Hm, that didn't go as well as I hoped it would...I'd already dispatched everyone else, looks like the next clash will be in the east, and the one in the west should begin shortly after. Still a little while before the enemies in the north encounter my forces.
Guess I should recall the south group, they're all linked up, along with the captive enemy pair in tow. And...reverse summon.
"Nicely done, you three. Especially you, Jhin, very impressive work," I greeted them.
"I am grateful for the recognition, my lord," He replied with a bow.
"It was only him, we couldn't do a thing," Grumbled Misen, looking frustrated.
"Regarding that, my lord, a thought occurred to me, and I have a suggestion," Spoke up Jhin, before I could reply.
"Go on, speak your mind," I prompted him.
"I believe that it will serve us better if our overall power is constantly increasing instead of stagnant...therefore, I believe that, instead of killing our enemies, we should capture them, and then transfer the life forces of the captive enemies into the individuals that captured them," Suggested Jhin objectively, "I am confident that this will be more efficient than simply killing them...we shall use them to make ourselves stronger, and therefore better preparing ourselves for future threats."
Huh...you know what, I like that idea. A lot. Yeah...yeah, that's an excellent idea, and there will be situations where it might not be an option, but when it is...
"I've considered it, and I've decided...Abyss will implement this suggestion effective immediately," I declared, giving Jhin a nod of approval, "This was an excellent suggestion, I'm impressed. I'm willing to grant you a reward for this, if there's anything you want, feel free to ask...so long as it's within my power, I'll make sure you get it."
It's important that I continue to inspire those under my command, and a good way to do that is to make them feel valued and important. That said, I was genuinely impressed by this suggestion, so I was being mostly sincere in my praise.
"I am honored, my lord...there is nothing I desire at the moment, would it be acceptable if I make such a request at a later date, when I have something in mind?" He asked, after mulling it over and unable to come up with anything.
"Sure, that's fine by me, take all the time you need," I replied with a nod, right as the doors opened and Az walked in, with someone in tow.
"I brought her, like you asked," He remarked, nodding at the person behind him.
"How may I serve you, Lord Kuro?" Greeted Nezera Autumn, one of the Vampire Knights.
"I-I'm, uh, gonna go now," Muttered Selesa, as Nezera gave her a lustful wink.
Oh, right, they've got a sort of history...they fought way back when the Vampires attacked the Rustlands, and that resulted in Nezera developing an obsession with Selesa, which the latter finds uncomfortable, ironically enough, considering how she always makes everyone around her uncomfortable.
"I want you to try and extract information from these two, Nezera," I remarked, nodding at the unconscious Elf and Halfling, "Torture them as you see fit, and if it turns out that they aren't going to talk no matter what, don't kill them...we can put them to use in a different way. Oh, and there might be upto six more enemies brought in, just so you know."
Given her sadistic preferences, I figured she'd be the most suitable to torture captives in order to extract information. According to Lazarus, she was responsible for that stuff back when he was the Vampire King, and was pretty good at it.
"Very well, my lord, I understand," She responsed, before glancing at the two captives with a hint of dismay, "Are they...both male?"
"Well, uh...yeah, they are. Does that matter?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Not really, no...it is just that, I...I prefer to do this with women," She replied wistfully, "I can torture men, as well, certainly, but...I do not really enjoy it as much."
"Hm...of the remaining six enemies, four are female, so it won't be all men. Is that alright?" I asked, kinda bemused by this conversation.
"Of course, my lord...I will not allow myself to be restrained by my own preferences. I shall save the women for last, and deal with the men, first...is that permissible, lord?" She requested.
"Sure, the order in which you interrogate them doesn't matter to me, I'll leave that to your discretion," I responded with a nod.
"I thank you, my lord. Now, then, I shall get to work on these two immediately," She remarked, before dragging the bodies away.
I let out a sigh as she left, a little dumbstruck by that interaction. She sure is a strange one, but that's fine, I guess. So long as she's useful like this, I'm not going to complain...
"Well...," Spoke up Misen with a bewildered look on his face, "That was fucking weird."
That's putting it lightly. Oh, I should check on the-...ah, it looks like the clash to the east has already begun, and the one in the west is just about to. Let's see how this goes...
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Point-of-View: Prato Cichudde
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"I see, so they are already aware that we are here," Remarked the Fairy with a frown.
Shortly after Kuro teleported us here, a Halfling and a Fairy appeared, immediately showing signs of aggression as they spotted us, the Halfling taking out a chain with a blade attached to it, and the Fairy charging up a fireball, though remained in her smaller state.
"It appears to be two Demons and a Vampire," Replied the Halfling with a grimace, tightening her grip on her chain.
Lusk and I aren't Demons, but we have no reason to correct them...Kuro encourages us to feed enemies inaccurate information wherever possible, since he's of the belief that false information is far more of a liability than a lack of information.
"Allow me to handle the Halfling, I am not confident that I can hit a small, fast target," Remarked Tearstrom, drawing out the large metal club on her back.
She was the strongest of the remaining Vampire Generals, and from what I had heard, she came close to killing Rion when the Vampires attacked The Valaque Empire. She had short black hair neatly combed back from her forehead, with a single red frizzy lock of hair that fell over her forehead. She wore a white tubetop that showed off her midriff, along with a black short skirt over short red tights.
Her Cross allows her to drastically increase the muscle mass of her arms temporarily, so I understand what she means when she says that she isn't confident against a small and fast target. In their smaller forms, Fairies are a bad match up for her.
"Very well, we shall take the Fairy, then...her speed is likely going to be problematic, but if we outnumber her, we may be able to corner her," Replied Lusk, as he finished using a Power Reader, "Be careful, that Halfling possesses a power level of over 13,200. The Fairy is just 8,400 though."
"That is likely because of how fragile they are in those small forms. Their speed and Elemental Magic may be powerful while in this form, but a single strike from either of you will be enough to severely injure them in this state," Responded Tearstrom, charging up a Blood Magic blast as the two enemies warily kept their distance, their eyes fixed on us...suddenly, she swung her arm across vertically, firing the charged up blast in a destructive slash, aimed at the spot right between the two of them, forcing them to leap away in opposite directions to evade it, as Tearstrom added, "Now, split them up, quickly!"
She shot towards the Halfling, as her right arm grew several times more muscular and she swung her club towards the Halfling, who quickly grabbed her chain with both hands and stretched it in front of herself to try and block the swing of Tearstrom's club.
As the club struck the chain, the Halfling got sent flying back in an instant, crashing through several trees, breaking them down, before coming to an abrupt stop with a sharp gasp of pain as her back slammed onto the wall of a cliff, coughing out blood, as Tearstrom rapidly flew towards her.
"I will not let you, Vampire-!" Began the Fairy with a yell, before I interrupted her with concentrated heat beam, which she narrowly evaded.
She then quickly flew up as Lusk attempted to grab her with his tentacles, flames in her hands as she shifted her gaze between the two of us with a grimace.
"Where do you think you're looking?" Inquired Lusk icily, as he formed a water bullet at his fingertip.
"We're the ones that you will be fighting," I added, drawing out my short spear, coating the blade with purple flames...
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