~ Chapter 60: Battle in the night ~

[Shanteya’s point of view]

 We woke up that morning thinking we would see Master’s happy smile and be greeted with a kiss, however, there was no warm embrace or soft touch to graze our lips. In a way, we felt empty.

“Where’s Illsy?”

The first to ask was Ayuseya, then Nanya woke up and looked around to find him gone. They both looked back at me, and I shook my head. Even I had no idea where he went.

“Maybe I was dreaming, but I think I remember Illsy going out… Erm… I can’t remember what happened next.” Ayuseya said.

“If I remember the same thing, then maybe it wasn’t a dream?” I looked at her.

“He went out alone in the middle of the night? Why?” she asked tilting her head to the left.

I looked down, since just like them, I knew not what to answer.

“Sigh… Maybe he went out for a stroll and got lost on the streets?” Nanya suggested with a big yawn.

“I don’t think so. He did find his way back when we were at the baths.” Ayuseya dismantled her theory.

“Well, where could he be then?” the demoness asked raising an eyebrow.

“Nyaaa! Breakfast?” little Tamara woke up and cutely scratched her left ear.

“Not yet.” Nanya said and patted her furry head.

“Nya!” she looked up at her and smiled brightly.

“Let’s wait for Master and then go out to search for him?” I suggested.

“Yeah, let’s do that…” Nanya nodded.

“Shall we change and get ready for breakfast? Ah! Illsy has all of our clothes!” the princess realized.

“I have some spares…” Nanya shrugged and pulled out a coffer from her Inner Mind. “Not exactly what you would call high class, but good enough for a day.” she laughed and rubbed the back of her head.

“It doesn’t matter, dear. As long as we won’t smell of sweat and dirt.” Ayuseya replied with a smile.

“If you wish, while all of you go and eat, I could wash our clothes?” I suggested.

“What about your meal?” Nanya asked.

“I’ll manage without breakfast.” I giggled.

“In that case, we’ll be in your care!” she laughed.

It didn’t take us long to prepare everything I needed. Actually, it didn’t take Nanya that long. All she had to do was bring out from her Inner Mind a metal basin, some soap, hot water, and a rope. Ayuseya’s clothes would probably take the longest to wash, while Nanya’s the least, seeing how she mostly wore armor. By tying the rope from one corner of the room to the other, I made a hang line to dry off the clothes. By sunset, everything would already be perfectly dry and ready to wear.

After I was done, I borrowed a dress from Nanya’s coffer and went down to grab something to eat as well.

We patiently waited for Master in our room, but as the hours passed by, there was no sign of him. We were starting to get worried. At first, we thought that maybe someone attacked him, but besides a Supreme, there wasn’t anyone capable of harming him. We would have seen the battle too, seeing as how last time, there was quite a bit of damage done to the surroundings.

There was one thing I couldn’t get out of my mind though.

Last night when Master woke me up, I felt like there was something strange about him. It didn’t feel like I was standing in front of Master but rather in front of a stranger. Maybe it was only because I was half asleep, but was that really him or someone pretending to be him?

“ARGH! This is annoying!” Nanya complained.

“Should I go out and look for Master?” I asked.

“You, me, and Tamara, as for Ayuseya, you should stay here because if he were to return while we are gone, this is the most likely place he will come to.” she suggested.

“Even Tamara?” I asked a bit worried for the nekatar.

“Tamara is big nekatar! Tamara know her way around! Tamara hide if Tamara spots danger!” she declared proudly as she puffed up her chest.

“Although she looks cute and innocent, Tamara is an adult by nekatar laws, and I wouldn’t consider her weak as even my former attendants would have trouble holding their ground in a battle against her.” pointed out Ayuseya.

“Very well then.” I agreed with a nod.

“Let’s agree to return to the inn in three hours even if you don’t find him.” Nanya told us.

“Tamara understands! Get fish later?” she asked curiously.

“Yes… Just make sure to stay out of trouble.” the demoness let out a sigh and patted the young feline on the head.

“Nya~” she purred.

A normal ruffian wouldn’t stand a chance against her power, and I had a feeling that if she were to spot someone that really spelled out trouble for her, she wouldn’t waste any time trying to fight them and immediately rush to find any of us.

Thus, with the plan set in motion, we chose the areas where we would search and then walked out of the inn.

[Dragnov’s point of view]

 Last night, we sent a scout after the man named Illsyore. He had yet to return, and I could only fear that he was found and taken care of. Well, it was his own fault for being discovered so quickly, but if he leaked to them any sort of information about what we had planned, then capturing the el’doraw might not go so well. There was no movement from the women staying at the inn, and the Prince wasn’t renowned for his patience. No matter what, we had to act tonight.

As if the gods listened to my prayers, at sunset, the el’doraw and nekatar walked out of the inn and ran in separate directions. I sent my Emperor Rank Squads after the feline, and together with my Godlike Squad, I gave chase to the woman with silver hair. If we were proven to be weaker than her, I had some of the Royal Knights on standby to give us a helping hand. Those fellows were all between Godlike and Supreme Rank. Overall, I was probably the strongest among them.

Either way, our orders were clear: capture either the el’doraw or the nekatar alive and bring them back to the second Prince. Well, he only ordered me to bring the feline, but I had the feeling catching the other one would be more convincing for the owner of the blonde. After all, an el’doraw beauty was more precious as a slave than a nekatar.

“Stay in formation and keep your eyes open for any strange movements.” I ordered in the silence of the shadows.

“Yes, Sir!” the answer soon followed.

[Tamara’s point of view]

 Fish! Fish! Fish!

Well, my mind wasn’t set only on food, but to keep up the appearance of a cute and slightly dumb nekatar, I had to let myself guided by the sweet, delicious, fatty meat of the fishies… Nyaaa~!

Ever since Master found me, I wasn’t able to speak with him to my heart’s desire. The only ones who knew my tongue were his three companions, the two pretty wives Nanya and Ayuseya and the el’doraw slave Shanteya. The only one with whom I had to speak in a broken Shorayan was Master.

But it wasn’t my fault I never got to learn more than a couple of words in that language. If it wasn’t for Frederique, the former butler of a Shorayan nobility, I wouldn’t have been able to know even those words at all. He never told me how he became a slave though. Even I knew that Shoraya didn’t agree with slave trading.

Maybe it was fate?

Ever since I met master, I was saved from certain death, got to sleep in a cozy bed, got petted, got good food, and although I hated baths, it wasn’t so bad after he healed me and thought me the right way of things. Illsyore was a good master, the best one yet!

Now that he went missing, I wanted to find him. I wanted to be of help to master, to aid him. This wouldn’t have happened if master wasn’t master. If it would have been my former master, I would have dragged along the mission, not even caring if I found him or not.

I always feared I was going to be bought by a bad master.

When the idiots from that party of adventurers procured me or rather lent me from Deroak, I feared that that was going to be it for me. I thought I was going to die, but then master came along. He saved me, cured me, helped me, cuddled me, petted me, and was always nice to me. Such a master wasn’t so bad to have.

That was why I was looking for him now with all of my might. I planned on leaving no stone unturned by the time I was done searching in this part of the city.

“Stop right there, you little runt!” a stranger jumped in front of me and unsheathed his sword.

A chill of fear ran down my spine, but I wasn’t going to let myself get captured or killed by these fellows.

“HISS!”

“Oh? The nekatar runt has guts. Grab her!” he ordered and pointed at me.

Four others rushed from the sides and tried to grab me, but I jumped up. Master’s boost was great! I was so much stronger than before.

“What in the…?”

They were surprised, but I wasn’t going to sit there and fight. I grabbed the ledge of the rooftop and pulled myself up.

“Nyaaa… I need to flee.” I said and wasted no time in putting my skills to the test.

I rushed towards Shanteya. She was the closest one to me. Nanya was too far, she was on the other side of the town.

“Stop her! Don’t let her get away!” the men shouted behind me.

The guards saw me jumping from rooftop to rooftop, but they didn’t try to stop the ones who were chasing after me. They weren’t easy to shake off either, and I was starting to fear the worst.

I won’t let them catch me! I’m going to go back to master no matter what! I thought and jumped down on the streets, trying to lose them through the crowd of people.

“Kya!”

“Stop that runt!”

“What the?”

“Hey!”

Everyone, men and women, screamed when they saw me rush past their knees, while the ones behind me kept shouting for someone to catch me. I was too fast and agile for their grabby little hands. Nobody could match a nekatar when it came to how swift we could be.

“Got you!” someone said, but when I saw him, it was too late to move out of his way.

He kicked me hard in the ribs, sending me flying into a nearby wall. It hurt, but I got to learn Magic Armor from Nanya, so I survived the blow.

“Nyuuu… Who hit me?” I asked as I got up, but instead of an answer, I received another kick.

I narrowly dodged it.

The one who attacked me was the same man who jumped in front of me.

When did he get here? What rank are these guys? Why are they after me?! I thought as I tried to dodge the next one, but I was too slow.

The hit dropped me on the ground, shattering my Magic Armor. Pain rushed through my body as he stomped on my right shoulder, and I heard a crack.

“Nyaaa! It hurts! It hurts!” I screamed.

“Shut it, slave!” he growled at me and then grabbed me by the neck.

I whimpered and trembled in front of this strong enemy. Even though I had master’s boost. Even though I wasn’t as weak as before, I was still so easily defeated and captured.

“Who are you? What do you want from me, nya?” I asked.

“You? You are nothing but bait for your master. He’ll give us what we want.” he grinned.

“I will never be a bait for you! Nya! I’d rather die!” I spat on his face.

“Why you little…” he was angry, and his fingers were clenched around my throat, squeezing the last breath of air from me.

I struggled to set myself free, but I couldn’t do anything to him… He was too strong.

“Be happy I was ordered to bring you back alive, you wasted piece of meat.” he growled.

Those were the last words I heard before everything went black before my eyes, and I fainted.

[Nanya’s point of view]

 Stupid Illsy! Where are you? I thought as I jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

There was no sign of him anywhere. It was like the earth had swallowed him whole or worse, a woman lured him to her bed. If it was the latter, me and Ayuseya would make sure he would lose all of his energy and thoughts of going to another woman’s arms again!

How could he even think of cheating when he has us?! Actually… I stopped and scratched my head a bit “Illsy is too much of a loyal idiot to cheat on us. Something else must be up… but what?”

While I stopped to think about this, I sensed the presence of several men circling me.

“What’s this?” I wondered as I saw them moving through the shadows.

An ordinary human adventurer wouldn’t have sensed or saw them, but I was a demoness and a Dungeon with a high level and stats which even Dankyun couldn’t dream of. These guys were barely at the lower Master Rank. Completely pathetic when compared to me.

“Come out! All three of you” I smirked and crossed my arms at my chest.

“Pretty sharp eyes you got there, Missy. We’re part of the Burton Gang. Give us your coins, and we’ll let you off!” he pointed his dagger at me.

These fellows were all wearing black robes to hide them well in the shadows of the night. Too bad they lacked the skills to make perfect use of their surroundings like a certain el’doraw did.

I showed them a big smirk.

“You boys sure have the guts to rob a Godlike Rank Adventurer!” I said and pulled back my hood, letting my blonde hair flow into the wind.

“G-Godlike?” one of them was already thinking of running away.

“Yes… Godlike.” I focused on the one who pointed his dagger at me and then I attacked.

I didn’t give them the chance to scream. Their broken bodies flew into the air and dropped on the ground in a puddle of blood. Tonight, I was merciful and didn’t kill them. I only broke half of all the bones in their bodies and left them in a dark alley to fend for themselves. If they survived or not, it all depended on their luck. I just left them with a small warning.

“If you idiots ever think of robbing or scamming someone else again, I will find you and rip out your hearts, then I will make you eat them!”

“Ugh… we-we won’t…” the one who still had a jaw intact managed to reply.

Well, time to get back to hunting the idiot Godlike Dungeon. I thought as I dusted off my robe and jumped back up on the rooftop of a nearby building.

[Ayuseya’s point of view]

 While the others were out searching for Illsy in the dead of night, I remained at the inn, waiting for him in our room. To pass the time, I looked out the window and polished the sword he made for me.

I can’t help but think about what Shanteya said… Last night, was that really Illsy or was it the Darkness he told me about? Did that thing take control over his body? Maybe it took him somewhere to build a dungeon or worse… Despite these rather concerning thoughts of mine, I tried not to worry too much about it.

Illsy was an adult in more ways than one, so he should have been able to take care of himself without a problem. Either bandits or Supremes, I hardly doubted there was anyone in this city capable of taking him on. The only threat to him was the Darkness inside of him.

If what he said about it was true, then it was only a matter of time before he either fell under its control or learned how to control it. What I couldn’t understand was why didn’t he do it earlier? Why was he lacking the motivation and desire to push back the only threat to his life with us?

I can’t help but wonder if maybe, for some reason or another, Illsy can’t accept his life with us… and this Darkness of his is actually a means for him to flee if things ever get too… complicated. I shook my head.

It was a very strange thought, completely unrealistic and improbable. Why would Illsy ever feel like he couldn’t accept his life? He was a Dungeon after all… If it was a badly treated peasant, I could understand, but him? No… that couldn’t be it.

I stopped polishing my sword and lowered my head.

Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh and then said “Illsy, where are you?”

[Shanteya’s point of view]

Not long after I left the inn, I felt the presence of five strangers following me. They were not assassins. If they were, their tracks would have been completely erased. Without giving away the fact that I knew they were on my tail, I continued my search for Master.

There was a chance that these people could be connected to his disappearance and if that was so, then I had to be careful. Master was a Godlike Dungeon Lord with abilities far surpassing a Supreme. Capturing him or even injuring him wasn’t an easy feat for anyone under the Supreme Rank.

I took a right turn and headed towards one of the darker parts of this town. A battle was imminent, so at the very least, I had to choose a favorable battleground for myself. Unlike before, I was far stronger now, and I even knew a spell or two, but most of my skills were still at Master Rank or under it. I had yet to learn an Emperor Rank spell.

When it came to skills, out of all of us, Tamara was the weakest because she had none, then followed Ayuseya. When it came to brute strength and speed in combat, Ayuseya was far above me. It was probably due to the boost of power we each received from Master. As his slave, I couldn’t get just as much as his wives did.

Even so, I had nothing to fear even if I were to face a Godlike Rank adventurer, maybe even a Lower Supreme, but this was only valid as long as they didn’t use any overwhelming skills.

“Stop!” a man with his head covered by a black hood jumped in front of me and raised his hand up.

I narrowed my eyes at him and took out my dagger. This was going to end up as battle, so I made the first move. Side-stepping into the shadows, I rushed towards him with the intent of taking him down.

“Tch! Attack!” he ordered the moment he saw me vanish.

Appearing behind him, I stabbed him between the ribs and then kicked him off the floor.

“Leopol!” shouted one of them.

Just as I did in my former assassin days, I pulled back into the shadows and waited for another prey to show itself. My sudden attack surprised them, and they all formed a circle, back to back. The most typical and effective form of defense. In my younger years, I would have fled right now, but I wasn’t the same.

Pointing my hand at the group, I focused and fueled my spell with Magic Energy. My chant was spoken in a whisper. It was the incantation for the [Fireball] spell. When it was done, I let it rip. A ball of fire of one meter in diameter flew at them and exploded on contact. They scattered in four directions to escape the blast.

The explosion destroyed the rooftop of the building and probably injured the inhabitants there, alarming everyone around, but this chaos suited me just fine. While one of them didn’t know what to do, I slipped behind him, and punched him in the face. His Magic Armor cracked, but it didn’t shatter, so I punched him again.

Before he had the chance to scream for help, I grabbed him by the throat and dragged him into a nearby alley.

Pressing the edge of my dagger to his neck, I looked into his eyes and asked him “Who are you people and why are you after me?”

“It was an order from the Prince. I don’t know why! Please spare me!” he cried.

Out of mercy, I knocked him out with a blow to the back of his head.

“There she is! She took out Leroy!” I looked to my left and saw a furious man raising his sword up.

“Jenkins! Stop!” another shouted, but the fool didn’t listen.

He rushed at me screaming. I jumped back and ran away from him, but at the next intersection, I turned left and jumped through a window at the first floor. It was dark inside, but I could hear the owners talking behind the door about what was happening outside.

“Where is that shikak?!” shouted Jenkins.

As soon as he walked by, I jumped out of the window and quietly followed behind him. Before he got a chance to notice me, I stabbed my dagger between his armor plates straight into his right lung. Master’s dagger ignored a considerable part of one’s Magic Armor, making it a brilliant weapon for an assassin like myself.

“You… shikak…” he said before he fell to the ground, coughing and spitting blood.

The man fainted from the shock, but he was still alive, barely. I turned him to the side, so he didn’t drown in his own blood, then I fled from the scene of the crime. Technically speaking, the first man I attacked had just as many chances of surviving as this Jenkins fellow.

Looking at his armor, I realized that they weren’t your typical soldiers. They were knights or maybe even Royal Guards. Either way, I couldn’t understand why a royal was after our lives. Did I kill any of his relatives or friends in one of my past missions? No… that couldn’t be it. I mostly operated in the Paramanium Empire.

Then? Maybe it has something to do with Illsy? Did he do or say something to this Prince while he was out? I wondered.

It was the most likely possibility unless Nanya or Ayuseya were to be blamed for this surprise attack. Either way, I had no intention of letting myself get captured. I had to flee from these attackers. Reuniting with Nanya, Ayuseya, and Tamara was my first priority right now. Something was happening, and I had to warn them right away.

“Listen up, you wretched el’doraw! I know you are out there! If you don’t surrender right now, your nekatar friend will need a new arm!” the voice thundered from the rooftops.

Nekatar friend? I thought and then my eyes grew big as I realized whom he was talking about. Tamara!

Clenching the hilt of my dagger, I sheathed it, and jumped up on the building. If he was lying, I was going to flee, but she was there, and he had backup. Eight other hooded men joined him.

“Listen, we want to take you in alive, but if you force us, we won’t be held responsible for cutting off an arm or two. Do you understand?” the man who appeared to be their leader asked as he pointed his sword at Tamara's neck.

Two of them were holding the nekatar, one pulling her arm, the other holding her still. She was unconscious, but still breathing.

“I understand.” I said and knelt down with my hands up.

“Good.” he smiled.

Two of his people walked up to me, grabbed my hands, and cuffed me.

Magic bounds that reduce your power by half… I thought as I felt my strength diminishing.

These things weren’t a problem for me. I could still flee from here and even kill a couple of them, but I was certain they would kill Tamara before I had the chance to save her. If I returned to Master without her, he would certainly be furious that I didn’t try to save her. After all, it was my job to protect the child while he was gone.

“I never expected you to be so strong. To kill two of my men like that, they were Godlikes too…” he shook his head.

“If you hurry, maybe you can still save them.” I said, hoping this would keep him from unleashing his anger on Tamara.

“I see. You four, go and search for them! Now!” he ordered the men standing behind him.

Then he looked back at me. I shot him a glare, showing him that I wasn’t afraid of him.

“Take them to the dungeons. The Prince will want to have a word with them.” he ordered.

“Yes, Sir!” the others replied and dragged me off in chains.