After I gathered myself, I turned to my companions. Void was rubbing a shoulder while Tizek was breathing heavily from mana exhaustion. I turned to look at Lia. She had her sword slung on her back and was now holding her hands over her face.

I strolled over to Lia and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I think it's over."

Lia nodded. "I know. But I'm ugly now."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My face. My fur is gone. I'm bald," Lia whispered low.

"Come on, turn around and let me check out how bad it is," I whispered back. When Lia shook her head, I pressed on. "I'll take off my shirt and let you make a hood. I just need to see what we have to do to fix it. I don't mind investing in a healer or spell for Tizek to repair the damage."

She turned toward me and slowly removed her hands. What greeted me was the face of a person-sized sphynx cat. The fur on her head and neck was completely burnt away on the front half of her body. The tips of her hairs around the edges of her neck were singed black while the back of her body was fine. The skin was pink and didn't look scarred. I ran my finger gently over her creases and it was smooth. I also noticed the follicles still open and looked healthy.

"Close your eyes a moment." Lia complied and I examined her lids. They, too, looked fine and didn't have any sign of damage from when she closed them in the face of the flames.

I pulled back. "Good news. I don't see any scarring and I think your fur will grow back since Tizek healed you fast enough. I don't know the rate of growth, though."

"We can buy some tonic at an alchemist later," Void suggested. "It should grow back in a week."

"I'm ugly," Lia moaned, not quite comprehending it was only temporary.

Tizek padded up next to me and placed a hand on Lia's shoulder. "Friend Lia is not ugly. Friend Lia is beautiful. A powerful protector who sacrifices is never ugly."

Lia's hands pulled back from her face. Tizek's words shocked her out of her funk. "Thanks…Friend Tizek." Those words made Tizek even happier than Lia. He fluttered his frills in a complex dance and even turned his eyes away bashfully. Yet another something new I got to learn about my friends.

"What about you two?" I asked. "You have any grey in your health bars we have to worry about?"

Void rubbed her shoulder. "A little. My joint feels a little off. This smell is also making me queasy." I took a deep, reflexive man-breath and smelled the scent of humid blood on the air. It triggered whatever lingering effects Void had from her illness yesterday.

"I, too, have some grey," Tizek said. "My chest hurts in the bones. I will be fine."

I looked toward the location of the battle and sighed. I removed my armor then took off my shirt so Lia could fashion it into a hood to cover herself. I then put my armor back on and started toward the ramp. "Come on, there's one more thing I need to take care of."

The four of us made our way down the tunnel to the slope leading to the cistern. I peered out over the battle and saw an even worse mess than the one we had to step around to get over here. As my eyes passed over the dead, I caught sight of Gerry, the bear-clan former leader who had it out for Lia. He was motionless on the ground with his eyes partially open. I felt bad in the moment when I felt a little relieved to see him that way.

Lisa's remaining people, save Hespeth who was standing guard over her boss, were down in the battlefield sifting through the bodies. Some of the upright gang, who were all in terrible shape, were helping survivors extract themselves. The three Light attuned medics were using Triage on the injured now that they had some mana recharged to cast the low-burden spell. All told, it looked like there would be around 300 badly wounded survivors on Lisa's side.

Survivors of the cult got a few emotional hacks of the blade or sloppy stabs with the spear to painfully finish them off. Lisa's people were not kind to enemies.

The high rate of casualties shocked me. From what I recalled from my hazy Earth memories, armies would be routed and lose when they lost around 10% of their soldiers. The battle below was existential for Lisa and a fanatical religious war for the cult. This led to a much more brutal war of survival.

Over near a pile of bodies, I noticed Kelly kneeling down cradling a badly mangled body. Based on the beaver tail, I realized she was holding the remains of Vark. Tears were streaming down her eyes as she knelt while Bayle was next to her with a hand on her back.

"Vark and Kelly were a couple," I heard Lisa wheeze in her natural voice now that her mask was gone. I turned in her direction to take my eyes off the battlefield. The new image wasn't much better. Much of her fur was burnt away and her face had ugly welts and melted spots. She also had rents in her clothing showing more torn and cut places. I knew the scarring would be temporary since she had the resources for treatment.

"I'll make sure she can retire and raise their three little ones. They'll go to a good school so they don't have to live this life." Lisa had noticed the unspoken question on my lips and offered an answer.

I held in my snark. Lisa, for all her nasty tendencies, took care of those who showed their loyalty. I knew it was a twisted and calculated tactic for her, but it ended up working.

Hespeth subtly wiped a tear away. When she turned to look in my direction, her face screwed up with wrath and her fox tail swished rapidly. "You! That mage said they were after you! This is your fault!"

Pulling her blade, Hespeth started stalking in my direction. Lia, Void and Tizek all pulled their weapons and blocked her path. I also noticed the mobile gang members all turning in our direction and the distinct sounds of weapons being drawn echo through the cistern.

"Stand down!" Lisa yelled authoritatively with her young feminine voice.

"But boss!" Hespeth pointed her sword at me. "It's his fault…"

"Stuff it you unbelievable knob!" Lisa roared. "What did I tell you about unprofitable fights?"

"But sir, er, ma'am…" Hespeth stuttered.

"But nothing. I don't pay you to think. Those three are hardly injured and will tear you apart," Lisa snapped and thrust her finger in our direction. She tried to pull herself up the wall and fell down due to her extensive injuries. "Besides, Oliver saved our sorry hides. Without him, the entire city would be wiped out."

That caused Hespeth and the rest of the gang to stop in their tracks. Hespeth sputtered. "What?"

Lisa looked over to me. "Mind if I tell them?"

How oddly considerate. I nodded in assent. Lisa then recounted her recollection of what I had gone through over the past few centuries.

Hespeth's sword clattered to the floor and the goons down in the cistern slowly got over their shock when they heard the moans of their compatriots they hadn't rescued yet. Hespeth pointed to me once more. "This was the prophecy? The reason they were summoned? Then why didn't the king come down here with his army?"

Lisa looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I didn't tell her that part. I coughed. "Well, you see, the king doesn't know. There is no prophecy. He just summoned us on a lark to see if an old scroll actually worked. It just so happened the end of the world was coming and whatever assigns abilities saddled me with this time loop. The only people who don't think I'm crazy and kill or imprison me on the spot are my three companions and, uh, Jack."

"Name's Lisa. Since my identity is out and I know someone down there is going to leak it, might as well own it," Lisa replied with a cough. "Makes sense the idiot running the country did that. He never was too smart."

Hespeth's expression changed to one of respect. She gave me an odd little bow and then silently went back to stand guard over Lisa.

"I have something to check," I said and looked around on the ground. I identified the remains of the four mages who didn't get incinerated in the blast and walked over to them. I had to step around bodies to reach the corpses and started rooting around in their robes.

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"You're not taking spoils," Lisa commanded.

I turned to her. "I had no idea you believed in the sanctity of the dead."

"I don't," Lisa snorted derisively. "Everything here is mine. I need it to pay gratuity to the family of the fallen and to rebuild my organization."

Once more, practicality and kindness ran hand-in-hand. I shook my head. "I'm not looking for riches. I'm looking for the ritual scroll and I'm destroying the reagents."

"They're mine, too," Lisa snapped.

"No, they're not," I countered. "This one I'm not budging on and I WILL fight you on this."

Lisa squinted at me. "Why?"

"Do you want to go through this again?" I waved my hands around. "I'm destroying those things."

"I can keep them safe," Lisa growled.

"The fuck you can," I snapped. "I don't give a damn how important you think you are. Everything here is too dangerous to exist." Once more, my three companions gripped their weapons. They had the same views as I did.

Lisa's eyes tracked toward my friends. "Fine, have it your way. I'll consider them marriage assets."

Shit, she was still on that. I ignored it and dug through the robes of the casters. I found the scroll on the third one I checked. I read it over and saw the ritual printed on it. Casting Pilot Light, I set the scroll on fire and held it in my hand until the fire consumed nearly to my fingers. I then dropped it and let the rest burn itself out.

After, I checked the last mage before walking to the pile where the sacrifice and, oddly, leader was buried. His allies only had him partially exhumed from the wreckage when they abandoned him and joined the fight. I dug through his robes to make sure there wasn't another copy and found nothing.

I sighed. Just because I didn't find any more here didn't mean there wasn't someone else around. I tilted the mage's head, a ram-clan man, in the direction of the room and shouted. "Anyone recognize this fella?"

I got blank stares back, particularly from Lisa who would be in the know. I guess even this guy was an unknown. There was still the mysterious financier of this entire operation on the loose, but I couldn't do anything about that now. If the portal opened up in a few hours somewhere else, I'd know the mystery man is still a threat. I swallowed back those fears.

I then stopped by the crates with the reagents. Delicately perched in a bed of straw, I saw a small crystal antler around 50cm long. I looked at it and noticed a gentle yellow light glowing in the center. The light caught the ethereally beautiful crystal cutting and spread a rainbow kaleidoscope across the inside of the box. I gingerly lifted the unbelievably rare, valuable and dangerous to find object. Then I smashed it on the ground. It shattered and instantly turned into little yellow motes of mana which drifted up and vanished in the air.

I followed it by crushing a green glass sphere with a swirl of wind within. Then an earthenware idol someone with a fedora would probably want in a museum. I turned a wooden crown with flaming jewels on its side and stomped it out of existence with a snap. Next was a Klein bottle which really did look four dimensional. I sent that marvel of physics back to whence it came. Last was a soft, black velvet shroud which I sliced in twain with my rapier and it vanished in a puff of smoke.

After I finished wiping out hundreds of thousands of Platinum worth of materials, I made my way back to Void, Lia and Tizek then pointed toward the exit. "Come on, let's get out of here. I figure Lisa can take care of the rest."

"Where are you going?" Lisa said. I turned and looked at her. She peered up at me with her attempt at a sweet smile in her condition. "We have a future to talk about. Come, give me a celebratory kiss."

I grimaced, reached into my pouch, pulled the platinum coin she gave me and tossed it into her lap. "Screw that. Here's your dowry. The wedding's off."

Lisa's face grew dark. "I thought we had something special. I wouldn't give you my code otherwise."

"You gave it out of necessity," I spat. "Besides, you're a terrible partner."

"Really now?" Lisa said in her neutral tone I recognized when she was truly pissed. "How can someone turn down me? Look at me."

She looked like she did on the inside at the moment. "What was your first instinct when I just told you no?"

"I'm going to lock you up and…" Lisa's face changed into a sly grin. "I see. I did this before. Well, damn, looks like you know me after all. The only way you'd resist my looks and charm is…right, you have someone already."

Crap, Lisa was way too calculating. She had quickly figured out I rejected her because I didn't want to cheat on Void. And she was right. Lisa acted so nice that I may have accepted her affections had I not met Void. What a snake.

Lisa's face shifted and stared right at Lia. "Normally, I'd find loved ones, family, friends and lean on them to get my way. But with the orphan there? There's no family to pressure. And I'm not about to tangle with the other two to make a point. My informant in the Exterminator's Guild didn't tell me about your recent Advancement."

Thank you, Lisa, for being so damned shallow you thought I went for the younger one. Keep on thinking Void is just my muscly bodyguard and not my power princess. I felt my trauma melting away. It was hard to be terrified by someone barely hanging on by a thread and looking like a burnt marshmallow. I felt my hand reach under my armor and pull out one of my Heartstop daggers I had bought out of habit.

Hespeth instinctively got in between me and Lisa. Lisa chuckled. "Heartstop, eh? Hespeth? Back off. No point in you dying, too. Knowing me, I abused Oliver quite a bit and he wants some revenge."

I held the dagger grip in my hand a few moments. Then I sheathed it and turned away. "Come on, let's get out of here."

As we left, Lisa called after me. "Big mistake. I'm not stupid enough to come after you, especially now everyone knows my face, but if you step in the slums again? Especially your pretty little fuck toy there. You're done."

"No problem there," I called back and hustled on the path to get out of this place.

When we got a few tunnels away from the fight and had our privacy, I let out a sigh of relief. Short of something unthinkable happening, we did it. It was over.

"Lisa thought I was your girlfriend," Lia muttered. "Why didn't you correct her?"

"Don't look a gift bison in the mouth," I replied.

"What?" Void said. "What's that mean."

"It's a saying from my home. It involves an animal you don't have here, so I had to make a change. It means don't question good luck," I said. "It's better she thinks Lia is my beloved since it'll keep her off Void's parents."

"They'd regret targeting mom and dad. They still have a lot of powerful Exterminator friends and I know Willem will be upset if something happens to the Teeth," Void said.

"As it is, I'd rather not press our luck. She'll figure out eventually she got the wrong one. That'll give us time to prepare," I replied.

"Apologies, my lord, I don't like the saying," Tizek blurted out.

I shrugged. "Nothing to apologize for. It doesn't roll off the tongue right."

"Can we move a little faster?" Void asked with a deep breath. "I'm not feeling good again."

We picked up the pace and moved out. I wasn't about to let my darling feel awful.

It was around 2Mor when we finally dragged ourselves back to The Gnashing Teeth. The trip back was uneventful since most people were asleep. The few people out were not inclined to tangle with armed people who had drying blood and singed armor walking briskly through the streets. We had thought we were going to sneak in and were greeted by Doun who looked irritated we were showing up so late.

When he caught sight of us, his expression changed to fear, something new I'd never seen on him. "What happened to you?"

"It was a tough fight, dad," Void groaned and rolled a shoulder. "I'm still feeling a bit off, can we save this for later?"

"Oh no, miss," Doun snapped. "You tell me you're going out for a simple Advancement 0 culling and you show up two hours after midnight. And wounded at that. There aren't any Advancement 0 monsters with fire attacks. What really happened?"

"I'm sorry," Lia blurted out. "We got attacked by some bandits and they had Fire and Earth spells. We beat them but took a few hits."

Doun's expression changed. He spat, well, made the noise. He wasn't going to spray saliva all over his clean tavern floor. "Blasted bandits. What happened to the bodies?"

"We left them to the animals," Void said.

Doun snorted. "Serves them right, especially after what they did to you, Lia. It looks like it'll grow back though. Do you need some money for a tonic?"

I shook my head. "We have the funds, thanks for offering though."

His eyes looked over Void then at me. "Looks like you took a nasty hit to the head."

"He got mad I was ambushed and rushed to my defense," Void said. "They all had an Advancement and Oliver got hit."

Doun padded over to me, grabbed my hand and shook it. "Good man. But be careful. You're a dud and if you're overly zealous, you'll get yourself killed. My little girl isn't a weak maiden. Let her protect you. If you upset her by dying, I'm going to make it my mission to invent resurrection magic so I can kill you again."

I nodded. Doun was a whole lot more talkative right now. I figure it was his way of dealing with the stress. I gripped his hand back. "I'll remember that."

"Good. Now, all of you are free to use the baths. You're family here, no sense in forcing you to go to the public bathhouse. Besides, it's closed right now," Doun stated briskly. He then gave us an approving nod, followed by a yawn, and headed upstairs.

"I need to sit a bit and calm down," Void said. "You take the bath first."

"I'll join you," I said. "Let Lia go first. She deserves it. I'm proud you took command like that. Good work."

Lia's head drooped. "Thanks. Can we talk later. I don't like how I…you know."

She was thinking about how she killed her first people. "Whenever you're ready. I can also blow dry you if you want."

Lia smiled. "I'll call you when I'm ready for the dry. That sounds nice."

I helped Void up to the room where she sat down and put her head between her legs while Lia and Tizek washed. After drying off Lia, I helped Void into the tub.

"You don't have to do this," Void said as she disrobed.

"I absolutely do," I replied as I watched her sink into the warm water.

"You just want to see me naked," Void said with a smile.

"Of course. But that's not the only reason. I'm here to help you feel better." I reached out and started to rub her shoulder muscles, particularly in the area I saw her rolling. There was a nasty knot in that spot I started to work at. Void let out a low moan when I found the hard nodule and worked it out.

"Thanks. It's funny, I'm upset by what Lisa said," Void said quietly.

"We'll deal with her as it comes." I adjusted my grip and worked the muscles between her shoulder blades.

She let out a little oohing sound. "Right there. No, she thought you were with Lia. Am I that unattractive?"

I chuckled lightly. "Do you really care what a crime boss thinks?"

"Am I?" Void asked again. I could see her flexing her arm muscles.

I sighed. "Way I see it, there isn't a concept of universal beauty. We have these people back where I come from called actresses and models. They were always pushed on us by the news sheets as these pinnacles of beauty. I don't remember any of their names or faces, but I do remember I always found them unappealing. They looked sickly to me. They were so thin you could see their ribs. And their eyes? They all looked dead inside with their fake smiles. They reminded me of skeletons with skin stretched over the bones and it creeped me out. You? You're everything I've wanted."

Void's head hung down. I glanced around her side and saw a little smile on her face. "Thanks."

I continued massaging her for a while until she indicated she'd like some help washing. I obliged and started lathering up the mane of hair draping down the back of her head. As I massaged her scalp, she spoke. "What was it like the first time we met? I mean your first time."

I smiled. "It was just like you remember. I had been here for around 4 years my time, give or take, and I was having a little mental breakdown. I had gone through 19 loops by then and was on number 20. I had died a few times early on to not knowing how the world worked. I found Tizek and helped him a few times after I thought he was a giant animal and wrestled him on my first loop. Then I figured out Lia was a slave and freed her on my 7th because I didn't want her going to the brothel in the castle. I learned from one of the other heroes when I ran into the on the way to training it was a punishment. She serviced 30 men in two days and it disgusted me."

I continued working her hair before moving to the fur on her cheeks a she silently listened. "Anyway, loop 19 was the first time I survived all the way to the end of my loop. When that big monstrosity opened up in the sky? It terrified me. On loop 20, after I freed Lia and helped Tizek, I went on my way. I was down as you can imagine. That's how was I knew that's why I was stuck in my loop and I didn't have a clue what to do. I was aimlessly wandering when I got hungry and asked a local. I was just outside the Teeth when I did and ended up here."

My hands moved to her back and I started lathering the fur there. "It was around 15 minutes before 2Af when I wandered in. After a little surprise, your dad immediately took me in and gave me a meal. I couldn't read worth shit because no one taught me and I couldn't decipher the writing myself. As I went to take my first sip of stew, I heard you stumbling down the stairs. Then there you were, scratching your ass, yawning with your bed face and rubbing the gunk in your eyes. You have this unique charm in how you are unapologetically you. It was, to be cliché, love at first sight."

I laughed. "You may not believe it, but I was shy back then. I stumbled all over my words trying to say how cute you were after you fell of the stool. I have no idea why, but you were lying there on the floor looking up at me and you accepted my sputtering request for a date. We spent those three months together and it was ended by the apocalypse. The second time around, I mentioned a bunch of things you told me and you were the third person to ever believe me after Tizek and Lia. I knew it was fate and here we are."

Void interrupted my washing to gently grip my hand. She pulled it under the water and wrapped it around her belly. I obliged and gave her a squeeze. She sighed contentedly. "I think I liked you at first for the same reason I like you now. I'm sure it was different, but I like your genuine approach. I knew you liked me for me and it made me happy. I'm sure the first me you met was as joyed as I am now. And thanks for thinking I'm pretty."

I put my second arm in the water. "Always. Now, let's get you washed and to bed. You need to sleep."

Void sighed and then let out a minor painful moan. "I'm going to need it. I'm still feeling a little sick."

"If it goes on much longer, let's get you to a doctor," I said.

Void shuddered. "So long as there aren't injections."

I laughed. "Don't be a baby."

I earned that splash of soapy water.

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