The Crimson Tale of Conquest

---Jason POV--- 

"Sir Hero a messenger from the forest has asked for you." A soldier informed Jason as he watched the small house.

Since he started observing he's noticed that only Sable and the Fox woman came in and out of the place. Yet every time he tried to follow; they seem to have disappeared. He had also noticed that every time he entered, the place seems to collect more and more dust as the days passed. Meaning they weren't actually using the place as a home base anymore. Feeling disgruntled and welcoming the new development that could come from the messenger, the Hero followed the soldier to another room to meet them.

"Sir." The messenger said standing to attention when he saw Jason. "We have confirmed that the Monster woman Lucilla is located in the Enchanted Forest."

"... Well, that explains why I haven't seen her." Jason said both relieved to hear the news and annoyed he wasted his time here. "I'll set off right away. If I hurry, I can get there by tomorrow."

Looking outside Jason noticed that the last vestiges of the suns light slowly fading from heavens above. He won't get much sleep since he would be arriving during the early hours of the morning, but he was tired of hunting Lucilla. He needed to check his gear before leaving, and make sure his party had a way to get to him.

"Take these Kroger Land Dragons and meet me at the Fay Forest." Jason told May, Jane, and Sara after he finished preparing everything. He handed the rains of bipedal lizards to each of them.

"Sir, what are you going to do about the eastern guardian?" The swordswoman May asked. "She will try to intercept you."

"She'll want to intercept me." Jason corrected. "She might have permission to directly interfere with me specifically, but she'll need to leave that lake to do that. The amount of power she's able to wield is lessened significantly."

"She's still the only one capable of killing you even when weakened." Jane the mage pointed out.

"I'll be fine. May you're in charge." Jason said before turning around to start running in the direction of the forest.

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---Lucilla POV---

After talking with Kate, Solana, Ayah, and Ginn, Lucilla had allowed them -with Cristina's permission- to stay on the MS Ann. Lucilla then checked on the rest of her forces, the Centaurs, Lamia, and Faries were fighting next, so she wanted to make sure they were ready to engage. After checking on them Lucilla decided to rest for the day, she was tired, and she still needed to fight on the front lines to insure loyalty with her forces. These people trusted the contract not her after all, though they were slowly warming up to the monster woman as time went on.

Waking up the next day, Lucilla could tell something was wrong instantly. A powerful presence could be felt just outside the forest. Even this deep in the forest she could sense him. The Hero. A nasty looking smirk appeared on Lucilla's face as she thought about the trouble this would cause. Yet she also couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of fighting him.

'No, stop that.' She chastise herself inside her head. "You can't fight him; you can only survive. But if I play my cards right, I can kill him... maybe. All I have to do is look for an opportunity or I'm dead.'

With a heavy sigh Lucilla dragged herself back to the tree line of the forest. This time however the lord's army was much closer and at an earlier time than yesterday. Leading from the front in place of Vadim was Jason. The blue and gold armor reflecting the early morning rays, his sheathed sword at his side. He and the army shouldn't have been able to see them just yet, hidden in the brush and trees as they were. Yet Lucilla felt as if the Hero was staring directly at her.

"I wasn't expecting them to be this close. Looks like we need to send out the Centaurs sooner than planned." Lucilla cursed before giving out her orders. "Make sure the Fairies provide sufficient magical covering fire, and that the Lamia Proform their duties as the main attacking force properly."

"We need the Centaurs to attack their right flank since that's where the Dragon slayers are located. The Lamia will take care of the center, while Cristina and her people deal with the left." She continued.

"Roger." Said the different leaders of each group before moving to relay their orders.

"Alright." She spoke, pulling out her two unwrapped blades. "Attack!"

With their orders relayed to them, the Fay and monster army surged forward. The Lords army completely riled up and full of determination collided with their enemies with far more vigor than the previous two day. With both sides crashing into each other like opposing waves. One would expect the Hero to also make a move. Despite the chaos around him, he was searching for only one person.

"Lucy think carefully about this." Morella warned.

"Ella, can you watch Sara for me?" She requested in response, her eyes narrowed as she focused on the Hero in front of her.

"Teacher...." Sara started, before Morella grabbed her and pulled her away.

"I'll support you the best I can Lucy. Just be careful. Run if you think you're going to die."

Lucilla glanced back to Morella and gave her a small nod before walking out of the forest. As long as she stayed near it, she shouldn't start growing weaker. Even then it'll take some time before she starts losing the effects of the forest. She had nothing to fear as long as she stayed near the forest. If needed she can even call for help from those around her.

Thats what she thought at least.

The moment she came into view Jason smashed one foot into the ground, launching himself in her direction. The only indication of where he had stood previously in that spot being a small crater in the ground. Lucilla couldn't even see him, yet her instincts told her to protect her front. Without even consciously thinking she had used her blades to shield the downwards swing of the Hero's sword. Chi ran through both her legs and arms, as her bones creaked and groaned from the older man's blow. Her feet sank into the ground as she struggled against the weight of his blade.

A look of surprise, colored Jasons face as he witnessed Lucilla block his attack. The woman in question on the other hand looked fearful. True genuine fear for her life. 'Oh yeah. This is how I felt the last time I saw him.' She thought her heart slamming against her chest like a caged animal trying to escape its prison. Her breathing was ragged and shaky with cold sweat running down her back and face.

"Well, wasn't expecting you to block that if I'm honest." The Hero said sheepishly. "That's embarrassing. Looks like I underestimated you slightly."

Lucilla didn't answer him. Instead, she focused wind Chi into her legs and normal Chi into her eyes. Realizing Lucilla wasn't interested in talking with him, the Hero sighed and once more charged at his target. This time Lucilla was able to see him a little. Still far too fast for her to react properly, but slow enough that she can see his trajectory. She blocked his next attack aimed at her left side at the last second once again. Transferring the Chi from her legs to her arms at the same time.

She couldn't use earth magic so there was a clear limit to how much she could reinforce herself with normal Chi. If she continued to take these attacks head on her arms would shatter. He already increased the strength of this attack from the last one and Lucilla wasn't excited to discover just how powerful he can actually be. Allowing herself to be sent flying she reorientated herself midair and landed on the ground, sliding a little way as her momentum slowed.

"Wow you're bouncy." The Hero commented. "Also, that had to hurt your feet. Where are your shoes?"

The monster woman couldn't help but feel confused by how chatty the Hero turned out to be. He was walking in her direction a supposedly relaxed fashion, but Lucilla couldn't feel and sort of opening when looking at him. She once again put wind infused Chi into her legs, determine to dodge the next attack.

Jason raised his sword and swung it diagonally, unleashing a crescent shape projectile from the swing, heading straight for Lucilla. Moving to the right, Lucilla managed to avoid the attack, though that just open her up for the Hero's follow up. An instant before his foot connected with her stomach, the purplish black, sludge like fog that was Miasma flowed from her blades and around her abdomen like a protective cover.

She was still sent flying back towards the forest, but the Miasma shifted to her back as she crashed through two trees and heavily damaged a third. She still felt the blows, and she felt bruised all over, but she was still capable of fighting. Jason looked at Lucilla with wide eyed disbelief. His attention solely focused not on her, but the Miasma twisting around her like and affectionate cat.

"Is that Miasma?" He asked.

Lucilla looked at him, then back at the sludge like fog as it stuck to her skin, then back at him. "Hehehe." She giggled as her lips curved upwards without her permission.

She then tried concentrating on pushing her own Mana into the Miasma, remembering that this stuff was just corrupted Mana. When she let her Mana flow through the Miasma, it acclimated with it, allowing her to freely and control it.

"Wait, what are you doing!?" The Hero exclaimed, in a panic he put everything into his next attack. Moving faster than before.

Lucilla knew that she didn't have the speed to dodge or the strength to block. If she could just figure out how to manipulate the Miasma like Chi, she might be able to win this fight. At the speed the Hero was going she would be structed before she could assimilate the Miasma into her body. To be precise she would assimilate the Miasma into her body at the same time the Hero's blade.

Everything seem to slow down as Lucilla witnessed what was possibly her final moments. She was frustrated that she wasn't strong enough to fight him. Frustrated that he continued to go easy on her throughout the fight. Frustrated that she couldn't' do anything but watch as he closed in. There was a slim chance she could survive this, but that was unlikely.

'I'm sorry.' She thought.

Resigned to her fate, the last thing she expected was to feel herself being shoved from the side. What she saw next was her sister being bisected from the waist, the shockwave generated by the Hero's attack blasted Lucilla, and the two severed halves of her sister back. The generated shockwave knocked down and damaged some trees in the process. Lucilla looked in horror as she saw both halves of her sister fly through the air. She hadn't even realized Morella was right there. If she knew she would've tried to get away from her. Keep her safe.

White blood splashed across her face as they tumbled onto the ground. Lucilla quickly got up and crawled her way over to the top half of her sister, blood gushing out of her at an alarming rate. Her guts and entails spilling out from her bottom half. Wrapped her arms around what was left of her sister, she cradled her head as she looked down at Morella.

"Morella stay with me. Please stay with me." Lucilla cried, as her vision blurred. "I can't lose. I can't."

Morella attempted to speak, but what came from her mouth instead was more seafoam white blood. Seemingly realizing she wouldn't be able to talk no matter how much she tried, the older woman slowly raised her arm to hold the silver haired womans face in her hand as she gave the younger woman a soft smile. The tears that threatened to spill from Lucilla's eyes finally released as they fell onto Morella's face. With a sob Lucilla pulled the dying woman closer.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She whispered as the light faded from her sister's eyes. Lucilla had completely forgotten about the Hero at this point. So, when he spoke again, she was temporarily surprised before a rush of anger flooded through her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill her." Jason said with sympathy as he approached. The glaring crimson eyes of Lucilla doing nothing to deter him. "Uh, well, sorry to say this, but I still have to kill you. I really am sorry about you friend, and I would love to give you time to grieve. But you honestly need to go now."

Jason didn't want to kill anyone else if he didn't have to. He felt truly regretful that someone else got killed in the process, but he couldn't focus on that. If he let this chance get away from him the monster woman would just escape again, and honestly, he was getting tired of chasing her. He raised his sword on last time, Lucilla glaring at him with eye's full of fiery hatred.

"Jason." A woman said deflecting Jason's blade with a magic barrier. She was smaller than normal, yet she was still wearing her royal blue dress as before. Her rainbow-colored hair was tied up into one thick braid resting on her shoulder. Her color shifting eyes glared at the man in front of her.

"Hello Nielia. Been a while huh?" Jason responded.

"You know you can't be here doing this Jason." The eastern guardian calmly said, a hint of anger in her voice.

"I'm sorry, but I do need to finish my job here." He glanced at the woman on the ground holding onto the severed corps of a water Nymph, tears running down her face. "Can't you just let me kill her? I'll be gone by then."

Looking behind Nielia looked into the monster woman's eyes. She was warned this was one of the more likely outcomes, but she hoped things would go differently. Unfortunately, things didn't end well this time around. There was still some hope for the future, but she needed to get this woman and Sara to safety first. Turning back to the Hero, Nielia raised left hand and snapped. In a flash of blue flame both Lucilla and Morella disappeared. Jason had also noticed some other flames appear around him, mainly from the Lords army's left flank.

"I'm going have to send you on your way now." Nielia said as the denizens of the fay forest began to retreat. The roar of triumph coming from the Human's resounded throughout the forest and the grassy plains.

"You're giving up?" He asked befuddled.

"I can't harm anyone here other than you, and my charges were going to lose anyway." She said before raising her hand once more.

Sensing danger Jason quickly rolled out of the way, half a second later the spot he was just located erupted in blue flame, turning the ground beneath into magma. In retaliation Jasone raised his own hand firing off a bolt of light that was completely and utterly blocked by a magic barrier surrounding the Arch Angel. The two of them back away from each other, giving themselves space as they faced off.