Chapter 287: 287: Surrender

Flames raged on around her and a toxic fog clogged her lungs, making it difficult to see and breathe. 

The blood curdling screams of a female mutant could be heard above the clash of weapons, but Luthera continued flying across the battlefield. 

Caligar was somewhere nearby, and she wished she hadn't lost sight of his figure when she passed over a burning pyre. 

On the ground, it was too disordered to find anyone as they were all dressed in similar armour. But she pushed on to search as she couldn't afford to waste more time – finding Caligar was essential to stop the madness.

Any more of this, and the destruction they caused could paint the elves in a bad light. 

In the chaos of battle, scores of mutants could be seen fighting against elf infantry both on the ground and in the air, their stone weapons crude and rather dull, compared to magic forged steel. Compared to elves, who used magic to fight, the combat power of mutants was non-existent, and the result was obvious. 

For every elf that went down, ten or more mutants shared the same fate, as their spears could do very little against armoured targets that could fly.

Luthera was distracted once more by the scream of yet another mutant child as they were snatched up from the ground by a mounted rider. But rather than killing them, the mutant child was passed on to another rider who carried them away, and Luthera was glad to see that rider leaving the battle.

Seeing the mutant child spared made her less worried. 

It made sense to take them away. The remnants of burnt out houses could be seen everywhere, as well as the corpses of many who had fallen. It was far more dangerous to keep them around, than to take them out of the settlement where they could be safe. 

However, as Luthera looked around at the dead and injured mutants, she became even more confused as to why the mutants kept on fighting, rather than surrendering. Even if their food supply was being requisitioned, it would only be a small portion to add to theirs. 

Besides, their sacrifice would put them in the good graces of the elves, so why resist? 

The only thing mutants had in their favour was their abnormal strength and agility that rivalled those of monsters, but that didn't matter in the face of  the firepower of multiple flame spells. 

In her eyes, this was an entirely pointless battle.

And Luthera could only imagine how quickly their settlement had gone up in flames.

However, she soon became aware of another figure hurtling towards her and when she turned around, she saw it was Fennelis.

"I told you to wait with them!" Luthera shouted. "Who is going to stop the mortals from coming down here?!"

"I can't sit back and let this continue!" Fennelis shouted in an agonised voice. "These people are good people. They haven't done anything wrong to deserve this."

Luthera scowled at his words, she couldn't believe he was saying this here.

If Caligar attacked them unprovoked, he would be demoted for his crimes, but Fennelis didn't know who was in the wrong here or who attacked first. He would face an even worse punishment for siding with others before his own, no matter what the truth of the matter was.

"Should I remind you where you are?" Luthera scolded him. "Don't let anyone hear you say such a thing."

Fennelis quietly took in his surroundings with a look of horror, and Luthera shook her head in disbelief – she must be out of her mind for not reporting him to her master immediately. She really should have done so in her report, but at the time she couldn't bring herself to.

However as they got ready to go, they heard a scream nearby and turned to see a mutant woman breaking out from behind a burning house, an armoured Martezain in pursuit. The mutant was fast, but the Martezain caught up to her easily, quickly trampling her beneath its front claws.

As for the rider, Luthera was surprised to see Caligar, with an insane look on his bloodstained face as he waved his broadsword.

"Stop! Let go of her!" Luthera yelled and her beast charged at Caligar's, but he deflected the attack with his sword, before staring at her with a look of surprise.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Caligar asked in a dry voice.

Instead of letting go he doubled down, his Martezain crushing the back of the mutant.

Luthera was horrified to hear her screams – she had failed to save her.

"Did you not hear me?" Caligar repeated, his sword swinging dangerously, and Luthera was forced to retreat, her face glowering in anger.

Why was he acting like he didn't recognise her?

"Did you not hear me? I told you to stop." Luthera seethed. "Or does House Geroch hold everyone else in contempt?"

Unfortunately, her words did not achieve anything as Caligar remained unmoving, with the screaming mutant trod underfoot, he simply looked her up and down before bursting into laughter.

"I didn't recognise you." Caligar said. "Introduce yourself next time, so I don't mistake you for one of them."

"What?" Luthera asked, but then she touched her face and saw it was covered in grime, as well as her sleeves that were caked in dirt.

"Poor Elceran princess." Caligar teased. "What will the Elceran Matriarch say when she sees you so haggard like this? Aren't you happy I was sent to assist you?"

Luthera felt her body tremble with rage – Caligar was trying to intimidate her as he always did, but she remained calm and continued to address him, ignoring the mutant that coughed up a mouthful of blood. Fennelis on the other hand, had all the horror written on his face.

"Why did you come here without permission?" Luthera asked. "And how did these mutants provoke you for you to slaughter them all like this?"

"Why do you assume I have no permission?" Caligar sneered as he reached for his side.

He then pulled out a gilded scroll and threw it towards Luthera. 

When she unravelled it, she realized it was a decree signed by their master, giving Caligar permission to do anything he needed, to fulfil the mission she had failed. 

It didn't mention that he could attack any settlements in the process, but the Grandmaster effectively agreed to take all responsibility for any casualties he incurred.

It was like a slap to the face. It was even worse as the decree said she had failed.

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But, how did she fail when it was their master who asked her to leave the relic behind?

"Satisfied?" Caligar smirked as he saw the ugly expression on her face and took off in another direction to resume the massacre. 

And Luthera seethed as she watched him leave.

After reading the full decree, her anger did not subside. If she knew this would happen, she wouldn't have left without the relic. If she had it with her now, she would've had some leeway here.

Was it too late to go back for it now?

However, Fennelis interrupted her reverie. "Why didn't you stop him? He's still killing them?!"

Luthera had nothing to say, she sighed and passed him the Grandmaster's decree. She had a vague notion that Fennelis had some friends among the mutants and wasn't happy to see them treated like this. But to her, her master's will was the law. 

Still, Luthera couldn't let Caligar get out of control – this was still her mission after all. And since Fennelis had been so loyal to her she decided to help him out with the authority of her House. 

"Come with me, I have an idea." She said and pulled her mount up into the sky.

The two elves quickly rode their mounts high up to oversee the battle, and Luthera decided to address the chaos below.

Her use of [Air magic] would allow her to project her voice across the battlefield and using her authority as an Elceran, as well as a fellow disciple of the Grandmaster would ensure that the elves below would listen to her.

Then, she set about trying to convince the mutants to surrender by promising they would be set free and their injuries tended to as long as they had their cooperation. They needn't be hurt if they give up willingly and peacefully. 

As for Caligar's intentions – Luthera had no idea, but she couldn't let him get his way through bloodshed, even if he was the one to complete her mission. 

Besides, he needed this settlement for their supplies and food. If he wanted anything to remain, it was best that they stopped fighting now.

When the elves saw her, they were torn between offending her and listening to Caligar. 

Luthera wasn't sure they would do as she asked. All of them were half elves sired to House Geroch. Compared to Caligar, her Elceran house that decided to keep their blood pure may seem weaker in numbers. 

But she had to try nonetheless.

However, unexpectedly the mutants were the first to put down their weapons. 

And as more of them stopped resisting, Caligar was forced to call off his army, as a compromise was reached. 

When she looked down, it was with a superior smile, happy to put Caligar in his place. He must've realised that even a Geroch couldn't openly defy House Elceran without facing consequences. 

The battle soon came to an end, and Fellenis was glad to see the slaughter stop and fires put out.

However, Luthera noticed something was amiss. Instead of healing the mutants that survived, Caligar and his elves had chosen to round them up and restrain them in groups.

At first, Luthera thought it was for their safety, but the shackles they used were oddly familiar. 

On closer inspection, she realised they were the enchanted rings used by her house to suppress the natural instincts and strength of monsters, and she was astonished - using them on mutants would make them weaker than regular mortals!

Just how did Caligar get his hands on them? 

"What are you trying to do?" Luthera stormed through the elves to confront him directly. "What are those restraints for?"

Caligar simply smiled. "You saved me a lot of trouble by making them come quietly."

"What are you talking about?"

Suddenly, a scuffle broke out among the mutants when one of them kept asking where his children were in broken Sidrian. But rather than answering him, Caligar strode over and cut down the mutant without batting an eye, as his elves put him in shackles with the other mutants they had gathered.

Luthera was extremely displeased to see this. 

"They already surrendered!" She yelled. "Why are you still treating them this way? And why do you need their children?" 

"They won't cooperate without an incentive." Caligar replied calmly as he sheathed his sword.

The other elves were taking turns rounding up everyone, as the young mutant children were nowhere to be seen, while all the wounded adult mutants were put in restraints.

And after all this, their food supply was left completely untouched.

Luthera was beginning to realise how much she had gotten wrong – Caligar wasn't interested in their food, he was interested in them!

Mutants were four times stronger than regular mortals and two times as strong as elves, their strength sometimes enough to wrestle Labyrinth monsters singlehandedly.

However, with their children's lives now in the hands of elves, they were completely docile, unable to act as wildly as they would have before. And Caligar knew this, which was why his elves ferried the children away first.

None of the mutants fought back, instead they stared at her with eyes filled with hope, fully believing her promise.

"What is the meaning of this?" Luthera asked Caligar when all of the mutants were restrained. "What do you plan on doing with them?"

Caligar simply grimaced. 

"To catch a monster, you need an equal monster to do the job properly. Did your Matriarch teach you nothing?"

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