Chapter 75: 71 – Reckoning

 POV - Navi

I finished putting clothes on the dead body and stored it away for freshness. It would come in handy tonight.

I flew over and landed on Ailine's shoulder. "Hey, girl. I know you're mentally exhausted. Instead of waiting in this place, let's go outside. With an invisibility cloak, you can just chill for a bit while I get to work."

Ailine began to slowly stand up. "Yeah, that would probably be for the best. I'm ready to leave this cell and this city far behind me."

I sat there as she started going down the entrance hall and climbing the stairs. I flew ahead and unsealed the cellar door.

(Give me a sec to make sure we're clear,) I said to her.

(Alright,) she said as she pushed open the door just enough for me to slip out.

I slipped out and made myself invisible. Well, nearly invisible. There was only a floating smudge for anyone to notice. Man, I love being a fairy. 

I quickly flew around the immediate area. The afternoon sun was beginning its descent. Thankfully for us, nobody was around back here, and the closest people were inside the church.

(All clear!) I said to Ailine.

I watched as the cellar door opened and a blur came out. (I'll wait under this tree for you,) she said as the blur made its way to a nearby tree.

(I'll be back soon!) I said as I flew off.

First stop is where the action will go down. Across the road from the church was the barracks and training grounds of the knights. Some holy knights had houses in town, but many chose to stay here for the simplicity and cost savings. 

According to Vamps' spies, a battalion of over four hundred knights and mages is stationed here. A third of them usually leave to patrol the surrounding villages. That means we have less than three hundred churchies to mess with.

With most of them being in the barracks, that'll be our main target. The church had a nice courtyard around it. There was the road, then a short wall leading to the barracks. The courtyard should make for an epic battle area.

I'm curious why the cellar was abandoned when the Poop-Head Priest started to not be active here. I didn't say anything to Ailine, but the only reason people like this would abandon easy people to rape, is if they had a better alternative. 

Yeah… These humans need to burn… They should be thankful I'm just following Ailine and Lia's lead. I would probably just burn down every town and village to get rid of the problems! Lia's way is calculated and methodical, so I figure I'll see what happens. Worst case, I can still burn everything later.

Man… How nice would it be if there were only fairies, vampires, and a few select others? Paradise. Oh well. No use thinking about things that won't happen. Chaos might scold me or my babies if we did that. 

Looking at the courtyard, I found a good spot that's a bit closer to the church for our performance. I floated a few feet off the ground to find targets at this angle. I spotted five points on the barracks that would be good to leave a surprise. 

I flew over to the barracks and left an enchanted dragonid core at each target spot. Using Earth Magic, I easily embedded them in the exposed stone or just cut a hole in wood to wedge them. I then decided to leave a few along the wall that knights will likely use for cover.

The entire time, knights were patrolling the wall, training in their grounds, and generally going about their day. None even noticed me. Darn, it's insane how good of an assassin I could make, day or night. Making my way back to where things would go down, I turned the other direction to find a couple good spots on the church to place some cores.

The plan we came up with is pretty straightforward. The fact of the matter is, many of the knights in this trashy town took part in abusing Ailine or other women. I want them all to die. However, it isn't time yet and Lia wouldn't like it if I killed a bunch of unrelated people.

Once Lia and I finish the weapons she wants, so many things are going to change overnight. Until then, I can't use what we designed, so I'm going to make due with these cores.

The enchantments on them are pretty simple. When impacted by a certain level of magic, they explode. It won't be a massive explosion, but it'll be enough to destroy the structural supports they're placed on. 

Like I heard Sara and Steph did, we have to make these silly situations so that nobody will suspect any of us were involved in these incidents. Thus, that's what we'll do here.

Sara and Steph made it look like a robbery and a mysterious disappearance. Because of their close relationship, MSF peeps have reported to Lia that there is a lot of suspicion that the priest they killed had a part in the murder of the Baron and his family. Him disappearing mysteriously didn't help his case. No heat on anyone from Midnight.

Here, we already laid some groundwork with a mysterious knight coming to town to see the garbage human, then they both disappeared. Now, when they come back together, there will still be a ton of questions, but a narrative will at least be loosely created. Using our spies, we can also spread rumors about the upcoming incident to drive home whatever narrative we want. Unfortunately, that means that some knights will have to make it out of this alive to add or corroborate details from the rumors.

After placing some more cores in areas I think could be helpful, I went back to Ailine. I found a smudge leaning against the tree and flew up to it. 

"You awake?" I asked.

"I am, Navi," Ailine said. "Is everything in place?"

"Yup!" I twirled around a couple times in excitement. "I have my targets picked out and primed. The Last Stand of the Head Priest is going to a glorious play!"

"Then are we about ready to begin?" she asked.

"Let's do it!" I said as we walked back to the cellar entrance. 

I took out the corpse that would have a leading role in this play along with the staff I found in his room.

Ailine unequipped her invisibility cloak and put on the holy knight outfit we made for this on top of her primary armor. She had the standard issue steel sword and bow on her. By the cellar doors, she took out an oversized quiver filled with arrows. 

Because we wanted a crowd to start this party, we thought it best to let people watch the stage being set. There were a couple priests inside of the church that would notice us, along with the guards at the barracks. All of the materials for this would need to look like they came from a reasonable place. Thus, we'll make it look like we were in the cellar and brought these up with us.

I flew over to the corpse and sat on the back of his neck, wrapping my legs around to hold on. We came up with this idea when trying to think about how best to make it look like he went mad. I thought of a silly little monster we haven't fought in years.

The humble little corpse stealers from the cave floor of the Tutorial Dungeon. 

The little boogers would infuse an entire body with dark magic and puppet them. We haven't tried to do the same thing before, but on the trip I nabbed a goblin to experiment with and added another ding dong to my sack, tee-hee!

It turns out that it works great! It's weird, but so is a lot of magic. I can wrap tendrils of dark magic around something to move it, but this is a bit different. It's more like I infused the bones with dark magic and will them to move how I want.

It's kind of creepy how well it works when we tested it. Without a body, I tried to make dark magic into a human shape and move it. This ended up looking like I was playing QWOP. Total failure. Yet, when used on a body, it feels like it snapped into place with the body. Instead of thinking about every single joint moving in a specific way, like I did with my QWOP runner, all I had to do was think about it walking forward or gripping its hand, and it did it.

Dark magic really has some neat tricks that I'll look more into when we get home. There's still so much to learn! Chaos gave me a lot of information when I was still a glorified AI. I thought that I knew a lot, and knew more about magic than the humans did. Looking back on it, being alive here is like being handed a computer with all of the latest software already downloaded, and all of Chaos' initial information is like being told 'there's Notepad for writing, MS Paint for drawing, and a calculator for math.' I mean, yeah, she's not wrong, and I can do a lot with just those. For someone who has never used something like Photoshop, drawing a rectangle is quicker and simpler on Paint. However, if you can delve into the more complex software, a world of possibilities opens up for you.

Something interesting about magic is where and how far it can be activated. It can be activated from your hand or an object like a sword, staff, or wand. Effectiveness deals with magical conductivity. To the current humans, that's about all there is to it. However, they're missing out on a whole bunch of possibilities!

Just like how Lia makes footholds, magic can be used from any part of your body. Nipple lasers are an underutilized possibility, for example. It can even be activated at a distance, but at a large increase in cost and you need great control.

You can do all sorts of fun things with this! Today, for example, I can ride Mr. Body and control his movements while staying invisible. He can hold up his staff, and from this short of a distance, I can infuse the staff with magic and have it fire light beams from the tip! 

The only bad thing is that I can only control the bones with ease, not the muscles. I'll have to keep some attention on a small amount of dark magic on his eyes and eyelids to keep them open and looking forward. Googly eyes aren't very realistic.

For our plan here, we played upon the lack of knowledge on this wonderful world of magic. I think that even Lia doesn't explore its possibilities enough. Heck! The more I learn about magic and enchanting, the more I find out how little I know about it! Oh well. Lia and I both have thousands of years to explore the possibilities once this whole quest is over.

Invisible and sitting on the back of the neck of my doll, I snapped the dark magic into place and had it stand. Taking a moment to do some basic movements, it seemed like everything was working. It can't move as fluidly or quickly as a living person. Instead, it moves and looks like a sick living person, which it was yesterday. Even with his ankle tendons cut, because I move the bones themselves, it doesn't change my movements. 

Ailine watched the corpse doll as I used dark magic to open its eyelids and focus its eyes. "That… Is extremely disturbing."

"I know, right?!" I said from my perch. "This is the ultimate Halloween trick!"

"Hallow—nevermind. Are you ready to move to the location you picked?" she asked.

"Yup!" I said as my doll grabbed its staff. Unless you were scrutinizing him up close, it looks just like he's alive and feeble. Against his white robe, the little blur on his neck would hardly be noticeable. Especially once we began attacking.

Together as the sun was close to setting, Ailine walked with Body Boy to the spot I picked out. We made no attempt to hide ourselves as we walked from behind the church to the courtyard between the church and barracks. 

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The eyes of people in the surrounding area began to focus on us as whispers spread. Not only was it odd to see the Head Priest up and walking around, but he was with an unfamiliar knight carrying a large quiver of arrows. A couple priests stepped out of the church, along with some of the knights looking out from the wall. A few civilian spectators on the road also stopped to see what was happening.

(Ailine,) I said mentally. (Move your head over so it looks like I'm whispering to you.)

Doing as I asked, she moves her ear to my doll's face. I moved the lips and mouth with magic. It was a complete mess. If it made a sound, it would probably be written similarly to someone slamming their face against a keyboard. However, from where the spectators were, it could be seen as simply the priest whispering something. 

When I stopped, I messaged Ailine. (Alright! Nod and start your part!)

Ailine nodded and looked at the knights in front of us. Yelling, and using just a touch of her helmet mic, she said, "I was brought here by the Head Priest because none of you could be trusted! After our investigation into your crimes, we seek justice! By his command, all knights stationed in this town are branded as heretics and sentenced to death! May Sol have mercy on your treacherous souls!"

As cries of alarm went up, she quickly nocked an arrow as my doll raised its staff. At the same time, she loosed her arrow, hitting a knight in the face, while I fired a light beam from the staff. While the knight was falling, my beam hit one of the cores I planted, causing an explosion and part of the barracks to collapse.

There was so much confusion; chaos took over the entire area. Nobody knew what was going on. The Head Priest had just labeled the knights as heretics and attacked them. To the people watching, who was right? Were the knights heretics, like their beloved and respected Head Priest said? Or were the knights innocent and he had gone mad? 

Screams could be heard from all around as Ailine fired more arrows and I blew up another core, collapsing more of the building. A few knights raised their arms and tried to shout for this to stop or that there was a terrible misunderstanding. They died from Ailine's arrows. Even if she was using a vastly inferior bow, she was still likely one of the best archers in Erald with her proficiency and stats. 

As our attack continued, some knights and mages began to try to defend themselves. They started taking pot-shots, firing magic or arrows at us by quickly popping up from behind the wall, as well as a few that charged towards us in a hasty formation.

Ailine focused on playing the archery version of Whac-A-Mole, while I kept systematically destroying my cores and causing more destruction. As an archer or mage came out from cover, they were hit with an arrow. When knights charged, they were hit with a laser beam. My beams were likely stronger than they should've been, but I wonder how many years it has been since anyone here saw the Head Priest fight? They would likely blame the discrepancy in strength on training or righteous power granted by Sol. People have a funny habit of finding convenient explanations for a few inconsistencies in a stressful situation.

After less than a minute since we started, something truly absurd happened. The few priests in the church began launching magic across the courtyard towards the knights. With shouts of 'protect the Head Priest,' or 'for the glory of Sol,' the idiots backed us up.

From the outside, city guards began arriving. When faced with a shootout between knights and priests, they paused. Yet, the Empire's brainwashing was so complete, that most of those that arrived drew their weapons and began charging towards the knights. To the humans of the Empire that don't know better, the church is their guide, and the priests are at the forefront. The Head Priest even more so. 

To many, this likely appears to be a valiant stand by the ailing and cursed Head Priest, against the heretical and traitorous knights. To others, the Head Priest has gone mad from his curse. Whatever narrative ends up being the case, in the end, we win.

After a couple more minutes of this, it was about time for us to bow out. Thanks to some subtle wind magic from me, no arrows have hit us yet.

(Ailine, let an arrow hit Mr. Zombie before we push them back too far,) I said.

(Understood.) Ailine began firing at knights now engaged with city guards and ignored archers. She still shot a mage whenever they popped up since they're annoying.

It didn't take more than a dozen seconds for some random schmuck to take advantage of the lessened pressure and hit my doll in the chest with an arrow.

(Now, Ailine! Pick my doll up and retreat to the church!) I said, firing one last beam at a core that didn't explode immediately. This one was special. It had a time delay and was tied to a couple other cores with non-exploding enchantments.

As I made the body look like it collapsed, Ailine dropped her bow and caught the corpse. While in a princess carry, she quickly made her way towards the church. Originally, we were going to storm the church, but things actually ended up even better for us since they joined our side. A couple priests started laying down cover fire while a couple had already been injured with arrows or magic. Some guards even tried to help block knights for the retreat. 

One priest was at the large doors to the church, holding them open and frantically motioning us to run inside. Ha! Thanks for the improv acting! This entire thing has gone so much better than Ailine or I could've ever imagined!

As we ran inside, he shut the doors to protect us and went back to the battle. Ooo! This is so much fun! The only other person inside was a healer who frantically ran up to us. 

Without any hesitation, Ailine dropped the doll, drew her sword, and shoved it into the stomach of the healer. As the healer fell, she began punching him in the face multiple times, making his face completely unrecognizable.

"Well, that was aggressive," I snarked. 

She nodded. "He was someone I recognized from the cell."

"Gotcha! Well, we have, like, ten more seconds." I flew off of the Head Priest and took out a corpse of a female knight I killed years ago. 

On the way here, we dressed her in armor that was nearly identical to the shell Ailine was wearing. Ailine swapped out her shell for an invisibility cloak, and we quickly went to the far side of the church and waited.

A couple seconds later, my delayed enchantments activated. From the small walkway at the top of the wall around the barracks, two fireballs launched at the church. In the confusion, everyone would likely think they were just spells from a couple mages that were hiding up there.

The fireballs hit two exploding cores I placed on the church. When they exploded, a large portion of the church collapsed, crushing the bodies of the fake-Ailine-knight and the Head Priest that were inside as well as a couple unlucky priests that were outside.

With so much dust in the air and the confusion of a battle going on, nobody noticed a nearly invisible and blurry person running from the back of the church. Not a single human saw as the blur made its way to the city wall, running through the panicking citizens. They didn't see it exit the town and run into the forest.

The silly humans would be fighting themselves for a while! Whoever takes control of the city, be it guards or knights, doesn't matter to us. The Head Priest and his mysterious knight both died valiantly.

I would've preferred to work out a plan to completely ruin his reputation, but that can be done later. As far as ways for us to kill as many knights as possible in a realistic way, this was about the best solution we could come up with. 

Besides, this was for Ailine to get some payback on them. Any poop heads that survived this would likely be killed when Lia finally makes her move. Oh man, this was so much fun!

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POV - Dalia

Two days have passed since Navi and Ailine said they were finished in the town and were returning home. Navi described to me what they ended up doing and how the situation continued to escalate.

I'll continue to keep the MSF soldiers that were based there out of the town with things like the escort duty they're on. They don't need to be dragged into choosing sides in something stupid right now. They're already on the side that will ultimately win. I'll have them spread rumors to the surrounding area that should trickle into the town.

The sun had already set and I was in the large chamber outside of the Abyssal Dungeon. I received a message from Ailine as I was making materials for Navi.

(Lia, Anastasia, we're almost home. We'll land in the garden,) she said.

(Yay! I'll be right there!) I heard Anastasia say.

(I'll meet you all there as well,) I sent back to both of them.

Teleporting back to the lab, I went to Talon's room and then to the garden. I found Anastasia with Mitena, Degare, and Steph already there. Tsuki and Carmen were flying above us, happily buzzing around.

I went up to an excited Anastasia and pulled her to my side. We waited for a couple minutes until we could see Talon begin to land.

Once she came to a stop, Ailine dismounted as Navi excitedly flew to the couple fairies hovering in the air.

Anastasia bolted away from me and dove into Ailine's chest. They were both in casual clothes since the sun was down. 

"Mommy Ailine! I missed you!" Anastasia happily said.

I walked up and joined in on the hug. "I missed you, too."

Ailine's emotions seemed to be all over the place. Understandable after everything I heard about. "I… I missed you both… So very, very much."

I could feel her body start to go limp in my arms. I gently controlled her collapse until we were both hugging on our knees with Anastasia still in the middle of the three-way hug. Her pent-up emotions seemed to overflow.

"I love both," she said as I saw tears forming. "I love you both so much. I-I… Thank you… I love… you… And thank y-you… I missed you… I l-love you…" she kept repeating herself as she began to cry.

I might not have been able to be there for her in the cellar, but I'm here now. I'm here, and I refuse to let her go.

The Empire that led to my wife and daughter being hurt so much will be destroyed. For them, and everyone that has died and suffered, I'll damn well make sure of that.

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