Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 622: The King And His Guards

Markus…heʼd been tapping his feet by the kingʼs side while the veterans of war were being slaughtered. The strongest of soldiers being culled, for what reason other than to devastate the rest of the kingdom once they were all dead? He knew so, and so did the king, the queen, and the rest of the royal guards that worked under him.

”AGAIN!” Screaming into the calling ring that heʼd been given, Milo was frustrated beyond reason as the object refused to work. ”Whoever these guys are, theyʼre preventing us from talking to the hero and the others!”

Looking at Markus, Miloʼs lips opened yet again, but catching the smallest hint of sound, the dark knight spoke before him.

”My task is to keep you safe. Unless someone else can take that duty, I shall not move an inch, and neither let you leave that throne empty.” As the royal guard, it was his duty to protect the royals no matter what. ”A few hundred or a thousand soldiers against the kingʼs life, the answer is simple…”

Though his words were spoken with confidence, the dark knight knew what he was doing was wrong. He hoped that Helga could sense something was wrong from the dark sand beach and arrive in time before the city was destroyed, but even then, he knew that it was nothing more than wishful thinking. As for the hero and his companions? They still had some work to do, gathering everyone of their closest aides before arriving back home.

ʼIf only we could contact them somehow…ʼ Thought the knight, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted.

”Very well…” The sound of descending heels made Markus turn around to face the queen. Carrying a smile on her face with her hands on her belly, Viola watched her steps while slowly making her way down. ”If you will not help those brave men and women, then I will go and help them with my familiars and my magic.”

Stretching his hand forward, he tried to stop the queen.

”In the state that youʼre in, my queen, you cannot–”

”Cannot leave?” Her smile turned into a frown, and although Milo muttered her name to call her back, Viola smacked Markusʼs hand and continued to walk towards the exit. ”Try and stop me.”

Standing by the iron doors, she stopped to look back at the knight again.

”It might take me a while to get there, so if youʼre truly worried for my health and that of the heir, then I command you to help those soldiers!” Her voice echoed through the hall, and the sound of the castle crumbling could be heard in the distant background. Dust settled onto their feet for a moment, and the next thing they knew, Markus let go of his sword and began walking forward.

”Protect the king and queen while Iʼm gone.” Despite still being reluctant to leave, the knight left the royals in the hands of his subordinates. Ignoring everyone and everything, even the queen, as he passed, he marched down the steps unhindered with a mind brewing with anger and frustration.

”Every day...” Reaching for the strap on the back of his helmet, the knight quickly undid it and threw the helmet to the ground. There was no use hiding his identity anymore anyway, not after what heʼd decided to do once he was out there. ”Every day, this world gives me more reason to want to have died in that bloody war.”

Tired of life as a spectre, he longed for the cold embrace of death. Yet his promise to protect the king kept him alive, not to mention the fact that he couldnʼt die unless he was killed in a mortal battle against a true enemy. Getting closer and closer to the main hall where Aredin had brought the injured soldiers, Markus undid the armor more and more, revealing a set of chain mail and leather clothes.

Passing by the shocked healers, he made his way outside, where the first thing he noticed was a collection of Succubi floating high in the sky with an injured soldier–or rather, a horror-was fighting against a group of toying enemies. Looking closer, he noticed a weapon that heʼd not seen in a long time.

”A rifle?” The same weapon as one of Nightsilverʼs companions. He knew it well and the devastation that it could bring. Slowly, his expression changed as he watched the succubi being struck down and the soldier being blasted by the weapons of the intruders. Thankfully, being so close, the rifleman couldnʼt line a shot at him, but another person was slashing at his flesh with a chainsaw for an arm.

ʼPsionic energy…ʼ Looking closely at the last of the intruding trio–a woman dressed in small shorts and a tank top with frills, Markus knew everything that he wanted to and now came the turn to show them why he was chosen to carry the banner of Murdokʼs army.

”Do not blame me for your death, you brought this upon yourselves…” Spreading his arms wide, he drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then, raising his hands high in the air, he screamed the spell that split a tear through the realms of the dead. ”A HUNDRED CURSE UPON YOUR SOULS!!”

And so the sky tore in two and the space around the intruders shattered, the ground sank into a pit in the garden and came through every hole and tear, the colossal hands of lesser gods and demons that Markus had slaughtered. Not a second passed, and the astral hand lunged at the intruders. A few swatted the soldier away from them, and once the cost was clear, the enemies were torn limb from limb.

Their screams thundered like lightning, and their blood gushed like rain under the cloudy skies. But it was far from the end of their being, as one after the other, their bodies were pulled into the tears and taken through every agony of the necrotic world–all in a few secondsʼ time. And even when thrown around and their heads smashed to the ground like a child does its toys, their souls refused to let go of their bodies, and the agony continued for even the lesser gods lived through and across dimensions at once.

For them, there was no past nor a future–it was merely another dimension to leap across. Thus, a thousand yearsʼ agony, thatʼs what became of the intruders. That is before their bodies were slammed into the ground right before Markus. Like squashed mosquitoes, their clothes non-existent and their skin charred, bruised, and ridden with the burden of necroflowers, they were beyond repair, and even souls have been scarred for what theyʼd endured for a thousand years being tossed around by the demons and gods.

”Now to find out what shitstain sent you here…” Having made an example out of the intruders to deter the rival gods from even attempting something like this again, Markus dragged the bodies to the dungeons to be interrogated by him and the heroʼs people.

Needless to say, the banquet was cancelled and the soldiers dismissed. Those whoʼd survived were free to go home, however, when June approached her lover, she realized that there were many problems that remained to be sorted. But at last, nothing could be done–not before the hero and the priestess arrived back home.