"Now that that's done, I'd like to receive 5000 silver coins please" I asked as Tran kept screaming at the back

"Silver coins? but I thought..." Margarett looked at me with surprise

"You thought?" I asked

"...That grin of yours earlier..." She murmured under her breathe

"Oh that, I was just thinking about how I was going to spend the money" I chuckled

Margarett was quiet for a while before leaving the garden and returning with a bag of coins

"Do you like messing with women?" She asked as she placed the bag on the table

"I don't even know the meaning of messing" I chuckled

"Surely you jest" Sila laughed

"At least I'm not a joke like that guy over there" I laughed as I pointed at Tran

"Thank you for saving my friends" Margarett bowed and her small yet developing peaks were shown

I looked to the side before I replied

"No problem, just doing my job"

I left the mansion and returned home, I opened the door and to my surprise, I found Blue patiently waiting by the living room

"Have you been waiting for me?" I asked

"I was worried" She quickly walked to my side and removed my robe

"That's really sweet, thanks" I gave her a kiss on the cheeks

She only chuckled and pulled me to the kitchen

"You still haven't eaten dinner right?" She started heating up the pot

To be honest, I was already full from the tea and snacks that we've eaten earlier but Blue probably cooked this

"Yeah, smells good, did you cook it?" I asked as I sat down

"Yup" She smiled as she took the ladle and served me a bowl of hot soup

"Thanks" I started digging in, she cooked me a veggie soup.

I cleaned the entire bowl as Blue watched with satisfaction

"That was great" I rubbed my belly as I leaned on the chair

"You still have some here..." Blue took out a napkin and wiped off some of the soup that streamed down to my chin

"Thanks" I stood up and started brushing my teeth before pulling Blue up the stairs, it was her turn tonight

We both slept as Blue used my arms as her pillow, looks like I won't be feeling my arm tomorrow. I noticed that when Blue sleeps, all her tails pop out, I didn't miss this chance and started stroking her tail. Blue moaned a bit before opening her eyes

"...Lyan..." She looked at me with her flushed red face

That attack was too effective, I couldn't control myself and just kissed her vigorously. She didn't back down and responded to my tongue's movement inside her mouth, we kissed for almost five minutes before our lips parted, leaving a glistening trail of saliva

"How's Gaia? you getting used to living here?" I asked as I stroked her head

"It's really weird, back at Terra, humans were looked down on but here, it's the complete opposite"

"Is that so? you're making me wonder why you fell in love with me in the first place since you're probably used to the concept of humans being weak back in your world"

"You really want to ask how and why I fell in love with you?" She chuckled as she caressed my chest and cheeks

"Yeah"

"Well you saved me, that's a fact and I am forever grateful for it but what really made me love you was when I was weak you were there, you've always kept me safe. Back at Terra, I was always vigilant because I knew there were people after me, my friends were there but there was still something missing and that something was filled in by you..."

I pulled her in for a hug before kissing her on her forehead

"I may be weak but I will do my best to protect all of you" There was no such thing as strongest in this world, there will always be someone better than you so all I can do is improve myself

She only nodded her head in response

After that, we both had an extreme lovemaking session, the details are blurred out for now because I think Clay and the others heard it... I heard whistles and claps

The next day, I continued investigating.

"Kid" I was sipping tea from the second floor of a restaurant when a man sat behind me and spoke out

"Hey, how's it been on your end?" I asked

"Good news, there's going to be a grand ball four days from now, everyone from nobles to middle-class people is invited while the people from the slums will be set up in another location" Johny started eating his meal

"What's the ball for?" I asked

"The King is celebrating his anniversary with his deceased wife, weird huh"

"Is he actually happy his wife died?"

"No, he just loves her too much, that's all"

"Alright, we'll meet you guys there in four days"

"Alright, we'll prepare necessary preparations for escape, what're you going to do"

"I'm not quite sure yet but I think I'm going to work on something that I've brought on this journey"

"Alright" he stood up and left

Time to make necessary preparations, I need to make an escape plan when all else fails. We are going to assassinate a king, this is no easy feat so everything must be planned out.

I left the restaurant after sipping my tea and started walking around the castle walls, hoping to see some kind of crack in their defenses and I wasn't disappointed. The southern part of the wall had almost no guard, the question now is, how am I supposed to make use of this when we can freely infiltrate the castle in the next four days.

I returned back home and locked myself in my room with the map of the castle or pyramid whatever it is, I started making plans. The ballroom hall is as large as two basketball courts combined, it's really wide and spacious but half of the kingdom was invited so it might be a little cramp.

I have a bad feeling about this, something about this just isn't right. The King is known to have hated those in the lower class but then he suddenly invites them to a feast, I know he's celebrating his wife's death and I might be overthinking things but this feeling I keep getting just won't go away so I took out the stuff I took from the mansion back home and started working on it

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

~2 days have passed~

The feeling won't go away so tonight I've decided, I'm going in.

"Here's the plan, you guys meet up with the spies at the ball. Clay, once the plan is set in motion, you're going to defend everyone, make sure no one dies and that includes you. Talia, once you guys enter the hall, make sure to get to a high place where you can watch over everyone. Valeria, you're responsible for protecting Talia. Mira, once the King is dead, clear a path for escape.Mizu, you'll be fighting the enemies too. Blue, Arachne, and Rivera, please support Clay and Mizu" I handed out everyone's task

"What about you?" Mizu asked

"I'm going to infiltrate the castle tonight, don't worry, I'll meet up with you guys at the ball"

"Why are you going to infiltrate?" Arachne tilted her head

"I need to make sure of something and if I get the chance, I'll kill the King"

"...We can't stop you can we..." Mira looked sad

"Don't worry, I won't risk my life" I spoke out as I pat her head

"Don't let yourself get hurt okay?" Blue hugged me from behind

"Yeah"

Mira and Arachne hugged me before I left, the warmth they gave is unforgettable, I kept thinking about it as I made my way through the slums under the cover of night. I used [Vanish] before using [Storm Dash], I ran up the wall and arrived at the top. I looked left and right but there no guards around, I peeked down and only saw a huge garden surrounding the castle. All the guards were stationed near the castle so I stabbed Lea on the wall before I slid down, no one noticed. My [Vanish] was still in effect so I ran past the guards and jumped in one of the windows before hiding in the shadows of the hallway, my [Vanish] wore off so I waited sometime before reactivating it, I need to look for clues so I'll start with the 2nd floor. I want to go to the King's room but he's probably asleep so I'll have to postpone it until tomorrow, I made my way up the 2nd floor.

The security here seems to be tighter than the one at the first floor because you can frequently see guards patrolling the area

'Lyan, something's wrong here' Raija spoke out in my mind

'What do you mean?' I asked

'This place is letting out a weird aura that I've seen in the war 300 years ago'

'The hell? is the King really up to something?'

'Yeah, with an aura like this, it's unmistakable... dark magic'

'Can you tell what he's trying to do by the aura?'

'No, I can't'

'That's too bad'

'Anyway, be careful'

'Yeah, don't worry'

I started exploring the area until I found a room that had 2 golden doors, the doors itself had an intricate carving of an Angel so the stuff inside must be good but there were no guards which made it weird. I opened the door slowly and what appeared in front of me was a room, is this Helios' room? I took out the map, yup, this is his room.

I started snooping around and I soon found a room that had cages inside, I peeked and saw women inside. They were chained up and was clearly starving... I took pity on them and gave them food on one condition, never to draw any attention here

"Thank you" one of the women thanked me

"It's fine" I started breaking the cages and removing the chains that bound them

"I am Alice, the daughter of the village chief in Shag found on the north side of this kingdom"

"Lyan Timberwolf"

"You're Lyan?" She was surprised

"Something wrong?" I asked

"Nothing, it's just that Helios kept cursing that name"

"What a cunt, all he can do is curse" I chuckled

There were 9 women here, I'm going to use this room since no one really comes here.

"Do you know about the Ball?" I asked Alice

"No, we've been locked up in here for so long that we have no idea what's going on outside" Alice hung down her head

"That's too bad"

They have no idea what's happening so I guess it's back to snooping around but before that, let's get some shut-eye. I didn't really go to sleep, I only sat on the corner and closed my eyes. I can't trust anyone here so I need to keep my guard up.

Nothing happened that night, I left after eating my breakfast with the women. The King should be up by now, I left the room and made my way to his room. There were 4 guards outside his room, I took one of the glowstones on the wall and broke it, the hallway turned dark so 2 Guards came to investigate. I sneaked past them and threw the broken glowstone on the other side of the hallway, the last two guards defending the door followed the thrown rock. I entered the room

The King's room was extravagant, everything here just screams out 'I'm rich'. I opened each and every drawer until I found a diary, it was the King's diary. Let's see what secret he hides, I placed the diary inside my magic bag before looking through some more stuff but found nothing I can use. The Ball's going to start tomorrow evening so I better get back to the 2nd floor and start reading this diary

I peeked outside and saw the guards bickering over why all of them left their posts, I used that chance and left the room. They were too busy fighting amongst each other to even notice, I quickly made my way downstairs. Everyone was patiently waiting for me back at Helios' room, I told them all of them can escape during the ball because something big will happen. They were all happy to get a chance to escape from here

I started reading the diary after I ate lunch with everyone... I miss the girls' cooking.

Most of its contents were about how hard it was being King and all that, he also kept saying that if his wife wasn't there, he would've already succumbed to the pressure. Then his wife died from an unknown disease but before she died, she made him promise to protect Helios.

This is the last thing the King wrote

[I made a deal with the devil, he promised to revive Jessa, my Angel. I agreed to his conditions, all I have to do is prepare some stuff for him so that he could revive Jessa]

So he got tempted in the end

'What's your say in this?' I spoke in my head

'I would do the same for Lyan~' Rea was quick to reply

'I think it's wrong...' Lea meekly replied

'Reviving magic! things will never end up good if those things appear!' Raija replied

'Tell me what you know'

'Reviving is very simple, one life in exchange for the other, very simple right? but'

'But?'

'One life is never equal to another' Raija pointed out

'So multiple sacrifices?' I asked

'Yes but in this case, a massive sacrifice is needed'

'Why?'

'I only based it on the dark aura that this place kept exuding, it's very thick which means that the magic circle they're using is fairly large'

'Is there a way to stop it?'

'Break the circle'

'seems simple enough'

A massive sacrifice, the ball, everyone in the kingdom, it's pretty obvious now if you ask me. The mission is off! I've got to warn everyone

"Get up, we're leaving!" I stood up and announced

"What's wrong?" Alice asked

"The King has gone mad"

"Oh..."

They all started preparing while I wrote a letter

"Let's go" We left under the cover of night

I knew where the guards were going to patrol so escaping the castle with the women were easy, I ran up the wall before throwing a rope down. All the women climbed up

"Here, take this" I gave the letter I wrote to Alice

"What's this?" She asked

"Take this to this place..." I instructed her to take the letter to Mira at Timberwolf mercenary group's building

"Alright" She nodded before I threw the rope down for all of them to use

They managed to successfully escape, all that's left now is to kill the King. I'm going to do so in his sleep, I took out some of the explosives Melon and I made before setting them up in the base of the southern wall, Helios' room, and all over the hallway. They were set to explode during the ball. This will kill most of the guards while the Ballroom will stay unscathed, I was about to sneak into the King's room when I heard a laughter

"The rat finally shows himself"

I looked to the side and saw nothing

"Tell me, who are you?"

"Why would I do that?" I asked as I took out Rea and Lea

"Because I can kill you anytime"

"I'd like to see you try"

"Quite cocky for a human" I saw a shadow of a man in the corner of my eyes

"Yea? and what are you? a pussy demon? come here so I can mess you up" I shot back

"That's it" He got mad and I felt a sharp stinging pain behind me

The fucker can use shadows, he managed to creep behind me and attacked

"You're quite tough" He laughed

I infused Lea with [Light strike] before pointing her up, Lea exuded bright light that Illuminated the entire room. He had nowhere to hide so he came out from the floor in front of me

He was a male, 7 foot tall and had two protruding horns from his head. His skin color was dark blue and his eyes gave off a blood-red light

"You can use multiple elements?" He patted off the dust on his shoulders

"Who are you" I ignored his question

"*Sigh* quite rude to answer a question with another question, very well, I am Drax, a demon"

"What are you planning?"

"whoa there kid, I'm very kind you know? I saw the king wailing and crying as he masturbated to a portrait of his wife, isn't that pretty sad?"

"Pretty disgusting if you ask me" I infused Rea and Lea with [Light strike] as I prepared myself for his attack

"Call it what you want but I took pity on him and offered him a reviving magic with nothing in exchange, isn't that pretty kind of me?"

"What are you after?" I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do it for free

"I want the same thing as him"

"What?"

"hehe, you'll see soon" After his words fell, he vanished to the ground before two hands held my feet

He appeared beside me and tried to punch my face but I leaned backward before swinging Lea, releasing the [Light strike] that turned into a [Crescent light wave] that headed for him

My attack cut him in half but he soon re-attached himself before I felt a punch from behind, I fell forwards but I managed to stab Rea on the ground before my body crashed on the shadow spikes that protruded from the ground

Drax laughed and kicked my back downwards, he was going to kick me again but I used [Dragon rush] to appear behind him, I swung Rea just as his feet were pierced by his own shadow spears. My attack was about to land but dark tentacles stopped it from advancing any further, this demon has a lot of restraining magic

"That fucking hurt" Drax spoke as black blood flowed out of his foot

"Getting hurt by your own spell, quite embarrassing" I laughed as I tore the tentacles

"I'll get you!" He pointed his palm at me and multiple spikes came out his shadow

I started running forward while moving to the sides to dodge the spears that headed for me

"You fell for it!" He laughed and more spears branched out from the spears that I dodged

[Ice lotus] I encased myself in Ice to defend from the spears, the ice lotus broke here and there but I managed to get away unscathed

"What?!" He never thought I could escape from his attack

"Omae wa mo Shindeiru!" I roared out as I infused Rea and Lea [Light strike] before boosting them with [Burst]

He was caught off guard I slashed his back with both blades, he kept screaming as thick smoke came out from his wounds. His body was tough, and he managed to survive my attack

"We're not done!" He roared before vanishing

I'll have to kill the King next time because my battle with Drax attracted all the guards patrolling, I used [Vanish] and disappeared from the scene