Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 941: A Call To Surrender

When Raven made it back to the dark sand beach, he was a few companions short. Linkle had gone ahead with Mono to converse with Elenaria–a deal with the cosmic wizard was her plan, to gain access to material required for the more effective sort of teleportation equipment. Erika, too, had taken her leave. A quick trip back to Athenia would give her mind some much-needed relief about any potentially lurking threat on the plateau’s horizon.

The rest followed him without question, for they too were curious about this new development at Alliance. Arriving at the beach was chaos in itself; the people of Elenaris weren’t thrilled to see a half-dragon woman accompanying the hero, and the beach itself was cluttered with survivors from two different cities.

Finding Regalia in the chaos of wanderers proved to be quite the challenge, but as the two groups finally collided, the wolf-girl didn’t waste a second to tell him what was going on.

"We left a few folks in Alliance, to keep watch, and from the few mumbling words that I could make out." Drained of strength, she placed her hands on her hips and heaved. "Seems like the next city over has come over to surrender. Weapons and all, they just laid them down and have asked to meet you, Raven."

"We sure this isn’t a trap?"

"I sure ain’t sure," with a shrug, Regalia glanced at her busted bracelet. "I heard a name, Hamleth. Possibly a god on the council–"

Turning around, she tried to find someone in the crowd but couldn’t. Bringing her attention back to the hero, the wolf girl narrowed her brows and whispered conspiratorially.

"Moeria seems to know the name, but last I saw her, she was headed for Athenia’s church to commune with the goddess at last. That devil must be with her, Valentina and Mercedes too–I told them to keep an eye on the woman since she doesn’t seem like she can fight off a she devil by herself."

"So we have two more sticks up our asses, huh?" A sour taste spread through Raven’s mouth, not one but problems have nailed themselves in front of him. "We need to go back to Alliance and check what’s going on and also keep an eye on how things go with Moeria’s foresight and all."

Leaning away from him, Regalia turned her gaze to Raven’s allies. Everyone seemed tense, but one way or the other, they had to figure out a way to take care of the situation. Thankfully for the bunch, the second general had expected such an outcome and came prepared to help the best she could.

"Well," snapping her fingers, she pointed in the last direction she’d seen Kara. "I knew this would happen, so I’ve asked the high priestess to accompany you guys to Alliance. Not to mention, Mesmerazia is willing to teleport us one time, although we’d need to return the favor with some extra supplies sent over to Inktaus from Athenia."

In a flash, Raven’s shoulders dropped. He felt as though a mountain of burden had been lifted from his shoulders. With a smile, he let out a dry chuckle and patted Regalia on her shoulders.

"Thank god, and thank you." Taking a deep breath, he leaned closer and placed a brief kiss on the woman’s forehead. "Now, just stay here and look after this place and these people while I’m gone. After that, I’m sure we can find some way to relax together."

Getting on the tip of her toes, Regalia pressed her lips against the hero’s–a muffled laugh escaping through them. Holding him in place for a good ten seconds, she finally let go and took a few steps back.

"That better have been a promise, Raven. We’re gonna save the children from Nerva, and then we’re gonna make some together." With that said, the general turned around and walked away smiling. There was much work waiting for her around every corner, and the first order of business was getting Kara and her group ready for a trip back to Alliance.

Being the closest to the city, Mesmerazia and Fortuna were the only ones who could facilitate the transport into a now neutral ground. No god ruled there, but to set influence in a place, Athenia would have to either establish her faith on the parcel of land.

"What if it’s another ambush like with Kleismeth?" Amedith whispered, his tone dripping with doubt.

On one hand, everyone knew where he was coming from, but on the other, what else could they do if the enemy was surrendering and was already on the land they’d conquered?

"We killed two gods together," placing a hand on his shoulder, Liliyana broke the tension. "I think we can handle a few hundred or even a thousand human soldiers."

"Well, actually, we don’t know if they are human," Mel added, drawing everyone’s attention to the topic.

"Hmm..." Thinking to himself what the people of other gods could be, Raven’s mind first went to dragons, then giants, and even monsters and beastmen, but then again, he was reminded that only human souls were allowed in heaven–at least those who believed in faith outside that of Athenia. "At worst, we’ll be dealing with demi-humans. These council gods seem like the sort to stick to rules like moss–at least as long as it benefits them."

"So we’re heading out?" Asked Aria, her hands already smacking together to strike down trouble.

"Yes," giving his party a nod, Raven turned around to face them head-on. "Ideally, I would like to ask Moeria questions about what she knows, but let her do the communion. She’d been struggling to synchronize with Mono’s body, so I don’t wanna disturb her halfway and ruin everything."

"It’s just us then. Into the unknown, just like the old days," a smile crept up Aria’s lips, and despite how grim the situation was around them, everyone in the group felt the same excitement as her.

It did feel like the old days, when everything was a lot simpler. But now, they had a world to save, and for that, this situation on Alliance had to be looked at from infiltrating Nerva’s lair, saving the children, freeing the fae mothers, and finding out the secrets behind the new spells Raven had acquired. His ancestry, his soul, and who knows what else, there was a lot to untangle in the coming days, but in that moment, just being a handful of a bunch, the party felt confident.

For as long as they had each other, nothing could be impossible–it hasn’t been so far, and it won’t be anytime soon in the future.