"Are you a goddess?" Rhenius asked out of the blue while we moved forward in the wake of the blood army.
As Winston sagely advised Ray, I answered with the only correct answer, "Yes, of course. By the way, do you have the power to turn my friends into demonic dogs?" I asked with a mischievous grin.
"No, why would I?" He blurted, confused.
"Oh, thank goodness. I didn't know who I'd gonna call if you did."
He didn't say anything, weirded out by my little joke.
"Hey, Rhenius, what's the name of the First Hero?"
"It's lost in time. But she was a noblewoman from King Ackerton I's lineage."
"King... Ackerton?" Did the Master become a King?
"Yes. The First King of Stuteron. His capital was the very city where the First Hero killed the First Demon Lord."
So, the Master indeed became a King. Funny how Kazuyran forgot that little tidbit. Or he wasn't aware of the Master's secret identity. Like most wouldn't be aware I was both the Death Princess and the First Hero.
"Hum," I nodded, feeling a nostalgic stint. "What about the Death Princess?"
"The counterpart to the First Hero. She was a villain of the worst sort... I'm sorry, [Princess], that's how you became known to History."
We just followed the wake of the blood army from ship to ship. The empty vessels I stored as we passed them. All of them as the blood warriors were very thorough. I bet they could sense the blood of the living. There was no hiding from that. Rhenius showed he could leap dozens of meters with his physical and magical enhancements. I just used {Shadow Step} to follow in his wake.
"Why are you scowling?" He asked three ships ahead.
"No, nothing," I tried to hide my feelings. "Go on. How was the [Death Princess] regarded?"
"Well, the [Death Princess] was known to strike at royalty and villains all the same. She was a force of chaos, and some scholars say she's related to the demons. I mean, how would they summon two Demon Lords in the span of a few decades?"
Maybe because the first summoning was a freaking accident. But I said nothing.
"She was romanticized by an author in King Ackerton's court, Lady Hazel. Her books are popular even now, centuries later."
"Oh, Hazel. She had the same condition as me. I wish I had more time to teach her and live, but the bastards had to summon the Second Demon Lord."
"About that," the [Prince] carefully asked, "Why did it destroy half of the continent?" He finished trying to not sound accusatory.
"Let me tell you one thing about demons. They don't gain Exp. They outright devour the souls of the living. The first Demon Lord, I killed it before it could grow too much. The second was too far away and I couldn't travel fast by then. By the time I reached it, it was already too big, killed too much. Each Demon Lord has a special characteristic. This one was that it generated heat. A lot of heat. Once I killed it, the bastard exploded.
"I died almost instantly to the explosion."
Rhenius clicked his tongue and huffed a sigh. "Along with half the continent."
"Would've been all of it if I didn't stop it there. But my family lived on that continent. Hazel and Anjou were my nieces."
A sudden blaze over two ships ahead stopped us. The Virturian army set fire to a few ships to cut the path of the blood army. The blood warriors heedlessly jumped into the fire and boiled to nothing. Behind the curtain of flame, I could sense the soldiers and knights cheering. Probably the ones that set the fire were getting Exp up their arses.
Know what? Why give them free Exp when I could get rid of the flaming boats with a snap of my fingers? Dummy me.
"Rhenius, can you vault over to the boat with soldiers if the flaming ones aren't in the way?" I asked as I rushed forward.
"I can... wait, what?" He stuttered and stammered in confusion.
"Do keep up, dear [Prince]. Battle awaits! Here's a little boon for your fight."
I gave him a boost of plus fifteen to his Luck. That cost me about two hundred Energy per second, but I got more than that. Now I was managing my Energy pool to keep it just a little below full.
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Rhenius dove into the soldiers of his own country like a demon-possessed devil. He mowed the poor men-at-arms with his greatsword. Since I was on the receiving end of that once, I knew their pain. And yet they crashed upon his space like waves on a promontory.
Even if Virturia won tonight, it would be a Pyrrhic victory. They already lost too many souls. Souls which awaited only a command from me to become an unstoppable army. And if they somehow defeated my army of spirit warriors, they would have to face the final boss.
Me. With two [Archmages] as adds because all raid bosses need adds.
After that, they would be the problem of the mermaids, Heralds, and fairies back home. I doubted it would ever come to that. But Virturia was fucked anyway. I had all intent on retaliating and adding another crown to my collection.
A quarter of an hour into the heated battle, the soldiers parted.
"Enough killing your own compatriots, traitor!" The other [Prince] barked at Rhenius.
"It is not I the one that sailed into these waters with orders to kill my own family, brother," Rhenius retorted. "Your rented pirates murdered Callisto. Hope you are happy."
"That stupid whore! Suits her well for spreading her legs to half the court!" The brother bellowed with a hearty guffaw.
A flame flared up my spine, clenching my heart, clouding my eyes. I saw Juniper and Mirabelle returning to that prison cell at the brothel's basement after a night of selling their bodies. The bruises. The smell of men on them. Olive, raped by the city official. Cerise huddling in a corner of the damp cell soothing me. Anjou's innocent smile. Even though she became an entitled lady, that's why she was raised that way. Apricot's heart never blamed her.
At that moment, everything was painted blood red. That moment, the true [Death Princess] descended upon the world, fury unbridled.
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I came back to my senses amidst a deck full of beheaded bodies. Heads rolled like marbles as the waves rocked the ship. Only Rhenius stood, covered in blood and pointing his sword at me, trembling.
"Stay away from me!" He feebly said, shocked and horrified.
I looked at my hands. Not hands, cat paws. Black as the endless midnight above us. They shifted back. I felt nourished. A quick check at my clothes showed it was spotless. I was the only thing in the ship's deck not covered in blood.
"If I wanted to kill you, Rhenius, you would already be dead."
He stuck his sword upright on the deck. Leaving the blade there, he pushed his bloody hand to his face and laughed. He threw his head back and cackled. That kind of cackle when one is releasing tension fast.
"You ARE the real deal. I feel ashamed now. You were holding back during our duel," He said after he regained his composure a few minutes later.
I heard steps on the staircase from the lower deck. A middle-aged man came up. He looked at the carnage. "Zacheia's mercy! It is as if Rabhorktaar himself descended upon the world."
"Close, uncle. I'm glad that you survived," Rhenius beamed. "Tell me, were you aware of my brother's orders? Regarding me?"
The man shook his head. "Is that... Prince Acacius is dead, isn't he? By the look in your face, nephew, I assume my idiotic brother ordered him to kill you," He sighed and raised his hands. "Virturia is doomed."
"Maybe, maybe not. I think we need to pick better allies," he said staring at me. I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms.
"That we do. And the lady... I'm sorry," he bowed to me in a very formal way. "I'm Duke Cadrel of Arlington. Here as an advisor to the late prince Acacius. I'm am a [Diplomat], not a combatant. I see you profess just as I do. A Perk of the profession."
"Arlington? I asked. Are you related to Callisto? Her father?"
His eyes gleamed. "Yes, my precious daughter. Is she alive?"
I grinned. "That she is. Very alive though I think tonight will remain in her memory as a humbling experience."
"As will us all," Rhenius remarked.
Cadrel took two steps closer to me. "Are you her?" With curiosity and dread in his voice, he asked as he studied my face. It made me rather uncomfortable.
"Who?" I asked back.
"Yes, she is, uncle. Just like the legends said. The real deal as you can tell just by how clean these necks were severed," Rhenius explained pointing at the bodies.
Duke Cadrel walked to the prince's corpse and rummaged underneath his armor. He took an envelope. "These are Acacius' orders," He glanced at Rhenius. "With your permission, Your Highness?"
After a nod from Rhenius, Cadrel opened the letter and read the orders. A faint enchantment on the envelope kept the blood from staining the contents. He put the folded parchment back inside.
"I need to see my daughter, Your Highness," The exasperated Duke said as if it was a confession. His hands were shaking. "What I have to say concerns her."
"Right. We should go back, but..." Rhenius gaze went to the distance behind us.
I checked. The fleet, or what was left of it, was banking and deserting the battlefield. I couldn't let them. "Nenandil!"
The fairy burst from my chest with a shower of white sparkles. "I'm on it!" Showoff. She darted over the retreating ships and did her thing. "{Frozen World}."
I got some kill notifications for the sharks, soldiers, and other creatures in the waters around us. She froze not only the ships underneath her but all of them. Even the welded-together barge. The temperature dropped sharply.
Rhenius shook his head. "If you could do that, then why..."
I stared at him as I cut his lame speech, "This is your fight, Rhenius. They weren't in my territory yet. I'm here just to help. Be glad I can bring back another hundred or so people. Come, let's go. We can now walk on the ice.
The smug fairy returned and sat on my shoulder. I leaned and brushed my ear against her head. "Showoff," I whispered to her. Nenandil giggled. "Likewise," she whispered back.
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On our way back, I tried goading prince Acacius's soul into spilling the beans. He, however, was one of those with a high enough Ego score to refuse to do so. He also wouldn't serve me so I purified him and sent him to the Gods.
"We were set up," brandishing the King's orders, the Duke finally broke his silence. "Prince Rhenius was a threat to the throne. Since he volunteered for this expedition, the other faction decided it would be killing two birds with one arrow."
"And just because of that your King discarded one son this easily? A level 145 one?" I asked.
"Rhenius is the lowest leveled prince," Callisto offered with a snort. "Of twelve."
I checked the kill notifications. The other prince I killed - no, assassinated - was level 173.
The changes in the Exp progression were profound, but I couldn't believe that it allowed people to level up this much. What kind of monstrous powerhouses did it create?
"What level is the King?" I asked her out of curiosity.
"His Majesty is level two hundred. He's seeking a way to break through that limit. He already leveled four paths to the maximum and is working on his fifth. He believes that with five paths fully leveled, the way forward will open and he'll ascend to godhood."
That was insanity. Total insanity. Part of me wanted to feel the Exp of killing a level two hundred again. Oh, the slippery slope of the murder-hobo.
"Two hundred? How?"
"He has a Perk that grants him a fraction of every subject's Exp awards. An {Ultra-Rare} one," Callisto answered. "And he has ruled for more than a century."
"Oh. I have that one too. Not the century though. I'm only Fifteen," I said with a grin. Fifteen Yznarian years were about twenty Earth ones.