A/N: Yep, she ji.

  -x-X-x-

  Oren’s eyes suddenly snap open, ing awake quite abruptly. For a moment, he just stares up at the ceiling of their room oavern’s sed floor, irely sure what woke him up. Then… he hears it again and curses under his breath.

  Sitting up in bed, he looks to the window. It’s the early m hours, the twilight between light and dark. The pitch bck of true night is being steadily chased away by the early m sun, but the sun itself has not yet begun to rise over the distant horizon. It gives an almost eerie feeling to the bits of light that herald the sun’s iable arrival. Certainly, most of the town of Oakvale is not awake yet. They’re all still asleep in their beds. A…

  “Sophia, wake up.”

  To her credit, the Minoddess is a light sleeper. Her blue eyes open and she looks to him, even as she sits up in her own bed. Her brow furrows in fusion when she sees how early it still is.

  “What… what is it?”

  Letting out an explosive sigh, Oren shakes his head and swings his legs out of bed.

  “We’re surrounded.”

  Sophia’s eyes widen at that, even as Oren rises to his feet and tilts his head to the side, sidering all that he’s hearing. It’s nothing withiavern itself. They’re smart enough to avoid that, which is half the reason he didn’t hear them earlier. But Oren’s heariends far past just this building.

  Just like he did ba Amberwell, Oren hear the men slowly moving into position to surround the inn. There’s a great deal many more than there were ba Amberwell though, and the kicker is the men on the roofs of the buildings closest to the tavern. They’re not taking any ces.

  “Who… the God Hunters?”

  Sophia pales as the realization hits her. rimaces and nods, because he ’t think of anyone else who could field these numbers. Not to mention, that enter in the marketpce from the day before is still fresh in his mind. The God Hunters were practically running Oakvale at this point. Who else could it be?

  Perhaps he should have listeo Sophia when she said they o keep moving, but he’d been fident that they could remain ued. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be the case. How had they found out about them though? Did they have some way of sensing divinity or something? Surely not, or they would have been caught out in the market. And besides, Sophia was running on fumes anyways.

  Moving over to the wall o the window, Oren very carefully tries to get a visual oly what they’re dealing with. He hear them moving around out there, even make out distinct heartbeats if he really focuses, but he’s still reliant on his eyes to differentiate. Only, he must not be careful enough, because a voice suddenly rings out from down below.

  “Ho up there! At the window!”

  Oren’s jaw ches at being called out. At the same time, he hears everyone else in the area beginning to stir. The God Hunters hadn’t bothered evacuating the tavern nor the surrounding area. People start to wake up in their beds at the shouting voice. Ore think this was a mistake or anything like that though. Rather, he gets the impression that they don’t care if any is get in harm’s way.

  Finally deg to bite the bullet, Oren steps out into full view of the window, standing silhouetted in the frame. He’s practically daring them to attack him… and at the same time, using the opportunity to get a good look at what he and Sophia are up against.

  The tavern is surrounded on all sides of course, eerily mimig the situation they found themselves in ba Amberwell. This time around however, there are God Hunters positioned on each rooftop, armed with bows and quivers of arrows. Ore think they’re there to necessarily stop him from pulling the same maneuver he did st time, but rather to provide overwatch support from above if a fight breaks out oreet.

  Speaking of the street… there’s a dozen men on the road outside of the tavern and awo dozen surrounding each side. Among the dozen men in the front… is the cruel one from yesterday in the market. He’s also the one who spoke up now, a wide grin spreading across his face when he sees Oren standing there. He takes a step forward.

  “There you are! Why don’t you and your friend e out here so we chat, hm?”

  His voice carries, causing more of the inhabitants of the buildings around them to stir and move to the windows to find out what’s going on. When Oren just stands there silently, the God Hunter’s smile turns slightly… brittle.

  “Heh, big strong silent type, eh? Or maybe you just don’t trust me. Fair enough. The name’s Elric. Elric Steelwater. I’m the Lieutenant of these sorry excuses for men you see around me.”

  There’s some shifting of feet from the od Hunters at that. Some seem to take Elric’s insult personally, while rin at his words, treating them like a joke. When Oren tio stand there silently, Elric’s smile finally drops.

  “Don’t make this harder than it has to be. We know you’re traveling with a goddess. Her diviench permeates through this town like a pgue.”

  A lie. Has to be. But what if it isn’t? What if they actually have a method for deteg divinity? If that is the case… Oren might have a way out of this that doesn’t require bloodshed. A slim ce admittedly, but better than nothing.

  Stepping up to the window, Oren finally pushes it open. Elric’s eyes light up in i, even as Oren hears the archers on the rooftops all drawing back their bs, aiming arrht at him. Not that they would do anything even if they fired.

  “My panion is not a goddess. What you’re sensing is the Hill Giant I had to sy a few days back. The demigod’s blood got all over me… I wasn’t able to properly it off until st night’s bath.”

  There’s a brief pause as Elrid his men take that in. Oren has spoken pinly and cisely. His words were a pack of lies, but he knew for a fact that he’d given no tells, showed none of the usual signs of deceit. His tone was matter of fa the extreme and anyone who was looking for deception would hear nothing but hoy in his voice, or so he hoped.

  … Unfortunately, there are two pos to being believed when telling a lie. There’s you and there’s the lie itself. Even if you’re the best liar in the world, even if you give away no tells whatsoever… if your story is too outndish to be believed despite the most outndish parts being the most ho, then it won’t matter how good you’ve lied.

  After a moment, Elric throws back his head and ughs and all of his fellow God Hunters do the same, chug and snickering and even guffawing at Oren’s expehey all seem to think what he’s just said is the height of hirity. And obviously, they don’t believe him in the slightest. With a low sigh, Oren turns and steps away from the window, causing Elric down below to snap out a response.

  “Oi! Where the fuck do you think yoing?”

  But Oren is already out of sight, both of the ground below and the archers on the rooftops surrounding the tavereps over to Sophia, who has hurriedly gathered up their supplies and is looking rather unsure of what they’re supposed to do . Fortunately, the situation isn’t as dire as it looks where they’re ed. Unfortunately…

  “I’m going to have to kill them all.”

  Sophia jolts at his words, but he see as she eventually reaches where he’s already at. This isn’t like Amberwell, after all. Those were just small time thugs in a small town. The reach of Gentleman Grays ot even hold a dle to what the God Hunters are capable of. Even if they successfully flee Oakvale like they did ba Amberwell, the God Hunters will just report on them and bring in more of their kind, hunting them to the ends of the world. And since Sophia’s refuge is far too close… they won’t even have to look far.

  No, his and Sophia’s only hope, in the end, is to silehese God Hunters here and hope they haven’t already sent off a message to their superiors. Even if they have, at least there won’t be any God Hunters left to talk about them when reinforts finally arrive.

  Finally, Sophia nods.

  “I… I uand. They won’t let us go. They… they’ve brought this on themselves.”

  That they have. Oren hear them outside even now, with one of the od Hunters asking Elric if they should storm the tavern already. So far, the self-procimed Lieutenant is hemming and hawing, but Oren knows he won’t wait forever. And if the God Hunters do storm the tavern, they’re not likely to discrimiween him and Sophia and the other i people in the building.

  There should have been one silver lining to all of this though. As Sophia had expio him, the only way to kill a divine being was with Celestial Metal or something infused with Celestial Blood, like the Hill Giant’s club. It was why his mundane bde had done so little damage to the Hill Giant.

  Supposedly, Celestial Metal was very, very rare. So Elrid his God Hunters shouldn’t have any on them because this was some backwater town, right? A…

  “How did they kill the God of the Forest? How did they kill Bormus?”

  Elric had boasted about it the day before in the market. He’d made it quite clear that they’d sin the region’s local forest god. Sophia b Oren’s question, having clearly not sidered such a thing until now. She thinks quietly for a few long, tense moments before shaking her head.

  “I… I don’t know. Maybe they have some other way of harming the divine? Or maybe the God Hunters know some source of Celestial Metal I do not and are equipping all of their men with it after all… but those who were chasing me back when we first met definitely didn’t have any…”

  Oren ches his jaw and nods. The uainty made things more difficult. If he was absolutely certain there was ial Metal or other threat to Sophia in this town, then he could just jump out that windht now and start killing people. If he didn’t have to worry about her safety… tch. It is what it is. He’ll just have to mix offense and defense. And… he knew just how to start things off.

  After a long moment of pnning, Oren holds out a hand in Sophia’s dire.

  “Give me our bag.”

  The Minoddess looks fused for a moment, before hesitantly handing over the pouch of copper, silver, and gold that they’d won all the way ba Amberwell.

  “I don’t uand. Are… are you going to try to bribe them or something after all?”

  Oren shakes his head, even as he opens the bag and pulls out one of the metal s inside, rolling it between his fingers for a moment.

  “… No. They all still have to die. But I ’t just leave you defenseless. That means improvising.”

  -x-X-x-

  “Boss? Should we go in now, do you think?”

  Elric Steelwater ches his jaw as the urge to bad his subordinate across the face. While indulging in his crueler, more sadistidencies with the townsfolk of this shithole was fine, he couldn’t be a tyrant to his men. Not if he didn’t want to wake up to a dagger in his throat while he slept. No, his subordinates o think of him as the best superior they’d ever had. That was just good sense.

  Still, sometimes he really wished he could indulge. Especially when one of his men made such a stupid question. And especially when Elric… didn’t quite know what to do.

  The information they’d received said that there was a goddess iavern in front of him, but that she was apanied by a very dangerous man who was ag as her protector. He’d been advised to move with extreme caution, a even though he’d had his men surround the tavern in the early m as silently as possible, they’d still been caught.

  Just what-

  Elric’s head twitches as a whistling noise suddenly pierces the silent air.

  “The fuck was that?”

  His men look around uselessly, just as fused as he is. Another whistling noise sounds out a sed ter. Elric looks up towards the window of the tavern, but he doesn’t see ahere. A, as he peers up at it… he thinks he sees something small fsh out of the open window, even as a third whistling noise echoes out.

  The fourth time it happens, Elric sees the e, mostly because the angle means he see the archer he stationed on a rooftop to his right as insurance. And since he see the archer, he gets to watch as the whistling noise is directly proceeded by the man’s head exploding.

  Elric’s eyes widen and one hand falls to his sword while the oes elsewhere, grasping onto something he has hidden away in his armor. This… this was divine power. It had to be.

  “WE’RE UTACK! SPREAD OUT, THE GODDESS IS TRYING TO STRIKE US DOWN!”

  On pure instinct, Elric throws himself to the side, specifically behind one of his men… a moment before a whistling noise sounds out and a sptter of blood and brain matter strikes him as the man’s head explodes. Elrids himself using the headless corpse for cover, even as he stares unprehendingly for a moment at the blood-coated golden resting on the grouo it.

  Then, he’s scrambling. More whistling sounds ring out as his men, slow to read standing still like the morons they are, make for more appealing targets than Elric himself. Meanwhile, the men surrounding the buildings oher sides begin to move in all at once upon hearing his words.

  Elrids cover quickly, hiding behind some barrels and panting for breath with his eyes wide as he watches his men rush into the tavern and up the stairs… and then hears their screams moments ter.

  What were they dealing with here, exactly? What had they been tricked into fag off against? This was supposed to be a Minoddess, but she… she was dropping his men like flies!

  Only, Elric’s whole world is turned on his head when his quarry finally exits the tavern on the ground floor. He watches from his hiding pce as the man from the window steps out and the woman said to be a goddess moves behind him. A dozen of his men e around the er from the back of the tavern at the same time, and upon seeing the two they draw their ons with a roar and charge forward.

  Elric expects to see the goddess drop them all… instead, he watches as the man puts his hand in a bag she’s carrying, pulls out half a dozen s… and begins flig them, oer another in the dire of the advang God Hunters. Heads explode and bodies are flung back as the s kill Elric’s meer another, sending a thrill of terror down his spine.

  … But to their credit, his men do not falter in the face of robably looks to them like divinity. Elriows better, but they just see a god fighting them and in their zealotry, tinue rushing in even as some of them die. This in turn forces the man to finally draw his sword and fight them, though that doesn’t go much better for the surviving God Hunters. Only the arrival of even MORE reinforts keeps the battle going as men lose their limbs and their lives faster than Elri blink.

  This… he’d thought himself so smart wheaken his orders and expanded upohe advice had been to take the majority of his forces to apprehend this goddess and her protector. But Elric had taken every God Hunter iown, aire fifty of them, and brought them with him. It had only seemed like good se the time. Now… well, now it was obvious that even fifty wasn’t enough.

  … Or maybe it was. On the one hand, Elrited badly to run, to flee, to turn tail and never look back. But oher hand, he knew what the price for desertion was. And there was still a way he could aplish his mission.

  The goddess and her protector are a few feet apart now. The man has stepped into his advang subordio more readily butcher them as they senselessly throw themselves at his bde. The goddess, meanwhile, has wound up positioned with her back to Elric’s hiding pce. Just his luck.

  Slowly, carefully, Elric pulls his secret on out of his armor. He drags the dagger from its sheath, the metal shimmering oddly. This Celestial Dagger… he wasn’t supposed to have it, but Elric was nobody’s fool. He hadn’t risen to the rank of Liuetenant by being nothing more than another drone among the thousands that poputed the ranks of God Hunters.

  Fast as he dares, and almost still not fast enough, Elric darts out of his hiding pce, grabs the goddess from behind, and pces the Celestial Bde against her delicate little neck. He still almost dies for it, as the man whips around at the same time that Elric moves. Had he been trag Elric the eime?

  Maybe he had, but he’d made a critical mistake iing his bitch get betweewo of them, because Elric was able to use her body as cover and now… well, now he has all the power.

  “HOLD! Move another ind I’ll kill her dead!”

  Even as the words are leaving his lips, the st of his men is charging at the butcher’s back. Without even looking, the goddess’ protector shes out backwards with his sword, skewering the final God Huhrough the throat and sending him to the ground choking and gurgling on his own blood.

  Elrices. From what he tell, all of his men are dead now. It’s just him left. But he still salvage this. He still make this work.

  “… Move another inch starting NOW and I will end this bitch’s life.”

  The ma him impotently, blood drenched bde at his side. But it’s obvious he reizes the dagger in Elric’s hands for what it is. A feeling of power wells up ienant’s chest. He would not die here. He could do still do this. He, Elric Steelwater, held all the cards in this moment. Now it was time to use them.

  -x-X-x-

  A/N: Takis for Elric's survival. Not gonna lie, the odds are great because the ces of him living through the five minutes are REAL slim lol.

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