Chapter 138 - Civil War 10 - (Tomas and Aerius moving their new plan steps)
Tomas looked around the canal and couldn't see a way out, toward the noise coming outside his location. The noises of the enemy were there, but he couldn't find the exit in this vast gallery of tunnels.
His expression turned a bit frustrated, and grabbing his sword, the blade began shining with a dark blue light.
"Wait, what are you doing you idiot? Are you using your sword energy for that, to get out?!" cried out Aerius, taken by surprise by Tomas' sudden move, before continuing telling.
"Take it slow, let me check around. But before that, get me to the canal walls, I don't want to get myself dirty.
"Hmph, that's what you always say, but you always do something stupid that puts in me in danger, and I have to clean your mess. I wonder how brother Robert managed to handle you for so many years?"
"That is because he knows I am better than him. Listen kid, I am the King of Gryphon's, the ruler of the proud race of gryphons. It makes perfect sense that my perception is higher than yours, by a lot." commented Aerius in a proud and arrogant tone, that sounded cheeky.
"Yes, yes. The king of gryphons, sure. Let's see if your "Excellency" can find the exit, or
I shortly use a part of my sword energy to make my way out."
Aerius used his beak to grab on Tomas's hair and pull him a bit. The young man gritted his teeth and moved in the sewer garbage toward the walls, whereas Aerius began using his wings to tap the walls with a disgusted expression.
"Ewww, these walls are covered in something slimy. Who told me to do the searching in this environment?"
"Continue. Do you want to change the wall?" said Tomas, holding out a laugh at Aerius' misfortune.
"Yes, please. It seems there's nothing of notice with this wall. Maybe the next one will have something. This is an old sewage, maybe built after Louis times, it should have the same intricate mechanisms of accessing inside the fortress."
Nodding his head, Tomas slowly moved to another wall, getting close enough that Aerius could check it.
The young gryphon didn't waste time and began tapping on each brick on the wall. When he approached a part of the wall that was shaped slightly out of touch, however, there was a problem for Aerius. That brick structure spanned down the sewage discharge.
Turning his head toward Tomas, he said with a calm tone.
"This is the way out. However you have to dive down and touch the bricks down under that formation."
Hearing Aerius, Tomas' only choice was to act fast while gritting his teeth and remembering this event, for a future payback.
"Fine, but if this isn't the correct way, I will take care of you. Don't think I haven't noticed your antics inside Sol."
"You! You followed me?! You better shut up and don't tell anyone." yelled Aerius, taken by surprise by Tomas.
Tomas snorted and dived down in the sewage discharge, and with closed eyes, he began touching around the bricks while Aerius was screaming in disgust, after losing the safe ground that was Tomas's head.
'Bastard. I still don't understand why Vlad likes you so much. You were just a little skinny kid who was only good at cleaning boots not too long ago.'
'He even knows about my deals in Sol. Damn it, I am screwed once Vlad finds out.'
As Aerius thought about his situation, Tomas was holding his breath with ease and patiently checked each brick on the zone specified by Aerius.
Then out of nowhere, while doing his check, the slight push on the bricks instantly had him push to the elbow of his arm.
'Finally! I guess it is better listening once in a while to that weird cat-bird.'
Getting his head out of the sewege discharge and staring at Aerius who had a disgusted expression trying his best to not dirty his feathers, he grabbed him and pushed him a bit more on the dirt.
"Why have you done that, you jackass?!" yelled Aerius staring angrily at Tomas, about to unleash on him.
"Relax. It is only some garbage thrown by people. It can be cleaned once we finish our job, or if you want I can throw you directly on the sea." suggested Tomas while waiting for mechanism he activated while pushing the brick, to release something or a new route outside.
"Sigh, it is clear you have no clue how special my fur and feathers are. The feathers will stink for about one month, while the fur will stink for two weeks. You think I like to wait around, until I can enjoy myself."
Tomas just shrugged his shoulders and picked up Aerius placing him on his dirty head. When he did that, he laughed a bit, and commented on this new feeling.
"It is like when I was on the streets and we played with mud. The feeling on my head that your body gives me is like the mud I played in with my friends."
"Piss off. Let's go already, the wall opened up."
Nodding his head, after suddenly stopping his laugh, Tomas grasped his sword and step by step began walking a stairway leading toward a gathering of voices.
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Inside a garrison building, on the lower parts of the building there was a group of people wearing knights armour amounting to 200 of them, and on the other parts of the building there was a metal cages, holding people inside from little girls, young ladies to young boys ranging from 8 to 15 years old making a scary contrast in numbers.
"Captain, what are we supposed to do with those slaves? Because of that Blood guy we can't go to Lord Darrell Graham to get rid of them." asked a guy wearing knight armour while staring at the kids inside the cages and later at the man on the center who had a skinny body that didn't fit the soldier description.
This man, after hearing the knight, looked at the caged kids, but mostly at the young ladies, who when seeing his wicked and perverted gaze, instantly dropped their heads down, not daring to meet his gaze.
"I got orders from Lord Vestios before the war started. If he would ever lose to the Blood guy and it is too late to take the goods out, we'll slaughter them, leaving no sign of us doing slavery."
Instantly the kids flinched, fully understanding the predicament they were in. However, no one dared to say a thing, as if they knew they would invite death earlier than it was scheduled.
"Sigh, sir Brutolnus, can't we just spare those kids? We also didn't lose the war, the walls of the fortress with the gate stands proudly blocking those damned peasants."
"Obviously, I can't see Lord Vestios losing to anyone, after learning about his devil fruit power. No one can survive his touch or be around him. I tell you from experience, I saw him kill so many people with only a breath of air he released at those guys."
"It is still hard to believe what Lord Vestios can do. Yet that quake worries me a bit. It is for sure that Blood guy who attacked the Wisdom Palace."
"He just doesn't know how to die faster, that's all." said another random knight, looking proudly when saying that.
"Okay guys, enough chit chatting, we also have to go on the front line and help those lowly guys who don't even know how to fight. I heard that there are also knights from the other high nobles who came faster to Sagletius. I look forward to meeting them in battle and seeing for myself who are the best knights in the Kingdom. Us, Lord Vestios loyal knights or those lowly nobles knights." said the slim looking knight, Brutolnus, with a cold tone.
Finishing that, he gathered a vast majority of the knights, leaving only 15 knights to look for the slaves.
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The canal stairway was a long circular one that held many skeletons on the floor in all sort of positions. However, the one that marked Tomas was the skeletons who still had the weapons who killed them inside.
"You really don't know anything about this place?"
"No clue. I really don't. Maybe it was built by Louis after he became king. I don't have any memories about that.
"I see. Have you noticed that there's no longer voices above? Did they clear out or notice us?" asked Tomas, tenser than his usual self.
"Those arrogant bastards? You think too highly of them. Climb this stair already and do an ambush. It will for sure work."
Saying that, Tomas suddenly stopped after noticing that the stairway reached an end. What awaited him, from the entrance to the room, was a dark room, illuminated by candle lights.
In that moment he could also heard the clear voices of some people close by, who discussed the fate of the war and the kids, that made Tomas confused for a moment.
Then as entered this room with silent steps and prepared to strike, he heard some shaking noise that caught his attention. Turning his head for a brief second in the direction the noises came, he was stunned seeing the cages full with kids, young ladies and boys around his age.
'Those cursed bastards are slave traders?! They dare to put those kids in such hardship? Taking them away from their still living parents? Monsters! You don't deserve to live in this kingdom, I will not allow it!'
Tomas was starting to breathe harder, while his gaze darkened a bit, turning colder than ever.
"Brat, stay calm. Don't let your anger and past consume you and the choices you would take. Those kids are still alive, so we better take care of the bastard's inside the building." said Aerius while whispering in his ears.
Hearing the young gryphon, Tomas regained some clarity and, doing a silence sign to those kids who watched them with an intense gaze, full of hope, he began moving toward the center of the room.
There were a lot of wooden boxes stashed on top of one another that created a perfect cover for him. Keeping the slow pace, he jumped on a solid box landing gently on it. Yet this didn't stop the knights tasked with the watch to turn their heads left and right.
"Tsk, there's also rats inside the storage room. I hope those little shits don't eat the supplies or actually make their way to the dangerous white powder or the leaves we got from overseas." said one knight, a bit annoyed by the notion of rats lurking around.
"What can a rat even do with those things. Do they get high with those things like humans do? I doubt it. So breath relieved. If you feel bad staying here with the rest, just take one of the older girls and give them a run. I heard from Brutolnus that they are virgins coming from low nobles and those fairing a bit better who tried to fight back against Lord Vestios." commented another knight.
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Meanwhile Tomas who had a perfect view on those 15 knights placed around a table, drinking some alcohol, strengthened his grip on the sword, and with a calm breathing routine, the blade began releasing a dark blue hue.
"Brat, wait let me prepare for the fight."
Saying that Aerius extended his four wings and flipped them while sitting on Tomas's head. Only after one minute did the gryphon tap with his sharp talon, signaling his readiness.
"Don't mess up, weird bird."
"Likewise you snobbish brat."
Ending their pleasantries, Aerius jumped on in the air and began flipping his wings silently like an owl, later diving down on one knight.
"It is quite windy in the basement."
Tomas also jumped and sent a powerful sword slash colored in dark blue, that targeted a group sitting closer.
"Watch out, there are intruders inside!" cried out one knight who looked up after hearing the guy with "windy basement".
"Too late." commented Aerius and Tomas.
Aerius changed his trajectory and targeted the knight who sounded the alarm. Before he could react to stop this black creature dropping like a meteor in his direction, he felt an intense pain in his chest, along with his collapse.
Something similar happened to a 6 knights who got in Tomas' devastating sword slash. They dropped dead the moment the slash cut them in halves.
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"Take arms guys. We have to kill the intruders before mourning our dead. Also, someone sound the alarm above the upper floors!"
One of the knights nodded his head and started running toward the direction Brutolnus and the rest took to go out. Nevertheless, he wasn't successful because he got dropped on the floor with a hole in his chest the size of a cat's body.
"This is much better. If I cover my body in blood, Vlad will be able to clean me and also remove the sewage stench." commented Aerius staring at the guy he killed not to long ago using his swift movements he trained for almost 3 years under Vlad's watch.
His agility wasn't the only aspect of him that was enhanced, even his powers increased with a greater endurance and stamina held inside that small body of his.
Tomas replied to Aerius only after killing two guards in rapid succession with a parrying counter, followed by a [Wrath Strike] and [Greed Thrust] that were swords kills Vlad taught him after he modified the Wrath Guard and Longpoint Guard into something more flexible and powerful.
"Go on, little guy. Remove that stench on you. Coloring your fur and feathers in red isn't half bad"
"That is my intent. You take the three guys on the right, while I go for those on the left. Don't let them escape." said Aerius, in a serious tone, and disappearing from where he shortly after.
The young man also didn't linger much on the problem and with a fast speed, he reached the flank the knights wanted to use to escape.
"Don't get closer, you monster!"
"Haha, me a monster? I think you are delusional. I am just serving what should have been delivered to you bunch of traitors to think kingdom, long ago. Die!"
"[Prideful Demise]"
Saying that, and using a weird footstep that flashed around them, he appeared with a [Fool's Guard] stance and feinted with a leg kick, getting the knights to react and counter with a strike, however the moment they got to strike him down, Tomas already had their hearts pierced using a phantom piercing strike.
"Huh, you hold remorse? You are sorry for what you have done? Tell them to your ancestors when you meet them." said Tomas coldly when seeing the stared the dying knights gave.
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A minute later, the voice of the gryphon was heard saying with a pleased tone.
"How is it? Does my body still smell like shit?"
"No, now it smells of death. Congratulations, you just evolved your fragrance game." replied Tomas with a disdainful tone, while Aerius who was covered fully in blood turned to stare at him annoyed.
"Screw you, brat. You know nothing. I care little about the blood smell because I know in only a brief moment it can be resolved. Only the garbage, sewage smell matters now. Right, what about the caged kids, can we do something right now?"
"I am thinking of that now. Give me a moment."
