Dampness welled up in the air. The stench of must rose from the ground into my nose. I wrinkled at the smell. In front of me, Augusta moved forward with sword drawn. Her footsteps made no noise, but mine and Robert's caused light tapping sounds. The hard steel of my rapier was in one of my hands. My other clenched my pistol.

  A ball of fire floated in the air in front of my girlfriend, moving in front of us. She had conjured it as the light from the building above faded away. Still, darkness shrouded the area in front of us.

  As we descended further, coldness seeped in. My hand brushed against the stone wall. It felt unimaginably smooth. Even an insect couldn't climb up the sheer surface. Yet my thoughts turned to another matter while I gazed on.

  Guilt flowed through me as I saw Augusta walking forward. If we were attacked, she'd be the first to get hurt. And part of why she was doing this was to protect me when she shouldn't have bothered. I hated this.

  "Dante," Robert whispered into my ear. "Can you see anything ahead?"

  "No," I said.

  Taking another step down, I noticed something about the stairs. They were getting more level. That was a sign of something. Probably that we were almost on the bottom floor.

  "Get ready. We're getting closer to at least a landing. We might get in a fight," I stated quietly but loud enough for Augusta and Robert to hear me.

  Soon after that, the light of Augusta's flame illuminated a flat stone path below. It wasn't on an incline, instead going straight. I saw the faint glimmer of a trip wire with bells attached to it.

  Augusta noticed it too. She swept her rapier through the air, cutting the wire in half. My girlfriend's blade moved again, and the bells were impaled by her sword. All this without making a single sound.

  "There might be more ahead. Stay alert," Augusta whispered.

  She stepped through the hallway, and Robert and I followed. As we moved through the cool darkness, a light began to appear ahead. Augusta quenched her flame. This made us harder to detect, but also took away our view of the ground. To compensate, Augusta swept her sword in front. Any traps would hopefully be disabled by it. If not, we'd be in deep shit.

  Soon, our small group reached the end of the path. The light shone through a door carved into the stone wall. Augusta stopped, leaning over and peering through the door.

  An instant later, my girlfriend rushed through the opening. Panic flashed through my body. I ran out after her. A pit formed in my stomach as I saw the horrendous sight before me.

  There was a large stone room. In its center was a circle painted with blood. Candles made of human fingers were placed around the sphere. Several people in red robes stood in that area, bloody blades in their hands.

  A naked woman lay in the circle. Her chest had been carved open, and the cultist above her held her still-beating heart in its hand. She was screaming in pain. On one side, another cultist threw a naked corpse into a pit filled with numerous bodies. A horrendous stench came from the cadavers, so bad that I thought I would throw up.

  Terror flashed through me. This was happening right under King Casimiar Academy? Why the hell didn't Millia warn me about this? I know the Duke's Duplicity is a horror game, but this...

  A scream of agony caught my attention.

  Augusta was burying her blade hilt-deep in a cultist. The others took notice of her and sprang into action. They dropped their knives, reaching into their robes before drawing swords. I saw one hand clutch the barrel of a pistol.

  Panic flashed through me. No thoughts entered my head. My body moved on its own. Stepping forward, I pointed my gun and pulled the trigger. Bang!

  The cultist who was drawing a pistol dropped dead to the ground. Blood pooled, and the robe's hood fell down. It revealed that this cultist was a woman. She looked eerily beautiful in death.

  A wave of nausea overtook me. I collapsed to my knees, one of my arms on the stone floor. I placed a hand on my mouth. This wasn't enough. Vomit spewed from my face onto the ground below. The hand I put over my jaw got covered in puke.

  Another cultist rushed me with a messer. I tried to get up, but my legs were too shaky to move. Robert stepped forward and fired his pistol. Bang!

  My ears started ringing from two loud gunshots in an enclosed room. In front of me, my attacker's body crashed to the ground. I saw the bullet hole in his forehead, blood and gray matter leaking out. More vomit spewed from my mouth.

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  I turned as best as I could to see the battle. It was already over. Six new corpses lay on the ground, four killed by Augusta, one by Robert, and one by me. The woman in the ritual circle had stopped screaming. My stomach roiled with sickness.

  "Dante!" Augusta rushed over to me, her voice a mixture of worry and anger. "Why did you shoot? I told you to not kill anyone unless you had to."

  "She...she had a gun...I...couldn't let her shoot you. She..." I started.

  My gaze turned back to the dead woman. The person, the human, I killed. She participated in human sacrifice. She helped kill multiple innocent people. She was working for a cult that wanted to destroy the world. But she was still a human.

  Augusta was right about me.

  I threw up on the ground again. Then, I felt my girlfriend's hands rubbing my back. She spoke again, the rage gone from her voice.

  "Dante, I can take bullets. They don't do much to me. Unless she tried to shoot you or Robert, you shouldn't have worried," Augusta assured me.

  "We don't have time for this!"

  Robert's voice snapped through the air.

  "I can hear more people coming. They must have heard the fight."

  Turning to Robert, I saw him frantically reloading his pistol. I listened with intent. Sure enough, the sound of footsteps came to my ears. Augusta approached a hole in one of the walls.

  "These sacrifices are fresh," she pointed her sword at the corpse pit. "There must be a prison room."

  "Arawn's bonnet," Robert swore. "Do you think anyone's still alive?"

  "I don't know. If we leave and they are, the cultists will kill them all," Augusta said.

  She turned to me.

  "Dante, can you come with us? I need you to be my courage. I promise I will keep you safe," my girlfriend stated.

  Looking into Augusta's eyes, I saw terror in them. Something about these cultists horrified her. There was no way I was abandoning any hostages. And I was not abandoning Augusta.

  "I...can come with you," I said.

  More nausea swished through me. I tried to stand and was able to force myself up. My knees still shook. However, I managed to keep from falling. That's when I realized that my weapons were no longer in my hands.

  They were on the ground, covered in my vomit. Blood flowed from the corpses, mixing in with the swill. The pistol and sword were now coated in a sickening mixture of bile orange and crimson red.

  My mind was in a haze from my first kill. It took me a moment to fully realize what had happened.

  The weapons that Augusta got me were now covered in my puke. I hated myself for letting this happen, but more than that? I was furious. I wanted to tear myself to pieces for my stupidity, for not listening to Augusta, for so much. But that would make my lover sad. So, I'd draw my rage at the cultists.

  The sickness left my body. My hands trembled, but not from chills. I saw red. Extending a palm, I summoned a dark orb.

  "Augusta, I know I'm going to feel awful about this after," I said. "But I'm not letting you and Robert do all the fighting. Please don't try to stop me."

  She gave me a single nod in response. Augusta's eyes were filled with a mixture of concern and pity.

  At that moment, a group of cultists burst through the door. There was a loud bang! as Robert fired his gun at them. I thrust my fist at the door, sending a spectral punch out.

  Out of my targets, the first that stepped through made a crunching sound as if every bone in their body snapped. The others were flung back. I heard the sound of bones breaking. Blood pooled on the ground.

  "Head!" I commanded the orb.

  It flew out of my hand and through the door. There was a scream of pain. A loud thud followed it. The orb moved back and floated above my hand.

  Augusta was already charging into the doorway. I followed her, and Robert went after me. In front of us was a pile of dead cultists. Or so we thought.

  One of them reached a hand out, aiming a pistol. Augusta was far faster. Fire burst out, mangling her target's hand. Her rapier soon found its throat. The disgusting stench of burning flesh flowed into the air. But I picked up my weapons and we kept moving.

  None of us said a word as we rushed through the tunnels. A few more cultists showed up, but Augusta cut them down before they could do anything. Her sword was caked in blood. Our footprints tracked red as we rushed.

  We eventually found ourselves in a large room with many small chambers on its sides. Metal bars took the place of doors on each of them. I halted in my tracks. My heart was beating loud and fast like a drum at a death metal concert. Nervousness shook my body.

  After a moment's pause, I looked in every cell. I hoped to find someone there, prayed that I could still save someone. And yet..

  ...first prison, no one. Second, a skeleton. Third, empty. Fourth, a corpse with his throat slit. Fifth, empty again. Sixth, nobody's there. Seventh, a skeleton. Eight...empty. And that was it. No other cells remained. None of the cult's victims were alive.

  I fell to my knees. I couldn't save them. I was too late.

  Why didn't Millia tell me about this? If we had acted sooner, we could have saved someone! Could Millia really be that selfish? Or maybe...she didn't know? But how could she not? Millia played the game, she played the bonding events.

  But I'm different from Dante. Maybe that changed the bonding events? This cult raid might have never happened in the Duke's Duplicity. Perhaps it did, but much later? And maybe Millia didn't even know the cult was operating at this point?

  I'd have to talk to Millia about this when I got back. It wasn't important right now. People were dead, and I failed to save them. But I could still keep something like this from happening again.

  The cultists of Surtr had to die before they hurt anyone else. I wouldn't spare any of them. I'd just have to deal with whatever psychological consequences came from this.

  "Augusta, you know the most about cults of Surtr," I said. "Have we killed them all, or is there anyone else here?"

  "There's one room left. It should have the local cult leader," Augusta replied, a tremble in her tone.

  Robert's voice came into my ear. It was filled with vitriol.

  "Let's kill the rest of these bastards. I don't care if they're nobles or commoners. What they've done is pure evil," he declared.

  I took the deepest breath I ever had. Then, I forced myself to stand. Adrenaline was pounding through my veins. Anger still flowed behind my eyes. We needed to finish this before my adrenaline ran out, or I might just collapse again and not get back up in time.

  "Lead us, Augusta," I said. "Let's destroy this branch of the cult, and then burn this place to ash so if more come, they can't rebuild."

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