Three days had passed since Poro-tan had been cursed and although his condition had improved each day, he still had not awoke. On the up side, when the city guards and Aery went to investigate the textile factory shortly after Megumi had arrived to the guild hall, all that remained of the thieves guild was blood and guts. Aery described the gruesome scene to her once she had returned and noted that they found the notorious thief Reynald's severed head on the floor of the textile factory staring lifelessly at the ceiling.

Since the quest had been technically completed, Megumi and Poro-tan received the reward money. Megumi couldn't complain about that as she was running pretty low on funds. She had little doubt that the warlock must've killed the remaining thieves for some reason, but why? Megumi couldn't help but worry that the warlock would be coming for her head anytime now. Maybe the woman wasn't a member of the guild after all? Or maybe she hasn't heard about the bounty on Megu's head.

She was beginning to feel like a shut in as she hadn't left the infirmary for anything other than finding some food to eat in the entirety of her stay so far. The seclusion helped her to get a grip on herself a little bit. She had huge, extremely difficult, goals to achieve in this city, and she needed to focus. It was true that she felt terrible about what Poro-tan was currently going through, but she had to steel herself on the fact that she would likely have him risking his life again as soon as he recovered and she couldn't let her feelings of sympathy and friendship towards the man stop her from getting her revenge.

Megumi decided that it was time to spend her TPs. She had already long since decided where they would go and she put one point into Soul Trap, while placing the other into Eldritch Blast. The ability to increase her party's size by one, permanently, was going to be instrumental to her take down of this kingdom. You can't let yourself go soft, Megu, this world is rotten and it deserves to burn.

With that thought she once again managed to force aside her feelings and replace them with the numbness she had spent years to cultivate. Poro-tan would be fine, he was in good hands, she had things to go do and she couldn't remain hiding inside this guild hall like a scared rabbit anymore. The fact that she had not been powerful enough before only meant that she now had to really focus on getting stronger.

She got up and headed for the door, turning back just once to look at Poro-tan before heading out of the room and then the guild hall. Megumi squinted at the bright day as she stepped out into the sun for the first time in days. The crisp air felt good and she breathed it in deeply. This part of her plan was going to be messy, but she had to get it started.

The important thing was that she didn't want to be seen by anyone who might recognize her. She reached into her bag and pulled out a dark blue hooded cloak and put it on. She drew the hood down over her face and went hunting. The day was young and she needed to blow off some steam, so she did what she had done in Rivean and allowed herself to be seen going down dark alleyways alone and then utterly destroying the scum who tried to rob or rape her.

Megumi had built up an impressive body count of fifteen street toughs before the sun had begun to set. She had scored an extra two TPs and she placed one into Eldritch Blast and the other into Blood Golem Mastery. In just a day of farming, she had substantially increased her powers. Feeling good about herself she ducked out of a dark alleyway and out into the main street of the city. She also took a moment to allocate Poro-tan's TPs that he had gained from the big battle. She put all three of them into his Adrenaline skill, bringing it to level 5.

Lamp lighters were going along the street and lighting the various lanterns with long poles. She picked up the pace and in what felt like no time at all found herself outside the stone walls surrounding the palace. Megumi took a deep breath and circled around the wall, noting the guard patrols as she went. There were four guards in full plate stationed outside the main gate and she regularly saw patrols of guards in groups of five following a route around the walls.

She ducked into another dark alleyway and pulled her hood down tight, watching for a patrol to pass. This was extremely boring work, but it had to be done. She couldn't just go charging into this without being even more careful than she had with the thieves. Most of those pitiful wretches had been extremely low levels with poor equipment, which was just about the opposite of the palace guards.

After a while, she picked up the pattern of the patrols, there were groups that came past her every twenty minutes or so. The large groups of well trained fighters would be a problem without Poro-tan, so she would need to rethink this and remember this information for later. Once the next guard patrol passed her hiding place, she headed out of the alleyway and back towards the guild hall. It was now getting pretty late into the evening and the crowds had thinned out. Just how long was Megu sitting there watching the guards? Maybe Poro-tan is awake. she mused as she trudged down the main street through the noble quarter of the city.

By the time she got back near the guild hall it had gotten really late. The streets were more-or-less empty and most of the businesses had closed up for the night. Taverns were the only places open this late and as she passed by one near the guild hall, what she was looking for exited onto the street; a group of three guards, one of which had the marks of a minor captain on her helm, which she held at her side, walked out into the street about fifty paces in front of her.

Finally. Megu was starting to think that she wouldn't get a chance at this tonight. Instead of going back to the guild hall, she ducked into the nearby shadows and took out her staff. She watched as the two men and a woman headed up the street away from her chatting quietly as they swayed back and forth clumsily here and there. Once she was sure they were far enough away, she began trailing after them, keeping to the shadows, for the next several minutes. Once the guards were in a particularly dark stretch of street, Megumi grinned as she gripped her staff and fired off an Eldritch Blast, perfectly hitting her target and killing him instantly.

The other two guards jumped back, but were clearly intoxicated as they staggered and had slow reaction times. Megumi took aim again in the confusion and took out the second male guard with ease. The captain had unsheathed her sword and had spotted Megumi. The woman took up a fighter's stance and was prepared to charge in for the attack when one of her comrades stabbed her from behind.

A look of shock and horror came across the woman's face as her sword clattered to the ground loudly. Megu has you now! As the life drained out of the woman and her eyes went dim, Megumi cast Soul Trap and had the undead guard remove his blade simultaneously. The spark of life came back to the woman and instantly Megumi restricted the woman's movements as well as her voice. It would take a little time to show this woman who was boss, but if she was lucky, she would break just as Poro-tan had at the threat of destruction of her immortal soul.

With a silent command, Megumi had the two regular undead guards grab their former captain and drag her into a dark alleyway. Unfortunately for a few beggars, they had occupied the alleyway and had to be silenced. Megumi didn't allow that to bother her as she had found her focus once more. She was going to kill the king and at last get a taste of that sweet revenge she had been thirsting for all of these years.

Megumi squatted down next to the woman who stared up at her with wild eyes filled with fury and indignation. Megumi simply leaned in closer with a wicked grin on her face. "You belong to Megu now. Your existence is now and forever in Megu's hands and if you do as you're told, Megu won't have to snuff out your immortal soul. Just so we are clear on this, Megu will now show you the agony of which she can inflict upon you."

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The grinning necromancer took hold of the line of Eldritch power that had bound this woman's soul to the mortal plain as if by a net and exerted her will upon it. The power squeezed the woman's very soul causing the penultimate amount of agony that could be inflicted upon a person. The captain could not scream, Megumi wouldn't let her, but the agony and suffering showed in her face and tears flowed freely from the woman's eyes.

After spending the next hour doing this to the woman, Megumi relented and returned the woman's control over her head to her. "Do you understand your situation? Will you be a good toy for Megu, or is further punishment required?"

The woman squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before opening them again and staring at Megumi in defiance. "Go to hell, bitch." The captain turned her head and spat on Megumi's shoes.

Megumi sighed. She guessed that not everyone would be so weak willed as Poro-tan had been, but it didn't matter. This woman would break eventually and would do as she wanted. Megumi didn't really want to have to break her new toy, but it seemed that it had to be done. She mentally took control of the woman again and the four of them went back to the street. After a few minutes of walking, they found an inn nearby and went inside.

The place was quiet and a elderly woman sat at the front desk, half asleep as they entered. "Welcome to the Red Cardinal, do you need something?"

"We need a room for the night," Megumi replied.

The woman's eyes moved towards the guards and the captain who stood behind her. She had made sure that the two male guards had their helms on and were carefully hiding their wounds. The woman was half asleep and probably wouldn't even notice, anyway. "Are you escorting this girl or something?"

Megumi had the captain nod her head. "How much is it for a room for the night?"

"120 GP per night."

Megumi slid enough money across the table for two nights and the woman handed over a key, telling her that her room was on the second floor at the back of the hallway. The four of them silently strode through the inn and into the room. It was small and plain, but there was a window facing the street. It wouldn't be fun to drop down from later, but it couldn't be helped. She needed to get back to the guild and check on Poro-tan.

"Put her over on the bed."

The undead minions complied and dragged their captain over to the bed and laid her down. Megumi walked over to the bed and sat down next to the woman. "Since you aren't being a very obedient toy, you'll need to be taught respect. Megu has business to attend to, and until she returns, you will suffer in silence. Perhaps Megu will be back tomorrow. Have a pleasant evening," she said mockingly as she ratcheted up the woman's pain as much as she could and walked over to the window.

The cold night air greeted her as a gentle breeze blew through the window. Megumi rubbed her cheeks against the frigid cold and gingerly climbed out the window and let herself drop to the ground with a thud. It hadn't been the most dignified escape she had ever made, but it didn't matter. She stood up and brushed off the dust that had gathered on her dress from the fall.

She grinned to herself and looked up at the window she had come out of. Now all that there was to do was to get Poro-tan a job with the guards. It would be easy with a recommendation from a ranked officer. Megumi hummed a happy tune to herself as she wandered off into the night and back towards the guild hall.

Spoiler: Poro-kun's Stats

Name Hideki (Poro-kun) Level 029 (57,644/59,230 EXP to next Level) Class Warrior HP 9/2000 MP 75/75 TP 0 Adventurer Rank B Attributes Vitality 71 Magic 32 Endurance 66 Magic Resistance 37 Strength 63 Luck 6 Agility 54   Dexterity 45 Passive Skills • Warrior's Essence - Level 5 (+50 HP regeneration/min)

• Sword Mastery - Level 7 (+70% proficiency with swords)

• Tiger Style - Level 2

• Turtle Style - Level 2

• Stalwart - Level 1 (+10% natural defense)

• Fortify Health - Level 3 (+150 HP)

• Adrenaline - Level 5 (Killing an enemy gains you one stack of Adrenaline. Each stack adds +2 to Strength, Vitality, and Agility for 4 minutes. Maximum stacks: 5) Active Skills • Holy Blade - Level 1 (Envelope blade in holy aura for 15 seconds)

• Shockwave - Level 3 (Release shockwave from blade)

Spoiler: Megu-chan's Stats

Name Megumi Level 030 (61,500/65,513 EXP to next Level) Class Necromancer HP 475/475 MP 1500/1550 TP 0 Villain Rank C     Adventurer Rank D Attributes Vitality 19 Magic 81 Endurance 12 Magic Resistance 53 Strength 6 Luck 19 Agility 10   Dexterity 10 Passive Skills • Mage's Essence - Level 6 (+180 MP regeneration/min)

• Fortify MP - Level 2 (+100 MP) Active Skills • None Necromancer Magic

• Sanguine Infusion (50 MP) - Level 15 (Absorb life essence of recently deceased, 15% chance to gain +1 TP from human victims [Cap reached. Lvl Requirement for Lvl 16, (50)])

• Corpse Explosion (30 MP) - Level 7 - (+70% damage from explosion)

• Corpse Absorbtion (10 MP) - Level 1 (Absorb a corpse's essence. Recover 80 MP)

• Raise Undead (20 MP) - Level 11 (Raise weak undead to fight for you. Max: 55)

• Undead Mastery - Level 4 (+20% to stats of Raised Undead)

• Summon Blood Golem (500 MP) - Level 1 (Raise a Golem to fight by your side by using the blood of the fallen. Max: 1)

• Blood Golem Mastery - Level 3 (+12 Minutes to summon duration. +15% defense, +15% attack power)

• Soul Trap (350 MP) - Level 2 (Trap soul of a recently defeated foe. Max: 2 [Cap reached. Lvl Requirement for Lvl 3: (60)] )

• Soul Trap Mastery - Level 7 (+28 to all stats of Summoned Soul, except luck. Max level reached. Lvl requirement for Lvl 8: 50)

• Spirit Barrier (100 MP) - Level 2 (Erect a barrier using souls of the dead for fuel. Blocks spells and projectiles)

• Magic Skin - Level 5 (Actively consumes MP to negate physical and magical damage. Higher levels lower the MP cost)

• Decay (120 MP) - Level 5 - (25% chance of success. Causes body to rot from the inside out causing extreme pain and slowing movement at joints)

• Siphon (70 MP) - Level 1 - (Drain health of enemy at a rate of 10 HP/second for up to 5 seconds. 30% chance of success.)

• Eldritch Blast (75 MP) - Level 14 (Unleashes a roiling ball of Eldritch energy that burns its subject on contact for 5 seconds)