Marcus gulped, momentarily taken aback and smitten by her feminine aura.
He glanced back at his stone-faced but visibly worn-out men before looking back to her with a determined expression.
"State your purpose here, temptress!"
He ordered in a hard tone, and Ozzy appeared shocked.
"Wh- what!? Temptress?!"
She looked down at her fully covered body with visible confusion; even her boots were barely visible, and if the cloak was any lower, she might have looked like a specter of death, soundlessly gliding across the ground whenever she moved.
She looked up at Marcus with a raised brow, but seemed to think of something which made a knowing smile quirk up her lips.
"Awe~ You can't be crushing on me now, soldier boy. I'm flattered though."
Marcus wasn't really clear on the meaning behind her words, but all he knew was that the intensity of his men's gaze on his back suddenly became heavier, and he reddened in embarrassment, gritting his teeth.
"Do not mock me, woman!"
Ozzy giggled softly and intoned.
"Ahh. Forgive me. I tend to jest when I'm happy."
Marcus glared at her and growled.
"I will not ask again."
Ozzy's smile dampened and she sighed.
"Oh alright. I'll tell you."
She idly walked away from Indris' corpse as if knowing that her presence near the body kept them on the edge and glanced at them with mystery in her absorbing eyes.
"This is a magical world, right? You came here to explore this strange land, way different from where you originated. Now you see creatures you've never laid eyes upon, encountered horrors only alluded to in myths..."
She paused momentarily, seemingly thoughtful then confided.
"I'll confess—my purpose was to slay you all, should you reach the Mortal altar..."
Immediately, the soldiers tensed.
They saw the vile black swirl and felt the menacing aura Indris emanated. Given that they dressed similarly, with Ozzy now wearing the crown of black thorns—it was likely that she was capable of whatever evil Indris intended to wreak upon them.
They weren't keen to wait and discover what it was. Their grips on their arms became firmer, and Ozzy noticed this.
"—But I too, was once like you. I am not of this world, so I feel a—sense of kinship."
She paused again and asked with a curious expression.
"Have you questioned...why we can communicate with each other?"
At this, the soldiers glanced at each other. It was true, they all spoke Latin. How could a strange woman, not from their land speak their language so clearly?
It was a question Marcus had been meaning to ask, one that had bothered him since he met Indris.
"It's this world!"
Ozzy revealed, looking to the sky with arms spread wide as she performed a quick, happy twirl.
"It welcomes us! It opened its gates and influences its will upon all! That all aliens might speak the common tongue, easing our communion with the true inhabitants."
This all seemed so much to take in, but Marcus was all for it. He glanced back at his military clerk and saw him taking notes.
He felt that whatever they didn't understand now, they would clarify it later when they had figured out a way to safely capture the woman. For now, he thought it best to gather as much information as possible.
"What is this place?"
He pointed at the old structure. Ozzy glanced back and her eyes gleamed in anticipation.
"An altar, Hell's deciet, a noose; many have called it numerous things... But I call it change!"
She grinned and then recited as if recalling a prophecy.
"One shall step in, one shall be made deified... One whom Blaia deems worthy to liberate it."
"Deified? Made a...god?!"
Marcus was startled; he appeared shocked, though doubt lingered in his eyes.
Ozzy revealed a knowing smile.
"Oh yes... Perhaps you might be that god."
At those words, a terrible silence fell upon the clearing, a silence which made a certain hissing pronounced.
It was from Indris' corpse, which lay steaming on the ground.
Ozzy glanced at the corpse and noticed that her blood, which had pooled about her, had turned black; not only that, but now they formed a strange pattern around it.
At some point, Indris' blood had turned black and formed a ritualistic circle about her corpse. A circle which now steamed and boiled with black blood, releasing a strange scent.
"Rimura Indris demoneus."
Ozzy muttered with a dark expression.
"Indris, to think you would set a death curse upon your soul... Truly a High Priestess of death to the end."
Marcus took a threatening but anxious step forward.
"What is happening?!"
Ozzy glanced at Marcus before looking back at the dark, deathly forest sprawling behind.
She sucked in a slow deep breath as she turned back to him.
"It would appear that Blaia does not deem your soul worthy of this destiny."
Marcus frowned and was about to march toward her. However, he stopped, face wrinkling as the strange aroma hit him.
He glared at Ozzy.
"What is this smel—"
He suddenly paused, eyes squinting as he sensed things moving within the cimmerian forest. However, the dark miasma frustratingly obscured his vision.
The soldiers tensed as movements were seen all across the length of the darkness beyond. They stood alert with bathed breaths, awaiting whatever would reveal itself.
Luckily, they didn't wait long. Glowing red dots; eyes, numerous and frantic swiveled about. Soon their whole bodies were revealed and they saw them for what they were, what they had fought across the nights: demons, about a meter tall with long arms and gleaming blades for fingers.
They came out in the hundreds, and judging by the slew of red eyes within the darkness, they were easily in thousands.
Marcus's expression turned grim, and he turned to his pale Tribunus.
"Rank and file!"
"Rank and file!!!"
The Tribunus turned and echoed the command.
Immediately, a horn blasted into the air and the officers yelled commands.
Anxiety permeated the air, but discipline took the reins. Interlocked metal plates clacked and hobnailed sandals shook the forest as columns of legionaries quickly, but orderly, came filing out into the clearing, spreading across its length as they fluidly formed a tight wall of shields.
*Bam!* *Boom!!*
The earth suddenly shook at the sounds of what seemed like footfalls and Marcus looked up into the darkness of the looming trees.
Above, two bright red eyes ominously spied out behind a tree. Not just that, on the other side, another pair of eyes glowed, the obscured presence looming so high they almost reached the trees' canopies.
Marcus gulped.
"Ready archers!"
The Tribunus yelled behind but Marcus felt it wouldn't be enough. He looked to Ozzy who simply stood, gazing away with distant eyes like she had lost interest in everything.
However, she sensed Marcus' gaze on her and she glanced at him, seemingly startled out of her thoughts.
"Huh? The smell, you ask? That's the soul of a High Priestess of death, burnt as incense to the children of Macabre's forest."
She shook her head in disbelief.
"Of all Shardarth's servants, only Indris would do this. You're in a bad position, standing before this den of monsters..."
"Stop it!!!"
Marcus yelled and Ozzy shook her head at him as if he had just said something ridiculous.
"Now, why would I do that when my senior has paid such a high price?"
Marcus could only grit his teeth at the reply.
"It's truly a shame..."
She mouthed with a wan smile.