My aunt buzzes around the apartment cleaning and cooking at a feverish speed. She every now and again looks toward me and Zeyra who sits across from me in the first-floor lounge. Zeyras expression is outright murderous and I can't help but look down at the floor. Mekare isn't helping, in fact, she is making things worse with her quips, something about being overjoyed that my fiance is here, and just the vague mentioning of inappropriate topics. Zeyra finally asks,

"Well, Isa... it's been a few months and you've been busy. Unfortunately, our arrangement can no longer be postponed according to Father. Looks like our freedom has been ended. How unfortunate."

I nod and ask,

"Do you think calling it off is possible?"

She laughs wickedly and answers,

"Not at all. I want that inheritance, and I want this over with without ruining my reputation. So what dates work for you?"

We discuss plans and dates, I make sure she understands I am currently on a timer and have to be ready for challengers coming my way at any given time. We agree on a week's time from now, at the Basilica near the Hasslerouge home. It pains me to use the church of my enemy, but what has to happen has to happen.

My Aunt feeds us honestly a little too much, constantly waiting on us in order to catch a full wind of our conversation. It's kinda funny, to be honest. With our date agreed upon Zeyra leaves like the building is on fire and I am left with my Aunt and Mekare. I sit there and think while absentmindedly chowing down on my Aunt's wonderful cooking. I then have a small idea enter my brain, a terrible one... but one that will absolutely further my plans.

I look to Mekare and ask,

"How many of your compatriots can you gather in the time before the wedding? The ones from the academy situation."

Mekare stares at me blankly for a second and asks carefully,

"What... what are you planning in that fucked up mind of yours?"

I give her a smile and explain through bites of food,

"I won't exactly go into full detail, but my plans require Blake to gather the other heroes from neighboring countries. What if the Demon King, well what if he committed another attack that really hit hard at home?"

Mekare furrows her brow and responds questioningly,

"What about the Duke? If we use the same uniforms and armor then he will be able to rat us out since he isn't part of this plan."

Another devilish idea enters my mind and I answer,

"What if we gain leverage against him? Zeyra could be that leverage. A kidnapping. The Duke as much of an ass he is to me, a freed slave, is honestly not that bad of a father, and he truly does care for his children. All we need to do is plan how this is going to go and where things need to be. Plus I can deal a blow to the church possibly."

Mekare rubs her temples before telling me,

"I can probably get you twenty lower-ranking demons. Four succubi and of course, I will be a player. I am still in contact with the one holding onto that black armor of yours, and we have those masks still. "

I nod and give her a winning smile and state,

"Now, let's get the details sorted, my greatest Lieutenant..."

Time was short, so everything had to be rushed pretty badly. In the end, though I think I managed to get everything set up to a satisfactory level. I sit in the hold of a fake Blake class airship. It's really one of the much cheaper steamer ships composed largely of wood, but we built a mockup around it in under a week. Less than three millimeters of metal was used, mostly tin and cheap iron polished to look like the expensive hardened armor of the normal ironclad. The cannons are nothing more than carved and painted logs. It was still expensive as fuck, but the job is done. The cargo holds of the freighter are loaded with incendiary mixtures and other explosives.

The ship steams toward the church where I am supposed to tie the knot in less than ten minutes. As far as everyone else knows I am arriving via airship in some sort of theatrical arrival of the groom, considering I have no family to escort me, well I have my aunt but she sure as hell isn't going to be at this... tragedy about to unfold.

Mekare stands across from me, wearing a mockup version of the black armor. She looks uncomfortable in the black leather and a bit apprehensive with the flaming sword we prepared. There is no other crew on the ship aside from her recruited demons. Some wear the armor of the Stella Coyote, others in the bunny-eared masks and black armor. Everyone is armed to the teeth. The lookout then shouts down,

"We are in visual range!"

I lock eyes with Mekare who lowers the faceplate of the helmet with a nod. I pat the sack of red wine hidden under my formal dress and with a sigh prepare for another good show.

I get onto the top deck and stand on the tip of the bow waving happily as we approach. Judging by the movement in the courtyard around the church, they see me and many appear happy to do so. Over the heartbeat of steam, I can hear some distant cheers. Then the first flammable hold detonates. The pressure from the sudden expansion of gasses creates a fairly controlled explosion, tearing a horrible wound through the side of the airship and causing fire and black smoke to rise out of the wound. I nearly fall off of the ship but hear metal boots hit the ground behind me. With my audience before me, I prepare for the show.

Mekare, dressed in black armor stands with the flaming sword ignited and ready. The fake crew and the demons begin having a completely fake melee on the top decks. The crew is quickly "defeated" and they fall into the woods below where the demons stop their own descent with their wings before changing into the bunny-eared uniform we had prepared earlier. Corpses of some slave traders we... acquired, replacing the "fallen" crew. Mekare and I discuss some random bullshit, making look like some sort of monologue off before we begin our swordfight.

Simply put, Mekare and I are somewhat equal in strength, her being strong for a woman of her size a build, and me being sub-par for a man of my size and build. The real difference is our sword fighting ability, she is absolutely terrible, but our little show has me on the back foot, making sure everyone knows the black armored man is beyond normal means of strength and power. Every time we block or parry I damn near jump backward as if I were knocked clean off of my feet. I rotate toward the main part of the ship as the church bells ring in alarm at the attack. Finally, in a show of dominance Mekare slashes across my chest, cutting the sack of red wine open, and an overblown spurt of "blood" explodes from my chest. I fall backward into an open hatch and land on a waiting mattress. I get up as Mekare does a fake evil laugh with her hands on her hips as she leaps down after me. We then start changing.

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We both strip but there is no time for jokes or taking in the good views. I get into a nice set of underclothes and climb into the black armor, preparing for the pain I'll face later after many of my bones are broken thanks to my early designs of runic armor. I did adjust it slightly, I put some extra bracing on certain joints which in theory should reduce the chances of bad dislocations of bones, ruining the invincible persona I'm creating here.

Once dressed, Mekare in the leather and mask from the attack before we stand in the ritual circle, the eight corpses of forest bandits lying within, then the teleportation spell begins.

In a flash of light, we are in a back room of the church, right behind the altar. I take a moment to recover from the vertigo that came from teleportation as the gargantuan explosion shakes the stone building. After everyone left the ship, flying toward the church as a horde of demons the ship exploded. With that done and my head steady again, it's time to really act.

We sneak through the corridors until we exit through a secret passage some of my spies had found for us. This puts us right onto the altar, where no one is looking at the moment as the airship slams into the forest, visible through the massive and open front doors. The bishop of Serena stands in awe next to Zeyra who looks beautiful in her all-white dress and veil. I nod to Mekare who casts a spell, basically a flashbang mixed with a smoke grenade. A loud boom and then a cloud of smoke. Afterward, Mekare grabs Zeyra from behind and I hear her cast some spell under her breath, causing my fiancee to somewhat slouch in her arms. Mekare told me she could do some spells that make people really sleepy, but not actually put them to sleep. This must be one of them. As everyone turns to face the sound and as the smoke clears I drive the flaming sword through the back of the bishop before lifting him high with one arm. The armor's enhancement makes this easy, but I do hear something pop inside my body. With him lifted I toss him behind me and onto the main altar where he is impaled by Serena's version of a monstrance.

After the last attack aside from the joint reinforcements I also added a long and billowing red cape. That and a runic voice changer to the helmet, but that required a redesign so I can't take any hits to the head as the impact-dampening rune had to be removed, but with the physical advantages given to me by the armor, that shouldn't be an issue.

I flip my cape upward, adding some extra flair to my arrival. I let everyone take my badass entrance in as I scanned the crowd. Godiva is being escorted by Sertean and only a single other royal guard, so she will be out of this fight because they will "do their job" and get her out of here. Henna had helped me design the guest list so the crowd and is composed largely of people I can kill without feeling too bad. The Hasslerouge family has been seated in a corner but in the front row. The rug underneath them hides a massive ritual circle that begins to glow as the two guards near them fall dead thanks to some crossbow bolts fired from the rafters of the church. A magical barrier covers the Hasslerouge family, protecting them, and protecting me from the Duke and Violet.

I lock eyes with Duke Hasslerouge who glares at me with a firey fury as Violet, quick to react begins banging on the barrier uselessly. My calculations told me I have ten minutes to do the whole act before Violet gets out and tries to skull fuck me. She is the only one who has the magical ability to surpass the physical enhancement runes on my armor, and from watching her train, she can easily double the runic capability.

The only issue I can think of is a wildcard. The knight from my first knight at the Hasslerouge manor. He wasn't trapped in the barrier, he stands at the ready with his blade drawn, and slightly glowing with magical power. Blake isn't an issue. He received a bad invite and is going to be a day late until he gets word of this attack, by then it will be too late.

Right now there is only that single threat to the plan, right in front of me. Godiva screams in fury as Sertean and the other guard drag her away from the fight. I remember Sertean telling me that the king ordered the guards to evacuate her from any situation where the black armored man came back. Of course, Sertean is in on my plan, it's just that he is justified in this situation. I let out my best evil laugh and start a monologue, I have to get plans into motion with this, so I start bullshitting,

"Good afternoon nobility of the Alrius Kingdom! I'm sure you are glad to see your true king has returned! My most benevolent lord, the Demon King, has offered me a fine bounty for the capture of this here girl! I couldn't think of a better time than at the altar!"

Using my flaming sword I smash a few holy relics. I then continue,

"Of course, for this price he has offered me this kingdom in his coming crusade against the false rulers! "

The knight then growls at me,

"Tell me, what is your lord planning? You spoke of other rulers?"

I hold my hand to where my mouth is over my helmet and say,

"Oh my! Looks like I've said too much. Oh well, if you must know, soon us loyal to his cause, us who wish for our old thrones or other reasons will rise under our lords' guidance and with his help! "

The man scowls deciding whether to attack or not, he most likely heard of my fight with Godiva, who despite her age and lack of combat experience still is an incredibly potent mage. I kinda hope he doesn't, because everyone else in the church is either panicking and running out of the building, or is currently getting butchered by the demons I brought along, targeting specific nobles based on Hennas information.

It sows chaos, creates a fearful society, and gets rid of a few strong supporters of the royal family and the church. Of course, some try to stop and fight, their magic potent thanks to noble lineage, but anytime a spell is at the ready they get swooped down on by the demons, and get impaled or slashed with various weapons designed to look as demonic as possible, while still being fairly useful. Most of all, I want him to survive to share what I said, to back up what I will report after I miraculously survive the ship crash.

A big portion of the plan comes from discrediting Duke Hasslerouge too. Not only will I have some leverage over him now, but the royal family and others will have a hard time being his ally in politics due to the demon forces sparing him and his family in a defensive shield. I keep yappin' for a while, just building up a sort of end-game villain while one of the demons creates another teleportation ritual around me. Using dead nobles it increases the number we can teleport and how far. The knight continues to just stare at me holding his sword, still weighing his options, trying to decide what actions he should take. Fight me or save the nobles? It's a bad choice no matter what, I also get the feeling that Mekare is messing with emotions and will to fight as a thin fog fills the room, not enough to notice, but a fog all the same.

With the ritual done, the knight having hesitated too long I slash into some fine cloth on the altar, setting it alight beginning a fire in the church. I give an overblown bow and with a flourish of my cape the ritual flashes as all the demons dive into the circle teleporting alongside me, Mekare, and Zeyra.

We appear a few meters away from the burning wreckage of the airship we arrived on. After a few moments as we all deal with the vertigo from teleportation, someone lets out a cheer, and high fives are given all around. From reports, I learned we didn't lose a single terrorist. I can't help but smile a little out of pride as my plan worked almost perfectly. I take off the black armor and change into a separate set of nice clothes. One of the demons gives me what is effectively a pain-killer potion and then I feel the horrible burn as a blade is slashed across my chest. Not deep enough to kill but I see stars and almost collapse in pain. The demons then kick the shit out of me and use burning wreckage pieces to burn my clothes slightly. I am drug into the wreckage, then I crawl out, dragging myself, leaving a blood trail. One of the demons cauterizes the wound on my chest with a hunk of hot metal and then I lie there as they leave to our predetermined final meeting place...

As I lie there, pretending to have experienced a massive ship crash, I start to think. Everything went to plan. I contemplate the potential outcomes from this attack, and how I will twist events to produce the outcome I am looking for. One of the biggest issues is getting Blake out of the country, and hopefully gathering a bunch of heroes in one place. While I am confident I can 1v1 Blake but, if the goddess possesses him, I don't know what she is truly capable of, and I'm certain at this point she will take our fight seriously unlike Bullhard.

I don't feel bad about this attack, every kill was strategic in nature. A bunch of royalist nobles and a few of the Hasslerouge allies. I'm surprised no one noticed the complete lack of Frontiersmen at the wedding, but I can explain that on religious grounds or something. Not only that, but only the family heads and adult heirs were targeted, and all of them had at least one Frontiersman slave. The financial strain of losing these important nobles could result in us being able to buy their slaves from their failing estates.

I lie there worried no one would actually come to check for survivors, but eventually, Godiva appears through the woods with a contingent of royal guards. They haul me to my feet and I act dazed and more injured than I am. They load me onto a cart and I am wheeled away, off to get healed up, with the sympathies of the princess, as Sertean leads the body recovery, intentionally obscuring the true nature of the body doubles used...