Waking up with a sharp pain running through his cranium, Felix looked around through his muddied vision and struggled to free his hands from being bound behind him. Crushed by the weight of his headache and the muscle aches throughout his body, he struggled to make sense of his environment much less of what the people around him were doing.
Astra was in much of the same boat but with a far severe headache making her eyes and entire head hurt. She tried to keep herself straight while sitting on the ground, but without constantly moving her head, she felt like her insides would flood right out.
As for Hilma, being the only one free of bonds, she kept a close eye on the two while Erika tried to heal them one by one. Slowly but surely her magic appeared to be working even though the influence of Batimos on their bodies was trying to resist the help from another god's servant. With the queen gone and his people free of the brainwashing, however, his influence was growing weaker even without Erika and Liliyana's intervention with them.
"How are you three so weak?" Done healing the group and laying them on the floor of the infirmary, Erika turned to Hilma with a look of utter disappointment. "Aren't you supposed to be a god's chosen? Then how?"
Taken aback by her words, Hilma's mind froze right there. She hadn't been out of the city for a long time and neither had her nephew or his childhood friends. To a degree, she knew it was her own fault for not letting them experience the hardships of the outer world, but then again, from a glance alone it was clear that Felix was far from ready to tackle any real challenge.
"I…" Stelling her heart, the older woman looked into Erika's eyes and spoke with a quiver. "I thought we weren't ready."
"Well no shit," Regalia remarked, her eyes casting a judging gaze down to the woman who could've very much been Erika or Raven's mother. And yet, there she was kneeling on the ground, helpless as can be and the only reason she was still alive was Raven's mercy.
As Hilma and Erika looked at Regalia, the priestess's eyes shifted their hue into a deep red. A smile crossed her lips, and although temporarily, Asmodia took over.
"We are bound to need toys we don't mind being broken," looking back at Hilma, a creepy smile riding on her lips, Asmodia placed a gentle finger under her chin and chuckled while holding a stare. "Leave this one for Raven and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to use the others for the army we're hoping to raise."
"W-what army…" Pulling away from the priestess's touch, feeling creeped out by her crimson glare, Hilma got off the ground and took a few steps away. "What are you talking about?"
"The army Raven wants to build in our fight against horrors, isn't that right?" Regalia answered, her eyes staring at the back of the priestess' garb.
Picking herself off the ground as well, Asmodia chuckled yet again before splitting from Erika to appear in front of everyone in her spiritual form.
"W-what the hell?!" Jolting backwards at the sight of a devil, Hilma's body pushed into a wall behind her just as she was about to fall. Placing her hands on the wall, she scrambled to get herself firm on the ground, and by the moment she did Asmodia and Erika were both looking right at her terrified expression. "WHO-WHO IS THAT?!"
Instantly turning her head towards Erika, Regalia spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
"You want me to knock her out too?"
"Don't be stupid, we need at least one sane member of their group to be awake," hinting at the deranged laughs coming from Jenna as she lay on one of the beds and continued to laugh without a moment's rest.
"On second thought, can you knock her out instead?" Erika requested and quickly walked over to Jenna, Regalia did as she'd asked in a swift blow to her head.
"D-don't hurt her…" Whispered Hilma, but only Asmodia could pick up what she'd said.
Pinned with a wall behind her, the warrior woman pushed her body against it as Asmodia began walking closer to her with a smirk. Grabbing her with one hand on her shoulder and the other on her armored hips, Asmodia cackled behind closed lips and relished in the sweet taste of the poison that was fear.
"What are you doing?!" Hilma asked, feeling both confused and scared.
"Making sure that you know what would happen if you try to run away or do something stupid…" And with those words, Asmodia's hands began to melt into Hilma's body and before the warrior knew she was crawling under her skin and the feeling of her palms pressing her stomach outward had her screaming in a crazed frenzy.
As traumatic as the sight seemed, neither Erika nor Regalia did a thing. They were very much aware that without brainwashing, they needed some way to make her cooperate with their demands. If it was fear that was required to do so? Then so be it.
The torture continued for half an hour, and finally, Asmodia pulled herself out of the unconscious woman's body. Standing before the false heroes, she looked to the others and her mind sparked with mischief.
"We don't need any other guys in our group do we?" She asked, looking back at Erika from over her shoulders.
Confused by her question, the priestess shrugged in response, allowing the devil to do whatever it was that she wanted. Laughing some more, Asmodia turned to the alleged hero and with a snap of her fingers she conjured fathom hands that began to undress him.
'You won't need this anymore~' For once allowed to have her fun, the devil of seduction worked her magic and in a flash that shrunken dick between the false hero's legs disappeared, leaving only smooth skin.
"Can't risk you trying to run rampant if you're gonna work for a new lord with countless beautiful servants~" And with that, the subjugation of the group was over. Batimos' influence was in the gutters and once Raven returned to the infirmary Erika and the others could head out to heal the mental scars left behind on the minds of the people.
As for the god himself? With his defences down and his servants scattered, he would soon get a warm visit by the goddess of the stars–the very same he'd tried to kill this whole week, countless times.