Hermione barely ducked under the series of sudden spikes, formed out of shadows, jutting outwards from awkward angels from the walls, the floor and even the ceiling.
Their own shadows seemed to come alive as it attempted to form into large barbed nails and impale their backs.
Noticing that Hermione couldn't dodge everything in time, Tonks kicked Hermione out of the way of a particularly nasty spike that was growing in her direction.
The spikes that missed Hermione and Tonks had impaled themselves on their opposite surfaces, piercing through the concrete walls like spears through flesh, sending up a spray of dust and sparks through the air as the wiring within them shorted and exploded.
Their own shadows, lost, pinned to the floor from where they sprouted spikes.
Within seconds, the entire corridor that had once been neat and tidy had turned into a jungly mess.
The short distraction was enough for The Rose Bishop to Outlast his host. But he didn't expose himself.
Instead, he took cover in the shadows after throwing several pieces of flesh all around the area.
Having fought members of the Hanged Man Pathway before, Tonks flicked her wand through battle instinct.
"Impedementia!"
A colourless wave of spirituality left Tonks's wand and spread out into the air in front of her and Hermione, causing the pieces of flesh to freeze mid air, slowing down to a crawl, giving them some much needed time to regroup.
Except before they could take a step closer to each other, the shadows between them suddenly exploded.
The tall shadow nails that had grown out and impaled everything around them, expanded, like a living three growing thorns to impale everything else around it.
As a result Tonks and Hermione were separated again, a thick wall of barbed thorns in between and the Rose Bishop as well, giving each person a small cubicle for movement.
With a thick obstacle in between, Tonks jinx lost its power, shattering audibly as the fleshy fragments that were wiggling in the air suddenly sped up again, flying towards them.
Just as they were about to explode and shower them in a spray of highly corrosive blood, Hermione's wand primed with spirituality flicked swiftly.
Her focus was fixed acutely on the fleshy fragments in the air as she conjured up the right symbols using her spirituality.
Steal.
A thin veil of spirituality brushed over these fleshy bits and before anyone could realise what had happened they vanished.
The Rose Bishop hiding within the shadow froze momentarily as he realised that the flesh bombs had not just vanished but he'd lost his connection to them entirely!
But nevertheless, that wasn't his main plan in the first place, that was just a distraction.
He hadn't created so many shadowy structures for show.
Attacking using shadows was usually a gamble, the enemy could simply use a Lumos Maxima and he'd be left without a weapon.
And hence he used it to do something else.
Set up the stage for his battle appropriately.
Being a mere Sequence 7 he didn't have any decent long range attacks other than flesh bombs and so he used the shadow structures to teleport through the shadows right to his target and launch his true attack!
Rushing through the shadowy barbed wall he'd created between the Tonks and Hermione, the Rose Bishop launched himself at Hermione for two reasons, firstly she seemed rather inexperienced about his pathway, but secondly she could predict the moments he used his shadow manipulation to do anything!
It was as if she had a spiritual connection to the space in the shadow world.
Either way, taking out Hermione was a top priority so that he could focus solely on Tonks, the one he deemed to be the bigger threat.
"Hermio-!!" Tonks tried to warn Hermione of something but before she could finish, a dark shadowy creature dripping blood and flesh shot out of her side of the barbed wall and lashed at her with its long sharp claw ended limbs.
Protego
A veil of white light erupted between them to block the flesh and blood servant's physical charge.
Meanwhile, the Rose Bishop had already descended upon Hermione, lunging out of the shadows holding a short shadowy bladed dagger coated in a thick red blood.
Just as Hermione raised her wand to block by erasing the shadow dagger using the lumos spell, her senses connected to the space around her exploded with warning as she felt something else Outlast from the shadows behind her.
Hermione's eyes saw through the barbed wall and spotted the creature Tonks was dealing with as her eyes widened.
'He was acting as the bait!'
'There's another of those creatures emerging from behind me!'
Hermione could feel it. A heavy creature moving out right behind her.
Her trembling brown eyes met the Rose Bishop's crimson red as fear struck deep within her heart.
'Am I going to die? Go back to Daphne?'
'...!!!'
'No!'
'Not yet!'
'Not until I bring back Daphne back here!'
Hermione's wand flicked again.
Steal!
And just when the Rose Bishop was about to protect himself from the Lumos Maxima that he assumed Hermione was about to use, he found himself confused.
'Huh?'
'What was I about to do?'
Hermione had stolen the Rose Bishop's thoughts!
And before he could respond, Hermione stepped forward, her body barely avoiding the incoming slice of the claws at her back as she stepped straight through a door and appeared right behind her enemy.
"Diffindo!!" Hermione shouted while jabbing her wand into the Rose Bishop's neck.
Blood sprayed like a fountain as the Rose Bishop's head went flying upwards.
Hermione's body simmered with the release of tension that had gripped her in the face of death mere moments before, her eyes lingering on the Flesh and Blood Servant whose body appeared to be dissolving and collapsing into a puddle of flesh onto the floor.
But just as her body relaxed, she spotted the Rose Bishop's head that was tumbling around on the floor came to rest facing her.
'He's smiling!' Hermione felt chills run her spine.
"Naive." the Rose Bishop commented, his head still disconnected from his body.
That was when Tonks shouted, her own battle paused momentarily as she gripped her Flesh and Blood Servant's body with an illusory symbol on her hand while jabbing her wand into its head through its ear.
"BURN HIM!!!!!!!"
But it seemed like Hermione had run out of time.
BBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
The Flesh and Blood servant in front of Hermione that had turned into a puddle right under her, exploded with a forceful blast that threw her off her feet and towards the barbed wall, impaling her fully under Tonks's horrified gaze.
Not one to be as naive as Hermione, the Rose Bishop used manipulated the shadows further and expanded the thorns on the barbed wall until they fully pierced through Hermione's body, growing everywhere inside, ripping through her limbs and organs alike, making her spit blood for a second before the spikes reached her brain and killed her instantly.
He'd used her inability to cast magic in that state and manipulated it to kill her as efficiently and thoroughly as possible. There was no way she was coming back.
"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"
Tonks screamed.
Her hands trembling as her spell exploded the suppressed Flesh and Blood Servant's head while the Rose Bishop retracted the barbed wall and fixed his head back onto the body using the shadows.
With the support of the barbed wall gone, Hermione's now dead body collapsed.
The collapsing thud of Hermione's body knocked Tonks into a stupor, causing her to freeze, her eyes widening as her eyes filled with tears.
Her limbs hung to her side as her wand slipped out of her loose hands.
"No way…" Tonks mumbled softly, collapsing to Hermione's side, cradling her now ruined head that was riddled with holes and trying to do something, anything, to bring Hermione back.
But it just wouldn't work.
Tonks felt a sharp cold blade press at the side of her neck as she lifted her hollow dull gaze towards the Rose Bishop as if begging him to kill her.
"Do you know the plan?"
Tonks' eyes flickered with confusion that the Rose Bishop noticed and sighed.
'All this trouble and they didn't even know anything about the plan.'
'The Lord was right, these disgusting creatures are truly unintelligent.'
'The Lord is the True Creator!'
"What plan?" Tonks asked, fearing for the worst.
The Rose Bishop opened his mouth again, about to speak but suddenly he found himself confused.
'Huh?'
'What was I about to say?'
"Incendio."
Within the moment the Rose Bishop remained confused, deadly flames engulfed his entire being.
"AAAARRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hermione stepped out from behind him, appearing as if she'd just stepped out of thin air before looking at Tonks who was now looking at her with a smile.
"Hehe How was my acting!"
Hermione smiled back and under the backdrop of the Rose Bishop's flesh melting and being cooked under Hermione's incendiary fire the two girls highfived with a crisp clap.
The Rose Bishop did try to save himself by rushing to take the rather brutalised and confused officer who'd just barely survived having been separated from his host, who was currently on the floor terrified and shocked with what was happening, a hostage.
But although the Officer was obviously going to die very soon and couldn't run to be anywhere else, the Rose Bishop assumed that the two girls might give in.
Especially since he still hadn't figured out how Hermione was so proficient with apparitions.
Seeing the burning man rushing towards him while screaming, terror crept up the officer's heart.
"Demons…" He mumbled, using up his last few remaining breaths.
But before the Rose Bishop could take a few steps more, Tonks extended her hands, throwing it forward as a whip shot out of it and wrapped around the Rose Bishop and constrained him.
A gut tearing pain shot through the Rose Bishop's soul as he collapsed to the floor, his body still burning.
He still tried to crawl to the officer but Tonks didn't give him any more opportunities, "Psychic Piercing."
A similarly sharp pain to the one striking at his soul shattered the Rose Bishop's mental defences and before he could make a single move more, he lay dead, at least mentally as he slumped onto the floor, burning alive, filling the corridor with a distinct smell of cooked meat.
Hermione flicked her wand too and knocked out the officer before stealing away any of his memories of the current matter, hoping to give him some relief in his death.
"Don't kill him." Tonks said softly, pointing at the fire taking over stronger as the Rose Bishop's regeneration gave up and started to slow down due to lack of excess flesh.
Hermione nodded and put out her flames while Tonks simply conjured the Brand Of Restraint on her hand again and placed it on the Rose Bishop's head, making sure he'd be down for as long as they wanted and wouldn't be able to fight again.
On the side, Hermione made a note of the symbol that came up during the restraint. 'Can that be turned into a spell too?'
"So…want to tell me what you just did?" Tonks asked softly.
Hermione looked at her and then at her wand and then back at her as she spoke quickly, "It's an illusion spell. Only, learned it recently. I can teach it to you if you want?"
Not one to stand on ceremony regarding such matters Tonks nodded, "I'd appreciate that. Gave me a good scare for a second there I almost thought you died…"
Hermione blushed softly but then shook her head, "I didn't mean to do that. I trusted your instincts."
Tonks nodded, "Just give me a head up next time."
Hermione nodded and then they turned towards the Rose Bishop together.
"You're the Interrogator among us." Hermione shrugged.
"Appreciated. But I've seen their kind. They'd rather die of madness than let anything out." Tonks said as she pulled the Rose Bishop's head by his now loose and cooked neck, slapping him awake as she gave him a simple command.
"Speak, or you'll be 'cooked' in a million more ways than you can imagine."
"...e~" The Rose Bishop said something but his voice was too weak for Tonks or Hermione to hear so Tonks shook his neck wildly, flailing his body for a few seconds, his cooked skin cracking and tearing as blood spilled onto her face, before stopping and asking him again.
"I won't be as gentle the next time, either speak up or I'm going to give you a bath in holy water."
"The Lord that Created Everyth-"
Before the Rose Bishop could finish that thought, Hermione quickly stole it, causing Tonks to tuck away the spirituality she'd filled her wand with to knock the Rose Bishop out, "You've got to teach me that spell too."
"No potions?" Hermione asked softly.
"Nah. That's more Belmont's style. Let's group back together with them. We don't know if there are any more of them anyway. No point in letting everyone brave a danger unprepared when we can warn them."
Hermione nodded.
Tonks fixed up the corridor and after binding the Rose Bishop using an Incarcerous spell after knocking him out, they walked through the corridors once again while making their captive float by their side.
…
Ron walked around, following the rest of the escort team with Belmont as they moved one by one, checking each officer that Loki had revealed to be marked by the Lieutenant for being a spy or a potential recruit.
But-
"Are we sure this isn't just some other diversion for him to be able to carry out the real plan?" an escort team member asked, eyeing Ron and Belmont suspiciously.
Ron felt annoyed, partially because he was being looked at with suspicion, something that according to him should only be directed towards Dark Wizards, but more so because Loki had clearly taken on the tougher tasks and assigned them on a goose chase of those that only 'might' be a Beyonder.
They'd walked into three different office rooms on three different floors till now, each one leading higher and higher, as if they were slowly being escorted out of the Launch Facility.
The group usually walked into the office together, with the escort team leading the way and Ron and Belmont posing as Observers who could 'detect if someone had defected through observation of psychological clues'.
In reality Ron was just playing the role of a spectator and trying to figure out if he could spot a spy.
Meanwhile, Belmont was using his senses as a Vampire to detect the vitality in the officers they encountered to figure out which one of them was a Beyonder like the Lieutenant.
And with their combined sieve, neither Ron nor Belmont had stopped anyone suspicious among their targets.
However, the two of them never realised that their methodologies were flawed.
For Ron to be able to detect something wrong with a person's psychology they must be visible to him first.
However, Loki had deliberately only marked in Beyonders Sequence 7 and below, who'd more likely than not be hiding in the shadows of these officers.
Belmont similarly was too weak to be able to peek into the world of shadows to detect or react to whatever was inside them even though he had an affinity to them because of his abilities as a Vampire.
And so, neither Ron nor Belmont had realised that they'd already alerted a Sequence 7 Shadow Ascetic who'd latched onto their tails instead, hiding in the shadows of an escort officer, waiting patiently for the right time to strike down both Belmont and Ron at once.
Clearly something had gone wrong in their plan to capture and kill Loki since the group was never meant to split after their final groups formed when they exited the arrival room. So this particular Shadow Ascetic had taken it upon himself to investigate by slipping directly into the shadow of an escort team member.
He'd already 'listened' to their spirits and determined that the Vampire was somewhere in mid-sequence 7 of the Apothecary pathway while Ron was just a new beyonder of some random pathway.
But he hadn't attacked yet, waiting for an opportunity.
Perhaps then the group would bump into more of the 'Lord's followers'and then they could take everyone down without a sound, hold them hostage to learn more about the deviations in the plans by prying open their minds.
"Why didn't the Lieutenant tell us more about their terrorist organisation?" Ron asked Belmont with a soft frown as they walked the otherwise silent corridors that felt like dead spaces.
Belmont shrugged, "Probably because the 'suggestion' wasn't strong enough…" It wasn't a full explanation, but it was the best Belmont could come up with, especially since, "I think I know what organisation they belong to. Tonks told me about them before. About how annoying they are to deal with…"
"You do?" Ron asked, slightly surprised. "Where are they from?"
With how things had been going recently and his interest in wizarding chess and Arcadia Royale, Ron felt like they were stepping into a battlefield, if they were not already in one. And so, learning the knowledge of their enemy's capabilities and habits was the first half that he aimed to complete if they wished to win with their lives safe.
Belmont frowned this time, he took a moment to collect his words as he tried to consolidate the information in a way that it could be presented around Muggles, since the members of the escort team were all leaning in close to them, waiting for them to 'spill the beans'.
"The Aurora Order worships a strange god they call the 'True Creator'."
"Strange?" Ron asked softly, his voice echoing in the silence interrupted by the shuffling of their feet.
"Yes. Strange would be the best word to describe him. While common knowledge about him among our circles extends to the fact that he's an Evil God…among the Unspeakables, he's an enigma...he just up and appeared in our history one day. Like he didn't exist before the Second Epoch, or at least we haven't found any such records. And then boom, he was a key part of the Third Epoch."
"....third epoch…if I recall correctly, that's when most of the 'Gods' appeared?"
Belmont nodded, "While that is true, the True Creator is strange still. Unlike the other Gods who became popular as their Churches grew. He appeared first. And his churches appeared after. Mostly by taking over the churches of other Gods."
With this new information, Ron started to contemplate with his eyes hazing over as he started to sink into his thoughts.
'Growing by stealing the churches of other gods..'
'Which God's church did 'He' steal?'
The escort team members were thoroughly confused by Ron and Belmont's discussion. But they chalked it up to them using code words, one of them, particularly curious and informed about mysticism, asked Belmont a question, "Other Gods? So there are other maniacs and organisations like the Aurora Order?"
Belmont looked at the member who'd asked this and chuckled softly, "Other? There are several. The Aurora order is just a drop in the ocean compared to a few of the truly larger ones. Especially when the God they worship is such a craz-"
Before Belmont's words finished, Ron picked up on the slight shift of the shadows under the escort member.
'Huh?'
"-y, unstable and truly wonderful Gods out there. Each time their believers grow stronger, 'He' does 'His' best to kill them off." Belmont continued as the shadows fluctuated once again, and Ron who was already paying close attention noticed the changes swiftly.
'...but I'm only a spectator!'
Ron didn't know how he could warn Belmont without alerting the enemy that was hidden. He didn't know if he could even alert Belmont in time, fast enough so that the Escort whose shadow seemed to have been hijacked could be saved.
"God killing off their believers?" The escort member asked unconvinced. While he wasn't particularly against the idea since he'd read about various myths and legends about particularly cruel and proud gods that killed wantonly, he couldn't really believe that a God from a different pantheon, if he even existed, would personally come down to Earth to stop his believer from growing stronger, politically or else wise and it wouldn't be recorded in modern history.
But Belmont just laughed, "While that is also true. There have been several instances of infighting within the organisation with different members claiming to have received a revelation from the True Creator himself to end up killing each other."
Just as the shadow twitched for the third time, Ron's eyes focused.
A hint of a plan forming in his mind. Nothing too detailed since he didn't have the time or the information to think much about it.
But he knew one thing.
'If I am a spectator that can simply spectate. Then I better participate in the stage in such a way that no one suspects my spectating!'
"Ah..that makes more sense." The escort member nodded. It made sense to him that the greed of people would be their own undoing.
'I guess that's what the believers of such an evil god get in the end.'
"But which pantheon is this God from? I've never heard of him while going through history books."
"Oh?" Belmont was surprised to see someone so curious. But he didn't say anymore, or rather didn't get the opportunity to since Ron interrupted, "Oh? You want to learn more about 'Them'?"
Belmont was confused, wondering what Ron was doing, but he didn't interrupt, waiting to see what was on Ron's mind.
The escort team member nodded and Ron pulled out a book, Hermione's book, from the pouch in his robes, "This book contains a lot about the history of the world." Ron said, holding a book that any Hogwarts student would unmistakably recognise as "A History of Magic.", a perfect book to lay your head on and sleep in Professor Binns class.
Seeing the strange, worn out book in Ron's hands the escort team member grew slightly curious, walking closer, even breaking formation as Ron spoke with great elegance, "This book is one of a kind. A historical artefact that has been passed down for generations through the world of mysticism."
"Really!?" the escort team member asked, stepping past Belmont.
"Yes. There's even a chapter specifically about the True Creator which says and I quote,-
'The True Creator, also known as the Mad God or the Fallen Creator, is known for his maniacal temperament which is used by 'His' believers to kill those they don't have the ability to understand or comprehend.'
-truly with such stupid and foolish believers I take some pity on the Mad God. After all because of his foolish believers he's been given the titles of Degenerate and Corrupt."
Belmont's eyes widened.
Not just because of how daring Ron was to make things up about an actual Deity so plainly and openly without fear of being cursed down in some way, but also because right at that moment, the shadow that was under the escort member who'd just passed him, shot outwards, straight towards Ron's head.
This was all a part of Ron's 'acting' as a spectator.
If the stage set believed that he was a fool who could only buffoon around and ride on the cocktails of his friends, then he would truly embody the role.
He would become a spectator while calmly acting as his designated position.
Hidden in plain sight so that he could lay the trap for everyone else to shine.
And so Ron played the role of the fool for the Shadow Ascetic hiding from everyone, to draw him out, into the light.
And Belmont did not disappoint.
He wasted no time.
With a flick of his wrist, the shadow they shot out morphed and turned into a harmless flimsy whip that curled backwards into the shadow and pulled out a bound prisoner.
It was the Shadow Ascetic that had been following them.
All the action happened in the few moments that the escort team member stepped towards Ron, turning everyone else confused and surprised about the sudden turn of events because of which a new person was suddenly by their side, all bound up and neatly tied up.
But that was not the end.
Before the escort team members could make another move or even speak up.
The Shadow Ascetic suddenly coughed up a mouth full of blood onto a strange parchment in his hands filled with even stranger symbols.
But Ron and Belmont instantly recognised it.
It was a miniature sacrificial altar adorned with the Symbols of what seemed to be an unidentified deity, logically deduced to be the True God.
"What are you doing!!!!" Ron screamed but Belmont was calmer and faster, he knew well that Shadow Ascetics could summon evil creatures from the shadows as long as they provided a sacrifice.
However, true to the uncontrollable nature of their Deity these beasts were uncontrollable too.
They could be, in the best case scenario, ruthless creatures that simply ate up their own summoners and left everyone else alone, or in the worst case scenario creatures that simply consumed everything in their way after inflicting them with the degeneration and corruption of the True Creator, perhaps turning them into creatures to be summoned too.
As such, before the ritual could be sealed with spirituality and completed, Belmont threw out a pouch after untying the rope on its mouth.
In the flash of the pouch's mouth opening, a large creature, over six feet tall, made up of truly strange assortments of external parts slipped out.
The creature was a deep shade of purple with a thick tortoise shell and head poking out of it.
Except instead of the little legs a tortoise had, it had six crab-like legs poking out of the shell's underbelly.
Atop its shell were bright violet crystals haphazardly arranged, giving an eerie sense of power and mystical authority.
"Ferry!!" Belmont shouted, "Consume!"
And under the stunned gazes of everyone in the area, 'Ferry' opened his mouth wide, wider than appeared to be physically possible without unhinging his jaw like a snake and simply swallowed the man that had just appeared whole, along with the contract that he'd just spit blood on.
Ferry ended his meal with a short, "Burp." before turning around on his six crab legs to look at Belmont with patience, waiting for new orders.
"WAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" The escort team members all screamed, some even pulled out their weapons into firing position and pulled the trigger, but Belmont managed to put them all into a deep state of confusion with a simple confundus charm, causing them to momentarily enter a period of haze.
Belmont then leaned towards the giant fire crab and pet his head, "Good job Ferry."
The Giant Fire Crab purred with content under Belmont's pets and after accepting a small treat of its favourite kind of dried dragon meat, climbed back into the small pouch it had climbed out of.
After finishing his short job, Belmont turned towards Ron.
"Thank you. I should've noticed the abnormality earlier."
Ron simply smiled slightly embarrassed. "I only happened to notice it because of my spectator potion powers…." and after a short pause he added, "...could you tell Hermione about it too?"
Belmont cracked a smile, but then turned serious, "We can only do that after we escort everyone out of here."
"Escort everyone out?" Ron asked, surprised, "You mean to say that a stronger fight is going to take place here?"
Belmont nodded, "I thought earlier that the Sequence 5 that Loki had under his control was the highest that we'd have to face. But if there are Sequence 7 Beyonders among the ones that Loki let us check on, I'm sure he's dealing with at least a few Sequence 6s. And if there are many Sequence 6s there have to be even more Sequence 5s and even possibly a… Demigod…."
Ron's eyes widened.
"That was truly a Sequence 5!?" Ron asked for confirmation and Belmont nodded, "But…but Loki confused him with a confundus charm that was wandless and silent!"
Belmont nodded again, leaving Ron at a loss for the second time.
Looking at the spot on the ground where a few small drops still littered the floor from the Shadow Ascetic's previous attempt, Ron stood surprised.
Whether Ron was truly shocked or simply 'acting' one couldn't say.
He was simply Ron.
Ron's gaze then fell on the escorts that were still dazed as his mind firmed and he nodded, "Alright then, let's do this."
"Good." Belmont nodded, "The sooner we get this done, the faster we will be able to return and help everyone else."
Ron nodded, he had the same idea. He didn't know if he could help Loki but he knew that if there was going to be a fight between a Demigod and his friends, he'd have to be there to help, no matter what.