2 Chapter 2

Author's note: The chapter ahead will contain blood and possible sensitive topics

"I will kill you all!" Ben yelled as he ran towards the nearest knight that was about to swing his sword at an orc child, but before he could, Ben grabbed him by the elbow and quickly disarmed him.

Grabbing the sword, Ben plunged the blade into the knight's neck, killing the man instantly as blood spray out from the wound.

"Get out of here," Ben looked at the kid that could be 10. "Fucking maggots," he thought as he dashed towards the other knights.

Two Knights were setting houses on fire with their magic. "Burn heathens!" one of them yelled as he threw another fireball at a house, making screams erupt from the inside.

"A family? Let's make their death quick," the other said as blue flame covered his hand, but before he could throw it, Ben severed the man's arm making blood gash out like a torrent. "Ahh!!" he yelled.

"I'll do the same for you," Ben swung his sword, beheading the man with ease as the blood coming from the wound covered him and the surviving knight.

The other knight looked in shock at the headless body of his friend. "J…" he didn't get to finish as Ben used his sword like a spear and pierced through the man's skull.

Throwing his hand forward making a wave of dark aura wash over the house clearing the fire. "Leave the village and grab any survivors!" he yelled as he grabbed another sword and dashed off.

…

On the other side of the village there was a man also fighting off the knights with a pair of daggers made of shadows.

The man was tall with dark buzz cut hair, dark skin and brown eyes and dressed in an attire that was partially hidden by a gray cloak with an emblem of a crow skull on the back and now was covered in blood spots.

Dodging another attack from a knight with an axe, the man joined his hand making a blade out of darkness and plunge it under the knight's jaw, making the man twitch uncontrollably as blood covered on to the man's red fingerless glove, until the knight went limp.

Undoing the sword, the man groan looking at his hands. "They better be carrying money, cleaning this stuff is expensive," he thought as he noticed another knight stuck in place holding a sword poorly and trembling. "Guess, you are not as stupid as them?"

"Stay back!" he stuttered out as he pointed his sword forward in an attempt of bravado that quickly disappeared as the cloak man walked towards him.

Dropping his weapon, he started to back away. "If you run, I'll strike you down in the most painful way possible," the cloak man threatened, stopping the knight's movement.

"What is your mission in this village?" he asked with a glare as he was a few feet away from the knight.

"T-t-to t-ta…" he stuttered out, making the man glare even more.

"Speak or I'll slit your throat!" he ordered, making the knight trip on his own feet, falling backward, now staring up at the man with the blood-covered cloak. "Do I have to repeat myself?"

The knight trembled in place as the man got closer. "To capture the Blood Elf!" he yelled, making the man's eyes go slightly widen and then narrow.

"Thanks," the man said patting the knight's shoulder, and left making the knight sigh in relief, but that went away a few seconds later as he felt his body erupt in a blinding light.

"Ahh!" he screamed in agony while the man was running down one of the ruined streets of the village.

"I have to find them" he thought as he made his way towards the area with less fire, but before he could reach there, an ice wall stopped him, making him grunt.

"Simon The Crow," he turned around to see a man as tall as him. "Alex The immature," he groaned.

The man had the same dark skin as Simon, long black braid hair with blue icy tips, blue eyes and he was dressed in a similar attire as Simon just with a different color being a clear blue and white and a cloak with an emblem of a blue bear paw.

"Surprised to find you in this run-down village," he said with a sigh, shaking his head. "You just continue to be a letdown for the order," Simon narrowed his eyes and sighed as he grabbed his cloak, taking it off to show he had a rather muscular built and that his gloves stretched to his elbow.

"I have to finish this as soon as I can," he thought as he passed his hand on the two pouches on the side of his belt. "Good, I hardly used any," he thought as Alex sighed once again.

"At least, I will take your head to the king," Alex opens his palm causing mist to come out from them. "Don't make it too easy," he throws his hand forward, sending waves of ice at Simon.

Crossing his arm in the form of an x, a shield formed out protecting his entire body as the rest of the street was covered in a thick cover of ice putting out a few fires.

Simon's legs became covered in shadows, forming spikes on the bottom of his boots. "Still the same," he thought, as he dashed towards Alex with a fist cocked.

Alex stretched his right arm forming an ice short-sword, he grabbed it and dashed at Simon swinging the blade at the man, who attempt to use his other arm to parry the attack, but the force was to grand making him lose his footing.

Using this chance, Alex aimed to stab Simon on the side.

Regaining his balance, Simon had only a few seconds to react to Alex's attack, using his right forearm he intercepted Alex's attack, and delivered a hard-left hook dazing him.

Alex tried to regain his footing, but before he could Simon followed up with a right hook that was covered in shadow worsening Alex's orientation.

Slammed his fist against Alex's face, Simon swiped the man's legs, making him fall and hitting the icy floor.

"Still the same lap dog as always," Simon said as he was about to run, but before he could ice spikes came out of the floor making him jump back to avoid them,

Alex shook his head, a bit dazed. "Still the same brute as always," he retorted as he got up slowly. "Better show you the difference now than later," he said as blue circles appeared under his feet, dropping the temperature of the area even further as ice encased Alex's entire body.

"Not good," Simon thought as he shoved his hand into his left pouch and took out three metallic red balls. "I won't give you the chance," he covered the red balls in shadows and threw them.

The balls pierce through the ice and exploded shattering the ice leaving a misty fog covering the street.

"I hope that was enough," Simon thought as he waved his hand to clear the fog, but then he felt a frigid hand grab his wrist.

"You are getting sloppy," Alex said as the fog cleared a bit to show that he was encased in a dark blue ice armor.

The armor covered his entire body, not showing any glimpse of skin it was jagged and rock like, especially on the shoulder, forearm and knees that had sharp ice horns. "What do you think?" he asked punching Simon on the gut making the man gasp for air as ice started to cover his wrist.

Alex formed an ice dagger and stabbed Simon on the shoulder digging it deep making the man grunt as ice started to form on Simon's shoulder. "I'll give you the death you deserve," Alex said, tighten Simon's wrist.

"I got to think fast," he thought shoving his free hand to grab two black metallic balls, but before he could do anything, Alex grabbed his wrist making the balls fall onto the ground.

"No tricks this time," Alex said as Ice started to spread on both of Simon's wrists.

Simon grunted as the metallic balls released a thick cloud of smoke encasing both of them, making it hard for Alex to see anything, to the point he was blind. "What's he planning now?" he thought, increasing the freezing effect on Simon's wrist.

"Too late for that," Simon said covering his entire body in shadows, and kicked Alex hard on the crotch making the man scream, letting go of Simon's wrists.

"Mother…" Simon interrupted Alex by landing a push kick on the man's chest, sending him flying backwards into the ice wall.

Crashing against the ice wall cracking it, Alex stayed on the ground caressing his crotch. "Dick move!" he yelled in a somewhat high-pitched voice.

"I'm surprised you would complain about that," Simon said as the smoke started to disappear to show Simon in his own set of armor.

His armor was black with a look of it was made of dragon scales, the helmet was slick like the entire armor with a falcon shape opening for Simon to see; the torso seems to have a thick set of plates that formed into dragon like pattern.

"Since you are the master of them," Simon said as he joined his palm, forming a double-bladed scythe with pitch black blades.

"Whatever you say, Crow," Alex spat as he got on a knee as the surrounding ice started to spin around his feet stretching out his hand making a dark blue ice broadsword come out of it, he grabbed the sword and slung it on his shoulder as he stood up. "I won't hesitate any further."

Simon sighed. "You better be doing your best," he thought as he readies his scythe. "Or I'll punish you, Ben," he dashed at Alex, who did the same.

….

"Please…" One knight started but quickly was stopped by his throat being sliced by Ben's bloody sword.

Panting a bit Ben flicked the blood from his sword but for no avail, they were already stained in so much blood that the blade looked to be made of a red metal. "I'm almost there," he thought as he started running again.

He was drenched in blood from head to toe. His clothes had a few torn patches on his arm, shoulder and left leg. "Please be save," he begged as he was getting closer to the district that seemed to have a handful of houses that looked to be in normal condition.

"Do they know?" he asked himself as he soon had to stop when he saw the same man on horseback holding a silver lance with a red handle.

The man spins his spear and made the horse charge towards Ben at full speed. "Die heathen!" he yelled as the tip glowed red and as fire encased the weapon and he thrust forward sending a red inferno shaped as a spear at Ben.

"Shit!" Ben thought as he grabbed one of the swords and raised it like a spear, he encased the weapon in his own magic, and threw it with full force the sending the sword straight towards the fire and slicing through it making the flames disappear.

"Anti-magic? Is he a blood elf too?" the man on horseback thought as he jumped out of the horse to avoid the sword that went through the horse like paper.

"I didn't know there were two of your kind here," he got up slowly as his armor started to emit an orange glow as Ben dashed at him ready to behead the man.

Ben swung his sword but for his surprise the man stopped the blade with his forearm causing the blade to shatter. "Shit, a reforcer!" Ben tried to back away, but the man delivered a right hook, opening a gash on the brunet's forehead.

Ben backed away as he holds his bleeding forehead. "Shit, I hate fighting those brutes," he thought as the man started to walk towards him.

"Looks like I was luckier than that woman," the man said as he dashed at Ben with his fist raised.

Dodging the attack Ben tried to back away, but the knight grabbed him by the neck and started to choke him, Ben reacted by grabbing the knight's wrist with both hands and kick him on the stomach but to no avail. "Don't bother struggling," he said tightening the hold making Ben grunt. "You it will amount to nothing."

"Fuck, I'm losing air," he tightens his hold on the man's wrist as tight as he could, only making the knight chuckle.

"Don't worry, we will take wonderful care of the other elf," he said making glare at him. As he backed his leg and covering it in the black aura, he kicked between the man's leg hard. "Ahh!"

Ben freed himself from the grip and took a few gulps of air and coughed a bit. He rubbed his neck as he tried to get up, only to flinch due to the pain on his leg. ��Yeah, makes sense," he thought as he noticed that the knight was recovering from the attack.

"I will bring back your dead body regardless of orders!" he yelled with a bit of strain.

"Should've been faster," Ben cursed as he forced himself up standing on both legs. "You don't sound that good, you know."

The knight gritted his teeth and clench his fist as he dashed at Ben, ignoring the pain coming from his groins with a fist raised.

Ben grit his teeth and did the same. As he got closer, he rolled out of the way making the knight curse, as Ben dashed towards the dead horse.

"I need something good," he thought as he felt the knight tackling him to the ground from behind. They fell to the ground with the knight on top of Ben's back.

The knight grabbed Ben by the back of the head and was about to slam it on the ground, but the brunet stopped him by elbowing the knight's helmet hard enough to disorient for a few seconds.

Using that chance Ben once again hit the knight with an elbow sending him off the brunet, Ben got on top of the knight and without hesitation dug his two thumbs in the man's throat, dug them deep causing blood to gash out of the man's neck and for him to thrash for a few seconds and then go limp.

"Fuck," he thought as he slowly got up and limped a bit towards the horse that was a few feet away. "I hope he has something bandages," he thought closing his left eye, so blood wouldn't get in.

He arrived at the horse and did a quick search, finding band aids and a first aid kit. "I need to be quick," he thought quickly, applying first aid on his wound, and looked for weapons.

Taking a spear and sword, he forced himself to run towards a house that was on the end of the street, Ben had noticed that the houses weren't damage and no sign of knights passing there. "There's no sign of fighting, maybe they haven't reached here yet," he thought, but stopped when he heard clapping.

"Wow, your tittle really is accurate isn���t, it Blood the Gruesome," he heard a feminine voice coming from one of the houses, he passed. "To bad, we had to meet in such a predicament," a woman walked out of the house.

She had shoulder-length brown hair that was curly at the tips, sapphire blue eyes, light tan skin, pink lips and her attire was of a silver armor that showed her slim figure and curves with two silver swords on her hips.

Ben grunted. "She knows me?" he thought, looking her up and down and then notice the Tiger emblem on the hilt of her swords. "Kogerin," he growled.

The woman laughs a bit and clapped her hands. "Yes, that's my family name, but you should know me as Commander Maria Kogerin," she introduced herself and looked him up and down. "I presume that all of my men are dead," she sighed. "I have to admit, I'm impressed that you took care of them." She then focused her gaze at Ben.

"Well, by the amount of blood covering you, I guess the Blood elf is someone important to you," she said. "How about we make a deal?" she suggested, making Ben tighten his grip on the spear.

"Whatever it is, I'm not interested!" Ben spat at her, making the woman shake her head.

"You should listen to the offer first," she said. "I was going to offer you a chance to join me."

Ben looked at her confusedly "Huh?" he replied.

"You killed all my men, and with your fame. I'm sure joining the Kogari alliance would benefit you more than you can imagine," she said. "I'm sure living from village to village is tiresome and with the bounty on your head doesn't help," she smiled at him. "I'm sure you don't want to die like a random criminal, right? You probably want to live a life in comfort to your older years."

"And for all of that, I just have to tell you where's the blood elf?" Ben asked getting a smile from Maria.

"Indeed, all of that if you give us the blood elf and everything will be resolved," she said making Ben silent for a bit and then burst out in laughter.

"You really believe I would say yes? That offer is too good to be true, and besides. I don't rat out those on my side!"

Maria sighed and shook her head. "Suit yourself, Edan!" she called making the sound of a tiger growling come out of the house making Ben to narrow his eyes. "Edan go to that house," she pointed at the house Ben was heading to, making Ben growl.

Behind her appears a tiger almost the size of the woman. It covered him in metallic plate armor that protected the beast's entire body besides of the paws and face.

"Find her and drag her alive, got it?" she questioned getting a nod from the large tiger.

Edan was about to move but stopped as spear almost hit him in the face, but Maria stopped it by grabbing the spear. "Go ahead, I will take care of this criminal," she ordered as she and Edan ran towards Ben.

Grabbing his sword, Ben dashed to face the two. "I won't let you!" he yelled running towards Edan ready to stab him through the face but Maria intercepted him with her own sword.

"I'm the one your fighting," she said as she and Ben got into a struggle to gain the upper hand.

Edan passed Ben and ran towards the house. "Shit, I have to be quick," he thought as he applied more force on the struggle.

"Let me see what you can do," she backed away, making Ben lose his footing for a second but regain it to parry an attack from Maria.

She took her other sword and smirked at Ben; she dashed attacking hard leaving little time for Ben to counter attack, her barrage of attacks was reluctance delivering attack after attack with strength and accuracy.

Ben parried the attack that until he once again got involved in a struggle as they crossed swords.

Maria had a frown on her face. "Is that all?" she asked getting a grunt from Ben and she sighed, stomp on his damaged feet making him grit his teeth causing him to lose his grip.

Maria's armor had an orange dim, and she punched Ben square on the jaw, sending him to the ground. "Or is that your fame is overblown out of proportion?"

"Shit, shit, shit," he thought holding his jaw as pain shoot through his entire jaw. He could feel the taste of copper as he spat out a bloody tooth.

Shaking her head with a sigh, Maria stomped her foot on Ben's back and raised her sword. "What a shame, I thought you would be a worthy opponent," she covered her sword with a purple energy and pierced Ben's shoulder, making the brunet grit his teeth in pain.

She dug her sword deep, piercing the ground under him, making Ben scream in pain and agony while Maria chuckled as she pulled her sword. "That must have hurt, right?"

Ben weakly covered his shoulder with a hand as he glared at the ground. "Shit," he thought as he could hear the beats of his speeding heart. "I can't die like this, not while she's unable to defend herself" he thought, gritting his teeth.

Maria kicked Ben once again turning him on his back, she stomped her foot on Ben's chest making the brunet grunt. "Don't cry, Blood. We will take excellent care of her," she said, raising her sword ready to stab Ben on the chest.

....

Ben took a shake breath as he looked at the smiling face of Maria, he noticed a spear near to him, he quickly grabbed it, and slung it cutting the woman's chin making her back away.

Maria screamed as she let go of her sword and pressed her wound. "Fuck! miserable shit!" she yelled.

Ben breath deeply, as he got up using the spear as support. He gripped the spear tightly and used the blade to stab Maria through the face, killing her instantly as they both fell.

He fell to a knee over the dead body of Maria, still holding onto the spear. "Screw you," he grunted as he slowly got up and took the spear and used it as support once again, Ben struggled to limp towards the house.

He noticed that the house was trashed, he moved faster as he heard nose coming from the kitchen. "Please no, please be safe," he thought desperately as he reached the kitchen to see Edan's back.

It took a second for the scent of blood to hit him and also the sound chewing making Ben's stomach to sink as he limps closer to see Edan chewing on a bloody body. "No" a hollow shiver wrecked Ben's entire body as he looks at the dead of a woman.

Without thinking, Ben stabbed Edan in the head piercing the skull making the animal slump to the ground, Ben let go of the spear as he got on to his knees.

"Li-li…" he forced out through sobs as he looked at her, she had a dark blue tone of skin, long silver hair those were the only parts recognisable as her face was horribly mauled, her stomach was wide open showing her insides making Ben grit his teeth and close his eyes tight. "Lilith… Ray…" he tried to through sobs but not avail as tears streamed down his eyes.

He screamed as he slammed his fist into the ground, making the ground and the surrounding walls cracked. "Not again!" he yelled as the same ghostly aura as before covered his body as he continues to slam his fist on the ground.

....

Maria looked at Ben's glazed eyes while she laughed a bit. "Ouch, having that as your last memory probably for the better," she said ready to stab Ben but before she could, Ben elbowed the side of her knee rolling out of the path.

Ben growled as he looked at Maria. "I will kill you!" he yelled as adrenaline pumped into his veins, making him get up as he grabbed his sword and went to strike Maria.

She stopped the attack with her own blade and once again; they were in a struggle. "I would…" she didn't get to finish as Ben spit blood all over her face making her yell. "You Pig!" she yelled, still focus on Ben even with her eyes stinging.

Landing a push kick, her on the knee making her lose her balance, Ben swung his sword at her head.

Acting fast Maria dodged the attack partiality as the blades nicked her cheek making blood drill down it. She backed away. "God dammit," she grunted as she grabbed her sword with both hands, glaring at him. "He seems almost refreshed," she smirked. "I'm so going to enjoy this," she thought as Ben dashed at her.

Swing with his left arm Ben swung with brute force making it difficult for Maria to counter as the dark aura covered the blades.

Maria tried to cover her weapon in the orange energy but each time, it made contact with Ben's sword it would disappear. "He can cancel Magic!" she thought as she continues to block the barrage of attacks from Ben.

…

Edan burst through the door of the house, sending blisters flying everywhere. He walked a few feet in the house as he lowered his nose to the ground. He took a sniff and could see mainly two potent scents around the house, one trail lead upstairs while the other lead to another room.

Growling, Edan closed his eyes and took a deeper sniff as other smell trails could be noticed, but only vaguely that lead to the same room.

Deciding, Edan ambled to the source of the smell towards a kitchen. He walked over to the center of the room where a table was placed. Edan stared as he raised his paw and knocked the table away to reveal a trapdoor, once again using his paw as he broke the door.

He peered down to the see that; the room was pitch black, but the scent was stronger he jumped into the trap door seeing, it was like a tunnel but as soon Edan took a step, the ground that give away making the large feline fall into a pit of water causing the tiger to roar, as he used sunk his claws on the wall to avoid sinking and used them to climb the wall.

"Not going to work hair ball," said a feminine voice making Edan look up only to get stabbed through the eyes by a spear causing the tiger to lose control and fall into the water while he roared in both anger and pain.

But the roars were increased when the spear started to emit and crackle blue electricity sending volts into the tiger's body, and with the aid of the water and silver armor Edan's roars went silent in short seconds and the smell of burnt tiger filled the tunnel.

The tunnel then seemed to be covered in light to show there was a woman standing next to the pit looking down at Edan's burnt corpse reaching out. She grabbed the spear and pulled it from the tiger's skull. "Great, now my spear smell like burnt cat," she sighed.

The woman had a dark blue skin tone, overlong silver hair that reached her shoulders and purple eyes. She had a rather slim muscular built with a swollen belly and average breast size, a long sleeve green sweater that covered her upper body completely, and a pair of matching baggy pants and gray shoes hid that.

Scrunching her nose, she pinched it closed and grit her teeth. "Can someone cover that hole, I hate that smell," she said, looking behind her to see a good number of villagers some feet away from her. "We are going upstairs," she said as the ground covered the hole.

"Are you sure you should do that, Miss Lilith?" asked an older woman in dark brown clothing. "They might be awaiting us outside."

Sighing, Lilith turn around to face her. "Trust me, if they are here it would be better fighting somewhere less cramp and besides," she looked back at the door. "They haven't come yet even if their pet is dead, either they aren't here or far away," she said. "It would be better at least getting upstairs so. We won't get flooded and possibly have unnecessary causalities."

She walked towards the trapdoor and grabbed a small staircase. "Those who can use still use range attack come with me," she set it up and climbed it.

…

As Maria continue to block Ben's continues attacks suddenly, she froze as immense raddled her head. "Edan," she whispered, letting her guard down. "Edan!" she screamed, looking at the house.

Ben used the chance to knock the sword off of her hand, she had few seconds to react as Ben slice her neck open making blood spray out, Maria covered her neck as she gives out gurgled screams as she desperately tried to keep it in.

Using his sword as a bat, Ben hit her on the side of her head with the fuller part of the sword, sending the woman to ground.

"Edan! Help me!" She tried to cry out as tears fell from her eyes as her grip loosened and her vision got blurry.

Ben grabbed one of Maria's swords. "Better hope, whatever god you believe takes pity of you," he said as he thrust the sword to towards the woman's face.

Time seem to slow down for her as the sword got closer to her face. Her entire life flashed through her eyes faster than a second. "I'm sorry, I won't get to see your kid, Mika," was her last thought as the blade dug through her face killing her instantly as blood splatter around the ground.

Ben dug the sword to its hilt, partially splitting the woman's head. "Runt in the deepest pit of the void," he spat as he slowly got up, placing a hand on his bleeding shoulder.

"Yeah, I will get my ear yelled off," he forced himself limping towards the house as the adrenaline started to leave his system.

He went slower and slower as each step caused pain to vibrate through his entire body. His vision got blurry and unfocused while his breathing got heavier, but he continues limping towards the house as he saw Lilith coming out of the house.

She let go of her spear and ran up to him, as Ben fell forward into her embrace. "I'm so glad, your alright," Ben said a bit tiredly as Lilith give him a dry laugh.

She placed her one hand on his bleeding shoulder and the other on his back, and they started glowing green. "I'm more than glad that your still alive," she said as Ben placed his chin on her shoulder. "If not, I would learn necromancy just to bring you back."

Ben chuckled a bit as his eyes got even heavier. "And let me guess, then you will kill me for dying on the first place?"

His wounds started to close. "Not only that, but for getting blood on me, again." She said, making Ben chuckle a bit more as he closed his eyes.

"You have a point," he said as he went unconscious while holding on Lilith's embrace.

…

Simon huffed a bit as he continued to trade strikes against Alex, whose armor already had cracks and some parts missing. "He only gotten more annoy than anything," he thought as they both backed away. "Do you seriously want to continue this?"

Breathing out mist, Alex lifted his sword once again. "I told you, I will take your head to the grandmaster!" he yelled, making Simon sigh.

"I really didn't want to use this on you, but so be it," he said as he took out two more metallic balls and dashed at Alex.

Readying himself to attack, Alex swung his sword expecting Simon to counter or block, but the man made his weapon disappear. "What is he planning?" he tried to get a straightforward hit, but Simon parried with his glove and slammed his palm into the side of Alex's helmet, making an enormous cloud of smoke to envelope him.

"Are you trying to hit me while I can't see?! What a coward move!" Alex yelled as he noticed a glowing imprint on the side.

"Nope, just want to finish with a grand show," Simon said as the imprint glowed and encase him in the light, making the man scream.

Simon didn't wait to see the result of his attack, instead he ran, following the trail of corpse and blood. "The kid sure made a scene," he thought. "Hope, I hope he didn't do something stupid."

Simon stopped when he saw Lilith holding Ben. He called her running towards them. He stopped in front of them. "What's his condition?" he asked, looking down at the sleeping brunet.

Lilith smile a bit as she rubbed her hand through Ben's bloody hair. "He's all right, now he just needs to rest," she said, making Simon sigh in relief. "And also help me, I don't want the smell of blood to cling on me."

Simon nodded as he helped her lay Ben on the ground. "At least, this time is nothing major," he sighed, looking at the other corpse. It didn't take it long for him to recognise who it was. "Oh, just fucking great," he muttered, making Lilith look at him.

"Don't tell me royal family?" she asked, getting a nod from Simon. "Kogerin?" he nodded again. "That explains the giant tiger," she sighed. "We have to leave before, The Kogerin think in sending a search party."

Simon raised his arm as his shadows wrapped around his arm, and a crow formed. "Tell Marcus that we need some transport," he said, making the crow nod and fly away in top speed.

Lilith sighed as she gazed down at her stomach. "Any complication?" Simon asked.

"Just some pains, nothing I haven't gone through before," she scrunched her nose. As the smell of the burnings houses and flesh enter her nostrils, she pinched her nose again covering a bit of her face with blood.

Simon took out a napkin. "Here you go," he gave her, and she quickly took it and pressed it against her nose and grit her teeth tightly.

"This is my fault, this is my fault…" she thought over and over as tears escaped from her eyes.

"Lilith," Simon called her, but she didn't respond. "Lilith," he called her louder as he placed his arm on her shoulder, finally getting her attention, making the silver head look at him. "This isn't your fault," he said, making Lilith tightening her grip on the napkin.

"How it isn't? They were hunting me, and because of this…" she sobbed a bit. "This people lost their family and way of living… They were so kind to me and this happens," she closed her eyes tightly. "How isn't this my fault?"

Simon sighed as he crouched to her level. "Because it isn't your fault you want to be free, it isn't your fault for not wanting to be killed or be used as an object," he said as he looked down at Ben. "I know this has happen before, but listen to me. The one in fault are those who think your life is worthless because of your race and culture, just because some old noblemen said it a long time ago."

Lilith sighed, looking down at Ben. "Can you check on the others inside the house?" Simon got up. "They are in the kitchen."

"Leave it to me," he said, walking inside the house and towards the kitchen to see some villagers who stared back at him. "I'm not an enemy," he raising his hand defensively. "I'm a friend of Ben and Lilith."

They looked at each other and nodded. "The rest are inside of the tunnel," he said, pointing at the trapdoor.

"I need someone to come with me, so they won't think. I'm a threat," Simon said as one villager being an older dwarf nodded.

"I will go with you," he said walking to the door and climbed down, followed by Simon.

Simon's nose twitched, but it hardly affected him as he walked towards the other villager.

He looked at the people there, 30 or so, a suitable part of them being human while others were orcs or dwarfs. "Alright, how many live in this village?"

An older dwarf wearing red and white clothes walked forward. "There's about 200 people in the village," he said, frowning. "But with what happened, I'm not entirely sure."

Simon nodded. "And who you might be?"

"I'm Horgrim, I'm the village leader," he introduced himself.

"All the invading knights are dead," he said. "But we have to leave I called for transport, grab everything you guys need and also find any love one or friend. Tell them to meet outside of the house."

Simon walked over to the stairs and climbed back up and walked outside. "Lilith, where's your and Ben's stuff?"

Lilith was about to get up, but Simon stopped her. "Let me grab it, you have been through enough today," she sighed.

"Fine, in the room upstairs," she said getting a nod from Simon leaving the two alone, Lilith stroked her thumb on Ben's blood covered cheek. "Thank god, I won't have to give you a bath," she thought as blue portal opened in front of them.

A man with dressed in attire similar to Simon's walked out of it, he had peachy white skin, short blond hair, purple eyes and long ears. "Oh, hi Lily girl," he said with a wave and smile. "Looks like Benny did another number on himself," he said walking closer and looked around. "And also, a number on... oh Maria, wow Ben's bounty is about to go up," he chuckled a bit. "Besides that, how are things?"

Lilith giggled a bit and sighed. "Not that good, I would say it was nice seeing you again Marcus, but I wished it was in a different situation."

"True," he said walking over to them and lift Ben bridal style and then slung him over his shoulder.

"Careful!" Lilith yelled, making Marcus ruffle her hair.

"Don't worry, Lily. Benny's tougher than you think," he said. "Come on, I'll take you guys to the hotel, I'm staying," he said walking towards the portal.

Lilith slowly got up and followed him.

…

The sound of the birds singing was heard from the outside as the sun's rays light up the room and a few of them hit Ben right on the face making him groan. He slowly opened his eyes. "Can someone please cover the window" he mumbled groggily as he tried to cover himself with the blanket but flinched before he could.

"I could, but you really need to wake up," said a familiar voice to Ben, making him look at the source, and blinked a few times until his vision readjusted.

"Oh, Morning Master!" Ben greeted in an overall joyful tone at Simon who was sitting on a chair facing him and grumbled.

"I already told you, call me by name," he retorted, making Ben chuckle a bit and flinched. "You should stay still for a while."

Groaning, Ben sighed. "Bed stuck once again, at least I'm in a comfy bed this time," he mumbled.

"Glad to hear that, since you will be stuck to that bed for a few weeks at least," he said, making Ben groan again. "And also, Lilith gave birth while you were knocked out."

Ben widen his eyes and tried to move but recoiled due to the pain. "Son of a bitch!" he fell back on the bed.

"You shouldn't move or you'll spend more than a few weeks in that bed," Ben looked at him with a slight glare.

"What did you expect!? How is she?! How is the baby?!" Simon sighed.

"They are both fine if they weren't, do you think. I would talk about it so calmly?"

Ben perked his lips. "Ah, you have a point there," he grumbled as he moved his head slowly around the room

The room was a plain white with a few other beds around the compact room, looking like a hospital room.

"Where are they, and where are we?"

"They are a few rooms away from here and we are in Asfakata's hospital," he said, making Ben sighed.

"I hate this," Ben complained, making Simon shrug.

"What did you expect, you were wounded and lost a good amount of blood,�� he said almost bored but then give a smirk. "But I have to say, what you did to those knights and Maria was very impressive," he said getting up. "Especially in the condition you were."

Ben looked at him with a smile. "Does this mean I finally get my cloak?"

"Maybe," Ben frown at him.

"That's bullshit! You told me I would get one if I do something impressive and I did!" he yelled, flinching a bit.

"Yes, I did say that, but you aren't an active member anymore," Simon retorted, making Ben pout and sigh.

"You still owe me one," he grumbled as Ben's stomach grumbled loudly, making the brunet groan once again. "Master please get me some food."

Simon's left eyebrow twitched. "Fine, whatever," he said, walking out of the room.

Looking at ceiling Ben sighed and then smiled a bit. "Lilith will probably kill me when she sees me, but I'm sure. I can make it…" his smile turns into a puzzled look the widen his eyes. "Ah, shit, I dropped the coins!" he thought with a groaned. "All of that for nothing."

…

A few rooms away from Ben's, the soft sound of humming was audible inside of Lilith's room as she cradled a baby boy in her arms.

The baby had a light peach skin tone, strands of white hair and was dressed in a blue onesie.

"You're so adorable," she smiled and kissed his forehead.

Soon she lifts her head as the door opened to see Simon. "Your man-child of husband is awake."

"And I guess you told him what happened?" Simon nodded.

"Yeah, and reacted like I expected, and how are you two doing?"

"Well, besides of the phantom pain, I'm doing well," she lowered her gaze back at the baby. "And Ray is fine, just sleepy after breakfast."

"Speaking of that, do you want me to grab something for you?" Simon asked, getting a shook of the head from her.

"No need, Marcus already brough me something to eat."

"All right, I'll visit after babysitting Ben again, I thought he could take care of himself when he would be 18," he muttered making Lilith giggle a bit.

"You know we appreciate everything you do for us, right?"

"Yes, I do, but where does it say, I can't complain?"

"Well, you have a point there," she admitted. "Well, see you later." Simon nodded and left the room.

…

At the Minogashita estate, Ivan's was behind his desk looking at the enormous pile of paperwork. "God dammit," he thought with a sigh, grabbing a piece of paper, before he could read it. He heard pecking coming from the window behind him.

Turning around to face it, he saw a peregrine falcon with a scroll with an orange emblem with a tiger on it, around it's neck.

Ivan quickly opened the window letting the falcon in, he took the scroll opening it; he read it and widen his eyes. "Oh god…" he muttered pressing his hand hard on the desk and after a few seconds a blue portal open in front of the desk as James come out.

"Father, what's wrong?" he asked as Ivan gave him the scroll and he quickly read it, tightening his fist. "This is horrible," he said under his breath.

"We will leave tomorrow," Ivan stood up. "Get everyone ready," he said, getting a nod from James.

"I will," James said as he looked at the scroll once again and sighed. "This won't be easy," he thought, putting the paper on the table, and opened another portal and walked in the portal to appear in a bedroom that was large and looked to be filled with luxurious furniture.

"Why were you called for?" James sighed as he looked at a woman on his bed. She had long messy brown hair that reached her shoulder, blue sapphire eyes and tan skin tone. She was dressed in a white attire that were slightly baggy that covered her figure.

James stayed silent lowering his gaze making the woman yawn as she stretched. "What's wrong? Did someone die or something?"

Sighing, James walked closer to the bed. "Mika… I'm sorry to say…" he sat beside her, making the woman look at him with a puzzle look.

"James, you are kind worrying me," she said placing her hand on his. "What's wrong?"

He stayed silent for a bit. "Maria was killed during a mission," he said, making the woman look at him in shock but then laugh.

"I never thought you would make this kind of joke," she said, punching his arm gently. "Don't joke about that," she looked up at him to face James's sorrowful face. "You are joking, right?" she asked, grabbing his arms. "James, please tell me you are joking," she almost yelled at him as tears formed on the edge of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said hugging her as Mika sobbed and then broke down in his arm crying on his chest. He rubbed her back as she cried.

"This can't be! This can't be," she cried repeatedly with slight sobs while James did what he could to comfort her.

After some minutes, she stopped sobbing but stayed in James's chest. "Who did it?" she asked in a voice close to a whisper.

He sighed. "The culprit wasn't identified yet. All we know is that it was a group of bandits that were terrorising a village," she nodded.

"And when is the funeral?" she asked in the same tone of voice.

"Three days from now, but we are going to leave tomorrow," he said, making her nod again.

"James, I have a request," she raised her bloodshot eyes to face James's.

"No, need to tell me, I will help you find whoever did this and make sure they pay for this," he said making her sniff and nod.

She placed her face back to his chest. "Thank you," she muttered, closing her eyes as he silently cried.

…

Inside of a room that looked to be similar to Ivan's but with a tiger emblem on his desk. There was a man sitting behind the desk.

The man had a muscular built to him, with a few strings of white hair in his brown comb back hair, he had sapphire blue eyes and a tan skin tone. He was dressed in royal attire with a mostly black as a primary color and orange as the strips on the torso and legs.

Besides the man there was another person that being Yusei who stood in front of the man. "Report" the man ordered in a deep voice, getting a nod from Yusei as he took out a medallion with a blue jay as the symbol.

"During the exploration, Kurgi found this," he said, putting it on the table.

The man grabbed the medallion. "Minogashitas?"

He nodded. "It looks to be one of James's beckons."

"Then why would this in the area?"

"I have an idea," The man gave him the go ahead. "Last week while James was here. He asked me to join him in a mission to find his estrange sibling in the same area."

"And you think it involved his sibling?"

"Possibly, we also found a bag of platinum coins," he added, making the man nod.

"Do you think they knew about the mission?"

"I'm not sure, Lord Kogerin."

The man nodded as he hid the medallion in his desk. "Keep this quiet from the council."

Yusei nodded. "Yes, sir."

"You are dismissed," he said, making Yusei nod and leave the room. "Once again, A Minogashita ruined my chances to gain power," he thought, standing up. "But I won't let this happen again," he clenched his fist. "I'll make sure of it."