Chapter 9a: Ballista
Lescatie
Adrian opened the door to the Peacekeeper's common room, stumbled over to one of the comfy chairs, and promptly collapsed into it. Sweat dripped down his body, dampening his clothing. Dirt clung to his hair and skin, and he felt like he would go unconscious. He grabbed a cup of water that had been standing on one of the tables, and drank the entire thing in one go. Training with Meryl had been brutal; the happy, enthusiastic recruiter had turned into a strict and brutal instructor.
"Who knew that mamono could be so serious about training…" Adrian mumbled to himself.
Saralyn opened the door to the room, looking equally exhausted. Her normally tidy short hair looked like a bird had been trying to nest in it. She sat down next to Adrian, sighing in relief as she finally got to sit down.
"How are you feeling?" Adrian asked her.
"I feel like I've been run over by an ushi-oni. Why is Meryl so brutal?" Saralyn groaned.
"Don't know. I might need a lich to resurrect me if she acts like this every single day."
"Don't worry, I've got you covered. I know a lich who works for the Peacekeepers. What sort of teacher would I be if I let my students die of exhaustion?" A certain dullahan's voice came from outside.
"How can she even hear us…?" Adrian shook his head to dislodge some of the dirt on his face.
The rest of the trainees filed into the room, looking tired but not as exhausted as Adrian and Saralyn. They looked at the dhampir and her husband with a sense of empathy.
"Heh… Meryl giving you two a hard time?"
"'Hard time' would be a massive understatement, Sinclair." Saralyn said.
"You'll get used to it soon enough. She needs the two of you two to catch up to us, since you joined pretty late into training." The dark elf turned and took out an apple from the fruit bowl on the large table.
Ava, Naira and Jordan all offered their sympathy to Adrian and Saralyn, then turned and sat down. Jordan and Naira started cuddling, the wyvern wrapping her husband in wings. Ava grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl and plopped down next to the window, staring outside absentmindedly while munching on her snack.
The kunoichi had been one of the most mysterious members of the Peacekeepers the rest of the team had ever seen. She barely spoke to them unless absolutely necessary, and when she did, she didn't say any more than ten words at a time. The team at first had considered this to be very counterproductive, but she was one of the most high-performing members the Peacekeepers had ever had. Her efficiency spoke for itself.
One of the things Meryl had gone to great lengths to emphasize the importance of was stealth. She had created a pseudo Order base with wooden cutouts of Order soldiers that had alarm spells attached to them. If someone ever stepped in full view of them, they would start making loud noises. Adrian and Saralyn had both been performing decently, but Ava was on another level. Being a kunoichi meant she had a natural affinity for stealth, but even Meryl was impressed by her performance.
Not once did she get caught. Not only was she stealthy, she was fast. Almost all of the time, she made it to the end of the stealth course first.
Ava finished her orange, and left the room quickly, closing the door behind her. The team couldn't even hear her footsteps.
"So… I don't mean to be nosey, but what's the deal with Ava?" Adrian inquired.
"Nosey…" Sinclair poked at him.
Naira lightly punched the sarcastic dark elf in the ribs and shook her head. "We don't know what's up with her. I've tried talking to her, and the most I've been able to get out of her is a couple head shakes or nods. If we're lucky, she says 'yes' or 'no' sometimes."
"But she talks to Meryl just fine." Saralyn apparently heard Ava talking to Meryl in the late hours of the night, for sometimes hours at a time. When questioned about what they were talking about, Ava refused to say anything and Meryl didn't want to share anything about their conversations for the sake of Ava's privacy.
"She's rather… sensitive about her past and her reasons for joining the Peacekeepers. I hope you understand." The dullahan had explained to the team.
Speaking of Meryl…
"Break is over! Everyone to the training grounds!" Meryl yelled from outside. Adrian and Saralyn groaned simultaneously. Did our break really pass that fast? Adrian thought to himself as he pulled himself out of the comfort of the chair and back outside.
Adrian crept through the shadows of the Order outpost, the guards oblivious to his presence. This was going to be harder than he thought. Wooden cutouts with alarm spells attached to them didn't compare to a real, living human being with ears and eyes. Adrian waited for the Order soldier to leave the room to get out of the dark corner he was hiding in, and follow him through the open doorway.
Adrian whipped out a mamono realm silver knife and jabbed it into the back of the unsuspecting Order soldier's neck. The guard yelled out in surprise, but Adrian quickly thrust a hand over his mouth, silencing him. He laid the man to the ground and dragged him into the room he was just in. Adrian pushed the unconscious guard under a table, and draped a tablecloth over it, hiding him.
Adrian peeked out of a nearby window. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a kunoichi pull an unsuspecting guard into the shadows. Ava was performing flawlessly, as usual. The elevated stakes of a mission with actual Order soldiers clearly didn't bother her. From across the outpost, a black-scaled wyvern and her rider grabbed an order soldier and pulled them into the forest.
A woman wearing the uniform of the Order waved at Adrian from the rooftop of a nearby building. Adrian ducked under the windowsill, waiting for a couple seconds and then peeking out again. The woman pulled out a long, black hat with a red flower on it. Adrian began feeling silly. Saralyn had stolen a uniform from one of the store rooms in the outpost, as was using it as a disguise. He waved back.
Seeing that the exterior of the outpost was clear, Adrian snuck outside and began heading for a large stone building at the far north side of the outpost. Inside was a high-ranking Order knight, an unfortunate someone who had caught the attention of a particularly aggressive manticore in Lescatie. She wanted him, no matter the cost, so Meryl had taken the opportunity to sic the Peacekeepers on them for a "exam" of sorts. Their goal was to capture the knight and bring him to Lescatie, as quietly as possible.
So far, they had managed to infiltrate the base without anyone knowing it. The brutal training had paid off greatly. Adrian felt a sense of gratitude for Meryl. She had also taught them some close quarters combat in case they ever got spotted, which looked to be the case for breaking into the knight's building.
Saralyn appeared from behind a tree, and walked over to Adrian. She hugged him from behind, startling him.
"Not now…" Adrian said, looking over his shoulder at Saralyn.
"Oh come on. We've taken care of everyone outside. We can afford to have a moment to ourselves, right?"
"Fine…" The two of them stayed there for a little bit, just enjoying each other. Their time together was cut short when they heard a voice behind them.
"When the two of you are done, I'd like to capture this knight." Sinclair appeared from a dark corner. Saralyn released Adrian, glaring over at Sinclair.
"Like I said, everyone outside has been dealt with. Staying undetected has been quite stressful so far, so I'd like to relax a little bit before we finish the job."
"Whatever. I'm ready when you are." Sinclair kneeled next to a window when she felt something on her knee.
"What the?" The dark elf picked a piece of paper off her knee. She flipped it over and began reading it.
"The six of you, don't bother with stealth when you get into the building. Provided you've taken care of the entire outpost before getting to the target like I've taught you, feel free to be as loud as you want. -Meryl." Sinclair read out loud.
"Well, you heard the captain. Loud as we want." Saralyn withdrew her mamono realm silver daggers and pulled out her two revolvers, Adrian pulling out his realm silver short sword, and Sinclair taking out dual knives.
Saralyn walked over to the window, and fired through the window straight at one of the guard's heads, immediately knocking them unconscious. The remaining two in the room were shocked by the sudden loud noise and began fumbling for their weapons. Sinclair vaulted through the window and stabbed one of the guards in the chest while Adrian slashed at the last guard's legs, following up with a downward strike on his stomach to finish him off.
Meanwhile on the top floor, Jordan and Ava, riding on Naira, heard the gunshot and took it as a sign to start fighting. They burst through a skylight, jumping down on the Order soldiers below. Ava had already taken out one of the guards before they hit the ground, with Naira firing a ball of non-lethal fire at two of the guards, knocking them out "cold" immediately. Jordan took the opportunity to impale the last soldier through the waist with a realm silver spear.
"I will patrol ahead." Ava said before bolting down the stairs.
"Wow. That's the most words I've seen her say this week." Jordan remarked.
Back down on the bottom floor, Saralyn, Adrian, and Sinclair began moving up the building to the top floor where the knight they were looking for presumably was. Moving up the stairs. Saralyn fired through a door and kicked it open, sending a guard who was unfortunate enough to be in front of it to the ground. Saralyn finished him off with a shot to the head. Once they were finished clearing the room, The three of them walked over to an elaborate looking door.
"This is where the target's probably hiding, everyone get ready." Saralyn began counting down from five.
"Five, four, three, two, one, GO!"
All three of them burst through the door, only to find the Order knight dazed, with Jordan and Naira standing over the bodies of his bodyguards. Ava was standing behind the Order knight, tying him up as he made several attempts to break out in vain. "We beat you to him." Jordan smirked.
"All of you can go to hell! The Order will not let this go unpunished! All of you will be killed, you hear me?! Kille-" Naira interrupted him by covering his mouth with a claw.
"Spare us the speech, save it for the manticore." Jordan said.
"Her…? Nonononono, you can't let me have her, she's going to-"
"Eat you alive? Yeah, manticores do that sometimes. Look forward to it." Sinclair lied. The knight's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as Sinclair spoke.
"I knew it! Mamono disguise themselves to lure humans and eat them alive! I always thought the priests were lying, but they were telling the truth! Please let me go, I swear I'll-" Sinclair jabbed in the back of the neck with her realm silver knife to shut him up.
"That was cruel of you. He knew the truth." Saralyn criticized Sinclair. Being a dhampir and Sinclair being a dark elf meant the two of them disagreed a lot.
"Just having some fun with him."
"He's going to be mortified."
"Good, manticores love that sort of thing." Sinclair fired back.
Saralyn sighed, knowing she was right. At least things would work out in the end for both sides. The six of them began walking down the stairs and out of the building, with Naira hauling the unconscious Order knight on her shoulder. Outside, it was completely quiet. They had managed to take almost the entire outpost without anybody noticing them. Granted, it wasn't the biggest, but still an impressive feat for all of them.
"Can't believe we did it." Adrian said, astonished at the team's efforts.
"Yeah. Training has paid off."
The team walked for about twenty more minutes until they reached a cave. Inside the cave was a manticore, a baphomet and Meryl. The manticore began salivating from both the tail and the mouth as she saw the Order knight. Naira slowly laid the knight down on the ground, and the manticore kneeled beside him, licking her lips.
"Is this him?"
"Yeah. Enjoy." The manticore squealed with delight. Conveniently, the knight began to wake up. The manticore laid on top of him.
"What the…" the knight slurred as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Hi there, Mr. Knight. You remember me, right? You might have escaped me before, but there's no running now. We have all the time in the world, so let's get acquainted." The manticore introduced herself. She brought her tail close to the now panicking man, and pressed one of the spines into him. Immediately, he began breathing hard.
"She's going to eat you. Have fun." Sinclair lied again, looking directly into the knight's eyes.
The knight began hyperventilating as the manticore flew out of the cave with the man, laughing. Meryl watched as she disappeared over the trees. "Manticores are sadistic bastards, aren't they?"
"He'll be okay. Hopefully. Maybe." Adrian said.
"Well, it's not our problem. Anyways, all six of you performed magnificently today. I'm proud of all of you. I think a reward is in order when we get back to Lescatie." The dullahan explained. She stepped near the baphomet, who had been watching everything enviously. A teleportation circle glowed softly behind her.
"One at a time." The baphomet ordered the group. One at a time, they stepped into the teleportation circle and disappeared.
Adrian was the last one through. Before he walked into the teleportation circle, Meryl stopped him.
"What's wrong?"
"Someone special has asked for your presence at Lescatie. Unlike the others, your reward is going to be special."
"Who is it?"
"You'll see." Adrian stepped into the teleportation circle. He didn't reappear back at the Peacekeeper's base, instead appearing in one of the rooms of the castle of Lescatie. He had visited the place a couple times out of curiosity, but he never stayed for long. Meryl appeared with him.
"Wait here. She's on her way."
"Ok…" Adrian waited for a couple minutes, until the door opened. A white haired succubus with dark purple wings, tail and horn wearing overly revealing dark armor walked into the room. Adrian immediately recognized the succubus as Wilmarina Noscrim.
"Wilmarina?"
"It's me. It's been a while, Adrian Walker."
"How do you know my last name? And what do you mean, 'It's been a while'?"
Wilmarina looked slightly disappointed. "Don't you remember me? I suppose it has been almost nine months since we last met. You helped me rescue my beloved Elt, and you helped me get closure with my father."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Wilmarina looked even more disappointed. "Have you suffered a brain injury back in Aerokon?"
"I guess that's not far from the truth…I'm suffering from amnesia." Wilmarina's look of disappointment turned to sympathy.
"Oh. I'm sorry. Anyways, I have something I wanted to return to you. I took the liberty of improving it, if you don't mind." Wilmarina handed Adrian an ornate looking sheath with a sword in it. Adrian pulled the sword out, examining it. The blade had a faint magenta glow, and the guard had yellow markings on it similar to the swords that the knights of Lescatie used. An eerie looking eye symbol had been placed at the bottom of the hilt. Adrian noticed some text on the handle, alongside a small switch. "BALLISTA" The text read.
"Strange name for a sword. Aren't ballistas siege devices?"
"You were the one that named it." Wilmarina explained. "You said it sounded cool."
"Strange. I'll figure it out later. Anyways, what does the switch do?" Adrian wondered out loud.
"Be careful with-"
The blade shot out towards the ceiling with shocking speed, and impaled itself in it. A small puff of smoke emitted from where the blade used to be.
"...that." Wilmarina sighed and flew up to the ceiling, grabbing the blade from the ceiling and dropped it back on the floor. She flew back down and put the blade back into the handle with a small click.
"Anyways, since you seem to have forgotten our time together, I'll make it quick. Elt was kidnapped nine months ago now by the Order, and brought to Aerokon. Me and the Order of the Ice Flower launched an expedition to rescue him, and you were there too. You revealed to us that you were there to kill my father." Wilmarina explained.
"Really? What did he do?"
"He was the one who kidnapped Elt. We found his corpse in the throne room of Aerokon's castle, with a gunshot wound to the head. From what we know, you killed him. We found your sword lying in the streets."
Adrian thought to himself. Saralyn? "Interesting, tell me more."
"That's all I know. I'm sorry." Wilmarina turned around and began to leave. "I've got to get going. Elt is probably missing me."
Adrian leaned back in his chair, contemplating everything. He had more questions than answers. Why did he abandon his sword? Why was he in Aerokon? Why was he there to kill Wilmarina's father?
It had been three months since he had come to Lescatie, and eight months since he had woken up in the middle of a forest. This happened right before he lost his memory.
He HAD to know more.
Adrian ran out of the room, looking for Wilmarina. "Wilmarina!" He yelled. She was nowhere to be seen. Meryl followed after him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"She told you all that she knew. There's nothing you can do." Adrian gave up searching for her, and went back to the teleportation circle with Meryl. His mind raced, trying to create some sort of answer for everything.
After getting back, he went to his room at the Peacekeeper's base, and sat down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Saralyn entered the room and sat down next to him. "Are you in the mood tonight?~" She asked with the tone of a mamono who wanted to have sex.
"..."
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"No." Adrian lied. Some sex would be helpful to take his mind off of things.
"I can tell you're lying… How about you tell me after we finish."
Adrian lied down. This would never get old.
Chapter 9b: A Vector for Corruption
Monoghon
"HOSTILES!" An order knight screamed as he rushed towards the city walls. A mamono extremist army was attacking, fed up with their hostility towards the nearby mamono population. They were dealing with the attack decently, however a group of mamono had managed to slip past their defenses and were heading towards the center of the city.
"This is all the king's fault, why the hell did he think attacking mamono villages far away from our territory was a good idea?!" His partner yelled in response.
Kovalt Marshall pushed through the crowd of soldiers, heading towards the main castle of the city. He had ensured Kari's safety; no monster would ever lay their filthy hands on his daughter. He made sure he wouldn't make the mistake he did five years ago with Catalina.
He could sense the strong mamono mana in the air around the royal castle; A powerful mamono was inside. They could be threatening the royalty. If the king and queen fell, the city would be even more vulnerable than it was right now. He had to do something, quickly.
A wight stepped out from behind a wall, blocking Kovalt's path to the castle. They knew what he was trying to do, and they were trying to delay him.
"I can sense your pain… Your wife has left you, hasn't she? Lay down your weapon and I promise you can see her agai-" Kovalt refused to let the walking corpse finish her offer. Casting a speed spell on himself, he bolted towards the wight, with his sword enchanted with holy magic.
The wight dodged, but the blade still made contact on the wight's torso, leaving a large tear in the wight's ornate looking armor. The wight looked down, irritated. Kovalt used the distraction to cast an incredibly powerful light spell into the wight's eyes. The corpse screamed in frustration as Kovalt bolted past her. Killing her was not the priority right now, the others could do it for him. Right now, it was crucial that he stop the mamono at the castle.
Running as fast as he could towards the castle, more monsters tried to stop him, this time a dullahan.
"Stop right there, hero. Druella, the fourth born of the Mamono Lord, has commanded that you-" The dullahan didn't get to finish her sentence as Kovalt threw a medium sized rock at her head, slightly dislodging it. He quickly followed up with a punch to the head, sending it flying off her body as he ran past. He smirked as he looked back and saw the dullahan's body chasing her head rolling down the street.
"Druella…" Kovalt mumbled to himself. That white-haired freak of nature must have had enough with their attacks. He thought. They would have to show her. Teach her that the Order wasn't as weak as it was thirty years ago. The Chief God would surely reward Monoghon for its bravery in the face of adversity. Druella would have to do better than send a mamono that could be defeated with a rock to the head.
Kovalt finally reached the front yard of the castle. Bursting through the gates, he thankfully encountered no resistance. Reaching the main entrance, he charged through the doorways. The maids of the castle had monsterized into succubi, throwing themselves at whatever unfortunate man caught their eye. Kovalt deduced that they had been monsterized by whatever high-ranking mamono had broken in. They were obviously incredibly powerful.
The mamono mana in the air got thicker and thicker as he approached the doors of the throne room. Mentally preparing himself, he opened the doors, and gasped at the sight within. The queen had been bound to her throne with black tentacles, the king nearby, with some sort of shimmering field around his body, trapping him and making him face towards his wife.
Over the queen's body, stood a blue-skinned demon. The queen was gasping and breathing hard as the demon teased her. The queen was no doubt on her way to be monsterized into a succubus or a demon like her corrupter. Kovalt couldn't let that happen.
"Stop!" Kovalt yelled at the demon to get her attention. The demon stopped, and turned around.
"I'm sorry, your rebirth will have to wait…" The demon said to the queen. The queen sighed in relief as the pleasure stopped.
"She won't be experiencing any sort of rebirth anytime soon, not if I have anything to do about it. Leave her alone." Kovalt demanded.
The demon sighed in annoyance. A mass of dark mana appeared in the air above her hand, forming into a black, purple looking blade. She grabbed it out of the air and pointed it at Kovalt.
"May I have the name of my opponent?"
"Go to hell."
The demon rolled her eyes. "You heroes are always so rude to us. Fine. I'll introduce myself first. My name is Azurith, trusted subordinate of Druella, the fourth born of the Mamono Lord." Azurith examined Kovalt, looking up and down his body.
"Hmm… A single father. I'll offer you a deal." A contract appeared out of thin air in front of Azurith.
"You get to see her again if you turn around and leave. I will use all of my connections to reunite you with your love. The two of you can give your daughter so many little sisters. Doesn't that sound good, human?" Azurith levitated the contract towards him, a bottle of ink and a pen with it.
"Not a chance. I see through your lies; my wife died five years ago." Kovalt pushed aside the contract, crumpling it up and throwing it on the ground, alongside the pen and ink.
"Must we always do things the hard way, human?" Azurith gripped her blade tightly. "Fine. It's your loss."
Kovalt was done talking. He charged at the demon with his blade held up high, preparing to reduce Azurith to ashes. The demon blocked his blade, and retaliated with insane speed with a stab towards the hero's chest. Kovalt sidestepped the attack.
Immediately, the power difference was clear. Azurith was much stronger than him. She danced around his attacks gracefully, while delivering her own attacks with deadly speed. He was barely dodging, and he was barely able to attack back.
One of Azurith's attacks slipped through. Her realm-silver blade jabbed him in the thigh. Shocked from the feeling of numbness, Kovalt stumbled slightly. The demon for some reason did not capitalize on this, instead stepping back.
"Human… It does not have to be this way. You want to see your wife again, don't you?" Azurith's face had a look of sadness as she tried to reason with him.
"Enough!" Kovalt charged at the demon, angered at the attempt to use his wife as a bargaining chip.
Surprisingly, he managed to catch the demon off guard. His blade sliced across the demon's stomach, forcing her to step back. Azurith looked down at the wound, and back at Kovalt. A look of resolve replaced sadness as she swung her blade at him.
Kovalt parried the attack, swinging back at her, only for her to fly back to avoid another injury. The dense atmosphere of mamono mana inside the castle was clearly helping Azurith. Kovalt knew he had to take this fight elsewhere if we wanted to win.
Kovalt ran towards Azurith. She swung her blade sideways, intent on cutting through his chest. But Kovalt ducked instead of blocking, and grabbed the demon's legs. Quickly putting as much strength as he could into his arms, he threw the demon out of the large window in the throne room, into the garden below. Charging after her and jumping down, he landed gracefully on the grass.
"How bold. If you weren't already married, I would be in love with you~"
"Stop talking."
Kovalt looked around. His hero status had given him free access to the castle, but he spent most of his time in the garden. He knew the garden like the back of his hand, and he intended to use that fully to his advantage.
Azurith flew up and onto a large fountain, jumping down with her sword held above her head, soaring down at Kovalt. Kovalt dove out of the way and onto a bed of flowers, dirtying his clothing. Seeing Azurith on the fountain gave him an idea.
Kovalt quickly got to his feet as Azurith attacked. He sidestepped the demon, and prepared an attack that no hero would think of using. Evil Obliterating Incantation. It had once been one of the biggest threats against monsters in the age of the previous mamono lords, but it no longer worked against most monsters, with the exception of demons and undead. It would daze them slightly; that was all he needed for his plan to work. He waited for Azurith to get into position, and acted.
"Oh holy light, purge the wicked in the names of the gods…" Kovalt shouted. An incredibly bright beam of light shot out of his hands towards the demon. Azurith stopped in her path, her hand clasped against her forehead for a moment. Kovalt immediately hurled a destructive fireball towards the fountain. It shattered, sending a wave of water towards the demon, stunning her even more.
Kovalt got to his feet, and charged at the demon. Azurith recovered, but it was too late. Kovalt thrusted his sword through the demon's stomach. He kicked her, freeing his sword. Azurith fell to the ground, defeated.
"It's over."
Azurith coughed up blood, painting the stones of the garden path dark red. She stared up at Kovalt, sadness in her eyes. Kovalt raised his sword above her, intent on ending her life, when someone called out to him.
"Stop!" Kovalt looked around, and saw that the voice was coming from the shattered window of the throne room. It was the king.
"Why?! She needs to die! She's a threat to our home!"
"We can use her as leverage! The mamono will surrender if they know we defeated their leader!" The king shouted back. "Bring her to the balcony. I've got an idea. Make sure she doesn't die."
"Fine…" Kovalt casted a healing spell on the demon, and then a paralysis spell. Azurith's entire body seized up. Kovalt picked her up by the legs and began dragging her back into the castle.
"You've been given another chance, demon. Try anything and I WILL kill you." Kovalt threatened. Azurith stared at him blankly, unable to make any sort of expression.
Kovalt and Azurith reached the throne room. The tentacles around the queen had vanished, and she laid on the throne, resting and recovering from Azurith's monsterization attempt.
"Are you alright?" The queen nodded in response. Kovalt sighed in relief. It appeared that Azurith was early in the monsterization process before he interrupted her.
Kovalt dragged Azurith to the balcony, where the king waited. "Let's hope that their leader being defeated is enough to make them back off. Cast a voice amplification spell on me, Marshall."
Kovalt did what he was told. The volume of the king's voice amplified massively. He began speaking, his voice echoing across the entire city.
"Invaders of Monoghon! Your leader has been defeated. There is no chance of you taking over our city anymore. Lay down your weapons. We are willing to take prisoners. Do not make things hard for us. Think of your loved ones."
All across the city, the invading mamono stopped fighting when they heard the voice.
"Azurith was defeated?!"
"Impossible!"
"We must get out of here!"
Some of the mamono turned and ran. Some managed to get away, others weren't so lucky. Most of them simply gave up; it appears that their plan hinged on the king and queen being monsterized. The Order soldiers apprehended them, and began taking them to the prisons. Thankfully, technology involving the neutralization of mamono mana meant they could easily contain mamono. The Faithful had been kind enough to supply them with everything they needed.
The king patted Kovalt on the back. "Well done, Hero Marshall. I don't think this city would've lasted without your help."
Kovalt beamed with pride. "Just doing what I've been trained to do in this sort of situation, sir."
"You deserve something for your efforts. I hear you want your daughter to become a hero, is that correct?"
"Yes sir, I do wish for her to become a hero."
"Consider it done. I will find the best trainers possible for your daughter, when the time comes."
Kovalt shook his hand. "Thank you so much, sir."
"No problem." The king stared back at Azurith. "As for her… I'm entrusting you to keep her under lock and key. I've got plans for her. In the meantime, take her to the prison. Make sure security is at its highest."
"Understood, sir."
Kovalt took Azurith out of the balcony, and towards the prisons.
Lescatie
"The takeover of Monoghon has failed." An alp stuttered out, reading the damage report to Druella.
Druella sighed in sadness and disappointment. When was the last time one of my campaigns failed? She pondered to herself.
"What happened to Azurith? I swear, if those zealots laid a hand on her…"
"From what we could gather from the few escapees, Azurith is alive, but Monoghon is obviously keeping her for leverage against us. They're threatening to kill her if we launch a retaliatory attack. The few mamono that didn't escape are also being held prisoner." The alp explained.
Druella didn't get angry often, but this made her clench her fists in rage. Azurith was one of her best friends. She didn't deserve to be used as a bargaining chip for the Order. She needed to get her back, fast.
"How did we fail? What went wrong?"
"It appears that the invading force was spotted by a scout long before they were going to invade. They tried to catch him, but he managed to get away. Azurith made the mistake of acting much earlier than she should've, afraid that Monoghon would increase security and become even harder to invade than it already is. She went to try and monsterize the queen of Monoghon. From what we can tell, she failed."
Druella shook her head. Azurith… that was very impulsive of you. What use is the element of surprise if you are too weak to capitalize on it? She mentally reprimanded her best friend.
"Alright. Our goal now is to rescue Azurith and the mamono prisoners. Contact every kunoichi village we know about."
"Understood."
"And contact Meryl for me please. I think we can finally put those mamono she's been training to use."
Aperia
Raniel was suspicious. Very, very suspicious of Cassiel. Recently, she had begun to spend large amounts of time away from the team after their missions. She had even begun to neglect her duties as a servant of the Matriarch. The valkyrie had reason to believe that she was neglecting her responsibilities because she wasn't able to accept what Raniel and her team did, despite all of her convincing that it was for the greater good.
Raniel was fed up with Cassiel. She had remembered when she had first recruited her. A perky, enthusiastic recruit willing to do anything to earn her commander's praise and affection. What had happened?
Raniel decided that having Cassiel around was a liability. Starting tomorrow, she was going to be kicked off of the team. But she wasn't done with her. Raniel suspected that Cassiel was doing something behind her back. She had to know.
She heard several knocks of the door to her personal quarters. "The door is open." Raniel called out.
Ophaniel and Nuriel walked into the room. They were Raniel's idea of a perfect soldier; Willing to follow any order they were given to the bitter end. If every angel was like them, they would've overtaken the Chief God long ago. They were also Raniel's friends.
"The two of you, I have an unusual job. Are the two of you up for it?"
"Always." The twins responded simultaneously.
"Alright, so here's what's going on. Cassiel's been spending increased amounts of time away from the mission recently. Combine that with her indecisiveness and bleeding heart, and I think something is awry. So I've made the decision to kick her off of the team. Your job is to watch her and make sure she isn't doing anything weird during her unemployment. Report back to me regularly. Stay out of sight. Is that clear?"
"Hm. I enjoyed her company. It's a shame it had to be this way." Nuriel remarked with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"She reaps what she sows, Nuriel. Cassy brought this upon herself." Ophaniel replied.
"The two of you have your orders. You're dismissed." Raniel waved the two of them out of the room.
As the two valkyries closed the door behind them, Raniel closed her eyes and began to reach out to Cassiel.
"Cassiel, report to my office immediately. We need to talk." Raniel's voice echoed in Cassiel's head.
Cassiel's heart began beating faster than usual. She began hyperventilating. Has she been found out? It had only been a couple months since she had become a dark angel. She had hoped to stay disguised for much longer. She called out to the one being she could rely on.
"Fallen God, I request your guidance."
"Yes, my child, what is it?" The disembodied voice of the Fallen God filled Cassiel's head. Immediately, she calmed down. She felt safe in the company of her goddess.
"Raniel. The valkyrie I told you about. She's asking for my presence. What should I do? Is she onto us?"
"Please, calm down. You've remained completely undetected for the past few months. She has no reason to suspect you."
Cassiel had been slowly but gradually spreading the teachings of the Fallen God through Aperia. It was slow, hard, and dangerous work but Cassiel had convinced herself to see it through to the end. She had painstakingly gathered a following of about ten dark priests and their husbands alongside two other dark angels like herself, either enlightened by the Fallen God or Cassiel personally. It wasn't much, but it was progress. Cassiel still went on assassination missions with Raniel, but took the time to recover the bodies of those she killed and bring them to mamono realms where they could be brought back to life.
"Okay…" Cassiel took a deep breath.
"Just remain calm, and don't say anything stupid. I'll take care of hiding your mana for you." The Fallen God ordered her.
"Got it…"
Cassiel began channeling her magic to change herself back into a pure-looking angel. Spreading her wings and jumping off of the ground, she began to fly towards Raniel's headquarters.
Landing outside, she took a deep breath, and knocked on the hidden entrance to the base. Ophaniel and Nuriel opened the door, looking rather hurt and angry towards her. Cassiel stared back, a look of indifference on her face.
"What's wrong?" She asked them.
"You'll see. Boss is requesting your presence." Nuriel snapped back, her arms crossed.
Cassiel opened the door to Raniel's office. Inside, Raniel was sitting down, sharing Ophaniel and Nuriel's expressions of anger. The two of them stared at each other for a solid five seconds before Raniel spoke.
"Do you know why you're here, Cassiel?" Raniel asked.
Cassiel tried to choose her words carefully. She decided to tell the truth.
"Yes, I do."
"Can you tell me why, Cassiel?"
"I've been spending too much time away from the team." Cassiel feigned her best expression of shame.
"That's only part of the problem. You see, the team and I have been getting rather fed up with your complaining every time we get rid of some scumbag orderite. Many angels of the Matriarch would be elated to be in your position, yet you aren't grateful for your job. So therefore, I have made the decision to kick you off of the team, effective immediately."
Cassiel mentally cursed. Losing her position on the team meant that she wouldn't be able to revive the poor people Raniel killed.
"Is that all?" Cassiel kept a calm exterior, which was a mistake. Raniel slammed her fist onto her desk, causing a small crack to appear in the wood.
"Your apathy disgusts me! We are on the path of righteousness and greatness. We are tearing apart a corrupt organization from the roots up. You should be proud of what you do!" Raniel yelled in Cassiel's face.
"By killing poor innocent people who just so happened to have helped a corrupt-"
"How many times do I have to tell you this?! A few lives is nothing compared to the plans Ophelia has laid out for us! We will have saved billions of people!"
"..."
"You know what, I've had enough of you. Get out. And never come back here." Raniel pointed at the door. Cassiel gladly obliged. Nuriel and Ophaniel both glared at Cassiel as she left the base.
"It's been nice having you." Ophaniel sarcastically remarked. Cassiel didn't grace her with a response.
As she flew back to her personal quarters, she contacted the Fallen God.
"How was that?"
"That could've gone worse. But I don't think that's the last we'll see of Raniel. Something tells me she's got a grudge against you. Be extra careful." Cassiel suddenly began feeling stressed and paranoid.
Things were going to get worse before they got better, that was for sure.