44 Day before Departure pt.5

"My name is Priscilla Laque. Formerly known as the Queen of the Goblins." The woman, Priscilla introduced herself in a soft alluring manner. Riyku would glance over her for a moment before shaking his head and looking back to his comrades. "How are you all holding up?" The male's remark towards his friends and distant demeanor towards the woman caused her to pout for a fraction of a second before huffing heavily and accepting what was done. "Give us a moment," Kristen called out though the tension rose and she would spring to her feet when she noticed the woman from before following behind him. Brandishing her weapon she glared at the goblin and the woman would teasingly cower behind Riyku which caused him to sigh heavily. "She is going to help us escape. It is something she is trying to do as well, so we will be bringing her along with us." Riyku would remark towards Kristen which caused her to give a dumbfounded expression.

It wasn't just her either, everyone in the group seemed to give off the same expression. "Yes, yes, I understand. We were fighting to the death mere moments ago, but this woman isn't from here. She was enslaved and forced to work under the ruler of this place. All she wants to do is escape, and trust me if she tries anything funny I'll be sure to take care of her when the time comes." Riyku seemed to settle their concerns quite easily be it his silver-tongued skill or the fact that their bonds were just that strong. Kristen would back down and plop onto the ground to relax as much as she could meanwhile Riyku shifted his glance back to the Goblin Queen and shook his head. "I am not a protective wall for you. I do hope you know that." His attitude towards her was cold, but well it was not impossible to understand. The only reason they have this 'truce' so to speak is that they were working towards a common goal. No other reason besides such. "Trust me, any woman would take cover behind you if they knew you were this strong." The woman would whine playfully. Riyku said nothing, nor made any gesture this time. "Rest up." He told his friends which they all nodded to him to sit for a breather.

"What of you?" Kristen called to him seeing as he was walking past them. "I'm going to scout the area ahead" and scout ahead he went. Leaving the Goblin Queen, Priscilla with Kristen and company. They all glared at her which of course made sense; since the woman said they would become pleasure toys to the male goblins. "GGGGGreat." Kristen was the first to speak up. "Now we have to deal with this prude." She would grumble. "I am inclined to agree with you, Kristen." Mina would add turning away from the green-skin woman. "Well, if this is what Riyku has to go through with daily... I would be annoyed too." Skylar put in his remark which drew the attention of the green-skin woman. "Hoooh... I see Riyku doesn't just partake in women only. I figured you were for a female until you voiced your own opinion." Priscilla would coo teasingly which caused Skylar to blush. "He does not!" He responded aggressively, yet bashfully. Kristen would shake her head. "He speaks the truth. Though I take it you know what we are to him?" Kristen would spit with venom at the woman. This caused the Goblin Queen to sigh heavily. "Well, It isn't hard to tell. Here in the underworld, many will flock towards the powerful, the wealthy and those with fame. I wasn't lying when I said any woman would stand behind him if they knew he was that strong." Priscilla remarked.

"Underworld?" Cira uttered, shakily rattling the gun in her hand. "What do mean Underworld!?" She exclaimed rashly while looking towards Priscilla. The Goblin Queen would blink in confusion before shrugging. "Just what I meant. This is the homeworld of Demons. Judging from your reaction, you are from the Middleworld. It is not uncommon for Middlers to find their way to the Underworld. That or they are kidnapped and brought back to become slaves." Priscilla would answer. Her answer causing the group a bit of surprise. "You are kidding me, right? This isn't like some Dungeon or Raid-Portal... This is truly another world entirely? Is there no way back?" Vex inquired, a bit shakily at that.

Priscilla would blink for a moment before nodding. "Of course there is. How do you think Demons go to and from Middleworld. Most use Rifts or Gates, though they are all owned by the powerful Demons. So to use one, you must buy a one-time pass which allows you to go to and from Middleworld once. They aren't cheap either.." Priscilla answered. "Wait for what!?" Kristen shouted in dismay. "There is no way we can go back if that is the case!" Vex added. "Are you sure there isn't another way? What about how Riyku came here and was able to get back?" Lira brushed upon the topic as well. "True! He came to this world before and was able to get back." Mina would input. "And how did he do that exactly?" Cira quizzed. "Some kind of orb thingy. But, we haven't found one since we came down here." Skylar interjected. "Orb thingy?" Priscilla rose a brow as she questioned. "Never heard of that. Usually, you can go through the black market, or try and get a pass-through connection if you needed to." She added afterward.

The group sighed softly. "In the end, our only way back is with Riyku. Maybe we should ask about the orb thingy." Kristen stated before pushing off the ground and standing up. She would limber up as a way to ease up the tension on her muscles. The rest followed soon after and they call collected their barrings. Kristen would look towards Cira who was still unable to comprehend everything that just happened. Placing a hand upon the girl's shoulder she would smile lightly. "Everything will be alright. I know it is scary and bizarre, but we will be fine." Kristen would offer in comfort and the rest followed up with small gestures and smiles.

KABOOM!

A loud sound caused everyone's attention to perch towards where it came from. Being on high alert they glanced over to see smoke had kicked up in the far end of the tunnel. "Isn't that where Riyku went?" Skylar inquired as calmly as possible. "Yeah..." Kristen mused lightly gripping her whip tightly. "You don't think..." Vex murmured lightly.

KABOOM!

THUD THUD THUD THUD

Loud overbearing sounds would echo out like that of the sound of a heavy bass dropping. Over, and over again. THUD THUD THUD. The group didn't understand what was going on, though they did feel pressure in the atmosphere. It was heavy maybe even condensed. It wasn't until Riyku appeared in front of Kristen with a fist interlocked in the hand of another while his hand had interlocked with the other's fist. A final THUD sound had come about and the pressure nearly sent Kristen off of her feet, though she did slide back a few meters. "Prince Zealot!?" The Goblin Queen Priscilla exclaimed with a loud gasp. Everyone looked towards her except for Riyku who was glaring at the man before him. Standing slightly shorter than Riyku and baring little to no armor. His torso appeared bear, but upon closer inspection would reveal a hardened flesh. His choice of pants were baggy black slacks with purple stripes to match the spiky purple hair and the glowing amethyst eyes. Two nearly five-inch long black demonic horns had sprouted from the crown of this man's head. To make his demonic nature even more obvious; where fingers should be there were claws, and along his forearm were spikes giving this man an imposing look.

"Interesting.... a mortal can withstand against my strength." The demon would remark with a modest opinion. The demon's purple amethyst hues upon black sclera would shift towards the Goblin Queen when he heard his name. "Ah, if it isn't the breeding slave. I see you failed to take out these intruders. Fret not, I'll be sure to clean up your mess." The male remarked before bringing his knee towards Riyku's gut. Riyku would bring his leg up to clash with the demon. The shift in sudden balance gave the demon the upper hand in which he forced himself forward. Causing Riyku to drop his leg and take a step back. However, even the demon had to bring his leg back down before bringing it up again. The same action would repeat again and again and again until Riyku eventually lost balance completely and slipped up. The demon would brush his knuckles against Riyku's face sending the male into the ground with a loud THUD. Waving his hand around the demon would release a heavy breath.

"For a mere mortal, you weren't bad. You were better than most of the sorry guards my father hires." The male would remark, reaching his claw outward to catch a single arrow. "Oh? Mana Arrows? Not even the High-Class Demons can manipulate Diabolical Energy like this." The demon would remark before the sudden blue aura of the arrow would corrode into pitch black. He would then pivot on his heel and send it back. Mina would step up in-front of Lira and bring about a bright white wall which caused the arrow to burn away. The demon glared at the woman. "Holy Energy... I see now." The male would lean back to avoid a pillar of earth from spiking up. Well more like a thorn rather than a pillar. Bringing his other claw upward he would catch a blade mid-strike and yank Skylar in front of him before kicking him towards Lira who was lining up another arrow while moving his head with a slight tilt to avoid a bullet from piercing him. "You people aren't normal thieves. You lot remind me of those damned Heroes." The male's words were nothing like venom, but admiration. His eyes shifted towards his wrist when a whip latched into his wrist. "Gotcha!" Kristen exclaimed as she pulls the weapon towards her, trying to tear at the male's flesh; however, the weapon shattered into pieces due to the force upon it. A smirk curved across the demon's face as he used 'Blink' to teleport in front of Kristen, grasping her throat and lifting off the ground. "I get it now. You are all truly like them in almost every way. Covering each other's weaknesses and whatnot. It's a damn shame you are all going to die down here though." The male would bring his free claw towards Kristen's gut but be halted when someone tried to tackle him from behind.

"Enough Z! They aren't intruders!" The Goblin Queen shouted as if trying to stop him. This caused the demon to blink once along with silence to befall the tunnel for a moment. "Is that so? Regardless they are Middleworlders, which is even worse." The demon would shake off Priscilla and toss Kristen towards the group. The demon's eyes would flare with a flash of amethyst and a burst of Diabolical Energy would shift the pressure around moments before his body vanished from sight. "Wha!?" Skylar exclaimed before blood spewed from his chest with an imprint of a claw, next came Vex whose strike was from her back, following up was Lira in the same part as well as Mina whose wound was upon her chest as well. These four collapsed in pain and agony as their bodies began to taint from the Diabolical Energy. Gasping for breath as they grit their teeth, not even able to cry in pain. Kristen hastily looked around from the demon, yet she was unable to track him. Instead, Cira next to go with the same slash mark upon her back, and before Kristen could even blink she felt claws had pierced her stomach. Jerking around, her eyes focused upon the male who exhaled a deep breath and pulled his claw from Kristen, allowing her to fall on her knees unable to move as she gasped for air. Even her body started to taint from the Diabolical Energy.

"Why Z!? They just wanted to get back home! Why did you have to kill them!?" Priscilla called out to the demonic male in front of her. Tears running down her cheeks with anger and sadness. "Why? Don't you think death would be better than becoming some slave? Forced to breed for the rest of their lives. Their only meals being the semen they guzzle down. Never getting to see the light of day again. Do you truly believe that death was not the best option?" The male would remark darkly.

"Of course! We could have helped them Z! We could have even overturned your father! They aren't even like your pre--" A blaring noise would silence the Goblin Queen, Priscilla which made her cover her ears. The Demon Prince, Zealot would cover his long eleven like ears with his claws as he began to squint his eyes in pain. "What is this!?"

It was then a cybernetic screen appeared in the air, bold with text.

'Defeat the Shadow Lord.'

"What!?"