C66-Emergency

〔 Aizel Kadashi 〕Level: 47Age: 19TitlePlatinum-rank Hunter (SU)Health Power580/580Soul Energy0KinCrimson Were-Dragon〔 3 Bonded Souls 〕+〔 1 Bonded Servants 〕+

「 Night, his 46th day on Geas. 」

Down in the large hall where the family first met were Pops and another man who was chugging iridescent blue potions that emitted light in the visible spectrum like a drunken sailor. He looked to be wearing the temple clothes, but they were gray and shiny blue, instead of white and gold.

However, Pops wore similar colors to the sun temple just because he felt like it. So, Aizel was not making any assumptions yet.

The man looked about the same age as Pops and had a similar build, but his face was too different to be family.

"Grand Priest, this is Hunter Lord Aizel, the head of the Kadashi family, and the husband of my only Immortal daughter," Pops said in a serious but proud and familiar tone.

"Hello, Hunter Lord Aizel… Hah. So this is the one that left my temple with extra silver and made you almost kill my priests, Salmizael," The man said, and stood up to shake Aizel's hand.

"Hi, call me Aizel… Grand Priest? …"

"I'm Grand Priest Kezial, from the Temple of the Moon, down in the Duchy Capital, Frednira."

Aizel chuckled because the man had not stopped drinking even while shaking his hand. "You okay, old man? You're chugging those MP potions as if they will make your dick grow or something." He said, his tone carrying more venom than he wanted because he was still mad at his Neine-time being interrupted.

"Hah. No, Salmizael tells me that you can take us to Ledvira in under five minutes… The time it takes to boil—"

"How much?" Aizel asked. The priest's use of the word minutes was interesting, to say the least. Only Lisa and Pops were the ones he usually heard talking in those time frames.

"Ha! Hahaha… Two and a Half Royal coins." The Priest said.

"Ten."

"The standard rate for teleportation to Ledvira from Dranelida is two and a Half, young Hunter Aizel."

"Sure. But I'm not teleporting you." Aizel shrugged. "And it looks like this is an emergency of sorts; if you don't like it, then go drain the priest down in the city."

"Huh. This is the man who married Young Lisa?" The priest furrowed his brows.

"Well, if that's all… I wish you good luck in your mission, Priest. Good night." Aizel turned and started walking away. He only cared about the opinion of a few, and this priest was not included on that list.

"Five." The priest said.

"Seven."

"Six, and I will not go any higher. There are Lives at stake here, Aizel." The priest said in a firm tone.

"I don't see how that's my problem. But sure, Six Royals. So, shall we?" Aizel said. He only really cared for the lives of others if he was involved. Like on the siege-raid, where people were acting because he opened his mouth.

Pops had a slight smile on his face as he stood up. At first, Aizel thought the old Angel would reprimand him for speaking like that to the priest. But he said nothing and turned towards the maid who summoned Aizel to inform the rest of the family, then nodded to the side and led the way to the North patio before addressing him.

"Aizel, son. Can you take both of us? This seems like something that might be affecting the entire region. I think you already have an Idea of what it is."

Aizel let out a sigh. The only thing that he could have an ' Idea of ' involved the nobles. Kira's ring was not shining, so he supposed they had fucked something elsewhere.

"Yeah. Sure, Pops, but don't spread your wings; they might break. Both of you stand up straight and place your arms crossed over your chest in an 'X'. And keep your mouths shut; the last thing you need is to swallow a fly at the speed we will be moving."

Pops' smile grew; he loved to travel at speeds. The Priest looked at him with a worried face, so Pops turned to him and said: "He was serious about the wings; do not manifest them, old friend."

"Oh! He Fam?" Aizel asked, already planning on making the trip for free.

"No. He is a Cherubim Angel. Kezial can fly better than I did before your teachings. But even with his teleport and the currently available priest down in the Duchy Capital, his travel… Fell short. Haha."

Aizel chuckled and tied them both up with (Doppelgänger). Pops could make the trip in about two or three hours, so he was probably helping the Kadashi treasury, or just wanted to feel a rush like the adrenaline junkie he was.

But that was if he flew alone. Aizel did not know if Pops had any practice carrying people around as Lisa and Vanessa did. And seeing how he dropped his own kin when teaching them (Focus), Aizel would not bet on the man being able to carry people for long.

Ledvira only felt close to them because of their experience flying, but it was at least one hundred and fifty clicks away or seven days of travel in a caravan.

"On the count of three, One—"

Whahhh!!

He did not really care what the emergency was. The nobles could go fuck themselves for all he cared. But their involvement was still only speculation on his part. He wanted to come back to his girls already and get paid.

So he placed a few reinforced barriers with (Harden) on the two angels to make them more aerodynamic, so they did not hurt themselves too much while accelerating.

Would they die from the G-forces? Who knows.

— —

They arrived at the 'fancy' center of Ledvira in front of the Hunter's Guild in under an hour. He could probably arrive in minutes if he was alone and pushing (Fire Howl), but he had two squishy anchors dragging him down.

When he was landing, he could see what the reason for the nightly summon was.

Pops' words and his suspicions were proven right. On the outskirts of the town, resting on the northeast wall, there was a crash-landed airship.

It had sections on fire, and it looked as if someone had decided to throw overcharged Orc crystals all over the place, with holes the size of a sedan in some areas, and large slashes across the hull.

The wings and sails were shredded and broken. The phenomenon akin to (Anchor) that Aizel assumed was how the ship kept in the air was not active. And he was sure there was a lot of human blood on the hull, since it did not look pitch black like the monster's, carrying a hint of color he could not completely make out in the night.

Even at night and from the air, he could see how the bottom fin had left a large straight ditch on the dirt, that looked as if the bottom fin of the ship had carved it as it 'landed.'

He could not sense or see any signs of monsters with (Detect) or with his traits, even while looking at the horizon. There were only medium-tier people, by the way the mana moved around.

At least they were not brain-dead, since there were a dozen or so mages using artifacts like the one the bitchy Mithril had used on the burning wagons, putting out the flames of the airship. With a few musketeers helping them out with similar tools.

Interestingly, there was not a single mage using the actual skill.

'Well… I suppose they are mages. They have that whole vibe with the robes and wands…'

Aizel landed softly in front of the Guild. A lot of the hunters running around recognized him and paid him no mind; the rest were too busy and stopped gawking once they saw no one was running to kill him.

Urgh… The Priest bent over and rested on his knees while trying to throw up as soon as Aizel released his (Barrier).

"HA— Ha! - Ha! - Ha!…" Pops laughed like a maniac when he was also able to use his mouth.

"So… You got the Silver, Old Priest?" Aizel asked. He really just wanted to return to his girls already.

Pops cleared his throat before speaking. "Let him get his gut back in order, son. Don't worry, he will pay. We need to see what this is about, even if we both dislike the nobility that rules this part of the Empire. Our house is still too close to whatever happened."

The fact that Pops used the word 'our,' and not 'his,' house was not lost on Aizel. He would have always helped them even before the debauchery that happened during his stay; they were Lisa's family, so he would really fuck anyone trying to mess with them. It was the place where Lisa grew up and the home of the wingless angel, Ms. Diane.

And that was before Pops had somehow offered him an all you can fuck buffet of females. Sure, not all the house wanted him, but even Lisa's three crazy sisters plus the slutty maid were enough to make him want to protect that place more than before. And those were the bold ones; who knows how many hidden delicacies were just shy.

"Sure, Pops, lead the way."

"Ugh… ~wait… I'm… Behind…" The priest followed them while walking funny.

The Hunter's Guild was at full capacity; there were a few dozen Bronze ranks outside with their Silver party leaders. The entrance had a musketeer with the weird pigeon insignia on his shoulder standing in custody.

As soon as they entered the Hunter's Guild Building, the clerk who had recommended the 'fancy inn' to Aizel came to them; he looked scared to death. And the stress from whatever had made that ship crash was twisting his face as if he had not slept or even sat down since the last time he saw him.

"Grand Hunter, Grand Priest, Hunter Lord. Thank the Mother Moon! The Hunter Master is waiting with the young lords in a meeting room. Please follow me." The clerk said.

Pops and Aizel shared a knowing glance, and even a tired sigh, as the three of them followed him deeper inside the Guild. The priest was still recovering from the insane speed, but he slowly straightened his posture, the stressful atmosphere managing to bring him back to reality.

Another musketeer with the nobles' insignia was at the door of the room the clerk was leading them to, but he looked more annoyed to be there than anything. He glanced at their tags and paid them no mind once he saw their ranks.

They entered a large room where the leech-lings were having a meeting with the Guild Master and some Gold Ranks.

The Guild Master was a plain-looking, tall brute with Platinum tags like his. The lordling—Aizel assumed from the fancy clothes he wore—was a fair-skinned, short man, with blonde wavy hair that was almost brown instead of the almost golden of Neine. He looked like a normal human in his late twenties.

A young woman who he assumed was the Duke’s daughter was sitting by the lordling. She looked to be in her early twenties and was really fucking pretty, with short, wavy brown hair, fair skin, gray-blue eyes with a hint of green and brown. She was wearing fancy clothes like her brother. Her facial structure was similar to Misty’s. But unlike his new maid’s determined gaze, this one’s eyes were mischievous.

They both looked serious and had a perfect poker face, but their nervous systems were going insane, and he could smell their sweat even between the smell of all the other people inside the room. Vanessa would probably even sense their adrenaline going crazy if she were here.

Shitty maps lay all over the large table of the meeting room. They had dyed strings connecting them, and there was writing on reused paper pinned in some places with simple stones keeping them in place.

As soon as Aizel understood the grim picture and what was happening, his blood boiled.

'They tried to fuck with the dungeon; they got fucked, flew away, and were followed across the shield… If they had taken a different escape route, they could have brought whatever the fuck was following them directly towards Kira…'

He was careful not to let his Aura flare like it did when he knew what destiny awaited Misty. But the knuckles on his right hand were white from his clenched fist.

"Grand Hunter, Grand Priest, Hunter Lord, welcome. Thanks for answering our call; we have an emer—" The Hunter Master started to speak, but Aizel interrupted him.

"What followed you, Leeches?" Aizel growled without moving his eyes from the maps.

"Excuse me!?" The male leech said, and got up from his seat, trying to look intimidating. But Aizel had seen Bronze mages with more muscle, and the man was smaller than Lisa and Vanessa. So he looked more like a child throwing a tantrum in his eyes.

"You are not excused," Aizel said once he gave the little man a once-over. "I can see that you fucked with the dungeon. And you escaped by taking your flying snail across the shield. Thankfully, whatever is after you went in between Redvelia and Pastorvil. However, it's still giving chase… And whatever it is, you brought it straight to Ledvira."

Pops smiled and walked to his side, placing his hand on Aizel's shoulder, and started to also analyze the situation.

"It's your duty as a Hunt—"

"What, followed you? Leech. Do not make me repeat myself, or I will pin the criminal negligence—of three towns—on your noble asses. Best case, you end up in the mines and she in a pleasure house or as the sex toy of the highest bidder. Worst case… You both get executed."

"True," Pops and the Grand Priest said in unison. Pops had a savage smile like the crazy person he was, and the Priest looked seriously mad at the nobles.

"There are temporal settlements during summer and autumn on that path you have marked." The priest growled. "Pray, they didn't get overrun."

Pops took out his fancy quill and began to draw simple symbols on the eastern side of Redvelia. They were along the paths people took to reach it from Pastorvil and another town.

Aizel had seen that symbol before on Redvelia's Guild's shitty maps. It was used to mark places where people camped together with simple tents, two of which were right on their escape path.

"T- There weren't any camps! Our captain—"

Aizel cut the lordling off. "Really? You are telling me you could see simple tents from high in the sky while flying away from whatever the fuck was after you? If we need to go rescue whatever is left of them, and you are wasting their time by trying to save your skin…"

"I swear! The m-m-monsters never eased their pace." The lordling said.

"True." The priest said.

Aizel was about to ask him a third time what was after them when the girl got up from her seat and walked to Aizel's side. She grabbed his arm and started speaking.

"Nine Oni and two Winged Basilisks followed us. Two of the Oni were riding the Winged Basilisks… Please, Young Hunter, help me."

"First. Let go of me." Aizel growled, and the girl complied. Aizel used (Purify) and cleaned his arm in a short blaze of red flames. Fump!

~Igh!

"How dare you!" The lordling dude said.

"Were there any Yōkai?" Aizel asked the girl, ignoring the little man.

"N-No, young Hunter. There wasn't any." She said, trying to reach for his arm again but stopping herself after he glared at her.

"Hah. If there was, they would not be alive, son." Pops chuckled.

"Fair."

What wasn't fair was the reaction from the woman. The bitch got horny after that interaction. And the bitch was hot. Thankfully, his (Monitor) itched at his mind and pulled it out of the gutter.

The girls were on the move.

'I don't deserve them.'

Aizel involuntarily smiled after sensing them. Pops saw his smile and looked at him with curiosity.

"What's got into you?" Pops asked. Ignoring the lordling who was still throwing a tantrum in the back.

"The girls are coming; I can feel them getting closer as we speak."

Pops raised his brows in a way that told him that what he said had a second meaning.

"They are flying here, you animal…"

"I said nothing." Pops shrugged with a smug smile. "How… That has to be a skill. I know your senses are insane—even compared to mine—but that is…"

"Yes. It's a skill… I can tell you about it later. Right now… If I'm being honest, Pops, I don't know about you, but I can't fight that many Oni. Maybe if they weren't with the flying snakes, the three of us could take them. The problem is how they can all rush at a single target."

"It's… (Monitor), right?" Pops said, having ignored what he said about the Oni. Aizel nodded with a little glare that prompted the man to address the issue at hand.

"Neither can I, Son. Even with Kezial, you, and me, we would have a hard time fighting half that number because we would need to spend a lot of Mind and, in your case, Health Power to get rid of (Petrificate)…"

"There is already a Mithril rank making haste for Ledvira; they will arrive in the morning." The hunter master said after seeing how dire the situation was, since an adamant plus a grand priest weren't enough to handle the threat.

"Who are they, where are they coming from, and how?" Pops asked after slapping Aizel's shoulder.

"High Hunter Mesin and his party, from Noravil, via small airship…" The hunter master replied.

"…"

"… We sent word to Sednira, Grodvenira, and Pastorvil, but they do not have any high-tier hunters available. The one from Redvelia can’t come here in haste." He added, once he saw that no one had responded to him. He was really nervous, since his town would be destroyed if this was not dealt with.

"I assume the pursuing monsters are resting. How long until they reach Ledvira?" The Grand Priest asked, genuinely pissed off.

"T-Tomorrow, at n-noon. Grand Priest." The young noble said. Scared out of his mind, probably because his only means of escape lay as a pile of rubble resting on the town wall. And neither the angels nor Aizel would be giving him a ride out of town.

"…"

Pops broke the awkward silence to say something that almost made the Lordling shit his pants. "I know of High Hunter Mesin. His party is strong. They can maybe deal with one Oni in the wild. But as Aizel said, Oni tend to attack all at the same target. Besides, I doubt Mesin has anyone in his party that can use Magikas Finalis…"

'Well… I guess it's a waste of mana to go and pick them up. The Mithril on Redvelia does not look anywhere near adamant level, and who knows where the were-leopard is… Who am I kidding? That sexy bitch can't solo a fucking Shaman.'

The priest let out a tired sigh before turning towards Pops while nodding. "And that is if they make it in time, Salmizael. Your sense of distance has warped in less than a winter. Last time I checked, the airship that belongs to Noravil's Castellan is old and made for commerce, not speed. They will arrive when the monsters are already here. If Aizel is as strong as you said. We can't have him wasting his mana looking for them."

'Nice. Brownie points for the priest with brain wrinkles.'

Aizel was really pissed off at the whole situation. He had left Redvelia to not deal with these idiots. And what an idiot the lordling was. He kept throwing around stupid plans that were suicidal for anyone participating in the mission to save Ledvira.

The woman kept looking at him. Thankfully, her brother kept her in place.

Pops and the Grand Priest moved to the side and were discussing a plan of action among themselves. Aizel was happy to know that Pops was not a suicidal idiot, and he shared Aizel's position about not lifting a finger without a solid plan unless it affected Dranelida. Proving to him that his actions back in Redvelia were out of love and desperation, not because the man lacked brain wrinkles.

"Realistically, how many Oni can you take, Aizel?" The priest asked.

"I would like to tell you that I can take four or five. The problem is the Kings; I have not used Magikas Finalis against a monster that strong. Only for small stuff like the (Mana Hands)-like skill the Oni use."

"Ha-h. Small stuff, he says… At least you are not overconfident. (Petrificate) indeed consumes around one thousand Mind Power points to fight against. And they can use it at least two times."

"And there are two of them…" Pops added.

"Yeah. No. Fuck that. It would take me one hundred Health Power. And I use about that amount to fight against a single Oni. I could either defend against (Petrificate) or fight the Oni, not both."

"And they are organized, son."

"Fuck…"

—

They kept discussing plans of action that led nowhere for a while. The entire town was now awake. Most people were packing, and a lot of hunters had fucked off in the middle of the night. Preferring to make a run for it. Fighting against goblins or sub-humans at night was survivable, unlike the shitstorm the leeches had brought to the town.

It was not desertion since the hunters were not an army or even a militia. They only followed the job offers from the Hunters' Guild, and they would never ask them to risk their lives against unwinnable odds. If anything, the guild would make it easier for everyone to escape.

"What about the weapons on the Airship?" Aizel asked from the other side of the large table. "Can we dismount them and aim them from the ground? We could lure the Oni into a trap."

The lordling shook his head. "We already used all ammunition. The Oni can move faster than we can aim, and the scales from the Kings are too tough. The weapons are made to take down castles and armies, not fast targets or scales that are almost like adamant. And the mana reservoir of the ship is already drained. We could not even shoot them."

'Then why did you fuck with them? Fucking idiot…'

—

Knock-knock

A gold rank entered the room after knocking. "Hunter Master. We got word from Redvelia." He pulled out a scroll from his belt and gave it to the plat.

The hunter master nodded after reading its contents. "Good. There weren't any temporal camps between Sarredvil, Pastorvil, and Redvelia. They got the order to evacuate via hawk after the confirmation of the Dungeon."

The lordling sighed in relief.

"However." The Hunter master furrowed his brows after seeing that reaction. "Parties were hunting, gathering, and lumbering in the area"

'Fuck… The wagon with the weird mount carrying logs…' Aizel remembered.

"We will not know if the monsters attacked them until after the fortnight. If they fail to report back and their guilds designate them as missing." The Hunter Master added.

An audible gulp escaped the Lordling.

"The monsters never—"

"You've said enough, Horen." The priest barked at the lordling, making him shut up and sit down.

—

Aizel borrowed a bestiary from the guild, since Lisa kept theirs on her ring.

There wasn't much information about the Oni. But there was a lot about the Winged Basilisks, and everything he read told him that the combo coming for the town was probably one of the worst matchups possible.

The Serptiloid Kings were worthy of their name because of two things.

First, there was their (Petrificate) skill. Aizel still had the booklets Redvelia's guild had provided him with; they never asked for them, so he never gave them back. It was simple. First, it stunned you like a (Discharge) to the muscles. And then it used your own mana to literally turn you into stone from the outside in.

Its description reminded Aizel of supercooled water and instant Ice; it was some kind of chain reaction straight out of a horror story.

If that wasn't enough. The crazy monsters loved to whip their massive bodies at the statues. That little technique was so effective that people had not even gotten the chance to see if the petrified person could be saved after becoming a Michelangelo.

You either prevented the skills from being effective on you. Or you turned into stone shards; not a single case in between had been reported.

Secondly, the things were built like tanks. Their only weak spots were their eyes and mouth. Even their fucking asshole was armored. It was armor made of scales stronger than rock. Making a hole in a tank back on Earth would be easier. Those were not made out of adamant. Neither were the giant snakes, but they came close to it.

Aizel was confident about defeating one. If it was a one-on-one fight. His (Focus) and (Shōmetsu) could allow him to shoot a supercharged exploding tracer into their mouth or eyes. He had not tested (Raikō) to see if he could attack a vital organ. But that would be in vain; according to the reports, the armor of the things fucked with lightning skills, making them act crazy unless you managed to pierce their hide.

And they were not alone.

There was no way he could do that while defending against the Oni. They would probably be more alert since they would not be under the direct influence of the dungeon.

Kezial was growing on Aizel. He was the kind of man Aizel could probably never be without a lot of incentive. Even if Pops and Aizel bailed. He would stay. The cherubim was also immortal-kin. But he would lay his immortal ass down to allow the people of Ledvira to escape.

That was beyond stupid in Aizel's opinion. Simple math told him that a single immortal life, especially one with such conviction, was worth more than a few snails. But that was exactly what gave the man his value.

"Do you have family, priest?" Aizel asked; the room had split into small teams brainstorming a solution.

"Not anymore. Well… Technically I still have descendants running around. But their blood is too diluted, and I never got to know them."

Pops nodded. "Yeah. This one is younger than me. But he was never as promiscuous. So when… What? Two generations? Passed, after his first spawn. He no longer saw them as part of his kin."

"Four generations. And it's the smell. They no longer carry mine or my lover's."

"I was surprised when you told me that you would join the temple and not just fuck off like our fathers," Pops said. Placing his hand on the priest's shoulder.

'I guess I'm lucky Lisa never went for this fossil…' Aizel thought. The priest looked a little hurt after he asked that question. He could apologize for bringing up the subject, but he acknowledged his pain and chose to bring back the main concern to move them away from that depressing topic.

"I think Redvelia still has some lures from the siege-raid," Aizel commented.

"I read about that whole thing. But I paid it no mind at the time. Do you think those new lures could be used to separate them, or even lure the Oni away while we deal with the Kings?" The priest asked.

Aizel took a deep breath before responding. "This fuckers are smart. Even the few Orcs that showed up managed to not just jump at us; I had to take care of them myself because they understood it was a trap once they got close.

– The lures would not separate them, at least not for long… I was thinking more about leading them towards a kill zone, like a musketeer wall or something? The leeches still have around half a dozen, plus the two from the Guild."

"…"

"If it was one or two Oni, yes. But more than that, the musketeers would have a hard time coordinating. They would have to all shoot at a single Oni to beat it. The only way a single musketeer could take down an Oni would be through ambush. Not a whole horde that rages after a fake trail. These are goblinoid princes we are talking about." The priest said.

"And the musketeers are useless against the Winged Basilisk's armor. Plus, they would be turned to stone before they could even aim." Pops added.

Aizel didn't want to lie to them; he saw little chance of saving the town. The best choice would be to place a false trail and evacuate the slowest towards the coming airship. Then it's everyone for themselves while reinforcements arrive.

They could not let monsters of that caliber run wild, but the closest high-tier hunters were down in the duchy capital or running around in the northern region. He would need to go around the duchy to find them and pick them up.

"One or two more Adamant hunters, and we could take them." Pops declared.

The priest raised an eyebrow. "I would say three or four…"

Pops smiled and glanced towards Aizel.

"Really? I know you said he defeated you… But you said it was close. A young hunter with Mithril strength that took you by surprise."

Aizel didn't say anything, but his raised brows said everything.

"Hey! I didn't lie that time." Pops defended.

"I said nothing." Aizel shrugged and smiled after using Pops' own words.

"Pf… Fucking newt. Yes, he had high Mithril strength with a good battle sense. But he has grown a lot since then."

"You are speaking as if that happened winters ago…" The priest furrowed his brows. He could tell if Pops lied, so he must be confused.

The girls were coming in fast; they took around an hour and a half to reach him. It was much slower compared to his speed, even without comparing it to him using (Fire Howl). But they did not have him creating a draft, and just a fraction of his skills, so it was pretty fast. Even faster than Pops.

thump-thump-thump

Aizel heard the faint sound of the girls landing like maniacs in the center of town. "They really no longer give a fuck about the snail population, huh." He cringed a little.

Pops gave him a knowing look and smiled.

"What the fuck was that?" The priest said. Already getting up and pushing his Aura outwards.

"Relax, old friend. It's Lisa."

Pops and Kezial went back to the others to see if they had come up with a better plan that did not involve sacrificing every hunter plus a cherubim. Aizel stood and waited for the sexy psychos to enter the room.