Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 833: Lies And More Lies!

Upon hearing Kara’s words, Aradin froze in place. His mind and body hadn’t caught up with the moment, and while June complained from the background with her hands stretched to take her daughter off Aradin’s hands, the priestess of Aphrodite kept trying to calm the situation. To the father, however, it was all but a buzz–noises in the background while a storm raged inside his head.

"She’s lying! She served that wretched goddess for Athenia’s sake! There’s no reason to trust her!" June’s voice rang in his ears, but he could not grasp their meaning.

"Elf, I know that this is hard to accept, but you’re better off accepting the truth than ignoring what she is!" Kara asserted, feeling trapped between her responsibility to help the lost and being painted as the villain in the situation.

"June–"

"NO!" Cutting Raven off, the mother struggled and pulled herself upright. Sitting up straight, she glared at the priestess again. "I do not care what you see in her; she’s not a demon! She’s not going to be a monster! She’s my daughter, and that’s all she is, you foul priestess!"

"I’m going to say it again," slowly moving her head left to right, Kara gathered the strength to speak again. "She has potential to be the lord of the nightmares–a herald for the mistress of calamities, but that doesn’t mean she is that just yet. But if you ignore her nature and keep her from it like some secret, her human nature within will draw her towards it–beckoning her to unravel it."

"LIES! AND MORE LIES!" Retreating into herself, June looked away from Kara and cursed. "Damned dark elf... For all I know, you’re just jealous. How do I even know that you’re telling the truth? Serving that goddess who abandoned her own daughter doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in me that you’re telling me the truth. I won’t abandon her or hand her over as that witch mother Aphrodite did."

Her concerns were far from unfounded, after all–she too was amongst the many refugee children who’d landed in Athenia after their families were chased out of the forest by the many clans of dark elves. The animosity towards that race was seared deep into scars, but the years of coexistence in Athenia had soothed them a little–that is, until now.

"The day I trust a dark elf about children," wearing her anger on her face, June glared sideways at the dark elf before looking straight ahead at her. "Is the day I lose my life. So begone, I don’t wanna hear another word from your mouth."

Finally moving out of his stiff pose, Aradin looked around slowly. Keeping his lips sealed, he took a step back and stood by his wife.

"I... I respect you, general, but I’m not handing my daughter to you or this woman even if it costs me my life." Nodding his head, Aradin passed the little girl back to June. "I suggest you leave now. We have a lot to think about–today hasn’t exactly been an easy day for us."

"I do not ask you to hand her over. I’ve been merely suggesting that she be under constant watch and security," stepping forward, Kara placed a hand on her heaving chest. "Someone needs to guide her on the right path, to show her why she can’t give into those monstrous instincts."

Stretching a hand forward, she tried to emphasize the point, but neither June nor Aradin was interested in her gibberish. A child of less than a day of age, and these people were already trying to assume the worst about her. The parents hadn’t even had a chance to celebrate the occasion; instead, it was one fight after the other–completely draining them of all rational thought.

"Maybe we should do this later," placing a hand on Kara’s shoulder, Raven pulled her back. "Let’s leave them be for now. Come."

Turning around, the hero began leading the priestess and the devil towards the exit. All the while, his own mind raced with doubts about the young girl, for even he sometimes couldn’t resist that pull from the monster within.

’She’s too young, we will find a way.’ Focusing his mind elsewhere, he stopped thinking about her. This time would be the last time the demon lord ever shows up; that was his rationale, and if he became a demi-god as Athenia had promised, that goal wouldn’t be as far-fetched as now. ’We need to find out more about Nerva first.’

His mind raced through possibilities, and in every one of them, he saw Nerva’s name reflected back. She knew who they were; she’d been watching them from the start–even now, she was probably watching. The powers in his possession to corrupt had something to do with her since the young girl was allegedly another candidate, and so was her dark water-cursed father.

Nerva’s dreams were everything living and pleasant, while her nightmares were the horrors and the demons. A perfect balance, almost like her father, who dictated the passage of night to day and from day to night.

’What else? What else?’ Raven pondered; there were just too many variables for him to deduce something conclusive. Then who would know? Helga did not otherwise she would’ve told him already. The same went for most of the other companions that he knew, with the exception of a few.

Glancing sideways at Kara and then turning his head towards Erika, right as they’d entered the room where everyone else was gathered, Raven was reminded of the person they both knew–a person who could most likely shed some light on this mysterious goddess’s plot.

"Asmodia and Razer," speaking up, Raven looked around at everyone and urged them to get up. "We need to talk to them. Those two are bound to know more, and there’s no more time for games, so let’s find out what the hell’s going on."

"In that case, I shall try to bring father," Kara muttered on the side.

"I doubt she will talk, but it won’t hurt to try," Erika added, not exactly optimistic about Asmodia even though she’d definitely mentioned Nerva’s name to her before.

With the clap of hands, Raven dismissed the party with particular orders for every member. From making a clone guardian rune around June’s room to securing and spreading the news about Nerva far–everyone had a part to play, and it all had to happen right now. There was no room for resting; only action could push them further and find out what in the world it was that this goddess wanted, aside from the obvious destruction of the current way of their world.