As anticipated, the city sweep transformed into a gruesome slaughter. Every remaining resident, ensnared by the spells of the last shamans, took up arms or improvised weapons, launching themselves into suicidal attacks.
Each attacking leader racked their brains, trying to find a way to minimize their losses. Unfortunately, the agreement they had signed stipulated that once Jane and her knights dealt with the city's leader and elite troops, the others had to clear the city within a maximum of one day.
No leader had anticipated that Krog would come out to face them. When they signed the agreement, they all believed Jane would continue fighting with them almost until the end of the siege. This led to the current predicament – they wanted to reduce casualties, but they couldn't slow down too much, and thus, they achieved neither.
The allied troops painstakingly advanced, clearing the large Kobold city. The task was so difficult that even after 14 hours of constant door-to-door fighting, they hadn't cleared more than half of it. Yet, for Jane, this progress was sufficient. She never considered settling here; her territorial claims were merely a smokescreen for the real purpose.
Jane decided to enter the city at the forefront of her order of knights. Behind Jane marched her five lieutenants, elite among the elite, capable of navigating the path of the Ashen Knights without guidance. Following them were the three Ash Maidens, with Lissie in the middle, and five novices closely behind. Forming columns behind them were fully armored contingents of knights armed with a variety of weapons. Finally, there were four more columns, two belonging to soldiers recruited by Jane and two to auxiliaries, as each knight needed at least 2 or 3 assistants to fight at maximum efficiency.
The long procession marched through a devastated city, where remnants of the recent siege still smoldered. Allied troops secured different points in the city to prevent resistance movement.
None of this mattered to Jane. She had come here for one thing – a small relic in Kobold possession had the power to lead her to this remote place and involve her in a centuries-old war among local powers.
Jane marched uninterrupted through much of the city towards its center. Along the way, she witnessed many allied patrols fighting resistances and several ambushes. However, she remained undeterred, uninvolved in any event, impassive to any occurrence, walking towards Krog's castle without opposition.
In the castle, small groups of elite soldiers from the four major factions that had participated in the siege were stationed. Although there were a dozen more factions, together they couldn't match the power of any of these four. Leadership de facto had been distributed among the four, and towards the end, the Ashen Knights had joined, their numbers insufficient for the war, but their might overwhelmingly superior to any present faction.
The elite troops stationed at the castle gate shivered at the sight of the knights' contingent. Their orders were to stop anyone from entering the castle. By the way they had received their orders, it was certain that this included the newcomers.
Jane stopped about 50 meters from the castle, gave orders to her troops, and then resumed her march with only three of her lieutenants, Lissie, a dozen veteran knights, and a surprise follower.
Of the four groups at the gate, both the elven and dwarven leaders simply gave up trying to stop her. They had known this human for a long time and knew she wouldn't show mercy if they stood in her way. The lizardman, on the other hand, adopted a wait-and-see attitude, not moving from the gate but not drawing their weapons either. Only the ursine group took fighting stances and stepped forward to interfere with her path.
Jane showed indifference to the calls to stop and continued walking at her pace, unfazed by the tension her actions generated.
At a certain moment, the ursine leader couldn't bear it anymore and stepped forward to strike the small human in front of him with his fist. However, it wasn't Jane who reacted to the blow; it was one of her lieutenants.
With his armor faintly gleaming in a scarlet tone, he quickly interposed himself, blocking the fist and tossing the ursine aside before knocking him out. All of this happened without Jane having to slow down even slightly.
Although the other ursines wanted to join the battle, they couldn't do so without their leader's order. Reluctantly, they made way for the human leader to continue her uninterrupted march. Jane passed by them, followed by the Maidens and apprentices, as well as two lieutenants. One lieutenant remained behind with a group of knights to act as gatekeepers, similar to the other groups.
The group entered the castle, where there were still defenders half-dead. They walked through the corridors, ignoring any events that might happen around them, including the looting by soldiers of the allied troops. Although the wealth of the castle and other specific points had been agreed to be distributed later, that was just a facade for Jane. She was only here for one thing and continued walking towards the throne room.
The sound of metal against the floor began to resonate in the throne room, like a faint murmur at first, gradually increasing as the knights approached the throne room.
"We ran out of time," said the dwarven leader.
"It was impossible to begin with, though it cost nothing to cling to the possibility," replied the elven leader.
"Bah, we don't need that girl," said the ursine leader disdainfully.
"Cut the nonsense; what we'll say about our actions is most important. Clearly, we broke the contract," said the lizardman leader.
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At that moment, Jane entered the throne room door, pushing it open with force, causing it to bounce against the walls.
She gave a brief glance to each of those present and soon continued walking towards the room hidden just behind the throne room. Each of those present put on a stupid face when Jane effortlessly found the room they had been looking for unsuccessfully.
Jane and Lissie entered the hidden treasury, while the others stayed in the throne room.
"Why is that stinking shaman here? We should wash the floor with his blood," said the ursine leader.
"No one will touch the guests of Master Jane," said one of the lieutenants, imposing himself on the ursine.
She only snorted, annoyed at the lack of respect, but there was nothing she could do on her own. If she really wanted a chance to fight against the knights, she needed all the other groups on her side.
A bad omen filled everyone present. It was clear that the shaman had negotiated something with Jane, as only he could know precisely where the treasury was.
The worst outcome had happened. Everyone present hoped to find this treasury first and seize whatever Jane was looking for to negotiate some advantageous deal with her. There were thousands of situations where a regiment of Ashen Knights could be useful for each of the present factions.
A few moments later, Jane and Lissie came out of the treasury with only a few things in their hands. Although they were sure the treasury should have a ton of riches, what the humans had taken was deceptively insignificant to them.
"William, Henry," Jane immediately called her lieutenants upon leaving the room.
"Yes," they responded to the call and handed over a bag each. The onlookers noticed that both lieutenants had been finely suppressing the energy of what was inside the bags with their own power.
All the fuss had those present extremely intrigued. What were they expecting to achieve with so much secrecy? Why had the knights fought so hard? After all, none of the things seemed to be a material with high energy density or any other use in cultivation, civilian life, or military affairs.
When all the items were present, Lissie began performing a ritual, magically assembling what looked like a dreamcatcher, a small handle, and a pommel with feathers.
Although each part separately exuded a fine magical radiation, the final object had an aura of curse and brutal decadence, filling the surroundings with a somber and gloomy atmosphere. For a moment, each of those present could feel their own skin crawling.
Immediately, Jane stepped forward to take the artifact in her hands and suppress it with her own power.
"I've fulfilled my part of the deal. Now put an end to the slaughter of my people," the Kobold shaman suddenly said.
"You haven't fulfilled it yet," Jane simply responded.
The shaman's face went through a myriad of different states in rapid succession: indignation, hatred, anger, sorrow, resignation, and many others. Every second that the human took to achieve her goal with the calmness of someone strolling through the park, the Kobold in the city continued to be massacred.
Finally, the shaman surrendered and knelt, performing a slight magical enchantment. Gradually, a specter of himself began to take shape behind him, a translucent image of the shaman and at least three times larger.
At the same time, Lissie responded with a similar enchantment, and the projection of her own specter appeared. Simultaneously, the two lieutenants flanked the mage and began reciting their sacred prayers in a low voice, projecting their power onto her, creating a protective shield around Lissie's specter.
The Kobold specter knelt before the human, and she circulated her power in a magical vortex.
"Flame of the righteous," the novices chanted.
Lissie's specter raised both hands to the sky, and the force of the vortex concentrated on her as her hands began to burn. Finally, she brought both hands to the face of the Kobold specter and marked its visage.
Unbearable pain crossed the shaman, who writhed on the floor and screamed gutturally. The scene lasted for a short time; however, the allied leaders were in deep shock. Their legs trembled, and even the ursine leader wished to flee from this madness with all the might of her legs. The terror in the shaman's face had deeply penetrated their minds, and they couldn't help but imagine themselves suffering such a despicable punishment. Death was a merciful fate compared to what was happening in front of them.
Finally, the soul mark was completed, and Lissie released the shaman, who convulsed spasmodically on the floor, his eyes completely white, unfocused, absent, like those of a dead person who refuses to leave the shell that was once his body.
Each present leader had cold sweat running down their backs, and they were all intelligent enough to know that the shaman had accepted soul enslavement to save his people. Since Jane had accepted, it was natural that she called for a cessation of hostilities.
However, the order never came from the mouth of the Grand Master.
"Now, use the artifact and tell me where what I need is," Jane said without giving the shaman time to recover.
Being under the suppression of the soul, the shaman had no choice but to crawl to where Lissie was and take the artifact from her hands. He immediately started another ritual without being able to rest from the suffering that the first had caused him.
Although Lissie helped control the magical artifact, she was still under the protection of the aura of both lieutenants. The shaman, on the other hand, had to face the corrosive powers of the artifact himself and continue suffering for a short time.
Finally, from the shaman's mouth came a word in syllables, each seeming to be shouted by a choir of a thousand tormented souls.
"I-RE-TAR," said the shaman, who immediately was unable to continue holding the ritual and fell unconscious to the floor.
Ignoring the plight of the poor shaman on the floor, Jane searched for a map to locate the place.
Iretar was far from where they were, and considering that they were already away from the human influence zone, the place they should go would be incredibly dangerous.
"I would like to call for a temporary ceasefire in the city," Jane finally said.
Each leader simply nodded, incredulous at the lack of interest the human showed in her new disciple. Although, to her, he might be a pathetic Kobold shaman, everyone present knew him as the terror of the 100 nights. His name was almost as legendary as Krog Skullcrusher's, and yet the latter was dead, and the former was three-quarters the same.
What followed was a lengthy process where the five leaders divided both the city and the zone of influence and nearby resources. Although the human leader was represented by the shaman leader and some others who survived the massacre in the name of humans, the Ashen Order settled in a relatively intact residence in the city and simply stayed there. Despite claiming part of it, they left all the labor to the Kobolds and didn't even show up for meetings with the other groups. They were completely isolated, and even getting a meeting with their leaders was very difficult.
In a room of this complex, Jane stood in front of a map and many papers, planning the next expedition. Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted her concentration.
"Come in," the human leader said in a low voice.
"My lady, the negotiations have concluded. I have successfully claimed all the resources you mentioned. The details are as follows," the shaman quickly prostrated himself before Jane, but she interrupted him.
"I don't care about the details. Give them to William. If you have nothing else to report, you can leave," Jane said sharply, eager to get back to her work.
The Kobold simply retreated.
"We are getting closer," Jane muttered to herself.