Last chapter for the weekend. Pretty good progress in my opinion considering how long it takes me to write each one despite having plans and outlines.

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Garnet was still in Antium when Duke Gray made his move. She could hear the sound heavily armored footsteps. When she peeked out the window of Zedd's Workshop, she saw them. Numerous soldiers that all bore Duke Gray's green crest on their armor. The soldiers also wore full plate armor, which was normally very expensive. However, it also made them very hard to kill due to arrows having little effect. Only melee combat or magic could hurt them.

Luckily, few people recognized Garnet. Baron Gray knew the older Garnet, but since she absorbed the Siren, she had actually appeared younger. If Baron Gray was still looking for her, he would probably not be looking for someone as young as her. Among the soldiers were a few banner carriers. She saw several men and women who wore bright colored armor adorned with gold. They were probably the other nobles from the South who were supporters of Duke Gray. Thanks to Duke Gray controlling most of the guards in the city, some of the soldiers was able to walk right in.

The army made their way toward the castle. Duke Gray announced his demands, "As of this moment, Antium is under the control of King Arnold the First, formerly Duke Gray of the Southern River."

A well dressed knight appeared before them. It was Kirk. "What is the meaning of this?" asked Kirk. "No noble of Antium is allowed to mobilize their army to the city unless it is requested by the King."

"King Arnold Gray has ordered it," said Baron Gray. "He is now the one true King of Antium."

"That's preposterous," said Kirk. "A King can only be chosen once a majority the four Dukes have agreed."

"The other Dukes were traitors who plotted against the King and poisoned him," said Baron Gray. "They lost their right to claim the throne in doing so."

Kirk drew his sword and the other guards at the front gate followed. "It is my duty to protect this castle and I will not let you take it!" he shouted.

Suddenly, something came and landed right in front of Kirk. A cloud of dust rose and the ground was cracked from the landing. The dust took a minute to settle and before Kirk stood an old man with white hair. "Zedd?!?" Kirk shouted. He was surprised, Zedd had made a move.

"Don't you remember our conversation?" asked Zedd. "Or did you forget that your guards were the one who failed to discover that the King was being poisoned for nearly three years. Evidence points to you being the traitor."

"TSK," King Arnold grunted. Even though he had threatened Zedd, he knew that in a real fight, Zedd would be able to roll through his entire army. That was the true power of a mage. He had witnessed how Zedd managed to defeat the giant creatures of the previous two Invasions. A skeleton the size of a mountain was brought down in a single swing.

Zedd stood in front of them unmoving. "Well?" he asked. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to fight?"

"Secure the city," said King Arnold. "We will deal with them after we've dealt with the other nobles." The soldiers dispersed all around the city and began to occupy it, taking over both homes and businesses.

"Thank you," said Kirk.

"I'm just doing my job," said Zedd. "Has Klarth informed you yet?"

"Of what?" asked Kirk.

"For the duration of this war, we will only hold the castle until the one of the Dukes emerges as King," said Zedd. "Do not get involved no matter who asks, do you understand?"

"Yes sir!" said Kirk. "But I heard you showed some favoritism towards our Hero," he whispered.

"The Hero can choose which side she wishes to take," said Zedd. "If for some reason, the Grays made her mad, then that's their own fault."

Kirk knew what he was talking about. Baron Gray had tried to capture Garnet. If anything, he had made an enemy of her and it was his own fault. Now, Garnet would have a chance to pay them back. "Now, I have some business to take care of," said Zedd. "If you need me, burn one sheet of this paper," said Zedd as he handed Kirk five sheets of paper with Summoning Circles on them.

"What is it?" asked Kirk.

"Each one can summon a powerful creature that is under my control," said Zedd. "For that duration, it will listen to either you or Klarth and only either of you two. If someone tries to take the castle, use it."

"Alright," said Kirk. "Where are you going?"

"To make sure that this King Arnold loses this war," said Zedd. "Teleportation!" In an instant, Zedd disappeared leaving Kirk and the guards in front of the castle relieved.

Meanwhile, Garnet decided to go elsewhere. It would be problematic if they searched Zedd's Workshop and found her. "Teleportation!"

Garnet warped over to Anzio, where Anna was staying with Jasper and Jade. "How are things down South?" Anna asked.

"Duke Gray just invaded Antium," said Garnet. "I just came here to lie low until they're done searching the city," said Garnet as she picked up Jasper.

Jasper was still struggling to walk on his own while Jade was able to already. Both of them were able to start speaking, calling Garnet "ma." Garnet had wanted to see Ruby, but she was busy in school. Leeroy was watching over Ruby, so there was nothing to really worry about.

"Ruby has been doing fairly well," said Anna.

"I know," said Garnet. "I just can't help but worry though."

"Welcome to being a mom," said Anna. "I'm surprised it took you this long."

"Anything I should know about?" asked Garnet.

"Nothing specific," said Anna. "Despite all the crazy things down South, it's pretty calm up here in Anzio."

"That's good news," said Garnet. "For a moment, I thought that someone would ask Anzio for help in a war."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Anna. "A major trade city like this making enemies would be extremely bad for everyone. At least right now, everyone has an equal stake or interest in Anzio and no one wants to make a move though Anzio could probably make one or two and still get the support of all the other countries."

Once it was dark, Garnet headed back to Zedd's Workshop. Back at Zedd's Workshop, Garnet watched as the soldiers settled down after they had spread across the city. Some of them went into the homes of people. "What's happening?" she thought.

"They're occupying the city," said Zedd. "It is a smart move considering that this city is now a fortress thanks to Duke Wellington's improvements."

"So what now?" asked Garnet.

"As night falls, you need to pay some of these soldiers a visit," said Zedd. "Just kill a single soldier in a brutal fashion. I recommend you use your scream at as close proximity as possible or perhaps stab one through the chest while transformed and remember not to absorb their body. We need them to find the body."

"Okay," said Garnet.

Quest: Distrub the Peace (I)

Duke Gray has declared himself King Arnold, see to it that this King's reign is short by breaking the morale of his troops.

Reward: Experience

Zedd had tried to prepare her for this. Garnet had lacked the intent to kill and Zedd drew it out from her. However, she had not killed a single human yet.

"Transformation: Temptress of the Night!" Every time Garnet transformed, she groaned and occasionally screamed from the pain. This was the price for the enormous gain in power.

"I don't think I will ever get used to seeing that," said Zedd.

"I don't think I will ever get used to feeling it," said Garnet. "Alright I'm off. Teleportation!"

Garnet used the Teleportation Summoning Circle to move to outside the East Gate. From there, she could see the city from the outside. She could also make it appear like the monster attacked from outside the city and was not already inside. "Flight!" Garnet flew high into the sky from which she could see some of the soldiers. Atop the East Gate were numerous guards, so it was impossible from there. She needed to find isolated ones.

Strangely enough, the soldiers were not looking up. "Do they not have flying enemies or are they just that stupid?" thought Garnet. Without much difficulty, she was able to just fly and land straight in the city. She landed in the small alley where she once observed the East Gate. "There's too many of them," she thought.

Then it hit her. A place where a soldier was most likely to depart alone. The brothel. Chances are that some of the soldiers would take this chance to go. Even if they entered together, there was a chance that they would depart separately. Garnet headed over to the brothel that she used to be part of. She watched as a few people entered and left. The best thing to do would be to find one that was leaving alone. They would be distracted and not be on guard. From the rooftop of a nearby building, she could see people coming and going. As the night went on there were fewer and fewer people walking the streets. This was the prime opportunity. If someone walked out alone and there was no one walking towards the brothel, then the kill was secure.

Garnet saw a lone soldier walk out of the brothel.

Name: Lloyd

Level: 8

Class: Warrior

Sub-class: Knight

Stats: High Vitality

It was the jerk who kicked her awake when she was exhausted after the summoning. "Well, looks like karma is going to get you back," thought Garnet. She flew up and straight down. She could see Lloyd clearly, but Lloyd could not.

"Hey girl, you want to come back to my place?" asked Lloyd.

His words made it clear that he could see the outline of at least a female figure, but not her complete appearance. Garnet walked forward and saw as Lloyd's smile widened. However, it gradually turned into one of fear.

"Stay away!" shouted Lloyd as he drew his sword.

"I thought you wanted me to come over," said Garnet. "So I did."

"No, stay away from me you monster!" shouted Lloyd.

"There's no one around to hear you scream," said Garnet. "But there's also no one around to hear me scream either."

SCREECH. Garnet screamed with all her might. Before her, Lloyd collapsed and fell on his back. CLANG. The sword he held dropped on the floor. Garnet had not laid a single finger on him, and he was already down. She walked up closer to look at his body. Lloyd was bleeding from his ears, eyes, mouth, and at least several other places. The power of the Sonic Scream was terrifying, yet someone like Zedd was unaffected, just showing how strong he truly was.

Lloyd was Garnet's first kill, but she felt little emotion. She was not sure whether because it was she felt that Lloyd deserved it or because she was a monster herself now. But either way, Lloyd was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After all, Lloyd was one of the King's bodyguards yet it was under his watch that the King was poisoned to death. There would be many people who wanted him dead, but few could do such a thing to him. After this, Garnet quickly left the scene and back to Zedd's Workshop.

The next day, there was no word about the death of Lloyd. When Garnet returned to the scene of Lloyd's death, there was no body or blood. Someone had cleaned it up to hide it. As she walked through the streets, she caught some of the guards staring at her, but none of them actually tried to do anything. Normally, there would be lots of sexual assaults, but for some reason there was not. Perhaps it was because King Arnold was trying to win over the people, so he explicitly forbid it in exchange for being allowed to use the brothel or there was another reason for it. However, this meant that if the killing was covered up, she would need to do it again and make it impossible for them to cover it up.

The only thing that came to mind was a brutal killing. One that was vicious and meant to send a message. It would also have to be someone important, not just anyone. It had to be a noble, preferably a middle ranking one. However, it was not easy to get her hands on one and they would not willingly meet with her. "Wait a second!" she thought.

Garnet ran over to the brothel. At the front desk was Holland, the manager. He was still there. She thought that someone like Duchess Kiko would have killed him for selling Garnet after seeing how Kiko reacted when she found Garnet with Duke Wellington. But, Kiko was more sensible than that. She kept capable people around her and if this was a brothel managed by her, it meant that Holland was very capable. "I'm looking for work," said Garnet.

"You're Garnet!" said Holland. "You look so different, as if you were five years younger."

"I'll spend one night here to work with you on one condition," said Garnet.

"What is it?" asked Holland.

"I will only accept nobles under Duke Gray's territories as customers, and they will wait for me at a room above the bar, not here" said Garnet.

"Of couse," said Holland. "I could charge an extremely high fee considering that you were almost booked every night by some anonymous noble for quite a long time."

Holland was referring to Duke Wellington. Charles did not want it to be known that he was visiting Garnet so often, so he often arranged for a meeting at another place through a third party. However, her popularity had not decreased by much.

Garnet watched as Holland drew up a sign: "Garnet's Return! One Night for the Highest Bidder!" Holland wasted no time in taking advantage of this opportunity to make some quick cash. He sent out a few people to post the banner and spread the word.

"Let me show you to the place," said Holland. He brought Garnet to a bar that also doubled as a lower end inn. Upstairs were several rooms. On some nights, they would rent out the rooms if there were more guests. It was also less obvious and some higher ranking nobles would also arrange for this to maintain a degree of secrecy. Garnet was brought to the room furthest in the back.

"Thank you," said Garnet as she entered the room. It was a plain room with only a queen sized bed and a desk with a chair. Tonight, she would kill a high ranking noble in a brutal fashion here. This would make it so that the death could not be covered up. No matter how much they tried to, when a noble goes missing or is killed, it is a very big deal and an investigation is often ordered immediately upon discovery of such a thing unless the death was arranged by someone higher up.

Garnet waited outside of the brothel, observing in the shadows. As she waited and watched, she saw several people, come and go. However, there was no one that resembled a noble of any kind. If there was, they probably dressed in casual clothes, but they were more likely to send someone to arrange for it. To be safe, Garnet went in to ask Holland in the evening.

"So who is my customer?" asked Garnet.

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"Don't know," said Holland. "A man bearing one of Duke Gray's silver cards showed up and paid 200 gold coins immediately for the location."

That meant it was a family member or someone related to Duke Gray. It was not King Arnold or whatever he called himself now, but it was someone related. No matter what, the person that Garnet killed could not be kept hidden. King Arnold would immediately try to find the killer if someone killed one of his family members. The problem was that it was impossible to tell as there was so many.

That night, Garnet waited outside of the bar just to be safe. As she waited, only one person stood out. The person wore a cloak and was being escorted by four men who wore casual clothes and also covered themselves in some nice looking cloaks that would help protect them against the cold. They were trying to hide, but they clearly stood out. The person being escorted went in while three of the four went inside. Garnet entered the bar herself and saw another man stay at the ground floor. She went upstairs and saw two of the men standing in the front guarding the door of the room that she was supposed to go to.

The entire floor was silent. There was sound coming from downstairs, but there was clearly no one in the upstairs room. This person had reserved all the rooms so that they would not be heard. Garnet approached the door.

"Hold it!" said one of the guards. He looked at Garnet's face and into her eyes. He was checking to see if she was who she really said she was. Garnet's main identifier was her blue and green eyes. Not only was the color odd, it was rare to have them both present in one person and she was probably the only person in Antium with this trait. The guard then patted her down to make sure that she was not carrying any weapons.

The guard opened the door. Garnet walked inside and saw a middle aged woman with long black hair. She was quite tall and was dressed as a man when she entered in order to hide her identity.

Name: Boelyn Gray

Level: 38

Class: Longbowman / Viscountess

Sub-Class: Hunter

Stats: High Dexterity, High Agility

She was definitely a member of the Gray family based on the name. However, Garnet had not expected a woman. There were times when Garnet had female customers, but they were extremely rare. A noblewoman was exceptionally rare and during her years as a prostitute, Garnet had never had one as a customer before.

"I've been waiting for you Garnet," said Boelyn.

"Hello," said Garnet. She had no other way to respond.

"I wanted to see what my brother was all stressing over," said Boelyn. "He sure has fine taste in women."

"Who?" asked Garnet.

"Oh right, you probably know him as Baron Gray," said Boelyn.

Garnet was going to have to kill Boelyn in order to induce panic among the soldiers of Duke Gray. She was hesitating.

Boelyn walked up to Garnet and took her by the arm. "What are you waiting for?" she asked. "I paid good money for you." She guided Garnet to the bed and pushed her down. Boelyn was really going to go through with it. A hundred gold coins was the price that she was paying for Garnet and she wanted to use it.

As Garnet felt Boelyn press her down, she turned the situation around and pinned Boelyn to the bed. "I'm sorry about this," said Garnet. "Pleasure inducement!"

Garnet watched as Boelyn begin to pant heavily. She covered Boelyn's mouth with one hand so that if Boelyn screamed, it would still be hard to hear her. "UGH," Boelyn moaned as she grabbed onto Garnet tightly as she could. A second later, she let go and fell back onto the bed. Boelyn laid on the bed with her arms spread out and breathing heavily. Her eyes closed as she fell asleep.

This was now Garnet's chance. She opened her Inventory and took out her old short sword that she had gotten from Klarth. She held the sword in her hands above Boelyn's chest. "One...," Garnet breathed deep. "Two...," Garnet held her breath. "Three!" She plunged the sword straight into Boelyn's heart.

You have leveled up!

Killing people granted experience as well. It was proof that Boelyn was dead since experience was only granted from kills.

Blood flowed onto the sheets and Garnet watched as the red spread outwards. Boelyn was now dead and no one else around was the wiser. Next came the hard part, Garnet had to make it look like a brutal killing. She took out the sword and punctured the body two more times to make it three holes in her body. She then put away the sword in her Inventory. With this, they would not be able to find it. Garnet rolled around in some of Boelyn's blood so that it was all over her body as well. She turned and opened the window before crouching into a corner facing the wall.

Garnet crouched down and wrapped her arms around her legs. She then began to rock back and forth for a bit. "KYA!!!" Garnet screamed as loud as she could.

BAM. The door instantly bursted open. "What happened?!?" shouted the guard.

"Oh no.." said the other guard as he looked at Boelyn's body.

The first guard turned to Garnet and pulled her up. "What happened? Who did this?" asked the guard.

Garnet slowly raised her right arm shaking and pointed at the window. The guard turned to the window and looked outside. He was scratching his head. "What do I do?" he said.

"Did you do this?" asked the guard.

Garnet shook her head. "Did you see who did this?" asked the guard.

Garnet trembled as she spoke. "Bat... wings... claws...." said Garnet. She did as best as she could to say a few words about her own monster form, hoping to sew the seeds of fear into their thoughts.

"Look at this," said the guard who was looking at Boelyn's body. He was pointing to the three puncture wounds in her chest.

"It looks like something sharp pierced through her chest at three different points at once," said the guard. He continued to inspect the body to look for any other details that might stand out. However, without knowing more about what happened, there was nothing he could really say. "Did anything else you see stand out to you?" asked the guard.

"White... hair... all... black...," said Garnet. "No... more..."

The guard tried to touch Garnet's arm to move her out of the corner. "No!" screamed Garnet.

The other guard turned to Garnet. "You must speak nothing of this," said the guard."You were never here, we were never here, you never saw this woman, do you understand?" asked the guard.

Garnet nodded in response. The guard took out Boelyn's spare clothes and tossed them to Garnet. "Cover yourself with this as you leave, speak to no one on the way out, and get rid of the clothes after," said the guard. He was trying to erase all evidence that Garnet or Boelyn had ever been there to reduce the amount of attention.

Garnet nodded. She changed her clothes and wore the cloak over herself and walked straight out. The people downstairs did not hear what had happened. After all, they were quite loud downstairs with all the drinking and yelling. Even Boelyn's other guards just stood there and watched. They were unable to hear the scream.

Garnet left the bar and headed straight back to Zedd's Workshop. There, she cleaned herself up and thought about what she had done. Boelyn was someone that Garnet did not know, yet she killed Boelyn in cold blood without a second thought.

"Call: Nuria!" Garnet called forth the fire spirit and used the cauldron to melt down the bloodied sword into steel bars, burned the clothes that she had used and taken, and the towel that she had just used to kill herself. Now, anything that tied Garnet to the killing of Boelyn was gone.

Level Up: Magicraft (Level 2)

Stat Increase: Intelligence +1

The next morning, Zedd was waiting for Garnet. "Don't you have a castle to run?" asked Garnet.

"Nope," said Zedd. "King Arnold is trying to run everything, so I have nothing to do."

"Why are you here then?" asked Garnet.

"So I heard about what you did," said Zedd. "That was brilliant."

"I did not expect Boelyn Gray to be the visitor though," said Garnet.

"Me neither," said Zedd. "You were hoping it was the Baron Gray that you hate so much, but Boelyn is Duke Gray's favorite."

"What do you mean?" asked Garnet.

"Boelyn is Duke Gray's beloved older sister," said Zedd. "He is certain to seek revenge and he will not be able to keep silent about it."

"Was it the right thing to do though?" asked Garnet. She could not help, but ask because Zedd mentioned the word beloved.

"Boelyn might have seemed like a nice person at first, but she was pretty brutal herself," said Zedd. "She loved and took care of her brothers, but she was almost as cruel as the rest of them."

"Cruel how?" asked Garnet.

"She enjoyed the power she had over other women," said Zedd. "I won't get into the details, but I can assure you, she was not a good person. There are plenty of other women at the brothel who can tell you that."

"Are there any good nobles out there at all?" asked Garnet. "It feels like Duke Wellington is the one and only."

"There are," said Zedd. "Those are the ones that chose not to fight, knowing that Duke Gray was a fool and had no right to claim the title of King like he tried to do."

"Is there anything we can do about it?" asked Garnet.

"Duke Gray will be publicly executing them in a few days," said Zedd.

"What?!?' shouted Garnet. "How can he do such a thing?"

"A King has to find a way to maintain loyalty among his citizens," said Zedd. "You can do it through any way you see fit. King Arnold is trying to do it to show what will happen to traitors."

"What should I do?" asked Garnet.

"The same thing as before," said Zedd. "You must strike fear into their hearts."

"How?" asked Garnet.

"King Arnold will be publicly executing them," said Zedd. "That means you will know where he is and when he will be there. A certain monster just has to make an appearance."

"How do you do it?" asked Garnet. "How can you kill people so cold heartedly?"

"It's because I know I am doing the right thing," said Zedd. "As much as I would like to save everyone, I am trying to find the best outcome in which most people survive. If we let Duke Gray do this, in less than two years, the Invasion will wipe out Antium."

"The Invasion is coming in two years?" asked Garnet.

"Don't you remember?" asked Zedd. "It happens every five years or so and that time is coming sooner than you think. In order for Antium to stand a chance, this war will need to be resolved in a year and the newly crowned King Charles must rebuild Antium and gather its forces to repel the Invasion."

Time was something that Garnet did not have a lot of anymore. She had used her own time to spend with her family, but that time was gone now. The faster King Arnold was eliminated, the more time they would have to prepare. If it took too long, then they would not have time and they would be easily overrun.

Spoiler :

Name: Garnet

Level: 14

Class: Dark Mage

Sub-class: Temptress of the Night

Stats:

HP: 1270/1270

MP: 3200/3200

Fame: 20

Strength: 40 (+5)

Dexterity: 38 (+7)

Intelligence: 94 (+22)

Vitality: 47 (+5)

Agility: 48 (+7)

Charisma: 24 (+20)

PROFICIENCY:Weapon:

- One Handed Sword – 6

- Hand to Hand – 2

- Staff - 1

Magic:

- Fire – 5

- Lightning – 8

- Wind – 2

- Summoning – 7

- Blood – 5

- Spatial - 0

SKILLS:Weapon (One Handed Sword):

- Horizontal Slash (Level 3)

- Double Slash (Level 2)

- Crescent Slash (Level 1)

- Triple Slash (Level 1)

- Delta Attack (Level 1)

- Spiral (Level 1)

Weapon (Hand to Hand):

- Palm Strike (Level 1)

- Wind Palm (Level 1)

- Explosive Palm (Level 2)

- Lightning Palm (Level 1)

- Sweeping Kick (Level 1)

- Horizontal Kick (Level 1)

- Uppercut (Level 1)

- Ki Burst (Level 1)

- Demsey Roll (Level 1)

Weapon (Staff):

- Thrust (Level 2)

- Swinging Smash (Level 1)

- Double Strike (Level 1)

- Triple Strike (Level 1)

- Quadruple Strike (Level 1)

- Vertical Smash (Level 1)

Class (Dark Mage):

- Fire Bolt (Level 5)

- Fire Ball (Level 1)

- Lightning Bolt (Level 8)

- Chain Lightning (Level 2)

- Light (Level 1)

- Air Bullet (Level 3)

- Mana Armor (Level 1)

- Call: Skeletal Hounds (Level 3)

- Call: Skeletons (Level 1)

- Call: Lilith (Level 1)

- Call: Nuria (Level 1)

- Call: Mazu (Level 1)

- Recall

- Dismiss

- Enhanced Mana Regeneration (Level 2)

- Lightning Fire (Passive)

- Blood Absorption (Level 6)

- Blood Bind (Level 1)

- Teleportation (Level 1)

- Teleportation Summoning Circle (Level 1)

Sub-class (Temptress of the Night):

- Enhanced Body (Level 3)

- Captivation: (Level 3)

- Mind Read: (Level 1)

- Pleasure Inducement (Level 3)

- Sexy Walk (Level 1)

- Stealth (Level 2)

- Shadow Walk (Level 2)

- Sonic Scream (Level 1)

- Illusion (Level 2)

- Alluring Song (Level 1)

- Flight (Level 1)

- Aura of Fear (Level 1)

- Scale Armor (Level 1, Passive)

- Transformation (Level 1)

- Transformation: Temptress of the Night (Level 1)

Tradeskills:

- Hunting (Level 5) - Hunter

- Cooking (Level 7) - Cook

- Inspection (Level 5)

- Sewing (Level 4) – Tailor

- Magicraft (Level 2) - Alchemist

- Inventory Expansion (Level 4)

Passives:

- Hand to Hand (Level 1)

- One Handed Sword (Level 1)

- Staff (Level 1)

- Reflex (Level 5)

- Haste (Level 1)

- Scale Armor (Level 1)

Unique:

- Hero System (Passive)

- Otherworldly Knowledge (Passive)

- Golden Tongue (Passive)

- Mana Compatibility (Passive)

- Quick Learner (Passive)

- Channeling (Passive)

- Charging (Passive)

- Night Vision (Passive)