"I'll need you to go out to the hallway, follow the winds... it should lead you to a tall woman," Stephen muttered. "Release it on her!"
"Are you sure?" Baer said, peeking out into the hallway, though he couldn't see much past a certain point. "What would doing that accomplish?"
"Don't think... Baer." Stephen switched to a pep talk voice. "If I had mana, I would've done it myself. Instead, I entrust to you this sacred mission. Your golden stream will save us... and even possibly the world."
"The world?" Baer repeated. "You're sure...?"
"More sure than I've ever been," Stephen said. "Right now, only you have the power to save us... so what will it be?"
Baer gulped, trembling, and Stephen pressed on.
"Will you leak... or will you falter?"
Baer's knees shook, but then he clenched his fists, bouncing on his heels before launching himself forward. He dashed down the infinity hall, each stride carrying him farther.
"I WILL LEAK!"
"Don't forget to face the entrance!" Stephen yelled after him. "Face the entrance while you do it!"
"I WILL LEAK!!!" Baer's battle cry echoed down the hall.
"Do you think he could actually do it?" the system questioned.
"Probably not... she'll most likely blow him away before he even gets close," Stephen admitted. "But even still... let's trust his golden stream."
"This is doomed," the system said flatly.
________________________________________
"You freak of nature!" Lyna dashed back, her blade clashing against the shotgun's barrel. A split second later, Vivi spun and drove her foot into Lyna's gut.
The impact sent Lyna barreling through the room and crashing into the next, her back smashing against the bed frame.
Click.
She dove left just as the bedframe exploded into splinters, the debris scattering across the floor.
Through the darkness, Lyna relied on Vivi's oppressive mana pressure as her beacon. But that wasn't the only mana presence nearby. Her mistress was close as well, and she was already burning mana for spells. The last time that had happened, she'd been incredibly pissed.
"I need to help my mistress," Lyna hissed, pushing forward.
Vivi burst into the room, another deafening shotgun blast ringing out.
Lyna ducked aside, pulling an aphrodisiac canister from her pocket. She hurled it upward, slicing it open mid-air. The poison hissing through the room in a spreading mist.
"Making me use my mistress's poison..." Lyna shook her head. "I'll enjoy killing you."
Vivi didn't respond. She simply thrust her hand forward, mana snapping back into her shotgun.
[Flightless Osprey, Type III: Grenadier]
Lyna noticed and lunged back, bracing for the shotgun's roar or the flare of a spell. Neither came. Instead, the sharp clatter of metal striking the floor echoed through the room.
A blinding flash of white followed.
Hara rolled across the ground, landing with his hands raised skyward and an exasperated sigh. Verre stepped toward him, the clack of her heels reverberating in his ear.
"I doubt the king would appreciate you treating one of his more beloved associates this way," Hara said dryly from the floor, his head nearer her feet than her face.
"The king doesn't care for you." Verre said. "You're worth less to him than the gold floors in his bathroom."
"Harsh much." Hara stood up. "Regardless of how true those words might be, unfortunately the prince would need to return with me. No leeway on that part."
"So you're giving up your life for him?" Verre asked.
"Something along the lines—"
Verre clenched her palm into a fist, the same spell she had used before.
And once again, it had no effect. Hara stood motionless, arms stretched loosely at his sides.
"Your hands let you nullify mana," Verre observed. "No... you didn't stop me from pushing you with my wind earlier. So it's spell nullification instead?"
"I hate sharp people," Hara muttered.
Verre dashed forward, her hands cutting through the air, wind coiling to strike—
But the ground shuddered.
The rooftops caved in.
An explosion tore through the building.
Baer staggered down the hallway as the blast rocked the walls, his stride stretched wider than usual to avoid crushing his family jewels by accident.
The Sex god had given him a mission.
A mission made a bit easier now that moonlight cut through the shattered brothel roof. Even so, easier didn't mean easy. This was the kind of mission that could make a man question his very beliefs.
The scent of aphrodisiac wafted through the air. A shotgun blast rattled the halls. Wind roared through the rooms, pushing everything against the walls.
And still Baer ran, barreling down the endless hallway with arms stretched wide for balance.
He'd needed to piss for a while now, probably since he first stumbled into the brothel. He hadn't expected any of this, so he'd simply held it in all this time.
But maybe that was fate. Because his piss had a mission now. One that would save not only him and the Sex god, but maybe the whole damn world.
Verre pinned Hara against the wall with a surge of wind, his bones grinding against the cracking stone.
Make sure to stand toward the entrance... those were the last words of the sex god to him, and he'd follow them to a tee.
Vivi's shotgun snapped up, only for Lyna's blade to catch the barrel. The blast from the explosion had shredded her clothes and driven a giant splinter of wood deep into her arm, but still she fought.
She dashed forward, dodging the whip of the shotgun through the air, and with a retaliatory strike Vivi was hurled into the next room.
Lyna fell on one knee, her mana exhausted, her strength gone as well. She couldn't do this anymore, and her opponent. The little brat kept on going, how she did was the question.
She'd sprayed the aphrodisiac in the room, so Vivi should've been a puppet now. But once again, it seemed like someone else could withstand the effects of her mistress's poison. What a horrible few months this had been.
Vivi's footsteps echoed through the room and Lyna glanced up, huffing as she barely glanced up.
The girl raised her shotgun, aiming for her head and as Lyna closed her eyes, expecting the shot—
Nothing but a little voice came.
"Are you okay?" Vivi dashed toward her, tossing her shotgun aside. "Who hurt you?"
"What?" Lyna muttered.
"Your wounds are deep," she said. "We need to get you to a hospital, or at least somewhere I can treat you. I might not look it, but I'm a verified first responder!"
"...what the hell is going on?" Lyna could only say as the crack of stone echoed through the building, followed by grunts.
Hara's grunts, as the wind squished him like a bug under a giant foot. Except the foot was a near seven-feet-tall lady with a humongous smile on her face, her legs quivering as he groaned in pain.
"Now... you can't use your hands," Verre said to him. "I wonder if you can still use that pesky ability of yours."
"Go... for... it!" he managed to mutter, his words slurred by the wind.
Still pinning him against the wall, her mana burst through the room, retracting as she cast the spell again. The wind pressed inward, crushing, twisting his body until he screamed in pain.
And just as he did—
A hand touched her, tugging at her side.
It was the little girl, but something was different. She didn't have that usual spunk Verre had seen earlier. It was almost like she was a completely different person.
"Please don't hurt Uncle Hara," Vivi said. "he might be very provocative sometimes, but he's a good guy at heart."
She glanced back at Lyna, who clutched her chest with one arm and shook her head, baffled by whatever had just caused Vivi's sudden change. And as Hara grunted again, she tugged at Verre's dress once more
"Please?"
"Only if you abandon your mission and allow me to take the prince," Verre said. "I'll consider letting him go then."
"I don't know what mission you're talking about, but I let go of it," Vivi replied. "Me and Hara will leave at once."
"Don't, Vivi." Hara collapsed to the ground as Verre released her magic.
"Good." Verre smiled. "Now all that's left is the prince—"
"Make sure to face the door while you do it," Baer whispered to himself, shuffling forward on bare feet. "Its going to be the tallest woman... tallest woman... oh, there you are."
"Hm?" Lyna turned her head just in time to see a naked man stride confidently into the room and plant himself beside Verre, and even before she could form her next thought—
"AHHHHHHHH!!!" Lyna shrieked.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh~" Baer groaned in pure relief.
A golden stream.
Straight, steady and almost majestic in its arc, every single drop pattering against Verre's dark dress.
Honestly, Baer couldn't exactly explain why the Sex god had entrusted him with this mission, but after holding it in for so long, it felt like destiny itself was pouring out of him. His bladder was the world's chalice, and now. He had emptied that sacred cup.
"Still, I wonder why he told me to do this." Baer muttered, flicking away the last stubborn drops. "I'll probably have to ask him when I see him again—"
Mana burst through the air.
A gust of wind tore through the entire building, more violent than anything before, blasting everything in its path. Baer was hurled like a ragdoll down the hallway, screaming as he slammed against a window, glass shards embedding into his bare buttocks.
He fell over, watching Stephen come to a stand beside him.
"My... buttocks... bare the scars of a mission well done." he whimpered faintly.
"You did it." Stephen muttered, clutching his head as he ran over to Gila. "It worked."
"What did exactly?" Baer pulled out the largest shard first.
"She used her wind to push you away, which in turn pushed everything else out here." Stephen slung Gila over his shoulder. "Now... even though that might've worked, I'd suggest you start running. I doubt she'd be too happy about getting urinated on."
"I see... but wouldn't punching her have gotten the same result?" Baer asked, pulling out another piece.
"Probably." Stephen burst through the door, speed walking under the moonlight.
"Darla!" he called out. "Come here, girl!"
Silence.
"Stephen..." the system muttered, panic in its voice.
"Darla!" Stephen shouted again. "Please, girl! I need you!"
"Your entire escape plan depends on a horse?" the system said. "Really? You're already outside and now it won't matter, because you have no way to actually leave!"
"She'll come," Stephen muttered. "Just wait for it..."
"What are you even on about? There's nothing coming—"
The sound of hooves slamming across the ground echoed through the air, getting closer with each passing second.
Stephen tilted his head, smug. "What were you saying?"
"...just get on and leave," the system groaned.
Darla skidded to a stop in front of him, hooves kicking dirt as she gave a soft neigh. Stephen rushed over, patting her side before hoisting Gila across her back. He shoved Tello's unconscious body forward to make space, then swung up himself, yanking the reins from Tello's elbow.
"Let's go, girl!" he urged and Darla lurched forward, only for a massive gust of wind to blast through the area, nearly toppling her. She dug her hooves into the ground, trembling for balance.
Behind them, four figures emerged. Hara, Vivi, Verre, and Lyna, with the last sprinting hard toward them.
"Let's go, girl!!!" Stephen said again, urgency in his voice. But Darla still struggled for balance. "This is bad."
"I'm assuming they're after you, then," Baer muttered just below him, eyes tracking Lyna as she closed the distance.
"What?" Stephen muttered, watching him. "What are you still doing? Get out of here!"
"Just before I was left in that dark room alone," Baer went on, "I was being pleasured by a six-foot orc lady." He breathed it out like a confession. "Transformation magic is usually used covertly, for assassins and the likes... but for the first time, it's served its real purpose."
Stephen said nothing. He only watched as Baer moved forward, hands clenched, mana layered about him like a shield to a paladin.
"For the first time I lived out my fantasy," Baer continued. "That's something no other place could grant me. And you gave it to me on the first day."
Darla strained against the wind and began to move, hooves thudding, but Stephen could only stare as Baer dashed up to meet Lyna who ran toward them.
He didn't have the poise of a fighter, nor the stance of a knight. However, what he did have was the face of a man fueled by determination and grit.
He threw all three arms around her in a clumsy hug, stopping her momentum.
"Go Sex god!" Baer screamed as he held her down. "Take your teachings around the world! To all the lonely men who were never given the chance to ever live out their fantasies, to all the hopeless teens out in the lands!"
"Baer!" Stephen outstretched a hand. "But why... why give yourself up for me!"
"Because, Sex god!" Baer cried back. "I want to be the first martyr you speak of in your next teachings... the first to be immortalized in your doctrines. That is reward enough—"
"I won't be doing any of that," Stephen cut him off. "Thanks though."
"What?" Baer muttered, blinking. "What do you mean you won't be—"
He didn't get to finish before Lyna's elbow slammed into his temple, dropping him like a sandbag.
Still, even though he hadn't done much, or rather anything at all. He had stalled just long enough for Darla to reach the lots entrance, and in a few more seconds they'd be a long stretch away into the night.
"Shoot him, girl!" Verre ordered. "Do it now!"
Vivi glanced toward Hara as if waiting for confirmation.
"Shoot the horse." He said.
Quickly she slid her other arm beneath the shotgun's barrel and aimed. Her mana rose and retreated into the weapon. From this range the rounds wouldn't reach, not unless she used [Precision].
Then, just as she was about to fire, the faces of two people on the horse came into view.
She could remember seeing them once before... in Jill's shop. They had promised to help her with her gun the next time they met. So why were they so gruesomely injured now? And why did one of them bear the wound of gunfire?"
"Why aren't you shooting?!" Verre turned.
"I know them," Vivi muttered. "They agreed to play with me earlier. They're good people!"
"That bastard's control wore off," Hara thought to himself as he walked up and took the gun away. "She won't take the shot."
"What?" Verre muttered, and swung her hand, another gust of wind blew through, but it wasn't enough to knock them over from that distance.
The horse ran down the road. The prince disappearing into the night.
"I guess that's that," Hara muttered as he walked, Vivi trailing close by his side. "I wonder if the king's going to be pissed I let him get away."
"Bye, tall lady!" Vivi waved.
"Don't say bye to her," Hara muttered. "She's a bad woman, weird too."
"Oh... no bye for you then, bad and weird lady!" Vivi corrected herself.
"That's better," Hara muttered as they stepped out toward the streets.
Silence settled over the ruined brothel lot.
"I'm sorry, my mistress," Lyna muttered as she approached Verre. "I should've caught them just now, I didn't expect that person to come at me..."
Verre didn't say anything, she merely clenched her fist.
"I also should have caught him at the ball... I messed up." She said. "I should've known he was pretending, if I had done so, this wouldn't have happened—"
Verre grabbed Lyna by the neck, hauling her up. "...you're right. You should have. This is your fault."
"I'm sorry... my... mistress." Lyna could only mutter through her blocked airways.
"You're out of chances, Lyna," Verre muttered as she tossed her aside and walked toward the exit. "There won't be a next time."
"Yes... my mistress." Lyna bowed. When she raised her head, everyone had gone and only she remained, injured and small beneath the moonlight.
She had messed up twice now, and both times involved Stephen Eldoria.
He was the cause of this. He was the reason her mistress didn't trust her anymore, the reason she hated her.
"You'll pay for this," Lyna said, eyes rimmed with tears. "I'll make sure you do."