Chapter 36: Conquest Event

  Lily looked down at the corpse in front of her. Lucien, the Inquisitor, didn’t move. That was not really surprising, because his head lay beside his body. Her anger had already faded, and the whole situation felt dreamlike. She turned around and was surprised to see the two other corpses on the ground too.

  Without any real aim, she walked to the man she had killed first and stared at the gore in front of her. The blood had already soaked into the floorboards, thick and dark, and the smell made her stomach tighten. Why didn’t this vanish… why… It was like the trash she had thrown on the floor of her throne room earlier that morning, it hadn’t vanished either.

  But… but… they are NPCs… they are…

  Lily turned away, trying to look anywhere else, but her gaze landed on the second man she had killed, the one with the sword tip still buried in his throat. The sight made her whole body shiver.

  Then the sickness hit her. She collapsed to the ground on all fours, tears blurring her vision as she gasped for air.

  “Fuck… fuck, fuck, why, why, why…”

  Her voice broke into dry sobs, and she vomited, the bitter taste of bile burning her throat. The sound of it mixed with the silence of the room until even that faded.

  She stayed like that for a long time, her breath uneven, her body trembling from the rush that had left her. The smell of blood hung heavy in the air. And, somewhere deep inside, she wished the system would appear, that a message would pop up saying Quest completed or Enemies defeated, but nothing happened. There was only the quiet and the dead.

  Her hands shook as she wiped her mouth. Her pulse still raced, but her mind felt hollow, almost empty. The floor around her was sticky with blood, her clothes stained. She wanted to scream, but the words refused to come.

  Instead, she rose again, feeling that strange calming sensation inside her, the one that always came when her emotions started to spiral out of control. But why didn’t it appear when she was angry? Why only when she felt fear, or disgust, or that sick, hollow unease? No, it was more than only calming her down; it was like a small whisper in the back of her mind, reassuring her that everything was fine and that she had done nothing wrong. Calming, sure, yet also deeply unsettling. Still, it helped her steady her nerves, just enough to breathe again.

  So that was it. She was officially a murderer. She was no better than the damn hobo who had killed her for a few dollars. But… did she really have a choice? Lily was realistic enough to know that nothing good would have happened if the Inquisitor had gained control over her. So, in a way, it was self-defense, wasn’t it?

  It was unsettling how easily her mind tried to justify it, how calmly her thoughts lined up to make sense of the blood around her. But her brain was right, or at least she wanted to believe it was.

  She wiped the rest of the vomit from her mouth and spat on the floor. “Oh, Lily… you’re a crazy bitch, aren’t you?” she muttered quietly to herself. “You really need to try to stay rational in the future.”

  Her voice broke on the next breath. “Jesus… I just need to try not to lose myself.”

  It was easier said than done. But at least some truths were undeniable. There was no going back anymore, and she had already made up her mind to live this new life the way she once played Xantia. So… she wouldn’t be just another damn murder hobo, but she also wouldn’t lie to herself and say she would never kill again.

  Also, it was only her second day here, and already she had almost killed one person yesterday and three today. There was no chance it wouldn’t happen again, because there was no way Lily would ever let herself be powerless again. She would defend herself and her rights by any means necessary. And in the end, everything she cared about would inevitably lead to more conflicts. There was no avoiding that.

  She looked again at the corpses. The blood was slowly spreading across the floor, creeping under the tables, seeping into the carpet, and painting everything in a sickening red.

  Lily walked back to the dead Inquisitor and crouched beside him. The chain lying beside his corpse caught her eye, a thick silver emblem of the Ecclesia, now dripping with blood. She reached out and picked it up. The cold metal clung to her fingers as a drop slid down from it, falling onto her hand.

  And then she began to laugh.

  She didn’t even know why, but she couldn’t stop. The sound echoed through the empty room, half laughter, half sobbing.

  “Hahaha… I hope for your sake you’re not in this damn world, you bitch,” she muttered between breaths, still laughing. “You really did it… you fucked me even in the afterlife.”

  Her laughter was crazed, jagged, and almost unnatural. A tear ran down her cheek as she laughed, knowing there was no coming back from this mess, at least not without more blood.

  ???

  Tessa felt guilty about how she had acted. It had been unprofessional, and Lady Greenwood hadn’t seemed like a bad person at all. But what else could she have done? Those Church officials had insisted, and she couldn’t just ignore them.

  Ohh, I hope she won’t complain to the boss… she thought. That old fart would talk my ear off for hours.

  After Tessa told the Church officials that Lady Greenwood was waiting for them in the lobby, she had left them to their meeting. She didn’t want to interrupt, so she walked down the big commercial road to the bakery at the end of the street and bought a cake. She picked one with strawberries on top.

  Now she stood in front of the inn, holding the cake box carefully in her hands. She wanted to apologize properly. The cake had been far too expensive for her, but her bad conscience wouldn’t let her do otherwise. She hated causing trouble for anyone, and if she was going to apologize to someone like Lady Greenwood, it couldn’t be with something cheap.

  So here she was, waiting. Watching the people pass by. Yawning every now and then.

  Why is this taking so long? she thought. Maybe she could just slip in for a moment, bow, and put the cake behind the counter before it melted in her hands. Yes, that sounded reasonable. She could excuse herself later when they needed privacy again. So, she made up her mind and walked to the door, pressing it open with her shoulder while holding the cake.

  When Tessa pushed the door open with her shoulder, she saw the counter first and hurried toward it, wanting to set the cake down quickly. Then she slipped inside but almost lost her balance as her foot hit something wet. She caught herself, frowning, and her gaze drifted across the lobby.

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  Lady Greenwood was standing there.

  At first, Tessa didn’t understand what she was seeing. The elf stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by a dark puddle that spread slowly across the floor. She was laughing—soft at first, then louder—a strange, broken sound that echoed against the walls.

  Tessa’s gaze followed the sound downward, and her breath caught. The Church official lay on the ground before the elf. Blood covered everything: the floor, the carpet, the furniture. It was everywhere.

  The cake slipped from Tessa’s hands with a soft pfft as it hit the floor and splattered.

  The laughter stopped.

  Only the elf’s head moved, turning slowly toward her. Tessa froze as Lady Greenwood’s eyes met hers. The usual calm emerald glow was gone, replaced by a deep, burning red that shimmered faintly in the light. They weren’t the gentle eyes of the woman she had spoken with earlier. These were wild and sharp, like those of an animal, perhaps a cat, or something far worse, filled with a cold, unnatural fury that no sane being could possess.

  “L-Lady… Greenwood…” Tessa stammered.

  The door behind her slammed shut with unnatural force.

  Tessa flinched at the sound but didn’t look away from the elf. Her whole body began to shake as the situation slowly became clear to her. Somehow, something had gone terribly wrong with the Church officials. And now… oh, fuck.

  “I… I didn’t see anything!” she stammered, her voice trembling. “I… I won’t tell anyone! There’s no need to kill me, m-my lady!”

  The elf sighed—loud and weary—as if she was about to do something she truly didn’t want to. At least, that was how Tessa understood it, and the thought made her stomach twist.

  She made up her mind and turned toward the door, bolting for it. Her foot slipped on the blood-soaked floor, and she barely caught herself before falling. She reached the door and grabbed the handle, pulling and pushing with all her strength, but no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t budge.

  Behind her came the slow sound of footsteps approaching. Panic took hold of Tessa. She whimpered and, in the end, slipped down in front of the door. There was no escape. Her hands trembled as she turned over and pressed her back against the wood, staring straight ahead.

  Lady Greenwood was already there. Somehow, the elf was crouching right in front of her. Tessa hadn’t even noticed her move, but now their eyes met, and it felt as if the elf was looking straight into her soul with those deep, crimson eyes.

  For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke.

  ???

  When Lily heard the sound of something falling, she snapped back to reality. She had almost forgotten about the counter girl. Lily didn’t want to hurt her, but she couldn’t let her go either. So, she used [Telekinesis] to slam the door shut and hold it closed.

  Ahhh, fuck. What do I do with her now? Why is everything so damn difficult?

  Actually, being a damn murder hobo would make things easier… but no, that wasn’t an option. Besides, she already had a home now.

  She sighed, ignoring the girl’s frightened stuttering while she tried to think of a way to handle this. At least the girl had stepped inside only now and not a few minutes earlier. Lily wasn’t sure she would have been able to control herself back then, and she was genuinely relieved she hadn’t killed her too.

  While Tessa was trying to flee, Lily made up her mind. Since she had royally fucked up her short stay in Tiara, she might as well drop the charade.

  Normally, in Xantia, when a kingdom was controlled by NPCs, you could trigger a Conquest Event by attacking a city, starting with its guards or stationed army and finally the city lord. Once you won, the city would switch allegiance to your faction. It was one way to found your own kingdom, though a blunt one. You needed the power to hold the conquered territory, because all nearby NPC factions would immediately declare war on you. So usually, only guilds or player-run countries ever started Conquest Events.

  But Lily wondered if that same system might somehow exist here. After all, the Subjugation Event with Igrath had worked in a similar way. Would the city swear loyalty to her if she conquered it? It sounded absurd, but also tempting. If it worked, she might solve several problems at once, especially with the Ecclesia—because she didn’t want them anywhere near her.

  Still, there were questions. Wouldn’t that trigger some kind of NPC invasion? And even if everything worked here as it had in Xantia, she would still need time to build defenses and raise an army. It wasn’t as if soldiers would just appear out of thin air.

  Ahhh, why is it so difficult to be a demon princess…

  Tessa slipped down in front of the door, and Lily moved toward her, crouching to look closer at the trembling girl.

  After a short moment of silence, Lily said, “I won’t kill you. I know you probably don’t believe me, but I wasn’t in the wrong here.”

  Tessa only nodded, her eyes wide with fear.

  “You see, it’s quite a difficult situation,” Lily continued, her voice calm. “And I’m sorry you got caught up in it, Tessa. But if you help me, I’ll be thankful.”

  The girl nodded again, slowly this time.

  “Good. You see, it would be unfortunate if the other guests saw this mess. So, let’s make a deal. You help me clean this up, and I’ll just go change my clothes in my suite and come back. Since no one else has come down yet, I’ll lock their doors for the time being. When I’m back, you answer a few questions for me, and I promise I’ll help you too if you ever need a favor.”

  Tessa swallowed hard. “S-sure… Lady Greenwood. Thank you for not killing me…”

  Lily smiled faintly and stood up, holding a hand out to her. After a hesitant moment, Tessa took it, and Lily helped her up.

  In the meantime, she silently cast [Improved Arcane Lock]. It was the third-tier version of the spell, one she had learned mostly for dungeon choke points. The description was simple: Prevents doors from opening; fades after a short time or if broken. That was good enough. In this version, it would hold for about thirty minutes. The spell was more for her peace of mind than out of necessity. If Tessa really tried to flee, Lily wouldn’t stop her—the cat was already out of the bag anyway. She nodded to the girl.

  “Then we have a deal.”

  Without another word, Lily turned and walked toward the stairs, heading back up to her suite. On her way, she locked the other doors as well, just in case some guests were still inside and decided to wander into the lobby.

  She didn’t actually expect Tessa to clean the place up. She planned to do it herself once she changed. Still, she hoped the girl would stay; Lily wanted to ask her about the city later.

  When she reached her suite, she walked over to the mirror and paused. Her reflection stared back, crimson eyes glowing faintly beneath streaks of blood.

  Why are my eyes red? When did [Transform] stop working?

  Well, it didn’t matter anymore. She had already traumatized the girl—and probably herself too—so whatever. She sighed and looked down at her ruined dress. “I really should stop wearing RP outfits outside my mansion. That’s the second fight this morning…”

  Another sigh escaped her as she pulled the bloodstained dress off and tossed it into her inventory. Then she reached for her raid armor.

  A thick, black set of obsidian plate with sharp, curved spikes materialized and dropped heavily to the floor. The helmet followed; a black skull design with two openings for her horns. Even though her armor consisted of several parts, it counted as a single item. It was her soulbound plate, [Nocturne’s Requiem]. She had personally farmed every component, customized each enchantment, and had it forged in one of Xantia’s divine smithies.

  Lily pinched the bridge of her nose and pulled out her sword next, the [Nocturne Crownblade]. Then she dispelled [Transform] completely and began to put the armor on.

  When she finished, she hefted the sword onto her back. It clicked softly into place and held firm.

  Lily looked at her reflection again. In real life, she looked truly frightening in the armor. The black obsidian plates caught the dim light with a faint shimmer, each surface edged with dark steel. The spikes along her shoulders curved forward slightly, and the skull-shaped helmet, with its two openings for her horns, gave her the presence of a warlord rather than a woman. Thin red lines ran through the armor’s engravings, pulsing faintly like veins under skin, and her crimson eyes glowed behind the visor.

  It was quite a sight. She truly looked like a conqueror, ready to subjugate a city.

  Lily hesitated for a brief moment. Should she really go through with this mad plan? But after a second thought, did she even have a choice? If she ever wanted to live in peace someday, she needed a place of her own. And all those years in Xantia had taught her far more about building and protecting such a place than her real life as a student and cashier ever had.

  Yes, maybe it was madness. But the Ecclesia was madness too. And since she wasn’t human, she didn’t really have a choice if she didn’t want to spend her life hiding in the woods.

  She turned toward the exit of her suite, one last thought echoing in her mind.

  They say it gets easier… we’ll see.