Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”Silvia!” The Priest’s cry was echoed by the others as they instantly recognized their companion. Though they had only been separated for a few days, her entire demeanor was a world apart from before.

The Vampire Mage looked nothing like a recently freed slave. Ignoring the familiar fabric peeking from beneath her new cloak, one would think she was a young mistress from some great Vampire Clan!

’Combined with the graveyard’s gloomy atmosphere, could she have been born here?’

”Silvia, did you escape from those Gargoyles?” Ron slapped his cheeks, trying to snap himself out of it and shake off such an absurd idea.

Silvia had always said she was an orphan. The Slave Hunters from Carolina were a bunch of half-rate hacks; there was no way either party could have any connection to this place. But then, how could he explain the scene before him?

”Ron. Victoria.” Silvia’s scarlet eyes seemed to have just focused. She looked unharmed and lucid, and she recognized them. The only difference was that she no longer addressed Ron as her benefactor. ”I can’t believe you followed me all the way here...”

”We went through a hell of a lot of trouble to find you!” Delaford said with a wide grin. ”We went to that aerie! We even ran into a pack of Gnolls! I even got an earful from a family of giant eagles all for you! Ow...”

The Goblin Hunter started to walk forward as he spoke, but Quest silently took two steps back, grabbing the goblin by the scruff of his neck. The Shapeshifter stared intently at Silvia, his eyes an indistinguishable black. Even on his face, which lacked distinct features and expressions, a look of extreme caution was plain to see.

”Silvia, how did you get here?” Shadow Spirit Yelena was equally wary of the Vampire Mage’s appearance. Neither she nor Quest had known Silvia for long, which made them all the more cautious. ”What about that giant Gargoyle? How did you get away from it? Or did it just leave you here?”

”A giant Gargoyle?” Silvia raised an eyebrow. After a moment’s thought, her face broke into a smile. ”Oh, you mean Old Opal? He’s fine. Your attacks just frightened him, is all. He was badly wounded, but he’s recovering now.”

”They meant me no harm. They just wanted to invite me to their home for some tea. Look,” she gestured to her cloak, ”they even gave me this. Isn’t it pretty?”

’Old Opal? Home? Tea?’

The group exchanged bewildered glances. Silvia spoke with perfect clarity. They understood every single word, but strung together, the sentences were utter nonsense.

”What are you talking about?” Aive frowned. ”Have we stepped into an Otherworld, or is time passing faster for you than it is for us?”

”And ’home’? How could you possibly have a ’home’ here?!”

”Ah, my dear Aive, I completely understand your confusion,” Silvia said with a smile, unbothered by Aive’s string of accusatory questions. ”After all, up until yesterday, I didn’t have a clue what was going on myself.”

”But don’t worry, you’ll understand soon enough. I heard a scuffle over in the cemetery and came to investigate. Since it’s you, why not accompany me to meet the current master of this place? You’re my dear friends; I’m sure he’ll be delighted to welcome you.”

”As for this one—”

Silvia suddenly turned her head toward the two unfortunate wretches who were preparing to flee in silence. As she gazed at them, the dark energy in the graveyard stirred. The very shadows the Shadow Spirit had once relied on to make his living now turned against him, morphing into bonds and shackles that held him fast.

”No! No!” the Dark Weaver and his raven shrieked, struggling with all their might, but it was all in vain. Just as a person caught in quicksand cannot escape by churning the sand, two beings controlled by shadows could not break free by manipulating the power of shadows.

Silvia casually pointed to the surrounding stone ledges, tombstones, and withered trees. The inanimate objects instantly came to life. Two guillotines, sized perfectly for the criminals, materialized from thin air and settled firmly in the cemetery. The surrounding shadows morphed into two giant hands, which delivered the Dark Weaver and his raven to the instruments of execution.

”You can’t kill me! I belong to the Crow Queen’s—”

”Shh, shh.” Silvia snapped her fingers. Rough, bitter tree bark was violently stuffed into the mouths of both the Shadow Spirit and his raven, silencing their squawking. ”My friends and I are having a reunion after a brief separation. What right do you have to speak here?”

”Ron... oh, my apologies, *Benefactor*,” Silvia said, turning to Ron with a beaming smile. ”The fate of these two rightly falls to you to decide. Just say the word. It will be quick and clean, and you won’t even have to get your hands dirty.”

”Shall I kill them? Or let them go?”

”Him decide?” Aive rolled her eyes, annoyed. ”It’s obvious you’re the one in charge of everything here, isn’t it? Just look around! Does that mean our lives and deaths also depend on a single word from you?”

”Silvia, what in the world happened to you?” The Priest of Heim looked at her friend, her expression torn. The Holy Emblem in her hand had never felt so searingly hot. ”Are you possessed by some evil being? Tell me. Just give us a look, a sign, and we’ll help you!”

”Possessed? Victoria, what are you talking about? I don’t need your help.” The Vampire Descendant took a step forward, only to stop when she saw everyone else shrink back. ”I’m doing wonderfully. Can’t you see? I’m more powerful than I’ve ever been! Power bends to my will! I feel incredible! I’ve never felt this good in my entire life!”

”Do you know what this means? It means I can go back to living like a ’normal person’! I can be the master of my own fate! Henry! Carolina! No person or faction can ever control me again! No one can treat me like a piece of merchandise or livestock! I’m finally, truly free!”

Silvia’s agitated emotions spread to every blade of grass and every tree. The two guillotines were no exception. Their slanted blades began to tremble, reflecting the moonlight and the utterly terrified face of the Shadow Spirit trapped beneath.

”As for what you said... heh,” Silvia looked at Aive, a malicious playfulness in her eyes. ”You’re right. I can control everything here. But don’t you worry. When it comes to ’life and death,’ I’ll only ever be considering the first of those two words.”

”After all, you saved me more than once. You even helped me eliminate the greatest enemy of my life. A debt of gratitude that large... I can’t imagine any way to repay it, other than with time.”

The hairs on the back of Ron’s neck stood on end without warning, even though the aristocratic Silvia before him looked so charming and utterly harmless. She walked toward him, step by step. ”But the good news is... I have all the time in the world now~”