"W-What are you going to do now?! Without a ruler…!"
"You insane woman! You'll ruin our City!"
"The other rulers of the cities won't accept this!"
"The Confederation will chase you down to the ends of the world!"
Some of the old nobles colluding with Sanctus groaned furiously, they were just as sinful as he was. Maria glanced at them with bored out expressions.
"Behead the old bastards, we don't need old stupid men like them." Said Maria, waving her hand as she walked away.
"Y-You witch- gryeeegh!"
"N-No! I have a daughter and- gruarghh!"
The skeletons swiftly beheaded all the old annoying men that were just too corrupt, old, and filled with greed for Maria to find any worth in them.
And then, she moved downstairs as she saw Catarina and Elfina and Partner freeing the nobles that were imprisoned, including Sanctus' younger brother, and over twenty other nobles.
"W-What happened? My brother… Is Sanctus dead?" A handsome blonde man with brown skin asked, he looked almost on the bones, barely feed in this dungeon.
"Yeah, his slaves killed him." Maria smiled. "Anyways, what was your name?"
"Sanctus the Third…" Sighed the man.
"Ugh, you've got the same name?!" Maria complained. "Anyways, I assume you're not as crazy and corrupt as your sibling, right?"
"O-Of course not! That insane bastard sold our entire city to the Vampires after killing our good father! In fact, I'm really grateful you killed him! I would had done the same with my own hands if I had the strength!" Sanctus III cried. "But… the Vampires, that issue hasn't been dealt with yet, right?"
"Halfway through, we killed their strongest girl. We'll deal with the rest through the day." Maria smiled. "Now Sanctus III, I'll free you alongside everyone else. I want you to do a little speech to your city, can you?"
"Fine, but I need to learn more about you… Who exactly are you guys?" The younger brother wondered.
"I'll fill you on the details on our way to the palace's terrace, let's go." Maria smiled, as Emeraldine gently gave the young man some fruits, which recovered him from his almost anemic appearance.
At the end, they crafted a very clever speech, blaming Sanctus II for the death of their father, and also for the various monsters that appeared, saying he had grown wicked and sold himself to the vampires.
Corrupt guards and knights were imprisoned, the old nobles that were all as worse as Sanctus II were beheaded off-screen, and they also introduced Maria as "Marie" a powerful mercenary and adventurer alongside the rest of her group, which the people already recognized as saviors.
Nobody really complained, 99% of the population were poor people suffering from all the injustices of Sanctus II and hated him to death. They were glad he was executed and cheered up as Sanctus III immediately decided to announce this day as the "Feast of Liberation" day, where everyone was given delicious fruits from Emeraldine to celebrate their freedom from the tyranny of Sanctus II.
While everyone was celebrating, Maria still had some important matters to do, as she received a message from Lucifer, who was still in the Dungeon with Tear, Fabian, and Jonathan. The rest of the kids were swiftly teleported through a Shadow Teleportation Magic Circle some time ago by Maria, brought to the safety of her home protected by many S Ranks.
"T-That's the place…" Fabian said, pointing at the distance while being shrouded on Lucifer's shadows.
"I see. Yes, Maria, we've found it." Said Lucifer, speaking to her through telepathy. "The entrance to the Vampires Laboratory, it is as Fabian said, within the dungeon itself."
"Huh, I see. Alright, I'll get going." Maria nodded, leaving the rest of her Undead army in here to protect the citizens. They all understood it was Marie's Undead as she was a Necromancer. They already had seen her undead save them from the mummies too. "Sanctus third, I'm going down to deal with the Vampires, you stay here and smile with that pretty face of yours."
"Eh?! Already?! We haven't even chatted a bit…" Sanctus III was shaken.
"Just wait here, my undead will protect you if the worst happen." Maria smiled. "I left the strongest ones in your shadows. If anybody tries anything funny, they'll get stomped."
"T-That's reassuring to hear but a bit terrifying…" Sanctus III sighed. "Alright, I'll be awaiting your return, Marie."
"Bye~" Maria disappeared with Partner and Emeraldine, using her easier to conjure short-distance Shadow Teleport, as the trio appeared right at the side of Lucifer, Tear, and Jonathan.
"Mama! I wanna go too!" Suddenly, the voice of Nyx echoed within Maria's mind.
"We have to join if Fabian is going!" Takeshi said. "After all those kids are like us!"
"Please!" Said Laura.
"M-Me too! With Silva and Blackie!" Catarina said.
"Please! I wanna go save them!" Silva said.
"Sigh… Can't you leave a single thing to us for once?" Maria sighed, quickly summoning everyone else at their side through Shadow Teleportation.
As long as she left a piece of herself in their own shadows, she could bring them to her side through it, a neat little trick she had created.
"So that's the entrance, huh? Oh… They're a bit too restless, no?" Catarina analyzed, looking down at the laboratory entrance.
The Vampires were moving around while carrying things and placing them inside crates, most likely spatial inventory items. They were probably planning to move out as soon as possible once they stored all their things.
"They're already evacuating, but none of them had escaped yet. I've got ghosts everywhere, they haven't seen anybody escape nor had sensed any spatial anomaly to think they have teleported away yet…" Maria said, smiling. "We've got them in the palm of ours hands, let's do this."
Maria and her group swiftly moved down through the shadows, filled with conviction to end this city's injustices and free the children in the laboratories.
However, Maria still couldn't shake off the uneasiness she felt…
The powerful presence absorbing all the souls, just what could it be?