The scarlet hair of the woman became a shade deeper as she was drenched in the shower of blood.
In front of her were a number of snakemen. Beyond them were a number more birdmen. And surrounding these groups was a unit of roughly 1000 human legionnaires.
Each of them were frozen stiff, unable to move.
This was clearly the work of her excellency, who had the ability to take control of a person even from afar.
The facial expressions of the people had not been controlled, and as such the eyes of the snakemen and birdmen were filled with an explosive anger- one which could not be summed up in mere words.
"Without hesitation, these fiends must be wiped off the face of the earth."
Turning back with a bloodied face, Melody confirmed the thoughts of those beyond her.
"Shall I do it on my own?"
"Melody...."
"Are you.... are you alright?"
The spiky haired alchemist and the girl with the bobbed hair looked concerned over their friend, who's mind was clearly being eaten away at.
"I couldn't be better, my comrades. I am merely punishing the enemies of their excellencies. Look. These are the very snakemen who we deemed to be unforgivable ourselves. Why don't you join me in their elimination? After all, they are nothing more than.... parasites."
With a couple of nods, the three humans who stood behind the girl- Charlotte, Lance, and Pierre, stepped forward.
"You are right. We will help you."
With a smile, the four stepped forward to begin the culling.
However, at this moment, a voice called out.
"Please wait, Commander."
The four had now lined up side by side, however they turned back at the voice of a certain birdman.
Yirald, the woodpecker, was the one who spoke.
"Is there something wrong? Do you wish to assist us as well? Or is there something you have to say?"
"Commander, I wish to make a request. That one over there... he was once a good friend of mine. I would like to speak with him."
Yirald stepped forward without the slightest hint of backing down.
"Is that acceptable?"
The woman tapped her chin with her index finger.
"Hmm.... you wish to speak with that one over there.... for what reason? Is it because you believe that you can convince him to submit himself to their excellencies? Or perhaps it is to say one last goodbye? Or maybe-"
[Allow it, Melody.]
The seductive voice of the succubus resounded in the minds of Melody and Yirald, allowing his request.
With a sudden change in expression, Melody smiled.
"You heard her excellency. I don't know why you wish to do it, but she has allowed you to do so. Go ahead."
With a nod, Yirald bit his lip.
"Thank you, your excellency...."
Walking forward through the plain of frozen figures, Yirald came to a halt in front of the hawkman, who's eyes were filled with rage and hatred.
"Erasalis...."
Yirald looked to the ground, barely able to contain his emotions. His head began to ache, and he found it difficult to even speak.
"Why have you come here?"
[I will allow his mouth some freedom of movement.], the voice of the succubus stated.
"Yirald.... YIRALD!!! YOU TRAITOR!!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!! HOW DARE YOU SIDE WITH THEM!!!!! You.... Fergo... Relu..... how could you.... how could you!?!??!?! How could you go and take the sides with those demons who took over our people, destroying us from the inside out!?!?!? How could you betray your own kind like this?!?!?!?!"
With only his mouth free to speak, Erasalis began to berate his own former comrade with insults.
"And you dare to ask ME why!?!? I should be asking you that!!! WHY!?!?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?!"
Yirald looked up at his former leader.
Memories entered his head of his time as a child that was spent together with this birdman.
However, Yirald then looked at the raging eyes of this person in front of him.
"Erasalis.... why can't you see? You are the one who went too far. You are the one who betrayed our people."
A tear came to the eye of Yirald, drawing a line down his cheek.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU TRAITOR!!?!? I GAVE EVERYTHING FOR OUR PE-"
"THEN WHY DID YOU DO NOTHING!?!?!?"
Yirald punched the face of Erasalis, bending over and panting heavily. The hawkman's movement seemed to free up for just enough time that he was allowed to fall to the ground before standing up quickly with rage.
"Why did you do nothing as our people lost their minds!? Why did you spur on the despair which you felt, spreading it to everyone else!?! Why did you encourage that wasteful partying, throwing away our food stores and telling everyone that it was the end of the world!?!?"
"Because it was!!!! It was the end of the world!!! You are the one who sided with those demons to save yourself!!!!"
"So you come and attack the very people who would spell the end of the world, instead of trying to pick yourself up and rebuild things? Did you just decide that death would be easier?"
"No!!! I can kill them!!! WE CAN KILL THEM!!!!! WITH THE POWER THAT THE HOST OF WRATH GRANTED US, WE CAN KILL THE ANTIHEROES!!!!!"
Yirald looked at Erasalis in shock.
"You.... did you just say the Host of Wrath?"
"That's right, Yirald!!!! A savior has appeared, and he is currently keeping the antiheroes at bay!!! Master Vex and the 7 house leaders have deemed the antiheroes to be their enemies!!!! They stand no chance against all 7 house leaders!!!! They will die for sure!!! AHAH!!!! Now all that is left is to destroy their cities and their people!!!!"
Yirald stepped back in terror as he heard Erasalis say these things.
"Erasalis..... you came here to destroy the city.... and to kill the people here?"
"Of course, Yirald!!! You people who have clung to those demons are just as evil as they are!!! But they won't come out on top in the end!!! In the end, we will be on top!!!!"
Erasalis seemed to grin with insanity as he shouted, and Yirald looked down with disappointment.
"To think I once looked up to you as a leader. First you abandon your people. Then you lead them astray. And now, you wish to destroy the innocent to take revenge for a punishment that was exacted upon you due to your own errors?"
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Yirald laid a punch right into the gut of Erasalis, who reeled over, throwing up.
"And then you have the gall to tell me that I am the one who is following demons, when you yourself have clung to another demon in order to fulfill your vengeance?"
Yirald looked around.
He saw all the people around him.
Many of them were birdmen who he knew before, and yet their faces were all filled with anger and disgust.
They were all enemies.
They were brainwashed by their own desire for revenge, and too far gone to recover.
This tore at the heart of Yirald.
Grabbing his chest, he began to choke up.
"Why.... why would you make me make this decision?"
"What are you talking about, Yirald!?!? Master Vex is our savior-"
"Then where is he right now? Where is this savior of yours? Is he fighting my masters?"
[Sorry to say, but he's nowhere close.], the succubus stated with a laugh, her voice being heard by all in the vicinity.
"Did you hear that, Erasalis? You've been fooled by a demon. He's fighting the antiheroes? Haha...."
Grabbing his own forehead, Yirald laid another punch right in the face of Erasalis.
"Why.... why would you make such a dumb decision? Why would you lead our people to this fate? Why!?!? I trusted you with my life, Erasalis!!!! I once viewed you as the greatest leader in the history of the tribe. I thought you would bring the birdmen to glory!!!!"
Looking down, Yirald turned his back.
"But I was wrong."
Yirald saw the faces of all the birdmen around him, and his vocal chords felt like they were going to close in on themselves.
"Do you remember when we used to go around through the streets, exercising in front of everyone else to gain awareness? I do. Like it was yesterday. Little by little, people started becoming interested in our exercises. Eventually some of the women started coming, and we got them to play that strange new music. And then, once everyone in the town was doing it, we decided to spread it to the lizardmen."
With a long sigh filled with disappointment, Yirald continued.
"The Determined showed up at our village, and she convinced us to head to that place over there with the slimes. Don't you remember? She even took part in our squatting. Like she was one of us. And yet she is the very leader of this nation. She is the one who leads the antiheroes. Are you telling me that everything she did on that day was nothing more than a lie?"
Yirald turned around, his face filled with determination.
"I have served underneath her for a while now. At first, I was terrified.... of what she was. It took me a while to see her as anything but a demon.... but after serving her for so long, I can say this with absolute confidence. I would die for the Determined if she asked me to. She is a far greater leader than you ever were."
"You've been fooled by her charm, Yirald!!!! She was nothing more than a demon hiding in the form of an angel!!!! She deceived us and lured us into that trap!!!!"
Yirald nodded his head.
"No. She welcomed us with open arms. She yelled at us and got angry sometimes when we made mistakes, but she would then change her demeanor and compliment us. At first we were terrified to even speak with her, but once we got to know her better, I realized something."
Yirald stepped forward, looking Erasalis straight in the eyes.
"The only reason why I saw her as a demon was because my eyes refused to see her as anything else. The moment I closed my eyes and reopened them, there was an angel in front of me."
"You've been fed lies by that demon!!! She's taken your mind!!!! I will kill you as well, Yirald!!! For betraying us!!!"
"I already said it before. You were the one who betrayed the birdmen. And as a result of that, you have sold your souls to a devil. Perhaps we did too. Perhaps by coming to this place, we did sell our souls to demons. But Erasalis, I will say one final thing."
The feathered hand of Yirald began to tremble as he lifted it up to the shoulder of Erasalis.
"We sold our souls to the right demon."
And with a fluid motion, his own hand penetrated the chest of his former comrade, who fell dead with a look of furious anger on his face.
The body plopped to the ground, and Yirald stood back, tears flowing from his eyes.
"I will never allow anyone to disrespect her eminence. Not even you, Erasalis. You have gone too far."
Yirald returned to his place in line, and Fergo put his wing on the shoulder of Yirald as he passed.
The two other birdmen were holding back their tears as well.
They understood well that Yirald did what was necessary.
They knew with every fiber of their being that their former leader had been completely lost.
Yet even so, they could not hide their emotions.
They wept for him, remembering the time they spent with him throughout their lives.
Leaning on one another, the three could not fill the holes in their hearts at knowing that they had done all they could, yet it was not enough.
'We.... must remain loyal to their excellencies and her eminence. That is first and foremost.'
'The things he said were unforgivable. It had to be done.'
'That he would go so far as to attack innocent people..... he truly became a monster.'
[Yirald. You did well. Be at peace.]
The reassuring words of his master played in his mind, and he nodded, wiping his tears.
[We will not forget the loyalty you have displayed here.]
The people around them became solemn, saddened at the scene.
'They told me the story before... but to think that their very friend would go and do something like this....', Charlotte thought.
'He took responsibility for the wrongdoings of his own comrade by performing the final blow himself.', Pierre mused, having gained respect for Yirald.
"Well, it looks like the emotional moment is over.", Melody stated, completely ignoring the mood. "Now it's time for me to exterminate these pests."
The four humans stood forward, each of them grabbing their own weapons.
Charlotte gripped her sickle and Melody twirled her wand. Pierre cracked his whip, and Lance grabbed a number of podlike spheres from his pocket.
"Let's cull these raging fools."
----
What followed was a massacre.
Having been completely restrained by the conscious mind control of Samantha, the snakemen and birdmen were slaughtered in moments.
Melody flew through the area spinning her wand around, using it to smash the heads of her enemies to pieces in an explosive rain.
Lance threw his pods at his foes, and their bodies withered into nothingness upon contact with them.
Charlotte sliced the people in two, removing their upper body from their lower.
Pierre did the same, wrapping his whip around the heads of the monsters and ripping them off, slicing through the necks like butter.
Blood and bodies now covered the plains, and in mere moments the raging monsters had been slaughtered.
The heads which remained in tact having fallen from the bodies were still filled with rage, as if it had been instilled into their very being.
It was so fierce that they could never let go of it.
For not a single moment had they shown even the slightest bit of fear as they were killed. Only the flowing anger.
"Now the people who served that horrible dictator truly are no more.", Charlotte commented.
"Yep. We took 'em all out. They won't be bothering anyone else or killing any more outsiders."
Walking back to their ranks, the three looked the birdmen in the eyes with sad faces.
"We ended up killing your tribesmen. I'm sorry.", Lance stated. "But they showed malice towards their excellencies and to our nation. We cannot allow that."
The three nodded with sincerity.
"I would not have killed my own comrade had I not been prepared for the deaths of every last person who came here today.", Yirald replied. "I hold no grudge."
"Neither do we.", Relu and Fergo said.
All that remained now were the humans, who Melody approached on her own.
"Ah ah ah. You lot.... are from the third legion, no? I believe I had a few jobs among your ranks in my previous life as an assassin. Your Legion Commander was quite the odd fellow, but he wasn't a despicable person."
----
'Who is this woman?'
'Who the hell are these people!?!?!?!'
Many of the people of the third legion were astonished at how the people in front of them so easily controlled and annihilated the monsters they faced.
'Were they not the reinforcements of those monsters?!?! They came from that city.... don't tell me.... could it be possible....'
One man in particular looked at the woman who's red hair draped from her head, almost dragging on the ground as it dripped with fresh blood.
"You.... I know you.... you are the scarlet fever, right?"
For whatever reason, this man's mouth had been released from control for a moment, allowing him to make this statement.
'The scarlet fever...'
'That mercenary!?'
'In a place like this?'
'Is.... is she the one who built that land of monsters!?!?!'
'Is that entire fortress her doing!?!?!!'
'I heard that she was a genius and incredibly strong.... but to take on all those monsters at once....'
'My goodness....'
'She's way stronger than the stories said....'
'Is she here to save us then!?! Has she come to rescue us from those monsters!?'
'We're.... we're saved!!! We may have been almost wiped out, but we're saved!!! There... there does exist a group of humans who can take on those beasts!!! And they've even put some of them under their control!!! Hundreds of them!!!! We can do this!!! With the help of this woman and her comrades, we can fulfill our campaign!!!'
The men in the field began celebrating, relieved that their enemies had been destroyed.
Even more relieving was that someone existed who could face such enemies.
'Perhaps humanity is not as weak as I thought...'
'Maybe it is just that we are weak.... but that doesn't mean all humans are weak!!!'
'We stand a chance!!! Even against these monsters!!!'
A certain General stood with a smile on his face, which had been lulled with calmness.
'Just as I thought.... everything will be alright..... it's just as the voice told me...'
With a smile, the woman approached the soldiers, looking back and forth between them.
"I've taken care of those pests. Truly, it is disturbing that such vile creatures could exist. I cannot believe anyone would hold hatred towards their excellencies. It is simply unfathomable. Don't you all agree?"
The soldiers felt their bodies be removed from their frozen status, and they were able to move freely again.
They began nodding vigorously.
"I don't know what you mean, but I agree!!"
"Of course!!! Those beasts were beyond insane!!!"
"Thank you so much for taking care of them, scarlet fever."
With a smile, Melody twirled her wand about.
"Ah, is that so, your excellency? I see. So even in a worst case scenario, they don't pose any threat?"
The soldiers approached Melody with gratitude.
"Thank you so much, mercenary!! Please, assist us!!"
The General who had been soothed by the voice of Samantha rushed forward to plead Melody for her aid, yet he was met with a baton to his head, which exploded into yet another rain of blood.
"Now that those who have insulted their excellencies through their words and actions have paid, it is time to collect from you all as well. We gave you a few extra minutes to live, given that your debt was slightly less."
The men went silent, unable to process what had just happened.
The corpse of the General fell to the body covered ground, just as the Legion Commander did earlier.
"But the fact remains that you all have stained their lawn with your pathetic conflict."
----