Chapter 115 - The Great Sea (2)

Abel grew up in a sheltered life along with his mother, father and older sister in a large village that was part of the southern islands nation state. Even as his father was leader of the tribe it was expected that Abel's reliable older sister that stood to take up the mantle after him, so nobody had any expectations towards him and he spent a relatively peaceful life until about a year ago. His peaceful life had suddenly changed when a gigantic completely black sphere had fallen from the sky and 'landed' right outside the village, and if that wasn't aburd enough the sphere had never actually touched the ground, but harmlessly floated about a meter over the ground like some sort of super advanced relic only heard of in legends. At first people wondered if it was dangerous, while others started outright praying and worshiping the black sphere I became a local attraction, which is when it turned truly dangerous. While the sphere turned out to be harmless, the attraction it brought was not. At first it was some rude travelers, then monster hunters showed up, and finally it was outsiders from the east that didn't take no for an answer. They wanted exclusive access to the sphere and whatever it contained, and the outsiders were amply prepared to spill however much blood was needed to enforce their demands uncontested, so it was war. Whenever they repelled them, the outsiders simply returned in greater numbers, eventually overwhelming the defenders and sizing control of the village. To cull resistance Abel's father was executed, and his mother put in charge while both Abel and his older sister was taken away as hostages to ensure compliance.

"Do you know where your sister is now?"

The first one to speak up after Abel was done telling his story was Lux, she didn't offer Abel compasion, nor ask if he wanted help, it was clear that she would help.

"I-I don't… They took her away a week before me so she could be anywhere."

"Not necessary. After capturing you the outsiders that came from the east went north, where they received new orders on their way home to capture more prisoners, unluckily they were sent after us and wiped out, then Lilly found you...-"

Connecting the dots Lux worked through the problem rapidly while her ICI unit connected to orbiting satellites and started pulling up archive footage.

"That means there's a high change they took the same egress route, and since the ones we ran into were stiped of their identification we can assume the other group is also running black ops. Taking the route and terrain into consideration it is highly likely they also stopped at Eglax outpost #5 then most likely went east somewhere after that…. Found them."

"EH!?"

"Really!?"

"WHAT!- HOW!?"

Surprising not only Abel but also Terra and Iris that finally sobered up Lux covered her mouth with her hand and spoke in an extremely happy but also sinister sounding voice.

"I know, Thanatos-san knows everything~ Just kidding, I rolled through archive satellite footage in and around Eglax territory looking for a large group that moved from south to north within the estimated timeframe then verified if each group that meet the criteria, about 20, transported what seemed to be a prisoner like they did you Abel, of which there were 3. Then it was just a matter of tracking the 3 groups until they reached a drone surveillance network, which they did a day ago in the southern part of the Kingdom and were appropriately flagged as suspicious. Extraction is already in route, ETA 30 minutes~"

---

'How long is this hell going to continue?' Is something Opal had asked herself more and more over the last few months. Ever since that f.u.c.k.i.n.g black sphere landed it had only caused trouble and dad even died because of it after that she was captured as a hostage and was dragged along like some sort of trophy while given very little food and water the body she had trained so hard to maintain only wasted away along with her will to live, but the one thing they would absolutely not deprive her of was her pride.

"ARG!- F.u.c.k.i.n.g bitch bit me!"

"That's because you keep trying to feel her up, just drop it and go for a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e somewhere instead, that one is not worth it."

In the start most of the 15 soldiers had tried to assault her, but she had always managed to defend herself as she was several magnitudes stronger than her captors, but after months of her body wasting away it had gotten harder and harder to resist.

"No I've f.u.c.k.i.n.g had it! This bitch has been on my nerves ever since we started this shit mission, and she keeps acting all smug! It's time for some pain!"

"What? Didn't you get tired of kicking the shit out of her last time when she ended up puking all over the floor?"

"Yeah I did! That's why I'm going to cut all her tendons and have some fun! hold her down!"

"Eh? That's a pain. She can't walk on her own after that, are you going to carry her all the way home then?"

"What are you talking about? This bitch is a demi, she heals fast!"

With that idea uttered into the room the atmosphere changed, reasoning seemed to snap as the soldiers decided to something completely unforgivable. Opal felt the change too, and looked around at her captors as threatening as she could in her restraints, but that only seemed to have an adverse effect as she drew more ire with her spiteful look.

"That's the best idea you've had all trip Mark!"

"Hold her down! Get her legs!"

The more she struggled the more she realized.

(They're going to get me! Am I really going to lose here!? On this rotten f.u.c.k.i.n.g floor!)

Opal knew it was futile to scream for help, after all they were in the middle of nowhere inside an abandoned barn, no one that could hear her would help her, so she cried out inside her heart, in a tiny fragile voice while her mind retreated to her happy childhood she had spent reading adventures and fairy tales with her mother as a child. As she screamed out and risited with all her might the quiet buzz of an electrical motor was slowly overpowered by the sound of twin 14th generation VESMIR electrothermal engines.

(Save me, knight!)

As if fate played some sort of cruel trick on the soldiers at that moment something crashed through the roof of the barn.

"Wha!-"

"ARG!-"

"WHAT IS!-"

No one of the unfortunate victims were even able to utter their final words before they were literally ripped apart by some unknown opponent detailed by their screams and the wet and crunchy sound of muscle and bone breaking apart. When the dust cleared the 15 soldiers had already been reduced all the way down to 3, those 3 being the closest to Opal, that herself had completely forgotten her distress as she looked at her supposed savoir. It was a large figure, standing over 2 meters tall he had a dense build that was mostly visible as he only wore a pair of black shorts, and a t-shirt that was sticking to his body due to blood spatter. His face was hidden by a strange black mask that covered the entirety of his face, and even if it was impossible for the surviving soldiers and Opal herself felt his eyes on them.

[Good day, or would it be more appropriate to say 'good afternoon'?]

(A knight really came! No he's a prince)

As he spoke out in a heavily distorted voice that seemed to come from all around her, Opal's 'prince' stepped on a solider that laid on the floor below him and crushed his skull with ease.

"Don't f.u.c.k around!"

Blinded by rage one of the soldiers rushed forward as he drew his sword and aimed to decapitate the assailant with movements that showed he was very much an expert.

"Watch out!"

[No need.]

As the blade closed in on his neck Dax simply caught it with his bare hand, before using the other to crush the soldiers windpipe before his brain even registered what was going on.

(I definitely need a bath after this…. ICI?)

(READY TO EXECUTE.)

[2 left.]

Throwing the dead soldier away like trash Dax started walking towards the remaining hostiles in a manner that lacked any waryness or aggression, mirroring his inner thoughts.

"Stay back!"

Realizing that they were completely and utterly outmatched one of the remaining soldiers drew his sword and pointed it towards their hostage. In response Dax stopped moving and the soldier took it as a sign of compliance as a smile formed on his face.

"Dan grab the bitch….. Dan?"

Not getting a response the soldier turned back to see what was wrong, but fell over dead before he even knew what was going on. In response Dax took off his mask and breathed a deep sigh as he spoke out.

"All hostiles eliminated… Are you Abel's older sister?"