45 Chapter 8 (2): It was at this moment, he knew...

Chapter 8 (2): It was at this moment, he knew...

"Allow us to introduce ourselves. This is the Wyvern Lord Verene, the eleventh divine beast, and thus someone with that authority to arrest and kill you without a trial" (Ryuu)

I ticked the four off on my fingers, right in front of his face, the expression on which showed that he was quite irate.

"Then, we have Haruveritat el Isala, third princess of the human lands. After that, there's Tuareninya Lars, the one who you'd wanted to marry, and also the one who is going to marry me, the Demon Lord Miryuu Maou, the one you wanted to hire us to kill. That's four people who have the authority to, at the very least, point out your high treason to the proper authorities, and three of those four could arrest you directly. Two of us, namely, Verene and myself, could even execute you without a trial" (Ryuu)

He paled, and then began to back away slowly, but he didn't get far. After all, it's hard to back up when there's a sword going through each of your feet and almost half a meter into the floor.

"So, I think this is where you realize that you fucked up big time. Fortunately, you do have a younger sister, so your house isn't going to die out due to your mistake. Now, come along quietly, and your death won't be very painful. Resist, and you'll be found slowly rotting from the inside out while chained alive to a pillar in this place, with my official seal on a note detailing your crimes. You won't be able to get healed or escape from the week of agony, and the chains won't free you from the pillar until you are a corpse. Should the pillar get destroyed, you'll die after an hour of suffering enough pain to kill someone exposed to a second of that, but it won't kill you until you felt it for an hour. It's your choice" (Ryuu)

He came quietly, well, almost. He released a whimper with each step, which also left a trail of bloody footprints. His arms were bound with chains, which I held onto tightly. The servants we passed, after they got over their shock, tended to scream and run in various different directions, the first of them running right out of the building. Out of consideration for his injured feet, we walked slowly, so by the time we got to the front door, the city guards were waiting for us, weapons drawn. At the front stood the demon general of light, Zekram Gremory, who, from what I've heard, is also the head of the city guard for the entire country.

"I don't know who you all are or why you are doing this, but you better release general Indra Astaroth this instant and surrender. You are all under arrest for-" (Gremory)

"Who we are is a group of adventurers he tried to hire to assassinate the Demon Lord, over a personal grudge, no less, and what we are doing is having him under arrest for high treason because of it. By the way, I am Tuareninya Lars, so I actually do have the authority to do so" (Tuare)

"And I'm supposed to believe that? Where is the proof of any of that?" (Gremory)

Oh right, Gremory, like Indra, is a member of the radical faction... this is going to be tougher than I'd thought at first.

"How about this... you bring all of us to the guardhouse, and question us with a truth orb?" (Ryuu)

"How about not? Tuareninya Lars has been missing for three years, and you attacked a demon general without physical proof of any misdeeds. I think it'd be better to just kill you here and be done with it. Kill th-" (Gremory)

"How about you get fired from your job as head of the guard, and lose your title of demon general? That course of action that you just stated is against protocol, specifically, under section 13, paragraph 9, of the guardsman's code of conduct. That's enough to lose your job, or at least get demoted" (Ryuu)

"But what about the second half of your threat? That is gross disrespect towards nobility, an offense punishable by the loss of -" (Gremory)

"You make the assumption that I'm a commoner. That is wrong. Hmm... you know, this is two radicals with one arrest. A good start, honestly" (Ryuu)

He blinked, then laughed as he drew his axe and walked towards us. As soon as he'd separated from the rest of the guards, I put up a barrier blocking entry or exit of anyone or any sounds, trapping him, me, and my party within. The guards were able to see what went on within, even as they hammered away at it with weapons, fists, and magic.

"I'll take that as an indication that you wish to somehow remove me from power, and thus a threat. As such, I am within my rights to kill you and the rest of your group" (Gremory)

"And now, that is your second declaration of your intent to kill me and those I care about. Even as a demon general, you are going to have to answer for your crimes, which are similar to Indra's, namely, attempting to kill the Demon Lord and her lovers. Speaking of, my name is Miryuu Maou. It's a pleasure to kill you. After all, I did warn everyone that those who drag others into quarrels with me, especially dragging my lovers into it, would face harsher punishment than those who attack me and me alone. Also, I never made a threat against your life or even to attack you, just to arrest you and remove you from your position, so you don't have legal justification to kill me, and even if I had, my group is blameless, so dragging them into it is also illegal. I don't even know why I'm saying all of this, considering that you're going to be a corpse in a few seconds" (Ryuu)

A few seconds later, his head was on the ground, removed by his own axe. I then carved my own seal into his chest and forehead, before taking down the barrier. The guards were scared stiff, and one of them, a commander, tried to run, presumably, to get backup. I jumped over the group, landed in front of him, and smiled.

"Word of advice. Think your choices of how to report this case carefully, as your commander broke regulations by trying to kill those who were willing and wanting to go to the guardhouse to give an explanation of their actions and the actions of one they had arrested, and he also expressed intent to kill more than one of the future wives of the Demon Lord, including the daughter and heir to the house of Lars. Him dying for such a crime is a bit overboard, but considering that the one who killed him was acting in self defense, it's entirely legal" (Ryuu)

"I... you make a good point... I will take that into consideration" (Commander)

"And to you, as well as the rest of your group, I'll say this. We'll go to the guardhouse to give a statement, and if needed, spend some time in a cell, and we will do so peacefully. However, Indra is going to come with us as someone under arrest, because... well, he is guilty of crimes greater than ours" (Ryuu)

We went to the guardhouse, which took about ten minutes due to Indra's injuries, and once we got there, well... we got ambushed by a magic-absorbing barrier. Of course.