The battle lasted no longer than thirty minutes for the Slayer. In his hand, he held up General Ashburn's head alongside his Super Shotgun. The remaining Imperial forces were easily swept up by him since they still marched on towards the Bunny Village. Only one survived of the entire expeditionary force and that was Captain Luna, he barely made it out with his life knowing the immediate results of the conflict. Now, he was on his way back to the kingdom to report the disastrous campaign once more.
Captain Luna:"Damn bastard! I told him it was too dangerous to continue on! I need to tell his majesty right away! Hya!" His horse ran as fast as it could passing trails and mountains on the way. A figure far off from Luna's location watched him leave, interested in the direction he came from.
???:"This should be interesting."
__________
Night fell upon the bloody battlefield as the Slayer returned back to the Bunny Village unscathed. Tyuule and her people all walked out of their houses to find him walking back with a head in hand. He tossed the head before the gathering crowd as they just watched in awe how a man just took out an entire army with ease.
Vega:"The threat from the Imperial army should be of no concern for you and your people. The Slayer has completely obliterated it into oblivion." He announced. This caused the Warrior Bunnies to jump and hug each other out of pure joy.
No longer would they have to worry about enslavement nor execution. With the Doom Slayer on their side, they have all the proper protection they could ever wish for. Delilah, Parna, and Mamina walked up to him and pounced on the tall man. Delilah on his shoulders, Parna grabbing ahold of his right arm, and Mamina on his left.
Delilah:"You must join us in celebration, Mighty Slayer!"
Parna:"Please do join us, we will prepare the best meals for you!"
Mamina:"We can even give you some 'entertainment' should you so wish for it." She said rubbing up against him.
He looked at the two Bunny girls showing no emotion but lost in his thoughts. A warm meal was the only thing he heard coming out of her mouth since it had been eons since his last meal. Sleep was no issue for him either since his blessing with the Seraphim. Suddenly, Tyuule appeared in front of the four with her ordering Delilah to hop off his shoulders and for the other two to let go of him.
Tyuule:"As Queen, I order you three to let go of our savior. Do not bother him with such antics after his lengthy battle." She scolded them.
Delilah, Parna, Mamina:"As you wish, Your Highness." The three bowed and quickly left the two.
Delilah:"I sense jealousy coming from the Queen!"
Parna:"I know, right!? This is the first time I've seen her like this!"
Mamina:"We should watch them!"
The three mischievous Bunnies whispered amongst themselves while they went to conceal themselves. Tyuule watched them and practically heard everything with her enhanced hearing. She blushed at what they were saying since they weren't wrong at all.
Vega:"Are you alright, Your Highness? I see your temperature is rising along with your face turning red."
Tyuule:"N-no! I'm quite fine, thank you." She reassured him. Vega knew all too well what she was feeling and decided to tease her.
Vega:"Should you wish, the Slayer can carry you back to your personal quarters so that you may better rest there."
Tyuule:"E-EH!?"
Without hesitation the Slayer went forward causing her to close her eyes and look away. She felt herself get swept off her feet and get carried but not in the way she expected. He basically threw Tyuule over his shoulder as he carried her back to her household.
Tyuule:'GRH!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!' She angrily yelled in her thoughts since she totally expected a 'princess carry' she would always hear about in her younger years. As she passed by her people, who struggled to hold in their laughter, she started to calm down and just accepted the carry.
Tyuule:'Goodness, I guess it isn't so bad after all.' She propped her arms on his shoulder and rested her chin on her hands. She enjoyed the rest of the carry back while starring at the night sky.
Tyuule:'Thank you, Mighty Slayer.'
She looked back down and off in the distance, she saw her.
Tyuule:"What!? What's she doing here!?" She yelled out. Her people stopped laughing at the spectacle and turned to where she was looking.
Off in the distance, under the beautiful pale moon, stood the Apostle of Emroy, Rory the Reaper.
Vega:"Who is 'she'?" He asked causing the Slayer to set down Tyuule.
Tyuule:"It's Rory Mercury, a Demi-God and Apostle of the God of Darkness, war, and violence! She's dangerous since Demi-God's can wipe out entire armies alone! I know the Slayer is strong but I doubt even he can take her on!"
Vega:"So you say, what say you Slayer?" He asked. The Man in Green grabbed his Crucible and walked out of the village towards the Reaper.
???:"Hoh? Aren't you big~." The little girl voiced watching the man walk towards her.
Vega:"We come to you with no ill intent. We just wish to know where you stand between the Empire and the Warrior Bunnies."
???:"I serve under the God, Emory, not under the Empire or even the Bunnies. What caused this amount of death and destruction?"
Vega:"It is the man that stands before you, the HellWalker, Unchained Predator, Scourge of Hell...the Doom Slayer."
???:"Doom...Slayer, you say? Well, I must then thank you Slayer for giving me an enjoyable day~. All those souls passed through me at once, it felt quite good, you know~?"
???:"My name is..."
Vega:"Rory Mercury, Apostle of the God of Darkness, War, and, Violence. We know of you quite recently actually thanks to a companion of ours."
Rory:"So no need for introductions I see. Very interesting...I'm sorry but you'll have to excuse my impoliteness."
Malicious intent was caught quite quick by the Slayer and Vega.
Vega:"It's best to resolve this issue before it gets any worse, not for you, but for the Bunnies."
"Yeah..."
He ignited the Crucible and readied himself against this supposed 'Demi-God'. He's gone against Gods before and this won't be any different. Rory sunk her halberd into the hard Earth causing chunks to jump into the air. She then used her scythe as a bat and launcher the objects towards the Slayer at astonishing speeds.
This didn't deter the Slayer as he used his monstrous speed to evade the incoming projetiles and jump to the side. Rory used that time to throw her halberd in his direction and jump after it.
He jumped back to avoid the incoming weapon as well as her swinging attack. She recovered her weapon, bringing it up into the air and swinging it back down for a devastating ground strike.
Dust and smoke filled the air, obsuring them both but that didn't stop the Reaper. She continued her attacks on the evading Slayer thinking she was having the upper hand in the fight.
Off in the distance, the Warrior Bunnies watched the fight go down in the middle of their barren land. They all worried for the safety of the Slayer with the exception of Delilah.
Mamina:"Someone should stop the fight!"
Parna:"She'll kill us, won't she?"
Bunny :"I can't bear to watch!"
Delilah:"He's holding back."
Parna:"What? How do you know?"
Tyuule:"She's right, it's obvious he's just toying with her. If you seen his attacks and fighting style from earlier, you can tell just by looking." She observed.
Delilah:"He'll be fine, don't worry girls." She reassured the village. They all could only watch on and wish the safety of the Slayer from afar.
Rory kept up her attacks but stopped when the Slayer disappeared in the blink of an eye. She looked around her in confusion until she looked up and found him coming down in a flash.
She quickly moved out of the way to avoid a massive explosion that created a crater-sized hole in the ground. The Slayer got out of the hole and rushed her with the Crucible in hand, slicing at her halberd. Rory struggled to stop two of his attacks from his sword and opted to move away from him to gain distance.
Rory:"I'm finding you more and more interesting. I might just make you mine~."
Vega:"The Slayer will have to refuse that request as he serves no master."
Rory:"Aw, boo. Oh well, I yield. Your attacks prove more than I can handle and you only swung twice. Your strength intrigues me."
Vega:"Had this not been a test of sorts, you would have fallen by the Slayer's hand."
Rory:"Does he dare kill Apostles?"
Vega:"Demi-Gods, Gods, Immortal beings are all the same to him. His unyielding rage knows no limits. Let this be a warning to you, Ms.Rory."
Rory:"Hm, you can drop the formalities. I don't plan on having you as my enemy, I don't want to have to fight you in an actual battle. Enough of that, who's actually talking?"
Vega:"Good of you to ask, I am Vega, a Sentient Intelligent being assisting the Doom Slayer on his never-ending crusade of annihilating any Demon he comes across."
Rory:"Sentient...Intelli-? What? Do you speak for him?"
Vega:"I do, for many reasons, the Slayer chooses not to speak out of his scarred and traumatizing experiences against the forces of Hell."
???:"Slayer!"
The two looked to where the voice came from and found Tyuule along with several Warrior Bunnies at her side, weapons drawn.
Tyuule:"Are you alright? We saw everything from the village." She checked him for wounds or anything of the such. She was relieved to not have found anything life-threatening and turned to Rory. She and her people bowed before the Apostle showing respect to her as well as Emroy.
Rory:"Ara~, a lover of yours, Slayer?" She teased. Tyuule let out a small noise but kept her cool.
Tyuule:"No, your holiness. He saved us from the clutches of the Imperial army's enslavement. Not once but twice with the second involving an army twice the size of the first. We owe him our lives."
Rory:"Hm, stand. I can see you people suffered a great deal. Have I known what the Empire was up to, I would have intervened."
Tyuule:"Your presence here is already a great honor for us. We can get a house ready for your stay if you wish." She offered unto the Apostle. Rory thought about it for a bit until she realized that's where the Slayer was staying at.
Rory:"I accept, perhaps this will allow me to know more about this man."
Tyuule:"Please follow me. Will you follow us, sir?" She turned to him. Both he and Vega were quiet for a bit until Vega finally gave an answer.
Vega:"You may go on without us, we will be doing a walk around of the area to ensure it's secured. Enjoy your night, Your Highness, Ms.Rory."
Tyuule found it odd at the response but continued on as he said. The Slayer felt the presence of Hell's forces near, he and Vega both knew it was only a matter of time until the Dark Lord would appear.
New chapter! Hope you all enjoy!
Might add emotes at the end of new chapters from now on lol.