"....and that's how she decided to evacuate"

After hearing Mia recount all the events that transpired inside the house YuJu raised a brow at how forced the incident sounded, if he hadn't known better he would have thought Sofia was in on this too

This level of control over the other's actions only showed how well Mia knew Sofia, it might also have been because she planted the idea in some way beforehand, either way it is a brilliant case of mind manipulation

"Well done"

He praised casually, it wasn't received the same however as Mia swiveled her head mid flight, gazing at him with surprised eyes, even Ika by the side showed a shocked expression

'He actually acknowledged someone's efforts?'

Was their first thought, who knew he was capable of doing such a nice act

"Since we know they won't be fighting back then start the dive bombing, this time do not force the bats to hold back but choose which of the people you see useless to dispose of"

Yes, this was the Lord they were used to, cold and heartless

....

"Don't stop, keep running!"

"This way, come quickly"

"Damnit how come they sped up?!"

Everyone was panicking but still trying to be as orderly as they could in the evacuation, even as red menacing bats dove down from the looming cloud of beasts above, taking the lives of their fellow humans

Puh!puh!puh!puh!puh!

A dull sound came out in quick bursts as another set of bats were shot down from the sky, all sharing a hole in their eye sockets

"Damned beasts, they must have realized something was wrong when their messenger was killed so they are desperately trying to hunt us down, keep them at bay for as long as you can"

Sofia commanded while shooting another set of darts at the bats, all hitting their target with deadly accuracy

"Roger" "You got it"

Her men and even the leaders who were rescued replied while attacking or defending with their own weapons, still their numbers proved to be quite inadequate compared to the many who they were supposed to protect, the entire settlement housed over a thousand people, no matter how strong they were at this point in time they couldn't possibly cover for all of the survivors

"Ahh help! Please help!"

Screamed an old lady as a huge bat grabbed at her with its claws before flying to the sky once more

"You beast! Let her go!"

Seething with anger Sofia tried to hit this huge bat but the darts didn't find purchase like every other time as the bloody bat swiveled in the air, doing bark rolls and circles as it avoided everything she threw, sometimes it even used the old hag as a shield for the darts that couldn't be avoided, resulting in Sofia killing the poor woman in the bat's steed

"Damn it!"

Angered, sad, and helpless she could only curse, what else could be done when that big one seemingly knew its exact accuracy range? As if the ins and outs of its skills weren't a secret to it

'Perhaps they have been observing for a while now?'

The possibility passed her mind, still it didn't matter no more, the thing they needed to do now was escape this ominous cloud as quickly as possible

At this thought she turned her head and looked at Dag, asking the same question she's been repeating since they left

"Is the place we are going really somewhere the bats wouldn't dare enter?"

"I told you already it is like that indeed, whenever beasts come near that place they steer away from the huge hotel that still towers over the place, it wasn't like that before but somethings seems to have changed there"

He repeated the very convenient piece of information, if she didn't have another choice she wouldn't have followed him to that place at all however

It wasn't because she couldn't trust him, more importantly the place seemed more dangerous than the bats! Why would all the beasts avoid it if not for a stronger creature residing there

'It's alright, one strong foe is much easier than an army, with the camp leaders we might even have an easy time taking down whatever lay there'

Was her line of thought, even so she couldn't help but ask that question repeatedly since if the bats were not afraid then….their entire settlement would be stuck between a rock and a hard place

Six very tiring hours later the group numbering just a little over five hundred after half their numbers being whittled down finally arrived before the building where the thralls' battle once took place

Unlike before when the area was teeming with beasts the place was now deserted, not even a bird in sight causing the new dwellers of the Infidome to feel a chill going down their backs in the presence of this unusual eerie silence barely exiting in the chaotic world they'd found themselves in

"Don't dally, let's head inside immediately"

Reminded Dag who by now had a sour look on his tired face, he'd been promised the casualties would be kept to a minimum as they needed bait, who knew the people of the settlement who couldn't be used as bait would be massacred as such?! This was outrageous!

Nothing could be done however, all he could do now was proceed with the plan and hope for a good ending, at least one that didn't spell the annihilation of the humans present here

Thus with a hopeful yet worried countenance he proceeded with the survivors into the somewhat run down hotel

…..

"Are they all inside"

"Almost, there should be none left by the time we go around the building"

"Then we are officially going into phase two, head with Ika into the building first and I will follow once the smoke is out of sight"

The two nodded and descended under the cover of disappearing darkness, creeping into the building as the sky turned from a dim black into its purple morning hue

Meanwhile he continued on his own, acting like the cloud of bat that didn't house a single living bat any more, the long battle causing them great casualties that outnumbered the humans's

All that didn't matter to anyone but the bats themselves perhaps, after all they were easily recruitable and so simple to use, thus without mourning them for a single second he withdrew the somewhat tasking smoky aura of his and had the thrall carrying him drop his body onto the roof before he shimmered out of sight, going to participate in the upcoming phase as well

"Its very quiet"

"Mhm"

It was obvious, still one couldn't help but voice that concern out for there was nothing but an occasional drip in the lobby

"What do you think lives here?"

"Who knows, who cares, can't possibly be scarier than an entire army can it?"

Said Berry while spinning a shovel in his hand, his eyes passing over the area with more vigilance than his tone betrayed

"Well, the bats might disagree with you"

Titan Feller quipped at the sight of the circumventing around the hotel

"Gotta better place to run off to?"

Questioned another one of the leaders this time a woman holding onto a traffic sign

"Who would have known the prey would come knocking the door itself? You beauties saved my little friends the great hassle of carrying your bodies all the way here"

While three tried to smooth over the unpleasant atmosphere a voice which could only be described as alluring came from further into the hotel's grand lobby

No one made a comment but they all focused on the extra dark reception counter where they could make a human figure looking at them with red eyes

"Hehehe, don't be so scared, it's not as scary as you might think"

A soft giggle filled the place, it eased no one however and only caused greater unrest among the people

The figure then started to take slow steps out from behind the counter, at the same time the light of dawn seeped through the window, slowly illuminating the place starting from the top

"After all, you are here merely to keep me and my little sweeties company, at least, Your bodies are"

The voice took a deep turn as the light presented them with her full body, starting from the wings that looked nothing short of devilish and ending at the beast like legs, all revealing the real race of this person

"She's a beast!"

"Se...how can she speak our language"

Was the first thought coming to everyone's mind, it wasn't their first time meeting a humanoid monster, though none were as human looking as this one, it was the first time however to hear a beast speak a language belonging to earth

The woman didn't dine to answer the various questions running through their minds, only looking at them with an oversized toothy smile as blood dripped down from above…...Blood?

As if everyone were in agreement to look away from the dangerous beast at the same time they all looked above, where the ceiling was once obscured in darkness

There, unconcealed by the sun's rays, they saw bodies, bodies next to bodies, tons of bodies that the number went beyond their entire settlement, all hanging from the ceiling by chains, dangling like red ripe grapes as blood seeped slowly from the many bites covering their bodies before falling to the ground