Chapter 21 - To the Royal Capital

"They've started" Vincent announced as he looked at a piece of paper while petting an owl.

"Good. The first move. All according to plan." Norman smirked as he placed his pawn forward.

"By raiding the farms and disrupting production, we increase dissatisfaction among the people. We then force the hand of the monarchy, who has to take countermeasures against the raiders. It's going well." Norman said.

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Before I could kick the door open, Zazie opened the door for me and gestured for me to head in first. I smiled and entered and he closed the door behind him.

"You're not covered in blood surprisingly. Why are you late?" Norman asked.

"I baked some cookies and got a bit carried away and made too many." I said as I grabbed the tray of cookies and placed them on the coffee table.

"I see, how about Zazie? Why is he late too?" Vincent asked. I sat down beside Norman and Zazie stood behind me while patting my head.

"I forced him to taste the cookies." I said as I grabbed a cookie and bit into it.

"Go ahead and have some. Zazie said they're great." I said as I looked at Zazie and smiled at him.

"I seriously don't get how the hell you're understanding him. He doesn't even speak!" Barbara grabbed a cookie and bit it.

"I don't know either. It just somehow translates into my brain." I said as I grabbed a cookie and handed it to Zazie.

"Anyways, so pretty much our goal is to have the heads of the royalty and all the five families. But something's been bothering me." I announced.

"What is it?" Cislo asked as he grabbed a cookie and bit it, after he bit it, he took about 5 more cookies and hid it behind him.

"Even with the Gilan clan, the royal army has a tad too many powerful soldiers." I replied and Norman grabbed a bunch of pawns in his hand since he was holding a cookie in the other.

"We will begin by dividing forces." Norman said as he munched the cookie.

"They will now concentrate on apprehending us robbers but they'll be chasing after a mirage." Cislo took a cookie from behind him and ate it.

"They believe the raids on Lambda and the other farms were carried out by demons." Vincent informed as he grabbed a cookie.

"We have Smee to thank for that. He covered up for me when I destroyed Lambda. From the pattern and location of our attacks, I'm pretty sure they've narrowed down the location of our headquarters." I said as I leaned against the couch.

"I'm not revealing the location of this hideout. They'll be targeting a different place altogether. The Lambda series itself has been invaded. The nobility will surely be mobilizing as many soldiers as they can." Norman said as he grabbed another cookie.

"Which will be lovely. The royal army won't hit us. Soon, it'll be Tifari, since the royalty and the nobles are gonna gather in one place and this year must be short on hand." I said as I took a cookie and handed it to Zazie who took it and patted my head.

"But then!" Barbara clasped her hands together, she seems happy and excited.

"We will strike 8 days from now. While the Tifari is taking place, we'll assassinate the Queen and the nobles." Norman said as he grabbed a piece of the chessboard.

"Only 8 days...8 days and we will change the world! The game is on!!" Barbara grinned.

"Now for the next move." Norman announced but Vincent halted him.

"There's that issue still. What will you do about the girl with the cursed blood?" Vincent asked as he leaned against the desk while munching a cookie.

"As long as she exists, our goals can't be taken to a full conclusion." Vincent informed Norman.

"What now, boss?" Cislo asked as he grabbed another cookie from behind him.

"I already have a plan, of course." Norman replied to the issue of the girl with the cursed blood.

"Hey, Cislo." Barbara called out with a dark aura surrounding her.

"Y-yes?" Cislo sheepishly stuttered a he looked at the girl with the dark aura.

"Are you hogging all the cookies?" Barbara asked as she stomped towards Cislo.

"N-no!" Cislo yelled as he stuffed the cookies he had all in his mouth which made us sweatdrop.

'I wonder how are Ray and Emma. I hope they make it out.' I thought as we all laughed.

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"Let's go, everybody!" Hayato yelled as he grinned while clenching his fist.

"So our escort is you, Hayato?" Don asked. Don looked unsure about this.

"Ah, no, I could never do that at all! There's one more person." Hayato confidently said which made the others gawk at him.

"This is the second escort, Aish. She's great with the gun, and her dogs are amazing at tracking." Hayato introduced Aish who was playing with her dogs.

"Hello, I'm Gilda!" Gilda introduced herself.

"And I'm Don. Nice to meet you." Don greeted but she only looked away and sighed.

"It's no use, she doesn't understand anything." I lied as I walked over to the crowd. Aish looked at me in surprise and hugged me.

"Incidentally, is she also from Lambda?" Gilda asked as she whispered to Hayato.

"No, no...how can I explain it? She has these powers." Hayato tried explaining.

༻✦༺ ༻ 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤༺ ༻✦༺

"Zazie! Don't run off like that!" Y/n yelled as she chased Zazie who was running at a demon.

"How brutal..." Barbara mumbled as she saw Zazie slash a demon with his sword.

"It's ok, it's all over! You'll be fine now!" Cislo attempted to calm the traumatized girl, not knowing that the girl was cursing them all.

"Dmaj oep. N ej'h zegvlh mfeph hrni... N'bb cnbb oep. N'bb cnbb oep mbb!! (Damn you. I won't forget about this...I'll kill you. I'll kill you all!!" the girl cursed under her breath.

Y/n gasped and bent to look the girl in the eye as the girl backed away. Y/n smiled and patted her head.

"N'a ieggo, n hgnld he ihmbb hrla mi apsr mi n smj. N injslglbo mwebevnxl. (I'm sorry, I tried to stall them as much as I can. I sincerely apologize.)" Y/n said as she continued to pat the head of the girl as the girl started to tear up.

"Dej'h eggo, n'bb fl oep jl aehrlg. (Don't worry, I'll be your new mother.)" Y/n said as she hugged the girl. The girl couldn't take it anymore. She sobbed into the Y/N's chest.

"Ruthless? What are you saying?" Cislo asked and Y/n looked at them and just told them that she's communicating with her.

Y/n looked back at her and she released the hug and pulled her hoodie a bit down and the girl looked surprised.

"N'a rmbz-dlaej. N mi lqwlgnaljhld ej. (I'm half-demon. I was experimented on.)" Y/n said. Y/n stood up and held out a hand for her.

"N'a Ruthless. Oep? (I'm Ruthless. You?)" Y/n asked as the girl slowly reached out for her hand.

"Aish." the girl replied and took Y/N's hand.

༻✦༺ ༻ 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 ༺ ༻✦༺

"She was raised by demons?" Don asked.

"Yes! In the forbidden forests. And then she was saved by the boss and the gang." Hayato exclaimed. Saved?

"And Y/n can understand what she says?" Gilda asked and Hayato nodded.

"Yes. For some reason, Ruthless can understand and speak the demon language, but not fluently. The boss said that it's most likely from the demon blood injected in her." Hayato replied.

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"Not bad!" Barbara complimented as she watched Zack, Nigel and Oliver shoot the targets with a gun.

Right now, we are training the children to shoot the targets to improve their accuracy and their aim.

"What do you think, Ruthless?" Cislo asked me. Cislo only calls me 'Ruthless' when we aren't talking privately.

"It was lovely, but..." I paused as I approached them and looked at them in the eye. They gulped and started to shake.

I walked over to Nigel and I see him visibly tense up as he gripped his gun while shaking.

"You get nervous easily, right? You like to reassure others that you've got a plan, right?" I asked and he looked shocked.

"H-h-h-how did you know th-that?" he sheepishly stuttered.

"Just a hunch." I said with a smile as I shrugged. I then walked over to Zack. As I looked at Zack's figure, he was sweating and tried to look me in the eyes.

"You're strong. No complaints." I said as I walked away, hearing him sigh in relief. I looked at Oliver, who looked confident and didn't show signs of being scared.

"You don't actually want to kill the demons, right? That's fine with me but if they attack the hideout, will you look at them with those eyes?" I asked as I rubbed my thumb against Oliver's cheek.

"Wh-wha..." Oliver stuttered as he blushed a deep shade of red. It almost looks like blood.

"You have a grudge on those poachers, right? It's written in your eyes. Bloodlust suits you." I smirked as I whispered it in his ear. I felt his cheeks getting warmer.

"Ruthless, you shouldn't teach them about bloodlust." Barbara reminded.

I sighed and removed my hand from his cheek.

"I can't help it." I giggled. I continued to watch the children train, some may be older than me, possibly more mature, but to me...they will always be my children no matter what.

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"Then, it's our turn to move. Our target is the Royal Capital." Norman announced as he rode on a horse since he can't run for a long time.

"We march!" Norman yelled and I got encouraged. You better hurry up Ray and Emma.

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"What?" Ray muttered as he looked around. He was shocked that he was back in the hideout when he is supposed to be with Emma at the Seven Walls.

"Ray?"

"Anna? Thoma, Lannion too?" Ray looked at them in disbelief until he suddenly stood up.

"Are you for real?!" Ray yelled as he placed his hands on Lannion's cheeks which scared him.

"Wha?!" Lannion yelled as Anna and Thoma panicked.

"Where is Y/n? Is she safe? Did she sleep well?" Ray asked as he couldn't help but feel weird for Y/n.

"Now's not the time for that Ray. How about Norman? Where are they?" Ray asked as he seemed to be in a hurry.

"They're heading to the Royal Capital, right now." Anna replied which made Ray's eyes widen.

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"Don't you want to rest a bit, Sonju?" Mujika asked as she patted her animal.

"Nay, I am well. And it's almost time to-" Sonju paused as he looked around and observed his surroundings.

"Who is there? I know you are behind the tree. Come out." Sonju ordered as he looked at the tree.

"Mujika" Gilda came out.

"It's been a while..." Don followed Gilda.

"Mujika! Sonju!" Gilda teared up as she ran to Mujika and hugged her.

"I've missed you..." Mujika hugged Gilda back as she patted her head.

"I missed you a lot!" Gilda exclaimed.

"Are you doing well? You two became so big! What's the matter?" Mujika asked.

"Mujika, we'd like to..." Gilda was interrupted by Aish started yelling at Mujika and Sonju which surprised them.

Hayato went behind Aish and placed a knife against her neck.

"Don. Gilda. Forgive us but we must finish the cursed blood." Jin said as he held a gun and stood on a tree branch.

"Who is going to finish who?" Sonju appeared behind Jin and he grinned.

"Flee. You may live if you leave now." Sonju placed his spear at the neck of Jin.

"Jin!" Hayato yelled but Aish placed his face on the ground as one of her dogs growled at Hayato.

"Don't worry. He's not killing them. They'll just sleep for a little bit." Mujika reassured Don and Gilda.

"I'll tell you one more time. Leave this place." Sonju said to Jin who was trembling.

"Wake up!! Forget about me, just kill them all!" Jin yelled as the irregulars stood up.

"Mhsr eph!! hrlil alj mgl ngglvpbmgi zgea bmafdm! (Watch out!! These men are irregulars from Lambda!)" Aish yelled.

Sonju got surrounded by irregular men.

"Kill them!!" Jin yelled.

"I care not what this is about. If you lay one finger on Mujika. I will make you all into meatballs." Sonju threatened.

"What is it? What happened?" Sonju seemed surprised as he watched the irregulars hold their heads and collapse.

"Another fit..." Jin mumbled.

"No...why is it so early?!" Hayato yelled which made Aish confused.

"Let me see it!" Mujika yelled as she ran to an irregular.

"No, Mujika! Stay away from them!" Sonju yelled.

"This looks bad. These boys aren't breathing!" Don yelled.

"Gilda, bring me my medicine bag! Don, Sonju, come help here!" Musica instructed.

"Wait now, Mujika!!" Sonju gawked.

"The enemy is human! Quick! If we don't act right now, it will be too late!" Mujika yelled.

"That's not enough!! They need their medicine, badly! These fits are from Lambda!" Hayato yelled.

"Ara ara~" they heard a voice say. They looked at where they had heard the voice to see a hooded figure.

"Who are you?" Sonju asked as he got his spear ready.

"No need to be alarmed. I just heard a noise and I was right." the hooded figure said as she approached the irregulars but was stopped as she felt something poke her neck, it was Sonju's spear.

"Why are you covering your face?" Sonju asked as he threateningly placed the spear closer to her neck.

"Because I prefer if it is not shown." the hooded figure said with a serious tone as she stepped forward and showed them a bottle.

"I have the medicine. Just let me treat them." she said and they looked hesitant but nodded.

Once they were treated, the hooded figure left and they were all wondering who it could be.

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"It's November 7, 2047. 3 hours after I came back. Y/n and Norman are already heading for the Capital with their army. The extermination plan is underway at full pace. That's all the briefing you asked." Ray said.

"And you? Could you remake the promise?" Ray asked as he turned around to look at Emma.

"Yup! We did it! Everybody will be able to leave for the human world, without any deaths, and without demons following us." Emma said.

"Huh? For real?"

"Yes!" Emma replied. They all smiled and cheered.

"And what about his price? The reward?" Ray asked.

"Nevermind about that now. I'll explain it later!" Emma replied which made Ray look at her, surprised.

"Well, ok...when we have time, I will hear every detail. Leave that aside, we must hurry too! We're leaving right now. Thoma and Lani found out something horrible." Ray said which made Emma confused.

"Y/n and Norman, their plan isn't simply to kill the royals and the court. They want to exterminate every demon in the capital." Ray said which made Emma widen her eyes.

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"I understand, Gilda. We'll head for the Royal Capital too." Mujika smiled.

"Wha-wait! Mujika, your folks have been avoiding the royals for so long and..." Gilda tried to argue.

"Is it alright, Sonju?" Mujika asked which surprised Sonju. Gilda then realized that Mujika had already made up her mind.

"I want to stop that war too. More importantly, you are our friends!" Mujika smiled which made Gilda tear up.

"...Well, I suppose it is indeed about time we head for the capital." Sonju replied which made Mujika smile brightly.

"Then it's decided." Gilda said.

"Let's go, then to the Royal Capital!"

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"Ok, let's go to the Royal Capital!" Emma said.

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(A/n: Eyooo! I wonder who the hooded figure is, it's so OOoOoOo not obvious lmao. Anyways, that's 2646 words for you. Peace out!)