Chapter 42: Tranquility (1/2)
A few meters away from the demon king's castle, stood a group of ogres, beastmen, kobolds and trolls as they all watched the actions of a single man.
Tyler watched as the expressions on everyone's faces changed drastically when they saw his hand pass through the barrier in front of him. He had half expected this, and could almost feel the changes to their emotions and their shock.
Although he was just as confused as the rest of them or maybe even more, while they're able to come up with all sorts of crazy theories to who he was, Tyler himself knew for sure who he was and there was no reason why he should be able to do this, then again he shouldn't be able to use magic and be as strong as he was, so who knew anymore.
Maybe the barrier was only for demons, maybe humans and other races could pass through it as well, actually that didn't make sense, if it was something that simple, the five great families would've already figured it out. So what did it all mean, was he the only one allowed inside, did the barrier recognize something on him or was he just an exception, did that make him special or was he seriously no longer human.
Questions he had painstakingly pushed aside were now trying to weave their ugly heads back up. He sighed inwardly, he didn't have any answers to these questions and wouldn't get it from anyone here..
He repeated himself ones more, snapping everyone out of their daze.
”Whatare you all waiting for, you may enter.”
With a collective spark, they all snapped out their daze and Albert couldn't help but smirk. Azar hurriedly got up from the ground, he was glad everyone was too focused on Tyler to notice the embarrassing sound he made when he fell.
He quickly got back on his driver seat and urged the rest of the carriages to follow behind. As the last carriage entered the barrier, Tyler walked in as well. He felt the usual sensation assaulting his senses and confirmed his guess. He got on the carriage, this time electing to ride up front with Albert.
They were only about 100 meters from the castle walls so it only took a few minutes to get there. If the six-eyed bulls had ran at full speed, it would have taken seconds, the sky was already dark and it was only because of the trolls that they had made it on time, otherwise they would have had to set up camp and spend the night in the plains.
Soon they proceeded through the open (fallen) main gate and into the outer ward. It was obvious none of the castle's previous protection was active. With the carriages coming to an halt in front of the large arched double doors of the castle, Liz quickly got off her carriage and ran over to Ty.
”Um... May I take the healer to see my friend?”
For some reason she was now asking permission to enter the castle.
He was sure the girls must've been heading for the castle before they encountered what he now believed to be a powerful Tier 6 magic beast, based on the difference in the magic crystals he had received from the lesser basilisks and the Gray-War troll.
”...Of course, that's why we brought them with us isn't it?”
She was a bit flustered by his sudden response but didn't have the time to think too deeply about it. She left with Erin who had just gotten off the carriage. Without further ado they entered the castle and headed for the 7th floor of the west wing and Tyler could only hope she remembered the way this time.
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Tyler watched the ogres as they moved around awkwardly clearly feeling pressured by the massive and imposing castle, well all except Albert who just stood by his side like a loyal Butler. He was now getting used to it but it still felt a bit weird. Most of the kobolds were still passed out and the trolls just stood by the side quietly.
He remembered noticing what looked like a stable by the side of the castle previously, although he hadn't gone out to confirm. It was a massive building that could not be missed, it looked like it must've been used to tame dragons or Monsters of that caliber, of course even for a fantasy world dragon's were still just myths.
Tyler then walked over to Azar, the towering 7 foot giant that looked down on everyone like a king. He immediately dropped down on one knee the moment he saw Tyler approaching, 'Huh, what's with the continuous change of attitude' Tyler thought as he stopped in front of him.
”You can use the stable in the back for the bulls and the rest of your people can stay in the rooms on west wing for now.”
”Ah... Er... thank you my Lord, not only did you save our measly lives but you even offered us lowly ogres a place in your castle, you have my eternal gratitude. From this day forth, I Azar Igna, chieftain of the red ogre tribe shall lift my blade only in the service of Lord... uh..”
”Ty, you can call me Ty, and you don't have to do...”
”Yes Lord Ty, I will be your blade and my people shall be your servants.”
'You can't just sell the lives of your entire town to a complete strange...' before he could complete his thoughts he saw the lineup of the entire town appeared suddenly behind Azar, and with fluid and practiced motions, they all knelt down on one knee swearing fealty to him, even the massively dumb trolls seemed to have been included in the plan and the leader of the kobolds stood in place of her people.
Their movements were so sudden, it stunned Tyler for a moment. It wasn't just the adults, but the elderly, the kids, every single person that had came with him made one fluid motion in such perfect harmony that it rendered him speechless.
The sight was impressive and looks of determination in their faces was like a knife stabbing into his heart. He saw the looks of admiration in the eyes of the kids he had thought hated or were scared of him and his mind momentarily stopped working. It had taken quite a while to finish processing what had happened.
'W - WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!'