Blasphemia II: Deus Vult Pt. 04

Judith's lip curled as she masked her fear. "I will stop you."

The voice laughed, and it was the most terrifying thing Judith had ever heard. "I look forward to watching you try, Templar." The creature lurched against her blade, the orange glow fading from its eyes. Then it slumped over, letting out a bubbling gurgle as it died for good.

Judith ripped her blade free, breathing heavily and reciting Psalms under her breath to calm her racing heart. She was back in the crystalline maze, but the colors of the world were right this time, her skin it's normal peach hue and the blood dripping down her cheek bright red.

With a loud crack the crystal behind her shattered, and Judith spun around, cursing that yet another foe was coming for her. However, upon seeing the winged silhouetted through the new hole in the wall, she relaxed. That reaction scared her as much as the voice had.

"Oh good, there you are," Filia said, her chains merging back into her veil. "I heard violence and figured it might be you. Or another nasty consuming another victim."

"I really wish we hadn't seen that." Luca followed behind the succubus, wringing his hands. His face had a distinctly green pallor to it.

"Luca!" Judith held on tight to her sword as she moved to his side, looking him over carefully. "Are you okay? Did she do anything to you?"

Filia made a scoffing noise. "I'm offended you'd even think I'd do anything to this gorgeous hunk of Mediterranean man-meat." Her eyes flicked to Luca's crotch for a moment.

"Judith, I'm fine," Luca said, taking hold of her shoulders gently. His hands, she noticed, were very strong indeed. "I was more concerned for you. The Lord looks out."

"What happened? Where did you two go?"

"We wound up back topside in the old Colosseum stands," Filia said. "But you didn't make it all the way back with us, so I put a hole in the floor to come down here and try to find you in the crystal maze."

"How did you know to look there?"

Filia inclined her head to Luca. "Ask him."

The scholarly man shrugged on shoulder nonchalantly. "I'm extremely sensitive to the tides of faith. Your conviction and strength stand out like a beacon in my mind. It was easy to point Filia in the right direction. Though she preferred the direct approach rather than following the contours of the maze."

Filia blew on her knuckles, the skin there slowly healing from punching through the crystal wall. "Got us here faster, didn't I?"

"Still, I don't think we should remain here." Luca looked around the room. "This place feels very off to me. Moreso than anything else I've seen so far."

"Did the creepy eyeless monsters gorging themselves on humans not give you a clue?" Filia asked, shaking out two more chains. "Out we go!"

"Do you have any idea where we should head next?" Judith asked.

"Anywhere that's not here is a good start," Filia said, her chains chunking the crystal wall with mighty swings. "We still need to find the Pope and keep him safe."

Judith turned to Luca. "Could you possibly find him with your ability?"

He worked his jaw a moment. "It's possible. His Holiness should radiate like a beacon. Lord willing, if we find him, we'll find the Archbishop as well. Then we can escape this nightmare."

Judith's thumb rubbed against her sword pommel. "I'm not sure if escape is what we should be doing exactly."

Luca made a strangled noise. "What do you mean?"

Filia stopped swinging for a moment, raising an eyebrow at Judith. "You saw him too, didn't you?"

"Spoke to him, actually." Judith sighed. "I retract my earlier statement about not needing to know more, Infernal. What do you know of our foe?"

The succubus turned back to her work, cracking the wall with precise, brutal strikes. "Lovecraft gave him - it? - the name Yog-Sothoth, though honestly names don't really matter when it comes to this thing. From what Satan told me, this thing is so powerful that in the earliest days of creation God actually wasn't able to break it down into a more manageable form like the last nasty we fought. He had to lock Yog outside the universe itself. But it looks like he wants back in."

"That's... not good."

"That's putting it mildly." Filia's chain struck one last large chunk of crystal free of the wall, opening up an aperture to the outside. Beyond the maze, the outside had changed. The sky had changed to a muted, poisonous shade of green, casting the floating bits of Rome in eerie black shadows. Clouds swirled like noxious gas, blown by gales of wind that they couldn't feel. The scene was almost calm and tranquil, devoid of any disturbing noises.

Then Filia looked down. Her tail cracked like a whip. "Oh, fuck."

Judith moved to her side, looked down, and felt all the blood drain from her face. Below them, the hole in the ground that had once been the foundation of Rome had been covered with a ghostly, flickering image. It was a circle, split into two halves down the middle by a large raised area. "Is that... is that an eye?" she whispered.

Filia looked over her shoulder at Luca. "Best close your eyes and get to scanning for the Pope, buddy. We're on the clock now."