- The Great Clensing

With the sun shining bright and the clouds staying clear of the ocean sky, the group is approaching the gates of the village. The journey did not take as long as Ulbert thought it would, and the village itself is not as small as it seemed from afar, in fact, one could even call it a small city, giving shelter to those who are known in this world as humans.

Xavius looked around the land. Empty and green it is, with colourful flowers that bloom in the sun and enormous mountains in the distance that are high as clouds themselves. And after glancing around the landscape, he looked to Ulbert who is smiling wide. Thinking.

Lord Ulbert seems to happy to be around these lands. The lands that belong to mortals. Perhaps he is thinking about what they will become if he takes over? I wonder...

"Everything all right Xavius?" Ulbert asked without looking.

"Um-y-yes my lord."

"Something is bothering you Xavius, I can see that," Ulbert said, making Anna and Noura pay extra attention to the talk.

"I-I just had a question on my mind, my lord. I did not want to bother you."

"It is fine Xavius, ask what's on your mind."

"U-Understood. I have noticed that you seem delighted to walk through these human lands, I was wondering what is about them that makes you happy."

Ulbert let out a small chuckle before looking at Noura.

"You have the same question I suppose?"

Surprised, Noura gave a small nod before speaking.

"Yes my lord."

"Well then, I shall tell you all the reason. Although some of this land is tainted by the human presence, most of it lay untouched. Uncorrupted. And that puts a smile on my face."

"I see" Xavius said, still confused his words sounded so Ulbert continued.

"You see Xavius. Nature is not corrupted. Unlike mortals, it does not wish to inflict pain upon its surroundings but instead, it creates and gives life with nothing in return. That is the reason I am happy to be surrounded by it. And perhaps one day, I will be able to make this world follow the same path. I hope that answers your question."

"Yes my lord, it does."

"Goo-"

"I will do whatever I can to free this world of human corruption, to put you on the seat above all, as only you can watch over and not fall into the dark desires."

"Um, I-"

"Me too my lord" Noura spoke. " I will assist you with all of my body and soul, to make you the one true ruler of this world!"

"The-"

"And I will too!"Anna added, shouting at first but then swiftly lowering down her voice as well as her head. "Although I am human I will do everything I can to help you succeed, m-my lord."

Ulbert took a moment to reply.

"G-Good, I am glad to hear that from all of you. S-serve me well."

Oh god, I really should think about what I say next time...

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"Andras?!" A guard dressed in leather armour called out towards Ulbert as the group approached the gates. Next to him were another guard and a couple more stationed on the walls. All of them are dressed the same but those atop the walls hold bows and arrows instead of spears and swords, ready to shoot approaching hostiles.

"Lord Ulbert shall I deal with this nuisance?" Noura asked as she opened her palm, ready to cast a spell.

"No, I will handle this myself."

Alone, the man walked up to the group. In one hand he holds a spear while the other is free, soon to find its place on Ulbert's shoulder with a tight squeeze.

Just by looking at the man once, with his chin unshaved, red bags under his eyes and the particular lines on his face, you could tell that he is a man of age. No younger than thirty.

"I have heard what happened man, are you okay?" He said with his eyes downcast in sadness and his face full of worry. Although disturbed he might want to look, the more Ulbert stared at the man, the more he realized there was no sadness flowing through him as if trying to mimic sorrow.

"I am fine," Ulbert replied with no emotions.

"It must have been tough. I am so sorry Andras."

With an unpleasant smell attached, the guard opened his arms and hugged Ulbert, tapping him on the back.

"May we pass?"

"Of cour-" The guard paused as he looked at the other three "Oh are these your new friends?" He pulled away from Ulbert while his eyes made their way down Anna and Noura in particular, ever so slightly as to not show his interest in them.

No longer is he displaying sadness and grief but rather excitement, now that his eyes have laid themselves on the two beautiful women standing in front.

"Yes. They were sent here from the capital to investigate the incident."

"Mhm, mhm."

"Is there something on my face?" Noura said with a cold tone, clearly frustrated with this man's long stare.

"Oh no-no-no. We rarely get beautiful women coming into the village, that's all." The guard said with a smile before shifting his attention back to Ulbert, not letting Noura respond to his flirty compliment.

"Andras, I need a favour" He whispered. "Can you bring that hot one to the tavern tonight? The one with the red hair?" He said as he pointed at Noura with his chin.

Ulbert looked into the man's eyes and a moment later a fake smile appeared on his face. "Of course, friend. Anything for you."

"I knew I could count on you man, thanks."

"Now, may we pass?"

"Of course, of course. Come right through." The man turned around and proceeded to the gates, signalling for the other guards to open the wooden gates.

"Let them through!"

And so, the gates to the village have been opened. The smell of manure swiftly wrapped itself around the group while chattering and the sounds of bustling streets could be heard all around. There are no roads made of brick and no lamps to shine the way at night. Instead, trails made of dirt lead deep into the village, while every villager carries a personal lamp, equipped with a candle to lead the way during the dark night.

With the houses out of simple wood surrounding them, Anna took the lead and began preparing to escort the group through the rough streets she knows so well. But before she could take the first step, she turned to Ulbert, wondering where should she lead him.

"Where would you like to go to my lord?" She asked, glimpsing at Xavius and Noura to see if they know their lord's plan, their faces just as blank as hers.

"Bring me to the one who is in charge of this village."

"O-Of course my lord, please follow me."

As the group began fading into the houses, the guard that opened the door for them took one last look. With a smirk he eyed his way down the bodies of Noura and Anna one last time, his mind excited with perverted thoughts.

"Federick." He turned to the other guard. "We are in for a treat tonight!"

"Don't tell me you were able to get that red hair."

"Fuck yeah I did.

"You are lying."

"Trust me my friend, Andras got it secured for us. Now remember, just as always we get her drunk first, and only then we have our fun. Got it?"

The other man chuckled.

"Got it."

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Through the streets they made their way. With gloomy faces walking past them Ulbert could not help but to notice odd looks being shot his way, some filled with anger while others filled with sadness and sorrow.

Ulbert recalled to Andra's diary. It mentioned that the explosion he created was masked as an accident, but it seems that a lot of people blame Andras for what happened, and Ulbert could feel their pulverizing gaze at him, yet he did not care.

"Excuse me Ma'am." An old woman spoke as she approached Anna, her voice so smooth and tender reminded Ulbert of his grandmother, making him smile with the woman's sight, yet happiness from her could not be felt.

"May I speak to Andras?" She halted the group and looked at Andras with a smile.

Anna turned around and looked at Ulbert, who then gave a nod of approval, while Noura and Xavius grabbed onto their hidden swords, preparing themselves to attack the mysterious old woman.

"Of course miss." Anna moved out of the way followed up by Xavius and Noura.

"How may I help you?" Ulbert spoke as the woman approached, however, the closer she got to him the faster her face changed. No longer was there a soft smile and warm eyes, but tears running down her wrinkled cheeks and her lip quivering with pain.

She raised her hand and a loud slap followed, turning Ulbert's head the other way with force while his blonde hair waved in the same direction.

"How dare you show up your face here?" She spoke in a broken voice as her hands and body trembled.

Xavius and Noura squeezed their fists with indescribable rage and frowned at the woman, gritting their teeth while barely maintaining the burning rage. If it wasn't for their lord holding a clenched fist behind his back, if it wasn't for his command to not engage, the woman would cease to exist in a flash.

With his red cheek, buzzing with pain, Ulbert turned his head and looked at the woman. His face calm and composed.

"Why?! Why did it have to be him?!" With tears gushing out of her eyes and her arms grabbing and shaking him by his clothes, the woman dropped on the knees while pulling Ulbert's shirt down with her.

"Why did my little angel have to die, why did it have to be him and not you?! Why are you standing here today and not him?!"

Ulbert discreetly glanced around, everyone has stopped in their tracks, staring him down. Nobody knows what happened. Ulbert smiled in his head as the woman carried on crying at his feet.

Good.

"I am sorry for your loss." With teary eyes Ulbert too dropped to the knees, staring into the woman's eyes.

"And you are right, it should have been me. I should have been the one that lost my life, not him." Ulbert stood back up and looked around, his face showing compassion and grief. "I should have been the one! The one and only person to die in those mines. If somehow, if there was a slight chance that I could trade my life for those that die, I would do it without a second thought." Ulbert bowed down.

"Please! Forgive me! I should have been better superior. I should have watched over them. I am truly sorry!"

The street succumbed into silence. The wind could be heard racing through the alleys while all stared at Ulbert, not knowing what to say. Then slowly, the woman rose from her knees and with pain in her red, baggy eyes, looked at Ulbert.

"You may have fooled those around you, but I will never forgive you. Know that." She whispered before wiping her tears away with a piece of cloth and walking away into yet another, indistinguishable street.

As she walked away, all those around carried on with their day as if nothing happened, and the street was once again was filled with noise.

"Lord Ulbert?" Anna asked, holding her hands together at her chest, wondering.

Ulbert looked at her with no visible emotions, a moment later showing her that small smile she is used to.

"Carry on Anna, lead the way." He said and once again the group was in motion.

Xavius and Noura did not say a word, not even letting out a peep about what happened the whole walk to the chief's house. Fury is raging in them and Ulbert knows it. It is in their program to protect their lord, back in YGGDRASIL it was just by physical attacks, in this world however, verbal attacks are just as threatening in their eyes.

"W-we have arrived," Anna spoke as she stopped the group in front of a house noticeably larger and fancier than the rest.

Ulbert walked up and knocked on the wooden door, waiting a few moments before the door's lock could be heard, followed up by a young woman opening the door.

"Greetings," Ulbert spoke. "Is the village's chief here? I have an urgent discussion with him."

"Oh Andras? Of course, come on in." The woman left the door open as she proceeded into the house, followed up by Ulbert and the rest of the group.

"Father! Andras and his friends are here to see you!" She shouted.

"Bring them here!" A voice of a man, somewhere deep in the house replied.

"I will bring you your daughters head instead," Noura whispered to herself, squeezing her fists as they made it to the chief's office.

"Andras! Is it good to see you my boy." A man with a white beard spread out his arms and hugged Andras as the group walked into the room. The big doors that they walked through were closed by the young woman while the man sat back down at his chair behind a desk.

"And who are these young two ladies and a gentleman?"

"There are here from the capital, part of the investigation team."

"Oh, I see. A horrible accident isn't it. Let's drink in their honour." The man pulled out a bottle of what looks like to be expensive wine accompanied by two clear glasses.

Ulbert turned around and looked at Xavius and Noura. Without saying a word and a moment later they both nodded in silence and proceeded out of the room with Anna following swiftly behind. And the big doors once again closed.

Ulbert looked back at the man, letting out a smile as he made himself comfortable in the leather chair.

"Of course. Let's drink in their honour."

"That's what I like to hear." The man poured wine into the glasses and both of them drank. The drink was bitter at first but then sweetness, as if biting into a ripened peach, swiftly followed and took over his tastebuds.

"A fine wine, where were you able to get this?" Ulbert asked.

"With the money you can get anything you want." The chief responded with a laugh.

"So what do you need Andras?"

"Information."

"Sure, what are you after?"

"I am sure you are familiar with Tristan, a good friend of mine. The dwarf. I need to know if he was in town, and if he was, where was he heading."

"Hmm." He thought for a long moment.

"Honestly? I have no idea boy. I don't keep tracks of who enters the village, but I am sure Marcus knows."

"Marcus?"

"Yeah Marcus, the tavern owner. Don't tell me you forgot about Marcus?"

"His name must have flown out of my head."

The chief let out a laugh.

"That accident really messed you up huh?"

"Yeah, it must have..."

The man leaned closer to Ulbert. His smile soon to fade.

"But listen. I have a proposition for you, big money and land development."

Ulbert leaned in himself, their faces closer and their words now in a whisper.

"This accident, it was horrible I know, however there is profit to be made from it. From what I have been told, our government is looking to invest more in the land. They have forgotten about us, but now that this incident has caused a huge spark, they finally see the potential that can be made here."

"What are you saying?"

"If they invest in this land it would mean more people coming over here to work, which means a bigger village soon to be a town. Which all together brings more money that I can take a cut off, that I, can give a part of to you." He winked. "There will be representatives here in a few days, if you show them how the mine works, how much minerals it can provide with more people, we will have it in a bag."

"You want to capitalize on death."

The man frowned. "I would call it...An opportunity." He smiled, pushing his back and body against a chair with a glass in his hand.

"So what do you say? You in with me?"

Ulbert held up the glass, examining the purple wine that is now see-through thanks to the light radiating from the window behind the man.

No need to pretend anymore. Ulbert thought. You were the final droplet. I have made a decision.

"Humans. You really are the scum of this world. Corrupted, little devils that only care about their own needs." Ulbert looked at the man's confused face.

"You knew them. You knew them all." He smiled. "Young and old, you do not care who it is, you see them as profit. And I can't blame you. That is in your nature. And that is the reason your kind must be annihilated."

Slowly, Ulbert stood up. No longer smiling but frowning with rage.

"A-Andras? W-what has gotten into you boy?" The man grabbed onto his armchair, worry could be heard in his voice.

"Oh I am not Andras. I am the one that will free you from the imprisonment of your weak mind and body. I will rain judgement on you. Behold weakling, for I am a true god!"

Ulbert tilted his head back and closed his eyes. The skin crawled off him and the horns appeared at the top of his head. His feet turned to hooves and in-human claws emerged from his hands. With the velvet cape he once again stands seven feet tall, nearly touching the ceiling with his horns. His yellow eyes gazed down at the petrified man who fell off his chair while his jaw opened to release hot steam.

"W-W-What a-a-re y-you." The man barely spoke through the fear as he sat in his own puddle. His jaw trembling and his eyes round as if coins.

"I am a God! Summoned into this world by foolish mortals like you!" Ulbert pointed his sharp finger at the man, his voice deeper than before filled with fury and wrath.

"No no no no no, please don't hurt me!" The man yelled for help as she crawled away from Ulbert's sight under the table.

Enraged, Ulbert picked up one side of the wooden table and threw it away at the nearby wall. Whereupon impact, it broke into hundreds of small pieces that were sent flying at every corner the large room.

"P-p-please f-f-forgive m-m-me!" In tears, the man begged as he bowed down with a loud smack against the floor.

"I-I-I will be better! I promise! I-I will give you everything I have! Whatever you desire! P-p-please don't hurt me!"

Ulbert frowned. "You disgust me." He spoke as he reached down and grabbed the man by his hair, lifting him up with one hand.

"No no no no no PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU!" He screamed and wiggled around like a worm, holding onto Ulbert's hand.

"Too late."

"Candle Of Darkness!" And a spell was cast. The man looked at Ulbert with his body suddenly hanging still, his eyes soon turned pitch-black.

From within his mouth, ears, nose and eyes, black matter began pouring out while his body started twitching uncontrollably. His pink skin and the veins beneath it that were vibrant red a moment ago, took a clour of blackish-blue as his heart and blood changed colour. A spell that inflicts not only pain but a gruesome, slow death.

Ulbert let go of the body and it plopped onto the floor, lifeless. He looked at it for a long moment before turning his attention to the doors behind him.

"Xavius, Noura, Anna." He said and a moment later all walked in covered in blood that does not belong to them.

With a shocking face Anna looked at Ulbert, her lip shaking, while Xavius and Noura stand in their demon appearances.

"T-They killed them lord Ulbert, I t-told them to-" Anna paused as her eyes looked to the floor next to Ulbert, where a body beyond recognition lays covered in a black essence.

Ulbert looked at Noura, who is smiling with such pleasure.

"Is it done?" He asked. To which Noura responded by lifting two heads, one belonging to the chief's daughter and other to his wife.

"Good." He said as he cracked his neck.

"Xavius."

"Yesss lord."

"Bring me Marcus, the tavern owner and a couple of patrons to the crossroads north of the village. All must we alive and well."

"Your wisssh is my command."

"Anna."

"Y-yes my lord?"

Ulbert dropped to one knee with his hands reached out.

"Lay your body on my arms and hold onto my neck."

"O-okay." She said before doing as he commanded.

Now standing and holding Anna in his arms, Ulbert turned his attention to Noura, who eagerly awaits commands with her pink tail swaying around.

"Noura."

"Yes!"

He looked at her for a moment and a wide smile appeared.

"Burn them. Burn them all."

"As you command." She replied with a similar, devilish smile.

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The sun setting down on the horizon and the clouds surround her in an orange sky. With the birds preparing for slumber and with winds growing colder by the seconds, with her eyes closed and her mind at ease, she prepares to unleash fire upon those below her.

She spread her arms wide open and a feeling of bliss fell upon her. Her body quacked with pleasure and her stomach twisted and turned not in pain but joy. This is the moment she has been waiting for. Now, at last, she can show her lord the power she posses and rain it down on those she loathes.

"Hold down your lies..."

"Bury your thoughts and fall asleep..."

"Find out I was just a bad dream..."

"And watch the only way out disappear..."

From the sky above, out of the clouds and thin air, a fiery meteor of great size emerged. With eye-blinding and shimmering light, it soared its way through the sky beaming down at the village, while Noura smiled as it passed her with incredible speed and heat.

"I thank you my lord. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to be tonight's executioner.

"I am your word."

" I am your pawn."

"I am the blessed one that carries out your will."

And then...so bright and dazzling...It fell upon them.

The explosion that made the surrounding area look as if day, could be seen tenths of miles away, a majestic firestorm of rage, horror and beauty.

All ceased to exist in the targeted region. The houses. The walls. The gates. The trees. The rocks. All. Everything. Was flattened as per his request. As per her lord's, request.

With the explosion slowly dying down, Noura finally opened her eyes and looked to the bright light, with her hand on her chest and tears of happiness running down her eyes, she spoke.

"Praise Lord Ulbert"

"Praise the one, true God!"