Chapter 19: Witches

-with Tiamat and Yami- 

"Hmm... This place reminds me a lot about ancient Greeks, opportunist that took the throne or tricked the current ruler to obtain their selfish desires... Typical humans"

Tiamat commented while staring at the night sky along with Yami as both of them sat down next two graves as they enjoyed the night sky.

"I wonder how Lucias is doing right now?" (Yami)

"... knowing that guy, he is ridiculously sharp so I guess by now he already finished his quest" 

Tiamat says while stretching her body as she laid down on the ground.

"Were you able to gather information Yami?"

"Yes"

Yami answered with a monotone voice while taking out a stack of marbles from her small bag before using her transformation ability to revert the marble back to their original form, turning them into documents with information given to her by Najenda and her own investigation.

"Concerning the members... The best candidate is the entire revolutionary army, Jaegers, or the western tribe. The path of peace... let's see what we can do with them" (Yami)

"*Sigh* the only problem is how are we going to convince them to come with us... I guess we can only rely on a contract" (Tiamat)

"A contract?"

"I think they know how powerful both of us are, that's why that woman is so hospitable since our assistance can help them achieve their goal... And here I found it strange how they found us when we were still lost inside the forest"

Tiamat says while remembering the time they spent inside the forest, killing every danger beast that came at them at ease as they tried to find a way out of the forest.

'So they we're watching us'

Tiamat thought as she remembered the weird sensation of someone staring at them while they were trying to navigate out of the forest but was found by Najenda and was taken in Night Raid as a guests due to them not accepting their invitation.

"If only one of us have a mind-control ability, everything would have been much easier to handle..."

She sighed in annoyance as a androgynous voice called them from behind.

"It's already late you two, have you thought about my proposal?"

A woman with short silver hair and a mechanical arm says as she stood behind them.

"It's impossible for us to accept your proposal, Najenda, we only work for one person only and that is, Lucias" 

Tiamat says much to Najenda's dismay as she tried to formulate another approach to make them agree in assisting them.

"But... We have another proposal, Najenda"

Tiamat suddenly says, breaking her out of her thought as she remained silent waiting for her next words.

"We will take care of everything, and expect result within just 2 weeks, but in exchange, the revolution army will have to be under our control for 2 years" 

"That's... a difficult request... Tell me the reason why, and maybe... I'll talk with the others about your proposal"

"I guess we need to earn your trust, huh? Remember the day when I said that we don't belong in this world?"

"... Of course I remember, why?"

"Would you believe me when I say that we were sent here to gather allies? We need the army's help in overthrowing a threat in our world, but unlike yours... ours is far more dangerous than a pig who abuses his authority and power"

"... Ok, let's say that it's true... Why would you need our help when both of you are already this powerful?"

"Because what we're fighting are not just humans who posses powerful weaponry but other races as well, races that doesn't exist in this world but lives in ours"

Tiamat patiently explained while Yami was watching them on the side with her usual expressionless face.

"So... What evidence will you present to make me believe your nonsensical story, Tiamat?"

Najenda asked while crossing her arms, looking straight at her with suspicious eyes, as she tried to pry more information from her body movements to see if she was lying or not.

"Didn't you find it strange when we suddenly appeared in the middle of a forest riddled with Danger Beast? I thought you already knew... because you were watching us even before we met, Najenda"

She says as her magic and aura suddenly spike, adding pressure to everyone inside the headquarters along with Najenda from it sheer power.

"Ugh..."

"Watch carefully, human"

Tiamat says in a loud voice as her entire body shone in brilliant blue light, blinding Najenda from the brightness of the light as she covered her eyes with her mechanical arm.

Slowly the light died down, revealing a huge dragon covered in shining blue scales, spreading its wings into the air as it looked down on the human in front of her.

"Is this evidence enough for you?"

Tiamat says in a deep and powerful voice at the shock Najenda who was looking at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"T-this is..."

Najenda muttered before hearing the voices of the night raid members behind her carrying their Imperial Arms with them but froze in their tracts when they saw a large blue scaled dragon infront of Najenda.

"Do you believe me now, Najenda?"

Tiamat asked while slightly applying a bit of pressure onto their body to show them her a portion of her true strength.

'A dragon?... It's impossible for her to be danger beast if she has that level of intelligence...'

"... Explain everything to me in detail"

Najenda says after a bit of silence while staring at the giant figure in front of her with fear as cold sweat ran down her back.

"The contract or the information about our world?"

"Both"

"Sure"

Tiamat said with a triumph smile before reverting back to her human form.

-with Nia and Beelzebub-

"What's our plan, Miss Nia?"

Beelzebub asked while following Nia who was checking every information about this world with her angel to find the most possible recruits for their faction.

"Jackpot"

Nia smiled as she stopped in her tracks, looking back at Beelzebub with a large smirk on her face.

"But humanity in this dimension is so ignorant that it surprises me" (Nia)

She says with ridicule before turning back to Beelzebub and explaining to her the current situation of the dimension they were at.

"This is a dimension where magic is despised by humanity so all beings that contain this kind of magic are executed or imprisoned" (Nia)

"The humans that contain this kind of magic are called 'witches' by the people because most of them are females. They are forsaken by humanity from fear of their power, you know what this means, Beelzebub" (Nia)

"We can easily convince them to come with us..."

"Indeed, and with the use of my angel we can easily find their specific location... The only problem is most of them are imprisoned in different regions in the kingdom, but the weapons are undeveloped in this land so breaking them out will be easy" (Nia)

Nia says before kneeling down on the ground and taking out a stick to draw the entire map of the land.

"We're now in the territory of the Kingdom of Greycastle, there is witch named Anna in this place, for now she is imprisoned waiting for her execution... So Beelzebub, can you bust her out without making a sound?" 

"It seems like you haven't used your angel on me, Miss Nia"

Beelzebub says as her body slowly turned into numerous flies.

"When it comes to assassination, rescue, or scouting missions. I am more well-versed than any of the other original demons"

Beelzebub says with a confident tone before her entire body turned into thousands of flies as they scattered around the area, making their way towards the walls of the kingdom.

"Now then... Time to tract the others... They are quite scattered around the 4 kingdoms, but most of them gather into groups to create a union to survive... So that means our next target is the witch cooperation which is going towards the 3 holy city that fell during the war and was overtaken by the Demons... They're pretty stupid to travel there without any kind of information on that place..." (Nia)

"So our we need to combine the Taquila Witches, and the Bloodfang witches before we can even think of recapturing the witches brainwashed by the church" (Nia)

Nia muttered while encircling various points in the map she drew on the ground and taking every detail into her mind before erasing it to remove all of their traces.

"We need a bargain chip to convince the Bloodfang witches and the Taquila Witches to join us... I need to further dig deeper into the origin of their power to use it as a bargaining chip"

Nia says before summoning her angel to try and dig out the concept of their magic and possibly combine it with her own knowledge to create solutions about the problems that they faced during their awakening.

"It seems like we're going to stay at this place for quite awhile"

-with Kuroka and Cerberus-

"I miss Lucias nya"

Kuroka cried while eating a bowl of rice given to them by the kind human who took the 4 of them in his care.

"Ah... Don't cry, don't cry, I'm sure that Lucias is now desperately searching for you"

A tall young man with messy black hair, desperately tried to comfort her while preparing the second bowl of rice for the 3 demon triplets.

"More food!"

"I'm hungry..."

"Where's Lucias?"

The 3 of them says while munching on the food prepared on the table.

"Let's play, Cerberus-chan"

A harpie with short light blue hair says while pulling a humanoid slime wearing a rain coat behind her as she ran towards the 3 demon girls.

"After food!" (Cerberus)

Cerberus refused as they continued to eat the next batch of rice on their bowls without restraint, ignoring the harpie and smile pair behind them.

"Darling, do you think... they were abandoned by their host?"

A Lamia with long bright red hair and amber eyes asked as she looked at the 4 girls eating on the table.

"... I don't think that's it, considering how they're so attached to their host, it's impossible if he mistreated them"

A centaur with long blond hair tied in a ponytail says while trying to figure out why were they separated from their host.

"We can't be so sure about that if Smith-san still haven't found their host, Centorea-san"

An Arachne with short silver hair and 6 red eyes says while observing the 4 of them along with the Centaur, the Lamia, and a Mermaid.

"They need to stay with us for the time being according to Smith-san until she finds their host, and also they're still children so we can't just let anyone take them as their temporary host... I can't trust any of the humans to take them in their care" (Arachnera)

"I'm sure danna-sama will be willing to take them in, especially when they're this cute~"

Mero says with a sweet smile on her face while looking at the crying nekomata on the table.

"But it's strange isn't it? The description they gave doesn't match anyone in their list... according to Smith-san, it's like he doesn't exist at all..." (Miia)

"We can only put our trust to Smith-san, at least for the time being we should make them feel comfortable while they stay with us" (Centorea)

-meanwhile with Lucias-

"I think this is already good enough... I'm really worried about Kuroka and Cerberus"

Lucias says in worry while checking his status.

Lucias Frey

Race: True God

Domain: Aincrad, Disboard

Sacred Gear: None

Title: The one who conquers all

Job: Faction Leader

Level: 214

Hp: 4,220,000/4,220,000

Mp: 7,250,000/7,250,000

Strength: 419

Intelligence: 725

Endurance: 422

Agility: 386

Luck: 313

Charm: 2,213

Skill: Mana Manipulation (unsealed)

No attribute Magic (unsealed)

Most of his magic are still sealed due to the high requirements that they have but it was enough to fend off any being 100 levels above him due to the mastery of his skill and his [God's Aura] at least he can easily escape when the situation is far to dangerous.

"I'm sure Kuroka can handle it, Lucias don't be so worried"

Lily who came out of the instant dungeon along with him assured him while placing her hand on his shoulder.

"... Look at me straight in the eyes and say that again"

"Ugh..."

"Well, I understand that your worried about them, and I can't stop you if you want to go, Lucias but... please be careful alright?"

Asia who was standing by their side while removing the brass knuckle on her fingers says with a smile on her face.

"I'll bring Mash along with me and if the situation is too far at hand, I'll return and bring more reinforcements if I have to, so don't worry"

Lucias reassured them as he patted their head gently before using the command seal on his right hand to call Mash over to their location.

"Why did you call me, Master?" 

Mash asked while carrying her large crossed shaped shield on her back as soon as she teleported to his side with the help of the command seal.

"Can you be my escort? I'm still far too weak... It's ok if you don't want to, I'll call someone else"

Lucias requested while preparing all of his equipment in entering a new and unknown dimension.

"Of course, Master"

Mash immediately answered without hesitation with a slight smile on her face from having her second mission from Lucias. 

Ever since Lucias took them back, he never once ordered them nor requested anything from them, making them worried about the thought of being useless in their his eyes, but due to the memories they obtained from him, they knew that he isn't the type to ignore someone because they were useless but only wanted for them to enjoy their life inside the faction, but the thought still bugged their mind and made them anxious in each day that passes.

'I'll do my best Master'

She thought while clenching her fist with a determined expression on her face as she followed her master from behind.

"Let's go... and thank you Mash"

Lucias says with a gentle smile on his face before creating a large rift in the space, connecting to the Dimension where he detected Kuroka and Cerberus' mana signature before entering inside while holding Murasame with his right hand.

"Please take care of the faction while I'm gone, Asia"

"Be careful, ok?"

Asia reminded before giving him a short kiss on his cheek.

"I will"

Lucias says before disappearing into the rift along with Mash, leaving both Lily and Asia behind, looking at the spot where they disappeared with a tinge of worry written on their faces.

"Come back safely, Lucias" (Asia)