Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

You think you know torment?

What it takes to crush a soul?

To nurture the seeds of agony,

Not in flesh but in the shattered minds of mortals?

~Nerva's Diary, the goddess of horrors and torment

***

It had been a long bloody walk from the house to hunt those rabbits, ducks, and deer, and Mino had finally begun to tire down. She'd been wandering the forest all day, punching holes through monsters and crushing them to mince. But as the moon came up, her limbs began to jitter.

'I doubt I'll make it back in time, doesn't help that my mana has run out.' Sitting by the root of a tall banyan, she glanced through the tree leaves at the beams of silver light shining down on her skin. It helped rejuvenate her strength, yet the shaking of her hand refused to be brushed off just yet.

"I overworked myself," clicking her tongue, she glared at her bloody hand annoyed. If only she'd taken the route back when the smoke was rising from Brenna's house, then perhaps she would've been back at Raven's and not wandering aimlessly thanks to those runes that confused all monsters.

'Not like I can do anything for now.' Letting herself sink back against the tree's trunk, she neatly folded her hands over her belly and shut her eyes to get a few winks. However, the moment she felt her body losing tension, a sudden scream from afar jerked her body forward. Looking in the direction of the sound, she could hear a loud commotion nearby as well as a flicker of something burning.

"I should stay here, I should stay here…" Repeating those words to herself, she kept her eyes pinned to the direction of the sounds. Jumping in to help someone might've been her master's style but to her as a monster, self-preservation triumphed over all.

And yet…her curiosity grew alongside the howling screams, the clash of metal on metal, and the hint of burning flesh trailing into her nose. Reluctant, she stood up, her hands using the tree's trunk for support.

'I should check what's happening so I can plan things better than staying in one spot.' Her hand outstretched, Mino subconsciously began walking like a zombie. Drawn to the commotion like a moth to a flame, she moved with care even though her body was moving on its own. Laying low behind bushes and trees, she kept herself hushed even when she finally saw the source of the commotion.

A burning carriage with a handful of thugs scouting the parameters. Carrying sabers, scimitars, and makeshift bows, the gang of thugs appeared ready to take on a battalion of soldiers. Scouting the area some more, Mino noticed a young boy dangerously close to the burning carriage. Down on his knees, the kid–no more than the age of five was crying over a pair of dead bodies.

'His parents?' Squinting her eyes more, the cowgirl tried to focus on the boy's features. Although covered in blood, his clothes implied nobility. The well-combed hair asserted the fact even further. 'I should leav–'

Not realizing that her eyes glowed bright crimson in the dark, Mino was shocked as the young boy looked right in her direction. She expected him to scream, and so she pressed her feet against the ground to quickly turn around and escape. However, when the boy didn't peep a word, but simply stared into her eyes, her curiosity grew some more, and once again, her body moved on its own.

"Ugh…I guess more killing it is," unable to control herself, the queen of dead minotaurs walked into the open space.

It didn't take the bandits long to recognize her presence, and when they did, some ran back to their buddies, while the others tightened their bowstrings. With every eye on her from a singular direction, Mino quickly checked her mana to gauge her choices.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Screamed the ginger hair bandit at the very front.

Wearing a fur coat unlike leather collars like the rest, he was more recognized in their group than everyone else. And so slowly moving toward Mino with his scimitar held tight, he tried to seem unbothered despite his tense expression proving otherwise.

'One shot, I have one shot at this, and then my mana is gone.' With every step the leader took forward, Mino's window to crush the entire group in one slam was getting trickier, however, noticing the fear on everyone's face, she decided to go with a much better plan 'Make them shit their pants.'

Wearing a smile at that thought, Mino puffed her chest out before raising her head towards the sky. Then taking a deep breath while the bandits watched frozen with fear, she closed her mouth and howled the birds out of their nests.

"GRHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Following the scream, she also conjured the spirit minotaur that loomed boastfully over her body, and with just one glance at that fierce monster, the already terrified bandits dropped their weapons and ran off screaming.

"RUNN!"

"IT'S A MINOTAUR FUCK!"

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

Cackling at their screams, Mino kept the facade of strength for a while longer until the sound as well as their smell was far away from where she stood. Once her mana was gone and so was the minotaur, she turned to look at the boy still shivering by the burning carriage. More terrified of her than the bandits, he tried to scrawl away with his eyes glued to the cowgirl.

"Stay there kid, I'm not gonna hurt you," standing still with her hands moving in a fanning gesture to calm the boy, Mino slowly moved closer and noticed a pair of balls and chains latched onto the kid's legs.

'That's why he couldn't run. But why did the bandits let him live?' She wondered, but having chased every single one of them away, she could no longer find out.

"Come with me," getting on her knees, Mino grabbed the chain and twisted it around until it snapped in two.

'What are you doing?' Her mind mused, after all helping a human wasn't something she would have imagined herself doing. 'This isn't the time to think about this, get out of here before the bandits come back!'

Shaking her head, she got on her feet and offered the kid a hand to get him up as well.

"Quic–"

"T-thank you…" Interjecting Mino with a stutter, the boy stunned the once heartless queen for a moment.

Something warm burst inside her, it even swirled around her body and drove the weariness away.

'Really, what the fuck is happening?' She thought before looking back at the kid. 'Forget it, I need to get him out of here.'

Completely unaware of her own transformation from a merciless tyrant to someone's savior, Mino took the boy away from what could be his last day. However, would rescuing the unknown kid lead to more problems? The answer was clear to her since she defied her instincts to save the young boy.

'Let's just hope I can find Raven before trouble comes!'