The Lord of Flamebright City knew his town was in a bad way. Perched on the edge of the Sariella Kingdom, it wasn't exactly a major fortress, but after the Queen Spider's last rampage, its defenses were in tatters. One more big fight, and Flamebright would be history.
Soldiers from the Sariella Kingdom were now streaming into the city. Weapons, gear, and supplies were being rushed in.
They'd been expecting war, and now the air in Flamebright crackled with the nervous energy of a battle about to begin.
The Queen Spider had already turned the place into a disaster zone once; this new conflict meant more misery for the ordinary folk, caught in the middle of it all.
While the common people could try to grab their families and flee, the Lord didn't have that option.
He had a sweet little daughter and a beautiful wife.
The absolute last thing he wanted was a war with the Ohts Kingdom. He'd been trying everything he could think of to find a peaceful solution, to talk things over.
No such luck.
The Ohts Kingdom wasn't interested in diplomacy. To make matters worse, many of his own soldiers and commanders were practically salivating at the thought of a fight.
They wanted a bloody showdown with their Ohts neighbors.
The religious differences didn't help either.
Ohts followed the Word of God, while Sariella was devoted to the Goddess. Sure, both faiths technically worshipped the same Goddess, but their core beliefs and practices were miles apart.
It was like one of those ancient tales where two branches of the same faith end up as bitter enemies, ready to destroy each other.
The passion of these religious fanatics was more intense than anyone could have predicted.
The Lord, seeing no other way out, finally had to commit his city to war. He had to protect his daughter Sophia, and his wife. He simply had to.
With a great show of force, the two armies quickly gathered their strength, preparing to clash on the front lines.
At this very moment, inside a grand, European-style mansion, an elegant and beautiful woman was gently trying to lull her daughter, Sophia, to sleep.
This was Lady Sera, the Lord's wife. She could hear the thunderous shouts from outside her husband leading his troops in their pre-battle declarations.
A cold knot of worry tightened in her chest. The city had barely survived one disaster; she doubted it could withstand another.
If her husband died in the fighting, she had already resolved to die with him. But before that, she decided, she would entrust her young daughter, Sophia, to their most loyal servant, Mera.
Mera had served her faithfully for over a dozen years; he was the one person she trusted completely.
What Lady Sera didn't know was that Mera's loyalty was born not just from duty, but from a deep, secret love for her.
Yes, this devoted servant, who had followed the Lord for more than ten years, harbored an intense, almost worshipful love for the Lord's wife.
It was a pure and powerful affection that Mera could never quite banish from his heart. Even now, with the Lady a mother, her youthful bloom slightly faded, and faint lines appearing around her eyes, he still loved his master's wife with every fiber of his being.
Interestingly, his love wasn't about wanting her for himself.
He genuinely just wished for Lady Sera's happiness. Simply seeing her smile was enough to fill his own heart with a quiet joy.
Anyone from our modern world would probably call it a severe case of "simping." The more he doted, the deeper his quiet devotion grew. For his Lady, he would do anything, sacrifice everything.
"Mera," Lady Sera said, her smile gentle but tinged with sadness, her decision firm, "if anything should happen to us, I am entrusting Sophia to you."
"But, My Lady..."
"This is my final request, Mera. I hope you will not refuse me."
Mera fought back the overwhelming grief in his heart. He gritted his teeth and replied with solemn gravity, "Understood, My Lady! I will... I will absolutely protect the young miss!" He knew the Lady was unshakeably determined to follow her Lord into whatever fate awaited; nothing he could say would change her mind. It was his Lady's command, and his only course was to obey.
In her cradle, little Sophia couldn't fall asleep for a long, long time.
She hated it! Oh, how she hated it! Why was her life so filled with misfortune!
First, the monstrous Queen Spider had attacked their city, and now, another war was breaking out.
She had finally been reborn, transformed from an ugly girl into a budding beauty, blessed with a lovely face and the promise of a brand-new, wonderful life!
But if war came, and her father couldn't protect the city, she would likely die a brutal death at the hands of some enemy soldier.
No! She didn't want that! Someone save me! Please, someone, anyone, save me! She kicked her tiny legs frantically, struggling against her blankets, letting out the frustrated, helpless wails of a baby.
To Lady Sera, these cries simply meant the child was probably hungry. "Mera, you may leave us now."
"Yes, My Lady."
After Mera had departed, the beautiful woman gently picked Sophia up from her cradle and softly offered her breast, hoping to comfort her.
"No, that's not what I mean at all..." Sophia squirmed a little, but her mouth was quickly, firmly, filled.
Mmph, mmph... I'm really not hungry, I tell you! Sophia was on the verge of tears.
At only one or two years old, she couldn't even form words yet, only passively accept this... unexpected, and at this particular moment, entirely unwanted, source of comfort!
Burp~ Please! I really can't drink another drop!
….
Meanwhile, Elliot had run into his own share of difficulties.
Since he didn't possess Space Magic, his first move was to transform into his massive dragon form, soaring high above the cloud layer.
Using the stratosphere for cover, he quickly reached the airspace over the Sariella Kingdom. Then, he located a deserted stretch of forest to land in and shifted back to his human form.
But even with all that care, he was somehow spotted by a few scattered human soldiers.
These men were probably scouts, positioned in the forest to watch for any enemy troops trying to use it for a sneak attack from the rear.
Seeing Elliot literally drop out of the sky, they were completely flabbergasted.
Reacting quickly, an experienced-looking scout dispatched one of his men to report to their superiors while he himself quietly began to tail Elliot.
One of the younger scouts whispered nervously to the older veteran, "Boss, that guy just fell from the sky. He doesn't look human. Should we pull back?" Not even humanity's most powerful mage, Ronandt, could perform a feat like that.
Space Magic always left some kind of visible ripple in the air. But this young man hadn't used Space Magic; he just seemed to plummet straight out of the heavens as if it were the most normal thing in the world. If this was an ordinary human, the young scout swore he'd eat his own helmet.
But the old veteran just shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "So what if he's not human? I heard the Sariella Kingdom managed to take down that Queen Spider monster from the Elroe Labyrinth. If even a legendary beast like that can be killed by humans, what's one more potential monster, if that's what he is? You really think he's tougher than the Queen Spider?"
"That's a fair point," the young man conceded, nodding. Their own Ohts Kingdom was, by all accounts, even stronger militarily than Sariella. If Sariella could defeat the Queen Spider, then they certainly could too…
The old veteran chuckled. "Relax, kid. I learned some camouflage magic back in my younger days. I can blend into the forest like a chameleon. He'll never even know we're here. Just follow along, nice and quiet." The young scout thought it over and decided it sounded reasonable.
So, the two of them, one following the other, kept a safe distance but continued to track Elliot.
What they didn't realize, however, was that Elliot was perfectly aware of their every single move.
After obtaining the Dendro Gnosis, his senses were incredibly sharp. Forget a couple of human scouts; even a master schemer like Potimas couldn't sneak up on him without him knowing.
Elliot sighed internally. He had specifically picked an empty, out-of-the-way spot to land, and still, he'd been spotted.
And he had no idea if these soldiers were from the Sariella Kingdom or the Ohts Kingdom; initially, he hadn't wanted to start any trouble. His main mission was to retrieve Sophia. Who won or lost this war was none of his concern.
But, as the old saying goes, even the Buddha can't help those who are determined to cause their own trouble.
These guys sticking to him like a persistent rash was starting to seriously get on his nerves.
"[Rock Burst]!" Elliot sighed again, a little louder this time, and unleashed the skill towards their hiding spot. The rocks around the two men suddenly exploded like forgotten landmines. Both were killed instantly.
Feeling two small bursts of EXP flow into him, Elliot nodded slightly. Just as he'd thought. Humans really did give more EXP than other creatures.
And because he'd killed humans, his [Butcher] title leveled up from LV 1 to LV 2, increasing the EXP he gained from them even further.
Elliot knew that if he started killing humans indiscriminately, he could easily go down a dark path, consumed by bloodlust.
So, he had his own internal code: as long as humans didn't come looking for trouble first, he wouldn't attack them.
After dealing with the two scouts, Elliot continued on his way. But trouble seemed to have a way of finding him.
As he headed towards the Sariella Kingdom's main territory, he stumbled right into a small-scale battle, a messy skirmish between Sariella and Ohts forces.
In the original story, Sariella had deployed forty-two thousand soldiers. Ohts had sent fifty-three thousand.
Ohts had the clear numerical advantage. But because the Queen Spider's earlier attack on Flamebright
City had resulted in so many civilian and military casualties, this time Sariella only had a little over thirty thousand troops left to field.
It was pretty obvious from the get-go: Ohts, with their superior numbers, was absolutely steamrolling the Sariella army. It was almost a completely one-sided slaughter.
….
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