Rex was rightfully angry. Not only had these fools had lecherous inents towards his woman, even worse, they had the audacity to try and mark her soul. It did not matter they had no idea what they were doing and how crude and pathetic that attempt was. Rex was sure the mark failed more than nine hundred ninety nine times out of a thousand, serving as nothing more but light show to illuminate pretty and capable women, but the times it worked said womens souls would be marked, making them almost slaves to the casters every wish. Such modifications should never be performed by amateurs like the ones before him.
And with a careful sweep of his mana, infused with just the tiniest wisp of soul power, her observed the women behind the warriors of the Weeping Legion, finding a couple unlucky ones who had actually suffered precisely such an outcome, their souls marked and suppressed, becoming little more than dolls in the hands of their new masters. making a note to himself to erase those marks, allowing for the souls of said girls to be free as they had been before, he continued his way forward, closer and closer to the members of the legion.
"Now now, young one." in a mirthful voice chuckled the older man, clearly the leader of the guests, "It is not yet time for challengers to try and show their valor in their attempts to earn exemptions." he continued, his gaze only for a second shifting to Rex, then returning back to Danica, greed filling his eyes and heart " And you should know there are times it is better to back down." he added suddenly, cold sweat forming on his forehead, finally sensing the cold, extremely powerful killing intent coming from the approaching young man.
"Two." Rex cold and almost demonic voice filled the arena, sending chills down the spines of most present, though working entirely different for Danica. "Thats how many mistakes you made. Three actually, if we count you appearing while I am still here. You lusted after my woman, and tried to mark her soul. That alone is enough for me to act." His hands rose, pointing towards the two leaders, father and son. "You two will die, and then I will be paid tribute to spare the rest of you. And this abomination of soul arts will never be used again. Otherwise, I WILL END YOUR ENTIRE LEGION." the last sentence he spoke, he infused a bit of soul power in the words, resulting in a feeling of a the weight of the world, pressing on everyone's shoulders, as if their souls had been forced into a promise, one where it should be broken, the caster would know immediately. And it was precisely as it felt. While it did nothing to ones soul, it left a mark that would break, should the condition be fulfilled. And the condition was either using the aforementioned skill the leader had just used, or witnessing it being used.
"What arrogance!" snarled the leaders son, having snapped out of the stupor Rex had induced. "I will show you your place. and then, I will enjoy taking your woman in front of your eyes, as you helplessly watch." he then laughed, drawing his two handed weapon , a grin, as unsure as it looked, plastered on the mans face. Whether he was trying to bullshit himself into believing his statement, or exude false bravery, Rex did not know, nor did he care, his task clear. Death for those heretical fools, and then he would see as things develop.
No one, and Rex meant that, was allowed to harm his treasures. He was a dragon at heart- greedy, extremely possessive and quite willing to make examples of fools who coveted his treasure hoard. And right now, there were two of such fools, eyed by a few hundred of their followers. And as such, Rex focused his mind, continuing his advance towards the youngest of the two leaders.
The man in question took a stance, the cold killing intent coming from Rex, coupled with the previous feeling of his spirit being almost crushed, making him somewhat unsteady. He had gone through countless hard battles within the dungeon their legion resided, and yet, not once had he left the danger he could sense coming from the approaching human. All he could sense was death approaching, without the slightest path out alive. Gritting his teeth, he prepared for whatever was coming, only to hear his father's' incantation, moments later a ball of scorching fire was lobbed in Rex's direction, resulting in a fiery explosion, engulfing the area the dangerous individual was just moments ago.
As fast as the fire appeared, it died out, revealing a blood red, moving ball of chain, like a spinning ball of yarn in the place where the man had stood just moments ago. Then, it quickly disappeared, returning to the man, like it had never eve nbeen there.
"Play with the old fool while I take down that worm." the man spoke in a cold tone, a small snake leaving his sleeve, moments later growing in size as it darted towards the older mage. And in just moments, the older man was beset by almost ten meter long, blood red snake, its powerful strikes forcing the older man to dodge and roll away in panic, his staff left behind as he tried to avoid the incoming strikes.
"Not coming?"the man asked, his tone cold and almost mocking, causing even more cold shivers run down the younger leaders spine. Then, just a moment later, the man was in front of him, a one handed sword in his right hand, high above his head, as it came crashing down, just slow enough to give the wolfkin time to move his own two hander to block the incoming strike. Something he realized was a mistake. As the swords clashed, wolfkin was pressed to his knees, the two swords crashing down with immense power. His opponent was many times stronger, and he not managed to shift the blade to the side, he was sure his shoulder would have a deep gash, formed by his own sword. As it stood now, he groaned as a powerful blast rocketed said shoulder, the result of his lacking strength.
Then, with just a blink, the terrifying man had lifted his sword once again, repeating the same strike. This time however, the wolfkin did not have the time to react, the blood red blade mercilessly crashing against his own sword, pressed against his hurting shoulder. A painful yelp escaped his lips as he sensed his shoulder blade giving out, shattering with a loud crunch under the immense pressure. He was not given much of a respite, as just moments later, he could feel four, sharp object penetrate through his abdomen, lifting him in the air.
Like powerful, enraged snakes, four, blood red chains had pierced him, now lifting him in the air. The pain was dulling his senses, forcing him in and out of consciousness. He was bleeding out fast, death was imminent and near, though not quite fast enough not to notice the miserable fate his father had in store, the older man still struggling and avoiding the monstrously sized snake that came out from nowhere. And with him out of commision, bleeding out like some game hanged from a post, the monster in the form of a man joined in, small, red coloured needles flying with incredible speed and causing his father to cry out in pain.
'Is this how it must have felt, facing against Ozarr? Helplessly awaiting whatever he decided would be your fate?' he thought, his mind slowly going blank, until finally, there was nothing else. The son of the Weeping Legions commander had perished, soon followed by the man himself as well. Unlike his son, the older man had sinned against his treasures with much greater magnitude, as such, Rex was much more merciless when dealing with the old man. The blood needles he peppered the man with were primed with blood burning poison, resulting in agonizing, burning like feeling as they pierced the older man's skin. It was here that the rest of the Weeping Legion present realised just how much of a monster they had encountered, many even wishing they could go back to simply bleeding away in their dungeon raids. Rex seemed so much more terrifying to them than large groups of monsters. There at least, should they have to fall, their deaths would be relatively quickly. every monster doing their best to end their lives. Here however, seeing the agonizing expressions on their powerful leader, they were not so sure death would come for them soon enough, were they to come in the monsters sight. And that cold, death promising aura that radiated from him? Even the bravest among them could not even move.
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Ten minutes later, their leader finally collapsed, a blood red sword slowly pushed through his chest, piercing his heart and ending his misery. Though that too was not the absolute end, as within seconds, his old corpse dried up, leaving nothing buts eemingly skin and bones behind. The very few of them who had some knowledge of monsters foreign to their own dungeon, having heard tales from some of the claimed women, a single word passed through their minds, an image of a monster standing in the middle of endless corpses, a sea of blood at its command. It was no human in front of them. What they witnessed, was the power only a true vampire could unleash.
And the clerics and holy casters that they had? Well, those were never the bravest of combatants to begin with, each and every one trembling in their boots.
"Anyone else got some designs on my treasures?" Rex spoke, his voice now slightly less threatening, the chill and guaranteed death receding from his tone with each word spoken, as if claiming the lives of the two main offenders had somewhat calmed the bloodthirsty side of the ancient monster whose cave they had walked into, proclaiming whatever lay inside as theirs for the taking. And with not a single one of the remaining warriors courageous, or in this case stupid enough to actually dispute his claim. And with the silence now permeating the arena, a thud of someone landing resounded, earning the gazes of everyone else present. As such, Danica was now the center of attention as she skipped over to the side of Rex, even as Snek shrunk in size, regaining its previous pocket size and disappearing inside his Danica's sleeve. Standing next to Rex, she grinned savagely towards the Weeping Legion, not even slightest feelings of guilt or pity directed towards them as she spoke.
"As the tribute, we expect all the women you have collected so far, as well as your immediate return back to your legion, to warn them of what would happen should you go around forcibly demanding our people like you have so far. And the few women that are among your warriors? We will take them as well." She added, her gaze almost predatory as she noticed five or so women among the few hundred large group, each and every one B ranker at the least. "Go on. you can try and challenge Rex if you don't like it. What? No takers?" she almost laughed at the stunned and muted audience, continuing with the same spirit. "No? Then I suggest you leave now, while my man here is still willing to simply let you go."
With her words, empowered by the recent display of Rex's prowess, as well as his intimidating stature, the few hundred large, unwelcomed guest group left, disappearing even faster than arriving, leaving all the collected tribute behind as well. leaving mostly indifferent Rex, a still grinning Danica and a large number of women, all staring towards them for obvious reasons. They were waiting to hear what was to be their fate, now that they apparently had a new, particularly strong and dangerous master. Their new, monstrously strong master did not speak though, leaving all the talking to his woman, the one for whom he apparently went all berserk, scaring the fear of all manner of creatures in the warriors surrounding them moments before. Now though, Danica speaks, her voice loud and clear.
"Everyone collected during this expedition are free to return back home. We shall not keep you. As for you little group" she glanced at the warrior women left behind, a moment of thoughtful silence followed, before she continued "You will live and work as part of our family. Got any complaints?" and withe the deafening silence, she grinned "Thought not." With the verdict spoken, and after a short while the first of the just freed women came over, thanking and speaking praises to both Rex and Danica, promising to never forget their kindness and that they only needed to send a messenger over, asking for help and their families, possibly even clans, where daughters or sometimes wives of leaders had been demanded, would answer the call. The part of honour debts were recorded by the people of the city leadership, Rex, Danica and her family along with the legions women having left almost immediately as the freed women began their reactions and responses, only leaving behind a friendly suggestion to not try and abuse the already exhausted women. And with the slight warning, they would all leave with most of the material tribute returned, some of it exchanged for pack animals or other essential things the women would need to return to their homes.
As Danica alongside Rex and her family crossed the small gate leading back inside their home, Astrid and Reika rushed to meet them, questioning gazes trailing towards the new and unfamiliar faces that followed along, their own questioning gazes moving all around, inspecting their surroundings. And seeing the unasked question, both Danica and Ingela proceeded to explain the events taking place at the colosseum, two incredulous gazes locking on Rex, though he paid little mind to the extra attention. He had more important things to consider, namely the fun he and Danica would get to later, her promise still fresh in his mind.
"What would you have us do?" asked one of the women, demanded by Danica. And, since that was indeed her idea, she also spoke, receiving the gesture from Rex, wordlessly telling her 'You came up with it. You deal with it.' And so she did, explaining the few rules they would have to abide by. All in all, they would, as previousl ystated, become part of their family, helping Torun, Ingela, Astrid or Igdan with whatever tasks were necessary, or they could also form a party and explore dungeons on their own, returning here as if it was their home. The one thing Danica categorically forbade them though, was returning to the Weeping Legion, since they would slowly wither and die out, unless of course there was smart enough leaders among the remaining ones to figure out a new way to entice new blood to join them willingly.
"If we are asked so little, why would you demand us then?" one of the warrior women asked, earning a grin from Danica, before she retired to their room with Rex, leaving the rest of the logistics to solve to her parents and siblings. "Because I wanted the rest of your old group to experience what it feels like to be powerless to do anything as a part of their community was forcibly taken, and you to understand it as well, though from a different point of view."
With that, she basically dragged Rex away, having said her part and now leaving triumphantly. Not that Rex minded at all. He had done his part and honestly did not care for what was about to be decided on the first floor. He was far more interested in the extremely syched and happy Danica, who would, undoubtedly reward him aplenty for his magnificent performance. And reward him she did, earning an earful from her parents and siblings come next morning, some of them half asleep, since for a part of their night some couple was ding their best to ensure they would not get any sleep either.
That aside, the morning was rather calm, the only change from the day before was the number of people at the table, the new family members sitting obediently and eating quietly. For them, not much had changed, only the company they would spend their time alongside, and even that was of little importance. There were dungeons aplenty to delve, even if they would never travel to the one Weeping Legion inhabited. And with this soul crushing defeat, said group might as well soon disband, unless, just as predicted, some particularly capable strategist emerges among their lines, learning of a way to lure new members towards their cause, not that there was much of one. All they did was survive and live inside a dungeon, a rather harsh and unforgiving one, making even day to day lives rough and unpleasant. And as proven last night, they were not even attaining much more power than adventurers living their own regular lives, even if Rex was an abnormality. They have had to leave some towns alone, those having their own geniuses who earned their homes the same exemptions. None quite as dangerous and terrifying as Rex though. The leader of Weeping Legion and his son were so much more powerful than the rest of them, and they rarely, if ever took part in the trials.
With the immediate threat resolved alongside the extra issue of Danica's worries, the duo could calmly leave the family on their own, and as such, under the encouraging glances from Danica, Rex asked about the gigantic swallows Danica had mention. As such, half of the morning was spent as the elder couple shared whatever knowledge they had regarding the subject, sending the duo of towards the next person who could impart even more knowledge regarding the matter. Thanks to Rex actions the day before, there were countless rumors within the city, and the couple could easily attain whatever information they seeked, the elders happily sharing it as thanks for Rex's actions. And with plenty of knowledge attained, they returned home late in the evening, and after a decent sleep, departed the next morning, their destination somewhat determined.