--- 10 minutes after the showdown at Aeridos.
A griffin was soaring through the sky, its rider was holding onto a lifeless body, its body limp.
The Inquisitor had been flying towards a body of water. A specific type of lake in Blorana Plains, one where Wine Slimes loves to gather.
"There," Lancel said to his griffin. "This place will do."
Following its master's order, the flying beast did a diving attack and landed perfectly next to the lake. The smell of wineand grapes filled Lancel's senses.
Hopping off the griffin, Lancel grabbed Renin by her hair and dragged her to the lake. He threw her into the water.Wine Slimes were abundant and after seeing a potential meal, they flocked over her and started to absorb her remains. Her body was slowly being covered with a thick red ooze.
"That woman is becoming a nuisance," Lancel mumbled.
The griffin was cleaning its feathers by ruffling them, the movement sent a gust of wind. Lancel walked back to his griffin and petted its beak. It didn't seem to care that it just saw its ally be killed in front of him.
"Who's a good boy?" Lancel whispered.
He glanced towards Renin's body one last. One of the Wine Slimes that were eating her stopped dead in its track. It blew up and died. One after another they all imploded into themselves, until they all became dead. There was no trace of them. Or Renin. Only red slime remained covered the lake.
"Hurry up you brute," Lancel said as he mounted.
On the lake the figure of a woman started to form. From the slime and guts of the Wine Slimes. Renin started to piece herself together.
The only difference is that her skin was now crimson red. Her veins were a deeper red. The slimes had regenerated her arm and neck completely.
"You asshole," she narrowed her eyes, "You killed me."
"When tools disobey their masters, they are put back in their place," Lancel said without even turning.
Renin stepped out of the lake, getting ready to hop on the griffin. She was stopped by a glowing yellow leash that came from the Inquisitor.
"I should've known," she whispered.
Lancel tug on the leash, choking her.
"Which god placed the divine bounty?" he asked, his calm tone at odds with the violence of the gesture.
Her body went stiff. She can't die twice in the same year.
"I thought it was your goddess." Renin's throat bobbed, trying to swallow past the magical constriction.
Lancel tightened his grip.
"The holy mother would never speak with you Slayers directly. Your kind is beneath her notice."
The Inquisitor finally turned to face her fully, his gaze a void of cold expectation. She could feel his power through the leash, not holy, but something older.
"Which God?" he repeated. The question wasn't a demand for information; it was an assessment of value.
She coughed.
"I don't know... I think the god of evolution." Renin's head started to have this blue color that made her look like she had bruises. That leash was suffocating her but she didn't die.
"Think?"
Renin nodded, "That slime turned into a hybrid. A Sanquilisme. Then it evolved again."
A strange look of what could be considered interest flickered across the Inquisitor's face, gone as quickly as it appeared.He let go of her.
"You won't obey that god from now on. Understood?" Lancel said.
The Slime Slayer clenched her jaw. She was bound to that quest. And now an inquisitor of a different god was telling her to abandon it.
Renin wanted to kill him. Yet she couldn't.
"Okay." Renin answered.
[The God of Evolution will not be pleased.] The Slime Slayer's own system warned her.
Ignoring the system's warning, Renin hopped on the griffin. The leash still glowed yellow around her neck. It was a long flight this time. They passed Cyros, Holia, the Uryen Forest. Their final destination was a place that Renin hated. It was the Capital of Rethia Kingdom.
Tens of griffins were flying in and out of the city of Valerion. This was the heart of Rethia Kingdom. A huge statue of a woman with open hands and a gentle smile dominated the city's center from the mountains.
"The Mother Goddess's gaze is upon us all," Renin said mockingly.
They landed on one of the castle towers. They made their way through the castle, passing paladins, Justicars, and Inquisitors. Renin's red skin and newly regenerated arm drew more than a few stares. The collar around her neck pulsed with a subtle, warning light.
Lancel knocked on a door made of blackwood that bore no handle, only a complex, shifting sigil of a weeping eye.
"Enter," a voice came from within.
Walking inside, Renin recognized the woman sitting at her desk. She was the Cardinal. A powerful leader in the church and one of the highest-ranking figures. A white and gold robe was what she wore, her face was kind but her eyes told a different story.
"Your excellency," Lancel bowed, "I've encountered something... intriguing in Holia city."
The Slime Slayer was sitting idly, waiting for Lancel to finish recounting everything that happened with Jack and his group. Then the Cardinal's gaze fell upon Renin.
"Your collar suits you." the Cardinal smiled.
"Now Lancel, if this slime is as unique as you say then capturing it is of great importance." Her sweet words were a sugar coating for something bitter. A holy command.
"However you failed to bring it here." The kind smile didn't falter but the room's temperature seemed to drop. "What faith do I have that you'll succeed in the diplomatic turmoil that your failure has now caused with Vylara?"
Lancel didn't even flinch.
"I was merely observing," he said. "Not to mention I couldn't exactly alert the Treanthe of our intentions by killing one of their own."
Cardinal Eleonora's smile widened, a cat toying with a mouse.
"Excuses do no suit you Lancel. You were outwitted by a slime of unknown origin." She gestured at Renin, "Even with this leash of yours, a new dog at your disposal, you still failed. It seems you do not need more tools."
She took a sip of her tea.
"Perhaps what you need is a leash of your own." The room was silent, her power was a suffocating blanket.
His composure broke for a second.
"If that is what your excellency demands."
The Cardinal waved her gloved hand dismissively. "Inquisitor Kirana has returned from her duties in the southern isles. She will accompany you on this new quest."
"Kirana?" Lancel said her name slowly, tasting the bitterness. He hadn't heard that name in over a year.
"Is she still as devout as ever?" Renin couldn't help but snarl. The last she met the other inquisitor, the devout woman had tried to 'purify' her.
Eleonara chuckled.
"Dismissed. Failure will not be tolerated again. Both of you."