Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Through an inferno, their bodies descended into the hells. It burned their flesh right off their skin, their bones turned to ash, and yet upon landing on their feet, it all came together to give everyone their original form. Cleanse of their good; the party stood in a dark room in hell as sinners damned for eternity.

The weight of what just happened brought them to their knees, and especially the priestess–was left crying. All good that she'd done, she felt it burning away as they made their way into hell through the Mistress' portal. The sound of her hisses echoed for a while, and although the party noticed her cries, they were too stunned by the group of naked devils glaring at them from a corner.

"Everyone except Amedith behind me, now…" Raven ordered, grabbing Amedith by the shoulder and pulling him right next to him.

Although a bit disoriented by the sudden tug, the magus recovered quickly and raised his shield in case they had to fight the succubi. To their surprise, however, an incubus bare of clothes, much like the rest, walked to the front from behind the group. Appearing concerningly similar to the magus, he held the same ambiguous look as Amedith.

"What in the–"

"You look familiar," lifting his feet off the ground, he crossed his legs and sat floating in mid-air. Smirking, the incubus flew closer to the magus while twirling his curly violet hair. "Hmm, different hair color, different style, different angle to the eyes, nope~ You're not my reflection."

"Are you the Mistress' servant who's gonna help us?" Ignoring the distractions, Raven decided to take quick charge of the situation. Locking his eyes with the incubus, he held a firm glare–something that sent chills up his spine. "We're not here for a picnic, just answer me…"

A blush took over the incubus as he flew away, feeling embarrassed by the look of authority. Often only summoned by men who loved the same sex, the leader of the succubi group was, needless to say, a tad bit fruity.

"I-I'll get things ready!" He squealed, hiding behind another naked devil.

Being directed to a table with just enough chairs to host his party, Raven settled down with everyone while one of the devils began to pass them the shapeshifting masks. Keeping them on their person, the group decided to wear them once they headed out of this room into the open flaming seas of hell.

"Geez…my fur…" Sweating like a pig thanks to the fur all over her body, Regalia kept fanning herself, trying to keep herself from fainting. "I thought the clothes and the rings were supposed to help us beat the heat!"

"Not really," looking at the wolf-girl undoing her equipment to be more comfortable, Linkle explained how things were actually supposed to work. "They give you resistance to the heat, not immunity. Meaning we can withstand the heat, not that we can't feel it." Enjoy new adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

"W-what's the fucking point then?" Mino added, dripping in even more sweat than Regalia, thanks to her curves being heavy on her body.

The only ones of monster girls unaffected were Maine and Arche, both of whom had a much better affinity for adapting to new environments. In fact, Maine's scales had turned a scorching red, and already she felt like she could use the heat to her advantage. Arche, on the other hand, was resilient through sheer bodily tolerance. Being in an uncomfortable bit of dark fluid for years helped her remain unaffected.

"Seems like the girls are having a harder time adjusting to the heat," Raven muttered, with Amedith sitting beside him.

"I've heard men's body temperature is usually higher than women so I guess it makes sense," turning his attention to Liliyana, he was thankful that the devil was totally unaffected. "Well, I feel fine, you seem okay, too, Raven."

"Could be because of my fae side, but that doesn't matter right now. Let's just rest up a little while the preparations are going on," with that said, Raven suggested that everyone take a light nap while he and Amedith kept a close watch on the succubi.

Although troubled by the heat, it also helped the girls fall asleep much quicker. Their body temperature being so high made their minds perceive it as sickness and made them feel sleepy. And while the girls slept, Raven turned to Amedith with a question.

"Did you hear what Kara said before we left?" His question surprised him a little as he hadn't heard a word.

Shaking his head, let it be known, but instead of explaining what he meant, Raven decided to keep his mouth shut. The warrior's curiosity only grew to his strange behaviour, but no matter how much he tried to get him to talk, Raven didn't utter a word.

'I wish I could tell you, or anyone for that matter…' The moment he'd felt himself disappear into the portal, Raven's eyes were focused on Kara. Her lips moved, but they barely breathed a word and what little he could make out spelt something sinister. 'One of your allies will die on this journey.'

Who could it be? Raven had no idea, but for once, he was scared–scared of losing family or a friend. The best-case scenario in his mind was losing Hayley, as she'd already lived her life before, but even then, a pang of guilt for even something so horrendous made him feel ashamed of himself.

'Tame the monster; you can't be weak now.' If someone were to die and that sacrifice was necessary, then as the leader, he knew he had to accept it and move on. 'Someday death will find you, wouldn't you want it to have meaning? Wouldn't you feel sated if your death saved their lives?'

Deep in thought, Raven pondered the idea for an hour or so. Then, as the incubus returned, he knew it was time to head out and face the flames of hell. Thankfully for them all, imps moved in droves, and thus, their group wouldn't stick out even if they tried to with the masks on.

Helga, Linkle, Regalia, the rest of the monster girls, the machina, and the original party members along with Maria, the crowd was quite a drove, but will it be the same when they return to the surface of Atlaria?