Supreme Monarch

'A child?...'

Teyla could not recall the appearance of the two who had stepped out of the black gate with the angry aged man but she was finding it difficult to believe that one of them would be a child.

Was she lost or something?

The thought did cross her mind for only a split second. After all, they were no doubt in the middle of a fairly dangerous forest, and despite its close vicinity to the city, there was no way a random child would be wandering around aimlessly in the woods at this hour of the day.

Teyla did think about bringing the child along with her to use as a decoy as she tried to find her way out of this forest, but the chance this was a trap set by that despicable Ty fellow was also high.

Doing something so underhanded was definitely something someone like that would do. Still, this was just a child no older than 13 or 14, perhaps as a beastfolk, she may be older or younger depending on the lifespan of her species but she shouldn't be that strong.

The chances that she was just sent as part of a scouting unit to find her was quite high as Teyla believed that beast-folks were quite suitable to that role while also being a lot more expendable so they wouldn't care if she killed her as long as they were able to locate her the moment she used her magic.

'Well think again fools.'

Teyla quickly unsheathed a curved dagger from behind her waist. Despite her class as a mage, she was quite adept at using a dagger as she had trained as a rogue during her childhood, way before she had discovered her talent in magic.

However —

Just as she was pondering how to strike, the girl stepped out of the snow-covered bushes and dusted off the snow from her coat.

Her outfit spelled that of a Magic caster which was a relief as Teyla felt they were the easiest to take down with a perfect sneak attack.

However, Teyla's eyes suddenly widened as she noticed something peculiar, the child's equipment was leagues and bounds better than anything she had ever owned and the aura that oozed out of her person the moment she got closer was that of a monster.

Teyla instinctively sheathed her blade as she took a step back.

She wasn't normally the type to retreat from anyone but if the last ordeal had taught her anything, it was that she could not afford to underestimate anyone who felt like trouble even if they were only cute little beast-girls.

"Ah... You noticed me. Damn... I had wanted Gail to be the one who found you first you see, so I was hoping you wouldn't notice me..."

The girl suddenly looked nervous and uncertain as she fidgeted around with her staff. Her mind seems to be wandering around aimlessly. Teyla immediately took the chance to dismount as she made a snappy decision to sacrifice her precious Tiger mount.

She had sent her mount after the unsuspecting beast-girl and the moment the creature cover the child's view, her legs immediately bent oddly as she kicked off in the opposite direction.

However, it was already too late.

Large and flexible earth spikes rose from the ground, completely skewering the massive Twin horned Bengal Tiger. A mirror image of the scene that had played out with Mike.

*Crack... Crack... Crack...

Next, the ground underneath Teyla's foot suddenly opened up and swallowed her whole. Bringing only her head back up to the surface. Such a basic level attack would've normally not been effective against a Rank 7 Magician like her but at this point, Teyla's body had completely lost the will to fight back at anything related to Lix.

"...I don't really like the smell of blood you see... Sorry, I'm also not confident in my aim so I'll try my best. Gold still..."

The girl reluctantly advanced toward the trapped Teyla. Each step sounded more threatening than the last as she used every last fiber of her being tying her best to escape. For some reason, she seemed to have forgotten how to use magic.

In the next moment, a shadow fell upon her face from behind as the girl forcefully swung her staff.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't do this! Don't try your best! Please stop!!!"

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Albert arrived just as Lora's staff fell on the demoness's head. Her skull was already shattered and deformed under the impact of the staff as it caved in and spurts various liquids and brain matter, her eyeballs popped free of her head from the force of the tremendous impact.

Still stuck in the earth with only her smashed head expose made it look almost exactly like a watermelon during a game at the beach. If one was psychotic enough to compare the blood and brain matter to that of watermelon juices that is.

"Good job. Thanks for your hard work."

"Ah, about that, Lord Albert. I— I thought she was stronger so I may have used too much force. She died faster than I expected, is that okay?"

Albert removed his glove, and a faint smile adorned his face as he addressed Lora.

"It was perfect. Granted, it was a somewhat messy way of killing her, but it was fine. I'm sure Lord Ty will surely praise you for this."

"Re-Really? Ehehehe."

The delighted beast girl looked at the corpse, and then Albert asked:

"How about the other one?"

"Ah, w-well… he's been taken care of, Gail should be arriving here with the corpse shortly..."

"Is that so? That was perfectly executed. Then, Lora, can you help me bring the corpses back to the Darknar castle? I'll have Emrys open a gate for you. Oh and, I've restrained the last one behind the tree so please make sure they are delivered to Emrys along with this one, he'll handle the rest."

"I... I got it."

Albert smiled once more at the smiling girl who was giggling as she held her bloodstained staff. She was really an honest girl so he was a little surprised she could accomplish the mission so easily. Frankly, he hadn't planned on bringing her along, but she had insisted and they were short on time at that moment.

Well at least, everything seems to turn out fine. Albert raised his head and confirmed the various scrolls he had used to prevent observation from the outside as well as divination was still active.

Apparently their activities here today had not been noticed but still, they could never be too careful. It was best to finish things here quickly and leave.

With that said, Albert used the communication tool he was tasked to test and relayed his order to Gail as well before using it once more to request transport from Emrys.

A black gate then opened up behind Albert and he casually walked in as it closed behind him as Lora got to work gathering up the corpses with the help of her friend, Gail.

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"It is finished, Lord Ty,"

Stepping out of a portal gate with his massive great sword already returned to his storage ring, Albert spoke as he solemnly took a look around the space he had entered, his brow seems to twich for a moment before ultimately returning to normal.

Sitting next to Nadine on the edge of a steep cliff at the peak of a frozen mountain, Tyler silently nodded as he heard this.

The situation had developed far beyond his expectations but luckily everything was within Uriel's calculations else he would've been exposed to the Zorak family thanks to the magicians making such an irrational decision.

What was the point in attacking him when they were both part of the same guild? Not to mention killing Mike (who was on the verge of a rare evolution) in the process.

To be honest, Tyler felt quite embarrassed after losing his temper at the loss of what was at best a pet. Still, he had formed a connection with the creature after losing the last one he named Mike to the ColdFire Drake.

Perhaps he had felt guilty for forgetting the poor bull in the cave to become food for a dying drake. Hence why he must've tried to make things up with the new Mike. Yet that ended spectacularly in failure.

The fact that Mike was also on the verge of evolution was also what irritated him the most. An evolution was something that was extremely rare even in magic beasts and the only creatures he has seen evolve were the two trolls now working for him in the Darkin mountain range.

At the very least, there weren't any witnesses of his identity, and while he had gone a bit overboard, he was strangely glad that those that had killed Mike had paid the price and that annoying girl will definitely love her time with Moloc.

Exactly as Azalea had.

With his hood and coat gone, Tyler felt a lot more at ease as his heart finally settled down quite a bit before he replied to Albert:

"Good work Albert, I appreciate it."

"Your gratitude is wasted on me, sire. I only fulfilled my duty to my liege."

"Is that so... alright. How about the recovery of the bodies?"

"I have already tasked Lora to send them back to Emrys as you requested."

"I see. Well then, that problem's taken care of. So, why do I still feel so uneasy."

The air around still felt a bit stale but there wasn't much change in the atmosphere. He felt as though a dark cloud was looming over him which left a bad taste in his mouth.

"For such lowlives to constantly go against you is an incredible offense. However, attacking you so close to the city was the epitome of foolishness. I understand why Master had seen the need to discipline them thoroughly."

"I suppose you could say that. Well whatever, there's no longer any need to dwell on the past. Let's move on."

"Understood. Then… Lord Ty, do pardon me but, what is that creature trembling next to you?"

"Oh this, meet Mike. It's a cliché name I know but I'm now attached to it for some reason. Anyway, it suddenly attacked me when I arrived here so I knocked it on the head a little and it's been pouting ever since."

Albert's gaze shifted to the completely terrified Silver Wyvern shaking on the ground beside Tyler and shook his head. There was no way that creature was just pouting but it had clearly already submitted itself to his master so there was nothing he needed to say about it. Frankly, he was just impressed once again by the speed at which his master could tame such powerful magic beasts.

"I see... and what of that?"

"What of what Albert. You have to be specific or else I won't know what you're talking about."

"Of course, Please forgive me for stepping out of line but... why is there a mountain golem stuck trying to attack you."

What Albert was referring to was the strange image that had perplexed him ever since he had arrived. Yet as a butler, he could not put his own confusion before his master's needs and thus had to finish his report before asking.

After all, who wouldn't be confused when the towering image of a mountain golem? Creatures taller than even the tallest mountains as their bodies fold together to form a large mountain when in a state of rest.

One of which was standing before the mountain his master was sitting at its peak. Its fist, the size of a massive boulder, descended upon them as though it was a meteorite, or rather, it should be.

Yet for some reason, that same fist had stopped a few meters away from them as though time has stopped. Yet there was no way that was true as everything around it could still move and only the golem was paused.

The creature's massive size cast a shadow across the entire mountain, its fist looming over them like a ticking time bomb. Although this time bomb may have lost its fuse. Or perhaps, it has lost its timer completely.

"Oh that, well it also rudely attacked me after Mike did but I'm not really interested in stone golems."

"Ah... Right. Understood."