded speech for summoning Lulu. »

The previous evening, Tycon had taken a passage of Infernal and transliterated it into the Common tongue to make it easier for him to speak. He spent some time cross-referencing it with the System's translations, to be reasonably certain about what he was summoning.

Thankfully, he didn't need a Mage. Lulu's spell was quite ingenious, only using the residual mana from profaning a temple. Also, he didn't need to read the script with religious fervor-- he only needed to speak the words normally. It was embarrassing enough to have to bloody a temple. Tycon would have considered a different way if he had to pretend to be a crazed devotee.

"Is-- is that Abyssal!? Are you speaking Abyssal?!?" Villiers was literally crying.

Tycon figured a normal-thinking priest would have probably tried to forcibly disrupt him with violence. Nearly any solution would perform better than Villiers' attempt to violently shake him.

Also, it was Infernal. The two languages were similar, but Infernal was more common. It was an odd laymen's mistake.

The temperature rose within the temple to skin-scalding hot. The doors shut closed and the windows revealed that the outside was filled with naught but pillars of bone amongst flames. The blood on the wall began to melt the stone, revealing infinitely long tunnels with hundreds of glowing eye glinting in the shadows.

A curly-haired platinum blonde woman emerged from the wall. Stepping onto the profaned shrine, her long slender legs were revealed by a high cut on her white robes. She licked her lips and spun the red-paper parasol in her hand, "Heya, Boss! Long time no see!"

The corner of Tycon's mouth lifted, "Welcome back, Lucifer."