—3rd Person POV—
Taking seats at a large table, Cole's group placed their drink orders and ordered some appetizers while Naofumi and his party browsed the menu. Following Cole's advice, Naofumi ordered a cold beer to unwind from his day. As he skimmed the menu, the sound of heavy boots approached the table.
"Hey…it was Naofumi, right?", Motoyusa inquired as the other Heroes and their parties approached, "Where's that S-Ranked Adventurer at?"
"He got called to the castle.", Leona answered glaring at him, "Do you need him for something?"
"...the castle?", Motoyusa thought knowing that Malty was there, 'There has to be something going on here, and I don't like it.'
Deciding to head to the castle at once to resolve this matter, the Three Heroes had no way of knowing they would be walking into a firefight.
—Cole POV—
Blinking several times after hearing his request, I didn't know if I should laugh or outright incinerate him for suggesting it. Glancing over at Malty for a moment, she gave me a confident smile thinking that having her father order it would make it so. Closing my eyes for a moment, I calmed myself down and decided against incinerating them…for the moment.
"My apologies…I think I misunderstood what you were asking me to do. Could you please repeat that for me?", I requested.
"We need you to marry Malty, and impregnate her so the King of Faubrey can't force her into marrying him.", the King told me like this was a completely normal request.
"That's exactly what I thought you said…I was just making sure I wasn't going crazy.", I stated before loudly clearing my throat, "Now then…who in their fucking right mind would willingly marry your bitch ass daughter!? Both of you got yourselves into this fucking mess, leave me the hell out of it! I wouldn't sleep with that floozy if she were the last woman on this fucking planet! You must be high as a kite thinking I will take her crazy ass, and have kids with her."
Looking at me in shock, the guards were in utter disbelief that I would insult Princess Malty in front of her father. I was certain most of these men agreed with my assessment of her but were too terrified of the consequences to voice it. Seeing the King start to turn bright red with rage, I shrugged it off and turned to leave.
"If this is seriously the only reason I was called here, go force your whore of a daughter on someone else. She's been fine with fucking the Spear Hero up till now, he can take care of her crazy ass!", I bluntly told him.
"How dare you talk about my daughter like that you commoner!", the King roared in anger, "Don't you turn your back to me! Seize him at once, and bring those filthy animals he calls wives here at once!"
Stopping when I heard him mention my family, I turned around to stare him in the eyes. Not breaking eye contact with him, I use Pyrokinesis to incinerate the guards foolish enough to rush me. The surviving guards quickly dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender as they did not want to die over Malty's stupidity. Vanishing from their sight, I reappeared in front of the King and grabbed him by the throat.
"Finish your sentence, I dare you.", I growled in annoyance as I let out my killing intent, "If you think I am afraid of a pompous idiot, a whore, and a mediocre military force…you best get your grave ready. I have met plenty of men like you, and I have killed every single one of them. Don't test my tolerance of your stupidity any further, brat."
Throwing him through his throne, the King slid across the floor behind it with a petrified look.
"And you…", I said looking toward Malty, "This for this morning!"
Backhanding her with my right fist, I sent her crashing through the Throne Room doors and out onto the stone floors beyond. Pulling her back towards me with Telekinesis, I grabbed her by the neck and began to squeeze her throat slowly. Hearing her bones start to crackle, she began pleading for me to spare her life.
"Please, I swear I won't bother you again!", she shrieked as she gasped for air.
"Why don't I believe a word that comes out of your wretched mouth? You were the one that planned to frame the Shield Hero by saying he raped you. Not only that, you keep badgering him in public trying to get him to slip up. Does that sound like the type of person I should trust to you?", I inquired as I raised an eyebrow, "I think we both know how this is about to end for you."
Feeling my grip tighten, she let out a godawful scream hoping someone would come to help. Rushing inside, Motoyasu came charging with the Bow and Sword Heroes in tow. Seeing their parties arrive only moments after them, I cracked an amused smile as I sensed a Shadow enter the space above the Throne Room.
"Let her go!", Motoyasu shouted at me.
"Why should I do that? I will be saving everyone here a lot of trouble by killing her now. Believe me…you three will suffer at her hands if I don't kill her now.", I stated knowing she'd betray them the moment they were of no use to her.
Notching an arrow, Itsuki aimed for my head and said they wouldn't ask a second time. Laughing at their stupidity, only a fool would completely ignore my killing intent thinking they stood a chance. Throwing Malty against the wall to my left, I created several large, electrical projections of myself and sent them rushing towards the Heroes. Releasing his arrow, my projections vaporized the attack as if the arrow was a fly and they were a bug zapper.
Slamming into the group, the Hero parties were violently blasted away from each other. Quickly getting back on their feet, Motoyusa and Ren rushed forwards while Itsuki notched another arrow. Watching them leave their parties in the dust, I was disappointed they had such poor teamwork and planning skills.
"Damn you!", Motoyusa shouted as he lunged at me with the spear.
Grabbing it before he could hit me, I stopped his momentum dead in its tracks. Swing him to the left, he crashed into Ren who was wide open for an attack. Seeing Itsuki release his arrow at me I spun the two boys around and threw them at the incoming arrow. Watching the arrow slam into them and explode, the two boys flew back toward me unable to move after taking the hit. Roundhousing them in midair, they shot back into Itsuki and sunk into the wall together.
"Such a disappointment from the ones calling themselves Heroes, you do the titles a disservice. Frankly, I should kill you three as well, but killing you for being idiots doesn't sit well with me.", I mocked them as I turned back to Malty.
Seeing her wearing a petrified expression put a smile on my face as I approached her again. Before making a move to kill her, I sensed the Shadow agent try to stealthily slip into the room. Turning to greet her, she almost fell out of the ceiling in shock.
"Need something?", I chuckled.
"I..uh…", the agent said hanging out of the ceiling.
Dropping to the floor, she knelt down on one knee and asked me to spare the Princess' life. Admitting to knowing about her repeated actions against Naofumi and me, she asked for some leniency for the Princess.
"I don't see any benefit in letting her see the sunrise tomorrow. Persuade me.", I said wanting to see what she'd come back with.
"The Queen will ensure she causes Sir Naofumi and you no further trouble.", she answered hoping it would be enough, "If you want compensation, we can discuss-"
"Unfortunately, the Queen isn't here to make that happen, and killing Malty yields the same result.", I reminded her, "Your words mean very little without a written decree from the Queen or someone functioning as her proxy."
"We…we will get it in writing from her!", the agent promised.
The agent before me had to be a newer member as she was an amateur at negotiations. In situations like this, you always came to the table with something solid to offer. Coming here without a decree or proxy for the Queen, like Melty, gave her no leverage in negotiations with me. Turning my attention back to Malty again, the agent pressed her head to the floor.
"Please don't take another child from the Royal Family!", she pleaded, "They already lost their son to an unfortunate accident!"
"HA!", I laughed at her, "That wasn't an accident, Malty killed him to show her loyalty to the Church."
Going silent after hearing my words, the Shadow Agent and King looked at me in confusion.
"Haven't you noticed she has been closer to them over the past few years? Since she knew Melty was going to be heir to the throne, because Malty is a crazy whore, she needed someone to help bolster her position. In order to gain their favor, she had to show she was willing to do whatever they wanted for their aid.", I remarked, "In fact, she was already planning to have Motoyusa and company head in the direction of the International Conference. Since the Queen is busy putting out the fires the King and Malty created, she is going to send Melty back to take over in her absence soon. The plan was to drive the Shield Hero in that same direction, after destroying his reputation, and kill her sister using the Shield Hero as a scapegoat."
"No…no it can't be true!", the King shouted in denial, "My daughter isn't as twisted as you say!"
Since he need more convincing, I turned to someone who could back up what I was saying.
"Motoyusa, weren't you going to be heading to the neighboring country in a few days?", I asked the Spear Hero.
"Yeah…Malty said there were some difficult quests to be completed over there.", he replied not realizing he was adding credibility to my words.
Looking over at Malty, the King asked her if there was any merit to my claims. Going to deny my words, I reminded her I could drag the Pope in here to verify anything she said.
"How quickly do you think he will turn on you?", I pointed out, "You were the one that has been doing their dirty work after. Who do you think the public at large will believe?"
"I…I was forced to do it!!", she shouted trying to blame it on someone else, "The Church swore if I didn't kill him, they'd kill me!"
Seeing the color drain from his face, I thought I heard his heart break. Losing a child was hard, but hearing that the child died at the hands of their sibling…that was a whole other level of pain. Pleading with her father to listen to what she had to say, the King picked himself up and slowly walked out of the room without another word.
"Being married off to the Faubrey King is karma coming to bite you in the ass.", I taunted Malty as I walked over to her, "Since I want your mother to hear what you have to say as well, I will spare you but-"
"Thank you, I swear you won't-", she started to say before I smacked her across the face.
"Don't interrupt me…", I warned her, "You will be spared, but I will curse you to ensure no one else has to suffer at your hands. For every lie, deceit, or murder you commit…you will lose one of your five senses till you drop dead."
Not giving her time to voice a disagreement, I cast the Curse of the Trickster on her. Seeing a choker appear around her neck, I reminded her to be forthcoming moving forwards. Turning back to the agent, I ordered her to report this information to the Queen immediately as she should know what happened to her son. Turning to the Heroes, I shook my head in disgust at them.
"As for you three…I am disappointed that you call yourselves smart individuals. My preschool daughter has more IQ than the three of you combined.", I sighed as I left the room.