The members of the paranormal division did not often meet up, but it wasn''t often the city... any city was thrown into the midst of a coup. From what Ronald could gather from the keep, the duchess was supporting the coup for some reason. The proud house of Malencia which had resisted the corruption it nurtured for so long falls to a single woman of substantial size, and said nurtured corruption doesn''t feel victorious at all. The cults of The Host and The Beyond have been completely bypassed, Ronald is lucky if even one eighth of the demons required for their usual ''activities'' show up, and Plynka is slowly starting to be unable to communicate with The Beyond like she used to. The necromancers are the least affected, but their newly granted resources are quickly appropriated by the military for use in patrols.
Initially they were very happy that Esstrey was so quickly gaining power, the scent of demons eldritch and death oozed off her while not being any of them, yet now it has come to the point where she is turning them obsolete on nearly all of them on every field. Something had to be done to limit her power.
"She contacted a high-ranking demon, and now no matter how favorable the terms of the contracts I offer are, demons just don''t accept them anymore. The only thing my cult still has is Infernal magics and the occasional demon motivated by politics, yet still never enough to tell me what kind of deal they are getting from the witch!" Ronald is noticeably agitated, his precious things being taken away do not sit well for someone who bears the stresses of using Infernal magic.
"I am certain the loss in my connection with The Beyond is related to a servant of hers, it was very entertaining to watch the maid-shaped being skulk about at first, now it merely reminds me of what I lost. I am not sure how it had done it, but to have already kept the secret of its existence from me for so long..." Plynka has always been a bit of an airhead, which was very useful when dealing with eldritch horrors as they aren''t things you should think too much about, now that she barely has a connection with The Beyond left it only serves to show how little she takes care of herself. Her dress of black ribbons is torn in numerous locations, and her frail looks betray that she hasn''t been eating much.
"We haven''t had a moment''s rest, our necromancers have been getting worked to the bone. It isn''t as bad for the liches, but our mortal personnel has been complaining to me about the workload, citing that they are practically being worked to death. We had to cut back on security to ensure the number of liches wouldn''t start increasing over it." Both Ronald and Plynka stare at Kreif at that moment. The fool was played, they all were.
"If you lessened security, who is keeping this place safe?" Plynka''s question causes Kreif to seize up, they had always kept plenty of things around them to make sure Rowan or Kharn didn''t just get rid of them whenever. Now there is... nothing.
"W-we need to strike fast against Esstrey if we want to-" *THUD THUD THUD* Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Silence. No one moves an inch closer to the door. No one was supposed to interrupt them. No one is supposed to have the authority to interrupt a conversation between the three right now. Pynka''s arms leak a black fog, Ronald''s hands light the room in the reddish color of infernal fire, and Kreif begins chanting for a powerful attack of death magic. The door slowly opens to reveal...
"Lord Flester! We are in trouble!" The gathering relaxes as an Infernal cultist barges in instead of the mermaid they were expecting. It would have been a little too paranoid to think it was Esstrey knocking on the door. Regardless, a servant still interrupted their gathering, so it must be important. Ronald gestures for him to speak quickly, as the three cult-leads have important matters to attend to.
"The military is-"
*FFF-CHUNK*
The servant collapses to the floor as a ballista bolt pierces him through the heart, Plynka moves first by attempting to cast her magic into the dark, but a chair is launched full speed in her direction instead, causing her to seek cover. Ronald successfully casts his magic onto the magic figure emerging from the dark, but the flames fail to stick to the mermaid looking down on them. The face hiding behind her transparent visor still has the exact same emotion plastered on it as she had in every one of their interactions; a satisfied smirk. Kreif tries to open his mouth to say something, but is cut off by Esstrey, who somehow seems to be the most interested in communication in this scenario.
"If you want something done right, you call the army." She snaps her fingers, and figures at her sides level their weapons. She isn''t alone, and Ronald, who is standing with his hands on fire, makes for an easy target in the dark room.
*BLIING* *BLIING*
Ronald falls dead to the floor. Kreif can only stare in momentary shock as one of the strongest people he knew died just like that, while Plynka is still trying to recover from having a chair thrown at her. She will never recover, as Esstrey uses magic to take hold of Ronald''s corpse before the resident necromancer can, and flings him full force on Plynka, breaking most of her bones. The last thing Kreif sees is Esstrey''s loaded crossbow pointing at him.
While the liquidators move to finish off Plynka, who is groaning on the floor underneath the weight of a corpse, some cultists enter who were wondering what the ruckus was all about. Esstrey prioritized dealing with the leadership of the paranormal division first, the cultists would follow soon after. The entering cultists belonging to The Beyond cult stare at the scene for a moment as they witness two liquidators executing their incapacitated leader, and come face to face with Esstrey.
"S-sorry comrades... wrong room." The terrified men quickly close the door, and run off to hide deeper in the lowest level beneath the keep.
"Go and kill them, will you?" Esstrey gestures for some of her men to go after them, and Crendell should be moving with a larger force to round up all the cults in one go. The Beyond and The Infernal Host will all be shot, while the necromancers and liches will be arrested until it''s proven if they will be more useful than a hassle. Esstrey herself had things to attend to at the next meeting of the Perrenian Matriarchal Coalition.
The liquidators eagerly give chase to the cultists. Many commoners were lost to these cultists, while the losses were declared accidents by the duchess. Esstrey gave them guns and promised them vengeance against both the nobles in Malencia and the wretched people causing the disappearances to fuel their personal power, and all they needed to do was consort with demons and monsters.