"Weak."
A punch landed on Clayman's face, hurling him through the air in a comical fashion. His body skipped along the ground like a rock skipping across a lake. Clayman tried getting up, but as soon as he did, he saw an arm coming toward him. The arm hit his neck and brought him back down to the ground. The impact caused a small crater to form on the rocky ground.
Clayman was fighting for his life. Well, it would be very generous to call this a fight. It was a one-sided beatdown. Worse for Clayman was that he was not a physical fighter. He was a more magic-based fighter but when faced with someone who seemed to not be affected by his magic, it was a really unfair matchup. And she wasn't even using her sword. Clayman has tried to escape multiple times, but Artoria just wouldn't let him.
"Why are you doing this? Do you think you can get away with no consequences for attacking a demon lords territory?". Clayman all beat up and a far cry from his usual neat and clean self, tried to threaten Artoria.
Artoria, hearing what he said, stopped and thought for a second.
Clayman thought this was his chance to get away from this situation. A smile was on his face, thinking he had found his way out, but any thoughts were quickly stopped when he heard what she said.
"Yes, I do and to satisfy a little of your curiosity, I'm doing all this cause you sent Charybdis after my town. I just thought I'd respond in an equal manner.", Artoria said it as if it was the most natural and obvious thing in the world.
"Equal? Invading my territory, killing my strongest people, destroying my army. You consider that equal?". Clayman was shocked hearing this. From what he knew, the one in front of him destroyed Charybdis as if it were just another monster you could find in the world.
"Yes." That's all Artoria said. Plain and simple. No other words, no other meaning to it, just a clear and concise answer.
Artoria unsummoned Excalibur and summoned Rhongomyniad. "Let's get this over with, I have better things to do.".
Clayman got up quickly trying to make space between them. He was going to escape. Whatever was going to happen, he was determined to escape. It's better to live to fight another day.
He just needed a chance. One moment he could take advantage of it to escape his predicament. He hadn't used his ultimate move yet. It's strong enough to control demon lords, so why wouldn't it work on her? She can't resist this skill…right?
Clayman spread out his hands and used his trump card. "Demon Marionette". Red-black strings of light came out from his hands, their target being Artoria.
Artoria saw the incoming strings of light and didn't seem phased in the slightest bit. As they got closer, Artoria reached out her hand and with a quick movement grabbed all the strings of light. The strings seemed to be struggling to move, but Artoria held it firmly in place.
Clayman, seeing this, didn't think that was possible. He saw Artoria move her hand and moved the strings and put them around her arm. The string was now straight and with a strong pull, Clayman was pulled in her direction, her lance ready to strike.
"You're just a waste of corpses."
Clayman's eyes widened at what he heard, but he couldn't think of more on this as he saw her lance start emanating a yellow-white glow.
"Don't worry, there'll be no coming back to life. You won't have a body left. Whether it be physical, spiritual, or astral. I'll make sure of that."
He couldn't do anything at this point. He could only watch as she pulled her arm back, while the lance glow started to shine brighter and brighter, eventually lighting up the entire area.
Artoria didn't hesitate in the slightest, with a swift and practiced motion she stabbed the lance into Clayman. An outburst of yellow mist occurred after the lance made contact with Clayman. It could be called a pretty sight if one ignored the reason for it.
Clayman's body was like a puppet with its strings cut off. Artoria threw his body off her lance and threw him to the ground. She looked down at it and started breathing in. Smoke and a bit of flame came out of her mouth before a torrent of fire akin to a flamethrower started burning Clayman's body. Once she was done, the only left was ashes that were scattered with the wind.
'Alright, this part is done. It will take longer to fully incorporate this territory, but I can oversee it at home. I'll leave it to Benimauru, Hakurou, and their team, oh and Shion as well. I should send thought message to offer an option of surrender.' Artoria thought to herself as she let out a loud whistle to call for her trusty horse.
The sound of a horse running could be heard before it stopped in front of her. Artoria got on and gave it her orders. "Alright, Dun Stallion, take me to Shuna and then home. We can leave the rest to our soldiers and knights. The biggest threat has been taken care of.".
Dun Stallion immediately started sprinting.
On Shuna's side, Adalmann was absorbing all the information about the god she worshipped. Goddess actually, he realized after he kept listening. The big shocker to him happened when it was revealed that the one who rode away on the horse was actually the goddess she was talking about. He decided at that moment that he would devote himself to this new goddess and religion.
While they were talking the sound of a horse running could be heard. Shuna smiled knowing who it was and also confirmed that she won. Not that she doubted her chances of winning, but there would always be some worry.
Artoria rode in and she noticed the look of reverence and worship coming from Adalmann, even if his face was a skull that couldn't show much emotion and movement.
'Looks like I've gained a fanatic. I'm not surprised, but I hope he doesn't go too far with the religion. He shouldn't though, I made sure of that. I don't want my people enslaved by their religion.' Artoria thought to herself after seeing Adalmann.
"Good job on taking my advice about placing your faith in someone else. Stay here and guide the soldiers that will arrive soon. I already sent a message to them about you.", Artoria, told Adalmann.
"I'll do what you ask of me. I'll prove my self worthy of joining you.", Adalmann quickly told Artoria, who just nodded at him.
"Shuna, come here, it's time to go home.", Artoria said softly to Shuna. The firm voice she used with Adalmann was nowhere to be seen. Shuna went ahead and got on Dun Stallion before hugging her as they proceeded to go home.
/\\//\\//\
We were finally home. I made sure to recall everyone, but Benimaru, Hakurou, and Shion. Our next focus is Falmuth, but that will take a while. The actual fighting with Clayman's army won't take long, but the acquiring of his territory and the whole process that comes after will take time. How long I don't know, but I don't want it to take longer than a month.
As for the repercussions, I don't really need to worry. As for the demon lords, Milim, Frey, and Carrion will back me up, so don't really need to worry there. As for the human nations, they can't really do much. Most of the human nations are to our west while Clayman's territory is to our east. They can't really take advantage of the moment, but this is good for us either way, we'll be seen as a nation that killed a demon lord. It will give us some brownie points with them. Or they could see us a aggressive and be even more cautious about us, but eh, I'll see what happens.
Right now, I just want to take a nice long nap. I unsummoned my armor, put on comfortable clothes, let my hair down, and hopped onto my bed. There's nothing like the comfort of a bed after a long day.
"Artoria, is this really the best time to relax? You know it's going to get more busy, right?".
"Shuna, my love, I know, but this will be a rare time to enjoy this in these upcoming weeks. So come here and lay down with me, but if it really worries you, then you can look over the town while I sleep.", I told her before letting my eyes drift off to sleep. If she joined me in bed, awesome, but if she didn't then that's okay too. As long as she is nearby, I'm content.
/\\//\\//\
Shuna just stood there looking at Artoria sleep. The way she presents herself in private with her is different from how she looks in front of others. She exudes a royal and majestic aura around her that commands attention, but now, she seems like any other person. She didn't seem to care too much about how she looked in front of her if her messy and loose hair on the bed was anything to go by.
She decided to sleep with her, the town could wait a few hours.