Chapter 231: Haell’s Mercy.
–Count Worlan the Ishkawtan POV–
“Alright. We shall rest here for today,” I decided, and my army immediately began to set up camp. Tents went up, food was prepared, and gear stowed away. They worked fast, but without messing it up, just as we drilled. It was still early, the sun was only just beginning to set, but I wanted my army to be refreshed tomorrow morning when we finally came to assault the next traitor City of Elindore.
Those fucking snakes, I seethed at the reminder of who our enemy was. Our king had just died from the archangel attack, and instead of rallying together, they chose now to immediately betray the Queen Regent Efin Granola who remained!
I won’t forgive them. I’ll hunt them all down. If there was one silver lining to this situation, then let it be that their veneer of nobility had finally been stripped, to reveal the beasts within.
Animal that slept with animal. It had long been known that they were in bed with the Edengarian enemy, and the demon calamity. It was a wide open secret, in fact, as those damned traitors didn’t even try to do a good job of hiding it!
Compromised scum. When Haell the demon killed a duke, they took her side. The equalists argued for her agenda as she butchered our lords and ladies. They continued to argue for us to just let loose the Edengarian population no matter how many times they saw the atrocities those angelfuckers were capable of. It was the shame of our kingdom that we allowed them to hide behind court politics for so long! We allowed ourselves to be intimated by the overt threats of their mindless ally who had already stooped so low as to kill our heirs and our young!
Now, it was finally to wipe this shame off our history, and put them down for good.
“Your meal is ready, my count,” a servant informed me, and I gave the inhex woman a nod. I walked past the tents, carriages, and people of the camp to arrive at the tables that’d been set up.
I took one bite out of the roasted venison and steaming bread. It was a bit blander than I preferred, but that was just one of the many sacrifices we were forced to make because of this needless war.
“Found you.”
A wave suddenly passed across our forming camp, turning this mediocre taste in my mouth into disgusting ash. My head snapped to the skies, and my eyes widened to their limit as I saw the one most terrifying silhouette I could imagine.
That of a demon, floating aloft on her bat-like wings. She glared at us, and I could feel her fury from here. I gnashed my teeth, for it was us who should be angry at her for all that she had done.
“AMBUS–”
The words died in my throat. I froze in place, as terror gripped my heart. My pride, my hope, everything I believed in was nothing in the face of this monster. I could not bring myself to fight; not for my queen, my country, my people, not anyone.
I never saw the spark that did it, but I instinctively understood that there was none.
The Demon Queen decided that we shall burn, and thus we perished.
~~~
—Back to Haell PoV—
A tear of blood rolled down my cheek as I stared at the sea of hellfire before me. From people, to tents, their animals, and all their supplies; they all burned and died. Their screams reached me, and I almost remained unmoved, but that was the path to doing another Burning of Gardine. So I stayed here to watch their final moments and… empathize. They fought for a terrible regime, and they were soldiers who should’ve been ready for this fate, but it was still an unfortunate death, to die by my bloody hands.
I supposed many of the friends and loved ones I’d lost could be classified as the same: Soldiers and combatants in a war. And yet I still mourned and raged for them anyway. Anyone would.
Finally, once all was ash, I turned around and flew away.
My minds pored through my mental maps and notes, before I adjusted course for an Edengarian Resistance base nearby. Sure enough, after a minute of flight, I found a tunnel complex near some unwitting village, just as Exaber (The Blur) had claimed.
I cleared the leaves and rope piled atop the entrance, and then jumped inside.
“Wha–Who–Wait… DEMON!? HAELL!?!? THE ANGELKILLER!?!?!?”
The Level 20 belfegor lookout exclaimed in surprise upon seeing me. She wasn’t dead yet, because I admittedly found her reaction a little funny. I should not be having fun with this.
I killed her with one stroke and then marched deeper inside.
“WHAT!?”
“Who…?”
“Shit, it’s really the demon Haell!”
“Attack! ATTACK!”
“It’s an enemy attack!”
The Edengarians reacted, rallied by their ever familiar shepherds across this tunnel. They charged in a wave predominantly composed of humans as more reinforcements rushed in from the adjacent passages. Projectiles flew at my body, but they just curved out of the way or collided with each other. I allowed them to build in number for a while longer as I killed only those in easy reach of my Atrocity.
Finally, the flow of new troops slowed to a stop, and I charged across this narrow hallway. Atrocity slammed right through their bodies without pause. Guts and gore flew as many were split right in two from across the waist. Their armor was like paper, and even the few shields they had were unable to stop me. Their swords and spears entirely missed their target, and the few that didn’t, hit my armor in the worst angles so as to glance right off and even send their owners stumbling.
I trampled over them all, until I finally crashed against a dead-end wall. I smashed right through the obstacle and into another tunnel, before I finally came to a stop.
The ground under me shook and then fell apart, sinking into the next level down. I fell right along with it as a rain of stone and rubble buried me below.
“Rude,” I complained, within the tomb of earth and stone. I dug myself out of the incredibly claustrophobic space like I was taking a stroll. Dust filled the world beyond, a long stretch of tunnels collapsed right atop each other, holding great treasure underneath, or great death. The dying corpses of my previous enemies were surely buried here, beneath so many tons of rock.
It would serve as their grave.
Those of them who didn’t die were now running away. Even now I could feel them like ants crawling along their holes. I could track and kill them all if I wanted… but they weren’t worth the trouble.
I opened my wings and flew out of there, smashing through several more layers of ceiling.
Next.
I brought up my mental map and picked my next target. This time it was a barracks complex for Northern New Grandera. I flew right over to the city, and then glared at the soldiers below me. They began to scratch at their skin like some demon was hiding underneath, as all the flesh on their bones suddenly began to melt.
I ignored the projectiles shot at me in retaliation as I flew away for the next one.
Oh, the Royal Capital of Granland is close. I changed course to strike at their heart. Like a massive projectile of my own, I crashed right through the palace’s massive double doors. Rubble was flung wide open as the guards behind me leaked all the blood out of their bodies.
I marched straight for the throne room while my magic melted all the nobles, guards, and soldiers I could find. One baron fell atop his child, and she cried as I left the scene behind. Most of the staff fled and hid, and my magic didn’t find them. A few wished to be heroes, and thus they died like one.
Finally, I arrived at their throne room. Queen Efin was already being ushered out from some secret passage, while the rest of the nobles within either fled or stood their ground, all indignant.
“Run, RUN!”
“NO, we must settle this right now!”
“Lay down your arms, Demon Queen! You are in the royal place of New Grandera!”
“KILL HER!”
“Guards, GUARDS!”
“You ignorant buffoon! Like that worked last time!”
“I’m outta here!”
“YOU COWARDS!”
“And yet we must make a last stand anyway, for the Kingdom must not fall and be made a fool by just one woman!”
My hoofshooes activated and forcibly held the ground under me together. I shot forward on solidified dimension and then through a wall, killing a large chunk of my enemies in one go. I twisted around, and then took my next step on the air. From my hoofshoes to the space under it, this resulted in two parallel dimensions that repelled each other, allowing me to take a step basically anywhere.
I quickly zipped around the very central area of the palace, until I was finally satisfied that I’d gotten most of them.
All except one.
I stomped right through the ground floor, and then the basement below, to arrive in the secret tunnel, right in front of Queen Efin. One royal guard twitched one last time beneath my hooves, before finally going still. Her other guards wasted no time in putting their meatsacks between me and their liege.
“Your highness!”
“RUN!”
“Admirable,” I commended, and then their eyes grew bloodshot before their heads exploded into malformed flesh. I did try to make it quick and have them die from the sheer shock of having their spirits crushed, but they didn’t even faint from my intimidation package. They were this nation’s elites, with the resolve to match.
Queen Efin was already running away, but she finally slowed to a stop once she realized that everyone else was dead.
She recognized now the futility. The inevitability of her death.
The regent turned around, and gave one mildly respectable glare. But it was still quite shit.
“The New Grandera Kingdom does not recognize you as a ruler. You are just one person. A monster from the beginning, a child given a territory so she doesn’t throw a tantrum. Demon Scum.”
She stood defiant, she died proud, as my Atrocity pierced right through her chest.
I pulled the blade out, and the shell she left behind fell pathetically to the ground.
Blood leaked from it in an ever growing flow. A red puddle formed, and grew larger and larger.
~~~
The purge continued. I flew back and forth around Northern New Grandera, and killed all manner of enemies. From the royalists, to the Edengarian resistance, one goblin horde that was getting out of hand, and then even spies, bandits, hideouts, and more. I cleared the board of their presence. Others had already moved away by the time I arrived, but I didn’t care much for those either. I just kept killing and killing and killing, to destroy the foundation of all this horrid factions.
…It’s honestly too easy. Not a single one managed to land a single scratch on my armor. I remained untouched as I stood atop a mountain of their corpses. I proved stronger than entire kingdoms. I had outgrown this level of war. It had become only a chore.
I stared at one severed head in my hand for one second too many before I finally crushed it. I existed within the sea of blood that trickled far under the ground. It all felt so pointless, no matter how important I understood it to be. Why are we fighting again? Why do you care so much? Why do I care less and less?
I sighed and flew for the next place on my list. This time it was actually someone I was familiar with.
Kalyn Kobarin, the tyranight duchess.
I dropped right in the middle of her manor, and it only took the large woman a minute before she came to meet me with a whole contingent of guards and soldiers arrayed around her form.
“Haell,” she growled my name as we met, the tyranight woman still tall enough to loom over me. It wouldn’t save her. She knew that as well, and thus she sighed. “So, you’ve finally come to kill me?”
“Yes.”
That simple word caused her guards to be even more alert. They shuffled their formation and readied their weapons. My enemies were ready to attack, but Kalyn Kobarin signalled for them not to.
“Don’t.”
“But–”
Only one soldier stepped out of line, before being elbowed by the one next to her. She was reminded to just follow orders.
I paced a little in front of them, then chuckled a little as they immediately turned and shuffled to keep themselves between me and their duchess.
“What did you think of it?” I asked my good acquaintance Kalyn. “What your kingdom was doing. Depriving its newly acquired citizens of basic living. Enslaving them. I hate to break it to you, but that's worse than what Edengar was... for most people, anyway.”
“I never liked it," the proud duchess admitted. "I tried to limit it in my territories. But it is an inevitable reaction for the evils they’ve done to us for a century. It’s what we as a society of people decided. It is the path our monarchs allowed. It is the strategy our individual dukes and duchesses chose to employ. I stand loyal to my nation, the New Grandera that we built, until the end."
I mulled that over for a moment, and then nodded. “I see. I didn't hate you, you know? Kalyn Kobarin. I just found you annoying, like I do most nobles and all their standing on ceremony."
"The feeling is mutual, for all your disregard of decorum.” She chuckled sadly. “I do hate you in the end, for destroying my life's work."
"I know,” I agreed, accepting.
The duchess cast her gaze across the many guards and soldiers that separated the two of us, like a fortress made of living bodies. A very very useless one. "Can you spare them?"
"DUCHESS!" a heavily armored sundertop immediately yelled in protest.
"We're the ones who should die for you!"
"Kill us instead!"
Kalyn shook her head, recognizing the look on my eyes.
"No. Demon Queen Haell Zharignan would never allow that. I am her target."
"But you're a duchess!"
"She can't just kill you!"
"That's never stopped her.” She turned her massive head back towards me. “So please, Haell. For all the dealings that we've had, and that brief connection our factions enjoyed. Do me this kindness, and spare my people. Kill only me."
"No--"
"That's not--"
"Please--"
"Okay." My voice, my promise, cut right through anything else they wanted to say.
My sword, likewise, sliced right through Duchess Kalyn Kobarin's neck.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" they screamed as Kalyn’s head dropped to the ground.
"DUCHESS KALYN!"
“WHHYYYYYYYYYY!!!????
"HAELLLLLLL!!!!" They turned around and raised their weapons high.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!!!!!"
Blades, spearheads, and more shot towards me, but I just looked at them with pity. I remained untouched, for my enemies just fell right over each other in their desperation.
Perhaps it was crueler to let them live like this, with their most treasured duty unfulfilled. But it was their master’s cruelty, not mine.
~~~
“It's done???" Countess Elindraza Compadore asked, flabbergasted and confused. I chuckled at that utterly aghast expression on her bat-like face as she took a seat on her couch.
"Yep,” I confirmed that I had indeed killed their worst enemies in this civil war. “Well, mostly. Here is the target list. The ones with checkmarks are the ones I found and killed. The others, it’s up to you to deal with them. Many of the strongest ones are dead, so it shouldn’t be too hard now."
“This is…” She swallowed, still processing as she pored through the paper over and over. “You killed our queen?”
“Not your queen anymore, remember? And now that she’s gone, the position is finally vacant! It’s yours, you’re hired, you’re the queen now! Hooray congratulations!”
"That's..." she stared at me, still dumbfounded. "That's true," she finally decided. "Not yet, but it will be, if everything you have written down here is true..."
"What, you doubt me?" I narrowed my eyes. "Well, maybe I misunderstood a thing or two. I just flew around the north for a day, killing and killing and killing and killing. I sure do hope I got the right people!”
She blinked. "Right. Yes... One would hope that..."
“Oh relax. It was a joke.” I tapped my head. “I was briefed, and my memory is perfect.”
Refreshments and various desserts were brought over to us, and I helped myself to the sheer variety on display.
"Mmmmm. These fruit tarts are divine,” I complimented. “If you feed these to the angels, then I think they might just convert."
"Right..." She was still so out of it. It's funny! "That's a specialty of my people, made from the fruits we grow here..."
"Well it's just wonderful."
We ate in a silence for a little while longer, until Elindraza finally found something else to say.
“I would've preferred it if you worked with us instead of on your own. It would’ve done wonders for morale if you moved with us and led our armies like you did for the south before. But like this… it doesn’t feel like our victory, you know? Our new country isn't being built on our own backs. It would've been better if we had something to be proud of.”
And be bogged down? A known target? Fucking dumbass.
I shrugged. “I killed who you wanted me to kill. That’s what our deal was. I never agreed to babysit your armies for months on end.”
“Well, yes, but…” she searched for the right words, and then just sighed. “You can be very hard to work with, you know that?”
“Should’ve asked someone else then. Someone nicer, more obedient, and far far far far weaker.”
She paused, before finally allowing herself to chuckle. “Fine. I’ll give you that. Thank you for your help, Haell. I shouldn’t complain, you still did a better job than anyone else that we could’ve possibly asked.”
“Damn right,” I agreed, and went back to my meal. Not that I ever really paused while we talked. I ate everything that they prepared, before finally standing up and taking a stretch.
“The money and Materials will be delivered to Pandemonium, with more to come if and when we’re successful at taking the capital,” Elindraza said as I walked out.
“Cool.” I waved her goodbye. “Good luck with your new rule, Queen Elindraza. Do a good job, or else terrible things might happen.”
“Hey, wait, what does that—?”
The rest of her words did not reach me as I sped across the sky.
~~~
[Space Heart has reached Level 88!]
[Demon Tail has reached Level 87!]
[Unbreakable Memory Corehas reached Level 86!]
The sun had gone back down by the time I returned to Arisen. I’d taken the scenic route on the way here, no longer in a hurry.
I landed in the middle of my city as a storm gathered above and rain fell across the earthen streets.
“H-hello, Demon Queen.”
“Haell…”
The few people who were still out at this time of day greeted me, lowering their heads. There was more fear and less reverence in their voice than before, but I didn’t think much of it. I just waved them off and walked across this city that I owned.
I will no longer allow myself to be scared. I had the power to resist. I would bend myself out of the way and take the hit somewhere more convenient if the archangels ever dared to attack me again. I will turn the tables and kill them instead.
It had been a while since I allowed myself to walk freely like this, in this place, yet it was immediately clear to me how much less people were out and about, even for this time of day. Lights were hung over the signs of many businesses, but some were already closed, a few for good.
There were still a few stalls that filled the cold air with delicious smells, but I refrained from getting anything tonight, even as a few brave souls dared to call out to me. I was given free invitations when I walked past the red light district as well–a place that literally did glow blood red–but I just gave them one glare to piss off.
I passed by the opera house, but only listened from outside for a short while before moving on with my night.
I reached the ring of abandoned homes that slowly became darker and more cursed. Some of them already counted as part of Pandemonium’s body that it could control. A few enterprising youths ran out of there, carrying pots and pans and various weapons. For some reason, being right in the middle of Pandemonium’s encroachment did wonders for creating cursed objects, more than being in territory already cursed and claimed. I had my own operations regarding it, as Granuel… and now Pandora bought out the houses along this line of fire for a very generous price, so that we could stuff them full of random junk and curiosities that might be fun to curse.
I circled past the desolate ring of death to find myself on the other side of the city. It was still full of museums and galleries, hobby stores and more. They embraced all manner of cultures from across New Grandera and beyond. I did wish I’d done a better job in nurturing and preserving these wonderful places, for they too were in decline, just as the rest of my city was.
Finally, I arrived at the graveyard, and went inside. I smirked a little, when I saw Granuel's very obvious and visible tombstone. An ostentatious thing made of a golden alloy, and guarded around the clock. The silent Level 40 guards did not move as I went past them to pay my respects, and just... think about the friend that I lost.
“I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for your actual funeral. I'm sorry I couldn't save you so it didn't have to happen at all.” I smiled sadly as a tear rolled down my cheek. I made sure to keep my grip gentle as I touched the tombstone, and the very detailed carving of Granuel’s face therein. “The north is gone, you know? That's what ended up happening with that whole situation. I did my best to take care of it with the support of everyone who’s left. I hope the result we got is half as good as it would’ve been if you were here to help. Now, the Angelore Empire is next, and I’ll make sure to water your grave with the blood of their archangels.”
I breathed deeply and stood back up. The guards had stepped a smidge away from me the moment I started growling. I laughed and tossed them a few gold coins, before I went back to my evermore massive cursed manor.