Tensura: Legion of Death

Conqueror of Flames

The trio of Elen, Kabal, and Gido had begun their journey toward the Great Jura Forest, accompanied by the Champion, 'Conqueror of Flames'. However, to them, she was just an adventurer, Shizue Izawa.

At Shizue's request, Fuze hadn't informed them of her true identity. She preferred to be treated normally instead of like some royalty.

"Hey hey!! Shizue-san, can you tell us more about yourself??" asked Elen enthusiastically.

'Not much I can really tell you,' Shizue thought.

"There's nothing special about me, Elen-san. I'm just a regular adventurer." Shizue voiced.

Understanding that she didn't want to talk about her past, Elen let go of the issue.

"So how old are you, Shizue-san?" Kabal asked.

*BAM*

"You DUMBASS!! Don't you know that you shouldn't ask a woman her age?!!" Elen scolded him.

"I'm sorry about both of them, Shizue-san. Tell me if you get irritated, and I'll take care of them." Gido told Shizue, scratching his head, embarrassed by his companions' antics.

As such, the party continued on their way to Jura, arguing and playing with each other.

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"Gido!! You cover Elen, I'll distract it while Elen casts her magic." ordered Kabal.

"Don't tell me what to do! Gido, you protect Shizue-san. I can cast the magic on my own." responded Elen.

"HEY! I'm the party leader! At least listen to my instructions" Kabal complained.

The party had just encountered a horde of Giant Ants. Alone, these monsters weren't much of an issue, barely C+ rank, but they were truly fearsome in groups.

'I should quickly end this. No point in endangering the trio' thought Shizue. After making that decision, she drew her sword and advanced toward the nearest ant.

"Shizue-san, be careful!!" Gido yelled, as he prepared to engage the ant himself.

*WHOOSH*

Shizue's sword suddenly burst into flames as she readied herself.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this." She said confidently.

'I say that, but in reality, I have to finish this fast before I lose myself.'

She then quickly dashed toward the ant, easily slicing through it's exoskeleton, engulfing it in flames.

Shizue didn't stop after the first, immediately attacking the rest, burning her way through their bodies. In just a few seconds, she had disposed of them.

"Whooah!! So cool!!" Elen expressed.

"Wait watch out!!" yelled Kabal from behind Shizue.

There was another ant, lurking behind the trees, who had sneaked behind Shizue.

'What?! Is this how it ends?'

"Pesky Insects" *BOOM*

A bright red flash blinded everyone as the ant exploded into a million pieces.

"Are you alright? Using a flashy attack was the fastest way of getting rid of that insect." A mysterious voice called out.

Gido, who was the first to recover, immediately questioned, "Who are you?"

"Calm down a bit, I just saved your lives." The voice replied.

In the next few seconds, the whole party had already recovered. The adaptability of adventurers was truly frightening.

The trio quickly prepared their weapons, fully alert of their surroundings. As the smoke and dust from the explosion cleared, it revealed a person.

The person was dressed in black and purple garments.

"He's right. He just saved all of us, let's hear him out at least." Shizue commented.

Accepting Shizue advice, the trio lowered their weapons.

"Good choice. Now come with me, I'll take you to the village. You can rest up and recover." The person spoke.

"Hey! At least tell us your name!" Elen called out.

"You can call be Ashborne. Now follow me." Ashborne replied.

Going unnoticed by everyone, a look of recognition appeared on Shizue's face.

'So it is 𝘏𝘐𝘔!!'

--------------------------

I was pretty cool if I do say so myself.

After I obliterated the Giant Ant with a quick [Crimson Ichor] from my fingertip, I greeted the adventurers.

As expected, they were a bit hostile at first, but I convinced them to listen. Or rather Shizue did.

To be honest, I was very relieved to notice no visible changes in Shizue. Even [Great Sage]'s Analysis didn't report anything different from the information from the Unique Skill [Archiver]. This made me relax a lot, since I wouldn't have to prepare for anything beyond my knowledge.

Of course, that didn't mean I would let my guard down.

In just a minute of walking, we reached the decoy village built by the ogres.

"Welcome to our village. It's not much, but make yourselves comfortable." I told the group as we approached the gate.

Upon seeing us, Rigurdo came to us immediately.

"Welcome back, my Lord" He greeted. I had ordered him to treat me like a Lord in front of the adventurers.

"Are these the people you went to rescue, my Lord?" He further inquired.

"Yeah, thankfully none of them were severely harmed. Show them the makeshift tents and provide them with food and water." I said.

The trio and Shizue were still a bit confused.

"Uhhh, Hey can you tell us what's going on? What is this place?" Kabal asked, acting out of character.

"This is our village, and I'm it's Lord. I sensed you being attacked, and came to rescue you. And thankfully, I wasn't late."

I had decided to act as a simple but powerful village leader in front of them. It was my first encounter with humans, and I had thought hard about how I wanted to portray myself.

I expected that the upcoming days would change my decision on how I would portray myself, but I decided to wait.

"Oh you're the Lord??! Should we be addressing you with honorifics or something?" Kabal asked bluntly.

"I apologize in his stead, Ashborne-san. Thank you for saving us. We are deeply grateful." said Gido as he tilted his head in gratitude.

"There's no need for that. I'm happy to help. Though I have to warn you beforehand. You're free to leave if you're uncomfortable with this, but this is a village of monsters."

I dropped the bomb. Our future interactions would completely depend on their reaction to this information.