Absolute Depravity: Reincarnated with a lustful System-Chapter 313 - Escalating War And Confusion

Following the kidnappings, the tension between the demi-human clans was at an all-time high to the point where an unexpected truce was made. Setting up a meeting through a mediator, the tribe chieftains were about to meet for a quick resolution of the matter, and perhaps even get their people back from the other tribe.

'You in with them?' Hearing Haruki's voice ringing in her ears, Maria hummed a positive tune to keep her cover intact. 'Great, keep the mediator's mask up, I need you to keep them busy while we pluck the tribe's people in their villages.'

After having kidnapped the demi-wolf, demi-tiger hybrid mediator, Maria was masking herself as that girl to keep the meeting going for as long as possible. All the while, Haruki's scanty army plucked the defenseless tribe's men while their soldiers and chiefs were out meeting on neutral ground.

'Maria, Riley here, I'll start slaughtering the guards outside soon, make sure the chiefs and their guards are deep enough inside the halls so they can't hear any screaming.' Humming again to Riley's plan, Maria led the two chiefs down into the basement of a long abandoned shrine. The spot had been a point of sacred interest for both pastries and thus the chances of anything going wrong from one side were in a severe low.

"How long until we reach this hall?" Roared the demi-tiger chief, his white mane reverberating with his every word.

"Don't waste our time girl, I wouldn't wanna be stuck with this mutt for longer than I have to!" Complained the demi-wolf chieftain, his emerald gaze stabbing Maria on the back.

Despite them both having gathered here for diplomacy and the resolution of their missing tribe's people, the two make any effort to appear likable to the other person. Even as they followed Maria, they refused to acknowledge the other's presence and in case their eyes ever met for some reason, they would both look away and spit in disgust.

"Not much longer, we had to repurpose the dungeon to be the meeting room since it was the only place left standing after the wars between us," Maria explained, trying her best to act as part of both races and a bridge between both.

"You better not be lying, traitor's daughter," Howled the wolf-chieftain.

"That's right, I'll tear you apart if you try to play us," added the demi-tiger chief.

'Seems like the only thing that brings them together is their hate for this little girl. What is her story? And how did she even manage to get these two together for a meeting?' Maria's curiosity couldn't be quenched at the moment, and knowing that she shrugged the thoughts off and led the two and their guards into the dungeon meeting hall. 𝘣𝘦𝑑𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝑙．𝑐𝑜𝘮

Set between a long array of cells on both sides with a lone table set in between, the place wasn't the most ideal for such a meet, but their choices were limited. Since the shrine lay between the two clans' land, this was the only spot the chiefs could meet without being seen as weaklings. If either of them had entered the other's place on their command, they would've instantly lost the support as well as the respect of their clan's members.

'This should be deep enough.' Contacting Riley through Haruki's hive-mind ability, Maria gave Riley the signal to get started on their massacre.

"Alright, let's begin," although, turning to the chieftains, Maria said those words to them, but in reality, it was meant for someone else entirely. But, fortunately for her, the two monsters of demi-humans wouldn't know anything about her true nature until everything they've worked for had already crumbled and was over.

***

With nothing but a handful of guards to defend them, Haruki's army was swatting out the tribe's people like flies. Once they were struck down, the soldiers would quickly transport them to their hidden camp inside the forest, from which point on, they'll soon be teleported to the dungeon research facility by Haruki.

And even though everything was going on swimmingly, something just didn't seem right to the new lord of lust.

'Riley, how's everything there?' He asked through hive mind.

It took a while for the spy to respond but when she did it turned out positive just like at the villages.

'The guards outside the shrine are dealt with, we're waiting for the chieftains to come outside so we can capture them as well.' Capturing the elite of the tribes had been one of Riley's tasks, thus killing the chiefs would've been counterproductive to what she was assigned to do.

'Let me know if anything goes wrong.' Saying that Haruki temporarily cut their mental link. Feeling anxious still, he couldn't help but be reminded of all the times when everything seemed to be going well, but then all of a sudden tragedy struck. 'Am I being paranoid or-'

'Haruki?' Standing at the very center of the demi-tiger village, Haruki was suddenly assaulted with a screeching voice calling out his name inside his head. 'F-finally I got to you!'

"Hawthorn? What's the deal with you?" he mumbled, his fingers pressed tightly against his temples.

'I-it's a long story, bu-b-but-' Hearing the dragon's words in a jittery mess, Haruki could barely make out what he was saying. 'Y-you're needed b-b-ack at the la-ab!'

"Hawthorn, what the hell is going on?!" Haruki growled, demanding an answer, but the dragon's voice had already faded.

"What the hell was that?" He muttered, standing in the middle of demi-tiger blood and guts, wondering what exactly had happened. But the only way to find out was to do as he was told and return back to the lab constructed inside the dungeon.

Giving quick orders to his soldiers, Haruki made a swift return to their camp masked by Asmodia's magic. There, he noticed Asuka and the demi-cats healing the injured demi-humans who'd been brought back so they could be in prime shame while being experimented on. But what interested him more at the moment was Asmodia and the weight of responsibilities he had to force onto her while he checked on the lab.

"Something wrong?" She asked, just looking at Haruki's face.

"How could you tell?" Haruki said, huffing a sigh.

"I live inside your head most of the time, you can't keep any secrets from me you know," hearing her answer, Haruki felt slightly irked but he didn't have time to indulge in a quarrel.

"Whatever, just listen to me now," Quickly briefing her on what he'd heard from Hawthorn, Haruki asked her to take charge of the situation in Feral Lands while he went to check on the research labs.

Agreeing to the plan, Asmodia left for the tribe's village to conduct Haruki's soldiers, all the while, the lord of lust made his own way into a dungeon portal. What awaited him on the other end was a desolate place filled with silence. The stairs that reached the sky no longer echoed footsteps and as he ventured on towards the main lab, he saw only but a handful of people packed inside the room.

"Finally, you're here," Serena sighed, relieved at the very sight of Haruki.

"What took so long?" Deus asked, seeming visibly impatient as he anxiously tapped his feet onto the ground.

Moving forward, the goblin queen was the first to approach Haruki directly, and although Medusa tried to hold back the raging queen, her hand was simply slapped off of the queen's body. Standing before Haruki, the goblin queen stared at Haruki as if she was directly insulted by him and not by Serena and Deus.

"I want these two to apologize to me or my children won't work a muscle for you…" She commanded, her eyes glowing a bright crimson red.

"Why? What happened?" Looking over the queen's shoulder, Haruki noticed Serena and Deus both glancing away from him the moment his eyes laid on them. "What did you two do?"

"Okay, wait," crawling closer to Haruki, Medusa slipped between the goblin queen and him to try and calm things down. "How about I explain to the master what has happened, and you guys, uhm…Just relax at a corner for a moment? It's his decision where this goes anyway, right?"

Although reluctant at first, the queen bit down her pride and made her way to the seats at the of the room. The other two made their way to the stools parallel to the queen and settled down as well.

"Now will you tell me what has happened? And where's everyone?" Haruki asked Medusa.

"Y-yeah…It's a long story, but here I go," following those words, Medusa began untangling the confusion that had spread from the elven village to the insides of this dungeon.

By the end of the retelling of events, Haruki was left baffled at the utter idiocy of his companions and just how childish they'd been in his absence.

"Azalea and her soldiers are missing, there was apparently a goblin queen's clone infiltrating our ranks, Margarette was informed of this before me, and all you guys are doing is sit around quarreling with each other over a stupid fucking thing?" With how serious of a matter he'd left behind at the Feral lands, there was no room for leniency in Haruki's heart for the moment.

Glancing over at Serena and Deus, Haruki scowled in disgust before ordering them.

"Apologize to the queen, and try to find the real culprit and where those people are," while Serena was somewhat inclined to do as Haruki ordered, Deus was not in the least willing to bend the neck to the queen, especially not when he suspected her to be the one who'd kidnapped his lover.

'First, Riley got knocked unconscious that night, now this? There's no way any of this is a coincidence.' Intruding on Haruki's thoughts, Deus yelled out against him.

"Fuck off! I guess I should've joined Maricella in trying to find Azalea already instead of waiting for you in hopes that you'd have any semblance of a plan!" With that, Deus teleported out of the room with his sister Maricella's help.

'Hawthorn? Was that you?' Shielding himself from the blinding teleportation light, Haruki tried to figure out if Hawthorn was teleporting him away.

'No, I think the mistress of greed has some way of teleporting that she'd been hiding so far.' The dragon replied.

'What in the world is going on?' With so many things tangled up at the same time, Haruki hadn't a clue where to begin untangling it all.

Should he try to figure out what happened to Riley first? Or should he try to find the missing people? Perhaps taking care of the tribe's situation came first, but then again, he also had Margarette and Fay to check on as well. To make matters even worse, the whereabouts of the living war generals of the emperor were yet a mystery, a mystery that was about to cause him a heap load of trouble.

Having heard of a disturbance in the Feral lands through his informant in his village, Michael was well aware of the war between the demi-tigers and demi-wolfs, and with things escalating so quickly and kidnappings at every corner, the eyes of many rogue elves were helping him keep track of the situation.

"Say, you needed someone from that demon's inner circle didn't you?" Asked an elf keeping watch on the masked tents where countless demi-humans were being brought.

'Yeah, but not just anyone, we need someone we can use to get control of him.' Michael replied, talking to the left through an ethereal link.

"Greta, a war general of Haruki's, she can be useful to us," Smiling at the sight of the bound demon general trapped inside a steel cage, the elven was barely keeping himself from laughing out loud.

Stashing his telescope back into his pocket, the elf climbed off the tree and quickly returned to his battalion to report.