Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1309  Handover

Silence clung to the cell long after the female undead, believed to be the Blind Grave Oracle, vanished into the corridor. No one moved. No one breathed properly. Even the two armored men stared at the exit with stiff, lost expressions, as if their bodies had yet to catch up to what their ears had heard.

Lyra rubbed her shoulder against the wall and winced while Felicity's hands trembled involuntarily due to the raspy echo of that whisper - Everything - still scraping along her nerves. Ria was barely holding herself upright.

The two men exchanged a glance.

"Elvardia…?" the older one mumbled.

The younger swallowed hard. "Isn't that the land where both the sexiest and ugliest women exist?"

"Yeah… The dwarf-elf alliance… I think…" the first stroked his chin, deep in thought.

These two, just like their deceased friend, were not the sharpest tools in the shed.

Before anyone could respond, scraping footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Two undead entered.

They were nothing like the Oracle.

These were rougher, lacking that same, incredibly crippling aura of dread. Dressed in dark mage gear that was functional rather than ceremonial, setting them up as lieutenants under the leadership of which the female undead was a part.

"Stand," one of them rasped. "Line up."

The voice was blunt, stripped of nuance, scraping like a rusted hinge.

The girls didn't feel like obeying.

The second looked at the pair of men. "Get them to stand."

Neither of the men reacted for a few moments as their brains did not register that they were spoken to.

But once the message got across in the eerie silence, the two finally moved, and their gaze soon settled on Iris with an unsettling intensity as they were reminded of something. Rage flickered across their faces.

"You killed our comrade!"

His hand snapped forward, aiming for her throat.

Iris braced her stance.

But the hand stopped.

"Lady Weaver forbade harming the subjects."

Both men froze mid-motion.

Neither moved a finger.

The one reaching for Iris slowly retracted his arm.

He lost the anger in his gaze as if the moment had never occurred.

"… Do as you're told."

His tone remained cold, but the earlier hostility had vanished entirely, stifled by the command.

Iris shifted her weight and went to Lyra's side, helping the tank stand despite her bound hands. Indeed, it was not a hard decision for the woman. She'd much rather be a prisoner in Elvardia than the Covenant. Furthermore, being transported always carried innate opportunities with it. It was much better to comply.

"Lean on me if you have to."

Lyra grunted, rising slowly. "I'll manage… Thank you."

Feng and Felicity moved to Ria's side. Supporting her was awkward with tied wrists, their movements clumsy and unstable. Ria's legs barely held her, her breath tight and ragged, but she forced herself upright between them.

The undead gestured them forward.

"Move."

The group followed, stumbling slightly as they exited the cell.

The corridor they entered was lined with torches burning eerie purple flames.

When they reached the main tunnel, which was used for high-speed traversal underground, they saw it.

The carriage was nothing like the more mundane one they had been brought here on.

Calling it a carriage was generous. It was a structure, a mansion on legs, towering over them like a mobile fortress. Elegant arches framed the exterior, subtle enough to be beautiful, sharp enough to be menacing.

The entire mansion stood on six skeletal constructs. Each leg was thicker than a tree trunk and plated with polished bone, moving with an unnatural rhythm of something both mechanical and alive.

Despite its horrifying presence, its design was undeniably elegant. Curved metal. Perfect symmetry. Silent mechanisms humming beneath the exterior.

It was akin to a statement of undead power.

The Covenant's aesthetic, beauty carved out of dread.

One of the undead slammed the butt of his staff against the ground.

"Board."

A ramp extended with a smooth metallic slide.

The captives exchanged looks, and one by one, they stepped forward.

It was quiet inside.

Too quiet.

The undead and their living allies - or more like, minions - herded them through an antechamber lined with engraved panels, glowing with ghostly inscriptions. Then deeper, past hallways and arcane machinery humming behind sealed doors.

Finally, they reached an interior chamber.

A holding cell.

Reinforced bars laced with runes. A sealed door that clicked shut behind them with mechanical finality.

Before the girls could fully settle, the massive carriage lurched, then accelerated.

Fast.

Alarmingly fast.

But not a single jolt shook the floor.

The movement was impossibly smooth. The bone legs outside hammered across the tunnel at frightening speed like a spider, yet none of the vibration carried inside. It felt like they were floating, or traveling atop perfectly even rails laid by divine hands.

Felicity swallowed. "I can't even hear the steps…"

Lyra pressed her palm to the wall. "This thing is running smoother than noble carriages..."

Ria whispered, "Undead craftsmanship…"

Outside the bars, the two living men were guided to their posts by the undead lieutenant.

"You two. Guard the prisoners. Do not damage them."

The men nodded stiffly, any earlier anger completely scrubbed out of their expressions.

But they weren't the only guards.

As the undead lieutenant turned away, the girls noticed them:

Figures standing along the corridor walls.

Silent.

Motionless.

Waiting.

Tall skeletal enforcers.

These weren't escorts but fixtures.

Permanent guardians of the fortress-carriage.

Ria's breath caught. This was bad. Escaping was going to be a tall order.

The undead lieutenants ascended a spiral staircase toward the upper decks, leaving the living guards and the skeletal enforcers behind.

The carriage surged faster, no bumps, no swaying. An elegant nightmare sprinting through the underground.

Minutes bled into hours.

The initial shock dulled. Their nerves steadied. The crushing pressure the Oracle had left behind eased enough for them to breathe without struggling.

The mansion-carriage moved with the same smooth speed, gliding through the underground without a single vibration. The guards outside their cell barely shifted. The skeletal enforcers didn't move at all.

Felicity leaned closer to Ria. "Are you okay now? I'm so sorry it happened to you…"

Her voice was small, tight with worry and regret. "You were brought into this… I'm sorry…"

Ria adjusted her posture against the wall. Her shoulders no longer shook. Her breathing was steady again, and she had a confused look on her face, looking at Felicity. "What do you mean? I'm part of the gang, am I not? We found a monster, defeated it, looted the valuables, but got caught. It is what it is. I knew what I signed up for."

Felicity grimaced under her helmet.

Seeing it, the blonde assassin sighed. "I'm fine. It's passed. Thank you for worrying about me."

Felicity exhaled in relief. Then, as her hands were bound, she leaned her face closer in the best form of a hug she could do right now. Ria smiled tenderly and let the girl rest her head against her chest.

Iris watched the floor for a moment, then lifted her head. "Has anyone been to Elvardia before?" She was especially looking at Felicity and Ria, hoping one of them might have knowledge about their destination she could use.

Everyone shook their heads.

"I haven't even interacted with an elf before," Ria added.

Feng blinked. "Really?" Being around elves felt so normal to the girl.

Felicity frowned, confused. "How is that possible? Some adventurers have female elves in their teams. They're skilled rangers due to their racial traits, letting them sense nature. You're a scout yourself, you must've worked with them at some point during joint operations."

Ria looked at her like the girl had said something strange. "They're slaves. Sad, dejected, and tortured ones at that. I feel sick just looking at them." She shifted her legs, letting discomfort creep into her tone. "They're treated like tools. Used for their racial advantages during the day and for their racial beauty at night. Their owners see them as a constantly usable tool, not even letting them get proper rest despite being important members of their teams."

The words hit Felicity like a slap.

Her face twisted.

Her mind raced back to the elves in Quinlan's stronghold. Those were women running through open courtyards, laughing, wearing clean clothes, and freely expressing themselves. One of them, bought as a sex slave who had utterly zero rights, was now the master's beloved wife, treated on an utterly equal level as the women who were born of literal duke families. But not just Seraphiel… Those not in the harem, Sylvaris, Kaelira, the five elves acting as Rosie's caretakers… None of them looked trapped. None looked like slaves. They looked comfortable.

But back at her home?

Back where her family has been calling the shots for hundreds of generations?

Elves weren't just slaves.

They were slaves with no rights, no protections, no voice. They were people of hostile nations; thus, they were treated as mere objects to be used and discarded.

Felicity's stomach turned. Having spent time in his home, she realized she was living in a blissful bubble, ignoring how different life was under her family's rule.

She stared at the floor. "Right…"

…

The ascent was subtle at first.

A gentle incline.

A faint shift in pressure.

Then the entire mansion-carriage slowed.

The motion tapered off until it stopped completely.

Felicity glanced around, confused. "Why did we stop…?"

Ria's eyes narrowed in thought.

Iris already knew. "We climbed for a while."

Ria nodded. "So that's why the fancy carriage…"

Iris continued, her voice quiet. "This is a show for their allies. A display of power. We're being handed over, and they want to look good in front of the elves."

"So we climbed to the surface," Lyra nodded, thinking the same.

"Yeah, I doubt Elvardia would be on such good terms with the undead that they would let them dig a tunnel into their home soil," Feng sighed.

As the girls chatted, none of them knew that someone was listening in, and had been for a long, long time.