It was like waking up from a bad dream that one could feel, or at least remember feeling. In an instant, the pain associated with getting repeatedly struck in the face was no more, but the panic and fear felt at the moment still lingered within Briley's mind. He shot up, gasping for air and looking at his body to inspect for any further injuries. He had no idea what was going on at the moment, how many hours had passed since he was beaten unconscious, or how he was feeling physically healthy. Once the initial surprise of waking up and feeling so good had passed, Briley looked up to survey the state of his home. His heart jumped slightly at the sight of someone standing in front of him and he had the immediate urge to get up and run, that is until he realized who it was.
Lupus stood before him, smiling and all, seemingly waiting for him to respond. Briley was even more confused now, had she come to his home for something and discovered him all beaten up? Briley's thoughts then switched over to the intruder, who he last recalled was sitting on top of him.
"Lupus…what…what are you doing here? You didn't see the guy who did this to me, did you?" Briley managed to get out as he brought his hand up to his face, noticing no bumps or pain.
"That guy? Yeah! After he finished giving you the beating of a life time, he tried to get a piece of me haha! He wasn't very strong though and died after one kick." Lupus pointed to the corpse of the home intruder.
Briley looked at the dead man, noticing that his head was unnaturally bent backwards. He felt some relief at the sight, then felt puzzled at the rest of the details that surrounded the situation.
"He didn't hurt you right? I…I uh…I feel fine too, did you give me something? "
Lupus held her grin and began to explain. "I healed you! And that guy was kind of a pushover, it's pretty funny considering he beat you up. So, what's the story with you and these guys? Is your village at war? Did you do something to them first? Or what?"
Briley noticed Lupus's use of "guys" and in return asked, "Wh…what do you mean? Did you see more of these guys? What's going on!?"
Lupus's smile disappeared and she sighed, "You mean you don't have a clue about what all this is about? I was hoping to get something out of you, I guess I'll have to investigate this myself."
Briley was still lost and the fact that he still had no clue as to why Lupus was here, or what was happening in the village only enhanced that feeling.
"Lupus…you still haven't told me why you came here in the first place…" Briley decided to get a quick answer to this, then worry about the apparent attack on the village.
Lupus thought about her answer and came up with an interesting, as well as entertaining, alternate story for her to give. She had initially come here to escape the boredom that plagued her, it had become more severe ever since CZ and Entoma left for their little supply run. One thing she noticed about the other invaders is how two of them seemed to be carrying villagers over their shoulders. Lupus's quick thinking and inventive imagination led her to once again make her own fun.
Lupus smiled softly, and her eyes sharpened as she said this, "I came here to ask for your help Briley-" When it came to her own amusement, recalling details didn't seem so difficult. "-It seems like these bandits are stealing your own people, right from under your nose. I, unfortunately, woke up to find that this was also the case with my sisters. They've been taken, and I intend to go rescue them from wherever it is they were taken to. I want you to join me."
Briley felt a sense of anxiety overtake him again. The thought of the people he knew personally and the girls who he tried to help being kidnapped, made him want to vomit. This feeling was especially prevalent because he never mentioned to Lupus or her "sisters" about the potential danger that loomed over the village. Once he heard Lupus mention bandits, he looked back to the very same bandits that had promised to return a few days ago. Another cause to his extreme uneasiness was Lupus's somewhat serious tone, he had yet to see this side of her.
"Shit…I'm sorry Lupus, I…I should've told you. A few days ago, some bandits arrived and threatened the village. I thought the worst thing they could do was take our stuff or destroy some buildings…I didn't think it would happen while you three were staying here too…" Briley dropped his head, feeling defeated.
Lupus grabbed Briley by his shirt collar and hoisted him up on his feet, afterwards looking him dead in the eye. "Briley, wallowing in shame won't do anything to fix the situation. You and I will go rescue them, dealing with anybody who stands in our way."
Briley was once again taken back, by two things this time, Lupus's strength and her disregard for the danger of such an operation. But the guilt that he felt for not warning the sisters of the possible bandit risk, fueled him to do anything to fix it. There was also no telling what the bandits planned to do with the people they took or how many people had been taken.
"Ok…Alright I'll go with you. It's only right since this is partially my fault for not telling you guys about the danger. But before we do that, I have to wake everyone and gather them at Ellyn's bar. I'll explain the situation to them and see if anybody else want to come with-"
"No." Lupus calmly stated.
Briley was stunned by Lupus's denial of help and asked, "What? What do you mean? If we let more people come with us, we could stand a better chance at rescuing the others, including your frien…sisters!"
Lupus finally let go of Briley's collar. "I don't need anybody else to come with us, it would only make for a cluttered field. Besides, based on this one that I killed, they shouldn't be too much trouble."
Briley was speechless at her reasoning and then gave the bandit, that she had supposedly killed with one kick, another visual inspection. If she really had killed the bandit with one kick, then perhaps she was more capable than he had initially thought. He was still worried about trying to get the kidnapped people back but decided to hope for the best and go with Lupus's plan.
"Alright fine, we'll do it your way. It might work out better for us if we do this stealthily, but I still want to wake everyone up and tell them what happened. I also want to see who's missing."
Lupus crossed her arms and retained her cheerful attitude, "That's fine, but we do this ourselves. I'll wait for you just outside the village, I think I have a pretty good idea of where these bandits are going. It'll be fun! "
Briley offered her a bewildered expression as she cheerfully added the last part, maybe it was how she coped with things, he thought.
At the bandit's rendezvous point…
Kruath sat with his legs crossed waiting for his men to come back one by one. His own trip to explore the rest of the village's buildings led nowhere and raised one more question to the strangeness that he was experiencing throughout the whole mission. He found that the shop had already been broken into, if any valuables existed, they had been taken. The other buildings held nothing of importance and also showed some signs of forced entry. He was trying to decide whether one of villagers had done it or if another rogue bandit did it before they arrived. As his mind danced with this mystery, along with the strange killings of Brigham and Razor, he sensed a presence making his way towards him.
Without the thumping of steps, the spell from before still taking effect, one of his men came into his view. He was carrying a young girl and seemed to be trying to control his tired breath.
"Are you that in need of strength training that you can't carry a young girl?" Kruath mockingly questioned.
"No…no I'm good. Really." The bandit before Kruath answered, adjusting his captive on his shoulder.
Kruath smirked underneath his mask wrappings and motioned for his minion to rest, they still needed to wait for the others.
One by one they each arrived carrying their targets over their shoulders and proceeding to take a quick rest. They only needed to wait for one last person, Novak, who they assumed was taking longer because he was one of the two assigned to capture a young man. The most recent of the group to arrive at the meeting point was also assigned to capture a male.
As the group sat, waiting for the final member to reach them, Kruath inspected his men and noticed one of his guys that was holding a death stare into space. Kruath had seen many things in his lifetime and recognized this stare as one of shock.
"Hey, What the hell is the matter with you? Hey!" Kruath had to call again and got the attention of all four of his men who sat waiting.
The bandit who had seemingly been remembering some traumatic sight, spoke up, "I…I was just thinking about something I saw back at the village. One of the houses I broke into, you know, to see if I could find a young girl."
"What about it?" Kruath curiously asked.
"It…I just saw something I wasn't expecting. It was something grisly and horrifying, especially for a village that small…"
Kruath was getting annoyed by his non-answers. "Spit it out already!"
"When I came in through the window, I just saw blood everywhere…whoever was living in that house had been just…torn to shreds. It was almost like whoever did it, played with them and just took their time."
Everyone in the group stayed silent, even Kruath was once again confused by the strange things they were experiencing on their mission. In his mind, these things were strange but not completely out of the realm of explanation. It was a big world and people were capable of anything, it was because of people that he had come up with a theory, at least for now. His big theory? This had to be a serial killer, that either based himself in the village or just happened to pass by. Perhaps the serial killer had been in the middle of exterminating that wolf when Brigham and Razor unluckily caught him in the act. The Killer then proceeded to murder both the bandits and head to the village where he slaughtered another person before breaking into some buildings, taking some supplies and hitting the road. Yes, this is what made most sense, Kruath thought, it would've driven him crazy if he didn't find the answer. Hearing about the murdered villager was the final clue he needed, and he was able to put the mystery to rest for now. Still, a serial killer of this caliber, one that could kill without any trouble and move fast was something else that intrigued him. Perhaps one day, he could come face to face with this person.
Time had passed, a lot of time, and Kruath had decided that enough was enough. They had been waiting for their final party member to arrive with his male captive and had even given him more time, considering that men weighed more, thus slowing them down.
Kruath stood and addressed his men, "Alright that idiot isn't making it, it's possible he got made out and captured or killed. We're heading back to base and presenting Ox with what we got, I'll explain to him everything that went wrong. Move it!"
With that, all his men stood and once again threw the captives over their shoulders. This mission was simple and they had even taken the precaution of going at night, when they could've easily taken the people by force during the day. Ox would be annoyed but probably wouldn't kill any of them, considering they had already lost three members tonight. Kruath was the most annoyed, this was his mission to lead and it felt like they messed up the simplest of things.
Just outside the village…
Lupus stood near the village, waiting for Briley to finish with his wrangling of the village people. She held her mace in her hand, swinging it around playfully and trying to pass time. Ever since the bandit back in Briley's home had attacked her, she was excited to retaliate against the group he represented. It had been obvious that he was part of a larger force and she figured that since he intended to do her harm, that his friends also needed to be punished. Making up the story about CZ and Entoma being kidnapped justified it for Briley and incentivized him to tag along. Surprisingly, Lupus had found that messing with Briley was a pretty nice hobby and couldn't wait to see how he would hold up against the rest of the bandits, she had not yet decided if she would let him die or not. Just as Lupus was thinking about hiding and later scaring Briley, she noticed him walking towards her. She also saw that he had the other human they met, walking beside him.
As soon as the pair reached Lupus, she began, "Hey Briley and…Briley's friend! Why are the both of you here? It was just going to be me and Briley doing this." Lupus ended with a confused expression.
"It's Garin, and I just thought that I would lend you guys a hand. Briley told me you only wanted it to be you and him, but I know I can be of some use! I can help." Garin said as he tightly gripped the wooden bow he carried.
Lupus thought for a second and decided that messing with two people was just right, anymore and it would be too crowded. Besides, she was aware of Garin's fondness for Shizu and figured that it could play in nicely.
"Fine, I guess it wouldn't ruin the fun too much. Maybe Shizu would be inclined to show you some gratitude Garin." Lupus said with a suggestive tone.
Garin's eyes widened a bit at this remark but he replied, "Well…I…I'm not expecting anything in return and I just want to see both of your friends, or sisters I guess, safe again." Garin had recalled that Briley informed him of the fact that Lupus referred to Entoma and Shizu as her sisters.
"Well isn't that sweet of you!" Lupus exclaimed then turning her attention to Briley, "You ready to head out? Oh! How did your village react to all this!? Were they scared, angry, or what?" Lupus excitingly asked.
Briley had gotten used to her excitement but still found it odd that she wanted to know such a thing.
"Well, they didn't take it too good. For the most part they agreed to stay on alert for the rest of the night and the chief is sending a couple other people to the city to ask for some assistance. It doesn't help that the bandits made off with four village residents and we found someone in the village murdered, in a very gruesome way."
Lupus suddenly remembered the intoxicated man who she encountered and flinched at the thought that she forgot to clean up after herself. She had been so engrossed with having her fun and then going to tell her sisters about it, that she left the scene as it was.
"Hmm that's strange, but nothing we can do about it now! Let's go!" Lupus shrugged off the villager she had murdered and decided to focus on this new venture.
"Wa-Wait Lupus! You mentioned before that you had an idea of where these bandits were heading, what did you mean?" Briley blurt out, before Lupus could take another step.
Lupus turned and gently smiled, "What I meant is that I have pretty good tracking skills, finding these bandits shouldn't be too much trouble. Just stick with me! I imagine you two aren't too adept at tracking, especially during the night."
"Actually that's one reason I let Garin come along-" Briley spoke up, realizing he had not yet mentioned this, "He actually has a talent that enhances his vision, he can see better at night and see farther than most people."
Garin smiled slightly at his friends mentioning of his talent and felt a little sense of pride knowing that he could play a big part in the rescue. Lupus on the other hand, quit her nonchalant demeanor and paid full attention to the pair standing beside her.
"A talent?" She curiously asked.
"Uh yeah, you know everybody has a chance to be born with one, it's not always magic casters or warriors that have them." Garin replied
Lupus had heard of this before, the boy back in Carne Village had one that Lord Ainz found useful. She also knew that talents did not exist in Yggdrasil and were not very common in this new world. Things suddenly took a more serious tone for her and she realized that Lord Ainz could possibly make use of this, she new he liked to study various things.
Lupus warmly smiled at Garin and put her weapon away by her side before speaking, "I see. Yes, maybe you will be useful to us. Let's go, I'm sure this rescue will go over smoothly."
Lupus began to move, and the two boys moved to follow behind her. Lupus's objective had now changed, instead of possibly letting these two die at the hands of the bandits, she would have to make sure they were alive and well. Garin, because of his talent, and Briley because of his future leverage opportunities. Lord Ainz had done something like this, keeping one person alive to keep the other in line.
At the bandit's cave hideout…
The rest of the mission had gone smoothly, Kruath was relieved once they made it to the cave without any more surprises. They made it to the cave hideout, gave the prisoners over to those who oversaw jailing them and the only thing left to do was to report over to Oxton. Thinking about having to report the unexpected happenings once again caused him to feel a bit of anxiety, he hated making mistakes. As he walked through the damp cave, whose only light source was torches, he could feel his heart beat getting just a little bit faster. Once he walked into an open area of the cave where the bandits had decorated with tables, chairs and barrels of supplies, he looked up to see Oxton sitting on a chair that sat upon an elevated part of the space. Although he was standing, he looked up to Oxton, who was sipping on a mug.
"You took a while getting back, did something happen?" Oxton questioned Kruath, almost expecting to hear of some trouble.
Kruath moved his hands behind himself and clutched one using the other, "Yes, actually. We lost three men, two were killed by…wolves-" Kruath had decided in the moment to keep his serial killer theory to himself, "-and the other one never came back from his time in the village, we don't know what happened to him."
"So how many villagers did you manage to capture?"
Kruath took a breath then spoke, "Four, three women and one guy, we figured sinc-"
"Why only four? Are you telling me you couldn't have gone in, when the other guy didn't come back from the village?"
Kruath flinched at this and began to give his reason, "I figured that since we already lost a few guys and had to do this before anyone realized what was happening, I would keep my hands free to-"
"Enough, you messed up a perfectly simple mission and lost three men. Tell me, who was it that we lost?"
Kruath swallowed, "Brigham, Razor, and Novak."
Oxton took another sip and thought for a moment before speaking, "Two of them were new and the other one wasn't anything special. This wasn't a huge loss, but you still screwed up as the leader. I'll decide on a punishment for you later, get the hell out."
Kruath nodded and left Oxton's presence, feeling like a child who had just gotten scolded. Before joining the Oxmen, Kruath was an assassin for hire and had joined solely because of the Oxmen's potential. He had actually been sent to kill a few of Oxton's men and succeeded but was caught red-handed by Ox himself. Instead of the two fighting it out, Ox had convinced Kruath to join his organization, thanking him for culling his group of weak people. It had only been a couple of months but Kruath was confident of the direction they were heading, an assassin for hire was a tough job. On the one hand, being a renown assassin meant more job offers but it also contradicted the fact that he was supposed to stay hidden. Either way, he had found himself a place as sort of a sub-leader to the Oxmen and had no intention of letting it die.
Back with Lupus, Briley and Garin…
The three had been making their way through the wilderness, with Lupus seemingly catching every little imprint on the dirt and to both the boy's surprise, sniffing the air from time to time. Garin was trying to prove his worth by also occasionally spotting a footprint or two, although not to the extent that Lupus was. Briley finally decided to ask some questions that had been lingering in his mind.
"Hey Lupus, can I ask you something?"
"Hmm? Yeah sure! I can't promise any answers though!"
Briley decided to address the bandit back at his house and Lupus's fighting skills, "Back at my place, you said you killed that bandit with one kick, I didn't see it, but it looked like it was true. Do you have some kind of training?"
"Nope! Just naturally skilled I guess."
Briley was disappointed at this answer, he felt like she was avoiding the question but continued, "Also you seem to be very skilled with tracking, did you practice this type of thing?"
Lupus brought her finger up to her chin, as if she was thinking hard and replied, "Not really, it's just the way I was made!"
Briley once again was unsatisfied with the answer but decided that this was not the time to be prying. He simply nodded in affirmation and they continued to walk forward. As they walked, Garin stopped while telling Briley and Lupus to do the same.
Briley quickly responded, "What?"
"Over there to the side, there's a…body?" Garin pointed.
The three then turned towards the body's direction, Lupus was the first to start walking towards it. Briley and Garin looked at each other, deciding to follow in case something happened.
Lupus loomed over the corpse and its scattered parts, "It's nothing, looks like he was just ripped to shreds, let's keep moving."
Briley got closer and inspected it himself, "Yeah, I don't recognize this person. It's no one from the village, let's just keep going."
Garin didn't want to get any closer and simply nodded at Lupus and Briley's conclusion. Their objective right now was to get the villagers back and return safely, they certainly didn't want to meet the animal or person who did this.
CZ and Entoma leaving Ainz's office…
CZ did not often become disappointed, she was after all created by one of the supreme beings and was gifted with being able to serve them. But at this point she couldn't help but feel a little saddened, saddened at the fact that Lord Ainz was not in, and currently out adventuring. The report she had written was left with Albedo, who assured them that Lord Ainz would get to it as soon as he could. Although it was a bit selfish, she hoped that she could've have been there when Lord Ainz reviewed it and hear what they could improve on. Even with this, there was still a mission to accomplish and they still had to visit the treasury to get some currency for this world and go to their rooms to bring a few extra supplies.
"Shizu don't look so sad. Lord Ainz is sure to get to it and he will appreciate that you made it so detailed, even for our first day out!" Entoma said, sensing CZ's disappointment.
"I know. It would have been nice to see him though. Let's just get to the treasury, Lady Albedo has made sure to communicate to Pandora's actor that we are making our way there. The traps should be temporarily disabled." CZ proceeded to use the ring, a spare that had been given to them by Albedo, to teleport themselves to the treasury.
As CZ and Entoma walked down the final hall before making it to the treasury, CZ took a small breath, mentally preparing for the encounter that awaited them. It wasn't often that any of the Pleiades visited the treasury, you had to have one of the rings of Ainz Ooal Gown to access it, but from the times that CZ did, she found her nerves getting riled up at the interaction of one particular guardian. Just as she was mentally preparing, she was caught off guard by a greeting.
"Hallo, meine schönen damen!"
CZ flinched slightly at Pandora's Actor, remembering how dramatic he could be. Entoma simply shot a glare and decided to let CZ do all the talking, if anyone could get to the point, it was her.
"Pandora's Actor, Entoma and myself are currently carrying out a mission assigned to us by Lord Ainz. We require some currency that could be used for the new world, I believe Nazarick has managed to acquire some."
"Ah yes! Mein creator mentioned to me the current assignments that have the inhabitants of Nazarick so electrified! If I had to guess, you returned to Nazarick in order to retrieve more supplies after spending some time on the outside! You wish to show Lord Ainz that you're capable of adapting right?" Pandora's Actor had moved closer to the pair as he said this, twirling some of the way.
CZ simply glared at him, secretly impressed by his quick analysis, "Yes, that's correct. Is there currency usable for the outside world?"
Pandora's Actor now stood in front of the two maids, "Alas my dear Shizu and Entoma! There does exist currency to be used by those on the outside but Lord Ainz, my creator, my liberator! Has instructed me to inform all, that the coinage is not to be distributed just yet! I offer my humblest apologies for the inconvenience-" He took action in grabbing CZ's hand and bowing his head, "-and do hope you understand that I am under orders!"
CZ immediately retracted her hand and let out a low growl, only audible to herself. Entoma stepped back and brought her arms together, so that the same would not happen to her.
"If Lord Ainz ordered it, there is no inconvenience. We will be leaving now." CZ and Entoma turned around to leave, quickly.
Pandora's Actor took a few big steps and once again stood in front of the two, "While I could not help you with your original goal, perhaps I could be of use in some other way? Perhaps in the form of advice?"
CZ and Entoma didn't feel like having a long conversation with Pandora's Actor, but knew that he was among the smartest in Nazarick, Lord Ainz had made him to be so. CZ thought that a suggestion or two could only be of benefit to them.
"Fine, but we must head back. Be quick" CZ muttered
"Danke vielmals! Lord Ainz has conversed with me about your mission and I implore you to not take kindness for granted! Humans are but ants compared to the denizens of Nazarick, but that does not mean that you must simply squash them! Lord Ainz showed mercy and kindness, and now has a village under his control, not by fear but by admiration for him!" Pandora's Actor looked to the ceiling and spread his arms out, thus ending his speech.
CZ and Entoma looked at each other for the first time since entering the treasury, and then looked to the creation before them.
"Yes, we understand, thank you." CZ softly spoke.
CZ and Entoma walked around the posed figure and began to make their way out of the treasury, each of them thinking about what Pandora's Actor had told them. Pandora's Actor held his pose for a few seconds and then let his body relax, turning towards the maids who only showed him their backs. He took a hold of his hat and slightly tipped it downwards saying one last thing.
"Viel Glück, ich hoffe, Sie finden Wert in Ihrer Mission."
Lupus, Briley and Garin arrive to what they think is the end of the line…
"A cave? Well I guess that means they can't get away!" Lupus cheered as the trio looked to the cave that was somewhat overgrown with vegetation. As they made their way to the bandits, they had seemed to arrive in a clearing where a tall mountain stood before them. They stayed a good distance away, where the average person couldn't spot them and they had almost not seen the cave entrance at all. A lit torch and two guards had acted as their markers, although the guards seemed to be dozing off.
"What should we do?" Garin asked.
Lupus had to keep in mind that these two might have some use, especially because of the talent Garin held and wanted to take a course of action that involved them staying out of harm's way. She took a couple seconds before finding a solution that could work, if she got things done fast.
"Hmm, I got it! You two walk around the mountain, where you can of course, and look for another way in!" Lupus suggested, intending to get rid of the boys for a few minutes.
Briley and Garin shot a concerned look to Lupus and tried to think if that was the best course of action. After some quick deliberating, the two decided that trying to find an alternate way in might work out, they should avoid potentially alerting the bandits within.
"Lupus, why don't you come with us? Would you really be safe waiting here on your own?" Briley asked.
Lupus kept her eyes on the cave entrance and replied, "I'm sure I'll be fine. Just try to find another way in, once you do, come and get me alright? I'll stay and let you know if they take the villagers or my sisters out of the cave."
Briley and Garin were still a little bit wary about letting Lupus stay on her own but figured that knowing whether the captives were moved or not was important information. They both agreed to Lupus's plan and they immediately began to move. They crouch walked, circling the mountain and using Garin's talent to see if they could spot another entrance. Once Briley and Garin were out of sight, Lupus let out a satisfied "Hmph!" and began walking directly to the cave entrance.
The two guards at the cave's entrance were dead tired and had even brought out chairs to sit on. Once the captives had arrived, everyone seemed to forget that they had a guard schedule and left the two Oxmen to guard for seemingly all night. One had his arms crossed and his head thrown back, still awake but just barely. The other had his arms crossed but his head looking forward, he couldn't wait until Oxton decided to move the group out of this cave. The guard was blinking repeatedly, trying to fight off sleepiness, when he noticed a figure walking towards him. He rubbed his eyes, brushing it off as some hallucination. When he opened his eyes again, his body jolted awake, whatever he saw had not gone away and was still walking towards him. He grabbed his sword and quickly stood up, yelling at his watch partner to do the same.
"Hey, you idiot, get up! Someone's coming!"
The other guard straightened his posture then grabbed his pike, at the same time standing up, and holding it in a defensive position. He shook his head, making the last bit of sleepiness go away. The two were now ready and the guard who held his sword in front of him began to speak.
"Hey! Don't come any closer! Who the hell are you!"
As the figure moved in, the torch's light was able to finally illuminate the person, at the same time sending a chill down each of the guard's back. This was because the person, now standing in front of them, was a woman, an extremely attractive woman. They let their weapons fall slightly but still questioned her.
"Who are you?" One of the guards asked again, obviously eyeing the female down from head to toe.
"Doesn't matter!" The girl said, before she began to walk towards them again.
"Hey. Hey! Stop dammit! What the hell are you doing!" The guard with the sword tried to halt her with his voice but soon realized that he had to take action. He brought his sword back up and lunged to stab the girl in front of him, who still had not stopped. He was watching her face as he went for the stab, expecting it to shift over to pain. It wasn't until his sword felt like it had hit a brick wall that he finally looked down at it, seeing that she was holding the blade in her hand.
"What the-" His reaction was cut off as the woman used her free hand to strike him in the face, ripping his head clean off. The guards body stood for half a second before finally collapsing to the ground, leaving his partner struck with shock. The other guard then shifted his gaze from his partners dead, headless body, to the girl that had just killed him. He was decent with his pike but did not have a lion's heart and it immediately showed.
He dropped his weapon, "I…wait! I didn't-" His plea was cut off as Lupus grabbed him by the neck using both her hands. She lifted him up and held him there, a smile on her face and a slight blush creeping on her cheeks. The guard grabbed her arms in return and attempted to break free by flailing his legs, she didn't move an inch as he panicked. After several seconds, he began to slow down and his final gasps of air escaped his nose and mouth, Lupus released, letting the guard hit the ground.
"Alright! You're just as weak as the first bandit I killed, this'll be a breeze! Although, I guess I should finish this fast, so I'll use this!" Lupus took a hold of her mace and proceeded forward into the cave.
As she walked within the interior of the cave, she could see that the initial cave corridor was also lit by torches and stretched quite a bit back. She had considered running, but thought that would expose her too much, she eventually saw that the corridor was beginning to widen.
Five members of the Oxmen sat in one of the first caverns of the cave. They were playing cards and were spread out among a circular table. This first cavern was not that open and at most could fit ten people, Its ceiling forced taller men to slouch and stretched out to roughly an oval shape. The men had been bored ever since the captives arrived, Oxton had not given any new orders since then and no one felt like switching over to guard duty.
"Read it and weep!" One bandit said as he threw down all his cards.
The rest of the group quickly scanned his spread of cards then threw theirs down in frustration. The same man had been winning all night and the others were starting to suspect him of cheating in some way.
"No way! This is stupid, you're cheating!" A bandit sitting across the winner yelled out, standing up as he did so.
"Just cause you're an idiot in this game, doesn't mean I'm cheating! Go to hell!"
The accuser was even more riled up now and began to walk around the table, making his way to the bandit he had accused of cheating.
"Get over here! Let me see those sleeves of yo-" His demand was interrupted as a black, fairly large mace, smacked him on the side of his face. The force of the hit threw him straight to the wall, the sound of his bones cracking as he made contact and fell down.
The remaining four men watched as his body flew across the small room and their attention was held there for only a second as they recoiled back to the source of the blow. There stood a woman, with the murder weapon, who once again brought her arm back and landed the head of the mace on the closest person to her. The bandit's head was crushed inwards, without any trouble to the woman who began to laugh at the sight.
"Haha! Why are you all just staring at me? Are you just waiting to die, one by one?" Lupus lifted her weapon from the bandit's head and waited for the others to make their move.
The two bandits who had lost the game previously, got up and grabbed their weapons that laid on the table. One jumped on the table and began to bring his sword back, intending to strike quick, he had no time to think. The other bandit got up unsheathing his dagger from his hip and quickly making his way around the table to get within stabbing distance of the invader. The winner of the card game got up, wide eyed, and began to run to the opening that led deeper into the cave. He would find himself running behind the two losers and table, in his mind, he had plenty of time to escape and warn the others.
After Lupus had finished quickly disposing of the two bandits closest to her, she openly mocked the rest of the men and waited for them to take action. One climbed the table and seemed to be going for quick strike, the other had gotten up and ran around the table, brandishing his dagger. The third man had gotten up and was trying to make for the cave opening that led inwards, Lupus decided to end the two attacking her quick in order to catch him. The bandit on the table struck downwards with his sword, Lupus simply stepped aside, and he began to fall forward. As he fell forwards, Lupus brought her mace down and back up, clashing with the weight and gravity of his fall. He folded over Lupus's weapon and she flung him at the wall, once again letting the sound of cracking bones ring throughout the room. By this time, the dagger-wielding bandit was only feet from her and he had decided to go for a tackle before stabbing her. He made contact, practically hugging her waist, but that's all he was able to do, hug her. Lupus had not moved an inch and she laughed before grabbing him by his shirt and throwing him at the escaping third bandit. As the escapee was inches from the opening, he was slung forward by a force that hit him from behind. Both men groaned and tried to recover from being thrown to the ground, suddenly the bandit who had been thrown was once again picked up. His neck was being strangled as he was levitated by Lupus and she, without hesitation, used her mace to impale him.
"I guess you can stab using a mace if you put enough force behind it haha!" She pulled her weapon out and tossed him aside. She looked over at the bandit who tried to escape and gripped him by his shirt, bringing his face up to hers.
"Hey! So far, I've killed like seven of you guys, how many more are there?" Lupus asked her question as if she was getting tired of doing paper work.
The bandit looked around the room, surveying how easily she had executed them. He was not going to chance his possibility of living by trying to lie.
"Ok! Ok! There's about twenty within the cave and a couple prisoners! We got another group of ten doing something else out somewhere! I don't know when they'll be back! That's all I know!"
Lupus let out a pleased giggle and thanked the man, before striking him repeatedly with her mace, she added a few extra in return for the information he gave her. Once she threw his body aside, she quickly thought about the information he gave her.
"Ugh…If there really are twenty more guys inside, then this'll get boring fast. I won't have time to have my fun with them, one on one! Hmm, I got it!"
Lupus brought out a small scroll that could be used to send a message to any of the Pleiades. She unrolled it and tossed it in the air, watching it burn up as it floated.
She began to speak, "Hey Entoma, Shizu! When you finish up with your little supply run, teleport to my location! I could sure use your help with a project!" Once Lupus felt the message spell wear off, she continued walking down the cave, hoping to have her little sisters clean out the rest of it.
Back at Nazarick…
"Entoma you received Lupus's message too, right?" CZ inquired.
"Yes, it didn't sound like she was in danger, but we should hurry and get to her, just in case."
Entoma and Shizu had finished with their trip back to Nazarick and had gathered a few supplies that could serve them in the future, with an exception to the currency. Entoma had gathered more talismans and scrolls she could use, Shizu was now wearing a light brown backpack filled with various things. While more supplies was good and all, both also received the advice from Pandora's Actor, they would need to inform Lupus of it too.
A/N: "Good luck, I hope you find value in your mission." is what Pandora's Actor said. This one is the longest so far. Thanks to Triple Zed for leaving a review, we'll see how it all turns out. Thanks for the bookmarks and favorites.