Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 781: Will I Regret This?

A week had passed since the lacklustre funeral of the giants, and somehow the world around the Eclanorian citizens hadn’t fallen to the abyss. For once, there was quiet; at first, it felt unsettling to experience such a thing after the storm that had just passed them by. However, hailing their hero as a champion and accepting a new goddess, they walked through the city with both sight and a lighter heart for the first time in decades.

But such was not the fate of all, as amongst the citizens there were plenty who resisted change. They caused riots and chaos everywhere, but with the Mistress’s servants mixed in their ranks, they had no clue that all of their ploys were being leaked to the temporary council. Whatever they tried was easily dealt with, and whatever momentum they could’ve had was lost as people began losing interest since nothing they did appeared to be having an effect.

Then came the monster girls from Frazer’s party. In the eyes of the public, they were still free; however, as of tonight, they’d lined up in the dungeon with Linkle standing in front of them with a slave brand in hand. Raven, Maria, Melenai, and Flitza were the only others present for the ordeal, as even now the chaos of the city and everywhere else required close monitoring.

"D-do you really have to do this?" Asked Kumi, her eyes locked on the brand.

Seeming nervous for once, the same as the other girls, the demi-human girl didn’t want to be a slave, and yet she had nothing to offer but her own desperation to escape that fate.

"Unfortunately, no," to everyone’s surprise, Flitza was the one to confront her. Taking a step forward with a deep scowl, she held back on the urge to spit on her. "Everyone thinks you’re the heroes of this battle when nothing could be further from the truth. Just be grateful that you get to live and accept the brand. Hells, if I would trust someone like you around without a slave brand..."

"Then step aside, Flitza." Walking up beside the half-dragon, Linkle eyed Kumi as the first girl to get the brand. "Excuse me for being a little mistrusting, but the way you guys spun things around kind of warrants this–well actually no, all of you should be dead instead, so consider this a favor."

"I’d rather be just dead," Muena whispered, still seeming exhausted from the toll of everything that had fallen on her.

"Nobody asked you what you want," Maria stepped forward with that retort. "Every one of you, with the exception of that slime girl, is going to be a slave for the rest of your lives, and trust me, that is mercy because just a few days ago, we were talking about keeping you caged inside that bracelet. No way out, forever for as long or as short as you live."

"Hmm...well then, I suppose it’s time for me to end things." Looking over at Maria, Muena opened her closed eye and just stared at her. Her words hung heavy in the air as they brought a mix of uncertainty and a threat with them. But then it happened; the petals on Muena’s eyes began to wither. "See you in hell."

"What?!" Suddenly, as the dryad’s body began rotting out of nowhere, everyone jumped away from her, and in that split second, Gina–the spirit girl–attempted to escape. However, easily noticed by Raven, she felt a hand being placed on her shoulders, and the next thing she knew, darkness took over her.

Sucked into the darkness of the mother fae, she turned into yet another dark flesh monster with no thought of her own, only blind servitude towards its host–Raven.

"Tck..." Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Raven clad everyone else in a dark iron shield from another horror held within his skin. Linkle also put up a number of magic shields to protect everyone from the blow, but since Raven’s shield engulfed everything in darkness, the only thing the group felt and heard was a massive blast and light trembling under their feet.

As things settled, the mage let down his shield and revealed a ruined portion of the dungeon. Everything had been burnt by some acid, and the walls and the ceilings were slowly crumbling all around them. Lying in the middle of it all was the withered body of the dryad, now as dry as a dead flower.

"Worthless even in her last moments. She thought she was going to hurt us, but all she managed to do was leave the workers with a few days of repairs." Maria murmured, and as those words made it to Kumi’s ears, she felt her heart seize with terror.

Even in her last moment, Muena had managed to land her into more trouble, and since she was now the last standing monster member of her party that the hero’s group didn’t trust, she knew that all the bottled-up hatred would be hurled her way.

"Let’s just finish this," said Raven, and nodding to his order, Linkle gestured for the bear girl to step forward and get branded.

Although reluctant, the girl stepped forward. Being told to kneel, she did. Then, as Linkle turned around to look at everyone else present, she braced for whatever was to come.

"Which one of you will be her master? You have to brand her yourself; I’ve done the rest of the work." Lifting the brand in her hand, Linkle blew on it. A bead of translucent liquid appeared over the vampiric brand. "Had I known that we wouldn’t have to brand that spirit girl, we could’ve done this a week ago. She had no real flesh to brand after all, but whatever, when you’re ready, just do it."

"Melenai, you’re gonna need a servant," Raven said, nonchalantly.

"Possibly yes." Stepping forward, Melenai took the brand and walked in front of the demi-girl. Standing in front of her, she moved the brand just above her exposed chest. Looking into the young girl’s eyes, she saw her drowning in a dark pool full of fear. She didn’t want to be a slave, but what choice did she have? "Let me ask you something..."

Throwing the brand to the side, Melenai instantly raised everyone’s eyebrows. But then their attention quickly shifted to something that she was writing in midair with pure glowing mana on her part.

’Will I regret this choice?’ Her words read, and as soon as Kumi read them, she shook her head.

"No, no, you won’t!" As much as some of the gathered party disagreed with that decision, the decision was made, and it was time for them to move on to more important things–the first of which was getting some rest.