Gazef was currently peering out of one of the houses in the village, on the crest of a hill he saw a magic caster accompanied by an angel standing guard. The reports say they entire village has been surrounded. Judging by the summons and their level of equipment it would be safe to assume that this was one of the Theocray's scriptures.
"It appears you are a marked man Gazef dono." Maeve said calmly from beside him as they gazed out the window
"Yes it appears I am, although I am flattered that they saw the need to send a scripture." Gazef replied
"Scripture?" Maeve asked quizzically
"Ah those are the elite units of the Slaine Theocracy, they are quite formidable. I am uncertain if I can win this fight especially without my treasures." Gazef said with a sigh
"Oh so you came under equipped, I must admit I was a bit disappointed when I heard you were the strongest warrior after having a look at your equipment." Maeve said with a laugh
"Haha no no my usual regalia is much better than this." Gazef said with a chuckle
Gazef once again looked out the window and gazed at the forms of the men who would slaughter villages just to get a shot at killing him. How many children will grow up orphans, how many wives will be widows, how many mothers must now bury their children… unforgivable…
"You are troubled Gazef dono." Maeve stated
"Maeve dono would you be willing to accept payment for your services in fighting them." Gazef asked
"Money doesn't really interest me, there are always ways to earn money." Maeve said
"Then what if I invoked the kingdoms laws to conscript you, seeing as you are on Re-Estise land?" Gazef said
"Careful Gazef Stronoff, I enjoy your company but be careful…" Maeve said calmly
Gazef knew a threat when he heard one, that line just now was a thinly veiled death threat.
"*sigh* If you won't fight with me will you at least protect the village should I fall?" Gazef asked
"Who said I wasn't gonna fight? I take issue with those that treat innocent lives as disposable trash. I don't need a reward to do what needs to be done" Maeve said with a predatory smirk
Gazef felt a wave of guilt pass over him, he thought back to how these two warriors denied payment after they had saved this village. Now here he was trying to buy them out again and even threaten them with the kingdoms law. Then here they were again offering to do something that needed to be done asking for nothing in return.
"I… I apologise… thank you, truly from the bottom of my heart. If there is anything that I can do to make amends for my behaviour, please do not hesitate to say it." Gazef said with his head bowed
"Raise your head Gazef dono, if you wish to make amends you can simply promise me a favour once the fight is over." Maeve said simply
"Now then I should probably change my weapons, daggers aren't good at killing things with no vitals." Maeve said as she reached her hand into a small hole in reality
Gazef was stunned as he saw the little girl pull two short swords out of thin air. The blades were thin and had curved blade of a dull dark stone that seemingly absorbed all light. The blades were beautiful to his eyes but in the depth of his soul he felt that blade was… wrong, very wrong. He couldn't help but take a step back…
The abyss is a curious thing, it is the opposite of almost all forms of existence. When you look at the abyss in its purest form you don't actually see it, you merely see the absence of everything else. All normal matter is repulsed by it, mere contact with the abyss in its purest form would destroy all matter if the matter it contacts is uninfluenced by the abyss. Many types of equipment used by the 41 and their servants contain traces of abyss as this material grants the benefit of repulsing all matter. Magic bounces off as the mana avoids contact, metal shatters and warps as the metal itself bends around the abyss to avoid contact. This makes it excellent for armor as, if the very arrow refuses to pierce how can anything damage your armor. The skill of the archer becomes irrelevant, no amount of skill will circumvent the laws of the world. A weapon infused with the abyss will cleave through metal armor as the plate itself parts to avoid contact with the blade. The 41 have found ways to "tame" the abyss to a limited extent putting it into alloys for arms and armor. The elements of this world have strengths and weaknesses such as how water is strong against fire. The abyss doesn't follow such rules, it is independent. It has no weaknesses and it destroys all it contacts. The two short swords gifted to Maeve were called Tabula Rasa it means the blank slate or emptiness, that is what the abyss is. In a simple explanation it is emptiness that denies existence. Only one being can truly control this otherworldly substance, the first and oldest supreme being, Momonga. Lord of the abyss and sovereign of the Profaned Valley. This valley is the home of Momonga's accursed undead legion, hollow nameless beings, unfit even to bear their own souls, the Abyss Walkers, the legions of ash...
Nigun looked on as three figures approached, he had heard the knights were wiped out before Gazef arrived. The reports described two warriors had appeared in the village, slaughtering the soldiers. His lips curled up into a sneer as he looked at the trio, dirty filthy heretics, how dare they defy the gods. In this life only the gods mattered, why can't the rest of the world see it? The Slaine Theocracy was the only hope for humanity, they followed the true gods. What's worse in this debased corrupt nation some still followed the old gods. The 41 is an ancient religion, the oldest records of the Theocracy dated back to even before its founding and in those records it stated that through the oral traditions the legend was that the 41 created this world. He admits that these 41 were probably powerful as this religion has permeated over the entirety of the known world, those lesser elves, the beast men even the savages of the Argland Council State worshiped the 41. If you looked at the history of every known civilisation you will see the invisible hand of the 41 influencing them. Those are weak gods, they did not descend like the six to save humanity. When the great destruction came only the six came to humanity's defence. The old gods wherever they are remained silent and watched as their creations butchered each other. Now to the human nations there is only six gods, the rest of the world can hold to their pagan beliefs as much as they want, they will embrace the light or fall to darkness. As the trio approached Nigun spoke.
"Gazef Stronoff, I see you have come to meet your fate." Nigun said smugly
"No I have come to see yours." Gazef replied coldly
"You think you can defeat us simpleton? It appears swinging a sword is all you are good for." Nigun replied with a laugh
"You talk a lot for a dead man." the small girl said
"Hmph very well then I will send you to the grave since you dislike words so much. Kill her." Nigun ordered
Gazef frowned at this, how far must a man fall to order the death of a child after one remark. He knew the pair of siblings were strong, they could defend themselves but most children couldn't. He wonders how many children fell at the hands of this petty little man.
Nigun watched as two archangel flames sped towards the small girl, before the girl could even react the angels had slammed their blades into the girls abdomen. It was clearly a fatal wound, the other two fools couldn't even draw their weapons in time. Nigun let out a laugh as he looked on, so pathetic all bark and no bite. This is why the Slaine Theocracy is the strongest nation on the continent. However just as he was about to let out a mocking remark he saw two black blurs and the head of the angels seemed to pop off their bodies before they faded into specks of light. He looked to the angels and saw that the necks were steaming where their head had been cut off. As the bodies faded away he saw the girl holding two steaming black blades, at her abdomen there was no wound, the blades hadn't even managed to crumple her coat.
"What…" Nigun said as he took a step back shock evident on his.
"All angels attack!" Nigun shouted fear clear in his voice
The swarm of angels sped towards the trio seemingly to engulf them. This Nigun hoped would do it, no matter how strong an individual was, quantity was quality as well. If you could overwhelm your opponent with numbers, it didn't matter how strong they were. This was a time and tested tactic. As the angels approached the large armoured figure dashed in front of the girl.
Don't touch my sister
In a flash all the angels were cut to pieces. Nigun was a member of a scripture, they were the elites of the elites, the cream of the crop. Even though the sunlight scripture consisted primarily of magic casters they were all capable combatants, each with good dynamic vision to see the flow of combat. However Nigun couldn't follow the armoured warrior movements at all, the warrior's form just shimmered and the angels were cut to pieces. Fast… these two were monsters…
"Principality of Observation attack!" Nigun was rapidly losing his grip on the situation he had never seen an enemy that defeated angels to easily. Even against blue rose he could still follow their movement. This… this was something else…
Gazef looked as the large angel loomed over him, he was sure he could beat it but it would be a hard fight. He looked to the pair of siblings and felt no fear from them. The angel lifted its massive mace and prepared to take a swing. Gazef knew he should have been worried, or at least draw his weapon, but somehow he felt that wouldn't be necessary. Before the angel could finish his swing Maeve dono had appeared right in front of the angel's face and with a slash too quick for him to see, the angel was decapitated as easily as a farmer would cut wheat.
"Ho...how, no one can defeat a high tier angle in one blow…" Nigun said as he stumbled back fear evident on his face as the angel's body disintegrated.
"Monster!" one scripture member shouted
"Demon!" another screamed
The scripture members began firing spells at the girl, all manner of spells ranging from attack spells and debuffs rained upon her. Still she stood there as if the lash of the storm of spells was nothing more than a gentle breeze. The flurry of magic and the terrified voices of the scripture as they bombarded the girl with spells fully showcased their desperation and fear.
"Why won't you dieeeeee!." one of the scripture members screamed as he loaded a sling with a bullet and loosed at the girls head.
The bullet that could easily shatter a man's skull sped towards the girls unflinching face. There was a hiss and then a puff of steam as the bullet vanished right in front of the girl. The girl had her left arm up blade in hand, she had cut the bullet mid air. How precise would your sword skills need to be to carve a bullet right out of the air? The girl lowered her still steaming blade back to her side and she did not look pleased.
"If your gonna attack someone, do it properly." she stated as she fired a shot from her wrist mounted crossbow.
Nigun saw the bolt flash past to his right, he turned to see the man who had loosed that shot had his head blown clean off. The body stood there, neck still fountaining blood, as if the rest of the body hadn't fully registered what just happened. Then the body crumpled in a heap on the ground staining the earth with his blood.
"You need to teach your men some manners." the girl said lips curled up in displeasure
"Captain… what should we do…" one of his men asked
Nigun thought furiously on how to salvage the situation. He still had that trump card in his breast pocket but he rather not use it unless absolutely necessary. He tried his best to calm down and looked at the small girl, she looked human and the theocracy had those who had divine blood who could also call forth immense power, the godkin. It would not be unreasonable to assume that these two were godkin as well given their strength especially the girl who was so young. Their resistance to spells could be due to their equipment, Nigun could see they were wearing top quality equipment.
"Wait, who are you? I have never seen someone of such strength." Nigun said trying to use words since combat was proving ineffective
"Oh talking now are we? Running out of tricks?" the girl said one eyebrow raised looking at him with contempt
"We haven't fully shown our hand yet, you made a good display so far but nothing we can't defeat." Nigun said drawing confidence from the item in his pocket
"Oh there's more? Well that's a relief this was getting boring." the girl said mockingly
"Answer me this what are your names and where do you hail from." Nigun said trying to sound braver than he felt
"Ok I'll play along. I am Maeve this is my brother Momon." the girl said
At those words Nigun felt a wave of rage at the mention of the dark warriors name. Momon… a name given to the servant of the old gods. That accused 41, in his rage Nigun forgot his fear.
"Do you serve the 41?" Nigun asked coldly
"Why yes we do." Maeve replied sweetly
"Hmphhh I give you an offer, it is more than heretics such as yourself deserve but in light of your strength I feel your talent could be put to use serving the true gods. Recant your faith, abandon those false gods and serve the six great gods. The Slaine Theocracy can give you everything you desire." Nigun declared
At those words the aura around the siblings changed, previously he felt no killing intent but now he felt it cold and menacing. The aura flowed around the two like a storm, once again shocking Nigun back into a fearful state, all thoughts of divine righteousness gone from his mind.
"False gods you say…" Maeve replied eyes as cold as a winter night
"You will pay dearly for that comment…" Momon growled
The two hefted their weapons, previously their stances were relaxed and full of openings. Now however they looked like dragons who had just opened their maws. Nigun could almost taste the anger emanating from the two of them.
"Why do you revere the false gods, they do nothing for humanity!" Nigun shouted
That did it, the two's anger reached a peak at those words. The air felt heavy and pressure seemed to press down on them. The killing intent was palpable, sharp enough to cut steel.
"False gods you say… oh I am going to enjoy watching you suffer…" Maeve hissed
Sensing his imminent demise Nigun immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out the sacred artifact. Inside was a sealing crystal which contained a spell to summon the angel Dominion Authority an angel of the highest order, able to single handedly destroy cities. As he held out the crystal and released the spell he saw the girls eyes widen and her glowing eye flashed for the briefest of moments. Strangely once her eye flashed she seemed to relax while the dark warrior seemed to heighten his readiness to the max.
The angel appeared massive and resplendent, the entire field was bathed in holy light pushing back the darkness of the night. Under its glow Nigun knew this battle was won, they say this angel served directly at the side of the gods. How can something so divine be defeated? The girl must have realised her end was near so she relaxed accepting her fate.
"HAHAHAHAHA You have my praise for forcing me to summon this divine being but now! NOW! There is no hope for you." Nigun shouted joy clear in his voice. All around him the scripture members shouted and cheered so sure were they in their victory.
Gazef looked worriedly at the angel, that was something he definitely couldn't defeat it was on a whole other level. He turned to look at Maeve and saw her eyes looked almost disappointed, her gaze was locked on the man who cast it with a mixture of pity and weariness.
"You call this toy a divine artefact?" Maeve said mockingly her stance thoroughly unguarded as if she was looking at a tree and not a high tier angel.
Nigun felt his blood run cold at those words, her attitude spoke as if this angel was nothing. No it couldn't be, yes he will show her the power of the six great gods.
"Dominion Authority use Holy Smite, strike that evil from this world!" Nigun screamed he knew Holy Smite was the highest divine spell, this spell that defeated one of the Greed Kings in ages past.
There was no evil in this world that could withstand it. As the pillar of light descended on the girl she held out her arms to her side and seemingly embraced the light of holy fury. Nigun expected her to vaporise but instead he heard her laughing within the fire of divinity. Then the spell ended revealing her to be totally unscathed. Her eyes locked with his and she let out a mocking smile.
"How? How are you unharmed? This spell defeated a demon god! No evil can withstand it!" Nigun screamed half mad spittal flying from his mouth.
"Holy Smite a 7th tier Divine Magic Spell usually being used by mid tier angels. Deals damage to a single target, is unavoidable and damage scales with evil alignment." Maeve calmly said as she rattled off the specifics of the spell.
"You... how do you know this spell? How are you not dead? You're evil! How can a heretic like you not be evil?" Nigun said as if trying to deny reality
"*sigh*, I just saved a village of innocent people how evil does that sound to you?" Maeve said exasperated
Maeve then lifted her arm and pointed her palm towards one of his men. "Holy Smite" She intoned and pillar of light consumed the man as he screamed and vaporised.
"Huh that was quick, guess you guys are of evil alignment." Maeve said laughing at the irony
"Well we have wasted enough time on this bad theatre play. Since you graciously showed me a gift of your gods, I will show you a gift from my gods. Watch carefully, your gods are false kings who hide behind false crowns, let me show you the power of the 41." Maeve said as she put her two swords together and they morphed into a long black katana.
She took a strange stance, she looked to be squatting while balancing in the balls of her feet. Her left arm was behind her back and her right arm held the blade point facing diagonally behind her. Her gaze locked onto the Dominion Authority and she inhaled deeply.
Gazef heard the words, "Takemikazuchi Form Seven, Thundercloud, Technique Roar of Thunder". At those words electricity started to spark around her body and her breath started emitting a mist around her. Then she shot forward electricity arcing behind her, she hopped from side to side each leap carrying her faster and faster. The speed and the zig zag pattern of her movement made her look like a bolt of lightning surging towards the angel. The Dominion Authority sensing the danger tried to attack her taking a swing with its massive scepter, she was too fast however and the irregular pattern of her movement made it almost impossible to predict. In the span of a single swing from the sceptre she was already at the base of the angel, with a resounding boom she lept upwards leaving a crater in the earth. All Gazef saw once she kicked off there was flash of electricity going straight up the angel and clap of thunder resounding across the plains. He looked up and saw her suspended in the air above the angel, as she fell back to earth he saw the massive angel split in half. She landed amidst the shower of light as the Dominion Authority disintegrated into motes of light around her giving her an almost holy appearance. Then the light faded and night reclaimed the plains.
Nigun looked in horror as the angel disintegrated, in the darkness of night under the pale moonlight he saw her glowing yellow eye gaze directly at him. He saw her grip the katana with both hands and it morphed back into two curved short swords. At that moment her form vanished and he heard the sounds of objects hitting the earth behind him. He turned to see the decapitated form of his men collapsing to the ground necks he saw a steaming black blade appear at his neck he looked down to see the small diminutive girl holding that steaming blade at this throat. He could feel the heat from the blade, every fibre of his being wanted to get away from that disgusting sword. It felt evil… unbearably so…
"Kneel." the girl said
He obeyed. Now on his knees he locked her in the eye as that accused blade inched towards his face. The heat was unbearable, his skin felt like it was going to melt off.
"Please…" he whimpered as he soiled himself
"Thats a big scar. I wonder who gave you that…" the girl said as her blade inched towards the scar on his face
"Please...please no…" he sobbed completely broken
Then he felt the blade touch his skin and he screamed. He collapsed clutching his face as he felt his skin blister and pop where the blade touched him. It was agony, what kind of cursed blade is that where the mere touch would scar and burn. He felt the heat on his cheek subside but he felt the cold night air leak through his cheek, that blade had burned right through his cheek. He looked at his hands and saw that there was no blood, the blade had cauterised the wound.
"Now then the fun time is over." the girl said
Nigun looked up just in time to see a small fist flying towards his face, there was a sharp pain then darkness.
Gazef sees Maeve reach down and touch the captain's head. He sees magic circles appear on her hand as she lifts up her hand a white wisp like substance separated from his head. Maeve took out an ornate bottle and placed the wisp inside of it.
"Maeve dono what are you doing." Gazef asked as he approached the girl
"Taking his memories…" Maeve replied
"Taking… won't that damage his mind." Gazef asked brow furrowed he had been hoping to take the captain back to the capital for interrogation.
"Still don't trust me Gazef dono?" Maeve asked eyebrows raised
"No… it's not that Maeve dono, I was just hoping I could bring him back to the capital to answer for his crimes.: Gazef said with his hands up
"Haha just teasing Gazef dono, don't worry I just made a copy, his mind is intact." Maeve said with mirth in her voice.i
"Now come we should be getting back to the village, we'll settle the corpses tomorrow morning." Maeve said as she grabbed a fist full of the captains hair and started dragging him towards the village.
The next morning when Enri woke up, she wondered if it was just a bad dream. She looked down and saw Nemu curled up next to her, her eyes were puffy from all the tears that were shed yesterday. Enri tried not to think about yesterday's events but as she walked into the living room and saw the broken door she couldn't help but walk through to see if her parents bodies were still outside. She half expected to hear her mother asking her to help fetch water from the well, instead she looked out the door to see two red patches in the earth.
"Enri?" she turned to see Lucy's mother standing in the door of her house
Enri opened her mouth to say a greeting but she couldn't form the words. She reached up to touch her throat wondering if there was something wrong with her voice, as she reached up she felt something wet drop down onto her hand. She touched her face and realised there were tears streaming down her face. She hadn't even noticed she was crying.
Enri felt someone touch her shoulder, she instinctively flinched and tried to get away. Until she turned to see Lucy's mother stand there in front of her. She had tears in her eyes as well, her eyes were red and puffy just like Nemu's. Lucy's mother reached out and pulled Enri close and they both let themselves weep and grieve for their loss.
Gazef was walking down the road on his way to the home of the village chief, there were many things to be done in the village but he has to get the prisoner to the capital as soon as possible. As he turned the corner he saw two women hugging and weeping in the street. His heart ached at the sight, it was always the innocent and powerless that suffered the most. He wished he could do more but he was only one man, he had more combat skill and social status than the average commoner but there was only so much he could do. He used to be a commoner but his king had seen fit to grant him a noble title and he was now the primus of house Stronoff but his house newly founded along with the house of Unglaus. They were the two new martial houses, founded by King Rampossa III in order to strengthen the military capabilities of kingdom. He had heard a rumor that this initiative was influenced by the golden princess Renner. He always knew the princess was a great supporter of the common people… there were even whispers that the princess was being considered for inheriting the throne over her two elder brothers…
Gazef took another long look at the pair and let out a weary sigh. He turned back and decided to take a different route, he couldn't save their loved ones so the least he could do was give them some privacy. As he walked into the village square he saw Maeve and Momon speaking to the village chief. As he approached the trio they turned to face him.
"Good morning Gazef dono." Momon greeted
"Morning." Gazef greeted
"We were just discussing what the village would do carrying forward." Maeve said
"We are having trouble burying all the bodies, it's no easy task burying half a village." the chief said wearily
"Yes I was just about to suggest that we help out with some of the tasks in the village as we wait for the escort to arrive." Maeve said
"Escort?" Gazef asked perplexed
"I don't recall you arriving with a secure carriage to house prisoners. He's the captain of a scripture you can hardly put him on the back of a horse and ride him all the way to your capital. If he starts firing spells some of your men are gonna die." Maeve said calmly
"Ah yes I will send a rider to E-Rantel with the request then." Gazef said
"Very wise Gazef dono." Maeve replied
Gazef was not used to being ordered around by a girl half his age but then again he wasn't used to fighting scriptures either. He decided to relegate these two as the exception in his mind in order to preserve some semblance of consistency in his world view.
"Oh yes Gazef dono a word if you don't mind." Maeve said
Gazef nodded as he and the siblings began walking towards an empty house. As they entered Maeve took a seat at the dining table along with Momon. Gazef sensing his que took a seat opposite them.
"Now then Gazef dono if you recall I said you can repay me with a favour after I fended off the Theocracy" Maeve said
"Yes I do, I am fully willing to hold up my end of the bargain as long as it is ethical and within my power." Gazef said
"It's not really a bargain because we would have done it with or without you, but yes we won't ask something completely unreasonable." Maeve replied
"So what is your request." Gazef asked
I want to speak to the king
Author's Notes:
Here's the next chapter hope you guys enjoy, in the next chapter we dive into the politics of the kingdom! Once again if you like it leave a review, if you didn't like it feel free to leave some criticism.