A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Finally, the guard he was following walked into a luxurious bedroom. Here a second ranked, female Arcanist of clear Asian descent was draped over a luxurious seat, while being serviced by two, half-naked male slaves. She wore a luxurious robe like everyone else, but it was thinner, and a little more revealing.

These men didn't look particularly unwilling, however, as they appeared to take great pleasure in their service. One was giving her a shoulder massage while feeding her fruit, and the other was having his own kind of meal, with his head buried between woman's legs.

Erik looked indifferently at the decadent display, somewhat sunk into thought. Still, he had to admit that the woman was beautiful. It was a shame she had to die, as he wouldn't mind adding a healer to his service. Then, he looked around a little, and casually closed the door behind him.

They were alone now.

"Lady Lian," the guard bowed slightly in greeting, while making sure to keep his eyes averted from the woman. They may have about the same strength, but as a healer this Lady Lian was far more important than him.

"Mistress Lilith requests that you tend to Lord Aaron's wounds," he continued respectfully. "He will need to be ready to march in a few hours at most."

Lian was moaning softly from the treatment she was receiving, but as soon as the guard entered, she voiced an annoyed groan. "Uuugh, that slavedriver actually wants me to put my hands on that creep? My life sucks!"

Unsurprisingly, Erik, everyone in his dimension, and even the guard had twitching eyebrows at the idea that this woman's life was hard. Particularly considering the misery that was outside this manor.

But, that didn't matter.

"If you are unhappy with your life, I'll be happy to relieve you of it," a cold, harsh voice suddenly cut through the lazy moaning in the room.

The guards, Lian, and the slaves all frowned. Finally deigning to look up, Lian opened her mouth to say something, but it was too late.

Lightning struck, and the man she knew as Aaron, standing behind the guard, disappeared. Then, a massive, werewolf in mat-black armour appeared before her. Her body shook, and burning pain radiated from her chest.

"W— Wha—?" she mumbled with wide eyes and trembling body. Looking down, she noticed a massive, armoured claw disappeared into her chest. "I— I feel like… that should hurt more…" she muttered in shock as reality already began to slip away from her.

Just a moment ago she was lazily enjoying the service of her slaves, and now… now she was dead?

"I'd apologize for getting you caught up in this, as I usually try to treat healers as non-combatants, but I honestly doubt you're worth the breath," Erik said indifferently. Blood splattered across her robe, her seat, and the slave between her legs when Erik pulled his hand out of the woman's chest, taking the remains of her destroyed heart with it.

Erik had to admit it felt good to finally kill something in his place, allowing him to vent some of his rage, even if it was against this random healer. He wasn't one for infiltration and deception. If possible, he just wanted to rip and tear until it was done, but unfortunately, he wasn't that strong yet.

Fortunately, it wouldn't be long before he'd breach the third rank.

For now, however, Lian sagged to the side, and didn't open her eyes again. Erik refused to waste any more time, so he didn't bother waiting after he got his chance. Since they were now alone, and outside of Lilith's omnisense,

Shaking the blood free from his claws, Erik turned around to see Astrid put her swords away after beheading the guard.

Since he wanted to ensure that both healer and guard ended up dead before they could warn anyone, he'd pulled out Astrid from his dimension, at the same time as using lightning flash to close the distance with this Lian.

It all happened in less than a second. Both male slaves were still in shock. The masseuse had his target suddenly slip out of his fingers and slump down, causing him to look at his hands in confusion. Meanwhile, the other one, still on his knees, was blinking rapidly as he gingerly touched the blood on his face.

Finally, they turned their gazes to Erik and Astrid with wide gazes. Their mouths opened, about to scream. "Tsk," Erik scoffed, before snapping his finger. Instantly, the two slaves became frozen in blocks of ice. "I have no time for you two."

He did, however, toss the two frozen men into his dimension. They were still alive, and Emma just told him that Naeku wanted to see if they belonged to the original inhabitants of Djibouti, and if they could be saved. It was a small effort on Erik's part, so he didn't mind.

So long as they remained frozen until this was over, that is. He had no interest in hosting the two of them in his dimension.

He took of his helmet and turned to Astrid with a smile, "Thank you, little Spark."

"No problem, lord Husband," Astrid grinned a little coyly. Walking up to him, she kissed him on the lips. "Now, go. Mother-in-law needs you."

Erik nodded, and grinned mischievously, before sending the vampire temptress back to his dimension with a swat on her butt.

With that done, his expression became serious again. Although he'd managed to vent a little and do some damage, he still couldn't afford to actually fight his way to his mother. As such, more deception was necessary.

He put his helmet back on at the same time as the black metal of his armour began to shimmer again. Slowly, clothes and skin began to form again, but rather than Aaron, he now turned himself into the guard he'd just killed. Complete with robe, hood, and severe expression.

Next, he pulled Naeku out of his dimension. "Naeku, can you give me an update on her location, and then guide me there?" he asked the werepanther, somewhat impatiently.

With her brows furrowed, she quickly nodded, closed her eyes, and activated her nature sense. In mere moments, she opened them again, and nodded at him.

Sighing with a hint of relief that nothing had changed, Erik sent her back into his dimension and walked out of the room. Fortunately, the hall was empty, so he didn't need to give any explanations.
Continue your journey with empire

Turning around, he pressed his palm against the door, and a dark green sigil flashed. Elora had sealed the room. This way, even if someone came to check it out, it would be a little while before any real alarm would be sounded.

Then, he began to follow Naeku's direction, fed to him through his wives.

"Almost there, Mom…" he mumbled to himself.