After nothing but ashes remained of Bloodbringer, Keyaru finally left the bloody colosseum. Hundreds of people, each having a story of their lives, now looked like nothing but an aggressive mob, eager for violence. Soon, they would deal with the Jioral men below the tribunes. Then, the enraged crowd aimed to go beyond these accursed walls. Individuals become part of the whole, a collective craving for violence.
The Hero of Healing left the scene, not eager to become a part of a mass frenzy. The latter had always been planned as an aftermath. That is why the girls had to wait in the other part of Ranalitta, in an abandoned, inconspicuous warehouse right near the southern gates. Not much happened along the way, aside from the fact that some fled the city, and local nobles gathered their own personal armies around the high districts in an attempt to shield their employers from the flames of rebellion. Of course, spies of Afr Reol Ranalitta kept an eye on the rogue hero, but a single glance was enough to discourage them from walking down the path toward their deaths.
In the end, Keyaruga, now returned to his mature form, reached the meeting point. A simple, dirty premise with barely any illumination was filled with crates of hay, cloth, preserved food, some clothes, medicine, and so on. That place used to belong to Quinta, but ever since his fall, all the `good` stuff got taken away, and the room remained abandoned (aside from a few squatters who the party drove away). Inside, four figures awaited him: Flare, sitting on a wooden box, nervously grabbing her broken staff; Setsuna, masterfully swinging her flexible legs out of sheer boredom; a rescued boy, who would remain asleep on the ground for a few more hours; and…
"Hey, girls. Are you okay here? What… is that an ice statue?" The red-eyed lad wondered, looking at the headless knight. That person looked somewhat familiar, yet the corpse looked somewhat unsettling, sinister even.
"No tail after us." The she-wolf spoke, having approached her master so that he would pet her head. Which he did, and the man was not even covered by the blood this time.
"Good. Now, is that Buck?" The hero asked, walking close to the princess. Setsuna loudly hummed in confirmation. "Well, if you decided to take him down, that means he outlived his usefulness. Frankly speaking, I would murder him myself, just to cover our tracks."
"Heh, of course, of course you would." The sorceress mumbled with her eyes staring at the ground below.
"Did you say something, Freia?" The healer spoke with little to no enthusiasm. Truth be told, even with his grinning façade, the lad felt so miserable inside that he wanted to yell. Then, with a corner of his sight, Keyaruga noticed Setsuna stepping back.
"I did. My lord, while I will give my life away for you, I wouldn’t allow you to hurt this boy in your paranoia." The girl rose, slowly raising her eyes. Her glance was weary, her posture far from straight. But even with a broken staff, the princess radiated resolve. "But someone already did. What you see here is merely the result of Buck being possessed. Some black entity took over his body. It called me daughter."
"What?" The healer’s face warped in disgust, whereas the magician remained seemingly apathetic. "What was it? An old man? Or a winged woman?" Keyaruga wondered, thoughtfully scratching his jaw.
"A man. He used some strange void magic, but we handled it." Flare pointed at frozen Buck. "This body doesn’t die, even without a head, so Setty had to do something."
Damn, so that crowned fart is a necromancer? But how didn’t I notice? He’s supposed to be quite a mediocre mage… Unless it’s the very answer to that question mark…
"All right, all right!" The healer waved his hands and then hugged his sorceress. At this point, having someone else call her by her real name wasn’t anything surprising, much less having the girl recognize it. "We’ll handle it now. I’m just glad you’re fine, Freia."
"Y-yes… Yes." The magician replied coldly. She twitched and gasped. Sclera around her emerald pupils shone with red cracks. She cried. Or really wanted to. "Now give me back my normal face before I rip this mask from myself!" Flare yelled, her fingers aggressively clasping the hero’s back. Whatever she went through left a scar on her soul.
Keyaruga was happy to oblige. It wasn’t like he himself wished to defile his eyes any longer. Flare should’ve remained a ghost, an echo of the future that wouldn’t come. It was over in a moment, and when Freia touched her lips, nose, and ears, she stopped holding back whatsoever. Tears poured down on the ground. There was nothing else the healer could do. That’s why…
"He doesn’t die, right?" The man inquired, looking through the ice crust. It was barely visible, but even without the jade eye, the lad spotted a black worm under the dead skin. "How long before it melts?"
"Days. Until mana’s no more." Setsuna answered, giving a quick glance toward her pink-haired friend and rival. Her ice was much sturdier than simple frozen water. Either way, the incapacitated undead no longer drew Keyaruga’s attention. Instead, he looked at…
"Varry. We barely know each other." The hero said heartlessly. The son of the elder and the apple farmer didn’t even speak to each other much. And now his fate rested with the healer. The healer who failed his people. "After we hand him to Quinta, we’re getting out of here. For good." We’ve even packed our things.
"W-where?" Freia asked through sobbing. She was still unwilling to let go of her broken staff. On one hand, Keyaruga got upset about letting go of such a good revenge opportunity. Having Bloodbringer butcher Flare would be a perfect closure for the princess. But… He just wouldn’t have it. Not after she made her first steps toward being a better person, not after the kindness she showed to the boy.
"To the south. We’re heading to Buranikka. Then, we’ll explore Tenanullic, which you may know as the Confederation of Demons." The red-eyed lad spoke, taking the sole survivor on his shoulder. The she-wolf, in turn, helped the sorceress to stand up.
"Why? For Norn?" The huntress wondered, remembering his conversation with Kureha. And Freia shuddered upon barely hearing the name.
"Yes. Also, I want to meet someone there." A kind queen with sad eyes, the last bastion of an almost extinct demon kind. I want to see her before Norn is allowed to start the genocide.
…
When the healer dismounted the raptor, Quinta met him with a broad smile. The party was followed by two carriages. The first was driven by Yirvin, the trader’s nephew. Reigns for the second carried Block, the bald, disinterested man, and the local innkeeper. `Ledra Goldman`, or whatever he called himself at that point, dashed toward the carriages. What he saw… momentally cleansed his mirth.
"Sir Keyaru… ga?.." The merchant stumbled, gazing upon the single boy. Needless to say, things were supposed to be different.
"Take care of him. "The healer waved his chin toward the dark-haired youngster. There was another carriage, filled to the brim with bags and boxes, presumably the remaining goods. It seemed like that would be more than enough for three people.
"I thought there'd be more." The old man slowly shook his head.
"So did I." Keyaruga shrugged nervously, biting his upper lip. The girls waited for him in the saddle. "But Bloodbringer had another opinion. By the time we killed her, only he survived."
"Blood-?.. The Champion?!" The hero responded with a swift nod while reaching toward the bags on his belt. "My, you’re a strange man."
"How so?" The man asked, presenting his former partner with a bag with at least a hundred Jioral cadmi, while Yirvin placed the sole survivor in another carriage.
"Well, you’re ruthless yet soft. I betrayed you, and you saved me. And now, you give me back my own gold for saving that boy." Quinta elaborated, hiding funds inside of his coat.
"You call me soft? Screw you, then. Saving my people was my duty, and I failed spectacularly! You know what I feel about it?" Keyaruga hunched toward the trader’s ear. "Fucking nothing."
"…"
"Also, you seem to have a bad memory. I didn’t save you. My girls did. If not for Freia’s offer to make you my pawn, I’d have you murdered." The Hero of Healing explained. The man was under no illusions about his righteousness.
"Hm, whatever you say." Quinta wouldn’t argue, from his perspective the young man was just trying to look more mature than he really was. Nobody could call Keyaru a saint, but from a dealer’s point of view, he had a big future ahead.
"Hey." The red-haired lad halted the old man. With his green coat, no less. "I need another thing from you."
"Whatever you wish from me." Quinta shrugged, giving a glance toward the girls. Only the demi-human looked invested in their dialogue. The princess, in turn, seemed to struggle with deep and complex emotions. Just like Keyaru, but the latter was too good at hiding it.
"He must be thinking it was me who’s guilty of this bloody shit."
"Should I correct him then?"
"No. This is true. I caused it all." Leaving Norn to her devices was my fault, after all. "He needs a reason, something to live for. Let it be hate towards me." Keyaruga said, looking at the gloomy sky.
"Are you not afraid? He might come to kill you one day."
"That’s not so bad. Revenge is a noble deed; it makes people strong and resilient. Grief, loneliness, suicidal closure — everything is displaced, until there’s nothing but a pure resolve. This… is what happened to me." The healer declared, touching his chest. There, a sparkle of will made its first appearance, and from that time it never faded. Setsuna catches every word, wishing to know as much about her master as possible. Freia, in turn, only held her head lowered.
"Whatever you say, good sir. I will take care of the boy. Now, it’s about time we make our way somewhere northward."
"Yes… It’s time." The lad nodded and walked toward his reptile. "And we’re heading southward, girls." With that said, the man jumped into the saddle. He slapped the reins, and the beast moved the opposite way from the carriage. Only the innkeeper remained standing, with a couple of carriages left behind.
…
It has been a couple of hours since the trio finally left Ranalitta. The plains and meadows gave way to the woodlands. The southern forests were not as dangerous as one might expect, for local hunters and adventurers constantly kept monsters in check, and that was without even speaking of the armed caravans, some of which the party even met along their way.
For what it was worth, the journey was more than enough for our two heroes to finally calm down. All that time, they remained mostly silent. But not anymore.
"So, master good. Setsuna thought you were bad playing good." Setsuna voiced her opinion, which made the man in question wince a bit. After all, the girl saw him fight for the slaves, keeping them safe, even changing his plans for Kureha and Jioral’s future. Good future.
"No, Setty, Lord Keyaruga has always been a good person; he’s just ashamed to admit it." Freia pointed out, clinging harder to the lad’s back.
"Whatever you think of me right now, it was only my whims, nothing more than that." The healer said, recalling a few good things he’d done recently.
"See, Setty? He’s blushing." The magician whispered to the huntress. Well, sort of, since her voice had no way of not passing through the healer’s ears.
"Listen here, I didn’t fight that pile of meat to be ridiculed now, got it? So either you drop the issue, or I’m going to fuck you silly." Keyaruga threatened the sorceress, which made her twitch, but not in the way he wanted. "Remember that rapier-whip thing? That was… seventy four children, reduced to this. They were still alive, and I… What kind of monstrosity must you be to make such a thing? Fuck, I could’ve helped them. I could…" But it was too much, even for me.
"I’m sorry, Keyaruga… My lord. I shouldn’t have said this." The princess mumbled, feeling she had stepped on the wrong callus. "But hey, at least we’ve killed it for good, right?"
"No." The hero shook his head, keeping his attention directed toward the dry, muddy road. "That thing was too relaxed, too arrogant to show even a half of her skills and spells. And if I learned a thing or two from her, it would be to trust my intuition. Bloodbringer still lives. Even if I burned her corpse to ashes, I don’t believe she’s dead. Not even a bit"
The heroes of healing and magic sulked once again. The former had nothing to say about his murdered villagers, Catherine and Norn, without revealing his plan, a global one at that; the latter got overwhelmed by guilt and frustration. Freia had received all of the confirmations about her true self by this point, and it weighed heavily on her soul. Especially with how similar the man’s impression of the Champion was to her father’s immortality.
Fortunately…
"Master, uh… would you say about where we go?" Setsuna offered another topic for the deadlock conversation.
"You mean Buranikka? Well, it’s one of a kind. There, demons and humans live in peace. And one of the few safe places for us." Keyaruga deadpanned, looking at an inconspicuous village leftward from the road. They wouldn’t stop at places like this unless they really needed their luggage refilled.
"Wait, how can it be safe? Aren’t demons, you know, scary?" The caster pondered, not even bothering to open her eyes. From time to time, she used her heat detection as a full-fledged replacement for her vision.
"First, the demons we’re talking about are not hellspawns from Faran’s fancy book. They call themselves ma-zok, which roughly translates as `people of magic`. To understand why, we’ll have to pinpoint the difference between a beast and a monster." The red-eyed lad started his explanation, finding some sort of tranquility in that. Just like in the morning.
"They’re victims of the wild mana?"
"No. And yes." Setsuna interrupted the sorceress. "They eat things with many mana. H-humans, Enuas-ali, each other." The she-wolf explained.
"Correct! Monsters are nothing more than animals with a rich capacity for magic energy. Some are cute, some look like hideous abominations, but all are strong. And to get even stronger, we must kill others. You and I are a delicacy for them, since we’re powerful and rich with mana." Keyaruga elaborated. During his speech, he held a raptor at a low speed, just so nobody would bite their tongue.
"That’s… useful to know." Freia nodded thoughtfully.
"Now, Setsuna, can you tell the difference between humans and demi-humans? Let’s take your tribe. You don’t look too different from some of the ma-zok tribes. Humans with some animalistic parts. There are also elves and dwarves, but they’re not demons. You know why?"
"No, Setsuna just heard they bad and dangerous. And… that they look like us."
"Well, they are indeed dangerous, two or even three times stronger than the best of the knights’ cast has to offer. Kureha had even had her arm cut by their warlord. But there’s ultimately another distinction. Specifically, they can tame monsters. That's why beasts are naturally drawn to them. Some say it’s because of their magic; some argue that it’s nothing more than a symbiotic relationship. Not those damned hellspawns now, right?" Keyaruga concluded, recalling the lonely winged girl. How come she, the supreme leader of the largest country on the continent, fought alone when thousands of demons and monsters had to follow her lead?
"Master Keyaruga demon too?" The ice warrior asked unexpectedly.
"What makes you think so?" Is it because I sometimes bathe in the blood of my enemies?
"Setsuna told you sanatha-nie — the true name — and you can make Setsuna do what you want. Enuas-ali have mana, like monsters, and you make us kaiyau (obey). So you’re demons."
Wait, that’s actually pretty reasonable.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Keyaruga burst into laughter. "Ha-ha… Yeah, I couldn’t even imagine! And we call ma-zok demons! Curses, we’ve been like them all that time! Fuck, that hypocrisy is just something else!" Another reason to hate my own kind.
"Setsuna don’t understand your humor." The huntress shook her head.
"And why’s that? Just think about it — we, humans, subjugate your tribes, sentient beings, while ma-zok tame dump beasts, and they’re demons! Isn’t that just ridiculous?" The healer explained, barely even holding his chuckle.
"Wait." Freia raised her voice again. "If they’re strong, why can’t they defeat Jioral?"
"A valid question. You see, Tenanulic is not a kingdom, it’s a confederation. The translation is correct. It’s an alliance of various tribes under the leadership of the strongest of their kind — Me-Ua. Suffice to say, they lack what it takes to have an organized army."
"That demon king to demons, he’s what demon to monster?" Setsuna wondered, rubbing her tail against the man’s torso.
"As a matter of fact, yes. Their society holds on…"
And so, for the next many hours the trio spent having a not so boring conversation. Keyaruga spoke of the Confederation, various demonic tribes, magic, and the whole new prospects. At the same time, Freia remained cautious about the situation with her sister. Asking the hero about it felt like walking in a dark, monster-infested forest with nothing to defend yourself with.
…
Of course, the journey could not go without stops. They set up a tent in the middle of a plain grassland. A campfire burned down, along with the bony carcass of a hunted wolverine. Four aromatic candles smelling of spicy carnation drew mosquitoes away, while the nameless raptor unhurriedly chewed a mottled teleporting boar. After all, normally only monsters could eat their kind.
And there were moans. Loud and passionate, ecstatic and frantic. Keyaruga rammed Setsuna with all the might he had, holding her hairy leg raised to the bright sky. Time after time, he invaded her hole, rammed and rubbed against the girl’s sensitive spots.
"Master!.. Setsuna… Can’t anymore!.." She moaned. The she-wolf’s torso wriggled. Her aquamarine eyes were all teary and gleaming.
"Ghh…" Keyaruga too wasn’t impervious to that pleasant shivering. The bursting feeling of sperm steadily going through the fiery rod made him close his eyes and reflect upon that single beautiful moment of his life. Still, while the ice warrior was now lying with her tongue out, the red-haired lad grew even more agitated. A few seconds of heaven dissolved into nothingness, leaving him with nothing but fear and uncertainty. These are the very same emotions the man has tried to suppress since his ultimate defeat against Norn and Bloodbringer.
"My lord, are you alr-?.." Whatever Freia had to ask, she wasn’t allowed to. Keyaruga grabbed her by the shoulder and tossed her under his grasp. Although the sorceress had been thoroughly preparing herself, watching the hero rave Setsuna, the same couldn’t be said about the healer. He needed some time to restore his manhood to its full glory. That’s why the lad proceeded to kiss his toy. It wasn’t delicate or loving. That was a gesture of power, an authority over his trophy. The princess even got scared for a moment, before ultimately giving up. Freia succumbed to her fate.
Setsuna was quick to regain her composure, and what she saw barely even surprised her. Keyaruga violently ramming Freia while she was screaming out his name and hugging his back? It was completely acceptable, a routine even. What was not, though, was his face. Even in darkness, the gray-haired girl saw a complex palette of anxiety and frustration, which the healer tried to drown in pleasure. It didn’t go too well, though.
"Hey, Freia. I have a question here. Do you even love me?" The hero apathetically asked his pink-haired magician.
"I… I do!.. I love having… rough sex with you!.." The sorceress screamed while riding her man.
"And what of all the things and people you killed?"
"I… I don’t care! They were scum! Garbage! A-ah!.. I only care… for you… And Setty! And…"
"Thank you, Freia. For taking care of me. I…" The man raised the tempo, now grabbing the princess’ massive breasts. "I love you too."
Setsuna watched them from the side, smiling at their intimacy. Even if they didn’t speak about that out loud, princess Norn was now the cornerstone of their further relationship, and judging how unopposed the Hero of Healing’s reaction was toward the poisoning of his fellow villagers, the girl could only draw one conclusion — not only did he know the culprit behind that insidious act, he also felt something akin to sympathy toward the younger princess. Soon, they would face each other. That was inevitable. And in the time of the showdown, Setsuna would stand for whatever decision her master would come up with.
After nothing but ashes remained of Bloodbringer, Keyaru finally left the bloody colosseum. Hundreds of people, each having a story of their lives, now looked like nothing but an aggressive mob, eager for violence. Soon, they would deal with the Jioral men below the tribunes. Then, the enraged crowd aimed to go beyond these accursed walls. Individuals become part of the whole, a collective craving for violence.
The Hero of Healing left the scene, not eager to become a part of a mass frenzy. The latter had always been planned as an aftermath. That is why the girls had to wait in the other part of Ranalitta, in an abandoned, inconspicuous warehouse right near the southern gates. Not much happened along the way, aside from the fact that some fled the city, and local nobles gathered their own personal armies around the high districts in an attempt to shield their employers from the flames of rebellion. Of course, spies of Afr Reol Ranalitta kept an eye on the rogue hero, but a single glance was enough to discourage them from walking down the path toward their deaths.
In the end, Keyaruga, now returned to his mature form, reached the meeting point. A simple, dirty premise with barely any illumination was filled with crates of hay, cloth, preserved food, some clothes, medicine, and so on. That place used to belong to Quinta, but ever since his fall, all the `good` stuff got taken away, and the room remained abandoned (aside from a few squatters who the party drove away). Inside, four figures awaited him: Flare, sitting on a wooden box, nervously grabbing her broken staff; Setsuna, masterfully swinging her flexible legs out of sheer boredom; a rescued boy, who would remain asleep on the ground for a few more hours; and…
"Hey, girls. Are you okay here? What… is that an ice statue?" The red-eyed lad wondered, looking at the headless knight. That person looked somewhat familiar, yet the corpse looked somewhat unsettling, sinister even.
"No tail after us." The she-wolf spoke, having approached her master so that he would pet her head. Which he did, and the man was not even covered by the blood this time.
"Good. Now, is that Buck?" The hero asked, walking close to the princess. Setsuna loudly hummed in confirmation. "Well, if you decided to take him down, that means he outlived his usefulness. Frankly speaking, I would murder him myself, just to cover our tracks."
"Heh, of course, of course you would." The sorceress mumbled with her eyes staring at the ground below.
"Did you say something, Freia?" The healer spoke with little to no enthusiasm. Truth be told, even with his grinning façade, the lad felt so miserable inside that he wanted to yell. Then, with a corner of his sight, Keyaruga noticed Setsuna stepping back.
"I did. My lord, while I will give my life away for you, I wouldn’t allow you to hurt this boy in your paranoia." The girl rose, slowly raising her eyes. Her glance was weary, her posture far from straight. But even with a broken staff, the princess radiated resolve. "But someone already did. What you see here is merely the result of Buck being possessed. Some black entity took over his body. It called me daughter."
"What?" The healer’s face warped in disgust, whereas the magician remained seemingly apathetic. "What was it? An old man? Or a winged woman?" Keyaruga wondered, thoughtfully scratching his jaw.
"A man. He used some strange void magic, but we handled it." Flare pointed at frozen Buck. "This body doesn’t die, even without a head, so Setty had to do something."
Damn, so that crowned fart is a necromancer? But how didn’t I notice? He’s supposed to be quite a mediocre mage… Unless it’s the very answer to that question mark…
"All right, all right!" The healer waved his hands and then hugged his sorceress. At this point, having someone else call her by her real name wasn’t anything surprising, much less having the girl recognize it. "We’ll handle it now. I’m just glad you’re fine, Freia."
"Y-yes… Yes." The magician replied coldly. She twitched and gasped. Sclera around her emerald pupils shone with red cracks. She cried. Or really wanted to. "Now give me back my normal face before I rip this mask from myself!" Flare yelled, her fingers aggressively clasping the hero’s back. Whatever she went through left a scar on her soul.
Keyaruga was happy to oblige. It wasn’t like he himself wished to defile his eyes any longer. Flare should’ve remained a ghost, an echo of the future that wouldn’t come. It was over in a moment, and when Freia touched her lips, nose, and ears, she stopped holding back whatsoever. Tears poured down on the ground. There was nothing else the healer could do. That’s why…
"He doesn’t die, right?" The man inquired, looking through the ice crust. It was barely visible, but even without the jade eye, the lad spotted a black worm under the dead skin. "How long before it melts?"
"Days. Until mana’s no more." Setsuna answered, giving a quick glance toward her pink-haired friend and rival. Her ice was much sturdier than simple frozen water. Either way, the incapacitated undead no longer drew Keyaruga’s attention. Instead, he looked at…
"Varry. We barely know each other." The hero said heartlessly. The son of the elder and the apple farmer didn’t even speak to each other much. And now his fate rested with the healer. The healer who failed his people. "After we hand him to Quinta, we’re getting out of here. For good." We’ve even packed our things.
"W-where?" Freia asked through sobbing. She was still unwilling to let go of her broken staff. On one hand, Keyaruga got upset about letting go of such a good revenge opportunity. Having Bloodbringer butcher Flare would be a perfect closure for the princess. But… He just wouldn’t have it. Not after she made her first steps toward being a better person, not after the kindness she showed to the boy.
"To the south. We’re heading to Buranikka. Then, we’ll explore Tenanullic, which you may know as the Confederation of Demons." The red-eyed lad spoke, taking the sole survivor on his shoulder. The she-wolf, in turn, helped the sorceress to stand up.
"Why? For Norn?" The huntress wondered, remembering his conversation with Kureha. And Freia shuddered upon barely hearing the name.
"Yes. Also, I want to meet someone there." A kind queen with sad eyes, the last bastion of an almost extinct demon kind. I want to see her before Norn is allowed to start the genocide.
…
When the healer dismounted the raptor, Quinta met him with a broad smile. The party was followed by two carriages. The first was driven by Yirvin, the trader’s nephew. Reigns for the second carried Block, the bald, disinterested man, and the local innkeeper. `Ledra Goldman`, or whatever he called himself at that point, dashed toward the carriages. What he saw… momentally cleansed his mirth.
"Sir Keyaru… ga?.." The merchant stumbled, gazing upon the single boy. Needless to say, things were supposed to be different.
"Take care of him. "The healer waved his chin toward the dark-haired youngster. There was another carriage, filled to the brim with bags and boxes, presumably the remaining goods. It seemed like that would be more than enough for three people.
"I thought there'd be more." The old man slowly shook his head.
"So did I." Keyaruga shrugged nervously, biting his upper lip. The girls waited for him in the saddle. "But Bloodbringer had another opinion. By the time we killed her, only he survived."
"Blood-?.. The Champion?!" The hero responded with a swift nod while reaching toward the bags on his belt. "My, you’re a strange man."
"How so?" The man asked, presenting his former partner with a bag with at least a hundred Jioral cadmi, while Yirvin placed the sole survivor in another carriage.
"Well, you’re ruthless yet soft. I betrayed you, and you saved me. And now, you give me back my own gold for saving that boy." Quinta elaborated, hiding funds inside of his coat.
"You call me soft? Screw you, then. Saving my people was my duty, and I failed spectacularly! You know what I feel about it?" Keyaruga hunched toward the trader’s ear. "Fucking nothing."
"…"
"Also, you seem to have a bad memory. I didn’t save you. My girls did. If not for Freia’s offer to make you my pawn, I’d have you murdered." The Hero of Healing explained. The man was under no illusions about his righteousness.
"Hm, whatever you say." Quinta wouldn’t argue, from his perspective the young man was just trying to look more mature than he really was. Nobody could call Keyaru a saint, but from a dealer’s point of view, he had a big future ahead.
"Hey." The red-haired lad halted the old man. With his green coat, no less. "I need another thing from you."
"Whatever you wish from me." Quinta shrugged, giving a glance toward the girls. Only the demi-human looked invested in their dialogue. The princess, in turn, seemed to struggle with deep and complex emotions. Just like Keyaru, but the latter was too good at hiding it.
"He must be thinking it was me who’s guilty of this bloody shit."
"Should I correct him then?"
"No. This is true. I caused it all." Leaving Norn to her devices was my fault, after all. "He needs a reason, something to live for. Let it be hate towards me." Keyaruga said, looking at the gloomy sky.
"Are you not afraid? He might come to kill you one day."
"That’s not so bad. Revenge is a noble deed; it makes people strong and resilient. Grief, loneliness, suicidal closure — everything is displaced, until there’s nothing but a pure resolve. This… is what happened to me." The healer declared, touching his chest. There, a sparkle of will made its first appearance, and from that time it never faded. Setsuna catches every word, wishing to know as much about her master as possible. Freia, in turn, only held her head lowered.
"Whatever you say, good sir. I will take care of the boy. Now, it’s about time we make our way somewhere northward."
"Yes… It’s time." The lad nodded and walked toward his reptile. "And we’re heading southward, girls." With that said, the man jumped into the saddle. He slapped the reins, and the beast moved the opposite way from the carriage. Only the innkeeper remained standing, with a couple of carriages left behind.
…
It has been a couple of hours since the trio finally left Ranalitta. The plains and meadows gave way to the woodlands. The southern forests were not as dangerous as one might expect, for local hunters and adventurers constantly kept monsters in check, and that was without even speaking of the armed caravans, some of which the party even met along their way.
For what it was worth, the journey was more than enough for our two heroes to finally calm down. All that time, they remained mostly silent. But not anymore.
"So, master good. Setsuna thought you were bad playing good." Setsuna voiced her opinion, which made the man in question wince a bit. After all, the girl saw him fight for the slaves, keeping them safe, even changing his plans for Kureha and Jioral’s future. Good future.
"No, Setty, Lord Keyaruga has always been a good person; he’s just ashamed to admit it." Freia pointed out, clinging harder to the lad’s back.
"Whatever you think of me right now, it was only my whims, nothing more than that." The healer said, recalling a few good things he’d done recently.
"See, Setty? He’s blushing." The magician whispered to the huntress. Well, sort of, since her voice had no way of not passing through the healer’s ears.
"Listen here, I didn’t fight that pile of meat to be ridiculed now, got it? So either you drop the issue, or I’m going to fuck you silly." Keyaruga threatened the sorceress, which made her twitch, but not in the way he wanted. "Remember that rapier-whip thing? That was… seventy four children, reduced to this. They were still alive, and I… What kind of monstrosity must you be to make such a thing? Fuck, I could’ve helped them. I could…" But it was too much, even for me.
"I’m sorry, Keyaruga… My lord. I shouldn’t have said this." The princess mumbled, feeling she had stepped on the wrong callus. "But hey, at least we’ve killed it for good, right?"
"No." The hero shook his head, keeping his attention directed toward the dry, muddy road. "That thing was too relaxed, too arrogant to show even a half of her skills and spells. And if I learned a thing or two from her, it would be to trust my intuition. Bloodbringer still lives. Even if I burned her corpse to ashes, I don’t believe she’s dead. Not even a bit"
The heroes of healing and magic sulked once again. The former had nothing to say about his murdered villagers, Catherine and Norn, without revealing his plan, a global one at that; the latter got overwhelmed by guilt and frustration. Freia had received all of the confirmations about her true self by this point, and it weighed heavily on her soul. Especially with how similar the man’s impression of the Champion was to her father’s immortality.
Fortunately…
"Master, uh… would you say about where we go?" Setsuna offered another topic for the deadlock conversation.
"You mean Buranikka? Well, it’s one of a kind. There, demons and humans live in peace. And one of the few safe places for us." Keyaruga deadpanned, looking at an inconspicuous village leftward from the road. They wouldn’t stop at places like this unless they really needed their luggage refilled.
"Wait, how can it be safe? Aren’t demons, you know, scary?" The caster pondered, not even bothering to open her eyes. From time to time, she used her heat detection as a full-fledged replacement for her vision.
"First, the demons we’re talking about are not hellspawns from Faran’s fancy book. They call themselves ma-zok, which roughly translates as `people of magic`. To understand why, we’ll have to pinpoint the difference between a beast and a monster." The red-eyed lad started his explanation, finding some sort of tranquility in that. Just like in the morning.
"They’re victims of the wild mana?"
"No. And yes." Setsuna interrupted the sorceress. "They eat things with many mana. H-humans, Enuas-ali, each other." The she-wolf explained.
"Correct! Monsters are nothing more than animals with a rich capacity for magic energy. Some are cute, some look like hideous abominations, but all are strong. And to get even stronger, we must kill others. You and I are a delicacy for them, since we’re powerful and rich with mana." Keyaruga elaborated. During his speech, he held a raptor at a low speed, just so nobody would bite their tongue.
"That’s… useful to know." Freia nodded thoughtfully.
"Now, Setsuna, can you tell the difference between humans and demi-humans? Let’s take your tribe. You don’t look too different from some of the ma-zok tribes. Humans with some animalistic parts. There are also elves and dwarves, but they’re not demons. You know why?"
"No, Setsuna just heard they bad and dangerous. And… that they look like us."
"Well, they are indeed dangerous, two or even three times stronger than the best of the knights’ cast has to offer. Kureha had even had her arm cut by their warlord. But there’s ultimately another distinction. Specifically, they can tame monsters. That's why beasts are naturally drawn to them. Some say it’s because of their magic; some argue that it’s nothing more than a symbiotic relationship. Not those damned hellspawns now, right?" Keyaruga concluded, recalling the lonely winged girl. How come she, the supreme leader of the largest country on the continent, fought alone when thousands of demons and monsters had to follow her lead?
"Master Keyaruga demon too?" The ice warrior asked unexpectedly.
"What makes you think so?" Is it because I sometimes bathe in the blood of my enemies?
"Setsuna told you sanatha-nie — the true name — and you can make Setsuna do what you want. Enuas-ali have mana, like monsters, and you make us kaiyau (obey). So you’re demons."
Wait, that’s actually pretty reasonable.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Keyaruga burst into laughter. "Ha-ha… Yeah, I couldn’t even imagine! And we call ma-zok demons! Curses, we’ve been like them all that time! Fuck, that hypocrisy is just something else!" Another reason to hate my own kind.
"Setsuna don’t understand your humor." The huntress shook her head.
"And why’s that? Just think about it — we, humans, subjugate your tribes, sentient beings, while ma-zok tame dump beasts, and they’re demons! Isn’t that just ridiculous?" The healer explained, barely even holding his chuckle.
"Wait." Freia raised her voice again. "If they’re strong, why can’t they defeat Jioral?"
"A valid question. You see, Tenanulic is not a kingdom, it’s a confederation. The translation is correct. It’s an alliance of various tribes under the leadership of the strongest of their kind — Me-Ua. Suffice to say, they lack what it takes to have an organized army."
"That demon king to demons, he’s what demon to monster?" Setsuna wondered, rubbing her tail against the man’s torso.
"As a matter of fact, yes. Their society holds on…"
And so, for the next many hours the trio spent having a not so boring conversation. Keyaruga spoke of the Confederation, various demonic tribes, magic, and the whole new prospects. At the same time, Freia remained cautious about the situation with her sister. Asking the hero about it felt like walking in a dark, monster-infested forest with nothing to defend yourself with.
…
Of course, the journey could not go without stops. They set up a tent in the middle of a plain grassland. A campfire burned down, along with the bony carcass of a hunted wolverine. Four aromatic candles smelling of spicy carnation drew mosquitoes away, while the nameless raptor unhurriedly chewed a mottled teleporting boar. After all, normally only monsters could eat their kind.
And there were moans. Loud and passionate, ecstatic and frantic. Keyaruga rammed Setsuna with all the might he had, holding her hairy leg raised to the bright sky. Time after time, he invaded her hole, rammed and rubbed against the girl’s sensitive spots.
"Master!.. Setsuna… Can’t anymore!.." She moaned. The she-wolf’s torso wriggled. Her aquamarine eyes were all teary and gleaming.
"Ghh…" Keyaruga too wasn’t impervious to that pleasant shivering. The bursting feeling of sperm steadily going through the fiery rod made him close his eyes and reflect upon that single beautiful moment of his life. Still, while the ice warrior was now lying with her tongue out, the red-haired lad grew even more agitated. A few seconds of heaven dissolved into nothingness, leaving him with nothing but fear and uncertainty. These are the very same emotions the man has tried to suppress since his ultimate defeat against Norn and Bloodbringer.
"My lord, are you alr-?.." Whatever Freia had to ask, she wasn’t allowed to. Keyaruga grabbed her by the shoulder and tossed her under his grasp. Although the sorceress had been thoroughly preparing herself, watching the hero rave Setsuna, the same couldn’t be said about the healer. He needed some time to restore his manhood to its full glory. That’s why the lad proceeded to kiss his toy. It wasn’t delicate or loving. That was a gesture of power, an authority over his trophy. The princess even got scared for a moment, before ultimately giving up. Freia succumbed to her fate.
Setsuna was quick to regain her composure, and what she saw barely even surprised her. Keyaruga violently ramming Freia while she was screaming out his name and hugging his back? It was completely acceptable, a routine even. What was not, though, was his face. Even in darkness, the gray-haired girl saw a complex palette of anxiety and frustration, which the healer tried to drown in pleasure. It didn’t go too well, though.
"Hey, Freia. I have a question here. Do you even love me?" The hero apathetically asked his pink-haired magician.
"I… I do!.. I love having… rough sex with you!.." The sorceress screamed while riding her man.
"And what of all the things and people you killed?"
"I… I don’t care! They were scum! Garbage! A-ah!.. I only care… for you… And Setty! And…"
"Thank you, Freia. For taking care of me. I…" The man raised the tempo, now grabbing the princess’ massive breasts. "I love you too."
Setsuna watched them from the side, smiling at their intimacy. Even if they didn’t speak about that out loud, princess Norn was now the cornerstone of their further relationship, and judging how unopposed the Hero of Healing’s reaction was toward the poisoning of his fellow villagers, the girl could only draw one conclusion — not only did he know the culprit behind that insidious act, he also felt something akin to sympathy toward the younger princess. Soon, they would face each other. That was inevitable. And in the time of the showdown, Setsuna would stand for whatever decision her master would come up with.
