Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 456 A Slice Of History(More Backstory About Main Group)

After their discussion with Elana, Erika and Mino were both sent to Lantherm with the teleportation necklace. Dropping in the ocean wasn't the best experience, but being prepared this time, Erika already had a bubble shield around her that was filled with air and helped them rise to the surface without getting wet.

Getting to the bay with the help of an astral platform across the waters, Mino helped as well. However, her job wasn't yet done as while Erika was supposed to do most of the rune carving on the island, she was to be the monster on whom the rune would be tested first.

"Asmodia, can you handle the rune carving?" The moment the two set foot on land, Erika drew out the demon inside her. Slipping through and gliding in the air, the devil of seduction whirled around and faced the priestess in an instant. Sharing a knowing glance the two said not a word and yet everything that needed conveying had already been conveyed.

Watching the whole thing transpire from the sidelines, Mino's eyes squinted. Confused as to what exactly was going on, she moved in front of Erika the moment Asmodia flew away. Staring the priestess head-on, the minotaur folded her hands and stood firm like a wall.

"What's with everyone talking in riddles and keeping secrets these past few days?" Although she had little knowledge about the secrets being kept around her, the thickness in the air and the stiff movement in everyone, even including Raven inclined her to believe that something was going on–something that she was being kept out of for some reason.

"Nothing, I just told her to do the rune scribing across the island…" Grabbing Mino by the arm, Erika tried to push her to the side, but being physically much stronger, Mino refused to move an inch. Rolling her eyes, Erika pressed her lips and eyes closed before heaving a sigh and opening them again. Looking back at the minotaur girl, she briefly explained. "I need somewhere quiet to read something, you can come along and I'll explain it to you on the way if you promise to keep your mouth shut about it in front of everyone."

Although still a bit dubious about the whole plan, Mino finally let her hand carelessly fall to the side and stepped away from Erika. Gesturing to the front, she added.

"The inn or our broken ship? I'll leave the choice up to you," her suggestions were the best options they had as the church was bound to be full of people who would bother Erika while she was trying to read through the book.

And while the ship was much closer, the priestess simply didn't want to be around the hell's ocean while distracted as it had already given them enough trouble. Thus, making their way over to the now decrepit inn, Erika and Mino locked themselves inside one of the rooms that hadn't been touched by the witch hunter. There, the priestess finally had a chance to open the book of plans to revive a demon general.

The initial pages were nothing but blabber about the priest's thirst for power and his connections to Vlad as well as his perverse attraction towards kids. Skimming through such details, Erika finally stumbled onto something of substance.

'List of problematic individuals…'

She read and going through the names, she noticed a red check mark next to many names listed in the pages. Stumbling across Helga, Markus, and even Milo as well as Viola, she was beyond speechless. But what surprised her more was the lack of the last king's name as well as Maria's, that is until she was reminded of the fact that Vlad had Maria in metaphorical chains.

"Hmm, none of our names yet hu–" Mino's words were cut short as Erika began to read again.

"Amedith, the hero, Raven the playboy…" Since the monster girl couldn't read, she grew anxious as Erika took a pause while reading a note written next to Raven's name in her head.

"What is it?" She finally asked as the priestess stared at the note.

"They…They were gonna kill Raven but assumed he died at the minotaur cave and dropped their plans to kill him at the succubus maze…" With a gulp, Erika stared at the note again. Unable to shake the feeling that the Mistress must've known of this plan, a newfound rage invigorated inside her chest. "That bitch, and then she had the nerve to act as if she's helping us!"

It took her a while for her to calm down, but once she did–Erika read the rest of the party's names that were written on the pages. Beyond that, the only thing that she did find was the priest listing how the children's blood tasted. Amongst them were everyone from the initial hero's party with the exception of Erika since she had joined the church before the priest had stumbled into Vlad.

'His blood tastes divine, there's doubting it–there's something special about this boy, I'm glad his dying mother was brought to us after that burning. The boy was burnt, barely clinging on to life, but the magic in him kept him breathing until we could cast our magic upon his charred flesh. His mother, however, was beyond saving but she still got to hold him as a healthy child in her dying moments.'

Reading those words without a mention of any name, she could only guess that the priest was talking about Amedith. The mental image of the situation alone left Erika speechless. She wondered if she would be doing Amedith a favor by just keeping the cruel fate of his mother a secret. In her wonder, she looked down at the book once again and began reading to distract herself from that agonizing image.

'Melicia–when her parents dropped that basket at the church's doorstep, I never would've thought that girl would become a chosen. Her blood has an oak-like scent and the moment it rested on my tongue it felt like I was drinking a cup of coffee brewed in blood. Her heritage is strong and it's ingrained in her blood, and now that I think of it in retrospect, I understand why the goddess chosen her along with Amedith.'

With no more mention of her parents, Erika wanted to close the book and just a minute to rest her heavy heart. However, with her eyes catching a hint of Aria's name, she couldn't help but continue on forward.

'Rancid, just as that boy Raven, their blood tasted like tar! I suppose that makes sense given the fairy ancestry in them both. The boy, however, for him it's more prevalent as the charms I tried on him never seemed to work.'

Lastly came Erika's name, but there was not much written about her.

'Erika, I never got to taste her blood, but given the plentiful woman that she'd become, I suspect it to be as heavy as that boy Amedith's.'

The no mention of her parents left her battered. Never had she wished to know about them more than now, but that's exactly when she was hit with gut-wrenching disappointment.

"Fuck this book!" Throwing the book, Erika made Mino jump with shock. Not only her actions but her words were never so crude, which only furthered Mino's concern for her.

"What did it say? Why are you so worked up?" She asked since Erika hadn't read the last parts out loud, however, with a brush of her hands, the priestess tried to brush the matter off.

"Just give me a moment!" With those words, Erika pushed Mino away before curling up in bed and spending the rest of the day sleeping it away.

Although confused and bothered by her action, Mino didn't wanna bother the priestess as she was obviously petered. But that didn't stop her from taking the book and hiding it on the backside of her massive panties.

'I'll have someone else tell me what it says…'

She thought hoping Erika would forget about the book upon waking up from her long nap.