Vaughn walked down the steps unimpeded as he left the royal palace. Despite the fact that Levi, Erin, and Paige would have to leave the kingdom, Vaughn walked with a slight spring in his step. "I feel like that went rather well. What do you think, Erin?" Vaughn asked as he rounded a corner and Rivas revealed herself to be walking in step beside him.
"I think that we should have killed that pest for lying, harming a child, having impure thoughts about children, and trying to slander your name." She replied coldly.
"Harsh but understandable." Vaughn said, gesturing towards an alleyway. "I'm sure that you noticed but you need to keep your killing intent under control, you were almost noticed because of it."
"I'm truly sorry my lord, I will strive to not fail you again." She said while bowing her head after they had stepped into the alley.
"It's fine Rivas, it's impossible for anyone to do everything perfectly on their first try. That being said, do learn from your own mistakes and never repeat them. By doing this and striving to be better today than you were yesterday, it would make me unbelievably proud of you." Vaughn said as he gently caressed her head. "Now let's not keep Gabriel waiting any longer. [Greater Teleportation]."
-Forest of Tob, just outside Carne Village-
Vaughn and Rivas appeared with a flash of green light in the same clearing that Ainz had saved the sisters in just a couple of days before. Looking up at the night sky Vaughn nodded before turning and walking towards the familiar pull of his summons, both the Shadow Demon and Gabriel. As he walked he was pleased to find that his first creation was doing its second job of protecting the village at large well, as he was able to see the three Lesser Shadow Demons guiding him onward like a pack of rowdy dogs.
Stepping past the tree line he dismissed the smaller creatures as he continued to follow the invisible thread that was leading to a small hovel with some patched holes in the walls. Before he could finish approaching, 4 goblins blocked his path and he felt 3 more moving into position behind him. "I'm going to have to ask you to stop right there and tell me how you got past our sentries." A goblin with a broadsword spoke as he stepped forward.
'The hell did these guys come from? They're too well spoken and armed to be standard goblins of this world.' "My apologies, master goblin. We simply took a shortcut so as to reconvene with our friend who is currently within this dwelling. Would you please step aside?" Vaughn spoke courteously.
The goblin gained an even hardiness to his stance as he decided to take a defensive stance. "I'm afraid that in this house is our boss and I can't let someone as creepy, stealthy, and just plain weird enter. I get the feeling that even if I were to make the first move all of us would be dead before I could deal you any harm, so I'm going to ask you kindly to leave."
Vaughn smiled as he telepathically called for Gabriel. A few seconds later, the door to the house swung open and three silhouettes were outlined by the interior lights. "Jugem, stop. They're guests." A younger voice rang out.
All of the goblins relaxed their stances as soon as they heard the voice. Looking to the source Vaughn was mildly surprised to see Enri being the one that spoke. Quickly recomposing himself, Vaughn bowed slightly. "I thank you for your hospitality, ms. Emmot. I do hope that we don't impose for long."
Enri seemed shocked that her family's name was known to this man. "P-please, come in." She said with a bit of hesitation before leading her mother, Vaughn, and his companions inside.
As soon as Vaughn entered the room he heard a groggy voice softly ask. "Big brother Levi? Is that you?" A very sleepy Myu murmured from a chair near the fire.
"Yes Myu. I hope that you were good for Paige." Vaughn said kneeling in front of the girl before she limply hugged him around the neck and promptly fell asleep. He looked up questioningly at the disguised angel.
In response to his unspoken question Gabriel smiled, "She and Nemu played together for an hour or so before the stress of the day got to her, that being said she refused to go to bed until you arrived master."
Vaughn nodded and smiled down at the small child in his arms. "Ms. Emmot, you wouldn't happen to have a spare bed that this little one could use for the time being, would you?" She nodded and guided him into another room where he saw the two beds resting against the far wall, only one of which was occupied by the sleeping form of Nemu. After tucking Myu into the empty bed gingerly the adults left the girls to their rest and closed the door behind them.
After returning to the sitting room Vaughn sat while Rivas and Gabriel stood behind him on either side. "Firstly, I would like to offer you my most sincere thanks for your hospitality at such a late hour. In recompense for the intrusion I offer you this." He said as he pulled a ring out of his inventory. The ring was utterly ordinary and made of polished wood, upon seeing that Sarah was going to deny it he quickly continued. "This ring is more as payment for the request I have for you." Sarah closed her mouth and nodded for him to continue. "What did Gabriel tell you about Myu?"
"Nothing, she said that you would explain when you arrived my Lord."
"I see. Well in any case her story is not very pleasant. Her parents were in a town that would shortly have been destroyed by the demi-human hoards in the Draconic Kingdom, and they were offered a way out by their country's only Adamantine adventuring group. What the group didn't tell them was the price for their services. In exchange for safe passage, they would take Myu as a sex slave for the leader of the group." At this revelation Sarah's face paled as she glanced at the door that hid the two sleeping girls. "While my companion here has already removed the slave mark from her, I doubt that it would be safe for her to return her to the parents that simply allowed a man to cart off their young daughter. That being said, you know what manner of creatures we are, she would doubtless be in just as much danger if she were to remain with us, so…" drawing out the last word he subtly gestured towards Sarah.
"So your request is that we take her in?" Sarah finished his statement, with a slightly defeated look in her eyes.
"Don't worry about your own energy and abilities, I know that things must have been difficult since you've been widowed. That is where the ring will come in handy. It is a minor magical item that increases your energy and vitality. While you are wearing it you should feel as though you have all of the energy of someone in the prime of their lives. Hopefully it will allow you to keep up with two little girls." Vaughn finished with a smirk. "We will remain in town for the next couple of days so that we can help Myu get settled into her new life, I will however be taking care of a few things so I could be gone for a few hours at a time. Once again thank you for taking care of that girl."
After that the three powerful beings stood and left. Once outside Vaughn turned to his creations. "Rivas, I want you to stay in town and patrol as you see fit. While you are doing that Gabriel and I are going to get started on making good on my deal with Draudillon."
Before any objections could be made Vaughn opened a [Gate] and stepped through followed closely by Gabriel. Once through they once again found themselves in the countryside near Okarthel. Vaughn removed his ring, returning to his natural form and then looked at Gabriel expectantly. After a moment she got the hint and also reverted back to the beautiful angel. Vaughn cast [Fly] on himself and launched into the sky heading south towards the closest enemy controlled city.
-Zhamore, 60 miles southwest of Okarthel-
On top of the partially destroyed wall of Zhamore three figures stood in the darkness, looking out at the plains beyond. The largest of them appeared to be a lion Demi-human with his mane wild around his head and knotted into braids under his chin. The one next closest to him in size looked like a wolf-man with gray and sable fur running down his neck and torso. The last one was currently plucking at the teeth of his monkey-like mouth with a fingernail just long enough to be considered a claw.
"You damned monkey!" The wolf said as he glared at his companion out of the corner of his eye. "We were put out here to keep a lookout for any of those pesky adventurers, if you don't stop fucking around I'll tear you limb from limb and throw you over the edge."
The monkey looked over, unconcerned, before replying. "Give me a break, you know just as well as I that not only are we the bait to lure in more humans for us to eat and 'fuck around' with," he started, giving a lewd smile at his emphasized words. "but you also know that the leader would kill you if you in fact chose to attack anyone of our own."
The wolf looked over at the lion for support only to find him paying no attention to the argument going on. Finding no help he turned back and began on a verbal tirade against his associate. What he didn't notice was that the lion was looking at something specific. As he leaned forward in an attempt to see through the night's darkness he heard the light flapping of wings. "Quite." He said interrupting whatever verbal abuse the wolf was dishing out.
"You shut the fuck up, you damned cat. Who made you-"
Before the wolf finished what he was saying the lion manually clamped his maw shut as he continued to peer into the darkness. The monkey started to chuckle but before it could get much further than that it was silenced by a fierce glare from the lion. After a few moments of silence the lion realized something, the normal nightlife sounds of insects and smaller insignificant creatures was also completely silent. He began to sweat, this kind of natural reaction only occurred whenever an entity of supreme power was near, the kind of power to make nature itself bend to its will, and he had only seen this kind of reaction once before. "Run." he said in a near whisper. In his mind flashes of that day 7 years ago played.
A darkening night sky.
The confused look on his mates face at the sudden silence.
The blue flames and black skin of the equestrian horror that devoured his mates soul.
"RUN!" he shouted as he remembered the only other creature that had had this effect on the surroundings, but before he could turn, he heard a cold and wispy voice above him.
"[Triplet Maximize Magic: Hold Species]"
As Vaughn held his hand before himself he watched in satisfaction as the three creatures froze in place. He returned to the ground with Gabriel behind him. "Now what have we here? A lion, a wolf, and a monkey. You three are like the start to a bad joke, not only are you so inept that you were unable to notice when your surroundings went quiet, but you are also so weak as to not even be able to withstand a simple tier 4 spell. We were above you for the past 20 minutes, and you didn't notice us until just now? Pitiful, don't you think Gabriel?" he said as he walked down the line of creatures before him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her nod as he noticed a few things about his captives, firstly the wolf seemed pissed off that he couldn't do anything, second the monkey had been very quick on his feet and was already several feet beyond the other two caught in the act of running away, and thirdly the lion seemed to be the only one to realize just how fucked they all were as he had soiled his pants, or what passed for pants. "Tell you what, I'm such a generous individual and I'll let one of you go. You will go and get me your leader."
Finishing his words the monkey stumbled free and almost landed flat on his face before collecting his balance and sprinting into the city without even looking back. "While we wait for him, why don't we get comfortable?" Vaughn asked as he cast a tier 4 spell "[Fabricate]" targeting the rubble of the wall he quickly created a throne for himself and a slightly less comfortable cage around his two prisoners before looking at Gabriel. "Would you prefer to sit or stand?"
Gabriel blushed at the consideration that her master had for her to ask instead of order. "I will stand, thank you Master."
"Very well." Vaughn said with a slight sigh as he sat down and released his magical hold on his two guests. "Now, you there, explain to me why you're so damn scared of me." he said pointing at the lion.
Before the lion could gather his thoughts the wolf threw himself against the bars of his cage with a snarl. "You fool, you have only volunteered for death by coming here. Our leader is the most powerful of demi-humans, and he will crush you into paste." the more the wolf spoke the more pale the lion became until Vaughn genuinely worried that he would die of lack of blood flow.
"[Silence]" he quickly cast so that the wolf would shut up. "Explain your fear." he spoke almost softly to the lion.
"M-m-m-my l-lord, s-s-s-seven years ago o-our nation's capital was destroyed by three creatures known as s-s-soul eaters. Y-y-y-your presence is more intense than a-a-any of theirs w-were." the lion stammered out.
"Ah! You mean like these? [Summon Undead: Soul Eater]" to the fear of the wolf and the absolute horror of the lion a black skinned, blue flamed, incarnation of death appeared out of a summoning circle beside the throne. Vaughn pet the side of the beast with a look of adoration in his eyes.
At that moment Vaughns head turned at the sound of a large group moving through the streets below. Looking down he watched as the monkey he had released guided a guerilla demi-human through the streets towards him. The guerilla froze as soon as he saw the blue glow of the soul eater. "Alright, I'll make this simple for you. Surrender, or die. Your choice." Vaughn said, raising his voice just loud enough that the leader could hear.
The guerilla thought for only a moment before he dropped to his knees in absolute defeat. While a few of the others behind him also threw down their weapons another wolf-man led a charge towards the shade.
"Leave those who have surrendered. Kill the rest." Vaughn told his new equestrian summons, and kept his eyes locked with the guerilla. The slaughter lasted only a minute before the last fighter fell. "Now that I've shown you the stick, I will give you the carrot. What are you in the most need of?"
After 30 seconds of silence the leader spoke in a voice that while gruff and gravely, was so quiet it might as well have only been a breath. "Food. We need meat." he said, looking at the ground.
"Is that all?" Vaughn asked with surprise. "Done."
{Cocytus, I need 400 pounds of meat gathered and prepared to be brought through a gate.}
{Of. Course. Lord. Vaughn. It. Shall. Be. Done. At. Once.}
Just five minutes later Vaughn opened a gate and watched as plenty of meat was brought through for his newest people. "Here is the food. Now tell me where you're keeping the humans that you captured with the city."
The guerilla nodded with his mouth still agape from the amount of food that had just been given to them before gesturing for some kind of bird demi-human to guide him.
Vaughn looked at Gabriel. "They are not to eat until I confirm that the humans are away." After receiving a nod from her Vaughn walked after the avian-like creature ahead of him.
After a few minutes of walking the bird-man stopped and pointed towards a building that would have been a warehouse and two more beside it. "The first one has the males, the second has the females, and the third has the chicks." the creature said.
Vaughn nodded and then dismissed him. Once he was out of sight he took the doppelganger ring and put it back on, retaking the identity of the adventurer Levi. Once his disguise was in place he went and opened the first of the warehouses, the smell of rot and excrement was pungent in his nose as he looked inside. Off to the left side of the room were a few dozen men laying on the cold hard ground wearing only rags, the right side closest to the door seemed to be where the prisoners had taken care of their bodily functions as it had been turned up and was covered in piles of literal shit sitting in puddles of piss, but the most horrific sight was the mountain of corpses in the back right corner.
Upon noticing the open door most of the men simply cowered into smaller balls, but some noticed the "human" that stood in the doorway. "Everyone! I need all of you to get outside into the courtyard. Help any who cannot move on their own. Do you understand?" Receiving nods of confirmation he left and moved onto the next building.
The women's living quarters weren't much better, the only thing they had going for them was that the demi-humans seemed to have pulled in every single mattress in the now destroyed city for their own comfort. After giving the same instructions and calling some of the men over to assist, Vaughn moved onto the third and final warehouse.
To his disgust, this was less of a living space for the children, and more of a dining building for the demi-humans. On the left were stacks of cages that held anywhere from two to seven children in each. While a few of them were empty, most had their occupants sitting in their own and each other filth. To the right was a large fire pit and several tables, and to top it all off, next to the door was a pile of gnawed on children's bones. "Damn." was all he could say. As much as he hated what he saw, on some level he understood that it was the remnants of his humanity that was disgusted by what he had seen in the last ten minutes and the Shade part of his psyche only held a morbid fascination with what he saw. "[Widen Magic: Target Lock]" it was a spell normally used for keeping track of enemies in combat, however at the moment Vaughn used it to target all of the locks on all of the cages. "[Maximize Magic: Shadow Bolt]" feeling a slight dip in his MP he began to move forward so that he could pull the children from their cells. "Anyone who can move, get outside and try to find your families." he said, opening the first door.
15 minutes later he stood amongst a throng of displaced people. {Draudillon, it's me. I've liberated Zhamore, and rescued 1,500 people. I will temporarily send them to Orarthel until you get some troops down here to clean the place up.} After sending his message he stood in the middle of the group and raised both of his hands to his sides and cast. "[Widen Maximize Magic: Mass Heal], [Widen Maximize Magic: Gate]" and with that the healed citizens were teleported away leaving him alone.
{Wait! What do you mean that you've liberated Zhamore? You only left a few hours ago.}
{Yes and now I'm onto the next city.}
-The next day. Carne Village, Re-Estize Kingdom-
After he and Gabriel had freed another city they had transported all of those that had surrendered to a portion of the forest of Tob where they were to meet up with Aura to assist with a project she was working on. Once they arrived in disguise Rivas came to give her report. "My Lord, after you left last night there were no new developments, however I just received word from one of the shadow demons that Lord Ainz and Narberal Gamma are approaching the city and will be here in a little less than an hour. How shall we proceed?"
"Ainz? Well what a coincidence. Anyway, we will not inform anyone of what we know. I wish to observe their defensive measures before we simply leave them to their own devices." Vaughn said with a nod. As he looked down the road in anticipation of his friend and brother coming this way.
Well there you go, another chapter in and out. Thank you to everyone that has stuck around since the beginning. I know that this gap has been long but I had a son that came a bit early so we've been dealing with that for most of the last three months.
It's good to be back.
And as always.
Read. Follow. Review.