Rae woke Karl as they approached the city across the lake just before dawn.
[I think that we’re going to land soon. We talked about it while you were asleep, and we want to come out and be welcomed with you.]
Karl chuckled. [I don’t see a reason why not, as long as there is space.]
Rae seemed excessively happy with that answer, and Karl wondered what she had in mind and how badly it was going to terrify the locals.
Fortunately for Rae’s plan, someone had notified the media that they were coming, and there were dozens of press members, bleary-eyed politicians who had been dragged out of bed before the crack of dawn and corporate reps waiting in a large field for their arrival.
[Oh, that will be perfect.] Rae cheered.
Karl refreshed his armour and got a new version in black with a Darklight Host Tabard under a blued steel chest plate. It was almost knightly, if you ignored the part where everything but the chest was leather and chitin or cloth. He skipped on the helmet, and waited as the helicopter approached the ground. Nobody else had changed, so Dana was in her cargo pants and hoodie with the armour underneath, while Ophelia had her heavy plate armour on. The Berserker was in her human form, though. That was a change, and it took Karl a minute to remember that she was normally a human and not a Werebear. She had spent so much time in her transformed disguise that everyone had gotten used to her being twice the size of the other women, and not just slightly taller than Tessa.
Even Karl had deactivated most of his skills for the flight, and the group only had [Eternal Lightning] active on them.
“Ready to face the press?” Colonel Valerie asked.
“I feel so short.” Karl replied with a smile.
Ophelia laughed. “You feel short? I’m freezing. How did I ever survive winter without fur?”
Colonel Valerie chuckled, though her expression didn’t change from its usual resting frown of general disapproval. “Good thing we’re sending you all for a combat mission check after this. You need a few days to acclimatize to civilized life again.
But we will do this the standard way. As the host, I will exit first, then you follow by rank. How you sort that is on you.”
There was a fair bit of space in the cargo hold of the helicopter, so everyone else arranged themselves in a double file line. Dana and Ophelia behind Karl, with the clerics at the back.
Then Rae came out in human form to stand between the mage and berserker, while Remi transformed back into Spirit Snake form to hang herself around Karl’s shoulders for the best view.
Finally, A shining silver and gold knight with a horned helmet on appeared between Tessa and Lotus.
“Thor? Is that Thor in human form? Your armour is beautiful.” Tessa greeted him.
Thor nodded and gave her a shoulder bump that made the cleric laugh. He always did that as a greeting, but she had been trying to get him to speak.
Hawk’s voice in humanoid form was strange, while Rae’s was beautiful and haunting. So, she wondered what Thor would sound like.
“We will escort the ladies out, and then we will join you.” Thor informed Karl in a deep masculine voice that closely matched his mental voice.
Out of everyone, he was apparently best at the transformation.
Tessa poked him. “It is customary to take your helmet off to meet people.”
“But my horns are attached to it in this form.” Thor complained, suddenly sounding much younger.
Tessa smiled and took the helmet off, revealing a handsome young man with long green hair, long ears and shining golden eyes.
He almost looked like an Elf, but twice the size that any Elven man should be. Thor was nearly as tall as Rae was, but burly to the point that he could nearly block both Tessa and Lotus from view by standing in front of them.
Lotus ran a hand over his armour. “We need to get Thor a shield. When we have time, we should take him to the armoury with Karl’s credit. He is basically a Paladin, right? A Holy warrior. He can do all the Paladin things.”
“We will work on it.” Karl agreed.
The helicopter touched down, and Colonel Valerie stepped out as soon as the back ramp was open. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Karl didn’t know why these things had side doors. Nobody ever used them.
Karl led the way out while Remi checked out the crowd of people in front of them, and Hawk eagerly awaited his opportunity to make a grand entrance. Unlike Rae and Thor, he didn’t intend to transform into a human. Cara didn’t either, so they would both show up later, once the first impression was made.
Karl took his first step onto the grass and realized that their grand plan had completely confused the crowd. They had no idea who Rae and Thor were, and wondered what Nation they were visiting from, as both were clearly inhuman.
If they didn’t know what nation they came from, they didn’t know all the proper formal courtesies, or how to properly address them as a Royal and a Monarch.
Colonel Valerie cleared her throat. “Introducing the Beast Master Monarch, Karl. With him are the Princesses Remi, Ophelia, and Dana with the Lady Rae Bloodbath. Then we have the Royal High Priestesses Lotus and Tessa, with King Thor of the Cerro.”
[Lady Rae Bloodbath, I like it. Soon, I will be Queen Rae Bloodbath, and it will be glorious. But I need to ask a favour first. I’ve got all these great flavours of bath products, but do you suppose that I could have just a bit of Karl? Maybe a shampoo? That new skill smells wonderful.]
Karl mentally chuckled at her request. [I will see what I can do. With my regeneration, I’m sure I can spare you some blood.]
Karl led the group to a spot three metres in front of the gathered dignitaries, and Rae stepped back from her spot between Ophelia and Dana. She joined Thor at the back of the group just as the cameras were getting set up, and the assistants were ushering the others into position.
[Now is good.] Hawk decided, then appeared behind the group in all his glory, with his wings spread over the team.
Cara came out to stand beside Karl, as she was too short to be seen over the group, while Thor and Rae returned to their original forms. Remi remained around Karl’s neck, satisfied that she would be prominent in all the photos without being large.
Screaming filled the air, and nearly half of the assembled civilians either fainted or ran away, leaving Hawk and Rae congratulating each other on their brilliant plan, and Cara laughing hysterically, rolling on the ground and pointing at the terrified humans.
“Karl! Dammit, did you have to do that? We have a schedule to keep.” A deep voice boomed in the distance.
“Overlord Niall! I didn’t see you back there.” Karl shouted back, impressed at the man’s stealth skills. It wasn’t easy to hide an aura that powerful from him, especially now that he had Soul Sight.
The Rogue smiled behind his mask as he stepped into sight, his black Holy Inquisition uniform standing out among the business suits of the dignitaries. His presence brought most of them to their senses, but Karl noticed that one camera operator was dutifully snapping photos, oblivious to the chaos all around him. He was so focused on getting the perfect shot that Karl was certain he hadn’t even registered the fact that those were real Magical Beasts in front of him.