Chapter 104 - See You In A Week

Zell sighed at Maximus's groveling. "The point of the matter remains; the demon lord ordered the capture of my mother." Zell said. "But you are right, I should punish you. It was your choice to steal these peoples from their homes and force them into servitude. That is something I cannot overlook. However, I wish to save your punishment for after I find out if you are lying or not."

"What do you mean?" Maximus asked.

"When I meet with the demon lord." Zell replied. "If my mother is indeed unharmed and well pampered as you said, I shall only punish you for your actions against my friends of the beast kin tribe. However, if I find that you are lying about my mother's wellbeing, then you will wish I would ease your suffering. For the horrors I will inflict upon you will cause the gods to turn their heads in disgust."

Maximus went pale from Zell's threat as he could sense it was the truth. Zell released his barrier around Maximus and the demon general fell to the ground on his knees.

"In one week, I will meet with your demon lord." Zell said. "If there is any type of trap or any harm to my mother, you and the entire kingdom of demons will suffer my wrath."

Maximus nodded and then backed away, before running away at his maximum speed back to the demon lord's domain. All the captive beast kin stood in awe of Zell's display of might and brutality.

"You have grown young man." A familiar voice called out to him as she walked towards him. "I never thought the young man I took into the astral plane with me would be so full of violence. Has your path been so harsh that you have lost your kindness?"

"It is good to see you again." Zell said to the woman he spent five years of his life with. "Last time I dealt with that guy he attacked first then the lying weasel trapped Kaitlyn and I in another realm where gods lived. I owed him for that as well as what he had done to you all, but most of all for stealing my mother away."

"He took Leon too." Jageria said. "Where is Kaitlyn? She must be devastated about the whole ordeal."

"She is in the kingdom of Tarm, safe." Zell said. "Everyone!" He yelled. "I am going to open a portal to the kingdom of Tarm, I want you all to go through it."

"Straight to business I see." Jageria said with a sigh.

"It's best if we don't stick around." Zell said. "Maximus could return with reinforcements or attack from a long range. I would be fine; however, I am unsure if I would be able to protect everyone here. So, we can talk later, I promise I will be available for you."

"Alright." Jageria agreed. "Everyone line up!" She yelled. "Create a single file line!"

Zell created his portal, and the beast kin began to jump through one by one. After twenty minutes the last of the beast kin went through and Zell followed after them, closing the portal behind him. He found himself inside the throne room with a surprised Samantha sitting on the throne. Kaitlyn and Kilgon were standing to her right and all of the beast kin were scattered throughout the room.

"Love, do you mind explaining what happened?" Samantha asked with a fake smile, stressed by all the work Zell had just caused her.

"I rescued the beast kin." Zell replied. "Their village was burned to the ground, so they needed a new place to live. I thought your kingdom would be a good place for them."

Kaitlyn walked over to Zell and slapped him across his face. Tears had been running down her cheeks. She then gave him a massive hug while he was stunned from the slap. "Why did you not include me?!" She asked, crying. "I was so worried you were going to get emotional and collapse again."

"I am fine." He said pulling her off of him. "Maximus is a powerful foe, and I did not want to risk either of you getting hurt."

"Ha!" Kilgon laughed. "I appreciate the gesture lad, but I am more than capable of taking care of myself."

"I am sure you are." Zell said. "But I refuse to put any of you at risk for something I need to do."

"You're a fool sometimes." Kaitlyn said. "We are your friends; we would gladly risk our lives next to you! It is a risk we are willing to take! You shouldn't try and take on the world by yourself!"

"Why not?!" Zell demanded. "I basically have the fate of the entire multiverse resting on my shoulders. What is just a little bit more?! I would rather take it all on than see anyone else get hurt!"

"It's so funny that you are so different, yet the same man you were in the memories of your past life." Jageria said. "I watched as you sacrificed for your family time and time again. Your body, your happiness, your money, everything you had you have to them. You took on all of their problems and tried to solve everyone of them yourself. You are still trying to do the same thing."

"Well back then I was the only one who could do those things." Zell said. "Same is true for now. The circumstances are different, but the facts remain the same. If I am the only one capable of doing something, is it not better for me to just do it? Why would I want to set anyone else up for failure or risk anyone's life?"

"Because that is what normal people do." Samantha said. "Humans and nonhumans alike are both social by nature. We depend on each other to grow and live. Being alone on an island where you are trying to save the multiverse by yourself, is just depressing. You have all of us, we would all gladly give our lives to help you. That is what family does. It doesn't revolve around everything being put on one person while everyone else lives happy lives. It is a team effort with a shared burden. You need to accept our help, we want to because we are more than friends, we are a family."

"Maybe you have bonded with Kaitlyn and Kilgon while I was away, but to be fair I barely know any of you except for Kaitlyn. Even her I only have a short time of interaction with. Sure, we went through a lot together and I broke time and space for her, but the point remains we are not close enough, or at least I am not close enough to be called a family."

"You think too much lad." Kilgon said. "The point the girls are trying to make is you should trust us with your burden. You trusted us with your mission here in Tarm and everything turned out great."

"You all killed a king and took over a kingdom." Zell said.

"Yes, but you got your ally did you not?" Kilgon replied. "We achieved the impossible, because we wanted to help you in your mission just as we wish to help you now."

"Fine." Zell said sharply. "I won't trick you again and run off on my own."

"Was that so hard?" Samantha asked. "Now what of the demon general? Should we fear an attack?"

"He ran back to the demon lord with a message from me." Zell said. "I told him I would meet with him in seven days. Also, that if there were any traps of any type I would bring a suffering upon him that he would regret."

"I see." Samantha said. "So, you are meeting with the demon lord in a week?" She asked. "Do you no longer wish to pursue the original objective of building a power base and changing the hearts of humans?"

"He forced my hand on this." Zell said. "I will go and do the dragon ritual and then I will meet with the demon lord. After that I will deal with my sister."

"Still so many I's in that statement." Kaitlyn said. "We can do something as well, you know."

"Kilgon what is your level?" Zell asked.

"Buy a dwarf a drink first!" Kilgon joked. "Ha! Nothing compared to your two million lad, but I am a respectable five hundred thousand. Isabel is six hundred thousand."

"Really Onis are that strong?!" Kaitlyn yelled.

"Aye, the union between an ogre and a demon shouldn't be possible. However, when one occurs their power tops the charts of power. That is why they are feared throughout the land."

"That is amazing." Zell said. "But why didn't an Oni just wipe the world out long ago if they are so strong?"

"It has something to do with the demon lord." Kilgon said. "Since his ascension, all demons have received massive boosts to their power. For her it was even greater because she was an Oni."

"Oh, so it was the gods' fault again.." Zell said with a sigh.