Rebirth Online World

Chapter 10- Rescuing the princess

“…..”

“…..”

“…Umm Kaetzchen…”

“Did I say you could speak, nyaa?” Kaetzchen spoke in a cold tone, shutting me up instantly.

“No ma’am.” I quickly replied, looking back to the ground.

After ending the scuffle between the two of via knocking us to the ground. We were then forced to sit on our legs with our hands resting on our lap. All the while, Kaetzchen looked down on us. Not even Altina or Sirva dared interject.

There was a running joke in the guild that Kaetzchen was the ‘mother’ of the group due to her caring nature. But there was another meaning to that title, in a situation like these she truly acted as such.

After stopping us, she forced us down side by side and had us explain the situation to everyone. Currently, we were sitting in silence while she gave us the ‘look.’ You wouldn’t think that you would be scared of a simply glare. A piercing cold glare that would stop any man in his tracks.

“So let me get this straight, nyaa. You two had a disagreement and began fighting, nyaa. Is that correct, nyaa?” asked Kaetzchen in a hushed tone.

“Yes.” Said both of us in unison.

“And not once did you think of informing us, nyaa?”

“Uhhhh.”

In truth, I never really thought about it. Glancing to the side, even Nu-Ru came to the same thought as I. The thought of informing the others never crossed either of our mines. Staring back, her glare intensifies making us cower like little children.

“Do you have anything to say, nyaa?”

The situation was basically like a mother scolding her child and trying to get him to apologize. The only problem was, I couldn’t find the right words.

“Ummm…I’m sorry for picking a fight?” I said, trying to come up with the best apology I could.

“We’re sorry for not informing any of you?” Added in Nu-Ru

“Is that it, nyaa?”

‘Was that the wrong answer?’ Staying silent, the only response that came from Kaetzchen was a quiet sigh. Crouching down, she brought herself closer. Thinking that she was going to punish us again, I closed my eyes in defense.

“You two are idiots, nyaa.”

Instead, we were greeted with a hug. Bring us closer she brought her heads closer to her as our forehead.

“You idiots, nyaa. I’m sad…sad that the two of you would fight one another, even after everything you’ve gone through, nyaa.”

Pain could be heard from her voice. It was only then did I realized that she was truly worried of our reckless actions. A sense of guilt struck me as I considered what transpired. Nu-Ru showed a similar expression, and we knew that we messed up.

Keeping our heads together for several more seconds, she released us as we stood back up. Facing one another, it was then I considered the recklessness of our argument. In my case, it was my impenitent nature. For Nu-Ru, it was his overly cautious nature. They got the better of us and we ended up fighting.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“I-I’m sorry as well.”

Apologies to one another, we somehow worked it out. However there was still the bigger issue to deal with, saving the princess. Wasting no time, I walked away only to be stopped by Nu-Ru again.

“Do you still intend to pursue your selfish objective?”

“I’m not going to stand idly by when I can actually make a difference.”

Our short exchange of words was enough to cause the tension to rise back up. Glaring at one another, Kaetzchen bopped us on the head and intervened.

“Alright, quit you two, nyaa. Need I remind you that this concerns more than just the two of you, nyaa? Since we’re at a breaking point, let’s settle this with a vote as always, nyaa.”

Clapping her hands, she brought everyone’s attention back together. Looking back to Nu-Ru we both begrudgingly agreed. It was certainly better than fighting again.

“Good. Everyone here has a grasp of the situation so we’ll start with those in favor. I’ll go first, I’m with Drakus on this matter. Helping people in times of need is always right.”

“Logically speaking, attacking those assassins when we don’t know our own strength compared to them is dangerous. I say no.” The second person who gave her opinion was Shae, whom took Nu-Ru side.

“I too am against this. For all we know, the princess might be evil. There’s no telling who’s right or wrong in this scenario.” Bringing up an interesting view point, Manom was on Nu-Ru’s side.

“I don’t have a problem with saving the princess. This might be a perfect opportunity to go nuts with our power. I say we go for it!” Eagerly agreeing, Arsenal wounded up on my side.

“I’m a bit adamant about saving the princess, but it would be beneficial to test our strength against those of this world. And if we can save the princess while we’re at it, that would be only help us in the long run.” Agreeing with Arsenal suggestion, Reptilia tied the vote.

Three to three, and the only ones left was Nu-Ru and I once more. Looking to one another, we already knew our answer yet Nu-Ru kept quiet.

“You all already know my answer; yes.”

Already we were at another impasse. However before any of us could find a work around, Nu-Ru spoke up.

“Before I vote, there are few questions I would like to ask.” Looking to me, he looked to be waiting for my approval.

“Shoot.” I responded, nodding my head.

“Around fifteen minutes have passed since the transmission. By now, we don’t know what’s happening to her. For all we know she might be within the clutches of whoever. If we charge in, we’ll be in the belly of the beast.”

“Then that makes it all the more important to go before any real harm is done to her.”

“Consider this then, who’s to say that the princess is truly innocent? Manom brought up an interesting point, the only information we know of her is from herself. A bias source.”

“I don’t know about you, but guys in black clothing’s automatically tell me that something is up. Besides, I meet her face to face. She isn’t the type to lie.”

“You’re awfully faithful to a stranger. But even then, you’re willingly to charge in head first against enemies with unknown strength….but then again this is the norm for you.” Despite his statement, he flashed a grin.

“I vote yes.”

Hearing his answer, everyone turned to Nu-Ru with shocked expression. Even I didn’t see that coming. Rarely does Nu-Ru ever do anything that went against the norm for him.

“However, let’s make one thing clear. If we’re going to do this. We’re doing this my way. This is a rescue operation, we’ll fight if need be but the moment it get too dangerous. We’ll pull out; with or without the princess.” said Nu-Ru interrupting my short celebration.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. So what’s the plan our genius tactician?” Handing over the torch, Nu-Ru took charge.

“Alright, we need to hurry. The last image that the beacon showed was her surrounded so we need to act fast. The rescue team will consist of Drakus, Altina, Reptilia, Sirva and I. we’ll be in direct contact with the opposition.

Trion Jazz, Shae and Kaetzchen, you three will be our survey group. The enemy is a mystery, so we must be cautious of them. Arm yourself and keep a careful eye on anything suspicious. Arsenal and Manom you two will stay back as reinforcements in the Sanctuary and be backup, should it come to it.”

“What? Really man? When’s it going to be my turn to save a princess?” Complaining, everyone rolled their eyes at Arsenal childish desire.

“Please ignore my idiotic brother. We’ll take care of it Nu-Ru.”

Reassuring Nu-Ru, Arsenal and Manom ran out of the council to prepare. Trion Jazz, Shae and Kaetzchen teleported away, getting ready themselves. All that was left was our group.

“How exactly did you come up this plan so quickly, nyaa?” Raising her hand, Kaetzchen asked a question that I too was wondering.

“That’s easy. While Drakus and I were fighting, I came up with a contingency plan should it come to it. And unfortunately, it’s being put to use.” Nu-Ru answered back in an exasperated sigh.

“I’m more surprise that you agree so easily. Seeing as you were so adamant about this that you attacked me. What’s with the change of heart?” I asked.

“Well I have one of two opinion. A, Have you run in a reckless endeavor to save the princess by yourself or B, Join in and help mitigate the damage. You can see that I wasn’t left with many opinions. So anymore questions?” letting out another exasperated sigh, Nu-Ru looked to us one more time.

Everyone nodded, showing that they were ready. Checking the status of the beacon, it was still online. Tracking it, we prepared ourselves for what’s to come.

“Let’s go! |Portal|”

********

Lucia POV

“Let me go!”

After the confrontation with the assassin, and my spectacular failure of resisting; they finally tied me up. After picking me up like sack goods, they carried me off to another region of the town. Throwing me against the fountain, I was helpless as they watched over me.

An indefinite amount of time passed as they carefully watched over me. I attempted to flee but each time ended in failure and them roughhousing me a bit. They weren’t afraid to get a bit rough; so that meant, whoever orchestrated the entire event didn’t care what condition I would be in, as long I was alive.

“Damn it… How…how could this happen?” I sobbed to myself as I tried to make sense of everything.

Mordrid, who was a royal guard betrayed us and sold me out. I still couldn’t believe it… or rather I didn’t want to believe it. But now wasn’t the time to be dwelling on the past. I needed to escape, but I couldn’t find anything to use to slip through my restraints, especially with the assassins’ constant surveillance.

“Why? Why are you doing this? Do you know who I am?”

Striking up a conversation, I needed to, at least, learn who they are and perhaps what exactly they want with me? At the very least, buy me some time.

“You’re Princess Lucia of the Regios Kingdom, am I correct?” Replied one of the assassins in a bored tone.

“And yet you still persist on this treasonous act. You won’t get away from this!”

“Ohhhh~ Forgive me, your highness. Ohhhh~” mockingly, another assassin was gloating. Soon the others joined in.

“What do you believe you’re doing? Quit messing around.” A stern and powerful voice called out, causing the assassins to immediately seal their lips.

Appearing from the nowhere was a tall and gruff looking assassin. Possibly their leader, and with him came other assassins. Rolling around, I managed to sit upright. I could hear the sound of footsteps, they came from all towards our direction. They were the city guards that sold me out. However, they weren’t alone.

Arriving, they dumped bodies in the general area. The bodies were my escort squad, who were still asleep due to the poison. But more importantly, I saw Cain slumped over with the rest of them.

He looked terrible. His once shiny and pristine armor was now littered blood. Cain’s body was slumped over on his side, full of cuts and very distinct injuries. His lone appearance proved another fear: Tristan and Gawain was dead. I could already tell that Cain was at the doorsteps of death

“How are you, princess?” Addressing me was, none other than the traitor, Mordrid.

“You! I swear by my title of princess, I will get you!” Just seeing his face was enough to enrage me.

Mordrid was smiling against my empty threat, but suddenly I felt something hit my chest and knocking the air out of me. Gasping for air, I could only watch while he did business with the assassins and the guards.

“What are you planning to do with the sleeping guards? We agreed that anyone who wasn’t a part of the mission was to be silence.”

“Take it easy my friend. Some of them are useful for a ransom. So, do not worry my friend.” Talking with the assassins, they came to an agreement before Mordrid addressed the commander of the town’s guard.

“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you gentlemen. Now then, here’s your reward as promised.”

Producing a large bag filled with gold coins; it made ‘cing’ noises as it flew through the air. Handing the bag over to the commander, as he opened it he showed a dissatisfied face.

“This isn’t enough. I want more.” Hearing the Commander’s response Mordrid smile broke, forming a slight frown.

“What do you mean? This is the agreed upon payment for the job.”

“You promised us that it would be easy and the job would take minimal effort. But, your bastard royal guard friend killed more than twenty of my men, and there was just two of them along with the cripple. I demand compensation.” Argued back the commander.

“It’s your fault for relying on such weak fodder. That’s the amount we agreed to. Either you take it or we can cut the deal off.” Trying to intimidate the commander, Mordrid patted his weapon’s hilt.

“Or we can kill you and take the reward ourselves. Last time I checked, your assassins weren’t exactly your friends.”

For once, Mordrid showed a very displeased face. Taking time to consider the commander’s claim I came to his meaning. Mordrid was simply a pawn. Should it come to it, the assassin will most likely stay out of the fight between Mordrid and the town guards.

Letting out a low growl, Mordrid had no choice but to accept.

“Fine, fine. Whatever. But that’s all the gold I have on me, and you all need to skip town before they pinned the kidnapping of the princess on you, remember?”

Looking all around, the commander rests his eyes on me. During that time, I noticed a certain glint in his eyes that gave a frightful chill down my spine. I wasn’t the only one who noticed it.

“Hey! What was the condition that employer set?” Screamed the commander at the assassin’s leader.

“That she be brought back alive.”

“What about if she was ‘used’? Would that be acceptable?”

The assassin remained quiet, contemplating the answer. he After several quiet seconds, he responded.

“So long as there’s no visible injuries or scar… it’s acceptable.”

Looking in my direction, they flashed sadistic smiles, causing me to let out a yelp in fear. Backing up as much as I could, I tried to escape, only to be stuck between the fountain and them, like a trapped mouse.

“Noo….D-Don’t touch me….No!”

My cries fell on deaf ears as they piled on me. Their hands rummaging around, touching every bit of my body. All the while, their ragged and excited breath huff and puff, blowing against my skin.

Soon, they grew impatient and started to undress me. They didn’t bother taking anything off and ripped through my clothes’ with sheer force. Letting out a cry, my voice was silent as one of them brought his hand towards my mouth. My screams became muffled as they continued.

They stripped me completely, from my tunic all the way to my underwear. The guard’s coarse hand covering my mouth, as if to suffocate me. The cold and rough pavement scratched against my skin as I was knocked around. Their hands touched every inch of my body and every second I felt dirtied.

“P-ppple…se s-tttopp!”

I could only make out a couple of words from Cain over the noise of the guards actions. Soon, it came the part I dreaded. One by one, those closest to me started to strip. It was easy to tell that they were eager to have their way with me.

They threw their armor and weapons to the ground as they hastily unclothed themselves. All the while, Mordrid looked over with a bored expression.

“Ohh, what silky skin.”

“As expected of a princess.”

“What a nice pair of tits she has.”

“Hey, I got to her first.”

Comments from the guards filled the air as they freely touched me. Even went so far as to lick my skin. It was clear that they were enjoying themselves.

“Out of my way!”

Yelling, someone pushed through and forced himself on top of me. It was none other than the town commander.

“I’m first!”

The look of a savageness was on his face. Drool was dripping down the side of his lips as he eyed me. Full of lusts and desires, he too was naked, showing his crude but muscular scarred body.

“I’ve always dreamt of sleeping with a princess as a kid. Now, you’re going to make that dream come true!”

Grabbing me, he tried to mount me by being on top. Kicking and screaming, I did little damage as he grabbed my legs, stopping me. My arms were restrained, held down by a pair of guards. There was no hope left. This was the place where I was to be defiled and then sent away to who know gods where.

“…Father…Sister……Cain……….Drakus…..someone….help me.”

My voice couldn’t stop shaking as I called out to someone, anyone. But, I knew that there was no one to save me. Memories of my early childhood flashed before my eyes.

I’ve always been a fan of fairy tales and would often read them even now. There was something so mystical about them, something that I could never get bored of reading. The tale of a girl waiting for the man of her dreams.

Strong, brave, compassionate, and beautiful. Those were all the traits that I dreamt of when it came to my very own prince. At a young age, I was taught the duties of being a princess. The duty to serve and protect those under me. Even to the point of pleasing my future husband. A practice that I thought wouldn’t come for many more years. But now, I’ll lose my chastity to without the chance of experiencing true love.

Fresh tears formed in my eyes as I quietly accepted my fate. If I just accept it, then maybe it would all be over. So I shut my eyes, waiting. Yet I could still feel them with my eyes close.

“Don’t worry it will hurt at first but you’ll learn to enjoy it. Hahahahaha!”

I have always read about it and how many wept during their first time. Was mine going to be the same but only cruel? Shutting my eyes, I braced myself for it and waited. And waited some more. Feeling that something was wrong I peeked with one eye open to see the commander no longer there.

Surprised, I looked around to see everyone with panic looks on their faces. Tracing their line of sight, I couldn’t hide my surprise when my eyes came upon his body. Twisted and contorted it lied stuck to one of the housings. How did he reach such a state?

“Get your filthy hands off of her!”

Hearing a low and menacing voice, I turned to see some disturbance where the commander was. An oval like shape appeared amongst the air. A dark and nebulous void that looked to stretch to the abyss. A figure could be seen stepping out of it, causing everyone to back up in fear. All but me who could only stare.

More of it made its way through and its features could now be seen. I knew I felt something familiar, the voice and the aura around it. It was none of than Drakus!

Seeing him, fresh tears formed once more. These, however, were tears of happiness. My prayers, they were answered. However, he didn’t come alone.

“To think that they would try such an indecent method. What barbarians!

A new voice could be heard that came from another new individual. I had no idea what to expect next, but who showed up managed to surprise me once more. A tall and radiant beauty step through the void. The color of a red rose glistened from her hair to her eyes. But what caught me the most was how she handled herself. Her posture was firm but radiated a sense of strength and tranquility. Even her attire complimented her already beautiful complexion.

I couldn’t help but blink twice at the sudden appearance of this mysterious yet exotic looking woman.

“Damn it Drakus, please calm down!”

“Maybe we should have gone first instead of him?”

Just when I thought there were no more I could hear a conversation going on as three more individual walked through the void.

The first looked to be a mage from his attire and staff. What caught my attention were his eyes, they were different colors. He looked human, but at the same time he didn’t with his rather pointed ears.

The second person, or rather creature, to walk through was some form of beast man. At first, I thought that perhaps it was another Draconian like Drakus, but she was obviously different. Her skin color contrasted greatly from Drakus and her scales were dull compared to his. More than likely, she was a lizard woman.

Finally there was one more individual that came through. She was silent, so I almost missed her. Her attire along with the lizard woman was almost an exact copy of the assassins’. The only distinguishable feature I could make out was her dark skin and pointy ears.

I couldn’t help but gawk at them. Where did they come from? How exactly did they get here? And more importantly, why were they here?

Noticing my stares, that mage opened up first.

“Ahh, so you’re the princess that Drakus has been talking about. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“As am I. T-thank you for coming to save me. Wait…Cain!” I was beyond happy when they arrived but there was still the matter regarding Cain and his injuries.

“Is he your friend?”

“Yes! He’s hurt, please help him!”

“I see, no worries. |Divine Blessings|”

Using a spell, a spell circle appeared showering us in a brilliant and warm light. I felt its effect as I felt empowered by the light. Looking over I saw Cain’s bloody injuries disappearing. Speechless, I could only marvel at his powerful magic. Before I could thank him, Mordrid interrupted us.

“W-Who…who the hell are you people!” Screaming we all turned to see Mordrid in a cautious state.

“You know it’s rude to demand someone’s name before theirs.” Replied back the mage in a clam demeanor.

“Don’t mess with me! Who are you? Where did you come from?”

From how the mage was handling the situation, it was as if he didn’t sense any danger in the situation.

“That depends, really. I don’t really see a point in giving you our names but if you must insist. You can call me Nu-Ru.”

Nuru? I knew that mages would often fabricate their own names in order to gain recognition, but I couldn’t recount anyone that went by that name.

“Nuu-ruu? Whatever. What is your objective? Why have you come here?!”

“Well, it is quite simple really. We’re here for the princess. So we’ll be taking her along with her guards and be on our way.”

“Like hell you are! I don’t know if you’re simply mad, but we have you outnumbered! We’ll kill you for your arrogance.”

Surrounding us, they drew their weapons. Looking back at him he still retained his calm behavior despite the situation. Ignoring the threat around them, they converse amongst one another.

They looked to one another, not uttering a single word. It looked that they were speaking without the need to open their mouths.

“We don’t want to fight, however, we aren’t afraid to get our hands dirtied if need be.”

Replying, they walked forward without any hint of hesitation or concern. Despite that, I still kept my hesitation. There were more than 100 guards not to mention the assassins. I highly doubted that four people could go anything against this small army.

“You are either overconfident or completely stupid! Do you think you can take us all on? With only so little people!”

“You know you sure like yelling a lot. However, before I answer that questions, I have one of my own. What did you do to the towns folks?”

“Huh?”

I gave the exact same response as Mordrid when he asked about the townsfolk. I didn’t give it much thought, but there was still the issue of the people of the town disappearing.

“Why do you care? Better yet, why should I even bother telling you?”

“There’s a phrase that I like to use. You scratch our backs, we’ll scratch yours. Basically, if you answer one of my question then I’ll answer yours. A fair deal yes?”

What was he doing? I thought. The mage was surrounded by enemies, yet he was casually talking with Mordrid as if they were having a friendly chat.

“……They were relocated outside the town to the forest. Is that enough for you.”

“That would explain why the town is empty. I thought that perhaps you drugged them and locked them inside their homes. But with them outside, you’re free to do whatever you want within the city. How impressive.”

His words sounded sincere, but he spoke in a condescending tone that only antagonized Mordrid even further.

“Why you! I answered your question now you’ll answer mine. So here’s is how this will work. If you leave now, then I’ll look past it all, but if you truly wish to fight, we’ll happily grant that wish.”

“Ohh~ an ultimatum? You don’t hear those often, here’s ours. You can choose to surrender and leave with your lives or we can fight. So we can either do this the easy way or the har–”

“Get them!”

Before he could finish, they charged at him. The guards charged from the front while the assassins came at us from the sides.

“So much for negotiation.” Hearing an off-handed remark they all moved at once.

“|Dual Strike|”

“|Backstab|”

“|Mana Burst|”

“|Shadow Daggers|”

“|Inferno Slash|”

Attacking all at once, they repelled the attackers.

The red woman unsheathed her two swords and blurred as she stepped forwards. The guards in her direction fell one by one as she reappears behind them. Not even a drop of blood could be spotted on her as her action was swift and precise.

For the guards that escaped her attack, they were then hit by a flying projectile from the mage. The attack was so quick that I barely register it as they were flung backward.

For the assassins, they were meet by the cloak wearers. A couple of assassins swarmed the lizard woman with their weapons pointed towards her. A simultaneous attack, from all around. However as their blade drew closer, their weapons instead hit one another. She was gone! Not a second later, the assassins dropped one by one. Each by an attack from behind, a blade that looked to have been dipped in darkness.

The second wave of assassins was meet with the same fate as the others. Unlike the lizard woman, the pointed ear cloak wearer didn’t bother dodging and took their attack head on. Yet, their attacks seemly passed through the body that was flickering almost. Rearing up for another attack, they all dropped as blood spurted from their neck region.

Finally, there was Drakus. His sword grew ablaze and with a single swing, he destroyed the remaining forces, forcing the remaining enemy to retreat to a safe distance.

“Looks like we’re doing it the hard way then.”