楼上的上瘾女士

The Prayers ended and the denizens closest to the Priestess stood from where they had knelt and eyed the Visitors with a whole range of expressions, ranging from pity to scorn.

Pity that they were so ignorant of the power of their Lord.

And scorn because...

"Couldn't you just let us pray in peace, you damn, bigots?" Asked an annoyed city folk who then walked away in anger.

Sean was taken aback but when his eyes turned back to the front, Selina had stepped off the Pedestal and was walking towards their group with three other young men with her.

They were one other than Jack the Ex-commoner, Frank Horst, and Alexander Edgar.

With the grown-ups not ready to allow them to take part in their plans on account that their cultivation was still relatively low and they were not yet 'experienced' enough, Frank and Alexander had decided to join up with Selina and become full-time members of the cult.

"And who might you all be?" Selina asked the group.

"What's it to you?" Asked someone at the forefront of the group on the left side of Maria who was eyeing Selina with eyes filled with scrutiny,

Selina smiled sweetly, 

"Well, you came to our city and have shown absolutely no respect for our beliefs. You even made attempts to disrupt our prayers, I think that warrants an explanation." She said.

"Where is the Mayor?" Maria asked.

"You're not answering her question" Jack pointed out with a frown.

"Well, I thought it would be prudent we don't talk about it out here. Besides, I believe what we are here for will go faster if we simply discussed it with the Mayor" Maria said.

Selina frowned, 

"I could indeed direct you to the Mayor's manor but I doubt he'll be able to see you as he is having a meeting with the city council right now"

"Surely, nothing is more important than us who are under the employ of the Emperor himself" Sean said with a small smile however, the expression of Selina and the young men with her did not change, 

"Well, aren't we all?" Asked Frank Horst.

"Aren't you all what?" Sean asked in confusion, 

"Aren't we all under the service of the Emperor? After all, we are all his subjects" Frank clarified and Alex continued, 

"Yeah, what makes you more important than we are?" He asked.

Sean's eyes widened in surprise, 

"Are you seriously asking me that?" He asked.

But the four faced him with defiant eyes. 

True, they could indeed sense that Sean was at the Early stage of Cosmic Aurora realm and the rest of the nine in the squad were sure to be in the same realm with the strongest at the mid or late stage, however, unlike the Mayor and the Council, they knew the true strength of the cultivation Blood Knights and Emissaries.

And while they had not yet crossed to the Aurora cosmic realm, the strength of their Fiendish Bloodline and Devil marks which had been enhanced by Hal in their Lieutenants would more than make up for the deficiency.

Not to mention, those in this group were only Ten and would be outnumbered in an instant by the Blood Knights who would gladly welcome a battle that would speed up their cultivation.

Maybe they were being a little overconfident, but the fact remained that they would not allow themselves to be pushed around in their own city.

Maria who had been studying Selina saw nothing but resolve in her eyes and once again reiterated to the others in her squad that a battle with this common city folk was not why they wee here.

In fact, if things had not been so weird in Tretch Forest, they would have never even visited the city itself.

"We'll wait" she said.

Selina chuckled,

"Nonsense. Why would we delay you? You are under the employ of the Emperor, after all. Whatever you wish to ask the Mayor and the council, you can ask us. No one knows more about the City and its beliefs than we, the Sapphirine Prince's Cult. 

If you would just follow us to our temporary base pending the construction of the Temple"

Selina said and the men led the way while she followed behind them and the Hunters followed behind her.

...

The Temporary Base of the Sapphirine Prince's cult,

The base was Melinda's Mansion which Selina and other core members of the cult had taken to using in her and Hal's absence and now Alexander, Frank, and Jack stood behind the sofa which Selina sat comfortably in.

With their guards still up, Maria was the only one among the hunters who sat down while the others stood in a bid to look as imposing as they possibly could.

"So, we are here and out of earshot of common city folk, surely you can speak now" Selina said.

Maria frowned, 

"We are Hunters" she announced.

Selina's eyes widened not out of recognition for their profession but out of wonder to how it concerned wherever they wished to ask, 

"Um... Good for you. Are you here to sell us pelts?" She asked and knew before any answer that that was quite unlikely considering their cultivation and the and fact that they already claimed to be under the employ Of the Emperor. 

Maria chuckled, 

"No. Not those types of hunters. We hunt beasts who have advanced to the Aurora Beasts realm."

"Oh, is that so?" Selina nodded in understanding and Maria continued, 

"Yes. But you see, upon arrival, we noticed the whole forest was completely empty of all beasts. Both wild and Demonic" she said.

But it was not Selina who spoke next, 

"And you came to ask the council about this? How is it any of their or our business?" Jack asked with a deep frown.

"Because we say it is, Punk" said Sean, and the others clearly shared his sentiments.

Maria cleared her throat, 

"Well, you live in this city and the forest is under your care..." She began but was quickly interrupted.

"Care? We hunt the beasts so they won't hunt us. How does that classify as care?" Frank asked

"If they are gone now. All the better. Us poor city folk can finally live with a peace of mind and without fear for any more sudden Beast rampages." Alexander said and was definitely stretching the truth.

He had never once witnessed a Beast leaving Tretch forest to rampage in the city.

That was not to say it had never happened before in the city, just that he had never witnessed it.

"True. It seems like you came here to hunt the beasts in the first place so why the worry now that they are gone?" Selina asked.

Maria frowned, 

"We did come to hunt the beasts but only those at the Aurora beast realm. We did not come to eradicate them all." She said.

Selina shrugged, 

"The result is the same regardless. In fact, is it not safer to kill them all and remove any possibility of any becoming Aurora Beasts?" She asked and stumped Maria who held her tongue and thought better of her next words.

This was pointless. She was not here to explain herself, 

"So, do you know what became of the Beasts? She asked.

Selina sighed, 

"Nope. I have no idea" she said.

"Me neither". 

The young men denied any knowledge as well.

"You can ask the council once they are done with their meeting but I assure you their answers will be the same. We went to the forest one day and they were gone" Selina said.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that"

"What about... The Sapphirine Prince?" Maria asked and Selina grinned, 

"What about him? Do you wish to convert to our faith?" She asked.

"So... He is real?" Maria asked.

"As real as any god you all serve" Selina replied and Maria smiled inwardly as she seemed to have successfully trapped this so-called Priestess, 

"If that is the case, you should be able to tell me where I can find him. He must have the answers I seek. After all, if anyone can facilitate or know about the disappearance of thousands of Demonic and wild beasts, it should be him who is, as you claim, 'All seeing'" 

Sean who had been worried Maria was buying into this Mumbo-Jumbo was glad when she said this and thought;

'What will you say now?'

However, Selina's expression remained the same, 

"If you were actually paying attention to our Prayers rather than attempting to disrupt them, you would have heard the part that stated 'We are not worthy to Demand from the Prince'"

Maria would not be daunted, 

"I am sure you will make an exception in this matter as it refers to the security of the empire" she said.

Selina's expression changed and she stood to her feet in annoyance,

"What an insult! Do you ask your gods to make exceptions for the empire? Do you demand them to follow the rules of man?

What? Because our Faith is young and you don't believe in it, you will disrespect us and our Lord this much? The millions who live in Sapphire city all believe in the Sapphirine Prince and do not need your validation.

This is not our issue. You are the ones searching for Beasts and it is you who should try to find them as we could not care less.

That said..." Selina paused and sat back down.

Her change in countenance had actually had an effect on Maria and her squad who had no idea why they were so fearful.

How could they have known that Emissaries of the Sapphirine Prince were in the hall that surrounded the lounge and were lurking out of sight with the Devil shrouds activated which was making everyone in the lounge feel fear?

Well, everyone except Selina and the guys.

The feeling left as soon as she took her seat.

"What was that feeling just now?" Maria could not help but ask.

To sell it, Jack looked awed, 

"For a brief moment. You felt the presence of the Prince. He must have reacted to his Priestess' emotions." he said.

Sean in particular did not want to believe it but what other explanation was there for the feeling of fear he felt when he could not sense anyone else around all through the time that feeling pervaded.

(Remember, Devil Shroud can cloak its bearer's presence) 

Selina continued, 

"That said, the disappearance of the beasts is indeed the doing of the Prince. He did it to protect us from their rampage. Another sign of his benevolence and grace" she said and Jack, Frank, and Alex fell over to give their thanks and Selina nodded along.

Maria exchanged looks with those with her and knew they were all thinking the same thing, 

'What they had felt might be a trick but this Prince, whoever he was, must be real and be responsible for the Beasts' disappearance'

One thing they all knew was not to be so quick to discredit crazy rantings such as this. They usually had some form of truth within them.

The question now was;

Did he kill all the Beasts or did he cart them away?

And for whichever the answer was, there was another question;

Why did he do it?

A simple show of strength or a much deeper, nefarious plot...?