During the slaughter fest committed by the two other groups another one finally arrived at their targeted location, one filled to the brim with murky waters and deadly foes hidden under it
Even so, the duo tasked with taming the hegemons of these swamps walked in brazenly, not at all worried about getting ambushed or even stopped for a moment, which actually did not happen
How could it? One look at the swaggering monstrosity that Abaddon was and they all scattered away in fear, even the biggest and baddest predators underwater dared not approach after whiffing the bloody scent coming off this intruder
"What important bunch could possibly be living here that they demand us to come personally"
Complained the irate Abaddon
"It's always good to show the other party your sincerity by coming personally or sending people of high ranks, else you'd be belittling them, not something you would want when forming an alliance"
Explained Saa, all while looking at the swamp's unique plants in curiosity
"That only goes for similarly strong races, others should be happy that they are being taken under our wing"
Abaddon replied, then extended a hand into the water and fished out a creature trying to hide under the mud of the swamp and gobbled it up in on go
"I, munch munch, don't get why Master wants us to even ally with these weaklings, it's not like it would do us any good"
"They might not be strong but individual power doesn't amount much in front of numbers"
"You say that like we didn't wipe the wraiths, Master is not even all that about numbers anyway, in this world elites are all that matter and they decide the outcome of any war"
"But who would protect the other members of our race if all we did was shoar up on the power of a few? You need allies to defend your noncombat personnel"
"Humph, maybe you're clueless about the power of your own race if you're saying that, I dare say humans are an elite race that needs no protection, in a decade or two it would surely become an advanced race that is not to be trifled with, how I wish to be reborn as a human"
Abaddon looked at Saa, or her body, longingly, as if he wanted to take it as his own
To this, the woman looked back and studied the form before her
"Is that why you took on this shape?"
What she was referring to was the human like body, except it was red in color, with legs like bark and features similar to that of a plant
"The Blossom Race? No, I took it since it ought to be more appealing to the race we are going to meet, they are used as maids in Hortus after all"
That was reasonable, except one thing still bothered Saa
"Why a female body though?"
"Blossoms are gender neutral, as to why this specific curvy shape, well, Master seems to like them a lot, Does it not suit me?"
"It's not that but you always felt more masculine, plus I don't think my Lord really cares about our gender and more so that it feels uncomfortable to turn males into servants, like with vampires, we don't do it often since its too intimate of a thing"
"Is that so? Hmm, I guess it is sort of intimate"
While contemplating its Master's taste Abaddon 'seemed to miss the red object darting in great speed at itself, latching onto an arm to produce a sizzling sound as the red skin got burned off
"Agh! Despicable tricks!"
In anger it pulled the aggressor, a giant frog with horns on its head, with one heave, then ended the creature by digging into the head directly with one hand
The sound of water splashing was then heard as all the other similar frogs jumped away in retreat after realizing this foe was not one they could beat
"Is this not the race we were supposed to ally with"
Saa asked with a complicated expression on her face, YuJu's warning went to waste it seems
"Yup"
Not at all guilty Abaddon sucked away the innards of the creature through his hand which somehow morphed into roots, enjoying the delicious meal uncaringly
"...."
"Don't look hopeless, we got what we need"
"?"
"Think I couldn't react to that brazen sneak attack? I just wanted them to initiate combat, that way I have a reason to eat one of them to understand their language"
"You can…learn by eating brains?"
"Haha, of course not, I'm no Zobo, however I do have other ways to work things out"
After eating the entire body Abaddon suddenly turned into a ball of bloating flesh, alarming Saa to construct a cage of vines and thorns around the vulnerable flesh while it finished its transformation
It didn't take the usual hours to finish, only a couple of minutes and the ball of flesh turned to a giant frog similar to the dead one, except this one was much bigger and had longer horns extending from the head, one much like that of a goat
"So this was your goal, no wonder my Lord sent us on this mission"
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "Ribbit"
The frog looked smug, as if mocking her for not knowing their Master's great plans, then with one leap it went after the escaped frogs
"Why give me that look when you were just questioning the orders you were given"
Saa muttered under her breath with a headshake, then followed after the leaping giant, being left alone in this place meant certain death
After that everything went smoothly, way too smoothly, the giant horned frog race, or Capri as others call them, turned meek in front of the scarily powerful Abaddon assuming their form, and after having their 'good intentions' explained along with an apology for the aggressive reaction to being ambushed they allowed him to lord over them marking the end of their task
"Well, that was easy"
"Ribbit"
"I know, you did all the work, and honestly I'm grateful, at least I can spend the rest of our allocated time studying the plants of this region for anything useful, maybe I will even come up with a new seed"
With the imminent threat of war hanging around once more it was time she pushed her own strength up a notch
"Maybe my Lord took everything into consideration when sending us on our missions, I guess it should be just as easy for the rest as well"
"Ribbit ribbit!"
Abaddon nodded with a sagely expression, assured of its Master's wisdom
…..
Worlds apart from the duo someone was having the exact opposite thoughts
'What part of this is hills?!'
Ellis roared in her mind as if to match the roaring of wind blowing down on her
'This is Everest a few times over'
She had been trudging the snow inlaid slope for hours now, no doubt her fellow companions already reached the border of their own respective regions, maybe even started negotiating, while she hadn't seen a glimpse of anything but snow much less another intelligent being
But being the stubborn fighter she was Ellis did not give up, she climbed and climbed, the cycle of day and night passing without her knowledge for she was blinded by clouds, continuing on with one goal in mind, reach the top for a chance at an ally to protect her race
Her bones seemed to freeze, skin already cracked like ice, and senses extinguished, only the will to persist kept her moving
All this effort finally paid off after a very long trudge, when the winds stopped bearing down on her and the snow relented its assault, blocked by the towering gates before her
"Haah…"
Heaving she walked forward, taking a good look at the fortress atop these hills, solemn and mighty it stood, unconcerned with the happenings of the realm bellow
When she arrived at the gate to knock the heavy doors suddenly opened on their own to reveal…...
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