"It appears that the intruders have been taken care of swiftly."
Trevor nodded with a smirk as he viewed the screen in front of him with satisfaction.
"The data on the abilities of this so called 'Host of Wrath' has been acquired. I was able to obtain some footage of him when he used his abilities, and they're quite nasty. Fit for a demon if you ask me. To amplify the anger of an individual by removing their fear.... it sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it."
Despite his words, the elven figure didn't seem to be shaken in the least.
Garett sat up in his seat, leaning forward as his demonic arms hung in front of him.
"Fear is important. It stops animals from taking on predators that they can't handle. If fear is removed from someone, then what you really remove is their ability to calmly decide. Everyone is scared of something. Doesn't matter what. If you're in business or gambling, fear of losing out stops people from taking extreme risks. If you're working a job, fear of losing it is what motivates people to do their work properly. If you're with friends, fear of being thought of as strange is what forces people to put on a new face and pretend like they're someone they aren't."
With a chuckle, Garret closed his eyes and opened them.
"Fear is one of the driving factors of society. Without fear, everyone would just be a loose cannon who doesn't hold anything back. And this demon has the power to completely remove that fear from people."
Thinning his eyes, Garett became serious.
"Essentially, he has the ability to turn perfectly regular people into mindless beasts."
"Scary. Sucks to be the people who run into him.", Ashley commented as she lay on the floor as if she was making a snow angel, fluttering her spiritual limbs about.
"He is a nuisance. His ability is detrimental to any who it is used upon, and if he were to use it upon one of our own, it could prove extremely troublesome.", Trevor noted.
"And we don't know if it would wear off, even if he died.", Samantha added.
Nodding in agreement, Trevor looked up from his screen.
"Furthermore, he seems to have joined forces with these other 'Hosts of Sin', and they will be attempting to take us down soon enough. We should plan accordingly to take them on with all caution."
"But there's one more thing, isn't there? The real reason why we can't let this jackwad live. Heh.... keh..."
Ashley laid with her hair spread across her body, entangling herself in it as she stared at the ceiling with her drooping eyes.
"He tried to send those things to our city. That's more than enough reason to kill him."
Trevor nodded with a smile.
"Indeed. The very fact that he dared to send those beasts our way shows that he intended fully on harming our own people.", he replied.
Holding a glass in his hand, a crack formed, and the wine contained within it begun to spill out of the crack.
"It appears that there is no room for negotiation with this one. I will relay this information to the Determined, and we will allow her to deal with him."
The plains rolled by as the four in the carriage leisurely rode along.
Despite so many things happening halfway across the world, they were in control of everything.
Not a single piece of information slipped through their network, and this afforded them the luxury of being able to sit back, relax, and dictate.
Or so they believed.
Samantha switched tabs on her own screen to a different video.
This video showed a young female spiderling, dressed up in all sorts of baubles and trinkets like a plaything, fidgeting uncomfortably on a throne.
"Look, Theo. I've never seen her so flustered like this before. It's adorable."
Trevor glanced over to the screen with a stern expression.
"You don't feel any guilt for putting her in such a position? I feel sorry just seeing her squirm like that."
"It's fine!!! She looks so cute sitting on that throne, and all the people love her anyways.", Samantha replied.
"And you said it yourself, didn't you? If we sent her anywhere without explicit orders to not kill everyone, she would go right ahead and eliminate every last person. Say we put her on a throne and let the insectoids simp over her for a bit. She might not like it, but she'll be able to put on a fancy dress and have a proper conversation with people by the end of it.", Ashley muttered.
"As if you are one to talk.", Trevor stated. "But.... I suppose it is so that she gains value as a slave, so I will accept it.", he said with a sigh.
"And it's kinda fun to watch anyways.", the spiritual girl snickered.
"We shouldn't be using our treasured subordinates for entertainment."
"Why not?"
"Berith is among our elite. What would you do if she were to have a breakdown because of these harsh orders?"
"You're takin the real father position now, aren't ya? Heh heh... she'll be fine. Don't worry. I'm always right, after all."
Closing his eyes in acceptance, Trevor switched his screen over to a world map.
"Fair enough. I trust that her mental health will remain in tact. Should she suffer any permanent damage-"
"I think it will be the opposite. She will probably become a little more social because of this. She won't need to rely on her brother, and she'll be able to rule on her own. You're worrying too much.", Samantha stated.
With a smile, she placed her own hand on top of his.
"But it's that compassionate part that I love about you."
"Not the arrogant part?", Trevor asked.
"Well, that part too."
With a slight chuckle, the two returned to their work, monitoring the situation.
Through control of information and overwhelming power, they literally had the entire world dancing to their tune.
----
"Mercenary?"
"What.... what's wrong?"
"Why.... why did you just.... k.... kill...."
Smack.
Smash.
Splatter.
As if a red flash of lightning had struck the people, in an instant hundreds of bloodied bodies were on the ground.
Their heads and torsos had been smashed to a pulp, and the littered field became even more saturated with the viscous red liquid as they fell.
"Where did she go?"
"Oi.... Captain.... where did the Captain go?"
"Corporal?"
The men began to look around themselves, but they could not see the woman anymore.
The only thing they saw was a spark of electricity that flashed for only a second, connecting the dots in this 1000 step puzzle.
One man looked up. Hundreds of men in front of him were dead.
He then looked behind himself. Hundreds more were dead.
Looking forward once more, another 200 in front of him had died.
The bodies fell to the ground almost simultaneously, and in another instant, this man too could no longer even think to comprehend what had happened.
"You thought I was here to save you? After your comrades bled all over the land of their excellencies? Hahaha!! Quite the pests these ones were."
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Melody walked back to the army, her armor drenched in blood.
Every bit of her body was now red- not just her hair.
"I guess they're now dead so they won't even get to hear their mistakes. Should I have left them alive a bit longer?", she asked as she approached her comrades.
"I'm not sure. Either way they needed to be killed, so does it really matter in the end?", Lance asked.
"Good point. I guess it would have been nice for them to know, but either way it doesn't make a difference. After all, their punishment remains the same."
The lizardmen shivered as Melody made her way through them, opening a path for her without the slightest hesitation.
'The Commander is something else....'
'In just that moment she took them all out....'
'I don't want to get on her bad side....'
'Their excellencies will protect us from her.... right?'
There were three birdmen in particular who seemed resolved to the fullest.
"Have you all come to terms with yourselves?", the bloodied woman asked, without a hint of care in her voice.
"I'm... fine. I took care of Erasalis with my own hands. There is nothing more I could ask for."
With a nod, Melody continued walking through the army of lizardmen.
"Very well. Then let us head back to the city to await our next orders."
Many of the lizardmen were stunned at the power of their commander.
'I know that they were given power directly by their excellencies.... but this much!?!'
'Is there actually any point in moving out as an army!? Each of the people who have been acknowledged by their excellencies is worth an entire army on their own!!!'
The lizardmen once again were overcome with a sense of complete uselessness.
From the moment the antiheroes had shown up in their lives, it had been beaten into them time and time again.
They were inferior beings.
They were powerless, and their own strength as warriors was nothing in this world.
They learned this first when the war with the birdmen had ended so quickly, and Arlo had left the village.
They learned this again when the antiheroes had shown up in their village, completely dominating each and every one of them.
They now learned this a final time in seeing that not only were the antiheroes completely overwhelming in power, but even the people who they graced with abilities became monstrous existences in their own right.
It was enough to depress one who even tried to become strong through their own power.
It was beyond unfair, yet these lizardmen had accepted their own inferiority.
'We will never be worth anything.... unless we are acknowledged by their excellencies.'
'Only through becoming acknowledged by them will we ever be able to stand on another battlefield.'
With these thoughts, the lizardmen decided.
They would become a part of the armies of the antiheroes- but not in the way they were now. Right now, they were nothing more than spectators to any battle. They weren't even useful as pawns compared to the overwhelmingly powerful higher ranking officers.
It was as if one was playing chess and had a row of pawns, but then in the back row were three queens.
However, these were not just regular queens.
They were queens that could move to literally any position on the board at any time for any reason, and perhaps take as many turns as they wanted.
That was how overwhelmingly powerful these people were.
There was no point in even playing this game, for on the very first turn the person with these pieces would win. It would be checkmate before the game even started.
With these thoughts, the unit prepared to head back to the city.
"Ah, soldiers. We don't want any diseases or anything like that being procured. Please begin cleanup on the battlefield, and dispose of anything which might rot.", Melody stated.
With these orders, Lance opened his own jacket to take out what looked like a roll of thin sheets of plastic.
"According to his excellency these are called garbage bags. You can store the trash in here, and simply dump it into the poison moat. Apparently the poison within the moat has been specially designed to completely eradicate anything which comes into contact with it, therefore there will be no biproducts or pollution. It will take care of itself."
After distributing the materials to the lizardmen, everyone got to work. Melody and the others who had been acknowledged by Trevor stood side by side, watching as the others cleaned up the mess of flesh and guts.
"It's going to take a while, but with this many people working it shouldn't take too long.", Pierre noted with a nod. "We can't leave the lands of their excellencies with rotting bodies all over them, after all."
"Of course. The trash must be disposed of.", Melody added while feeling the back of her ear with a smile.
"Why did you think the humans were here anyways? Do you think they were attacking the monster realm? Could they have been trying to attack this city!?", Charlotte asked.
"It's likely. As a matter of fact, the first Legion was sent to the fishmen village to attack just recently. Maybe after that failure the Emperor decided to go with a frontal attack on the monster realm, sending these soldiers out. They got unlucky to meet up with those crazed birdmen, but in the end the result would've been the same if they really were attacking our city.", Lance responded.
"You didn't have any hesitation to take out even the members of your own race.", Arlo noted. "Even I might have been a bit sad if I had to take Rocko or some other lizardmen out."
"Our race? Is there some sort of rulebook that says we have to feel sympathy for other humans?", Melody asked, somewhat confused. "The only ones I care for are these three right here. Aside from that, I serve their excellencies and will only care for their vassals."
"An interesting view. I can't disagree though. What are our next orders? Their excellencies said that you four would be playing a part as their imposters. Have they given you those details yet?"
"We will be remaining at the Capital for the time being. They said that things were going to become chaotic soon enough.... and with the 7 Hosts of Sin having united against them, I'm sure they don't want to be making any reckless moves.", Melody explained.
"The 7 Hosts of Sin.... I only ever heard about them as a kid.... so they were real too?", Pierre noted. "I thought it was just a legend, just like the 3 monster kings. Though, here we are."
"I'm certain that they already have plans to deal with them.", Fergo stated with a grin. "We must simply await their orders. That is all."
The group nodded, and looking up it seemed that the trash bags which were given to the lizardmen had been filled with body parts.
The fields were still dyed with blood, yet this was a secondary matter.
"It seems that the immediately displeasing appearance of the precious territory of their excellencies has been recovered. Let's head back to the city."
With this order, Melody waved along to the lizardmen, who filed up.
The group made their way to the city, at which they dumped the trash bags into the moat of poison.
With fizzing and a horrible stench, the body parts boiled away.
The lizardmen filed into the city and retook their positions at the walls, and those labeled as the officers spread out, returning to their own positions.
As Melody walked alongside her comrades, Charlotte looked up to her.
"We defended the people of this city from potential attackers. Isn't that right?"
With a grin, Melody looked back at the three.
"Of course. That's all they were. Threats to be eliminated."
----
A female spiderling sat upon a throne of webs.
She wore a long dress and looked down upon the people below her, who were bowing with deep reverence.
Her face was not that of a queen. Rather, it was that of a flustered young girl who didn't know what to do in the face of so many people.
'Agh... they.... they're all bowing to me.... why? Why are they bowing to me!? If they were bowing to their excellencies it would be one thing, but me? I...'
The girl didn't dare to even so much as move, for fear that she would stumble on her own restraining garments, embarrassing herself in a way which she had already done multiple times.
'I.... I'm not a ruler.... I am a weapon. I am a weapon for their excellencies to use. A vassal to stand at their side until they need me.'
Looking down on the bowing insectoids, the girl let out an exasperated sigh.
'But.... a weapon has another purpose beyond fighting I suppose....'
With a light smile, Berith spoke up to the people before her.
"What is it? Have you all fulfilled the orders which I gave you?"
"Yes, Lady Berith!! Your popularity has skyrocketed within the village, and we have conducted a survey of each and every person as to whether they would prefer for you to remain seated on the throne or not. With full support from the people, we can proudly say that we accept you as our new queen!! Not a single person voted otherwise!!!!"
"Are you sure they weren't just intimidated? You people seemed awfully scared of me when I first showed up. Not to even speak of my masters."
"Lady Berith, it is with shame that we admit that we held fear towards the people of the spider race, however that is in the past!!! After everyone has witnessed your own adorable demeanor, would anyone ever have any fear towards you!?"
"Adorable?"
Berith looked down with displeasure on hearing such a word being used to describe herself.
"Did you just say adorable?"
"I did, Lady Berith. That is the consensus of the people. As our queen, you are adorable. We will give our all to defend you!!! We have followed the tenants of our former leader and welcomed outsiders into our midst. It is true that he was killed by your masters, but we are all certain that even within his death he has forgiven you, and is praying that you all will rule our city with care."
Berith rolled her four eyes at hearing this statement.
"Alright.... whatever you say....."
Berith looked around to the men, holding her back stiffly as she avoided any movement at all.
'There is one use for a weapon besides killing. Truly.... their excellencies are something else. I suppose even in this situation, I find myself in awe at their own ability to maximize every possible advantage they hold.'
"Then send out word to the people. If there are any who disagree with my rule, I would like to speak with them. I only want to hold a discussion, and find out what they are dissatisfied with. If they truly are fearful, then tell them they're free to run away."
"You are too gracious, Lady Berith!!! If there was a single person within this town who dared to speak ill of your own magnificence, and that of your elegant masters, then I would personally destroy them myself!!!"
Berith began to pick her teeth with one of her insectoid arms as the man spoke. A bit of acidic drool dripped onto the arm as she prodded her teeth, which she then wiped onto the arm of the throne which she sat on- causing a hole to be burned into it as it sizzled.
"Alright alright. I got it. Yeah yeah, I'm gracious and kind and whatever. So brother gets one woman for his slave and I get an entire village of em? And I can't even kill them off since they're the slaves of their excellencies now.... sigh...."
Berith looked off into the distance, shooing away the men in front of her.
"Go on now. Ah, and let everyone know that I am one thing, but if they dare to speak badly of their excellencies then I will personally slaughter them myself. Doesn't matter if they're fellow slaves if they're rebellious."
"I am sure some would be honored to be slaughtered by your hand, Lady Berith."
"That's real creepy. If they get enjoyment out of being killed by me then I'll send someone else to kill them."
As she looked into the distance, the four eyes of this spider drooped.
She was tired.
A smile came across her face, her two fangs peeking out of her mouth.
The man took his leave and Berith found herself about to fall asleep in the throne, having been left alone and with nobody to protect her- at her own orders.
Many of the men had been insistent on serving her. For some reason they had all flocked to her, despite her own rude comments towards them.
She pushed them away and yet that only further spurred them to come back.
It was the strangest thing. It was something which Berith could not possibly understand.
'Is this really all because their excellencies prepared these people for this? They tormented them and weeded them out perfectly so that my own rule would be smooth? Is that it?'
Another thought then popped into the head of Berith.
'Could it be that this is actually their version of giving me a reward!?!?'
Berith put her human hand to her chin in thought.
'No no no no... that can't be, right? They're just using me for entertainment.... or because they believe I can dominate these people.... I mean, look at how submissive they've become just by my arrival. It can't be that they are trying to reward me, right? I mean, they would never make a mistake and try to reward me with something so....'
Berith looked down at the dress she wore with discomfort.
'So.... constricted....'
Closing her eyes, Berith nodded.
'That's right. They're probably just using me for entertainment or for some other reason.'
Closing her eyes again peacefully after coming to such a conclusion, Berith nodded.
'After all, the only time a weapon isn't used for killing is when you put it in a case for show.'