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Chapter 101: Welcome to the Kingdom: Release

They didn’t speak much during their breaks – Ripley was barely conscious enough to think, let alone talk – but simply being in Asmo’s presence brought Ripley some comfort. Someone she knew had gone through the same experiences she had. They could suffer in silence together.

Out of the two of them, Ripley could tell Asmo was taking this better. Asmo, at least, had the strength to sit up while she rested. Though her matted hair covered her face, Ripley could still see Asmo’s eyes – there was still fight in them.

Just a few more days, Ripley thought to herself. Just a few more, and she’d be free. What she’d do when she was free, she had no idea. Fight the Demons? Run? She still had no idea how to feel about King Koinkar. His life had been threatened by that Demon, sure, but he was still the one to put her through this. Could she really continue to take orders from him after going through this pain that he ordered?

Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps coming down the corridor.

“No,” she muttered. It’d only been halfway through her four-hour break. They shouldn’t have been here so soon. “Please don’t take me.”

A helmeted guard walked up to the cell, keys in hand, and Ripley weakly kicked her legs, pushing away from the door. She was a high-Level Melee Classer – probably higher-Level than the guard – but there were more than enough ways to reduce her power. Stat-lowering Enchanted bracelets cuffed onto her, items that locked away her Talents and Martial arts – given enough resources and the ability to actually put these things on a person, you could reduce just about anyone back down to the strength of an Unclassed.

The guard inserted the key and turned it. The rusty lock grinded open, and the door creaked awry.

“Please,” Ripley moaned. “Not yet.”

“King Koinkar wants to see you,” the voice from the helmet spoke.

Ripley’s voice caught in her throat. That… wasn’t what they normally said. She just stared at the guard, unsure of what to say. Asmo looked over, too.

“Both of you,” the man continued. “Come with me. We’ll get you some food and rest afterward.”

Ripley met Asmo’s eyes. Rest? Food? Were they…?

No, she let herself finish that thought. If she did, she’d just be setting herself up for disappointment. They were getting a short break. Maybe King Koinkar just wanted some information.

Hells, maybe he just wanted some feedback on the torture methods. Ripley chuckled darkly to herself at the thought. Taking a survey to improve the quality of the pain. Honestly, that seemed like the type of thing Asmo would actually do. Way too pragmatic. But Ripley supposed that pragmatism was helping now – at least Asmo hadn’t been totally broken yet.

“C’mon, let’s go,” the helmeted man said again. His tone was softer than the guards normally were then they said that line, which put a bit more confidence in Ripley. She hesitantly got to her feet, only able to stand because of the hope pushing her on now – and the remaining physical Stats that hadn’t been drained away from her shackles.

Asmo stood too, looking suspiciously at the guard, who just stood there looking at them. Once they walked through the door, he turned and led them away, off in a different direction from where they normally went for their sessions.

Ripley leaned over to Asmo as they walked. “What do you think’s going on?”

“I do not know,” Asmo muttered back. “Just stay ready. Whatever it is, I am not sure that I like it.”

They arrived in the throne room, Koinkar sitting atop his usual golden throne. He looked at them strangely, as though he didn’t recognize them, but Ripley wasn’t sure if that was actually true or if she was just imagining things. She wasn’t exactly in the best state of mind, and she knew it.

“Greeting, Asmo and Ripley,” the king said. “Are you doing well?”

Ripley blinked. “Are we… doing well?”

“No,” Asmo said. “You are torturing us.”

“Ah, right,” Koinkar looked embarrassed. “It is a phrase, yes? I forgot what it could mean when used literally.”

What? Ripley thought. How could he forget what ‘are you doing well’ meant? Maybe she was more mentally affected than she thought, because she felt completely lost in this conversation already.

“Er, anyway,” he continued, “you’re being set free.”

That woke Ripley up. Even Asmo’s normally-unemotive face lit up with widened eyes.

“W- what?” Ripley asked. “What do you mean?”

“Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook ordered for you to be set free from your torture and to go work on a project of his.”

Now Ripley was lost again. “Xhag’duulini– who?”

“Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook. He is the Devil who you’ve met already. The one who ordered your torture in the first place.”

“And you… take orders from him?”

“Ah, yes. I forgot you were not informed. The Koinkar Kingdom will be fully collaborating with Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook to catch and kill Arlan Nota. We found that would be the most mutually beneficial option available to us, and–”

“You’re working for him?!” Ripley took a step toward the brilliant throne housing the frail man, breathing heavily. “He destroyed– he tortured– he killed Camilla!”

“Yes, it is unfortunate what happened because of my previous insistence on working against him,” Koinkar nodded. “But that is in the past. We are now–”

“The death of your only daughter is ‘unfortunate’? What in the hells is wrong with you? You were always a cowardly old man, but working for those filthy, evil fucking Demons, it’s–”

“Insubordination will not be tolerated!” Koinkar stood tall from his throne, cutting an imposing figure that Ripley had never thought his weak old body could ever show. His suddenly-strong voice echoed through the massive throne room. “If you continue to argue with me and insult our allies, I will not hesitate to throw you back in that cell to be tortured for the rest of your life! Now listen to me and do as I say. Know your place.”

With a look of genuine fear on her face, Ripley took a step back. “You’re… different. You’d throw me back in there? Demons are our allies? Something’s changed with you. This isn’t right. I…”

“I don’t care what you think. Just listen to me. We suspect Arlan Nota is in the mountains of Kingdom’s Edge. We want you and Asmo to lead a squad of soldiers into the mountains, find him, and kill him. And that is what you will do. We will give you some time to eat and rest – perhaps forty-three minutes should do it – and then you will depart.”

Ripley looked over at Asmo, who was eyeing Koinkar with a certain glare. Neither of them said anything.

“No objections? Great. Guard, take them to their temporary quarters. And prepare a teleporter to take them to the bastion.”

The guard walked away and they followed, but Ripley’s mind was elsewhere. Something was wrong with Koinkar. She wasn’t totally sure what it was, when he’d changed, or how it’d even happened, but she would find out what it was. For now, she’d go along with whatever this cooperating-with-the-Demons bullshit was going on.

But she wouldn’t be controlled like this forever.

Asmo stood in the cramped quarters she’d been allowed to rest in for the next forty-three minutes. There was a bed in the corner, which she’d obviously be unable to make real use of in such a short amount of time, and pretty much nothing else. Just plain walls and a door.

She agreed with what Ripley had said – Koinkar was obviously acting strangely. And it wasn’t just those big decisions he’d made, either. Sure, he was running the kingdom poorly, but what set Asmo’s mind on high-alert more than anything were the small conversational details and slip-ups.

He’d said ‘greeting’ when he first saw them. Not hello, or even greetings. Greeting. That was weird. He took the time to memorize that Devil’s name. He picked such an oddly specific time for their time to rest. And he only got truly angry when Ripley insulted the Demons.

Asmo was almost completely certain she knew what happened here. She had no idea how it happened, but she did know what was going on.

And she intended to confront it.

She stepped out of her room, closing the door behind her.

A guard standing nearby looked at her. “Lady Asmo, please stay in your room and rest. You can’t be out here–”

You have activated Blink.

45 Stamina Cost. Your Stamina is 131.

In an instant, Asmo disappeared from view and appeared a couple dozen paces away, down the hall and out of sight of the guard. It was so nice to be able to activate her Martial Arts again. Those Enchantments preventing them from using their System abilities had been removed once they got out of the cells, so she was no longer prevented from using what she’d relied on for so much of her life.

Blink was effectively a short-range teleportation Martial Art, with the caveat that the user had to be able to reach the place they were teleporting to normally. So she wouldn’t be able to teleport through a wall, since she couldn’t walk through a wall. But she could use Blink to go down some halls just fine.

You have activated Blink.

45 Stamina Cost. Your Stamina is 87.

With another activation of the Martial Art, Asmo was back in the throne room.

She walked up to King Koinkar, who was still sitting on his throne. Without her weapons, she wouldn’t be able to do much, but she really just wanted to talk, so she wasn’t too worried.

“What are you doing here?!” Koinkar stood up abruptly – something Asmo knew such a frail old man shouldn’t have been able to do. He was holding something in his hand, a blue glowing crystal of some sort – something she knew she’d never seen before. “Get back to your quarters.”

“Hello Koinkar,” Asmo said.

The king just looked at her expectantly. Asmo waited for him to say something, but he never said it.

“That is the first time I have seen you not correct someone who did not call you King Koinkar.”

“W– what?” He frowned, looking a bit worried. “I just– I’m a bit stressed.”

Yes, that confirmed it. “How long has Koinkar been dead?”

He just blinked.

“Or is he only captured, perhaps? Or I am speaking to him, but he is mind-controlled in some fashion? I do not particularly care about the specifics. But this is a recent thing, yes? The change was made while I was confined?”

‘Koinkar’ lifted the blue crystal up to his mouth and muttered into it, then lifted it to his ear and listened to a voice that returned. He never took his cautious eyes off of Asmo. There were no guards in the room at the time – probably to give him some privacy with that strange speaking crystal – so Asmo wasn’t worried about exposing these secrets. It didn’t seem like anyone else knew about him being replaced.

“I do not want to work against you,” Asmo continued. “I assume you’re a Demon, yes? Or you’re working for the Demons? I, personally, do not mind working for them, so that would not be an issue.”

He slowly lowered the crystal back to his mouth, and spoke into it again. This time, she could barely hear what he said, “I will call you back, Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook. Report of this interaction to come.”

“Thank you. I prefer speaking to you over that specific Demon. He was the one who ordered my torture, so I hope you understand my lack of fondness for him.”

“Why shouldn’t I kill you?” His tone was completely different now. Instead of the rough croak that Koinkar normally forced from his throat, this thing spoke with a smooth, borderline seductive voice. Something oozing charisma and confidence.

“I am a powerful Human – one you do not need to deceive. I suspect there are few, if any, Humans who are aware of this little coup you have performed. I can be someone who you do not need to worry about lying to.”

“And why would I believe that you aren’t planning on backstabbing us?”

“Why would I admit I know about this? Playing dumb would obviously be the better decision if I wanted to work against you.”

“Unless you gained our trust using such an admission, which you are attempting to do right now.”

“Of course I am trying to gain your trust. However you have done it, your group has taken over the Koinkar Kingdom. If I am to move up in the world, I should ally myself with this new power, not hold onto some dying old faction. I want to help you because you are powerful, and I want to ensure I do not find myself fighting a losing battle.”

“And you are okay with working against your own species? And working with the people who tortured you?”

“I am working for myself, not against my species. If the rest of the Humans decide they are against me, so be it. And I am willing to work with you because you showed your power by ordering my torture. Even before you took over Koinkar, your power was able to strongarm the kingdom into ordering the torture of its own soldiers. Clearly, the best way to avoid going through that again is to stop working against you.”

‘Koinkar’ rubbed his chin. It was becoming more and more obvious as she watched that it felt like watching something puppeteer a body more than Koinkar himself doing these things. None of his mannerisms were there. And judging by the strict scarcity of guards around the castle, she suspected most of the ones who used to be here had been kicked out or executed, by now.

“Does Ripley know?” The king asked.

“No, I suspect not. We have not spoken about it, at least.”

“I will have you verify all of what you’ve said under Truth Stone, I hope you are aware.”

“Of course. On the condition that you verify under Truth Stone that you have no intention to immediately execute, imprison, or torture me again without me doing anything to provoke you.”

“Hm. Fine. Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook really wants you to lead this squad, so I suppose I won’t kill you for as long as you are useful.”

“Then I will make sure I stay useful.” And hopefully, she’d prove her worth well enough, soon enough, that she could begin working up the ranks with this new organization. “One caveat, though. I will work with you, and do whatever you say, as long as you promise me one thing. Riplet Tenet is to never be informed about anything relating to this. And nothing will harm her. If I am taken care of, so is she.”

“Hm. You Humans are so strange. Why would you care about her? You just said you’d be willing to kill innocents. And now you want us to protect someone?”

“I take care of what is mine,” is all Asmo answered with. “What will you do when Arlan Nota is killed?”

The king just shrugged. “I’m just following orders. Our circle of the Underworld will likely try to stay established up here for the long-term, though. We already have developed a foothold, after all. So do not worry about us disappearing and leaving you with nothing.”

Asmo nodded. “Well then, I look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship between us. And I look forward to completing my first mission.”

The king grunted. “Yes. Kill Arlan Nota, and we will grant you anything you want. I am sure Xhag’duulinithar’obaba’iidook will personally make sure of it, at this point.”