[Item Gained] Sword of Champions
[Artifact Grade Item]
The blade was beautiful, glowing a faint Mythril blue and covered with runes that leaked power, but it felt hollow, completely drained of Soul Energy.
Leafa had used every drop of energy that it had trying to escape the Emperor, but she hadn't managed to get away, and with her aura returned to Overlord Rank, the Emperor seemed confident that she would no longer be a threat to him.
The Haint seemed unconcerned as he set her back on her feet while he sat in the grass catching his breath and letting his regeneration regrow the missing chunks of his body.
"Oh, it's the merchant Karl and his band of merrymakers. Good to see you again." She greeted them.
"It's a pleasure to see you as well, Councilwoman. Do either of you require healing? It might be a moment before our clerics recover, but we can help."
She waved her hand dismissively. "We will be fine by then. Did you see the Oracle lately?"
"He's at the farm we were at earlier."
Leafa nodded. "Lovely. Where was that?"
Karl gestured in the right direction. "About a half hour jog that way. You'll find them easily enough with soul sight, they have a number of Royal Rank Minotaurs with them."
"You know about soul sight? That makes life easier. We should take time to catch up one day."
The Emperor was glaring at Karl, who was baffled by the Haint's strange behaviour.
She remembered him, but she appeared to have lost her short-term memory, or perhaps it had been purged by the spell she was under.
"Certainly. I am sure that you have a wealth of knowledge to pass on." Karl agreed easily.
She was one of the leaders of this nation, and while she was openly fighting with the Emperor only a few minutes ago, anyone could see that they had settled their issue.
The Emperor stared at the cloth wagon full of children.
"Is there a particular reason for the relocation?" He asked delicately.
"The damage from the recent incidents left them homeless. We were going to bring them to a group that could protect them." Karl replied with a casual shrug.
That could be a lot further now that the two Totem Rank monsters had levelled half of the countryside. But eventually, they would find a safe spot to drop everyone off.
"I will bring them with me. Once we recover the Oracle, I will bring everyone to the Fortress." The Emperor insisted.
"They might be alright at the location where the Oracle is waiting, The defenders there are strong enough to deal with most of what is left."
The Emperor nodded. "If they are strong enough to hold until the army clears the area without any additional losses, I should be able to trust them with a few more mouths to feed."
Karl smiled. "We left them over a hundred boars cleaned and dressed for butchering. They'll be at that all day, and then salting and smoking it for ages. The fields that we could save won't be much supplemental feed, but they haven't taken any casualties since they arrived."
The Emperor looked startled. "You and the local farmers held a location with zero casualties? How many people are there?"
Karl did a quick mental calculation. "After the Royal Rank farmers called for their neighbours the morning after the first attack, there have been about twenty proper fighters, plus children and some crippled that our clerics couldn't fully heal.
I don't know if you have any clerics in the area, but if you can get another Dragon Cleric to come to them, it should solve most of their issues. These ones have sworn an oath to remain with our group."
"And I presume you are also under a similar oath?"
Karl nodded. "Yes, not to abandon any of my people or go off without them."
The Emperor nodded, then turned toward the wagon, where Tessa was working to free Thor from the harness. It was all Royal Rank spider silk, so she couldn't just cut it without using a skill.
The Emperor nodded politely to her as Tessa got the hesitant Thor to move away from the wagon. He had just gotten it, and he was understandably reluctant to let his new wagon go, especially when it was full of small creatures that could scrub his scales when they stopped.
"Leafa, let's go. Say goodbye to your new friends." The Emperor demanded, returning to his borderline enraged state when he had to talk to the Haint.
Leafa waved to everyone, but didn't say anything until she passed by Karl.
"I feel like I'm supposed to come see you again one day. I will see you when I remember why." She whispered, nearly too low for even his sensitive hearing to pick up.
Then she was gone, stepping through a portal that led to the farm Karl had been at this morning. He hadn't realized that she could just open a portal instead of vanishing. That was quite the skill set, and it was a miracle that the Emperor managed to catch her in the first place.
But perhaps there was some limitation on it, or she couldn't do it after she broke their bond. The Emperor took the leads to the pulling harness for the wagon and followed her without looking back, leaving Karl and his team alone in the middle of a zone of destruction.
There were no intact structures in sight, not even the small stone shed had survived the battle of the Totems intact.
Dana activated her movement skill to step up into the sky, then turned in a slow circle as she ascended. After only half a minute, she returned to the ground and shook her head.
"If there were other survivors near us, there aren't anymore. Everything is gone. The invaders, the buildings, the crops, any survivors that were above ground. Everything." She explained.
"I suppose everyone needs an explanation. I learned while speaking with her during the battle that Miss Leafa is bonded to the Emperor with a spell, but when she broke through to Totem Rank, she escaped the bond and went on the run. What we just saw was him recapturing her.
The purple chains of that ability should be locking away some of her memories and restraining her powers. So, basically, she forgot everything after we left the Fortress. If we run into her again, she probably won't remember fighting at the farm with us. However, she's there now, and someone might say something that helps her remember." Karl explained.
"So, she's not part of the council of her own free will?" Tessa asked.
"I can't say for certain. She seems to enjoy her time on the council. But she definitely wants to break her bond to the Emperor and flee the continent as well."
"What next? Was there a reason other than the survivors that we were going this way?" Dana asked.
"The Spellblades are northeast of us. I was taking us there by the easiest route. Once we have regrouped with them, we can make our way out of the country. We have more information to pass to them, and they should have a way to pass that information back to the people in charge."