Just a few minutes before the sunset, the party was gathered inside the Inn to discuss their next move. Lilith was also present to make her case for help, but with everything that had happened, things hadn't gone as smoothly as she expected.
The Inn was closed and only the current customers were allowed in. And even they were told to stay in their rooms as the hall was taken by the Hero's party for one final discussion about their plans moving forward.
Just an hour more and the torture of the mother and son was about to begin, and in the meantime, the duo were all tied up and brainwashed by Raven to remain quiet while the party discussed Lilith's plan.
"The alliance is mostly ruled by the Centaurs and their leader, the Arachne and Dark elves are mostly foot soldiers and considered lower class unless they can prove themselves useful to the centaurs," even as she charted a map and explained the dynamics of the monster alliance, barely anyone could keep themselves focused on her words.
'Diane and Zoey almost died and we're back to work on the same day?' Mel thought, her mind racing along the same vein as the barbarian of the party.
"What are the dark elves and Arachne getting out of this alliance anyways?" Raven asked, surprisingly seeming the most sound of the bunch.
However, regulating his own emotions with the gift from the goddess, he was struggling to hold himself back from just tearing through Arc's skin.
"Here's the thing..." Creating two separation lines that joined together on the map, Lilith parted it into three different sections. One consisted of a dungeon structure where the Arachnes lived with their queen, the other a dark forest edging a corrupted region engulfed in a dark mist. And then there were the ruins of a city that had been rebuilt to the best of the centaur's abilities.
"The centaurs and my people were rivals but since the corruptive region on both of our villages was closing in on us, we had no choice but to agree to a non-aggression pact until we could deal with the corrupted region."
"I won't say our clan was righteous or anything, we did what we did, but it never got so extreme before. We were never at each other's throat, at least not outside the bedrooms," acknowledging the depraved nature of dark elven society, Lilith added some more before leaving the party to make their decision.
"But if you lend me a hand, I'll do anything to help you get rid of the scourge at the hems of this city."
Falling to silence, Raven didn't intend to give her an answer just yet. He knew he wasn't in a stable state of mind, and making a decision right now could easily end up as the last mistake for his party. Understanding his hesitation, Lilith grabbed her bag from the table and decided to leave him for now.
"I'll prepare to leave for my clan now, we'll meet tomorrow morning, maybe as allies or just people who knew each other at one point in time," parting with those words, she walked out of the inn to make essential purchases for the mission.
Following her departure, a moment of silence befell the hall. Everyone knew what lay next and their eyes were already focused on the man who would carry out the punishments. Breaking that silence with her heels, however, Erika moved up behind Raven and pressed her breasts against him in a light hug.
"So, how are you starting this torture?" She giggled into Raven's ears.
Lifting his head to look at the unconscious duo, Raven took a deep breath before muttering a reply.
"Wake them up and get Lana, I want her to enjoy every second of what I'm about to do to these fuckers for trying to kill her family," despite now knowing that Zoey was an automaton, Raven still considered her a person. And with the joint frustration of being an orphan, he knew what it could've been like for Lana to lose everyone she considered her family.
"I'll go get her," Liliyana responded.
With everything now settled, the torture begins.