C68-Aizel’s Brotherhood

〔 Aizel Kadashi 〕Level: 47Age: 19TitlePlatinum-rank Hunter (SU)Health Power ↑↑550/580Soul Energy0KinCrimson Were-Dragon〔 3 Bonded Souls 〕+〔 1 Bonded Servants 〕+

「 Night, his 46th day on Geas. 」

The leech-ling pulled a flintlock-looking handgun from his back. Everyone but Pops and the Priest did not react much. Still trying to see what that thing even was.

Unfortunately for the leech, Aizel's purple 'soul (Focus) was not only much faster than his finger, but his training with (Infuse) and (Discharge) allowed him to reach out with his aura, place a (Doppelgänger) construct, reinforce it with (Harden) and (Barrier), clogging up the barrel, and even protecting his ears while he was at it.

BANG!! — The leech-ling flintlock thingy, was no more.

Aizel did a quick (Restore) on everyone's ears with a wave of his hand. A musketeer entered the room, but the only thing there to see was everyone confused, especially the Leech, who was staring at his exploded flintlock thingy, as if looking at it harder would suddenly repair it.

Aizel spoke up once people looked like they were paying attention again. "And that, leech-ling. Was attempted murder. So congratulations, now you are out of this negotiation, and could spend the rest of your days in a fucking mine.

I, Aizel Kadashi, accuse the Horen Heir of attempted murder on a Platinum Rank Hunter before a Grand Priest and Ledvira's Hunter Master. He's also suspected of criminal negligence in three towns, five encampments, and an untold number of active hunters and civilians. Plus the attempted sabotage of the mission to save Ledvira."

Aizel kept speaking out of his ass, but the savages liked fancy speech like that because the priest was nodding as he spoke. He had just copied the speech pattern he had heard used on Geas, and added some things he remembered from Earth's lawyer shows.

"True." Pops and the Grand Priest said.

"Lucius Horen. I, Grand Priest Kezial, place you under the custody of Ledvira's Hunter Guild." At his words, the Hunter Master nodded to the Gold Ranks in the room, who began removing the rings and belts from the lordling, who was still in shock.

"What the fuck was that!?" Lisa asked, while looking at the still stunned leech-ling holding the weapon.

"A Hand Musket," The Grand Priest said; he looked extremely pissed off.

"Huh… I guess Zarnandier was killed in his sleep." Pops said, still a little shocked at what just happened.

"Aizel! Are you okay?" Lisa ran to him and started checking his whole body for wounds; she probably had never seen what muskets could do before, and was quite disturbed.

Once she was sure there was nothing on him, she gave him a quick hug before pulling out her old spear from her ring and started charging at the lordling while infusing her weapon with lightning.

Aizel had to hug her from behind in a split second before she could turn the little man into a human skewer. Pushing (Finalize) to remove her (Discharge) from the spear, and even needing to use (Anchor) on it before she could throw it at him.

"Hah. He's worth more alive, my love." He kissed the back of her neck. Aizel was extremely horny in that moment after seeing his woman go berserk the instant she knew he was alright. "~Don't kill him. We can extort his father now." He whispered to her the last part.

Surprisingly, Lisa managed to break his (Anchor) and used her (Swarming Grasp) to throw her spear in between the lordling's legs. Almost removing his leech makers.

'Holy shit!'

"Get him out of my sight," Lisa growled. The Gold-ranks complied and took him away with haste. Aizel snorted, his raging Bonner pressing against Lisa's ass.

The girls were following Lisa's lead. They already had their spears out. Misty fumbled a bit but managed to pull out her wand from the garter on her thigh. Making Aizel even harder at that sight.

"Well… Remind me not to fuck with them." The Hunter Master commented.

Pops had a weird smile with his jaw hanging open. As if what just happened had put him in some kind of euphoric high.

A disgusting smell of the arousal of the noble girl combined with her perfume filled the room. Aizel knew it was the same thing that happened with Kira, but he still hated it. However, in that moment he wanted to push Purify to cleanse her stink and fuck her in front of her brother. There was little stopping him.

The woman would probably love it. Her smell, lightning, horny glare, and rising temperature from her nether regions told him as much. Nevertheless, they were against time. His plan would only work at night. And Ledvira only had one of those left.

The priest was paying the events no mind, choosing to keep studying the maps as if everything happening around him was normal.

Mr. Leech-ling really fucked up there; not only had he cried for help to the Hunter's guild to clean his boo-boo, but he also tried to kill the key person for the mission, who also proposed the mission. Sure, Aizel was messing with him, but that did not justify trying to shoot him in the face.

The priest was the first one to break the silence. "Hunters, let's not waste any time. If the Horen Duke wants his little heir to be free, and does not want to explain to the King why the Hunters' Guild and the Temples are pissed off, he will pay. And Lucius will wish he had agreed to the first number. We proceed with Hunter Lord Aizel's mission."

Everyone in the room quickly put the lordling out of their minds and went back to make adjustments to the plan; it needed to be simple, and tighter than Valerie being knotted by him.

— — —

The planning went much faster than expected. Granted, there wasn't much to his plan besides ambushing the kings while they were asleep and trying to kill the Oni after that. Or fuck right off if the first ambush failed.

It was almost midnight, and it would not work once the monsters started to wake. Aizel did a quick trip to Redvelia to bring some leftover lures inside a ring of timeless holding in around thirty minutes. It took him longer to wake up the clerk and find the rings than the actual travel time.

Control of the musketeers and the surviving Horen personnel was given temporarily to the Hunters' Guild by Lucci. She proved to be someone with half a working brain with that simple action, unlike her brother.

Aizel entered the meeting room; all the available Hunters, temple mages, and musketeers were in the yard receiving instructions for a secondary operation that would act as a countermeasure in case an Oni escaped the night assault. After Redvelia's siege-raid, Aizel would not be trusting the mid- and low-rank hunters with anything more than the most basic of missions.

All that was left to do was give the final order to begin the operation.

"I got the lures, people. The mission is in motion." Aizel said.

"Hunter Lord, a word," Lucci said, changing the way she called him from Young lord, to his actual rank.

"What?"

"I need to discuss something in private. It regards my brother and father." The girls were staring daggers at her, but said nothing.

"Well… you got your orders, people! Move out! Girls, Priest, wait for me in the yard. Pops, begin stage one. Remember, start the luring from the end point, towards them. Not the other way around. Don't, wake them… If there are monsters awake. Finish the luring trail early. Lis, stay here for now, everyone else. Out!" Aizel said and motion with his hand, and everyone complied.

"How— Did you just dismiss a Grand Lord and a Grand Priest?" Lucci asked him after everyone except for Lisa and them left the room.

"What do you want, Leechy?"

"Please withdraw your charges against my brother. I promise I will make good on my suggestion and your last offer and become your maid."

"True," Lisa said, understanding why he wanted her here, besides being his anchor to sanity and good company.

'Why the fuck did I dismiss Valerie? I'm still not used to her mind lurking… Well…Let's get this over with real quick…'

"First, try that again without smiling, slut. And second, I was just fucking with him. The last thing I need is the Duke being more angry with me than he already will be for overcharging to save his shitty lands, and fining his heir." The girl was not smiling too much, but he could smell her arousal, and her lightning didn't lie. Also, he wanted to make his point of view clear.

"True."

"He will not be mad at you, that I can promise," Lucci said as she assumed a more serious attitude.

"True."

Aizel paused and raised an eyebrow at her while crossing his arms and sitting over the table. "Care to explain? Miss, I killed most of the crew of my Airship."

"He will even be happy, and probably send you a thank-you letter and a gift."

"True."

"…"

"Is she just a psycho, Love? Any chance your truth sense is malfunctioning because she's not right in the head?" Aizel asked. Even if what Lucci said was true. The way she said it was weird. Not her words. But her tone. It was too happy.

"She's not crazy; I've felt crazy people, love. Explain yourself, ~Leechy." Lisa said as she stared at the girl and turned her head sideways, all bossy like.

"I was exiled from my family. I chose the town of Redvelia; my brother was supposed to only take me to Ledvira and leave…"

"True."

"But then he didn't drop me off at the outskirts of Ledvira as we planned. I was supposed to reach Redvelia in a carriage later, to not create panic, and only after my guards had intermingled with the town…"

"True."

"But he heard about the dungeon and wanted to go hunt the Oni, saying that the muskets would kill them from afar. He only got one before the horde woke up. The Airship was his to command, not mine…"

"True."

Her tone was still weird. And everything she said was too convenient for her. Yet it was the truth. Besides, Aizel was quite impressed at the stupidity of her brother. So, he said his plans out loud. "Now I'm not going to stop at a simple fine and push for slavery… Is that idiot really supposed to be the next Duke?"

"Yes. My father will be thankful that you finally put the fear of the Sun in him, maybe even turn him into a proper Duke. It will teach him a lesson. And finally have an excuse to make me disappear for good, by blaming me for all of this." Lucci said while her eyes were filling with tears and her voice started to shake.

"True," Lisa said, but glared at the girl. They could both sense how her lightning did not match her expressions. Immortal-kin be op like that. Not that he needed his broken senses; he had seen that a thousand times over back on good old Earth.

"Tears won't help you, Leechy. Drop it. Why does he want to get rid of you in the first place? It can't be just because you are a slut. And besides, why risk it? Let's teach your father a lesson in parenting; maybe his next heir will turn out better."

"Lucius will learn, especially because I won't be there anymore. Each time I slept with a man, Lucius paid the Temples to sneakily use (Cleanse) and (Restore) on me while I slept. We have dormant fox-kin blood, so he hated my smell. And hoped that by restoring my virginity, the pain would deter me from doing it again."

"True."

"All right, that clears you out from Redvelia and killing the crew, and confirms you are a kinky slut. But it only makes your brother seem even less desirable to have as a future Duke. And if the creepy fucker had a thing for you, he will eventually come for me.

– You managed to make me want to push for execution, and not slavery. Hell, I can probably just ask the Grand Priest to judge him on the spot, and use him as bait. The priest looked angry even without knowing all of this."

Lisa did not say her iconic 'true,' maybe because Aizel did not intend to use the noble dude as bait. It was too much trouble. Besides, he was like a bag of silver.

"This is the opportunity my father has been waiting for: get rid of me, and educate Lucius in the ways of the world. I assure you that he will learn because you have touched the only thing he values, his pocket. You will drown him in debt, and by the time he ascends to Duke, all you will need to do is forgive him the rest of the debt to repair your relationship. Since we both know that paying ten Aetherite for a simple noble, who is not even an official Lord yet, is impossible."

"True."

Aizel narrowed his eyes at that. It was not impossible. Far from it. Yet Lisa said she was telling the truth. 'Ignorance from the girl? Lack of imagination?'

"Why didn't you simply stop sharing your bed with men? You threw away everything for a bit of pleasure."

"I only did it twice, but the rumors spread and twisted the truth. The reason my father exiled me was to control Lucius and stop the rumors, not because I was running him into bankruptcy by using the Temple. My father did not want me once he found out I did not inherit any fox-kin traits from his dormant blood."

"True."

Lucci's choice of words was… Prudent? There was something she was hiding. Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury to play detective in another world. If the plan failed, they needed to rush back and evacuate Ledvira. So, he moved the conversation back to the creepy sister-sniffing noble.

"So he's a creepy fuck who's into his sister, and the Duke an asshole."

"He was truly disgusted by the smell and made a big deal about it; that is what spread the rumor in the first place. And it's noble politics; my father can't marry me off as his true firstborn daughter if I don't share his already faded traits. Simply being able to smell better, like Lucius, is highly valuable."

"True…And yes, love. That is how they operate; they are idiots who don't breed outside of 'noble blood.' As I said to you before, it's a low noble thing; even if a duke is only below the king and the emperor, it seems that the Duke is still affected by the lower ranks' way of thinking."

"Hmm." Lisa had not caught on to that little wordplay Lucci was doing. Maybe because it was designed to use what people knew about the nobles. Or maybe Aizel was overthinking it.

But that did not change the fact that he was already getting bored of the whole thing, and just wanted to cut some Oni balls to make candies—they were running low again. "I will give it some thought… But he will stay locked up until after the mission…at the least."

"That is all I ask, My Lord," Lucci said and bowed just like Misty. Gone was her harlot attitude from before, but the smell only increased. And now Aizel was imagining her in a nice maid Outfit. Cucking her, or whatever the correct term was for making her look as he went to town on his wives.

"Use (Clean) or take a shower. Your perfume is making me want to throw up; it's a were-dragon thing. Now, fuck off." Aizel said and waved her off. She said nothing and left the room.

Aizel waited until the Lucci was well outside of even canine-kin hearing range to talk with Lisa. "Outside of your fantasies, fetishes, desires, or sexual stuff. Can we use her, love? Having the future Horen Duke tied by the balls sounds both good and bad to me. But I think I will heed her advice and fine the future Duke into oblivion."

"Yes, the fine is actually a great Idea. And taking her would not only give us respect in the eyes of nobility, but buy you a lot of goodwill from the current Duke."

"You think Lucas will rise to the role of Duke?"

Lisa cupped his cheeks with her hands and made him stare into her eyes before answering. "His name is Lucius. And it doesn't matter, my love. By the time he does, you will probably be Adamant and have the rank of a King. Even right now, you outrank a Marquess. And he just discovered that he can't kill you with a musket. So, he already fears you more than he hates you. The literal Dragon in his backyard he needs to keep happy."

"Thanks, my love…"

'Lisa and Pops both said that Mithril is the equivalent rank of a Duke… Seth the cucketeer also said that Mithrils can claim towns like Redvelia and even cities. The same way Plats can take charge of Guilds… How the fuck did that Mithril leopard even get her rank? She's too incompetent.'

— — —

"All right, Snails! Form Up!"

Aizel had sent the girls back home; it took a lot of convincing, but they understood that you can't fuck with the Oni, or they will fuck you, especially female angels.

He was about to explain what role the rest of the male hunters would play. The huntresses were asked to stay in town for the lures to be effective, since they would use them differently than in Redvelia.

The only female in sight was Lucci, who had chosen not to go and hide, to at least save her family some face in what was possibly her last moments as a noble. Be it because she was charged, killed if the mission failed, or Aizel took her as a 'maid.'

"This is the last briefing before moving out, in case you fell asleep or were taking a shit. As we speak, Grand Hunter Lord Salmizael is using the lure developed for Redvelia's Siege to draw a line - directly - into the position you will be defending."

A lot of scared faces were seen; it was understandable.

"You are not the first, or even second line of defense! You are the last contingency! In case an Oni gets smart and leaves the Kill zone. They will most likely come to you!

The hunters relaxed a little after he made it clear that they would not be facing Oni right away. The guild had promised them a lot of silver for participating. More than two winters' worth of wages for the crazy ones who decided to engage, or their families if they died. Silver that—of course—would come out of the Duke's pockets. Or the king's if he refused to pay, since the Guild and the Temple could go to daddy emperor and tell on them.

"The veterans from Redvelia's raid already taught you the defensive formation known as 'turtle.' This time you will be using a similar one called the 'scorpion.' Inside all the shield fortresses, there will be a musketeer. Your sole mission! Is to protect them as they shoot!"

The hunters glanced around to the side. The musketeers were shitting themselves but did not show it. The survival of the ones engaging depended on them.

"Veterans! Unlike last time, the goblinoids won't be attracted to you! They will be led to the line of fire of the eight scorpions! That is the reason you were all asked to put all that shit over your shields and gear; you will be hidden! You will be silent! Not screaming like last time. Tonight! You are ambush predators!"

"UH!"

A group of hunters did an example of the formation. They had all been training for a couple of hours, and this was just a reminder. It was not perfect. But they would not need to move around. Working more like mobile bunkers.

"The Oni can't (Teleport) inside the scorpion formation, but they can strike at it with giant clubs and great swords, kill them, before hey get too close! Or be prepared to endure a few broken bones if you want to live."

A few hunters hugged their arms. Aizel did not remember their faces, but there was a really high chance that some of them were the ones that needed healing after the siege-raid. The goblins did not manage to break the formations back then. But that came at the cost of more than one broken arm. Only the one hobgoblin that rushed faster than the long-range hunters could kill it, or call for aid, managed to break through.

"Musketeers! The cost of the bullets will be taken by the Horen Ducal Family! I don't care if they have to sell their asses in the streets to pay for it! They were the ones who took a shit! All over Ledvira! And we are here to clean it, but we will be paid, to do so!"

"UH! "

"Brotherhood! Move out!! "

"SIR!!"

— — —

Puff!~

"The scorpions are ready," Pops said.

Puff!~

"Also, the priest… All right, Pops. Don't make me drag you by the wings. If it gets spicy, just fuck off, and I will follow you."

"The same goes for you, son."

Hovering far above and away from the improvised camp that the Oni had made to spend the night, Pops and Aizel had a clear view of the future monster graveyard. It was just few clicks away from Ledvira, and much closer than the leech-ling had claimed.

The Winged Basilisks had coiled themselves around the Oni in a semi-uroboros wall of scales; they were not sucking each other, but had their heads against the other's tail.

Aizel took out one of the spears the girls bought in Pops' city; it had one of the soul overcharged mana crystals—the ones Vanessa 'borrowed' from the temple. She and he had been pushing their mana into them for a few hours while chugging potions. So they glowed scary purple. They were glued below the tip of the spear with the crazy adhesive that the Temple had.

Using soul (Harden), (Barrier), (Doppelgänger), and (Sharpen), he made the spear turn an ethereal purple. Then he pushed (Raikō) on it. A purple plasma began to be emitted from the blade. He made sure that the crystal was surrounded by it, but was not touching it yet.

"Father Sun… And you still want me to bless this thing?" Pops shivered and even winced away from the weapon.

"Can never be too safe, Pops."

"You're right about that."

Pops pushed his aura; it was fast, but Aizel caught it. The 'Blessing' was nothing more than a modification in the resonance frequency of the mana. Like placing a sound box around a speaker. Aizel would need to steal that later, since it looked simple enough and was not at all related to his race.

The new frequency the mana acquired made the purple plasma pulse with a golden-yellow light. Reminding Aizel of the mana construct Pops had thrown at him when they first met.

"All right, this should fuck one up."

"That will fuck up anything, son…"

"Shoot the red sparks. And then be ready to intercept any Oni that follow me after the second pass. Or to deal with the aftermath if this fails."

Pops raise his wand and emitted a blue (Spark) with a Puff!~ that made the ambient aura or 'soul' around them change a bit, maybe it was the tension from everyone compounding in on each other, or maybe Aizel was just excited and imagining it.

Like a bird of prey, Aizel tucked his wings in and dove. As soon as the head of one of the Kings was in sight, he took aim, modified the (Barrier) and (Doppelgänger) skills attached to the spear to give it fins, with a push from a soul (Fire Howl) at its base, (Guide) and (Telekinesis) making small corrections, he shot it directly into one of the King's eyes.

He pulled up in a parabola at the Grand Priest. When the (Monitor) embedded inside the spear told him that it had made contact, he gave it a (Push), (Pull), and (Twist), a fraction of a second later. Then, as the spear reached the creature's massive brain, he concentrated (Raikō), and any speck of mana from the other skills and the blessing into the overcharged mana crystal glued in the spear.

BOOM!!!

System:_〔 Level47 ► 57 | SE: 0 ► 25 〕

'Ten levels but twenty five—'

"Ugh…"

'…Oh fuck…'

"Holy Moon, have mercy… And what's got into you? That could not be harder than how you carried us earlier." The Grand Priest said as soon as Aizel was at his side, on the opposite end from Pops.

"I… S… Soul… Energy… I already had gained a lot… recently." Aizel tried to explain. He had been using the exploit since he did not think he would be doing any fighting while being at Pops' home.

"Hmm. Just think about sex." The Grand Priest said.

"W~ What?"

"Think about fucking, don't ask me why, but it helps. There are entire books discussing the phenomenon without a real answer, and you still need to kill a few more things." The Grand Priest pointed at the Oni camp where they were already waking up and looking around. Thankfully, they were not looking up, because their auras were visible from pretty far away.

"Why the fuck do you have four wings? And a Halo!?" Aizel asked as soon as he saw the man. To his senses, it was the most inefficient form of hovering he had ever seen. Combined with his soul trying to escape, it had taken him a while to realize that the Cherubim manifestations looked more like a Seraphim than an actual Seraphims.

"Kill more, talk later."

Aizel pulled another one of the spears and repeated the process. The camp was swarming; they had not seen them yet, but now they were alert.

The Grand Priest blessed the second spear, and this time the extra light was bluish. And it was just a different tune or frequency.

"Ugh… Well, After this pass they will most likely follow me."

Aizel did not wait for a reply and just dove in again. The King had its head raised and was already scanning the environment, but Aizel was going too fast for the thing to react, so unless it had insane senses, it would also die.

BOOM!!!

System:_〔 Level57 ► 67 | SE: 0 ► 20 〕

"FUCK!" Aizel's body twisted. He started to remember the feeling of becoming one with all of those he had done so far. His first night with Lisa, the insanity of Vanessa, Kira's desire to create life, Trainee Limi's technique, Valerie's thighs, the craziness at Pops' home, the tanned Blondie waiting for him in Pops' nest, and the blue-haired slut on the run.

'Fuck, it works… a little… ugh…'

Aizel reached Pops, but the man had a (Spark) attached to his wand, the signal to keep going, for he was being followed.

Aizel pushed (Focus), (Infuse) and (Detect). An Oni was teleporting to the position he had just been in a moment ago, but he could not hear it due to the speed. He used (Finalize) and (Anchor) behind him. Just as the beast was in front of Pops.

The old angel used his fancy wiggly sword to end the creature in the fraction of a moment when it was held by Aizel's skill combo before it could even react.

Aizel turned around as more Oni were trying to reach Pops. He used the third spear and threw it directly at Pops. He felt it, blessed it in a fraction of a second by pushing his own (Focus), and then used (Teleport) to move out of the way. As soon as the old angel was outside the explosion range. Aizel detonated the spear.

BOOM!!!

Three Oni were killed in the explosion; he kept going forward, heading for the Priest, with four Oni giving chase.

'Where's the last one?'

The last one was teleporting and sprinting after the lure, but he could not help them now; he hoped that those musketeers were well trained. Or his scorpions would not make it.

As he passed by the Grand Priest, he locked one Oni in place the same way he had done before. The priest used a rapier to pierce its head; it was not a wiggly one, but he used the same principles of mana to stab all the way through the skull of the beast, coming out on the other side.

Aizel took his fourth spear, overcharged it, and threw it directly at the priest. He and Pops were old friends, and their skills were quite similar, so he was able to apply his moon blessing to the weapon and (Teleport) away.

BOOM!!!

The last three Oni died in the explosion.

System Notice:_〔 Level67 ► 77 | SE: 0 ► 5 〕

He added the new Soul energy to the pool, but could not go help the scorpion team; his soul was too dissociated. So he just landed beside the dead bodies of the Kings and bent over while trying to keep himself awake.

"You hurt, son? What's happening to you?" Pops asked as soon as he landed beside him; he had not even felt him come.

"Too… mu… Soul… rgy…"

"All right… Relax, and just think about sex. Don't even bother trying to sync up your body and mind; just think about fucking someone. It will pass, son. I'm here."

"The… Scorp… eam…"

"Kezial can deal with a single Oni, son. But I saw shots—only one barrage—so I think they won. You can rest now; I got you."

— — —

〔 Aizel Kadashi 〕Level: 77Age: 19TitlePlatinum-rank Hunter (SU)Health Power630/630Soul Energy0KinCrimson Were-Dragon〔 3 Bonded Souls 〕+〔 1 Bonded Servants 〕+

「 Morning, his 47th day on Geas. 」

Aizel woke up the next morning to an unknown roof, but a known feeling. The girls had come back at some point; he assumed that just as Ms. Diane could contact Pops, he could also contact her.

"Morning, Legion."

"Aiz!" "Good morning, love." "~How are you feeling, Aiz?" "Hi~"

It was as close to heaven as a man could probably get without meditation or overdosing on something: their little nest of fathered wings, with a cheetah that had teary eyes looking back at him.

"What's got into this one?"

"I was monitoring your HP, and it went up, then down, then up, then down, and she had a little crisis. She didn't calm down even after Mom told us that Dad sent the signal that meant everything was okay. So we came right away." Lisa said from his side, her majestic breasts making his arm disappear.

"Sorry, Nei. Is not easy to earn a lot of Soul Energy at—"

Neine did not let him finish and locked her lips on his. He savored her and did their little cat-and-mouse game with their tongues for a while.

"—Oh, I can speak again."

"~haha-ha"

"Does anyone know if the scorpions made it out?"

"Yes, love, there was not a single death; if anything, you are the only one who got 'hurt,' and it was not even because of the Oni, but the level-ups. You are level seventy-seven now; congratulations on passing me in a single night." Lisa said.

She also wanted some action, so it soon devolved into their usual morning bonding and renewal of vows. Neine looked like she was ready, but he would make her first time special, not in a horrible bed in a shitty room of the guild. She had taken good care of herself, and she deserved all the comfort he could provide. By using Pops' home, that is.

The crew got out of the room into the hallway of the second level; people were already walking by, but he was starving. So they took him to the yard where Valerie was hand-feeding him Orc Skewers.

"Where's pops?"

"He and Grand Priest Kezial went to sleep back in the mansion. They will be back in a little while, since Dad takes like… a long time to carry the priest here with just his (Mana Hands)."

"What about the new maid and the idiot?"

"Leechy is sleeping at the inn we stayed at last time, and the idiot is locked in that room." Lisa pointed to the guild's second floor. "They will be summoned in ten days for the sentencing."

"Are we taking the noble girl?" Valerie asked before biting her lip.

"Yes. As a simple maid, just to piss off the idiot who tried to kill me and fucked my harvest in the north. May she be a reminder when he's 'Duke' what happens when you fuck with us."

Lisa and Vanessa squeezed his arm, Valerie got all red, and Neine was giving him a thirsty look that he had never seen on her face before.

'This slut was right… Was Earth like this in its dark ages? Fucking should have paid more attention to that particular period of time, and not just TV. Shows.'

— — —

"I'm taking the Oni balls, hearts, and kidneys."

"Son. If - we can find them, they are yours."

They were having a meeting in the guild after Pops and the Priest came back. Aside from them and the crew, only a couple of gold-ranks and the Hunter Master were present.

"What? Did we fuck them that bad?"

"We… Ha! Tell Me Another. I Killed One, Salmizael Killed Another One, and Scorpion Squads Another. You Killed 6 Oni and Two Serptiloid Kings. The only things that can be harvested are the Kings' bodies. Because Their Heads Don't Exist Anymore.

– Two Oni fell from really high up and turned into a mess on the forest floor. All of yours turned into a gory mist that rained entrails over the trees. And the one the Musketeers took down has more holes than meat. Hahaha…" The Grand Priest Said.

"Oh."

"Indeed. Thankfully, the Duke has responded and has agreed to your little scheme with the young lady. One Aetherite will be divided among all the ones who participated; the seasonal payments for you will be discussed in a few days with the lordling." Pops said.

"Also, High Lord Aizel… Your new Tags will be ready in a few moons… Days. The Mithril ones take longer to be made. And since you will require them for all of your Vassals… The cost of production will be subtracted from your reward, which is the highest among the five parties involved. So your reward is… well…" The Hunter Master began to explain, but looked at the floor without finishing.

"Your reward is a single… hah… a single… Ha!-HA! - HA! …" Pops tried to speak but was having a blast. Because his reward was just one royal after the split of the Aetherite coin, plus the new tags.

"This one still owes money anyway." Aizel pointed at the Grand Priest.

'It was a pretty crazy mission… But they never told me the requirements for Mithril…'

"Yeah… Here, six Royals." The Grand Priest took out the coins from his ring and gave them to Aizel. The Hunter Master almost choked when he saw the coins. Aizel had earned more money by dragging along the Priest than the whole mission.

'I should simply start a travel agency… Come aboard, and leave your intestines behind.' He thought. But he realized that doing that would also expose his technique to people outside his kin. So he chuckled and stored the coins away.

Aizel had destroyed four of the five new lances. Each one was worth around a royal each, so in the end, is like he did not earn more than two royals for the whole thing.

The meeting was just a recount of what had transpired; the cost for saving Ledvira came to around two and a half Aetherite, or in snail terms: 25K silver, 70 winters/years' worth of wages. The current cost for the mission was so high mostly because the musketeers went insane. They started shooting like maniacs at the only Oni that entered their Kill zone.

In the end, the real earning for Aizel was the rank-up. He guessed it was because he led two 'Grand' ranks, the rest of the hunters, and fucked an entire Oni camp with two tier-seven pet monsters.

The crew was walking to the yard since Aizel wanted to ask something of Neine, and he did not want to ask it to her in the meeting room. He was going to use the excuse that ordering her Vassal tags right now would be cheaper than waiting for a later date.

Pops and the priest were following them; maybe they were just bored. The two angels could sense his inner turmoil; thankfully, teasing was not an angel trait, but a Kadashi one.

"Nei. Will you become my Vassal? If you agree, we can just order your ta—"

"YES!"

Neine jumped and hugged him with her arms and legs. She felt really light, but he had also surpassed 600 points in Health Power, so he was not really a good benchmark to tell if she was light or if he was strong.

"That's the weirdest marriage proposal I've ever heard." The Grand Priest said, really confused by the whole situation.

"At least he asked her. With the rest of us, he just started reciting the spell, and it was all or nothing." Valerie asked in fake indignation.

'I technically asked Lis…'

~Purrr…

Neine was actually purring. So Aizel just talked while carrying her. "By the way, did the leech-lings ever say how much they fucked the dungeon?"

"The only thing they managed to do was get their asses kicked. According to the Musketeers that survived, there are still two Serptiloid Kings and around five Oni over there. The rest of the monsters that woke up could either not give chase because of the trance, or cross the shield. The projections for its birth are still unknown. Some say that it will be by the end of the season, others that until next winter." Pops explained.

"Good. Cockatrices plus their eggs and Oni balls for days. Let's tell the Hunter Master to prepare another set of Vassal Mithril Tags and claim the fancy-fancy quill. Then we take the maid and head home."