"A monster?" Arthur asked me.

"I don't really know what it was either, that guide seemed to have fought it or something, but I'm not really sure. All in all, we should get going, it's not very safe here." I advised.

"And it's safe elsewhere?" He asked quizzically.

I smirked before speaking, "And here comes the facking grammar police. King ermm, achsuelly the third. Yes it's not safe really anywhere, but the wide open still isn't the best bet. Plus we need to find the others." I spoke

"You think some of them may have…you know…" He tried to convey.

"Died? Of course! Absolutely, I bet they had their insides gorged out and eaten alive by grotesque bobblehead avian birds of flight! Just think about it round table, their eyes fried like eggs, as their palettes became the palettes of the creature. Oh how they were probably still alive, screaming out in the dark! The absolute tragedy of thei-" I was interrupted.

"Jeane! What the fuck!" He yelled at me.

"Relax. Most of them are most likely not dead." I said to him in a dismissive attitude.

If they were all dead it would make all of this a lot harder. 

I've thought long and hard about how to commit an 'impossible feat'. I just don't know if the act of me thinking about it makes it possible.

"Well, where do you think the rest of our classmates are?" He asked me.

I spoke to him without turning around, "Don't know but I assume if they are alive they will either be currently running or currently hiding. If they are hiding, we should look for places of natural shelter that house an easy way to quickly exit and if they are running we should look to directions that seem promising to head in." I explained

"So not the bleeding hills?" He asked me

I shook my head in affirmation.

"Try a different direction and go for it." I said before walking westward, the complete opposite direction from the bloody hills.

Thoughts began to float around in my mind as we were walking, food is so yummy, food is so yummy, food is so yummy, what the fack is a demon, what the fack is a demon, what the fack is a demon, what may be possible for him might be impossible for me.

That can't be a way to go about this, right? It feels like cheating. If there is a way to pass off Caelus's deeds as my own due to the contract, magic might not be as difficult to obtain as described. 

There's also a chance that a different entry point is necessary for me that isn't necessary for him, due to the fact that we are different species. 

These thoughts can be seen as stupid because my demon already said that this was the ascension path for demons and not humans.

But I don't believe in absolutes. 

I think that if feats can give demons power, it can also give humans powers in a similiar way.

I continued to walk with my knight in shining armor until we came to a cave, a cave on the path they could have taken.

As we approached the entrance, "Who goes there!" A girl with a spear said.

"Don't you know my beautiful face, it's Fahrenheit of course!" I said pridefully.

At this statement the girl's fear relaxed but also intensified.

"Jeane. I suppose that you're responsible for this mess." The auburn haired girl said to me.

"Why does everyone think everything is my fault? Of course I didn't cause a spatial rift and if I could I wouldn't do this with it. There's a lot more practical uses for that kind of technology." I assured her.

"Then why are you here?" She asked me.

"When cavewoman Jeane sees a cave, cavewoman Jeane goes in the cave." 

"No, like why are you here, with Arthur." She said.

"Oh yeah, we kind of got jumped by an eldritch horror and ran away." I said

"Shit, Chloe you good?" A voice echoed from inside the cave.

My bloodlet face showed a shocked expression.

"You've found others!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah." She said while sighing, "Bennet and Lucas. Execept Lucas is in a terrible condition. At this rate he might not last much longer, me and Bennet have tried to help but we don't how, he's slowly dying and we have no idea why." She said. 

Upon hearing this I came to an idea, "Was he like this after we were pulled here or before?" I asked.

"I don't know but presumedly after. He was dying when Bennet and I met up with him but he could still talk and move around fine then. One thing I recall is that he wouldn't approach us until he openly offended my dead mother and I was about to hit him." She said, recalling it with confusion.

My eyes widened at this remark and I walked towards the cave.

"Wait Jeane, Stop!" Chloe commanded with her spear.

"I need to confirm something with Lucas." I said quickly.

"We can't let you go near him, take a look in the mirror. You're diseased Jeane. Maybe similiar to whatever he had contracted. We could get infected if we spend to much time close to you, or worse you could further seal Lucas's fate." She explained.

"Ok, how about Arthur?" I said

"Me?" Arthur exclaimed

"He's not visibly infected, how about he talks to Lucas." I proposed.

"He's probably spent to much time you he could be infected with whatever face-bleeding disease you have." She said.

"That is a possibility but from what I hear, Lucas is going to die anyway if we do nothing and I am pretty sure whatever he has is not a disease." I said to her.

Her sleep-deprived eyes looked intrigued, "Do you know something?" 

I put my scarred hand and felt my face, "Due to how I feel, I assume something." I said

"I need to know the true origin of whatever infected him." I continued.

Her brown eyes then darted in each direction, "Fine. Arthur can ask your question but make it quick, I don't want him to be in there for too long." She compromised.

"What do you want me to ask?" Authur asked me.

"Just what he exprienced before coming into contact with the duo. Make sure to pay attention to every detail and pay special close attention to his reactions, even if he dosen't answer pay attention to his reactions. Also give notice to his condition, what does it look like, where does it seem to originate from. Just burn it all into your memory." I instructed

"Okay." He said while nodding.

He soon followed Chloe into the cave. As for me I was sitting on a rock outside.

[Caelus?]

[yes?]

[have you dealt with it?]

[No, I left it alone. It's going to die soon anyway.]

[Are you close?]

[No.]

[when can you arrive at my location, I found more humans.]

[14 hours.]

[Wait, why? Can't you just fly here immediately]

[In the Bloodsand Wastes you can't go above 10 km/h. You've probably felt it when you were running too. The main characteristic of this region.]

[Is there a reason for it?]

[There probably is.]

[Right, your timeframe may present a problem. One of the humans is sick with something he'll most likely be gone before you arrive.]

[What does it look like, I might know how to prolong their survival.]

[That's the problem, they won't let me near him. They fear the bleeding of my face.]

[You're not normally like that?]

[Why would I be?]

[I've never seen something like it before, thought it was a human thing.}

[...]

[You probably don't have to worry about it, when contracting humans demons can see health problems that present a risk to the demon, the human dying counts as a risk presented. So you're not in any danger.]

Not soon after that was said, Arthur came out of the cave.

"Arthur, what did he say?" I asked him.

"Something about 'Grace not being her'. Whatever that means."

According to that account, three things could have happened.

One, Grace was replaced by a bodysnatcher demon thing.

Two, Grace was imiated by a shapeshifter but wasn't nessarily dead.

And three, the Grace exprienced was an illusion casted by something.

Lucas encountered this false Grace and suffered his injury disease affliction thing. My guess is that fake Grace stabbed him with some strange demonic weapon. Humans are hunted by demons for their souls, there's a high possibility that what Lucas is expriencing is some soul drain type status effect.

"Arthur, what exactly did the injury look like?"