Writer: Henet
Editor: PervySageChuck
Overlord Ascendants Arc 2: Crescendus
Overlord Arc 2: Chapter 1 Preparation
Part 1
The Eastal Great Highway, a long and ancient road that linked the Empire’s Eastern Territory’s Capital, Ambat to Grimvale’s capital, Caldera. The Kingdom of Grimvale’s border lay along the northeastern fringe of the Empire. The Eastal Great Highway was a popular route used by merchants and travelers between the two countries.
The Eastal Highway was in fact a dirt route with only about one tenth of the route paved with cobblestones, usually in those stretches of road within the vicinity of small towns. The total distance of the highway stretched up to 600 km.
A dual horse-drawn cargo carriage was passing through numerous small towns that were established along the highway. The economy of those towns relied on the pockets of those who made their journey along the highway. Henceforth, inns, taverns, and blacksmiths enjoyed a booming trade with the constant stream of travelers, requiring their service.
Horse drawn carriages were quite common on the Eastal Great Highway as the Kingdom of Grimvale imported food from the Empire’s Eastern Province, famous for their fertile lands. In return, merchants from Grimvale travelled to the Empire with their cargo of magic items, enchanted weapons, and healing potions, constantly sought by those living in the Empire’s Eastern Domain, particularly those staying in the frontier villages, for they lived in fear of the numerous monsters that spilled out of the Forbidden Continent.
A dual horse-drawn cargo carriage was dashing through the countryside on that highway. At a glance, the carriage in focus was unimpressive. It gave out a vibe like a common large cargo carriage used by those frontier villages to ferry their goods. A trail of dust was left in the wake of the carriage as it sped down the highway, pulled by two chestnut colored horses. The carriage rattled along as it moved along the uneven dirt track.
The driver and his co-driver were noticeable, sitting at the forefront of the carriage. Their heads were covered by their thick brown hempen hoods, hiding their features from the casual observer. The remaining occupants and the contents of the carriage were also hidden from view by the cloth flaps that covered both ends of the carriage.
Still, the other travelers on the road paid them no heed as many of them quickened their pace as well, in response to the incoming large congregation of dark clouds from the eastern horizon. From a distance, forks of lightning streaked across the darkening sky.
A strong gust of cold, moist wind blew across the land. The trees swayed ominously due to the strong wind. Those travelling by foot knew that they could not escape from the storm and they headed off the road to seek shelter somewhere else. Several travelers magically created mounds of dirt to act as temporary shelters from the storm. Meanwhile, those with horses urged their mounts to go faster, in hope of reaching the next town before the storm could reach them.
As that particular carriage sped through the road, the faint melody from a clarinet could be heard from within the confines of the carriage. Most people paid it no heed. But the few travelers who appreciated good music, enjoyed the brief melody that came out of the speeding carriage.
“Leader, could you ask our passenger to stop playing the clarinet?”
“Why do you want her to stop, Wolfe? I don’t mind a little music on a journey….”
“That music of hers is like a jinx. A jinx, I am telling you. Ever since she started playing that clarinet, those storm clouds appeared. At this rate, you and I are going to get drenched before we reach our last stop.”
“Fine, fine! I’ll go put in your request to our esteemed guest.”
The leader leaned back as he raised the flap covering the inside of the cargo wagon.
His vision quickly adjusted to the dim interior of the wagon, taking notice of the five passengers to his left and another four seated to his right.
The five people on his left were what remained of his merry little band, Marcus the ranger, Lyra the elven archer, and Princess Hanna, flanked by both her close high-born friends, Sonya and Rebecca. All of them were disguised as simple villagers.
Sitting opposite them were their new travelling companions, led by a young boy with black hair with bright golden eyes, Azrael, their mysterious benefactor. He was flanked by three girls. Each possessed a beauty that would make anyone do a double take after seeing them. Their tight and curvaceous figures were completely obscured by the hempen robes normally used by impoverished villagers to serve as their disguise.
On Azrael’s right was a girl with shiny brown braided hair, who introduced herself earlier as Arilde. She displayed a warm persona as she was more keen on interacting with Leader’s teammates, particularly Hanna.
Leader could only give a quiet sigh as he noticed the occasionally jealous glance coming from Sonya and Rebecca as they looked at Arilde and her sisters. Marcus on the other hand was not so subtle as he displayed a more hostile disposition towards Azrael. Leader surmised that this was mainly due to Azrael being surrounded by such beauties. He made a mental note to knock some sense into him later.
Next to Arilde was a girl with short blue hair. Her ruby red eyes were focused on the heavy tome that she was holding. She briefly introduced herself as Isole to them. She mainly kept to herself occasionally interacting with her sisters.
The space in the back was occupied by several large baskets of dried spices and loads of exotic looking fruits to create an impression that they were travelling villagers, off to sell their produce in the capital. Most of their weapons, like the sword and bow were kept in a secret compartment just underneath their carriage. The only thing they could use to defend themselves were simple daggers.
The leader moved his attention to the last member in Azrael’s entourage. A 14-15 year old blond girl with twin pigtails. Her eyes were shut as she played her silver clarinet. Lyra seemed to be mesmerised by the tune she was playing. To be able to impress an elf was quite a feat in itself, as the elven race were known as natural connoisseurs when it came to music and art.
If the Leader was to use words to describe the melody, he would say that it gave one the feeling of a playful little girl dancing about in the summer’s rain. As he briefly glanced at the darkening sky, it felt as if the thunder clouds were moving with the rhythm of her tune.
Leader sighed. He was thinking of a way to ask Camira without risking offending her. The relationship between both parties was already strained as it is.
“Ah,.... excuse me, Camira-san. Our sour driver-san has requested that you stop playing your clarinet…”
Leader smiled weakly to convey that this was not a serious request, that she could just simply refuse it.
The girl, Camira stopped playing with a resounding note.
“Okays, if driver-san insist about it…..”
CRACK.
At that moment, Leader’s figure was momentarily illuminated. Most of the people sitting in the carriage and even the horses were shaken by the unexpected lightning strike. The veteran warrior remained still and held his breath for a moment before continuing to talk.
“On second thought, just ignore Wolfe. We could do with some travelling music….”
“Okays, if you insist……”
The girl, Camira continued with her solo-play with a new fast paced tune.
Leader turned his attention towards the tree where the lightning struck, about ten meters away from the carriage.. A burning cloaked body could be seen lying across the roots. Poor sod must have tried to take shelter underneath that tree or is it?
Leader’s eye narrowed in suspicion, His peculiar behavior was mainly due to the reason that he could not sense that man’s presence at all. People who could hide their presence from him are those that possess the skills of an assassin. He turned his attention towards Wolfe.
He could only see Wolfe shaking his head in response, meaning that even Wolfe did not sense that man's presence.
Is Grimvale alerted to our attempts to infiltrate the country?
The chance encounter with the mysterious assassins within the borders of the Kingdom of Grimvale was unlikely a coincidence. Likely, they were ordered by Grimvale’s higher ups to keep an eye out for them. In other words, someone had sent word earlier to the Grimvale to warn them about their little covert operation.
Leader’s mind returned towards Azrael and his three escorts. The girls would have been considered as unrivaled world-class beauties if anyone laid eyes on them.
Then again, he thought, is it safe to bring them into Grimvale?
It was an open secret that the King of Grimvale had a tendency to ‘collect’ beautiful girls as his personal playthings. Leader tried not to think about the things that were done to those poor girls. The King of Grimvale was truly a monster clothed in human skin.
Leader could not blame Hanna for seeking Azrael’s help to save her sister from a doomed political marriage. Furthermore, by eliciting Azrael’s help, it would allow them to focus on their primary mission in the Grimvale instead of dividing their already small group in order to take care of two separate tasks. Mounting a rescue while needing to complete their main mission would undoubtedly be a suicidal attempt.
But the encounter in the mansion with Azrael’s headmaid gave him an impression that those staying there were anything but ordinary. How powerful are they actually? The headmaid practically knocked his group out within seconds and without them having the chance to even defend themselves. Should I consider our new companions to be stronger than the headmaid?
Considering that the four person team was here to rescue the young princess. Then, I should be wary of them.
Leader had his personal misgivings about this temporary partnership. We barely know anything about them. What is their end game here?
During their discussion earlier, they declared that they had no intention of interfering with the Empire’s internal strife. They would not side with either Hanna’s nor Percy’s respective faction in war. But, they gave Percy a powerful artefact in order to initiate a friendly relation with the Empire’s ruling government. Such an action was detrimental to Leader’s faction.
Yet, now they are willing to help Hanna with rescuing her sister. What do they have to gain by rescuing the young princess?
Are they are playing both sides? Darn, I got too little information to work with.
The dense droplets of rain that fell from the sky interrupted Leader’s thoughts. He quickly raised his hood to cover himself from the heavy rain.
The bright afternoon turned as dark as night as the heavy rain clouds blocked off the sun. Meanwhile, forks of lightning continued to dance in the sky. Thankfully, Leader could make out the signs of their last stop before reaching Grimvale’s Capital. Hopefully, they could get in touch with their own informant, to obtain the information they sorely needed.
Part 2
As the rain storm raged on, streams of rainwater fell down from the roof, spilling into the heavily inundated cobblestone road. The roads were mostly empty as most people decided to take shelter from the rain.
Right now, Azrael and his travelling companions were resting in a bedroom on the second floor of the inn, with Azrael, Arilde, Camira and Isole sharing a room together. While, Hanna and her company rented two bedrooms with the girls having one, and the men occupying another.
Leader decided that it was too dangerous for them to travel in the rainstorm. Hence, they decided to stop at this simple inn. The inn was located in a fairly large town, their last stop before reaching the capital of Grimvale.
Azrael was resting his head on Arilde’s lap. She insisted that Azrael take his mandatory rest on her lap, while she gently massaged his forehead. For the last two-weeks, Azrael had barely taken any rest since returning to this world. He had built up quite a bit of stress after going through days of planning without any sleep. He still remembered some of the earliest advice that his father gave him. ‘Always allocate some time for rest’.
Due to his current condition, bed-rest seemed more important than ever. Arilde’s lap was a spot that he could put down his guard easily. Moreover he could not move too much, Camira was hanging onto his left arm while Isole was clutching to his right arm. Both of them were sleeping soundly by his sides.
The Bahamut Battle Sisters had an understanding among themselves. Each of them would rotate weekly to serve Azrael personally. This arrangement was better than their previous method of duelling for the rights amongst themselves. He had a feeling that his sisters would join in the fray had he not put an end to it. Now, it was Arilde’s turn to be by his side.
As Azrael lay on the bed, he reviewed his plans.
Earlier, they had gone through their plans privately away from Hanna’s group. They had warded the room with layers of anti-surveillance magic. They would know it if anyone were to eavesdrop on them.
The princess had no idea of the role that she needs to play in things to come. For this, he intended for Hanna to stay in the Tomb of R’lyeth in order for her to realise her true potential.
That is why he signed a contract with her and his first condition to Hanna was that she had to stay in the Tomb of R’lyeth. Hanna’s sheltered upbringing resulted in her not being able to fully develop her latent abilities. The situation was made worse as there were nobody who could guide her properly. Right now, her capabilities were still far from what Azrael was hoping for.
Currently, Azrael, Arilde, Camira and Isole had cast illusion spells on themselves so that they appeared human. The recent skirmish with Prince Percy’s people was kept a secret for the moment and Azrael had no intention of revealing his existence to the people of this world, at least not until everything was in place. Even if it is Hanna’s group, Azrael would not have hesitated to kill all of Hanna’s companions in order to keep his identity a secret. However, he still preferred to keep this as a last resort in order to get Hanna to cooperate with him. Simply killing her comrades would be counterproductive.
So far, Hanna had kept her end of the bargain by not revealing the true nature of Azrael’s party. He had already made his intentions clear if his identity as the Lord of R’lyeth was leaked.
Prior to launching their operation, they had a brief planning session. Firstly, they decided not to teleport directly into the capital of Grimvale, Caldera. Although direct teleportation would save quite some time but it was not implemented due to one important reason. Any form of teleportation, infiltration and surveillance magic would be detected by the magical enchantment protecting Caldera. As soon as they teleported themselves in, the entire city would be alerted to their presence. The capital possessed such formidable defences due to its origins as a guild base back in the days of Yggdrasil.
Hence, they chose to infiltrate Caldera via more traditional means, by disguising themselves as travelling villagers and entering the city directly. Nonetheless, their problem will not end after getting past the main gate. The intelligence provided by The Scarab Queen told him that the Kingdom of Grimvale had a vast spy network spanning the entire city. Any suspicious people would be reported, making it hard for anyone involved with cloak and dagger business to enter the capital undetected and unannounced.
The spy network acted as a shield for Grimvale, against any foreign covert operators attempting to infiltrate the country. The spy network was to prevent the leak of Grimvale’s military trade secrets. Grimvale is one of the major arms producers on this continent, they export their products like magical weapons used in the airships that the Empire’s Navy uses against other human nations.
The country also had a strong mercenary force that would work for the highest bidder. In other words, they let the money do the talking when it comes to foreign diplomacy. At present, the Kingdom Grimvale and the Empire maintained a symbiotic relationship. The Empire is the major food supplier for Grimvale while Grimvale provided the hardware that the Empire’s army sorely needed.
Hence, Azrael and his companions chose to travel to Grimvale from the Empire via the Eastal Great Highway. Likely, the Eastal Highway on Grimvale’s side would be monitored. Moreover, the towns and villages were inhabited by people from Grimvale. Likely, informants would move around amongst the general populace.
After checking for any observers, they simply teleported themselves near a deserted stretch of the Eastal Great Highway on the Empire’s side and started their journey there.
When they started their journey, Camira had conjured up storm clouds, that descended from the mountains that separated the Empire from the Forbidden Continent. This prevented any keen observers from noticing that the weather was magical in nature. The resulting heavy rain will act as their cover from any suspecting lookers. People would not be suspicious of a trading coach that was speeding along the Eastal Highway during this current weather. They would assume that the occupants were trying to escape from the storm like any other travellers. The storm would also distract any roadside observers. The storm would aso distract any roadside observers.
However, a sharp pain radiating from Azrael’s left eye brought him to his senses. Looks like it is time.
“Although, a storm is brewing outside. But, the rhythmic sound of falling rain drops is rather soothing isn’t it, Azrael-sama?”
“.........I did enjoy listening to it when I was here last time. We never got much chance to savor moments like this back in Nazarick, except when we visited Aura-nee and Mare-nii’s domain.” Azrael closed his eyes briefly as if reminiscing about some old memories.
When he reopened his eyes, Azrael noticed that Arilde was smiling gently as she looked at her sleeping sisters.
“I haven’t seen both of them sleep so calmly since that day when you disappeared.”
“Sorry…….” Azrael apologised as he felt guilty for making them worry about him.
Both Camira and Isole were gripping tightly as if they were afraid that he would go missing again like last time.
“I’m not angry, Azrael-sama. Just that,....please come back safely to us.” Arilde was looking into Azrael’s eyes. He could see the hidden worry behind those purple eyes. His heart ached at the thought at causing Arilde to worry about him.
Azrael could feel the warmth and softness of her hands as she caressed his face.
“It’s a promise then. I’ll leave everything to you.” Azrael saw a smiling Arilde before he began to close his eyes.
“I’ll be waiting here until you wake up.” Azrael could faintly hear Arilde’s reassuring voice as he slipped into the peace of sleep.
To Azrael, another battle awaited him in his dreamlands. A battle that he could not afford to lose.
As Azrael opened his eyes again, he realised that he was standing on a misty plain. The familiar surroundings of the room were nowhere to be found. The foggy mist twirled around him. He could barely see ten feet in front of him.
Without wasting a moment, he took stock of his new surrounding, relying on his other senses to survey the area.
Suddenly, he took a battle stance as he sensed someone approaching him. Azrael had been expecting that person’s appearance. Afterall, everything that happened had almost been like a routine now.
Just on cue, Azrael heard a familiar voice.
“I have been waiting for you. kid……..Now die!” A shadowy apparition emerged from the mist. The apparition was humanlike. But the feature its body was completely obscured by mass of swirling black smoke. The most recognisable features were the twin red orbs that shine brightly from its head.
The apparition did not wait for Azrael to reply as it immediately took a swing at him with a black and red bladed katana, with an ominous malevolent red aura twirling around the blade. A wave of crimson death was released from the blade as it headed towards Azrael.
Azrael dodged that crimson wave. He responded by magically drawing out a black and crimson katana from thin air, similar to the one held by the shadowy apparition and rushed forward to meet him straight on.
Sparks flew around as their respective blades met each other. The titanic amount of air displaced the mist that surrounded the both of them.
As Azrael was pushing his blade against his opponent, he saw his opponent leering at him. With a loud battle cry, he used his blade to push his opponent away a few steps back, and he followed up with a diagonal slash, shoulder to hip…..
His opponent nimbly dodged his attacks. But at the same time, Azrael drew out a mass of dark energy with his right hand. <Void Arc>
He promptly released a bolt of dark energy at that figure. The bolt pierced through the shadowy figure’s torso and that apparition’s body dispersed like black mist before disappearing entirely. The remnants of the Void Arc struck the ground behind, gouging out a smouldering crevice through the grassy plains.
Without wasting a moment, Azrael quickly turned around as he drew his blade up horizontally, blocking his opponent’s downward strike that came from the back.
At the same time, he quickly brought up his right hand, blocking his opponent’s follow up kick. He could feel the pain radiating from his arm.
Ignoring his pain, Azrael unleashed his next spell. <Void Thunder>.
His katana was momentarily covered by a thick miasma of dark energy. Then, multiple arcs of dark lightning erupted from the blade, striking the shadowy figure. Each strike from the lightning, dispersed more of the shadowy apparition’s body. The apparition swung its blade around as it retreated backwards for several meters, blocking the last remaining arcs of dark lightning that was aimed at him.
“Kuh! You sure aren’t pulling your punches, brat! Round two begins now.” The shadowy apparition was laughing.
In that mass of shadow where the head was suppose to be, Azrael could see those red eyes glowing more intensely. That figure rushed at him with surreal speed. Azrael met him head on, and traded blows with him. Azrael received a slash to his body for every single strike he landed on the apparition, shaving off a portion of that figure’s body. The shaved portion dispersed easily like smoke. Their constant powerful quick slashes displaced the mist surrounding them. If someone were to observe their exchange from above, it would look as if they were fighting in the eye of the storm. The misty surroundings were lit up by sparks in between them, as their respective blades clashed with one another.
As the fight progressed, Azrael began to feel the pain from his injuries. But, he was relieved from the thought that he was about to end their duel now. He took a deep breath as he raised his katana horizontally, with the tip of the blade directed at his opponent. He evoked a spell.
<Holy Binder>
Five Metallic chains emitted a holy aura appeared, wrapping around the neck, arms and legs of the apparition.
“What?!”
The shadowy apparition uttered a word of surprise as he struggled against those chains. This was a spell that Azrael had never used against him before. Due to its non-corporeal form, most binding techniques would not work on him.
“Damn yo-”
That figure did not manage to finish his sentence as Azrael’s blade pierced through his head. With that strike, the shadowy apparition dispersed into the air completely. At the same time, the misty plain that Azrael was fighting on faded, only to be replaced with a pure white empty space.
Azrael collapsed on his back. The spell, <Holy Binder> would not have worked as well if he had not weakened his opponent prior to casting it. It was a new Tier-10 spell that he had recently learned, capable of immobilizing all beings for five seconds, The immobilized target would have their stats reduced by an additional 20%. Whereas, both Tier-10 spells <Void Arc> and <Void Thunder> are similar spell types that would sap an opponent’s stats while dealing a significant amount of damage. The only difference between the two was that Void Arc could travel between several targets, with the first target taking the brunt of the effect. Void Arc could also heal and boost the caster’s stats based on the amount of stats stolen and damage done. Its accuracy was considered higher than <Void Thunder>. In contrast, <Void Thunder> was an AoE type spell which equally affected all targets within its effective area. Its trade off was its higher mana consumption, which was negligible to Azrael.
His master advised him not to use spells too often in his duels. Chiefly, he had to deal with that apparition constantly, and by limiting the number of spells that he would use, he would be able to reserve more cards that could come into play in future fights like this. Their numerous fights allowed that apparition to slowly adapt to his fighting style, it is slowly getting better at anticipating his moves. So far, Azrael had relied on his swordsmanship and a limit of four spells to fight him off. He had no doubts that the shadowy figure would appear again when he was at his weakest.
Azrael looked at the black and red bladed katana held by his left hand. The blade was the strongest weapon under his possession. The katana, was named Kusanagi, a World-Item class weapon which he obtained during a life and death battle. The unique feature of Kusanagi was that the blade imbues itself with the blood of its fallen victims, strengthening itself with every single kill. However the usage of the blade comes with a heavy price, should the user fall while wielding the blade, the soul of the owner would then be imprisoned within the blade, this was the blade’s punishment against its owner for their failure. This particular attribute allowed the new owner to use the abilities of the previous wielder, while handling the blade. The imprisoned soul would only be relinquished when the next owner was defeated while using the blade, when a new victim would take its place.
However, Azrael never expected the soul within the blade would fight for dominion over his body. Even his father, the supreme leader of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick was at a loss, when it came to this strange phenomenon where he had to participate in this duel within his own dreamscape. They had very limited means of experimenting on the blade without risking him. Henceforth, they could not fully comprehend all the possible outcomes and how to negate them, should he lose.
The only feasible advice about Kusanagi was from his master. She asked him not to rely on the blade so much and to only use it as a last resort. But, the last he heard from her was when she told him that she will be going on a journey to find the answers he needs, especially those relating to his other condition and that was approximately 200 years ago by the estimation of this world. Before she left, she asked him to look after the place when she was not around. Since she had not left any specific instructions, this meant that she trusted him to act on his own discretion.
Really, where did you go to, master?
Nonetheless, Azrael finally relaxed, allowing himself to savor his victory and the fact that his body still belonged to him…. for now. As he closed his eyes, he let all of that accumulated fatigue sweep him away.
*******
Arilde took on a relieved expression as she saw Azrael begin to breath normally again. Earlier, Azrael’s body was convulsing and he was sweating profusely. Although this was not the first time, Arilde could not stop herself from being worried about the situation as she saw Azrael gasping for breath each time. She took a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off Azrael’s forehead. Now, she could relax as Azrael was sleeping soundly now.
Her sister, Isole, placed her palm on Azrael’s forehead to check for temperature. Then, the air around Azrael’s forehead began to chill. Meanwhile, Camira increased the air circulation in the room as a gentle breeze formed within the room. Both of them had awakened at the moment Azrael went to sleep.
“Arilde-Nee, Azrael-sama’s temperature is optimum.” Isole told her sister before resuming her sleeping position beside Azrael.
“Arilde-Nee, I summoned Twist-chan. She will carry on from here.” Camira pointed towards a little air-spirit beside the window. The little spirit with a figure like a child was sitting by the window ledge. She was so small that she could literally fit into a palm. Her arms were moving in a circular motion, controlling a mini twister that was exchanging the stale air of the room with the fresh air from outside.
“Twist-chan, just give me a poke when you are too tired.” Camira instructed the spirit that she summoned. The little air spirit promptly gave her a salute before resuming her work.
Then, Camira followed the action of her sister, Isole, and continued her sleep.
“Azrael-sama’s arm is the best pillow. Fuya….” Camira began to rub her face on Azrael’s arm, and was promptly stopped with a chop to the head by Arilde.
“Camira-chan, would you like some assistance to achieve a quiet sleep?” Arilde brandished a large war warhammer with her hand in front of Camira.
“Good night, onee-chan.” Camira stopped squirming and closed her eyes quickly.
“Really, both of you do not need to hide your worries too.” Arilde gently caressed both her sisters’ heads.
“Worry not Azrael-sama, we will protect you until you wake up.” Arilde closed her eyes as she stroked Azrael’s black hair. She prefered peaceful moments like this, wishing that it would last forever.
However, she knew, as Azrael’s right hand and as a ranking member of Nazarick, that there would be things that she could not escape from. Like her sisters, she was trained not to be hesitant when it came to killing. However, it did not mean she and her sisters took great joy when it came to stamping out the existence of others, in contrast to the thinking of those that dwelt within Nazarick. But, when there is someone that would threaten her beloved and her sisters, she would unhesitantly crush them with her warhammer. Without a doubt, her sisters shared the same sentiment.
Between the five Bahamut Battle Sisters, Arilde was considered the eldest. Hence, she acted as the de facto big sister and leader of the group. When it came to a fight, she may not be the strongest among her sisters, but the Floor Guardians gave her full marks when it came to administrative capabilities and wife attributes, which even impressed Albedo, who was her mentor and also her future mother-in-law. Not surprisingly, most of Floor Guardians supported her role as Azrael’s head-wife, whereas her sisters would take up positions as part of Azrael’s harem due to their complete devotion to him.
The sisters’ devotion to Azrael came naturally to them, for he was the first person they met when they first came into existence and he had been their protector and friend since then.
One day when Arilde and her sisters reached their sixth year of age, they were brought before Azrael’s mother, Albedo-sama and were told that they had to undergo a course of elite education, similar to what Azrael and his sisters were going through. Arilde still remembered the words that Albedo-sama spoke on their first day of school.
“Now girls, I am very pleased with the level of devotion and love that you have shown to my son. Still, all of you are akin to unpolished gems. Starting today, you all shall receive the best education that Nazarick can provide. I will bring you up to speed on what it takes to stand by Azrael’s side. I shall mold all of you to be the perfect wives and my ideal daughter-in-laws, standing above all those foolish riff-raff and insignificant insects that conspired to forge familial ties with Nazarick through my son.”
Arilde and her sisters tensed up after finding out that there are others that were trying to gain Azrael’s affection. As far as they could remember, Azrael and his sisters had been confined to the Great Tomb of Nazarick under the wishes of their parents. He seldom had the chance to venture out of the tomb. Arilde and her sisters were the only friends that he ever had. Hence, the girls were on alert as there were unknown enemies that were trying to usurp their position.
As they started their days in the Nazarick Academy, the girls were given a wide and extensive level of education ranging from basic knowledge and etiquette to more advanced teachings like physical and magical combat training, with the Floor Guardians serving as instructors. The course contents were similar to what Azrael and his sisters were given, except an additional module was added for them, ‘Albedo’s Perfect Wife Spartan Course’.
After the girls passed their courses with flying colors, Arilde and her sisters were bestowed positions akin to an Area Guardian in recognition of their talent and strength. After that, the girls were given tasks that mainly involved assisting Albedo with administrating Nazaricks’ territories in order to gain practical experience. While in Nazarick, they usually stayed by Azrael’s side, helping out with his side projects. To Arilde and her sisters, those days were their happiest. Sadly, their days of peace and happiness were soon interrupted.
Arilde broke her moment of recollection as she sensed the approach of a large crowd of people. All of them were stealthily surrounding this little inn. Both Camira and Isole suddenly bolted upright from their sleep.
“Nee-san, trouble approaching. Plan?”
Arilde nodded after listening to Isole’s words.
“Isol-chan, you stay here and look after Azrael-sama. Camira-chan, follow me. Let’s see what our uninvited guests are up to. If it really comes to a fight, give no quarter but keep it quiet.” Arilde instructed her sisters.
“Nee-chan, can’t we just massacre them straightway for interrupting our moment with Azrael-sama.” Camira asked.
“No, we have to ascertain their motives first. I do not want to complicate matters if their target is someone else entirely. But still, this is too much of a coincidence. ” Arilde narrowed her eyes.
Earlier, she noticed that two of Hanna’s party members separated from their group. However, they returned within the hour. She did not pay them any heed as she assumed that their mission was carried out without a hitch. To them, the safety of their fellow travellers other than Hanna’s was not a priority.
Reevaluating the situation now, she thought that she might have made a mistake. Probably she should have dispatched some servants like Shadow Demons to observe them. No point crying over spilt milk now.
As she directed her gaze next door towards Hanna’s room, one question popped into her mind.
Were we compromised?
