"Hey, that’s our magic! Darumta (thief)!" Eve exclaimed, spotting seven barely visible spheres of light circling around the man. "I knew it! How long have you been spying on me? Why didn’t you help? You waited until I was all alone? Hey, answer me!"
"Quiet, you’re ruining my concentration." The lad grumbled, continuing the exercise. After all, he may have copied the maiden’s ability, but only to the point of her own mastery. Which, quite frankly, left much to be desired. "It’d be smart of you to follow my example."
"Yeah, whatever. It’s not like you can just steal our family secret. Aren’t you a healer?" The kokuyoku scion asked nervously. After all, that was exceptional in terms of the class system..
"Girl, do you think your kin are the only users of light discipline? You should visit the school of Rapmantas someday." The lad evasively replied, still maintaining the luminous formation. Keyaruga lacked many things, but not focus or snarkiness. "I’m sure, its scholars would find your shaping skills quite keen…"
"Shut up already!" Alas, before the hero could finish, the girl interrupted him. She even went so far as to extinguish the spheres with her skills in darkness. "I’m already a master!"
"A master…" The healer coldly replied, opening his red eyes. Now he couldn’t help but wonder…"How old are you? Thirteen?"
"Fifteen winters, you bastard!"
"I see." Keyaruga mused. A single number made everything so much more clear. Especially about Eve’s emotional instability. As the man rose from the chair, he… "I’m actually fourteen." …just couldn’t deny himself a small pleasure of honesty.
"Su-u-u-ure…" Just as expected, the queen-to-be remained highly skeptical of such a ridiculous statement. And who could blame her? Clearly, not Freia, who just finished her divination ritual.
"Keyaruga, I think I have a clue." The sorceress approached them with a trace of tiredness on her pretty face. "The trace goes… there." The princess pointed in a seemingly random direction. "Somewhere beyond the city walls."
"East hills? Excellent, my eye and Setsuna’s nose will do the rest." The hero admonished, remembering the sight of the bells. He couldn’t leave Buranikka through the gates, and that left only one option. "We’ll depart somewhere at midnight."
"Haa, good for us, then." The caster spoke with a relaxed exhale. "Gods, I’m all sweaty now. Keyaruga, Setty, you give me your clothes. You shouldn’t pitch in troubles all sticky."
Freia began to undress herself as the last word left her lips, unconcerned by anything around her. Her only wish was to get the viscous cotton out of her skin as soon as possible. Setsuna, following her exercises, wasn’t against it as well. After all, not only could the magician conjure everything necessary, but quick drying was not outside of her capabilities. And while Keyaruga glanced at the picture with carnal interest…
"Hey! Hey! How can you undress right before the man?!" The kokuyoku descendant snarled upon seeing the two passionately discard everything from them.
Weird girl. Hasn’t she seen me and Setsuna fucking each other this morning?
"Setsuna belongs to master." The she-wolf spoke with a narrow smile on her face.
"I’m a little embarrassed, but as long as Keyaruga likes it, I… don’t mind." The princess confessed, throwing her bolero dress into a nearby bucket.
"Well, I do like it." With a smug grin on his face, the man admitted, as he quickly disposed of the stained clothes. The day was far from over, and by the time he and the huntress got back, their attires would be stained by blood and gore to the limit, but the hero couldn’t care less.
"Night is busy. Love me now." Setsuna’s sweet voice resonated with a jolt through Keyaruga’s spine. As she walked toward him, the healer couldn’t help but lunge toward the girl to intertwine their tongues in a dance of pure intimacy.
"Keya… ruga…" Such was the feeling, at least. Freia too was there; her touch upon the lad’s shoulder, however nonintrusive, left him no right to ignore her. Especially when her lips approached the lad’s ear. She even bit it. "Fuck me, Keyaruga. Here and now." The princess asked, demanded, and begged. Her own hand drifted downward, and the fingers rubbed right under the pinkish pubic hair. Sticky droplets fell to the floor, as the man grabbed the sorceress’ neck for an avaricious kiss.
"Uh… Ugh…" It all happened right in front of Eve's eyes. Well, she tried closing them, but the cursed curiosity wouldn’t allow her to avert the gaze. The maiden blushed and trembled, wanting to run, scream, and to do...Anything, instead of standing still, mesmerized by the foreplay. Keyaruga grabbed Setsuna and pushed her onto the improvised bed. He was ready to taste the wolf-girl’s vagina, while the magician greedily took his penis into her own mouth. The man even stuck out his tongue, but… "H-hey, w-what’re you doing?!" The black-winged cutie left him no choice but to turn his head around.
"Don’t you see yourself? Come on, take what you like, and go…" Where? To Kelly? Should’ve thought of it earlier.
"Evy…" Fortunately, Freia was there to help. Just for a moment, she took the wet rod out of her throat. A deed she was getting quite good at, actually. "We’ve warded the whole house. It’s… safe now." Having said that, the princess resumed the loud, wet blowjob.
"See? You could’ve left long ago. That means you want to join us?" Keyaruga slyly wondered, extending his left arm toward the confused girl. For a moment, she even harbored a sign of doubt, but…
"I… Mira wor hanjanti (leave me alone)!" Ultimately, the proud kokuyoku scion just slammed the door behind her. She was about to cry, but somehow the lad felt some twisted pleasure from bullying the poor maiden.
Either way, the prelude resumed. Keyaruga licked Setsuna’s dripping vulva, while his hand pinched her aroused nipples. Freia frantically sucked on his manhood, zealous in her caressing, the princess hugged his glutes. The lad felt his whole body shivering, he drowned in the huntress’ moans, the magician’s slurpy gulps, his own restrained gasping. But even so, the hero couldn’t help but gloat. After all, behind the barely functional door, he felt a pair of crimson eyes watching him.
A curious birdie has resorted to peeping? Well then, you won’t be disappointed, my fair queen.
…
Even as the stars and moon emerged to light the night sky, Buranikka was far from defenseless. Although many slept, the guardians of numerous tribes, including humans, patrolled the walls. They were diligent in their job, and yet the watchmen kept their eyes outward. They barely spotted a couple of swift shadows leaping through the massive stone barricade.
Keyaruga and Setsuna had nothing but a general direction to follow, and that’s when the huntress’ tracking skills were put to good use. Refreshed and clean, the duo followed the trace of hooves. The way led them past the bare hills to a forest. They discovered a camp about four kilometers from the city, amidst distant roars, the rustle of leaves, and the distant cry of night owls.
"Here." Setsuna said, pointing at the small base. The hero and his willing slave stood on the tree branch, quite close to eight tents yet distant enough for guardsmen not to spot them.
"Let’s see…" The crouching hero summoned his jade eye. Honestly, he felt much better when his emerald sight was able to scan enemies properly, compared to dealing with gods. Apparently, the latter were not as powerful as one might have imagined, considering Lorenzo was a match for many of them. Yet, pondering on the silent deicide was not within Keyaruga’s current priorities. "Four large bulls, twenty… five are sleeping, four on duty. Curious." The lad deadpanned, giving his companion some brief tactical intel. The she-wolf remained calm and collected, as if a completely different person from the one who rode the hero’s manhood just an hour ago.
"What we do?" She quietly asked her master. The ice warrior was ready to clad her hands into the frozen gauntlets, but would not do that unless specifically ordered to.
"I think I have an idea."
Without much explanation, the man got a small, reddish vial from one of his poaches. Something he had brewed back in Ranalitta, where it had its first test on Kureha Cryleth. Although, this one was thrice as potent.
Moving through branches and leaves, the couple of infiltrators approached the stable with sleeping bull monsters. Both were silent, and yet the healer’s emotions couldn’t be conveyed any clearer than with his insidious grin. All he had to do was throw the glass vessel onto the rocky ground. Nothing noticeable or spectacular happened in the first moments. Still, they waited. And the wait was more than worth it, since all four iron-backed oxen not only rose from their slumber but did so with their instincts out of any semblance of control. One threw itself in the forest, another slammed a nearby standing bull, and the last lunged toward the guardsmen.
"What did you do, master?" Setsuna wondered, gazing upon the chaos below.
"Just a little bit of an aphrodisiac. Heh! Can’t believe it worked on ma-muana!" The hero chuckled, enjoying the show.
Indeed, the spectacle was quite an amusing piece of drama. The true raging bull was now stomping men, raising them onto the horns, demolishing tents and smashing everyone within, while sleepy morons lost their health and lives, trying to stop their own monstrosity. Nine had been incapacitated; three of which had already died, but if left unchecked, they would surely subjugate the rabid animal. Especially with ten shamans already chanting the group spell.
"Setsuna, take the left flank. I’ll take the rest. Don’t show them mercy." As the orders left the lad’s mouth, so did the alloyed saber emerge from the sheath.
"Yes, master." The ice warrior agreed before descending to the battlefield. Her will of steel and armaments of ice razed the massive ma-zok as if they were nothing but overgrown children. She jumped from one head to another, leaving massive bleeding holes on each of her victims. Normally, rikish gi would regroup and overwhelm her, but with their mad ox being too angry to die, no formation could be constructed.
And while Setsuna constantly leaped and dodged the axes and spears, Keyaruga just couldn’t bother. As he walked, one, two, six, and then ten bodies fell in his wake. Pierced skulls, cut limbs, and insides on the outside. No sword nor crossbow could halt the quiet march of death now.
All the screams, mumbling, incomprehensible snarls, and swears — for the hero it was nothing but a background noise. What at first looked like a fearless bunch of cutthroats was now running away in all directions. Even shamans silenced their spell to flee. They killed the ox, sure, but what worth did it have with more than twenty men lying dead or dying. The latter were quite vocal about their sorry state, which did influence their morale quite a bit.
"How sad. Kids got tired of playing?" Keyaruga mused with a broad grin. "Should I let them go? Nah, I’d rather…" Standing among the corpses, sprayed with guts and blood, he just raised his left hand and pointed his index finger at the cowards… And started blasting. Admittedly, he missed most of the shots, but those that landed…
One went straight through the brain; another got a heart punctured. The third and fourth sniped a glute and a knee, respectively. As for the other five, Setsuna hunted them down. As the bounty hunters turned into pitiful prey, she bathed in their blood, taking quite a bit of entertainment from gutting and ravaging those who nearly ended the lives of her close ones just the other day.
"Setsuna…" Keyaruga slowly walked toward the girl. Among the screams and gore, they looked just as happy as if they had gone on a romantic date. "Impressive job, you did well." The healer praised the girl, patting her bloodied hair.
"Thanks to you, master. And… training with Freia." The she-wolf replied with a childish smile. "We… revised mugelnar (basics), and Setsuna feels stronger."
"It’s because you’re a really good teacher." The hero wouldn’t halt his compliments since the huntress liked them so much. Unfortunately, that small flare of light had to fade away. "Now, we’ll be having real fun. Would you be so kind as to dig me a hole over there? Ten meters in depth."
"Uh-huh. But why?"
"Oh, you’ll see."
…
Gontash Modd was one of the most prominent shamans of his people. Fearsome warrior and a capable caster, there was no way he would be anything less than the leader of a powerful hunting squad.
Unfortunately for him, he got shamefully shot in the back and passed out due to excessive blood loss. And although the proud hound of Hakuo found himself outsmarted and his squad eliminated, he expected the same fate — death. But… there he was, alive. The bull opened his eyes and saw the night sky above him, so peaceful and lucid…
"UGH-H-H-H!!!" But it ended, when the man attempted to move. "Nagi q-quag (my limbs)!" Specifically, his whole body was bruised, and the bones were shattered. Another of his kind lied next to him, quietly groaning in his futile attempt to even stay conscious.
"Good evening, raging bulls! I hope you understand me, cause I won’t bother with tarenago." Finally, the hero emerged on the edge of the pit, along with his slave, profoundly crouching.
"You! You’re… that fucker with that little bitch!" Fortunately, the shaman spoke phasian, and even better than some humans. Which barely relieved his disposition, of course.
"First, her name is Eve of the Reese house. She’s your next king, so I suggest remembering." The hero smirked, obviously relishing his superiority. "Second, I’m not "fucker", I’m Keyaruga, a noble knight, and a… Pff… Paragon of kindness…" He elaborated, barely holding on to his breath.
"Egh?! Shut the fuck up, you psycho! You broke all my bones!"
"I did? Setsuna, do you remember me doing such a thing?" The healer jokingly asked his companion.
"No. It was Setsuna." The huntress replied, and with that, she cracked her knuckles. "And Setsuna dug the hole."
"See? My hands are clean. Mostly. I think I took down nine of your men during the battle. You chase us, we strike back. Quite fair, don’t you think?"
"S-shut the fuck up! What do you want? You… clearly need me and Butos alive, right?" Gontash asked, clinging to the last hope. Fortunately for Keyaruga, the bull wasn’t too brave. Or…
"Why, yes, my smart fellow! I just want to ask you one thing. Specifically, if there any other groups after Eve?"
"If I answer, w-will you… will you let us go?"
"Certainly! You can trust me on that!
"A… All right! Only we know of me-ua kahul (demon king candidate)! Only… Hakuo-sarnur (lord Hakuo) personally instructed us to hunt her down.
"Hmm…" Keyaruga shook his head in disbelief. "All right. Let’s go, Setsuna. We still have a lair of black dogs to eradicate."
"Uh-huh."
And there they were. To someone who could read minds with touch, lying was useless. Actually, whether it was truth or not, there was no chance for rikish gi’s hunting group to walk away after all the troubles they stirred up for Keyaruga."
"WAIT! I WASN’T LYING! WE JUST DIDN’T KNOW! HELP US!!!" And yet, the bull wouldn’t surrender. He screamed, desperately trying to get at least some mercy.
"I too didn’t deceive you in any way." And although the mercy was out of the question, at least he had the hero’s attention. "Go on, climb away, we won’t stop you. See? You’ve burned a lovely inn, your undead goon demolished a cozy café, and yet I’m forgiving you."
"You… You know we can’t! We… We’ll starve here!"
"No, you wouldn’t! After all, I left you with two chunks of beef. I think they finally woke up. He-he-he-heh! Good luck, gentleman!"
"N-no! WAIT! NO! NO-O-O!!! A-A-A-A-A!!!"
That was it. Two mad oxen rose from their slumber, raging with both mating drive and hunger. They wouldn’t leave the two survivors any chance of actually making it out alive.
"Are you having fun, master?" The she-wolf asked with caution. She recalled their dialogue about revenge and what would follow. And yet, to make her dig up such a large hole just to give the poor bastards hope and strip it away in a matter of a couple of minutes? That didn’t seem normal.
"Oh, I do. After all, there's nothing more enjoyable than vengeance!"
Still, even as he said so, Keyaruga’s grin remained tense and slightly uninterested. The man wanted more, much more. He craved Blade wriggling under his feet, not that dismal bull’s screaming in the distance. But even so…
“Let’s go. We still have a job to do, Setsuna.”
"Hey, that’s our magic! Darumta (thief)!" Eve exclaimed, spotting seven barely visible spheres of light circling around the man. "I knew it! How long have you been spying on me? Why didn’t you help? You waited until I was all alone? Hey, answer me!"
"Quiet, you’re ruining my concentration." The lad grumbled, continuing the exercise. After all, he may have copied the maiden’s ability, but only to the point of her own mastery. Which, quite frankly, left much to be desired. "It’d be smart of you to follow my example."
"Yeah, whatever. It’s not like you can just steal our family secret. Aren’t you a healer?" The kokuyoku scion asked nervously. After all, that was exceptional in terms of the class system..
"Girl, do you think your kin are the only users of light discipline? You should visit the school of Rapmantas someday." The lad evasively replied, still maintaining the luminous formation. Keyaruga lacked many things, but not focus or snarkiness. "I’m sure, its scholars would find your shaping skills quite keen…"
"Shut up already!" Alas, before the hero could finish, the girl interrupted him. She even went so far as to extinguish the spheres with her skills in darkness. "I’m already a master!"
"A master…" The healer coldly replied, opening his red eyes. Now he couldn’t help but wonder…"How old are you? Thirteen?"
"Fifteen winters, you bastard!"
"I see." Keyaruga mused. A single number made everything so much more clear. Especially about Eve’s emotional instability. As the man rose from the chair, he… "I’m actually fourteen." …just couldn’t deny himself a small pleasure of honesty.
"Su-u-u-ure…" Just as expected, the queen-to-be remained highly skeptical of such a ridiculous statement. And who could blame her? Clearly, not Freia, who just finished her divination ritual.
"Keyaruga, I think I have a clue." The sorceress approached them with a trace of tiredness on her pretty face. "The trace goes… there." The princess pointed in a seemingly random direction. "Somewhere beyond the city walls."
"East hills? Excellent, my eye and Setsuna’s nose will do the rest." The hero admonished, remembering the sight of the bells. He couldn’t leave Buranikka through the gates, and that left only one option. "We’ll depart somewhere at midnight."
"Haa, good for us, then." The caster spoke with a relaxed exhale. "Gods, I’m all sweaty now. Keyaruga, Setty, you give me your clothes. You shouldn’t pitch in troubles all sticky."
Freia began to undress herself as the last word left her lips, unconcerned by anything around her. Her only wish was to get the viscous cotton out of her skin as soon as possible. Setsuna, following her exercises, wasn’t against it as well. After all, not only could the magician conjure everything necessary, but quick drying was not outside of her capabilities. And while Keyaruga glanced at the picture with carnal interest…
"Hey! Hey! How can you undress right before the man?!" The kokuyoku descendant snarled upon seeing the two passionately discard everything from them.
Weird girl. Hasn’t she seen me and Setsuna fucking each other this morning?
"Setsuna belongs to master." The she-wolf spoke with a narrow smile on her face.
"I’m a little embarrassed, but as long as Keyaruga likes it, I… don’t mind." The princess confessed, throwing her bolero dress into a nearby bucket.
"Well, I do like it." With a smug grin on his face, the man admitted, as he quickly disposed of the stained clothes. The day was far from over, and by the time he and the huntress got back, their attires would be stained by blood and gore to the limit, but the hero couldn’t care less.
"Night is busy. Love me now." Setsuna’s sweet voice resonated with a jolt through Keyaruga’s spine. As she walked toward him, the healer couldn’t help but lunge toward the girl to intertwine their tongues in a dance of pure intimacy.
"Keya… ruga…" Such was the feeling, at least. Freia too was there; her touch upon the lad’s shoulder, however nonintrusive, left him no right to ignore her. Especially when her lips approached the lad’s ear. She even bit it. "Fuck me, Keyaruga. Here and now." The princess asked, demanded, and begged. Her own hand drifted downward, and the fingers rubbed right under the pinkish pubic hair. Sticky droplets fell to the floor, as the man grabbed the sorceress’ neck for an avaricious kiss.
"Uh… Ugh…" It all happened right in front of Eve's eyes. Well, she tried closing them, but the cursed curiosity wouldn’t allow her to avert the gaze. The maiden blushed and trembled, wanting to run, scream, and to do...Anything, instead of standing still, mesmerized by the foreplay. Keyaruga grabbed Setsuna and pushed her onto the improvised bed. He was ready to taste the wolf-girl’s vagina, while the magician greedily took his penis into her own mouth. The man even stuck out his tongue, but… "H-hey, w-what’re you doing?!" The black-winged cutie left him no choice but to turn his head around.
"Don’t you see yourself? Come on, take what you like, and go…" Where? To Kelly? Should’ve thought of it earlier.
"Evy…" Fortunately, Freia was there to help. Just for a moment, she took the wet rod out of her throat. A deed she was getting quite good at, actually. "We’ve warded the whole house. It’s… safe now." Having said that, the princess resumed the loud, wet blowjob.
"See? You could’ve left long ago. That means you want to join us?" Keyaruga slyly wondered, extending his left arm toward the confused girl. For a moment, she even harbored a sign of doubt, but…
"I… Mira wor hanjanti (leave me alone)!" Ultimately, the proud kokuyoku scion just slammed the door behind her. She was about to cry, but somehow the lad felt some twisted pleasure from bullying the poor maiden.
Either way, the prelude resumed. Keyaruga licked Setsuna’s dripping vulva, while his hand pinched her aroused nipples. Freia frantically sucked on his manhood, zealous in her caressing, the princess hugged his glutes. The lad felt his whole body shivering, he drowned in the huntress’ moans, the magician’s slurpy gulps, his own restrained gasping. But even so, the hero couldn’t help but gloat. After all, behind the barely functional door, he felt a pair of crimson eyes watching him.
A curious birdie has resorted to peeping? Well then, you won’t be disappointed, my fair queen.
…
Even as the stars and moon emerged to light the night sky, Buranikka was far from defenseless. Although many slept, the guardians of numerous tribes, including humans, patrolled the walls. They were diligent in their job, and yet the watchmen kept their eyes outward. They barely spotted a couple of swift shadows leaping through the massive stone barricade.
Keyaruga and Setsuna had nothing but a general direction to follow, and that’s when the huntress’ tracking skills were put to good use. Refreshed and clean, the duo followed the trace of hooves. The way led them past the bare hills to a forest. They discovered a camp about four kilometers from the city, amidst distant roars, the rustle of leaves, and the distant cry of night owls.
"Here." Setsuna said, pointing at the small base. The hero and his willing slave stood on the tree branch, quite close to eight tents yet distant enough for guardsmen not to spot them.
"Let’s see…" The crouching hero summoned his jade eye. Honestly, he felt much better when his emerald sight was able to scan enemies properly, compared to dealing with gods. Apparently, the latter were not as powerful as one might have imagined, considering Lorenzo was a match for many of them. Yet, pondering on the silent deicide was not within Keyaruga’s current priorities. "Four large bulls, twenty… five are sleeping, four on duty. Curious." The lad deadpanned, giving his companion some brief tactical intel. The she-wolf remained calm and collected, as if a completely different person from the one who rode the hero’s manhood just an hour ago.
"What we do?" She quietly asked her master. The ice warrior was ready to clad her hands into the frozen gauntlets, but would not do that unless specifically ordered to.
"I think I have an idea."
Without much explanation, the man got a small, reddish vial from one of his poaches. Something he had brewed back in Ranalitta, where it had its first test on Kureha Cryleth. Although, this one was thrice as potent.
Moving through branches and leaves, the couple of infiltrators approached the stable with sleeping bull monsters. Both were silent, and yet the healer’s emotions couldn’t be conveyed any clearer than with his insidious grin. All he had to do was throw the glass vessel onto the rocky ground. Nothing noticeable or spectacular happened in the first moments. Still, they waited. And the wait was more than worth it, since all four iron-backed oxen not only rose from their slumber but did so with their instincts out of any semblance of control. One threw itself in the forest, another slammed a nearby standing bull, and the last lunged toward the guardsmen.
"What did you do, master?" Setsuna wondered, gazing upon the chaos below.
"Just a little bit of an aphrodisiac. Heh! Can’t believe it worked on ma-muana!" The hero chuckled, enjoying the show.
Indeed, the spectacle was quite an amusing piece of drama. The true raging bull was now stomping men, raising them onto the horns, demolishing tents and smashing everyone within, while sleepy morons lost their health and lives, trying to stop their own monstrosity. Nine had been incapacitated; three of which had already died, but if left unchecked, they would surely subjugate the rabid animal. Especially with ten shamans already chanting the group spell.
"Setsuna, take the left flank. I’ll take the rest. Don’t show them mercy." As the orders left the lad’s mouth, so did the alloyed saber emerge from the sheath.
"Yes, master." The ice warrior agreed before descending to the battlefield. Her will of steel and armaments of ice razed the massive ma-zok as if they were nothing but overgrown children. She jumped from one head to another, leaving massive bleeding holes on each of her victims. Normally, rikish gi would regroup and overwhelm her, but with their mad ox being too angry to die, no formation could be constructed.
And while Setsuna constantly leaped and dodged the axes and spears, Keyaruga just couldn’t bother. As he walked, one, two, six, and then ten bodies fell in his wake. Pierced skulls, cut limbs, and insides on the outside. No sword nor crossbow could halt the quiet march of death now.
All the screams, mumbling, incomprehensible snarls, and swears — for the hero it was nothing but a background noise. What at first looked like a fearless bunch of cutthroats was now running away in all directions. Even shamans silenced their spell to flee. They killed the ox, sure, but what worth did it have with more than twenty men lying dead or dying. The latter were quite vocal about their sorry state, which did influence their morale quite a bit.
"How sad. Kids got tired of playing?" Keyaruga mused with a broad grin. "Should I let them go? Nah, I’d rather…" Standing among the corpses, sprayed with guts and blood, he just raised his left hand and pointed his index finger at the cowards… And started blasting. Admittedly, he missed most of the shots, but those that landed…
One went straight through the brain; another got a heart punctured. The third and fourth sniped a glute and a knee, respectively. As for the other five, Setsuna hunted them down. As the bounty hunters turned into pitiful prey, she bathed in their blood, taking quite a bit of entertainment from gutting and ravaging those who nearly ended the lives of her close ones just the other day.
"Setsuna…" Keyaruga slowly walked toward the girl. Among the screams and gore, they looked just as happy as if they had gone on a romantic date. "Impressive job, you did well." The healer praised the girl, patting her bloodied hair.
"Thanks to you, master. And… training with Freia." The she-wolf replied with a childish smile. "We… revised mugelnar (basics), and Setsuna feels stronger."
"It’s because you’re a really good teacher." The hero wouldn’t halt his compliments since the huntress liked them so much. Unfortunately, that small flare of light had to fade away. "Now, we’ll be having real fun. Would you be so kind as to dig me a hole over there? Ten meters in depth."
"Uh-huh. But why?"
"Oh, you’ll see."
…
Gontash Modd was one of the most prominent shamans of his people. Fearsome warrior and a capable caster, there was no way he would be anything less than the leader of a powerful hunting squad.
Unfortunately for him, he got shamefully shot in the back and passed out due to excessive blood loss. And although the proud hound of Hakuo found himself outsmarted and his squad eliminated, he expected the same fate — death. But… there he was, alive. The bull opened his eyes and saw the night sky above him, so peaceful and lucid…
"UGH-H-H-H!!!" But it ended, when the man attempted to move. "Nagi q-quag (my limbs)!" Specifically, his whole body was bruised, and the bones were shattered. Another of his kind lied next to him, quietly groaning in his futile attempt to even stay conscious.
"Good evening, raging bulls! I hope you understand me, cause I won’t bother with tarenago." Finally, the hero emerged on the edge of the pit, along with his slave, profoundly crouching.
"You! You’re… that fucker with that little bitch!" Fortunately, the shaman spoke phasian, and even better than some humans. Which barely relieved his disposition, of course.
"First, her name is Eve of the Reese house. She’s your next king, so I suggest remembering." The hero smirked, obviously relishing his superiority. "Second, I’m not "fucker", I’m Keyaruga, a noble knight, and a… Pff… Paragon of kindness…" He elaborated, barely holding on to his breath.
"Egh?! Shut the fuck up, you psycho! You broke all my bones!"
"I did? Setsuna, do you remember me doing such a thing?" The healer jokingly asked his companion.
"No. It was Setsuna." The huntress replied, and with that, she cracked her knuckles. "And Setsuna dug the hole."
"See? My hands are clean. Mostly. I think I took down nine of your men during the battle. You chase us, we strike back. Quite fair, don’t you think?"
"S-shut the fuck up! What do you want? You… clearly need me and Butos alive, right?" Gontash asked, clinging to the last hope. Fortunately for Keyaruga, the bull wasn’t too brave. Or…
"Why, yes, my smart fellow! I just want to ask you one thing. Specifically, if there any other groups after Eve?"
"If I answer, w-will you… will you let us go?"
"Certainly! You can trust me on that!
"A… All right! Only we know of me-ua kahul (demon king candidate)! Only… Hakuo-sarnur (lord Hakuo) personally instructed us to hunt her down.
"Hmm…" Keyaruga shook his head in disbelief. "All right. Let’s go, Setsuna. We still have a lair of black dogs to eradicate."
"Uh-huh."
And there they were. To someone who could read minds with touch, lying was useless. Actually, whether it was truth or not, there was no chance for rikish gi’s hunting group to walk away after all the troubles they stirred up for Keyaruga."
"WAIT! I WASN’T LYING! WE JUST DIDN’T KNOW! HELP US!!!" And yet, the bull wouldn’t surrender. He screamed, desperately trying to get at least some mercy.
"I too didn’t deceive you in any way." And although the mercy was out of the question, at least he had the hero’s attention. "Go on, climb away, we won’t stop you. See? You’ve burned a lovely inn, your undead goon demolished a cozy café, and yet I’m forgiving you."
"You… You know we can’t! We… We’ll starve here!"
"No, you wouldn’t! After all, I left you with two chunks of beef. I think they finally woke up. He-he-he-heh! Good luck, gentleman!"
"N-no! WAIT! NO! NO-O-O!!! A-A-A-A-A!!!"
That was it. Two mad oxen rose from their slumber, raging with both mating drive and hunger. They wouldn’t leave the two survivors any chance of actually making it out alive.
"Are you having fun, master?" The she-wolf asked with caution. She recalled their dialogue about revenge and what would follow. And yet, to make her dig up such a large hole just to give the poor bastards hope and strip it away in a matter of a couple of minutes? That didn’t seem normal.
"Oh, I do. After all, there's nothing more enjoyable than vengeance!"
Still, even as he said so, Keyaruga’s grin remained tense and slightly uninterested. The man wanted more, much more. He craved Blade wriggling under his feet, not that dismal bull’s screaming in the distance. But even so…
“Let’s go. We still have a job to do, Setsuna.”
