Iris patiently awaited the moment in which Ghost descended from the shadows upon the Geomancer, which prompted Lyra to jump at the dog-kin, and as a result leave her master plenty unprotected. A bodyguard could only do so much when her charge was a stationary target who kept getting assaulted from multiple angles.
Iris knew very well that it was the golden time time to strike, thus she ruthlessly threw herself at the endlessly bitching Soren and cut his head off.
Yep, Soren was killed just like that.
Was it unceremonious? A boring end for a talented, strong mage? Did he deserve a more badass battle before he fell?
Yes, very much so.
However, Iris was roided out of her mind right now, making the weak spine of a Wizard easily snap under the overwhelming weight of her strike.
Following her owner’s death, Lyra immediately face-planted into the ground.
It was the one big disadvantages of surrounding oneself with slaves as a combat forces instead of willing participants.
They were magically bound to be loyal, yes, but if one tore their collars off, or if their master met an untimely end, they were forcibly paralyzed. This was done so the slaves couldn’t capitalize on becoming free from the Slave Contract spell. They couldn’t move until they were inherited by the rightful heir of their deceased master.
Iris mercilessly lunged at Lyra to finish her off. Much to her surprise, her strike was deflected not by the Phantom League members but by Ghost herself.
The woman’s face contorted in surprise which was rapidly turning into anger. Was this dog-kin doing this because she wanted the XP?! It was not the time to act with so much greed.
Her question was answered in the next second with the declaration of the blonde claw-wielder. “Master wants her. She is his property. Miss Iris can’t kill Lyra. Master also wanted Soren but Ghost was unable to save him… Miss Iris is really fast and deadly!”
“Use my alias!” Iris hissed. She was one of the most wanted criminals in the entire continent, rivaling even the Obsidian Circle Members themselves, because the kingdom knew that she was the only one who could possibly lead them to the party that robbed the outpost of its Legendary tier artifact – also known as Devil and his group.
“Oh! Sorry, miss…”
Iris could only sigh. So this girl had forgotten her chosen criminal name. “Wrath.”
“Miss Wrath.” Ghost nodded in understanding, before continuing, “Master instructed Ghost to inform Miss Wrath that he wants to invite her to a talk afterward. Master says he wants to form an alliance as equals, akin to what is present between Master and Miss Ambition.”
“Hmm…” Iris was very reluctant to accept such an invitation. After all, Devil would be much better off with her dead.
It was true that he had leverage over her as well, but what she knew of him was much more substantial.
Devil could go to the authorities and say ‘the Consortium member called Wrath is the Iris you’re looking for’ while she could outright tell him that ‘it was Devil who took the Legendary artifact.’
While these two statements might sound equally damning at first glance, one has to consider that she was only important because the kingdom wanted to catch him through her.
If he snitched her out, she could still tell them what they want, but if Iris snitched him out, no one would really care whether Devil revealed who she was or where she could be found. She would no longer be relevant once he was caught beyond the army wanting to punish a deserting soldier, which would not be enough of a reason to wage war on a large syndicate like the Vesper Consortium.
Perhaps due to sensing her reluctance, Ghost opened her lips and uttered a few sentences that shocked the woman like nothing ever did before in her entire life.
“Your younger brother Damian was kidnapped and killed by the syndicate who your father owed money to and stupidly refused to pay because he mistakenly believed that nobility didn’t need to pay debt owed to commoners.
Your mother offered to prostitute herself out to collect the required amount, which enraged him and for the first time raised his fist against her.
After his son’s death, he quickly began spiraling downward and soon forced his wife into prostitution. You then failed to assassinate him on the day of her funeral with the kitchen knife due to the defensive artifact shielding him. He killed his current kidnapped lover with the same knife and framed you for it, claiming it was your doing.
He imprisoned you in the mansion’s basement and tortured you for nearly ten years straight, awakening your class, at which point you broke out of your cell and tortured him before murdering him.
If that’s not enough, Master instructs Ghost to also say that the head maid of your house, Sarah, kept feeding you warm meals in secret through her surprisingly intelligent and well-trained cat, Whiskers, which ended up with the two of them getting killed and cooked, which your father made you eat. His extremely cruel act resulted in you going into ‘wrath-mode’, awakening to your tragic class, breaking out of your cell, and brutally murdering him.” frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
“… How?”
“Master says Miss Wrath will find out once she follows him through the portal. Master asks Ghost to inform Miss Wrath that he means no harm to her at all. He suggests a team up to avenge Damian together and to rise to the very top of Thalorind – and beyond.”
“…” She didn’t know how to respond to this unbelievable development. No one should know this much about her life, not even her own parents… only she could know all these facts.
Her brain needed some time to think, and her favorite pastime was shedding the blood of her enemies, so she turned towards the quickly dwindling numbers of the Phantom League and threw herself into the fray, hoping to earn a level up while she mulled over on what to do.
– PoV: Quinlan –
“[Lifebloom Transform]” Seraphiel intoned the spell which transformed her bow into a staff, which in turn allowed her to cast proper Healer spells. <How are you still standing… This is insane…>
She questioned me in my mind with a quivering tone. Indeed, I should be rightfully knocked out, or at the very least not standing still calmly with my deadly burns torturing me continuously.
<I can’t show my weak side to the sexy long-eared babe I’m doing my utmost to woo. I heard fragile girls like you prefer strong men to protect them.>
She snorted at my statement. <It’s good to see that you’re at least still in a state to crack jokes.>
<I don’t remember cracking any jokes.>
<…>
The battle was over. I subjugated Lyra, Selene and Cedric while the Phantom League soldiers existed no more.
It was time to clean up the rest of the battlefield, I thought, as I began making my way over to the deathly tired Monk, Abudha. I decided that he would be the final super soldier I receive of my initial, glorious subjugation spree.