Yeah, someone with a brain. How quaint. I didn't trust this guy half as far as I could throw him. But I had a plan. First, let's stop the rats from leaving the sinking ship.
The fairy saluted, giggled, and dashed off,
I looked at the guy that came out of the town hall.
> [Pirate]
>
> Level 55 human male.
"What's your Class and level?" I asked him. I needed something to counter {Status Forgery}. "And please don't lie. If I think you lied, I'll kill you and find out from your ghost."
He grimaced. "You have {Appraise}, right?"
I nodded.
> [Village Chief]
>
> Level 37 human male.
"He's the village chief. A bureaucrat we captured years ago. His name is Terry."
"Terrence," Terry corrected. "I deactivated my perk."
> [Aristocrat]
>
> Level 49 human male.
"Terrence, I'm almost stabbing you to find out the truth."
He did a flourished bow. "Viscount Terrence Atkinson of the Auvani. At your service, Your Highness."
I raised an eyebrow. "Give me the names of the Auvani Royal Family."
He spent the next five minutes reciting the genealogy of all the Royal Auvani currently alive. The admiration and respect in his eyes were genuine. Near the end, he mentioned Albryan and Solana with a hint of sadness. I asked about him too. He was captured on a merchant ship and promised the pirates to help administer their city in exchange for his life, five years ago. After we were done with the recap episode, I tapped the tip of my tail on the packed earth.
"Right. And the cowards inside told you to come and face the monster that decimated their defenses so they could escape safely, right?"
That wasn't a guess. I could sense a group of ten to twelve people crawling down a tunnel. Viscount Terrence fidgets.
"Say no more," I pacified him. "Try not to die."
I dove into the earth and made my way toward their tunnel. Incorporeal while in packed dirt, then {Rockwalker} once I was inside the bedrock. Before I caught up to them, I caved in the tunnel behind, then sprinted inside the stone. Even at half-speed - which was countered because I had a double speed perk - I could move faster than a pack of humans crawling through their escape tunnel.
Using {Hidden Eyes}, I kept track of them from inside the rock. They were carrying a single torch and were all well-dressed and carrying a bag of coins. A hundred meters ahead of them, I caved in the tunnel, effectively trapping them. Turns out a secret escape tunnel with the "secret" and "tunnel" parts negated the "escape" one and became just a deathtrap.
I walked out of the stone in front of them and assumed my {Snake Fortress} stance. Attacks rained on me which I blocked with my tail.
> You were hit for 694 HP of damage. Mana Shield burned 231MP. (base 56 x 2.4 Strength x 3.4 Skill x 2 rapier master x 1.25 enchantment x 6 Crew's Grudge x 2 Lunge x 0,75 Steel Scales x 0,2 Tough Scales x 0,75 favored defense x 0.6 Snake Fortress)
Crew's grudge was a stacking multiplier based on how many crew members of the pirate captain the target had killed. A good reason to apply the Sorting Algorithm of Evil [1] and send your minions first. The pirate went wide-eyed as he read his notification. He was expecting to deal damage in the thousands of HP. They landed more attacks but the worst offender only scratched a scale, which healed seconds later.
"Are you done, gentlemen? Or are you going to spend all the oxygen in this place scratching me?"
One of the pirates spat down, "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Everything you are wearing and carrying, to start. Come on, everyone. Strip naked and toss your things my way. And before you think of burning anything..." I put out the torch.
I didn't kill them yet. Getting the leadership alive was key in subduing the rest of the inhabitants. After they stripped, I bound them with manacles in a way they couldn't leverage their superhuman strength and encased them with stone. I moved the earth and stone above us and brought the fainted pirates to the surface, using a floating disk of force to carry my prisoners back.
Nenandil was back from her assignment. I took Terrence and my prisoners along to greet the two caravels that were about to dock. I guided the kin while the princelings and the Viscount had a tearful reunion. It was their moment, not mine. I had bigger fish to fry. I was about to do something I avoided during my brief stint disguised as King of Windemere. Public execution.
I had the twelve pirate leaders I captured in the tunnel lined up. Nine men and three women, dressed in rags and lined up, bound, gagged, and restrained by iron and stone.
I slithered up the stairs to the scaffold, with Devan behind me. The Auvani and some caravel sailors took a spot behind the crowd protected by their knights.
"People of Vintis!" I shouted and recited. "These men and women here are the scum of the scum. Murderers. Rapists. Torturers. To protect their way of life, they enslaved and pillaged. No ship that got too close to this place could live. What is going to happen here was bound to happen sooner or later. They would cross paths with someone too strong that would end their seclusion. Their secrecy.
"Some of you were born here. Some were coerced. Some came on false promises of freedom from the law, power, and riches. I'll tell you this. Today these false promises will crumble. Today those that want their freedom will have it. Today those that were brutalized by these cruel people will have their revenge. Today those that died to fuel their ambitions will be avenged."
I paused to let the crowd cheer. I was quite good at it and my [Musician] profession worked with oratory too as long as I put the correct modulation and intonation, which I did.
"Executioner!" I said as I placed contracts on all the twelve. Time to feed the wererat [Assassin] some Exp.
Devan did his job with skill. I doubt they felt more than a moment of pain. I gathered their ghosts and added them to the legion floating around us. Once the deed was done, I made the bodies vanish into my storage. I'd have to do something about the more than a thousand corpses I was holding onto. Maybe give them a mass burial, or make my undead army. Just kidding. While I knew very well they were just remains and their souls were ushered into the afterlife properly even without a proper funeral, my values from Earth still held true. There shall be no undead risen through my hands.
"One last warning! There's a thick ring of ice surrounding the archipelago. No ships can cross it. Do not try to escape."
The ice would remain until my business here was done. As we walked down, Devan came closer.
"Four levels, Your Highness," he reported. "Thank you."
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"You'll need to be stronger if you are to guide our little band of refugees, Devan."
"I shall strive," The were-rat went away with these words to rejoin his group.
----------------------------------------
We took the town hall as our base and I refurnished it. I was in the main room planning how I would purge this archipelago from the pirates without weakening the population too much. I would have to be lenient with small crimes but that would leave the smaller criminals room to grow into larger ones. There was no good solution and I wasn't going to found another of my kingdoms. I almost didn't notice Solana approaching.
"Lakerta?"
I turned around in the spot to face her, "Yes, Solana?"
She approached, wary. "I wished to thank you for bringing Viscount Terrence back to us. And beg for your forgiveness. We haven't been as honest as we should with you."
I raised an eyebrow, "Explain. Unless it is something truly unforgivable, I'll not do anything."
She sighed and looked away, "It is about Queen Lorna of Windemere. I know you were King Locksley and we selfishly withheld news about her."
I froze, the heat draining from my body. "Is she sick? Dead? Terminally ill? Do you know why she hadn't answered any of my letters?"
She hurriedly shook her head. "No. But we had information on what happened to Windemere before our departure to Pekothas that we decided to not share with you. We were afraid you would become upset and leave us stranded in Pekothas."
It required all my willpower to stand still and listen. Because I was surely thinking of getting upset, departing, and leaving everyone behind right then.
"Go on. Spill the beans," I said with a dry cracking voice.
"Queen Lorna of Windemere married... after your death."
I sunk inside my coils. Of course, it's been a century! I kept trying to convince me she hadn't betrayed me. It was obvious she would need to marry. Damn. Damn. My Lorna. The jealousy was burning a hole in my stomach. I clawed my scales, my rattle going off as a warning of my mental state.
"Who?" I asked menacingly. My outrage was almost clouding my reason.
Solana yelped in fear and blurted, "Lord Cedric Albert III from Lonid."
Third? Cedric's grandson? Lorna married Cedric's grandson? A century in Yznarian was one hundred and thirty-three Earth years and three months. I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Solana, I forgive you for withholding information but you should stay away. I need to be alone. Please."
She stuttered before rushing away, "I-I understand."
I screamed. My {Keening} perk activated as an afterthought. Lorna, married! To Cedric's grandson of all people! I crashed through the wall and went outside. Blinded by my rage, I slithered as fast as I could out of the settlement, away from people. I'd murder someone. Something. I barely registered Nenandil flying behind me. Once I was far enough, I shouted at the sky.
"FUCK YOU BUNDEUS! IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT! I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOUR CHURCH, DEVOUR YOUR BELIEVERS, MAKE THE WORLD FORGET YOUR NAME!"
Starting with this settlement.
----------------------------------------
Mira was a girl with a sad story. Daughter of merchants, her parents were killed by brigands while peddling in the countryside, leaving her stranded with the trading company. Her rivals quickly worked in tandem to bring her to ruin and swallow her company in debt. She escaped and found employment in a luxurious passenger ship that traveled the coast of Auvanini. During a pirate raid, she was captured and forced to work in the brothels at their secret settlement. At least they didn't enslave her with magic, unlike most other girls. The only mage that knew the spell died in a raid before she was captured.
That was three years ago. Now, she was in line with everyone else in the settlement to face a dreadful monster. The lamia princess came out of nowhere, creating a second sun, and slaughtering the pirates. She had the pirate captains executed as an afterthought, it seemed. Mira didn't see that as she wasn't allowed to leave the brothel.
She saw people enter the tent in the middle of the village and leave through a back exit to join one of three groups, in total silence. Sometimes they didn't leave at all. The line went slowly, some people taking several minutes before the next one went in. The were-rat at the tent just asked the next person in. Soon her turn came. She met the furry man's eyes and he smiled - at least Mira thought he did.
"Go inside."
As if she had any choice. Mira walked in the tent and found the snake woman on some cushions with a blue fairy on her shoulder. the lamia had the airs of a Queen. She looked up, appearing to be listening to someone Mira couldn't see then faced her.
"Mira, is this your name?" She asked, her voice mesmerizing.
"Yes, milady," she answered without meeting the lamia's eyes.
"Three years is a long time, isn't it?" her voice was sympathetic. "It's okay, Mira. You're safe now."
That dispelled any pretense of strength. Mira felt weak on the legs and crumbled into a heap on the ground. She wept. A minute later, she heard a lullaby and calmed down.
"Mira, I need you to choose from. You can go back to the mainland or stay and live here. I'll only ask how fervent is your worship of Bundeus."
Her [Precognition] Perk flared and she sensed a great amount of danger. Answering the last question with a lie would mean death.
"He's the God of Humans, but also the one responsible for this Age of Eclipse," she answered. "I have no strong feelings toward him."
The lamia gave her a blue chip. "Go through that exit. Thank you for your time, Mira."
----------------------------------------
Interviewing the population took two weeks. That would make the ships arrive on schedule and not earlier. The Auvani didn't mind and I'd roast them - not literally - if they did. I was still upset they withheld important information from me.
The ghosts were a tremendous source of information. Not only I knew all the people before I interviewed them, but I also gathered all the treasure they'd pillaged from the ships. I didn't drain the local economy dry. Now that they would be on the maps, they would need to have some currency. Not too much because I was sure those staying in the archipelago would soon become prey to other pirate groups.
I had a large group that wanted to go back to the continent, a small group that wanted to stay, and the middle group, marked for death. Those I judged too dangerous to keep alive of the fervent believers of Bundeus. My burning anger would make me a monster but His church was going to disappear or I'd die trying.
I killed all of the third group without any torment but the wait. The quickly controlled deaths allowed me to put contracts on all of them. That, added with the fighting, gave me two levels on both my species and Class.
> You reached Elemental Lamia [Water] level 12.
>
> You gained 1 human perk.
>
> You reached Royal Lamia Champion level 13.
>
> You gained 1 perk.
>
> You gained 40 Skill Points.
>
> Attributes above the cap were redistributed.
>
> Withholding Attribute points. 18 / 100 withheld.
>
> You reached Cartographer level 51. You gained 4 HP.
>
> You reached Appraiser level 51. You gained 2 HP and 2 MP.
The Skill Points went into {Teaching}, putting it at the cap of Journeyman 49. As for the perks:
> You purchased the Perk: Improved Exp Split II (very rare): When splitting Exp between a group, you treat the group as if it was 36% smaller.
>
> You gained the Perk: Defensive Snake Fortress (very rare): You can expand your Snake Fortress to protect one large creature or the equivalent in other sizes. These creatures cannot move from their place or lose protection.
We had enough sailors between the merchants and the refugees to expand our fleet to five ships. The trip would be cramped for the former pirate prisoners that were returning but also a short one. Sparing no resources, Nenandil and I could make the fleet reach the continent in a day. I spent a few days repairing and cleaning the salvaged pirate ships I took from storage.
We departed after melting the ring of ice. There was some impact in the local ecosystem but with the lowered population, they would be fine foodwise. Blowing a strong wind straight toward the continent, the five ships reached shore on schedule. The great trip across continents ended.
Just as I did centuries ago, I gave each returner some money to get by on the continent and stormed the ships. Captain Frederiksen wanted to buy them but I didn't need money. Having the vessels ready for use would come in handy in the future. I did tip each captain one platinum coin, the payment they won't receive once they return to Tijen's Cove.
I approached the party from Auvanini.
"Hello, folks. I guess this is where we part ways," I said as I approached.
Solana avoided meeting my eyes and Albryan was clearly uncomfortable. Terrence broke the silence,
"Your Highness Lakerta, I am forever in your debt."
"You're most welcome, Viscount. I don't envy the accumulated work it will be to restore your life here on the continent. I wish you the best of luck," I replied and shifted to the two princelings. "I'd like to offer my services to send a summoned bird to your parents. I also want to give you two a warning."
"We don't want to impose," Albryan said. After sparing a second to think, he broke protocol and spilled the beans. "We wouldn't feel comfortable accepting more help from you."
"That's fine. I do have a favor to ask of you, and I would like you to include that in the missive."
"Do tell," he said with a neutral expression.
"I'm exterminating the Church of Bundeus. Worldwide. There won't be a single priest or shrine to the God of Butts once I'm done with them. I wiped Pekothas a hundred years ago but it seems the idiot responsible for this eternal darkness didn't learn his lesson. That's why he lost the domain over the Sun. He murdered me fourteen times. I'll repay it by wiping his Church from the map. Eventually, I'll have to do the same to Auvani. I wish it wouldn't bring you into the conflict."
Albryan sighed, "But it would require the Kingdom to officially cut ties with the Church."
I nodded with gravitas, "Indeed it would. I'm coming either way and I promise I'll leave Auvani for last."
The [Diplomat] Prince frowned. "And that means you'll be stronger than ever with your leveling speed."
I didn't flinch, "Maybe that will make the choice easier. I think it is better if we part ways here."
"Thank you for your help," Solana said sheepishly.
I met her eyes. "I'm not angry at you, Solana. Just disappointed. Go with my blessings. I need to take my people to Windemere."
I pointed at the group of over two hundred people that wanted to come with me. There were even some lamias that were being held captive to harvest their aphrodisiac secretions.
"How will you take them there?" Albryan asked.
"The same way I took a hundred thousand people from Windemere to Perennenth in a week. Using the ice train. Nenandil?"
"I'm on it!" The fairy jumped from my shoulder and froze a stretch of ocean water near an empty pier.
I walked there with my refugees and the Auvani watching me. Then I summoned two of the same wagons that served us back then. I had twenty-five in storage but that was to carry seventy-five hundred people. Two would do with lots of room.
"That's King Locksley's legendary ice train!" Viscount Terrence gasped.
"Yes, my train," I shouted at him. "And I'm going to visit my Queen."
Whether she'll accept me is another story. But I had to fight the urge to bury my head in a hole and face her.
We departed at top speed, easily gliding over the frozen ocean parallel to the shore. Once we cleared the city, Nenandil curved the ice track inward and we went cross-country, straight toward Windemere.
A prayer escaped my lips, "I'm coming, Lorna."
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[1] - It's a TvTropes article. Nuff said.