章 42: Chapter 28
Barbro growled as he looked at the walls decorated as if it were a traveling circus, with log walls, banners, and balloons.
Were these peasants so stupid as to draw so much attention? Was it for another reason?
Why did he have to come to such a remote place in the first place!?
He wanted to growl again, but an idea came to mind.
What if he used the village against Deorum Regnum?
No… Those bastards wouldn't care about that… But their greatest warrior, the adamantite adventurer, Titania, would. And one of Deorum Regnum's high-ranking officials as well. Lady Nyx, the merchant who was named Duchess as soon as she set foot in that land of thieves, according to the intelligence the Kingdom had acquired. Not that he knew that information had been deliberately handed over on a silver platter to begin with.
Tch, whatever.
One of the knights granted to him by the Marquesses Bulworb and Reaven approached the village gates, for, as the crown prince, Barbro did not have to do things like presenting his presence to these filthy peasants.
"This is the convoy of the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, Barbro Andrean Ield dale Vaiself! Open the gate and let us in!"
They did not open the gate immediately. Barbro's eye twitched in annoyance.
"Why, why do they have to send so many soldiers to a border village like this?" The voice of a young girl came from the wall. She could barely be seen, but she was leaning over the wall.
Barbro frowned, his envoy spoke again, somewhat annoyed now.
"Peasants like you don't need to know that! This land belongs to the King, and obeying the King is all you need to do! Or could it be that you are defying the King, raising your flag in rebellion?"
The girl did not respond, in fact, she turned around, disappearing.
"Again… Open the gate!"
"My-My apologies! At this moment, at this moment we are preparing a welcome for His Highness the Prince! Please wait a moment!" The woman responded. Barbro could at least accept that response, but he had no patience for it.
"Repeat that, woman! Are you in charge of this village? This delay is unacceptable! Do not waste a single second and open the gate!"
"… Why are you so desperate to get in?!" She was heard shouting…
Was she rebelling against the kingdom!? Barbro was already making a face as he thought about simply wiping out the village and taking prisoners.
The envoy remained silent, looking at Barbro with a grimace, not knowing what to do.
The prince just wanted to spit out how useless he was, but remained silent, giving him an impatient and annoyed look.
"Why don't you respond! You are impostors pretending to be Kingdom troops, aren't you?!"
The girl shouted. Barbro growled again.
…
"Hip~ Hop~ Hap~ Hep~ Y hup~" Kalos said in his usual cheerful tone, as the last of the Imps jumped into the small hidden hole, leading to the underground hideout that the Imps had built.
Kalos whistled, and the pair of wolves in the barn lifted their heads and quickly ran to jump into the hole as well.
Kalos had counted all the Non-Humans who had entered, and indeed, everyone was hidden. From the Goblins, who were taken to the 'secret refuge' granted by Lady Nyx as a gift, although it was actually not intended as a refuge but as a storage room with valuable resources that the Demon Queen simply gave away. The thing is, the storage room was deep in the forest.
Lady Nyx gave them a map of how to get there, and the Imps built a tunnel to reach that storage room. And fortunately, the tunnel was big enough for the Ogres to pass, although somewhat hunched over.
The Imps, on the other hand, wouldn't go to the storage room. They would stay underneath Carne, in case something happened, and Kalos and his Troupe had to sacrifice themselves for Enri.
Kalos was about to jump, but he didn't. Instead, he pulled out a ragged blanket, a fake gray beard, and some makeup. As well as a nose, a tall hat, and a wig.
He wouldn't leave Enri alone. And with Pierrot and Vallecas in the hideout to make sure the wolves didn't make any noise, he was alone.
...
"Shit, there's cow shit everywhere! W-We can't let the Prince enter a place like this!"
After a short silence, a calmer voice broke the air.
"Oh, um. Understood. So how about this? We will enter instead of His Highness the Prince. Then we'll think about what happens next."
There were no more excuses she could give.
Enri's mind went completely blank. She no longer knew what to do... She was about to scream the first thing that came to mind...
But someone patted her arm.
Enri looked to her side and saw a hunched old man, barely reaching her waist. A wizard-like hat, gray hair covering his eyes, a large nose, and a thick gray beard.
Enri blinked. She had never seen this man before.
"Don't worry, my Lady Enri~ Everyone is hidden~ Don't worry~ Let them come in to ask questions, and then let them leave in peace~" Kalos's voice came from between the beard-covered lips.
This... This was a very good disguise... It made her feel relieved and foolish for being so scared. Kalos had everything covered.
She didn't know what she would do without him.
"However, my Lady... If this doesn't go well... I hope you understand that I will sacrifice myself so that you can escape. I will pretend to be the leader of the village so that you don't have to worry. I have incredible charisma~..."
"K-Kalos! W-What are you saying!? I won't let-!"
"Just promise me that you will flee with the boy Nfirea, the ol' Lizzie, and little Nemu..." Kalos looked at Enri. "Promise me, my Lady..."
"I-I..." Enri froze. Kalos just looked at her in silence.
An imaginary hourglass was starting to run out of sand in its upper zone.
Prince Barbro's army was outside, waiting, after all...
"... I... promise... Kalos..." She finally said.
Kalos let out a smile through his beard, making him look like a kind old man.
"Good~ Open the gate, guys~ Show time~" Kalos shouted to the villagers.
They looked doubtfully at the old man with Kalos's voice and only sighed after Enri nodded to them.
Some had mixed feelings about being ungrateful to their saviors, but they did not object.
…
Barbro's patience was running out.
The envoy looked back at Barbro, and was about to turn around to return to the prince, but the gates opened.
Finally! Damn peasants...
And an old man appeared through the door, hunched over with a wooden cane to walk.
The old man immediately made the effort to kneel.
"M-My apologies for making His Highness wait. The truth is that I am very old... And my granddaughter wanted to buy time so that I, as the Village Chief, could properly welcome you..." The old man sounded somewhat nervous and shaky, raspy and even a bit tired.
The envoy was a minor noble, but even he had to feel some empathy for the old man.
The envoy looked at Barbro, unsure of what to do now.
And the prince just snorted. "Fine. It's about time. Making me wait this long is already an offense enough! But I will let it go this time! I have some questions for you peasants." Barbro shouted from his place, making the old man appear nervous and amazed.
Hmp~! It's good that this old man understands the magnificence of the crown prince of the Kingdom~
He would squeeze everything out of them about Nyx and Titania, recruit their men, and take the village to make the duo of important figures from Deorum Regnum hesitate.
…
(That concludes the report on the development of the situation, oh, Blessed One.)
Black Abyss listened attentively to the new report from her summon, the Archangel of Belen, one of her strongest summons, which wasn't much, since it was only level 55, regarding what was happening in the village she and Dont saved upon arriving in the New World, Carne Village.
So the first prince of Re-Estize was besieging Carne Village… The only place with a good chance of becoming worshipers of her and Dont…
It wasn't a strategic position, nor did they have anything important in that small village, or anything that would benefit Titania, except for the boy Nfirea and his grandmother, who could easily be taken out of there.
But… It was a place she considered hers. They would worship her, and therefore, as their Goddess, she would have to punish the aggressors.
It wasn't an idea she entirely liked… But, given the war context, what could happen if she did nothing was even worse.
By declaring those people as 'traitors,' the prince would have to kill them all and burn the entire village down to the last wooden branch and the last straw piece.
It was worrisome… She could go herself in her guise as Titania… But it would draw too much attention to why she would appear at such a precise moment…
She could ask Superbia to use the kingdom's power to send an army to that place if it was permissible at the moment, but… That would be even stranger considering the numbers they would need…
In itself, anything she did could be too strange, and draw all the suspicious looks towards Deorum Regnum.
She would have to wait…
Still, one thing was clear, if Carne were declared a traitor village, she would go herself the moment the prince began a massacre. After all, her anger was always directed towards injustice in such situations.
She felt the request for permission for a [Message], accepting it.
(Blessed One… A Demon… An Imp… Dressed as an old man… Is talking with the prince, or rather, the prince's 'envoys.' The conversation seems peaceful, leaning towards pacifism.)
She heard her summon report, a Demon Imp… Right.
In the village, there were various types of creatures, humans and demons, because the girl Enri had used a magical item that Dont gave her. Although it seemed a bit risky to her that the Imp was not hiding to avoid drama regarding demons in the village.
"So that's it…" She sighed in relief, if it was true, then it seemed she didn't need to worry so much… For now…
(Keep sending me reports if anything happens.) She said to her summon.
(It will be done, oh, Blessed One.)
The message cut off, and Black Abyss wanted to sigh. But at least she was grateful to have a dozen Angels, and a few stealth units, around Carne. All the Angels had basic concealment abilities because they were Archangels, so she praised herself for thinking of that.
…
"My prince… They don't seem to really have a connection with Duchess Nyx and Adventurer Titania. They were only saved by them, and never saw them again." The envoy and spokesman for the crown prince, Sir Marlys, summarized what he got from the conversation with the Village Chief.
Apparently, a traveling circus had passed by and helped the village a bit after being saved. That's why the place was like this.
And with a few people, among them Nfirea Bareare and his grandmother, who joined the village's numbers, they gradually rebuilt the village to the point it was today.
And with the incredible explanation from the Village Chief, Sir Marlys had no choice but to believe him.
"Tch. So we came here for nothing?" Barbro frowned, clenching his fists while in the village square with a small escort of officers, and atop his horse.
"W-Well, Your Majesty. The horses and soldiers are tired… We could take the opportunity to rest here." Marlys offered with a nervous smile.
Barbro frowned, looking at the village around him. He just snorted while growling.
"Tch. Fine. We will feed our soldiers with this village's resources. They should be grateful to be of use to me at least. I could simply ravage them and steal their resources…"
"B-But Your Majesty~ D-Destroying a village in kingdom territory during wartime would only destroy our men's morale." Marlys said nervously. It was difficult to deal with the crown prince…
"Hm… You're right… However, we can claim the men of this place as recruited soldiers for the cause… And if it happens, the men could relax a bit with the maidens." Barbro said with an amused smile at his joke. A couple of soldiers behind him laughed, more at the implication than anything else.
Marlys remained silent, somewhat unsure of what to respond…
"Also. Those walls are… Very well made. It's a good defensive area. So we can take the village as a temporary military base to withstand sieges from those bandit bastards." Barbro explained while stroking his chin. He wasn't very smart, but at least he knew about war.
"Your Majesty… I don't think a whole army of 10,000 men would fit in this small village…" Marlys murmured.
"... Fine. Have the men set up an improvised camp outside the wall. They should be fine. The officers and I will camp inside the village. In fact, I'll kick that old man out of his hut. It's a pigsty, but at least it's the best there is." The prince growled, not happy about not having a proper royal tent.
"... It will be done, Your Majesty…"
…
"Understood, Your Majesty."
"Yeah, go." Dont sighed as she dismissed the Demon she had just summoned. A Mistress of the Infernal Creed.
For what purpose? Well, she was a summoner and commander, so the woman would go on summoning more and more Demons without Dont having to bother. In fact, unless Dont wanted to summon Demons superior to level 50, she had no reason to assist in the summoning since the summon could only summon up to that level, whereas Dont could summon up to level 65.
However, the Demon woman had more bonuses in her summoning than Dont herself, so... Ironically, her summoning was better than Dont's.
Although requiring 600 corpses for the Mistress of the Infernal Creed, covered in full-body black and red armor with a large skirt, red gloves, a black silk cape, a crown-like helmet, and a red mask of a human face, was somewhat annoying.
{Mistress of the Infernal Creed PNG}
But considering they had millions and millions of corpses thanks to the destruction of the Empire, she could afford the luxury. 600 humans of levels between 5 and 20 for a level 60 summon that could summon more things? It wasn't an offer she was going to refuse.
Dont sighed as she looked at her servant for the day, Agares. She was one of the smallest in stature, with dark and light purple hair down to her knees, two little pink horns on the sides of her head, two purple wings from her back, and two eyes in a mix of pink and sky blue. She exuded a gentle aura.
Her maid outfit was a mix of daring and cute, reminiscent of a French maid, revealing her bust with some tattoos, yet accentuating Agares's tenderness, which balanced it appropriately.
{Maido Agares PNG}
"Those are all the summons I can make for the day. Agares, note that it was a Mistress of the Infernal Creed. Level 60, so place it a bit above the Infernal Hero but below the Demonic Angel."
"Yes~ Lady Dont, Mistress~" The maid nodded with a sweet smile, which made Dont sigh with tenderness.
Agares grabbed the notebook at her side and began to jot down notes. This was for the report to Bachelory and Black Abyss.
They were preparing for war, so they needed to arm themselves with some 'soldiers' outside of the POPs. Among these were summons. Could summons die? Yes. Would it be a waste of corpses? Probably.
But considering that only a level 30 was around the Oricaldum level and even Adamantite, then the summon would take several soldiers before dying, quintupling the corpses that were consumed. If not more.
...
Enri silently watched as the soldiers rested and took advantage of the training while the sun began to set.
The army simply decided to settle there for the night to rest, according to Kalos. At first, she worried, but since the soldiers had made their small and easily dismantled camp outside the wall, she could breathe somewhat easier.
But the fact that Prince Barbro and his officers had decided to take houses from the villagers to spend the night... Definitely earned several complaints.
Even anger with questionable words that would quickly be considered treason if any of the soldiers heard. Fortunately for Enri, Kalos managed to calm the people.
Enri sighed somewhat anxiously as she silently watched from the watchtower.
"All good, Lady Enri~ Or should I say granddaughter~?" Kalos appeared from the side, still disguised as an old man as he joked.
The fact that Kalos was so good at acting and making speeches was a stroke of luck. She had asked about it, though it was foolish. Kalos simply replied that it was because he owned a circus and should be capable of acting.
"Ah, Kalos... I wouldn't say everything is fine... But not bad... At least we weren't accused of treason..." The true Chief of the Village sighed, looking fondly at the small Imp.
"Well~ There's always something better~ You just have to know how to see the good in every situation to understand that there's always something worse~" The Circus Master uttered another one of his extravagantly phrased sayings, sometimes unnecessarily complicated, making Enri laugh.
However, she looked again at the army. "... Do you think they'll just stay the night and leave without more...?" Enri didn't know what to think of the crown prince. Or the army. They had had to offer some of the various extra rations they had stored due to the prince's demands...
To them, commoners like the inhabitants of Carne were nothing more than expendable pawns.
The thought made her clench her fists.
"... I'll be honest with you, my Lady. Surely the prince, from what I can presume, will want to recruit the men from the village for the war, as well as they'll devour our rations as they wish and without consideration... Apparently, Lady Nyx and Lady Titania were declared traitors of the Kingdom because they are part of a new nation hostile to the Kingdom, so they will surely use our men as meat shields to weaken the morale of the two..." Kalos explained without his usual cheerful tone.
Enri wanted to hit something now, and show that little prince what she thought of his thoughts... But Enri sighed again.
"I... I don't know what to do... This... Is too much for me..."
"... My Lady. Don't worry. We are here for you~... And if you wish, I, Kalos, the Master of the Demonic Circus Troupe~ I will take care of all your problems~... You just have to say it, my Lady... And we, the Circus Troupe, will do everything in our power to fulfill your orders." Kalos said with a new seriousness. There was even a... Sinister tone in his voice.
"No... I can't ask that of you... I don't want you to sacrifice yourselves for me... I don't want anyone else to die... To suffer any more..." Enri's eyes started to tear up as she looked at the disguised Imp.
And Kalos only gave her a smile behind his fake gray beard.
"Then give us the order not to die~" He said as if it were obvious, at the same time in a kind of joke.
Enri blinked, and as a tear fell, she laughed helplessly.
"Haha~ Alright then, Kalos... I order you all to... Not die."
"And~~~?" Kalos tilted his head to the side, elongating his word as he waited for Enri's words, making her laugh a bit more.
"... And... Please... Help me with this... Solve... Um... My problem." Enri stuttered a bit embarrassed, sounding like a shy child asking an adult for help.
Kalos gave a magnificent smile and looked at Enri.
"So it shall be done, my Lady~ Sleep well~ For we will take care of it~" The Imp said confidently, making Enri feel a little security and relief as well. Or at least a false feeling that lightly covered her fear and nervousness.
Enri smiled one last time. And Kalos looked at the human camp...
…
Kalos wasn't particularly proud of what he was about to do, but neither was he against it or ashamed. It was simply something to be done. It even caused a certain level of excitement in his heart. Of joy.
He blamed his demonic nature for it, but couldn't help but smile as he stealthily made his way to where the other Imps were hiding.
They looked at him in silence, understanding that the order of 'no noise' was absolute, and disobedience of this order would not be tolerated right now.
"Alright, boys~ It's time to show what we're capable of~ Let's show them what our troop is made of~" Kalos whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Under our Lady's wish, I, Kalos, have devised this plan~ Listen carefully~"
The imps listened attentively. Among the usually cheerful and mocking laughter, there was a tone of sadism and malice.
...
The sun had set a while ago, and Karlein yawned as he gazed into the silent darkness of the Great Forest of Tob .
After all, it was his turn to patrol in case any monsters appeared.
Fortunately, the villagers had set up some barricades in case such a scenario occurred to delay the monsters. Karlein silently thanked the villagers for such a brilliant idea, which allowed him to relax a bit.
The 90% of the army was basically asleep, with the remaining 10% patrolling, talking to each other, eating, or goofing around.
It was an army of 10 thousand men after all. Basically, the Village of Carne was tiny in comparison to the large improvised camp.
He thanked the Gods that they were allowed to bring luggage in case any inconvenience occurred and they had to camp.
He didn't know what the inconvenience was now, but at least they could rest from walking for days or riding horses for the same time, with heavy armor under the sun, luggage, or who knows what.
He yawned, before hearing a sound in a bush. He raised an eyebrow, before a little bird flew out of the bush.
It was rare to see a bird in a bush, but Karlein shrugged.
... He didn't notice how something slid behind him in silence.
And that something jumped on his back. And before Karlein could make any noise of protest, his throat felt a cold metallic sensation, before a hot liquid spilled from it, preventing Karlein from making any sound beyond a gurgle.
His eyes widened as he fell to the ground, clutching his neck, just to see how a little red creature, dressed like a black clown, with curved goat horns, red eyes, and sharp white teeth, settled on his chest, leaning.
A long arrow-tipped tail swung behind the creature, while it laughed between its teeth with malice.
Kalein was about to at least slap the creature, but it opened its mouth.
Teeth like needles only gave way to jaws black as the abyss, while something began to pull him.
Kalein felt his life slipping away, as darkness devoured his vision.
…
The night passed in slow and torturous minutes... As body after body fell lifeless onto their sleeping bags, or outside them.
An Imp played darts with one of the soldiers, first piercing him in the forehead, reaching the brain, before pouncing and 'devouring' him.
Another Imp tied a rope around two sleeping soldiers, starting to pull to disorient them, and drew two knives to finish their movements.
A different one opened another soldier's mouth and shoved some kind of shiny ball in, before the soldier's guts exploded in a dull sound, liquefying as confetti and nails painfully killed him in his sleep.
Pierrot sat on one of the soldiers, who had woken up, using her curves to make him think it was a wet dream, and while he was enchanted by her body, she broke his neck in a calculated move.
Vallecas grabbed one of the soldiers' swords and used it to cut one soldier's throat, while her tail did the same to the soldier next to him.
A silent bloodbath took place in the soldiers' camp.
And among them, was the 'leader'.
Kalos slithered like a snake through the tent of one of the generals, as it seemed, before pulling out a knife and stabbing repeatedly, before opening his mouth, and sucking something. The ethereal essence came out of the general, and entered Kalos's system.
The Imp hummed as he felt the sensation of 'becoming stronger' in a certain way.
His very existence as an Imp summoned by the magical object did not prepare him for the idea of 'becoming stronger', so the feeling was new, but not rejected.
Now... Officially he was an 'Assassin'. Curious~
He hummed without feeling the slightest bit bothered by the thought as he slid again, moving on to his next target.
It was also curious that his own previous classes as leader of all the Imps are improving, and therefore he can see the growth of each of his little clowns.
Ironically, now, the little clowns were all at the same level of strength as Kalos was at the start of this 'raid'.
With the twins being even stronger still. And his 'class' as Troop Leader, allowed him to command a certain level of simple mental orders. Well, not orders as such, it was a kind of general communication.
And although Kalos rose to what, numerically, was level 27 after devouring the souls of a few soldiers, he still needed to be stronger. He had to be.
The fact that Enri, his lady, was in this situation in the first place, was due to the weakness of the Circus Troupe... However, it would not happen again.
Kalos and the Troupe would become strong. At the expense of these invading humans, of course.
As he finished his determined and somewhat sadistic line of thought, he entered another tent, and used the skills of his only magical class. Illusionism.
All to deal with the two soldiers who were talking to each other inside the tent.
He tricked them into not seeing Kalos for a moment, before pouncing on one in an illusion that made him more aesthetically deformed to scare him.
He tore off his neck, while his now sharpened tail plunged into the throat of the other soldier.
He devoured their souls, and leveled up again.
It was curious that he had unlocked the requirements to be a Oneiromancer... But he wouldn't reject the offer~ It was very useful for this situation~
The nocturnal massacre continued its course, without interruptions.
…
Barbro suddenly woke up from his dream, sweating rivers from the nightmare of being burned alive.
"G-Guh... This damn pigsty... It's definitely cursed." Barbro complained as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He knew they should have returned to E-Rantel... He'd be in the Golden Pavilion instead of this pile of garbage they called home...
Something creaked outside the bedroom, as if someone was walking heavily, causing the fragile structure to squeak.
"Who's there!? I told you not to enter this house!" The prince yelled angrily. If he was going to sleep here, he would do so without anyone interrupting him.
The footsteps stopped, and no one responded, causing Barbro to furrow his brow even more than he already was.
He was about to yell again, but something flew in through the window of the room.
Barbro grunted at the slight fright and looked at the offensive object someone dared to throw at him.
Tch, he would make sure to find and punish whoever threw a...! … A head...?
Barbro blinked, seeing Sir Marlys's head on the floor in an expression of horror.
"W-What!?" He cried out not understanding what was happening.
Were they under attack!? How did he not hear the commotion!?
"Barbro." A voice came from the door, and the prince froze.
After all... It was the voice of his father, King Ramposa, who should be, at least on the way to E-Rantel or in the castle...
The heir prince rushed to grab his sword. Only to see that the sheath was empty.
He was unarmed... Against enemies...
He clicked his tongue, before freezing again by the voice that spoke again.
"You're great, Barbro." ... It was the voice of that disgusting Demon who called herself the Golden Princess... His sister...
"Tch. Renner! Stop this nonsense or I'll declare you a traitor for murdering a noble of the kingdom!" Were they followed hidden among the countless troops? Tch, it was surely that dog of hers who killed Sir Marlys while he slept... Damn disgusting bitch.
"... Let us in, Barbro." The voice changed... And it was Zanac's.
"W-Wh-?" Was Zanac there too? ... Were those... Were Zanac and Renner really...?
The door was hit hard, as if someone were desperate to enter.
Another strong blow came... And then another... And Renner and Zanac started laughing...
They started laughing uncontrollably... As if they had lost their minds.
"LET US IN, BROTHER!" They shouted in unison, accompanied by laughter and pounding on the door, which kept shaking.
Barbro stepped back a step, sweating seas as he unconsciously thanked that the door of this hovel was resisting.
Was he still dreaming!? What is this!?
The blows stopped, the laughter too...
"Ah, Your Highness, the Crown Prince."
Barbro practically jumped out of his own skin as he raised his fists, ready to defend himself or attack, looking to his side...
And there he was, the chief of this village in his rags and hat, with his dirty beard and his small, hunched body like a deformed...
"Tch! What do you think you're doing, commoner!? Do you want me to hang you on the walls of this village!?" Barbro unleashed his anger on the old man.
But he just smiled... Just smiled... And smiled... Until the row of pin-like teeth, black gums, and black drool were clearly visible.
"I'm just… Passing by... Your Highness..." King Ramposa III's voice came from between the old man's teeth, as he began to grow, and grow, covering the moonlight coming from the only window.
Red horns emerged from the wig, lifting the hat and throwing it to the ground.
The rags fell away to reveal the thin, red skin that showed the entire skeleton that looked human but inhuman at the same time, having too many ribs...
The smile widened even more, while the beard fell like a useless piece of cloth, showing the pointed chin.
The eyes that looked like two jelly balls trembled as black cracks surrounded the eye sockets...
Barbro trembled as he saw the long arms with sharp claws, and the tail like a whip with different tendrils like tentacles coming out of a knot of rope.
"W-What are you...? D-Damned... M-Monster..." Barbro stuttered, while all his instincts screamed, but his body remained motionless, as if his body were just a cage for his mind, while the red shadow rose higher and higher...
Barbro couldn't even blink, couldn't do anything. Couldn't move.
"... Narcolepsy..." In a hoarse voice, like a hundred insects being crushed by another hundred rusty knives, the monster replied... And Barbro blinked, regaining control of his body.
He breathed once he could breathe again, clutching his chest as he looked around, terrified and sweaty, pale, looking around, looking for the red monster...
But there was nothing... Not even Sir Marlys's head... What...? Was it a dream...? An illusion...?
Barbro trembled as he felt anger at his fear. At that terrifying feeling of not being able to move, while a monster approached him...
He growled in pure rage at himself, although he looked to the side.
His sword was still missing...
A wet sound was heard in front of him. And he looked at the source.
There were two pieces of white and wet jelly crushed against the ground, with a slight speck of color, as if they had been irises... As if they were eyes.
Light drops of something black fell from above, like a leak...
Barbro trembled, and looked up at the ceiling, slowly and shakily...
"Oops~ I dropped it~ Could you pass it to me~?"
{Kalos PNG}
Barbro's scream echoed through the village. But no one could hear it.
...
Enri yawned as she opened her eyes with an unpleasant feeling, as if she hadn't slept at all.
In fact, she slept terribly due to the sheer stress of having an army from the kingdom literally surrounding her.
She groaned as she stretched, tired. After all, she had to sleep in the shed as her house, the Chief's house, was taken by the prince. Another reason she was very upset.
She looked to her side, and Kalos wasn't there. He slept with her, Nemu and Nfirea, and the rest of the villagers whose houses were taken after all. Or well, stayed with the two of them.
She felt depressed for not hearing the trumpet with that military-like sound that Kalos always used to wake her up at an appropriate time while he had breakfast made for her...
Life was so easy with Kalos...
She sighed, forcing herself to get up, trying not to make noise...
And a trumpet sounded, scaring Enri.
"Good morning~ Companions~ Who's ready for a good breakfast~?" All the villagers in the stable rose to the loud trumpet, and looked to... Kalos...
"K-Kalos?" Enri blinked.
After all... Kalos was tall now... And had completely red horns and not curved ones, as well as tiny teeth like pins and black gums instead of golden teeth.
He was still skinny and thin, agile, but he had a bit of muscle in his arms now...
Kalos normally would reach Enri's chest with horns and all... But now, the Imp was as tall as Enri, not counting the horns and bowler hat.
"Indeed, my Lady~ I am your good servant~" The changed Imp gave an elegant bow as he took off his hat... That was... So Kalos...
"W-What happened to you...?" Nfirea asked, incredibly doubtful as he examined the Imp from head to toe. He was dressed as usual... Just... Were his clothes somewhat fancier?
"I simply had a growth spurt~ You know how it is~ Ohohoho~" The Imp laughed as he always did, pulling another of his jokes.
Nfirea was about to say something, very doubtful of Kalos's useless response, but gave up, dismissing possible explanations or logic, since it was Kalos, the leader of literal Demon clowns.
"Wah~ So tall~ Kalos, Kalos! Lift me up!" Nemu said excitedly, jumping in front of Kalos.
The Imp just smiled, looking... Shady because of how his mouth was now, and by the habit of seeing him with a more human mouth, except for the sharp, golden teeth, and lifted Nemu by her armpits, and put her around his neck.
"Is that tall enough, little Nemu~? Do you want to go first class~!? On a flight straight to New York~!"
"Hehe~ I don't know what that is~ But yes~!" Nemu laughed at Kalos's nonsense, as he began to turn around to leave...
And Enri noticed the biggest problem here.
"K-Kalos! What about the army and the prince!? Y-You can't just go out like this!" Enri stopped the Imp, totally scared of losing her drowsiness and surprised by waking up and seeing Kalos like this.
If the prince or any of the soldiers saw Kalos... A Demon... They would kill him on the spot, even if Enri explained that he was an invocation... And therefore, they would condemn the whole village for witchcraft...
"Ah~ Don't worry about them, my Lady~ I and the boys have taken care of it~ They won't bother us anymore~" Kalos reassured her, somewhat theatrically.
"W-What? Are they gone...?"
"You could say so~ Anyway~ Thanks to the boys~ We have heaps of meat for the winter~ To make up for what the evil soldiers took from us~" Kalos dismissed as he delivered the good news. "And thanks to the abundance of meat~ We've made a great breakfast for the whole village~! So come before the food gets cold~!" Kalos gestured for them to follow him, before running off at a relatively high speed with Nemu on top of him, with the girl laughing cheerfully.
Enri blinked, seeing the changed Imp and Nemu running towards the town square…
The Village Chief looked to the side, where the horses of the Kingdom soldiers should have been... And there was nothing... Only footprints that were beginning to disappear thanks to the wind...
"I…" She frowned slightly, but sighed, relieved. And she smiled.
Kalos… It really made everything easier…
Enri smiled at her partner, Nfirea, and held out a hand to her, as the other villagers in the stable began to make their way towards the town square.
Nfirea still looked doubtful about Kalos, but smiled when he saw Enri, and took her hand.
The whole town ate until they were full that day. A fairly well cooked meat by the Imp who had been the main cook, who was now also big, and cooked better than ever~
…
(And that is what happened, Oh Blessed One. I was trying to contact you overnight, but it seemed something was preventing you from receiving my requests, I hope you forgive me, Oh Blessed One.) The Spirit of Belen, a weaker version of the Archangel of Belen, explained to Black Abyss, who had just woken up from her pleasant dream.
"Yes... It must have been an unknown force... Still, good job. Those... Imps, you say they evolved? Into what?" She asked as the maids put on her formal clothes that she wore in Deorum Regnum, as for convenience, she decided to sleep in such a place.
(The two Tamers seem to have gone down an unholy path of sin and lust. They became Succubus. The leader became a creature of nightmares and torment, an Alptraum from what this one can say, Oh Blessed One. The one who acts as a cook followed a path of wickedness and malice, becoming a Devil. The one who jokes the most-)
"Eh, summarize the rest and then give a complete report in writing..." Black Abyss sweat a drop, really not wanting the Angel to slowly explain what each of the 45 Imps evolved into...
(Of course, Oh Blessed One. The rest of the Imps went down paths between Devils and pure Demons. A few went down paths like Manias, and even going down the branch to become Balrogs and Shadows.)
"Watch them closely. They are invocations, so they may not turn against the one who summoned them. Still, they must be kept under observation and in captivity in Carne, they will be investigated." Black Abyss ordered as she was finished being prepared by the maids.
(As the Blessed One says, your word will be fulfilled, for your word is law.) And with that, Black Abyss cut off the communication.
She had been sleeping all night, like an Angel, she didn't really need it, but she used to be human before, and kept that habit, every time she saw the Sun set, she wanted to go to bed because of the unconscious idea, on Earth, when a certain hour arrived, she imagined how the evening would be without the smog clouds covering it, so she could not avoid it.
Also... She felt a strange sensation at night, as if she wanted to leave with the Sun... Sleep until dawn... Well, it was literally a characteristic of her race as Urielle... At night she had a slight HP and Mana regeneration debuff, and during the day she had a stat improvement based on the position of the Sun, or well, the time at least. And if the place was cloudy, the buff was reduced by 50%, and so on in different combinations in which Black Abyss was stronger the more exposed to sunlight she was.
And to think she missed all that... She should maybe set an alarm clock... Or well, directly give the maids a schedule to wake her up, they were good at waking up early...
She literally never saw any of them sleeping or slacking off... Did they even sleep? Well, Fallen Angels and Demons could stay awake for a long time due to their races, not stay awake indefinitely due to their only level in race, but for a few weeks without sleeping. Onis could endure a little less, about 5 or 6 days without sleep without problem, so they should sleep more often...
Eh... Sleeping every night was even making her feel lazy just thinking about it...
They could even skip any dream just to be able to attend to her or Dont. They could even work themselves to death just by thinking that it would help them...
Although the fact that it reminded her of those terrible things that companies did, such extreme labor exploitation... It made her feel a little bad about it.
She looked at the two maids who stood behind her after finishing adjusting her dress, and with both hands she patted them on the head.
They smiled happily, completely pleased.
Still... She had to talk to Dont about what happened...
.
.
.
Name: Kalos
.
.
.
Name: RataVibradora2003
.
.
.
クリエイターの想い 
DontSayMyName
DontSayMyName Greetings~ I'm back~ As promised, here's the first chapter of arc 7 after 2 weeks~ I hope you liked it~ Not only does it continue directly with the situation in Carne, but it also brings this incredible revelation, drama, and terror~! Muahahaha~
Again, I hope you enjoyed it. As you can see, there are the respective profiles of Kalos after the Silent Massacre, and another Supreme, RataVibradora this time~ As promised~ Although this arc is a bit shorter than the others, but oh well~
An important decision: at the end of each arc, I will take a week's break to relax a bit and better prepare for the next arc, although I'll remind you of this just in case~
Fufu~ Without further ado, feel free to comment, vote, ask questions, share, etc, as much as you like~ You can read this in spanish in my Wattpad with images and the chapter 28 already, or in my Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction in english without the next chapter, but to just support other platforms~ See you next Friday for chapter 28~ Have a great day~ Goodbye~
— 次の章はもうすぐ掲載する — レビューを書く
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット