The Distinguished Mr. Rose Chapter 74: Chapter 73: The Realm Beyond God

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Chapter 73: The Realm Beyond God Lucius gave his fellows an enthusiastic round of applause and welcomed them back as the storm began to wane. The clouds parted, the rain lessened, and even the ever-prevalent mist seemed to float away: like the light sprinkle of morning dew after a long, long shower. Mili promptly fell onto her rear and muttered a groan. She slowly stood up, rubbed her forehead, and occasionally spasmed from the occasional electric overload. She was, relatively, unharmed; but the strain of absorbing so much lightning led to her emitting a constant static discharge that poofed her hair and slurred her words. “T-T-That was friggin terrifying!” she yelped, struggling to stay still. “But goshdarn if I-I-I didn’t feel one heck of an adrenaline rush! Let’s do that again sometime.” A loud thud crashed right behind her, and she turned around to meet the smoking, quite literally, body of Marco, who was covered all over in black ash and soot. Lucius couldn’t even make out his face amidst the char, but the old mobster cracked his neck and greeted them with his typical gruff voice. “I’d rather we not,” he said, instinctively reaching for his pocket, only to stop himself at the last moment. “Ah, hell… forget it. A smoke’s the last thing I need right now.” “Oh, you indulge in a bit of tobacco, Mister Bernardi?” Lucius asked, before quickly setting to work and doing his best to make the man look presentable. Well, as presentable as one could be whilst looking like a burnt cigar. “That is surprising. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you do so, not after the tutorial at least.” Marco coughed and fanned himself with his scorched hat. “Yeah, figured it’d be best to quit if I was gonna be around youse people. Don’t wanna irritate anybody. Besides, so much nonsense has happened these past few months that I just sorta forgot about it.” “Well, perhaps that is for the best. Smoking causes lung cancer, I must have you know.” He laughed. “Don’t I know it.” After Lucius finished scrubbing all the ash off, the good Miss Harper joined them after having finished her duties as an impromptu medic. She was among the few players with medical knowledge; and so she had attended to the wounded caught in the crossfire of the thunderbirds’ rampage. Fortunately, no one had actually perished. Most of the scare came from the flood. “Turns out, a lot of folks have trouble swimming while decked out in full armor,” she groaned, squeezing the water out of her hair. “The other players are fine. Some standing near Mili got a bit shocked, but they’ll get better with a little shut eye. The priests are a different story, though. You’d think they were just mummified with how bony they look! Casting all those spells must’ve taken a toll. Standing in all that cold water probably didn’t help, either.” Speaking of water, the flood level had gradually receded into the mud after the thunderbirds were slain. Lucius didn’t quite understand how that worked; but he didn’t bother to think too deeply about it. No need to trudge through shallow waters anymore, at least! His fellows in armor seemed to agree with him. They took apart their equipment one by one and drained any loose liquid from it, before taking a second to sit down and catch a breather, their bodies utterly spent from the chaos just experienced. Toward the front, Sir Renaud and Maugris kneeled over the mud as well. They didn’t care much about getting themselves dirty. Dignity, appearance… none if it mattered in the face of overwhelming fatigue. Lucius strode toward the silent men and offered them some refreshments, which they gratefully accepted. Sir Maugris looked gaunt and sunken, one slight breeze away from toppling over entirely. His hands shook fiercely as he took a teacup; and the liquid splashed onto his pale lips, unwilling to remain steady. “That was an impressive display, my friend,” Lucius said to him. “The prayers of priestfolk are a joy to witness firsthand.” The man laughed, but such simple reactio