Chapter 806 Chapter 805: Custodia
"And there it is... Custodia, the primary bastion holding back the hordes that linger inside the Terracotta Grottos. Before the Crusade - and the appearance of those Gates - our estimates concluded that 10,000 to 15,000 people lived in and or nearby the city - give or take a few hamlets and villages, of course."
Satanya sat atop the carriage and looked at the illuminated walls of Custodia, the brazers lining the large stone walls all filled with firewood and currently casting light across the outskirts of the city, keeping it lit up alongside the light of the moon overhead.
Scanning over the walls, I frowned as I took note of the dozen men and women that walked across its surface at random, no discipline in their patrol as they made their way from one brazier to another, all while they occasionally looked out over the plains.
Thanks to the flames from their braziers though, not a single one of them was able to see us with how far out we were, even though we could clearly see them.
"They're all humans from the looks of it. No uniform color scheme, no comprehensible kit... If anything, their gear is haphazardly thrown together monster parts and nothing else. No symbology, no royal blue that we would think of for the Cult... these are just... bandits."
"Or they're the last survivors of Custodia trying to keep it that way... well, while we could have you and Leraie infiltrate the city again, I think it'd be best to just take the front gate, y'know? See if they have some good intentions, intelligence, or if they're human supremacists through and through... After all, if they ARE original inhabitants of Custodia, then perhaps they'll see reason and accept that they are now under the Empire's banner... Or not, who knows~!"
Handing the telescope off to Leone, I looked up towards the red skinned Demoness on the roof of the carriage and asked "You want to see if they'll agree to being your subjects? I'm going to be honest, I sincerely doubt it."
"Oh, I do as well, but I need to give them the chance before I kill all of them. Honestly, the reason we took Tragon over the other two Kingdoms wasn't for any other reason then it having the lowest remaining human population..."
Satanya just grinned as she got off of the carriage, her black leather coat barely making a sound as she dropped to stand beside me.
"Well, let's get going hmm? Luci, Leraie, take point on horses; be ready to defend yourselves from arrows or magic. We'll be right behind you, and if you'd take the rear for us, Jahi~?"
Grinning at Jahi now, Satanya licked her lips before making her way to her own carriage, ignoring the irritated gazes from Anput, Leone and I as we watched her walk away, while Jahi just shook her head and entered our own carriage.
With my newly forged Khopesh I climbed onto the roof, sitting down and gathering my mana in my hands as I started to layer a defensive wind spell over our carriage, preparing to defend against any sort of projectile just in case.
Nodding to Anput and Leone as they got inside with Jahi, I kept the spell up around the carriage as we began to set off towards the city's gates, our caravan of three carriages and a few horse riders approaching the gate swiftly, attracting the attention of the humans patrolling the top of the walls quickly enough as we didn't bother to conceal our presence.
Shouts erupted up on the ramparts as the humans rushed to investigate, before one of them turned and made their way deeper into Custodia, likely to warn whomever was in control of this stone fortress that was called a city.
We drew even closer, with Leraie and Luci nudging their horses further up the path to stare up at the assembled humans, who all stood near the edge with their weapons brandished in an attempt to appear more threatening... though in doing so they only displayed their ineptitude and lack of discipline.
Now we knew what we were dealing with, after all...
"W-Who are ye!? What do ye want?!"
The thick, slightly slurred shout of the man in the center made me raise a brow, whilst the hesitation and fear in his voice was barely concealed as he leaned over the edge, staring down from the wall to look at the assembled Demons, who all stared back with bemused expressions.
Satanya opened the door of her carriage and stepped out, stepping forwards to stand between Leraie and Luci as she shouted back "Tragon Kingdom is under the banner of the Empire of Ash from here on out! Tragon Kingdom in particular is now ruled by the Beliali and Cimeriesa Clans, of whom we are a part of! We have visited a few separate cities, and yet Custodia is the only city with a population that still lives. So..."
Brushing her coat aside to reveal the hilt of her sword, making the humans above shuffle around for a moment as they saw that as a sign of aggression, especially as she added "Let's keep it that way, hm~?"
They murmured to one another as they discussed what was happening, before that man shouted?"W-What do ye mean, beneath the banner of the Empire?! This is still a Human Kingdom! We are still the rulers of these la-!"
He stopped mid shout as a myriad of runes began to appear around each of us, the slight signal from Satanya as she raised her hand making it clear that this was to be a show of strength to try and dissuade the humans from trying something stupid.
Various colors illuminated the area around us, silencing the man and his comrades as they stared down at us in awe, before they turned to watch as an older, mature woman draped in a heavy bear pelt looked over the wall, her eyes calm despite the situation she was in.
"Let them in. I have no desire to lose my life today because of ignorance... Open the gate!"
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺