~ Chapter 87: The fire in Silvertooth Forest ~

[Seryanna’s point of view]

As the night grew closer, and the sun was about to set over the horizon, I spotted something shining in the distance. If I had blinked, I would have missed it.

My wings spread wide, and I stopped in midair. Squinting my eyes at those feeble scattered rays of light, I spotted some sort of tower. For a moment, I wondered if it was a relliar outpost or maybe a small village, but I highly doubted it to be so. This could only be the hideout of the humans, but even if by some far-off chance I was wrong about this, I could ask those living there for directions.

Thus, I flew towards it at my usual speed.

When I reached the building that cast of the guiding light, I identified it as a human temple dedicated to the Pantheon of Zeus. Then, right there on the ground were human soldiers who were walking about, patrolling the area. A bit closer to the temple, I recognized the knights who were guarding the bishop. They were in the middle of their meal.

This must be the place, and it does not look like they have noticed me yet. I thought and then unsheathed Drachenkrieg.

Before I began my attack, I looked around to see if I could spot any of the slaves they may have brought with them, but I found no trace of them. What I did notice, however, were large quantities of construction materials like planks, logs, boxes of nails, and crafting tools.

Just like the humans in Mashat told me, they were going to build here a settlement and have it grown over the years. By successfully smuggling humans inside this place, they could then demand independence from the relliar kingdom once it had a high enough population.

So far, I do not think they brought any civilians here, yet... I thought.

Unfortunately, I did not know what they were hiding within the temple, but from what I could see, the bishop and the human hero were most likely inside. It was highly unlikely that they would leave for the port without their knights to guard them. Then again, the individuals stationed here could have been given the mission to protect and support the establishment of the new human settlement here.

Least to be said that this foolish dream of human conquering won’t ever come to be. At least not if I had something to say about this matter.

Right when I was about to set my sword on fire and rush at them to take their lives, a single thought crossed my mind What if the humans decide to kill the fluffy ones in an act of retaliation before I manage to find them?

I stopped myself from pouring Magic Energy in Drachenkrieg and setting it ablaze.

I cannot take that chance... I thought, and so I landed somewhere around their compound before any of them spotted me.

Observing them from afar, I tried to see what they were doing or maybe hear what they were planning. As I did just that, I spotted the carriages used by the bishop and his knight guards, which confirmed his presence here.

Is he inside? I wondered and sneaked up behind the church.

There were three windows opened at the second floor, which I could use to enter unnoticed. I first made sure that no one was around and then I walked under the one on the far right. Although I could scale the wall with ease, a single jump was enough for me to reach the frame of the window.

Inside, I found a luxurious room with one big bed and two bookcases filled with documents rather than books. There was a desk to my right and on it were several documents and blank papers.

I approached the desk and looked at one of the documents.

Are these written in the Akutan Empire’s language? I can’t tell... I thought and decided that for now it was best for me to store them inside my [Purse] ring.

As far as I knew, they could be used as evidence of a planned invasion or a very complicated cooking recipe.

After I cleaned up the room of anything with so much a word written on it, I made my way outside. The only ones present here were a couple of servants who were cleaning up the place. There were no women here, only men.

Just in case I found similar documents in the other rooms, I made my way there and after making sure there was no one inside, I looked around for a bit.

The first one was an unused empty room, but the second one had only a backpack on the table. I walked up to it and checked the contents. Besides some typical adventuring gear, I found what looked like a diary of sorts. I took this one and then walked.

“Who are you?” the servant who saw me asked surprised.

Before he managed to scream, I grabbed him by the throat and squeezed until his air was cut off. After he lost consciousness, I tossed him in the empty room and then made my way to the lower floor.

This church had the living quarters for the important people at the second floor, while the servants and the rest lived in the rooms on the right side. In the back, of the church, to the left of the altar, was a confession room made for those who wished to be forgiven of their sins. Even dragon temples had those, but they were mostly used to catch criminals struck by remorse, guilt, or fear of our gods. Their other purpose was to seek life counseling from a priest.

Since I had no need to go to the servant quarters, I made my way to the basement. Until I found the fluffy fellows, I could not go wild. But just as I was about to open the door, I heard a voice coming from the other side.

Although I did not understand what they were saying, I recognized their voices. It was the bishop and the hero.

Not wanting to find me here, I ran inside the confession room and hid there.

The door to the basement opened and those two walked out together. They said something and after they left, I made my way to the basement.

There... I saw a scene that made my heart twist with pain and anger boil the blood in my veins. What I saw made me bare my teeth and clench my fists until blood came out. What I saw was something that I could never forgive!

“P-Pwease... n-no more... it... it hurts...” Shelly begged with tears in her swollen eyes.

The little relliar girl had been strapped naked to a torture table. Her fur had been shaved off completely. There were countless cuts on her body that appeared to have been made by a sharp knife. She had three broken fingers and bruises all over her body. There was blood coming from her mouth and her ears had been cut and left to bleed.

As I looked at the poor child, my emotions twisted and turned until what I was feeling inside could not even be described as rage and anger anymore. There was nothing there or rather, it was a void that swallowed up everything else around it. I felt the desire to destroy, to hunt, and to kill, but at the same time, I felt that giving them the pleasure of seeing my anger was a bit too much.

No, these monsters were going to see a Seryanna Draketerus who did not listen to their words or acknowledged their pathetic existence. I was going to kill them in the most brutal way, especially that bishop and hero!

Right then, I heard steps coming from behind me.

Unsheathing Drachenkrieg, I turned around and stopped it at a hair’s length away from that person’s throat.

It was Tanarotte.

“Wait! Wait! I come in peace! And I would appreciate it if you allowed me to return to mistress Kataryna in one piece!” she said with cold sweat on her forehead and raising her hands up.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her with cold eyes and a lifeless tone of voice Did I always sound so distant and empty? I wondered.

“It’s my first assignment! Track down Seryanna Draketerus and make sure she doesn’t burn the country to the ground!” she said with a smile and a thumbs up.

“Is that so?” I said and lowered my sword.

I turned around and walked up to the table where Shelly was. I couldn’t bear to let her stay like this any longer.

“But, you know, it was quite difficult to track you down. You move fast for someone wearing heavy armor!” she said after she let out a sigh of relief.

I didn’t answer her.

“Mew... S-Seryanna? Is that you?” the kitten asked.

“Yes, little one. I’ve come to save you.” I said as I took off my gauntlet and gently touched her cheek.

She flinched at first, but then she realized it was me.

“Pwease... save me. The bad man hurt me. He was laughing... I don’t want to feel pain anymore...” she begged me.

Tears gathered in my eyes and flowed down on my cheeks as I saw what became of her.

“Uwa~ Poor Shelly, the King won’t be happy.” Tanarotte commented.

“The King is the last thing these humans will have to worry about.” I said as I unstrapped her from the table and then picked her up in my arms.

The poor child couldn’t even stand on her own. She was so weak, frightened, and in pain that I found it hard to believe she was the same Shelly who played hide and seek with me the other day.

“Shelly, it’s going to be alright. I’m going to avenge you.” I said and kissed her forehead.

“Seryanna...” she whimpered.

“Tanarotte Narnyessal, this is an order. Protect princess Eshantiel Ruvus until I have killed all the humans here.” I ordered her in a firm tone of voice.

“W-Where are y-you going? P-Pwease d-don’t leave m-me.” Shelly asked in a trembling tone of voice.

“I’m not going anywhere little one. The dragoness here will just hold you in her arms until I have finished business with the bad man who dared to hurt you. Don’t worry, he won’t ever be able to hurt you or anyone else again.” I said and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Understood!” Tanarotte nodded.

I handed over Shelly to her and then we made our way out. While the two of them sneaked out through the back window and took some distance from the church, I unsheathed my sword, set it ablaze and approached the front door.

At this point, I had tuned out all the noise and screams the humans made. During this battle of mine, I felt as though I was in a trance. What I cut and what I burned mattered not to me, and no amount of begging and tears could cause me to show mercy.

My spells hunted down their targets, crippling and grinding their bodies until their hearts stopped. Whomever I touched was engulfed in flames and burned slowly until he died of suffocation or the unbearable pain.

Because these humans dared to torture Shelly in that gruesome way, I did the same.

When it came to the bishop and the hero, the way I killed them could have been considered rather brutal, but the latter had the swiftest death of the two. I grabbed a nearby knight’s sword and infused it with Magic Energy past its limit and then tossed it at him. The sword that was burning hot and already showing cracks in it was impaled in his chest and then exploded, sending the human’s remains all over the place.

They were the last among the humans to die, and once I had cleaned up these bugs, I cast my most powerful explosion spells at the church.

Tanarotte was already outside of its range, so she and Shelly were safe from my wrath.

The detonation was set with a timer, to let me move away as well.

When it exploded, everything within a 100 meters radius had turned into a smoldering crater. No trace of the humans was left behind, not even the stones that made up the church.

All around this crater, a massive fire had started, threatening to engulf the whole forest if no one did anything.

“Remind me never to make you angry.” said Tanarotte with a wry smile as she let me hold Shelly again.

“How is she?” I asked.

“She’s asleep. She’s been through some terrible things. For now, I gave her a healing potion, to make sure her life isn’t in any danger, but we should take her to a healer to see to her wounds. Those brutes... it’s horrible what they did to her!” she clenched her fist and then tossed a couple of curses at the Akutan Empire.

Looking at the sleeping kitten, it pained my heart to see her in this state.

My gaze then fell on the massive fire I had started. I let it burn for a bit, watching it from the sky and wondering if what I had done was enough?

No... I should destroy their ships as well. I thought.

After I stopped the fire that was eating the innocent forest, I flew back to the capital of the Sarakus Kingdom.

Just like dragons, so too the humans are capable of some terrible things. I thought at one point.

[Mandar Bashir’s point of view]

[Just a little while before Seryanna started her attack]

 The negotiations failed miserably. However, bishop Bassar tried to appeal to the King, that old lion didn’t move. On the contrary, he appeared to be more eager to send us off back to the Akutan Empire.

There were also those dragons whom we met when we arrived in Sagar. Although I tried to dig up some info on them, those relliars did not whistle a single note. My efforts were in vain, but I did manage to secure a few good bribes and a hot night with one of the maids.

Right now, we were in the in the middle of the Silvertooth Forest, at the base of operations that was supposed to act as the center point of a new human colony out here. The slaves we picked up from the capital had already been shipped to the Donmar Port, but the bishop decided to keep one of them here for his entertainment.

The one he chose was the princess of the Sarakus Kingdom. The little relliar girl was kidnapped as consequence for refusing to accept the Akutan Empire’s generous terms. We all knew, however, that it was more of a personal matter to him than an official one. Like any other old fool, he tossed around the empire’s name without thinking too much about what such actions might lead to.

When I entered the bishop’s torture chamber here, he was in the middle of torturing the little girl. She was crying and begging for him to stop. The ordeals she went through made my skin crawl, and no doubt that such a fiend would have ended up in prison for life back on Earth. Leaving aside the fact that torturing someone was a great offense on Earth but harming and abusing little children was downright despicable and the authorities did all they could to stop such monsters from roaming the streets freely.

Well, that was back on Earth, here... there was no police or federal agents who dealt with such problems. For the most part, such actions were considered unfortunate, but not entirely illegal, especially when done to someone who had sworn allegiance to another country.

I for one couldn’t do anything about it nor did I care that much to let myself get dragged in this sort of mess. All I wanted was to live out my life as peacefully and non-eventful as possible. Although, having to escort this psychopathic sadistic tub of lard was not what I would call easy.

“Are you done here, bishop?” I asked as I leaned on the door frame.

“Hm?” the man turned around holding a small dagger in his hand.

He was smiling, but the blade was covered in blood and behind him, the little girl was whimpering and crying. I tried my best not to look in that direction.

“The sun’s setting and we should decide whether we’re going to spend the night here or not.” I told him.

“It’s obvious that we’re spending the night here! This night will be one of enjoyment, well, mine at least.” he smiled and looked back at the relliar girl. “She will end up becoming a woman sooner than expected, then we’ll see if she can walk without a tail. I was always curious about that one.” he said as he touched her cheek.

I tried not to show an expression of absolute disgust.

“Let’s go upstairs then and inform the knights, shall we?” the bishop showed me a smile as he wiped the blood off the knife’s blade.

“After you, your holiness.” I said but abstained from a rude remark.

I followed behind him.

“That’s right! Don’t you want to try some of the slaves before we reach the continent? I remember you enjoyed the relliar maid at the palace.” he told me before he opened the door to the basement.

“No, your holiness. I prefer for such relationship to be consensual.” I told him with a smile.

There was no shame in admitting that in certain matters, I had strayed away from the moral thinking of a modern civilized Italian man, but I had yet to degrade myself to the level of a savage or a rapist. When a woman said no, that meant NO.

“Consensual? What a peculiar boring taste you have.” the bishop shrugged and then opened the door.

I followed him outside.

“You should pick a pleasant hobby like mine! It’s good for the heart and mind.” the bishop bragged.

What was so pleasant about torturing and raping others? Actually, why is it that someone in such a high position as himself has such a disgusting hobby? I thought and then replied “My hobby is eating and sleeping.”

“What a boring hobby you have.” he shrugged.

Not long after we left the church, she appeared...

Kicking the door of the church from the inside, she ripped it out of its hinges and sent it flying towards us. It landed a few steps away from us.

The moment I laid my eyes on her, I felt a chill run down my spine, and I thought We shouldn’t have kidnapped the relliar princess.

“What is this? How did you get here? Don’t you know we are the human delegates? We hold diplomatic immunity! Attacking us is the same as declaring war on the Akutan Empire!” the bishop shouted at her in the relliar language.

I don’t think she cares...  I thought and prepared myself for the attack.

Well, it was this dragoness’ unlucky day to have attacked us. I may have looked weak, but my cheat skill [Butthurt Cupid!] was rather impressive. For a limited amount of time, I could literally steal half of my opponent’s strength or rather their stats. The only condition was that after I activated it, I had just a couple of seconds to touch my opponent, otherwise, the skill would deactivate without doing anything.

For a melee fighter like myself, this was an ideal skill. It made me happy I picked up kickboxing back in high school.

Leaving aside the ridiculous name I had to shout when I wanted to activate it, this ability granted me the strength and fame I needed to survive in this dangerous way where only the law of the jungle mattered.

All I had to do now was just wait for her to get close enough to me, if she planned on retaliating against us that was, but most people usually backed away from us the moment the bishop mentioned the Akutan Empire.

“Dead men tell no tales...” she replied as if she was in a strange trance.

Wait a second... If she’s coming from inside the church, then... I thought and then looked at the bishop who appeared to be upset by her reply This fool doomed us all...

I realized now. There was no way I could fight this dragon woman. My best chance was to either lure her in and then steal her power or make her spare me by giving her what she wanted: the bishop.

Before I could say anything, this madman shouted at her “KILL THIS WENCH!”

The first to attack was the Knight Commander Devus Allexian, but he stood no chance against her.

The dragoness grabbed him by his right shoulder and then pulled his arm apart. The man’s screams were loud enough to scare all the birds for miles around us. Then she grabbed his other shoulder and ripped that one apart as well. The man begged her to stop, but she placed her hand on his throat and ripped it open. The commander looked like he got mangled by a wild beast. She took his sword and then stabbed him in the stomach. With a single pull, she cut him open like a pig in the slaughterhouse. The man was then left to die like that.

While all of us were shocked by this display of brutality, she attacked another knight. Thus, the massacre began.

Our attacks could not even pierce her magic barriers, let alone scratch that armor of her. Yet all those who tried were ripped apart by her bare hands or set ablaze by her fires, which she controlled with her very will. It was like fighting some sort of incarnated demonic abomination that wanted to rip us apart.

Arrows had no effect on her, but she caught some during the attacks and tossed them back at her enemies. Not all hit their marks, but it worked as a distraction. When she got close enough to the archers, she made them eat their own quivers right before she ripped out their jaws.

Several of the workers were burned alive and not even water spells were powerful enough to put out those flames. I listened as they gave their last breath in absolute agony.

Strange to say, that although this dragoness ran around with her sword drawn, she didn’t even once used its blade. Each and every attack was done with the help of her claws and brute strength.

“YOU! Do something! Kill her! That’s why you were paid to come with me!” the bishop shouted at me.

“Do what?! Can’t you see that she went total bananas! This is YOUR fault for kidnapping that little girl! Your own sins caught up to you! Hell, we’ve all been dragged into your punishment!” I shouted back at him with absolute disgust in the tone of my voice.

Well, politeness didn’t matter now. She was going to kill him either way, but maybe I could sneak my way out of this situation if I pleaded to her for mercy. While it was true that I didn’t bother myself with helping the relliars or preventing this situation from happening, it wasn’t my job to do so. I was only told to protect not care for the slaves this man ruined.

“Y-YOU! HOW DARE Y...” his words were cut short as the dragoness appeared behind him like a demoness donning a red armor and surrounded by hungry flames.

With a single thrust, she had pierced the man’s back and pushed her hand through his chest, revealing the man’s still beating heart.

In that moment, I caught sight of her gaze, and it was so cold, I stopped breathing for a second.

Her fingers tightened around the bishop’s heart until it was squeezed through the gaps between them like an ever so disgusting paste of red meat.

She pulled out her hand, which was covered in flames, burning off the tainted blood that dared touch her armor.

There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation as she did this, but she wasn’t done yet.

She pulled the bishop’s arms right out of their sockets and tossed them into the fires around her, then she grabbed the man’s head with both hands and squeezed it until it burst like a watermelon.

It was a terrible way to go, but that man deserved it.

When she locked eyes with me, I gulped and raised my hands up “Wait! Let’s talk about this! I don’t mean you any harm and I never once touched the relliars!” I pleaded.

She looked to her left and grabbed something.

Because of the smoke and fires around her, I didn’t know what it was, but a moment later, she flew up in the air. I looked up at her, thinking that maybe I was spared, but in the next second, something glimmered in the light of the fires.

“Urk...”

I felt the pain spreading through my body. With a broken doll’s movement, I lowered my head to look at what stabbed me. There, in the center of my chest was a typical knight’s sword that covered in countless white glowing cracks.

This is it... I thought and then looked up at the dragoness once more.

Her eyes were as cold as the snowstorms in Antarctica, yet her grace and elegance remained that of a noble. I realized then that I was wrong about her. She wasn’t a demoness...

And so, she descended from the High Heavens, laying waste to the sinful and saving those who held onto their Divine Light. To win Odin’s praise, his Valkyries flew across the skies with great delight... I thought as I remembered that one passage from a legend I read before I left the Akutan Empire.

I closed my eyes and met my end.