Chapter 144 - Deus Vult
(Manami POV)
I followed behind Lian Li as we led the Adventurer's towards the slavers' camp. Master had told Kiyomi to stay behind and look after Cai Hong, so she was exempted from this punishment.
I shivered slightly at the memory of Master looking at us back at the camp.
There was no anger nor any form of disgust in his eyes.
It was that slight tinge of disappointment that we saw deep within those orbs of his that made my legs go weak. The knowledge that it was us who had hurt Master in some way was mortifying.
I never want to see those eyes from Master ever again.
When Master had sacrificed himself for us before returning from the dead, the first thing he did was to check if we were all safe before reassuring us of his well being.
When Master was taken by that crazy fox stalker of mine, he returned to us with a mouthful of apologies when it was no fault of his.
For us who had been pulled from the depths of the abyss by such a magnanimous Master, the thought of disappointing him frightened us beyond measure.
"So… You are all sisters huh?" The Mordred fellow asked, keeping pace beside me while the rest of his party followed a distance away. Why he chose to walk beside me I never bothered to ask.
I nodded without turning to him.
"And… The kid is supposed to be your younger brother, right?"
Ah, Master had referred to us as his elder sisters. As much as hearing him call me that brings joy to my heart, the grief and guilt I'm feeling far outweigh that.
"What does that matter to you?" I asked.
He shrugged, "Well, you guys seem to be quite close to him and… I'm not sure how to say this but… He seemed to be the dominant one?"
"Ara ara? An inquisitive one hmmm? As I said, what does that matter to you?"
"Ah… Well… To be honest, I have a problem with my sister in law so… I thought I might learn a trick on how to get closer to her."
I scoffed at him, "There is no 'trick'. Our Mas… Our brother is beloved just because of who he is, not because of who he pretends to be."
"Ugh… How… How profound. For you to think that way, he must be a very special person."
"That he is…" My words trailed off as I reflected back on my own mistakes.
Master was indeed right, we have become quite arrogant with the powers that he had bestowed upon us. Even now, we are still doing things behind his back.
Such is the burden we have to bear in order to ensure Master's safety and purity. We would be the shadows that protect him from the darkness if need be.
"Alright then," The Mordred fellow grunted. "So how far away are the slavers?"
"Just up ahead," Diao Chan replied, pushing aside a branch to reveal a decimated encampment.
The jaws of all the Adventurers dropped, obviously shocked at the state of what they expected to be a fully functioning slaver camp.
The walls of the camp were burned to cinders and every building within looked like it was crushed or burned. The dead bodies of the slavers were tied to improvised stakes where most of them seemed to be missing limbs or were obviously gutted open.
Right in the middle of all the carnage was a giant spider that was stuck to the ground with its own legs acting as stakes that punctured through its body from above.
What was most impressive was that the monster was still alive.
"What… What the hell is this?" One of the Adventurers gasped.
"That is what happens when someone crosses our Mas… Our brother," Eris announced smoothly.
Mordred turned to us, fear evident on his face, "Are you… Are you going to do that to us?"
I shook my head, "No. It is partially thanks to you that we were able to see our flaw before it was too late. Had we continued our path, we might disappoint our brother even further."
He gulped, "You girls er… Really look up to your brother a lot, huh?"
"That goes without saying," Lian Li sighed, the events from just now obviously weighing down on her. "Normally we would try to teach you about how great he is but… I think we should try a different approach this time."
I tilted my head at her, this was entirely news to me.
I had thought Lian Li wanted to bring them here so that we could do our usual preaching to them but it seems I was mistaken about her intentions.
She pointed towards the spider, "Do you think your party could have taken down that monster?"
The Mordred fellow shook his head slowly, "That's a variant of the Armored Swarm Spider… On top of the strengths that the normal ones have, this one is bigger and doesn't have the weakness of being weak to lightning based attacks. If my party were to encounter one, we'll have no choice but to retreat."
"I thought so," Lian Li nodded before turning to Diao Chan. "How is Gamma handling the Xi Family?"
She grimaced, "Not well… After they began locking down their main house and recalling everyone, we haven't been able to do much outside of maintaining surveillance on them. Even the trash is useless right now."
"We expect the situation to improve in the next few weeks or so before we initiate a takeover," I continued.
"Manami…" Lian Li called my name while clenching her fists. "I think it's time we stop hesitating."
A bolt of golden lightning struck down from the sky, completely disintegrating the giant spider from existence.
I could hear the Mordred fellow muttering something about lightning immunity at the side but I chose to ignore him.
Lian Li looked down at her hands, "All this while… We always tried to go for the more passive approach first… Education before eradication. But this had slowed down our progress tremendously and allowed trash like these damn slavers to approach Master. If they never existed in the first place, Master would never have shown that face to us."
Diao Chan chuckled, "We already know this world is too full of trash. Master deserves nothing but the best but yet there are all these things always constantly disturbing our precious Master."
Eris clapped her hands together, "Ohhh~ I like where this here is going! We're gunna finally go all out amirite?"
Lian Li turned towards the Mordred fellow, "Kneel or die."
He only hesitated for a moment before falling to his knees.
One of the Adventurers drew his sword, "What the hell?! Who do you think you are? Don't you know who I am?! I am Bratt He--"
I did a sweeping motion with my hand and he immediately combust into flames, his body burning into nothingness.
The rest of the party needed no more convincing before they all joined their leader in the same position.
Lian Li smiled, "The time for hesitation is over. By hook or by crook, this world will bend for Master. Anything or anyone who seeks to harm Master will receive no mercy."
"Mas… Master?" Mordred muttered in confusion, none of us paid him any heed.
Eris tilted her head slightly at Lian Li, "Xi Family... ?"
Lian Li nodded to me, "Diao Chan will call our people to evacuate in the next twenty four hours. Burn everything else to the ground. Leave absolutely nothing behind."
"Fufufufu~ With pleasure~"