Chapter 71 - Divine Judgement is Overrated

—Cole POV—

"I have to ask…why is she here?", Melty asked staring at her sister, "Last I heard you were under house arrest for treason, and killing our brother. Don't tell me you somehow tricked Kessler!?"

"Haha…that's not funny.", I replied with a blank expression, "Your father asked that I take her in for the time being till he can have the Castle thoroughly cleaned of Church Radicals. Three of them infiltrated the Castle and tried to assassinate her right in front of him. We stopped the attempt while we met with your father and heroes this morning."

"Yes, she will also be our maid till it's done!", Vivian informed Melty, "We have so much work for her to do, we have thirty-five infants worth of diapers that will need to be cleaned, toys that need to be washed, and so much more."

Seeing Vivian watch her out of the corner of her eye, Vivian desperately wanted Malty to lash out in anger. Surprisingly all Malty did was clench her jaw and fists tightly, and sip on her tea in silence. Disappointed that she didn't react in a punishable way, Vivian let out a sigh.

'She is starting to learn, I guess even a bitch can learn a new trick or two.', I thought with a smirk, 'Also…apparently we are switching to washable diapers now too. We have been only using disposable ones since they moved in.'

"My sister…being a maid…", Melty stuttered while choking on her tea, "My sister can't cook to save her life let alone clean and do laundry. You have our sincerest apologies if she destroys your kitchen trying to cook your meals."

"I…I can cook a few things!", Malty refuted with a scowl.

Watching for my curse to activate, my wives were shocked to see nothing happen. This meant that she actually did think she could cook a few meals which piqued my interest. I had never heard of her making food before, as she was a Princess, so I was curious about what she could prepare. If she was any good at it, I might consider letting her cook a meal for me since I was immune to poison and toxins.

"What can you cook?", Melty questioned with a surprised look, "I haven't ever seen you prepare your own meals before, and I am always in the kitchen getting snacks."

"I can make sandwiches.", Malty stated with a smug smile, "I have made several different types, and all of them were…well they are edible."

Staring at her for a moment, expecting her to tell us other dishes, she looked back with a confused look. Realizing that she was done listing things now, Vivian fell over laughing her tail off.

"My young daughter Eri can cook more food than you…", I snickered trying my best to contain my laughter, "She isn't even six years old yet either."

Hearing Ventrice and Sapphire start choking up as well, they found the sandwich thing humorous. Turning red with embarrassment, Malty hung her head low and stared at her cup of tea. Having received enough entertainment at her expense, for now, I turned to Melty so we could get the full explanation of what happened here.

"Anyways, where are your guards?", I asked having seen no trace of them.

Setting her cup down, she looked into the fire for a few moments before beginning her story.

"I…I honestly don't know how it happened.", she sniffled, "One moment we were breaking for a light snack, and the next second they were on us. They came charging out of the dense forest yelling and screaming like wildmen. The commander told me to take one of the Filolial mounts and run away as fast as it could run."

Doing as she was told, Melty rode off without them and eventually came across the bridge that once stood here. Racing her Filolial across without thinking, she ran headlong into another group of mercenaries that had been lying in wait. Blocked off from proceeding forwards and with mercenaries catching up behind her, she opted to fight them with the little bit of magic she knew. Using a Fireball spell, she attempted to blast the men in front of her away but they used some sort of magic item that reflected her spell away from them.

The spell was what caused the bridge to collapse, and was how she ended up in the river. Those mercenaries and her Filolial ended up going downriver into the rapids where she was sure they perished. Having grabbed onto one of the ropes as she went in, she clung onto it hoping that the mercenaries chasing her wouldn't notice her in the river.

"I lost my grip for a moment and let out a scream…that was how they knew I was still alive. Berating me for killing their comrades, they told me I…I would spend the night on my back servicing them.", she cried, "I wanted to let go of the ropes instead of being sullied by them, but…I was too afraid of dying to do it."

"It's okay Melty, you don't have to explain anything to us about that.", Sapphire assured her with a soft smile.

Thanking her, Melty wiped her tears away as she asked if we could take the bodies of her men back for a proper burial. Telling her that we didn't see any bodies or her carriage on the roadway as on route here, she looked at us with confusion.

"I am not lying! They ambushed us roughly three miles back when we stopped to rest for a bit.", Melty swore.

Knowing that Melty wasn't a liar, I wanted to see for myself what happened. Teleporting us back to the rough area where she swore they were ambushed, she pointed to a small jut out where a carriage or wagon could pull off the road safely.

"This is where we stopped, why isn't the carriage or my guards here!?", she said looking all around for evidence that they had been there.

Stepping a few yards into the jungle, I found the destroyed remains of the carriage buried under the dense brush along with several sets of clean armor. Seeing no signs of blood in the area, I did see footprints heading in the direction of Melromarc.

'They were with the Church, they got paid to abandon her far from anyone that could help her.', I realized.

Showing her the evidence that I found, her expression paled as she came to the same conclusion I did. Telling me that she had known some of the men since she was a young child, she couldn't understand why they'd sell her out. Realizing that she couldn't trust anyone but us at the moment, she grabbed my sleeve shaking like a leaf.

"We should get back to the Castle, and have your father put out a bounty on their heads.", I told Melty, "Also…I need to have a word with the Church's Upper Management afterward."

Stowing the evidence away in my storage, I teleported us back to the Throne Room immediately.

—Castle Town—

Watching us appear out of thin air, the King rose from his seat the moment he saw Melty. Rushing over to his daughter, he gave her a big hug and started looking for injuries on her. Realizing that she wasn't in her normal clothing, he looked to me for answers. Having Melty tell him what happened to her, his face turned bright red with anger. Pulling the evidence out for him to review, he grabbed his chalice and threw it at the wall in anger.

"Bring me the Commander of the Royal Guard this instant!! I demand to know why they weren't found out sooner!", the King shouted almost foaming at the mouth.

Rushing out of the room to fetch him, they returned ten minutes later with him. Marching into the Throne Room, I caught a momentary shocked expression break over his face as he saw Melty before he quickly returned to normal. Pushing Malty and Melty behind me, I pulled the Amp off my back.

"Stop right there…", I said staring at him, "Why are you surprised to see Melty here?"

"I don't know what you are talking about.", the Commander replied feinting ignorance.

"Don't play me for a fool, I didn't rule a powerful nation for nearly eighty years and not learn how to watch for telltale signs of betrayal. For a split second you looked at Melty like you were surprised she was still alive.", I stated, "If you are still going to refuse it, why don't I drag the Pope and High Priest here to get the answer from them? Those mercenaries you sent after Melty were threatening to violate her, a child!"

Staring at his Commander waiting for an explanation, again the man refuted the claim saying he has been nothing but loyal to the Royal Family. For a moment the King looked like he would believe him, but something came to him.

"The Royal Guard is in charge of the Castle's defense…and on the same day Malty was almost killed so was Melty. In both cases the Royal Guard mysteriously failed to live up to their duties.", the King said as he narrowed his eyes, "Not only that, that Royal Guard was mysteriously unable to determine who killed my son."

Seeing a chance to earn herself some brownie points, Malty backed me up.

"He's with the Church!", Malty shouted.

Glancing back at her, I confirmed that the curse didn't activate which was the confirmation I needed. Drawing Amp off my back, I created a Plasma Sword using it as the hilt. Realizing his cover was blown, the Commander ordered his men to kill everyone in the room.

"I am done with this game, and I am done having to follow such an incompetent fool!", he said drawing his sword, "May God have mercy on your souls!"

"Haha", I laughed at them, "You did this all for some deity that you think is real, and will help you here? All of you clearly haven't been paying a damn bit of attention to who you are fighting. I have already killed two Gods, but you still somehow think you will win this? Clearly the King and Melty weren't the only fools living in this Castle."

Rushing forward to aid their commander, I to lunged forward as the sword was enveloped in a white light. Seeing my attack coming, he pushed his men forward to take the blow for him.

"Unlike the heroes you know, I actually know how to fight! Hundred Folding Light Slashes!", I shouted.

Seeing my arms vanish from their view, the room was suddenly cut to ribbons by plasma. The men and the stone walls and floors were cut like butter by me. Watching his men literally melt into nothingness in front of him, the Commander shrieked in horror. Pulling out a magic item from under his armor, he pointed it at me as I walked toward him next.

"By the Power of the Holy Light, I request thee vanquish my foe in thy Holy Fire!", he chanted, "Sacred Fire!"

Watching the rest of his guards enter the room as he launched the spell, I causally blew it out with a smirk on my face. Giving me a dumbstruck look, he wasn't able to comprehend what happened. To him, I was a heretic that shouldn't have been able to stop his God's power yet I blew it out like a candle.

"That's not possible, a heretic like you can't resist God's Judgment!", he shrieked.

"Judgment…you call that pissant spell Judgement!?", I mocked him, "Let me show you what Judgement really looks like!"

Raising my arms up as lightning started arcing off of me, I told everyone to cover their eyes. Dropping my arms in one fluid motion, a massive bolt of lightning came down out of the sky and blasted through the roof. Slamming into all of the guards, the room lit up brighter than the Sun as the men were vaporized instantly from the intense heat.

When the light faded, all that was left was molten stone where they once stood. Turning back to the King, I told him to do a thorough search of the Castle for hidden caches of weapons and magic items.

"If you want, I can have Melty stay with us as a guest till you have a new Royal Guard in place.", I told him.

"I would appreciate that greatly.", he said with a downcast look, "I thought he was one of the few men I could trust with my family's lives, but he was a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Turning to Malty, I grabbed her by the hair and yanked her forwards.

"Before we leave here for the Church, I want you to tell me about every single person involved with the Church's activities. Miss one person and I will reduce you to a smoldering pile of rock then bring you back to answer the question again.", I warned her.

"Of course, I will tell you everything!", she promised not wanting to suffer multiple deaths, "The first person is mother's maid in waiting…"