Alaster smirked to himself as he leaned back in the sofa, allowing his head to lay off the back.

Things were going well for him.

The Coalition was still camped outside the city. They were still bombarding the city. The walls were gradually accumulating damage despite the best efforts of the engineers.

Yet despite the dreary atmosphere that had descended upon the Human Soldiers, Alaster was happy.

Not only was his sister safe and relatively happy, but the one other person in the world that he cared most about had decided that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

And on top of that, Richter had finally located the Redmond boy.

Since Alaster had located him again after the fall of Zolis, he had not let him out of his sight, more specifically, out of the sight of the two dozen Shadow Assassins that followed the young man everywhere.

Alaster could have, of course, used the Shadows to help the man, he certainly could have used it, but Alaster did not care that much. The only reason he had not simply killed the Duke's son was because his sister cared for him. Something he did not exactly approve of, but then again, who was he to judge? A mass murderer, stalker, and torturer.

But just because Alaster would not kill the man, did not mean he would help him, he was helping him enough by asking his former mentor to fetch him. A not-so-small part of him hoped the Duke's son would get killed in the war.

His sister would be heartbroken.

At least for a while, but she would eventually move on, and without the kid getting in the way, Alaster would have free reign to do whatever he wanted with the Duke.

Unfortunately, since Evelyn cared deeply for Luke, who was the Duke's son, it made things more complicated.

Alaster had no intention to merely let the Duke go, regardless of the relation.

That is why Alaster was so happy that Richter had grabbed Luke. If the young man was in Onigas, he would not know what happens to his father, and with the war, it was likely it would be attributed to the Demons.

"What are you smiling about?"

Alaster opened his eyes to see Lunaria looking down at him from behind the sofa.

His fiancé.

She was dressed in a pair of pants that fit her well and a loose tunic and belt. A simple outfit that looked anything but when worn by her. Her long black hair was tied into a braid that fell between her shoulders.

"Whatever reason I had has now been replaced by the fact that you are here."

Lunaria blushed and walked around the sofa to sit down beside Alaster.

"And who taught you how to flirt?"

"My father actually."

"Weren't you only a kid when he died?"

"Yeah, but I remember how he interacted with my mother."

"Oh? Your father was a player?" Lunaria teased, leaning into Alaster.

He put his arm around her, feeling awkward with the motion. He could not remember really remember the last time he was in such close proximity with another person for longer than a brief hug, without killing them.

And he had never been the most confident around women his age.

He did not have much time to grow comfortable around them growing up. Let alone the mentality for it.

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"Actually, kinda? From the stories my parents told me, my father was popular among the ladies. Always managing to make them blush and do what pretty much whatever he wanted. According to my mother, his Adventuring Party got to stay at Inns for either free or for cheap because of his flirts.

Not that he slept around. He just knew how to make women feel good just with his words. And when they got married, all my father's flirtations focused exclusively on my mother.

She got tired of them regularly, but that didn't stop him. I guess I got it from him."

"So that's where the rumors come from." Lunaria giggled.

Alaster looked down at her, "What rumors?"

"What rumors? When was that last time you interacted with the soldiers outside of orders?"

"Uhhh, never?"

"Well that would explain the other rumors?"

"Care to explain? Or will I have to tickle you?" Alaster threatened with a wiggling of his fingers.

Lunaria's eyes turned serious, "Don't you dare."

Alaster shrugged and put his hand over hers on her stomach.

"Apparently, many of the female soldiers have crushes on you."

"Seriously? Why?"

"Mystery has its appeal. They see how you fight and defend the city, and while you certainly terrify them, they like you."

"Women are weird."

"Oh you have no idea." Lunaria smirked.

"Well if we are going to get married, then I suppose I have plenty of time to figure it out."

"Speaking of, I know there is a war going on, plus a siege, but what should we do about the wedding? The date? The place? The decorations?"

Alaster shrugged, "Its because of the war that I have no idea. I am a major powerhouse in Onigas, a vital component of its defense. My mere presence on the walls have deterred the Demons from assaulting them. Its hard to plan for anything else if I have to be on the walls."

"What about right now?"

"I am still on the walls. According to the Demons at least. I made a statue of myself and can swap places with it whenever I need to."

"Well, haven't they continued the barrage for several days now?"

"Which leads to the problem of where. Just about every building in Onigas has either been destroyed or might as well have been. Only the most vital buildings have been protected, and several of them have still sustained damage."

"Well, we could ask the City Lord if we could borrow his banquet hall for a night. Its nice right?"

"Oh its beautiful," Lunaria beamed, "And also full of injured soldiers and supplies." Her smile faded.

"Screw it!" Lunaria sat up, her brows tight with annoyance, "We are getting married! All we need is a Priest and a few witnesses. We can have a proper celebration later."

"All citizens have been evacuated." Alaster quietly reminded, afraid to have his fiancé's wrath turn on him.

"You have spies everywhere in this city." Lunaria began slowly, standing up, "There are thousands of people in this city. There has to be one Ordained Priest that can wed us. At the moment, I don't even care which God he is the Priest of. We are getting married before the week is out, you have three days to find a Priest. I have to go inform everyone and write a letter to my father.

Because we all know that if we get married before he even finds out, and is given some chance to attend, he will storm over here to chew us both out."

Alaster sat there frozen as Lunaria marched away.

'I see Human women are quite similar to Argalon women.' Belgroth spoke up.

'Shut up.'

Belgroth chuckled.

Alaster stood up from the sofa. He needed to get to work. If he did not find a Priest, he was pretty sure not even his Pact Armor would save him.

'Alaster,' Fenrir's voice shot into Alaster's thoughts. The wolfman's tone removed any sense of frivolity.

'What is it?'

'You should get over to the Deep Warehouse immediately.'

Alaster did not wait. His Pact Armor formed over his comfortable lounging clothes. Before the helmet even properly formed, he had swapped locations with a Shadow in the warehouse.

What he saw baffled his mind.

In the time since Alaster had begun accepting the Native Undead as his followers, over two hundred Death Knights had sworn themselves to him. A mighty force, and certainly a proud one. They refused to obey anyone other than Alaster. They were even hesitant to obey Fenrir or Vivian.

Yet now, all two hundred were kneeling before the Deep Entrance, their heads bowed, as they held their swords thrust through the ground in front of them.

The other Native Undead in the warehouse were packed tightly against the fare corner, as if they were afraid and wished to be anywhere else. Even the prideful and arrogant Liches crammed themselves as far away as they could.

However, despite the surprising display before him, it was minor. The moment he appeared in the warehouse, he felt it.

A power, that rivaled his own, yet vastly older.

And it was coming closer.

On instinct, Alaster's Halberd materialized in his hand, yet he did not raise it. Fighting against what his stomach was telling him, Alaster did not take a defensive stance.

If the source of the power was hostile, the Death Knights would not be so passive towards it. At least, he hoped so.

Nearly a minute passed, the source slowly coming close with each second, before something happened.

Out of the hole in the ground, having been refined and stairs dug out, rank upon rank of Native Death Knights marched out, four abreast. They did not spare through surroundings a single glance, only stepping to either side of the hole as they come up and joining Alaster's own Death Knights in silent respect.

In just another minute, two hundred more Death Knights had come out from the Deep. And together, the four hundred bowed to one.

One final Death Knight stepped out from the hole, one that was unique in every way from the others.

One that was distinctly not Human.

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