Chapter 23 - Negotiations
Oftentimes, that meant a warden sent to deal with a territory's issues would not be of the same race as the faction in control of that territory.
And so was the case with Seraphina. Or so the people there thought, unaware that Seraphina had her own reasons for being here and had, in fact, called in some favours to make it happen.
Seraphina was dressed in tight black clothes that clung to her curvaceous body as she exuded a sense of power and confidence. Yet, beneath that was an almost undetectable layer of anxiety for reasons only known to her.
Her stance and attire showed a subtle elegance beneath her fierce exterior, and on her back was strapped a large sword that seemed to be almost as long and wide as she was.
She stared at the array of slaves in front of her with a fierce, burning gaze, waiting for their enslaver to step forward and confront her as she thought about how to handle this situation.
Unfortunately, her thoughts were interrupted by the annoying voice of a certain toad-like human being she was coming to loathe more and more. "Warden Seraphina," the toad said, "isn't it about time we attack? Cleary Emily intends to stay holed up in there after we almost got her yesterday!"
His voice was laced with carefully hidden contempt, as Liam firmly believed in letting humans deal with human issues. Why the council thought it necessary to send a filthy bloodsucker of all things to undermine his authority was beyond him.
She hissed through her teeth, still seething in anger at this man's actions, "Silence, you worm. You have already royally fucked up with your actions, and you should be happy if the council decides to let you keep your position."
With a wave of her hand, she dismissed him, "Now, be quiet and follow my orders. You don't want to give me a justifiable reason to chop off your pathetic little head."
Liam grimaced at her words but ultimately backed down. He knew this woman had both the power and authority to follow through on her words, and he had no interest in testing her.
After all, while his aetherial reservoir was as large as anyone's, he still only possessed a single mystic glyph, making him a first-ranker. But a warden needed to be at least a second-glyph human or second-rune vampire or shapeshifter, making them second-rankers.
But was he really supposed to just give up on Emma and Emily just like this? When he had worked so hard to get them before?
Yes he was. He knew he had no other choice. Liam had long since come down from the absolute arrogance he felt when he first came into this power, and he was no idiot either. Otherwise, he wouldn't have reached the position he was now in.
Part of this change was due to the positive influences of earth affinity corruption, making him more grounded and less prone to hasty actions, even if it didn't change his less-than-virtuous nature.
Yesterday wasn't a lapse in judgment either; he had thoroughly prepared and made sure to have enough people to overwhelm the enslaved defenders, but unfortunately, Emily turned out to have some kind of weird time-stopping power, which he didn't anticipate.
As Liam stewed in his own thoughts and Seraphina kept staring at the Ashcroft mansion with unwavering determination, the front door suddenly opened, and someone stepped out.
But it wasn't the person they were all expecting.
Instead, it turned out to be a man. A very tall and intimidating man in obsidian black armour, with a large two-handed warhammer resting on his shoulder, held in place by Erik's wrist, casually resting on the shaft.
His handsome face was framed by grey-white hair, fierce, amber eyes, and a casual grin on his face as he looked out over the various people gathered there.
He naturally recognised Seraphina as being both the person in charge and a vampire. But he had no real problem with that, despite the various vampire-shapeshifter feuds his parents had told him of. After all, vampires had never done anything to him, unlike humans.
In fact, there was another reason he didn't mind vampires, but he didn't like to think about that.
Naturally, on his shoulder was not the war hammer he left behind on Söl, but it was a much weaker backup weapon he had stored in his armour's storage space.
Everyone was surprised to see a man suddenly appear there because his eyes were clear and didn't seem enslaved. Especially Liam and Seraphina looked at Erik with surprise and immediate hostility, though for very different reasons.
Erik stepped forward and down the porch, where the gathered slaves of Emily opened a path for him, ordered to do so by Elora through Emily.
Seeing the slaves behave this way made everyone even more suspicious and concerned about Erik's presence. Some even questioned whether the Witch of London had always been a guy. After all, not many people had seen her without her veil of darkness.
When he arrived in front of the gathered people, he spread his hands with a broad smile as if inviting them all in and said, "What a lovely gathering! May I ask what you are all doing on my wife's estate? I'm afraid we haven't prepared to accommodate so many people."
The people gathered before him reacted with shocked gazes at his apparent claim to being Emily's husband.
Liam was about to lash out at him, but Seraphina was faster, and she didn't believe for a second this man was who he claimed to be, "You think you're funny? Who the hell are you, and where is Emily?!"
With a slight smirk, Erik shrugged and said, "We all need to do what we can to keep the world entertained. These are harsh times, you know. People could die for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Seraphina narrowed her eyes at that clear threat, especially because she could feel the power brimming inside Erik's body. This man was no weaker than her and perhaps even stronger.
Still, she wouldn't back down so easily, "You're pretty cocky for a man who is outnumbered."
As Erik's confident grin appeared once again, he responded, "What use is numbers before true power?"
He pointed behind him with his thumb, "Those slaves just need to keep the trash busy while I deal with you. After that, it's just a matter of cleaning up the aftermath."
Seraphina couldn't deny that he was right. After all, she, too, could deal with this group of people on her own. Not easily, perhaps, but she would manage. That was just the difference between first and second-rankers.
The only reason Emily, who also has two glyphs, had any trouble with these people was because of her fragile state of mind and because her second glyph was focused on control rather than combat.
Liam, however, didn't see it that way as he scoffed loudly, "Absolute rubbish! You think you can so easily deal with a sentinel warden?!"
Since he had screwed up big time with this woman and had essentially given up on obtaining either of the Ashcroft sisters, he was now attempting to score some browny points with Seraphina in the hope of getting leniency, regardless of his feelings towards vampires.
Besides, whether or not his words about being Emily's husband were true, he was clearly a free man who came out of the Ashcroft estate. That was enough for him to consider the sisters defiled, as he would never know what they had gotten up to in there.
Seraphina smirked at Liam's words. Not because she felt flattered but because she wanted to see how Erik would respond.
Panning his gaze towards the short, pasty-looking man Erik recognised from Emily's memories, his eyes became filled with contempt for this snake.
He knew he and Elora were no saints, but they had their limits. Or at least Erik did, but he acted as a limiter for Elora.
He felt like simply charging the guy, but since he had refused the Bakaneko bloodline earlier, he wasn't sure if his speed and agility were high enough to get past this vampire.
Luckily, a certain fairy suddenly whispered a much better idea into his mind's ear.
Elora's plan caused him to smirk as he returned his gaze towards Seraphina, "How about a deal? After all, while I don't particularly care one way or the other, I'm sure you'd much prefer it if things didn't come to bloodshed. We may both be confident in our victory, but regardless of who wins, your side will lose the most."
That was true. After all, all those slaves technically belonged to 'her side'.
Seraphina saw the look Erik had given Liam and wondered what that was about. But decided to hear his proposal first, so she narrowed her eyes, "What do you suggest then?"
Without losing his smirk, Erik explained, "I don't actually care about those slaves. I don't mind freeing them and handing them over to you, but I want something in return."
Seraphina raised her eyebrows at that proposal. "You have the authority to do that? What about Emily?"
Erik shook his head, "Don't worry about her. You're dealing with me now."