Arpious of the Planes

"You did quite good… Now show results," Auntie Kumo says in a cold voice.

She's usually so carefree, and if not, then she's cheery and smiling all the time, but now I know what it's like to have a game face.

Miss Kumo was indifferent to me now that we were close to the battlefield. It wasn't something I was happy about, as it made the built-up nerves in my body rise even more.

"Use your entire skeleton army, and don't hold back. We need the initial force to gain momentum; otherwise, this will be much more complicated. Also, remember to think of not only yourself and the soldiers but also the flow of the war.

It doesn't matter if your favored soldiers die. They were a grand sacrifice for the greater scheme of things… And this is something you must ingrain into your body if you want to become king," Miss Kumo says, sending a shiver down my spine as her eyes glowed a faint purple.

"Yes, ma'am," I respond before turning back towards the window of the watchtower we were currently on.

It was something already here, created by the human civilization, so we thought we might as well use it… With Aunt Kumo doing a few modifications here and there, we can quickly fix it if it does topple over somehow.

"May I ask when we are leaving?" I ask Auntie while keeping my gaze centered, straight out the window.

"You are leaving in a few hours. Just keep the morale up while we wait for them to make their move. The news about these few towns getting turned to dust should have reached the kingdom by now… And if it hasn't, then I guess we're leaving tomorrow as I need time to adjust the plan," Auntie responds.

Damn… I wish I were as bright as her.

"Don't be jealous," Auntie says as if she read my mind.

"B-but-"

"You have your strengths and weaknesses while I have my strengths and weaknesses,"

"Well, maybe except for mom,"

"You mean Arpious?"

"Y-yeah," I stuttered a bit as I responded due to Kumo's furrowed eyebrows as if she was annoyed at me.

"*sigh*... Your Mother Arpious has weaknesses… It's just that she's a mastermind at covering them up by drawing your attention away with overwhelmingly powerful moves,"

Really? Mother? Does that monster have a weakness? I'd say I'm pretty strong myself; in fact, I'd say I'm one of the best, but when compared to Mother… I'm like an ant… And she has a weakness?

Flabbergasted, I could barely maintain my composure, so I stepped back into the watchtower before sitting down at the desk Auntie was currently at.

It was wooden but had a map of the entire kingdom and surrounding allies next to it. She had this custom made for herself as she was the queen... So, of course, she has tons of money.

In fact, all the queens have unlimited money, which I learned from school is not typical in other kingdoms. They still have to work for everything they do, which is why greed is such a thing… And why money can corrupt leaders in all types of ways.

Us the princes and princess's though, get an allowance. It's enough for us to eat out every day, but buying expensive clothes, going to fancy restaurants, and buying personal training rooms are out of the question.

So with all this, we're just a higher class noble… which I don't mind as of now since I'll be king soon if I manage to complete this mission.

"So you're not going to ask what her weakness is?"

"O-oh yeah. I got a bit sidetracked… Can you please explain,"

"Look, you don't have to be so polite like we're strangers. It feels uncomfortable so just talk to me like how you would talk to a friend… or your moms…."

"Yes, ma'am,"

I usually didn't talk to her like this anyway, but it was hard not to due to her intimidating aura.

"Mistress, I have come to give you a message," A sudden figure cloaked in shadows says, appearing next to Auntie.

Auntie squints her eyes slightly as if something was wrong, but I didn't notice anything.

Isn't this just Yin… Or maybe a spy disguised as her?

I slowly raised my hand, ready to summon my sword if the figure cloaked in black tried to do something but,

"Are you Yin or Ina?" Auntie asks.

What does that mean? Are there two Yins? I'm so confused…

"Yin…" The cloaked figure says.

"Hooooh… Well, where did Ina go?"

"Why do you ask?"

The cloaked figures' words seemed like they would be slightly cheerful, but the monotonous and almost dead tone was scarily creepy. I couldn't help but squint my eyes at the seemingly living corpse in front of me.

There was no emotion, but that was to be expected of assassins… right?

No. Most assassins I've seen still had their emotions intact as they were able to hold loyalty and hold joy for their Masters.

Of course, this is only for some of the more minor nobles, and I know their training isn't as hard as what Mother puts her assassins through… So maybe they're different.

But then, doesn't that mean she holds no loyalty towards Mother… No, that doesn't make sense unless her acting skills are through the roof… Damn, the more I think, the more questions I have. I should stop for a bit.

"Don't talk back," Auntie responds to the question of the cloaked figure.

A heavy silence befell the wooden room lined with crawler legs that served as support.

"Yin, huh? Do you think you're strong?" Auntie asks, and the pressure around her seems to increase fivefold.

"I do believe so," The cloaked figure responds, pulling down her oni mask.

"Do you believe you're strong enough to go against Arpious?"

The assassin froze for a second after revealing the face of Yin, who was Mother's most prized pet/assassin.

Her face was that of fear, as if even thinking negative thoughts about Mother would get her punished.

Oh, there's some emotion right there…

"I would never dare to think I can go against Mistress," Yin says, somehow managing to find her answer through short and fearful breaths.

"Oh, do you think Arpious is scary?"

"Yes,"

"Then you won't like it when I'm mad," Auntie says through gritted teeth as she almost effortlessly pushes Yin to the ground.

The bloodlust leaking from Auntie was enough to stifle my breath, and I immediately knew I had to work harder. It wasn't even a conscious thought as it slipped and engraved itself into the back of my mind.

"Still won't say, huh?" Auntie asks, but it wasn't a question that expected an answer.

BAM

Yin was sent flying across the wooden room because Auntie kicked her directly in the neck where a thick metal collar couldn't even protect.

Yin began to writhe in agony from the suffocating feeling and overwhelming pain that started to spread to her head.

And to top it all off, Kumo walked towards her menacingly, causing Yin to shrink back and try to scuffle away.

Yin's face began to turn pale as Kumo stopped her scuffling with one hand and crouched down to meet her eye to eye.

Blank. I barely managed to catch a glimpse of Aunty's face, but all I could call it was blank.

When she stared at Yin, her face was relaxed. It held no hatred or even emotions at that. But that was the eerie part.

I thought the previous Yin expressed no emotions on her face, but this was on another level… Such another level that you could only call it horrifying.

Yin looked to be on the verge of fainting as Auntie didn't even blink once.

"Hey, answer my question?" Auntie says, her face staying the same but a wide ear-to-ear smile growing.

"Y-y-y-y-y-yes M-m-m-mistress," Yin stuttered before her eyes peeled white, signaling her passing out.

"*sigh*... Auntie, please be-"

But before I could finish my sentence, a thick piece of darkness wrapped around Yin's mouth before her shot wide open, her pupils dilating and turning bloodshot.

I glanced down towards Yin's thigh and saw that all five of Auntie's fingernails, on her right hand, had penetrated Yin's skin.

Blood drew, and if the poor assassin's mouth weren't covered, a blood-curdling scream would ring through the air.

"*gag*."

After gagging once, I couldn't help but suppress the puke that quickly exploded from my mouth.

"You're a good girl, right?" Auntie asks, not even checking on me while entirely focused on staring into Yin's eyes.

Yin nodded her head violently before the darkness covering her mouth was slowly removed.

"*cough* *cough* *cough*... Did she fold cause of that? Weren't assassins supposed to be able to resist more pain?" I mutter to myself after wiping my mouth.

"Now… Could you answer my question? Where's Ina?"

The temperature of the room seemed to drop drastically as Auntie met her nose with Yin's.