Consequence of Barbarity [1]

The takeover was going great, no it was going better than great, it was the cleanest and most effortless fortress takeover Grahm had ever done.

His soldiers were almost done scouring every home, and every building, clearing out demi-humans.

Thousands of new slave workers, Thousands of corpses, and escapees only in hundreds.

Despite his men acting barbaric and committing atrocities, it was the best takeover of his career.

And it was all thanks to Cedric, the hero.

'I really need to get him to work for us.' Grahm thought about it, he wasn't sure if his kingdom had anything of worth to offer to such a mighty warrior.

With the support of a warrior of his caliber, he and Aurelia would be able to attain immense political power.

Who would dare oppose someone capable of obliterating armies of demi-humans with such ease?

The answer was that only a fool would.

But Grahm was not a fool himself. He knew that people of such power demanded a lot, and a lot was what a kingdom would need to sacrifice to attain a superweapon against its enemies.

The only thing that would stop him was the Kingdom's leadership, more specifically the senate.

Aurelia would most certainly be on his side, especially with the girl's apparent crush on the hero.

With her support, King could be convinced even if Aurelia wasn't his most favored child. Alas, the Senate was the hard one.

They never approved of Aurelia, nor of him. If he hadn't proven himself as a capable general he would have been executed with some excuse a long time ago.

Especially with Aurelia supporting him, his rise wasn't all that difficult, and for that, he was thankful to the young girl.

With a sigh he continued, streets were drenched with blood, and screams gradually quieted down but he could still hear the sound of abuse and murder.

Grahm gritted his teeth as he walked past a house, its large door completely shattered as he saw 4 older soldiers using the harpy to relieve their stress.

"Kill her after you are done." Grahm gave a single order, receiving the salute of one of the soldiers as confirmation before they continued.

'They seem to have a preference for harpy women huh...' Grahm shook his head as he continued.

Crack...

Some would call him a weak leader, but if he denied his men pleasure they would certainly be less effective. At least that was what he assured himself of.

His pride wouldn't allow him to admit that he was weak, weak enough to not be able to stop acts of barbarism.

Rumble...

Subtle sounds of cracking and rumbling reverberated through the ground, reaching even him.

'What is this?' He questioned in his mind as he saw the ground shaking.

Cracking and rumbling increased, more and more almost knocking him off his feet.

What seemed to be an eternity passed a deafening silence fell over the town as any and all acts stopped, and the air grew heavier.

It truly felt like an eternity before the Eastern Tower collapsed, the stone flew everywhere, crushing some wooden buildings under its weight.

But that wasn't what occupied Grahm's attention, what made him drop his jaw was the massive elemental made of blood. It was the same height as the tower, making anyone looking up feel insignificant.

"What the fuck is that?! Didn't Cedric say defenders are dead?" Cedric paniced for a moment.

No, he couldn't panic now, he needed to gather his soldiers and get ready.

He made his way toward the vanguard, rushing as fast as his legs could carry him, many of the buildings were damaged some demi-human captives were crushed beneath the stones, it was a shame but most were already in the process of being transported.

"We have an issue, I want some of you to go and find all soldiers that haven't made it back yet. We need everyone in combat positions pronto!" He spoke quickly, there was no time to waste.

Cedric didn't sound like he was lying when he gave him information that the defenders were dead which was proved by the ease he was able to sweep through town, and he had no choice but to trust the man. Leaving only one option. This was a trap that Cedric didn't find.

A loud voice of one of the female Harpy captives reached his ears, fortunately untouched, and despite being weakened she still shouted loudly enough to blast his ears, "You scum will die now, Lord Tormentor is here to save us!"

Grham was surprised she wasn't taken by a group of his men and killed afterward. She was rather pleasant to the eye despite being loud. She had short black hair, and her horns were white as snow, with the left one cut off. Her body was curvy, and her piercing red eyes could make many people fall in love.

He was thankful they left some female harpies alone, despite using and then discarding a quite large number of them, despite that they secured a good amount of them.

Perhaps they had foresight that they needed as many of them alive for the kingdom, it did not matter.

'Tormentor?' wasn't he one of the champions? He was supposed to be dead, no if Cedric was in the play he was dead.'

This meant that this was most certainly a trap set by that demi-human champion, which further meant that his soldiers only needed to survive until Cedric dealt with the elemental.

It wasn't long enough before immense elemental turned towards them, despite it being quite far away from them it was so large that it could almost reach them.

"Shields at the front! Archers prepare cleansing arrows!" His orders were precise and quick.

They had mere moments before the elemental made its way, its massive form crushing everything in its path.

'I guess we can't save all of the buildings...' Grham lamented but it wasn't anything he could do about it, this was an enemy trap.

While it was sad, his army was at least able to secure a large number of slaves, which would be an incredible boon to Valar. The town may even be rebuilt; after all, the demi-human slaves they obtained were physically strong.

Only some demi-humans remained without a chain on them, most were corpses and some escaped.

If he survived this encounter he would be considered the greatest general to ever live, giving a blow to the Demi human empire and even bringing slaves that could lessen the need for humans to do heavy labor.

He was proud of this achievement.

A moment passed as the towering form of blood elemental appeared above them, it prepared to smash into the vanguard.

"Mages!" He exclaimed, making the mage corps prepare a barrier.

Clang-

A clang reverberated, barrier shook and cracked under the weight.

'A barrier powered by over 40 mages is already cracking...' Grahm gulped.

With another hit a sound of cracking glass took over the battlefield before the barrier shattered.

They stood no chance, but they needed to fight before Cedric arrived.

"HAHAHAHAHA, You will all die. Once my brothers and sisters are freed Tormentor will end you and your kingdom!" Chained female harpy laughed, her mocking voice stabbing him in the heart.

She was one of the last slaves that needed to be exported from the town, together with a final group of Minotaurs and Harpy males.

Unlike the woman, they dared not speak but hope glimmered in their eyes.

"Get the slaves out, If we die here at least the kingdom will have some use from this whole ordeal," Grahm ordered a group of men.

They would be useless, what would a sword do against a creature that towered over the walls?

They happily obliged as they dragged the group outside the town.

This town belonged to humanity now, and the only obstacle was the elemental.

It raised its arms once again, and in a moment its massive arm collapsed upon Grahm, sending him and his soldiers flying into a nearby wall at high speed.