Aghanim's Rubick Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

“So if I am understanding this correctly,” I spoke, looking at the gathered Monsters in my office, “Charybdis is a monster whose scales disrupt magic in their vicinity?”

“That’s correct my Lord.” Lucifer nodded.

“It’s not that bad.” Milim shrugged, “If you’re strong enough, you can just knock it away, wham!”

Her fist shot forward in demonstration, rattling my windows. She looked contrite at my unimpressed stare in response, rubbing her head and awkwardly attempting to whistle innocently.

I rolled my eyes, letting her exuberance slide, “Well, that makes things easier. If you can blow it away like that, then I would like to hire you to do so.”

This creature was an almost perfect counter to me if its abilities were as stated. I might be strong enough to resist its effects, like Milim apparently was, but the fact is that I was a creature made up of magic. If the disruption field interacted with my Core in a dangerous way, it could harm me massively, or even kill me.

“Hmm, hiring a Demon Lord to kill a Monster? I could not fathom the cost of such a thing.” Gazel hummed, being allowed to sit in on the council to observe.

“He’s right Rubick.” Milim nodded, grinning at me, “You will have to give me something really nice!”

I rolled my eyes. As if she needed a reason to blow things up.

“I’ll personally bake you a cake.” I offered, causing greed to shine in her sapphire eyes, “a big one, with the flavour of your choice.”

“Deal.” She agreed instantly, already drooling imagining the promised confection.

“My Lord.” Oda spoke, “If I may, could you let us take care of the beast?”

“Us?” I questioned.

“Yes My Lord.” My General nodded, his red hair waving as he did, “Your army has been training heavily, wishing to prove their worth to you in battle. This presents a good opportunity to do so.”

“I refuse.” The words came for Milim, not me, “You won’t take my cake away like that.”

“Milim.” I sighed, “If you stick around and only get involved when I say so, I’ll bake you the cake regardless.”

She brightened up at that, “In that case, sure! Your guys can have fun if they want.”

‘Fun’ she calls it. Oh well, if my military want to protect their homes themselves and ‘prove their worth’ to me, far be it for me to argue. As needless as it was, I understand how pride can be illogical.

“Well then Oda, there you have it. You may rally your forces, let us go and meet this beast.” I smiled at him, causing a bloodthirsty grin of his own to appear in response.

“Gladly, my Lord! Prepare to be amazed!”

Well, it’s good that he’s enthusiastic.

“My Lord.” I heard Lucifer speak from behind me quietly, “Would you have me recall my agents? They are all demons of impressive power.”

“No.” I shook my head, “I trust Oda’s troops. In the worst case, Milim will be more than enough. It is important to make sure no other nations take advantage of the distraction.”

“Very well. I was getting reports during the feast, I will let you hear them when this crisis is over.” She nodded, stepping back.

“Oda.” I called, making him snap to attention from where he was speaking to Lanaya to plan out the battle, “You have command and my full confidence. Lead well.”

“My Lord!” He saluted, hand over his heart, “I shall go organise the soldiers immediately.”

I nodded at that, “Susuru. Go with him in case he needs any logistical support.”

“Alright Rubick. Never a dull moment, huh?” He smiled wearily, causing me to laugh.

“No, that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?” That got grin from the slime, before he and Oda left, Lanaya following soon after.

“I must say.” King Gazel spoke as he stepped forward, “I am surprised at seeing you delegate this battle so readily. Most Monsters would relish the chance to demonstrate their strength.”

“I am not like most Monsters. Besides, my best friend offered her help, denying it would just be rude.” I joked, getting an emphatic nod of agreement from Milim.

“Umu, that’s right! No one messes with my buddy!” She did a spin before pointing directly at Gazel, her finger hovering inches from his face, “You got that?!”

“I understand, Lord Milim.” Gazel spoke, trying not to provoke the short girl who beamed at his response.

“Milim.” My tone caused her to flinch, “Pointing at people like that is rude. Apologise.”

“I’m sorry.” She quickly spoke to Gazel who was completely bewildered by the tonal whiplash that she represented.

I stood, placing a hand on her head after moving around my table, ruffling her hair, “Thank you for standing up for me Milim, you are a good friend.”

Her smile was wide and happy, returning like a sun that had been hidden behind clouds.

“But it was not needed, Gazel is a friend of Claszureme. We had signed some agreements before you arrived.” I revealed, causing her to blink.

She turned to the Dwarf King, who nodded at her questioning gaze, causing her smile to disappear to be replaced with a pout.

“Not fair.” She declared, “You don’t have any agreements with me.”

I laughed, “Let’s fix that after this is all over then, okay?”

She was deadly serious as she looked up at me, “I will hold you to that.”

Before any of that, however, we had a monster to slay.

---ARARAR---

It was truly fortunate, Oda reflected, that Muramasa had managed to complete the weapons he had been designing for the Officers of Lord Rubick’s army. Thanks to Susuru, they had ample supply of magical metals, allowing their weapons to be of supreme quality. It would allow him to fulfil the purpose he had decided for himself.

Lord Rubick was exceptional, and that was the problem. He could overpower any threat, meaning that finding opportunities to prove yourself martially was difficult when serving him. Even more vexingly, his Lord did not enjoy conflict for its own sake, merely using it as a vehicle to learn more abilities and magic from his opponents. Of course, their original deal had been for Lord Rubick to act as the guardian of their village, but so much had happened since then.

He had named them, gave them unimaginable power, built their city into one the world over would envy and treated them incredibly well. Oda was so immensely grateful, that it was almost frustrating. Lord Rubick required nothing, He did not need food or drink, his tastes were simple, and he was dutiful to his role as King.

Repaying him was difficult.

That is why, Oda wanted to prove himself in this fight. Lord Rubick loved magic, Oda had never seen him happier than when he was experimenting and learning more about the mystical energy. If Oda could fight off Charybdis, if he could prove to Lord Rubick that his armies were strong, he could allow his Lord to focus more on his true passion, rather than protecting them from every threat.

In a way, the current crisis was ideal. Charybdis emanated an aura which disturbed Magicules. Considering that Lord Rubick’s body was entirely made up of them, he was understandably wary of getting close to the beast, hence his hiring of Milim to take care of it.

That was so like his Lord, taking the quickest path to the resolution of the issue.

The Oni had no doubt whatsoever that should he have to, Lord Rubick would have been able to figure a way to fell the beast even through the Aura. However, he wanted to prove that he didn’t have to. He had protected them and led them well, it was time to repay his Lord’s care and prove that they can stand up on their own two feet.

To that end, he gathered his solders, while sending a mental message towards Lanaya, ‘Lanaya, We have permission to sortie against Charybdis. Lady Milim is with Lord Rubick as back up, will you be able to mobilize his Guard to meet us on the battlefield?’

The reply was swift, ‘Right away, Oda! Let’s prove that Lord Rubick’s faith in us is not misplaced!’

Musashi was the next one he contacted, this time in person as he walked onto the training grounds, “Musashi. Are our forces ready to sortie out?”

“Yes, Prince Oda.” The aged instructor nodded, eyes crinkling in a smile, “It feels like our first true test is upon us.”

“You were unsatisfied with the Orcs?” The red haired prince of the Oni questioned.

“Most certainly. The vast majority of them were swept away by Lord Rubick, meaning that we outnumbered them heavily when we engaged. It is hard to feel satisfied when both quality and quantity are on your side, oho.” Musashi laughed softly at the end.

“Well, Charybdis is a monster from legend. If that is not enough quality to satisfy you, I don’t know what will be.” Oda had a grin as he replied.

“We shall have to see, my Prince.” Musashi looked at the gathered soldiers, Goblin, Oni and Orc mustered together under one banner, “The troops are awaiting your command.”

He nodded, red hair swaying as he stepped forward, voice loud and carrying, “Defenders of Claszureme! A great monster has arisen, coming to destroy our city and take out lives! Heedless of our efforts, it’ unthinking rage will direct it to senselessly reduce us all to dust. Of course, our protector, the one who has given us everything, Lord Rubick, will not allow this to pass. However, I ask you, are we warriors? Will we be content to burden our Lord with every trifling matter that comes across our borders?! No! We are the Army of Claszureme, and we shall defend our home! For such a paltry matter, we need not bother our Lord at all. Who is with me?!”

The answering roar was deafening, weapons thrust into the air as the Army of Claszureme announced their full throated approval of his sentiments. Oda grinned at the sight and sound, secure in the knowledge that after this, his Lord will be able to rest a bit easier.

---ARARAR---

As my forces engaged with Charybdis, I watched them with Milim and Gazel, on top of a small cliff overlooking the conflict.

“This is so boring.” Milim pouted, glaring at the combat occurring in the air above us, the steaming cup of tea in her hands doing nothing to quell her dissatisfaction.

“Almost everything is boring to you. That’s what happens when you are so strong.” I hummed in response, ignoring the awkward King sat to my other side, putting a scoop of sugar into my own cup.

“You aren’t boring, Rubick! I enjoyed our fight.” Milim pointed out, a grin on her face at the memory, before she perked up, “Hey, Rubick! Fight me!”

“Later.” I responded, getting an exclamation of surprise from Gazel.

“You… Rubick, you are fine with fighting Milim?” He asked, careful to not offend the pink haired menace.

“Yes. She has a trick with light magic that I want to figure out, having her use it against me again will give me valuable insight.” I responded, keeping a steady eye on the combat even as I spoke.

“...Again?” He questioned, looking aghast.

“Ah! You mean my Draco Nova!? You can’t figure it out because-!” Milim eagerly shared before I put up a hand to stop her.

“Please, Milim. Half the fun is the discovery. If you just tell me, that takes all the fun out of it.” At my words, her eyes widened before she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

“Sorry Rubick. I was almost a bad friend there.” She looked rather sad as she said this.

I gently pet her head, smiling as I did so, “Don’t be silly, you are an excellent friend.”

“My Lord.” Lucifer’s voice came from where she was observing the battle from behind us, her eyes locked on the combat unerringly, “It appears they are about to successfully bring down their first prey.”

“Indeed it does.” I remarked, turning my attention back to the efforts of the Army.

Charybdis was massive, resembling a merged chimera of a shark and a sting ray. Its immense wingspan meant it was easily visible even as far away as we were seated. Less visible were the things that Milim had informed me were its spawn. They resembled sharks more than their progenitor, but flew through the air just like it.

The airborne nature of the beasts were actually the primary concern. My forces had few members who could fly, meaning that taking them down from their level was difficult, made even more so by the disruption field that meant that magical means of flight were not possible for most. Susuru was the exception, his Great Sage allowing him to control his magic to such a degree that the field didn’t really affect him.

Of course, my subordinates were not helpless. Many of them were incredibly strong, even without using magic. So to that end, they were using barbed spears with ropes, throwing them like javelins into the smaller beasts in order to drag them down to the ground, where they can attack them directly.

Charybdis and its spawn were not just sitting and waiting for this strategy, attacking my forces with waves of razor sharp scales, devastating the forest and striking deep into the earth. Thankfully, due to the distances involved, so far they had yet to manage to hit the human-sized evasive targets.

They were making good progress with the first one that they were focusing on, the shark having eight spears tethered to it, causing it to buck and thrash wildly as it was dragged earthwards. This specific specimen was not the one that had attracted Lucifer’s attention, however. Instead, she was referring to another of the beast, who had broken formation to swoop low across the ground, gathering speed as it attempted to ram the Orcs who were pulling down its brethren.

In doing so however, it had left the distortion field emanating from its progenitor. Something that Lucifer had noticed immediately and predicted would lead to its downfall. Such a prediction turned out to be accurate, as Oda also noticed the vulnerability, swiftly capitalising on it.

An orb of roaring, superheated black flames engulfed the creature. The magical attack wobbled as its own aura interacted with it, but it was insufficient to overcome the power of the General of Claszureme. With a thump of displaced air, the sphere contracted, charring the beast alive, dissipating to reveal a smoking, burning carcass that collapsed to the forest floor.

A cheer arose from the gathered monsters, as several quickly ran forward to pour water onto the corpse, to prevent the fires from spreading.

“Tea, My Lord?” Lucifer asked, pouring out a refill at my nod.

“First blood is ours! For Claszureme! For Lord Rubick!” Oda yelled, getting a roar in response.

The orcs pulling down the other beast strained, newly motivated, dragging it down far enough for others to jump on top of the struggling shark. Stabbing, biting and tearing, soon the thing’s thrashing motions stopped entirely as they successfully killed it.

“Prepare spears, again!” Musashi yelled, directing another team to bring down the next.

“Looks like the plan works for the smaller ones.” I mused, turning towards the other observer, “What is the plan for Charybdis itself?”

“I will handle it, my Lord. Please, place your faith in me!” Lanaya beamed, standing at my side and ready to act in case the enemies decided to target us.

When she had offered, I thought of pointing out that between Milim and I, it would likely be the safest area in the forest during this conflict, but her earnest expression prevented me from bursting her bubble.

“Alright then, I will look forward to it.” I decided to trust that they had a plan.

“Your army’s coordination is impressive.” Gazel spoke lowly, eyes narrowing as he observed their movements, shoulders tense.

I was also cooking up a solution to the large monster, but if my army’s plan failed I would likely just let Milim handle it. Speaking of the midget Demon Lord, she was fidgeting with her cup, not even looking at the fight.

“Man, this is so slow. I could just blow them all away so we could go play, Rubick!” She complained, thrusting out an arm, “Just one blow, BAM! Then we could have some fun!”

“I’m having fun just spending time with you, Milim.” I teased, getting the intended flush from the girl, “But yes, you likely could end the fight instantly. But my troops wanted to prove themselves in this fight and they can’t overpower Charybdis like you could.”

“O-Of course they couldn’t!” She masked her embarrassment by puffing herself up, “I’m built different, after all!”

I jolted at her usage of my own slang, a laugh bubbling up in my chest from the unexpected statement.

That was the relaxed atmosphere that a confused Gazel Dwargo, King of Dwargon, experienced while he watched a bunch of monsters battle against a Monster of legend.

He looked rather uncomfortable.