FW Ch 41 - Taking Out The Trash And A New Adventure?
Han looked at the goddess, who was standing next to him. It was still amusing how she called him father when waking up. "Is there a reason for you to call me father?" He asked.
Brushing back her blonde hair, Alistria lowered her head and blushed. "The way you spoke to me and the power you possess brings memories of my fathers, who created this world and all of us." She was silent for a moment, and then looked shyly up at him. "Does it bother you, for me to call you father?" Alistria asked in a voice underlying with worry and fear of rejection.
"Of course not, my daughter," Han gently said to her and traced a finger along her cheek. "You are already connected to me and should feel the bond we share. It is the same connection all those who serve me feel, allowing you to know where I am and my general emotions."
Alistria smiled and said, "Yes, Father, I feel you, even if I closed my eyes I would be able to know where you are."
"That is good. Though you should understand my powers are likely different... They may share some similarities with those who created you." Han explained to her.
With a confused expression on her face, she asked, "What do you mean, Father?"
"At the moment, I am unsure. I am not from this world and am still trying to learn about it. I am starting to think I am far stronger than your fathers, considering the difference in strength with my creations and the gods of this world."
Han looked up at the tower and wondered what was different about him, compared to everyone else and how this power fits with existence. He would find himself staring off into the distance, thinking about what made him so different, to receive such power appearing to have no limits.
He glanced over at Alistria, who was looking at him with wonder on her face. "To celebrate the moment I received such a beautiful daughter, I think I should show off some of my abilities." He smiled at her, laying an arm on her shoulder. "What do you know about this tower?"
"A long time ago, we were approached by someone who offered us a seed and informed us it would be able to do what our Fathers had not been able, controlling the monsters. This person had explained they were traveling and trying to bring about peace. We were initially suspicious of the person, but there was nothing we could detect countering what was said." Alistria looked as if concentrating on the memory of the discussion. "After a thousand years had passed, we were informed the Tower was soon ready to be unearthed. My brothers and sisters thought it would be a good idea to use humans to do the work, considering how much energy was required to bring it up. Many remembered how our Fathers had lost most of their powers in creating us, so they were afraid to waste their abilities in fear of the same thing happening to them."
Han nodded his head, after hearing what Alistria had said. "This is something I had sensed when I was healing you. It is like a limit to the maximum amount of power you have, and once emptied, you would either turn into a regular human or perish." Seeing Alistria react from his words, he patted her shoulder reassuringly. "I have removed such restrictions on you. You will find your powers are several times greater than any of your peers. No longer will you be limited to being a goddess of such a small world. Instead, you will be one of my creations."
Her face became red, and her eyes glanced over to where everyone else was casually standing. It seemed she was embarrassed by such a public display of affection.
"Thank you, Father. Alistria will try her best to make you proud." She said in a quiet voice.
He smiled at seeing how embarrassed she looked. "Now pay attention to what I will be doing now. I think we should show all those who may think to interfere with us how such thoughts not be wise."
Grinning, he lifted his other arm and made it look as if it was grasping the tower. The earth below them shuddered as he took hold of the tower. In his hand, he could feel the tower itself and the rocky material it was made out of. Slowly lifting his hand, he saw the tower mimic his hand motion. As the tower raised, the earth began to shake violently. Giant clumps of dirt jutted out as it clung to the surface. Even though the structure was massive, as it was being lifted out of the ground, everyone could see the tower was only a small part of it. It was as if there was an entire city being forcefully excavated.
"Hooo... That is pretty impressive. It makes me curious as to what the purpose of this city was." Even if his voice sounded curious, there was no desire to find out more. In a matter of moments, the sky was blocked by a floating city. With a simple squeeze of his hand, the entire city began to crack and like a Prince Rupert drop it shattered into billions of smaller pieces.
Watching the dust of the tower gently fall to the ground, shimmering from the sun, he heard clapping behind him. Guiding Alistria and turning around, he smiled at seeing all of his creations clapping happily in celebration.
"Master, your power is truly one of beauty," Helania walked over to him and bowed her head.
"Congratulations, Master," Dorei and Noye voiced together.
Lifting his arm, he said, "With this act, we have cemented ourselves as the single most potent force in this world. Though I may not have any thoughts of conquering the world, it will at least end views of others meddling in our affairs." Looking at each one of them, he continued, "I think it is about time we visit the Emperor and have a talk with the prince,"
He grinned as he looked over at Ha-Yoon, who looked back at him with love.
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The look of the imperial palace was an impressive one. In front of the golden doorways were large gardens on either side, with fountains of animals and beautiful women. He thought it was wondrous how the entire area was a bridge with a massive river flowing underneath them. It would be interesting to see if they had some waterway system, bringing the water from the river to the plants and fountains.
Walking on the pathway, which could have two modern tanks side by side, Han took some notes and thought about incorporating some of the design work into his city and future ones. With such a vast desert, it would not be an unreasonable thought to build several more, considering how they were continually getting more people immigrating to the city. Many of the new citizens were from the Academic City, as his servants had their people infiltrate into the area and alert the people.
"There are no guards around the palace," Ha-Yoon voiced her thoughts, reflecting the views going through Han's mind.
"Even at our temples, we had followers who would guard the surrounding area. To see such an important place without anyone is a little unnerving." Dorei stated.
As they continued along the path, the silence was akin to being in a horror movie. Han wondered if a monster was going to appear, though such a thing wouldn't be as frightening now as when he was an average human.
Breaking the silence was Helania, "Master, what would you have us do. Should I send the others to scout ahead of us?"
Han shook his head. "Nothing is posing a threat, so having scouts sent out would be pointless."
Reaching the doorway into the palace, everyone could see the door was slightly opened. With the current situation, where the entire grounds was empty, it was strange to find the door ajar. The fact it wasn't wholly opened gave off the feeling of it being closed as an afterthought.
With his arm still holding Alistria, Han used his other hand to open the door. A thunderous grinding noise was generated as if the door was damaged. It was like when he was t-boned by a car running a red light. He remembered the firefighters opening the door, and it made a similar sound.
Fortunately, the torches and mana stones were still active, so they were able to make their way through the palace. Trying to pay attention to the white marble and gold decorations, he kept on being distracted by the surrounding area. There were absolutely no signs of why such a prominent location was devoid of people.
Even in the Stronghold, Han would see several maids and servants rushing about trying to complete their assigned tasks. Walking around the Stronghold always took a while, due to everyone greeting him. With such a structure, they should have run into at least one witness.
Before deciding to use his ability, Han wanted to walk through the place and see if he could figure it out. Becoming too dependent on his skills would only hinder him, which was why he tried to hold off on such things.
"Though such a place pales compared to the city you built, Master, I am impressed how humans can create such astonishing things," Helania remarked.
"Maybe we should have a river running through the city?" Brittany asked. "I think it looks romantic."
"I agree," Selestria chimed in.
Han tilted his head in thought. "All of you should design the next city we make, and add in things you think would look nice," He suggested to the girls. "I have never been a very creative person, so it would be nice to see what all of you come up with." Imagining what the city would look like and thought it might become the lover's capital of the world. Chuckling at the thought, he looked up to see they had reached the throne room.
This time both doors were violently ripped off of their hinges. There was no mistake about it being an attack. All over the walls of the room were bloodstains, as if someone had turned on a hose connected to a river of blood and blindly sprayed it all over.
Everyone became silent and alert at the image of such a repulsive scene. Stepping into the throne room, Han was glad his shoes repelled the blood. The idea of having his boots caked in blood was not something he enjoyed. Watching anime where the main character laughed as they were being covered in blood may look cool, but Han always wondered how annoying it was to wash off all the blood.
What made him stop was the sight in front of him.
"What happened here?" He asked Prince Eric who was on his knees with blood all over his hands. The prince was just staring off into space, surrounded by bodies.
"That is the imperial family," Ha-Yoon quietly stated, her voice expressing confusion.
Han sharply turned his head at Ha-Yoon. "Are you telling me those dead bodies are his family members?" He asked, trying to remain calm.
Ha-Yoon only nodded her head.
"I knew you were fucked up in the head, but murdering your own family?!" He shouted at Eric.
Hearing Han shouting at him, Eric apathetically turned his head towards Han. "They needed to die."
With such an answer, Han placed a hand over his face to try and get some bearing over the whole situation. Everything felt off as if it was some poorly made murder mystery. As they arrived here, Eric just happened to be surrounded by the bodies of his family members and waiting for their appearance. Judging by the amount of blood in the throne room, Han understood it likely matched the number of people that would have been at the palace.
"What would you have us do, Master?" Elis asked him, her voice sounding calm. Seeing the people responsible for giving her people so many nightmares was likely a welcoming sight.
"I honestly do not know. For now, place Eric with the rest of the nobility we are entertaining. Judging by how everything is placed together like a silver platter, I am going to guess Eric has no idea what happened and is likely a dead end." Han muttered.
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Han sat on his throne, overlooking an image making the room look like it was floating through the sky. It had been a month since they had the skirmish with the gods and found Eric covered in blood. With Eric, Han's assessment had been correct in that Eric had no idea what had happened and convinced he was the one that killed them. Even now, Eric was inside of a torture cell, giggling about how he had to kill his family. Not wanting to dwell on such a matter, Han thought about what the next step was going to be.
In front of him were all of his creations, who were waiting for him to speak.
He had been sitting on his throne for several hours, thinking about things and reaching a conclusion. "Considering our progress in things, especially with the creation of the new city. I think we should move on to a new adventure. Though we will return to this world, I think a change of pace would be nice.
"What do you have in mind, Master?" Helania asked him, looking up.
"With how creepy that palace looked, I think I'm up for something similar at some point. I remember watching a variety of films and shows revolving around a creature known as zombies. In my version of Earth, the zombie apocalypse would be impossible, so we would need to go to one where such an event could occur." He remarked. Looking at each of his creations, he said, "I will have one of you stay behind and watch over things here."
Minatoria raised her hand. "Master, though such a world sounds interesting, I feel I must guard all you have created! Regardless of how it pains me, I volunteer for such responsibilities!"
"You just want to laze around, like you always do," Aracia commented.
"Your minions will be left with carrying your workload, as usual," Queen agreed.
Hearing such comments made Minatoria sweat, and she glanced over to where Han was sitting.
"I am sure Minatoria will be a diligent worker and not leave all the work to those beneath her," Han laughed, knowing she was a lazy individual, though she did work hard when it mattered.
"Of course, Master! I will not disappoint you!" Minatoria quickly lowered her head.
"Taking care of responsibilities here, I will begin assigning duties each of you will perform on our next adventure, whether this Zombie World or another place," Han said.
Raising her hand, Selestra asked, "Master, what will you be doing?"
Han was silent for a moment and then looked up with a smile on his face. "I will be enjoying a common theme for this type of situation."
His creations looked at him with evident confusion on their faces. Seeing their expression made him laugh uproariously.
-----Epilogue------
Agatha sighed from having to listen to her husband yell at the minor lords. With the project to unearth the Tower, Thomas was feeling pressured to complete it as soon as possible.
She remembered when he had learned the demons were defeated at the Elven Kingdom. Though it was unexpected, having the Elves defeated would allow her husband to invade and gather as many nonhuman slaves as possible.
The number of slaves from just the Elven Kingdom would nearly double their current workforce. Especially, with how the Empire viewed nonhumans, Agatha felt it was rather ironic for Thomas to listen to the demons.
Each day, Thomas would shout about how superior humans were and how he would conquer the rest of the continent and purify the continent. In spite of such attitudes, Thomas never minded the purity of the Elven slave women he would rape on a, nearly, daily basis. It was even comical how Thomas believed she was ignorant of his escapades.
A part of her lips curled up into a sneer when she thought about him embarrassing her. With effort, she returned to her calm face which didn't betray her inner thoughts.
Looking up, Agatha was happy to see Lady Ash walk into the throne room. As always, the lady looked like a proper example of ladyhood. She glided across the floor, maintaining proper feminine decorum. Agatha dreamed of being like Lady Ash, and would often walk with her as she toured the gardens above the river. Samantha, her daughter, would often accompany them and try to gain every bit of knowledge from the lady. Glancing over at Samantha, Agatha was proud of having a daughter like her.
When she looked over at Lady Ash, she saw the lady looking back at her with a knowing smile.
Receiving the message, Agatha nodded her head and looked over at Samantha. Sensing her mother was looking at her, Samantha observed the message being directed at her. Samantha merely closed her eyes for several moments and opened them slowly, to indicate an understanding of the message.
"What do you mean the demons were defeated, again?! Are you saying not only were they defeated at the Elven Kingdom but also at this tiny city called Felicitas?! That is utter nonsense, and I demand to see the agent responsible for decoding the message!" Thomas fumed. Looking at all the lords and noticed Lady Ash. Snapping his head at the audience of nobles Thomas shouted, "I want you out of my sight! You are all useless!"
Not wanting to anger him further, the lords all fled the throne room. The only people remaining were her children and Lady Ash.
"I can not believe how incompetent those demons are. Father, just give me command of our armies, and I will go off and defeat both the Elven Empire and this City of Felicitas!" Eric stated, sounding arrogant as usual. Agatha shuddered at how such an idiot came out of her body.
"Shut your mouth!" Thomas yelled, pointing a finger at Eric. "If you spent more time studying at that Academy instead of having fun with women, you would understand how ridiculous you sound, right now!"
Agatha felt on her eyebrows lift at how her husband scolded Eric. One of the reasons Eric turned out the way he did was because of how much leeway Thomas gave him. She watched as Eric seethed in anger at being humiliated in front of his siblings. Seeing him be put in his place or looking cross generated no emotions from Agatha. For a long time, Agatha had decided on who was worth the effort in cultivating and likely to succeed.
"Lady Ash, thank you for being here today! I am at a loss for what we should do moving forward. The Elven Kingdom having such a close alliance with this small city was not initially concerning, but considering what this Felicitas can do... I fear we will be wiped out. My plans for unifying this land will fail before we can unearth the Tower completely." Thomas implored the Lady.
Lady Ash was silent, causing Thomas to become anxious. Before he could ask her again, Lady Ash said, "With how much of the Tower is revealed and the influence it can hold, it is unlikely you can control the Overflow as we have planned. Those who I talked to have said the gods are becoming impatient with you. In addition to other issues, you have this situation with the Master of Felicitas."
"What would you have me do, Lady Ash?" Thomas shakily asked, fear in his voice.
Lady Ash took a breath and sighed. "I am going to wipe my hands of this."
"What do you mean?" Thomas asked.
Raising both shoulders and shaking her head in disappointment, she looked at Thomas. "I had a lot of hope for you. Ambition. Strength. Intelligence. Which was why I had Agatha seduce you." Brightening up a little, she added, "Though your children are mostly failures, I am happy one of them was a success."
"I-I do not understand?"
"This is goodbye." Lady Ash said and turned her head to smile at Agatha.
Slipping a poisoned tip needle out of her sleeve, she immediately plunged the tip into Thomas's eye. Listening to him scream in pain, grasping at the needle and failing to pull it out from the pain caused by the poison.
"Mother! What are you doing?!" Her children shrieked at her.
"We are just taking out the trash," Samantha calmly stated, standing next to her siblings who were trying to comprehend everything. Leaning over to Eric, she said, "Will you do what I asked you to do, my pet?"
Agatha looked at Eric and enjoyed seeing how the life in his eyes faded away. He moved like a puppet and pulled out his sword at his side. "You all deserve to die," Eric robotically said, before swinging his sword and decapitating his eldest brother.
Samantha smoothly moved away from the splatters of blood, not caring about Eric cleaving her youngest brother in half.
With all that was happening, Agatha's other children were not in the right mindset to use their magic and defend themselves. In the end, their bodies were strewn about the room in a pool of blood.
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Covered in blood, Eric was left sitting on his knees surrounded by his siblings and father. Though Agatha knew she should feel something, there were no emotions as she stared at the pile of rotting meat.
"Congratulations, Mistress. Your wisdom and intelligence are beyond my mother's and I." Samantha congratulated their Mistress.
Their Mistress looked at the room and sighed. "I did expect more from Thomas, but such is life. In the end, we can only move forward with what we have and try to bring a semblance of meaning into this world."
"Where will we go now?" Agatha asked, a part of her looking glad to being reunited with her Mistress and no longer having to pretend to be a wife of such a fool.
"You will see." Lady Ash lifted a hand and what looked like a tear, in reality, emerged, revealing a void.
One by one, they entered the tear and vanished.
[End of Book 1]