Power of A City Lord

"You will stand down!" Lloyd's voice echoed in the endless forest. His indistinguishable figure flickered behind his stacked necromancy spells as each of them hit Bear, slowly diminishing his speed.

The closer Bear would get, the bigger the effect was on him. Crow and Deer tried to urge Bear to retreat for now, as both believed there was still room for discussion. If they clashed with a City Lord personally, there would be grudges, and one side would have to be eliminated.

This quick confrontation had already prompted the other two witches and the senior forest spirits to come out of the oasis with a heavy heart. Since they were the ones attacking before, they didn't take the damage they took personally, yet this was their home. How dare an outsider enter so brazenly to the heart of the forest?

Streaks of black lightning that Kai had witnessed before came out from inside the array of spells Lloyd had created as thick bolts with enough power to decimate entire trees with each strike. They fell down on Bear and some of them managed to penetrate his body.

But Bear wouldn't stop, he didn't care about some damage. He could take a lot more. Kai, at this moment, understood how weak he was once more. Of course, then, that his creatures would only be cannon fodder. With how Bear was right now, he would tear through all 30 of them within seconds.

If he was as powerful as Bear, he would be able to go anywhere, do whatever he wanted to do. Perhaps he could even protect that kid when it came down to it. If the kid had died, his death would be on his hands. But at his current state, he was barely better than a stack of bones.

Kai now witnessed an epic exchange between a witch of the forest and a City Lord. Even though Lloyd hadn't managed to kill nor cripple Bear, he had done massive damage. And even though Bear couldn't even reach him, he hadn't backed down and his wounds were already healing at a visible speed.

As Bear continued rushing at the City Lord without caring about the damage, Crow and Deer finally decided to strike. They came from both sides and started by fending off the black streaks of lightning coming for Bear.

After stopping Lloyd's attacks and dodging some other ones, they cut off Bear's path and released a flurry of blows and spells at him. Crow released an ice spell that slowed him down as Deer used his speed to hit multiple joints while barely dealing any damage. Bear was relentless, and enraged.

However, seeing even his comrades attack him, he started coming to his senses. He started slowing down on his own accord and didn't attack any further. As Crow had guessed, as soon as Bear ceased his aggression, his attacks also stopped.

Lloyd spoke, still hiding behind his veil of spells, "I assume we can have a civil conversation now? Or would you prefer I decimate you all for attacking my city just a couple of days ago?"

Lloyd, seeing that there was no reply from the witches, ordered one of his normal-looking guards to step forward and show himself to Crow. As expected, Crow's amber eyes flashed and the guard was instantaneously controlled by her.

"We will talk. Halt your spells," the guard spoke confidently and added, "Tell your feeble-minded servant to stop hiding, as well. We will be expecting you inside soon."

Just as the witches turned their backs to Lloyd to return, he raised his voice again, "My property will also be returned to me presently."

"In the meeting, he will be," the mind-controlled guard spoke again and then collapsed. It seemed Crow wasn't willing to talk anymore so she let go of her hold on the guard.

"Feeble-minded?!" Gort promptly revealed himself. "That wench knew I was here."

"Crow proves repeatedly that she is the most dangerous of them all. We can subdue the brute and the fast one without any issues if she isn't around."

Lloyd spoke with a still voice, as if everything was going according to his plans. He had shown his strength and managed to get an audience with the representatives of the forest at the same time. With the demons coming for them, at least Crow wouldn't be willing to jeopardise the forest.

"However, we will need them for what's coming," he added with a cold tone. It almost sounded like the witches and the entire forest held no worth to him. He would see it all burnt to nothing to accomplish his plans.

Gort bowed with great reverence. He had the utmost faith in him.

Inside the oasis, not too far from Lloyd himself, the witches were conversing through telepathy.

"Will we actually meet that scum?" Bear snapped. His wounds had almost fully healed. He deactivated his spells and enchantments, but he still seemed as tough as a mountain.

Kai felt like an extra running around in the background. He had no role to play, no impact to make. Could he even be selfish enough to blame Bear for what he said? He had brought the demons to their door and even Lloyd had arrived.

Kai was sure he was the "property" that the City Lord was referring to. Yet he still felt somewhat happy that he wasn't abandoned. In such a strange land, he had no sense of belonging. He had never known what an awful feeling that was.

"No."

Something inside Kai ignited again. It was a similar feeling to when he had destroyed all his undead locked in the city. It wasn't felt like it was another entity inside of him. Kai was indignant.

"No," he thought and steeled himself. "I am not some property. I have the means to become more powerful."

Kai felt a splitting headache. His heart and his mind were at odds. Including what he was turned into against his will, the discord between the two became even more apparent.

"But I don't want to be an evil creature, either."