"I am free!"

The deep bass voice of the Lord of Greed resounded across the courtyard from atop his balcony and the soldiers under his command raised their weapons in joyous cheers. They too had heard the voice of god announcing three days ago that they were no longer bound to the place man had banished them to. Now would be the time to conquer the lands and establish their lord's hegemony.

"It is time, my invincible Terror Knights! You shall finally be able to trample the weak underfoot!" Addressing the ironclad soldiers towering above all others in their obsidian-colored armor, the lord declared. "It is time, my relentless Pain Reavers! You shall finally be able to feast on the innocent!" Pointing at the troops wearing black fur over their blood red chainmail, the lord announced. "It is time, my unstoppable War Bringers! You shall finally be able to slaughter the masses!" Waving at the diversely equipped foot soldiers, the lord proclaimed.

Turning to his left, the Lord of Greed pointed across the landscape, at a small village nestled between fields and stretches of forest in the distance. It had been there as long as he could remember, a silent mockery of his trapped existence in this castle on the mountain. Day in and day out, he had to watch it, unable to ever reach out and grasp it for himself. Until now.

"It is time! Raid, trample and exterminate, my soldiers!" Speaking in excitement, he ordered his men to take the first step towards achieving his dominion. "Today that village, tomorrow the world!"

An earth-shattering roar of elation boomed across the courtyard and the troops began to set off.

Helena was overjoyed when she heard the voice of god announce that everybody is now free to go wherever they please. She is no longer required to remain in her village and watch the world pass her by, as adventurers make short stops to replenish their supplies before moving on without even paying attention to her. Now, she can fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming an adventurer herself.

Her parents obviously are not happy with the fact that there is no longer something like an invisible chain binding her in place, but she is fifteen now and should be allowed to choose her own future. Of course, being the child of a farmer, she does not have any money and access to good equipment. But she shall not let this hinder her; she will ask an adventurer party to take her on as an apprentice the next time one passes through, even if it means that she will be used as a glorified pack mule. She is confident in her physical strength, built up from a life of farm work, after all.

Shifting the basket filled with potatoes from one hip to the other, Helena looks up at the blue sky and wipes the sweat off her brow. The weather appears to be holding up during the harvest season this year, which means that they can look forward to another good sowing season next year. She thinks that this village can do well without her, knowing that her parents would throw their hands up in despair upon hearing that line of reasoning.

Loading the contents of her basket onto the cart and petting the draft horse pulling it while passing it by, she looks over to her older brother Johann, who is working on the other side of the field. As the firstborn son he will inherit the farm, which is another reason why she wants to leave. The fate of a farmer's daughter is to be married off to another farmer's firstborn son just to provide him with heirs. She does not wish to live such an empty life.

"When will the next group of adventurers come?" Muttering to herself, Helena turns back to the field, to harvest the next basketful, realizing that the immense size of the field and the low number of workers means that she would be here all day long. Her skin would become more sunburned and her hands would grow more calloused; there is no way a handsome noble is ever going to fall for her this way.

Suddenly, she lays eyes on something she has never seen before. From the edge of the forest in the distance, a mass of blackness is coming towards the village. Blinking against the strong midday sun and shielding her eyes, she concentrates. A scream from the field beside her signals that someone else has noticed it and had better luck at identifying it - as a threat, that is.

"There are riders with their weapons drawn!" The owner of the voice is Aunt Greta, who has always boasted great eyesight. "Get back to the village!"

She waves at Helena and begins to run, to get her child to safety. Turning back towards the horizon, the young girl is finally able to see that they are indeed cavalry wearing black armor, riding horses clad in the same. A chill tingles down her spine at the thought of what their aim could be, but looking up further, she understands where they are coming from. The castle sitting atop the mountain in the distance has a constant air of darkness. Old Man Lutz has told her stories about the being that presides over it, the Lord of Greed.

For all her life, she never had to fear for an invasion or even just a raid, because the lord was confined to that castle the same way she was confined to her village.

Does that mean, god's announcement applied to him and his evil forces, too?

A hand suddenly grabs her arm and pulls her around. Shrieking in shock, Helena drops the half-filled basket and tries to free herself.

"What are you doing? Run!" Johann stands before her, his face a grimace of anxiety and fear. Then he drags her along and they begin to sprint across the field as fast as their feet can carry them.

The rumbling of the black knights becomes audible, and soon it can be perceived through the shaking of the ground, too. Lagau is a village of fewer than five hundred souls, but it sounds like a tidal wave a thousand riders is about to roll over it and not leave a single stone upon another. Even adventurers and heroes who frequently visited until two days ago could not hope to stand up against this onslaught of steel and violence.

"Barricade the doors!" Upon entering their farmhouse their father immediately shouts and rolls the large barrel filled with their self-brewed beer across the room and past them, before standing it up against the only entrance to the house. Johann reacts quickly and helps their mother push their heavy wooden table against the door and reinforce the barricade. Then they move to close the storm shutters and nail the windows shut from the inside.

Within all this tumult, Helena is standing still, taking in the situation and feeling the earth quake under the approaching army. In that moment, she understands that no matter what they try to do, they are doomed to die today. The black knights will burn down every last house and kill every single villager they can find. That is what the Lord of Greed does, according to Old Man Lutz's stories.

Falling to her knees, she begins to pray. But then realization hits her: Who was she about to pray to? God? The god that freed the Lord of Greed from his confines in the same way she was freed from hers? No, she could only pray for a hero to pass by and save her village from this unreasonable fate.

The sound of hooves galloping through the village's dirt roads can be heard from outside the house. Huddling together with her family, Helena continuously prays for salvation from this hopeless situation. The agonized screams of dying men, women and children reaches her ears and she begins to shake in fear, unable to keep her thoughts together. People she grew up with and saw everyday are being slaughtered just beyond that barricaded door, and she can do nothing to help them.

Then the noise of many heavy iron greaves trampling across the earth follows the sound of the riders; the infantry has arrived. The breaking of wood resounds from across the road, followed by high-pitched screams. Helena can make out the voice of Magdalena, pleading for her newborn child's life, before it ceases completely. The whining baby goes silent shortly after.

Magdalena, whom she had greeted this morning at the well. The baby Gustav, whom she had held only yesterday. Their lives snuffed out right within earshot.

Suddenly, her mother cups her ears to drown out any sounds from outside, albeit it is unable to do so completely and only muffles them into unintelligible noise. Turning her head slightly to look at her family, Helena realizes that they, too, have begun praying for someone to save them. Are they addressing god? Or is it a hero they hope for as well?

The banging on wood, loud enough for her to hear even through her mother's hands, signals that they are next. The barricade shakes as someone attempts to push open the door, but it does not budge. A moment of silence follows and a hint of hope forms in her heart that the person on the other side has given up, however baseless it may be. Then a loud crash completely denies it. It feels as if the entire house trembles under the hit and dust rains down from above. The blade of a large axe breaks through the door right above the beer barrel, leaving behind a large hole through which the outside light shines in.

A gray-skinned face with a bloodshot eye fills the crack and peers inside, immediately fixating on Helena. A violent shiver runs down her spine at the realization that it just widened from excitement. Then the face moves away and the axe eats into the door with renewed vigor, making the intention of its owner clear. It does not take long for the whole door to give way and the monster kicks aside the barricade behind it with a single move.

Stepping through the destroyed entrance is a towering barbarian with skin the color and texture of granite. Covering his shoulders is the black fur of a Nighthowler and he wears blood red chainmail. Whether it is painted, rusted or colored by the blood of his victims, it has an intimidating effect on all that behold it. He looks around just in case, to confirm that there is no enemy that could harm him, before turning to look at Helena and licking his lips with an ugly brown tongue.

That is when her father jumps up with a roar and swings his woodcutting axe at him. Compared to his enemy's weapon, which is specifically designed for war, it looks laughably weak, but it should be able to deal significant damage if it hits the bald and uncovered head. But the man only shifts his weight from one leg to the other, taking the hit with his shoulder and not even flinching from the impact. Helena's heart sinks at the sight.

Then, as if in an afterthought, the barbarian swings his own axe horizontally and hits her father in the flank with a crunching noise, upon which he is flung aside like a ragdoll and crashes into the wall, ceasing all movements.

"Father!" Johann screams in impotence, his legs shaking from fear. Helena feels her mother's hands leave her ears and turns around to find that she has fainted from witnessing the result of her husband's brave but futile attempt to protect his family.

From behind the barbarian another enemy enters the house, crushing even the last embers of hope for survival. Despair washes over her like an unstoppable wave, and she does not even register when Johann gathers his resolve and rushes forward wielding the large sledgehammer used to set up poles. In her empty eyes his form being flung aside the same way as her father was only moments earlier is reflected, before it is filled with the face of the monster that killed them.

"Oy, what'cha doin'? We hafta keep all them young lasses for the boss." The rough voice of another man enters her ears. It is coming from the one who came into the house after the first.

"Just a lil' bit, the boss won't even notice." Extending his large hand towards Helena, he grabs her shirt and rips it open in a single motion.

It is then that reality catches up with her, and she begins to scream, pushing herself off the ground and stepping backwards to get away from the assailant. She trips over something and realizes that it is her mother, who regains consciousness from the nudge. The latter looks up to see the barbarian looming over her and begins to scream.

"Shut up, ya bein' annoyin'." These words drive terror into Helena's heart, but before she can react, the axe comes down on her helpless mother. Averting her eyes in the last second, she hears the sound of flesh being cut and bones being broken. But knowing the result, her thoughts already paint the full picture, and her mind blanks out.

The next time Helena becomes aware of her surroundings, she finds herself in the village square, together with many other captured villagers. They are surrounded by men in various kinds of equipment, including many others dressed just like the man that killed her family. It appears that the rest of the village has been swept clean of life, and all the survivors are gathered here. She begins to wonder whether being alive now or having died instantly is more fortunate under the current circumstances, and considering what is going to happen to them.

"Is that all of them?" A richly ornamented knight in pitch black armor approaches on horseback, asking someone who looks like the leader of the gray-skinned barbarians. The former appears to be the supreme commander of these forces, which are comprised of different kinds of troops.

"We searched all them houses. There's no place for anyone to hide." Responding with reluctant respect, the leader states and points at the villagers.

"Take them and burn the village." The emotionless voice of the supreme commander echoing through his closed visor shows that he views them as nothing more than loot to be carried off after pillaging. Turning his horse around, he spurs it on and rides away, followed by several other knights.

"Ya heard 'im!" Addressing his soldiers, the leader waves for them to start moving.

The barbarians approach the villagers and begin to pull them up. Some scream and try to struggle, others have become completely listless after witnessing the deaths of their friends and families. But the result is the same: None can get away from the overwhelming power of these troops.

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"Hold it right there, criminal scum!" Suddenly, a quirky female voice resounds across the square. Everyone turns their heads towards its source, to find a lone figure standing atop a roof. It is a girl with bright orange hair tied in twin-tails, around the same age as Helena and scantily dressed in colorful flamboyant clothes. She looks like one of those adventurers that have passed through the village before, a so-called Dancer.

But Helena cannot bring herself gather hope from the appearance of a lone adventurer after all the times it has been completely dashed today. Her only thought is that this girl is going to be captured or will lose her life, like all the others in the village.

"Hey, ya missed one!" The leader points at the girl and bellows at two of his men. They immediately move towards the house on which she is standing. "Get her."

Despite having the high ground, the dancer slides down the side of the roof and performs a flashy back flip in midair, before landing on her feet gracefully. Dumbfounded by her actions, the surrounding barbarians do not react immediately. Walking into their midst with refined steps, she smiles at them fearlessly.

"Come at me, or are you afraid?" Taunting the troops, she winks suggestively and strikes a pose. As if that flipped a switch, the men around her immediately charge at her from all sides.

Helena averts her gaze and presses her eyes shut. She cannot watch another life being ended or she might lose her mind.

"Huh, where'd she go?"

"Ah, over there!"

"This lass is fast!"

"Hey, she's slippery!"

Upon hearing these confused and irritated voices, Helena cannot help but open her eyes and look up to see what is happening in the square. To her utter surprise, it appears that the adventurer girl is dancing her way through all the barbarians, and not a single one is able to catch her.

"How are y'all unable to catch a single girl?!" The leader sounds furious as he brandishes his large cleaver and moves to join the fray.

"Who are you calling a girl? I'm a proper lady!" The dancer has the leeway to retort even while twirling past several men like a leaf on the wind.

"You? A lady? If you no longer have to pad, you can start calling yourself that." Another female's voice cuts in and echoes across the area. It sounds like a little girl judging by its pitch.

"I-I don't pad! This outfit doesn't have anywhere to pad!" Sounding flustered, the dancer nearly slips and just barely avoids a jagged steel hook going for her face. "... but... ahhhn~ Ganbaranyai-chan's words are so harsh! I can feel it pricking me all over my body~" A moment later she regains her composure and speaks with a heated voice. Wiggling her hips with a clearly aroused expression, she dodges the axe of a soldier effortlessly.

"I told you to stop calling me that. We're not in the game anymore." The other girl replies in an annoyed tone.

Finally, Helena spots her among the large barbarians, a tiny figure just barely reaching up to their waists, walking towards the square fearlessly. Unlike the adventurers and heroes that passed through here, her equipment looks lacking, to say the least. Wearing a crown of thorns upon her long silver hair - from which a pair of cat ears stand out just above where humans have their ears - and only covered in a blank white shirt that is too big for her - with a cat tail peeking out from underneath it - she looks more like a victim than a savior. She is even walking barefoot.

Yet, not a single one of the much larger men seem to dare to approach her. In her wake, several of them are moving cautiously, following her at a respectful distance. Is she maybe one of those heroes of legend, who come from the north, where much more dangerous monsters and divine beasts lurk? Every once in a while, one of them would take a disciple among adventurers and help them on their journey.

Hope begins to bud inside Helena's heart once again, and she cannot suppress an excited shaking.

Then she notices that it is not her body that is shaking, but the ground underneath her. Hooves trampling the dirt road make the earth tremble, their source coming from behind the newcomer. Looking past the petite girl, she sees that a group of knights are riding onto the square, with the foot soldiers making way for them. The latter look discontent about the fact that the knights have arrived to take control of the situation. The leading knight rides straight towards the newcomer, training his lance on her tiny body.

"Be careful!" Helena screams at the top of her lungs, surprising herself at the fact that her voice can still emerge as loudly as it just did.

But the girl does not turn around, only tilting her head slightly in the direction of the person warning her. The ears on her head twitch at the sound of the oncoming onslaught, but even then, she makes no move to try and avoid the lance aimed straight at her back.

It hits her - and bounces off harmlessly.

Not only did it not pierce her delicate body, but it did not even cause her to stagger. She turns her head at the sound the impact made and her expression reveals no hint of surprise at the fact that the heavy cavalry's charge was completely ineffective. Even though the close helmet blocks the view of their faces, the knights look clearly taken aback, as they come to a stop and slowly ride alongside the girl as she continues to walk forward once again.

Coming to a stop a distance from where the villagers have been gathered, she looks around and sighs. The surrounding troops are drawing a careful circle around her, but none seem to move to attack her. Considering their overwhelming strength compared to the villagers, seeing them tiptoe against such a small figure would have been laughable, if not for the gravity of the situation.

The dancer has disappeared in the masses of the barbarians in another corner of the square, but from their movements it is clear that she is still alive and keeping them occupied. Helena cannot even begin to fathom what is going to happen, but she clasps her hands in prayer - not towards a god or unseen spirit, but towards this petite girl, who may truly be their only hope.

"I guess this is enough." Sitting down on the ground lazily, the girl does not care about dirtying her pure white shirt, and yawns heartily. At the end of it, she makes a strange high pitched sound reminiscent of a cat's meowing.

As if that was the breaking point for the patience of the barbarians and knights in her vicinity, they instantly pounce on her from all sides, bringing their massive weapons down onto her frail-looking body. She disappears from view completely and Helena covers her mouth with both hands, unable to avert her eyes from shock.

Suddenly, light fills her vision and a circle of glowing blue surrounds all the soldiers that continue to mindlessly pile onto the girl in their center, apparently not noticing what is happening underneath their own feet; not a single one of them attempts to flee. The same phenomenon is occurring around the dancer, where a smaller mass of barbarians has gathered.

Then two pillars of blue flames rise into the air, completely eradicating everyone inside them.

Speechless, Helena stares into the fire, until it fades and leaves behind two large scorched circles. At their centers, the dancer and the petite girl remain, completely unharmed; even their clothes are intact and completely unscathed. The knights and barbarians have completely disappeared, only leaving behind a large pile of parts of their armors and weapons, as well as many crystals and gold coins scattered about.

Standing up from the center of the circle, the girl looks around with a bored expression, then places her hands on her hips and snorts through her raised nose in a gesture that can only be viewed as boasting. The remaining troops who have been waiting in the streets of the village are overcome with terror and immediately begin to retreat, some doing it so hastily that they are dropping their weapons in the process.

"As expected, I gained a few levels from this." A new female voice resounds across the square. A curvaceous figure wrapped in dark purple robes and wearing a wide-rimmed witch hat stands on top of the tallest house, holding a wooden staff with a sapphire embedded in its tip from which the light is slowly fading away. She is most definitely an Arcane Mage and was the one who cast the magic that burned the troops away in an instant. Floating down from her vantage point slowly and coming to stand right beside the girl in the white shirt, she hugs the latter to her voluptuous chest and shows a delightful and sultry smile on her dark red lips. "That was perfectly executed, Kyouko-chan~"

"Muu, don't get so intimate..." Pushing herself away from the embrace with a frown, the petite girl named Kyouko seems irritated by the casual physical contact.

"Hey, what about me, BlackKokoro-san?" The dancer walks over with refined steps, but next to the glamorous body of the sorceress named BlackKokoro her actions appear overly self-conscious, as if trying to forcefully radiate seductiveness.

"There is nothing special about a Dancer with a high dodge stat." Looking down on her with a sneer, BlackKokoro scorns her hope for praise.

"Ah, how mean!" Looking seriously hurt, the flamboyant girl retorts. "I contributed, right Ganbaranyai-chan?" Turning to the smaller girl, she seeks her approval.

"What are we going to do with this?" Looking around, Kyouko takes in the sight of the items strewn across the ground.

"I was ignored!" Shocked, the dancer slumps her shoulders. Then she begins to shake from excitement and mutters to herself. "B-but... maybe this isn't too bad either... hah~ hah~"

Helena watches the completely out-of-place comedic exchange and returns to her senses. These three just saved the remaining villagers' lives, and she should thank them for it. A dark corner of her mind wonders why they did not arrive earlier, but she banishes it from her thoughts; being alive right now is all thanks to their intervention, and without their help, this village would have been wiped from the map.

"Th-thank you for saving us!" Mustering her courage, she stands up from among the other villagers and calls out to their saviors. Some join her, while others finally break down in tears after the tension has finally been dispelled.

"They will come back." BlackKokoro cuts in, her dark smile in complete contrast to the gravity of the situation. Upon this revelation the villagers begin to mutter in panic, but before Helena can speak up to ask for their aid, Kyouko steps forward.

"Muu, don't scare them, Matsumoto-san." She reprimands the sorceress and calls her by another name. Slapping a hand in front of her mouth to suppress the laughter from exploding out, the dancer turns away quickly.

"Ah, please stop calling me by that boondocks name!" Flustered, the latter loses her mysterious composure and pleads with the petite girl in a higher-pitched voice than before. It would appear that she has been putting on airs so far.

"I'm not calling you BlackKokoro..." Kyouko's expression makes it clear that this is all becoming an annoyance to her. Returning her attention to the villagers, she tilts her head and her ears twitch. "It's true, though - they will come back. That's why we're going to their castle first."

Helena's mouth hangs open at this announcement. The petite girl actually looks bored saying this, as if it is all just a bother in her eyes. After her earlier display, it is clear that she possesses overwhelming power. Does this mean that the Lord of Greed is but a minor inconvenience along her way, whom she can take down in passing?

"Take me with you!" She suddenly blurts this out without thinking. Taken aback, the three heroes stare at her for a moment, before the sorceress steps forward with a disdainful gaze.

"We will not. You are weak." Just as her expression suggests, she refuses.

Her words pierce deep into Helena's heart and she is reminded of the fact that she watched her family die without being able to do anything. If she were to go along with these three as she is now, she would die very quickly. Yet, there is nothing left for her in this village; she had the wish to become an adventurer even before all this happened. Now she has received the final and irrevocable push to follow that path. If they do not take her along, what else is there for her to do with her life?

"Can you cook?" Kyouko nudges the sorceress aside and steps in front of the village girl.

"Y-yes, I am very confident in my cooking!" Replying eagerly, Helena looks into her opposite's piercing bright blue eyes.

"You're hired." Deciding this in a definitive tone that seems to leave no room for argument, Kyouko agrees to let her come along.

"Huh? But-" Beginning to protest, BlackKokoro speaks up, but is silenced by the petite girl's glare.

"No, Matsumoto-san, your cooking is awful." Her blunt statement seem to run right through her opposite's self-esteem, as the latter staggers back a step and looks shocked.

"Ahahaha, Ganbaranyai-chan is on a roll~" The dancer points at the victim of those harsh words with gleeful laughter.

"Yours is even worse, Chiyo." Directing her contemptuous gaze at the flamboyant girl named Chiyo, she continues to beat down on her two companions' cooking skills - or lack thereof.

"First name and no honorifics?!" Taken aback, the new victim's face flushes red in a mix of distress and arousal, as her whole body trembles from the impact of the verbal abuse. "Ganbaranyai-chan, it's too much~ Ahhhn~"

"Puha... hahaha..." Helena is surprised that the sound came from her own mouth. Even after everything she has gone through, these three were somehow able to dispel her sorrow, even if only for a moment. Then her vision blurs and she feels hot tears rolling down her cheeks, as the emotions run rampant within her.

A small hand pats her head and she jolts up at the sensation, to find that Kyouko is looking at her with a neutral expression. Yet, she can feel the empathy in this gesture, and her emotions overflow completely. Embracing her and burying her face in the little girl's delicate chest, Helena muffles her cries.

"What were you doing here?" On their way towards the castle of the Lord of Greed, Helena finally finds it in herself to ask. These three seem to be far too powerful to stay around these lands, which have always only been a transition area for adventurers on their path to greater heights. Even the Lord of Greed is nowhere as powerful as the lords of the north and the south, which include frost giants and elder dragons.

"These lands are fertile, so we thought it would be good to settle around here and build a guild hall." The sorceress who dislikes being called Matsumoto and prefers the name BlackKokoro replies. "But then we reconsidered and thought: Why build, if we can just take?"

"H-huh, what do you mean?" Helena's heart sinks at the implication of these words; they are not something heroes should be uttering. She is basically suggesting that they would drive someone out of their home and use that as their guild's base.

"Exactly what she said. None of us have any construction skills, and we won't be learning them anytime soon." Shrugging, Chiyo the dancer adds.

"And there's a pretty good premade place over there, no?" Kyouko joins the conversation and points forward with her usual casual expression. Following where her finger is indicating, Helena looks ahead.

The heavily fortified castle of the Lord of Greed comes into view, flying his banner featuring a dark green horned toad about to swallow a golden apple.

"Nyahaha! Today that castle, tomorrow the world!" Chiyo cheers while hopping ahead in a graceful dance.

"Everything for our Kyouko-chan." A sinister smile creeps onto BlackKokoro's lips and Helena suppresses a shudder at how evil it looks.

"Muu, you're being noisy. I just want a good place to sleep... fuwaaaah-nyaaan..." Yawning with her distinctive cat-like noise at the end, Kyouko looks sleepy and wholly unenthusiastic about her companion's plans of world domination.

Is this really alright? This would not be the last time Helena asks herself that silently.