Chapter 682: True Demonlord [13]

'-Then again, maybe not. What's done is done, the injured were hurt and I got to let off some steam. The reawakening as a Watcher did have a big impact, I feel lighter and more mentally resilient. Origin's a very shrewd character, he schemed the downfall for us to rise again, what an interesting and enigmatic being. I should perhaps give the Chief of Odgawoan a phone call, she must have answers. Law enforcement in deep with the underworld should have known such a thing would happen. Where do I move from here, I wonder?' Without Éclair present, information about the manor and overall connectivity to the world was cut, hence with a few nonchalant steps, a portal to the Shadow Realm opened.

The feeling, nostalgic and pleasant, he awoke under a familiar roof, one of olden reminiscent. 'Krigi of New,' cross his mind, the sun outside sneakily peeped through a dirtied curtain, the opened window was much to drive home about. 'A single bedroom, this is our old residence, well, after mother and father divorced. Far as I know, only burnt remain exists.' He humbly stood; images of his former self walked right past in ghastly figment of the imagination. In the shadowed corridor waited the strong presence of Tempest Haggard. 

"Good to see you, father," he said and begot a distant nod of recognition. 'Mind's playing tricks on me,' he turned outside by support from a feeble wooden ledge. Before war and events culminated to the present, the small village used to be a hangout for travelers. Amazingly enough, children ran about the hardened dirty path in somewhat decent clothes. Albeit they were demi-humans, the place retained a part of his past long gone to the memory. 

"Come one, come all, here we bet for the true winners," cheered a dwarf.

"Bring on the ale, lassie, the boys and I will spend the day and night drinking today."

"You all always drink," rebutted the waitress, "-get some job first before ye open them poisonous breath mouth."

"Ol' chipper mouth is at it again," laughed the gathering of close-minded people. 

"Fellow in the white shirt," said a lady in an apron, "-where you come from?"

"The room upstairs," he replied.

"Huh?" she narrowed to the waitress, "-Dielle, did you have guests staying the night?"

"None that I know of," her dexterous handling of plates and mugs had brought familiar faces. Distant cheery men betted on whether she'd fall or not, the overall atmosphere was friendly.

"Is that right," the lady's face contoured in fury.

"No, Momma," interjected the lass, "-I remember, he said he needed to stay the night. You know how travelers are," nervous laughter seemed to do the job, the lady gave a stern once over and left for the kitchen. 

'Go outside, I'll be there right away,' said a voiceless murmur.

'Amazing,' he stepped into the street, '-the village's alive and well. I remember this sight fondly, albeit from a higher point of view. This is what it felt like to walk around the town back then,' he moved to a side alley, the closest memory was of the town being burnt, the screams somewhat echoed. Back to the wall and face to the skies, the cacophonous walks, weird as it sounded, brought a greater sense of fulfillment. 

"Heya, hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"Not really," he replied gratefully, "-I appreciate the help back there. Didn't know what to say."

"Don't worry about it," she undid her headband, to a deluge of brown curvy hair parting down the middle, fell, while her bunny ears, perked up. "-Big momma can be a real harsh lady. Why were you upstairs?"

"No idea, I just awoke here, nothing more, nothing less."

"Awoke?"

"Yes, like, being transferred from another world, but I guess you won't understand."

"Not really," she shrugged, "-but I believe you. I don't sense lies; you seem like a good man. First time in Krigi?"

"Krigi of new?"

"Excuse you?"

"Sorry, don't mind me. Where are we?"

"Trader Town of Krigi in the province of Dorchester. Many villages around the place come here to trade and get a living."

"What about you?"

"The typical village girl," she smiled and twirled, "-I'm a barmaid, the town's an amazing place to meet people."

"GET BACK HERE, BREAKS OVER!" thundered from the kitchen.

"I'll get going, see you another time, mister." 

'Quite an interesting character,' he jumped to the highest building, '-here I come, Rosespire.' *Ancient Magic: Teleportation.* Save the stuffy feel of the interior, the estate in the noble district was home to Asmodeus and the likes. "Anyone home?" 

"Over here," said a figure towards the left, "-under the blanket, I'm here."

"Look at you, the rest must feel nice. How are the injuries?"

"Not grievous," said Éclair, "-I didn't expect such level of architecture for this estate."

"Tis a replica of what we own. The view onto the garden sure hasn't changed," the scan halted at a tombstone, "-yeah, it too hasn't moved."

"Master, I'm sorry I failed-"

"Don't even start," he drew a nearby chair, "-before I start, where's Aceline and Vanesa?"

"The ladies are at the castle. Lady Gophy insisted the generals care for the companions, I'm sure they're doing fine."

"With Draconis and Saniata, I'm sure it will be an entertaining piece to watch."

"Was the manor destroyed?" he had left in a hurry; the last images were fire and blood.

"Yes, we were invaded by the state-level military. Fret not, the situation has been handled."

"Rebuilding's going to cost a fortune."

"I've already restored our property, there's no cause for concern."

"…"

"I'll speak of the story at a later date. Tell me, why was the attack so brutal?"

"A culmination of things, my lord. After the events in which thee fell into a coma. I was left in command. Priority was money and a name in the underworld, I followed vague ideas thee provided. Raven acquired Luon, and the family began to do business with various organizations. First come first serve, the more we sold, the greater grew the profits and the larger grew the attention. The den in the red-light district garnered support from the nearby brothels, Lady Kul became very outspoken about the problems the workers faced. If ever a ruffian dared to harm a humbly working gentleman or lady, the punishment would be equal to the dished-out pain. She became a shield, and in doing so, garnered the disgust of the customers. The latter would often request crude favors, were met upfront by the threat of the name, Raven. Goodwill is scarce but not little as to be dubbed desolate. Time spent in their company says this, those who've experienced the worse humanity has to offer, are often those who unconditionally help others. None wants to see another suffer the same pain they've been through. Lady Kul is a crusader against the values of the ladies being powerless. Trust when I say, there wasn't a day passed where she didn't rough up cocky street leaders. Humbling another, especially in the underworld, there's a topic for an unjust attack, hurt egos. Before long, after the first wave, we dealt specifically to the Jonia family, they were prioritized on the list. We had them in our pockets, our prices, our schedule, and our way. The information must have leaked about Luon's deposit - the highest bidder bought the price and here we are, weeks of conflict exploded in a few hours. I couldn't do anything, we were so far from Phantom's base, no AFR meant no attack nor defense. Kul and Asmodeus stumbled on the anti-demon, the entity fought heartlessly, the abilities were those of the Rogue-Hero, Scifer. It could reflect any elemental magic. In both encounters, Kul nearly died and Asmodeus lost, tis how much we were outclassed. In the last moments before the raid went loud, I ordered Asmodeus to evacuate the den, we sent many off to the shadow realm for a chance at safety. Kul fought bravely and bought time, Aceline managed to escape and I died. Afterward, I have no recollection."

"From what I've gathered, there's no clear enemy nor associations to fight against. Quite the arduous task, the blame sorts of lie on everyone, even us for argument's sake. You amassed power too quickly and didn't have time to prepare against potential assault. I should have been clearer in the orders. One positive is we've figured our weaknesses."

"Master, I don't sense anger, are you well?"

"My priorities have changed, Éclair. I bear a new title, Watcher of the Shadow Realm. Take as much time as you need to recover, a body is readied for the eventual overworld return."

"What's the priority?"

"The safeguard and evolution of this realm," he moved towards the veranda, "-I witnessed the residents of this place earlier, they're living and breathing entities. To them, this place is their reality, and I want to keep it safe. Who is to say what the overworld holds for us, Hades' arrival doesn't bode well. He might be after lady mother."

"Why?" 

"Long story. Recover well, tell Asmodeus and Kul to return stronger versions of before," *Ancient Magic: Teleportation.* 

Two figures emerged from the hall, "-he knew, didn't he?" commented Asmo.

"Yeah, the master sensed the presence before he even teleported. You heard his orders."

"I feel bad for our weakened state," complained Kul, "-I thought we were stronger. Hold on a moment, if he's back…"

"Good assumption," fired Asmo, "-the master defeated the entity without breaking a sweat. The title of Watcher, a being transcendent of laws which somewhat bind us, higher realm entities, to a few rules and regulation, was utilized the same as breathing. He spoke and the fight ended. Take heed, Kul, we must grow strong, stronger to our current selves. The master mustn't be left to face the vanguard alone."

"Say no less," firmed Kul, "-let's walk alongside the master!"

Éclair distantly stared the garden into the tree line, '-the master cares for us,' he thought, '-look at him eavesdrop on the conversation. He must have been worried.'

Slopes to the Rosespire castle opposed to teleporting, he promenaded. The ground would often have a shadow scatter across. Before he realized, the castle gate stood harshly, the guards but nodded and allowed entry. The castle-town went through heavy redecoration, the same shadow kept on circling his stead.

"Are you sure pops is going to like this?" wondered Draconis.

"I don't care, pops left us here for who knows how long. We can spy on him, can't we?" she leaned back, "-what about it?"

"Actually, Vanesa's sleeping," said Draconis, "-wait, LOOK, HE'S GONE!" 

"You're right," the griffin halted, "-did we lose him?"

"Well, well, look here," said an angelic figure, "-three little spies trying to vex their guardian."

"It was Saniata's idea," the rumbunctious Draconis leaped with no tact nor care for the location, "-pops, pops, pops!"

"Be careful," he smiled and caught the boy, "-Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Pops, pops, I need to show you my new attack spells," the teeth sharpened as did the ears, the horns permanently glowed. 

"Welcome back," yawned Vanesa, "-pops, make me food, I want to return to the overworld."

"Saniata, please be a darling and land."

"Whatever," a roll of the eyes later stood firm ground.

"How was the stay?"

"Fun, very fun, I got to fight a lot of brother Beelzebub's golems," skipped the boy.

"I learned music," said a very smug Saniata, "-I'm sure Vanesa didn't learn much from staying in the overworld."

"Actually, I learned how to cook."

"Since when?" returned Igna.

"I asked Éclair to teach me," she rubbed her eyes, "-and I got to the part where you press something and fire appears. Place water in a bowl… then I forgot." 

"Forgot or fell asleep?"

"No, I'm a genius," her slow speech dragged on longer, "-when I reopened my eyes, the food was served and ready to eat."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Éclair probably made the food," snickered Saniata.

"No teasing," said Igna, "-run along, for now, I promise to play with later, is that ok?" 

"SURE."