Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 521 Aesteradia - The Kingdom Of The Corrupt

the once prosperous city of aesteradia, the capital only housed by the prominent, now rests with gloom under the blanket of corruption. as viscous as a bottle of coagulated blood, it ran rancid in the air and feeling that corrosion traveling down his throat, monty did well to cover his mouth for the city was for the baned not healthy individuals.

'what the fuck is wrong with this city?!' he yelled in his mind, moving from shadow to shadow and soaking everything that he saw.

snarling like zombies and waddling like infants, the people of aesteradia appeared to be in a constant daze. from uncertain footsteps to the sudden burst of intellect shown in their actions, not to mention the slurred speech and the strange ways they handled their youngs–witnessing it all, monty–a boy much sheltered in his own city, was baffled beyond belief. he had never witnessed horrors, much less wander through a corrupted region, perhaps it was this lack of knowledge of such things that was keeping him more vigilant than he otherwise would've.

'and those bracelets...' glaring at the people passing through the main city street, he noticed them all wearing the same dark bracelet emitting the same dark smoke by their wrists. 'something's off about that thing, it almost feels like one of those items mistress keeps in her personal stash.'

lying in wait for the false heroes between two tall buildings, his mind raced and raced some more until he finally noticed the quadrant walking up the streets from a distance. keeping his eyes fixed on them, he began following them around just as he'd been doing for a few days. it wasn't hard to find their group, after all the soldiers and their group were the only ones who appeared human and acted as such.

'that's it, i'm gonna find out more about them and finally leave this damned place!' making himself that promise, he joined the zombified crowd in his tall cloak. mimicking their movements with a flicker of logic in his action, he kept getting closer and closer to the group until monty could listen in on their conversation.

"what's up with the queen? she'd had her panties in a knot for a while," said the orange-haired demi-cat, felix–the only male of the group as well as its leader.

'that leaves hilam, a mother figure perhaps? she acts as the group so there must be some way she's related to him.' still unsure about her role in all of this, monty wanted to listen some more, but as the group came closer to the grand castle surrounded by yet another range of mountains, he was forced to retreat in the shadows and follow them with caution.

line with the fauna of all sorts, most of them flowers, the garden should've smelled much better than the rest of the city, but that, unfortunately, wasn't the case for the land, the animals, and even the greeny has been corrupted for so long they've forgotten what they used to be. smelling of rot and blooming the bones of the diseased that had been pulled from the ground, the garden resembled a graveyard instead of something decorative at the doorsteps of a royal's house.

as the gates opened to the castle to reveal a handful of skeleton warriors stationed within, monty's heart dropped for a moment, yet slipping in through the opening at the gate's hinges, he continued to follow the group while the skeletons were busy shutting the gates. as dark as a cave with crystal-like decor scattered throughout the halls, he was almost dazzled by their faint reflection hitting him right in the eyes.

even so, powering through the daze, he came to a carpeted pathing that led directly to the queen's meeting hall. the heroes went in first and he did right after them. hiding behind a pillar, he looked to the very front where a pale woman with a strange dark liquid circling her head was seated on the throne. her eyes were painted dark and so were her lips, she was missing flesh of the jaws yet her eyes were dazzlingly beautiful. charmed nearly instantly, the young boy watched the woman open her mouth, but what came through those lips was no serenade but a sharp sound of glass being rubbed against each other.

"aghh!" he tried to cover his ears before they were damaged beyond repair, but to his horror, his body went limp, and the last thing he saw before slipping away was the sight of everyone turning their heads to face him.

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's-shit...' he messed up and he knew it, for the next time, he would awaken it would be in a cell with the same bracelet around his neck that he'd seen everyone else wearing.