The Mastermind

As soon as Alexandra was out of earshot, Gort spoke up,

"My Lord, if I can be forward."

"Speak freely," Lloyd said, granting Gort permission.

"I understand the bond between father and daughter is a special one, however-"

Lloyd interjected before Gort could say another word, "I did not bring her because of her snivelling."

Gort slowly started looking up at this great man yet again. "Of course!" Gort was thinking. "How can such a great man be ruled by his emotions?!"

"Then may I ask...?"

"If that skeleton proves to be a nuisance, Andra may be needed to sway him," Lloyd calmly explained while Gort listened with great admiration. "However, for the rest, you will have to wait and see. Have faith in me, Gort," Lloyd added with the charisma of a great leader.

"I do!" Gort yelled. "I would willingly lay my life down for you. Nay! I hope to die for your cause!"

As tears formed in Gort's eyes, threatening to stream down, the doors opened yet again. It was Azazel, for whom Gort had sent.

Azazel was one of the demihuman races such as lizardmen and beastmen. Azazel belonged to the latter group. He possessed the ears of a dog and the eyes of an eagle. He did NOT like to be questioned about how these qualities came to be found in him.

His ears were mostly covered by his bushy hair, but they still stood out enough that it would be easy to discern him from a crowd. His eyes burnt a deep blue that also distinguished him greatly. Albeit such features, however, he was the leader of a specialised unit operating directly under Gort and the City Lord.

He sported a stubble but his clothes were in excellent condition, not a smidge of dirt on them. He had a noble personality that always pushed him to side with justice and punish evil alongside his immaculate work ethic. Azazel had been a trusted aide to Lloyd ever since he was a teenager and Lloyd was not yet a city lord.

He looked to be in his 30s, but it was hard to tell with demihumans. Some of them aged a lot slower than humans.

"I have located the skeleton. He has indeed betrayed the plan," he spoke calmly.

"But not my expectations," Lloyd said and motioned him to continue.

"He currently seems to be protected by the Crow. A total of 26 casualties were had by the higher-demon Naamah. Almost all were low-ranking demons. Both of them massacred the majority of the demons without much trouble. Before the battle, the demons sent out a younger soldier as a messenger to notify the main camp."

Lloyd nodded his head and Azazel continued giving his report.

"As per your instructions, my team has provided him with safe passage, and we were not seen. However, after the battle, the kid who was with Kai the Skeleton has run away by himself."

"A kid?" Lloyd caressed his chin.

Gort raised his voice, sure of himself, "If he left on his own, he must have died already in the forest."

"I have taken it upon myself to save the child," said Azazel to himself, with a bead of sweat forming on his forehead as he glanced at Gort who already seemed disgruntled by the perversion of his duties. This was the biggest operation that he had been a part of, he couldn't screw up.

Lloyd nodded his head again and urged Azazel to continue, he was not angered.

"Upon the failure of Aldan, the Revered Scholar has started mobilising the troops to finish it one swoop. I reckon the Witches of the Forest of the Blessed may choose to clash with the demons."

"Why do you think that?" Lloyd asked in a soothing voice.

"After trespassing into Crow's territory, he was not destroyed right away by her."

"Her?" Gort asked with a mocking laugh, holding his belly, "Do you mean to say that those crushing attacks were dished out by a woman?"

Lloyd enunciated each of his words as he turned his face to Gort who stood on his right, "As the leader of the witches, she was never one to be underestimated, and she is far older than both of us combined. Her strength is also one that commands respect."

"I spoke out of turn, forgive me," Gort quickly apologised and stepped back. Witches' attire and their ferocious manner of doing things had pushed everyone to assume them as males. However, the worst of the worst was a woman far graceful than any of them could imagine. Only a few people were privy to this information.

Lloyd digested the news he had received slowly and spoke once more with a solemn tone,

"You did good by saving that kid, it is likely he is the reason Crow chose not to kill Kai. Bring him to me."

Lloyd was correct in his deduction. Both Arthur's unique constitution and his unusual way of looking at life had attracted Crow's attention.

Lloyd knew that a kid would have no way of protecting himself against Crow. This meant Crow had chosen not to kill that kid, as well. Keeping him close could prove to be useful.

"Since the skeleton isn't dead, how will we proceed?" Azazel asked. He had already given an order to one of his subordinates to bring the kid over, foreseeing that his Lord would choose to see him.

Even though Lloyd considered using Kai as a supersoldier initially, he had proven himself to be lacking in determination. Lloyd then tried to break him in various ways, but he always relapsed back to his personality.

If Lloyd could not fully trust a subordinate, it was better for that subordinate to disappear. Especially since his daughter was so fond of the creature.

Lloyd's gaze met with Azazel's and he declared in a resolute tone, "For our common goal, we will do whatever I deem necessary. I will use thousands of bodies as my stepping stones so that we will return to the surface! You will receive your new orders before the day breaks!"

Azazel and Gort both bowed down and a knock was heard in the throne room. The door then slowly opened.

"The kid is here," Azazel announced as he turned his face to the door.

Arthur was no longer crying. He was also bathed and his clothes were washed. But he was pouting for some reason.

"Where is Big Bro Skelly?!" Arthur yelled at the woman laden in black who brought him inside. "You said he wanted to see me!" She disappeared from sight in the next moment, leaving only Arthur.

He couldn't even process where the woman had gone. Arthur's eyes searched for the woman to complain further, but to no avail.

Arthur suddenly felt stifled as the gazes of both Lloyd and Gort landed on him with immense pressure. He gulped and realised the seriousness of the situation. He calmed down and bowed before the City Lord.

"Speak, child, how do you know Kai the Skeleton?"

"Oh, I saved him from bunch of bad guys!" Arthur replied.