Tale of Discovery

Chapter 351: Hidden Inhabitants (2/2) ; Time

As I witness the Death Knight variation step forth and slay the male while he is naked on top of the female, its sword going through the body easily all the way to the female, slashing her as well, I conclude that the Death Knights can only receive the most basic of orders and have the mental cognition of an infant.

Since the males are the ones that are more likely to retaliate, I relayed the order that it can kill them, however, I said nothing regarding the females to see if it would understand, but it apparently didn't. Too bad for the elves; they're all out of luck today.

<Message>

"All Death Knights head over to the location of the elf village and provide assistance."

This is yet another test I'm doing. How much information is being circulated through my mind and my monsters, and can they locate a location simply because I "know" where it is?

Unfortunately, I can't check directly but can only wait for them to reach the location while watching a massacre unfold through the eyes of the Death Knight already in the village.

As I suspected, the ones that are first to grab arms and charge at the Death Knight are males, who I must admit are less capable than I expected them to be.

Due to having lived in the trees, they've become rather versatile with nature, but that's it. Physically, they might be slightly stronger than humans, and some of them can use magic, but only support ones such as healing and buffing.

Now, I simply have to wait for the Death Knight to accomplish its objective. Once that happens, I will head over and convert all the corpses to more Death Knights. Who knows what variation I would receive from these corpses?

As for the ones that live Well, I will simply bring them back to Nazarick and let my subordinates have some fun 'testing' with them.

For a while, everything goes as expected, but suddenly, the Death Knight receives a relatively powerful blow that blows it away and causes it to fall all the way down to the forest bed.

Fortunately, the Death Knight appears to have a strong endurance as it quickly rises back to its feet and looks up at where the attack came from.

Woah. What is that?

From the Death Knight's vision, I can see a female being that's floating in the air and glowing in a bright green light.

Her appearance is far beyond that of the elves, so it's safe to say that she isn't one with light powers or something.

With my curiosity piqued, I decide to visit the place personally.

<Greater Teleportation>

Appearing right above the Death Knight, I use <Fly> to maintain my altitude as I shift my gaze over to the new being with interest.

The moment I make eye contact with her, the female being's face contorts as she looks at me as if I am the most cursed being in existence.

Benefits of being a literal skeleton, I guess.

Shortly, the woman raises her hand and chants some gibberish in a soft voice before the plants around us start to move oddly.

Shit.

I would be at a disadvantage to fight a nature user in the middle of a forest. Who knows what kind of spells they've got in their arsenal? I would be better of not risking it.

As such, I have no other choices than to finish her off quickly or to retreat.

<Greater Magic Resistance>

Focusing on my target, I raise my right arm before casting <Grasp Heart>.

Despite repeating the same thing I did with the goblins, the ability doesn't perform as expected, as the female simply shakes her head slightly before narrowing her eyes and chanting a spell.

The next moment, the plants on the ground extend immensely before briskly moving toward the Death Knight and wrapping all around its limbs, effectively rendering it immobile.

Whatever. It's just a pawn that I can create many of.

<Twin Maximize Magic Fireball>

Following my spell, two balls of fire appear in the air before launching toward the female, who quickly moves away, resulting in the fireballs striking two trees and combust into spectacular flames.

Shortly, I begin to hear various screaming from what's left of the residents of the place.

Seeing this, the female being is visibly pissed as she hurriedly points her finger at me before chanting once again.

"Oh no you don't," I mutter as I silently cast <Greater Teleportation> and appear a few meters behind her.

"This is the end," I mock as I cast <Explosion> on her back, easily finishing her off with a giant burn mark on half of her body,

{Racial data obtained: Dryad.}

Oh, so that's what she was. Though, what exactly is a Dryad?

{According to the data, Dryads are beings of nature that rule over sections of a forest and protect a selection of races.}

Well, this one failed to do her job

{Objective Point Accomplished: Gain control over the area surrounding your base.}

{Exiting the game is now possible. Would you like to exit? (11h:59m:59s)}

Not yet. I still have to deal with a few things, for instance, the elves that are currently on the run.

As I start to wonder about what to do to accomplish that efficiently, I notice the presence of some beings approaching this location at a great speed, which upon focusing my senses turned out to be the other Death Knights.

Perfect.

Did they locate this place since I am here now personally?

Either way, I can now be certain that none of the survivors will escape.

Am I being cruel? Perhaps, yes, but it's necessary. I can't have these elves inform other settlements of my presence. Better keep the element of surprise up for as long as possible.

"Death Knights, hunt down all the escaping hostiles. Incapacitate but do not kill."

As a response to my orders, the approaching Death Knights release a roar before shifting directions and begin their hunt.

"Now then," I mutter as I gaze down at the Dryad that's currently out cold.

She kind of reminds me of Gaia, albeit way less impressive and threatening. After all, she is but a mere Dryad and not a One-Digit Code.

On one hand, there is a creature that can manipulate plants and cast some nature spells, and on the other, there is a being that integrates with a whole planet and gains something akin to omniscience. The difference is simply phenomenal.

I suppose this is the reason my common sense is a little skewed

---

"Lord Victor!" a bright voice greets me as I step into the throne hall.

"Hello, Albedo," I greet the succubus.

"Did you leave Nazarick again?" she asks in a voice filled with concern.

"Yes. There was a settlement of elves hidden in trees nearby that I thought would make for good subjects."

"Do you wish to rule over them?"

"Not exactly. By subjects, I meant 'test subjects'," I explain.

Following my words, a look of realization appears on Albedo's face for a brief moment before it's replaced with a bright expression as she proclaims, "These elves must be honored that they get to serve Nazarick."

"Of course," I humor her as I walk toward the throne.

What a fanatic Though it's a good thing, so no point in judging her for it.

Currently, I have handed over the pile of corpses and tied up survivors to two maids I came across upon using Gate to get back here.

I will be conducting experiments on them alongside my subordinates since it would be more useful that way. For all I know, one of them might discover something from whatever simple thing done to the elves.

As for the Dryad, I had one of the maids take her over to my room. I was planning to heal her a bit so she wouldn't die on me easily, but that proved to be unnecessary as her wounds were already healing at a visible rate.

And so, I am left with myself to ponder upon what actions to take.

For now, I am considering exiting the game to have a fresh breath outside and spend some time with the girls. Though I am unsure what would become of this game while I am away.

[For the duration of the main objectives, time-flow will be greatly reduced while Father is away.]

'By what ratio?'

[That's uncertain, but the difference is too much to be noticed.]

'Basically, close to time-stop but not exactly stopped?'

[Affirmative.]

Well, that's some good news. Though, I am sure that some powerful beings would notice my absence during the 'split moment' I am away. Heck, if a being is mentally unstable enough, that would be possible.

For some reason, the image of a certain pink-haired girl appeared in my head for a brief moment.

Ah, I am starting to miss those in the Rift already.

Now that I think about it, I never got to shower the girls with nearly half as much affection as I hoped I would; be it due to lack of time or constant annoyances.

Well, for now, I should focus on accomplishing what I came here for. Once I'm done and obtain a 'pocket home' as I hope to, there will be plenty of time for whatever I wish in the future.

'Nora, what is that countdown exactly?'

I am obviously referring to the countdown that appeared once it was declared I had reached my first objective point. Right now, it's at eleven hours and a little above thirty minutes.

[The countdown determines how much can Father stay freely before another objective will be locked and exiting the game won't be possible anymore until the next completion of an objective.]

So, I have twelve hours of leisure in the game before I am forced to get serious, huh? Not that it's needed, since I am already planning to get this done with as soon as possible.

The problem is that I am unsure of what to do exactly.

Having a general gist is quite different from a plain objective, after all.

'Does the countdown continue while I am outside the game?'

[Negative. Once Father leaves the game, the countdown gets nullified and the next objective will initiate upon Father's return regardless of the time passed.]

That's troubling.

I guess this means that the best way to make use of my 'time' is to spend a few hours here before leaving the game and then returning to complete the next objective.

As for what I will do here in the meantime Bonding with Aletia sounds like a neat start.

And perhaps

As I take a seat upon my throne, my gaze wanders off to Albedo who has been silently following me all this while and is currently standing a few meters away from me with a gentle smile on her lips.

She is far too beautiful to be left untouched, but my current form is inhibiting me from doing as I please.

Shit, why did have to be a skeletal body and not something like a vampire?

Hah~ Perhaps I could try fooling her?