Author: Zerosenpai
Read it here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14256956/1/Gate-Thus-the-Witch-brought-Doom-There
Gate: Thus the Witch brought Doom There
Chapter 1: The Doom that came to Falmart
Climb yawned loud enough to wake the dead, he really wasn't in his best shape. A few turns to night duty ensured that. He screwed up, badly, she should have made sure that worthless man was dead, but he didn't and now one of theirs was dead.
"Climby boy, you are already up so early?"
The teasing voice of Edstrom managed to push away all his remaining sleep. The older girl had an habit of going around in skimpy outfits during the summer days, uncaring of the eyes her assets attracted. Not that anybody was going to make a move, she had quite the reputation in being one of Seven Hands' most deadly cutthroats.
"Morning Edstrom… please keep the voice down…"
He saluted averting his eyes from her more than indecently exposed body. He was a growing boy, and he knew far too well by now what looking at something like that caused to his body.
"You are just the cutest thing… I might just eat you up…"
She smirked as she snuggled next to him, much to his discomfort.
"Cease your teasing! I have no time for that! I have work to do today."
He tried to hide his blush masking it with a façade of anger and annoyance. Though, it didn't seem to work as his comment only made her smirk more.
"And what kind of-"
Her words were interrupted by loud screams erupting from outside. All the members of the Black Hand present immediately stood up and rushed toward the sound. Some of them already with a hand on the hilt of their blades.
Climb himself was ready to jump the first thing he saw.
This was Seven Hands' territory, nobody dared to start anything here, and if they did they should be ready to pay the price.
His bravado didn't last long since as soon as he left the canteen, he immediately found himself baffled by what he was seeing.
People dressed like soldiers bearing a symbol he never saw were practically assaulting the buildings around them. More and more were pouring into the street.
He saw them breaking down doors and assaulting unarmed civilians, the whole thing seemed like some sort of lucid dream to him. That was until a voice kicked him out of his trance.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR IDIOTS?! FUCK THESE SHIT STAINS UP!"
The commander of their district, Klein, shouted as he unsheathed his faithful axe.
"SHOW THEM WHY THE BLACK HAND IS FEARED BY ALL!"
For all his voice was powerful, the raging cry of his charging men was even louder, deafening anything on the soon to be battlefield.
Climb didn't waste time, immediately assaulting the nearest enemy he could get to. 'Heavy armor!' he noticed just now how thick the armor seemed to be, his blades were far better at fighting light armored opponents but that didn't meant he didn't know where to strike.
He slashed at the small gap between the soldiers chestplate and armored pants. Though, the soldier was fast enough to bring up his shield. 'Shit!' he yelled in his mind preparing for the impact and the fast retreat he will have to enact to avoid the soldier's spear, he was totally taken aback when his blade pierced the shield like it was butter and, judging by the pained scream of his opponent, it seemed like his blade found its target into the man's belly.
After only a mere instant of surprise, Climb immediately slashed the blade across the man belly, effectively gutting him and cutting in two his shield. That still felt unreal, how easily he had severed metal, like he was just carving through wood.
He took just a glance around him as his opponent fell on the ground. This couldn't even be called a battle, this was a massacre.
The enemy forces were being chopped down like defenseless lambs during a slaughter.
Their steel weapon useless against those who possessed enchanted armor. Soon the most dangerous thing Climb had to care about was not slipping on the blood covered street.
It didn't take much for the few remaining survivors to try and run for their lives. Not that it helped them as they were either cut down or restrained by the advancing Black Hand.
They soon reached the central square, the giant gate like structure which appeared a couple weeks ago was still standing and… bunches of soldiers were coming through it?
That was just a confusing sight for Climb. He heard Marquis Satoru himself came to check the structure the first time it appeared here but there was no indication of it being anything but a strange phenomenon, not a portal to only the gods knew where!
Demi humans and humans continued to pour out of the gate like water out of a broken dam.
Climb gritted his teeth at the sight of the corpses of his countrymen, children slaughtered alongside their parents, young girls and women alike either dead or in the process of being violated.
"Climb!"
He heard Edstrom call his name, but it was too late as he already rushed the first piece of shit still busy with trying to tear the dress of a girl his own age or barely older.
A single swing of his enchanted short sword was enough to cut off the pig's head. He was pulled back by the collar, courtesy of his field commander.
"Follow orders boy! Or I will have you whipped!"
He snarled as he pushed Climb back into the ranks.
"Where the fuck are the reinforcements?!"
He continued to roar, shifting his attention to one of his subordinates.
"Commander! Allied forces are converging on our position as we speak!"
The man answered while using a [Message] scroll.
His words turned out to be true when the great square was literally invaded by Seven Hands members, judging by their bloody appearance they already encountered enemy forces and were probably brought here by the retreating unknown soldiers.
"The Riders! Bring the Riders!"
He heard one of the retreating soldiers cry out.
The cry of multiple beasts could be heard in response to his commands and from the sky descended draconic like creatures mounted by armored soldiers.
The beasts opened their mouth raining down fire upon the incoming Seven Hands's troops.
"Shoot those fuckers down! Shields advance! Casters behind!"
He heard the cry of one of the commanders echoing over the cries of pain of his comrades.
"Down!"
Edstrom cried out as she pushed him on the ground alongside herself as a beam of scorching flames passed above them.
This was chaos, chaos and madness, shots of rage and pain coming from everywhere. Fire from the sky answered by ice and lightning from the ground. Edstrom was covering him with her body as hell happened above them.
The only experience even remotely similar to this was the square fiasco almost two years before.
"Cover your face with this!"
The older girl cried out as she pressed a thin fabric on his mouth and nose allowing him to not breath in the debriefs and dust rising all around them.
His vision was going blurry as dust was getting in his eyes while the shouts were deafening him.
All of a sudden, he heard a crash just a little away from their position, he turned his blurry eyes toward the sound, noticing it was one of those draconic beings who had just crashed on the ground next to them, half of its skull reduced to ashes.
"THE GUILD IS HERE! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!"
In response to that cry he tried to move but Edstrom was still pinning him on the ground.
"EDSTROM WE NEED TO MOVE!"
He cried out, his voice muffled by the cloth on his mouth. But then he noticed it, Edstrom was no longer pushing him down, she was slumped on him completely as if she passed out.
Panic rose from the bottom of his stomach as a rush of adrenaline allowed him to push himself out from under the older woman.
His blurry vision combined with the dust didn't allow him to see almost anything at all, but that wasn't important, he needed to bring Edstrom away from here, now!
Using all his strength, he barely managed to lift the young woman from the ground and run away as fast as he could, he needed to get out of this hell as soon as possible.
He barely managed to get to a nearby alleyway when the loudest explosion he ever heard deafened him completely from the rest of the world. He barely managed to maintain his balance as the shockwave hit him.
He looked back at the plaza which was now transformed into a blazing inferno, flames rising far above the highest of structures.
He came out of his shock only when Edstrom started convulsing in his arms. Now that his vision was returning back to normal, he could not help noticing the several small metal fragments planted into the back of the older woman, blood pouring copiously from the many wounds drenching both her and him.
He started running like a madman in a panic even greater than before, he swore he would not let anyone precious to him die anymore! Not after mother! Not after Rina! He will not accept this! He will not!
{Ro-Lente's castle}
{Satoru's P.O.V.}
To say the most powerful Marquis of Re-Estize was pissed was an understatement, he was completely livid. He had worked his ass off alongside both Renner and Hilma to fix the mess that was the attempted Noble uprising.
Now that all seemed in order he could finally relax and take a break going on an exploratory vacation on the Azerlisia Mountains… but no! some stupid crap gate like structure had to appear in the middle of one of his major cities!
But if it was only that he could simply leave the investigation to the Magician Guild as he planned to do… but of fucking course, a god dammed army had to march through the god damned gate and basically invade Re-Estize! In his fucking territory!
"Marquis Satoru."
At the mention of his name the masked undead resurged from his turbulent thoughts.
"Is this a reliable report?"
The king asked him as every noble's eyes fixed on him. Satoru wasn't even mad at himself for not listening, he was just pissed and whoever was responsible for the delay of his vacation would pay dearly.
"I have no doubt about my subordinates reliability, all of a sudden an army of over 10.000 poured through the strange structure which appeared a couple weeks ago in E-Libera, guards and troops stationed there proceeded to fight the invaders who poured into the city… though, the enemy was weak, their sheer numbers managed to push back the few hundreds soldiers opposing them… all came to an end when the Magician Guild arrived armed with their whole reserve of Magic Scrolls."
He paused as he calculated the waste of good scrolls and money in his mind, another reason to bash the skull of whoever was responsible in.
"They proceeded to unleash that magical power on the enemy causing massive casualties among the enemies and forcing them to retreat over the mysterious structure denominated Gate… on our side we suffered under a hundred casualties among our civilians but we believe around the same amount were abducted… the square is completely destroyed, though the Gate remains unharmed… once we managed to secure the location we effectively cut the retreat of any other foreign soldier and managed to either capture or eliminate all remaining forces."
The marquis concluded his report with a nod from the king.
"What about the prisoners Lord Satoru? Did you manage to extract any information from them?"
Asked Marquis Raeven.
"Indeed, we managed to extract fundamental information about the enemy thus far… the Gate apparently links our land to either a very far away one or a completely other world, it may sound farfetched, but we cannot put aside any other possibilities as the enemy seem to have no knowledge of any of our history or famous figures."
His declaration was generally answered by silence apart from Marquis Blumrush and Prince Barbro who lightly scoffed at his hypothesis.
"Furthermore, the enemy as been identified as the Saderan Empire, which is apparently a country who managed to conquer most of the continent they inhabit."
He continued trying to remember all of which was written in the report from Seven Hands' torturers.
"They have their own religion and culture, but I think the most important thing right now is to discuss their military. They apparently possess units of soldiers they refer to as legions, each legion comprehends between twenty five thousand and thirty thousand units, this Empire is apparently in possess of eight of such legions with an addition of forceful recruited but untrained men from their lands if it is ever required… in addition to this, many nearby small kingdoms are either vassals or threatened into obedience by the Empire and would manage to gather many more men to their cause."
He explained much to the chagrin of all present.
"The one who attacked E-Libera was a part of the 4th legion, experienced soldiers mainly used for raids and plunder, we have managed to repel them before they could fully cross the Gate but the remains of such legion alongside the 5th legion are waiting on the other side, they might even have asked for reinforcements."
He finished his report as silence descended into the room.
"This is unacceptable! We must strike back at this filth who dares invade us unprovoked!"
The first prince raged as a few nobles nodded in agreement with him.
"Peace brother, we are not yet sure what we are up against, to act on our emotions alone could end up in disaster."
Offered the second prince Zanac, Satoru rather liked this one, as far as he knew the second prince was far more levelheaded than his older brother.
"Tsk, such cowardice is unbecoming of the royal family!"
The royal prince retorted vehemently.
Before the meeting could descend into a shouting mess one solitary person, or child would be more appropriate, stood up from her seat.
"Brothers please, I understand the current situation is testing our patience, but arguing among each other will not solve anything at all."
The melodic voice of the third princess managed to silence the room once more. There were none who dared argue against her in the room, allowing her to seat back not before flashing a small smirk in Satoru's direction.
On his part the magic caster could not help but chuckle at seeing a room of fully grown men silenced by a prepubescent girl.
"What would you suggest Renner?"
It was an unspoken testament to the princess' influence when the King first decided to ask her opinion over everyone else's in the room.
On her part the princess seemed to be in deep thoughts for a few instants before gazing at all the presents.
"I am partially in agreement with big brother Barbro, we cannot show weakness by not answering this unwarranted attack in the heart of our kingdom… though, we cannot charge in this as blind as we are… I would propose a false attack, followed by an overwhelming charge that would hopefully destabilize their military, allowing us to assess out position on the other side of this… Gate."
Her words prompted some mumblings to erupt among the gathered nobles.
"A false attack, my princess?"
Asked Marquis Pespea confused by the princess's words, he seemingly never heard of such a term even though he was an accomplished general who won many a battle in his life.
"A strategy I once heard Marquis Satoru speak about, apparently it is used when dealing with great numbers of enemies… it consists in sending a token number of forces to battle the enemy, making it feel like they are the main army, it doesn't matter if the battle results into a victory or defeat as the enemy would underestimate us and send just a few more forces to finish us off, feeling like it would be useless to send all their might combined to dispose of such a small foe."
The princess began her explanation as Satoru indeed remembered when Punitto used that same tactic to take out a whole guild while they were still an unknown clan. In that case they were only ten but managed to take out a guild of over thirty players, that indeed had been one of the greatest successes of Punitto as a strategist. To see the princess, bring up such a dear memory of his could not help but wash away some of his annoyance and warm his nonexistent heart.
"We would then take out the enemy and overwhelm them with another part of our troops joining the battle, though we would make it seem like we have spent all we had to do so… if the enemy has any brain, they would realize our tactic and stop sending minor parts of its army and instead send their full might on the battlefield… if they are instead foolish and prideful they would continue to send part after part of their army while we would continue to pour out soldier after soldier, always making it seem like we are on the verge of collapsing… in the end the enemy would have sent their whole army to die slowly and without achieving anything, that would be the moment for us to use our full military power to descend upon them and take over them before they understand what happened."
The princess concluded much to the seemingly surprise or shock of everyone in the room. It took a few minutes before any of them dared to speak a word at all.
"Is this achievable in your opinion Marquis Satoru, Marquis Pespea?"
The king asked the two great nobles in the room.
"FATHER! YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY GO ALONG WITH THIS! OR EVEN CONSIDER IT! WE WILL PASS AS COWARDS!"
The first prince roared as he knocked back his chair while standing up, an enraged expression on is face.
"Down Barbro."
The king said as he didn't even glance at his oldest son.
"BUT FATHER-"
The crown prince protested vehemently.
"Sit down now! Do not speak unless I ask for your opinion, or I will have you removed this instant!"
The king said, his tone as hard as adamantite. His gaze, now focused on his son, full of barely contained anger at his insubordination.
Barbro hesitated, clearly unused to be at the receiving end of his father's seldom seen anger. But, in the end, he stepped back and sat as ordered.
"My King, I never heard of or even less used such a tactic, so I would not be presumptuous enough to assume or give you a definitive answer."
The general Marquis slithered his way out of the precarious situation he was in. Everyone then turned toward the other Marquis whose hidden visage was inscrutable behind his dark mask.
"Kukuku…"
The undead let his good mood take over him and even chuckle at the memories still flashing through his mind. Though everyone else seemed either taken a back or intimidated by the unfamiliar sound of his chuckle.
"Marquis Satoru?"
The King asked trying to not perpetuate the nefarious silence for any longer.
"Ah, yes, Your Majesty, I believe the princess' tactic to be very sound and solid, though, it is impossible to ensure the complete success of such a tactic as it depends mostly on the enemy's reaction… though even if it succeeds only partially we could still push on with a secondary plan I was thinking about…"
Now that it was all unfolding, he found himself very much intrigued rather than annoyed, this was like planning a guild war, just with more resources and troop at each other disposals. He would have to find the way to thank Renner as she managed to turn once more his annoyance into entertainment.
For all the little imp was sometimes a source of headaches, he could not deny the endless entertainment and occasions she provided him with.
"A secondary plan?"
Asked a curious Marquis Raeven as Satoru nodded his way.
"Yes, indeed, even if we only manage to destroy a few legions of this so called Empire, they will surely have to use their remaining full might to even attempt to fend us off… in that case we can exploit the years of hatred and oppression of their vassals and nearby kingdom they pushed into submission… if we manage to get in contact with them we might manage to convince them to start a collective uprising."
He saw as midway through his speech Raeven widened his eyes in understanding, the Marquis might have been young, but he certainly wasn't a fool. That was a tactic Ainz Ooal Gown used a lot during their ascension, to push smaller guild into conflict with an opponent of theirs only to then attack the exhausted side and reap the benefits.
That was also the same tactic many used during the great Raid when over 1500 players and NPCs invaded the Great Tomb. To have a revival, even if minor, of that occasion was an exciting prospect in Satoru's mind.
He saw as a sly smile appeared on Raeven's face.
"The Empire would find itself fighting a possibly losing war while all its former allies and vassals would knock at its door with their armies… a total capitulation, no matter how our war ends… we could even reap some benefits when the division of the Empire is decided, though, this all depends on the willingness of the vassals and kingdom to rise up and cooperate with us."
The blond Marquis elaborated giving credit to Renner's idea and Satoru's planning, much to this last one's satisfaction.
"From my understanding, this Empire is prideful and oppresses everyone based on nothing more than the fact they can… such a culture is destined to fall…"
The third princess added much to many of the presents' agreement.
"Indeed, those who do not understand the importance of adaptation and information gathering, will fall… there is no bigger fool than the one who think themselves invincible."
The deep voice of Satoru filled the room prompting many to eagerly agree.
"Then it is decided, the one who will command and coordinate the expedition will be Marquis Satoru, while Marquis Pespea and Marquis Raeven will serve as field commanders."
The King proclaimed as everyone eagerly clapped at the decision. All but a masked undead who just turned toward a smiling third princess… 'WHAT THE HELL?!'
{2 Weeks Later}
{Alnus Hill}
{Folt Titus' P.O.V.}
Folt Titus Meridius, field commander of the 5th legion prepared himself for another day of waiting. Tension has been high at first, with the utter defeat and massacre of a third of the 4th legion, but nerves could only tense so much before boredom took over after nothing of what you feared happened.
The enemy didn't seem to want to respond to their initial invasion, the few hundred men who managed to escape through the Gate told of warriors with armors impossible to pierce and swords that cut through heavy armor with a stunning simplicity.
But worse of all were their mages, they told of spells capable of killing their Dragon Riders in one clean shot, not to speak of the hellish inferno unleashed upon them that claimed thousands of lives and forced them to flee beyond the Gate.
With such tall tales, he expected them to march through the Gate in a matter of days and so predisposed his defenses to cause as much damage as possible while he waited for an answer to his reinforcements request.
Though, nothing of the sort happened. The Gate stayed silent, and the enemy didn't show itself. Panic became wariness, wariness became anxiety, and anxiety slowly dissipated. Yet, they were still waiting, not daring to cross that Gate once more.
He just finished dressing up when he heard the sounds of a commotion coming from outside. He flapped his tent open, soldiers were scurrying around in a panicked order.
"Soldier! What is the meaning of this?!"
He stopped one of the soldiers on his way.
"General! The enemy has shown itself!"
The man immediately almost shouted prompting Titus to move immediately toward the wooden barricade they formed around the Gate.
If he wanted to give effective orders, the first thing to do was assess the enemy's capabilities.
Standing there, just barely out of the darkness of the Gate were hundreds of people lined up, their armor of quite poor quality. That was a baffling image, not at all what the 4th Legion reported to him. Though he decided to not lower his guard, this could be quite the trick after all.
"ARCHERS!"
He commanded as the sound of a thousand strings tensing filled the silent and tense air.
"AIM!"
As he said that, the lines of soldiers moved, and how they moved, practically a bunch of drunken fools. There was no harmony or unity, there was no tactic or strategy to their movements, he could swear he even so a few of them run into each other and fall down as they attempted what should have been a charge against the barricade.
He was so baffled from the drunken stupor of seeing a scene like this, that he even forgot about giving the order to fire as one after the other, arrows flew down from up on high hitting and missing randomly.
Titus could not even blame his men, they not only didn't receive orders but were probably as baffled as he was as hundred of men were either slaughtered by the random arrows flying around or by his infantry once they reached the barricade.
In not more than twenty minutes they have taken down around a thousand men and the battlefield returned to silence as the few gasps of the dying men were the only thing that could be heard.
It was only when the last of the enemy breathed no more that something else happened. New enemies appeared, these ones fairly equipped compared to the last ones but at the same time their numbers were far inferior, he doubted the platoon could even reach a hundred in number.
"Tsk! Truly, this country's soldiers are utter trash… they just had to resist a little before receiving some assistance, and yet they all died… well at least they have enough coins to pay the likes of us to help them out!"
The one who spoke was a giant of a man, completely covered in dark robes and wearing a mask hiding his visage. From how he spoke, it seemed like the land they previously tried to invade had hired this group of probable mercenaries to fight in their war.
Though the confidence they showed was truly baffling, they were in front of the might of a legion and a half worth of men, barricaded behind solid wood that had just decimated a thousand men without receiving a single loss.
What could just a few hundred men do?
"Well, enough wasting time, we have been paid for a job, and a job we will do…"
The voice of the man was just barely audible from that distance. By now Titus felt like laughing in the face of this fool, but even that would be insulting to himself, to find amusement in such little things.
"ARCH-"
He could not even finish to call for his troops attention that a far darker and deep voice echoed through the battlefield overwhelming his own voice.
"[TWIN MAXIMIZE MAGIC: FIRESTORM]!"
And then there was fire, hellish fire, Titus had never witnessed such high flames before this, and the worst thing was that the fire seemed to be alive.
It moved forward consuming earth, corpses, wood and, finally, his own men who didn't even have the time to scream in pain before being burned alive till only ashes remained.
"FALL BA-"
His orders were already drowned out by the fire, but an even stronger voice imposed itself again on the battlefield.
"[TRIPLE MAXIMIZE MAGIC: CHAIN LIGHTNING]"
The voice intoned as ray of light pierced through the hellish flames only to turn more of his soldiers to ashes, followed by a rain of arrows and what seemed to be fire balls exploding on impact with his troops decimating whole regiments in just one hit, no matter how they tried to defend themselves.
And the deafening noise, the deafening noise was the worst thing he ever heard, explosions, raging flames and screaming men. It was no wonder line after line they all collapsed.
By now Titus had no idea what to do. He could not order his men to reorganize themselves. There was no tactic against such overwhelming might that he knew of, not even the Apostles were supposed to be able to unleash such madness. He couldn't even order a retreat as whoever didn't already burn, or die was already running away.
But he knew one thing he could do. Run away and report this. The Emperor, no, the whole Empire must know of this man… no, this monster!
'What have the Gods brought upon us?!' he could not help but despair as he managed to get on a fleeing horse. The last thing he heard was the same accursed, dark and deep voice.
"SLAUGHTER THE REST!"
In all his tenure as a commander, no, not even during his whole life Titus had ever witnessed a grimmer day than this one, not even in his nightmares.
{2 Hours Later}
{Raeven's P.O.V.}
"Ah my Lord! A truly marvelous performance!"
One of the minor nobility applauded the magic caster upon his return.
"I must concur! Those fools didn't stand a chance!"
Another continued much to Raeven's disgust. Utter fools and bootlickers, the whole of them. The have just witnessed the man destroy and put on the run singlehandedly an armada of a little less than fifty thousand strong.
To say he wasn't impressed and even filled with dread at the sight would have been a lie. But from there to basically throw away his dignity, he would sooner die than accept such humiliation.
"There is no need for such compliments, it was child play to scare such a small fry, if just a few parlor tricks were enough to set them fleeing for their lives, I wonder if all our preparation was even needed in the first place."
The magic caster answered much to Raeven's chagrin. If the Warrior Captain was worth a thousand men, they had just witnessed the worth of a whole battalion of Warrior Captains into one person who didn't even seem like he took the whole thing seriously to begin with.
Not to count the strange magic spell that allowed them to witness the whole thing from afar. Most of the nobles were amazed at such a thing but Raeven wasn't at all. He was instead worried as nothing indicated such a thing could only be applied to warfare.
If Satoru could always use such fancy and useful spells, what stopped him from using them to spy on all of them? When he returned to his manor he should make sure to try and take countermeasures against such things if at all possible.
"You should instead offer your compliments to Princess Renner as it was her idea to disguise me and my men as a mercenary company Re-Estize employed to put off the enemy… and Marquis Raeven too, for his idea of filling the first lines with poorly armed prisoners from all around the kingdom, to act as a false representation of the Re-Estize's army… in comparison to that I had done the bare minimum required of me."
To hear the caster speak about him in a good light felt quite jarring considering the undermining going on in his own territory due to Seven Hands.
Also, the constant praising of the third Princess was baffling to him. He understood it initially as they had apparently worked together using each other to rise to power… but now that the new Marquis was engaged to the Second Princess, his priority should be to cut down and undermine his previous partner in favor of his soon to be bride.
And yet, the continuous uplifting of the Third Princess was a move he could not understand. She was little more than a bastard, a political suicide.
He had to use this occasion to study the both of them better and understand where this whole thing was going.
The fact the king, after many a protest, finally allowed said princess to go beyond the Gate as a diplomat was a testament to something else going on behind closed doors in the Royal Family.
He will keep an eye open for any more things he could catch on. Apparently, his forced removal from the court in favor of not losing control over his own territory due to Seven Hands, has turned out to be an effective move on the caster's part, as he found himself lost to the more subtle interactions between the Royal Family's members.
{One week later}
{Sadera's Imperial Palace}
{Molt Sol Augustus' P.O.V.}
The Saderan emperor looked down upon Folt Titus Meridius, a general he had respected and known for a long time. It was thanks to him many a demi-human slaves were brought into the fold of his empire.
So, to hear such words from one of his trusted men was quite worrying.
"My Emperor, I know my words could sound outlandish and the ramblings of a madman, I myself would think so if I didn't witness such madness with my own eyes… I beg of you, Your Majesty! Do not march against the Devil in Black, that one is no man, it is a monster to be avoided…"
His words elicited again a shouting match between the senate, the most warmongering side spatting insulting words against the general and the more moderate side begging for caution in the presence of such a threat.
He was quite tired of all of this charade and so silenced the senate with a single gesture, again showing the power a true emperor such as himself should wield.
"I hear your words my general, and I am troubled that such proclamations come from such a trusted subject such as yourself."
He began causing tension to rise in the room, it was no secret he usually lied more toward the proactive part of the senate.
"You told me this man… this Devil as you call him, is not part of the kingdom we have invaded… you tell me a man capable of setting one and a half legions running for their lives is fighting for the highest bidder?"
The emperor asked amused at the knowledge. For all he would not believe such a thing if the entirety of the survivors didn't agree on such a report, he also was a man of pragmatism, assets should be exploited to their best, and every occasion must be taken for what it was… and this was a hell of a good occasion.
"From my understanding and the few things he said before the battle began, yes Your Majesty, he was hired to fight us."
The commander answered.
'Good' Molt thought as his eyes darted toward a certain redhaired self-proclaimed knightess in the room. 'It might be time to put you to good use daughter of mine… such power should belong to us, a fertile territory and a bride with a good pedigree should be enough to surpass any other offer this so called Re-Estize Kingdom could come up with' but that was a thought for the future, as of now he needed to make sure another nuisance was dealt with.
"It might be time to launch a counterattack then… send messagers to all our vassals and allies! They shall march on Alnus!"
His proclamation was met by cheers from the warmongering faction and acceptance by the moderates.
He would need to speak with his daughter soon enough.
{One month later}
{Alnus Hill}
{Satoru's P.O.V.}
The magic caster put aside the small scales, bones and hearts recovered from the little draconic like beings. Quality wise, they were far less than he hoped for, though the skin was quite sturdy and of good quality. They already confirmed 4th tier spells could be sealed in the scrolls, they were now experimenting with 5th tier, unfortunately as there is only one person capable of it as it is right now, such experiment had to be delayed for later.
The great breakthrough on scrolls creation was enough for now, and it made Satoru giddy at the thought of what else this world had to offer. Those draconic like beings seemed to be domesticated so a farm could be arranged. To have a constant influx of material that could be turned into 4th tier scrolls would a boon large enough to justify this war on the economic side.
Speaking of which, the war efforts were going well enough. They managed to set up a base of operations on the other side of the Gate, effectively cutting off any possible access to Re-Estize from enemy forces.
He already had sent scouting units composed of the best Seven Hands could offer to check if they could make contact with any non-hostile forces in their vicinity.
That didn't seem to be the case unfortunately, on the other hand they have spotted a large number of troops moving toward them. Their numbers seemed to be over one hundred thousand units. At first, he was worried that their tactic didn't work but apparently none of those units bore a flag similar to the one sported by the empire.
Meaning only one thing, those were not legions but probably the vassals and forced allieis the empire subjugated and now forced into war to test the waters.
A cautious move he didn't expect from such arrogant fellows. Apparently, this emperor or his general were no amateurs.
It would be a shame to waste troops fighting a possible ally in their precarious situation.
He would have to leave such things to the diplomats. He had just had an epiphany a while ago, a realization he would gladly take advantage of.
Due to this war, he was denied his vacation and exploration of the Azerlisia Mountains, well, instead of those he will simply have to explore this new land. An even greater prospect in his mind.
The only problem with that would be justifying it, as he was the commander of the army currently pouring through the Gate, he could not simply leave to his leisure to go around.
But that was an easy fix, he did not manage to lead an entire underworld while building an economical empire on magic items and not learn how to delegate things.
He already gave most of his responsibilities regarding the base to Pespea, Raeven and Renner were their diplomats as enforced by the king who would not let Renner come without an aide. His own students, Arche and Rayne, had arrived a couple weeks ago, when the border had been secured and no more attacks seemed likely in the near future. Of course, Lakyus could not miss the party and was currently with Renner in their shared tent.
His plan was easy, delegate most of his duties and wait for something to come up and use the occasion to sneak away and have fun exploring covered by his fake persona of a mercenary, something he had to thank Renner for. The little adorable devil seemingly never stopping to be helpful. He would have to reward her somehow…
{Allied Army's Camp}
{Duran's P.O.V.}
The king of Elbe was a legendary figure, renowned for his martial prowess and commanding skills. His successful campaigns were many, he even managed to fend off one of the empire's legions once with half the man they had.
And now, he was being ordered around by said empire, an ironic and cruel turn of events, for one of their greatest foes to have been turned into an attack dog.
Though, he had to concede this was no ordinary situation as rarely before the empire ordered all his major and minor vassals and allies to descend on the battlefield alongside them.
The enemy must have been quite the foe even though the imperial general assured him they had already repelled the enemy once and only needed them as an assurance if the enemy tried something else.
When they reached the outskirts of Alnus, they expected to be greeted by the imperial legion but apparently the messenger they left behind told them that the losses they received forced the legion to retreat and a new one to be called. Nothing out of the ordinary for the empire as they had men to spare, replacing a battered legion with a fresh one wasn't new.
The enemy had apparently fortified their position with solid wooden walls, didn't the legion say they repelled them? Maybe the enemy reorganized and invaded again while the legion retreated.
Be it as it may, they would be the ones who will push these fools back.
They had 150.000 men, fresh and ready to fight. Judging by the fortress they erected, the enemy could not have more than 80.000 men. But the enemy's strength wasn't certainly in their numbers, no, the one they had to look out for was the so-called Devil in Black who wielded magic never seen before.
They said he killed a thousand man with one spell even though Duran largely doubted that claim, such power was only known to the most ancient of Apostles if not the Gods themselves.
"My King! A lone rider has been spotted!"
One of his men entered the commanding tent in a hurry.
"A parley maybe?"
Wondered Ligu the Duke of the League Principality.
"What even is the point? We can't accept any terms aside from an unconditional surrender."
The king of Alguna said.
"To ignore a simple parlay would be far too uncivilized even for the empire, I would not step so low, even if it brings to nothing I would still hear them out, maybe we can avoid further bloodshed and try to make them surrender peacefully."
The king of Mudwan retorted.
"If they want to speak then, let them do so, it is a curtesy I would oblige, bring the rider here!"
He ordered the guard who immediately left the tent.
They didn't have to wait much for said man to arrive. He was quite the giant, dressed in dark clothes with a single bloody hand painted on the front of his armor, he did not bear any weapons as was customary for a parley.
"So, what does the enemy want to speak about?"
Asked the impatient Duke.
"My name is Mato of the Black Hand, I am a mere envoy of those who wish to parley before any hostilities commence."
He introduced himself with a bow of his head.
"Go on, tell us what are your terms, it won't change anything."
The King of Alguna waved away as if to prompt the man to go on.
"I am merely here to confirm your willingness to talk."
The black-haired man said with a shrug.
"Enough of these games, speak your terms or leave."
Duran said harshly. Mato didn't react for a few moments before slowly going for a hidden pocket in his heavy armor. The air tensed but what came out of the pocket was merely a scroll.
The man launched the scroll in the air, and it disappeared in blue flames the following second.
"My Lord, the opposing side wishes to parley."
The man said to seemingly no one and before anyone could say anything three new figures appeared in the room.
All the kings and the duke stood up in alarm at the appearance of a giant cloaked in black, a nobleman dressed elegantly and a… child?
"Honorable Kings and Duke, I think it is time for us to talk."
The child spoke gently while adding an elegant bow. Though, Duran could feel dread crawl up his spine, he had no idea what it was that unnerved the experienced general so… maybe it was the sudden appearance, or the silent black giant looming over all of them, or the freezing cold gaze inside the girl's eyes… or maybe a combination of the three.
I was sure of one thing though, this parley he would not forget it so easily.
{A week Later}
{Saderan's Imperial Palace}
{Molt Sol Augustus' P.O.V.}
The news made it to the imperial capital in no time. The Allied Army was utterly destroyed, no, even that was an understatement, they were wiped off the map. Engulfed in flames, ice and lightning as they charged bravely against the enemy.
150.000 men wiped out completely to the last. It was utterly terrifying, and yet, he could not help but being incredibly excited. He had a one in a lifetime occasion, he wanted to use the Allied Army to test out this mage, this Devil, and his expectations were blown off of proportions.
He and his one hundred men left nothing alive in that battlefield. The only reason news managed to get out was due to his own three spies surviving the whole ordeal due to running away before the battle even started.
But now he was sure of it. He will have this man for himself, him and Pina will produce a worthy heir or heirs for the empire. They will inherit their father's talent for magic, or if it isn't a talent, he will certainly teach them how to wield such magic. He could already see it, a future with a emperor capable of wielding such magical power none could oppose him. A emperor who could alone blast away armies and ascend beyond what any mortal or Apostle has achieved.
Zorzal was a fool, an imbecile who had no place on the throne. He will be dealt with after Pina consolidates her position as this man's bride.
Hell, he could have all his daughter's joke order for himself if he wished it, he didn't care as long as he produced heirs with Pina and Pina alone.
"Father, you called for me?"
Speaking of which, his daughter has just arrived. He had Marcus clear the room already, this conversation would remain private.
"Ah, my daughter, I have a mission for you and your order."
The princess seemed surprised by his words, for all the years her order existed it had never been more than a ornament or joke to the court.
"W-what is my mission father?!"
The eagerness and surprise managed to slip through his daughter words as he almost left a feral grin show on his face.
"I imagine you heard of the man called the Devil in Black."
He said as her daughter immediately stirred at the mention of that name.
"Yes! The one who has gained the title of The Doom that came to Falmart… f-father, you are not planning to use my order to a-attack such a foe, are you?"
The thought was almost ironical to Molt. 'You will attack him just fine… but on a different battlefield' he thought to himself.
"Of course not, you are tasked with gathering all information you can on him and then convince him to negotiate his passing from the enemy's side to ours… by any means necessary."
He emphasized the last part as he noticed his daughter go rigid as steel.
"I-I…"
She seemed to hesitate as she looked at him with her emotion-filled scarlet eyes, so resembling of her mother's.
"You will do so, as a princess of the Empire that is your duty, the same goes for your order, if their help… is required."
Silence descended into the room as the princess gaze fell on the ground, at first filled with rage only for that rage to be substituted by reluctant acceptance and defeat.
"As you wish, it shall be done."
She said harshly before leaving the room, but before she could reach the door he called for her once more.
"Pina."
She stopped at his tone, far more morbid and less stoic than before.
"I gave you orders as an emperor… but as a father, I am proud of you, but there are times when our own wishes must be put aside in the name of survival, you are the empire's last hope."
His words had the desired effect as Pina visibly lost some of the hardness in her movements even if she didn't answer him.
Emotional manipulation was quite the key to win the game of politics, and Molt knew this well, he had gotten rid of his brother like that after all. This will be no different. If he was lucky, he will have time to influence the possible heir or heirs to the throne during his last years on this world.
After all, what other choice would there be but this? What can someone do when an unstoppable power who didn't care about strategy or number comes your way?
He will do as he always did and make the best of what he had.
{Coda Village}
{Rayne's P.O.V.}
The young boy didn't know what to think of his predicament. The thought of exploring a new world was fascinating but he was quite scared at the thought of facing a fire dragon even with his master at his side.
Speaking of which, they came here due to said reports of a large adult dragon, his Master had been eager to slay the beast, or at least try to do so.
He had called it… field research… only his Master could dub hunting an ancient dragon with such a mundane name, as if they were going to pick up medical plants in a forest.
Arche on the other side seemed as perplexed as him, though she was quite more vocal on it. Not that it helped their case as Satoru simply said that he didn't certainly take such an activity lightly.
And so, they found themselves here, among villagers evacuating after they had been warned about the fire dragon, though they continued to call it Flame Dragon for some reason… that name sounded so stupid.
That rose another question though, the villagers had been surprised when they found out they spoke the same language, but that was just stupid! Everyone spoke one language back home, why in the world should people or other races speak other languages? That would only complicate already strained relations.
He also had no idea why they were helping these people, Master said they would be important information sources, but he was sure that his Master didn't really mean it and was only saying so to not sound weak and admit he wanted to help these people.
Rayne knew it firsthand, his Master always helped people wherever he went without expecting things in return. That was also why Rayne himself was alive right now.
He swore he would abide by that rule as well, he would help whenever he could, like his Master did.
As if to mock him, just as he finished that thought, one of the wagons broke down and fell on its side, hurling the people inside with violence. He immediately moved toward the people on the ground only to be shoved away by a larger figure who immediately knelt down to check on the injured.
He glanced back at his Master who seemed still in conversation with the head of the scout unit who sighted the dragon.
He once again decided to try and help the people still on the ground when something, or rather someone, ran past him toward the injured.
The strange sight made him stop in his tracks, not only was the girl not far older than him, but she also carried around a catalyst like Arche did, meaning she was a magic caster of this strange land. Though, to his shame, the first thing that attracted his attention was her hair, the same color of the midday sky.
The only thing taking him out of his stupor was the giant wooden staff his fellow apprentice used to bonk him on his head, eliciting from him a very undignified and pained groan.
"Stop ogling girls you perverted dolt!"
He turned in rage to deny her accusations but then he heard it, the very loud nitrite of a mad horse. And, indeed, turning once more toward the injured people, he could see the horse which carried their broken wagon go mad.
He immediately rose his hand.
"[Sparks]!"
He cried out as bolts of lightning immediately closed the distance between him and the horse, pushing it back and making it fall on its back.
"Are you okay?!"
He asked the people still shocked by the events which just transpired.
No one answered him when he reached them but before he could do anything else, the seemingly dead horse rose once more, madness in its eyes as it prepared to charge them. He tried to cast another spell but then a bunch of small fire bolts impacted on the horse's side completely burning its lower half and finally putting it out of its misery.
"Fool! What did Master tell you? Don't consider a threat dead until you killed it trice!"
Arche said as she approached him while putting away her staff.
Before the two apprentices could descend into another endless discussion the blue haired girl intervened.
"Thank you…"
The words were simple, but Rayne completely lost it as his heart skipped a beat, how could someone sound so adorable? And have such incredible eyes? And those lips…. No, no, no, he needed to stay focused! There was no way he… he…
"Are you two… mages?"
The girl continued inquisitive.
"Such crude language to indicate the art of magic casting… we are magic casters, apprentices under Master Satoru… from your equipment I guess you are one yourself?"
Luckily for him Arche answered the girl as he wasn't sure he could do it without making a fool out of himself.
"I am Lelei, apprentice under Master Cato."
She introduced herself in the same monotone tone that made Rayne want to hug her so much.
"My name is Arche."
The blonde empire noble introduced herself.
"I-I am R-Rayne."
He managed to stutter out, the young apprentice introduced himself while trying to repress the blush he was surely sporting on his face.
{Several Hours Later}
{Satoru's P.O.V.}
He was pretty disappointed the dragon didn't show up, he thought that such a largely populated caravan in an otherwise uninhabited zone would make for an easy target.
He really wanted those sweet drops. The little dragons were good and all but a fully grown one? That would make for a worthy hunt indeed!
He sighed as he flew away following the exodus of Coda Village, many of Seven Hands preferred their horses, though some others, like his students, used Floating Boards to move around.
He was happy they befriended that young magic caster, she and her master would make for a great source of information about the magic of this land which he was starting to believe was a totally different world or plane of existence as not even his [Greater Teleportation] could bring him back to Re-Estize from here, he would have to test [Gate] whenever possible.
It was also unfortunate that most of the villagers refused his invitation to stay at his base, they could have been such a good source of information. Oh well, not all plans could succeed.
As he was pondering those thoughts his mind came back to reality when his eyes fell on a weird phenomenon taking place in front of him.
'Are those crows… circling around something?' he tried to squint his vision to the maximum. And, indeed, there was someone coming toward them, the more the distance closed the more details he could make out until his lower jaw fell wide open.
'Ehhhh?! IS THAT A FUCKING GOTH LOLI?!' his mind went into overdrive to make sense of what he was seeing, but no matter what that was indeed what he was seeing and not the spirit of his friend taking over him and causing him hallucinations.
His Emotional Suppression kicked in and he felt his shock being reduce to a placid clam and mild surprise. 'Oh Pero, what would you have given to be here?' he jokingly asked himself.
It didn't take long for the group to come across the strange girl as children made hastily their way toward her as if they knew her.
He was pretty sure she was no human, due to her manner of dressing and the giant halberd she carried around like it was a stick.
He was pondering if he should go and interact with the strange girl when their eyes suddenly met, her deep crimson eyes widening in wonder for a moment before she jumped inhumanly landing on his Floating Board, right next to him.
It took all he had in his body to not respond violently to the sudden gesture.
"My, my, this is quite the surprise… all this dark energy… ah! All this chaotic darkness! Tell me your name! For only one blessed by Emroy could ever hope to match this much his nature!"
The girl seemed to get… extremely stimulated for some reason by his sheer presence. 'Why do I feel dirty inside?' he could not help but recognize that strange human emotion.
"Umu, I am Satoru, a humble magic caster."
He decided to indulge the girl for now.
"Ah! I will remember the name of the man who carry such death around him! Would you let me consume some of your essence?!"
He really had no idea of what the overexcited… whatever she was, was talking about. It sounded kind of like she was asking for negative energy but wasn't that kind of thing harmful for living beings?
He decided to test the water calmly, so he summoned a small portion of negative energy with his passive [Negative Touch].
"Are you sure this won't harm you?"
He asked the girl, kind of curious to understand where this was going and what or who he was interacting with currently.
"Of course not! As an Apostle of Emroy I thrive on this!"
She proclaimed almost salivating at the sight of his negative energy.
"Umu, I see, I can share this with you, though, in exchange I would like to ask you some questions."
He decided this would be a good exchange, he really had no use for negative energy aside for using attacks he couldn't use without blowing his cover.
"Aaaaahhhh! Yes! I will answer all your questions! Now give IT to me!"
This girl was starting to freak him out a lot, so he just offered his hand coated in darkness.
Much to his surprise the girl actually grasped his hand without receiving any visible damage and put one of his gloved fingers into her mouth before starting to suck… very hard.
Satoru was torn between teleporting away and panicking by that point and so, while stuck in that conundrum, his body froze hoping that such a scene would end soon.
The muffled sounds the girl made didn't help his awkwardness. He decided to cut it short and deactivated his passive. The girl immediately almost lost balance and Satoru had to catch her before she fell forward.
"Aaaaahhhhh that was… that was… so magnificent…. Better than slaughtering a million foes… such pure and uncorrupted darkness… all for me…."
She mumbled as if in some kind of orgasmic daze which didn't help the uncomfortable feeling Satoru was experiencing right now.
She looked up at his mask as she started to regain control of her body just before being able to stand on her own.
"That was… quite something…"
She managed to say while recovering from her frenzy.
"Umu, could you answer some of my questions now?"
He asked as he wanted to divert the subject of the conversation as soon as possible. By now all were looking at them, both his troops and the villagers, it was completely embarrassing. 'Stop looking at me… I beg of you' he lamented as his Emotional Suppression kicked in again. It had been quite a while since he had to abuse his passive so much in one day.
"Ah, yes, I will answer all of your question but first… please marry me!"
The girl, Apostle, or whatever she was, was completely nuts, there was no other explanation for this.
He had just started analyzing what he just heard when the most unexpected of things saved him.
A roar, fierce and powerful echoed all around them as a giant silhouette descended from the sky.
The fire dragon had come, and Satoru couldn't be more relieved.
{Lelei's P.O.V.}
The Flame Dragon, one of the many dreads of this world. In all her life Lelei would have never imagined she would see one with her own eyes. It was truly a shame this occasion might turn out to be the end of said life as well.
The giant form of the scaled, flying, and fire-breathing lizard descended upon them, jaw already hanging loose as it prepared its favorite attack.
The panicked screams of the inhabitants of Coda Village filled the air, Lelei was already trying to turn their horse around, but the beast was in a complete panic.
A sea of flames erupted from the dragon's mouth but the fire never reached any of them. No, it dispersed around in random directions as if the flame had just impacted on some kind of wall or barrier. If it wasn't so dangerous the scene might have been inspirational for artists.
The dragon seemed as confused as them as it tried to change its angulation to try and burn them once more, having the same result as the first time.
"Wow! Master Satoru is incredible!"
She was startled by the sudden appearance of the two mages she met before, but even more she focused on the words the boy spoke.
Her eyes darted around until they found the flying form of the two's master. The masked man had greatly unsettled her ever since she saw hm in the distance, she could say there was something wrong with the man but couldn't quite point it out.
Though, regardless of her own feelings, she could not help but admit the awe-inspiring sight of seeing a mage fight off a dragon.
The beast roared louder than before as if consumed by rage as it charged them directly, probably trying to slam them with its form if fire didn't work.
To her surprise the mage in black disappeared and appeared the next second just above them.
"I never imagined I would see a dragon having a childish tantrum [Mass Hold Species]"
The sound of the spell was foreign to Lelei's ears but its effects were nothing like she though possible till that point.
The dragon immediately went rigid and flew past them impacting with the ground ruinously much to everyone's shock.
"I see… it is a beast after all, I should have expected something like this, though… calling it an ancient dragon is quite ridiculous."
She heard the masked mage talk to himself as he descended on the ground. No one dared to speak as he rose one of his hands once more.
"Let's test your durability, shall we?"
He again spoke to no one.
"[Discern Enemy]"
He intoned before humming deeply.
"As I thought… It's not the same system…"
He continued to mumble stuff that didn't make sense to him.
"Then I will go in with caution… [Greater Full Potential] [Dragonbane] [Bless of Magic Caster] [Magic Boost] [Repeat]."
Lelei never heard any of those spells but judging by the aura filling the air and the lights enveloping the mage before her, he was using some kind of spell to empower himself, not that Lelei actually ever heard of such a thing.
"[Triple Maximize Magic: Dragon Lightning]!"
Three strange symbols appeared midair as lightning shaped in the form of a dragon erupted from them, followed by the appearance of three more symbols behind the firsts doing the same.
The Flame Dragon had barely managed to rise its head that the spells impacted its body enveloping it in crackling lightning.
The dragon didn't even roar as scales flew of its body as the light died down.
No one spoke for a good minute waiting to see what the dragon would do, but what wasn't expected was for the beast fo fall forward, crashing on the ground once more, unmoving.
"[Life Essence]… is it dead… already?"
The mage didn't speak loudly but his voice could be heard all around him due to the perfect silence. Lelei could not believe her ears, he almost sounded disappointed, this man…. No, this gret mage right out of legends, slew an ancient Flame Dragon like it was nothing.
She heard the rumors, like everyone else, rumors of a Devil in Black wielding magic that should belong to Apostles of her own Patron Gods, Elange and Ral.
A mage capable of wiping armies off the battlefield alone with his magic. The Doom that came to Falmart, they called him, a fanciful title she had never believed till this moment.
"It's a shame, I wanted to capture it alive… though, what kind of weak dragons dies to a single spell? Aren't they supposed to be magical resistant?"
The annoyance in his voice was palpable and Lelei felt a shiver go down her spine at the thought of such a person getting angry or only mildly annoyed.
"That was incredible Master!"
"Truly! You do not stop to amaze!"
The two young mages complimented, Lelei had kind of forgot about them till that moment and felt her stomach plunder at the realization.
These two were apprentices under the most powerful mage she had ever heard of, while she…
Her gaze immediately darter to her own master. Cato wasn't a bad master, no, on the contrary he was experienced, and despite his shortcomings in some areas, he had taught her much. But this, this was the pinnacle of what a mage could reach, going further than that would mean to challenge the Gods themselves.
Even the Apostle of Emroy seemed to be pleasantry surprised judging by the growing smirk on her face.
"It was nothing, really, I am sure you will be able to kill beasts like this easily in the future… such brutes without a semblance of mind or strategy are no match for a well prepared magic caster."
She heard the mage instruct his two apprentices who eagerly nodded.
"Now, I will teach you about the many uses for dragon corpses, remember, if you can, capture them and farm them like sheeps… that will give you a constant influx of rare materials to convert to your uses… unfortunately, sometimes overcaution could bring to the subject dying… still, we need to respect the dead, and the best way to do so is using them to their fullest."
There was something disturbing and uncanny in hearing someone speak about ancient and calamity-inducing beasts as if they were sheep or pigs.
Though she had always been a strange girl, people said so all the time, her curiosity and thirst for knowledge far surpassed her sense of fear.
{Outskirts of the Saderan Capital}
{Pina P.O.V.}
The 5th child of emperor Molt Sol Augustus marched into the makeshift tent. Her order, the Rose-Order of Knights, all his childhood friends and fellow knights waiting for her.
She sighed with an heavy heart for what she was about to do. She had groomed her knights for battle, and some of them had become quite adapt at it if she could say so herself.
"Where are-"
Bozes began but pina interrupted her.
"Grey and Norma are outside, making sure nothing I say leave this tent."
Her tone immediately shut any additional question down.
"If you wish to leave this order, now is the time, afterward I cannot assure such a thing will be possible."
Her words made everyone tense and a few gasp in disbelief.
"My princess, what has happened?!"
Hamilton asked, panic in her tone. Gods, if even Hamilton, her second in command, lost her cool then she must really look terrible.
"My father gave us a decisive order that could shift the going of the war and save the empire much pain and suffering."
Everyone stood at attention s the princess took a deep breath to not break down and remain professional.
"We have been charged with information gathering, our target is the Doom or the Devil in Black if you prefer."
She said seriously making everyone in the room gasp once more.
"After we gathered all we can, we must make our way to Alnus and bring the Doom to a parley and…"
She bit her lower lip as her willpower wavered for a moment. She released the breath she was holding.
"And bring him to our side through negotiations… by any means necessary."
Her tone lowered as she felt her fists tighten.
"M-my princess… d-does that mean-"
Panache began as a look of horror passed through all of her knights. Pina gulped before confirming with a nod.
"Yes, if he demands us as his concubines or, hell, even his slaves, we shall oblige… for the sake and survival of our empire is at stake here… if we cannot stop the Doom, no one shall."
She concluded grimly as she lowered her head.
"So, I beg of you, leave our order so that I alone will bear the burden of humiliation to save our empire from destruction."
She begged her knights to heed her warning.
Silence persisted after her declaration; someone could have heard a fly in there if there was one.
She truly hoped some would leave, there was sheer talent in there that could not be wasted on politics.
"My princess can't we do anything? Is this truly our end?"
Bozes asked eliciting a relieved sigh from Pina, at least some will leave.
"Yes, the only other way would be a desperate move… if he refuse any offerings I could still try to seduce him, and attempt to kill him when he is spent on me… though I highly doubt this would work."
Pina explained the last desperate plan she came up with if all else failed.
"I see."
Bozes closed her eyes before going to one knee in front of the redhaired princess unsheathing her blade.
"I, Bozes Co Palesti, swore an oath of fealty to Princess Pina Co Lada, my blade is yours, till the bitter end!"
The young woman proclaimed for all to hear.
One by one all her order's members proceeded to renew their oaths.
Pina herself didn't know if she should feel shocked, pained, relieved, grateful or a mixture of all those. She only knew one thing for certain, she wouldn't switch any of her friends for anyone in the world.
{Two weeks later}
{Alnus Hill}
{Renner's P.O.V.}
The third princess was frustrated. Ever since she came to this godforsaken land, she did nothing but deal with endless paperwork while Satoru had his fun exploring… without her!
The betrayal stung, but he wasn't exactly to blame, her father allowed her to come here only on the condition she would stay away from battlefields and dangers. And, according to that blasted Raeven, exploring unknown land was a danger, even if Satoru was with her.
May the gods strike that damned Marquis down this instant! He was no fool and seemed to have made obstructing her his personal goal.
Luckily she at least had Lakyus keep her company.
This was not at all like she imagined, she, Lakyus and Satoru were supposed to go around and enjoy the peace while war efforts were brought on by Raeven and Pespea.
She even initially thought to have the war last a little longer to enjoy Satoru all to herself, but now she was doing all in her power to end it as soon as possible.
The sooner they came back, the sooner she will have Satoru at her side again. Not that he hadn't been every time he came back to the Gate after an expedition, but he was always busy with one thing or another and she was starting to lose her patience.
"Who's next?"
She asked bored as the new problem revealed himself in the form of two guards restraining a blonde boy no much older than her who was forced on his knees in front of her.
"What's the meaning of this?"
She inquired, the littlest of sparkles igniting with curiosity within her.
"Your Highness, this is one… of Marquis Satoru's bunch."
The guard hesitated as no one dared to speak the name of Seven Hands aloud due to it becoming a sort of bogeyman after the purge.
The princess gestured for the guard to go on.
"We found this one in the kitchens… he was trying to poison food Your Majesty."
One of the guards explained only further enhancing the curiosity she previously felt, was Satoru trying to kill someone? No, that was too sloppy of a work if it was so.
"Whose food?"
She asked.
"T-the refugee's one My Lady."
Now her interest was completely piqued, why in the world was someone trying to kill villagers?
"Why?"
She asked simply.
"He refuses to say."
She stood up and walked down from her makeshift throne, she strolled down toward the boy much to both the guards' and Raeven's protest.
"Look me in the eyes, boy."
The blond obeyed and there was no fear to be seen in his eyes when they met hers. Only fury and determination, in short, a complete brute and fool.
"If you refuse to tell me why you did it, I will be forced to take things up with Satoru."
She tried to push one of the many buttons she had, but seeing how the boy was one of Seven Hands, he surely knew not to anger certain people.
"This people… this people are worthless trash unworthy of life! They almost killed one of my friends and now she is not waking up even after she had been healed… an eye for an eye… blood for blood…"
The boy said darkly.
He was a complete nutjob, a mad attack dog, but she had use even for the likes of him.
"I want this one assigned to the vanguard."
She said as she walked away.
"Your Highness, it is not wis-"
She interrupted Raeven with a hard glance.
"I will take it up with Satoru later, now… is there anyone else?"
She asked hoping for a negative answer.
"No, Your Highness, this was the last."
Informed one of her aides, she nodded content to be free.
"Then I will be in my room."
She said disbanding the little mockery of a court they had put up here.
As soon as she reached the door of her room, she slammed it behind her.
"Long day?"
The one expecting her was none other than her returning flame, Satoru who was going over reports of his own troops.
"You can't imagine."
She sighed as she rubbed her left eye which was about to close.
"Bed?"
"Yes."
She admitted defeat as she marched toward her bed barely capable of removing her outer layer of clothes which left her in a light long gown.
She fell on the bed as Satoru tucked her under the covers.
"Will you stay here until I fall asleep?"
She asked, hoping in his confirmation, after all she found it such a sweet gesture whenever he did that not counting how soothing it was to have him by her side while falling asleep.
"I have a couple of reports to finish before I go to sleep as well, where is Lakyus?"
He questioned much to her annoyance. She liked Lakyus but hearing her Satoru speak of another woman while they were alone in the intimacy of her room was not something she appreciated.
"Preparing her horse for tomorrow."
She said as she turned on the side to face him.
"That girl is your shadow, whenever you go she goes."
He joked.
"Mmh, more like a puppy, she is too bright to be a shadow."
She retorted.
The next day they would depart for Italica, the nearest large city according to the villagers, and one of the most important commercial centers in the region, while its surrounding territory served as one of the greatest food sources in the empire.
She officially would travel there as a negotiator but in reality they planned to take over from the inside, once that territory fell in their hands the Empire would be finished as they burnt a lot of their own territory in some sort of misguided scorched earth tactic, which served to only decrease even more their food production.
Fools, the lot of them.
Once they starved, they would be forced to mobilize their whole army to try and reclaim Italica, and in the meantime Re-Estize would march on their capital alongside their new friends they made a while ago.
And that would be the end, the head of the beast would be cut and its body would be given to the crows while Re-Estize would plunder their many resources and secure commercial relations with the new kingdoms they helped.
Easy and simple, to the point.
She and Satoru will go home and speak no more of this useless travel.
Well, now that she thought about it, there was still something she needed to do before leaving… killing that bitch that dared to land her hands on her Satoru! Yes, the demigod or whatever she was! Every time she pictured her face in her head she was filled with rage at the memory of seeing her hugging her Satoru.
Though, he didn't protest, which made it worse. If there was something between the two of them, she needed to know.
"Satoru, what do you think of that demigod, or Apostle as she calls herself?"
She decided to be blunt, there was no reason to play games around Satoru, he was the only one who could understand her after all.
"Umu… Rory? To be truthful… she scares me…"
That surprised the young princess, he certainly wasn't scared of her for her power since he certainly could hold his own.
"Her obsessiveness on me is kind of creeping me out."
He explained much to her agreement. What kind of woman did that to begin with? Obsess herself over someone they just met? Absurd! It was not a surprise Satoru didn't like that.
She yawned loudly as she snuggled into her covers, with that last worry completely gone she could enjoy her well-deserved rest.
"Good night, Renner."
"Good night, Satoru."
And with that, the room was plunged into darkness.