The village was in sight, and the first thing I noticed was how it looked. We approached closer and I noticed something else right away, and after a few moments of edging even nearer, the siblings did too.
"They built walls around the village. Those weren't there before." Serena said, looking at the circular wooden walls that surrounded the entire village.
It actually made sense in a way, given how small the village was, and in general, building defensive structures around your settlements, no matter the size, was a smart choice. Using my insane perception, I could see the front of village from where we were approaching, as well as the two yellow furred fox beastkin standing at the front.
I inspected both of them from afar, and found them both to be B+ ranked Warrior classes, which didn't really tell me a whole lot. One was named Himmel, and the other was named Garreth. Their Designations were not very informative either, as it only said, "Followers of Raizen." Not much, but it was enough to work with.
I brought us in at a safe enough distance, and used my Manipulation to shroud us as I descended, and landed us fairly close to the village.
"Elias, they're going to see us." Marina whispered pretty loudly, and I had to hold back a snort at the irony of that. If I didn't mask our sound, someone would have definitely heard her.
"I'm using my power to keep us hidden and silent. Don't worry about it." I said, which just caused her to gape at me, and it actually made Terroth chuckle.
"You're insane, kid. I swear, how did the stars align to put us all in your path like this?" He said, and that just made me smile.
It was lucky that I had met some truly good and amazing people in this dark and messed up world. It was a nice world in its beauty, and of course, in the wonderful people I had met, but it was also cruel and unfair. My short time here had been filled with tragedy, death, and power hungry evil lunatics since arriving, and more than likely, that's what was going on here too.
The siblings didn't even really pay attention to the byplay happening between all of us as they continued to observe their home from afar.
"It actually looks pretty well in tact, despite what we feared." Benji said, with Serena nodding slowly.
"So... what do we do?" Terroth asked, looking at the foxs with worry on his face.
"Are we just going to rush in there and take them out?" Sheila asked, and I had to hold back a smirk at her enthusiasm. This was not the time for that.
"I could do that, but I really want to know what's going on here. Where did they come from? Why are they here? Are there more of them, and if so, will they retaliate if we do anything? It could just be some crazy asshole doing this just because he could, but I'd still like to know as much as we can." I said, and everything nodded thoughtfully, although towards the end, I looked at Sheila and said, "But yes, once we know all we can, I will take care of them."
"I mean, we are all here... I want to help." Sheila replied, looking a little downcast.
I knew that look, and I felt bad seeing her like this. I walked up to her, and rested my hand on her head. Her ears twitched as I rubbed it soothingly, and she closed her eyes and relaxed as I spoke gently to her.
"I get it. I really do. You want to help them too. If the stakes weren't this high, I wouldn't have any issues with it." I said, and she looked at me with a sad look that actually hurt me to see, but I wouldn't lie to her or any of those with me, "These people are strong, and some of them are more than likely stronger than most of you besides possibly Valerie, and then my wife and myself. I won't risk that. We also don't know what exactly is going on here, and the risks to the residents of the village is something we have to consider too. I'd rather just learn what we can, and then plan from there."
Cici and Clarissa looked at me with a burning pride in their eyes that filled me with even more confidence than I already felt.
"That's honestly the best way to go about it. We get information, and there are no risks to anyone. Just let my darling handle this, and I'll watch over everyone while he does. I can also make us all invisible and mask our sound too, so Eli can go and do what he needs to." Cici said to everyone, and everyone nodded at her words, even Sheila, if a little hesitantly.
"Yeah, that's the best plan. I'm unfortunately not strong enough yet to be of much use. Not yet, anyways." Clarissa said, her eyes flashing as she looked at me with a gaze that said she'd definitely be getting stronger fast. Then, she smiled and said, "That was actually really well thought out though, Eli. You have a pretty tactical mind when it comes to this kind of thing."
I blinked a couple times as she said that. I wouldn't say it was a perfect plan, but it was the best I could think of given the circumstances. The words and the ideas did just kinda spill out of me without having to think about them much... hmm, perhaps it's more of the ritual that was used on me. Intelligence gathering was a key component of battle, and it could be the difference between winning or losing. I apparently had the battle knowledge of two insanely powerful beings, so obviously I would be pretty good at this shit.
Everyone else seemed on board with the idea, and while looking frustrated, Sheila at least seemed like she understood. I told Serena and Benji I would do this, and these people have probably been through enough. It was time to get to work.
"Yeah... we'd just in the way, sorry to say... but there's no way I'd not be here. You're our friends and our party members. You're basically like family at this point. We're here for you both." Terroth said, looking at Sheila with a smile, and then directing the same one at Serena and Benji.
The fox siblings gave him a grateful look, tears gathering in their eyes, before both of them looked at me, and Serena addressed me first.
"Okay, so... what's the plan? I need to know if our parents are okay." Serena said, looking at me with both fear in her eyes, but her tone suggested that she was optimistic.
"Yes... mom and dad... and I have to know if Alina is okay." Benji added, his body beginning to shake.
"Easy there you two. We're here, and this will all be over soon. I promise." I said, giving them a reassuring smile, which seemed to help a bit as they did their best to return it, "First thing's first." I said, and then looked at Cici, "Use your ability, and make everyone invisible. I'll be right back with some new friends."
With that, Cici's magic activated and took hold on the group while I walked towards the village at a modest pace. There was the two guys at the front, and since there was no one else around, I figured they were as good as anyone. As weak as they were, they might at least be able to tell us something.
I stopped directly in the middle of both of them, neither of them aware that I was even there. I took one more look around, nodded to myself, and shot multiple tendrils out towards both of them while wrapping them both in my Manipulation, erasing their visibility and noise. I could still hear them, though.
"WHAT IN THE HELLS??" The man named Himmen screamed as my tendrils wrapped around his legs, while two more wrapped around his torso, and locked his arms in place at his sides.
"HIMMEN?? WHAT IS THIS?? WHERE ARE YOU?" Garreth yelled as much the same happened to him.
With them secured, I dragged them in close, and positioned them in front of me. I altered my skill so that we could all see each other, and once they caught sight of me, my killing intent pressing down on both of them as I stared into their eyes, their faces paled.
"Who...?" Himmen, but I squeezed both of them tightly, hearing bones pop.
"You guys seem to have made yourselves at home here. I have some people I'd like you both to meet, so just be quiet for a second." I said, and then with impressive speed, I dashed back towards our group, arriving in mere seconds.
Everyone startled as I arrived once again, only this time, I had the struggling and screaming forms of these yellow furred assholes with me.
"Special delivery." I said in an exaggerated tone.
While Cici and Clarissa had to hold back giggles at my stupid joke, everyone else stared in shock at the men held suspended by my tendrils, and those were more so what people were looking at.
"You have tentacles..." Marina said, shuttering as she looked at the sleak black appendages.
"These my tendrils. You seen my skills, remember?" I asked, and she flushed a bit.
"We did but... Elias, those are tentacles." Terroth said.
"They aren't..." I said, but then I just sighed and let it go. That wasn't important right now, and I guess they were close enough to tentacles that I wasn't going to make a big deal out of it.
I was about to say more, but Serena and Benji stepped forward, moving towards my captives with a burning hatred in their eyes.
"You remember us, don't you?" Benji asked, the men looking at both of the siblings with recognition in their eyes.
"You were the man that saw us and called me out. Do you remember?" She said, looking at the man known as Garreth, "Because I remember you. I remember the way you looked at me, or how you smiled when you said you found a good one for Raizen. We had to run away because of you people."
Serena looked furious, rightfully so, and the orange of her eyes looked almost red from the firey anger that burned within them.
"It's you two... how did you... escape?" Garreth asked, and Serena scoffed at the man.
"Please. We've lived here our whole lives. We know places in and out of the village that you wouldn't even think of." She said.
I was so glad they escaped. Through fate and happenstance, I've met a lot of wonderful people, them being two of them. I looked at my two prisoners with a snarl on my lips.
"Okay. Here's how it's going to go." I said, Serena and her brother stepping back as I approached the men, giving them my best devilish smile that I could manage, "You pieces of shit fucked up. All of you did, and you're all going to pay for that mistake today. I am offering you a choice to experience less pain by simply telling us what we want to know."
Both men looked at me like I was insane, and despite the situation, and the power on display, they both gained a little arrogance, and sneared at me.
"Fuck you. We ain't telling any of you- AHHH!" Himmen said, but then he screamed as I squeezed his legs together hard, the satisfying snapping of bones following.
"I didn't even ask a question yet, and you still gave me the wrong answer." I said, then looked over at Garreth, "Is this guy a friend of yours?"
Garreth had wide eyes, fear cascading out of him like an actual physical force. He seemed to have folded quite fast even though I hadn't even started on him yet. Both of them had dirty souls, so I wasn't really concerned about them dying or not. Hell, they would be dead once I found out what I needed to know, but they were useful to me right now.
"Now, I'll give you both another chance." I said, lessening my hold on the screaming man, while sending intense waves of killing intent, much stronger than before, into their minds, "Where are you guys from?"
The man who now had broken legs was breathing heavily, but still looked at me with rage in his eyes. I squeezed his waist this time, and the sound of creaking and cracking bones filled the space around us, as well as his screams. The screams that no one but us could hear.
"He's going to kill us, Himmen. Control yourself, and just answer him..." Garreth said, the scent of urine filling my nose. All of these pieces of trash were such cowards when it was their lives on the line.
Garreth continued after a moment.
"We traveled here from our village. We are originally from the Yellow Plains Tribe." Garreth said, and as I looked around, and found that meant nothing to anyone else as well, so I moved on.
"Okay. Where is that? And why are you here?" I asked.
Himmen, who had not yet learned his lesson yet, spit at my shoes. Arrogance was apparently a skill all on its own. Instead of killing intent, this time I pressed my aura upon him as I walked up to him, and punched him in the mouth. I held back like I normally did, as to not outright kill him, but several teeth, as well as a healthy amount of blood followed my blow. Before his head could fully whip backwards, I grabbed him by the hair, and pulled his head back so that we were eye to eye. Whatever he saw made him begin to shake.
"You don't know how to listen, do you? Fine, how's this? Your friend here seems pretty eager to tell me what he knows, so I don't need you. You're really starting to piss me off, and I'm rather enjoying breaking you right now. That being said, you could still be useful if you choose to be. So, what's it going to be?" I asked, and the fear that ran through his eyes actually made me feel good. Making assholes like this scared? It was a good feeling.
"He really is scary sometimes..." I heard Marina say from behind me.
"Maybe... but this needs to happen. These people came and took over this place... I can't imagine it was for anything good." Terroth answered her.
They probably assumed I couldn't hear them, but I could. It wasn't really important to me really, but I didn't want to scare my friends. That being said... this needed to happen.
"I'll give you a chance this time. Answer my question. Where is your village, and why are you here?" I asked Himmen this time, and low and behold, he actually behaved this time like a good boy.
"We... traveled South to get here. For a while... roughly a month and a half. Our village is close... to the Dead Lands." He said, making my eyebrows raise. That was the place Martin had told me about. The one that was barren as fuck, and full of strong monsters.
"The Dead Lands, huh? Sounds dangerous." I said, and this time, Garreth answered me.
"It is. We live far enough away from it to not be affected by it, or to run into many of the stronger creatures that need the mana there to survive, but there are still very strong creatures around the Dead Lands. Fighting the creatures around there is dangerous... but it's wonderful for Increasing your strength, and your Class rank."
Everyone listened to their words with interest, except for the siblings, who both clenched their fists, grinding their teeth as these men spoke. No matter what these assholes said, they would hate them, and they had every right to. I would give them both what they wanted and make them all pay, but this was turning out to be much more than we thought, and I needed to know more.
"I see. Explains why you all are so high ranked. That's gotta be rough, huh? It must be hard with all of those monsters roaming around right outside. Probably a sleep with one eye open kinda thing, yeah? Also, you never did answer me as to why you are here." I said, and Himmen coughed, blood dripping out of his mouth, as he tried to answer me. I might have punched him a bit harder than I let on.
"The wife of the previous chief put wards around the village. I don't know how they work, but they do, even after her death. The monsters don't even know where we are, and they never come to close... Her oldest daughter maintains them, and keeps them working." He said, then began coughing again, and that's when Garreth chimed in next.
"Lord Raizen is the son of the previous chief. We aren't sure of all of the details, but he and his siblings didn't take the loss of their mother well. When the village chief also died not long after as well... it became even worse for them. Raizen and his siblings had a falling out after that. He always wanted to be the next village chief, our new leader, where as the other 3 wanted to try and run the village together. He didn't want that, and believed that he was meant to be the next leader, that strength determines who rules over who, but they refused him, and he couldn't very well fight all of them together. Lord Raizen came to us not long after he was denied, to those who had followed him ever since childhood, and said that he was leaving, and if we wanted a better life, and to be respected for our strength, that we should follow him. He said we would venture out, take what we wanted, and that we would all find where we belonged. That he would find a place to call his, and that we could have all we've ever dreamed of. Recognition, luxury, and women. That's when we stumbled onto this place, and once Raizen seen it, how nice it was, and how beautiful the women were, he decided to make it his own."
I was really thankful that I was as powerful as I was if it made people spill the beans this easily. Being overpowered had many perks, and convenience was among one of the best. While it was not complete information, it was useful, and I wasn't even done with these guys yet.
"I heard no one knows how strong he is or what he can do. Do either of you?" I asked, and both men actually shook their heads.
"No... we believe that's because of the enchanted necklace he wears. All of his family wear something similar. They were apparently made by their mother before she died. All of them have their Framework information hidden." Garreth added, and I nodded slowly.
In fantasy world terms, that made sense. Their mother must have been quite talented with enchantments. Shame that she died, especially if it caused Raizen to turn into such garbage. A good mother forever remains one of the most important women in anyone's life, after all. Still, the picture was a lot cleared to me now.
"How many of you are there?" I asked.
"Including us... there are 25 of us." He said, and I nodded.
That wasn't a whole lot, but given how strong they were compared to the people of this village, it would be enough. The strongest person here was apparently the village chief, yet compared to Raizen and a few others from what I've heard, even his Rank of A- wasn't enough against these guys. It all pissed me off. Once again, this was just people doing terrible shit simply because they could. It was odd seeing Beastkin act this way, but I suppose everyone, no matter their race, could be a raging piece of shit. I had just been lucky enough to meet some of the nice ones, like Cici, her parents, and everyone else in... Crosse Village. God that was still embarrassing.
"I think I get. Might makes right and all that. The people in this village were just unlucky enough to be in the path of your asshole of a leader, huh? Are your other people as shitty as all of you? If they are, I'll be sure to take care of them once I'm done with your Lord Raizen." I said, and the man, Himmen, actually managed choked laugh.
"When Raizen finds you... all of you will be dead... none of you will-" He was saying, until I wrapped my hand around his face.
"Your Lord Raizen is going to die today, as are you. You fuckers that think you're hot shit are all talk until you're a cooling corpse on the ground. You all made a grave mistake by coming here." I growled, his eyes growing wide as I unleashed enough killing intent to frighten Death itself.
I was about to press him for even more information, when Benji suddenly stood next to me, and glared at the man I held in my grasp.
"It's not so funny when it's you, is it?? What about the villagers? My family? Alina? What have you all been doing??" He yelled at the man, and I rested my free hand on his back in an attempt to comfort him.
Garreth, ever the generous man, immediately perked up at that question. I was starting to think he thought I might let him live if he told me everything. I probably didn't need Himmen anymore, although I think he was actually unconscious now that I looked at him. I let go of his face, and sure enough, his head fell forward and hung limply.
"I promise that no one is hurt! Well... not too badly, anyways. We do have to get a little rough with people when they refuse to work or talk back to us, but we haven't killed anyone! Raizen said we need to keep the labor alive." He blurted out, and the way he said that was like he thought he was some kind of fucking saint or something.
"What about our family??? What have you bastards done to them??" Serena asked, stepping up to Garreth, fire burning around her fists. I squeezed my tendrils around Garreth tightly, causing him to scream.
"THEY'RE ALIVE, LIKE I SAID! RAIZEN WAS MAD THAT YOU GOT AWAY, SO HE JUST TOOK YOUR MOTHER INSTEAD! HE SAID SHE WAS PRETTY ENOUGH! HE WON'T KILL ANY OF THE WOMEN HE'S TAKEN!" Garreth screamed, and that made both Benji and Serena pause in all of their movements, and they began to shake.
"You disgusting assholes! How could you do something like this to your own kind???" Cici asked, breaking her silence as she stomped up to the man, her claws extending with black energy, "You're no better than the humans that enslave our kind."
"Evil, abhorrent, terrible men." Clarissa said, venom in her tone.
"You're all filth." Sheila added, her eyes flashing with hatred towards these men.
Valerie, who had said nothing at this point, walked up to Serena, and put an arm around her, doing her best to comfort her. She still didn't say anything, but I saw something in her eyes I rarely saw from her. Pure, unadulterated anger. Her eyes glowed red as she stared at Garreth like she was going to eat his soul or something. The man flinched when she bared her teeth at him.
"We've spent so long being called Beasts, and animals, and you lot are proving all of those words right. You're all a fucking disgrace." Terroth added, his voice a growl.
"It makes me sick to my stomach." Marina said.
Garreth looked genuinely surprised at our opinions of him, his boss, and his band of yellow furred douchebags. Once everyone was done berating him, I met his eyes with mine, and he flinched.
"Where is their family?" I asked him, my tone promising death if I did not like the answer.
"R-Raizen took over the old chief's home. Their mother should be there with the rest of the women Raizen has taken for himself. Her father is likely working the fields or reinforcing the fence... whatever they have his group doing today." He said his voice shaking.
"Mother... father..." Serena said, tears falling from her eyes, "I'm so sorry..."
"Alina has to be there too... gods... forgive me." Benji said, their words stirring something within me.
"You both did nothing wrong." I said firmly, their gazes fixing to mine, "Do not apologize for something that isn't your fault. These are the people that did this, not either of you."
They both sniffled, but gave me weak nods. They weren't going to get better until this is dealt with, and I was about ready to rip everyone in half.
"Tell me, Garreth," I said, dragging him closer, "How does Raizen treat the women he has taken? How do the rest of you treat them?" I asked, and that question actually made him pale, and before he could get the idea of not even trying to answer me, I squeezed tighter.
"AGH! PLEASE STOP!" He said, and I lessoned my hold a fraction so he could speak, "I've only heard things, but Raizen... I heard he can be rough, and worse when they don't listen to him. The rest of us... it depends on the person."
I gave him a cold look, anger filling me as he spoke. He panicked, and began to say more.
"I am not that bad! I try not to hurt them, but sometimes they just don't listen! Himmen there is so much worse than me! Sometimes they are unconscious by the end when he's done! The worst one is probably Jerrion! That's Raizen's 2nd in command, and his best friend! He could probably tell you a lot more than either of us!"
The verbal diarrhea surprised me, but the words he spoke were the final straw. Fuck this. Fuck all of this, and fuck these assholes. This dude actually pulled the "I may be a piece of shit, but everyone else is a bigger piece of shit than me" card. Still, he did give me more information, even though I was really starting to not care anymore. I just wanted to kill these fuckers, but I also had a plan forming in my head. I had to be better than just running in and killing everyone to avoid loose ends.
Raizen needed the people of this village to keep doing the shit he and his buddies are too lazy to do, so I don't think they are going to be in any danger. I also had this other village of fox people to worry about, although from what I gathered so far, they didn't seem to be like the ones that were here. I very well might have to make a trip there to inform them of what happened here, and to also see if they might pose a threat to anyone else later on. Raizen's siblings didn't sound terrible from what I heard, and they'd probably want to know what this fucker got up to after he left. If anything, I was going to go there and bitch up a storm for them just letting his crazy ass walk away.
I'd also have to look out for this Jerrion that Garreth mentioned. I'd need to find him and ask him somethings too. I'd probably go around and take care of some of his thugs before I went after Raizen directly, and I'd hopefully find Jerrion while doing that. I'd also have to keep one or two alive to show me where their village was. I did have Garreth, who seemed happy to spill all of the details, as well as his piss. The smell was getting bad.
I'd also try to get what I could out of Raizen, but at this point, I wasn't even sure if it was necessary, or if I wanted to. He sounded like someone that just needed to die, so that's what would happen. I'd try to ask him a few questions if I remembered while I was beating the shit out of him. With all of that in my head, I nodded to myself.
"Okay. I think I know what do now. I also don't need two of you anymore." I said, and then engulfed Himmen in Abyssal Fire.
Still unconscious, I gave him an innoble death as his body turned to nothingness in a matter of seconds. Garreth stared in horror at the now empty space, his friend practically erased from existence before his very eyes.
"HOLY HELLS!" Terroth yelled, his words echoed the same, or in different ways, by the others around me.
I then looked at Garreth, and wrapped him in Abyssal Energy, before releasing him from my tendrils. He flopped to the ground like a dead body, but he was still very much alive. I was actually able to not only restrict his movements, but I could actually effect his body so he was unable to use any skills. At least, that's what I envisioned happening, and that's what my instincts told me the skill was doing. Truly a ridiculous ability. I also gave him a new friend in the form of an Abyssal Shade for good measure. It wasn't really needed, but fear was a good weapon all on its own, and my shades with their dark black appearance and sharp angles to their features were pretty intimidating to a normal person.
"Watch him. He shouldn't be able to do anything, but just make sure." I told the shade, and of course, it said nothing and did nothing, but I knew it would listen.
I turned to those with me after that and addressed them all.
"I'm gonna leave this guy here for now. He won't be going anywhere. I know enough, so now it's time to do what has to be done." I said, and then I locked eyes with Serena and Benji, their eyes filled with grief and pain, but now there was hope, "I'm sorry this happened to you both, but I'm fixing this today. I promise, it'll be okay."
Tears fell from their eyes as they both nodded at me, and I felt my eyes burning with scorching hot fury.
"Time to end this."