This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder than Expected (A Futa LitRPG)

5.58 - Post-PvP

Rosalie considered the offer.

"Like fucking shit we will," Delta growled. She took a menacing step forward, making both parties flinch. But, thank the heavens, the fight didn't break out again.

Rosalie, the woman with a functioning brain, recognized the offer was more than acceptable. They had far too little to gain from victory, and victory wasn't even guaranteed. The fight was much closer than Rosalie preferred. Which was also why Dog-Mask had pulled back and called a ceasefire in the first place; this should have been easy for them.

Perhaps a victory meant Rosalie and her party could take prisoners, but for what purpose? Zoey and Delta already said they didn't think the Church had significantly valuable information, much less these four individuals in particular. Only the hourglass had any relevance—both the item itself, and their knowledge of it, and corrupted items in general, since the cultists had apparently experimented.

"Give us the hourglass," Rosalie said. "And you have a deal."

"Like hell we're going to—" Delta started hotly.

"Shut UP!" Rosalie nearly screamed, spinning on the woman. "Don't you realize the situation we're in?"

The heat in Rosalie's voice actually managed to make the woman's teeth click shut. While Delta's rashness was annoying at the best of times, it could easily be lethal, here. Reasonably, Rosalie was infuriated at her lack of common sense—or control, or whatever it was that made the woman so incapable of acting rationally. After keeping the glare locked on Delta for a long moment, and the woman remaining silent, seeming like she'd been slapped, Rosalie faced back to Dog-Mask to continue negotiations.

"Can't," Dog-Mask said, not sparing a comment for the interaction; she was as concerned over the tension in the room as Rosalie herself was. "It's locked in his hand." She gestured with her dagger. "Even the Headhunter himself couldn't rip it out. You can try, if you want."

Rosalie wasn't a woman to take people on their word. She cautiously approached, keeping her spear at the ready and eying both of their standing opponents. She nudged the hourglass with the tip of her spear. Oddly, the entirety of Goat-Mask tilted, like they'd been fused into a statue. It seemed, at least on quick appraisal, that Dog-Mask was telling the truth: the status effect had rendered the hourglass as effectively 'part' of him.

"How do you undo it?" Rosalie asked. She was worried, of course, about Lucinda.

"Just happens. Length varies. No more than half an hour. Can't do anything about it till then."

"And how can I believe you?"

"Look," Dog-Mask said. "I really don't care about all of this—whoever you four are. Came in as a hired mercenary. Him too." She jabbed a dagger toward the golem. She sounded pissed off, perhaps because she'd been given incorrect information on what she'd been hired for. The ostensibly genuine reaction gave Rosalie some confidence she was telling the truth, but again, she wasn't a woman to take people, much less enemies, at their word.

But it also didn't seem like Rosalie had much choice not to. Obviously, the woman wouldn't let the hourglass's effect expire. They recognized Lucinda was the strongest wayfarer here, even if they had no idea who she was. If she unfroze, the encounter was over—Rosalie's team would win. So insisting that they simply wait at a standstill until the effect wore off, proving her claim, wasn't an option. And neither could Rosalie take the hourglass; it was fused with the lead cultist.

"Leave him here," Rosalie said, gesturing at the man.

Dog-Mask considered that. It took a second for her to respond, but when she did, she seemed reluctant, but firm. "Nah, that's not happening either. We have standards. He's on our team."