Chapter 135: Fury – Part 3

Chapter 135: Fury – Part 3

Intermission – Cleinias Alkimeonids

The men rave and rant, driven mad by anger and shame. They shout idiocy and platitudes, either too stupid to understand the truth of our situation or too cowardly to take charge and suggest what really needs to be done.

I simply stay silent and let the younger ones try to wrangle the herd of wild cattle as they moo in protest before the slaughter. This gives me time to actually process my feelings, to understand the pain and humiliation that these... sissy, pointy-eared, cat fuckers caused me.

Never, not even once in my predecessor's lifetimes, has my family been so disgraced with such an offense. A clear attack on our rightful livelihood that my comrades and I so arduously built together. Our hands may not be clean, but this response from the knife-ears is definitely unwarranted.

Some of the cattle want retaliation on Crown Lord Lotus' businesses, but even the more incensed ones ignore the clearly insane. We could handle a war against the swamp bitch if the Elder Council promised not to meddle, which is almost certain to never happen, but it's clear that the six Crown Lords meeting in Goldcross is a warning that they're working together.

These ignominious bastards will get what they deserve in time. They may be shielded for now, but after the Purification cleanses our ranks of the weak filth and the cattle, we'll come out stronger than ever.

I look down at the piece of paper on my table, a message telling me that the gecko boy is back in the capital, and this opportunity makes me break into a smile. All of the Crown Lords are out of our reach, except for this one, and since he's so confident that his ugly little embassy will be enough to protect him, it'd be rude of me to not teach him why Humans were the first.

I also want to make that red-haired lizard cunt pay for charming my son and ruining his mind, but we can only use this trick once, so the first blow has to be to his heart...

The madness in the cattle's eyes is forcefully crushed by the weight of reality, making me believe that it's finally time for me to interject.

"YOU IDIOTIC MONGRELS!" I shout as I slam my hammer against the kinetic crystal, sending a sonic wave that makes everyone wince and fall silent. Their fearful faces are simply delightful to watch, but I have no time to waste. "YOUR LACK OF IMAGINATION SICKENS ME! RETALIATION AGAINST LOTUS? THIEVERY, SABOTAGE, AND EVEN WAR? IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN COME UP WITH?"

"They captured our Commanders. They'll know who we are soon enough," Centum Theneus calmly points out. I can always rely on him to be the voice of reason, the perfect partner to work with so that we can whip the dogs into a frenzy.

I open my arms wide and continue, "THEN LET'S UNITE AND WEATHER THE STORM!" -I suddenly point accusingly at the lowly nobles at the bottom of the audience- "FUCK YOUR PLANS, YOUR SCHEMES, AND YOUR DECEPTIONS! WE'VE BEEN CHALLENGED, AND YOU WANT US TO HIDE?!"

"SIX CROWN LORDS!" A courageous bastard shouts defiantly.

And I grin manically. "ONE GECKO BOY HIDING IN THE CAPITAL!"

He instantly falls silent while the rest of the cattle start mooing again, panicking as they realize what I'm implying.

"Even if he's alone, there'll be consequences," Theneus gives me the perfect hook once again

I shake my fist vigorously, using up most of my energy on this youthful act. "This is payback for the bloody nose!"

"You're being reckless!" Theneus angrily shouts.

And I deliver the final blow, "He spat on our face...! SO LET HIM SUFFER OUR FURY!"

The cattle moo and the dogs howl in agreement with me, sounding their own death sentences.

Let the carnage begin!

Intermission end.

The messenger from the temple finally arrives to give us the letter that we've already been told the contents of, but I still silently read it over while the girls have their moment of fun. I do like how the temple has accepted our claim as Royals at face value, though.

To the esteemed Royal Ryder Family of Crown Lords, the time to prove your worth to the Empire has arrived.

Generations of peace have led us to become fat, feeble, and conceited, but cowardice and incompetence shall be allowed to linger no more! It's time to rise and perform our duty! As a noble, it's -your- responsibility to clean the filth from our home and cut off the rot before the body becomes sick. Purify the Empire, and be greatly rewarded for your efforts.

Those who've received a Mark have been deemed either unnecessary to our future or even damaging to the integrity of our Great Nation, but they can still prove their worth, prove that they deserve to be among us, by fighting for this right.

Under the watch of a certified Priest, challenge the Marked to a fight and wager your possessions and Titles, where the winner takes all. This isn't a battle to the death as killing is prohibited, and only knights and High Officers are allowed to participate, so don't give in to desperation as your life isn't in danger, only your worth as a noble.

But while participation for those without a Mark is optional, for the unworthy, it isn't. If a Marked never wins a battle, their status as nobility is forfeit. But if they never fight while the Purification is underway, then the Punishers will hunt them down and execute them for their cowardice.

Show us that the power you wield is deserved through the hallowed glory of combat!

Xander, Head Priest of Mac Gantus.

I can't do anything but frown at this letter, and even Ciel struggles to not be cynical.

While the temple wants to instill ideals of "worth" in the nobility by forcing them to prove themselves, most of the nobles see the Purification as no more than just another game to play. Still, it's likely because of the Purification that the Empire has remained stable throughout its twenty thousand years of existence, so I guess they're doing something right.

The only interesting thing about the message is that there's a list of those who are Marked included with it, and we discover that both of the Alkimeonids and Vanea are on it, but it doesn't change anything in our plans. It was expected, even.

"Gih..." Gify whispers into my ear, then pops out of existence.

I turn my attention to the Hollys and Shads spread around the embassy and notice that the town has become eerily quiet.

A Holly spots a priest herding a small group of young nobles away from Bicker's Street, and a moment later, a large group of about thirty heavily armored people appears at each end of the street. One group is composed of halflings while the other is silver elves.

Gods, they don't waste even a single moment before starting their... Bickering.

"I CHALLENGE YOU-...!" The two groups shout at the same time. Then they follow it up with a slur, but it becomes garbled as their taunts overlap.

"The favorite hobby of halflings and Elarian elves is to fuck each other up..." Hana quietly remarks with a wry smile.

One member of each group runs ahead with a priest in tow, then they meet midway, right in front of our embassy, and start a discussion.

"The hell is going on?" Nikolas wonders out loud as he notices the shouting, his nose now healed.

"Skirmishes between nobles," Ciel soberly explains.

He snorts. "Right here?"

And she nods. "Right here..."

"I want to go see it."

I observe the Hollys' and Shads' senses one more time, then I sigh, and we follow him.

We return to our mini High Tree just in time to watch the two sides clash, our balcony giving us a privileged view of the fight.

Spells fly out, and a stray [Fireball] comes our way, but the enchantments of the embassy dispel it the moment it enters the property, which raises an alarm. A slightly annoying, high-pitched, bird-like chirping resounds throughout the whole High Tree, just a simple alert that "something" is going on.

This is kind of the perfect moment for-...

"GIH!" Gify suddenly shouts at the same time that a Holly instantly dies.

"Attack!" I reflexively shout, and everyone instantly [Equip]s their armor, surprising the two guides, and then I also summon the golems.

Nikolas reflexively draws his sabre, but Hana firmly grips his arm. "STAY!" She roars, and glares at Lolo too, [Intimidate]-ing both of them to keep them from doing something stupid.

I turn the Emergency Ring red, and we all [Fly] out of the balcony, then go around the mini High Tree, towards the side of the embassy opposite of the fight.

At the edge of the estate, far ahead of us, a Shad detects some odd mana coming out of the wall, attracting Alissa's attention. Through [Sense Presence], she notices the hedgerow by the wall ruffle in an odd way, so she sends an [Arrow of Annihilation] towards it, creating a large hole in the vegetation. Then we see a severed arm clad in black scale armor appear from nothing right next to the hole.

Almost immediately, we notice a flash of light come from a bit further to the right, then my [Dead Zone] and [Rainbow Shield] enchantments activate as the initial beam of searing light from an [Arrow of Annihilation] hits my helmet right on the forehead, but it's diverted away before it can do any real damage, instead causing a small explosion at the High Tree behind us.

We all fly lower to avoid further attacks, and Alissa returns fire while Lina [Equip]s a javelin with a Spirit crystal in its center, then she activates [Spirit of Gaia] and throws it at where the Arrow came from.

The javelin flies with blinding speed and hits right on its mark, but it seems that there's nobody there anymore. Then the crystal activates, releasing a thick pulse of Spirit mana throughout the embassy, which announces the position of the enemy to the hidden Punishers, knights, and Plifori mercenaries while also disrupting the assassins' [Invisibility].

The pulse reveals two blurry figures as they carefully climb down the embassy's hedgerows, a third figure on the grass holding what seems to be a bow, and the severed feet of a fourth right next to the severed arm. Then everything but the feet and arm becomes invisible again.

Just four?

The whole embassy bursts with noise as the men pour out of the High Trees towards the source of the mana pulse, and we carpet the areas where the assassins were with spells.

Hana, Lina, and Aoi keep me company as I finish recollecting myself, and since our job here is done, we're finally allowed to rest, so we immediately leave these fuckers behind to seek comfort in the arms of our wives.

We wordlessly [Fly] away, back up to our mini High Tree, where we land on the balcony of one of the meeting rooms and un[Equip] our armor. We immediately spot Alissa sitting perfectly still in a chair with Roxanne, Ciel, Yunia, and the golems gathered around her, Gify on her shoulder giving her a massage, and Klein and the Companions by the wall watching over us as we rest.

I make a beeline to my lovely fox, and the others make way, then I pull her head into a hug. She closes her eyes and rests her forehead against my chest but remains silent while fuming internally, the pain from her wounds now just a mere hot sensation at the ends of her stumps.

The [Ruin] dagger didn't just hurt her hands. It warped her spirit to the point that if we use [Regeneration] or [Regrow Limbs] on her, they'll only sprout into distorted and painful mounds of decaying flesh and bone. To save her from the pain, Yunia severed the warped parts, leaving her with only a few centimeters of flesh past her wrists.

"We need an Alteration mage to give her new hands," Yunia solemnly states.

"Kle-..." I stop myself before I finish saying her name, but she still notices and turns her head to me. The assassin clearly targeted her out of all of the other people they could've tried to kill, so I don't want her to leave my sight for even a second right now.

"Wolfy...?" She whispers hesitantly, her tone both gentle and tense, but conflicting feelings well up within me, and I hesitate to answer.

Then Yunia takes over for me, "You and your father know more about Mac Gantus than all the other knights. Seek out the diplomat in the embassy and have him help you find the best Alteration mage in the capital. If you can't find one, then return at once, and we'll call one here from Escanso."

She nods diligently, then gives me a worried look as she notices my anguished expression.

"He's afraid of more assassins coming for you," Yunia tersely explains, and I just lower my eyes in shame.

Klein un[Equip]s her armor and hugs me tightly from behind, pressing herself against me so hard that I can easily make out the contour of her entire body, which I've played with so many times. "I have a duty to fulfill," she warmly whispers into my ear, then slowly presses her lips against the back of my neck.

The kiss feels both wistful and warm, but I understand that she has the resolve to endure the risks, so I nod, and she releases me. Then she re[Equip]s her armor and starts to leave with confident steps.

"At least take this!" I suddenly exclaim and summon a Shad, causing my headache to flare as I yet again strain my mana organ.

She turns around and notices the black shadow approaching her, then she smiles warmly and nods at me once she recognizes the summon. "Thank you," she whispers softly, then finally leaves.

All of the wild emotions swirling within me add to the headache, which starts to pound against my skull again, making me groan internally, but then Alissa raises her arms and wraps them around my waist to comfort me.

"I'm fine..." She whispers softly and stops for a couple of seconds, her voice still a bit strained from screaming her lungs out just a short while ago. "My hands will be healed in time, so I'll be fine."

"That was too close..." I weakly reply.

Ciel turns her head away and grimly admits, "They were more devious than we ever imagined."

And Hana sorely retorts, "They were far from killing any of us."

"Except for Klein," I point out, and she grimaces.

Alissa squeezes my waist, prompting me to look down and notice her stern and determined expression. "I'd give my life for you, and Klein would do the same," she states, then pushes me away and turns into a small fox, this magical body of hers completely unharmed. "Get on the sofa, and let's not talk about any more grim business while we rest. It's making me bitter."

My body is still a bit fucked up from everything that just happened, so I promptly obey and sit down, then she jumps onto my lap and curls up.

I need to get my energy back because this isn't the end. Cleinias is a dead man the moment he stops hiding like a cowardly cockroach...

Announcement

Hall of Fame of Patrons

The patrons who support Rupegia shall have their names sung by the bards for they deserve the glory and honor. Their names are:

Prince PreownedFIN.

Prince Owldente.

Lord Andrew Meyers.

Lord Novgarod.

Lord Michale Erwin.

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Lord Sean Drake.

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Lord William Clark.

Noble Salty Panda.

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Noble Andrew Hebreard.