40

40

The Masque of Slaanesh has been ousted

Finally a notification. And it seems like there will be no respawning for the Masque. Seeing that she is mauled directly by the God of nature and beast himself.

“You okay?” I turned to the still shocked nun

“Lin is a daemon?” She asked. Still shocked and in disbelief

“Apparently yes.”

“I-I, but I,” She stumbles for words. No doubt this will be imprinted forever to her memory. This might even make her question her faith and trust to other people if a daemon could easily disguise as members of clergy.

“Let me take care of her Gehrman.” Kostner suddenly said

“I assume you have no experience in consoling someone who has been tricked by dark cultists?”

I want to ask if he has. But that seems redundant. So I just gently push the nun to Kostner and nod to her. Letting Kostner do the talking.

On the other hand, Taal is already back in his human form. Wiping out the blood from his body. Whatever is left from the Masque body disintegrates soon. I went to sit on the nearby bench near the chapel entrance. Seeing Rhya’s relieved face and the others visibly relaxing form, I get the feeling that they thought this debacle is over. How do I tell them that it is not over yet? Involving myself into uncovering the Changeling’s scheme also seems tedious. Technically I can just leave and not involve myself any further. Leaving the city and all its inhabitants to their fates. On the other hand, perhaps helping foil the Changeling’s scheme might ease my talk with Rhya and Taal? What to do?

Some guards finally arrive. And of course Howard was there too. Again Kostner took the lead in explaining things. As the witch hunter speaks, Howard breaks away from the group and walks towards me.

“Looks like you won’t be returning to the cell again.” He said with a smile

“Big improvement right?”

“Sure did.” He then sat beside me

“So what now?”

“Well, if the inquisitor kept her promise, I should be getting a letter of recommendation for joining Graf Boris’ army.”

“Ah, nepotism. My favorite.”

“Does a letter of recommendation count as one?”

“Technically no. But it’s from the Inquisition, so the other party can’t really refuse and will put you in some nice position instantly to appease them.”

I chuckle. He chuckled too.

“Guess you’re right.”

Taal visibly frowns. He does not like where this is going. Kostner hums as usual when he thinks. Then he frowns at the possibility that he just made a mistake in allowing me here. As for Rhya, her expression is unreadable as she thinks. The silence stretches for a while before she is the first one to break the silence.

“I suppose you have earned this one, daemon.”

She accepts my condition and finally connects the dots on what I really am. Kostner’s hand is already on his pistol but Rhya’s glare stops him. As for Taal, he is barely keeping his anger in control.

I take a deep breath and undo my mimicry. I grow back the three sets of horns and my wing. Grow even taller that my horns touched the ceiling. The clothes I wear are absorbed back to my golden metallic skin. While Rhya and Taal are unperturbed from seeing my true form, Kostner is taken aback. His gaze darts around my body to take in its entirety before breaking from his daze.

“Thank you for the chance.”

“Be quick.” Taal growls

“The Changeling is here.”

Rhya and Taal took breath from this revelation. While Kostner only raises his eyebrow

“And how do you know this?” Kostner asks not knowing who the Changeling and the enormity of the Changeling’s threat.

“She played their game and wagered with them.” Rhya knows

“Them?”

“Chaos gods.”

“At first I was here just to test my new disguise.”

“Horse shit.”

“Then I thought of making an alliance with the gods here.”

“More shit.” Taal growls again not believing my words. His body starts morphing to his beast form again in anger. I guess this is the normal response from the gods towards daemons.

“And why should we trust you?” Rhya is still leading the question in apparent calmness it's quite scary

“I...” Then I think. Saying I want to survive will only further dash my credibility so I pick the other truth.

“I am not aligned with any of the four.”

All is left on Rhya’s hand.

Whether she will believe my words. Telling me to leave and never to return here. Or whether Taal loses his patience first.