God Rising: Cult of Ainz

Chapter 129: Sanguinity

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

...Fortress Alaf…

Leinas was surprisingly happy being under siege. And why shouldn't she be? She had a very clear enemy in front of her, a very clear purpose, and a very clear objective at the end of it. As she walked through the former Theocracy Fortress, she was happily waving to her soldiers, stopping to chat with many of them. The forces of the Slane Theocracy had been the first to arrive, along with some advance parties from the Elf Kingdom.

What really stood out to her was the difference between the two. The elves seemed to have no fighting spirit, they had no wish to be there, they drew their bows as if their arms were weighted with lead, and did not even try to support the Theocracy armies by charging the walls with ladders.

By contrast, the Slane Theocracy soldiers were vigorous, their mages used up every bit of mana and only withdrew to restore themselves, their archers fired arrow after arrow in disciplined, determined ranks. And though they'd thrown back two charges from the walls, the Theocracy Soldiers proved their reputations were well earned.

As she turned this notion over in her head, her friend, comrade and liaison to the Sorcerer King, Aureole Omega, fell into step beside her. "What are you thinking about?" The cheerful woman asked Leinas.

"Just the difference between those two armies, I've always heard elves were fierce, they held off the Slane Theocracy for a really, really long time. But I'm just not seeing it here." Leinas said with a dismissive shake of her head.

"It's the difference between willing obedience and forced obedience." Aureole Omega remarked in a sage voice. "The Slane Theocracy soldiers are proud, they believe in what they're doing, and they want to be here. The same is not true of the elven army. They hate their king and they hate their ally. Many of those elf soldiers out there have families still serving as slaves in the Theocracy, and by now they know of our reputation for freeing elf slaves. So… why would they fight hard?" She asked, spreading her hands apart inquisitively as they walked.

"I see. Yes, they do work like slaves." Leinas said slowly. "While I was an adventurer in the Empire, I saw some farms where a handful of dark elf and human slaves were working. They did work, but it was obvious they hated it, hated their master, hated their lives. I'd say they even hated their tools. They moved sluggishly and did not move at all if they didn't have to."

"Precisely. For a slave, his tools are his enemies and he has no goals but either freedom or the consumption of his master's resources. He wants nothing more than to stop what he is doing and be somewhere else, anywhere else than there. You have seen by contrast, how our people work, and even how the soldiers of the Theocracy work. Our peoples' work is their pride, their identity, they long to do it well because it defines them right down to the moment of death." Aureole Omega said with a winning and confident smile and shining eyes.

"Well, that makes me feel bad about killing the elf soldiers though, the Theocracy's forces can die in a fire for all I care… and that reminds me, did you have the pitch moved up to the wall already so that we can make sure that they die in a fire?" Leinas asked in passing.

"I did, we will burn many who dare to put foot to rung and climb our walls." She said with a professional precision.

"Good, but do you think we can do anything about the elf army?" Leinas asked. "As I said, I'd rather not kill people we would otherwise set free."

"They won't be a problem for long." Aureole Omega said knowingly. "Zesshi Zetsumei has probably landed by now, once she makes it through the first forest, I think it is certain that word will reach the Elf King that his country has been invaded by his daughter. He himself is the only real threat, and he'll rush back to deal with her."

Leinas looked straight ahead as she walked to her destination and thought in silence as she was flanked by her companion. "Still, I'd like to go a step further. What if we dispatched a messenger in the night telling the elves to put on an 'act' and offer minimal support in exchange for minimal retaliation?"

"They hate humans quite a bit, do you think they'll listen?" Aureole Omega asked.

"They're already fighting half assed anyway, so maybe. I suppose I could send a vampire or an orc or some other race, do you think that would be a better choice?" Leinas asked in a hopeful voice.

"Yes, much better, and send them in a Black Justice uniform, it'll be recognized by the elves and they'll hesitate to take the messenger prisoner or harm them in any way." Aureole Omega endorsed, and warned, Leinas. Though she kept her voice optimistic.

"Where are you going at the moment though?" Aureole Omega asked innocently.

"I was looking at the reports we got from some of our prisoners, they feel incomplete. Were they interrogated by trained personnel?" Leinas asked.

"Yes, but I was actually going to the same place for the same reason." Aureole Omega said with a smile, "Great minds think alike."

Leinas walked beside the red and white clad Guardian in amiable silence until they reached the door leading to where the prisoners were held. "What do you think they're keeping back?"

"Nothing that we'd be glad to be ignorant of?" Aureole Omega gave a passive shrug and a winsome little wink.

Leinas didn't hold back a little laugh, it still felt good to do that, after so many years as an infected, pus-dripping mockery… with every breath bent on a cure she so often despaired of, there had been little time for laughter and none for happiness. So it was a warm feeling to let it come out every now and then, even at an inappropriate time such as during a terrible siege.

"Don't dizzy yourself with things you can't guess." Aureole advised, touching her companion's shoulder and looking at her with a momentary mask of seriousness. "You'll blind yourself to what you might otherwise see if you were not looking for things that are not there, go into this with an open mind."

"I see, you make a sound point." Leinas responded with a thoughtful expression as she internalized the advice given by the Guardian.

There were no more words spoken, just the echo of footfalls from sandals and armored boots bouncing off the walls as they descended into the bowels of the building. Shadows danced off both of them as glowing stone cast light into the dark.

When they reached bottom, they walked the remaining few steps over to a heavy oaken door that was rough cut, it had not been properly smoothed, let alone varnished. It was clearly made for utilitarian function only.

Leinas reached to her waist and took up a large ring with a number of keys, she flipped through two or three before she stopped and pushed the chosen one into the keyhole and gave it a turn. The telltale 'snick' of a tumbler being pushed into place could be heard. She turned the handle, opened the door, and they stepped into a long chamber with a number of cells, some of them held two prisoners, some four, some eight. They were a fairly clean lot, having been provided warm water to bathe with and the means to clean their own clothing.

All in all, as imprisonment went, Leinas had seen worse. While she was no paragon of virtue, overt cruelty to the helpless seemed equal parts pointless and even childish, reminding her of the way small children squashed insects when they were bored.

So while she felt no affection or pity as she looked at the glum faces of the Theocracy prisoners, she also did not hunger for their suffering. Killing them, or feeding and housing them, were both just 'chores', things which may or may not be required of her and either was fine.

So cold eyes fell to the first prisoner she approached, only to see his body tense up, so she moved to the next, so it was with each of them up and down the row. Aureole Omega had similar results as she looked them over. Though they often looked at her in a mystified but wary way.

After they paced the room and met back at the door, Aureole Omega leaned in close to the general and whispered, "Walk out."

Leinas was hesitant, but obliged, and a moment later was followed by Aureole Omega, when the door was closed behind her she turned to Leinas and said, "We have a problem."

"They have hope." Leinas said. "They expect a rescue, and soon."

"Precisely. They have to know how well fortified this fortress is, so why… why would they be so confident?" Aureole Omega asked.

"Under normal circumstances I would suspect a traitor, but from the last meeting, and the reports sent my way as well, I know that the intelligence army of the Slane Theocracy was wiped out months ago, there is no way they could have cultivated assets in our ranks." Leinas said confidently.

"Agreed, they also know our soldiers are not weak, so why?" Aureole Omega asked.

"A way in." Leinas proposed.

Aureole Omega nodded somberly.

"We need to find it, and we need to do so immediately." Leinas said.

"I'll get on it, you arrange for someone to visit the elf camp tonight before the rest of their army arrives. Then start getting others on the task as fast as possible." Aureole Omega said urgently.

"Right, I've got this." Leinas said, and rushed back up the stairs.

...Kami Miyako…

Another night, another kill. Raymond was starting to enjoy himself, though he hadn't quite figured out why killing had started to become a pleasure, rather than the chore it had been in his younger years. He wiped his knife clean on the bedsheet of a brothel owner and looked around the room again.

It was a clean, well appointed place, but the art the woman had kept on the walls was vile stuff, with lewd representations of her trade. She was a disgusting woman in Raymond's estimation. Pretty, as far as his estimation of women went, but not quite 'beautiful'.

She had braided brown hair when he scouted her, but had obviously let it down for her nightly rest. Brown eyes that matched her hair, an oval face that was fair enough, with small delicate lips that would, thanks to him, never form words again.

All in all, she looked like a fairly run of the mill, well to do but not wealthy citizen of the Slane Theocracy. He'd had a choice between her and another wealthy couple. In the end 'this one' had been his prey. The art on the walls spoke volumes about why, with depictions of elven chattel being cruelly degraded for 'entertainment' purposes. That by itself made her revolting, but her boast at a recent banquet about her art collection and that the subjects had been 'modeled' for the artist, with a salacious laugh to confirm any doubts, had tipped the scales in his eyes.

There was no one else in the house, so he relaxed and took a deep breath as he contemplated her corpse. Back at his home, Nua was probably awake still, she still shook when he got too close, but for some reason she didn't seem to like to sleep until she was sure he did. He liked to think it was a sweet gesture of gratitude, but something about that always felt 'off'.

He thought about Eos, the little half elf girl whose father owned her mother, and sold the woman when she tried to escape. Leaving Eos still in chains as the literal property of her own parent until she too had been sold off. And Boreas, the elf boy who had no idea if either of his parents still lived. They were sweet children and he'd done his best to see to them. Yet the woman he'd killed just now… if she'd seen them, she'd have seen only engines of profit. A swelling of rage grew in his breast and in a fit of fury he raised his knife and stabbed each of her eyes, wishing she'd been alive to feel it.

He withdrew the blade and cleaned it again, he was breathing hard, his chest going in and out as if he'd finished a terrible battle and not an easy extermination. The art on the walls seemed to mock him. He approached a painting, and slashed it, that felt good. So he did it again. And again. And again. Until her prize possessions were nothing but tatters and scraps hanging limply from the ornate frames that were still very nice.

He sheathed his blade and a grim smile formed, the corners of his mouth turning up in an almost sinister way. He glanced over at the body. "Don't worry, I don't plan on killing your sons, they're trash like you, so yes they deserve it, but I'm going to leave them to destroy each other in court fighting over your vile legacy. Between the one who likes to drink and the one who likes to buy nice things, neither will be willing to share the profit from the living hell where you turn humans into demons in the eyes of the helpless. They'll tear each other apart in court fighting over your property, and in the meantime… well I got a little bonus recently, so did all of the Cardinals, so I think I'll venture into a little 'money lending' maybe extend some credit to your sons on the side. I'm 'sure' they'll be wise enough to not borrow what they can't possibly pay back… right? Right?" He asked the corpse, somewhat expecting an answer from the dead.

He chortled as he imagined that she was cringing from the beyond. The excesses of her sons was no secret, and without the money from their mother, he doubted they could long afford their habits, and he doubted they'd be willing to change them either. They'd hire the best legal minds to fight one another, and borrow money to do it, they'd borrow to feed their habits, and before long the brothel would be closed for appraisal. By then, they'd be ordered by the judge to sell it and divide the wealth, the slaves would be on the market where they could be bought up, and when it came time to pay their debts, well loan after loan with interest piling up on deferred payments… "Yes, that's right, 'mommy dearest', your idiot sons will be rotting in the streets in abject poverty in a few months, there'll be nothing left of your family at all."

He laughed again and approached a bookshelf, he took one book off and laid it open on top of her chest. He then lit the candle by the bedside. He was enjoying this immensely now. He went to her liquor storage and poured a cup of high grade alcohol and tipped it over on the floor. Then he gave the candle stick a little tap, toppling it on its side, the flame began to spread.

Raymond walked away as the flames grew, it would take a few minutes for the entire place to light up like a bonfire. So he went downstairs and out the back door, he easily jumped the fence and disappeared into the night, humming happily as in what was now a great distance, cries of alarm spread. The fire hadn't really been part of the plan, but he had to cover up his excesses, with any luck they would conclude that she'd fallen asleep reading in bed, spilled her liquor and the candle had toppled. From there the narrative practically wrote itself. As long as nobody looked too closely on her 'crispy' form, then the damage he'd done after the fact, or before, would go unnoticed and it would be dismissed as a 'tragic accident'.

When he made it home, the house was silent and dark. There was a low light on in his room that seeped from under the closed door. Raymond mounted the steps slowly, but with a little 'kick' in his step with the lingering satisfaction of a good night's work. He came to the door to his bedroom, and quietly opened it. He found Eos and Boreas asleep on top of it, they weren't the only children in his house, but they'd taken to him most firmly.

They however, were not alone, Nua sat on a chair next to them. As soon as she saw him, she stood immediately. "Sir, you're home! Please wait a moment, let me get them out of here, they refused to leave until you'd returned so…" Her voice was swift and her eyes were nervous, Raymond smiled back at her reassuringly.

"It's OK, I don't mind, you obviously enjoy their company. They can…" He'd begun to speak, but Nua did something she rarely did next.

She interrupted, "Please, sir… let me take them out of here, back to their usual place of rest… please."

Raymond stopped speaking, "Alright, go ahead," he said. "I'm going to get a cup of tea before bed, I was just wondering who was up so late."

"As you say, Sir." She said and quickly shook the two little ones awake. They yawned and rubbed their eyes sleepily.

"So tired…" Eos said in her little girl voice.

Boreas only yawned.

"It's alright, I'll take you to bed." Nua said hastily. They tried objecting until she said, "Master Raymond is home and says you need to go straight to sleep, OK?"

"Yay…" Boreas managed to utter as Nua scooped them up, one at her chest and one partially draped on a shoulder, they hugged her instinctively as she sped them out of Raymond's bedroom.

Raymond sighed, he wondered when she'd stop being nervous around him. He unhappily reflected that such a day may never come as he put on his nightclothes and descended the stairs. Much to his surprise, Nua was at the base of the steps as if waiting for him.

"Please sir, go upstairs, let me bring you a cup, you needn't do a thing, let 'me' serve you." She said urgently.

Something felt off about the way she said that, something he didn't like, but nonetheless he nodded, "I am fairly tired, and you make excellent tea." He said, giving her a smile to show the sincerity of his praise.

She barely reciprocated with a little smile of her own, before he turned around and went back up to his bedroom.

Nua rushed to the kitchen as soon as she saw that he was not going to return down the steps and began to throw together what she needed for tea. With Raymond out of sight, she started shaking. "Monsters… playing such a game with mere children, how could anyone be so cruel?" Alone in the kitchen, the neutral mask dropped, and naked hatred swept across her face. "Who knows what he might have done if I had not stayed with them?" She said as she waited for the water to finish heating. "I won't let him hurt them, I won't…" She whispered to herself, a few tears of anger dropped into the hot water as she dunked the little tea bag over and over. She poured milk and a little bit of sugar worth more money than she'd ever seen, into the brew and stirred.

She washed and wiped her face as quickly as she could and ascended the stairs, she found him in bed reading a book. She moved a bedside table close to his reach and set the tray down, offering up the cup with a downcast gaze.

"Thank you, Nua." He said and took a sip. He looked at her curiously, "I like it as I always do, but… did you perhaps spill a little salt into the water?"

Nua shook her head frantically. "No Sir, I swear it." He shrugged dismissively and quickly finished the cup.

"Can I… do anything else for you tonight, Sir?" She asked anxiously.

"No, thank you, Nua, I think I'll just get a good night's sleep, why don't you go do the same, you don't need to stay up like this just for me." He reminded her in the kindest voice he could.

She nodded in nervous muteness and went to the door, she closed it behind her as she exited and rested her body against it, now enshrouded in utter darkness, she touched her hand to her forehead. 'No need?' She asked herself silently. 'With this vile game of yours, pretending to be so sweet here while you do gods alone know what out there at night? How long will I have to bear it? What will you do to the little ones when you tire of playing… what monstrous home have I found myself in this time?' She wondered in horror.

She descended to the basement to the bedroll she'd been given and which she'd tucked away in the relative safety to be found in staying hidden beneath the stairs. She closed her eyes and slept, and wished deeply for a dreamless sleep that was always denied her.

When Nua was gone, Raymond thought about tomorrow, a particularly vile couple would get to die, and that would make him feel very, very good. As he thought that matter over, his eyes widened, a 'gate' was opening right in his room, and through it stepped two beautiful maids, between them carrying a large chest.

All he could do was pull a stupid face with his mouth agape and his eyes wide. One wore glasses, had deep black hair tied up in a bun, a slender frame, and wore large spiked green bracers on her wrists. The other was a blue-eyed buxom blonde sporting spiral curls, with her long legs in thigh-high armored boots. They did not wait for him to speak. "I am Yuri Alpha, this is Solution Epsilon, we are maids of the Sorcerer King, here to deliver a chest of gold to you for your 'project'. We assume you know what he speaks of?" She asked perfunctorily.

Raymond nodded numbly. "Y-Yes, I do."

"Then do it, and don't disappoint him." Solution gave him a disturbing, twisted smile that all but paralyzed him for a moment.

"Yes. You must work hard." Yuri Alpha said in a deadpan fashion that spoke a thousand sentences within five words, adjusting her glasses that reflected the candle's light.

"I am and I will." He responded fervently.

"Good." They said in unison, and departed back the way they'd come, the gate closed as if it never were, and he went to look within the chest. When he did, his eyes went wide, forget the 'wealth' of gold therein, more shocking was the fact that the two of them could carry it so easily, it should have required a dozen strong men, yet to them it had been nothing. Neither had seemed to strain even slightly.

In the morning, he'd send word to Berenice and Ginedine to meet with him as soon as they could manage it. He did regret the lost sleep a little, he wondered how long he had until dawn. He swallowed hard as he gingerly closed the chest and returned to bed. Despite blowing the candle's light out, he would have a hard time sleeping after all.

But it was worth it.

AN: Well, let's hear it. What do you think? Oh, related note, the 'audio project' has saved up $111 for equipment to turn God Rising into an audio book (free) if you want to support the project then you can do so a reon dot com slash godrising. Every monthly donation gets it going a little faster. This same process will pay for illustrations to convert it into illustrated PDFs (again free) and possibly a manga project if enough support comes in.