My Servant System

Parrying a thrust from Hawn, I shifted my body to the side as I avoided the slashes coming from the Elf on my left, before pulling my blade down and blocking the stab from the last one.

Smirking at them all, I elbowed the Elf on my right to free up some space as I spun away from Hawn's flurry of blows, the sharp edges cutting through the air beside me as I stared him in the eye.

Surprise and worry began to surface in his eyes as I grabbed the head of the Elf on my left and threw him at Hawn, forcing him to dodge or catch his comrade.

With that small opening available to me, I appeared beside the first Elf and stomped on his head, the force knocking him out and cracking his skull slightly, before I kicked him from the barrier.

"One down, two to go~!"

The remaining Elves stared at me with wary eyes, their daggers glittering in the dome of light as they prepared for another attack.

Seeing their legs shimmer green, I planted my feet and waited for them to move, my great sword held out at the ready to block any incoming blows.

Whilst I waited for them to begin, I asked "Hawn, why'd they leave you here? Aren't you one of their elite Rangers? What made them decide to throw away such a valuable pawn? Did you piss someone off by speaking logically? Or maybe you weren't as skilled as you thought, so you became expendable? Was that it? You were just some disposable piece for them to use as they pleased?"

Hawn gritted his teeth at that, the anger overtaking the surprise at my abilities as he charged forwards.

Slashing a dagger up towards my face, he smirked as I blocked it with the flat of my blade, leaving my sides open to a quick thrust.

Sadly for him, I just shifted my posture and my sword with ease, blocking that thrust as well.

"Hmm... I guess I was right. You're not really 'elite' now are you?"

The other Elf joined Hawn in this joint assault, the two constantly targeting weak points and shifting their attacks to be opposite of their compatriot, trying to pin me with their attacks and land a deciding blow.

As he swing his daggers with precision, Hawn growled "I am amongst the top of the Sariel Family Rangers! They left me here because I volunteered to keep you damn Demons occupied! Me giving my life here has meaning; it's a sacrifice that the Sariel Family will honor forever!"

Chuckling, I continued to guard against the flurry of blows that the two Elves showered me with, constantly looking for an opening to take me down.

While they searched, I continued to do the same, looking for a moment that would end not in their death, but in their unconsciousness.

Fighting to kill an opponent is easy; I would just need to display the difference in strength between us and shatter their puny knives with one singular slash, but that would result in more than just their blades being destroyed.

They themselves would be cleaved in two.

So, I needed to keep my strength in check and try to find an opening to take them out of the fight, which would be harder than killing, but not too difficult.

For now, I just wanted to tire them out a little and plant a seed of doubt or anger in their minds, to draw out a mistake that I could capitalize on to make this quicker.

Besides that, this was good practice for controlling my strength and focusing on precision over raw power, which was something I needed to work on...

With that in mind, I blocked the storm of stabs, slashes, punches, and kicks that the two Elves sent my way, each one falling harmlessly on the flat of my blade or swishing through the air.

As we fought, Leone and the others were scouring through the laboratory, taking the papers and reading through them before storing them away, copying down the notes on the boards, and observing the various tubes and storage containers littered around the various tables and hanging on the walls.

Taking the time to thoroughly read a paper, Leone frowned as she glanced towards me, before turning back to the paper and continuing on.

Seeing the Vampire's actions, I also frowned before ducking under a high slash and tilting my blade to block the thrust of the second Elves daggers.

Using that, I pushed outwards and stepped towards the Elf, avoiding Hawn's attacks as I continued forwards, eventually slamming the Elf against the light dome and pinning him there.

With his body firmly planted against the wall, I willed the light mana to shift, thin strands of it forming a rope around his neck and arms, pinning him to the wall.

Tightening the binding around his neck, I turned around to deal with Hawn on his own as the other Elf was choked out, eventually falling unconscious as his breathing was cut off.

Clicking my tongue, I smiled smugly at Hawn as the Elf watched his friend thud to the ground outside the dome, leaving just us inside.

"Honestly... you should probably start talking~ We still have some... unfinished business, you and I. Giving me the excuse to torture you probably isn't worth it... not for some Family that really could care less about you. Definitely not for a traitorous Family that will no longer be recognized inside this Empire."

Glaring at me hatefully, the man sneered as he said "What unfinished business?"

Raising a brow at him, I listened to him for a moment as he began to speak again...

"Oh, you mean when I danced with your Dogkin whore of a maid for a few moments at Jillian's banquet? When I gave her that opportunity to free herself from you and live a life of her own?! Is that what you mean? Ha! It won't be long now before Jillian gets your precious little slut and uses her for whatever she wants!"

As he lunged forwards, I could see that his eyes were bloodshot, his previous tirade all shouted out for the whole room to hear, which...

Catching his hands, I snapped his wrists and crushed the bones into powder, eliciting a scream from him as I lifted him up by those very broken wrists.

Staring him straight into the eyes, I stabbed my sword into the brick floor and reached up, gently laying my palm on his cheek.

Stroking away the tear that fell from his right eye, I whispered "You really shouldn't have done that..." before my fingers dragged slowly across his cheek, up towards his eye.

Spreading open his eyelid, I plunged my fingers into his socket and yanked out the fleshy orb, tossing it aside with a wet plop, making him scream more.

Blood seeped from his socket, a trail of red liquid mixed with clear fluids dripping onto the floor below.

Opening my bloody palm, I 'healed' his body and locked it, preventing further bloodshed whilst keeping the wounds there, so that every second from here on out he could feel the void where his eye used to be.

The sensitive flesh inside would be open to the air, brushed by the slightest breeze and inflicting a sharp pain to him with the most basic movements.

Holding him up, I lowered the light dome and walked forwards, my eyes briefly flitting towards the sneering Vampire and the bristling tail of the Jackalkin, both of them angered by what Hawn had said.

As for Mom and Yusa, the two simply shrugged as they saw the man being hoisted around like a sack of potatoes, turning back to their papers and stacking them and organizing them.

Approaching Leone, I asked her "Anything?", watching as the Vampire glared at the Elf that was teetering on being conscious before focusing her attention on me.

Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind for a moment and focused on answering my question, raising the papers in her hand.

"Yes... and no. So far, I'm getting more of the 'how' and not the 'why'; these notes are all on what they were doing and how they went about doing it, but only the small things, things that weren't important or seen as necessary.

Research on ancient magics, hypothesis on various subjects, notes on the different trials they attempted... But nothing on why they were researching what they were. These are all pieces to a very large, very elaborate puzzle. Small clues towards their grand scheme that I honestly can't even begin to comprehend. What were they doing, and why? There are so many possibilities to be found in this research, and with no direction I can only theorize what they were trying to gain from each bit..."

Trailing off, Leone glared at the papers again before sighing, adding them to a stack as she muttered "I have no idea where to begin..."

Cleaning off my free hand, I reached forwards and pat her head, smiling at her before looking towards Mom.

"Are we able to trust the people the Empress wants to give this all too? Will they copy it all down and send it back to our home?"

Looking up towards me, Mom smiled wryly as she shrugged, while Yusa frowned as she said "As much as I would love to say that you should whole-heartedly trust my wife, I... can't do so on good faith; not after what just happened. Maybe it's time for her to stop being so trusting of her subjects, or at the very least display the power she hasn't wielded in many centuries..."

Chuckling, Mom glanced at Yusa as she said "Well, I imagine the Empress would send the research to Lorelei and her group, right? Maybe let Lady Theresa analyze some of it as well... If I had to guess, most of the Empress' Harem won't be letting this slide; all of you are really close, so a threat to one is a threat to all."

The Snow Woman grinned at that, nodding as she said "True, this isn't something that I was keen on letting slip past me. Lorelei might be my complete opposite, but I cherish her all the same because of that. Besides, my cute little niece was threatened..."

Her grin turned chilly, and we all shivered as the temperature in the room plummeted, her eyes sparkling with a frigid luster as she whispered "And that isn't acceptable, not at all..."

Watching as her grin faded again to a motherly smile as she looked towards Leone, I shivered again as I began to wonder if all women that reach that level of strength are just... insane.

Is... that what awaits me in the future?

...

...

...

Ahem...

Not that I'm complaining...

It's uh... actually rather... yeah.