NOVEL NEXT Chapter 57: Archduke Jabba the luckiest man alive!
Violet came charging out the restaurant onto the desolate wasteland of blood & rubble that was once a populated street.
Stopping as soon as she got a few feet away from the only remaining building she turned her head to look across Slate’s handy work. Quite a few people were middling about now with some guards even picking up the slack of their fallen comrades in a poor attempt to keep a peace they obviously didn’t care much for. More common than guards on the other hand were people who were scrounging around the carnage to seemingly look for something.
Although some of these people were panically going through to see if a loved one or perhaps some memorabilia from someone they love. Could even possibly be some heirloom passed down by their family that happened to be caught in the carnage the blue-haired oni had left in her wake; most likely weren’t looking for any of that. It was clear as day to Violet what their real intentions actually were.
If there was one thing she was knowledgeable about it was ‘sins’ with her being the {Demon God Empress} who built an entire realm that utilizes it. What she saw in these peoples eyes weren’t the obsessive sins related to loss but obsessive greed that revealed their intention to steal the treasures from those who likely died during the ‘incident’. Even some of the guards who were supposed to keep ‘order’ would often chase someone away only to crouch down and steal something for themselves.
Seeing this showcase of the nature of the empire brought a joyful smile to her face as she clapped her hands with a bell-like giggle. Of course, her sudden giggling like this got the attention of quite a few people who seemed less than impressed that the girl was treating them in such a patronizing manner. Their obvious glares along with occasional cusses did nothing to stop her though.
On the contrary their despise brought her even more entertainment. For her it may as well have been akin to a child angrily glaring because they found out their guardian was watching them struggle to open a cookie jar the entire time. Except instead of a cookie jar with a child it was more akin to grown mortals opening up to the demonic path.
Was there that big of a difference between the two?
“It’s you?!” <Jabba>
Just as Violet was enjoying herself while watching the beauty of an anarchistic display of scavengers on the prowl a familiar figure approached with the guards on his six. It had to be said Violet let out a soft growl as if congratulating him on losing some weight which he obviously had done quite successfully. That only enraged him more since the lost ‘weight’ wasn’t from his waistline but his shoulders since he quite literally had lost dominant arm.
In a world of cultivation and magic it wasn’t very hard to regrow a limb if one had enough resources or money; both things the archduke of a cardinal empire should have. Despite that he was charging up to Violet’s team with a very clearly empty sleeve of his gaudy, surprisingly western, formal attire. Obviously it wasn’t as if he didn’t try though.
Even just over the last twenty four hours he had spent a small fortune trying every possible method his servants could think of to heal his arm. As much as he tried - that didn’t really change much though since he was clearly still missing his arm - this was a wound from one of the people standing at the peak of reality. Not to mention not even Photon or Violet would willingly take an attack from Sohn-Tochter if it can be helped, let alone this little mortal!
Of course, one could say it was better than the alternative in his situation of having his existence erased by the annoyed punch of the teensy {Demon God Empress}.
Not that he realised the true mercy he had received.
“You stupid oni girl! What did that old blue haired whore do to my arm - tell me or I swear I will destroy you as well as 24 generations of your family! Don’t think I can’t do that! I’m related to the emperor of the {Dong Empire} so a little thing such as an ‘oni’ hardly means much when compared to the power I hold!” <Jabba>
Hearing the man rave merely made the little oni turn her head while looking at his [Fire Oni Fruit] red face while the amount of spit flying out his trap made her shocked. How could a mere mortal spit so much without dying of dehydration? Mortals really were a weird race no matter how many times she interacted with them.
Luckily for Violet she had the always reliable advisor to reply to the inquiry of-
“Didn’t she just cut it off with a butter knife? What a silly man if you didn’t even know someone had cut off your arm ohohoho~!” <Ashue>
-never mind, Slate was still knocked out cold after using an unfathomable sword art from Violet’s old repertoire.
As one can imagine the tortoise's reply came off as a little more mocking to Jabba than it likely was supposed to have been due to her cluelessness. Regardless, her intentions hardly mattered to the already enraged & irrational noble as it almost seemed like those bulging veins on his face were going to explode with how prominent they became. It even seemed like he was drowning himself with how much anger induced sweat was coming out from him.
“You fucking fat titted cow - do you think just because your a beautiful woman you can do anything you ever wanted by showing some cleavage! Well congratulations because I’ve now decided I’m making that little mistress of yours my concubine and will impregnate her in front of you while you are bred by some third rate hunting dogs of mine! Don’t think that you can get out of this as a single word from me will make both sects & mercenaries alike you hunt you down like the fil-” <Jabba>
Just as he was angrily waddling towards the group of girls a sudden figure flew down from the ground between the two sides. The weight/power of the object made the already razed street explode into a haze of dirt and stone resulting in only a shadowy physique being introduced to the thoroughly confused crowd that had now formed. From the outline present it was easily to make out a masculine figure who had landed upon one knee with a fist firmly planted on the ground while a golden light eminited from behind.
While everyone else was confused Violet gave an adorable ‘ooo’ while clapping her hands to reveal her amusement at the situation.
“Hero landing~.” <Violet>
Her words didn’t do anything to fill anyone else in yet that most people got the innate sense that whoever was inside the smog was not someone to be taken lightly. Of course, with most people here being seemingly human, not everyone was as intune with her base instincts. One of those people of course being Jabba.
“Who do you think you are; get out here if you dare so I can have your head for interrupting me while I’m talking!” <Jabba>
Unfortunately for him the figure indeed had no intention to hide himself as Jabba kept his head firmly pointing towards his newly formed enemies. Though as that figure slowly stood up the red face of his slowly became pale as he was forced to bend his neck back to the extreme just to keep his eyes on the ‘face’. The man hidden within the dust storm clearly more a giant than man the archduke had ever seen though he couldn’t be blamed since that was the same for nearly everyone else.
“What do we have here, a disrespectful man picking on the weak with his own power, well I can hardly call myself a hero if I don’t butt in…” <Photon>
An all too familiar voice came from the debris as the gigantic man slowly walked towards the archduke while raising one hand then simply swiping. Although it was merely a simple swipe that was all that was required to reduce the pollution of the street as a holy light cleansed the entirety of the street. Even the one jumbled sea of body parts turned into orderly bodies ready to be picked up by their loved ones - many running over to them with tears in their eyes as they thankfully gave their worship to the literal lion of a man.
As usual a warm smile gave everyone around the confidence to leave everything to the hero while those in front of him felt nothing but the will to surrender. Quite clearly the guards on the nobles payroll were the latter as they quite visibly backed away as if trying to suggest they weren’t related to him. Yet, again Jabba didn’t quite get the message of what being a ‘Pillar of Reality’ really meant apparently, as he continued to walk up to the living legend with a cocky smile.
“I think I realise who you are; you are that Photon who is foolish enough to focus solely on defensive cultivation meaning you have no really impressive forms of offe-GUH!” <Jabba>
In an absolutely unsurrpising turn of events the mighty hero just decked the fatty who confidently walked up to him in a familiar manner to a certain demoness. At least he was far more respectful than Violet was with her sister as he only looked down at Jabba with a look one gave to an idiot.
“Does this fool not have any idea how heavy my armour or shield is?” <Photon>
With that he turned around only to open his eyes wide in apparent surprise upon seeing Violet standing there while happily clapping. In reply to that his heroic smile came in full swing as he turned around to press his knuckles against his hips while looking at her. A boisterous laugh left him as if he was welcoming an old friend he got along with like they never parted… Which was essentially just the situation.
“Bwahahaha~! I never expected you to see you in a place full of mortals like one of the major empires Violet - though I suppose you always were the most curious there ever was. Though this is just between you and me…” <Photon>
Saying that he went to lean in to whisper into Violet’s ear only to find their heights were far too vast to actually make that possible. With that in mind his smile got bitter as he fell to a knee and tried again to find them close enough to each other to make whispering possible. That being in mind he covered his mouth as he whispered.
“I have the strong feeling that there is something strange with this empire; it may be invaded heavily by a lot of very strong demons…” <Photon>
“Uhuh.” <Violet>
Violet just nodded her head along with a bright smile upon her face.