"At least I used an actual lake, so point for me," Bree smiled as she landed near the city's main entrance. She turned her staff back into a ring while several guards drew their weapons upon seeing her.
"Halt," one of the guards demanded; Bree complied, "State your business,"
"I'm-" Bree's reply got cut off before she could properly start it.
"The capital is off limits to those of lesser descent and low rank," The Guard replied. "Return to whatever hovel you call home and never return,"
"I'm visiting from the nation of Melodia," Bree finished indignantly.
"Never heard of it," the Guard shot back, using his hand to point behind her, "leave,"
"I can not. My nation has taken ownership of Greenwater. I'm here about-"
"Then be honored that such a great nation has decided to use you as a base," Bree's eye twitched at being cut off again, "return and turn over all of your nation's resources to our men for the great war,"
"I can't do that," Bree repeated irritably, "Your forces attempted to kill us, so we had no choice but to kill every last one of them," Bree reached into her inventory and pulled out something Annie had given her along with the enchanted blade, she produced the head of Barney Razzor and threw it across the ground at them, the guards all stepped away in horror, his head had been preserved, but not until after he had started to ripen just a little.
"If I am not allowed to enter, then I shall accept this as an act of war and have my Friend Argit, the Demon Lord, join me as we reduce your nation to ash." The guards all drew their weapons, and Bree smiled.
"You know this man, and knowing his strength compared to yours, do you want to partake in this fight?" Bree gritted her teeth and changed her facial expression, fully wiping her carefree look away and replacing it with an annoyed one, although her eyes were only half open.
Being able to express her anger at the situation was the only reason she had come alone; she just didn't want any of her darling followers to see her blow a fuse, and them not being near her meant she had no reason to hold anything back, "Because this entire situation has left me in a foul mood and I will not hesitate to kill any who attempt to fight me," The Guards backed down, then one called out loudly.
"Fire!" A barrage of Arrows hit Bree to no effect; the archers on the wall hadn't even finished firing before Bree tapped her staff against the ground, engulfing the entire upper wall in golden flames. Before the rest of the guards could even turn to the fire, she pointed her finger at the one who had ordered the attack, and a bolt of green lightning shot from her fingertip. The man screamed for only a moment before his armor fell apart, steaming, revealing nothing was left of the one inside but ashes.
"I did warn you," Bree said as she extinguished her fires, "Now, let me in, or I'll have to assume you all want to fight me," Bree raised her hand, and green electricity began sparking out of it, singing the grass at her feet.
"Open the gates," The Guard who had told her to leave cried out. "Open it now!" The gates opened, and the Guards all flooded inside. Bree followed suit, humming a happy little tune as she walked past the armor of the one she had disintegrated. She picked up Barney's head and returned it to her inventory as she entered the capital.
Judging from the lack of reaction to her presence, she deduced that they had all run to inform the king that a powerful mage was attacking. She was in no hurry as she walked down the evenly paved road; not a speck of dirt or an out-of-place brick could be seen within the city's walls; even the potted plants were synthetic.
"Nothing but decoration," Bree decided. What a dull place." The town's natives were odd people, even comparing them to all she had seen in this world. She meant no insult by thinking it, but the men here made Gunter look like a supermodel. While Gunter had been a bit chubby, the men here were a sight to behold simply because it was amazing their legs could hold up their weight.
Meanwhile, the women all looked malnourished and so scrawny that a harsh wind might do them in. As she passed a few women, she heard them giggle. She heard a comment about her weight and found it funny, seeing as she had lost around twelve pounds during her month-long sleep and was only a few pounds away from looking malnourished herself. Her once round face now had some shape to it.
She thought she looked a tad ghastly and was planning to get the weight back as soon as possible.
The place where she had spotted Jacob Razzor looked like some kind of church, and it housed the only people who looked to be in shape. She thought about going in to torment Jacob, but she couldn't remember what he had looked like, so she decided against it.
Bree continued walking down the road, looking around at the well-polished city and disliking it and its inhabitants more with every second she spent within its walls.
Upon arriving at the bridge leading to the castle, Bree found the guards she had scared off all talking to a man who looked irritably familiar. It took her a moment, but she recognized that he looked exactly like Barney, only in golden armor, very well groomed, and with both of his eyes.
"Fools," He said irritably, "You should have fought to the last man. Show me this mighty foe! I shall cut them down with ease,"
"That would be me," Bree called out. The guards immediately scattered, and the man shook his head.
"Pathetic, bow before me, Arlow Razzor, and pray to the Holy One for my mercy, you bug-eyed freak."
"Again with the eyes," Bree muttered before speaking directly to Arlow, "You look a lot like your brother," Bree responded simply, "But you have both of your eyes,"
"Ah, yes, they mentioned you were the new leader of Greenwater," Arlow cleared his throat before speaking in an almost business-like tone, "effective immediately, you are no longer the owner of that land, by the power vested in my by King Odren I claim all your possession as mine as legal restitution for intruding upon the Capital, as penance for your crimes you will be handed over to the Chruch so they might burn the holly teachings into you and make good use of your magic, resist and you will die,"
"Oh, I'm sorry, but Greenwater is now the capital of Melodia, and as the ruler of a foreign nation, you have no legal powers over me,"
"Then you are to bow and declare yourself an ally of Irenfell; your town is to be used as a base for my brother and his subordinates Balphazard and Eva; you will provide them shelter and aid as they purge the monster menace from your lands. Once done, the people of your nation are to join us in arms against Argit, the Demon lord. Failure to do so will result in a war you have no hope of winning, Understood?"
"Balphazard was crushed to death by one of my Maids," Bree replied simply, causing Arlow to falter. "Eva was ripped apart and thrown in the lake to drown, and another maid beheaded your brother," Bree held out her hand and pulled Barney's head back out before throwing it at Arlow's feet.
Arlow said nothing and instead looked at his brother's head, gritting his teeth as he tried to hide his horror.
"They invaded my land with the intent to kill my people, so we killed them. Furthermore, I have allied myself with Ozama. I won Argits favor after I bested him in a one-on-one fight; now, can we stop with the pompous boasting and just-"
"Lies!" Arlow screamed as he drew his sword. Bree spotted the Absolute severance enchant and waited as he swung at her.
"Whatever," Bree sidestepped his swipe; before he could recover, she held out one of her fingers and pressed it into his side, "Knock back," Arlow was thrown into the air as though he had been shot from a cannon and landed on the opposite shore of the lake with a small dust cloud marking his landing spot.