Hello Scrolls and Followers of Justice, Mr Bones with another chapter of my fanfic about Overlord.
Neia discovers a conspiracy not only to kill her but perhaps to overthrow the Holy Kingdom.
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 29: It's a trap!
"It's not possible!"
"What's wrong, Neia?"
"The body, Remédios' body has been stolen!"
"Grave robbers are common, plundering the body must be the objective."
"No, I don't think so. If they only wanted to steal things, they wouldn't have taken the body. In fact, it's much more valuable than anything they've buried with her. I need to talk to King Caspond."
Neia ran off without any further explanation, with CZ following closely behind. They mounted their horses and rode off at full speed.
After an hour, they arrived at the castle.
"STOP! WHO GOES THERE?" shouted the guard at the gate, who was with his companions.
"I am Neia Baraja. I urgently need to speak with Captain Gustav Montagnés."
"Your Holiness!" saluted the guard, pounding his chest as the Followers of Justice did. He and the others were devout believers.
"I'm sorry to disturb you at this late hour, but I bring urgent information that needs to reach King Caspond himself."
"There couldn't have been a worse time for you, Your Holiness. Captain Gustav has just returned from patrol, where he was ambushed. He must be in conference with the King at this very moment."
"Ambushed! All the more reason to see him. Take me to him."
The guards didn't even question her authority or the fact that she was accompanied by the known Demon Maid. They opened one of the doors and escorted them to a private room where they waited before being announced.
"Your Holiness, the King awaits you in his private room. May Justice accompany you."
"May Justice accompany all of you," Neia replied, leaving the guards ecstatic after being in the presence of the Faceless Saint.
"Your Majesty, Captain Gustav, I bring urgent news," Neia said, just nodding her head in greeting. The King had already told her that there was no need for further greetings in private, as he considered her a friend and one of the greatest forces of the Holy Kingdom along with Captain Gustav.
"Ah! Miss Neia Baraja, it's so good to see you again, but I think nothing could make the current situation worse."
"The body of Remédios Custódio has been stolen."
"For all that is sacred, everything has just gotten worse!" said the Holy King, falling into a chair. "Captain Gustav was ambushed just a few hours ago."
"Captain, are you okay?"
"Yes, Miss Neia, the attack was very well planned. I was injured during the fight, lost many men. In the end, I think the goal was to separate me from them. I believe it's the work of the separatists from the South."
"I heard from His Majesty the Sorcerer King that the same was attempted in Re-Stize, when they almost killed your champion, the Warrior Captain Gazef, to weaken the kingdom," Neia said, recalling the stories that the Sorcerer King told during their shared journey over a year ago. "Thank goodness they didn't succeed in killing him, Captain. With the shortage of priests and the resistance of the churches to help the kingdom, his resurrection would be very inconvenient."
"I don't think they wanted to kill me. I can't compare myself to Gazef. Today, I'm easily replaceable. Their goal was something else, something more important than me."
"What could be more important than killing the Captain of the Paladins of the Holy Kingdom?"
"Stealing the sword Safarlísia."
"No!"
"Yes, they managed to surround me. I still can't use all the power of the sword like Remédios did, so I was gravely injured. To my shame, I couldn't stop them from taking it. They didn't even bother to kill me. I wasn't their target," Gustav sighed dejectedly.
"But that can only mean a coordinated attack on the Kingdom. This afternoon, I was attacked by three assassins at the same time. I only escaped thanks to the intervention of CZ and... friends. Gustav, it seems like you were attacked at the same time. The theft of Remédios' body couldn't have been more than a day ago. The soil of her burial was fresh. I think King Gaspond may be the next target of an attack. Your security needs to be reinforced, Your Majesty. CZ, are our shadow friends here?"
"Yes, Neia Baraja, they are with us."
"Then ask them to take care of the King."
"No, they're here for your safety."
"CZ, I'm asking for this favor. Keep them here to protect the King. He must be the priority now. I'll be fine with you." CZ entered an internal struggle that lasted mere milliseconds.
"Yes, Neia, I'll take care of you."
"Thank you Cz. Your Majesty, in addition to the palace guard, I am leaving extra security here. I guarantee that Your Majesty will be safe," said Neia.
At that moment, two shadowy figures appeared at Neia's feet and waved to Caspond before disappearing beneath the floor. Neia didn't know it, but there were now three Shadow Demons in the room exchanging information: two of them belonged to her, and the one that always accompanied the doppelganger Caspond, who was confused. Everything was happening faster than expected, and this type of attack was predicted by Lord Demiurge to occur in months. The death of the king at the hands of the separatists was one possible scenario, which would lead to Neia emerging as the new representative of the kingdom by acclamation. Another possibility was that she would be turned into a martyr, leading the Followers of Justice religion into a frenzy and triggering a Holy War, where the Sorcerer King would appear as the god protecting his followers. However, the theft of the sword didn't make sense, as it wasn't particularly powerful, easily replaceable by any item from the Great Tomb's vault.
"Thank you for your support, Miss Neia. I would feel much more satisfied if you stayed here yourself."
"It would be an honor, Your Majesty, but I need to fetch something from home to perform this service: my bow," replied Neia. She always kept her bow in a safe when she wasn't training or working. It was her most prized possession and needed to be protected.
"If Your Majesty permits, I will take my leave. But I will return soon with reinforcements for the palace guard. Goodbye, Gustav."
"I look forward to your return, Miss Baraja."
"Goodbye, Neia," Gustav bid farewell before she left the palace.
Before leaving the palace, Neia spoke up. "Let's hurry home. I need to get my bow and gather a group of Naza..." Her words were cut off by CZ, who had just received a message.
"Neia, I need to go somewhere. Are you coming with me?"
"Where, Cz? Right now?"
"Yes, outside the city. The Shadow Demons have found the Archer. She is dying and won't last much longer."
"How about using one of those portals?"
"I tried contacting Lady Shalltear, but she seems to be... unavailable at the moment. She is with her vampire brides, and I should only call again if it's urgent."
"What a dedicated woman, training at this time of night."
"Yes, she trains a lot."
"In that case, you'd better go alone. I would only slow you down. I'll quickly go to the church and return with a group in less than an hour. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
So reluctantly, Cz headed to the location where the Shadow Demons were waiting. With the map of the city and surroundings engraved in her memory, Cz arrived at the site, a cabin just beyond the city walls, in less than twenty minutes.
"Where is she?" Cz burst through the door.
"Here, in the basement, Miss," replied one of the Shadow Demons.
"What are her conditions?"
"She's almost dead. She's quite skilled, and her wounds were not in vital areas and were treated, probably with a healing potion, but it's not enough for a complete recovery, and it's nothing fatal."
"Then why is she dying?"
"We believe she was poisoned."
Even in the darkness of the basement, Cz could see the dark veins running up the archer's arms, towards her swollen face.
"Who sent you? You need to answer me." Cz was ready to use a Nazarick healing potion to gain more time and, if necessary, to torture or send the archer to Neuronist, but she didn't need to make the offer.
"They b-betrayed me."
"Who betrayed you?"
"F-false worshipers of the Four, m-maybe from the South, y-you need to s-save her!"
"Save who?"
"N-Neia Baraja, they w-want her," the archer said, coughing up blood.
Cz immediately threw a potion to the nearest Shadow Demon.
"HEAL HER!" Cz shouted in an unusual way as she burned a message scroll.
"'Neia! Can you hear me, Neia Baraja?'" There was no response.
At that moment, the church that served as Néia's home exploded in flames
