Chapter 44

Gelded Flayer

Nick and Martell ran as fast as they could to Connie’s side. The scruffy paladin grabbed his fallen shield and drew his sword as he ran, ready to fight at any moment’s notice. Behind him, Martell followed, his body covered with bruises and scratches from rolling across the forest floor.

Along the way, he noticed two dead enemies lying on the ground, one with broken neck and one with a face caved in.

What greeted them when they arrived was not what they expected. They were expecting a bloody fight, not the standoff that was happening currently.

The leftover of Connie’s technique left smoking gashes in the ground, along with the bodies of three horses and a man with broken legs under the body of his horse, screaming his lungs out.

Jorgen knew these people and their strength. To be handled so easily by someone like her meant that she must be one of the Kingdom’s elites. Judging by the material she wore she might be one of those Elite Knights of the Order.

“I’m serious!” the man said, pressing his sword to her neck and drawing a bit of blood. Beside him, the last unhurt rider had taken his own sword and threw away the sheath before sidling forward to cover for Jorgen.

“And so am I,” Connie said calmly, arms folded while she rubbed her chin with a thumb.

Nick was surprised by the unexpected neglect of the country’s most important woman, second only to the Queen. “Milady! The Maiden of Water is the face of our country! If she is compromised in anyway it’ll besmirch the name of our kingdom!”

“Have you ever met the Maiden before now?” the girl asked.

“Well, no –“

“Then what do I care about a girl I’ve never met before?” Connie laughed sarcastically as she gestured towards the captured Maiden, who - though gagged and bound - could still express her surprise through her wide-eyed stare. “Kill her! Maim her! I care not. Her fate is not of my business.”

“M-milady. That’s…a bit too harsh, don’t you think?”

“This coming from a guy who kicked a sickly girl out to the slums out of self-interest?” Connie raised an eyebrow. “Being a brute who’ll do dirty shit out of loyalty is one of the reasons I chose to employ you, Nick. Don’t start acting like a white lotus now.”

“Milady, you’re…too blunt,” Nick gave her a belligerent look. “Also, what the hell is a lotus?”

“Fuck! Don’t ignore me! You better back off or I’ll kill her!” The loud moaning of the man under the horse and the irritation of the plan going array had made him furious.

Connie sighed. “You’re still here? Why aren’t you running away?”

“Clearly they are not used to kidnapping, Mistress,” Martell said. “Wearing armor and clothes with no special features are great, even using people with no clear accents to hide their affiliations. But it’s no use if you don’t change your stance. That sword stance is from the Island of Ylagos, isn’t it? One of the battle slaves I knew was from that island.”

The man in front of Jorgen looked surprised and glanced at Jorgen with worry.

“C-calm down! They’re just bluffing!”

“Are we? Or are you? There must be a reason why you kidnapped her instead of outright killing her. Therefore, you must have a use for her. Although what is I don’t know, and I don’t care. What do you think, Martell?” Connie said.

“Kidnapping the Maiden. Either you are going to use her as a hostage or to create a reason for war. We can find out later when we interrogate you.”

Connie began stepping towards the man wielding the sword before her. She was getting so close to him, yet the man did not seem to register her presence.

He lowered his sword and swayed back and forth. “What are you doing?! Attack her!!”

“Mmmmgh!” The Maiden of Water did not seem scared, but the pain of her open wound being grazed again by the cold edge of Jorgen’s sword made her suck air to calm her nerves.

Connie caught the man as he began to fall and choked him to death with one hand before letting him fall to the ground.

Jorgen wanted to shout, but at that moment a slightly sweet smell registered in his nose. He began to sway and the corner of his eyes were twitching. His body felt loose and he fell to his knees behind the Maiden.

“W – whaa…t did you…” he then fell sideways, unable to stay upright anymore.

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“#51,” Connie uttered a number, continued by a name. “Monkey Love.”

“That is the name of the muscle relaxant poison I infused into the blades of Yin Energy I sent out. This particular creation of mine is based on Moonseed plants. It is very volatile and fast acting. It is amazing that the people here use the plant as fence decoration. To make sure that it sticks, I maintained our standoff with nonsensical babble,” Connie appeared to ponder this as she stepped forward. “The first effect will give you weak knees I likened to an adolescent boy upon the sight of their first love. The moment you smelled the sweet smell of berries, you’ll have already lost muscle control.”

“Don’t worry. The amount I used would only rob you of your limbs, even after being diluted. A stronger one would just make a mess. We don’t want incontinent captives, right? Ah, look! Your pupils are starting to dilate.”

As she was commenting on her poison, she realized that the blue-haired young woman was still standing. Her eyes still even though she had inhaled the poison.

“…Hm? You don’t seem as affected,” Connie said as she walked to the Maiden, whose dark blue eyes reflected her visage.

“Mmm.”

“Ah, the gag.”

Connie ripped her binding and gag apart, earning her a look of mixed emotion. There was gratefulness in it, but also apprehension.

Now that she was out of her binding, Connie could see that she was a beauty. Dark blue eyes and cerulean blue hair, with full lips and motherly figure, which was covered by the habit of a High Priestess of Junnaveil. Also, though there was no rouge or makeup on her face she was beautiful even without them.

As beautiful as a natural lake.

“Iii…am often…expooosed to…poison. Soo…my resistance is…strooong.”

And apparently as slow as one.

Instantly Connie felt the urge to slap her. But she simply smiled wanly and moved to Henrietta, who was forgotten by everyone in the standoff. She was affected by the poison and was now fighting to stay awake.

Connie ungagged her and broke her bindings.

“Con…nie?” The girl asked as she looked through blurry eyes.

“Here, drink.”

She let Cornelia’s old friend drink an antidote from her Item Ring.

“Hoow…is…shee?” The Maiden asked.

“She is fine. Just have to shake off the grogginess.”

“I am…sorry…Henrieetta…if only…I didn’t…ask yooou…to cooome with…meee.”

Henrietta sat up slowly, swallowing a few times before looking at the Maiden with a relieved smile. “I’m just thankful that you are fine, Maiden.”

There was a bitter look from the blue-haired maiden as Henrietta spoke.

“Aaah!!”

Henrietta yelped when a loud groan of pain reached her ears.

Everyone looked at the source and saw that the rider trapped under the horse was currently very much still alive and very much still suffering.

“Can one of you shut him off?” Connie asked with annoyance.

“Is it safe to go there?” Martell asked. “I’ve seen the effects of your poison, Mistress. I don’t want to be affected.”

“Yes. It’s safe. That guy was upwind so he didn’t get poisoned.”

“Okay, then. Look away ladies!”

Nick stood over the man and plunged his sword into his chest, ending his suffering.

“What about the leader?” Nick asked.

“We can get better reward if we capture him,” the beastfolk boy suggested.

“Then take him with us. Don’t forget to break his legs to keep him from running,” Connie stood up and said. “Stay here and let the antidote work.”

Hearing the cruel and callous way Connie ordered her people to kill and break the bones of the kidnappers, Henrietta could scarcely believe her ears.

“Is this…the Connieee that…yoouu told meee…about?” The Maiden asked with interest. She felt rather scared of her, but also intrigued. She was decisive, cunning, and not beneath using poison to win. Far different from the righteous and kind girl Henrietta told her about.

“Y-yes…she is. But I’ve never seen her like this, m-maybe it’s her party members that’s strong,” she said, still in disbelief. She was not able to see much when she fell as she landed with her back turned towards the standoff.

“She…crushed…thee…neeeck…of ouuur…attackers. With heer…bare haaands.”

“What?!”

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Away from the gossiping pair, Martell had tied Jorgen’s legs and arms well using the reins. Another result of learning on the job.

But then they heard an eerie voice, which made them jolt.

“Ooh, weak. So weak. Humans are indeed so weak. Even after we provided them with our Demonic Strength Potion,” the body of the man that Connie had kicked his face in, jerked. His limbs cracked and the body began moving in inhuman ways. The voice came out of the man, but it did not come from his mouth.

“But I cannot have the Maiden be free.”

The bones cracked and the skin rupture and his insides burst into flames.

The fire died within seconds, leaving a man-sized runic circle that burned into the ground. It began to glow yellowish green.

“Summoooning!!! Ciiiircle!” The Maiden shouted.

Connie sent out a Yin Energy blade to try and interrupt the process, but it was deflected by an arm that appeared from within the circle.

A humanoid creature rose from the glowing runic circle. It was at least 3 meters tall, with long pointed ears and grey skin that resembled that of a drowned corpse and looked as clammy. Two slightly curved horns protruded from its forehead, shaped like a bull’s. The creature had arms that were so long they almost touched the ground. The hands had only 4 fingers each, thick and fat with nails long as a human’s fingers. Its legs were skinny and wiry with cloven hooves.

Its body slightly hunched forwards as the thing walked out of the summoning circle.

“A-a demon!” Nick exclaimed in disbelief. He had never heard of a demon managing to infiltrate this deep into the kingdom.

The demon did not feel as dangerous as the Treant-Golem, but definitely more intelligent. And sometimes, having an intelligent enemy was harder than a merely strong one.

The demon raised his hand and spoke out a spell which echoed in their ears like it was spoken through a hollow tube.

“Astulgar. Gheild Faye.”

Thin, gnarled hands burst out of the dead men’s stomach. The hands folded back and spread apart the man’s body as if a chick coming out of its shell. Unfortunately, the creatures that came out of the men were not as cute as chicks.

There were 4 of them. Thin, skinless things with long, bony limbs and torso. Creatures borne out of a man’s nightmare. With blood and stomach acid of their hosts still staining their bodies, they unfurled their bodies, standing more than 2 and a half meters tall. At the end of their limbs were three claw-like appendages, each about a quarter of a meter long.

Their faces were like old branches, with eyes that were nothing more than slits. There were no mouths, no ears, no noses.

Even Connie had never seen something as eerie. These are made things, she thought. They looked like they are designed to die after fulfilling their purpose.

“Geeeelded…Flaaaayers!”

The demonic creature then ordered.

“Capture the blue-haired bitch.”