Ash went to the beach with Platinum, Maria, and Zofia.
When they arrived at the place, they heard Lappland cackling like a maniac.
"This place is to die for! Isn't that right, you freaks!?" She was using her arts and was sending out spectral dragons that hit the seaborne, making them explode upon impact.
"There's a lot of enemies here, more than Kazdel." Mudrock spun like a top and her hammer wrecked the mobs trying to breach her energy shield.
It looked like the duo were competing against each other for kills. The sands of the beach actually turned blue due to the blood of the seaborne.
"Aren't they having a bit too much fun?" Zofia blinked at the slaughter. If they weren't freaks of nature, she would be distraught at the corpses strewn around.
"Isn't that exciting? They're fighting against monsters you know? Those don't scream as you kill them." Maria pointed out and Zofia deadpanned at Ash.
"What? Maria has to start young, she can't freeze up when she stabs someone with a big ass sword." Ash rolled his eyes.
"That may be so... But, it's still weird to see your niece be like that." Zofia complained and Maria shrugged.
"Don't worry, big sis Zofia, I accepted it. That's just the way it is." Maria assured her and Zofia nodded reluctantly.
"And besides, they're having so much fun. Look at Lappland's face, isn't she having the time of her life?" Ash pointed at Lappland and Zofia frowned when she saw Lappland's expression.
She was cackling like a maniac and she had a twisted grin on her face. She is also splattered with blood and gore. Lappland definitely looked like a serial killer.
Meanwhile, Mudrock looked like she was just cleaning up trash. Just a job that needs to be completed.
"Great, one's a psychotic killer that wants to murder everything on her path, while the other is a cold blooded mercenary from Kazdel. And I'm pretty sure that Mudrock has killed more people than Lappland." Zofia could see it on the Sarkaz's face.
Mudrock just kept swinging her hammer like it was clockwork. It actually unnerved her how used she was to the sensation of something exploding against her hammer.
"Eh, that's just Kazdel things. Why do you think I poached a lot of them? They're already perfect as soldiers. They're either like Lappland, or Mudrock. Not that those are bad things. You just have to give rewards to the latter, while the former needs targets." Ash shrugged and Maria nodded at him.
"Good explanation Ash, so you don't have to worry big sis Zofia." Maria smiled at her and a seaborne that slipped away from Lappland ran at them.
Maria then whacked it with her sword and bashed the thing with her shield violently. "She's already one of them. Why did we even come to Paradiso?" Zofia groaned.
"Hey, it's not like they're killing innocent people for fun you know?" Ash raised a brow and Zofia apologized.
They then waited for the duo to take care of as many seaborne as possible.
A mountain of corpses was starting to form. And Ash had to step in to dispose of them. Their blood was also seeping in the sand and waters.
He took out his sword and made it consume everything from the seaborne. The sword ate them up deliciously.
"What a good vacuum cleaner, you even have an organic only function, what a good boy." Ash patted the flat of the blade and stored it back when it was about to complain.
"T-that's honestly a bit unnerving." Maria commented as they saw his sword absorb numerous corpses.
"Unnerving? That was terrifying, can you do that to live people too?" Zofia felt a shiver in her spine when he nodded.
"Yeah, it especially loves live targets. Says that they taste much better." Ash shrugged and Zofia didn't want to see it again, ever.
"Kuahahaha! That was such a fun exercise." Lappland had a beaming smile on her face and Ash cleaned her up too.
"It was like whack a mole, it certainly was more exciting than the arcade one. They dodge and when you hit them, they feel soft." Mudrock nodded with a small smile on her face.
"Isn't it? Just like slicing things with a sword. It is more satisfying to kill something that is struggling." Ash agreed with Mudrock and Lappland also smiled.
"Yeah! Yeah! You know it, when you stab them and they suddenly stop moving, that's a real treat!" Lappland expounded and Zofia sighed.
"Now, now, Zofia here isn't a campaigning knight. She only fought in the majors, so she's not used to live combat." Ash rubbed her back and Zofia glared at him.
"Don't patronize me Ash, I've been in battles before." She huffed and he started laughing. Even Maria snickered at her.
"What? You making fun of me now?" Zofia was getting in a bad mood.
"No, that was just funny. The majors? Live combat? Your sense of humor is hilarious Zofia." Lappland commented.
"Umm, big sis Zofia. Not to put you down or anything. But the majors have nothing on real battlefields." Maria smiled wryly and she showed her the new, hit movie of Nian.
Zofia watched the fights in their war against Ursus and Yan. She then got horrified at what she just watched.
"So shouldn't we include her in the next war? Maybe Yan will retaliate? You haven't killed someone, have you? In fights like these, you move to kill. That's why Lappland laughed earlier." Mudrock explained and Zofia had a grave expression on her face.
"So Maria has been fighting in these wars? She isn't even an adult yet." Zofia looked at her with worry. She actually thought that they were just going on normal missions.
"Umm, are you forgetting someone here?" Ash pointed at himself and they ignored him. Everybody already knows that he was a minor, but he didn't look like one, not feel like it.
He pouted at them. "I see how it is, so you guys are bullying a minor." Ash snapped his fingers and they slowly started turning younger.
"Wha!?" Zofia was the one who was the most affected, as she turned into a teen after Ash changed their biological ages.
"Heh, you sound squeaky Zofia." Ash chuckled and the stunned pegasus couldn't believe what happened.
'Damn, that was pretty tiring.' Ash sweated a bit as he felt his reserved tank after changing the sizes of their bodies.
"Woah, I'm small again." Lappland looked at her looser clothing. Maria pointed at Zofia who looked really similar to her.
"Why isn't she the only one affected?" Zofia glared at him and she pointed at Mudrock.
"Me?" Mudrock was confused on why she was getting annoyed.
"Well, she is neutral in this. Every single one of you snickered at me. And Mudrock isn't much of a talker in the first place." He explained his reasoning and Zofia thought he was a bit petty.
"Change me back now. I feel weird." Zofia's center of balance changed. And she isn't exactly a civilian, people like her that are fighters would definitely feel a difference.
"Hey, won't I be faster if I'm at this form? And instead of slashing enemies, I can stab them multiple times!" Lappland looked at Ash with puppy dog eyes, reaching her hand out.
"No, I'm not giving you knives. You brought this to yourself, you adapt to it." He huffed and Lappland got dejected.
While they screwed around, Platinum who was surveying the area returned and she froze.
"Have you awakened as a lolicon, Ash?" Platinum was shocked upon seeing the loli Zofia, Maria, and Lappland.
"No, I don't love kids." He deadpanned at her and he slapped her butt.
"Oh, okay... I thought you were pining for the small ones." Platinum sighed in relief and she feared for the lolis. He wasn't exactly a small person after all.
She then gave him the specifics of the land after mapping it down. Making him nod in satisfaction at Platinum's efficiency. She hated work after all, so she completes it as fast as possible.
"Hmm, we should call Nian here. Zofia, contact Nian so she could check out the place." Ash instructed.
Zofia nodded, distracted by the change of topic. "Hello, Nian. Ash wants you to be here, we mapped out the specifics for the rampart that will be built against the seaborne."
The other side was deathly quiet, so Zofia checked if she was there multiple times with a hello.
"Guhahaha! Did you inhale helium Zofia? You're squeaking like mad! You don't even sound like yourself." Nian laughed at her and Zofia blinked for a second.
She then glared at Ash and he had a twisted smirk on his face. Looking pleased that Zofia brought that onto herself with just a bit of guidance.
"You bastard! You planned this didn't you!?" Zofia bristled and he had a straight face on.
"What are you talking about Zofia? I'm a distinguished gentleman. I won't ever do that." Ash shrugged and Zofia's small size didn't help at all. Her glare looked like a cute pout.
Nian's laughter could be heard from the phone and Zofia thought he was a bit too much.
"Hah, hah, I'll go. Thanks for the nice pick me up. I'll arrive in an hour." Nian cut the call.
"Was that Nian I heard?" Kal'tsit appeared with her team and they had Ascalon with them so that Ash could meet her personally.
"Hmm, a rare Sarkaz. So you're Ascalon? The leader of S.W.E.E.P.?" Ash checked her out and she was definitely an assassin. He could smell the blood from her.
"Yes, I am. Nice to meet you, Asmodeus." Ascalon shook his hand and she sized him up. She then looked at Kal'tsit and shook her head.
'So we can't do anything about him huh? And he's even collecting Feranmuts. I think it was a bad idea to send Nian to him.' Kal'tsit sweated a bit and just hoped that he won't be led astray.
"You checked how I strong I was huh? It's good that you know that you're outmatched." Ash grinned as he analyzed the way her eyes moved.
'She's definitely a top assassin, with an augment. This woman can definitely go toe to toe with Shining.' Ash nodded at her skills, she was very, very good at her job.
He noticed that Ascalon checked his muscle composition almost instantly. She could kill almost anyone in the world. Ash thought that only the ones with peak physical strength would be able to deal with her assassination.
Ascalon didn't falter though, because she didn't feel any ill intent from them.
"You are frankly too ridiculous to even attempt to fight." Ascalon shrugged and she can't imagine how anyone would try.
"Well, have you done your own research about the shores of Sal Viento?" Ash faced Kal'tsit and she nodded.
"Yes, Ascalon noticed that there are numerous seaborne that are right below the depths." Amiya frowned and her companions had sour expressions as well.
"That's why we're doing this in the first place. Come on, I'll show you a bit of my powers." Ash took out an ingot of originite prime and plutonium. Gnosis managed to give neutrons to uranium so they could make a really dangerous element.
He got energized, just like in the energy bar commercials. Transforming it into pure energy for his reserves.
Ash then flew to the skies and concentrated. The construction plan for Iberia has been in the back burner for a while now, so he already have the necessary materials for a foundation.
Nian made helical anchors, metal rods with helical plates on them.
"Let's see, I guess I can also use this as an attack too. Orbital bombardment with kinetic energy." Ash protected them by coating them with his powers, nullifying impacts like a perfect sponge.
He lined them up in the sky and like a conductor, he moves his hands. The anchors burrowed deep into the ground.
Hundreds of giant metal rods fell from the sky and Kal'tsit could only look at it with awe. "Ascalon, you think that anyone could handle that?"
"No, absolutely not. He could just skewer you with giant rods like it's nothing. Even Nian can't defend against that. She'll be overwhelmed by those." Ascalon shook her head with a sigh.
"Are we going to be okay? He won't dispose of us for bringing him trouble right?" The Dokutah asked, paranoid as hell.
"He's our ally Dokutah, you don't have to worry... I think." Amiya looked at her friend, Maria.
"Eh, he won't be angry because you got imprisoned and we had to go here. He even enjoyed seeing Kal'tsit being locked up." Maria chuckled.
"Well, I sure hope he isn't." Kal'tsit hardened her face and she started to believe that Paradiso would be the key to defeat the apocalyptic enemies lying in wait.
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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.