Erasalis flew home with his compatriots, for the first time in his life, with his head hung low.
He was beyond shock and awe.
He and his companions had trouble flying because they were shaking too much, so they made sure to keep their altitude low.
They were essentially flying just a few meters off the ground, at a low speed. Their defeat could be seen by this scene alone, however their facial expressions said much more.
What was he supposed to do?
Those... beings of terror were so powerful that he had lost all sense of strength. He doubted his very existence- his very purpose in life.
A chain of unpredictable events, and a series of errors lead to this outcome.
Had that lizardmen not attacked the birdmen troop then and there, they would not have encountered the wrath of the antiheroes.
Had they waited until the location was further, things would not have unfolded as they did, and the slime girl would not have been injured.
Had Tora not instinctively thrown the lizardmen away in the maneuver he had pulled off, they would not be in this situation.
Had he thrown the lizardman in a direction away from the house, they would not be in this situation.
Had the boards not flown into the slime girl in the exact way which they did so, they would not be in this situation.
Had the slime girl been in a different location, they would not be in this situation.
But they were in this situation.
Everything lined up as if it were a story written by a cruel narrator who enjoyed seeing the characters of his novel suffer.
Erasalis wanted to curse that narrator, but he knew better than that. This had happened because he was extremely unlucky.
It was purely due to random chance.
What would he do next? Would those creatures come to his home in order to seek revenge on them?
Would there even be any point in preparing for such an event?
No matter what precautions he took, it would just end up in a slaughter.
However, the antiheroes did spare everyone present on that day. This could mean only one thing.
They wanted their names to be spread, and fear of them to engulf the entire world. If they merely wished for a localized and temporary terror to be spread, they wouldn't have allowed Erasalis, the birdmen, and the lizardmen to leave... however, clearly their plans envisioned something much greater than that which was right in front of their faces.
If that was what they wanted, then Erasalis would give it to them.
The war was off. There was no point in spreading their culture anymore. Should they flee? No. Those beings of terror would not allow them to flee- or even if they did, they would search them out and find them easily. With power that they commanded, it was unlikely that they did not possess similarly absurd intelligence.
Erasalis would return to the village and spread the word about the antiheroes. Should he sing their praises, or should he tell everyone the truth about them? It was likely that the antiheroes would find out either way, however....
Perhaps that elf knew that everything would happen as it did, before it even happened.
That elf acted so arrogant and exerted an aura that was terrifying in the negotiation room, and while it was nowhere even close to the magical strength that the spirit exerted, it was enough to make Erasalis sit up straight and pay attention.
He was no ordinary elf.
He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and made every action and gesture with a purpose.
If he truly did have intelligence on the birdmen, then perhaps he had already figured out what action that Erasalis would take, before he even took it.
Even Erasalis was unsure of what to do. It was scary to think that that elf would already know what he was going to do before he did it.
Either way, his fate was already be determined regardless of what he did.
Erasalis decided to tell the birdmen the truth about the antiheroes.
Their absolute rule over the slime village.
Their absolute power both on the negotiation table and in the battlefield.
The absolute beauty and command over others that that blue demon radiated.
'Hah... hah hah hah..."
Erasalis found himself laughing quietly as he and the other four flew to their home. Tora was being carried by Relu and Yirald, and had passed out with a look of pain and horror on his face. The antiheroes had restored his limbs... however...
His wings were now clipped.
Tora, the eagle who once soared the sky, was now grounded and destined to live his life in shame.
To a birdman, having clipped wings was the ultimate humiliation.
It was something that would not even be done as a punishment to the most heinous criminal. Rapists, murderers, thieves, and others would never even have it to be considered for their wings to be clipped.
To clip the wings of a birdman was to rob them of their very identity. It was something that only one who had given up their very soul would do to another. As such, to clip the wings of another birdman was the most heinous and evil crime that could be imagined.
However, those antiheroes... specifically the demonic healer who seemed to radiate a facade of beauty and compassion... had restored his wings after cutting them off anyways, in a state where they were already clipped.
No, just the left one was clipped. With a single clipped wing, one could not fly properly. It would lead to a dive in one direction.
Erasalis was beyond furious. It would have been easier for Tora if they had just killed him, however Erasalis could not make that decision.
If Tora asked, Erasalis would gladly kill Tora rather than have to see his beloved comrade live the rest of his life with this stain on his soul. However, the antiheroes had said that they let him live in order to suffer.
What would they do if they found out that Tora was killed to end his suffering?
Erasalis did not dare find out. Even if it went against everything he believed in, he would never again do something that might anger those beings.
From this moment on, he would take every action with caution and care, ensuring that he tread lightly and did not incur the wrath of those demons any further. Perhaps if he did that, the birdmen would be saved. Even that was a far gone stretch.
The best response would be to simply submit himself to the antiheroes, but Erasalis was afraid to do so. What would come of his people as the slaves of the antiheroes? Even if they said things such as 'We will protect the members of our family, and destroy anyone who disrespects them', the birdmen were a part of that disrespect. They now had a criminal record with the antiheroes, so even in the best case scenario, they would only be able to pathetically submit and pray and hope that they were not treated too inhumanely. There was no hope of becoming members of their flock.
"Erasalis..."
Fergo seemed to be looking at him with compassionate eyes.
"Perhaps... perhaps we should have a party to raise everyone's spirits?", Yirald suggested, at a complete defeat and grabbing at straws for ideas.
Erasalis simply laughed.
Perhaps that was all they could do.
They would party until their life had been sucked from them, living in fear of the day that the music is shut off.
----
Claire laid in her bed the night after the meeting wondering about the current state of affairs.
However, one thing remained in her heart.
'My decision was right. I knew that I could trust the antiheroes as figures of justice.'
She smiled as she remembered the anger that they showed at Helen being harmed.
She did not see what happened afterward, but she was able to see then and there how much they cared for even the smallest child in the village, and how much anger they showed for her sake.
Even the spirit girl, who seemed to have a hard time expressing herself, was more furious than anyone.
Not only this, but Samantha had taken the right action to heal Helen immediately after she was hurt, preventing a death. Rather than being overcome by emotion, she was able to logically react to the situation and do what was necessary.
They had saved a life, and defended the defenseless against the violent.
They had done something truly just.
Claire had been unsure when she heard that they were keeping people as their slaves, however she once more had regained her assurance in them.
The elf was intelligent, and seemed to have a plan for everything. The blue demon was charismatic and seemed to be able to captivate a crowd. The spiritual girl was powerful and able to protect the weak with that power. The red demon was inginuitive and able to use his skills to improve the village and make people happy.
Even though the fight at the end of the meeting left a bad taste in her mouth, and she was unsure about what ended up happening to those lizardmen and birdmen, the quick response and righteous anger displayed by the antiheroes was enough to convince her that things had gone all according to the elf's plan. He may have cried at allowing Helen to be harmed, but there was not much else that could be done. The situation was unpredictable. One could not be everywhere at one time, and even Claire had not noticed that anything was going on at first. She had no right to hold him accountable for not predicting that far.
To be a hero, one needed to be aware of the state of things. If one stayed in the dark on the evil that occurred, they were just as useless as if they were not helping people at all. That is why information was so crucial, and this was something the elf had constantly been harping on.
Claire smiled as she went to sleep and prepared for the next day.
"I don't need to worry. I should simply listen to them, and even if things turn out strange or unexpected, it surely is within their expectations."
-----
Oscar headed home after a long day of listening to petty squabbles among nobles.
How foolish.
They were all struggling so hard to maintain the tiny pedestals that they stood on, while tearing the rug out from underneath the pedestals of the other nobles.
They did this, and yet failed to realize that the rug which lie underneath all the pedestals was exactly the same rug. Yanking it out from underneath one person would require one to get off their own first- otherwise the entire group would tumble to the ground.
Oscar clicked his tongue in disgust as he recalled the heated debate that raged the entire afternoon, which ended up resulting in a stalemate.
What a waste of his time. He could have been searching for the king's illegitimate child if he had not been given the position of honorary noble and been expected to sit through such debates, however unfortunately, what was done was done.
Was it a mistake to accept the position of noble?
Was it a mistake to take over the house he had entered?
No. It was a necessary sacrifice. He needed to establish himself as a noble in the country, otherwise he would be thrown out as soon as the hero came around to save everyone.
Of course- Oscar could easily wrap the hero and the nobles around him, however he wasn't all powerful nor was he able to simply manipulate an entire country on his own in such a short time. He had taken the position of noble in order to secure his own standing while he slowly manipulated each and every person one by one, starting with his current wife, Layla.
What was the greatest enemy of mankind? Time.
If man could live forever, he could make time an ally.
Time was the greatest enemy of mankind, but it could also prove to be the most worthy of allies if it could be controlled.
Oscar was uncertain as to whether he had a limited lifespan in this world with his new abilities at first, and he had tested out beforehand to see if this was actually the case.
He found that by using the \SetAge command, he was able to change his own age. It was an odd circumstance. He was not allowed to change his own battle and action related statistics, however he was able to change just about anything else.
Appearance, age, his tone of voice, even his gender. He was able to change just about any characteristic about himself that was not related directly to his ability to successfully perform actions- that is, the statistics which defined him.
Oscar walked down the cobble path, flipping his long mane of blonde hair to the side as a playboy typically would. It was time to do some investigating.
He would be off to visit each and every brothel in the country in order to find information on every bastard in the kingdom. The system had given him another hint, saying that the one who is the hero was currently within the capital city, so his search range was narrowed down by that much.
If the king was too ashamed to admit that he had an illegitimate son, then Oscar would make up for the incompetence of the king by finding this son himself.
Should he drag this son in front of the king after promoting him to hero status, forcing the king to explain himself?
No.
There was a much better alternative.
He would find this hero, and blackmail the king after finding- no, he would not even need to find it- after creating some proof that the son was the kings. He would then be able to hold absolute say over the king if he wished so hard to keep his secrets in the dark.
Oscar had the ability to change reality, however he did not have the power to change the way people thought. If he wanted to do that, he would have to rely on his own charisma and scheming.
Even so, that was a wonderful deal for Oscar who was so talented in scheming and manipulating people. He now had an ability that made it far easier to escape even the hairiest of situations.
He was unstoppable.
If he had the name of anyone, he could kill them. He could forge his own proof that the person was guilty of some sin by changing reality itself. He could do anything imaginable- the sky was not even the limit.
He still wondered about the beer which had been limited. It pissed Oscar off, but he made due with wine and other alcoholic drinks for now. The ones he made from his abilities were top notch.
He had gone off thinking on a tangent.
"Ah... I had better head over to the brothels now... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try out a woman or six while I am at it... perhaps I could create a database rating each prostitute in the kingdom... no, perhaps every woman in the kingdom... while I am searching for this bastard son... well, I suppose where would be a better place to start than with the women?"
And with this, Oscar skipped on his way while imagining all the pleasures he could encounter on this search.
"There is no chance my 'wife' will find out. After all, even if I were to be caught, it wouldn't be an issue. It sure is convenient to be able to change reality as you please."
Authors Note: This marks the end of Volume 4!
This volume was a whole lot of fun to write, and it has become sort of a gateway into how the series goes from here onwards. As you all can tell, there has been a lot less focus on the RPG elements recently and much more focus on the characters, world building, and development. While the system still exists and continues to play its part, it plays a much more passive function in the story from this volume on- as you may have noticed.