Chapter 11
Raven said nothing as she sat on the ground, the blue roses parting leaving them undamaged.
"Well, it's a good thing you surrendered after all my men worked hard on this," Jaune said while taking out a metal collar reaching down he lifted Raven's head and slipped the collar on her. "This is an anti-aura collar, made to detain troublesome people like you. And don't think of running away since the collar also acts as a deadman switch which I can use at any time."
"Now Heather was it?" Jaune said, turning to the teenager causing her to yelp. "Don't worry I don't plan to hurt you, I just want to ask you one simple question: Do you wish to give up the burden you hold as the spring maiden?"
"What!?" Heather said a scared expression coming across her face.
"Unlike Ozpunk's little group, I have more than enough ways to get that little bit of magic you hold without killing you," Jaune said with a smirk before using [Gluttony] causing Heather to scream as she was consumed.
["Notice. Beginning analysis of magic. Analysis complete. Notice extreme level of soul energy detected. Tracing source. Source detected. The source matches the signature of Ozpin. Beginning extraction of Maiden magic. Magic successfully extracted. Soul energy collected 84,678"]
'I expect nothing less from a soul this old.' Jaune thought in amazement looking at the sheer amount of soul energy he now had while releasing Heather.
"What was that?" Heather asked, feeling up her entire body to make sure it was all there.
"What I just did was remove that magic that has burdened you for so long. But I'm sorry to say but I can't let you leave. After all, you're a liability to my identity so you'll be working for me now" Jaune said with a cheerful smile, "Now let's go." He said as he dropped [Small World] bringing them back to the village. Using [Sticky-Steel Thread] Jaune tied up Heather and Raven before carrying them both as he floated above the village. "With my priority targets captured, I no longer have a reason to hold back."
Using [Black Flame] Jaune created a wave of black fire that consumed the entire village. As the fire spread the screams of anguish rang out from the fiery ruins. "Well, they got their just desserts." With another thought Jaune used [Molecular Manipulation] to create tons of water that doused the fire leaving only ruins behind.
As he floated in the air the alarm on his scroll went off and he could see the bullhead light in the distance. 'And with that, the spring maiden is secured.
~~~
A week passed since Jaune had raided the Branwen tribe and taken it off the map. It was mostly quiet with Raven not putting up much of a fight when her life could be ended in an instant. But he did give her an incentive to be loyal to him.
~Flashback Start~
"Raven, remember as long as you prove your loyalty you can gain power like the others but until then you're a liability to me and my plans for the future. So prove to me Raven that you can be trusted."
~Flashback Over~
Jaune hadn't seen her all that much after that conversation, but since she wasn't stirring up trouble so he left her alone.
Jaune's only problem now was his approaching harvest festival. With 84,705 worth of soul energy, he was getting close to getting his demon lord seed. But Jaune figured he could postpone the festival until he had more allies that could benefit from being his subordinates by gaining gifts and more skills that would net him stronger ones during evolution.
There was also the fact that he had no true turf to call his own. Salem had the top part of the dragon continent while Ozpunk had Vale.
But Jaune already had the perfect place he wanted to set up, Menagerie. While the settlement Kuo Kuana was rather small, the vast amount of desert that made up the island would have plenty of untapped resources. All he would have to do was clear the island of its Grimm, add protection for future Grimm attacks, and then finally make the desert an actual habitable place.
But before all that, there were two people he wanted to recruit from Mistral before leaving.
"Ah, there they are," Jaune said as he walked up to two kids that were walking along the beaten path.
The first child was a young boy around his height with black hair with a magenta streak in it, tied in a bun. He was wearing a dark green sleeveless turtleneck with magenta patches on his shoulders.
The second child was a young girl with faded straight orange hair. She wore a white shirt and over that a hooded black jacket, pink pants, and matching shoes held together with tape.
"Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, it's a pleasure to meet you both," Jaune said, causing both of them to stop in their tracks looking at him wearily.
"No need for the suspicious gaze after all I'm giving you a once-in-a-lifetime chance Ren, to avenge your slaughtered family that was killed by the Nuckelavee Grimm," Jaune said, causing Ren's eyes to shoot open in rage before he was calmed by his semblance.
"What's in it for you?" Ren asked calmly as Nora inched closer to Ren.
"I planned to help you and in return, you both would work under me as subordinates," Jaune said with a shrug since he had nothing to hide. "I'll let you think about it for a couple of hours before giving me an answer," Jaune said before using the materials he had in his stomach to build a small hut. "You both must be hungry, yes?" Jaune asked the two as he stepped into the hut.
Taking a seat at the table Jaune took out various plates of food that he set down. Several seconds later Ren and Nora came in and began eating in earnest.
After all the food was gone they all sat in a comfortable silence that was broken by Ren. "I really don't care what happens to me, as long as I can kill that Nuckelavee I'll happily work for you. But I need to know you're not lying to me so show me the strongest attack you have." He said with a bow.
"Great, then let's go." Jaune said as he stood up, "I'll show you while we're in the air."
"In the air?" Ren asked, and as if on cue a bullhead landed right in front of them.
"Come on, we're going to head over to Kuroyuri," Jaune said as he stepped into the bullhead. As they flew through the air Nora looked around in awe while Ren kept his stoic face.
Once they were at a significant height Jaune opened the side door and stuck his hand out, "This is one of my strongest attacks so watch closely." Jaune said before using one of his new skills that he made by condensing lightning with his magicules. Crackling black, purple, and white electricity sparked from his hand before he thrust it forward sending a bolt of lightning toward the ground.
It made it to the ground in an instance where it vaporized everything that was near it.
'[Black lightning] is truly a dangerous skill.' Jaune thought as he observed the damage.
Ren and Nora on the other hand were completely flabbergasted seeing the amount of damage some their age had caused.
~~~
The rest of the trip to Kuroyuri was spent in silence until they finally got there. Jaune wasted no time ordering the pilot to head to the mountains where he knew the Nuckelavee was.
"Come on you two," Jaune ordered as he jumped out of the bullhead and floated with [Gravity Manipulation]. While they were both rather hesitant they eventually stepped off the bullhead allowing Jaune to float down right at the entrance.
"Alright Ren I'll hold the Nuckelavee down while you can do as you please," Jaune said getting a nod from Ren as he marched into the cave his face one of fury despite his semblance constantly activating to calm him down.
Once inside Jaune finally saw the Nuckelavee for the first time. It was an abomination of nature looking as if someone tried to make a centaur but failed horribly. It had the same color scheme as Grimm which was black fur with white armor plating. The bottom portion of the Grimm was a horse with beady red eyes and the top portion of the Grimm was reminiscent of a person only they were fused to the horse and had two incredibly long horns.
Using [Sticky-Steel Thread] Jaune quickly restrained the beast leaving as much space as possible so that Ren could attack it easier.
Reaching out Jaune grabbed the dagger in Ren's hand and outfitted it with magisteel but kept the same design. "That should make it far stronger now go ahead and vent your frustrations."
Ren needed no further confirmation as he dashed toward the Nuckelavee with a scream of rage.
The battle was long with Ren continuing to stab the Nuckelavee over and over again venting all his hate toward the Grimm that killed its parents and in the end, he killed it by cutting off its head.
As the Grimm faded away tears of happiness streamed down Ren's face.
"Go ahead and comfort him," Jaune said while pushing Nora slightly toward Ren while he used [Gluttony] to absorb the Nuckelavee.
["Notice. Common skill Ultrasonic Waves acquired."]
'Nice.' Jaune thought before looking at the crying children with a sad smile before leaving them to themselves for the time being.
Once they were both finished inside, Ren and Nora came out of the cave, their expressions being much brighter than before.
"T-thank y-you," Ren said with a bow. "I'll happily work for you."
"A-and I'll follow Renny so I'll work for you as well," Nora said, speaking up for the first time since they met.
"Alright then, I promise you won't regret it," Jaune said with a smile before heading to the bullhead.
~~~
\Come on Jaune let's go!/ Neo said in excitement as she dragged Jaune through the port.
"Yeah, yeah I'm coming," Jaune said with a smile watching Neo run around. Looking to his left Jaune took in Alice in her new look. Instead of the tight bodysuit she usually wore she now wore a simple green sundress that faded to white at the bottom and on her head sat a white sun hat.
"Do you like it, my lord?" Alice asked, noticing his staring.
"Yeah, you're really pretty today. Not that you're not always pretty but this is more… innocent pretty compared to your usual getup." Jaune said fumbling over the words since she truly was pretty.
"Thank you, my lord," Alice said with a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks.
"I still can get used to seeing this," Raven said as she stood beside the two. She wasn't much different besides wearing a sleeker version of her armor and a new Ōdachi on her hip, both made from magisteel.
"Well, you should get used to it Raven, after all, I'm your boss now," Jaune said with a smirk. "Now come on, we're here," Jaune said, pointing to what looked like a futuristic yacht. It was white and had neon blue accents across the sides.
"This is why I love having subordinates. I never would have been able to build this in a month well without [Great Sage] anyway." Jaune said as he walked up to the hatch and made his way inside. As they went through the group of four walked through the yacht the various workers stopped what they were doing to bow toward the group more specifically at Jaune.
Jaune made sure to give them a friendly smile after all these people were his responsibility now since they chose to follow him even if it was out of fear.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at deck where they were greeted by a massive pool with deck chairs along both sides.
"I went all out with this so enjoy this to the fullest after all it should take us about four months to get there by boat," Jaune said before making his way to his room by following the map on his scroll.
'Well even the Demon Lord needs breaks every once in a while after all.' Jaune. thought with a smile as he planned to enjoy this short vacation jumping right back in.