Chapter Forty-Two
I reached the Void Crystal and grabbed it. I had practiced this over and over again for the last few days. I knew what to do. I held the black jewel. It hummed. Souleen smiled at me as I concentrated and split the monster girls up into their sections. I made sure everyone was in place.
"Good luck, Lord Leo," said Souleen, a big smile on her face. "I know you can do this."
I created the stairs that led up into Astovin. Four of them bursting up onto the streets. I released the gem and rushed out of the room. I wore my gray robes and my breastplate, the weight of my armor shifting about my chest. I snatched up the spear leaning against the wall and entered the waiting room.
Isatu, Garnet, Hagane, Feya, Grobi the Ghost, and the wildhounds all waited for me. Isatu had flames spilling out of her mouth, her dragon wings fluttering behind her. Garnet had her whip, Hagane had both her arms turned into deadly blades, and Feya had her wand ready to fire beams of light at the bastard.
"Go, go, go!" I shouted.
The wildhounds howled, "For Lord Leo!" and rushed up the stairs first. They scampered with eagerness, their bushy, black tails swishing behind them. Around the town, the other monster girls were flooding up the streets to start the evacuation.
I rushed after them, my spear in hand, Isatu hot on my heels. Garnet chortled. My feet pounded up the stairs and into the frightened streets of Astovin. Villagers were staring in fear towards the far side of town where the temple lay.
"Time to go!" shouted Ci.
"You there," Du yipped. "Grab your family and move! Lord Leo's command!"
"Let's move, people," Nos cried. "Don't make me bite your butt. I will!"
The people lurched into motion. Some glanced at me with such hope in their eyes. Once more, their village was under attack. I was here to defend them. The guardians I had placed around the town, the rock golems, lurched into motion. They would be lumbering toward the source of the attack. I had no idea how effective they would be.
"Garnet, get in the air and find where he is," I shouted to my little sister.
"Yes, big bro," she shouted and flapped her red wings. She took off, her spade-like tail whipping behind her.
The screams were coming from the right. The sounds of people dying. I ran in that direction, crying out spells. I cast Granite Flesh, Strength of Mountains, and Static Aura. I had to be ready to fight him. My monster girls ran behind me.
I have him, big bro!
Garnet shouted in my mind.
Turn right at the next street!
* * / *
Halia raced to the nearest exit that Lord Leo had created. Here, she found the orcs and salamanders pouring out of the dungeon. As much as Halia wanted to fight her father, she wasn't supposed to do it without backup. She nodded to the monster girls as they started barking at the civilians.
"Move your asses and get out of town!" Slepkavi bellowed. She pointed at a group of young men. "You! Get in those houses, make sure they're empty. We're not leaving anyone behind."
"Halia," Lana Fulmine shouted. The lightning sprite burst out of the tunnel followed by Terra, Usiku, Smerta, and Ipalsi the ghost. "Where is he?"
"By the temple," I said. "This way."
"Good," Smerta shouted. She wore her icy armor and had her sword out. "I'm going to fuck him up this time. He's not going to take me out that easy."
"Right?" Usiku asked. She had made a long spear out of shadows that ended with a sword-like blade. A weapon called a glaive.
"He's at the central plaza,"
Garnet reported.
"And he's shooting at me! How rude!"
"Follow me!" Halia shouted and drew her blessed blade. It hummed with its magic. She turned and darted down the street, the other monster girls following the paladin while the orcs and salamanders had the civilians flowing in the other direction.
But not all of them had gotten to safety. Several dead littered the road to the square, cut down by the mad shade of her father.
The Gods have done this to him,
she thought with anger.
At least the Gods of Dark. And he said there are more coming back. More like him.
She shuddered in terror as she ran for the square.
* * / *
Mrs. Zoe Baldwin rushed past the werebears evacuating the civilians in her section of town. Her daughter's warning that Anguin was in the central square let the dryad know just where she had to lead her force. She had two of the ghosts flitting through the buildings as she ran forward. Paanee slithered behind her with Morana running at her side. Nina was in the air, the devil flying on her crimson wings.
"Oh, yeah, I see the bastard,"
Nina shouted, flames busting in her hand and forming into the shape of a pitchfork. She threw it towards the square ahead.
Garnet flew over that square, flying fast. She dodged and twisted in the air as blades of darkness came for her. Fear twisted the dryad's stomach as she watched her daughter risking death distracting the bastard while the rest of the harem rushed in for the fight.
Mrs. Baldwin glanced behind her. Morana's misty cloak fluttered behind her as the pale-skinned banshee ran with force. She licked her lips. Her scream would be something to hear. Mrs. Baldwin hoped that the shadowy monster ahead enjoyed the piercing screech of an angry banshee and the loving touch of a pair of ghosts.
"We're almost there!"
Mrs. Baldwin sent.
* * / *
Mrs. Bella Lucina soared over the streets. The angel watched as Garnet and Nina danced in the skies over the square, both of them now dodging the shadowy attacks from Anguin. The devil threw down her flaming pitchforks.
Almost there,
thought Mrs. Lucina. She might be an angel, but she was eager to help out that devil. The irony that in this world they were both on the same side wasn't lost on Mrs. Lucina. It made her more excited.
