39 Chapter 7 (7): Meetings with family, part 2

AN: This is the part with the aforementioned cruelties, like, rape, familial abuse, and so on. That section will be marked.

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Chapter 7 (7): Meetings with family, part 2

"Halt! Who are you, and why have you come here?" (Elf)

"I... am here... to... see the man... once called my father. These... are my friends... comrades... and they pose no threat... to the village... as a whole... unless... provoked" (Elise)

"Who, particularly, is the man once called your father, and why is he no longer called such?" (Elf)

"His name... is Keenjo. He cast me out... when my betrothed died" (Elise)

"Well, you must not have heard, but he's the village chieftain now. He doesn't have time for those like you who pose no value for him anymore. Go back from whence you came" (Elf)

"I think he would make time for us. Besides, I'd rather you let us in, even if we won't see him. After all-" (Ryuu)

"Well, well, well... if it isn't my worthless, nameless offspring. I told you that you would die if you ever dared to show your face here again, but you must not have listened to me. Goodbye, you'll be dead within a few minutes, as... well, I explained why" (Fat elf, probably Keenjo, Elise's father)

"I guess I'll take that as a declaration of hostile intent, particularly, intent to kill... meaning, I am now within my rights to defend myself and my companions with equal force to what you declared you'd use" (Ryuu)

"It's seven against over a hundred. You're a fool. Leave the traitor behind, and the rest of you can live, or you can all die a traitor's death with her" (Keenjo)

"I don't think that's happening. See, well..." (Ryuu)

I used magic to hide myself for a moment as I changed into the scraps of fabric I was coronated in, as I kept speaking.

"I don't think that those hundred would dare to attack me or my lovers" (Ryuu)

"Oh? And who the fuck are you to make that assumption?" (Keenjo)

At that moment, I finished changing, and released the magic hiding my form.

"My name is Miryuu Maou. In other words, the Demon Lord. You also declared intent to kill me and my fiancee, in other words, someone who will bear the name Elise Maou... So, remind me, who is the traitor here?" (Ryuu)

"Bullshit. Kill the traitor and the one impersonating the Demon Lord!" (Keenjo)

I removed five of my limiters and pointed at Keenjo, purple streaks of lightning coiling around my arm and hand.

"Well, I gave you a chance. You didn't take it. Now, you die... slowly, and painfully. Anyone wish to join him? No? Wise ch-" (Ryuu)

I was cut off by several arrows being loosed at us, which I caught in mid air.

"Well, it would appear that... seven of the archers wish to die. As no harm was done, I'll kill you fast, though not painlessly, I think. Sorry" (Ryuu)

I threw an arrow back at each of the ones who'd shot at us, all seven of them dying as the arrow went through their heart, neck, or, in one case, into the brain by way of an eye.

"Anyone else? By the way, if you wish, I could leave and come back in two weeks or so with a few hundred soldiers, to make it more official-like, but... as it is, I'm just going to grab the chieftain, give him a healthy dose of pain, and then hang him publicly in the capital. He did order the death of the Demon Lord, after all" (Ryuu)

Most of the guards dropped their weapons and placed their heads on the ground, a few ran, and three fools tried to attack me. Elise shot the archer, Mae cut the arrow, and I blasted the two spearmen with lightning magic. After that, I jumped over the wall, grabbed Keenjo, and dodged the gates that Ver kicked down. I then tossed him into a corner, where he was guarded by the wyverns Sky and Arel.

***** Cruelty and more ahead, though it all happened in the past *****

Meanwhile, we went to see Elise's mother, who we freed from where she was chained in a cramped room, her beaten and naked body revealing that she was extremely close to giving birth to the triplets in her womb, and then we freed everyone else he had locked up, including seven of Elise's half-sisters, five more of Keenjo's wives/breeding stock, two of which were also several months pregnant, the hostages he had on all of them, and more. When we revealed all of that to the rest of the village, we were glad we had the two wyverns guarding the former chief, as they wanted to kill him right then and there.

"Don't you worry, he's going to die, but not before he pays for his crimes more. He'll be great practice for my healing magic, as well as other spells. After we're done with that, he'll be executed in the main square of the capital for his attempts to kill the Demon Lord, among other crimes. However, I do hope that you all will take care of those he'd wronged here, even though some of them are his children" (Ryuu)

"Of course we will, what do you take us for? Monsters?" (Villager)

"No, I didn't think that, I just thought that I should make sure. Now, what do we do next? Elise?" (Ryuu)

"I... want... to talk... with my mother... and my sisters..." (Elise)

She did so, us learning that she had several more siblings than she'd thought, as her half-sisters' mothers had been forced to bear more of his children. Even some of her half-sisters, his own offspring, had unwillingly given birth to his children. Apparently, Elise herself was one of those born from Keenjo raping his daughters, the ones he deemed to be unfit for marriage to someone of influence. I also learned that Elise's mother had given birth to Elise at the age of eight, and that explained why he'd tried to rape her when Astaroth's son, the one he'd planned to marry her to, had died. He figured nobody would want a girl who had been promised to someone else, so she didn't hold value as anything but another womb to carry his children, however, when she managed escape, he gave up, though I don't know why he did so. She knew plenty about his crimes, so she might have been able to expose that and get him arrested and killed... maybe he thought he had enough connections to powerful people to keep that from happening?

***** End of past cruelty... There was less than I'd expected *****

Elise's mother said that she supported Elise's desire to marry me, and so did many of Elise's siblings. As it was late, we decided to stay the night at the village, before making the three-day trip to the capital. However, we got delayed, as Elise's mother went into labor overnight, and Elise wanted to stay and see her siblings be born. After about 50 hours in labor, she gave birth to three healthy children, two daughters and a son, and so we stayed one more day before we left. When we got to the capital and had given Keenjo to the guards, we realized that it was Tuare's 16th birthday, so we celebrated by renting a large room in an inn and... well...