Chapter 15

Cecilia's POV:

As the supposed army comes pouring in, I uncover my eye just a bit to analyze their strength. I'm still hovering some distance above the city so this proves a much easier task than it could have otherwise been. As I look for any potential threats, however, I find that nothing presents itself. Amused by the sight of the rather weak creatures pouring forward to face us, I find myself giggling hysterically.

Me: [I thought you said some of them were strong! HAHAHA!]

Lael: [They appear weak because you are comparing them to yourself.]

Well, aren't you a spoilsport? Couldn't allow me to have a little laugh, could you? Just had to ruin it. Covering up my right eye once more, I can't help but think how fun it would have been to see that female from earlier in their ranks despite how highly unlikely it'd be.

Sigh

Looking down at the town beneath me, I notice that everyone's already preparing for battle. I must say, I really love when people are this dependable and don't require me to tell them exactly what to do before they begin preparations. Still, it'd be a waste to have them fight and exhaust themselves now. We'll have much bigger foes to fight later.

However, before I can do anything, a blast of light from the town hits a portion of the army. A massive explosion later and there's utter chaos. Looking for the source of the attack, I notice that Amethyst has awakened.

Watching from a distance, I watch as my army goes on the offensive as she provides cover fire from range. With both handling the main army's approach, my children move to intercept the few that have decided to stray from their force to sneak around and attack from behind and before long, the enemy is in full retreat.

Lael: [They are quite effective...working together.]

Me: [You could have joined them if you wanted to.]

Lael: [It's best that only a few know about my existence. It'd be much preferred if you were the only one who did.]

I'm about to respond when I notice that the portion of the army withdrawing would still cause issues for us if we were to continue on our journey. Looking back at our forces, I find they are too occupied with mopping up the few rearguards to notice.

Me: [Seems like they still have some ways to go though.]

Instead of just killing the enemy myself, however, I decide to have a little fun while teaching my subordinates more about what war is truly like. Rushing towards the enemy's retreating forces, I overtake them with ease and summon their attention towards me. As they look up to me in fear, I uncover my right eye for a brief moment and use it to bewitch their entire force. After replacing the covering, I begin ordering the army to reform and attack the town once more. This time, however, I'll be the one in control.

As the army approaches, I have its rear split into two groups and send them both east and west respectively. The main force, I order to throw themselves at the enemy, or rather my actual forces. Much like I anticipated, my men hold their ground against the onslaught but even from up above it is clear to me that they think this is just another foolish attempt by whatever commander the enemy had. I watch as they cut down line after line. My children, perhaps thinking the enemy will attack from the rear like last time, move to cover the other entrances of the city but I had also planned for that.

Me: [Left flank, attack.]

The left flank charges and attacks the left side of the town breaking right through the measly lines my children had set up. The reason for this is quite simple. My children had split themselves evenly to better cover all entrances to the town instead of focusing on one. Watching, I smile as I see the others leave their posts to help their sibling.

Me: [Fools. Right flank, begin your assault. Don't attack the main enemy's forces. Instead, push to aid the left flank and quickly surround and kill the fighters holding them at bay. Then move in on the remaining enemy from behind and eliminate them.]

Lael: [Are you sure they require this level of punishing?]

Me: [This isn't a punishment. A punishment would be me blasting them into oblivion for getting carried away and allowing the main bulk of the enemy's forces to slip away.]

I watch as the right flank carries out my orders to perfection. They ignore their main force's struggle against my own army and push straight through the town to assist the left flank. My children, under normal circumstances, could easily handle the enemy but I did tell them not to kill most of the civilians and as such, they are unable to use their major skills as they would cause collateral damage. As such, things quickly take a turn for the worst as Childe gets cut down after trying to protect his younger sister, Nina.

Me: [What a dumb reason to die. How will his death prevent her from dying?]

Lael: [You know, they are your children.]

Me: [All the more reason to be disappointed. They are unable to adapt to situations. Nina dying wouldn't affect anything as I would simply raise her later. He knows this. He also knows that dying to save her wouldn't stop her from getting killed shortly after he dies. Yet, here we are. Instead of relocating to better assist the rest of our forces which don't have the luxury of not having to worry about death, he chose to save the one person whose life in this scenario has quite literally no reason to be saved.]

Lael: [That's a cruel way to look at it. Especially considering that she is your daughter and the youngest one at that. It only seems logical that her older brother would want to spare her the experience of dying.]

Me: [Yes, yes, and in the process expose her to the death of a loved one who dies to save her. I fail to see how that outcome is any better than dying herself.]

As I continue watching Nina struggle to make her way towards Childe's body, I see a flash of purple and mere moments later, fire encircles her. Tracing it back to the source, I find Amethyst has come over to assist. Still, even a dragon can only do so much when not allowed to burn the town down and she too is quickly overrun but unlike Childe, she doesn't die needlessly though this is partially due to the armour she's wearing and the shield she's equipped with. Even so, she cuts her way through to Nina and does her best to protect her.

Me: [They've failed.]

Lael: [I don't think that's a fair-]

Me: [Do you think they can still win this fight? All it would take to win now would be to tell the right flank to disengage and attack my army from behind.]

Lael: [Perhaps, but they could also win if allowed to destroy the town just a little.]

Me: [True, but they won't always have magic or skills to depend on. They must learn to adapt as the situation demands it. In this scenario, they were still allowed to use smallscale magic and skills but what if an Anti-Magic Barrier was in effect? What then?]

As we watch the situation below become more serious I notice something else. Why hasn't anyone simply asked for my help? Surely they still remember that I am here and could easily just step in and assist them. Maybe they really are all fools in the end.

Me: [Lael, terminate all of them.]

All at once, the attacking forces all drop dead. I watch as everyone else collapses in a sigh of relief, not even remotely concerned as to why their enemy just died. I am so going to punish every last one of them later. If they think their training before now was difficult...

Nina: Brother!

Nina's scream pulls my attention back to reality as I watch her holding him and weeping. I'm about to curse her when Lael reminds me that she is just a child. Sighing, I descend until I am back on the ground. As I touch down, everyone hastily stands at attention but every last one of them is shaking in fear. I guess even I can't suppress my own anger and disappointment in a situation like this.

Me: Nina...why are you crying?

Nina looks up at me, with eyes filled with tears. She tries speaking but her voice simply isn't there. Looking at Childe, I notice that the wound itself wasn't fatal. In fact, judging from the wound itself, he would have healed on his own.

Me: [Lael, scan for-]

Lael: [Childe was killed by a cursed blade, designed to kill vampires.]

Me: [Can a similar weapon kill me?]

Lael: [Theoretically, yes but it is hard to tell how such a weapon would affect you thanks to your Deus Vult unique skill. Furthermore, as a true ancestor vampire, it would take more than a simple wound from such an item to truly harm let alone kill you. It would be far more successful for an opponent to use a weapon that targets the soul if attempting to kill you than one that targets the body as this weapon did.]

I see. I guess that means I'm not unkillable after all. Still, it's not like I have anything to worry about dying either. Sure it'd be inconvenient and take up precious time but I'd simply return to my Queen and oh how great it would be to have her there making me whole once more...

Sobbing continues

Nina's crying pulls my attention back towards her. It's really starting to annoy me now so I use Requiem to resurrect Childe. As he awakens, Nina pulls him into an embrace, crying even louder. He smiles and returns the hug but stiffens up when he sees me. Still, this doesn't prevent me from putting on my best smile, a facade he knows all too well will end in a very painful death.

Me: Nina darling, would you be so kind as to step aside for a moment but make sure not to take your eyes off of what you are about to witness or you will be next.

Nina, completely oblivious to what is about to happen, follows my instructions. She's still looking at her big brother, eyes beaming with love and admiration. The mere thought of snuffing that light in her eyes out causes perhaps the most genuine smile they've ever seen and all but Childe seemingly mistake it as me being proud of his actions. However, after continuing to watch her beaming smile towards her brother, my heart softens, just a tiny amount.

Lael: [Is it really fair to punish him for losing when his opponent is you?]

Me: [If he had actually been fighting against me, perhaps not. However, there were many different ways for him to succeed by simply redeploying our forces instead of having all 10,000 troops fighting on the front lines when all they are doing is facing off against an exhausted enemy who's merely tossing themselves at their weapons.]

Lael: [Perhaps it's the tea-]

She doesn't finish the sentence and rightfully so. Still, perhaps she does have a point. I've simply not been training them hard enough. I had thought perhaps I was pushing them too intensely but now I see I was terribly mistaken. My training was simply too casual for them to truly learn anything.

Lael: [Now now. That is not what I meant. Make their training harder and people will start dying faster than they can be healed.]

Me: [Then it will separate the weak from the strong.]

Me: Alright, listen up. I'm letting you all off easily this time even though you failed abysmally. You even decided against doing the most basic thing by not asking for help. So, starting tomorrow I'm going to change your training.

The looks of absolute terror that washes over their faces tell me that this works perfectly. I get to punish and I get to improve their skills all in one.

Me: [Thanks for the suggestion as always, Lael.]

Lael: [Uhhh haha....right...]