We spend a good while sitting and waiting. When I look around it's almost like I'm seeing statues instead of people, they are so still it's creepy.
The patrols clear for a minute and I look at Farana. Her lifeless eyes stare at nothing.
"You doing okay?" I ask her.
Her face turns into barely hidden nervosity, her eyes race around and avoid looking into mine.
"Y-yes, I'm fine," she says.
Her voice is cute and very feminine, like Lina's.
Alissa squeezes my hand and she gives me a sympathetic gaze.
I'm feeling conflicted but I don't know how I should act. She should be grateful she's still alive but... How much is too much?
Am I a sympathetic person or am I just lusting over her and fantasying about saving a broken woman? My feelings are too murky right now.
Vanea's proposal rings in my head and I feel a very disgusting desire to... "Take" Farana. In my head this would be nothing but straight rape and yet the idea of taking another man's woman is doing things to my head.
If even Alissa is feeling conflicted about it than I should just bury those feelings until they go away.
A small commotion starts inside the warehouse and a few men hurry in and out. I feel the [
Gate
] block dissipate. The wereowl woman immediately opens a [
Gate
] in front of her and 4 plated knights appear. A second later the circle disappears and I feel [
Gate
] being blocked again. The knights walk in front of Farana and salute.
The wereowl woman grips her head and grimaces. She must have used all her mana in a single go. Ouch.
Then Larana turns to Farana.
"It's time," she says.
They both stand up and approach each other. Larana punches Farana in the face. Farana takes it without flinching and returns to her straight posture. She takes another, and another, and one last punch. Her face gets swollen, her lips part and blood trickles from her mouth, she's only slightly frowning.
Larana draws a knife and starts cutting and ripping on her clothes, she gives a few shallow cuts to her skin. She finally rips open her shirt, exposing her pink nipples.
"Ryder," Larana turns to me, "spread as much mist as you can from above the warehouse."
I nod and a minute later a faint mist covers the warehouse.
"Farana. Now it's your turn," Larana says coldly.
Farana's face cramps. She nervously rubs her right wrist and I see there's a bracelet there below her clothes.
With a forced smile she nods towards Larana and starts slapping her own face. When I see tears form on her eyes she stops and drops the cloak.
"Ei," Tarano grabs Farana's hand and looks her in the eyes. His voice is very soft, "be careful, eh? I want to see you come back."
Farana shivers and nods multiple times. The ratty man smiles creepily and lets her hand go.
Farana turns and runs outside towards the warehouse. Her body is bruised, cut, and bloody, her clothes are in tatters. She looks like a rape victim.
"DAREAN!" She cries.
The men outside leer at her when they see her exposed chest but suddenly grow panicked when they hear her cries.
"HELP ME, DAREAN!"
Multiple patrols follow her but don't block her path. She enters the warehouse and a commotion can be heard.
"Put your armor on," Larana orders.
Everyone puts on black scale armor.
A minute passes and the mist starts to thicken.
"That's enough, any more and it will affect us," Larana says, "Dismiss the monsters."
I obey.
Suddenly Farana runs off from the warehouse. A few confused men stand still and watch her come towards our building.
*BOOOOM!* An explosion rips apart half of the warehouse and lights up the night sky. The ground shakes and men scream. Pieces of the warehouse, human giblets, and assorted goods and food fly all around us.
Larana pulls out a small onyx disk full of circular silver inscriptions. She pours mana on it and I'm attacked again by the uncomfortable feeling of having my [
Gate
] blocked. I can feel the two different blockers overlapping on each other. I can also sense the direction of the source of each blocker.
Farana enters the building and stumbles. She's groggy.
"Good one, Smegma," Tarano says. He giggles and nearly chokes on his own spit.
She nods multiple times and collapses on the floor. Tarano drags her to a corner of the building.
I feel the enemy [
Gate
] blocker dissipate. Now only Larana's blocker is active.
"They will find us in a minute. Prepare for battle, meet them in the field," Larana says.
I walk to the exit.
"Ziny, Burky, I choose you!" I whisper to myself.
I summon a Zinotue and a Burkanolf outside. I think Alissa and Larana might have heard me.
The lightning tiger roars and the fire wolf howls.
"Keep them away from this place," I order.
Larana and Tarano smile as the two huge monsters make every man near us shit a Level. Fucking huge cost in mana though. I drink an MP potion.
Now I'm ready, bring it on.
We fire arrows and spells at the fleeing men, many of them are falling down asleep. They all have flimsy armors and weapons. Darean hired tons of men but he couldn't hire a large amount of elite soldiers. My monsters do nothing as no one is brave enough to face two 2-meters tall predators.
With a *poof* Larana pulls out a bag from her [
Item Box
] and throws it towards the warehouse. It falls on the ground and spreads a white dust all over.
Her tail undulates casually as no man is capable of reaching us. Suddenly her tail freezes and I look outside.
The fleeing men start gathering around the remains of the warehouse. I can only barely feel fluctuations of mana, someone is casting spells in there. A few more men collapse on the ground, asleep.
A large burst of mana escapes the warehouse, such inefficiency. The wave passes through me and we all hunch over, retching and nearly puking.
"Necromancy!" Tarano yells.
"RAAAH!"
"I'LL FUCK YER ASS!"
"AAAH!"
"COME 'ERE PUSSYCAT!"
"UOOH!"
"I'LL RAPE YA UNTIL YE BLEED!"
Larana's eyes narrow as the few awake men on the warehouse suddenly rush out towards us. They trample over their sleeping comrades without any care.
Ziny charges the atmosphere with electricity and most of the men convulse and fall on the ground. Burky opens its mouth and a burst of flames catches the ones who managed to keep moving. The smell of burnt meat fills the air.
"AHAHAHAH! FUCK YOU!" Screams one of the men as he burns alive.
A shudder escapes me.
Shit, these people have been charmed. The illusion mage must have used [
Vicious Rage
]. I pity them, I don't know how to dispel such magic.
The 4 plated knights move outside to receive the charge of the rest of the burning suicidal men. Larana, Tarano, and two others pull out long swords while the rest of the men go upstairs.
Suddenly the white dust starts sparkling and floating. They flow towards the warehouse and converge in the shapes of 11 people. Lights flicker and the shapes turn into real people. Our target has finally moved out of the warehouse.
11 men and women. 4 plated soldiers with heater shields. 3 muscular archers with longbows. 2 mages with metal staffs and gems that flashes with lightning. 1 very tall plated soldier with a zweihander. 1 mage with a glass staff and a rainbow bismuth crystal on top, it's the illusion mage.
"Told you they would be prepared!" Yells the illusion mage.
Soul Info
Name: Callistus Doukas | Race: Human | Level: 55
Dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin, and a broad face. The mage is missing an arm and his clothes are half burned. The others have small burns on their clothes and everyone is dirtied by soot.
The mage is accompanied by a rock gnome with a very fat belly and a pointy hat made of earth and grass, it's an [
Earth Spirit
]. Those spirits are the mark of a properly trained mage, they are controlled directly by the mage and help in casting spells.
"The glass staff is our target!" Larana yells.
"It seems Smegma almost got him. Oh well," Tarano shrugs.
Arrows and a few spells fly towards the enemy shield wall but they are all diverted into the ground or into the sky.
"Enchanted shields!" Yells one of Larana's men.
I start to chant a [
Lighting Bolt
] but I can't feel the "path" towards my target. It always veers into the ground regardless of how much I will it to obey my wishes.
"[
Lightning Bolt
]!" I cast.
The spell simply strikes the ground a meter away from the enemy shield bearers. I didn't even aim for them.
Emellanat is the poor man's defense against spells. The real deal are enchanted shields like these.
"The greatsword is enchanted!" Alissa yells.
This is kind of bad, we have no idea what it does. It could kill someone on a single strike if we are not careful.
Area spells start being cast upon us while the front lines clash. We interrupt it with ease.
Ziny fires his [
Lighting Strike
] at one of the lightning mages. He falls down on the ground but quickly gets up. The others pull out barricades and start firing spells towards the building we are on.
Our allies lob spells and arrows over the enemy shield bearers. Unfortunately the projectiles are too slow and the enemies simply step aside.
"HUSKS! IN FRONT AND BEHIND!" Alissa bellows.
I look through the door and see half-rotted orc corpses shambling out of buildings. Holy fuck.
"I will cover our backs with the Zinotue!" I yell.
"Understood!" Larana answers.
Arrows won't do much damage against husks, Alissa's usefulness is limited.
Burky's fire breath simply diverts upwards without even touching the enemy shields.
The enemy fling spells and the walls of the second floor of our building burst open. Most of the men drop from the hole and spread to other buildings.
Ziny charges the atmosphere and the orc husks fall down on the ground, convulsing.
"Enough," I order it.
I drink Roxanne's elixir.
The atmosphere returns to normal and I charge forward. I cut the arms and legs off of each husk, this way they are completely useless.
I can't kill them properly because I don't have much mana, I can only boost my strikes with a well calibrated [
Telekinesis
]. I have to use only the exact amount of mana that will allow me to slice off the limbs.
Fucking husks don't even give Experience.
The shambling corpses grab their shitty weapons that fell on the ground and rise again. I retreat and order Ziny to charge the atmosphere again.
*TOON!* A shockwave runs through my body, making my ears ring. I look behind and see an allied plated knight skid through the ground. The enemy with the zweihander is standing still with his sword thrust forward. I can feel the remains of the vortex of mana that the enchantment of that sword created.
I feel interest in looking at Callistus. I get a feeling that we barely need to fight anymore, the battle is won, reinforcements are coming. I can just lay back and relax.
A ridiculous amount of husks, both orc and the recently risen dead men, is trying to approach our front line. Heh, Callistus is fucked, not even husks can save him now, this battle is won. Fuck me, I'm tired of fighting, I
really
need my vacation.
Burky quit trying to hit the enchanted shields and is now focusing on keeping the swarm of husks from overwhelming our front line. His fire wall is protecting him from being flanked by the enemy mages and archers.
Our building is being shredded as the trade in spells intensifies.
Wait, no. This is wrong, I have to fight! Fuck, he almost succeeded using [
Pacify
] on me.
"They are protected from my spells!" Callistus screams.
"Do it the normal way then. Kill that werecat!" Bellows the man with the greatsword.
Burky's claws rake and destroy bodies like nothing. The smell of burnt meat fills the air again as his claws of lava both cut and burn the enemies. Slowly the number of husks converging on our position seems to increase.
I turn back and continue to cut down the swarm of husks behind us. They are already starting to fill the street.
*TOON!* My ears ring again but no plated knight comes skidding. I glance back and see Tarano is stumbling backwards, his ears are bleeding.
The husks are too close. Ziny starts firing lightning bolts from his mouth in quick succession. The husks hit by it have their bodies fried and don't rise again. His mana is being wasted this way but there's no point in conservating it if we die.
The smell of burned rotten pork fills my nose. Disgusting.
The enemy keeps moving between their numerous barricades. The building Alissa is on is already half destroyed. She's using furniture as cover to lob arrows.
The husks reach my line of defense and start swinging their weapons. They are clumsy but they can still cut or be used as blunt attacks.
Ziny charges forward. He tramples, rakes, and bites the husks.
The husks counter and start to inflict multiple cuts on Ziny, the strength of even an orc zombie cannot be underestimated. Some try to hold on it to slow the monster down.
Taking the opportunity now that Ziny got their attention I cut off their legs, leaving them only with their arms. The crawling husks get in the way of the walking ones, creating a mess of entangled rotting bodies.
Ziny rushes back but it's quite wounded. He charges the atmosphere again. A mountain of husks starts to form, they crawl over each other and not even Ziny will come back alive from the swarm.
*TOON!*
I pull out multiple barricades. The wall of limbs claws on them and the ones at the top fall over the barricades. There's no stopping them.
Well that's fucking peachy.
A cold air seeps through the battlefield and the fighting behind us slows.
"Lysander! Get the werecat!" Callistus yells.
A creepy, lanky, and bald man with a hollowed face appears from one of the streets to our left. He's wearing a black robe and a staff of bones with a beating heart where a gem should be.
He looks blankly at us. He raises his staff and every husk that I can see turns its head towards Larana. The knights tighten their ranks with Larana at the middle. Burky has to use his body to keep the husks at bay.
Well that's
fucking peachy
.
One of the plated knights chants something and touches the ground with the palm of his hands. The ground glows with white light and sparkling particles get suspended in the air. This is [Light Magic] level 60 spell [
Sanctuary
]. He must be a Templar Knight.
The undead that approach the circle get weakened greatly, making them an easy target for Burky. Even the enemy soldiers seem to suffer when entering the circle. With this the battle on the front line turns into a stalemate.
I cast multiple [
Spirit Lights
] and throw them at the mass of limbs, it slows them down. The husks groan and growl louder. they claw forward and their arms stretch, trying to grab us. What a fucking nightmare.
"Keep the air charged at maximum power!" I order Ziny.
He roars and rakes the wall of limbs.
The zombies grab and bite into my [
Spirit Lights
]. Flashes of light burst out of the broken spells, stunning the wall of flesh for a few seconds.
The necromancer lowers himself behind his barricade. A moment later black lines crack through the ground, making their way towards the [
Sanctuary
]. I feel the light of the spell flicker slightly and the glowing circle reduces little by little. That's [
Decaying Corruption
].
Our front line is slowly being pushed back. The man with the greatsword is just too much for them, he's half-swording at quite the effective level. One of the knights took a hilt to the face and now he's staggering. The Templar Knight is casting [
Heal
] non-stop.
Multiple large area spells are cast on the wall of husks. They burst into flames and the flesh burns faster than it should due to the concept of "consumption" imbued on the magical fire. The smell of rotten and burnt meat grows so strong I feel nauseous.
*TOON!*
"Help the front line," I order Ziny.
It leaps back and almost lands on top of a plated enemy, he has to roll backwards to escape being crushed. Ziny shrugs off a few arrows and swipes at the soldier, sending him flying backwards. His enchantment wasn't enough to keep the monster truck away.
Our front line regains momentum and starts to push back. The enemy focus on bringing down my wounded tiger.
Hana breaks through the smoke and lands by my side.
"Took you long enough," I say.
Her armor, shield, and sword are completely bloodied. I see a few cuts on the lining of her armor and a few scales of her shield are missing. She grins fearsomely through her helmet and speaks.
"I don't know what Darean did but we had a huge amount of fucking suicidal trash to cleave through. Not only that but suddenly orc husks poured through the buildings. What the fuck is he guarding on this place?"
"No idea. But our target is over there," I point to the mage with the glass staff.
Hana looks at him and then looks at the burning warehouse.
"The fuck did you do?"
"Nothing, heh. That one was Farana."
Now that I look at her she's still sleeping inside the ruined building. There's even a few pieces debris on top of her but she didn't wake up.
*ZUSH*! The mountain of bodies parts in two as a huge [
Wind Blade
] cleaves through the meat.
"Move to the sides," Hana says.
Another huge blade of air carves through the meat. I'm thankful husks do not bleed otherwise the entire street would be a pool of blood.
A third cleave and the path is big enough for people to pass through. The meat still burns so people start to pour on a single file.
The first one is Grosnok. He's wielding on one hand an ornate scythe like it's a stick and a large kite shield on the other. He swings the scythe like a toy and a huge [
Wind Blade
] comes out of his slash. It flies towards the mass of husks and cleaves them in half.
The butt end of the scythe actually has a long spear blade on. The scythe part is not fit for cutting but at least he can use the other part for stabbing. The huge lion looks at bit comical and awkward using this weapon. There's a bastard sword at his side, showing he's at least prepared for the worst.
After him comes the dwarf Gilgor with a pole axe and scutum shield. He's just as bloodied as Hana. His tattoos glow. His movements are much more agile than what someone of his size seems capable of.
Both Grosnok and Gilgor use monster bones as armor, they look like tribal warriors.
Then comes the elf Ercuria. She's flanked by two large dogs that look like Rottweilers. I think they are summons.
The krampus mage Ervin comes after, a small flaming ghost floats over his shoulder, a [
Fire Spirit
]. From his age and level he must be completely specialized in [Fire Magic].
Finally my girls pour after them.
"Grosnok!" I yell.
His huge head turns to me after delivering another batch of sliced husks.
"Get that man!" I point to where the necromancer should be, "He's controlling the husks! The Burkanolf is my summon and it will open a path!"
He nods towards me and goes after the Burkanolf on the left of the battlefield.
"
BURKY! Open a path towards the necromancer
!" I yell in english.
He howls and spews fire while he furiously cuts down husks. Grosnok slashes any survivors and his fellowship follow behind the monster.
"
Ziny!
Come back and focus on disrupting the enemy
!" I order in english.
It barely has the strength to leap back. It's bleeding heavily from multiple wounds, his body is a pincushion of arrows, and one of his paws is missing.
"Their shields are enchanted, can't punch through with our current power. The man with the greatsword has a sonic boom enchantment. It will push you back, hurt your head, and make you deaf," I tell the girls.
*TOON!* A demonstration happens just at the right time.
"I will deal with it," Hana says, with a *poof* she switches her sword for Lina's old hammer, "You, stick together and support the knights."
"Yes!" I say.
Lina and Ciel are looking tired, they seem slightly bloodied and there's a few small missing scales on their armor. Ciel must have healed any visible wounds. Roxanne is panting while the little blue dragon on her shoulder seems to be out of fire balls.
"Where's Haaran?" I ask.
"He separated from us to deal with some mercenaries," Ciel says.
"The guards?"
"Dealing with the husks. This is a nightmare," she lifts her hands in exasperation.
"I know, right. Let's go, stick together!"
Hana lands besides Larana. The werecat woman is panting and her ears are also bleeding, it seems she finally noticed the reinforcements. Her smile is absolutely beautiful, if only she weren't so cold.
"I WILL BREAK THAT LITTLE TWIG IN HALF!" Hana taunts while she points to the greatsword at the hand of the enemy.
I switch to my emellanat sword. We cleave a path towards the nearest enemy plated soldier at the right side of the battlefield. The number of husks is greatly reduced, there's only stragglers around us now.
Alissa and a few men run away from a crumbling building and take cover on a building to our right. Through our party connection I feel her run inside the building and into the second floor.
We approach the plated enemy on his left flank. He parries an attack with his hammer and points his shield towards us with his left. A huge gust of wind stops us from advancing, this is [
Wind Shield
].
"[
Explosion
]!"
Roxanne grabs her head and kneels. The plated enemy yells as his left arm and shield are crushed by the shockwave of the explosion. It seems that the enchantments are making even instant casting difficult.
The wind pushing us stops and Lina charges forward, her bloodied axe shifting into a hammer. She strikes down on the knee of the man and it bends backwards. He yells again and parries another hammer from the allied knight.
I dare not approach an
experienced
enemy in plate armor with only a measly sword. Ciel moves forward and strikes at his head with flat part of the blade. He falls down on the ground and Lina strikes his head repeatedly until he stops moving.
Ciel looks at two archers behind a barricade aiming at us and points her glaive.
"[
Wind Storm
]!"
Just slightly weaker since she only has 19 points in [Wind Magic] this time. But still enough to cut the archers and make them fall on the ground screaming.
Multiple [
Lighting Bolts
] are hurled towards us. Us 3 have emellanat so we only feel our weapons and shields get warmer as they absorb the spells. The two mages glare at us, a mix of fear, anger, and desperation.
"TOON"! Hana takes a sonic boom directly on the face. She grits her teeth and maintains her form, parrying the hammer of a plated soldier. She strikes at the shoulder of the greatswordsman with all her strength. The man winces and retreats a few steps.
"The mages!" I yell.
We charge towards the two obstacles in the way of Callistus.
"URAA!
CHARGE FORWARD
!"
The power in Haaran's voice gives us a boost. A large patch of ground turns into [
Soul Sand
], keeping a particularly thick swarm of husks in place. Haaran and his knights come out of a street and cut down the helpless husks. He quickly joins Grosnok and both charge past my dying Burkanolf.
Lina receives an [
Earth Bullet
] square on her shield. She retains her posture like a statue but she skids backwards a few meters. Callistus is looking at us with pure fear, his staff is pointed towards Lina.
Fuck you, I cast [
Rush
].
The first electric mage helplessly fires a bolt at me, it just gets absorbed by my sword. He swings his staff at me like a baseball club in a desperate attempt to parry. I slide my sword past his staff and use the momentum to whip it into a slash. With [
Sharp Blades
] my sword slides through the meat and cuts the bone cleanly. His right hand falls on the ground and he yells in pain.
I continue forward. The fat little gnome fires multiple [
Earth Bullets
] at me, with [
Rush
] it's easy to dodge them. The ground suddenly shifts and rises, I tumble forward and roll. An [
Earth Bullet
] hits the gnome and disrupts him. Thanks, Lina.
I reach the gnome and my sword slides through him like butter. Summoned matter is so vulnerable against emellanat.
I look forward and Callistus suddenly splits into two, it's [
Beguiling Clone
]. Both clones try to run away in different directions. I cast [
Discharge
].
One of the clones flickers and continues forward, the other falls down and convulses. I stop my spell and dash towards the latter.
He gets up and tries to put the staff in front to defend himself. I pass through that amateurish defense and stab his stomach. My sword gets stopped by the chain mail below his robe and he hunches over in pain.
I grab his only remaining arm and push it forward, I chop his hand off at the wrist. He trips and falls on the ground.
"AAAH! FUCK! FUCK YOU, I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
He tries to get up and I kick his face on the teeth. He lifts his head again and I fire an [
Earth Bullet
], now he finally passed out.
*TOON!* Hana takes another attack. This time she stabilizes herself with her wings. She raises her hand and an [
Earth Bullet
] hits the greatswordsman in the helmet. He falls on the ground and struggles to get up.
Ciel holds the last mage down with her glaive. He struggles to remove the blade from his throat and slowly chokes to death.
"RAAAH!" Lina yells, her shy voice booming with anger.
She reaches the one armed mage and chops at his chest with her axe. It gets lodged inside and she activates [
Switch
]. The metal turns liquid and the weapon is easily freed from the dying man.
The last archer is overwhelmed by spells and arrows and finally dies to multiple wounds.
Lina turns her weapon back into an axe and chops the fallen mage at his throat, decapitating him.
The husks suddenly stop focusing on Larana and start attacking everyone, including the enemy soldiers. The husks can't kill them easily and only hold them down, making it easy to put them to sleep.
I see Haaran has finished off the necromancer.
Burky finally dies and fades into dust. Ziny runs out of mana so it starts to slash at the husks. Due to their lack of coordination they are barely more than wet paper to my monster.
The greatswordsman is finally subdued by blunt trauma to the head caused by Hana. The rest of the plated enemies are knocked out too. The rest of the husks are being quickly cleaned up.
Alissa jumps out of the window and comes to my side.
"You hurt?" She asks.
"No, just tired."
Now
this
is carnage. There must be hundreds of husks here.
Ciel goes to Hana and heals her ears.
A knight comes to us.
"Is this the illusion mage?" He asks.
"Yep. Must be passed out, but you still gotta heal him soon if you want him alive."
The knight nods and grabs one of the legs of Callistus. Without any concern he simply drags the unconscious man towards Haaran.
Larana and her men are healing each other so I signal to the girls to group up.
"Wounds? Problems?" I ask.
Everyone shakes their heads. I dismiss Ziny before anyone else can look at it.
We slowly make our way towards Haaran. He's sitting over a half broken crate, his face shows fatigue. Silvane is taking a look at his face and some dents on his armor.
Rather comical seeing the small girl taking care of the large man.
"Is it over?" I ask.
Haaran looks over to Callistus and smiles faintly.
"Yes," he looks at Silvane and his smile grows wider, his gaze is no longer piercing, "The guards have circled this area, they are going to comb every building in search for more husks."
"What in Gods name is it that Darean has that warranted all this protection?" Ciel asks.
"Money, more specifically,
all
his money," Haaran answers, "We cornered his operation so he had to concentrate everything on a single point. With this we were certain the illusion mage would appear to help move things."
"Quite the gamble. What if he weren't?" I ask, "I wouldn't fight again for you if he wasn't here, this wouldn't be part of our deal."
"We know, but there wasn't a better chance to capture the mage than this one," he shrugs.
Silvane finishes the pat down and gives him a kiss on the cheek. The stoic image crumbles as he chuckles and grabs her by the shoulder. He starts walking towards the now extinguished warehouse with Silvane by his side.
"Let's go see what's inside, shall we?" He says.
Wary guards start to appear from the streets. They sigh in relief when they see the knights already finished the fight here.
A very disheveled Larana approaches Haaran.
"Dame Larana, cordon the area, don't let any guard inside the warehouse," he says.
"Yes, sir!" She salutes and starts to bark orders to the knights.
That woman has endless energy.
I look back and I see Tarano pulling some rubble from the half-collapsed building. He pulls Farana out and hugs her.
I really do not want to know what kind of relationship they have.
A few water mages are putting out the last of the embers of the fire. There's lots of goods strewn about. Alcohol, cocoa, fine textiles, jewels, and many giblets of humanoids.
Ah, cocoa, this is making me want to start a chocolate factory. It's curious how some things from Earth are the exactly same as the ones here.
"This is not the main haul, there should be a trapdoor somewhere," Haaran says.
It takes us a few minutes but one of the knights finds it. A set of stone steps downwards leads us into a dark room.
Inside there are numerous crates, a considerable number of them are open and empty. Haaran and some others start opening the closed ones.
"High elven beauty products," Silvane says.
The eyes of Roxanne, Ciel, and a female knight shine as they stare at the crate.
Haaran opens another.
"Raw gems for enchanting or tools and a few gnomic magic tools," he says.
Now Lina seems interested.
"Emellanat," says one of the knights. He's holding a bar of the black, glossy, and sparkly metal.
Alissa smells the air.
"Oh, it smells of Ranja," Alissa says.
It smells like oranges.
"It's the same as your perfume," I say.
She nods.
Oh, I see it now.
"Pick a crate of each, Ryder. A gift from us. We will also send you the payment for your work later," Haaran says.
Now that the word "free" is on the mind of the girls they all show interest on one specific crate.
"Thank you, Sir Haaran. I appreciate it," I say and bow lightly, "May we take the enchanted shield of the enemy soldier we defeated? It seems very useful."
"Sure," he waves his hand.
I nod to Lina and she hurries outside, barely containing a smile.
I go to the crates and store them by using the rope loop that every crate has. A convenience so people can easily press the "store" button on their [
Item Box
].
I hear the clacking of heels. It grows louder until Vanea appears on the room. She's wearing a mix of beautiful but still functional padded black scale armor with a battle skirt. Even with a coif she looks elegant. Lina comes scampering behind her and gives the bent shield to me.
Vanea takes a glance at the contents of the crates and smiles widely.
"There must be hundreds of rose coins in here," she says.
"Unfortunately we found no weapons," Haaran says, "He must have distributed them all already."
"There were plenty of well equipped mercenaries around, surely they must have some of it," Silvane says.
"At this point any sane mercenary will have deserted him," Vanea says.
She stretches herself and yawns with satisfaction.
"There's nothing more to do here," she turns to us, "Our deal is complete, we even have the illusion mage captured. Rabanara is mine again," her eyes narrow and her last words are said almost in a growl.
I feel a tightening of my heart loosening, my oath to her is done. She still has her oath to keep me informed and protected of anything while in here.
"Glad to be of service," I say, I'm truly relieved.
"Dame Vanea," Ciel moves forward, "What happened to the mercenaries we captured last time?"
"Sent to Hiyoku Hara as combat slaves," Vanea answers flatly.
Lina's Trivia
: A stretch of land that once belonged to the dragonkin and is now under monster control. It's a constant battlefield where most empire soldiers go serve once in their career.
Ciel frowns at her.
"Don't worry, priestess. A Judge sentenced them, they will only serve a few years. Quite likely for them to survive," Vanea smiles sadistically at her.
Ciel nods and backs away from Vanea.
"Well, if this is all we are leaving," I bring the conversation back to me.
"Very well, outside the mages will open a [
Gate
] back to Baalfire's for you. Until next time, Mr. Ryder," she smiles mischievously.
"Until."
No there won't be a next time.
Silvane waves to us as we leave.
We reach home and go immediately to bed. A weight lifted from our shoulders.
I hold Alissa and kiss her. I taste her tongue, I fill my nose with her smell of Ranja, I run my hand through her toned body.
I grab the base of her tail and run my hand through it. She shivers and kiss me harder. Slowly my consciousness fades, we almost slept with our tongues entwined.
Intermission 8
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
I flip the table over and smile at the glasses shattering on the ground. I grab the chair and smash it on the ground, it breaks into multiple pieces with a hearty crunch.
I grab the leg of the table and rip it off then I strike that leg on the cabinet. The glass shatters and the porcelain is destroyed in a satisfying explosion. I flip over the cabinet for good measure and smash any surviving piece with my boot.
I cast a [
Fireball
] and explode the remains of the cabinet. Cinders and ash fill the air, the smell of burning wood heals my soul.
I grab the broken table and throw it through the window. It crashes down and I hear screams of surprise, making me giggle.
"FUCK YOUUU!"
I cast a [
Fireball
] on the ceiling candelabrum. The mana of the light crystals mix with the one from my spell, enhancing the explosion. I protect my eyes from the dust storm of shards. My ears ring and suddenly I lose my hearing.
I open my eyes and see the piece of art that I have made. The crystal dust lingers in the air and glitter as the cinders slowly fall. The few flames of the remains of the cabinet are the only light of the room, creating waving red shadows on the walls.
The chairs are all strewn about. Everyone seems to have left in a hurry, no one even grabbed their share of the coin. The bags are thrown to the ground and the scattered coins fill the floor.
I wish I paid attention to their faces, if they left without getting their payment then I must have scared the Levels out of their souls.
"The fuck did I do wrong," I let these words escape my lips along with a sigh.
Everything was going fine. For years I never had a hitch, a failure, a real problem that I couldn't solve.
Everything was going fine until... Brother.
I let you become wicked, I let you die like a naked goblin. I should have kept you safe, I should have kept you away from these stupid fuckers, these reckless idiots, these power-tripping shitheads as useful as goblin jizz. They led you to death but I'm the one who let you leave.
Everything was going fine until...
Now without Callistus I can't even save Farana. She was always by my side, we always planned everything together. Now I feel so lost, abandoned, lonely.
My dry mouth suddenly feels wet and salty.
What have they done with you.
What have they done
.
You betrayed me, you tried to hurt me.
You are being used by them, YOU ARE BEING USED.
They... They fucked... No, they raped you.
THEY STOLE YOU FROM ME.
Why you, why, why, why, why, why, why, why...
My knees feel weak and I have to lean on the wall to keep standing.
What I want to know was what I did wrong.
Even Grosnok ran away and the goblin dick stole my scythe.
Everything was going fine until. Until... Ryder...