Chapter 95 - Feed Me Seymour

Professor Kal scratched his chin as the people around him got to their feet, all of them looking around, fearful of the deep roar that had reverberated throughout the entire cathedral. Whatever had made that sound must have been uncommonly powerful, its presence alone was enough to overpower the magical arrays set up around the church, causing them to explode in spectacular fashion.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Professor Kal returned to the statue where he had left the two women behind. They both had managed to stay on their feet by using the statue as support during the worst of the shaking, and where now standing around much like everyone else. He was about to suggest to them that they make their leave when a panicked voice shouted out from the back of the foyer.

"Profess… I mean, Priest Unilith!"

Professor Kal brought his attention to an armless paladin, gripping his sword in one hand, with an extremely ugly look on his face as he ran through the curious crowd. Rolling his eyes, Professor Kal couldn't help but curse at his incompetent protégé. "Godsdamnit boy! What the fuck did you do now?"

Stopping right in front of him, with his grisly open wound bare for all to see, Ryan simplified the situation as much as he could. "Well… you see, I may have done something stupid."

"Well, that's no surprise there!"

Not bothering to argue, Ryan continued. "It really wasn't my fault, you see. She tricked me, I thought she was wrongly imprisoned, and so, you know, I just had to get her out…"

Ryan's oversimplified explanation was punctuated by another bestial roar ripping through the air around them. Noises of distant explosions could be heard, sounding like the cathedral was being torn apart, and they were growing closer. Screams and shouts were the next thing to be heard as priests, paladins, and nobles alike surged through the doors in the back of the room, running for the exit.

"What's going on? I demand an explanation!" The veiled woman interjected, her voice shaking underneath a firm veneer.

Turning to her, Professor Kal shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea Princess, but I would suggest leaving if I were you."

"How did you…" She started, before being interrupted by a rending tear coming from close by.

"Professor, it's coming." Ryan said in a somber tone.

"Professor?!" Princess Alessandria said with a voice full of confusion. "Tell me what's going on, immediately!"

"Princess, we should leave, now!" Lilly said, dropping their poorly put together disguises, stepping in front of the veiled First Princess.

"Both of you shut up!" Professor Kal spat before turning to the armless paladin. "Boy, we're going to have some words when we get back."

"Yes, Professor." He replied, hanging his head.

With an explosion of wooden and stone shrapnel, the back of the foyer disintegrated as an otherworldly horror burst forth into the spacious room. It was every bit as tall as the twenty-foot-tall statue that they were standing next to. It was covered in warty, thick skin the color of bark, with six, whip-like arms ending in claws that could rend steel as if it were paper. It stood on hoofed feet that sent out thunderous shockwaves with each step it took closer to them.

It looked around with rolling white, bulbous eyes at all the humans that were standing stock still in fear and shock. Its face was humanoid, but only in shape; it had a wide mouth, spanning from one long, pointed ear to the other. No nose sat on its horrid face, only two slits were present, slanted just above its dripping maw.

"My gods boy, what would drive you to want to let THAT out?!" Professor Kal asked, a disgusted look on his face.

"I swear, it didn't look like that before."

"Whatever, I think it's about time we go, don't you?" Professor Kal suggested.

Just as he grabbed hold of the large paladin, the monster made its move. Scooping up the closest priests with its long arms, it brought them to its wide-open maw. Inside its mouth, instead of teeth, were thousands of wriggling worm like organs, reaching for the screaming priests as they flailed around in horror. Other nearby priests acted quickly, casting their most powerful spells, they launched a barrage of holy magic directly at the beast.

Beams of pure light impacted the monster's warty flesh, chains of radiant holy energy sprouted from the floor, wrapping around the creature's six limbs. Paladins rushed forward, their bodies bulging as they called upon their own magic to invigorate their flesh, gripping their swords and morning stars. Ignoring it all as a rock would flies, the monster easily broke the chains attempting to restrain it and shrugged off the rays of scorching light. The paladin's physical attacks left not even a mark as they bounded off its armored hide with each feeble strike.

No longer restrained by the chains, it brought the priests back to its hungry mouth, the undulating, worm like organs latching onto their faces. Sickening, muffled screams could be heard even over the sounds of the attacking priests and paladins. Professor Kal watched in rapt attention as the priests' bodies withered at a visible pace, soon, leaving nothing but empty husks that the monster let fall to the ground in crumpled heaps.

With a triumphant howl, the monster bellowed toward the ceiling, causing all of those present to cover their ears. Even the brave priests and paladins that had taken up arms against the monster were shaken to the core, some even dropping their weapons and cowering in fear. One particularly unlucky paladin was squashed like a grape as the monster stomped down with its wagon-wheel sized hoof, his blood and viscera exploding out in every direction, splattering the ground with crimson.

With speed that was unnatural for its size, the monster began grabbing every human within reach, bringing them up to its gaping mouth before sucking them dry. With each person that it fed upon, a miniscule ripple of mana spread throughout the room, completely going unnoticed except by one person.

Professor Kal was currently pushing Ryan, still inside his meat-suit, hurriedly toward the front exit. He was using the paladin's massive frame to bulldoze his way to the door, trampling anyone who did not move out of the way fast enough. Princess Alessandria and Lilly were right behind them, jumping over trampled bodies as they ran for their lives, trying their best to ignore the horrid screams and nauseating sounds of the carnage happening behind them.

Bursting out of the front entrance, Professor Kal and the others followed the flood of people down the stone steps. Many people lost their balance, tumbling down the stairs, knocking over others as they did so; it was complete pandemonium. As soon as they all made it to level ground, Professor Kal produced a scroll from his ring, handing it over to the Princess.

"Take a deep breath, then tear this scroll in half." He directed quickly. "It'll take you away from here."

"What… what is going on!? I demand an answer!" Princess Alessandria screamed out, her voice barely carrying over the chaos going on around her. She was terrified of what she had just seen, flashbacks of what she had gone through just weeks before resurfacing in her mind, making her scared and angry.

"Just shut your trap and do as I say!" Professor Kal, still piloting his meat-suit, snapped back before addressing the armless paladin nervously pacing next to him. "Now would be a good..."

Just then, the finely cut, marble stones making up the front entrance to the cathedral exploded outward, peppering the still running survivors in heavy boulders and splintered wood. Ryan ducked and covered his head with his only arm while Lilly's shirt sleeve torn to shreds as her arm transformed into a kite shield, protecting her and the Princess from the debris.

Looking up, Ryan saw the abomination standing atop the perron, grasping a few lifeless bodies in its clawed hands. Its cloudy eyes scanned those running around below it, the sound of alarm bells was just starting to sound out from nearby, alerting the city to the calamity that was befalling it. Hearing a ripping sound, Ryan turned to see Princess Alessandria hastily rip the scroll with trembling hands.

Instantly, a Warp Gate sprouted into existence, its dark-purple, oval entrance floating just above the ground. Without hesitation, the two women leapt into the portal, disappearing without a trace as the gate closed with a popping sound.

"Professor, what should we do now... Oh, SHIT!" He had just turned to where the Professor was just standing, only to find a red smear on the ground and a large stone sitting on top of it.

It was very obvious that the Professor had met an untimely end, and it sent Ryan into a nervous fit when he thought about how angry he would be. He looked to the incoming monster and seriously considered if it would be worth it to just stick around and face it, rather than go back to the inn and confront the Professor's wrath. Then he saw its wide, uncovered mouth containing the hundreds of writhing organs and decided that perhaps it would be best to just return to the inn.

Just as the monster plucked him from the ground, Ryan completed the spell that would create a corridor for his soul, sending it back to his body waiting within the basement of the inn. Bringing the now limp meat-puppet up to its mouth, the organs latched onto its face and attempted to feed.. After a few seconds of not getting what it desired, the monster threw the body to the ground in enraged frustration, a little confused as to why the human it had pursued so far, didn't have a soul to consume.