Season 3: Chapter 85: Infiltration
Hmmm.
“Are you ok my Lord?” Slimey asked, rubbing my rubber head as our carriage moved through a dense forest of toxic trees.
Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I sent back.
Although… truth be told, I wasn't.
For one reason or another, there was an incredible sense of foreboding taking me, a sense of dread no doubt caused by my quest objective to survive. Coupled with my system failures and moving to a new place, this was an awful time for me to be attacked. In fact, all I felt since leaving my dungeon was anxiety with part of me wanting to return and bury myself in its deepest depths.
Yet, I knew I couldn't… shouldn't. I had to press forward. Had to catch up to the world that had left me behind.
Part of that of course, would be locating old relics, former allies, places of power, and… keeping old promises.
If they were alive of course…
Maybe I should have taken Excalibur after all.
“Everything will be fine my Lord.” Slimey assured telepathically whilst Jessie eyed us. “So long as I remain by your side, nothing will harm you.”
It isn't me getting hurt that I'm afraid of. I wanted to tell Slimey, yet… I didn't.
I just… this new life meant a lot to me. The monsters I had gathered meant a lot to me. The threat of my system being undermined, the idea of being trapped, the prospect of being alone again…
If I lost everything again, I wasn't sure what I'd do. Fortunately my monsters didn't seem too affected by the glitches, and Slimey seemed to be as she always was.
“Ehem… so, uh… what's the plan once we get to Lizaria?” Jessie asked, an attempt at small talk to cut through the monotony of the carriage ride.
“R-respectfully asking of course… your highness.” Jessie added as he looked away from Slimey's disproving gaze. Fortunately for Jessie, Slimey didn't have an eyeball skill, otherwise he'd be dead from her expression.
Hmm. Maybe I should indulge him, give me something else to focus on…
“Tell me human,” Slimey began, interpreting my orders in her special way. “Where do you hail from?”
“W-who? Me?” Jesse replied, apparently caught off guard, blinking repeatedly.
“Is there another human beside me?”
“Uh… no, jat surprised is all,” Jesse said before clearing his throat, his hands tightening around the horse’s reins. “Well… ain't really much to say. Where I'm from got destroyed, razed to the ground by demons during one of their invasions. Then again I never really had a home, always bouncing between orphanages until one day Paladin Lhikan found me, Simone, and Nat. Since then my homes pretty much been where my friends and feet are.”
Huh… Listening to Jesse a memory flashed before my eyes, not one that belonged to me but rather Lhikan when I had probed his mind.
An uncomfortable silence settled, with me unsure of what to say or ask given that Slimey had absorbed his friend.
Granted she was dead when Slimey had done so but still…
“I see,” Slimey replied, “Tell me more about these demon invasions.”
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“Sure thing, what do ya wanna know?” Jessie said, flashing a roguish smile before he began to regale me with much needed information.
****
As the humans ate and turned in for the night, I sat in Slimey's palm, pondering what I had gleaned from my conversation with Jessie.
Oddly, Lizaria was in a standstill with the demon hordes. Not because they were powerful or that they managed to halt their advance, but rather due to the demons fighting amongst themselves.
According to Jesse, there were at least five demon lords, powerful monsters who allegedly served the current Demon Queen Gisellneia, yet, despite being under her command they constantly squabbled, leading to entire nations suffering under the fallout.
The Giants of Garganta were gone, the Empress gone, along with her cohort who seemed to vanished before the demon hordes.
The Stygerian Wintermen were slaughtered, the White Death of the Snow slain by Gisellneia.
The Forge of the Dwarfan Heart was cold, the tall dwarfs of Granzalia lost to the ages.
Even Elveswhere, the home of the annoying elves had been torched. Which… admittedly made me a bit happy.
Damn elves.
In summation, at least 60% of the world were under demon occupation.
Of course, this was information I knew from Berus and Lhikan already, but it was good to get a third opinion. Hell, I would even take a fourth or fifth opinion, at least until I saw it with my own eyes.
Sitting through the night, I waited until Lhikan's party had all fallen asleep before activating Minion synchronization.
****
In an alleyway of a city protected by highwalls, clumps of blue slime gathered, oozing from sewer grates, slinking through the night, gliding through the cracks of the cobblestone ground to form a large puddle.
A moment passed, then another, the reflective blue ooze bubbling as consciousness took it, the mound shifting, forming into a nude black-haired man.
Frowning, I looked down, parting my slightly skinny body.
“Ah… damn. Guess there's not enough here for her to make me clothes,” I muttered before looking left and right through the buildings.
I stepped into the night, skulking down the road of a foreign town, it's cobblestone road leading credence that I was in a capital city of some form.
Well, at least some of Slimey managed to get into an actual city.
Now I had to figure out where exactly I was with only a few minutes to do so.
Sticking to the shadows I walked down the oddly decrepit street, avoiding the moonlight until sounds of a scuffle pricked my senses.
“Give us your coins! I won't ask again!”
“Please! Please don't do this! My children are starving! We haven't eaten in three days! We need this money!”
“Not my problem lady, when you take a loan from us, Boss Vermicelli expects to be paid back in full!”
“Please! I'll give you anything else! Do you want my body? I'll do it just please!”
Just a typical criminal shakedown. Not your problem Hiro, just move on, I told myself, already walking in the opposite direction.
“AH!”
Or… I was until a smack sounded out, followed by crying.
Before I knew it, I was moving, stepping into the torchlight where three men stood over a woman with ripped clothes.
Right…
“Good evening gentlemen!” I let out, brandishing a friendly smile as I approached. “Do you think you fellas can help me?”
“Ew?! Ah what the fek!” One of the goons turned and spat, followed by his friends who recoiled at my naked body.
“I'm a bit lost, having some trouble-”
“Wh-wheres his junk?” A bald goon asked, staring at my nether regions.
Huh?
I looked down, noticing that I indeed had no “Junk” but instead a patch of smooth skin.
Ah… fantastic.
“Shit, I think it's one of those church eunuchs,” A Curly-haired man said, turning to his friends Bald and Flat Top, names I bestowed upon them.
“I heard they took your dick but I didn't realize it was true!” Flat Top let out, backing away as I approached.
“Hey! Back off churchie! We've got an agreement with Cadius, this is our mark and she owes us money.” Curly spat, brandishing a knife.
I looked over to the terrified brunette woman, her dress torn with her hands covering her cleavage.
“Interesting…” I replied, realizing that these three seemed to be part of an organization that was partnered with the Church. “Very interesting. It looks like Operation Hydra is already bearing fruit.”
A malicious grin settled on my lips, a chuckle escaping my body.
“What the hell is wrong with him?” Bald asked, tensing up as I approached.
“Ma’am, you may want to leave.” I said to the woman, her eyes darting between me and her attackers.
She hesitated, staring at me, her eyes seeming to pick up the subtle lack of light in my irises.
“Now.”
The woman ran, escaping before her captors could catch her, fleeing with all the strength her bruised body could muster.
“Leave her! We know where she lives,” Curly ordered, turning to me with a scowl. “You’ll regret that. Boss Vermicelli don't like interlopers, we'll let him know what you did here, churchie.”
“How about you take me to him instead,” I said, my smile getting wider and wider. “I'm very interested in meeting this boss of yours.”
The three shared mixed glances, confusion on their faces that melted away as I reached out, probing their minds with Slimey as my proxie.
“You. Are. Mine.”
The words out of my lips, shattering their psyches as I absorbed their memories.
Time to have some fun.