Chapter 21: Farewell to friends (part 2)

After sealing the demon contract, the three of us left the room. The only thing left to do was to find Zuran and then take care of him together with Larkus. As our small group headed toward the basement we again came across the group of orcs which were previously set on illusionary fire by Korpus. Not being able to escape or put it out, some of them died out of shock from the constant pain that was delivered to them and some were still tossing their bodies helplessly around.

Not wanting to spend any more time on this garbage, because the morning was approaching, I quickly ended their lives with Luo-Khai. That was the first time I noticed some changes since this night adventure of mine started. It felt like my attacks were slightly faster and a little bit more powerful than before. I wanted to ignore it, thinking it must be just my imagination, but as I stared at Luo-Khai, teacher probably noticed my puzzled look as he asked me:

“Feeling more powerful than before, are you?”

Not knowing how he knew my exact feelings I looked at him almost thinking he could read my mind.

“I thought it was just my imagination, but now that teacher also mentioned it I must say yes.” I tried to explain while he nodded his head.

“Sooner than expected, but I guess it’s thanks to that weapon of yours.”

When I looked at the scythe in my hand, teacher reminded me of our previous conversation.

“Do you remember when I explained to you how the souls and soul cores work once you kill their master?”

I nodded, remembering what he told me when we were in the elven forest, not long after I was summoned. If I recall it correctly, when I kill a monster and devour its soul core I become more powerful and the same applies if I kill something with a soul, then I get something called expi from them.

“That is exactly what is happening here.” Teacher told me, pointing at the bodies lying around. “The thing is, your new weapon seems to hasten this process when souls are involved.” As he said this, he cast some spell on the last living orc in the vicinity and urged me to kill it with Luo-Khai. I did as he asked and slashed with it at the orc before me without minding his pleading eyes. As the blade of the scythe entered the orc’s body and went through his chest, the orc died almost instantly. But the blood wasn’t the only thing I could see now. Under the teacher’s spell, as Luo-Khai emerged from the body, it pulled out a misty substance with it, resembling the one that appeared when Nlaea sold her soul to me.

Realizing that it was probably the orc’s soul, I was left staring for a moment. While being pulled away from the body, the soul showed an anguished expression on what one could call a face as it tried to return to its owner’s body. While being exposed, Luo-Khai started to devour the soul before it, not giving it any time to set free from its clutches. When the soul was finally able to free itself a large part of it was already swallowed and only a tiny bit was able to return to its previous owner. The devoured part went through Luo-Khai’s body and finally a large part of it entered me through my hands which held the scythe. As it happened I could tell that I gained a little bit of power.

After everything settled down, I noticed that teacher still calmly observed me, while the dark elf had a surprised look plastered on her face. From our connection I could feel all her surprise and fear at the same time, fear being the dominant one.

“Normally, only a very small portion of the soul is chipped off when the body is killed and the rest vanishes.” Teacher started his explanations while we resumed or walk to the basement. “But by pulling it out of the body, your weapon is able to devour a much larger part and thanks to that you also gain more power from it. You surely also noticed that some of the devoured soul is consumed directly by Luo-Khai.”

I nodded as I could tell that a small part of it stayed within the scythe.

“As I told you, Luo-Khai has a mind of its own and for now you are its master. But, if one day it is able to amass more power than you can control, it will take over and devour you.”

“But teacher, is it really possible for that to happen? I mean, just now it granted me a much bigger part of the soul; at this rate it will never become more powerful than me.”

“Didn’t you listen to me?” Korpus asked, this time a little bit annoyed. “I said it has its own will. For now, it is just a new born baby, not really knowing right from left, but as time goes by it will grow together with you. When that happens you will need to be prepared to reign over it with a firm will.”

As I thought about teacher’s words, we finally arrived to the basement of the mansion. As we went through it, we could see the dead bodies of the remaining orcs who were probably busy with their fuck toys when the death knights found them. As teacher guided us to the farthest room we could already hear Larkus shouting and screaming. Finally entering the room, we found him bound to the sturdy wooden table with the death knights standing on guard, pressuring his wounds and making sure he doesn’t bleed to death.

Teacher took the initiative and with a quick chant he seared his wounds with only stumps left in the exchange for his feet. Looking at him, a big smile appeared on my mouth as I savoured his face going completely pale when he finally spotted us. Seeing that Nlaea was standing behind me clothed and without any restrains, he immediately started pleading for his life.

“No, p…p…please, don’t, don’t do it. I…, I will give you money, or…, or slaves, yes as many slaves as you want. I can work for you. Ask anything, just don’t kill me.” With snot running down from his nose, I must say, he looked comical.

I looked around the room, trying to find the second guest of honour that should have been present, but I couldn’t spot anybody. Not able to see Zuran anywhere, a bad feeling of anxiety arose inside me.

“Where is that green sick pig?” I asked looking at the death knights, who came here first.

“Hmm, they say that there was nobody who matched your description when they searched the basement.” Korpus answered for them as he was the only one who could talk to them. More like speaking, it sounded like a series of grunts when they tried to say something.

Rage swelled up in me, as my eyes stopped on bound Larkus.

“Where is Zuran?” I asked, trying to hold back and not killing him on the spot, because I promised him to the Nlaea.

“If, if I tell you, will you leave me be?” He asked, still thinking he could save his hide. Stupid creature.

“Ok, I will leave you be if you tell me.” I said to him, still shoving my anger at this unexpected situation.

“P…P…Promise me.”

“Why should I promise to the likes of you when I can torture the information out of you?”

As I approached the table with tools meant for inflicting as much pain as possible, his face was even paler than before.

“I, I know about you demons. I know that when you promise something, you must abide by it. Everybody knows that demons can’t break their promises.”

Hearing him I couldn’t decide if he was so stupid or frightened that he would bet his life on something like this, but this was probably the fastest way to get what I wanted.

Holding something that looked like a small pair of pliers, I came back to him. Seeing me, Nlaea tried to protest as this wasn’t what I promised her, but I shut her up with my glare. Looking at Larkus, while standing beside him I spoke again.

“You are lucky, because I’m in a hurry. So here is the deal. You will tell me where that cock-jerking pig is and I won’t touch a single hair on you. Deal?” I asked, showing him the plier-like thing in my hand.

“No, as I said you must promise it to me.” He said, stubbornly repeating the same thing.

“Ok, ok, I promise that I will leave you if you tell me what I want to know.” I said, deliberately looking like I lost the fight. “Now speak.”

“It happened the night when you fled. He wasn’t pleased when he heard that I borrowed you and you escaped so we argued a little. In the end he brandished his blade on me and the other traders, thinking the orcs would stand on his side. But I never trusted him fully and before this happened, I quickly made a deal with the other orcs, promising them some money and slaves in exchange for killing him. Zuran was left with only 4 others, who didn’t accept my proposal and after a quick fight they were able to flee, taking two slaves with them. After that he didn’t show up.”

Listening to him didn’t improve my mood. Now knowing that the pig probably didn’t stay in the city, I didn’t know how to look for him.

“Do you know where he went?”

“I don’t have an idea, probably back to the Beggar’s plains. I pray he dies a dog’s death. He stole one of my most profitable slaves, the daughter from the noble family. I spent quite a fortune when I purchased her.”

Thinking about his words I asked: “What about the other slave he took, who was it? Maybe I can track him if I find out where or to whom he sold them.”

“The other one was that troll friend of yours. I think he was called Roun’ga.”

Hearing him, I remembered the blue-skinned troll who stayed in the cage together with me. Well, be it the daughter of nobility, or a troll, both of them are quite noticeable if I went and asked around the city. But something tells me that I won’t be able to find them here.

“I told you everything you wanted to know, now release me.” Impatient, Larkus demanded from me thinking I would obey.

“Yes, I’m very thankful to you. So thankful that I will let you spend your last hours with such a peerless beauty like Nlaea over here.” I pointed to my new servant while stepping aside and letting her through.

“NO! YOU CAN’T! YOU PROMISED! LET ME FREE!”

“I don’t know what child-tale did you hear or read, but you can bet that you are the last person I want to let live.” I faced the dark elf behind me. “He is yours to do with as you please. We are leaving at sunrise.”

“Thank you master.”

After that the main show of the night begun. Starting lightly, she plucked every nail on Larkus’s fingers with the pliers I had in my hand before. After fingers came teeth and similarly she didn’t leave out even a single one. Before she had a chance to do some serious damage, I asked teacher if it is possible to make Larkus stay alive and conscious through the whole thing. He laughed lightly and cast a spell which didn’t allow Larkus to lose neither consciousness nor life from the pain that was yet to come. Piercing eyes, tearing ears, cutting out his tongue, skinning, breaking bones, crushing his balls, chopping off his dick, pouring hot oil in his wounds, amputating limbs, pulling his guts out and finally tearing off his ribs one after another and feeding him his own heart. When she was finally done with him he looked more like some weird puzzle than a human being.

At first I thought I made a mistake when I left Nlaea to torture Larkus, but after looking at the whole thing even I’m not confident in saying that I would do a better job. She ignored his screaming and continued the torture not showing even the slightest signs of distress. Once she was done, she just cleaned her hands and waited for my next orders, like the thing that she just chopped to pieces wasn’t a human, but only some disposable meat. I must say, I was impressed with her. In my mind I could feel her satisfaction as she observed Larkus while he died suffering.

Knowing the sun will rise any minute and people will fill the streets of Grimthorn, Korpus didn’t hesitate and ordered the death knights to kill the remaining humans which were previously used as fucktoys by the orcs. With that we hastily left the mansion and quickly retreated back to the sewers and through them into the castle.

“Teacher, is there a convenient way to find Zuran?” I asked as we went back. He was the last thing I really wanted to take care of.

“If he stayed in the city it shouldn’t be a problem, especially with those two slaves he has. If he left then it would be very hard, especially now when the conference of the lords is so close. The queen would need all capable hands so she wouldn’t permit it. You should probably give up if that is the case and concentrate on your training.”

I expected that kind of answer, but it still unnerved me. Teacher read my expression and tried to offer me his advice.

“For now become strong. Once the queen sends you to hunt Realm Walkers, you will have an opportunity to gain a lot of information so you can search for the orc you seek.”

Knowing he is right we were able to return safely.

Not long after entering the catacombs master Hataya found us and informed us that the queen wishes to speak with us. Teacher didn’t seem surprised and probably anticipated this. Using the secret passages in the castle we were able to arrive to the queen’s office without being seen.

“I take it your little adventure was successful?” She asked us as we entered the room.

“More or less.” Korpus said, roughly explaining what happened last night.

Thinking about what she heard she spoke: “It is as Korpus said to you Malakhay. If that orc stayed in the city it would be easy to find him and I don’t see a problem in offering him to you. But if he left already you will need to forget about him for the time being. In any case, Korpus will inform you on this matter.”

“I understand.” I said, while bowing my head.

“Good.” Saying this she observed the dark elf behind me. “I understand that you acquired a servant for yourself. It is rare to see dark elves outside their territories, not speaking about one becoming a slave.” She didn’t stop to look at Nlaea, probably waiting for some kind of explanation.

“Still, didn’t we agree on killing everybody in that mansion to not let anybody know that we were involved?” She asked, not satisfied with a witness standing right before her.

“It won’t be a problem. The elf sold her soul to Malakhay in exchange for her life.” After Korpus said this, the queen was visibly surprised as she stared at us.

“Sold her soul? That is… Not mentioning my reign, even my father and mother weren’t able to seal the demon contract with anybody. It happened only in ancient history. Now I’m even more interested in you.” She aimed her whole attention at Nlaea.

Pressed for some kind of answer she spoke for the first time.

“It’s nothing special your majesty, I’m just somebody desperate to stay alive to see my enemies fall.” Not showing any intentions to explain any further she again bowed.

“I see. For now I will leave it at that.” Saying this, the queen returned her gaze to me as she spoke. “I will approve of your new servant as it would be a shame to kill her.”

“Thank you.”

After hearing me she nodded her head in approval.

“Now I will ask you to leave. I still need to discuss some things with Korpus so you two can return for today and rest.”

***

After the door to the passage where the imp with the dark elf vanished closed behind them, the queen spoke once again.

“You can enter Hataya.”

Waiting only for the command of her master, Hataya quickly entered the study and after closing the door behind her she knelt.

“Your report.” The queen demanded, waiting for the words of her servant.

“Everything was prepared as planned; you only need to say a word.”

Hearing good news, the queen showed a rare smile.

Knowing what happened tonight, she wanted to use this opportunity. That is why she ordered Hataya to plant some fake evidence inside the mansion which will point at a troublesome noble, who is known for his deep interest in slaves. This way she could get rid of him before the conference without stirring much trouble. The only thing left was to let the investigators do their job and point their finger at him.

“That will take one problem from our list. Now we just need to prepare for the conference and play our cards right. After all, I’m very interested who will show their true colours now that you are dead, Korpus.” As she said this, she looked at him, still in a good mood.

“I’m quite interested in the outcome myself.” He said in good humour.

The fact that Korpus died is still hot news in the kingdom and this information has surely spread even to the neighbouring countries. The queen knows there is somebody within her own retainers who is working against her and she judged that this will be the perfect opportunity to sniff him out. That is why she let the rest of the nation think that Korpus died. Only she, the other lich-lords and a few trustworthy people know the truth about him. Thanks to this he can move freely behind the scenes and while the conference is in hearing he will surely have an opportunity to eliminate all traitors.

“Still, are you certain that the imp and that elf will keep your existence a secret?” She wanted to be reassured.

“I strictly instructed him about it and once we put things into motion I plan to use him. I must say, I became quite attached to him. If everything goes right I’m sure he will become a powerful ally.” If he could he would be smiling right now.

“That reminds me that I will need to do something about Nexaria. She can’t stop asking about him.”

“Hahaha, he really has a gift of attracting trouble.” Korpus laughed at her comment.

“It sure is troublesome that my daughter and the future queen is regarded as trouble.” She sighed, holding her head as if a headache assaulted her. “Maybe I can stick them together for the time being, that will surely entertain them until we finish our job.”

“There will be protests and strong critique if you do it. Nexaria already declined a lot of potential future husbands. What makes you think that this will work?”

“Oh, I’m sure it won’t. From what you told me about Malakhay they are like water and oil, but it surely will be a good additional diversion. Also, it should prevent Nexaria from causing trouble at the conference when she will have something else to occupy her attention. Who knows, maybe it will force her to finally choose somebody I recommended as her husband.” As the queen said this, she smiled at the image of her daughter and Malakhay fighting against her verdict.

“The nobles will tear Malakhay to little pieces if you announce this.” Korpus tried to shield his little pupil, but the humorous tone from his voice didn’t disappear. He too was interested in how would Malakhay try to solve such a situation.

“I see that you aren’t exactly against it. You should go and prepare him so he doesn’t die in the upcoming days.”

“As you wish, my queen.”

And so Malakhay’s future became more troublesome than he could expect.

--End of ARC 1--