Chapter 2: Second Sighting
"Your Majesty, I have returned from my mission." Gazef said as he knelt before King Rampossa.
"It is good to see you in good health, Gazef. And? Were you able to deal with this problem?" The king asked, the courtroom awaiting Gazef's response. If it were failure, they would blame him to no end. And if he was victorious, they would have to find another way to get rid of him.
"The attackers have been eliminated. Yet I bring more important news. I made contact with a peculiar group of people, they call themselves Helldivers." Gazef stated.
"Helldivers?" The king raised a brow. The name was certainly bold, but he suspected that there was more behind it from the Warrior Captain's stern face.
"Yes, your Majesty. They stated themselves to be an organisation that fights for freedom. They defeated the assailants with weapons I have never seen. Wands that shot fire and the power to call down flames from the sky. The most worrisome thing that I saw was, well, that they possessed a flying ship. An object that looks like a sword, yet gigantic in size." The court went into an uproar. Never have they heard something so absurd as what the Warrior Captain spoke.
"Who let this man become Warrior Captain?"
"The commoner believes everything he sees and hears, it seems."
"This is what I told you, father! The peasant's all are simple animals that believe the simplest of lies!" Barbro spoke up, yet a raised hand by his father made him shut up.
"Quiet! Gazef, are you certain of what you have seen? Could you tell with absolute certainty that you haven't been deceived?" Rampossa asked of Gazef. Of course, he would be skeptical about what the Warrior Captain had told him, but he knew Gazef well, and lies weren't something he would speak.
"I am certain, your Majesty. These Helldivers seem well organized. They coordinate their attacks well and have armor never seen before. Their overhaul numbers are still unknown to me. But even four of them could make quick work of the ones that wanted to kill me." Gazef said, his face was unmoving, his voice as honest as possible. He wasn't lying, and it concerned the king and the nobles.
"These "Helldivers" should come before the court and kneel before our king! If not, they should be executed just because they are on kingdom soil!" Barbro called out.
"With all respect, your Royal Highness, they aren't exactly on our lands. They are way above them. There is no way for us to reach them with normal means. Through magic, perhaps. But our kingdom does not hold a troop of magic casters in our ranks." Gazef replied. It was true that the kingdom did not have much worth regarding mages since they preferred the sword and the shield before they would learn anything near a spell.
"They also said that they intend to liberate the whole world and give democracy to the people of these lands." Gazef added, at which the nobles twitched and angry faces popped up.
"Who do they think they are?!"
"We should hang them on sight!"
"To even state such a thing should be a call for execution!"
The nobles spat out, the court rumbling with agitated nobles left and right.
"Silence! If that is true, we must be careful how we approach these newcomers. If they appear hostile, we should not wait to repel them from our lands." The king said, the crowd of nobles agreeing.
"If that is a-" Before he could speak, he was interrupted by someone.
"Your Majesty! People came from the sky! T-They said they want to talk to you!"
"As Ambassadors of the Brand, you will go on a mission to deliver an ultimatum to the king of this Re-Estize kingdom. State him what happens when he accepts and what happens if he doesn't. Have I made myself clear?" The captain said, the four Ambassadors straight like an arrow.
"Of course, Sir." Their leader said.
"Good, depart for the Pelican. This is not a combat mission, meaning you will land and return with Pelican One." The captain explained.
The Ambassadors departed. Different from normal Helldivers, they wore blue colored armor with white clothing underneath, marking them as emissaries of Super-Earth. Yet they were not to be underestimated as they were as deadly as Helldivers but not as expendable.
Pelican one descended toward what they found to be the capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom. Since they got orders to obtain it for themselves, the Super Destroyer would try their best to do so without any other destroyers' help. For now, they would have to wait until other destroyers would be prepared and sent to their location.
"Nearing target." The pilot said, eyeing the city below, especially the castle overlooking it.
"What a nice day, isn't it shortie!" Gagaran said.
"Shut it, gorilla woman." Evileye responded, at which Gagaran smirked.
"You wanna fight me? Because I will take you down, shortie. Anytime." Gagaran claimed as she turned around, facing the masked vampire.
"This is not the time for this, you two! We are to meet with the princess soon, why don't you-" Something caught Lakyus's eyes or rather her ears. There was a sound like no other, and it only got louder. It came from the sky, and as she looked up, she couldn't believe what she saw. "What is that…"
A gray thing was nearing them at rapid speeds. It had a shape like no other animal or monster they saw. Blue Rose quickly went into battle positions at seeing it approach them.
"Whatever it is, keep your distance!" Lakyus said as she raised her sword. They were right in front of the castle walls, the gate only meters away. Guards also noticed the object, ringing the bells to strike for an alarm.
The weird thing made out of metal approached them close, first hovering over the ground as it soon made contact with it. A hiss could be heard, and it seemed to open.
"What…" Gagaran said in confusion, the ninjas eyed it carefully, and Evileye was ready to cast a spell.
Out of it, blue armored knights exited, weird contraptions held on the side of their waist.
"W-Who are you? What do you think you're doing here?" Lakyus demanded. She had never seen something like this before, not even having heard of such a flying thing that could transport people through the skies. There existed flying platforms out of magic, but not such a complex thing as what was before her.
"Greetings. We are Ambassadors of the Super-Earth government. We have come to talk with your leader." The man said in a slightly distorted voice.
"Super-Earth? I never heard of such a country before. And since I know our bordering countries I know that you're not one of them!" Lakyus replied, yet the "knights" didn't seem agitated by her response nor taken aback.
"I understand that. But it is important that we make contact with your leader. As emisaries, you have to let us through." They were right. If they were delegates of another nation, they would be granted an audience with the king if he permitted it.
Lakyus hesitated but lowered her sword as she thought it through.
"Fine. We will see if the king will hear you out." She said, going to the side to let the knights pass.
"Your cooperation has been noted." Was the "knights" only response. They passed Blue Rose and stopped before the gate, but the guards seemed informed and let them pass through.
"We should follow. I don't trust those guys." Lakyus said.
"If they really are knights where are their swords and shields? But everything else about them is just weird." Gagaran commented.
"I say we follow them into court. As Blue Rose we should be allowed inside." Evileye said, and Lakyus nodded.
"Then lets go."
"Let them through. I will speak to them myself." Rampossa ordered the messenger, who returned to inform the guards outside about the king's decision.
Not long after, four armored "knights" entered the hall, colored blue with multiple skull symbols on their armor. As emissaries, they seemed rather provocative, yet the king ignored it. But he couldn't say the same about the nobles.
"What are those?"
"They dare come here of all places?"
"We should kill them now and send a message to their own king."
The king raised his hand to silence the room, and after a while, it did. The emissaries approached the king yet did not bow, which got angry stares at them, especially from Barbro.
"How dare you not bow in front of the King of Re-Estize! Gua-" Before Barbro could speak further, he was interrupted.
"Silence!" He said, then turned to the ambassadors. "I welcome you to Re-Estize. But I must confess, I know little of your organization to know how to identify you right..." The king said, at which one of the four stepped forth.
"Our government is called Super-Earth, a managed democracy uniting all humans under one banner. The Helldivers your Warrior Captain met previously were a part of our military, a corps of it to be exact." The Ambassador Helldiver replied.
The nobles reacted negatively to the word government, meaning behind these "knights" was a whole state, a country, which meant they had little power over them rather than a simple organization. Yet they still haven't heard anything of a Super-Earth country beyond human nations.
"I see. You said the word democracy, forgive me if I don't know its meaning. Could you explain it perhaps?" Rampossa inquired.
"A democracy is a nation in which the people vote their leader every couple of years. The power does not stem from one person, but from the decision of our loyal and patriotic citizens!" The ambassador said loud and proud, yet the nobles seemed really pissed now.
"No king nor nobles?"
"What a waste of a nation!"
"Blasthemy!"
Many more things were said, more than should be allowed.
"Thank you for the explanation, ambassador. Now, why have you come here? I have heard some of yours made contact with Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff, but what is it that you want to accomplish here exactly?" The king asked curiously, knowing Gazef's warning about the Helldiver's plan.
"I will speak frankly. Super-Earth demands your immediate surrender to our forces. You will surrender, and all the nobles will lose their power. Of course, some governors will be selected to reign over certain regions, but they will not receive the title by lineage. If you do not accept these conditions, we will be forced to take your land through conquest and invasion." The ambassador dropped, silencing the whole room. One could feel the anger inside it, a demon being able to be birthed at any moment now.
Zanac's mouth was agape, Barbro's head red, and the king's eyes wide open. All the nobles looked in shock and disgust at what the ambassador said.
"This is ridiculous how can they demand such a thing from us!"
"Hang them finally!"
"I want an armor like that! Lets kill them and take it from their dead bodies."
The man who said that got weird stares, but it was ignored under these circumstances.
The king was silent, yet it seemed even he was unpleased.
"That is something we cannot do. Now, I would ask you to leave Re-Estize for your own safety." Rampossa said, the guards now surrounding the Helldivers.
"I see. A shame. We don't usually kill humans. But if it must be, we will have to conquer your pathetic monarchy through blood and bones." The Ambassador stated boldly.
"That is enough of your foul words!" A noble called out, unsheathing his sword as he rushed at the ambassador.
A loud sound could be heard, and the body of the noble fell. The object the "knight" had on his waist was suddenly in his hands, pointed toward the previous alive-noble.
"Our weaponry is highly advanced, more so than your primitive daggers and spears. Our government would highly appreciate it if you want to surrender now." That sounded more of a threat than anything else. The room tensed up, and some hands were already on their swords as it seemed the situation wouldn't resolve itself.
"Fine then, for democracy!" The ambassador said as he raised his pistol. He pulled the trigger as he aimed at the king, seeing the fear in his eyes, yet he didn't care. Going for their leader would effectively enhance their chance of subjugating this kingdom.
"[Crystal Wall]!" A voice called out, and just before the bullet could hit its target, it bounced off a crystalline wall.
"What?" The Ambassador turned around to see the group from before. He didn't know what happened, but he wouldn't hesitate now. They raised their weapons toward them, ready to shoot.
But before they could act, two figures materialized behind two of them, daggers in hand as they tried to pierce the Helldiver's necks. Yet a yellow barrier suddenly surrounded all four of them, repelling the twin's attacks. Confused, they quickly retreated behind Blue Rose's lines.
"[Crystal Lance]!" A huge pointy crystal materialized before the short girl, surprising the Helldivers momentarily. It shot toward one of them, and before he knew it, a huge hole was left in his chest, him dropping dead soon after.
"You'll pay for that!" Another screamed as he prepared to unload his magazine toward the lot. But what he didn't expect was that a figure from behind approached.
"[Fourfold Slash of Light]!"
The next Helldiver was carved into four pieces, the attack having gone through the energy shield. The other two looked at each other, retrieving round objects from their belt.
"For liberty!" They screamed as they pulled off the pin, the grenade cooking in their hand as they ran toward the king.
"[Crystal Sphere]!" Evileye cast, surrounding the two Helldivers with walls of crystal.
Seconds after, it exploded into a thousand parts, leaving only a bloody gore left.
"What was that?" Gagaran asked as she went to one of the knights. She picked up their weapon. She noticed how the one had shot it and mimicked his movements. Soon after, fire erupted, and the lamps at the ceiling were blown off.
"Cool!" She said, more enthusiastic than the people inside this room could ever be.
"Cowards, to launch an assassination after negotiations!"
"We cannot let this stand! Lets attack wherever this "Super-Earth" is."
"Silence! It has been shown that Super-Earth has become an enemy of ours. Their soldiers seem dedicated to their cause. Even sacrificing their own life for the better of their nation. We shall do the same for our own homes. Raise your levies, we will need every man we can get!"
discord . gg / h6cpJ5d3xh
Here's my discord invitation code. Join if you're interested in becoming a proofreader of my next chapters, or you just want to hang around. Both work.
I'm still not sure if I want to add Ainz or not. If I do, it will be a stomp on Ainz's side. Tell me in the comments if you would REALLY want to see Ainz appear with Nazarick. The New World is already dangerous to the Helldivers as of this moment. Nazarick would just stomp Super-Earth.