"Hmmn...?"
Sensing that something was amiss, Vahn instinctively glanced in Keno's direction, his Domain spreading as far as it could—which, unfortunately, was nowhere near as far as he needed it to.
"What's up? You're acting weird," Aura noted, waving away the imp she had been giving instructions to.
"I'm not entirely sure..." Vahn answered, contracting his Domain from a sphere into a thin thread, allowing him to expand its range several tens of kilometers.
"I'll return shortly," Vahn said, locking onto Keno's position before using Flying Raijin to blink out of existence in a flash of golden light.
"H-Hey! At least tell me where you're going...!" Aura exclaimed, waving her fists in the air. Unfortunately, Vahn was already gone, having moved from the central region of the Great Forest of Tob to the slums of E-Rantel in an instant...
...
..
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Following a brief moment where his senses were still back in the forest, Vahn raised his brows at the sight of Keno sending a hooded figure flying through a brick wall with a punch.
'I guess she didn't need my help...' Vahn noted with relief, exhaling from his nose before making his appearance known by using the Body Flicker Technique to appear between Keno's position and the collapsing wall the hooded figure had crashed through.
"Vahn!? What are you doing here...?" Keno exclaimed, retracting her right fist mid-punch. She had mistaken Vahn for an enemy, so she had thrown her fist before realizing who he was.
"I sensed you were in a heightened emotional state and came as quickly as I could..." Vahn stated, glancing in the direction of the collapsing wall before using his Domain to reach out and grasp the hooded figure before they could slink away.
"And who are you supposed to be...?" Vahn asked, suspending the figure in front of him, his brows rising slightly upon realizing it was a moderately attractive woman.
"Kuh...your mother..." responded the woman, causing Vahn's expression to flatten in record time.
shkshkshkshkshk
As Vahn was considering how to punish the bloodied woman, a group of Death Knights surrounded the alley he was in, with a Hanzo appearing on the roof behind him.
"This isn't good...these Undead are strong..." Keno muttered, stowing her gauntlets away and swapping into her gothic lolita outfit, prepared to put her life on the line to escape.
"They won't attack us if we don't attack them," Vahn said calmly, glancing back at the Hanzo. In response, it gave him a curt nod before vanishing in a flicker.
shkshkshkshk
Contrasting Vahn's assurances, the Death Knights gradually closed their encirclement, swords and shields in hand as if they were prepared to cut down everyone involved in the public disturbance.
'Mmn...these things need better training...' Vahn thought, spreading out his Domain, just in case he needed to repel the encircling knights before they became a threat.
fwoom
Just as Vahn was preparing to send the squad of knights flying, a Gate opened less than two meters away, followed by a buxom, silver-haired Dark Elf in a pristine white military dress uniform with golden epaulets and buttons, her expression impassive, an eye patch covering her left eye, and a flat-topped, black-brimmed officer's cap adorning her head.
"I am Constable Shinoa of E-Rantel's Public Order and Security Division. What is going on here...?" questioned the Dark Elf, directing the query at Vahn while raising a closed fist to halt the Death Knights.
"This hooded woman attacked my companion, and, based on the many Adventurer's plates she's wearing over her armor, I suspect this isn't the first instance she's attacked someone..." Vahn answered, manipulating the hooded woman so that she was suspended in the air before the icy-eyed Constable.
"Ah! Let me go, you pig-fucking bastard! I'll kill every single one of you...!" shouted the hooded woman, demonstrating a surprising amount of power and resilience as she was able to thrash her head and wiggle against the pressure of Vahn's Domain.
"I see..." muttered Shinoa, her eyes briefly narrowing before she drew a rapier-like sword and unceremoniously cut the lower legs off the hooded woman.
"Gyaaaaaah! You bitch! You cocksucking whore! I'm going to feed you your own intestines...!" screamed the now legless woman, pulling out a pair of stiletto-like daggers from her cloak.
fwipfwick
Showing no hesitation, Constable Shinoa produced a silvery crescent with her rapier, slashing it through both forearms of the hooded woman before she had the chance to attack.
'She's fast...' Vahn noted, his gaze drawn to the Constable's pointed ears. As far as he was aware, Aura and Mare were the only Dark Elves affiliated with Nazarick. That suggested that Shinoa was a relatively recent addition to their forces—with swordsmanship and speed that eclipsed even that of Gazef Stronoff.
"YOU BIIIIIIIIIIITCH—!!!"
Now bereft of both her legs and arms, the hooded woman thrashed about and screamed like a banshee. The fact that she hadn't lost consciousness was a credit to her mental fortitude, but Vahn was starting to feel troubled seeing her sliced to pieces while suspended in his Domain.
"Alright, that's enough bloodshed..." Vahn asserted, producing a crisp-sounding snap with his left hand. At the same time, tendrils of black and gold electricity spread out from his position in an instant, imperceptible to the average person.
"Ah—"
With one final utterance, the hooded woman's eyes rolled back, her body abruptly going limp as her consciousness cut out like a television that had been turned off. Everyone else present—at least those who were alive—felt a faint pressure in their minds, causing Keno and Constable Shinoa to frown, sweat beading their brows.
"I understand it's necessary at times, but I'm not fond of being used to aid in torture..." Vahn stated, extending his left hand and placing it against the hooded woman's back. As he did, golden flames erupted at the ends of her missing limbs, growing outward like a fuse lit in reverse. Instead of a fuse, however, what grew back were the forearms, forelegs, hands, and feet—all within less than two seconds.
Recovering from her slight shock, Constable Shinoa placed her right hand over her left breast and offered a bow, stating, "Forgive me...it was not my intention to make you feel used..."
"It's fine. Just know that I will follow up to ensure this woman receives a fair trial. To that end, you should know who I am—"
Before Vahn could finish his introduction, Constable Shinoa interrupted him to state, "You are Vahn Mason, the Great Dragon Lord of Salvation, and a guest of His Majesty, the Sorcerer King. Every single member of the Public Order and Security Division, from the highest-ranking Officer to our newest recruit, is aware of your identity..."
"Then, once you've taken my companion's statement, the two of us will be on our way. We will not be accompanying you to the nearest station for an interview..." Vahn stated.
"Yes, of course..." Shinoa responded, keeping her head bowed for several seconds longer before raising it to issue orders to the Death Knights. The cleanup that occurred thereafter was extremely swift, as the P.O.S.D. had a contingent of Earth Mages to conduct emergency repairs at no expense to the victims of criminal offenses or collateral damage...
...
..
.
Following Keno's statement, Vahn returned with her to his hotel room for decompression. Her life hadn't been in danger, as the hooded woman had been markedly weaker than her. But being attacked and having someone attempt to kill you was a stressful experience.
"She mentioned me before she attacked you...?" Vahn questioned, his brows rising slightly. In response, Keno, leaning against his chest in her birthday suit, his right hand resting on her butt, affirmed, "That's right. I was hoping to interrogate her after our battle, but you and those Death Knights arrived before I got the chance..."
"I see..." Vahn muttered, his brows creasing as he wondered what the woman could have wanted with him. The notion of visiting the woman to probe her memories briefly crossed his mind, but before he could act on it, Keno switched from stroking to sucking his dick.
schlpslurpschupa
'I'm certain they won't kill her outright after my warning...' Vahn mused, his frown replaced by a smoldering grin as he cupped the back of Keno's head, reinforcing her behavior with an affectionate caress. She seemed determined to experience with him all the things she hadn't been able to experience since the incident that turned her into a Vampire Princess, and he had every intention of being there to support her...
...
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As the day drew to its close, Vahn, after tending to both Keno and Aura in different ways, made his way to the prison where the hooded woman was being kept. To his surprise, it was more of a mental hospital than a proper prison. Security was tight, but in place of cells lined with steel bars, there were reinforced, magic-nullifying rooms lined with quilted, eggshell-white padding.
kathnk
Following the retracting of a heavy, Adamantine-reinforced bolt and the opening of a nearly six-ton door, Vahn found himself in a 5x5x5m padded room, where the hooded woman, now affixed with a straight jacket lined with talismans, sat bound at its center—head down and hunched over on her knees.
"You must have been deemed fairly dangerous to receive this kind of treatment..." Vahn noted, stepping forward and sitting, ankles-crossed, in front of the woman. Four pairs of straps kept her pinned in her hunched posture, their ends flush with glowing silver rings that lined the floor in a circle around her.
"..."
Though Vahn could sense that she was conscious, the formerly hooded woman—possessing short blonde hair that framed her face and maroon eyes—feigned otherwise.
"Is there some enmity between us? I forget neither faces nor auras, so I'm positive we've never met..." Vahn remarked, gesturing with his right hand to undo all the bindings and raise the bobbed-haired woman's head using his Domain. She still pretended to be asleep, but when he applied sharp pressure to her sternum, her eyes immediately shot open.
"...!"
Despite the woman thrashing and appearing to scream as loud as she could, no words came out of her mouth due to the circular black marking that had been engraved on her tongue. It afflicted her with a permanent Silence debuff, meaning that, even if she were somehow able to escape the prison, she wouldn't be able to use skills or cast spells that required Magic Power.
'How thorough...'
"You shit-sucking cunt! I swear! When I get out of here, I'm going to kill everyone you've ever loved or even met...!" shouted the woman. She was still under the effects of Silence, but thanks to The Path granting him the ability to interpret any language, Vahn just needed a moment to calibrate before he was able to hear her just fine.
"Yes. I understand that you hate me. What I want to know is where your hatred stems and what you hoped to accomplish by targeting the one you know as Evileye..." Vahn stressed, his expression dulling into an annoyed glower. He wasn't fond of invading people's memories, so he would prefer that the woman simply explain her motivations.
"It's your stupid face. It pisses me off..." responded the woman, spitting at Vahn's face. Instead of hitting him, however, her spittle paused mid-air, suspended in his Domain.
"You're really not leaving me much of a choice here..." Vahn muttered, closing his eyes and exhaling a long, weary sigh. He really didn't want to, but after several minutes of listening to the woman spewing obscenities at him, he extended his hands forward to cup the sides of her face. As he did, she immediately bit down on his right thumb. But, while she was able to pierce his flesh and gnaw his bone with her back teeth, Vahn didn't so much as bat an eye as he placed her into a state similar to hypnosis. From there, she had no secrets from him...
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