Maria had missed Gil and was glad to see him again, along with Klain and his siblings. She wasn't sure about Tiffany and her daughters, but after hearing their stories from Gil, she decided to let them live in the village. She had no qualms against them. They planned to build a nation where demons and sentinels could coexist, after all. But in doing so, she had added a rival: Alyyiah. Maria would frequently catch Tiffany's younger daughter pouting when Maria was the one spending time with Gil. Maria acknowledged Alyyiah's beauty and worried Gil might pick her instead. Acquiring his hand just became more difficult.
But there were more pressing things to worry about. Namely, Gil had provoked a minister, who turned out to be part of Dirram's royal family. Maria knew that the only thing keeping the nation in check was Gil's power. As strong as Dirram might be, even their army would have difficulty going against Gil alone. But they would do something sooner or later, as Maria doubted the Queen would want a threat so close to home.
To counter that, Maria had planned to visit other villages and form alliances with them, especially ogres. Ogres were a powerful race and could prove dependable in future conflicts. She had Conall form a team to do the same and sent Volpes with them for backup if anything went wrong. She heard Conall's voice in her head.
"Lady Maria! We're under attack!"
"Who is it? Dirram's army?"
"No, milady! ogres are attacking us!" Maria knew Conall was not the one who struck first. "What happened? Why are they attacking?"
"They're saying that a jinn wiped out every ogre village in the forest and that we must be its servants." This alarmed Maria, as such a massacre would not have gone unnoticed, yet she had no clue it transpired. Ogres were not abundant in the forest like the elves, but they had a sizable population. They were not to be messed with, either. But jinns were servants of demon emperors, which led Maria to believe some plot was hatched, one whose end goal may be to take over all of Silverlake. The existence of her village may soon be threatened. Demon emperors were monsters, and even Gil was nowhere near strong enough to take them on. But she would have to worry about that later, as the ogres were something she needed to deal with in the present.
The leprechauns traveling with Conall were unconscious and lay on the ground. Someone had made them fall asleep, and Maria thought the culprit was a pink-haired ogre. She wore whites robes, and her aura didn't impress Maria. Out of the five ogres Maria sensed, this one was the weakest. Thankfully, she had requested Klain to make healing potions, and she splashed them on the leprechauns, who began to wake up. To her left, Volpes was shooting fireballs at three other ogres. On her right, a curvy blue-haired female ogre was pummeling Conall with a club.
Maria communicated telepathically. "Volpes, Conall, fall back!" Conall collapsed. "My Lady," he huffed. "Please forgive my failures!" Volpes looked down. "I apologize as well for failing to protect the others..."
"Forget about that for now." Maria studied the ogres. All in all, there were five of them, and each of them was strong, especially the one with red hair, but they had to team up to fight Volpes. It might have been a bit arrogant, but she thought she could take them down all at once without killing them. If the ogres saw the power gap, they might decide to surrender or at least retreat. She would then be able to talk with them and prove her innocence.
"Conall, protect the other leprechauns. Volpes, get that pink girl but don't kill her. Intimidate her and make sure she doesn't make a move."
"Lady Maria, are you sure that's the best course of action?" Volpes was confused by the order. They had been attacked, yet why was Lady Maria insistent on being lenient towards them?
"I planned on forming alliances with the various ogre villages. If they're wiped out, then these five are the remaining survivors. If I can prove I wasn't involved in the attack, they might join our side."
"Understood. I will do as you command, milady." Volpes roared at the pink-haired ogre, who stepped backward. She couldn't take on a kumiho by herself. Maria turned to the other four ogres. "I'm not sure what happened, but would you be willing to talk this out?"
The ogres continued glaring at her. "Don't play dumb with us!" The red-haired ogre yelled. "We know you're the jinn that attacked our village!"
"I'm sorry about what happened, but I was not involved in it. Why do you suspect me?"
"The jinn I saw had white hair very much like yours. You cannot fool us by taking off your mask. Furthermore, no mere demon could command a kumiho." A male ogre with purple hair nodded. "The mastermind has come to us. This should make things considerably easier."
Before Maria could argue, the red-haired ogre charged towards her. Maria dodged his sword and began attacking the tallest of them all, an ogre twice her height. As a vampire, Maria could use quanta to create or manipulate blood, and she made big drops of blood flow around her, which she used to pierce her enemy. The blue-haired ogre swung her club, and Maria grabbed it, breaking the weapon into shards. Maria shot blood drops at her, and she fell to the ground. The purple-haired ogre swung his ax. Maria used quanta to create a gauntlet of blood that now covered her right hand, and the ogre's ax shattered after hitting it. Maria punched the purple-haired ogre in the gut, sending him flying into a tree.
The pink-haired ogre looked in astonishment. "She beat us that easily?"
"You're strong," the red-haired ogre admitted. "But you still have to beat me." An old ogre stood next to him, wearing similar white robes to the pink-haired girl. "The same goes for me." Maria analyzed them. The red-haired ogre wore armor and had an ax strapped on his back. The old ogre only had a sword at his side. Their combined auras were formidable, but she could still beat them without too much hassle.
"I'll ask again; would you like to settle matters without fighting? I swear I didn't attack your village." Maria sighed as the ogres gave her nothing but glares. "I told you we won't fall for your cheap trickery!" the red-haired ogre shouted. Maria thought he was unnecessarily loud.
Maria sensed something flashing towards her head. She moved and found her right arm had been cut up to the elbow. She saw the old ogre smiling. "I must be getting slow in my old age. I was sure I aimed for your head." The red-haired ogre took out his ax. "You will pay the price for underestimating us with your life, jinn!"
Volpes and Conall were startled, but Maria calmed them down. Had she been from any other race, she might have really lost one arm. But as a vampire, she could regenerate her body parts using quanta, and in a few seconds, her arm was restored. "Sorry, but you'll need much more than a sword to kill me."
The red-haired ogre opened his palm, where a small flame was kindling. "Die!" He threw it in the air, and Maria found herself engulfed in a big fire tornado. But it was too weak to do any damage to her. After losing her arm, Maria took the ogres more seriously. Quanta could be used to strengthen the body's resistance to magical and physical attacks, and Maria had much more than needed to be invulnerable to the flames. She calmly walked out unscathed, to the ogres' shock. "It seems your attack didn't work. Frankly, I had underestimated you, so in return, I'll stop holding back."
Maria stopped repressing her aura. "Her aura is baffling," the old ogre remarked. "Be careful, Young Master. It seems this vampire will take the fight seriously from here on out." The red-haired ogre's eyes widened. "A vampire? Can you tell from her aura how far she's evolved?"
"Yes. It seems this one is a Count and a powerful one at that. Young Master, I suggest that you let me handle this. We cannot lose any more ogres."
"Silence, old man. I cannot run away again and let my brethren go unavenged."
"Even if I'm much too strong for you to kill?" Sprouting from Maria's hand was a whirlwind of blood that shocked the ogres as it reached the clouds. "No way," the pink-haired ogre said. "She made that using nothing but her own strength, and the size of that hurricane is proportional to her power."
"I'll ask one last time. Will you be willing to surrender? I understand that you're upset, but I'm not the one that killed the other ogres." Maria was hoping the ogres would give up after seeing her strength and be willing to reconcile. Instead, they became even more determined to continue the fight. "I told you already, I will not turn back!" The red-haired ogre shouted with passion. The old ogre stood beside him. "Young Master, it would be my honor to fight alongside you."
"Well," Maria thought, "this bluff completely backfired. Now, what am I supposed to do?" Maria was conflicted about whether to retreat or to knock the ogres out. Killing them would be foolish, as they might know who orchestrated the attack, and she still wanted them as allies.
The pink-haired ogre blocked the red-haired one from attacking. "Brother, stop!" The red-haired ogre tried to push her away. "Out of the way! I will have my revenge!"
"Brother, please listen! This vampire is certainly powerful; she could easily wipe us out if she wanted to. So why would she send hobgoblins to attack us? It makes no sense!"
"But you saw her power, did you not? She has to be a jinn. Nobody else in Silverlake is this powerful."
"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean she's the one trying to kill us. She even tried to spare us multiple times." Maria nodded. "Exactly. Now that you guys have calmed down, would you cease any more fighting?"
"Very well." the red-haired ogre put his sword away. "But who are you, really?"
"I am Maria Asphodel."
"Asphodel? Isn't that the name of the royal family that rules over Bloodbound, the nation of vampires? Are they trying to take over Silverlake to gain its resources?"
"The royal family had decided to want nothing to do with me over ten years ago. I'm what you call an abandoned child. I assure you I have no intention of taking over Silverlake, but I have no clue what my family is up to."
"I see." The red-haired ogre knelt before Maria. "Please forgive me. I attacked you while I was ignorant and ordered my servants to do the same." The blue-haired ogre made amends with Conall, while the pink-haired one apologized for putting the leprechauns to sleep.
A bright light appeared in the sky, and Maria found out the source was Gil, who had flown to her on shiny wings. "Um, Maria, am I interrupting something? Hagas was worried that you were taking a long time to come back, so I thought I would check up on you."
"Gil, I told you not to use your powers so carelessly. What happens if someone saw you?"
"I minimized the flying, and all anyone would see is a streak of light in the air, not a sentinel. I would have ridden on Volpes, but he was with you. Anyway, who are they? Some acquaintances you've made? Hagas did tell me you planned to make alliances with the various ogre villages."
The ogres gripped their weapons, and Maria put her hand up. "Stop. He is not an enemy."
"He's a sentinel!" The red-haired ogre exclaimed.
"Be that as it may, he is actually my partner. I have formed a bond with him. He will not harm you in any way."
"You formed a bond with a sentinel? With the enemy?"
"Yes. I understand how you feel, but Gil bears no ill will towards demons. He saved my life once, and we've been close ever since."
Gil looked at the ogres. "Maria, are they like the village leaders? Are you guys negotiating something?"
"Not really." Maria filled Gil in on recent events. "I see. Well, it seems someone is out to take Silverlake, so regarding that, would you guys like to come back with us to discuss what might be going on?"
"But why?" The red-haired ogre asked. "We attacked your friend and injured your companions. We're also demons, who have been fighting sentinel for the past millennia."
Gil smiled. "I don't mind. I live in a village filled with leprechauns, along with this vampire, and I'm happy there. Besides, you guys could have killed the leprechauns here, but you instead put them to sleep. You tried to minimize casualties, even when your lives were on the line. I don't think you're bad people, and nobody kicked the bucket, so I think we can forget about what happened here and improve our relationship. Friends?" The ogres returned the smile. The red-haired ogre shook Gil's hand. "Friends."