“I want to help save Mom!”, Linia announced, from within her bedroom.
“Damn it Linia, I have told you several times now that the answer is no!”, Gyes shouted, fuming with rage, “We do not have the manpower or resources to save her or anyone else. The only way we could go is if the other villages worked with us, but that will not happen. You saw it for yourself, all of them are suspicious of one another and are on the brink of war.”
“Wait…your wife was captured as well?”, Ghislaine inquired, realizing that she had yet to meet the woman.
Looking down at the table, Gyes' silence confirmed that she was among those taken. Noticing Ghislaine start to stand up, I forcibly pulled her back into her seat and shook my head.
“Your brother has two young daughters to care for and a village to defend in the event war does break out. Do not belittle him, he is doing the best he can with the knowledge and experience he has. Unlike you, he has only the knowledge your father and kin have imparted to him.”, I told her, telepathically.
Taking a moment to think about what I said, Ghislaine decided to broach this differently. Understanding that Gyes could not leave the village, due to several factors, she decided to offer her assistance to resolve the matter.
“We will go and rescue everyone.”, Ghislaine said, speaking for all of us instead of asking for aid.
“Normally you would ask for help first, but I will let it slide this time.”, I chuckled, “You can count Leona, Purlin, Yasaka, and I in.”
“If Cole is helping, we are helping.”, Lilith added, speaking for the Devils present.
“As much as I would like to help, Ghislaine, I also have to worry about my family. I will stay back with Sauros, Hilda, and my family to help defend this place.”, Paul told her, with an apologetic look.
“I understand.”, Ghislaine acknowledged, rising from her seat, “We should get moving now so we have plenty of daylight to track them. You said they were heading toward Zanto Port, right?”
“Yes, according to everything we know, that is the direction they retreated in.”, Gyes confirmed, “May the Great Forest Spirits protect all of you!”
Getting up to leave the home, I sensed Linia preparing to leave as well. Realizing that she was again going to disobey her father’s wishes, I needed to stop her from going as she was a liability. Motioning to Gyes that he needed to check in on her, he gave me a confused look but did as I suggested. Walking over to her bedroom door, Gyes poked his head in to see what I was concerned about. Catching her in the act of packing for her journey, the man went apeshit on Linia as he charged in to confront her. Lecturing her on why going with us was a bad idea, Linia insisted that she would go whether he liked it or not.
“No matter what you do, I will go with them and save Mom!”, Linia shouted, “Nothing you can do will stop me!”
“Oh dear…”, Gustav said, quickly running to the door to shut it.
“Since you honestly believe that, I think I will knock you down a few notches.”, Gyes remarked, rubbing his hands together, “Come here!”
Grabbing his daughter by the scruff of her neck, Gyes bent her over his knee and began to paddle her. Screaming out in pain after the first spanking, she attempted to backtrack her statement but it was too late. Listing out all the issues with joining us, he delivered a heavy spanking for each one which in turn filled the home with her screams.
“Stop it!! I will not be able to sit for a week!!”, Linia yelled, trying to break free, “Gramps, help me!! Aunty Ghislaine!!!”
“You should have listened to your father.”, Gustav remarked, slowly shutting the door.
“I am not helping you, I agree with Gyes.”, Ghislaine said, walking toward the front door.
“Traitors!!”, Linia squealed, as her bedroom shut and the spankings continued.
Even though he may be going a bit overboard, I understood that it came from a good place. He was genuinely concerned about her safety and did not want to potentially bury two of his beloved people together. Putting the village quickly behind us, I made a beeline for Zanto Port on one of my Light Platforms.
—Several Hours Later—
Flying us over the treetops to cover ground faster, everyone kept their eyes peeled for any signs of the slavers. Assuming that they had all met up at some point after the raids, we were expecting to see signs of a large group but were still coming up empty. Using my Radar Pulse every so often to search beneath the ground as well, it was becoming clearer that the slavers did not go toward Zanto Port.
“This does not make sense, my brother would not give us this information without verifying it thoroughly. He has always had an eye for the details, I cannot believe he is mistaken here.”, Ghislaine stated, growing frustrated by the lack of telltale signs of slaver activities, “Maybe we were too late, and they are already on their way to markets around the world.”
“Do not give up just yet, nya!”, Purlin scolded her, “We cannot give up till we are one hundred percent sure, nya! Even then, we must rescue as many of them as we can, nya!”
“Yeah, you should not write them off just yet.”, Leona agreed, “Besides, if they had help from someone on the inside it makes sense that they covered their tracks well.”
Stopping our flight abruptly, I looked toward Ghislaine and asked her a question.
“Do you have any sacred or taboo places in the Great Forest?”, I inquired.
“Yeah there are a few, why do you ask?”, Ghislaine replied.
“If you were a traitor, where would you tell slavers to hide out?”, I remarked.
“The last place anyone would be willing to go!”, Ghislaine shouted, pulling out her map, “If we go southeast of here, there is a place considered to be taboo to our people. Several villages around this area died under mysterious circumstances, all the inhabitants died in their beds without any signs of a fight. The Elders believed they had done something to upset the Sacred Beast, and it killed them in their sleep. Since then, no one has dared to go there for fear of being killed as well.”
“Sounds like a perfect place to lay low.”, Lilith commented, “Using taboo places to hide out is a very typical tactic of criminal scum.”
Getting us turned around, I began heading toward the region Ghislaine indicated at high speed. Arriving at our destination just as the sun began to set, Serafall pointed toward several faint dots in the forest below us. Sending out a Radar Pulse to confirm how many people were there, several hundred outlines appeared in front of my eyes. Confirming that our targets were in the taboo area, I flew us over to the center of their camp and gave my group a head nod.
Giving me the thumbs up once they were ready, I removed the platform below us and dropped down on the unsuspecting slavers. Catching them in the middle of dinner, the morons did not even have a chance to cry out for their guards as they died before we touched the ground. Sending their blood and body parts in every direction, all of us split up and began hunting down the other slavers, bodyguards, and their assistants.
Leaving a trail of carnage in our wake, we did not initially encounter any sizeable resistance from our enemy. Wondering how such weak people managed to overpower the significantly strong Beastman, I received my answer when Leona came sliding back toward me. Stopping her from sliding back any further, she thanked me for my help as she began shaking her arms vigorously.
“That stung a bit.”, she complained, before looking back at her opponent, “That was a cheap shot!”
“Hehe, you are tougher than these other Beastman.”, the woman laughed, before lunging at Leona again, “Looks like I will get to have some actual fun today!”
“You better not disappoint me!”, Leona roared, with a toothy grin as she launched herself forward to intercept the woman.
Since Leona would be fine on her own, I glanced over at the others to see how they were doing. Encountering resistance on their end as well, each of them looked like they were enjoying themselves as they quickly began overwhelming their opponents. Deciding to free the prisoners while the women wrapped things up, as I turned to walk away, someone shot a crossbow bolt at me. Tilting my head to the right, the bolt flew past my head and buried itself in the side of a wagon.
“Fuck, how did I miss!?”, a man spat, frustrated that I had avoided his bolt by a few millimeters.
Glancing over my shoulder at the man who shot at me, I gave him a slightly annoyed look and yawned. Becoming even more infuriated by my reaction to his failed attack, he threw his crossbow to the ground and drew out two knives from his hip. Trying to intimidate me with his Killing Intent I could not help but laugh at how hard was trying to act tough with me.
“Listen kid, if you leave now I will forget you were even here.”, I told him, “Trying to fight me will result in a very swift death for you.”
“You think I am afraid of some bald priest?!”, he snapped, believing I was a non-combatant.
Looking down at my attire, I was a bit confused as I looked nothing like a priest. Not only that, I had none of the traditional equipment on my person that a priest would usually be wearing.
“I am not a priest, idiot. If I am anything, it is a Magical Swordsman.”, I remarked, “Now like I said a moment ago, fuck off!”
“Fuck you!”, he howled, as he let out a pathetic battle cry, “I will put your head on a pike!!”
Shooting an Omega Beam out of my eyes, I hit him straight in the chest and vaporized him in an instant. Watching their comrade disappear in an instant, the remaining fighters realized they had bitten off more than they could chew. Trying to disengage from their fights and flee, my comrades seized the opportunity and swiftly ended their lives in one or two motions.
“I want to help save Mom!”, Linia announced, from within her bedroom.
“Damn it Linia, I have told you several times now that the answer is no!”, Gyes shouted, fuming with rage, “We do not have the manpower or resources to save her or anyone else. The only way we could go is if the other villages worked with us, but that will not happen. You saw it for yourself, all of them are suspicious of one another and are on the brink of war.”
“Wait…your wife was captured as well?”, Ghislaine inquired, realizing that she had yet to meet the woman.
Looking down at the table, Gyes' silence confirmed that she was among those taken. Noticing Ghislaine start to stand up, I forcibly pulled her back into her seat and shook my head.
“Your brother has two young daughters to care for and a village to defend in the event war does break out. Do not belittle him, he is doing the best he can with the knowledge and experience he has. Unlike you, he has only the knowledge your father and kin have imparted to him.”, I told her, telepathically.
Taking a moment to think about what I said, Ghislaine decided to broach this differently. Understanding that Gyes could not leave the village, due to several factors, she decided to offer her assistance to resolve the matter.
“We will go and rescue everyone.”, Ghislaine said, speaking for all of us instead of asking for aid.
“Normally you would ask for help first, but I will let it slide this time.”, I chuckled, “You can count Leona, Purlin, Yasaka, and I in.”
“If Cole is helping, we are helping.”, Lilith added, speaking for the Devils present.
“As much as I would like to help, Ghislaine, I also have to worry about my family. I will stay back with Sauros, Hilda, and my family to help defend this place.”, Paul told her, with an apologetic look.
“I understand.”, Ghislaine acknowledged, rising from her seat, “We should get moving now so we have plenty of daylight to track them. You said they were heading toward Zanto Port, right?”
“Yes, according to everything we know, that is the direction they retreated in.”, Gyes confirmed, “May the Great Forest Spirits protect all of you!”
Getting up to leave the home, I sensed Linia preparing to leave as well. Realizing that she was again going to disobey her father’s wishes, I needed to stop her from going as she was a liability. Motioning to Gyes that he needed to check in on her, he gave me a confused look but did as I suggested. Walking over to her bedroom door, Gyes poked his head in to see what I was concerned about. Catching her in the act of packing for her journey, the man went apeshit on Linia as he charged in to confront her. Lecturing her on why going with us was a bad idea, Linia insisted that she would go whether he liked it or not.
“No matter what you do, I will go with them and save Mom!”, Linia shouted, “Nothing you can do will stop me!”
“Oh dear…”, Gustav said, quickly running to the door to shut it.
“Since you honestly believe that, I think I will knock you down a few notches.”, Gyes remarked, rubbing his hands together, “Come here!”
Grabbing his daughter by the scruff of her neck, Gyes bent her over his knee and began to paddle her. Screaming out in pain after the first spanking, she attempted to backtrack her statement but it was too late. Listing out all the issues with joining us, he delivered a heavy spanking for each one which in turn filled the home with her screams.
“Stop it!! I will not be able to sit for a week!!”, Linia yelled, trying to break free, “Gramps, help me!! Aunty Ghislaine!!!”
“You should have listened to your father.”, Gustav remarked, slowly shutting the door.
“I am not helping you, I agree with Gyes.”, Ghislaine said, walking toward the front door.
“Traitors!!”, Linia squealed, as her bedroom shut and the spankings continued.
Even though he may be going a bit overboard, I understood that it came from a good place. He was genuinely concerned about her safety and did not want to potentially bury two of his beloved people together. Putting the village quickly behind us, I made a beeline for Zanto Port on one of my Light Platforms.
—Several Hours Later—
Flying us over the treetops to cover ground faster, everyone kept their eyes peeled for any signs of the slavers. Assuming that they had all met up at some point after the raids, we were expecting to see signs of a large group but were still coming up empty. Using my Radar Pulse every so often to search beneath the ground as well, it was becoming clearer that the slavers did not go toward Zanto Port.
“This does not make sense, my brother would not give us this information without verifying it thoroughly. He has always had an eye for the details, I cannot believe he is mistaken here.”, Ghislaine stated, growing frustrated by the lack of telltale signs of slaver activities, “Maybe we were too late, and they are already on their way to markets around the world.”
“Do not give up just yet, nya!”, Purlin scolded her, “We cannot give up till we are one hundred percent sure, nya! Even then, we must rescue as many of them as we can, nya!”
“Yeah, you should not write them off just yet.”, Leona agreed, “Besides, if they had help from someone on the inside it makes sense that they covered their tracks well.”
Stopping our flight abruptly, I looked toward Ghislaine and asked her a question.
“Do you have any sacred or taboo places in the Great Forest?”, I inquired.
“Yeah there are a few, why do you ask?”, Ghislaine replied.
“If you were a traitor, where would you tell slavers to hide out?”, I remarked.
“The last place anyone would be willing to go!”, Ghislaine shouted, pulling out her map, “If we go southeast of here, there is a place considered to be taboo to our people. Several villages around this area died under mysterious circumstances, all the inhabitants died in their beds without any signs of a fight. The Elders believed they had done something to upset the Sacred Beast, and it killed them in their sleep. Since then, no one has dared to go there for fear of being killed as well.”
“Sounds like a perfect place to lay low.”, Lilith commented, “Using taboo places to hide out is a very typical tactic of criminal scum.”
Getting us turned around, I began heading toward the region Ghislaine indicated at high speed. Arriving at our destination just as the sun began to set, Serafall pointed toward several faint dots in the forest below us. Sending out a Radar Pulse to confirm how many people were there, several hundred outlines appeared in front of my eyes. Confirming that our targets were in the taboo area, I flew us over to the center of their camp and gave my group a head nod.
Giving me the thumbs up once they were ready, I removed the platform below us and dropped down on the unsuspecting slavers. Catching them in the middle of dinner, the morons did not even have a chance to cry out for their guards as they died before we touched the ground. Sending their blood and body parts in every direction, all of us split up and began hunting down the other slavers, bodyguards, and their assistants.
Leaving a trail of carnage in our wake, we did not initially encounter any sizeable resistance from our enemy. Wondering how such weak people managed to overpower the significantly strong Beastman, I received my answer when Leona came sliding back toward me. Stopping her from sliding back any further, she thanked me for my help as she began shaking her arms vigorously.
“That stung a bit.”, she complained, before looking back at her opponent, “That was a cheap shot!”
“Hehe, you are tougher than these other Beastman.”, the woman laughed, before lunging at Leona again, “Looks like I will get to have some actual fun today!”
“You better not disappoint me!”, Leona roared, with a toothy grin as she launched herself forward to intercept the woman.
Since Leona would be fine on her own, I glanced over at the others to see how they were doing. Encountering resistance on their end as well, each of them looked like they were enjoying themselves as they quickly began overwhelming their opponents. Deciding to free the prisoners while the women wrapped things up, as I turned to walk away, someone shot a crossbow bolt at me. Tilting my head to the right, the bolt flew past my head and buried itself in the side of a wagon.
“Fuck, how did I miss!?”, a man spat, frustrated that I had avoided his bolt by a few millimeters.
Glancing over my shoulder at the man who shot at me, I gave him a slightly annoyed look and yawned. Becoming even more infuriated by my reaction to his failed attack, he threw his crossbow to the ground and drew out two knives from his hip. Trying to intimidate me with his Killing Intent I could not help but laugh at how hard was trying to act tough with me.
“Listen kid, if you leave now I will forget you were even here.”, I told him, “Trying to fight me will result in a very swift death for you.”
“You think I am afraid of some bald priest?!”, he snapped, believing I was a non-combatant.
Looking down at my attire, I was a bit confused as I looked nothing like a priest. Not only that, I had none of the traditional equipment on my person that a priest would usually be wearing.
“I am not a priest, idiot. If I am anything, it is a Magical Swordsman.”, I remarked, “Now like I said a moment ago, fuck off!”
“Fuck you!”, he howled, as he let out a pathetic battle cry, “I will put your head on a pike!!”
Shooting an Omega Beam out of my eyes, I hit him straight in the chest and vaporized him in an instant. Watching their comrade disappear in an instant, the remaining fighters realized they had bitten off more than they could chew. Trying to disengage from their fights and flee, my comrades seized the opportunity and swiftly ended their lives in one or two motions.
