(MC POV)
When I dropped out on the other side of the portal, the last thing I expected was to have several pairs of hands catch me from falling out of the sky.
"MASTER!!"
My disciples called out in unison, their faces immediately obscuring my vision.
Feeling something really soft and fluffy underneath me, I chanced a look to see Kiyomi and Manami had spreaded out their tails to make a fluffy cushion for me to lay on.
As much as I would have liked to just lay there until the end of time, I still needed to make sure that everything was alright especially after my fight with Lilith.
"I'm fine. Is everyone safe? I'm not sure how much damage that little fight caused."
My girls gave me wry smiles before taking a step back to let me stand on my feet.
Oh.
The entire mountain that had been the Dark Sect's base had crumbled and I'm now standing in its rubble. I guess after Lilith and I disappeared, my disciples came here to check things out.
And… Is that a giant valley in front of Death Pass Town?! What happened there?! Did we destroy the entire mountain range?!
Wait, are those fortifications I see in the town? Did my battle alarm them so much that they flipped the entire town up in preparation for war?
No, there's way too many soldiers there and they look too well armed for it to be a militia that was assembled just for this.
I pointed to the new valley that stretched towards the Dong side of the continent, "Did… Did I do that?"
My disciples looked at each other before quickly shaking their heads.
"Ah… Then it must be that Lilith then… Seems like I am lucky to have avoided whatever attack that was…"
Hmm… But I don't remember her throwing an attack of such a large scale though? Could I have missed it somewhere?
Ah doesn't matter.
But this would encourage the Dongs to invade wouldn't it? I suppose I should go meet with the King to suggest the building of a wall of some sort here. Maybe this would actually foster the start of better relations with the Dongs?
Ah, politics… The one thing I really don't want to care about. I want my simple life back…
No more giant tentacled monsters, no more stupid princes, no more Dark Sects… Just me, my disciples and I.
Speaking of which, I didn't see the Leviathan, Slime and Giants do much back at the fight with Lilith so I'm actually not sure about what they are capable of... Should I be worried about them?
I felt a tug on my sleeve.
"Papa? Huggies?" Cai Hong begged, her eyes slightly moist while extending her arms towards me, her hands making grabbing motions.
What else can I do but oblige her?
I picked her up in my arms, smiling as she giggled and hugged my neck.
"Cai Hong miss Papa!"
Oh god, why is this little dragon so damn cute!
As if on cue, the rest of my disciples also crowded around me in a group hug.
Well, since I guess I did let my disciples go through the harrowing experience of watching the fight from afar, I shall allow it.
Though I did give Diao Chan a forehead flick when she tried to unbutton my shirt.
Doing a quick head count, I did notice one person missing though.
"Where's Brendan?"
Lian Li peeked out from my chest, "He's busy tending to the wounded back at the town. There were quite a number of… Umm… Accidents…"
Accidents? I'm guessing a mass panic which resulted in several injuries when the townspeople tried to escape. How thoughtful of Brendan though.
"In that case, I shall go down there to help him."
The girls looked at one another before taking a step away from me, the mirth on their faces disappearing.
"Master…" Lian Li begun, poking her index fingers together rather adorably. "While… While you were away… A lot of things happened…"
Giving Cai Hong who was still rubbing her face on mine a head pat, I raised an eyebrow at my girls to get them to elaborate.
Kiyomi sucked in a deep breath, "Third and second prince rebelled, the King, Queen and First Prince are dead. Dong had planned to invade from the start, Princess rallied an army and we fought a battle here just moments ago."
…
What?
Wait, wait, wait… What?
I turned back to look at the town below us, only just realising that the little specks I saw dotted around the field were not a trick of the light but actual dead bodies.
Now that she mentioned it… I noticed numerous craters in front of the town too.
"What happened?" I asked, not taking my eyes away from the scene.
Diao Chan stepped forward, "The Dongs had been tunneling through the mountains for quite a while already… The third prince revealed everything to us while he had been mistaken about our identity. So the princess called for an emergency mobilization and engaged the Dong Army in a defensive battle."
The Princess did?
Wait then that means…
I turned back to them, "You guys fought in the war?"
They hesitated but nodded eventually.
My mouth hung open as I turned my head towards Cai Hong.
"Little Cai Hong was not there," Manami explained.
Oh good. There's no telling what I would have done if she was subjected to the horrors of war.
I gave her another pat on the head and she giggled.
"Were you girls on the front lines?" I asked, although I already knew the answer.
All of them nodded.
Eris looked at me with upturned eyes, "Should we not have, Master?"
I shook my head, "No, no. It's good to see that you girls helped protect our home. If anything, I am proud of all of you."
Those words made them brighten up immediately.
"But tell me," I continued. "How did it feel to kill those men?"
Please don't enjoy it, please don't enjoy it, please don't enjoy it.
Lian Li frowned before looking down at her hands, "It was… Disgusting…"
I kept my face impassive as I looked at the other girls.
"Mnn… Such a thing is beneath us," Manami agreed.
"Uninteresting…" Eris frowned.
"Very barbaric and violent. I am very glad that it is all over," Diao Chan sighed.
Kiyomi showed a face of regret, "I realised how much more I had to learn… Never will I make the same mistake again."
Good, good. Looks like all of them have an aversion towards violence. Guess my initial teachings are still holding up.
This will drastically reduce the possibility of a world ending calamity caused by my disciples.
I gave Cai Hong a candy for her to munch on, "I take it that they didn't send an entire army here?"
From how they were looking at each other, I could tell that they were considering what they should tell me.
"Two hundred and eighty thousand troops…" Lian Li reported.
"Elaria helped! She brought reinforcements to aid us! So we were fine!" Diao Chan added before I could be too surprised.
"Elaria?" I repeated. "What did she do?"
After seeing what she turned my hometown into, I'm rather sceptical of whatever she created, especially since I saw her laboratory.
"Erm… She brought something called tanks…" My witch disciple murmured.
Tanks? She doesn't mean those tanks right? Must be another misnomer right? It can't be… Right?
I turned back to the village and there it was…
A whole battalion of tanks just sitting on the outskirts of the village.
Seems like I really missed a lot of things huh?
I need a vacation.